Level Horizon (Haikyuu!! WingedAU)

Year Three 7/9; Unravel

Leaders become great, not because of power, but because of their ability to empower others. ~John Maxwell

Hajime Iwaizumi picks his way through the makeshift camp they've haphazardly set up in the dark, his mind in circling knots.

Everything has pretty much died down now, and he's been seeking a place just to try and sort through his head, but everywhere is noisy. The sentries around him celebrate on a successful mission and he will have nothing but good remarks to bring back to the Grand King, but he can't keep the nervous agitation from spurring his feet to find that one quiet place.

Finally giving up on success inside the rings of torchlight, he steps just outside of it, and is instantly relieved to find an ancient fallen tree, it's roots having pulled up a large crater of earth. It hasn't toppled completely and Hajime agilely springs up on the massive trunk, quietly awed at its size. It is wider than his wingspan, and ignoring the way it brings him farther from the safety of the camp, his steps take him up bare and weather bleached wood that glows lightly in the moonlight.

As he finds a place against a protruding branch perhaps ten or fifteen meters off the ground, he turns and settles against it facing the camp. He can still hear the occasional bustling movement or conversation floating up to him from the glowing fires he can see through the branches. He draws in a deep breath and leans his head back, his eyes drifting closed.

His limbs burn with exhaustion, and he's spent from the day's exertion and nerve wracking tension. He'd been woken an hour earlier than necessary by a messenger this morning; the sun hadn't even begun to chase the gray of early morning out yet.

"Iwaizumi, Sir, you have an urgent raven that just came in at the aviary!"

He'd drug himself out of his bunk with a grunt and quickly tugged on clothes before following the kid out still half asleep.

But his mind had quickly picked up; there were five sentry units out on a snake raid for the last week... so far, updates had been steady and normal. But even if he had warned the beach crew, the sentries were still in that area.

Had something gone wrong?

Had the raven not reached Ukai in time and they'd caught the avian prince's group? Had it been intercepted? Had someone in Sheru Bay let it slip? Or had they just found another snake cell? Maybe thirty different scenarios had run through his head by the time he'd reached the aviary, each as nerve wracking as the last.

The actual message had nearly sent him to his knees in shock.

This couldn't have happened at a worse time.

He'd stared at it for several seconds until the messenger kid had asked him what it said. He'd blinked at the boy stupidly before turning and sprinting his way to the Grand King's private quarters as fast as he could.

"Sir! Permission to mobilize units, sir." He'd said, out of breath. The Grand King had looked up at him from a bit of parchment with a brow raised in surprise.

"You're awfully chipper so early in the morning, Iwa. You look like you just rolled out of bed, but I don't think I've ever seen you this awake before." Hajime had clenched his teeth to keep from rolling his eyes.

"Sir. Permission to—"

"Mobilize units, yes. Whatever for, Iwa?"

Hajime had debated for all of two seconds before handing the message to the grand king. Hajime didn't need to hear it when the Grand King read it out loud; the words were already seared into his head.