I'm back!
Here's the next update of A Phantom On The Edge! I hope you enjoy it, especially after that sort-of cliffhanger I gave you guys with chapter ten!
Onto the story!
… And Is Willing To Help Train Me
Gothi knows. I don't know how, but she knows I'm part-ghost. She knows I'm Dani Phantom. And she especially must know that I'm from another dimension.
Trying to make sure she wasn't as nervous and panicked as she felt and trying to ignore how short and panicked-sounding her breaths were, Dani managed to stammer out, "I-I don't know what y-you're talking about."
Gothi scoffed.
"Please, Dani. I've been the shaman ever since I was your age; I can clearly see that aura of death around you, though how you hide it so well, I'll never know, just as clearly as I saw the death in your eyes."
"Just as you clearly saw that Equinox chose me?" Dani asked, wary now but still nervous.
"That too."
Gothi saw Dani still looking at her warily and the old woman chuckled.
"Dear, like I said before, you have nothing to worry. I won't tell the others your secret."
"You won't?" Dani questioned, body tense, her mind running wild with images of Vikings rushing into the small hut yelling and trying to kill her.
"I won't. Your secret won't get past these lips, or this staff. And besides, it's your secret to tell. It's not my business to tell the others, even though they're probably burning to know why Equinox chose you, someone who they believe is fully alive."
Dani still remained wary, but she felt a huge surge of relief. Gothi looked back at her and winked.
"Relax. You look as tense as Hiccup did before everyone in the village found out about Toothless. Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."
That last bit of assurance finally melted all of Dani's tenseness. She gave a tentative smile.
"Okay. Sorry. It's just a mentor of mine has always told me and my brother to be careful about keeping our secrets, well, secret if we end up somewhere like this. No offence."
"None taken. That mentor of you and your brother sounds incredibly wise."
"Understatement," Dani muttered under her breath.
"And, I also gather your brother has the same secret as you?"
"Yep."
"Show me."
That comment took Dani by surprise.
"Wh-what?" she spluttered. "Show you what?"
"Show me your other form."
At that Dani's eyes widened.
"Are you crazy?!" Dani hissed. "If… if I change, it might alert the others outside! My transformation isn't exactly subtle. And I don't want to make the others suspicious if they see mysterious flashes of light coming from the hut, with me and you inside it, and-"
One look at Gothi's face told Dani that the old medicine woman was not going to let Dani return to the Edge with Hiccup and the others without seeing Dani change into her ghost form.
"Fine," Dani grumbled reluctantly, conceding to Gothi's stubbornness, as a smile played on the shaman's face.
Retreating to where she hoped only the tiniest slivers from the light of the transformation rings could leak through, Dani closed her eyes and muttered, "Going ghost."
A rush of cold pouring from her core filled her body as the white ring of light appeared, splitting into two and changing her appearance. Her raven hair changed to snowy white, her skin became tanner, her new Viking clothes and usual jeans morphing into a black two-piece jumpsuit with white and green accents, a white DP logo on her chest, and her new boots changed into her regular white ones. When she snapped open her formerly closed eyes, they were revealed to be an eerie, glowing ectoplasmic green instead of the usual icy blue.
Gothi looked at Dani's transformation in stunned amazement, her jaw practically hitting the floor, so still that Dani feared her transformation into her ghostly form had literally scared Gothi to death.
"Uh, Gothi?" Dani asked, floating back down to the ground and walking up to the medicine woman, kneeling down so that she could wave in her face. "You still there?"
That must have snapped Gothi out of whatever had befallen her, as she said in stunned amazement as she looked at Dani, "Well, if I had my doubts before, I certainly don't have them now."
Relief flooded through Dani that her transformation hadn't actually killed Gothi, before she shortly felt confusion.
"Wait… you doubted that I was part-ghost before I transformed?"
"A little bit," Gothi admitted. "The last time someone claimed Equinox, well… things didn't work out so well."
Dani, having a feeling that the last time Equinox had been claimed, it was personal to Gothi. Deeply personal. And something she wasn't going to share easily.
"Now," Gothi said, abruptly changing the subject, "you might want to change back, so as not to raise any suspicions if Gobber or Hiccup or Astrid walk in."
Dani, suddenly realising that she was still in ghost mode, blushed green in embarrassment and changed back to human form, hoping that nobody saw that sudden flash of light.
"Now," Gothi started again, settling down on the only chair in the cramped space, "with that out of the way, I want to talk to you about the real reason I wanted you to come into my hut."
A trickle of icy dread ran down Dani's neck.
"And telling me you know my secret and want to see me go ghost just to confirm that I am half-dead isn't the real reason why you wanted me to come into your hut?" Dani inquired sarcastically.
Gothi must've not registered the sarcasm in Dani's tone as she answered, "Exactly that. Though, with a lot less attitude."
Okay, maybe she did a little.
"Dani, the real reason that I wanted you to come into my hut was so that I could offer to train you."
"Train me in what? Dragon riding?"
The glare Gothi gave her definitely told Dani that Gothi had registered the sarcasm in that.
"No. That particular training is more Hiccup's forte. I meant in training you how to use Equinox. In your other form."
Dani's eyes nearly bugged out of her head and fall onto the floor.
"Wh-what?" Dani managed to stammer out in bewilderment.
"Dani, I may not be the best sword teacher in Berk, but I do know how to use a sword if need be. And, I know Equinox better than anyone else on the island. So I am willing to train you in using Equinox in your ghostly form; especially with both of the sword's forms."
Dani, who had been nodding along to what Gothi said, could have done a classic spit-take at hearing the last of Gothi's sentences.
"Both forms?"
"Like you, Equinox has a living form and a deathly form; the latter only accessible when you change into your second form. It's part of what makes Equinox a weapon of both life and death, only to be wielded by the one who is like it. And, in its death form, Equinox has a few added benefits that it doesn't have in its living form."
"Ah," Dani said in understanding, feeling like she knew more about this mysterious sword than she first did, despite her having more questions about it.
Gothi, despite not having a watch, which probably didn't exist in this time period, said, "Now, I think I have kept you in here long enough. It will be wise that we go back outside and you, Hiccup and the other Riders return to the Edge."
"But, what if I want to stay longer and you start teaching me?" Dani suggested. Despite being creeped out by Gothi earlier, she had grown accustomed to the elderly woman. "I mean, there's so much about Equinox I wanna learn, especially its runes that glowed when I said it's name the first time."
"Tempting offer, but I feel that you better return to the Edge than stay any longer," Gothi politely refused. Dani pouted.
"As for the runes, well, they glowed when they heard the sword's chosen wielder say its name for the very first time," Gothi added. "Now, if you be so kind as to leave now?"
"But-" Dani started to protest, but Gothi fixed her with her unnerving stare, making Dani feeling a bit creeped out.
Okay, she's still a little creepy.
"Fine," Dani muttered and stood up, heading to the hut's cloth entrance, Equinox's sheath bumping on her leg.
"Remember, Dani; unless when you choose to tell them, keep that secret of yours a secret," Gothi told her. "And at all costs, don't tell the others about our conversation in here."
Dani nodded, knowing that the old medicine woman was serious, and walked out of the hut.
Hiccup and Astrid were standing out there, looking worried, not noticing her at first. Gobber was nowhere to be seen.
He must have returned back to his forge, Dani thought.
"Hey guys," Dani greeted, making Hiccup and Astrid jump at hearing her and looked at Dani, worry melting from their expressions.
"Hey Dani. You okay?" Hiccup asked, the question confusing Dani a bit.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"It's just that earlier, you looked really uncomfortable when Gothi turned her attention to you," Astrid elaborated.
"Oh. In that case, no. Me and Gothi actually had a nice chat about Equinox," Dani told them, easily lying. Hey, it was half the truth. They did talk about Equinox before Dani had to leave.
Speaking of leaving, Dani glanced at the sky. The sun was really low in the sky, making the sky a brilliant vivid blue. Guessing from the years she spent living homeless on the streets before Jack and Maddie had adopted her, Dani reckoned that it was around late afternoon.
"I guess it's time to go now, right?" Dani guessed. Hiccup and Astrid nodded in confirmation.
Without another word, the three made their way down the steps of Gothi's almost treehouse-like hut, making their way through the village towards the square, where the other Riders and the dragons waited.
As they walked, Dani decided to break the silence and asked Astrid, "Hey Astrid?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think you could help me train to properly use Equinox? I'm not used to wielding weapons."
Well, except for my parents' modern anti-ghost weapons, that is.
"Well, I'm not the best sword wielder, but I could teach you the basics," Astrid answered.
Dani smiled gratefully at Astrid. If she leaned the basics of training how to use a sword in her human form, then learning how to use Equinox in ghost mode with Gothi would be a piece of cake.
"Thanks, Astrid."
"Don't mention it."
After that, another silence landed. Dani was begging to ask Hiccup about how he got a prosthetic leg-was he born without one? Was it an accident? Was it because of an injury?-and what happened to Toothless' left tail-fin that required a prosthetic one, but felt that they might be too personal, especially when the person asking them was a near-stranger who kept secrets to herself.
For good reason! Dani thought to herself.
So, she kept those questions to herself, waiting until a time where those questions wouldn't be too personal for her to ask Hiccup about.
A minute later, they had arrived at the square. Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were already on their respective dragons, prepared to go. Toothless and Stormfly, who must have been resting, perked up at seeing their Riders.
With expressions on their reptilian faces akin to happiness, Toothless and Stormfly ran to Hiccup and Astrid, but both dragons instinctively recoiled when they neared Dani.
Give it time, Dani thought. They'll get used to you. Even to the point where they won't have the instinct to kill you on sight.
Still, as soon as they were ready to go, Toothless, like back on the Edge, allowed her to ride on his back again, albeit with some grudging reluctance on his part.
Once everyone was ready, the dragons took to the air. Toothless had flew up so suddenly that Dani wrapped her arms tightly around Hiccup's waist, her new sword in its sheath clanking against her right hip and leg, before she let go as she soon began to enjoy the flight and the feel of wind in her face and running through her hair, a giddy grin on her face, as Berk became just a speck on the horizon, before it faded into the blue sky.
The flight back to Dragon's Edge had begun.
Cruddy at the end, I know. I had writer's block for it. Please don't kill me!
Yeah, so Gothi knows! And, she's going to help train Dani use Equinox in its death form, while Astrid will help Dani know the basics of sword-fighting. So, prepare for some sword-training in later chapters!
So now, Hiccup and the rest of the gang, including Dani, are returning back to the Edge! What will happen, you'll have to see in the next chapter…
Please read and review!
GhostWriterGirl out!