MHA Fantasy Quest for the SOL

Part 4: Encounter in the Woods

Shoto was having difficulty tracking down the boy in the green. He'd spotted him soon enough, but then he'd lost him in the streets, and then the woods. He didn't know this, but that was because Deku was also lost. His map wasn't detailed enough to help him navigate the trees, and all he knew was he was blindly moving closer to or farther from the edge. Shoto was still looking for him when he finally came to a clearer patch and could look at the stars. He was still going North. "How can one peasant be so hard to find?" He said to himself. He pulled out a map. "He can't have gone the other way, this is the most direct route out of this forest." He frowned. "Of course, this is an old map. Maybe the Dark Lands have changed the terrain..."
Just then, he thought he sensed something. An animal moving, a squirrel maybe? He turned just in time to find a sword pointing at his throat. He looked up scowling-- then his expression changed into surprise.

{Art by Julianna Gardner]

At the other end of the sword was a girl no older than himself, wearing armor, and looking at him with determination. The sight shocked him enough to make him slow to react, but then he frowned. "Who are you?" "That's not important," the girl answered, not sounding quite as confident as she looked. "You match the description... are you the one looking for a traveler going to the Dark Lands?"
Shoto became suspicious. "How did you know that?" "That's also not important," The girl said.
Shoto became more suspicious. "Did my father send you? Is that what this is? Really, sending a girl after me, that's a new low for him, but I suppose it doesn't matter."
He stepped back quickly, and drew his own sword. "I'm not going with you." "No, that's not what I want," The girl protested. "I just want answers."
"You're not getting anything out of me," Shoto replied. "I'll give you one chance to run and pretend this never happened, otherwise, I won't hesitate."
The girl didn't look in the least bit intimidated. "If that's how you want it, but I need information, even if I have to force it from you, I hoped it wouldn't come to this."
Shoto raised his sword. But she took the first swing--much faster and stronger than he expected, clearly this wasn't any novice. After a few rounds of testing each other, he concluded she wasn't using a style familiar to him either. "Where are you from?" he asked finally. "It doesn't matter," she replied, breathing hard. "You're not bad, though."

They kept going, Shoto began to think he wasn't going to be able to beat her, she was actually more skilled than him, but he had a plan for that. He managed to put some distance between them, then he touched his wrist guard and spoke "Cold."
The wristguard uncoiled from his wrist and stretched out into a long white dragon. The girl stared at it.
"A mage after all," she said. Shoto snapped his fingers, the dragon blew icy breath toward the girl's feet, but she vaulted over it (where did she get a spear?) and stabbed it in the back. Shoto winced. The dragon snarled at her.