No Greater Disaster

AN: Well...I said this would probably turn out to be a 30k word story, and this chapter pushes us past that. And this isn't even halfway done yet. I'm not even sure this is a third of the way done yet. I MASSIVELY underestimated how long this story would be, but hey! That's a good thing right?

And you guys are all awesome! It hasn't been two months yet, and this story already has 2.5k views! I know that seems small, but it's actually more than my first story had at that time. And that one's almost at 70k views now! Seriously, whether you're just here to check out another Raya fic or if you've migrated from my other stories, thank all of you so much!

Okay, sappy stuff's done.

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

Chapter 10:

"So…Boun. You have time to talk?" Raya asked.

The young chef gestured to the lengthy line. "Does it look like I have time to talk? The Shrimporium closes at ten o'clock tonight. We can catch up then if you want." He turned away, thinking that was it.

He glanced at Raya, who looked more than a little surprised at being brushed aside so easily. To be fair, though, it seemed Boun thought they were here for nothing more than idle chit-chat. "Boun! This isn't a social call, okay? We need to ask you something important!"

"Sorry, Raya, but I'm still not giving up my recipe!" he called back, an amused smirk on his face. "It doesn't matter how many times you ask! But since you're here, I'll give you two a congee on the house!"

Pengu watched the impetuous youth return to his cooking without so much as a backward glance. Raya looked dumbstruck, but Pengu could feel his frustration beginning to rise. However, he was able to clamp down on it enough to keep from acting out. "This was a waste of time," he spoke calmly.

Raya shook her head. "He's not normally like this. Let me just talk to him," she pleaded.

"No," he replied, and she raised her eyebrows in genuine surprise, not expecting him to argue. If Boun wouldn't talk to them, this whole journey out here would be an entire waste of time. And since he wasn't willing to wait another six hours to talk, they would simply have to find answers elsewhere. "Time is of the essence, and I will not stand idly by and do nothing. If we cannot find help here, we will have to find it elsewhere," he explained.

There was the sound of somewhere clearing their throat awkwardly next to them, and when they looked, Boun was standing there a bit uncomfortably. "This isn't about my congee recipe…is it?"

Raya glanced at him with a 'told you so' look in her eyes before turning her attention to Boun. "No. This is important."

"Like…booming-the-Druun-away important?" he asked a bit worriedly.

She nodded. "Afraid so. Is there anywhere we can talk…in private?" she added, looking at all the curious faces around them.

"Uh…" he started, looking back at his family. His father nodded, and Boun turned back to them. "Yeah, sure. We can talk at my place." He turned to lead them but stopped and looked back at them. "Sorry for not thinking you were being serious, guys. I guess I didn't really expect something big…you know?"

"Apology accepted," Pengu replied with a nod. He wasn't too proud to admit when he was wrong. He was just glad Boun had decided to help. And he may have raised his voice a little in the hopes Boun heard him. So this was really all part of his plan.

Boun lead them through the streets of his hometown, many of the residents staring at him and Raya in either awe or surprise. He kept his head high and his stride confident, appearing as the regal dragon they all believed him to be. In reality, though, he was doing his best to stop from laughing. Amusing their reactions may be, but if they thought so highly of him, who was he to correct them? Folks have to believe in something, after all.

Boun lead them to a humble abode on the other side of the town. It was rather small, actually, which surprised him. He didn't expect the owners of such a highly successful business to have such a small dwelling. Boun held the door open for Raya, but Pengu just stared at the too-small doorway skeptically. "You'll have to come around the back," Boun told him apologetically. He walked around to the back of the house and saw that there was a nice backyard with a covered and furnished patio. One end had a rather large cushion, and he could only assume that was where Sisu sat when she came over to visit.

Boun and Raya just walked out of the back door, and since he was a good host, he had fixed some drinks. It may have only been water with a little slice of lemon in it, but at least he put forth the effort. While Raya and Boun had normal sized cups, there was also a much larger one that their host gave to him.

Other than the cushion, there were a few chairs, too. Boun had claimed one of those, but Raya sat on the edge of the large cushion and patted the spot next to her. "Come on. I'm sure Sisu won't mind you borrowing her spot."

"Yeah…sorry it's not more dragon-sized," Boun said, gesturing to his house.

Pengu made his way over to the cushion and settled down, taking a sip from his large cup. "It is fine," he assured the boy. "I may be accustomed to the palaces in Heart and Fang or the Great Halls in Spine and Talon, but that does not mean I prefer them. I actually quite like your home, Boun. It's…quaint," he said with a small smile, letting the boy know he didn't mean that as an insult.

"Thanks," he replied sincerely. "So…" He turned to Raya. "What's this about?"

In response, she ran her hand through her hair and leaned back against him with a sigh. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, giving her a secret smile before turning his attention back to Boun. "It's…bad," she confessed. "We just came from Spine, where we learned about a…group…" she trailed off and glanced up at him.

"…A group?" Boun asked, confused. "What kind of group?"

"Well…they, uh…" Seeing as how Raya either couldn't or wouldn't finish her explanation, he decided to do it for her.

"Dragon hunters," he supplied.

Boun was understandably appalled. Raya spent the next hour telling him of their journey so far from Amba going missing and Pengu asking her for help to their assault on the fortress in Spine, their new opponent, and the clue that lead them to Tail. After she finally finished her tale, Boun stared into his cup for a few moments before looking back up at them with an expression he was beginning to recognize all too well from Raya: determination. "How can I help?"

"Right now all we need is information," Raya told him. "Have you heard anything about dragons going missing or a camp somewhere in the Badlands?"

Boun went into deep thought for several minutes, and he went to take another sip from his cup only to find there was nothing left. He stared into the empty cup, disappointed that he was out already, but placed it aside and waited patiently for Boun to get his thoughts in order. Boun nodded and looked back up at them. "A little over a week ago, a group of bounty hunters came into town and started asking people questions. I think they mentioned a camp, but I'm not entirely sure."

Raya hummed in thought and glanced up at him. He shrugged. "I guess it's worth a shot," she thought aloud. "Did these bounty hunters say where to find them?" Boun shook his head. "Did you catch a name?"

He shook his head again. "Sorry it's not much to go on, but that's all I've heard."

Raya nodded, though she seemed a bit disappointed with how little they got. "That's okay. It's more than we had, at least."

"Perhaps someone else knows where to find them?" he suggested.

"You can try the tavern," Boun agreed. "A lot of shady people tend to hang out there, so you might get a lead." He stood and beckoned them to follow. Raya followed Boun through the house while Pengu walked around the side. They followed him down the streets to the edge of town where Bound pointed to a rather run down—and rather sketchy—building. "That's the tavern over there. Just be careful, alright?"

Raya smiled down at him. "Since when have I ever been careful," she joked. "Besides, I have my sword with me and a dragon for backup. I think I'll be fine." She knelt down beside him, a bit more serious now. "You should head back. You've got a lot of hungry people to feed, after all."

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah…Sorry again. Are you leaving town after this?"

"Yeah," Raya nodded. "Sorry we can't hang around, but—"

"Hey, it's no problem," Boun interrupted her, with a smile. "Saving the dragons is more important than just sitting around talking all day." Raya smiled, glad he understood, and the two shared a quick hug. Afterwards, Raya stood, and Boun bowed to him. "It was nice to meet you, Pengu."

Pengu bowed his head to show that the feeling was mutual, and then Boun ran back down the street, headed back towards the Shrimporium. "All right…stay close," she said and started walking towards the tavern. As they got closer, however, and problem quickly became apparent. He wouldn't fit inside.

"I will wait here," Pengu promised her. "Be careful, Raya."

She smirked as if she was about to make a joke like she did with Boun, but it quickly fell and she nodded instead. "I will." She tilted her hat down to hide her face and made sure her cloak hid her sword which she kept a hand on. She entered, and though he couldn't see her past the swinging doors, he could still hear her. "I heard that someone's been asking about a camp in the Badlands. You know where I can find them?"

The sound of chairs scooting back across the wooden floor echoed from within, and it seemed the entire building went silent. He heard an unfamiliar female voice next. "Who wants to know?"

"I do," came Raya's reply, and he sighed in resignation. If she was trying to be careful, she wasn't doing a very good job. It almost sounded like she was trying to provoke this mystery person.

"Yeah? And what's it to you? You one of Ronin's goons?" came the almost hostile reply.

"Not even close," he heard Raya respond.

The sound of a weapon being drawn, followed by several more, came next. "Well, I don't believe you…"

There was a silence for a few moments, and Pengu could feel his heart beating rapidly in worry. Did she seriously have to instigate a fight with the entire building? Why couldn't she be diplomatic for once in her life. "Is everything okay in there?" he asked, tentatively.

The doors swung open, and Raya backed out with her hands in the air. He thought everything was fine until he saw the sword blade at her throat. A tall woman, probably a few years older than him, wearing what looked like custom leather armor was the one holding the blade. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously at Raya, and it seemed no one had noticed him yet. The sight of someone holding a blade to Raya's throat made his muscles tense, and he snarled at the woman. Her gaze snapped over to him, and when she saw who he was, her surprise was written clearly on her face.

Seeing an opening, Raya smacked the blade away, and drew her own, retreating to his side as the woman's four accomplices took positions next to her. Two held crossbows, one had a spear, and the fourth held a sword. However, something about their armor stuck out. They may have all worn custom leather armor, but it looked familiar to him, somehow. What happened next took both he and Raya by complete surprise. Instead of ordering her men to attack, she held up her hand. "Stand down," she ordered them. They did, and the woman studied him for a long while. "Alright…I believe you now. You don't work for Ronin. If you did, you wouldn't be standing next to the dragon he wants more than any other."

Raya and he shared a glance before she slowly lowered her weapon. "Who are you?" she asked. "And why are you after Ronin's camp?"

"I should be asking you that, seeing as how we were here first," the woman pointed out.

"I'm Raya, and this is—" she began only to be interrupted.

"Pengu. Yeah, I know who he is. It's an honor to meet you, by the way," she bowed and gave the traditional greeting. Her small smile disappeared soon after, and she rubbed her eyes in exasperation. "Why didn't you just introduce yourself first? It would have saved us this unpleasantness." She sighed and shook her head. "I'm Lana, and I was told to cooperate with you if you showed up," she revealed.

"By who?" Raya asked, confused. And he shared her sentiments. Who could possibly have expected them to be here?

"Princess Namaari," came the unexpected reply.

"Namaari sent you!?" Raya asked, shocked beyond belief. Although, now he recognized why the armor seemed familiar. They looked reminiscent of the Fang Army's armor. "There's no way she heard about what happened in Spine. And even if she did, there's no way you could have gotten here a week before us," she tried to reason.

"We don't know anything about what happened in Spine. We're here because a dragon Princess Namaari is friends with went missing. She hired us to track him down, and the trail lead us to Tail," Lana explained. There was a moment of silence before she motioned for her men to head back inside. Then she beckoned the two of them inside. "Come on. Since we're looking for the same thing, we might as well help each other. We'll swap stories—might help put some pieces of this puzzle together." She disappeared inside for a moment, and Raya moved to follow her. He thought he would have to wait out here—again—when Lana yelled, "Everyone out!"

Surprisingly enough, everyone did leave. The sounds of tables and chairs being moved was followed by Raya motioning for him to enter. The door itself was big enough for him to fit through, albeit barely, and now that everyone else had left and the floor was clear, he would be able to fit inside comfortably enough.

Lana and her four men were seated at a table that had a map of Tail stretched upon its surface. Raya took a seat while Pengu decided to stay standing as this floor wasn't what one would call sanitary. Raya told their story the same way she told Boun—after some gentle encouragement from him. Lana listened to the story with rapt attention. When the story was finished, Lana congratulated them on taking out the fortress in Spine. "Good job taking that fort out. That's got to be a heavy blow to that Binturi, Ronin. But this means his operation is bigger than I was expecting." She hummed in thought. "We'll handle that when the time comes. Right now we have to save Amba, Mahal, and all the other dragons he's captured."

The story Lana told them was much the same as their own. Mahal was a dragon that Namaari had befriended about eight months ago. He had gone swimming one day like he usually did, but he never came back. Two days later, there was still no sign of him, so Namaari hired Lana and her crew to go find him. They scoured the area where he was supposed to be and saw signs of a struggle. They followed the trail and rumors they picked up along the way and determined that they took Mahal to Tail. From what he gathered from the story, they set off almost three weeks before he and Raya did.

"The trail went cold once we crossed into the Badlands. Without knowing where we were going, we thought it best to talk to the locals, see if they knew anything," Lana explained. "Looks like you had the same idea." She leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the table. "Well, I've got good news and bad news. Good news is I have an idea after listening to your story. Bad news: There's a chance we won't be able to make it in time."

"I-I'm sorry. Make it?" Raya asked. "What does that mean?"

Lana sat back up and pointed at the spot where Mahal was taken. "You said Ronin moved a lot of the dragons he had up at that fort. That means a convoy, and those aren't exactly fast. I estimate it took them about six weeks to get from here," she moved her finger to the edge of Tail's Badlands, "to here. Where was that fort at?"

Raya stood and studied the map for a moment before pointing to the general location. "In this area."

Lana nodded. "That's about half the distance, so that means the convoy would take about half the time to get here. You left Spine about two weeks ago, right?" Raya nodded. "That means we have about a week until that convoy enters Tail territory. All we have to do is be in the right spot at the right time, find the convoy, and then follow it to the camp."

Raya studied the map, doing a few mental calculations before nodding. "It's better than nothing, I guess. What time and location, though?"

Lana shrugged. "Don't know. But a good place to start is the area we lost our convoy in. It'll take about six days to get there by boat, which means…"

"Which means we don't have a large margin for error," Raya finished, grimly. "When do we leave?"

AN: So we've met with Boun and then found a new ally. Now there's a plan to find this hidden camp...hopefully. Did I get Boun's character right? What did you think of Lana? Let me know!

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22