Ghost's Fury Chapter 34: Freedom, a How to Train Your Dragon + Big Hero 6 Crossover fanfic

Chapter 34, everybody! In which Obake's one scheme comes to fruition, just not in the way he planned…also dragons are having some introspection this chapter.

We discuss the Hidden World a bit in this chapter too—honestly I'm part of the fandom that actually has a problem with movie 3 so it'll be interpreted differently in this fic (let me know if there's too much salt don't want it ruining the fic).

Gleam-Scale had no idea how he was going to tell Boulders-on-Hill this.

"Just tell her the truth," Preens-Much told him, the other dragons taking power-naps to get ready for the first frantic leg of their journey. Step one: put as much distance between them and the hunting Yokai as possible.

He nodded his response to that, watched as Boulders-on-Hill came in for a landing, belly-flopping on the ground before bouncing back up and shaking herself.

"Hey!" she greeted, bounding over. "How'd everything go?"

"Uh, great! Really…really great," he started—winced when Preens-Much poked him. "Well…I'm not sure if it's great or not—everyone's leaving."

"Leaving?"

"Uh, yeah—and you have to admit it makes sense, this would be—way too many for the caves…."

"Yeah, you've got a point," she said, looking everyone over—he glanced back at Preens-Much for support, found that she had drifted away a little to give them space. "So long as they don't go north or east, they'll be fine."

"Yeah…yeah none of us are going anywhere near those nests."

She nodded—stopped when she fully digested what he said, looked at him sadly. "You're leaving too."

He dipped his head. "I feel like…I feel like I belong with them, you know? Plus there's an opening for Nadders that know how to disarm Yokai-traps, so…."

She sighed, leaned against his leg—he sat down so she could lean against him proper, like Gronkles did. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you guys too," he said, throat feeling thick. "And…I'm sorry I won't be able to tell Hiro bye myself, but…."

She nodded. "If you go back you're afraid you won't leave, or that they'll leave without you."

He nodded. "So I…."

She looked up at him, butted her nose against his jaw. "Go. You're needed."

"Right," he huffed, standing—looked at the rest of the flight…his flight. Looked back to Boulders-on-Hill. "Besides, I know where two big alphas are now—we can avoid them. Maybe we'll fly further into the Wilderwest, find an entrance to the Hidden World."

"Dragons belong in the sky," she told him. "You wouldn't be happy there."

"Probably not," he said, shaking his spines—too many horror stories related to trying to find the Hidden World anyway. "Well…."

"Good winds and fair hunting."

He nodded. "Good winds and fair hunting." Had to turn and pad away—Nadders did not cry—

Heard Preens-Much go up to Boulders-on-Hill.

"I hope you succeed with this," she told the Gronkle. "Maybe…." Look to see her looking at him, back to her. "Maybe once we've found someplace, where everyone's gotten a chance to calm down…maybe we can come back."

"I hope so," Boulders-on-Hill said. "I got used to having Nadders around." Narrow her eyes at him, mouth twitching up. "Even vain ones."

They both chuffed at that. "Congratulations—you described like ninety percent of us." Nod at him—he nodded back, launched into the air after her, joining the flock of dragons angling west—

Couldn't help a last glance back at Boulders-on-Hill.

"Are you okay?" Preens-Much asked him.

"This'll be the second time I left her behind on an island," he told her. "But…I think I'm doing it for the right reason, this time."

She glanced back as he looked in the direction he knew the Yokai-nest was. It was too dangerous for a large flight of dragons to stay there, he knew this. One or two or even three dragons could get away with it…but this many, no. It was better for all of them to leave.

And it was better for them for him to leave with them—he wasn't kidding when he said they needed someone who knew about not-dragon traps.

The reason he knew about them now flitted across his mind.

I'll miss you all—even Obake, weirdly, he thought. But it's time for me to move on. Thank you, for giving me my life back.

Now I have to live it to my best.

Boulders-on-Hill returned late that night, alone.

"I didn't hear any alarm," Obake observed. "Am I to guess that they all flew off?"

She nodded, shifted her weight…retreated back to the ocean opening. Hiro hesitated, bounded after her—

Padded up gingerly when he noted how she was laying, considered her morose air before sitting down next to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "I mean…Gleam-Scale left with the others."

He figured as much.

"He said to tell you goodbye from him," she said. "And that the flight needed him because of what he learned with us."

Hiro nodded. "I'll miss him." Watch her nod too. "Did he say where they were going? You told them where not to go, right?"

She nodded. "They're going west, further into the Wilderwest. He said something about trying to find the Hidden World, but I think he was half-joking and I talked him out of it anyway."

Hiro might have heard a hatchling-story about that once—once. "What's the Hidden World?"

She looked at him, decided he was sincere. "The Hidden World's an old story—there are places where the earth opens up and leads to the ancestral home of the dragons. It's supposed to be beautiful and perfect for us, but I can't imagine anything being better than the open sky—after…well, if you ever saw my home you'd get why I wouldn't want to live under the earth."

Hiro nodded pensively. "But then…if it's perfect for dragons, why talk him out of it?"

"Because going there is like giving up," she said. "When the earth cracked open and let dragons fly free, dragons found their true homes. We have wings, we belong in the sky, not some hole under the ground." Huff. "And besides, there are false hidden worlds as well, populated by mushrooms that make the air thick with spores. Once a dragon breathes it in, they never want to leave, and then they end up sagging to the ground, dying and feeding the mushrooms."

"Ew," Hiro said, shivering.

"Yeah," she agreed. "There was this one older Nightmare who was GREAT for scare-you stories—at least until he got too old and the queen ate him. But the true entrances to the Hidden World—they're guarded by special dragons who let none but good dragons in. I heard that if they scent evil they simply eat whoever stands before them rather than let them go back into the world."

Hiro shuddered at that—h-how could someone scent evil? Did evil have a smell?

If it did, he thought it might smell like rotten ice, like Mountain-King. Now there was a dragon that needed to be ate. The queen in the northern nest too, come to think of it.

"What do you think evil smells like?" he asked, curious to know what she thought.

"Like the inside of a volcano," she said, resting her head on her paws. "Like rotten eggs and fear and dead hope. The scent of that place is finally fading out of my nose." Sad expression. "I wish it would fade from my mind too."

Huff, not sure what to do…finally settled for leaning against her, full body like she said Gronkles did.

"You still have us," he offered.

She sighed, settled down low.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I do."

They stayed like that for a long time, staring out over the ocean. Hiro couldn't say he wasn't disappointed that everyone had left…but he understood it. A whole flight of dragons was too obvious anyway.

And we did the right thing, he told himself. The dragons were trapped and suffering and we saved them. I still don't know why the Yokai do this, but…at least they can't do it to these dragons anymore.

He started dozing off, cool sea breeze contrasting with her warm bulk, was vaguely aware of her scooping him up and taking him back into the still air of their cave, warmed by Obake's tame-fire. So different from his old nest.

Old nest…he was thinking of Mountain-King's nest in the past tense, he realized.

Maybe I should, he decided, curling up a little as he was deposited on the edge of Obake's nest, Boulders-on-Hill settling in next to him. If a whole flight of dragons can make that decision…then I can too.

Now I just need to figure out how to get everyone else out of there.