No Greater Disaster

AN: This chapter was kind of hard to write, but I actually really like it.

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

Chapter 8:

He and Raya were currently searching Ronin's office. She was understandably furious that Ronin seemingly vanished—he was, too—but something else was bothering him. He picked up a book and looked through the contents with but a passing glance. Like the five others before it, it was filled with records of transactions: food, building supplies, clothes, medicine, animals, wages paid…and dragons sold. Thankfully, that last type was relatively new and there didn't seem to be too many.

Though, one dragon was too many in his mind. Then there was the gold. He didn't know what was on the second floor, but surely an entire chest of gold and business records were as important if not more so. "Why would they leave all of this behind?" he asked Raya.

"They were probably trying to destroy it in the explosion," she remarked off-handedly. "You know, like I said earlier."

"Yes, but why?" he stressed. "Why destroy it instead of taking it with them like the stuff on the second floor?"

She paused as if she hadn't considered that yet. "That's…actually a good point," she conceded. "Maybe they didn't have as much time to prepare as we thought…" He heard on of the desk drawers slam shut, so he turned to see Raya slumped into the chair, rubbing her eyes in frustration. "It's not like it matters, though. I haven't found anything we could use to track him or Amba down. Have you?" She looked to him, slightly hopeful, and sighed when he shook his head.

She rubbed her eyes again, but this time it was from exhaustion. They had been at this for almost two hours now, and they had been involved in a battle before that and a hard march before that. "Raya…" he began. She looked up at him, the first signs of despair creeping into her eyes, and his heart broke a bit at seeing her like this. "We should get some rest—return to this later with a clear head," he suggested, trying to mask his mounting concern for her.

She released a tired exhale and nodded. "Alright…" she agreed. She got up and left the room without a backward glance to see if he was following. He was, of course, but she usually at least checked to be sure. The fact she didn't was a small detail, but it was one that made his already considerable amount of concern for her grow.

He followed her downstairs and out of the keep where he saw several Spine warriors tending the bodies of his fellow dragons—preparing them for the journey to the Lake, no doubt. The bowed their heads solemnly as they noticed him walking by, and he nodded at them appreciatively.

Then he followed Raya out of the keep's courtyard, through the markets, and into the barracks. Several troops were already passed out on the beds, but neither of them paid any heed to their slumbering comrades. Instead, they walked to the very back of the building where fewer people were. Pengu laid himself next to the wall, his side exposed so Raya could lean against like they did previously.

However, Raya simply collapsed on a bed a short distance away from him, her back to him. He felt…disappointed by the fact she chose a bed instead of resting against him. But that was quickly replaced by annoyance and frustration at himself. Why did it matter if Raya wanted to sleep in a bed instead of against his side? The bed was probably more comfortable, anyways.

He laid his head down and closed his eyes, but every time he heard someone shift in their sleep, he would open his eyes, hoping it was Raya walking towards him. Every time it wasn't, as she was still fast asleep on her own bed. This lasted for almost a half-hour before he got fed up with himself and turned around to face the wall. The view left something to be desired, but at least he was finally able to fall asleep.

He woke up the next morning on his own. At first that meant simply that no one had actually woken him up. However, when he rolled back over, it meant something completely different. While there was still a significant number of people still sleeping, Raya wasn't one of them. In fact, he couldn't see her anywhere. His expression fell slightly. "She…left me?" he whispered to himself, still not quite believing it.

After a moment of thinking about it, he grew frustrated at himself again. These emotions he kept feeling were becoming ridiculous. Raya had her own life, and he couldn't expect her to not live it. She most likely had other things to do besides waiting for him to wake up. Though, he supposed he had just gotten used to her presence in the mornings. They had been traveling together for almost two weeks now, and this was the first time he had woken up without her there.

He got up with a slight groan, his spine not taking kindly to sleeping on the hard, wooden floor. He stretched, hearing his back popping like firecrackers, and sighed in relief as the tension disappeared. When he left the barracks, he looked up at fiery sky in surprise. He must have slept through the entire day if the sun was already setting.

A wonderfully delicious scent grabbed his attention, and he sniffed the air to find where it was coming from. He followed his nose through several muddy streets and found the source coming from the keep's courtyard. The bodies had been removed—of both dragons and men—and the tables that were once inside had been brought outside. A large feast seemed to have started as food that had been taken as spoils of victory was being cooked in the kitchens inside.

Tong sat at one of them, his arms and part of his head covered in bandages, though he looked no less merry than any of his men. There were two empty spots near him, one with a stool and one without, so he could reasonably assume they were meant for him and Raya. However, the Heart princess was nowhere in sight. With no clue as to where she might be, he decided to take his seat next to the Spine Chief.

Tong greeted him with a large smile and a boisterous laugh. "Glad you could join us, Mighty Pengu! Tonight, we drink and feast to celebrate a glorious victory!" There was a mighty cheer at Tong's words, and drinks were raised in toast and downed with another bout of laughter. Pengu watched the whole thing with slight fascination. He was used to the tranquility of Heart's people, and he was always amazed how a single people could be so different depending on where they lived. The Chief leaned a bit closer to him. "And I hear I have you to thank for opening that gate for us." Pengu nodded, and Tong raised his glass to him and downed it in one go. "If you hadn't opened it when you did, we might not have won the day," he revealed.

"It was that close?" he asked, surprised.

"Aye," Tong nodded, his expression becoming somber. "We lost half of our men today. Great our victory may have been, but it came at an equally great cost."

"I am truly sorry for this," Pengu replied genuinely. "If I had never asked you for help—"

"Then you would have been killed, too, had you tried to do this yourself," Tong interrupted him. "And you won't find a single man here that regrets this battle. They know Ronin must be stopped before he kills more dragons, and they are honored to have aided in his eventual defeat." Pengu nodded and looked out over the crowd. While there seemed to be a more subdued atmosphere than the celebration they had in the village, he could tell that every man here had the resolve to carry on despite their losses. He envied them for that strength.

"Where is Raya?" he asked.

The Chief sighed. "She is in the keep," he revealed, but before Pengu could stand, Tong grabbed his attention once more. "She is taking this hard, but she hides her true emotions behind her anger. I have tried to talk to her, but she wishes to be left alone." There seemed to be a subtle suggestion in Tong's statement asking him to leave her be, but he wasn't going to do that.

"I wish to try, at least," Pengu replied, taking his leave.

The solitary trip up the stairs to the keep's third floor gave him ample time to think on what he might see when he reached the top. Perhaps Raya was simply going through Ronin's office again with a more critical eye, and her desire for peace and quiet was merely her wanting to concentrate without any distractions. Maybe Tong was right and she was either angry or upset and wanted to be alone so as not to expose that side of herself to anyone. Or perhaps she simply sought solitude to give herself time to think over everything and this happened to be the quietest place to do that.

Whatever the case may be, he was certain she wouldn't mind his company since they had spent so much time together lately. Which is why he was completely taken off guard when he emerged onto the third floor and Raya's expression when she saw him shifted to one of mild anger. "I came up here because I wanted to be alone, Pengu," she told him dismissively. He just stood there dumbstruck by her easy dismissal of him, and he was so surprised that his brain stopped working for a second. "Did you hear me!? Leave!" she said more forcefully.

When his brain finally rebooted, his first train of thought was to try and figure out what he had done to her to deserve such ire. However, what Tong said about her hiding her emotions behind her anger resurfaced in his memory. So instead of leaving, he decided to take a risk. "I know something troubles you. Speak your mind, Raya. I will listen," he offered.

She scoffed. "What makes you think I even want to talk to you?"

"Did I do something to offend you?" he asked calmly.

"What?" she replied, genuinely shocked at his question. "No. I just…" she trailed off with a sigh and turned away from him, heading back into Ronin's office. Curious, he followed her. She leaned on the desk, using her arms as supports, before picking up a manifest and throwing it against the bookshelf with a furious yell, causing several of them to fall off. "All of this stuff if useless!" she raged. "I've looked through everything twice and nothing gives any hint as to where he went! He left this stuff behind because he knew we would get our hopes up! He's just toying with us!"

That was an interesting theory. It certainly sounded like something Ronin might do: leave behind some important-looking stuff to get their hopes up only to have them crash down when they realized it was all useless. However… "What of the gold?"

"A consolation prize," she answered with grit teeth.

"I understand your frustration at this setback, but—" he started, only to be interrupted by a seething Raya.

"Setback!?" she cried incredulously. "Haven't you gotten it through your thick skull yet? This isn't a setback, it's the end of the road! We have nothing to go on! No leads to follow, no clues to where Ronin or Amba might be! We're finished! Four hundred men died to take this fortress for nothing!"

Ah…

So that was the real reason behind her anger. How to approach this, though? He could simply say it wasn't her fault—try to console her. He could try to appeal to her sense of duty—remind her of the promise she made him to find his sister. He could try to focus her anger onto Ronin—make her seek revenge for what happened.

But he settle on something else. "So the enslavement and selling of my kind is not important?" he asked, faking his quiet anger. Raya snapped her gaze up at him and stared at him in stunned disbelief as he continued. "How many more would have suffered had we not acted? Would those lives be unimportant? What of those that have already died? Were their lives unimportant?"

"O-Of course not!" she stuttered. "How can you believe I would think otherwise!?"

"Then how can you say this was all for nothing!?" he shot back, and she gasped in understanding. "By taking this fortress, we have saved those that Ronin would have captured had we not," he explained. "That is what those men died for."

She was quiet for a long while, keeping her gaze averted from his. When she finally did react, it was to ask a question he had no real answer to. "How can you justify all this death?" she asked, her voice sounding almost lost.

Pengu gazed at her sympathetically. After his first battle against the Druun five hundred years ago, he had been similarly affected by the loss of so many. They may have been brought back after the Druun's second defeat two years ago, but during the first war they might as well have been lost forever. It had been hard for him to accept that many of his friends had been turned to stone. It was even harder to accept he was responsible for those who had turned to stone while following his orders.

He knew how she felt because of that, but he hoped she wouldn't close herself off like he once did. "Justify it?" He shook his head. "I am the wrong dragon to ask. I understand that violence is sometimes necessary, but I detest killing. It is not who I am, and it goes against my nature to destroy life rather than protect it." He paused for a moment to let that sink it but continued when he saw her posture deflate more than it already was. "I may not be able to give you answers to that question, but I can relate to how you feel right now."

She merely scoffed and rolled her eyes, doubting his claim. However, he decided to spend the next hour or so telling her some of his experiences fighting against the Druun. Afterwards, Raya seemed to understand that he actually could relate to how she felt. "Does it still hurt to talk about?" she asked him.

"Occasionally," he answered. "However, I tend not to dwell too much upon the past as I cannot change it. Nor do I tend to worry what the future might bring as I am unsure what that will be. I prefer to live in the present because this is the only time I can control."

She chuckled a bit at that, her mood having been lifted a bit compared to earlier. "You sound like my Ba."

"Chief Benja is a wise man," he nodded. His smile slowly fell as he continued to observe Raya for the next few moments. "Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned for her. She nodded, but he decided he wasn't going to risk it. He sat back on his haunches and opened his arms in an offer for a hug which she gratefully accepted. She buried her face in his chest and hugged him as well as her smaller body would allow. He held her gently in his arms while trying his best to not lean down and nuzzle the top of her head.

That would certainly give rise to questions—questions he wasn't prepared to answer yet. "Better," was her answer when she pulled away. "The hug helped," she grinned sheepishly. "We should probably head back downstairs now; Tong's probably worried about us by now. And some food won't hurt."

He smiled to himself, glad that she was feeling better and that her appetite had returned. He followed her to the stairs, yet his heart felt as if it did a small flip when she turned to make sure he was behind her. He knew from that little gesture that she would be okay.

When they made it downstairs, the feast was still in full swing—and probably would be for awhile if past experience was anything to go by. Tong was relieved to see them, of course, but he never mentioned Raya's earlier mood. Even when they both had their fill, neither of them really had any desire to leave. They had slept for most of the day, and all they really wanted after the unpleasantness earlier was to let loose and have fun.

About two hours after midnight when everyone was slowly but surely beginning to retire to their beds, a runner came up and spoke to Tong. The Chief's face instantly became more alert and nodded at the warrior in thanks before waving them over. "One of the prisoners is willing to talk," he revealed. "He said he might know where Ronin went."

At the mention of their nemesis' name, Raya's fists instantly clenched. "Where?" she demanded.

"He said there's a market where he sells dragons from somewhere in the southeast of Tail," Tong responded.

"Then that's where we're going," she declared. She turned to him, her determination finally restored. "We leave tomorrow at noon."

AN: The next chapter will get back into the good stuff, but I thought showing how the battle affected both Raya and Pengu was too important to skip over. What does everyone else think, though? Did I portray the characters well in this chapter or do you think Raya wouldn't be as affected as she was? Let me know in a review.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22