"Watch out!"
Starting to wonder if anything was going to go his way on this island, Law turned back after the shout with a scowl and managed to jump out of the way just as something crashed on the ground near them. Dextra let out a sharp eagle cry and was ready to strike, wings spread and talons ready. A roar responded and they looked up to see Hyorinmaru come their way, a terrifying black shadow in the sky that landed once more in the open space of the docks near them. At the dragon's response, Dextra no longer looked ready to leap for the throat, sensing the heavy, threatening presence that demanded submission radiating from the Heartless like a pressure in the air. Hyorinmaru cared little for the bird that refused to bow, focused as he was on the figure that pushed himself back to standing.
"You're harder to fight in your full form, Hyorinmaru." Toshiro grunted as he wiped dirt from his face, using a short, small burst of Spirit Energy to clear the dust around him.
"Shiro!" Luffy called out to the figure. The rubber man had only used the nickname due to the boy's white hair, but Toshiro didn't seem to take kindly to it, distracted from the fight momentarily.
"Don't call me that!" He snapped at the figure. Luffy did backpedal a bit, startled at the reaction, as well as confused, but gasped as a heavy set of pitch black talons came launching down at the Reaper. Toshiro's focus was back in the fight in mere moments, lifting his zanpaktou to block the strike. The ground cracked from the force, but he held strong, managing to push back a bit even as the dragon put more weight down in an attempt to crush the figure.
"I got this!" Luffy grinned in determination, spinning his arm as he geared up for a punch.
Scowling fiercely, Toshiro managed enough strength to push his dragon's foreleg away, using the momentum to turn around. His Keyblade flashed to hand and with the momentum of his turn he tossed it so it struck the ground right in front of the Captain. Luffy gave a startled yelp and fell back as ice rose from where the Keyblade touched solid ground as if to make sure no attack went past.
"I said stay out of it!" Hitsugaya reminded the pirate angrily.
Hyorinmaru gave a loud roar that cut off any replies from the others, flaring his own wings in an impressive display of size. The sad remainder of people inside the town hid as far away as they could, cowering at the sounds. The citizens in the main town began to worry about their own safety. The Heart Pirates in the ship, as well as Chopper and Robin, all paled in terror at the fierce cry right next to their ship. Those just outside looked concerned for their safety as well.
Especially when the water started rising.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, not cool!" Usopp shrieked as blackened ice formed in spirals up from the ocean itself around them. Like snakes the spirals turned in towards the island and started to strike down.
"Hado Number Fifty-eight, Tenran!" A quick Kido spell using a spinning Keyblade as the catalyst for the power, a blast of wind rushed past them all and removed the ice snakes from play. He would have told them to hold onto something, seeing them all stumble from the wind, but there had been no time. He had to get Hyorinmaru back away from them all. If only he hadn't been careless enough to get hit by his dragon's tail, they would still be well in the small town and keeping everyone out of danger. He thought of a way to lure Hyorinmaru from the area as the pirates worried about their ships swaying in the violent waters stirred up by the dragon's fury.
Snarling, the black ice dragon went for another strike, but instead of catching it this time the Nobody dodged aside. As he thought, the Heartless followed after him, easily led away from the others. However, Toshiro did keep him in range of the ocean. When even Hyorinmaru's tail wouldn't hit either ship, even just by accident, Toshiro blocked the next attack, pushing the talons to the side before jumping up to stand on an energy platform just in front of the Heartless. Pausing at the bold move, Hyorinmaru held still for a moment as he was now eye level with his challenger, an icy breath washing over Toshiro when the dragon opened his jaws slightly.
"I assume I need to once again prove my power to you to make you snap out of this state." His voice was confident, daring, the dragon's golden eyes narrowing at him. As the air grew heavy with Spiritual Pressure, dark wisps rose off the dragon's icy skin in response. Intimidation wasn't enough, but Toshiro already knew that. A dragon didn't back down in a battle of willpower. The water churned violently at their clashing auras.
Finally having enough of the small figure in his face, Hyorinmaru took a snap at his opponent, only for his jaws to crunch together on nothing but air, the sound of teeth hitting teeth echoing in the air like a gunshot. Toshiro had moved to be over the water and was already gathering it up around him, a swirling mass of dark blue ice rising up at his command. Letting out another menacing hiss, Hyorinmaru had no problem charging right at the floating Nobody, not afraid of his own element.
"Icicle Flock!" A hailstorm of sharp, iron-solid ice spikes came at the dragon, but Hyorinmaru took as much notice to them hitting his body as a horse would flies, even as bits of ice fell off of his armor. Energy swelled up inside the dragon's mouth as he prepared to counter with a breath that would freeze anything and everything to sub-zero temperatures in seconds.
The wind picked up dramatically as the dragon got closer, generated by the swirling of ice around the Nobody using his Keyblade to manipulate the water as such. It threw off the dragon's flying a bit and his jaws shut to concentrate on keeping a steady flight path, the energy he'd been preparing vanishing in silvery wisps from within his mouth. Toshiro couldn't have a devastating blast of cold like that going anywhere.
Since he'd lost his chance at a breath attack, Hyorinmaru went for a straight up charge, only to slam into a barrier of ice as Toshiro put one up around him. Furious, his roar echoed through the town once more as he clawed at the ice. All the while the dark blue ice flowing around them constantly hailed down on the black body of the Heartless, a fierce storm thankfully kept over the ocean and away from the ships and buildings. The Straw Hat and Heart Pirates could only continue watching the pair fight, the sheer power the dragon displayed as it tore through ice as if it were only dirt a sight that made several gulp. The dinosaur Heartless had been a shock as their first sighting of the creatures, but Hyorinmaru put up a display of power far greater than that. It was hard to believe still that a young soul like Toshiro could control such a spirit.
Just as Hyorinmaru was about to break through, the barrier broke on its own, causing the Heartless to back away a bit to regain stable flight, though he didn't waste any time to charge forward again at the revealed figure of his challenger. Toshiro was prepared for him now though, his blade held forward with both hands and glowing once more as ice formed around the sword.
"Let this be the last time we have to do this, friend." Toshiro was less than happy about what he had to do. "Ryusenka!"
Just like back with the giant dinosaur, a flower of dark blue ice sprouted from where his blade struck Hyorinmaru, covering them both. The wind dispersed as the swirling ice stilled and returned to the water below. For what felt like several minutes there was silence, nothing but the sound of shifting ice and splashing waves. Those outside watched with baited breaths, Chopper and Robin outside now as they'd finished their rounds inside, but stopping to observe the struggle. It was a strained silence, waiting to see what was the outcome of the large attack. Some even wondered if Toshiro had given up and destroyed his dragon.
The flower turned black.
"That doesn't look good." Sanji spoke up as a few others gulped nervously.
The flower shattered and Hyorinmaru spread his wings in a fearsome display, open jaws right above the small figure that was Toshiro.
But he didn't attack.
Toshiro stood calmly on air and lifted up a hand towards the beast, who leaned his head down and almost gently rested the tip of his snout against the small hand, mouth closed now and seeming to almost bow his head to the other. Seeing the giant dragon pay respect to the tiny opponent he had earlier been trying to crush and devour was an odd sight, but in a way quite stunning. The ocean and sky were beginning to calm down as the living blizzards stopped using their powers on their surroundings, a relief to anyone near water. All eyes watched as Toshiro jumped up onto the back of the dragon with no repercussion and Hyorinmaru himself flying back towards the ships.
Now that they weren't occupied with trying not to be blown away or drowned, the two crews did quick checks of their separate vessels for any damage. There were some superficial scratches from ice and some of that said ice stuck on the outsides, but otherwise nothing to be worried about. The Captain of the Heart Pirates, though, did still have something to worry about, as with the chaos of the nearby storm and fight he hadn't been able to calm down Dextra, the harpy still fixated on their Reaper companion as the figure returned. She at least obeyed when he gave a command not to attack, but it was clear she was not happy about the dragon or his master being near them.
The ground shook slightly as the powerful Heartless came to a landing on the docks, the wood creaking under his weight. Ice did not spread from the dragon's feet this time, as he was calm now and not lowering the temperature around him anymore.
"I told you I had this covered." Toshiro shot this comment at the younger Captain among the group, the one who had earlier tried to interfere.
"Your dragon is so cool!" Luffy practically had stars in his eyes and didn't seem bothered at the snarky remark.
Soaking in the praise, Hyorinmaru lifted his head proudly, apparently on better terms with all those present immediately. He was still a menacing sight, towering over them and their ships and his pitch black body not giving even the slightest shimmer despite the sun coming out and his body being made of ice. All light seemed to just vanish around the creature. However, they did feel better knowing Toshiro had him under control again… they hoped.
Said Nobody jumped down to stand with them below and the dragon leisurely lay himself out on the docks, preening his wings like a bird, using moisture on his tongue to smooth over chips in his icy body from the fight.
"He really does have quite the presence, doesn't he?" Jimbei mused with wonder. Toshiro had been very unassuming since they met him, other than his strong aura and what they'd been told by the others, but in stark contrast Hyorinmaru immediately took the spotlight and demanded respect and admiration. One could say that was just the type of presence a dragon gave off, especially a real one. The artificial dragon that a few of the crew had met on Punk Hazard looked like a hatchling compared to this monster.
One among them, however, did not take kindly to the two dark presences so close to her home, and Dextra jumped forward and took a pose as if to attack. Toshiro was rather surprised at first, both by the hostility and Dextra's form, but he wasn't a warrior for nothing, ice rising up ready to intercept. Hyorinmaru wasn't having any of that either, pausing in his cleaning to give an angry hiss at the girl.
"Dextra!" Law called out, worried the Heartless would counter if she went after Toshiro like she was.
"What the Hell is the matter, Dextra?" Toshiro snapped.
It was more the second shout that made her stop just before her talons lashed out, as if catching onto something when she got too close to the Nobody. He and the dragon both were once more giving off a powerful force from within, a cold, heavy presence that made the predator in her pause. She always attacked any she thought was a threat to her family, and her master Law, but their power... They, too, were Alpha predators like her Captain. Toshiro's comment may have been a legit question, wanting to know what was wrong, but his tone did not give room for ignoring him. He wanted to know why she was attacking him, and he wanted to know now. The dragon hovering above him, jaws open to snap her up the second she moved, added to the threat to make her back away again. It was like she could hear the voice of the Heartless, her Haki at full blast in this form.
'Know your place!'
Unwillingly, she lowered her head to them, which made the others all gape. Law, however, had no time to question this behavior yet so he did what he'd meant to do before any of this all happened.
"Heel!" He snapped. Dextra's head snapped around to him and in seconds she was at his side like a loyal pet, awaiting his orders. Toshiro narrowed his eyes at the display, looking at Law suspiciously during this interaction. "Return, my princess."
With little hesitation the harpy returned inside the ship, ignoring all others around her watching with various degrees of discomfort, with Law himself seeming the most uncomfortable of them all. Toshiro was the first to speak up in the silence, clearly unhappy as he asked the surgeon his question.
"What happened to Dextra?" He asked sharply. Uninterested in the situation now that no one was threatening his master, Hyorinmaru just calmly returned to preening even as tension grew thick. "Why is she acting that way?"
"It's complicated." Law scowled in reply, avoiding the question.
"Is it? Seems to me you commanded her like a pet."
"Not by choice, it's the only way to snap her out of it."
"Out of what? She was a completely different person just now, what the hell is going on?"
"It's none of your business!"
The two refused to back down either way, Toshiro wanting answers for Dextra's obedient primal behavior and Law unwilling to reveal the reasons behind it. He didn't WANT to give the girl commands, especially not twisted little phrases like she was conditioned to obey, but if he didn't she would just get worse. Watching the two, the others were curious to hear the reasons as well, but knew Law better and could tell it wasn't something he at all enjoyed. They wondered why it had Toshiro so upset though.
The Nobody himself of course knew why he had a problem with it. Having been commanded to perform actions against his will since his transformation he knew it was not a position one naturally fell into. To get a human girl, even if in an odd half-eagle state, to obey commands like an animal definitely required some kind of manipulation or violent training, and the people who were the ones manipulating were people he hated most. As a Captain he expected obedience in his squad, but it was one of respect that he worked hard to earn with those men and women, he would never manipulate them as such, never expect blind acceptance of his every word.
"And here I thought the children trusted you out of actual respect for you, I'm starting to get the impression it's a little more forced." The Nobody hissed.
"You better stop right there, Nobody." Law snapped back, bristling at the accusation he did anything harmful to his children. He wouldn't accept a quip like that after all he had been through.
Darkness flared over the small form of the other as ice slowly spread from his feet.
"I think it's about time everyone calmed down." Jimbei spoke firmly in an attempt to diffuse the tension, but it was clear neither one of the other two were listening. The biting chill in the air made them nervous as even Hyorinmaru gave a low rumble of irritation. If his master was so irritated, should he just kill the offender?
Fortunately, someone running back out from the submarine caught their attention enough to keep any fights from breaking out. Unfortunately, the despair on Dextra's face did not bode well, and while Law was glad to see she was back to her usual self he stiffened at the tears running down her cheeks. Her eyes were darting around at her surroundings almost fearfully; something had given her quite the fright, which was a very rare occurrence since her 'training'.
"Dextra, what's wrong?" Law asked, his tone holding none of the hostility he'd been bearing towards Toshiro, soft and concerned instead. Still suspicious, Toshiro watched the exchange in stiff silence to await the answer as well. Did she feel some kind of fear of Law after her behavior? He couldn't be sure quite yet, now that this new information had been presented to him.
"I… I killed…" She seemed to have a hard time getting the words out, reaching a quick hand up to wipe away tears. Closest to her, Robin knelt down and put a gentle hand on the girls back. The older woman's face gave an idea she knew what Dextra was trying to say.
"You had to kill the Heartless, it's okay sis." Book said to her reassuringly. He knew she hated having to kill, it gave her nightmares all the time, but they were monsters that everyone was fighting.
He was surprised, however, when she shook her head fiercely. Drawing in a big breath of air, she got out what she wanted to say in one quick exhale.
"I killed Heinrich!"