No Greater Disaster

AN: I had originally planned to just go straight into the assault, but I thought that another chapter to set it up would be better. That's why this took a few days. It wasn't actually planned, originally.

Also, I'm just going to throw this out there before we go any further: What are your thoughts on a Pengu x Raya romance? (And by that, I mean it'll be purely platonic in nature.) I don't care either way, but I'm giving you a chance to voice your opinions on the matter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Raya and the Last Dragon.

Chapter 4:

They left the storeroom so Halla could rest, and they followed Tong back to the great hall. He sat down in his chair while he and Raya stood nearby. "It will take a few days to gather the other tribes," he said. "And probably a few more to convince them to help."

"That is unacceptable," Pengu replied, his tone hinting at his underlying anger.

Tong just sighed. "Unacceptable it may be, but it's the best I can do. You are welcome to stay in my village until we are ready to march," he offered.

Pengu shook his head with a small growl. "I cannot just sit here and do nothing!"

He felt Raya's hand on his neck again, so he turned to look at her. "Hey…easy…" He sighed but nodded, nonetheless. She turned back to Tong, and asked, "I know it's the best you can do, but I don't think either of us can just sit around and wait. Is there anything we can do in the meantime?"

Tong hummed in thought before he nodded. "There is something you could do for me. It might shave a day off our wait, too…but it'll be dangerous."

Raya smirked. "Since when did that ever stop me?"

The Spine chief laughed heartily at that before becoming more serious again. "I need to know how much of what Halla said is true. Normally, I would send a group of my scouts to do this, but since you want something to do…"

Raya thought for a moment and glanced up at him briefly before turning back to Tong. "Alright, I'll do it, but I'll need transport."

Pengu snapped his attention to her, and even Tong seemed a bit taken aback. "You are not going without me," he told her.

"Yes, I am," was her immediate reply. He recoiled in surprised from her dismissive tone. "Look…In case you weren't paying attention, these guys are dragon hunters. I am not going to put you at risk just because you're bored!"

"You have no right to tell me what to do, Raya," he warned. "I am going with you. It is my people at risk, so it is my duty to stop these men!"

"You won't stop anybody if you get yourself killed!" she shot back.

Tong stood at this point, and both of their glares shot straight at him. He paused for a moment before pointing to the door. "I will let the two of you sort this out alone," he said before leaving the building.

"Listen, Pengu," Raya sighed. "I'm not going to put my friend in danger if I don't have to. If Sisu were here instead of you, I would've made her stay behind, too," she reasoned with him.

Pengu's expression softened, though his resolve to go had strengthened even further. "And I will not leave my friend to face this danger without me," he responded, and she groaned at the fact he hadn't relented. "I am going with you no matter what you say to me, but I know that no harm will befall me while the Dragon Protector is by my side," he finished with a smile.

She glared at him, though it wasn't as hard as before. "Alright…" she finally conceded. "But the first sign of trouble, and we're out of there!" She declared. He nodded in acceptance to her condition. Although, he had to wonder: If she was so adamant about him staying behind during a simple scouting mission, what would her reaction be when it was time to go to war?

With a frustrated exhale, she started walking to the door, motioning for him to follow. He did, though he kept a bit of distance to let her cool down. She marched up to Tong while the Chief was busy giving orders to a group of couriers to be sent to the other villages. She waited for him to finish, her arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently.

Pengu stood watching her with growing concern. He could understand her frustration to a small extent, but she was acting as if he had personally wronged her. And until he could figure out the source of her agitation, he thought it best to keep his distance. Once Tong was finished briefing the couriers, they all ran off to complete their given task, and he turned to Raya. "Well?" he asked.

"He's coming with me," she answered curtly. "You have a spare crossbow I could use?"

He nodded and pointed at what Pengu guessed was an armory of some sort. "Take what you need, and be sure to come back in one piece," he told her, to which her posture relaxed a bit and she nodded once more.

"I will. Thanks, Tong." With that, she headed towards the building the Chief had indicated, but Pengu decided not to follow her.

Instead, he made his way over to the storeroom where Halla was to check on her one last time before he headed out with Raya. He cracked the door open and peaked in to see that her eyes were closed, but when she heard the door open, she looked to see who it was. "Pengu? Did you need something else?" she asked. She attempted to raise herself but winced in pain and flopped back down.

He shook his head and came to sit next to her. "I just wanted to check on you one more time before I left," he explained.

"You're leaving?" she asked, both curious and confused.

"Yes," was his reply. "Spine is preparing an attack on the camp where you were held. Raya and I are going to scout the area for Chief Tong," he explained.

Her eyes flew open and she shook her head vigorously. "No…nononononono! You can't—"

"I must," he interrupted. "Halla…if something happens to me…tell Jagan that I failed, and that I love him, Pranee, and Sisu with all my heart."

She stared at him uncertainly and with more than a little worry. "Pengu, don't do this…please! Our people need you," she pleaded with him.

"Yes, they do," he agreed. "Which is why I have to save them. If I do not return after the battle, will you relay my message to Jagan?" he asked once more.

She bowed her head in defeat. "Yes…" she finally agreed. He nodded in thanks and turned to leave before she stopped him. "But I would rather I didn't have to."

"Which is why I'll bring him back," a familiar voice declared. He turned to the door and saw Raya standing there, bag and crossbow slung over her shoulder. "I promise you that."

Pengu stared at her in surprise, not having heard her approach. "How long have you been there?" he asked curiously.

"Long enough," came her soft reply. "I've got what I need. Are you ready to go?" she asked, to which he nodded and bid farewell to Halla. He followed her outside the main gate where she started storing her supplies on one of Spine's elephants. At his questioning look, she explained why. "If we're going to be spying on professional dragon hunters, we don't need to give them any kind of clue we're near—including spontaneous rain."

Once she had climbed up, she patted the spot behind her, and he snickered despite himself. "I believe I can keep up," he said, amused.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said smugly and snapped the reins to get the elephant moving. It began lumbering off at a…less than timely pace. Pengu walked up beside it and matched pace with it with a mirthful smirk. Raya pinched her lips together in frustration as he quickened his pace ever so slightly and pulled ahead of her mount. "I miss my Tuk-Tuk," she moaned.

It took a while, but eventually the elephant started moving at a pace that he had to jog to match. "How far to our destination?" he asked once they had settled down for the night.

"At the pace we made today?" She grabbed the map and studied it for a moment. "Tomorrow night…maybe an hour after sunset," she shrugged. "But that's just a guess. I've never been to the north of Spine before."

There was a long stretch of silence as he thought about the situation they found themselves in. Before he even realized what he was doing, he blurted out the question he had been pondering. "Is it my fault Amba was captured?"

Raya started out of her own thoughts and stared at him in surprise. "How can it be your fault?" she asked, turning to face him fully.

He released a small exhale through his nose before answering. "Amba loves humans—adores them, even. I should have explained to her that not all people can be trusted. Perhaps if I had…" he trailed off.

"Listen to me, Pengu," she said firmly. "This is not your fault. I may have thought people to be untrustworthy at one time, but Sisu helped me realize that it's not always so black and white. There are some people you can trust and some you can't. But the ones responsible for hurting dragons? Those aren't people," she stated with unwavering resolve. "They're nothing but monsters."

He hummed softly but left it that. He laid his head down and sleep claimed him not long after. The sunrise saw them already on the move, but no words were exchanged between them for the majority of the day. However, since they left earlier, they were set to arrive at their destination earlier than Raya's prediction.

About an hour before sunset, Raya held her hand up as a sign to stop. She dismounted the elephant and walked a short distance away before crouching down to inspect something on the ground. He saw her grip her sword a bit tighter and look around their surroundings with a critical eye. He did, too, though he wasn't sure what he was looking for. She came back after a few more moments. "Footprints," she explained. "A group of four or five people came through here not too long ago."

"A patrol?" he asked, suddenly becoming more alert.

"Without a doubt," she replied. "Which means we're getting close. So get on the elephant. I don't want to take the chance that they'll see your footprints. Hopefully, an elephant passing through won't arouse suspicion."

Even if it did, there was nothing they could do about it. No matter what, they would leave some sort of footprints in the snow, but maybe they would get lucky and it would snow again soon. "We should look for higher ground," he suggested, to which she nodded her agreement.

She looked around for a few moments before her eyes settled on something in the distance. She patted the spot behind her, and this time he obliged her. She changed their previous course ever so slightly, and he wasn't sure why until he saw the reason through the trees.

There was a rocky outcropping that jutted out from a sheer cliff face, and it had enough of an overhang on their side to make a temporary camp. She parked their elephant underneath it but left their supplies stowed as she dismounted. He followed her when she climbed on top of the outcropping. "Get down!" she suddenly whisper-yelled. Before he had a chance to do just that, she grabbed him and all but threw him to the ground beside her.

He glared at her, but she just stared ahead. Curious as to what caught her attention, he looked and his jaw almost fell open. "Oh…"

Halla's description of the camp really didn't do it justice. The place was massive. It sat down in a bowl, for lack of a better term, with sheer cliffs surrounding it and only three ways down to it. "There has to be more than twice the guards here Halla said there would be," Raya whispered. She pointed to the three routes down. "Three ways down, all guarded. Sentries on the cliffs, patrols in the forest, more guards on the walls, mounted ballistae, a single iron-reinforced gate. This isn't a camp, Pengu, it's a fortress!"

"It would take a great force to capture it," he agreed. "Let us hope the Spine Chief has enough warriors to call upon."

She nodded. "I think we've seen what we needed to. I don't want to stick around for much longer in case one of those patrols spots us." They crawled away from the edge and jumped off the overhang.

They mounted the elephant again and made their way quickly yet carefully out of enemy territory. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they made it out without being spotted, though there had been one close call with a patrol they spotted just in time. They passed without seeing them, thanks to the darkening sky, but it was closer than they would have liked.

Raya grabbed the map and drew a sketch of the enemy camp on the back with as much detail as she could. She asked him to see if it was correct, and he nodded. It was a rough sketch, but accurate. This would no doubt help Tong and his war planners a great deal.

They spent the entire time back bouncing ideas for how to plan the assault between each other. When they finally made it back to Tong's village three days after the one they had left, they had a rough idea on how to proceed with the attack.

A guard at the gate informed them that the other village chiefs had arrived and were currently in talks with Tong at the great hall. Other than a few people scattered here and there, the streets were mostly empty which meant the majority of the village was probably attending the war meeting.

They made their way up there, and he agreed to let Raya do most of the talking since she seemed to be more experienced with this sort of thing. Not that he hadn't been to war before, but fighting the Druun was quite different than fighting people.

The guards posted at the hall's doors opened them when they approached, and all eyes inside turned to see who had entered. When the village chiefs saw who it was, they were quite surprised but bowed and gave the traditional Kumandra greeting. They approached Tong, and the Chief stood and greeted them. "Raya. Mighty Pengu. What news do you bring?"

"Well…" Raya started. "It isn't what you'd call 'good' news." She handed the map she had drawn the camp on, and he studied it, his eye widening. He looked to him for confirmation, and he nodded to the chief.

Tong sighed, "This will complicate matters." He spread the drawing on the table he and the chiefs were gathered around and several of them were immediately outraged at the difference between what they were told and what the drawing showed.

Pengu watched as Raya and Tong tried to persuade the chiefs that it wasn't hopeless, and that they could succeed with the right plan and enough warriors. However, many of them weren't willing to take the risk, saying that the cost of lives and resources would be too steep.

As the arguments continued, Pengu found himself becoming more and more angry. More than that, though, he became more disappointed than anything. Before the war with the Druun, humans pretty much worshipped dragons. Back then, they would do almost anything for their dragon guardians, just as the dragons would do almost anything for them. And that held true today for many dragons, but it seemed that their five-hundred-year absence has caused humans to forget their love for his kind.

He walked out of the hall with an annoyed huff, and just let his feet carry him to wherever as he looked down in deep thought. He stopped right before he ran into a door, and looked up to see, to his surprise, he had ended up outside of the storeroom Halla had stayed in. Perhaps she was still here?

He knocked on the door and heard her answer. "Come in!" He opened the door, and she smiled at him, looking beyond relieved at seeing him alright. "You're back!" He nodded a bit unenthusiastically. "Everything okay?" she asked.

"I do not think the other chiefs will agree to an attack," he told her.

"W-Why not?" she asked, confused. "Don't they know what they're doing up there?"

"If they do, they do not seem to care," he said sadly. "Though perhaps they had agreed to attack a large camp, and now that we know it is actually a small fortress, they have reconsidered."

She looked down before she seemed to think of something, and she looked back at him with determination. "Then maybe they need to hear it from me."

He smiled at her. "I was hoping you would offer," he revealed. "Can you make it up there?"

She nodded. "I can walk now, but not for very long before it starts to hurt. But I have to do this," she said, still determined to help.

He escorted her up to the hall, and once again, the guards opened it when they approached. This time, however, everyone was too involved in their loud argument to care—or even notice—that someone had entered. He had her follow him until he was standing beside Tong and Raya, voices beginning to quieten once they saw him and Halla. He stood as regally as he could and gazed at them each in turn. "This is Halla," he proclaimed once everyone was paying attention to him. "You will listen to her."

She still had bandages over her wounds, and her horn was still missing, of course. The chiefs were staring at her with pity, horror, anger, or some combination of all three for what had been done to her. Though she had been confident in her desire to speak to them, she seemed to close in on herself when it came to time to talk. However, she eventually found her voice. "They tortured us," she began quietly. "With whips, by starving us…all so we would follow their commands like we were slaves…or pets. I was lucky to escape, but I was severely injured. If Tong's hunting party hadn't found me, I wouldn't be alive… But others aren't as lucky as me. There were at least twenty other dragons suffering the same as me."

She stopped, and Pengu spoke up in her stead. "My youngest sister, Amba, is among those held in that stronghold," he told them, to which they all began looking between each other in shame. "As an older brother and a leader among my kind, I have no choice but to go…but I am asking you to help me. Please…"

"As much as we want to, it would take more than a thousand men to take that fortress!" one of the chiefs argued. "We don't have that many warriors, and even if we did, how would we get past that gate!?"

Pengu smirked at them. "By opening it from the inside," he said.

AN: So what did you think? I actually liked this chapter quite a bit. But I'm just the guy who wrote it, so what do I know?

The next chapter deals with the assault on the fortress and introduces the main antagonist of the story, so...

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22