Shoto POV:

I was being carried again. I heard the birds in trees chirping, and the wind was brushing across my back and neck. I could smell the familiar aroma of flowers and summer wind.

I open my eyes and see the familiar green of Izuku's hair.

"Mnmm." I mumble. I guess the wooziness from the medicine really did work.

"Is the Prince awake?" I hear a voice ask.

"Maybe." I hear Izuku's voice say. "Let's take a break on this rock."

Izuku stops and I make another incoherent mumble. I hear a laugh coming from Izuku, a light cheerful thing that almost made me smile as well.

A moment later, Izuku slid me onto a flat rock, and I opened my eyes. Since I had the medicine, it didn't give me any pain. I looked around the area I was in.

We were surrounded by thick green trees with brown branches. The grass was so, so green. The rock I was on was a light grey color that was warmed by the sun. I blink the sleepiness out of my eyes and turn to Izuku.

"Where are we?" I ask.

Izuku smiles. "A few miles away from my house via the forest." He says. "Sorry I was carrying you again, the guards had started searching people's houses and we had no reason to say no."

I nod slightly.

"Where are we going?" I ask. "And I would like some water, please."

Izuku digs in one of his bags and pulls out a water bottle while one of his friends steps forward. "We're going on an adventure!" She says. I blink at her. "To get King Enji off his throne."

I frown.

"My father?" I ask. "Get him.. off the throne?" The concept wasn't new, I've always wondered what it would be like if he wasn't king. But the thought itself seemed unnatural, scandalous. Appalling, really.

Izuku nodded and handed me the water bottle. "Is your headache gone?" He asks.

I nod and smile a little. Izuku's face flushes slightly, and I give him a confused glance. I hear a snort and turn to see the short brown haired girl laughing into her palm.

"Sorry, it's nothing." She says and turns back to her map.

Izuku sighs and sits next to me on the rock, holding a paper map in his hands. He spreads it out across both our legs, his arm brushing me in the process. My heart flutters for a strange reason that I can't place.

"Alright, this is us." Izuku says, pointing to a spot kind of in the middle of one of the forest areas on the map. "This is where we're heading." He points to a pond a few inches away from the first point. "Between that.. it's probably around another few hours. Maybe."

We started talking for a few minutes.

Crack.

Both me and Izuku snap our heads in the direction of the sound. His friends paused talking.

"Shoto." Izuku hisses through his teeth. "Do you know how to climb a tree?" I quietly shook my head. He curses under his breath.

Another cracking noise.

"How far do we have to patrol this forest?" A familiar voice says. "We've been looking here for hours!"

"Until we get called back or we somehow find the prince, we have to keep looking." The next voice, also familiar, says. "It's technically our fault he's missing anyway."

I blink. Sero. Ojiro.

Propelling myself off the rock, I dash into the forest toward the voices. I hear Izuku behind me curse again and follow me.

I burst through the tree onto a path and saw the two guards. They froze the moment they say me.

"Your Highness!" Sero shouts. "You- Why- How are you here?!"

Izuku bursts next to me as well. He glares at the guards and grabs my arm. My eyebrows raise.

"Who are you?" He asks.

Sero glares back. "Are you the person that kidnapped the Prince?" He asks back.

Just then, I hear Ochako shriek. Izuku snaps his head towards the sound and I look as well. Through the trees, we saw the three others being cuffed by more guards. They brought them over to where we were, and the guards looked surprised when they saw me.

"Your Highness, please follow us and we can get back to the castle." Sero says. I frowned. Izuku put an arm in front of my chest.

"Stay away from us." Izuku says.

Sero frowned at him.

"Release them." I ordered the guards. They all looked confused. "I said release them."

"Your Highness, these people kidnapped you." Sero said, frowning as well.

I shake my head. "No they didn't." I say. "I am ordering you to release them. Do it."

Sero glances at Ojiro and back at me. Then he nodded at the guards. They all took the cuffs off Ochako, Tenya, and Tsu.

"Now I need you to leave." I ordered.

Ochako ran towards Izuku and grabbed onto him. She turned back to the guards and Tsu and Tenya also followed her.

"Your Highness-" Sero started.

I glare at him. "Go. Now." I say coldly. Me and Sero hold a gaze before he sighs and looks away.

"Alright." He says. "Your Highness, What are we to tell your father?"

I glare. "That's not my problem." I say. "Come on, Izuku. Let's go."

...

After several hours of walking through the woods, now being sunset, we entered a open area. A bit farther ahead, maybe a few meters, was the lake that was on the map. The map underestimated how large the lake was, the thing was as large as the courtyard in front of the main part of the castle. And that was large.

I felt my headache come back. I stop walking for a moment and wince as I touch my head.

Izuku turns to me, stopping walking as well. "Is the headache back?"

I blinked a few times, trying to clear my head. I nod slowly, but then stumbled sideways. Izuku yelps and reaches out to help me stand straighter.

Ochako turns back and stops. So do the others. "Oh no, is it a headache?" Tsu asked.

"Yes," Izuku confirms. I start feeling dizzy again. "I have the medicine in my bag, can you- Shoto!" I topple over onto the ground and Izuku crouches next to me.

"My throat-" I started, but was interrupted by myself. "When the moon fills the lake, the winged lizard will make its move with its prince." I cough rapidly and grab onto Izuku.

Izuku frowns in his concerned Izuku way. "Usually you have that weird white eye knock out thing, why didn't you do that now?" He asks, though I have a feeling it was rhetorically.

Either way, I didn't answer. I slumped against Izuku and fell back into a dreamless sleep.

<^> To Be Continued

(1.1k words)

Who do you think they mean with the lizard? 🤔Or 'its prince'?🤔