A Long Road

Izuku's breath slowly came in and out, the trotting of Torrent's hooves against the water a soothing balm to his troubled thoughts. He really didn't expect for Katsuki to be one of his tag-alongs, but now that he was here, he was responsible for bringing him back to Japan, no matter how much he hated the thought of it being him.

Katsuki was silent right behind him, eyes roaming the entire area as the jungle of flora and fauna captivated his very sight. The place was beautiful, foggy and damp, but mesmerizing all the same. But the more they went deeper into the flooded forest, the more eerie it became.

Izuku was already used to it, but his passenger wasn't. So used to modern peace he was that places like this put a damp on his mood. He didn't need to see him to know it, just feeling Katsuki fidgeting behind him was enough of a sign to know that he was still uncomfortable with what had happened to him. At least he was putting up with it and not letting it get him down. He was a stubborn bastard like that.

The canopy of leaves covered the rays of the sun as Torrent continued onward at the behest of its master. Izuku's eyes searched the region from top to bottom, intent on not getting ambushed by any of the insane inhabitants of the Lands Between.

Time passed on, and Izuku felt that any moment, somebody would jump him and rend his flesh from his bones. Katsuki too, could feel the danger in the air. The rest of the trek through the flooded forest was like that. Izuku didn't know when they would be attacked, but he was ready for it.

Fortunately, he didn't need to, as the sparse jungle of trees and leaves seemed to disperse as they finally managed to get out of the flooded forest, coming face to face with a narrow landmass that stretched into Stormveil Castle with a camp bearing the crest of Raya Lucaria situated at its center.

Not far off the beaten path, Izuku saw a rather familiar set of garbs, a piece of stick in hand as he roasted a critter over the open flame. Reigning Torrent to head towards the nomadic merchant, Izuku hopped off, Katsuki following suit.

"Ah, back again are we? And with a companion, to boot." The nomadic merchant tilted his head upwards, his mask outlining hints of a smile upon his face. "Not everyone can tell how good my wares are. You've a discerning eye, you have."

"Been some time since we've seen each other." Izuku started, his feet coming to a stop as he stood right in front of the merchant. "Anything new happening around these parts?"

"Other than a fool managing to slay a dragon, no." The merchant shook his head. "Anyway, want something to buy?"

"… Yes, actually. You still have those spices, right?" Izuku asked and the merchant grinned. At least, Izuku thought he did.

"Quite." The merchant stood up, laying the stick on the ground but still making sure that the open flame roasted the dead critter right above. Heading towards his pack mule laying just a few feet, he rummaged through its packs and withdrew bottles and boxes of spices. "You're lucky. Was about to run out of them before I made my routine to gather some more."

"This enough?" Izuku took out some runes from his bottomless box and handed it over, the merchant accepting them eagerly.

"Yes." The merchant then gave the boxes and bottles to Izuku, where he safeguarded them inside his bottomless box. The merchant tilted his head towards Katsuki next, a hint of curiosity present in his figure. "What about your companion? Anything he wants to buy?"

Katsuki shook his head, but approached nonetheless. No doubt, a bunch of questions swirling around in that head of his.

"Anything you can tell me about this place?" Katsuki asked. He had already asked this question to Izuku a bunch of times during their ride, but he didn't want to spoil the ash blond. That, and he wanted Katsuki to not rely on him too much, in case they get separated.

"Well now, a newcomer, ain't ya?" The merchant chuckled, Izuku all but content to not utter a single word. "If you're asking me, I suppose the Tarnished here wasn't too reciprocative of your curiosity, was he?"

Katsuki didn't reply, but his body language told the merchant everything he needed to know. He grinned underneath his mask, then held up a sign with his fingers.

"Payment first." And now Katsuki was stumped, his rage boiling over as he looked over the merchant that was clearly ripping him off.

"What the fuck…?" The ash blond was practically fuming, but he managed to calm himself down. "The fuck are runes?"

"… Are you serious right now?" The merchant lost his grin and turned towards Izuku. All he gave him was a shrug, before the merchant turned back to the ash blond and sighed. "Look, kid. I'll give you this as a freebie, but if you want more answers, you've gotta pay."

Katsuki nodded, and the merchant opened his mouth.

"Runes are shards of the shattered Elden Ring, holding traces of power, but worthless alone. They can be used as a means of becoming stronger, but without a maiden, it is impossible to do so. For us merchants… Well, I'll let you figure that out for yourself."

Katsuki hummed, clearly digesting the explanation but still a bit confused. Looking at Izuku, all he got was a shrug and the silent treatment. Growling, Katsuki stomped towards Izuku and looked him in the eye.

"Where the fuck do I get runes?" At his question, Izuku smirked and pointed towards the camp situated right at the landmass acting as a bridge connecting Stormveil Castle and Liurnia.

"Easy. Take them from others." Izuku lowered his hands, Katsuki looking at him like he was showing a side of him he never got to see.

"The fuc- The hell you mean take them from others?" Katsuki sputtered. "You mean steal them like a fucking thief?"

"Yep, although there are caveats." Izuku replied, a frown overcoming his lips. "You'll see it'll be easier once you get a first hand experience with either the wildlife or the inhabitants of the Lands Between."

The nomadic merchant, already busy blowing on the cooked critter on a stick as his ass laid plush on top of the lush grass, snorted upon hearing the words come from Izuku's mouth.

"Isn't that an understatement." Their business done, Izuku went back to Torrent, Katsuki following suit after. Once they were all aboard the Torrent express did the spectral steed neigh and trotted towards the natural bridge.

The fog slowly dispersed and they could finally feel the light emanating from the Erdtree shining down upon them. Katsuki gaped when he saw the giant golden tree on the horizon, its golden stalks piercing through the clouds as it loomed over them like a towering giant.

Izuku snickered at the expression the ash blond gave, Katsuki picking his jaw back up while he grumbled about high-fantasy bullshit. He couldn't fault the teen, he was like that when he first saw the giant tree. At least the ash blond wasn't content on asking specific things that Izuku also had no knowledge over.

It took about thirty minutes before they were able to reach the camp with Torrent at a favorable pace. Izuku squinted his eyes and he saw some Raya Lucaria soldiers standing guard at the entrance.

"Tsk, they're already back." Izuku clicked his tongue, gaining a raised eyebrow from Katsuki. "Don't worry, you'll see soon enough what I mean by that, if they don't let us pass first."

Torrent came to a crawl as Izuku got off, Katsuki following suit.

"Now, what do you want to do?" Izuku asked as Torrent slowly dispersed into motes of blue light, vanishing from the material plane. Katsuki observed the phenomena quietly, not quite raising a question over how his steed works. "You can stay here and watch from afar, or you can stick by me and ONLY stay close."

Katsuki was unusually silent. Well, he was unusually silent ever since he was brought here, which to be fair, could pretty much silence anyone because of the pure shock from the sudden transfer. Imagine being ripped from your own world and dropped into another where nothing you've learned in your entire life applied.

"… I'll follow you." Katsuki replied after a few seconds of thinking, and patting him on the back, Izuku gave him a smile as he dragged him along.

"Good choice." Izuku said as he clutched onto Katsuki's shoulder. "You're gonna get a front row seat as to why this place is fucked up beyond repair."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow at the wording, but nevertheless, nodded, clearly preparing himself for shit to go down. Izuku liked that about the ash blond. Even in dire straits and with your back against the wall, Katsuki wouldn't give up, and would furiously bang his head against those that dare oppose him if he was ever cornered.

As they slowly closed into the camp, those standing watched saw them, with one of them grabbing a horn from his waist.

"Greetings!" Izuku yelled from the top of his lungs, one of his hands raised in the air. "Me and my friend would like to cross the border! We have business back in Limgrave!"

All he got as a response was the tooting of the horn and the groans of mindless men as they went back to their routine. Swords were drawn and footmen lined up as they pointed blades and pointy edges at them.

Izuku sighed and grabbed his Zweihander — which he was sensible enough to ready before even thinking of going through Liurnia's forest – and let go of Katsuki's shoulder. Hoisting it up his shoulders, Izuku looked at Katsuki, who was also getting ready to defend himself from the soldiers.

Hopefully, what he taught back in Japan drilled itself into his mind, because Izuku wasn't going to hold his hand here. Pumping energy into his legs, Izuku rushed forward to meet one of the full-plated soldiers head on. He was wielding a sword and shield combo, his sword sheathed at the moment in favor of grabbing a glintstone scrap from his satchel.

Grinning, Izuku dodged the tossed item, the scrap shattering against the ground. He could hear something hovering behind him and put his plan into action. Getting in close, Izuku noticed the soldier maintaining a stance, sword at the ready for his bold charge.

Izuku didn't stop, instead, he raised All Strike high and swung it down. The blade, enhanced by Smithing Master Hewg, was near indestructible, the solid steel crashing against the soldier's metal shield. The soldier's knees buckled, Izuku's swing clearly too strong for him to endure.

Dropping to a knee, the soldier looked up, only to see Izuku vaulting over him and grabbing him by the scruff of his neck. He lifted him up and watched as the magic bolts impacted the soldier, the blue motes of light denting the metal, and even going through them.

The soldier groaned as he flailed, and Izuku wasted no time throwing him upwards and stabbing him straight through with all strike, the soldier gurgling one last time before dying. But that was just a single enemy wandering through the camp, and Izuku could sense a foot soldier behind him ready to stab him through the back.

Twisting around, he swung All Strike down and the corpse dangling from the blade dislodged itself, hurtling through the air and into the moaning foot soldier. As the two bodies collided, Izuku could hear explosions from behind.

Taking a quick peek, Izuku could see Katsuki exploding a full-plated soldier with his quirk, the soldier groaning as he collapsed to the ground, not dead, but dazed. Smirking to himself, Izuku turned back to rush against the incoming wave of armored soldiers, weapons held at the ready to tear him a new asshole.

Katsuki can take care of himself. All Izuku needed to do was thin the herd so that the ash blond doesn't get overwhelmed. Who knows, maybe Katsuki could learn a thing or two here in the Lands Between before being sent back to Japan. That is if he does survive and doesn't die… Or is he actually part of the cycle here? Where death doesn't mean the end?

Well, he wasn't too keen on testing it yet, but if it happens, well, he'll see. For sure, it'll be traumatizing the first go… and maybe even the second and third and so forth, but he'll probably get used to it. Because if he won't, well, he's not going to go back to Japan anytime soon.

Charging forth, Izuku barrelled through the defensive line the soldiers put up, the runes he had accumulated making their defense moot. If he really wanted to, he could probably cut through them all, shields and armor, with just a single swing of his sword. But he wanted to warm up first. He can do that when things get tedious.

Grabbing one foot soldier, he pumped energy into his arm and tossed his ass into the air, right directly into Katsuki. The ash blond noticed the soaring body and widened his eyes when he saw it rapidly moving towards him.

Snickering, Izuku turned away and regarded the other soldiers. If anything, this could provide good training for Katsuki, and as his teacher, forced or not, it was his duty to ensure that the ash blond was raised to his standard.

Maybe when he returns, he could raise hell in the hero community. Just imagining it made him giddy. It was time for Katsuki to earn his forgiveness through trial by fire.

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A/N: Sorry, kind of short. Had something going on IRL and had writer's block at the time of writing.

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