He sits across the ice from the little dragon. He's shivering uncontrollably and making a pitiful, sad chittering, his muzzle laid dejectedly across his front claws.
"Nice try," he says. "Not falling for it."
The dragon huffs and sits up. He's still shivering, but it's less dramatic now. He's reminded of Chase anytime Dashi's caught him attempting to prank him. He can almost hear him insist that no, he wasn't trying to trick him into drinking pond slime. He was a proud, serious warrior with no time for that sort of nonsense.
The dragon lowers his head and Dashi snaps a muzzle of ice around his snout before he can start gnawing at his restraints. Chase's eyes flash in anger.
"Yeah sure," he says, with a dismissive wave. "You're going to kill me. I get it." As if he hasn't already done it. As if Dashi doesn't still sometimes wake up in a cold sweat, feeling jaws around his throat or the sting of betrayed mercy.
"What am I going to do with you?" he asks.
He's left any Shen Gong Wu that could help him in the temple. He should have been prepared, but this is still a surprise.
He's had years to come up with a solution and he still has nothing. There's just been one crisis after another. From Wuya and Hannibal to the countless monsters and bandits that pop up one after another for so long that he's hardly had a chance to think about protecting the people that matter most.
Should he drag Chase fighting every step of the way back to the temple? He still remembers the smoke, the screaming, the blood. He can't take the chance of Chase getting loose and massacring the village again.
Just wait for him to tire himself out? He can't trust a surrender anymore. Dojo and Guan will go looking for him eventually. It won't matter how many times he tells them to stay in the temple to protect the villagers. They wouldn't leave him to fight an unknown monster alone.
He could just let Chase go and fight him himself. For as monstrous as he is, he is still Chase. He's still impatient and too clever for his own good. He could dodge and weave around and irritate him into making mistakes. But if there was any of Chase left in this creature, he suspects that it's the part that would sooner die than admit defeat.
Maybe there was a part of him that hoped that this time would be different. There are enough little changes that maybe, just maybe, this long winter will come and go and his little brother will remain human.
He wants to fall out of this future and make better choices for next time. He will save Chase. But he doesn't snap out of it. He's still sitting on the cold ground watching his little brother tests his restraints, looking for any weakness.
Maybe if he can just hold him for long enough for the rage to die down, he can bring Chase back to himself.
He's never wanted to remember how calm Chase was when he bit him.
In the end, he lets him go.
He's just fighting Chase. Stronger and faster, with a dragon's claws and fangs, but still Chase. He's as clever as he's always been, but the teasing makes him angry and irrational. He'll lose his patience eventually. And he hasn't realized yet that he is stronger and faster, with armored scales and spines.
Dashi glides across the ice sheet, spinning and leaping. Sometimes, he throws in an extra flourish, trying to lose himself in the effortless joy of it. This is all so easy for him, while Chase has to work so hard only to fail.
Chase slips and scrambles on the ice. With every failed lunge, his frustrated growls get louder until he's all but roaring in fury as he lands awkwardly, his legs splayed.
He digs his claws in for traction, pivoting so quickly his next charge carries a scrap of dark blue cloth away in his claws as he darts out of reach.
It's such a pity. He liked this shirt.
The ice below him melts before Chase can take advantage, soaking into the earth and miring him in freezing mud. And before he can learn how to use the new terrain, he freezes a thin strip in front of the charging dragon, sending Chase tripping snout first into the mud.
He skates by like he doesn't have a care in the world, dancing tantalizingly close to snapping jaws. Like it's all just one big game.
But as they carry on, he feels less like he's fighting Chase. He doesn't waste time showing off how clever he is. He's starting to use brute strength in a way that Chase never could before.
Chase stays in close after his last charge and Dashi grabs his injured foreleg, trying to throw the beast. He doesn't expect the power Chase has when he pulls back. Dashi slips forwards, his hand shoots out to keep his balance. The dragon rears up, trying to slam his claws into Dashi's back. He's only just slippery enough to roll away.
Chase keeps up with him, unwilling to give him back the distance that would give him an advantage.
He whips around, his tail knocking Dashi nearly off balance. He retreats, still careful to keep himself between Chase and the village.
Swirling tendrils of water spring out of thin air to catch the dragon. Instead of dodging around like he should have done, Chase simply charges through. The impact should have sent him tumbling to the ground.
No. It should have knocked over a Chase sized Chase.
He doesn't have time to dwell on it.
He just barely slips out of the way and lets Chase run headfirst into the village wall.
Chase staggers back, then shakes his head and spits a long, jagged tooth.
Dashi doesn't let up. A wall of water erupts between them, forcing Chase back towards the tree line. He can drive him away if he wants to, but he knows that this Chase cannot get out into the world.
The wall circles around, then crashes inward. The dragon leaps up, only just barely escaping the torrent. Dashi jumps to meet him, kicking the dragon into a tree.
Chase springs back to his feet and rams his head into Dashi's chest. He's knocked back, but lands lightly. Chase leaps before he can regroup, claws digging into his shoulders as he's driven back into the ground. Fireworks erupt in his eyes and he fights for breath against the sheer weight of the creature pinning him down. The dragon rears back, his jaws stretched wide.
Then a spear rips through his chest.
Chase coughs and staggers off of him, spitting blood.
Guan's expression of relief gives way to horror as the dragon spasms, looking more and more human with every convulsion. Dashi staggers to his feet as Guan rushes to his friend's side.
Guan presses his hands against the gaping wound. Blood seeps through his shaking fingers. Incoherent, rambling pleas for Chase to stay with him mix with wet, choking gasps.
Chase's face contorts in rage and pain, blood bubbling from snarling lips. He reaches up, his fingers still too clawed to be human, but loses his strength before he can strike. His hand limply falls against Guan's cheek in mockery of a caress.
They bury him on the mountainside. The ground's nearly frozen. They should use their powers to dig the grave, but can't. Hours of mindless physical activity helps to stave off their shared grief and guilt for just a little while.
"You knew." Guan doesn't take his eyes from the freshly turned earth. The bloody handprint's still on his face.
His eyes jump from Guan to his cracked, blistered hands.
"Was this all some stupid elaborate plan?" Guan's normally steady voice cracks.
He's too numb to deny the accusation.
"I'm sorry." He can't quite look at his remaining brother and stares at a tree in the distance. He doesn't really know what to say, but now that the silence is broken, he has to find something to fill the void. "I didn't want you to…you shouldn't have had to…"
Guan walks away before he can keep floundering. He's almost relieved.
He's gone by the next morning. He and Dojo spend the next eternity scouring the countryside for him, only for Hannibal to toss his broken body on the temple steps weeks later.
He ripped the crystal glasses from his face at stared at the wall without seeing it, his face slack and empty.
He needed a plan.
"…some stupid elaborate plan…"
He has a little more information than before. He wasn't sure how to use it yet, but he could figure it out. He had to figure it out.
And if he couldn't figure out what happened to Chase in time, he needed a way to keep him restrained until he could find a way to reverse it. The tangle web comb? Maybe, but Chase was, admittedly slowly, learning to calm down enough to escape it. Maybe the lasso boa boa…no, even now Chase could effortlessly leap through those hoops. Or he could trap him in the yin yang world. Maybe he should just freeze him in a block of ice for a couple of years. Or maybe he could build something new…
"Come on," Chase said, sticking his head through the door.
"What…" He shoved the crystal glasses into a pocket and hoped that Chase didn't see it.
"Did you forget that we're going to the cliffs to test that kite?"
"Slipped my mind," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew his latest invention worked. He knew it worked. But it'd been only moments since he buried both of them. "We're not going to the cliffs. It's not safe."
"Since when do you care about safety? You threw me into the river to test the Gills of Hamachi! The cliffs were your idea! There's better thermals!" Chase said, stepping into the door frame, as if stop Dashi from leaving if he really wanted to. Then his face softened. "Are you okay? You've been weirder than usual the last..."
"I'm fine," he said, slowly getting to his feet and brushed past Chase. "I'm just tired."
Chase paused, followed silently behind him a few steps, then asked, "When we're done, do you want to, you know, get a few goats, label them one and four, set them loose, watch everyone scramble around trying to find two and three, maybe fill the senior monks slippers with pond slime, or just…" he made a vague gesture, "I don't know, one of your stupid pranks."
He stopped a second and took in the poorly concealed worry on Chase's face.
"Your ideas need work kid," he said, putting on his best carefree smile. "But follow Grand Master Dashi and he will teach you the noble art of the prank war."