Down The Aisle (Bakugou x reader medieval au)

Chapter 3 - Escape to Wolves Den Forest

Authors note: The picture above is kind of what I picture the waterfall and lake lagoon looks like at the end of the chapter. Let's assume the water is pretty deep.

(Y/n) Pov

     I wake up in probably the worst way possible. I fell off the damn couch. "Ughh," I groan as I prop myself up on my elbows, arching my back. I take in my surroundings as I sit up, momentarily forgetting where I am. The morning light shines brightly through the window, illuminating the entire room. The fireplace looks to have been put out a while ago, and Midoriya's makeshift bed appears to be empty.
     Hold up, I think. Where is Midoriya? Just then I hear a toilet flush from upstairs. I sigh, he must have gotten up before me. I stand and stretch as I hear him come down the stairs and enter form the other room, where my old toys are.
     "Are you alright?" he asks, reaching for a muffin of the bookshelf. "I thought I heard something fall."
     I laugh as he takes a bite out of the muffin. "Ya, me! I fell of the couch," I explain as I pull my own muffin from my backpack, devouring it.
     "Oh... Well I was thinking we could go outside today, theres a small clearing out there. If we're gonna get out of this kingdom we're gonna have to go through Wolves Den Forest, so I wanna teach you how to use some of these weapons. Unless you already know how! I don't mean to assume you're helpless," he blurts out the last bit, obviously embarrassed for making such a bold assumption.
     "Relax, Midoriya, it's fine," I chuckle. "I don't know how to use most of these, just the bow. My father's advisor, Aizawa, taught me how to use one when I was younger. I'm sure I'm a bit rusty, but according to him, I was pretty good. He's the one who used to take me here as a kid, and the only other person who knows their way through the secret maze."
     "Oh alright, I'll teach you how to use a sword after you've gotten back into the bow. You can go relieve yourself first if you want to, the toilets still work because of the well out back. Technically we could use the showers too, but the water supply is limited to how much it rains. The sinks work as well, so you can wash your hands when you're done. I'm just gonna go set up oitside," he gestures out the window to the small clearing outside and grabs the bow and a quarrel of arrows.
     "Umm... where is the bathroom, I kind of forgot?" I rub the back of my neck in embarrassment.
     "My bad, I should have mentioned it. It's just up the stairs and to the left."
     I head into the next room, making my way up the stairs, and just like he said, the bathroom is directly on the left. I exit the bathroom when I'm done and make my way back to the main room. Midoriya comes back inside as I enter, sending a small smile my way as he grabs two swords and motions for me to follow him outside.
     The weather seems to be pretty nice, and seeing as I'm going to be getting quite the workout today, I decide to discard my outer outfit. I pull the pants off, leaving me in Bermuda shorts, and drop them on the steps leading to the door. As I begin pulling the long-sleeve shirt over my head, I hear a scream and clash of metal from behind me. I finish what I'm doing, dropping the shirt as I turn around to see Midoriya covering his face and facing away from me, shaking, the swords at his feet.
     "Umm Midoriya... are you okay?" I ask, laughing awkwardly, relieved that we aren't being attacked.
     He removes his hands from his face and stops shaking, still facing away from me. "I'm so sorry (y/n), I... I almost... s-saw you changing," he stutters, obviously mortified. I burst out laughing, I just can't help it. He's too pure. "H-how is this funny?!" he shouts.
     Yep, I've definitely scarred him, I think. "I'm sorry Midoriya," I say, wiping the laughter tears from my eyes. "This is just too priceless. You wouldn't have seen anything, I have a t-shirt on. I was just removing my outer layer so I don't die of a heat stroke while we're out here." I reassure him, turning him around to face me. "Are you ok?" I ask, knowing full well he probably isn't.
     "Uh, ya," he says, shaking his head to compose himself. "That's a relief," he says as he turns back around to pick up the swords he dropped. We make our way to where he set the bow and arrows, putting everything that just happened behind us.
     "So, I was thinking you could start off by aiming for that tree," he suggests, pointing at a tree about 20 feet in front of us. I nod, bending down to pick up the bow and slinging the sack of arrows onto my back. I get into a steady stance, grabbing an arrow and placing it into position on the bow. I take a deep breathe, lining the bow up and pulling the arrow back. Theres a calm breeze today, just enough to be soothing without effecting my aim. I double-check my position and let the arrow go, taking in a breathe as it hits the center of the trunk, right where I had aimed. I haven't lost my touch, I praise myself in my head.
     "Nice job, now try that one," Midoriya says, pointing to a smaller tree to the right of the one I just shot, and about 5 feet further from me. I angle myself toward the tree, reaching behind me to grab another arrow. I put it into place against the bow, pulling it back towards me and assessing my surroundings. Confident that there will be no disturbance in my shot, I aim, and release. Right on the target again, I smile triumphantly and look towards Midoriya, waiting for him to tell me what I should do next.
     He spins slowly in his spot, searching for a more challenging target. He stops, observing the building, and points to a row of small windows at the top level, probably the attic. "The building is about 30 feet from us, and those windows are probably somewhere around 50 feet off the ground. I want you to see if you can hit the 3rd window form the left, without moving from where you're standing," he challenges, giving me a supportive smile. I gulp slightly, that window looks to be only a foot wide, and maybe 2 feet tall, from this distance, it's going to be tricky. I shrug, why not.
     I grab an arrow from the sack and turn my body to face the window he wants me to hit. I can see Midoriya watching me intently out of the corner of my eye, an the corners of my mouth lift a bit into an almost unnoticeable smile. I pull the arrow back, taking aim. I stay like this for a few moments, just staring at the window and relaxing my nerves, before letting the arrow fly. I close my eyes, expecting it to miss, but they shoot open in shock when I hear the breaking of glass. I look up at the building to see the 3rd window from the left shattered. I hit it! I really hit it, I exclaim in my head, completely surprised.
     "You weren't kidding! You really are good. No, you're amazing," he praises, giving me a high five. "I guess this means we can start working with swords." He walks over to the swords, picking them up and handing me the one in his left hand, the blade facing him so I don't accidentally stab myself taking it from him.
     I take the sword, holding it awkwardly while standing across from him. "You're holding it wrong. Here, watch me," he says, demonstrating the proper way to hold it. I adjust myself until I'm doing it right. "Good job, now, slice it through the air like this," he shows me how, and I mirror his actions almost exactly, adding my own flare. "Nice, your a natural with weapons (y/n), I won't have to teach you much."
     I grin, practicing my movements with the sword, adjusting the way I carry myself so I don't fall over. It takes a few hours, but now I'm flowing in synch with the sword. My movements are steady, my strikes precise, and my balance almost better than without the sword. All the while Midoriya has been watching me with interest, finding my ability to teach myself how to wield the weapon admirable.
     "You've done great today (y/n), but we should probably be getting inside, the sun is setting. You can practice with the sword against me tomorrow, and we may even start working on hand-to-hand combat. Do you have any practice with that?" he asks, heading to the door with the swords.
     I grab the bow and arrows, following him inside. "Not really, my father barely agreed on Aizawa giving me archery lessons, hand-to-hand combat was always out of the question. I would have gladly practiced behind his back, but Aizawa didn't want me doing anything that would provoke my father." We set the weapons down and take a seat in th middle of the floor with our dinner.
     We eat in silence and I can't help but be excited for tomorrow. I know they aren't toys, but handling weapons is fun, I just hope I never have to use them to defend myself. The thought of coming across wolves in Wolves Den Forest sends shivers up my spine. Of course no wolves have been spotted in decades, but over the past 6 or so years, you can still hear wolves howling most nights. I always thought the howls sounded fake, like people, but that doesn't freak me out any less. Why would there be people living in those woods, and for over 6 years? It just doesn't make sense.
     We finish our dinner and decide to head to bed early, so we can get a head start on training tomorrow. I exchange goodnights with Midoriya and pray I don't fall off the couch again in the morning, drifting off to sleep.
    
Time Skip: the day after tomorrow

     Yesterday was incredible. Midoriya and I sparred with the swords until I was at his level. It was roughly mid-day when we finished with that, but we didn't end up doing any hand-to-hand combat. We tried, but Midoriya couldn't bring himself to hit me, making the fight one-sided and unfair. Instead we made plans to go into town today and packed our bags just in case we need to make an early escape to the forest.
     I admit I'm nervous. I've never been to any of our villages before, and despite the fact that no one knows what I look like, I'm afraid I'll be caught, and bring Midoriya down with me. I grab a muffin, holding it in my mouth and putting on my backpack. I find myself standing by the door after grabbing the bow and arrows and finishing my muffin, waiting for Midoriya to get back from the bathroom.
     Once he's ready he leads the way out the door and to the village. It's a rather peaceful and short walk. He assured me the town is usually quite calm, but that doesn't seem to be the case today. We reach a hill and stop, observing the chaos down below. The streets seem to be filled with citizens, and guards are surrounding the village. Theres no way in or out.
     "They must be looking for you. We have to leave now," Midoriya grabs my wrist and leads me in the direction of Wolves Den Forest. The treeline is only about 100 feet from our original positions atop the hill. As we sprint towards safety I hear the shouts of the guards spotting us. Shit.
     "Can we make it Midoriya?" I yell to him over the pounding in my ears.
     He looks behind him, judging the distances between the guards, us, and the treeline. "As long as they don't follow us into the woods we'll make it out of this. The odds of them entering are slim, a majority of the kingdom thinks these woods are haunted," he pants as we reach the treeline and continue sprinting into the woods.
     He let's go of my wrist and we keep running, leaping over roots and fallen trees, ducking under branches, and dodging smaller trees. We hear the guards yell out in anger and peek behind us to see that they had stopped just outside the forest. We keep running though, wanting to put as much distance as possible between us and my kingdom.
     Wolves Den Forest is unclaimed territory that lies in between my father's kingdom and the peaceful travelers village known as Migrator's Branch. Its name is meant to represent the branch of a tree that migrating birds might stop at to rest. If we continue running for a little while longer, and spend the next couple of days traveling at a decent pace, we'll make it to Migrator's Branch in 3 to 5 days.
     We continue running until we hear the sound of running water, and come to a stop. We listen for any sounds of danger nearby. A water source could be a great place for us to stop and take a break, but it would be just as good of a stopping point for any passing predator.
     We walk towards the sound, eventually walking alongside a river, and come to a stop at the top of a small waterfall. It falls down into a small lagoon. It's absolutely breathtaking. I drop the bow and arrows and take off my backpack, sitting on the edge of the cliff to relax a bit. Midoriya does the same and we stare down into the turquoise water. It's not a big drop, maybe 8 feet, max.
     I lean forward, as if I'm about to jump, and watch Midoriya's eyes widen in fear. I lean back into my original position and laugh, he hits me playfully. "Don't do that, you scared me (y/n)!" he shouts at me. I just continue laughing, until some of the ground under me gives out and I find myself falling towards the water.