No Greater Disaster

AN: Sorry this took so long to get out, but I was working on my Wings of Fire stories for a while. I'm back with another chapter, though, and I hope you all enjoy.

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

Chapter 11:

It turned out that the answer was immediately.

Lana and her crew already had a boat large enough to carry all of them, so they didn't have to waste any time trying to find one. Within twenty minutes, supplies were packed and they were on their way upriver.

At first, Raya spent most of her time near him since it was clear she was still a bit uncertain about trusting them. However, after a few hours went by, it was clear that their new allies really did want to help. Of course, he gave her a gentle nudge in their direction, telling her that he trusted them and their intentions, and he was pretty sure that's what sold her.

Raya and Lana spent a lot of time talking business at first, but after two days, they began to talk about other things, too. She also talked a bit with the other four, and she told him their names, but he was tired when she did, so he couldn't remember them.

There wasn't much of interest that happened on the entire boat ride. Things were pretty much the same when it was just Raya and him. They ate, talked, took naps, and he would go swimming a few times. Really the only thing that happened that was noteworthy enough to mention happened on the fourth night.

It was close to midnight and Raya was asleep, resting against his side like she normally did. He took a three hour nap earlier so he wasn't tired yet, but he kept still to let Raya sleep. He was gazing out at the dark water and the reflections of the stars. He would have preferred looking at the stars themselves, but it was a covered boat, and he couldn't actually see them. Occasionally, he would look back at Raya when she shifted and gaze at her with a smile before turning his attention back to the water.

After that revelation he had a while ago, he could manage his feelings towards her much better. He still got a rise in affection whenever he looked at her, but he could live with that. It was a far cry from the heart-clenching ache he used to get. And neither did he dream of her anymore.

Lana was awake, too, but he didn't think much of it until she sat down near him. He looked at her curiously but didn't speak. "I've wanted to talk to you one-on-one, but Raya is a bit…protective of you," she spoke quietly.

He smirked in amusement, glancing at Raya for a moment. There were all kinds of replies he could give her, but he stuck with a simple one. "It is merely who she is. She cares about all dragons, not just me."

She nodded. "Maybe," she acquiesced. "But I think it's more than that," she then insisted.

Feigning ignorance, he shook his head. "What do you mean?"

She chuckled. "You're a good actor, Pengu, but you and I both know that's all it is. I've seen the way you look at her. You have feelings for her, don't you?" she asked without any sort of judgmental tone. However, he instantly became a bit more guarded. She raised her hands to show she meant no harm, "It's okay if you do. I'm not judging."

He relaxed a bit at that and looked back out at the water. "Perhaps I do. But it matters not. Nothing could come of it." He sighed, and when she didn't immediately answer, he thought that was the end of it. However…

"Are you sure?" she asked. He looked to her in slight surprise. "I've gotten a good read on her over the last few days. I think she might feel the same."

"What makes you say that?" he asked. Internally, though, there was a small spark of hope that he couldn't hold down. It shouldn't matter if Raya felt the same way or not, the truth still remained that they were two completely different species.

"Nothing solid," she admitted. "But I have a feeling in my gut—an instinct, if you will," she tried to explain. But even she seemed slightly uncertain on how to phrase it.

"Are you sure it is not indigestion?" he asked seriously. She just blinked at him a few times as he studied her back. A few moments passed like that before they both broke out into quiet laughter. She just shook her head, still chuckling, and walked back to her spot.

As Lana settled down for the night, he turned his gaze once more to the water. It was an unexpected conversation to be sure, but it had given him a lot to think about. He thought he had things figured out, but now he felt conflicted once more. If Raya actually did feel the same way towards him, would the risk be worth it?

He sighed. No, it wouldn't be. Raya was the Princess of Heart and heir to the title of Chief. If she was to be married, it would be to someone who could benefit Heart with a stronger alliance to one of the other lands. He doubted she would be allowed any form of relationship—except friendship, that is—with a dragon. Which meant she wouldn't be allowed any form of relationship with him unless it was friendship.

He gazed back at her sleeping form and felt his heart clench with a sudden rush of emotions. He laid down with a sigh. He closed his eyes and eventually fell asleep. He dreamed of her again that night, so he woke up early. He decided not to go back to sleep again and merely stayed awake until everyone else was.

Things got more difficult from there. It was even worse than before the revelation he had, and he could tell Raya was starting to think something was wrong with him. He was always distracted, he couldn't sleep, and it was becoming increasingly hard to hold a simple conversation with her without blurting out how he really felt, causing him to become a lot more quiet, subdued, and downright awkward. She even asked him if he was getting sick at one point.

Lana had nodded and mouthed the word 'lovesick' while Raya wasn't looking.

He had assured her that he was fine, but it came as a massive relief to him when the boat docked and he could finally focus on something else now that they had finally made it to their destination. They had turned off the main Tail River and onto the final offshoot before entering the main body of Dragon Lake and Talon's territorial waters. As he looked around, he noticed that there really wasn't anything special in the landscape to use as a reference point. Neither was there any signs of civilization in the area since large canyon walls stretched along both sides. If a highly illegal dragon-smuggling operation was happening in this area, this would be a good place to do it from.

"We couldn't tell where they went from here," Lana spoke as the six humans milled about looking for clues. "We know they turned down this distributary, but there was no sign of them once we reached the end. The whole area is walled by these massive canyons, so there's absolutely no way this is where they unloaded the convoy. But…"

"But if not here, then where?" Raya finished, and Lana nodded.

Pengu stood on what little shoreline there was and observed their surroundings with a critical eye. Then, something occurred to him. Ronin was a cunning adversary. The traps he laid back during the battle in Spine and the fact he disappeared, seemingly from thin air, without anyone noticing was evidence of that. Perhaps, they weren't looking deep enough. "It will be hidden," he spoke.

All eyes turned to him. "Hidden?" one of the mercs asked. "How the hell can you hide an operation like that in the middle of a dead-end canyon?"

The other mercs seemed to agree. "More'n likely that they knew we were followin' 'em, so they lead us on a goose hunt," he suggested in a heavily accented voice.

"Then where did the boats go?" Lana argued. "We saw them turn down here, but they had disappeared by the time we investigated this area ourselves. There's no way they could have gotten past us, either. The river's too narrow."

There was a pause as they groups looked around, but he kept his gaze on Raya as she studied the canyon walls in thought. "No…I think Pengu's right. Ronin's smart. He wouldn't leave his operation out in the open so anyone could find it. He disappeared from a fortress with only one way out without anyone noticing which means he had some sort of escape tunnel. I spent almost a day looking and couldn't find it," she reasoned.

"Alright, so the entrance is hidden," Lana agreed, though it sounded more like she was simply entertaining them and didn't really believe it. "How do we find it?"

"I…don't know," Raya admitted. She then looked over at him. "Do you have any ideas?"

He thought for a moment, then nodded. "Stay here. I shall return soon."

"What do you mean you'll return soon? Hey!" Her surprised yell was cut off as he dove underwater. He swam at a moderate pace, keeping his eyes on the canyon walls for anything out of the ordinary. What Lana said about the boats disappearing meant that there had to be a hidden waterway somewhere in this canyon. He hypothesized that the entrance was only hidden from anyone on boats. He highly doubted they would—or even could—hide a man-made waterway from anyone looking for it underwater.

Since they had docked at the very end of the canyon, he only had one direction to search. And also, since the camp was supposed to be somewhere southeast of here, the entrance was sure to be on the eastern coastline which meant he only had one side of the canyon to search. It was still a rather large area to search. It would take him almost four hours to swim to the main river, so he hoped it was somewhere closer to the middle of the canyon.

It was just over an hour when he found what he was looking for. The bank had separated and there was another passage heading into the canyon wall. Risking a look from above water, he confirmed that there was almost no way to distinguish the fake wall from the real wall. However, when he touched it, he almost had to give credit to these dragon hunters for their ingenuity. It was painted canvas, and it felt like it was connected to something solid behind it—most likely wood—to prevent it from fluttering in the breeze. And the current in this part of the canyon was rather calm, so it couldn't be found by looking for any anomalies in the current patterns.

He dove back underwater, not wanting to expose himself for longer than necessary and turned to head back upriver to tell the others what he found. However, he paused and looked back at the opening. This was probably a bad idea, but he decided to check it out before heading back. Upon swimming inside, the first thing he noticed was the change in visibility. Not only was the water murkier from the silt being disturbed, but there was very little light to illuminate the area—which was good in his case as it made it easier to hide.

Unfortunately, the water was rather shallow, so he had to be careful not to make any sudden moves that would give his position away. He peaked his head above water once he was under a wooden walkway and observed the area. Several boats were moored at the docks, and to his dismay, there were a lot of cages with canvas draped over them. He couldn't tell if they had occupants or not, but he was almost certain they did. He did see one cage set to the side that was uncovered and empty, though. A few guards passed by it every now and then, but that area seemed to have very little traffic overall.

There were a handful of torches to light the cave here and there, but it was still rather dark, probably to prevent the light from being visible from outside. There were also quite a view wooden crates, some had weapons while others had food, but that was all that he could see from this angle. From the sound of the voices and footsteps, there were quite a few people in this cave.

It seemed his decision to check things out was a good one. Otherwise, he wouldn't have heard this: "Load up these dragons onto the wagons! I want them ready to move once the sun goes down! Ronin is expecting this delivery for his auctions tomorrow!"

He had to stop himself from growling at that else he give himself away. With that, he decided he had lingered long enough and dove back underwater, carefully making his way back outside. He swam as fast as he could to where he left the others. Sundown was in six hours, and he wanted to have time to make a plan before then.

When he made it back to the group, Raya scolded him for running off without telling anyone what he was doing, but she was glad he was safe. "Well? Did you find anything? Or were we worrying ourselves senseless for no reason?" Raya asked, arms crossed and glaring at him to make it abundantly clear she still wasn't happy he had just taken off without warning.

He explained what he had seen, and everyone loaded up onto the boat. They had decided to plan while on the move. One of the mercs put forward the idea of just killing everyone in the cave, but that was quickly shut down for several reasons. First, while he didn't get an exact count, he had estimated somewhere between thirty and fifty guards in the cave. They could probably take them out one by one using stealth, but that point lead up to the second problem with this plan: they still didn't know where the camp was. And third—since there was always a third—it was simply too risky. The six humans in their group may all be fantastic warriors, but seven to one odds were pretty steep.

Simply following the convoy out was out of the question, too. Not only would they have to sneak through the cave unnoticed, but there was most likely a checkpoint on the other side that would also be guarded. Meaning: it just wasn't possible to follow them.

It was Lana that came up with a rather unexpected but rather plausible idea. "What if we each sneak into one of the cages? Since they're covered, we wouldn't be spotted. Then, we ride with the convoy into the camp, and in the middle of the night, we release all the dragons."

"What about me?" Pengu asked. "It will be most difficult to sneak me into one of those cages."

Lana shifted uncomfortably, and he suddenly didn't like where this was going. "I had an idea for that, but you probably won't like it." She paused for a moment and then sighed. "You let yourself get captured," she said.

"Absolutely not!" Raya all but yelled. "Figure out something else because we are not using Pengu as bait!" She glared at Lana for daring to suggest something so unimaginable.

"There is no other way!" Lana argued despite the death-glare being sent her way. "Pengu's right. We can't simply sneak him into that empty cage. And even if we somehow did, they'll be more than a little suspicious that their empty cage suddenly had an occupant somehow," she explained. "This is the only way."

Pengu remained silent as they continued to argue. Lana made some good points, but he agreed with Raya on this. The idea of letting himself get captured actually scared him. What if they cut off his horn? What if they recognized him? He voiced those concerns to his friends, but Lana seemed to have already thought of that.

"Most people know of Pengu, but since he's a bit of a recluse—no offense—not many people actually know what he looks like. I'd say the chances of them recognizing him are low, but not nonexistent. It's a risk we'll have to take. As for cutting of his horn…I honestly have no idea if they will or not," she reasoned. And it didn't exactly fill him with confidence. "I don't mean to rush you, but we're getting close."

"You don't have to do this, Pengu," Raya told him. "Despite what she says, we could take one of them prisoner and interrogate them."

"There's no guarantee they'll talk, though," Lana argued. Raya just glared at her.

Pengu ignored them as he thought on what course to take. He weighed the pros and cons for each of the plans, and he had to agree with Lana. Letting himself get captured and sneaking into the camp under their noses was the best way for them to get in. He was scared, but he thought of how scared Amba must be: captured, tortured, far away from her family and friends.

So he agreed…

He couldn't bear to look at Raya after he agreed to this rather risky plan. He didn't want to see her reaction, be it worry, disappointment, resignation, or whatever else. He merely told them to be ready and jumped back into the water.

The boat stayed out of sight as he returned to the cave. This time, he made small splashes to telegraph his presence without seeming totally obvious. He heard shouts and rapid footfalls. Then all he could do is wait to be captured…and hope he still had his horn after this.

AN: I've been doing a lot of cliffhangers lately...

I hope everyone liked it. Hopefully the next one won't take quite as long to come out.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22