Safe in Brother's Wings Chapter 22: Fair Winds and Flat Horizons, a DuckTales + Big Hero 6 Crossover fanfic

Chapter 22, everybody! We're getting closer…and Sashi has joined Tadashi and the kids in getting the Lorax mad at him. Also, tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of me putting this story into its own dedicated document so...happy anniversary, Safe in Brother's Wings! :D

Also, full chapter title is "Fair Winds, Flat Horizons, and Final Destinations"—darn you FFN chapter title limit. *shakes fist*

A lot of the beach portrayal in this and the next chapter comes from my own personal experiences with the beach—there's something inherently terrifying and fascinating about the beach at night. None of this experience involved California, however, so this required a day of poking around the Internet and looking up the area around San Francisco. Port Reyes is an actual national park that you can visit (after the pandemic of course) and has a history of oyster harvesting. Also there really is a Muir Woods I don't know why that threw me especially after the Muirahara Woods in the show but there you are.

In other news, I have not read Animorphs, but like ninety percent of the population I have read Harry Potter—Guardians of Ga'Hoole and Chasing the Falconers gets a special mention for being Scholastic books that our local Acme was selling (I guess for back to school stuff) years ago that I had to talk my Dad into getting. Fast-forward to now, and Dad's as much of a die-hard Ga'Hoole fan as I am. :D

But please, read Chasing the Falconers it's an awesome series that no one talks about and I don't know why. D:

Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes—the hat of leadership is an excellent prize and one we can't let go to waste. :D And yes and yes! It took a while, but canon Louie is slow to trust as well so…I feel like it worked and I'm glad it went well. :D YES bits of emotion flying everywhere thank you I'm glad you liked it! :D

Hexyah, thanks for the review! Nooo, please don't cry! Although I am mincing around in the endgame area of the story now and if I have emotional opinions….Yes, finally Louie trusts him and…um….I don't like sad endings okay so that's not gonna be a thing but you may want tissues before it's all over. D:

They were still a little damp the next evening, but no one really wanted to stay in the junkyard for another day, especially when Beth had woken up and shrieked at the rat Dewey and Webby had cornered. Threat of junkyard vermin definitely got them moving, no one wanted to risk getting a diseased rat on them, Beth just plain old didn't want to be around them ("My one grandkid has one and sure it's cute and all but this is not that!"), and Tadashi was reasonably certain the kids had been sizing it up and bugs were bad enough sure snakes were a maybe but he was drawing the line at rats.

The good news was, it wasn't raining, and the act of flying dried them off well enough. The land below them was scrubby and barren of houses or other lights, and the longer they flew the better Tadashi felt—at least until he reminded himself that around San Fransokyo was populated, they'd really need to be seeing lights. And—wait, what was that?

Power-flap up, angle a bit, staring at the impossibly smooth horizon for a long time before what he was seeing sunk in.

"'Kase," he noised finally. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It is," she said, voice laced with triumph. "Who wants to go to the beach?"

There was a lot of excitement leading up to landing on the beach, and a lot of activity afterwards. Once the kids got used to the sand beneath them they went nuts, some trying to roll around in the sand, others running for shells and bits of driftwood—Webby and Trisha charged the shoreline, paused when their feet sank in the wet sand—fled screeching when the water rushed back over their feet.

"Well what'd you expect?" Tadashi laughed, crouching and catching the two girls, hugging them close and looking out at the water. "That's the ocean, girls—you could fly for days and days and days and never reach the end. Scary, huh? Isn't it something?"

"No," Trisha said, pointing at the ocean and hissing before burying her face in Tadashi's shoulder.

"Hey, that was a word, Trish! Say my name—is my name Tadashi?"

"No."

"Pretty sure it is, Trish."

"Whhhh Bbtthh."

"Oh now see, I'm hurt—I thought we had something special. Beth! You're in demand!"

Beth glanced over, was too preoccupied with the other kids. "You'll have to bring her over—a little busy—no, Dewey, we don't eat seashells—"

"Fair enough. Come on, girls—wuff, you're getting heavy—you've got rocks in your pockets, don't you?"

"'Dashi," Webby chirped, climbing up his chest a little to look back and point at the ocean. "Ssshhhn okay yes no okay?"

"It's nothing to mess with," he assured her, depositing Trisha next to Beth—Trisha immediately tried to crawl up her side, prompting her to scoop the little bird-girl up. Webby hugged tight, not ready to let go—Tadashi hugged her back, turned to look up and down the beach….

Looked up and down again as something occurred to him.

He put Webby down next to Lena, told them to play nice—made his way over to where 'Kase was sitting, arms wrapped around her knees as she stared out at the ocean, strangely terrifying with only starlight and moonlight to show it.

"So what do you think?" he asked, sitting next to her.

"I have a lot of secondhand memories of not paying the ocean any mind," she muttered, jaw resting on her arms. "Seeing it now, myself…I don't know how that's possible. It's terrifying—it's too big."

"Well it is the Pacific—that's the largest ocean there is."

"I still don't much care for it."

"More of a woodland-type girl, hmm?"

"You didn't come over to chit-chat."

"I might have," he countered, miffed—relented under her glare. "Fine, fine. The good news is, we found the ocean, we've found the California coast because I know we didn't fly clear to the Atlantic. San Fransokyo is on the coast, we're close."

"The bad news?"

"I don't know where on the coast we are—we could have come out south of San Fransokyo or north, and I can't tell which."

"I'm not going to be much help in telling you," she said, looking around. "Hmm…what about nearby towns? If you knew the names, could you figure it out?"

"I couldn't—but we might know some people who can. Come on."

They went back to the rest of the group, asked if anyone knew of any costal towns in relation to San Fransokyo as they helped corral the kids.

"I took a trip to Big Sur with my husband once," Beth said. "I know that's south of San Fran."

"We usually vacation on the east coast—sorry, Tadashi," Sue said.

"I know we were going to take a few weekend trips in some nearby national parks," Sashi said, scratching his head. "But other than that—ow." Look at his hand questioningly—Huey immediately caught it, examined the claws, started tugging Sashi over to the trees.

"Sashi Sashi yes Sashi hrrr Sashi—" Huey insisted, tugging harder.

"Um, what are you doing, Huey?"

"I've been there, Sashi—just go with it," Tadashi counseled, waving him off.

"Er, what does he want?" Sashi asked, going with Huey.

"Remember the thing about waging war on the trees? Huey wants the Lorax mad at you."

"Not cool, Huey."

"So the important point is, we don't know where we are," 'Kase said, looking like she was trying to stave off being irritated by sheer force of will. "So how do we get our bearings? Pick a direction and go?"

"If we pick the wrong one we could lose days," Brittany put in.

"Exactly. So, I vote to go off while the rest of you stay here, investigate in a direction and bring back what I find."

"A scouting mission, basically," Sue said. 'Kase nodded.

"Not by yourself," Tadashi said.

"And not with you," 'Kase insisted. "Of the two of us, I am not the one who looks like I'm about to drop dead from exhaustion."

Tadashi opened his mouth to argue with that—closed it when he couldn't. Not with everyone giving him those you know she's right looks.

"Not by yourself though," he insisted.

"I'll go too," Brittany said.

The way 'Kase was working her beak told Tadashi that she was trying to fuss out a reason for her not to and couldn't—of the lot of them, the kids weren't good picks, Grump couldn't be bothered, Tadashi was out on principle apparently, Beth and Sue were older and needed to conserve their strength as well, and she'd spend too much time sassing Sashi. Brittany was the best bet and she knew it.

"All right, fine," she spat, standing. "But you have to keep up."

"I can do that," Brittany said, standing as well.

Considering Brittany was in the air a wingbeat after 'Kase, Tadashi suspected so.

"Okay, I just had the weirdest experience," Sashi said, coming back over and looking at his flexing hands. "I'm not sure what to make of this."

"I feel your pain, man," Tadashi said, pointing at him before looking at Sue and Beth.

The women in question just looked at them with bless your little hearts expressions. "You mean you haven't been doing that all this time?" Sue asked.

"I beg pardon?"

"Look," Beth said. "I have had a nailcare routine for fifty years—I'm not about to let it go by the wayside just because we're on some extended camping trip."

"I guess that's one way to put it."

"Plus sharp nails are a liability around kids," Sue said.

Tadashi nodded, considering…looked at Sashi. "You feeling a little…."

"Oh yeah," Sashi agreed immediately. "But…considering we've got some nice firewood and kindling…and a huge food source—" this with a gesture at the woods and the ocean respectively before turning to the kids and pumping his fists in the air. "Who wants to learn to dig for clams!?"

Tadashi suspected Sashi might have hit on a way to keep the kids distracted and wear them out to boot.

Brittany had to admit, the view from up here was really something—she'd be sad, a little bit, when they were finally back to normal.

And they would be—they were so painfully close—if this fell through…she didn't know. She'd scream, probably, and then after that….

The initial horror had faded into anger when she realized that these people had purposefully done this to her—she had rammed the glass wall repeatedly, charged the door whenever anyone came by to look—

Slung every curse she ever knew at her, that awful excuse for a human being who was obviously in charge, who watched her impassively before moving on to the next poor sap stuck in the next cell. The guy across from her gave her a sad smile and a positive gesture, mouthed something she guessed was supposed to be encouraging. During the past…maybe few days, she didn't know—his balding head had been developing a shiny cap of feathers and his dark beard was starting to look more like nightjar whiskers and other fluff…always looking sad and defeated except when she flew into a fury—like she had reminded him that they shouldn't be taking this lying down.

And then she had taken him away, her and her goon squad.

She never saw him again.

She had kept fighting, sure, but had slowly been breaking down as the sameness and isolation wore her down…they never dragged her away for testing, were probably afraid to, but she would visit regularly to see how Brittany was wearing down, making little notes on her tablet before moving on.

Words could not describe the sheer loathing Brittany held for that woman. And if she ever found out who she was…she didn't know. Scream, probably, maybe chase her down and beat the everloving daylights out of her. Yeah, right, like she wouldn't end up in prison for the rest of her life over that. The sheer injustice of it galled her, made her glare even more poisonous—she hated this. She hated that that—that useless slime would get away with this, all of this….

'Kase glanced at her, made her realize that the other bird-lady had been glancing at her for quite some time now. "Are you okay?"

Brittany blinked to bring herself back to the here and now, shook her head a little. "Yeah, just…thinking."

"You look like you were thinking of murder. It's Sashi, isn't it? I'll hold him down for you if you agree to take turns."

"What? No, no, Sashi's…okay."

'Kase made a noise that made Brittany want to punch her, scanned the area—Brittany looked, didn't see anything but scrubland and ocean and beach and a gorgeous night sky that she hadn't realized she'd been missing. She should have been happy at the sight of civilization, she knew, knew that meant they were getting close, but she had missed seeing a billion stars in the night sky.

"So who was earning the murder-face?" 'Kase asked, looking back at her.

Brittany huffed, debating on sharing…oh what the heck. "I was thinking about her—you know, that—that weasel-fart of a woman that ran those labs."

'Kase nearly fell out of the sky laughing. "I'm sorry, that what?"

"Ah, you know, Tadashi's been on me about swearing in front of the kids."

"Do it anyway—he did. Remember that new word Louie learned?"

"Yeah, but then you get Sue and Beth giving you those disappointed-mom looks and I really can't take those."

'Kase made a humming noise in agreement at that, went back to surveying the area, silent for the longest time. Brittany imitated, reflected that that was probably the longest conversation she had ever held with the Blue-Jay-looking bird-lady.

"So," 'Kase drawled finally, not looking right at her, sounding like she wasn't sure about broaching the topic. "If this doesn't work out…what's your plan?"

Brittany blinked at her. "Go in the other direction. That's the point of scouting, right?"

"That's not what I meant," 'Kase said, looking at her again, this time with an intensity that made her expect hawk eyes instead of those dark ones. "I mean, if Tadashi's plan falls through—if the gene cleansers don't work, then what? What's your plan then?"

If they—no. No no no, they had to work—she had a life to get back to, parents turning the state upside-down probably, a mom pulling out all the PTA stops and a dad who was now probably putting the crisis in mid-life crisis—her dumb little brother, the one that Harry reminded her of with his curly hair-fluff…he was probably selling all her stuff to his friends, figuring she had run away on an adventure like he and his friends had discussed, was probably expecting her to come sauntering up the driveway anytime with all the confidence that being seven brought. They all agreed that he'd grow up to be a salesman and the idea that she might never be able to go back to them hit her in the stomach hard and made her stagger in flight, all the confidence and grit and sheer spite suddenly abandoning her and making her forget how wings worked.

"Woah! Woah!" 'Kase barked, diving to get under her and try to bolster her back up before she went crashing into the sand, grabbed at her back with her back talons when her first attempt promised to have them both go down. "Stay with me—don't go yeep on me."

The odd word sparked a memory of a book series she had gotten into, made her look at 'Kase. "Do what?"

"Yeep—some word the kids are batting about. It works, so…."

She was surprised the kids even remembered her going through her best recollections of all the old book series that she had tried to summarize from memory for them (Sashi had been helpful with Animorphs and Tadashi had surprisingly read and remembered Chasing the Falconers). The kids had always seemed most interested in hearing about birds, had drifted on Harry Potter when they realized the main character wasn't a bird-person, ended up riveted on Guardians of Ga'Hoole like her little brother that she might never see again and her wings were still refusing to work—

'Kase guided her to the ground, where she sank to the sand, trying to get her breath, get herself back under her—

"Brittany—Brittany I need you to stay with me," 'Kase said, shaking her shoulder a little. "Shouldn't have said anything," she muttered under her breath. "Should have listened to him—"

Brittany twitched, looked at her. "Listened to who?"

'Kase's ears flicked. "Tadashi," she said, not looking directly at Brittany. "He said he didn't want to worry everyone with what-ifs."

That idiot. "And what was his plan, then, if it didn't work?"

'Kase huffed, expression tight as she looked back at Brittany. "Every time he got thinking like that he might as well have gone yeep like you just did—I was the one who kept telling him to stay focused on the first plan."

"You did."

'Kase shrugged. "If it worked, it worked, and if it didn't we wouldn't know unless we went ahead and did it. I didn't want to be wasting energy wondering about what-ifs." She huffed again, glanced away. "In retrospect, he was probably right about not telling anyone about any worst-case scenarios."

Brittany balled her fists, pressed them to her forehead as she curled up, rocking a little, trying to get her metaphorical feet back under her—

"No—no you listen to me," 'Kase said. "I—ngh…I need you to stay with me, okay?" Shake her shoulder a little. "We're almost there—that was just—me voicing some…some unlikely scenario, okay?"

"Liar," Brittany muttered.

'Kase sighed. "Only a little."

Brittany looked at her, eyes feeling wet. "Why would you say anything?"

'Kase looked away, at the ocean starting to be visible in the pale morning light.

"I…I guess I didn't think…I'm not sure I thought we would make it this far," she said finally. "Anything after escaping the labs was a bonus for me."

Brittany shook her head, scrubbed at her face—no, no, stop it—

"Hey," 'Kase barked, prompting Brittany to look back at her—expression severe, like she was getting ready to attack. "You listen to me—I swore I'd never feel weak again. You're like that too, I can tell—don't let some what-if make you feel weak. You got me?"

Brittany nodded—but it was hard to stop emotion once you let it out. Sat there, trying to get it under control…'Kase surprised her by putting a wing around her, and she surprised herself by leaning into her.

"I'm sorry," 'Kase said. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"No I—" Rub at her face again, being careful of those stupid claws. "I'm…it would have happened sooner or later."

"Nah," 'Kase said, resting her beak on Brittany's head. "Personally, I like how you've been handling things up till this point—I can respect someone who'll bite someone's head off."

"Oh good—no wonder you never help with the kids."

"Not my skill set." Lift her head—Brittany looked, squinted in the blinding sunrise. "Think we could try flying a little farther before turning around?"

"Maybe," Brittany said, shielding her eyes—

"Wait." Squirm free of 'Kase, padding through the sand—

"What, what is it?" 'Kase asked, following her. Up to an old abandoned shack, door long gone, walls so salt-stained they were nearly white—it looked like…maybe….

Glance in, look at the corner—

Collapse to her knees, clasping a hand to her mouth.

"What?" 'Kase demanded. "Brittany, what is it?"

It was a little line of rocks, set up like a tiny house in the corner—one she and her brother had made when they had taken a day trip with their parents to—

Brittany practically dove back out. "I know! I know where we are! This thing—it's an old shack they used—when they used to harvest oysters—"

'Kase blinked. "Okay…."

"'Kase—'Kase were in Point Reyes—it's a day trip from San Fransokyo we're close we're almost there!"

'Kase blinked, the information sinking in—

Brittany couldn't take it anymore—hug the other bird-lady, sobbing now. "We're so close—we're so close 'Kase we're going home!"

'Kase slowly returned the hug, resting her beak heavily on Brittany's shoulder.

"Yeah," she said thickly. "Yeah, that's…great."