Night Wind
By: Wilona Riva
Disclaimer: Butch Hartman does; I don't.
Stone Prince
The Ryu were becoming edgy, Clockwork noticed, with the news of one of the Night Wind on the loose in the human world. He watched as Twilight and Dusk tried to convince their leader of who he was, but the boy shook his head warily. They were forced to leave empty-handed and return to their own kingdom when Phantom gave a sharp cry of pain and reverted to human.
Sam was berating Danny for fighting the ghost and getting injured in the process and was forced to reveal the whole sordid mess to the vice-principal, who called the boy's parents.
Maddie and Jack were elated that Danny had decided to take up the family business and set about a training schedule for him. Because Sam insisted, they included her and Tucker in the regiment; as a result, all three kids were able to easily defeat the ghosts who came to destroy the Night Wind intruder.
He smiled, then shifted the viewing mirror over to the Night Wind kingdom. A rare vision opened before him showing Dusk and Twilight on their knees, heads bowed in shame before the Queen of the Night Stars.
"He's lost his memories and can't even summon an ecto-ray," Twilight defended his leader. "He truly believes himself to be a halfling child of the damnable ryu."
"He didn't forget everything, my phantom," the Night Queen murmured. "What did he remember, dear one?"
"Well, it was bright sunshine and Phantom screamed when the sun's rays struck us. He was hurting really bad. He knows he has to search for the other phantoms lost in the world above and that one is near to him. He knew our names," Dusk finished the tale.
"He knew the signs," Twilight added. "There were also two humans who were helping him. They were male and female, and according to what I observed, it was a previous action wrought by the female that brought forth the ryu from the Void kingdom."
"That is indeed strange," she murmured. "So my little phantom wishes to live above. I have begun to hear of such rumors. If ever he steps foot on Night Wind territory, we will reclaim him."
And so it was. Clockwork was pleased to see not all the timeline had changed drastically. Oh, he could see the few quirks here and there, such as the new-found respect the A-listers gave Daniel and his little friends. The boy still encountered Desiree, the Box Ghost and several others who haunted the Void kingdom. He grew in knowledge and power until the fateful day when he met and defeated Skulker. He knew it was only a short time before the boy met Plasmius.
"Plasmius is a true half-ghost," R'eye said, alarmed at the news. "If the boy should meet him..."
"I know," Clockwork said warningly, "but there is nothing I can do."
L'orb wisely said nothing and continued watching.
Danny was excited. He had been looking foward to this trip, not because of some boring college reunion for his parents and some old hoky billionaire friend of theirs, but because one of the two he sought was nearer now. It was the female. He was on his way to find her.
"Danny, I didn't know you were this excited," Maddie teased her son, seeing the bright blueness of his eyes glowing in the dim light of the window next to him.
"She's there, but he is not," Danny murmured in reply.
"What was that, Danny-boy?" his father asked.
"Nothing," came the reply. "This is way cool."
"This is way boring," he muttered, a little while later as they stood on the doorsteps of some medieval gothic castle in Wisconsin.
"Behave," Jazz warned.
"Uh-huh."
The door slowly opened to reveal a girl of perhaps two years younger than Danny with shoulder-length black hair pulled into a low ponytail and sapphire eyes. She wore red jeans, a powder blue short-sleeve t-shirt and red sandals. Her eyes widened when she saw the Fentons.
Rushing past the parents, she hugged Danny. "You came! You came! I told Dad you were coming, but he didn't believe me. I'm Danielle Masters, by the way. Everyone, come on in."
A male voice chuckled at the stunned expressions on their faces. "Forgive my daughter's overeagerness," Vlad Masters said, stepping out into the light. "How good to see you, Maddie, dear. And Jack."
Danny saw his expression turn into a scowl, but he dismissed it. "Smooth," he told Jazz, who covered up her embarrassment with a cough. She glared at him.
"Danni, why don't you show these darling children where their rooms are?" Vlad hinted to his daughter. "They are so precocious at this age. Come, tell me all about them."
Maddie laughed. "Well, Jasmine is at the top of her grade and has been taking a few college courses at Amity University. She's hoping to get into Harvard or Yale; she plans to be a psychiatrist and uses Danny frequently for target practice."
"Mom!" came twin voices raised in embarrassing outrage from the direction of the stairs.
"And Daniel?"
"Ah, Danny-boy," Jack's wiped a pretend tear of joy from his eye. "Danny was caught in a ghost attack at his school a few months ago and decided to follow in his old man's footsteps along with two of his little friends. We've already started his training. He's a pretty smart cookie."
"Dad!" came another embarrassed outburst from his son.
"Upstairs and get dressed, sweetie!" Maddie called.
"Alright," came a couple of grumbles, and the footsteps resumed their march.
Vlad laughed. "Danielle is much the same way. Ever since she came to me, she's been muttering strange nonsense. Are your children the same?"
"With Jazz, it's all psychobabble, but with Danny, I don't know," Maddie said, a hint of doubt clouding her voice. "He's been acting so strange the last few months."
"Well, come inside and tell me all about it," Vlad said, wrapping his arms around both his best friends. "It's been twenty years and we have a lot of catching up to do."
It was later that evening when Danny felt the familiar cold sensation and a blue mist emerge out of his throat. He groaned and transformed. He floated down to corridor and saw the same ghost vultures from before trying to attack his father, who was sleepwalking to the restroom. He rolled his eyes and went to help him, but a gloved hand grabbed his.
"He'll be fine," a soft girlish voice greeted him. He turned and saw a phantomic ghost floating next to him. "Dad's vultures love to trick our guests, but not kill them. He'll probably end up a few floors below. And yeah, this is the real me."
"Why does your dad want with my dad?" Danny asked her.
"No idea, but this is just the preliminary game, so don't worry about it." Danni laughed. "Dad's got something really neat in the basement. Want to see it?"
"No," Danny said, shuddering at the sight of the three vulture ryu phasing his father into the hall below. "I've got to stop this. Those ryu are going to hurt him."
Danielle released him, but didn't move to help him. She had been waiting for him to come for so long. She sighed. Dad told her what he'd learned from the other ghosts and had plans for the boy. The bracelet she wore allowed her to adopt a holographic human guise. "Done?" she called.
"Yeah," came the reply. "Who is the idiot that hired these idiots?"
"That would be me, dear boy," came an aristocratic voice. Both turned to see a draculaesque ghost looking seriously at them. "What are you two doing out of bed at this time of the night?"
"Vultures."
"Him."
"What?" both phantoms chorused in unison, before laughing.
"Yes, Daniel, I am half-ghost, one of those "ryu" that you dislike. The really neat thing in the basement Danielle was talking about is a present for your father. I'll let you see it tomorrow just before the reunion." Plasmius morphed back into his human form.
This was too much for Danny to absorb, but he nodded. "Night, Danielle," he murmured. How he found his way back to his room, he had no idea, but he morphed back and fell face forward on his bed and crashed.
Come to me, my little phantom.
I have found the girl. She believes herself to be ryu.
Come to me, my little phantom.
Vlad gasped as he felt the powerful call surge through the very walls of his being. What cozening was this? He felt a less powerful being reply to the call, then felt the call come again. Teal eyes narrowed. Who was this child? Of this he was sure, this child was not of Jack or Maddie's blood.
(next day)
Down here, he'd said. Danielle floated on ahead of him, while he retained his human form. She opened the secret door for him and they stepped inside.
"Time to die, boy," a dark voice greeted him. Moments later, Skulker picked up the cube that had dampened the boy's power. "Your father wishes a witness, girl. I have chosen a remote island in the Ghost Zone for the deed."
"Skulker, you can't do this," she cried, as he wrapped one metal arm around her, preventing her escape. "Danny was supposed to retrieve a gift for his father."
"This child's death is a personal matter, ghost girl, so shut up. What Plasmius wants be damned; I will see this Night Wind's pelt on my wall this night."
Danny blacked out then.
Upon waking up, his eyes widened in horror as the hunter sharpened a skinning knife."Let me go, Skulker! You can't do this to me!" the young halfa pleaded with his captor.
"This is a remote island in the farthest regions of the Ghost Zone, ghost child," Skulker replied, testing the sharpness of his blade. "Soon, you will have the honor of being mounted on my wall."
Danny gagged. "Eww!"
Skulker chuckled evilly. "For you, Phantom, that is a compliment."
The wind stirred, unnoticed by the young captive, bound to the tree, or by the captor sharpening his blade. Danni, sitting nearby, was openly weeping.
"You're sure you heard the intruder correctly?" the Night Queen said, her voice rising with alarm. "One of my phantoms has been captured and will be murdered on Night Wind territory?"
"Yes, my queen," the guardian Nightwind replied. "This phantom can take human form, it is said."
"Then this is our lost child," the Night Queen murmured, her excitement spreading to the Court gathered below the dias. "Who shall go and bring him to us?"
"I," came the silky voice of Ilona, the only one of the whole Dark Realm who could bear the Light, besides the Night Lord. "I will go."
"As will I, if it please the Lady," came the sultry voice of Dreama, the other night guardian.
"No!" Whitewind the Pleasurer protested. "He is yet a child."
"If he can defeat the ghosts of the ryu kingdom, then he is of our ancient blood," Nightwind murmured. "I will go as escort with the ladies, Lady of the Night. The hunter is good as dead."
"Go, with my blessings," the Night Queen replied, holding out the Scepter of Stars. "Bring my child home."
Skulker bound Danny's arms together around the stone column jutting up from the earth. He grinned as the scent of the boy's fear accelerated. "It will only sting for a bit," he promised, tightening the ropes.
"That's what the doctors say about needles," Danny shot back.
"Good," the hunter said, fastening the last knot. "I like my prey with a bit of spunk." Saying so, he lifted the knife to Danny's throat and made to make the first incision. The cut had to be done in a precise way or the pelt would be damaged.
Danny shut his eyes and waited for the blade to pierce his flesh.
"You can open your eyes, Night Lord," a woman said, as the ropes binding him fell away.
Danny blinked back the tears and squinted in the sudden darkness that had descended. "Where did the light go? And where's Skulker? Where's Danni?"
"The hunter's remains are being disposed of, Night Lord," the woman replied. "As for who we are, we serve the Queen of the Night Stars. I am Illona the Light Bearer."
Danny surveyed his rescuers. Illona was petite, with bright glittering black eyes and long dark hair curling about her shoulders. Her dark eyebrows gave her an exotic appearance, as did the black star-spangled robes she wore.
Another woman smiled as she destroyed the column he'd been bound too. She wore a light blue, skin-tight, sheath dress. Her straight chin-length bluish-white hair and summer-hued eyes promised him something more. She was his mother's height with curves in all the right places.
Danny gulped. "Uh..."
"Whitewind the Pleasurer," the woman laughed. "You belong to the Night Queen now, Night Lord. You have but to ask the Queen of the Night Stars, and I will be yours."
"Not likely," Illona shot back. "What is taking Nightwind and Dreama so long to dispose of one paltry lesser ghost?"
"The same one who has every intention of killing his prey," Skulker's dark tone proceeded his physical self.
Danny backed away slowly. Normally, he would put on a bravado and blast Skulker's metal body to bits, but something about the hunter frightened him even more so than before.
Illona formed a white ball of light mist in the palm of her hand. She blew it towards him as one would blow a loved one a kiss.
"Oh, do be a darling, and go away, won't you?" Whitewind asked, humor in her blue eyes and heart-shaped face.
Author's Note: This chapter contained the original oneshot, with a few revisions in grammar and dialogue. Later this evening, I will update Changeling. At Three is on hiatus until mid-May because I'd like to get some head way on the blanket I am crocheting my niece for Christmas. I do have the next chapter partially written.