»»————- ☩ ————-««

As they walked down the uneven grounds of the forest, it had abruptly become apparent to Izuku just how little experience he had with it all.

His legs ached with a piercing vehemence he could no longer ignore and the blood and dirt that had accumulated on his hands weighed down on his soul with some unknown emotion he had yet to identify. It was an odd predicament he had gotten himself into, that is for sure, just this morning his mother had awoken him to a hearty breakfast. Now, her along with his father and everyone else in his colony were all dead.

Two of the three-hundred deaths had fallen upon his hands. Yet he still could not bring himself to fully let those murders sink in.

Katsuki walked with ease through the forest, leaping over fallen, moss-covered, logs with such ease—navigating the twists and turns as, what Izuku imagined, had been hundreds of times. He was quiet, yet his mind had been gyrating with a plethora of questions since he had figured out where Izuku was from. The tribe's previous elder's, his people, had told him along with the other children at the time of, Qui Metallum, 'The metal people'.      

They were the very few to have survived, Mors Undam, 'Death Wave' in a metal home centuries ago—which had wiped out most of the human race. It was fascinating to hear them speak of their ancestors, how the ones who were told to hold many of the resources that were used before Mors Undam; medicines that cure the sick in just one use, technology and weapons unlike any they had ever seen but only heard of in stories. 

And now, Katsuki had one of them.

A pang of guilt coursed through him as he gave Izuku a long side-glance, noticing the thin cut that adorned the younger's pale cheek—which had appeared after Katsuki tackled him. If he had known back then who Izuku was, more like who his people were, he never would have attacked. However, that did not matter now for Izuku would help them . . . hopefully.

Finally, after hours of suppressing his curiosity, Katsuki spoke.

"You said your people were slaughtered by Excors?" he grimaced as the questions left his lips while cursing under his breath, probably not the best way to go.

Izuku stiffened, yet replying nonetheless. "Yeah,"

"At least you survived, right?" Katsuki offered, "You must be a brave warrior if you were able to hold your own against them. Not as brave me though," he added with a triumphant smirk.

The younger's gaze softened momentarily, not going unnoticed by Katsuki who gave him a light smile. Unfortunately, Izuku's stoic expression flickered back onto his face just as quickly as it had passed—only this time he intended to keep it there. If he were being honest, he was not sure if he would be able to help with whatever trouble Katsuki and his tribe had; hell, not only did he not know what the problem was . . . but he also didn't trust them.

Not yet.

His father, who had been the lead researcher in the Bunker, had told him about the three main tribes he and his research team had observed from afar a few years back. And from what Hisashi had spoken of it did not sound like they were rather friendly people—hence why they kept their distance when observing. If his father's words were true, Izuku was doomed to a fate worse than being contaminated by an Excor.

"I'm sorry, again," Katsuki apologized once more, the words acid on his tongue as he voiced them. He was a man of many things, but a man who apologized was not one of them. "Look, if you really are Qui Metallum than your resources can help my people. I didn't know who you were at first,"

Again, Izuku remained stone-faced. Yet he could not help but find a glimmer of admiration rumbling within his chest as the blond spoke. It was clear he'd do anything to save his people, just as Izuku would have if he could. So far he didn't seem to be in any immediate danger—which was good for now—maybe it wouldn't hurt to at least try and help when they got to wherever they were going.

However, he still remained on guard.

"What's wrong with them?" Izuku asked hoarsely, his throat taut and dry from slight dehydration of walking for miles without any water. Yet despite his current problem, Izuku couldn't help but admire the beauty of the trees.

Slightly rejuvenated that he was actually on the surface for the first time.

"A lot of them are growing ill," the elder explained. "Really fucking bad. Sho—I mean my Ductor thought it might be another Mors Undam happening . . . but I don't think so,"

Izuku's face contorted with confusion as he let the words soak in, only to soon realize a few of them were in Latin. Luckily, they taught seminars on everything they could from life centuries ago—Latin included. Albeit it had been a while since Izuku had spoken the language. 

"'Ductor' and 'Mors Undam' means—" Katsuki tried to explain, only to be deftly cut off.

"'Leader' and 'Death Wave'. I know," Izuku thrummed, ducking underneath a thick canopy of leaves and branches that hung low. "They taught Latin back on the Bunker.

The blond put a halt to his movements, staring at Izuku with what appeared to be a mixture of perplexity, amazement, and shock. "How the hell did they teach you the sacred language of my people?"

"I wouldn't call it 'sacred'," Izuku snorted as he continued forward. "Maybe a little outdated, nobody ever used it too much."

Katsuki pressed his lips firmly together, as he led the way. Another onslaught of questions churning a million miles a minute in his mind as he gazed at the smaller male before him. He wished nothing more than to ask them all, to be enthralled by whatever captivating explanation or story Izuku would tell. But he knew better. It wouldn't do his tribe any good if he ended up asking the wrong question and offended the boy—which he tends to do often with people—and have him reject their request of help.

Sure, he had threatened his life just hours ago should he refuse; but it was different back then, he did not truly believe the boy at the time. Now? He was commencing to.

". . . What are their symptoms?" the freckled male finally asked.

Not only did he need a distraction from the war being raged inside his mind, but before . . . it happened . . . he was training to be a doctor. For his mother was a woman of many talents; she used to be an architect for the Colony; then an engineer; researcher for a little while—which is how she met Izuku's father; then a doctor for nearly a decade. One of the best doctors at that and Izuku was being trained under her wing for the past three years.

"They're coughing, some of them have this odd green liquid coming from their mouths, too. Out Chief Healer has been doing the best she could, but their fevers are getting too high—and our medicinal herbs are barely working now," he explained, his voice sounding grave and guilty as spoke.

As Izuku ran through the many possible sicknesses that could have been being passed around, there was one that seemed to stand out the most. One that could easily be cured. "It sounds like they have a Cold," Izuku chuckled.

"What the hell is so damn funny?" Katsuki snapped, ignoring the voice in the back of his head that told him to shut up. "My people are sick and you're laughing—"

"Relax," Izuku cut in, holding up a hand in surrender. "It's not bad . . . but if you want me to help then we're going in the wrong direction—" he inhaled deeply, hating what he was about to suggest. "—all the proper stuff to treat them is back in the Bunker."

Katsuki scoffed, stopping in front of a large arrangement of trees. "Too late, we're already here."

The branches had grown so close together it almost formed a large roof of bark and leaves overhead. Blocking out any trace of sunlight that wanted to shine through—sunlight Izuku had yet to feel due to the colossal trees shrouding him from all corners. However, as the younger listened closely he could detect the faint chatter of sounded like people conversing, objects clattering, and children laughing.

"Welcome, to Qui In Ligno,"

The tree people.

(Where are you guys? XD)Hello Cricket Cultists!!

That awkward moment when Cricket realized she was in love with this book and made an intricate plot for it in like one hour-- Oops.

Welp. It's official this books has a detailed plot guys.

Comments/Questions about anything?

Until we meet again!!!