Ghost's Fury Chapter 20: New Finds in Higher Places, a How to Train Your Dragon + Big Hero 6 Crossover fanfic

Chapter 20, everybody! We're moving on up! Literally. And meeting someone new, isn't that nice! Or so we say at least.

As I've said, we're definitely going to be seeing more of this and my other fics soon—I'm knuckling down on active fics this month, and a conversation the characters had has now jumpstarted some stuff and put other things in motion and Obake is just really going to have a frustrating time. ^^;

The title in this chapter is also based on a line from the Owl City song "Take To The Sky"—love that song. :D

Okay, so that big Yokai seemed friendly enough…maybe Hiro could branch out eventually.

Later—it became clear from Obake's behavior that this nest was about to be raided, busy packing away dry leaves and dry-leaf bunches and food and one or two metal claws that made Hiro's hackles rise—

"Excuse me for not having a breath weapon that makes me a complete terror at my disposal," Obake countered, tucking a metal claw into his hide-that-ate-things. "Some of us have to have a different form of insurance."

"Well at least you're finally admitting it," Hiro huffed, starting to wonder just what it was that made Yokai so terrifying. They had no natural weapons to speak of at all.

Also something he was questioning: getting back into the carry-tool.

"Don't huff at me, I'm the one who has to carry it," Obake hissed back. "I'm not putting the leash on just yet—if I tell you to run you run and don't stop, understand me?"

This…sounded serious. Weirdly serious. Gingerly crawl in, curl up, claws digging into the soft-things that Yokai apparently liked to bundle up in and sleep on (after last night Hiro could definitely understand the latter)—

Top folded down, enveloping him in darkness, only able to rely on his hearing and sense of movement—knew they were going to the back bolt-hole of the nest, the one closest to the forest. Pause, listening…so long Hiro's scales itched and wanted to crawl away—

Running, carry-tool hugged close—footfalls changed, telling him they were in the woods, Obake's breathing changing long before that—he could get short sprints only but apparently Obake even got winded at that. Totally a stealth hunter.

Finally, finally though—felt the carry-tool be lowered to the ground, sighed in relief when the flap was lifted—

Huff when Obake quickly attached the leash.

"It's like you don't trust me at all," Hiro complained, crawling out of the carry-tool and looking around. Yup, forest, and the ground beneath him was unpleasantly squishy in the torrential rain kind of way.

"Yes, well, not that I don't trust you, but I don't trust you," Obake informed him—hmm, maybe he did understand Dragonese. "And judging by how wet it is here, the cove will be flooded. So it seems the only way left to go is up."

Hiro blinked, looked where he indicated—where the ground started sloping up before butting against the rocky slopes of the mountain crags of the island. Great place for dragons—maybe not so much for Yokai.

"I guess it's a plan," Hiro said. Gingerly picked his feet up until Obake finally got his wind back and started off, hauling the carry-tool with him. Picked his way through the wet ground too, although without as much care as Hiro was taking—well of course! Those were false-paws that he could take off like his hide and that was weird, okay? Did anything on earth even do this sort of weird behavior? Oh wait hermit crabs maybe Yokai were like hermit crabs like that one Terror said….

This puzzling over a new wrinkle in Yokai-care carried him through picking through the wet woods, up to the scree that marked the border between the more mountainous terrain and the forest, up a switchback leading away from the Yokai nest. There were still trees and some sturdy bushes growing in the rockier ground, and he was able to focus less on picking his way through mud as the ground transitioned to tougher scree and rubble—although the rocks were still slick and probably would be until late afternoon.

"People used to come up here to carve out blocks for their homes, after the great hall and storage rooms were finished," Obake said—the first time he had spoken since they left. "Still do sometimes, but mostly they just move to a different house and let the other one fall to ruin."

Huh. Okay, so what Hiro got from that was that Yokai lived in wood-nests that they also used rocks in? Okay so yeah there was that big rock that the tame-fire lived in but Yokai were still weird. Also, letting a nest fall to ruin? Were they like some animals that preferred using other animals' nests?

Maybe they're like cuckoo-birds!

That had been the one Terror's thought, and it made him think—maybe there had been a flight of not-dragons here before, and the Yokai had muscled them out! Just like a real cuckoo bird muscled the native hatchlings out of their nest.

Except…Obake made it sound like the Yokai had been something else entirely.

Well that still depended upon him believing that the Yokai weren't just default murderous monsters, that Obake wasn't lying to him, that he was a full Yokai…ugh, he hated thinking about all the holes in his plan, but he needed to be able to address them sometime—

"Wrr," he snorted, surprised at the gust of wind that hit him—jolted him out of his musings to see that they were above the forest growing on the main chunk of the island, still mostly protected by the thinning treeline, currently in a wide clear spot where moss joined the ranks of foliage stubbornly clinging on.

"We might try going a little higher," Obake mused, black hide more tightly bundled around him now. "Not too much more though—I'd rather not have to hike back and forth for kindling and food." Consider their surroundings. "And not too far that way, we'll be on the windward side and I'd rather not freeze to death."

Especially considering he was shaking now—were Yokai cold-blooded? Or maybe they were just lacking in the natural protections that dragons had, like scales and a thin layer of fat…wait he was shivering a little too. Ugh, thank you, Mountain-King, whatever baby fat he had had been used up to keep him alive. Stupid jerk.

Actually, it was kind of freeing thinking that, knowing he didn't have to watch his tongue—because first you thought it, then you said it, then you got eaten. And since Mountain-King was nowhere to be seen….

Hiro jumped up on a rock, bounced to the next one, being mindful of the length of the leash—weirdly, being with the Yokai was an improvement. He didn't have that constant gnawing hunger, nor the fear of being squashed or frozen. Skinned alive and eaten, yes, but the longer it went the less he thought Obake capable of doing so.

Look at him, focused on picking his way up and scanning the area for trouble. Hmm, well…no. He could believe Obake was capable of killing him…he just didn't think he would.

So that's what this was, he was certain—two very dangerous individuals yes he was dangerous he was a NIGHT FURY—two very dangerous individuals who had come to an understanding and…friendship. He liked that. He liked that a lot.

"And what are you so happy about?" Obake asked, watching him bounce along.

"Thinking about how AWESOME I am and how jealous Older-Brother's gonna be," Hiro told him, prancing. "No dragon has ever tamed a Yokai, he's gonna have to tell me I'm awesome even though it'll kill him, this automatically makes me the best Night Fury EVER."

"Well at least someone's happy about all this," Obake said, looking out over the island as the foliage cleared—they were high enough above the Yokai-nest that the individual nests looked like a squirrel's horde, whole nuts interspersed with the broken shells, Yokai like ants scurrying around the remains looking for scraps. Flecks of color here and there told him that it used to be brighter, but now it seemed to be nothing but browns and dark grays and sooty blacks. Honestly didn't look like much from up here.

"It used to be a lot more impressive," Obake sighed, tugging on the leash a little to get Hiro off his rocky viewpoint. Couldn't help the glance at the Yokai, wondering—an invader wouldn't care what the nest ended up looking like. So yes, he had lived here before there were Yokai.

"Are you really a Yokai though?" Hiro asked as they continued on up the slope. "Were you hatched from a Yokai—oh right sorry you don't hatch from eggs—but were you? Or were you like a cuckoo-bird, or a Hobblegrunt, and you changed your appearance so you wouldn't get eaten?"

"I don't know," Obake huffed. "We may have to double back if we don't find anything—I'd rather not have any fire be spotted down there."

"Ah, so I'm a big secret—good, I bet I'd be way too popular. Everyone would be tripping over how awesome I am and you'd get lonely." It was better than thinking he'd be dead, which was just depressing. "So who was the big Yokai?"

No answer, not that he expected one—sniff at the rocks, at the breeze, scenting clean rain-washed air—

"Ah," Obake noised once they reached a flat section. "This looks promising."

This was a cave big enough for a modest-sized dragon to fit into, which meant plenty of room for Obake and Hiro—opened up into a wider space with rocks scattered everywhere, stalactites and stalagmites pointing into the space like dragon teeth. Protected from the wind, cozy, and not visible from the Yokai-nest.

"This looks very promising," Obake said, kneeling to root through the carry-tool. Hiro watched, interested in what all Obake had brought—

"A…stick," Hiro observed when Obake pulled it out. "You brought a stick why? We're not playing fetch now, are we? Because we're still kind of tied together."

"This isn't for playing," Obake told him, pulling something else out—a rock, it looked like. Held the stick close to the wall, scrape the rock along so it sparked—

The end of the stick was suddenly flaming.

"Ooh!" Hiro barked. "Oh wait—did you mean to do that? You look like you meant to do that you're not panicking what is it with Yokai and setting things on fire?"

"And this is why I'd rather you not run around with it," Obake said, lifting the flaming stick up—ah, so it lit the cave! Very clever. "Come on then."

"We're not taking the carry-tool?" Hiro asked, looking at the thing they were leaving behind.

"I'd rather not be weighed down if we need to make a break for it."

Hiro huffed at that, wondering just what Obake thought they'd be encountering in here. It was a cave, yes, it was nice and dry, yes—and it was deep enough they wouldn't be seen from outside. Definitely perfect—

Not perfect.

He scented it moments before the boulder opened its eyes, managed a squeak of alarm as it started snarling—

Another squeak as Obake grabbed him, prompting the Gronkle to lunge—scramble back as Obake jabbed the torch forward, slipping in his haste to reverse course—Gronckle had claws, could recover faster—

"Wait hold it!" Hiro barked, squirming free and jumping in front of Obake. "No! Bad! He's a friendly Yokai!" Roll to his back, belly exposed to Obake, look at the Gronkle and hope he could sell this. "See? Very friendly—you just startled him. Bad dragon."

Okay, good news, he had succeeded in getting the Gronkle to stop charging.

Bad news: dragons should really not be looking at the Yokai-Tamer like he had lost all sense.

"I…have no idea what part of that to address first," the Gronkle said finally. "Are you okay? You're talking like you hit your head."

"I am perfectly fine, see? I'm Hiro, and this is my pet Yokai Obake. Nice Obake, good Obake, stay. Pet."

The Gronkle was starting to edge firmly from aggressive to confused, and Hiro was certain he could totally talk her down so long as Obake didn't decide to whip out a metal-claw. Growl weakly—

Hiro growled back—looked when Obake tugged at his leash. "No. Bad Yokai. Stay."

"Being eaten by a Gronkle is not high on my list of things I want to do today," Obake hissed at him.

"She's not going to eat you. Remember, dragons eat fish, same as Yokai."

The Gronkle was actually backing up a few steps, thoroughly confused now. "What is this even?"

"This is the latest breakthrough in dragon-Yokai relationships—see how I have tamed this ferocious beast!" he declared, pawing at Obake—who sagged as he realized what was going on.

"This is like with those Terrors, isn't it?" he demanded, edging firmly from aggressive to annoyed.

"Yes don't ruin my moment. See? Completely tame."

The Gronkle still didn't look convinced. "If it's so tame, why are you tied to it?"

"Oh. Well see, this is more him tied to me—it's called a 'leash,' so you don't lose your Yokai when you take it for a walk. They tend to wander off otherwise." Bat at Obake when he flicked at his head.

"I know when I'm being mocked," he ground out.

The Gronkle kept looking at them, eye ridges crumpling, ears folding back, mouth sagging further into disbelief—

Finally sat down, laid down, front paws massaging her head. "I must have hit my head harder than I thought."

"How did you even get here anyway?" Hiro asked.

"I understand there was a Gronkle left in the kill ring," Obake mused. "Maybe it managed to escape. Somehow."

"What?" the Gronkle asked. "What did he say?"

Should probably leave out something that sounded like kill ring, that sounded bad. "He—we both do actually—want to know what you're doing here. I mean, most dragons wouldn't settle on Yokai."

"Oh," she said, sitting up a little. "I come from a northern flight, one that has a queen? Anyway, when she sent us to attack here one of those flying rocks the Yokai throw hit me and I smacked into the mountain. Came to enough to scramble in here, woke up ages later hungry and thirsty, but with no queen growling in my head. Wasn't sure if it was being here or getting bonked on the head, but I decided I'd take my chances here. No desire to go back to some alpha who'll eat me if I screw up, you get me?"

"Yeah," Hiro sighed. "Unfortunately."

The Gronkle glanced up at Obake again, shifted uneasily. "So…he's really tame?"

"Of course—take careful note of how he's most decidedly not attacking us. Good Obake."

"And it has a name."

"I mean yeah, we do don't we?" Which reminded him. "By the way, I'm Hiro—that's Obake."

"What kind of a name is Hiro?"

"It's a Yokai gift-name—it's a thing. You didn't introduce yourself."

"Ah." Ah-ha, etiquette just bit you, didn't it? "I'm Boulders-on-Hill. Kind of Boulders-IN-Hill right now, but yeah," she muttered, looking around.

Hiro glanced back at being poked by Obake. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather press on now—worrying about one dragon is bad enough."

"Fine, be boring," Hiro huffed. "Well, bye."

"Wait, where're you going?" Boulders-on-Hill asked, perking up—scrabbled upright and after them, prompting Obake to skitter away and Hiro to almost follow. "Please stay—the cave's big enough, I haven't had anyone to talk to in AGES, and I need to know more about this thing you're doing."

Hiro considered. "You promise to be nice to Obake? No biting or flaming or clawing?"

She gave Obake a narrow look. "Do I have to worry about him doing any of those things?"

"Obake is very tame. Besides, Yokai don't breathe fire."

"That stick's on fire."

"Just because they don't BREATHE fire doesn't mean they don't like SETTING things on fire."

Ah, got her now—finally sat down, nodding. "Okay fine, but only because he seems polite."

"Good." Sat down, look at Obake.

And because Obake was a very clever Yokai, he got the gist soon enough.

"No," he said flatly, front paws on his hips what was with Yokai limbs and bending like that seriously. "No, the Terrors were bad enough trying to feed you is bad enough I'm not adding a Gronkle to the list."

"Please?" Hiro begged, sitting up and trying for cute—maybe try that thing Yokai did when they acted pleased, with the corners of their mouth up and teeth showing. "An extra set of eyes and ears is SERIOUSLY useful."

"I thought the Yokai was your pet," Boulders-on-Hill said.

"It's more of an equal-partnership thing. Come on, you know you can't resist…." Paws up and together, repeating the motion…cheer when he saw the sag that meant Obake would relent.

"Fine, but I'm not feeding it, and when it eats you I don't want to hear it," Obake groused, stalking back to the carry-tool.

"Excuse you," Boulders-on-Hill sniffed, as Hiro followed Obake—grabbed the carry-tool and started dragging it back into the cave.

"You're going to be the death of me, I've decided," Obake continued, hefting the carry-tool up and heading further into the cave. "Of all the awful deaths I could have ever conceived for myself, I would have thought that death by Night Fury would be more impressive than aggravating."

"Oh come on, you like it," Hiro insisted—looked at Boulders-on-Hill when they were close enough. "So how are you getting in and out? Do you have to hunt at night?"

"Mmm?" she noised. "Oh no, I just stay on sort of the back-end of the island—come on, I'll show you."

She headed further into the cave, strangely enough—Hiro chuffed at Obake, who picked up the burning stick and followed.

"Ah," he noised, when they reached two branching tunnels in the back of the cavern. "Now I wonder when that came through here."

That? "What do you mean?" he asked.

Boulders-on-Hill glanced back. "I guess he means the tunnels—a Whispering Death did these."

Hiro might have heard about this one in passing. "We didn't have any of those in my flight—what kind of dragon are they?"

"Burrowing kind, long and thin with a big mouth built for munching through rock—they can eat a whole island if it's small enough or if they're big enough, but mostly they like to find big sturdy ones and make a nest in them. One of my cousins knew a few, you see, before she got…well, eaten."

Ah. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be—none of us could do anything, not really." Sigh, continue through the winding tunnel, ignoring the side turnings that Hiro and Obake continually paused at to peer in. Some seemed like they were intended as sleeping caverns, others angled sharply up or sharply down.

"I hope that thing's gone," Obake said, trying to peer up into the gaping darkness of one of the tunnels. "On a positive note, if I had known about these earlier I would have definitely come here sooner."

"It does seem like a cool place to hide," Hiro agreed. "Hey—how friendly are Whispering Deaths anyway?"

"I think usually they prefer to keep to themselves," Boulders-on-Hill called back, glancing over her shoulder. "And I haven't smelled any fresh dragon scents—I think if one was here, it's gone by now."

Huh, pity. Keep following the Gronkle, past another soft turn—

"Don't tell me we're actually on the other side of the mountain," Obake muttered, as a circle of blue sky appeared. Follow Boulders-on-Hill up to it—

Got smacked in the face with a breeze again, only much stronger—strong enough to blow Obake's flaming stick out—looked out over the ocean from a respectable distance up—

Looked down at where it crashed against rocks a long way down.

"Charming," Obake said finally, sounding a little faint. "But not very useful if you can't fly."

"I've been coming out through here so I can fish," Boulders-on-Hill explained. "Not when there's water-travelers around, but they don't usually come this way. Plenty of fish, safe place to sleep, out of the elements and the weather…honestly it was surprisingly quiet until you guys showed up."

Hiro considered the drop. "So you can catch fish anytime? So long as there's no water-travelers around?"

"Yup."

Hiro looked up at Obake, grinning gummily. "I think we're going to like it here."