Chapter Text
When Kageyama woke the next morning, it was to the sound of running water, birds chirping, and muffled laughter. If he had to guess, he would say that it was around six in the morning, and when he opened his eyes to glance around the clearing, he saw the beginnings of an orange sunrise.
When he looked around, he saw, rather obviously, that the giggling was coming from Yachi and Hinata, who were disassembling their fireplace and tossing the charred wood into the bushes, presumably to cover their tracks. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Tsukishima and Yamaguchi leaning against a fallen tree-trunk, sitting so close that their shoulders were touching, and murmuring quietly to each other.
…He was the last one awake, so he sighed, and quickly hoisted himself to his feet.
“None of you woke me?” He mused, and at the sound of his voice, all four of them whipped their heads around in surprise. Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, Yamagcuhi smiled, Yachi clapped her hands in delight, and Hinata practically launched himself over with an excited squeak.
“We didn’t wake you because-” Yamaguchi began, but before he could finish, Hinata jumped in front of his vision, and stared at him with a delighted grin.
“-We thought you deserved the rest.” He finished, voice soft, and filled with a tone of adoration that made Kageyama’s heart skip a beat. “You just looked so tired, we thought we’d let you rest until the sun came up.”
He paused, not speaking, but he could feel the confused expression on his face morphing into a smile as he stared down at the hobbit in front of him.
In the morning light, Hinata’s eyes glowed kind of like the sun.
“...Thankyou.” He murmured, and for a few moments, neither of them moved, simply staring at each other under the canopy of trees. It seemed like neither of them were going to move, but after a while, Yamaguchi loudly cleared his throat, and rolled his eyes, snapping Kageyama’s attention over to him.
“Okay, lovebirds, get over it.” He drawled, and next to him, Tsukishima snorted. He looked better than he did last night, and it made something in Kageyama’s heart ease. “We’ve packed up the camp, Kageyama, all that’s left is to head off!”
Kageyama let out a sigh, and in front of him, Hinata shrugged happily.
“You could have made me help.” He groaned, and Hinata simply reached up to pat him reassuringly on the shoulder.
“We were all up anyway, plus, you’ve got a long day of leading-us-through-the-woods ahead of you!” He grinned, and bounced off to rejoin Yachi where she was hoisting her pack onto her shoulder. All that was left was for him to shake his head with exasperation, and roll up his bed-roll for the next leg of their journey.
As he bent down to do-so, a familiar set of knees hit the ground next to him, and he glanced up to see Yamaguchi, kneeling down with an expectant look on his face. Kageyama raised his eyebrows, and tilted his head to the side.
“Goodmorning, Yamaguchi.” He muttered, and a smirk spread across his face as Yamaguchi smiled. “To what do I owe the honour?”
Yamaguchi rolled his eyes, and leaned backwards so that he was resting on the balls of his palms.
“Just want to know what the plan for the day is.” He mused, and Kageyama was sure he could see a twinkle of… something behind his eyes, something not quite malicious, more like mischievousness. “Y’know, after a full day of sitting around, I was thinking that it would be useful for us to go a little bit faster for the next couple of hours.”
Kageyama raised an eyebrow, and glanced around the clearing momentarily. Hinata and Yachi looked extremely ready to leave, their packs resting on their backs and jumping around the clearing like mad. Tsukishima… didn’t look as awful as he expected him to. The blond was leaning backwards against a tree, staring serenely out through the gaps in the trees and blinking in the light of the sun.
“...Do you think everyone’s up for it? Are you up for it?” He hummed, and Yamaguchi nodded eagerly.
“Yep, Hinata and Yachi look pretty excited, and I checked in with Tsukishima, and he said he feels well enough to speed up.” He hummed. Kageyama continued to roll up his blankets, and continued to look at Yamaguchi expectantly. “So, y’know, everyone’s up for it.”
Kageyama let out a contemplative sigh, and Yamaguchi leaned forward towards him.
“We could scout out the trail together, walk further in front of everybody to make sure they’re safe.” The elf continued, a hopeful gleam in his eyes. What that hopeful gleam meant, Kageyama didn’t know, but what he did know was that Yamaguchi would simply just keep campaigning to him if he didn’t give him an answer.
Truthfully, speeding up for a day wasn’t a bad idea. They had lost a lot of time on their long-winded rest break, and he could feel himself itching to get back onto the trail.
“...That sounds like a wonderful idea.” He grinned, and Yamaguchi sprang up, clapping his hands together excitedly. “But we should account for breaks. They’ve gotten better at long distances but Hinata and Tsuksihima still get tired easily, and with everyone’s injuries…”
Yamaguchi nodded vigorously, and spun around to face the other.
“Yeah, uh, totally, Kageyama- Alright guys-!” And with that he bounced off, happily gliding towards Tsukishima and lightly punching him in the arm when he rolled his eyes. (The punch was immediately followed by a horrified gasp, and a long string of apologies that were waved away with little concern.).
Kageyama simply turned back to his bedroll, and laughed to himself as the rest of the party began to chatter amongst themselves. Despite the adversity they had faced two days prior, they all seemed relatively excited to get moving once again. Why? He wasn’t sure, but he liked to think that they had some sense of duty, one that made them want to progress no matter the odds and ensure that they completed their mission, no matter the cost… It was probably just because Hinata was getting antsy, though, and because Yachi was excited to finally get into the mines. Yamaguchi was probably just excited to see more of the woods, and Tsukishima… Well, Tsukishima probably just didn’t want to get left behind.
The thought made him smile, and with his blankets rolled up, he stood once again and placed his hands on his hips. Everybody was already looking at him expectantly, and with a tilt of his head, he watched as everybody stood at attention.
“I believe-” He spoke, grinning. “That it’s about time we started walking.”
—
“...I really admire your loyalty.” Yamaguchi hummed, and Kageyama turned to face him, squinting.
The weather was perfect. The sky above was blue, and peaked through the canopy of trees. The birds around them were chirping, the stream bubbled quietly some way off the path, and the sun was warm, an obvious presence, despite not quite being able to see it from their current trail.
The good weather was probably the reason the beginning of their walk was so easy. They had made astounding progress, practically running through the undergrowth with chants of encouragement and warm laughter until Hinata almost face planted into the dirt. (Then they moved a little bit slower, with no less enthusiasm, and still pretty quickly, in comparison to the days before.) In fact, everybody was so enthusiastic about moving on that the entire group walked together for the first few hours, and it wasn’t until Tsukishima signalled his need for a break that Hina and Yachi slowed down to walk with him, leaving Kageyama and Yamaguchi scouting ahead.
Now that Kageyama thought about it, He hadn’t walked with Yamaguchi as much as he had the other members of the party. At least one of them was always scouting ahead, and the other was typically staying back with the rest of the group, just in case. But now, walking briskly beside the elf, he realised that their conversation flowed quite naturally.
“...What do you mean?” Kageyama replied, and Yamaguchi tilted his head to look at him. The elf looked nonchalant, practically serene as they walked through the woods, but he couldn’t help but notice the glint of curiosity in his eyes as he stared.
For a few moments Yamaguchi didn’t respond, but after seemingly realising that he genuinely didn’t know what he meant, he turned to face him better, and curled the corner of his lips upwards in a smile.
“Y’know, like your loyalty to the king, and stuff. You seem to care about him a whole lot, and, uh, I know everyone has strong opinions about Ushijima, but the fact you’re willing to stand behind him without hesitation for the sake of King Oikawa, well, I think that’s commendable.” He hummed.
There was something about this that made Kageyama’s lips quirk up as well, and something in his cheeks warm.
“You do?” He muttered, and Yamaguchi nodded. “I thought- Tsukishima and Yachi think that nobody should stand behind him, and I get it, his right to the throne is intrinsically linked to bloodshed, but- but if that’s what I have to do to keep Oikawa happy, then that’s what i’ll do, y’know?”
A king born from bloodshed is still a king.
Truthfully, Oikawa disliked Wakatoshi just as much as Tsukishima did, but he had managed, during his coronation, to be a little bit more tactful about it. However, if the theory about one of the Miya twins stealing the ring for the right to the throne, in order to properly challenge the king of Rohan, was true , then he had very little doubt that Oikawa would side with them. He’d do practically anything to get this ring back, it being what it was, and all.
Yamaguchi looked like he was considering his words carefully before he opened his mouth again.
“I do get it.” He let out a hum, and furrowed his eyebrows. “But do you really think Wakatoshi deserves the crown he wears?”
Kageyama paused.
Is a king born from bloodshed really supposed to be a king?
“I think he does.” He replied, and Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow. “That’s what the prophecy said he’d do, and, well, he did take the throne, in the most literal way possible.”
“Really?”
“...Yeah.”
There was a brief pause, one that made Kageyama want to rethink his decision to say yes. Being completely honest, he wasn’t entirely sure. He had known the Miya twins as children, and he really had liked their parents.
But then Yamaguchi’s gaze melted, and was replaced with one of contentment again.
“...I don’t, not at all.” He sighed, and when Kageyama looked at him, worried, he paused, and waved his hands in front of his face in surprise. “Jeez, I'm not going to crucify you for believing he does, I was just wondering if you actually believed so or if you were just picking a fight with Tsukki in the council.”
At this, Kageyama snorted, and Yamaguchi started to giggle; He liked Yamaguchi, more than he thought he would.
“If anything, he was picking a fight with me.” He replied, and Yamaguchi began to giggle harder. “Seriously, he was being mean.”
“He was just tired, and didn’t want to be there.” Yamaguchi snorted, and Kageyama rolled his eyes, sighing. “No, seriously, I think he already knew about the quest, and he knew that if he went to the council he would get roped into it.”
This made Kageyama start to laugh again, and with a grin, he tilted his head, and stared at him fondly; He really liked Yamaguchi.
“I admire your loyalty, too. To Rivendell, to Tsukishima, the dedication you perform every little action with is truly awe inspiring.”
He watched as Yamaguchi opened his mouth to speak, before he snapped it shut again with the red flush spreading across his cheeks. He looked a little bit taken aback, but the way he smiled, the way his eyelashes batted over his eyes made him think it wasn’t in a bad way.
“Well-” He started, before he chuckled, and reached up to rub at the back of his neck. “I’m a soldier, that’s how I was raised, it’s in my nature, It’s not- It’s not anything special.”
And he was about to reply, but It was at that moment that Kageyama heard the creak of a branch.
It was evident that Yamaguchi heard it too; too far away to be one of them, too far in the wrong direction to be one of their companions, and much too heavy to be an animal. In an instant, he had his sword drawn from its hilt, and Yamaguchi had done the same, but was pressing a finger to his lips in anticipation. If necessary, there was no doubt in his mind that Yamaguchi would fare much better in any form of sword fight than he would, so he flicked his gaze back down the path where the rest of their party was walking in questioning silence.
For a few seconds, Yamaguchi seemed to be considering it, before he shook his head, and gestured forwards. So they were to venture forward together, he thought. After a few more seconds of silence, Yamaguchi began to walk forwards, his footfalls absolutely silent on the damp forest floor; Kageyam followed close behind, attempting to keep himself as quiet as possible.
It hadn’t sounded like more than one person, but it had sounded more like somebody trying to be sneaky, rather than somebody simply walking up the trail on a regular day.
All he could hear was the sound of rustling trees, and his own breathing- but suddenly, a voice rang out from the pathway in front of them, and a figure, cloaked in a tattered cape, with a head covered by a hood, appeared almost magically about twenty metres forward.
“Who the fuck goes there?” They scowled. Their voice was croaky, animalistic, and with a familiar tone to it that Kageyama couldn’t quite place. “Tell me right now, or you’ll lose your heads.”
Yamaguchi scowled; he clearly didn’t recognise the voice, nor found it very funny.
“Why don’t you tell us who you are first, yeah? And we’ll make sure we all keep our heads.” Yamaguchi’s response was coy, but with an edge that made the hairs on Kageyama’s neck stand on end.
He should have gone to warn the rest of the group. They could round the last bend any second, break whatever weird negotiation was going on, get one of them-
But he didn’t have time to say anymore, because in what seemed like a millisecond, the figure was in front of them, swinging a rapier at Yamaguchi and meeting his sword with a bright flash of metal and a violent crash. It was so fast that Kageyama didn’t have time to react, and narrowly missed a bright silver arrow whizzing past his head, and slamming into the tree next to the stranger's head.
Yamaguchi’s eyes were trained on the stranger, teeth gritted, and refusing to back down, and at the sight of the arrow, he started to push forward, taking advantage of the stranger’s pause. Behind them, the source of the arrow made themselves known; Tsukishima strode past the bend, and knocked another arrow, aiming it at the stranger. Kageyama noted that neither Hinata nor Yachi were with him. This, for some reason, was the thing to help him recover from the shock.
“Who are you, stranger?” He scowled, and raised his sword. “Let us know, and maybe you won’t get your tongue cut out.”
Behind him, he heard Tsukishima snort, but it was quickly followed by a sharp intake of breath, and the lowering of his bow.
“...You’re kidding me.” He gaped, and the stranger stopped, yanking his weapon away from Yamaguchi at the sound of both of their voices, and pushing the hood back from his head, and-
-Holy shit .
“...Kentaro Kyotani.”
The man had blond, bleach hair, choppy and short from years in the Gondor army; his eyebrows were furrowed, and like he didn’t do much but scowl, he had frown lines along his forehead and dark, angry eyes. The most striking thing about him, though, were the two dark stripes running along his head, just above his ears, and a long jagged scar painted across his face, just above his eyebrow.
It was Kentaro Kyotani, otherwise known as Mad Dog, one of Oikawa’s most trusted soldiers.
…One of Oikawa’s most trusted soldiers, and a boy that Kageyama had known since he was a baby, a boy he had grown up with.
He looked surprised, which was extremely warranted, considering the situation he was in, but it seemed that it had less to do with the situation he was in, and more to do with the people he was currently setting his eyes upon. His gaze flicked between Kageyama and Tsukishima with confusion, but after a few seconds, his eyes widened, and realisation dawned on his face.
“They actually sent you on a quest.” He spoke, lowering his rapier and raising an eyebrow. “I thought the wizards were lying.”
His voice was gruff, and he tilted his head in wonder at the three of them. Yamaguchi, obviously not recognising him, lowered his weapon and scowled.
“How do you know about the wizards? Who are you?” He frowned, and turned to glance at Kageyama and Tsukishima behind him. His voice quietened, and slightly accusatory, added; “ Who is this guy? Do you two know him ?”
“This is Kyotani.” Tsukishima hummed, gracefully walking forward to stand with the two of them. There was still no Yachi or Hinata in sight, and the thought of them somehow being left behind made Kageyama’s stomach churn. The blond looked fine, however, and he had enough faith in him to trust that he wouldn’t leave them behind. “He’s a Gondorian soldier, and, if i’m correct, one of king Oikawa’s messengers.”
“Yeah, what’s it to you? I never thought I’d see the day when the Dawningstar himself went on one of these quests.” He grinned, and Kageyama watched as Tsukishima rolled his eyes.
“ Il’erea velui pent I .” He sighed, and Yamaguchi let out a snort, seeming to relax the moment Tsuksihima expressed the lack of a threat the stranger posed.
After a few more seconds of looking at the two elves, the man’s gaze turned to Kageyama. His eyes were just as intense as they were growing up and at the sight of him, his shoulders seemed to drop slightly, and he took a step forward.
“...Kageyama, my prince.” He spoke, his voice careful, calculated even. But there was a hint of something else behind that, and he pointedly, didn’t bow his head. It made something in Kageyama light up, and the corners of his lips twitched upwards.
“Mad dog.” He hummed, tilting his head, and unable to hide the smile growing slowly on his face. “What are you doing here? Who is it that you’re on your way to see?”
Kyotani let out a hum, and a sigh of annoyance that Kageyama had definitely heard before.
“I am on my way to Rivendell; The king has demanded that I bring news of his recent… er, decisions, to Lord Sugawara, and return quickly to ensure our next steps are planned, in case of no further developments.”
Kageyama squinted.
He wasn’t entirely sure what he meant. What recent decisions? Were they things that might affect their job? Things that might render the rest of the quest unnecessary? The thought of it worried him, and he was just about to ask what he meant, when a loud crash came from behind him, and he whipped around to see Hinata sprawled half across the dirt, and Yachi holding out her axe, rather angrily.
She looked so terrifying, that Kageyama was a little bit scared she was pointing the axe at him for a second.
“...Who’s that?” She said, after a few moments of silence. Tsukishima, who looked just as startled as he felt, if not more, didn’t say anything. Hinata, who obviously seemed to have tripped over in his attempt at an ambush, leapt to his feet, and began to brandish his sword in front of him; a bad imitation of Yachi, and he tilted his head with much less hostility than the dwarf next to him.
“Yeah, who are you?” He voiced, before he blinked, and he dropped his sword slightly. “Oh, I like your hair.”
When Kageyama turned around to look at him again, Kyotani was frozen, and his mouth was open slightly in confusion. For another few moments, it was quiet again, but then Kyotani spoke.
“...How old are you? You look like you’re 4 feet tall.” He croaked, like it was all he could muster. Almost instantly, Hinata scowled, and raised his sword again, this time in a much more comical fashion, and began to walk forward. He didn’t quite know how to react, and he watched as Yamaguchi blanched, and Tsukishima’s confused expression morphed into one of immense amusement as Hinata began to spout obscenities he most definitely learnt from Kenma.
“-And what the fuck is wrong with you? I’m a hobbit, I’m an adult-” He began, and without missing a beat, Yamaguchi jumped in front of him, and turned guiltily towards Kyotani, shielding him from the hobbit’s yelling.
Kyotani looked a little bit horrified, and to be honest Kageyama didn’t blame him.
“I’m sorry.” Yamaguchi smiled, sidestepping to stop Hinata from getting to him with the sword. Yachi just looked confused, and Tsukishima was definitely trying not to laugh. “I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Tadashi Yamaguchi, it’s, er, nice to meet you. Why don’t you have lunch with us, get off your feet for a bit, and tell us about any recent news from Gondor?”
Kyotani hesitated, but he glanced stealthily over to Kageyama. It was probably to make sure the rest of the part could be trusted, so Kageyama nodded his head, and Kyotani let out a small hum of affirmation.
“...Yeah, sure, I’ve got a lot to tell you.”
—
“...I do not mean to speak ill of the king when I say this-” Kyotani began, leaning back on his palms, and staring up at the canopy as he spoke. “-But I think he’s fuckin’ losing it.”
Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. He could feel his palms begin to sweat as they rested against his knees, and there was something about Kyotani’s tone of voice that made him nervous; that sent bugs crawling up his skin and an uneasy feeling settle in his stomach.
It took a few minutes for Hinata to calm down, and truthfully, he had been laughing every moment of it. Throughout their journey so far, they had spouted many insults about the hobbit’s height, but it seemed that any time that it came from somebody that wasn’t one of them – somebody that wasn’t in their adventuring party – that he would get intensely upset about it.
And really, it was so funny that Tsukishima couldn’t help but laugh.
Today, however, Hinata’s amusing anger had only given way to concern, and once he had stopped trying to attack Kyotani, a worrying, anxious veil had settled over the group of them like over a ship before a storm… It didn’t help that Kyotani looked more nervous than he had ever seen him, and began the conversation by saying that he thought the King had gone mad.
“Losing it?” Kageyama frowned. He had his back leaned up against a tree, and his legs drawn nervously up to his chest. His voice was steady, but there was an anxious glint in his eyes, one that suggested he definitely wasn’t as okay as he was pretending to be. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that he’s fuckin’ losing it . When I left he hadn’t slept in three days, he was talking non-stop, yanking at his hair.” He frowned, fiddling awkwardly with the hem of his shirt. “I almost didn’t leave, but he was so insistent I go to Rivendell that I don’t think I had much of a fuckin’ choice.”
Kageyama’s frown deepened, and Tsukishima wrinkled his eyebrows. Next to him, Tadashi nudged him with his elbow, and he glanced over to look at him.
Tadashi looked almost as concerned as Kageyama, his eyes glittering under the dappled light of the canopy. A frown was deep-set into his features, and as his gaze flicked momentarily over to Kyotani before raising his eyebrow, Tsukishima blinked, worried, in response.
For as long as Tuskishima could remember, he had been able to communicate with Tadashi completely without words; when they were little and still within minutes walking distance of each other, they had made up their own language… or at least, they kind of had; it felt more like telepathy, rather than true communication, but nevertheless, he knew what Tadashi was trying to say in an instant.
Can he speak elvish?
Kyotani could, in fact, speak elvish, and at his blink, Tadashi furrowed his eyebrows even more, and cleared his throat to speak.
“...Why was he so insistent that you go to Rivendell? Did something important happen?” Tadashi settled on after a pause, glancing at Kyotani as the other man let out a hum of discontentment. “...Is it something we should know?”
It looked like there were a thousand thoughts rushing through the other elf’s head; his fingers tapped rapidly at the fallen tree-trunk he was sitting on, and when he finished speaking, he immediately began chewing on the inside of his cheek. That wasn’t good. Tadashi was usually much more composed, or at least much more care-free than the rest of them were (Besides Hinata, of course.) And ever since Tsukishima had first met him, he had been…
…He had been relaxed… most of the time, at least.
Tadashi caught his gaze, and Tsukishima twitched an eyebrow up. In response, the other elf rolled his shoulders back, and grimaced.
Are you alright? You look stressed.
What if this derails everything? I don’t want us to fail .
“...Yeah, it is something you should know.” Kyotani continued, his gruff voice breaking through the stream of thoughts rushing through his head, and he snapped his eyes back. The soldier was glancing between all of them, his eyes landing more often than not on Hinata, who was still glaring at him. “And this is going to sound rude as hell, but they’re his words, not mine-”
Tsukishima rolled his eyes.
“With King Oikawa, what else do his words sound like?” He muttered, glancing to the side to briefly glance at Tadashi again, who audibly snorted before he could stop himself.
Tadashi’s mean streak was not to be underestimated; he received just as much enjoyment in making fun of others as he did. That being said, he also found just as much enjoyment in being friendly with others as he did being mean to them.
But as his lips twitched up into a smile at Tadashi's reaction, Kageyama blinked, and glared at him from across the circle.
“May I remind you that that is my king you’re speaking about.” He raised a challenging eyebrow, but before Tsuksihima could say anything in response (Despite how his lips curled upwards just a fraction more, and the way Kageyama’s eyes brightened only a tiny bit when the blond opened his mouth.) Kyotani coughed, and Tsukishima snapped his eyes back to him again.
“ Iluvatar , can’t you two not argue for like five minutes? I’m trying to give you essential information about the quest that you’re currently on .” He sighed, rubbing his temples with his fingers, and rolling his eyes as the rest of the circle started to giggle.
“Actually,” Yachi grinned, sitting cross-legged next to Hinata on a particularly green patch of grass. “They’ve been pretty good about it the last couple of days, I'm pretty sure they haven’t yelled at each other in twelve hours.”
Hinata snorted, and clapped his hands together as Tsukishima let out a groan.
“Yeah! I didn’t know them before but they sound like they’re having a pretty good time most of the, er, time.” He hummed, and Kyotani raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
“...Kageyama and Tsukshima, the princes of Gondor and Mirkwood, the child of prophecy and the Dawningstar, getting along?”
Tsukishima rolled his eyes, and Kageyama let out an offended groan.
“I’m right here” He muttered, crossing his arms, all traces of worry about the subject at hand seemingly forgotten in the face of their new-found topic. “And so’s he! Iluvatar -”
…Tsukishima let out a sigh. They were getting distracted easily, which definitely wasn’t what they needed when it came to the matter at hand. Usually, he would be just as eager to join in with Kageyama and his mockings, but right now? After hearing news that the king might be going mad? It probably wasn’t a wise course of action.
“What were the king's words, Kyotani?” He hummed, and tried to ignore the way Kageyama seemed to freeze at his words, a slight flash of disappointment filling his eyes when he didn’t reciprocate the teasing. Around him, Yachi and Hinata seemed to jolt back into the severity of the situation, and Tadashi dug his nails into the trunk. “This is important, il’er, I do not want us to be held up.”
There were a few murmurs of affirmation, before Kageyama let out a sigh, and nodded at Kyotani.
“Yeah, uh, we’re sorry, what were you saying?” He murmured, and Kyotani reluctantly scratched at the back of his neck.
Truthfully, Tsukishima didn’t really mind the idea of getting held up, because the sooner they kept moving, the sooner they’d get to the mines, and the thought of the mines made him want to hurl- He couldn’t keep the grimace off his face at the thought, but he ignored the way Tadashi raised an eyebrow at him, and instead turned to gaze back at Kyotani.
“Like I said-” The soldier frowned, and leaned back slightly with an uncomfortable look on his face. “His words, not mine, but he said something along the lines of; I don’t care who’s on that god-forsaken quest, they’re useless! They’re not going to get the ring back, our only option is to send a fucking army, they’ll do a better job than those-”
His voice was an almost perfect impression of King Oikawa, and combining the whiny undertones with the harshness of the words, Tsuksihima winced, a scowl forming on his face as he glanced around the circle.
Beneath his clothing, he could feel the cracks in his bones, he could feel the aches in his muscles and the slowly healing cuts on his skin. He could feel the bruises blossoming along his ribs, and the light pounding at the back of his head; he could feel the effects of their adventure already, and Oikawa was locked safely away in his castle calling them useless.
How typical of him.
But he bit back the mean comment sitting on the tip of his tongue, because he watched as Kageyama’s eyes widened at the soldier's words, and his nails began to dig into the skin of his wrists. It seemed like Hinata didn’t notice, however, or he simply didn’t think that Kageyma’s discomfort warranted any discretion, because he let out an offended sniff, and blinked incredulously.
“I got stabbed for that guy, and he’s out here calling us useless? What an arrogant piece of-”
“Did you say that he was sending an army?” Tadashi cut in, leaning forward on his elbows and jolting Hinata back into shocked submission.
An army.
Tsukishima paled.
He had been so caught up in the king's insults – as had Hinata, obviously. – That he had completely disregarded the part where Kyotani said that he wanted to send an army to Rohan in order to retrieve the ring. That was exactly what the wizards didn’t want him to do, and he could feel his heart rate rising in panic as Kyotani let out an uncomfortable sigh.
“An army?” Yachi stifled a gasp, and he shook his head with a disagreeing groan.
“No, no , are you lakwenien -” He scowled, but shut his mouth when both Tadashi and Kageyama shot him a look at the same time.
“...Yeah, that’s why I'm going to Rivendell. He wants me to ‘rally an army’ or some shit, and yeah, he’s my King, but I’m not going to do something that I'm pretty sure is going to doom our kingdom.” Kyotani scowled, and looked down at his hands, where he was fidgeting with the hilt of his sword. “I’m going to get the wizards, get them to talk some sense into him or somethin’.”
“But you-” Kageyama started, but cut himself off with a sharp intake of breath. Tsukishima watched as he glanced around the circle, eventually making eye contact with him as he took a slightly longer, more even breath. He looked tired, and he blinked across at him with a look of desperation that all Tsukishima could do was nod at him in affirmation. “...That’s a good idea, Mad Dog. Does the King know who’s on the quest?”
Kyotani shook his head, and that seemed to cheer Kageyama up, only slightly.
Ah, so it was less of a problem with the army, more of a problem with his own inadequacy issues.
“No, but he thinks that your party’s just made up of amateurs.” He sighed, and rubbed at his temples. “Look, he’s just getting desperate, you need to hurry up if you want to get the ring back without him going insane.”
Tadashi was biting the inside of his cheek, and Yachi was clutching the handle of her axe so tightly that her knuckles were white. Hinata was watching Kyotani with an air of such confusion and suspicion that his face looked almost blank, and Kageyama… Kageyama looked more determined than he remembered seeing him across their entire adventure.
Was he really motivated by pure loyalty to the crown? Tsukishima let out a sigh, and tilted his head back to stare up through the canopy at the sky. He knew Kageyama well enough to know that it was exactly that. Like Kageyama could sense his thoughts, he stood up, rising to his feet like he had just been yelled at by the voice of Iluvatar himself.
“Well, you all heard him.” He spoke, voice casting clearly around the clearing despite the shaky, uncertain undertone. At his voice, everybody’s gaze seemed to snap upwards towards him, and he placed his hands on his hips. “We need to hurry up, need to get that ring back as soon as possible.”
Tsukishima looked across the circle at Tadashi, who blinked.
“... Forya sii’ ?” Tadashi raised an eyebrow, and Kyotani hummed in response.
“You should probably get to Moria by nightfall, time constraints and all.” He mused, and Tsukishima could feel himself getting even paler.
By nightfall? He was anticipating one more sunrise, one last burst of energy before he was shrouded in darkness for the next three days without any access to anything other than stone. No, they couldn’t get there before nightfall, he could feel his energy disappearing and getting replaced with panic that ran through his bones like a wild mare, fast and dramatic in the face of danger.
Tadashi must’ve noticed the look on his face, because he coughed, and stood up to face Kageyama.
“We’re on track to get to Moria tomorrow, we’ll go in just after sunrise, yeah?” He hummed, and blinked across at him with those wide, dark eyes.
Moria, darkness, forever- He didn’t want to go in the mines, he didn’t want to go near the mountains, especially without a fucking guide-
Tsukishima heard Kageyama take a step.
“We need to be quick, we don’t have time to wait any longer, if we don’t take any more breaks-” He started, but subconsciously, while he was staring up at the obscured sky, Tsukishima could hear Tadashi cough, which was followed by a sharp jolt of silence from the other boy. After a moment, Kageyama continued, and Tsukishima lowered his head to watch them. “...Nevermind, yeah, Moria tomorrow morning.”
He was looking right at him, an almost unreadable expression on his face as he stared.
Tsukishima let out a tense breath. In the morning, that was good.
–
It didn’t take them long to move on after that.
Kageyama was antsy to get moving, and while Tsukishima seemed eager to do quite literally anything other than that, he had let Hinata excitedly drag him along, the hobbits excessive talking seeming to calm him down a little bit.
Kageyama was worried… Not only about Tsukishima, but about everything.
The king called them useless? They were out here on this quest, busting their asses to rescue the ring and for what? For an insult repeated from his second in command? It made him feel ill, and as he walked closer and closer to the mines, he couldn’t help but feel worse the more he thought about it. At the same time, however, he could understand where his King was coming from, and if he were put in a similar situation, he would probably feel just as nervous.
The army, however? That was just plain irrational, and he hoped that even through his hazy vision, King Oikawa would eventually be able to recognise what a bad idea sending an army was.
He had faith in his King… even if the rest of his companions did not.
After about an hour of walking by himself at the front of the pack; Yachi and Hinata bringing up the rear while Yamaguchi walked beside Tsukishima, their previous conversation lost to the wind, he heard the sound of rushed footsteps behind him, and startled, glanced around to see their origin, his hand hastily moving to the halt of his sword.
To his vague relief, it was Hinata, jogging up beside him, and grinning.
“Hinata.” He hummed, and smiled, watching as the Hobbit let out a long breath of exertion, and glanced up at him with furrowed eyebrows. The expression on the other face made him wince slightly, and he tilted his head in confusion. “Are you alright? Is everyone else alright?”
“I’m okay, everyone else is fine, it’s just-” Hinata puffed, letting out a breath through his nose as he frowned at him. “-You’re all by yourself, are you okay?”
Kageyama blinked.
He walked by himself all the time, so why was Hinata concerned? Sure, they had just had a rather intense conversation about the state of both his kingdom and his king, and it had just been revealed that even though the king didn’t know who was on the quest, he was about to-
Ah, okay, he understood why he was worried.
“I’m-” He paused, blinking for a moment as he watched Hinata’s eyes look him up and down. “I’m okay, I promise… I’m a little bit worried about the mines, but we have to go through them, so all we can do is soldier on.”
Hinata snorted at this, and nudged him in the arm with his elbow. Watching him, Kageyama was starting to notice Hinata’s small habit of toying with the hilt of his sword, much like he did with his own sword. The thought made his heart skip a beat, and he let out a tired sigh as Hinata grinned again.
“I think everyone’s worried about the mines, even Yachi.” He sighed, and brought his hands up to rest against the back of his head. “Something to do with her kingdom's relations with Moria before it fell apart? I don’t know, that kind of stuff confuses me. Can I walk with you?”
Kageyama raised an eyebrow. Hinata rolled his eyes teasingly as he spoke, and glanced at him hopefully as he finished… Kageyama grinned.
“Of course.” He hummed, and Hinata clapped his hands together excitedly.
“Great! Because I have some questions prepared, and I would ask one of the others, but Yachi says she doesn’t know enough to answer, and Tsukishima and Yamaguchi…” Hinata hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder before a grimace momentarily took over his expression. “I don’t know, Tsukishima looks like he’s going to be sick.”
Kageyama’s eyes widened, and he glanced backwards.
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were walking about sixty feet behind them, but sure enough, there was an inexplicable look of panic flashing across Tsukishima’s face, visible from even this far away. He looked like he was trying to cover it up with a mask of indifference, but it was obviously not succeeding, and one of his hands was anxiously running though his golden hair.
He felt his stomach flip, and a cold sense of dread settled over his shoulders. Tsuksihima was usually the one that kept his cool, and through their decades of knowing each other, it wasn’t often that he panicked. (Not never, though, Kageyama could remember-)
When it came to something like this, though… Well, he could understand.
Yamaguchi seemed to be talking to him, chatting away in a nervous attempt to calm him down; It seemed to be helping slightly, and a jolt of something shot up his spine as he watched Yamaguchi’s thumb run over Tsukishima’s knuckles, their fingers intertwined in a reassuring, loving gesture.
He turned back to Hinata, tearing his eyes away from the two… Just like the night before, it looked like something he wasn’t meant to witness.
“That’s… probably a good decision. To ask me, that is; Tsukishima might bite your head off if you try to pester him” He hummed, voice dry, and attempted to lighten it as he spoke. It seemed to work, because Hinata let out a small laugh, and he ran a proud hand through his hair. “Fire away, aier.”
Hinata snorted, and tilted his head to the side.
“Uh, okay, so, Yachi kind of winced when I asked her about this, so I don’t- nobody’s explained it to me, and since I'm on a quest for it , I think I should know.” He let out a breath, and raised an eyebrow. Kageyama felt his stomach drop. He knew what Hinata was going to ask about, and he almost didn’t want to hear the question, let alone answer it- “We’re on a quest for Oikawa’s wedding ring, which is supposably the last remnant he has of his husband, right? Well, uh… What happened to his husband? I mean like, I can assume, but everyone talks about him like something sinister happened, and…”
He trailed off, and Kageyama could feel bile rising up in his throat.
King Oikawa’s husband, King Iwaizumi.
Illuvatar , Iwaizumi was practically his older brother; He had been his mentor when he was younger, his teacher, his confidant… He had been everything to him, and was one of the first people to truly notice his presence in the castle besides his caretaker.
What had happened to him? He almost didn’t know how to answer that, he didn’t want to answer that, because thinking about it made him start to sweat, and-
Hinata had a right to know. He’s on a quest to retrieve this heirloom, this artefact, he should know what happened to its previous holder.
So he sucked in a breath.
“King Iwaizumi… You can’t freak out, you have to promise, because we can’t have another Tsukishima on our hands.” He breathed, gritting his teeth as he glanced at Hinata again. Hinata’s eyes were wide, hesitant, almost like he didn’t want to know the truth. He wouldn’t be surprised, and he wouldn’t be opposed to him backing off.
But Hinata nodded, and ran a hand through his hair.
“I promise.” He hummed, and Kageyama let out a sigh. “But what do you mean another- you know what, nevermind, i’ll get it.”
This twitched a smile onto his face, only momentarily, before he grimaced again.
“King Iwaizumi is, supposably, dead.” He muttered, averting his gaze off into the distance as Hinata frowned in the corner of his vision. “But I’m pretty sure you knew that already, so… It was a while ago, during the period of time where middle earth was thinking of reviving the Mines of Moria. Because we were thinking of reviving the mines, Iwaizumi decided to send a party out in order to survey the mines, figure out what happened to them in the first place after we lost contact-”
Gondor, along with the rest of the kingdoms of Middle Earth, had simply stopped receiving news from Moria one day; the Dwarven kingdom fading into oblivion in an instant. Numerous people had gone into Moria attempting to find out what happened to the citizens, but had all found themselves miraculously turned around, or unable to progress further than a few thousand feet into the tunnels before they lost their wits.
After that, most attempts at communication were halted, and the mines became shrouded in rumour… Rumours about being magical, about cutting off Moria's citizens from the outside world through the will of stone, about thousands of dwarves still alive down in the caves, unable to leave.
Nobody truly knew what had happened, until-
“-And since he believed Moria would just turn him around, King Oikawa let him lead the party into the mines.” Kageyama frowned, and continued to stare ahead, resolutely avoiding the gaze of the hobbit next to him. “...He didn’t return to Gondor, not after a month, not after a year, he simply did not come back from his patrol, and neither did his guards. He left his wedding ring with King Oikawa because he did not want it to get damaged on the journey, and- King Oikawa treasures it like he treasured his own husband.”
He trailed off, and let out a breath.
He didn’t talk about Iwaizumi often, as it was almost taboo within the confines of the Gondor court; King Oikawa refused to have any mention of his name within his palace, despite the obvious sounds of loud, mournful sobs that he heard coming from the King's bedroom sometimes when he walked past. He had spoken about it to very few people, Hinata now being one of them.
He had only ever cried about it once, and that was-
“... Iluvatar , I'm sorry.” Hinata breathed, and Kageyama finally averted his gaze back down to him. He looked shocked, empathetic, yet entirely without pity on his expression… It lifted a weight off his back, and he frowned, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck, “That’s awful, I can’t imagine how you feel about going through the mines after that.”
Kageyama quirked an eyebrow, and forced a smirk onto his face as Hinata’s expression brightened.
He could understand why Hintata would think he was nervous about the mines in the same way he could understand Tsukishima actually being nervous about the mines; But he wasn’t, and he hummed, ruffling Hinata’s hair with a smile as the hobbit laughed.
“It’s okay.” He hummed, blinking, hard, to get the image of Iwaizumi’s face out of his mind. “And don’t worry, I’m not worried about the mines.”
“Why?” Hinata grinned, and Kageyama puffed out his chest, winking across at him.
“I’m the next prophesied king of Gondor; I can’t be that if I get lost in the mines.”
This made Hinata’s laughs get louder, and soon, he was chuckling along with him and running a content hand through his hair. He was a little bit surprised that Hinata wasn’t completely freaking out about the mines himself, and after his laughter faded into the air, he tilted his head and hummed.
“You’re not freaking out about the mines, even after I told you that one of Gondor’s Kings disappeared in them.” He mused, and Hinata raised an eyebrow at him. “Why is that?”
Hinata flashed him a toothy grin. His canines were sharp like wolves, and Kageyama had the vague impression that he might be able to rip out an enemy's throat with them… Interesting.
“Same reason as you.” He hummed, and tilted his head up to the canopy. “I have Yachi as my guide, Yamaguchi as my defender, Tsukishima as my distraction, and I'm with the prophesied King of Gondor! If I get lost in the mines, then I'll have to have done something so messed up that I probably deserve it .”
Kageyama rolled his eyes, and laughed. Hinata sounded so optimistic, it was hard for him to disagree.
—
Hinata was good conversation, but every few minutes, he had a habit of saying something that made his cheeks flush, and his stomach flip over.
He would sing some kind of praise about his leadership, comment on the way the light reflected off his hair; something ridiculous that made Kageyama avert his gaze and stare desperately down at the bath beneath his feet. He wasn’t sure how to think, how to feel , under Hinata’s excited gaze, and it wasn’t until the Misty Mountains were looming above them that he peeled away, leaping backwards with excited yells to talk to the rest of the party…
…Leaving Kageyama a flustered mess, running a hand through his hair and waiting for the rest of the party to catch up to him slightly.
He didn’t have to wait long, however, because once it was seemingly clear that Hinata was loud and distracting enough to capture Tsukishima’s attention, Yamaguchi glanced at him from down the path, and began to jog up to him with a strained-calm expression on his face.
“Yamaguchi.” He muttered, grimacing in an attempt to force the flush on his cheeks down his neck again. If Yamaguchi noticed, however, he didn’t comment, instead he simply looked at him with a nervous expression on his face. “...Is everything okay?”
Yamaguchi sucked in a breath, and ran a hand through his hair with a groan.
“I don’t- Kageyama, he’s going to lose it-” He breathed, glancing back over his shoulder to the other elf, and turning to look at him again with a desperate frown. “-Genuinely, I don’t think I'm going to be able to get him- Kei, into the mines.”
Frowning didn’t suit Yamaguchi, or maybe, he was so used to seeing either a warm, content expression on his face, or one of wonder, of contemplation.
So he furrowed his eyebrows, and placed a reassuring hand onto his shoulder. The contact made him jolt, and after snapping his gaze to Kageyama’s calloused fingers, he closed his eyes, and lent slightly into the touch.
“He has to go into the mines.” Kageyama stated, and Yamaguchi sighed, running a tired hand through his hair as he opened his eyes, and blinked sadly across at him. “It’s the outlined route, and we cannot deviate.”
“I know, we both know, but- but it’s not that easy.” He muttered, and Kageyama let out a sigh in return. He knew what Yamaguchi meant; There were so many factors at play when it came to Tsukishima, being not only the child of the sun and the heir to the throne of the Woodland realm, but also simply himself , an elf who fed off the land, the air… An elf in the situation he was in.
Tsukishima was the Dawningstar; rumoured to have been born from the light of the dawn itself; blessed by the sun and the creation of rose-coloured skies and frost-bitten breezes. Even Kageyama, who knew Tsukishima almost too well, wasn’t entirely sure what the role of being the Dawningstar entailed, but he knew that it had something to do with his healing-abilities, and the fact that he hadn’t missed a sunrise in… Yamaguchi had said decades, Iluvatar.
“...He’s going to miss the sunrise.” Kageyama muttered, frowning. Next to him, Yamaguchi let out a pained groan, and leaned gently against Kageyama’s shoulder. “Uh, will missing the sunrise- um, you know-”
“-It isn’t going to kill him.” Yamaguchi sniffed, yet the words seemed less directed towards him, and more towards himself. Kageyama nudged him slightly, and Yamaguchi glanced over. Upon seeing the expression on his face, he grimaced. “He just kind of- It’s hard to explain, but he kind of gets his energy from it in tandem with like… sleeping and eating and stuff. So, since he’s already exhausted all the fucking time , it’s gonna get worse in the mines… I think.”
Kageyama frowned. Tsukishima was almost constantly tired, and it was hard to imagine him even more-
“You think? You don't actually know what’s going to happen?” He questioned, and Yamaguchi whipped his head around, sending him a glare before his expression returned to a desperate frown.
“He’s never been in the fucking mines, Kageyama, he doesn’t even know what’s going to happen!” Yamaguchi snapped, before he faltered, and let out a sigh when Kageyama winced. “I’m sorry, that was rude, it’s just… Illuvatar, I worry about him, and I know that he can take care of himself in most cases but this is-”
“-different?” He finished, and Yamaguchi nodded, chewing on the inside of his cheek. The sight of it made him frown, and he let out a hum, wrapping an arm around his shoulder momentarily before he drew away again. Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow, still frowning. “It’ll be alright, I’m sure the two of us will be able to convince him if we try hard enough… What else is he going to do, turn around?”
Yamaguchi snorted, and Kageyama grinned.
“I’m afraid that’s exactly what he’s going to do.” He murmured, but there was humour in his voice, a musical lilt that made Kagayema feel a little bit better. “But yeah, I get it… I’m hoping that Hinata’s going to talk so much he can just zero-in on that for the whole journey; simply focus on not freaking out, y’know?”
It was Kageyama’s turn to snort, and he hummed when Yamaguchi leant into his shoulder momentarily before he glanced around with a sigh… Kageyama couldn’t help but do the same, and when he did so, he could see Hinata talking up at Tsukishima with enough vigour to, seemingly, snap Tsukishima out of at least a little bit of his nervousness. The vision made him grin a little bit harder, and when he glanced back at Yamaguchi, he could see an almost wistful look in his eyes.
Yamaguchi’s eyes were deep, like the rings in the middle of trees and the mystery of the forest; They were elf-like, succinct with the rest of him, but not as round as Tsukishima’s… He couldn’t help but wonder what thoughts were traversing his head behind them, behind the swimming pupils and almost all-knowing irises.
But he didn’t get the chance to ask before Yamaguchi stopped walking, and let out a short gasp. Kageyama halted instantly, and whipped his head back around.
“What, is-'' He started, before he faltered, because Great Iluvatar. In front of them, almost like it had snuck up on them out of the woods, was an almost monstrous alcove of intricately carved stone; It was gigantic, like some kind of entrance hall to a- “Yamaguchi.”
Behind him, he heard the tell-tale sound of Hinata gasping, the clapping of Yachi’s hands, and absolute silence from Tsukishima.
The alcove; carved with patterns and artwork and thousands of years of history, was the entrance to the mines of Moria.