A Fantasy {KatsuDeku Au}

The Non-dwindling Boy

The next day when I woke up, I was alone. The sun peeked in, giving everything a light. My shoulder was still numb, and my skin felt extremely filthy, a good sign that I needed to bathe. Maybe there is a river nearby, I mean, if he lives here, there must be a water source nearby.

"Might be, I just need to find a way to get up." I tried to sit up as gently as I could, but a piercing, needle-like pain hit my shoulder. My bare hand shot up to hold it, trying to ease the pain. It eased away after a while, and I was able to look around. The fire pit was smothered out, the hint of something lifting. "Did he cook something?" 

 The red material of his cape laid dormant at my feet. Sleeping with it was so warm. It was also heavy, which reminded me that whenever my nose touched the fur I had to sneeze. I accidentally woke him up during the night, and he was super pissed. A weak smile managed to be on my face, "I wonder who he is?" 

Now, the time is here! I take a deep breath, mentally preparing myself. "Here we go, Izuku," I leaned on my abled hand, using my left foot to push my weight upwards. Effortlessly, I stood on my on both feet. A light breeze came in, brushing at my face. 

Outside was something I haven't seen yet. Was it simply barren woods, or the creepy forest from near the village? Perhaps it wasn't, and it was only an empty field. The oil on my skin came back to my attention. I bend down, picking up the cape to fold it neatly down in my place. A small, handmade bookshelf caught my eye with all the old, leathery looking covers, some didn't even have covers. One book was roughed up, ripped on the corners, and had burnt smudges. I walked over and grabbed that one interesting book. It was light for its size compared to what it looked like on the outside. 

I sat down crossing my legs and setting the book down. Flipping to the first page, the edges were smudged with black. Heavy handwriting was all that was left to fill its entirety. "Le...vel one healing re...me...dy? Level one healing remedy. Geez, this is so old and faded!" The page was faded, yet still eligible to read. I found myself engrossed to the book's inner contents. How could I possibly stop? Every remedy, old and recent, was documented on each page. Steps, ingredients, where to find them, along with brief descriptions and after effects. 

"This is incredible! How did he get this?" I spent hours, reading pages about poisons, remedies, and potions with extra kick added to them. 

"A page is missing, how odd?" I close the book, taking a break from reading. A light flashed above my head, "I can find something for my shoulder to help it heal!" Throwing the book back open, I search in the remedies, finding nothing to my current situation. Just as I'm about to give up looking, the page suddenly appeared. 

"Here we go," dragging a finger across the wording, I begin to read aloud, "level three healing remedy. Ingredients are common boar tusk, boar liver, bass fish liver, and deer liver. I see no major problems with the rest of the list, except this is not going to taste very good," I cringe at the imaginable taste, holding my stomach back. 

Keeping the book open, I get up to find my sword. For what I assume it to be noon, I stood outside with my mouth agape. Outside was a great empty area with flowers growing high on the perimeter. Thick bushes surrounded most of the tree's bases, hiding their roots. Adjusting the sword resting on my hip, I take one more glimpse at the page. 

"Alright, I have to find one of everything and put it in this sack," I tie a small, brown sack around my torso, the strap resting along my collarbone to my waist.Entering the woods was one thing, finding the ingredients was another. On one hand, the Boar tusk and liver was quite easy to obtain. Only a couple of minutes of walking, and I happened to have tripped over one. The Bass liver was, you could say, the hardest task to do. I didn't have the right tools to fish, so I had to use my hands. Now, you know why it was so difficult. My shoulder would flare up whenever I got a good grip on a fish. Luckily, I scored a few in the end. On the plus side of things, I finally got the bath my skin desperately needed. 

"All that is left is a few herbal plants and I'm done," I sigh heavily, gazing up at the now orange sky while brushing away the wet strands clinging to my face. "I'll have to hold off till tomorrow, it's getting dark." Tying off the sack, it goes over my back and is tied at my waist. I place the book under my arm after checking everything. Navigating my way uphill through the trees was easy. I remembered my route like the back of my hand. 

The night was fast approaching and a film of mist was collecting at my feet. By the time I reached the bushes clinging to the trees, the fog was heavy a few meters behind me. Getting around the brush, my eyes widened in surprise. A light was inside the cave which meant one thing. "He came back!"