Ghost's Reign Chapter 11: Girl Talk, a How to Train Your Dragon + Big Hero 6 Crossover fanfic

Chapter 11, everybody! Let's see how things are going….

Honey Lemon canonically snores, as shown in "Big Roommates 2." As for Yoga…actually I think Horse and Bow stance comes from kung-fu, been trying to pick up some online and use it for stretches, there's a nice channel on YouTube that goes through the different stances. Barb, meanwhile, has Opinions. Also referencing the original Proud Family (hate that I have to make that distinction): "You tell me stuff I think is stupid all the time until I hear it from someone else." Vitani quotes Sid from Ice Age, by the way. And Vitani backstory unlocked! Yay!

Honeysuckle stretched, purring, feeling solid warmth along her back—Older-Brother. Felt good, nice and evenly warm, not like in….

Start awake, taking a moment to reorient herself—right. No longer under Mountain-King's rule and no longer in their old nest.

Not even their old cave either, she noticed—looking at the wood pillars and walls. Right. This was a Yokai-nest. She had fallen asleep in a Yokai-nest. This was normal.

"Hi Honey Lemon," Hiro greeted from the strange wooden boulder that also had Obake sitting at it, something steaming in his paw. "For the record, if Obake offers you 'tea,' turn it down—it's just hot leaf-water and it's gross."

"Right," she said, stretching. Looked up—Older-Light-Fury was sitting on one of the branches, still glaring down at Obake. Look down at the Yokai in question, who looked exhausted and had not stopped glaring at Honeysuckle since she sat up. "Is he okay?"

"You snore in your sleep," Obake said flatly, sounding done enough for a whole dragon flight.

"Really? Huh," she noised. "I thought that was just that one dragon being mean." Poke Older-Brother. "Older-Brother."

"Zzzwha?" the older Night Fury snorted, waking up—and then jumping up when he realized where he was.

"Do I snore?"

"What?" Older-Brother asked, still mostly focused on Obake.

"Do I snore?"

"What? Noooo of course not why—why would you ask that?"

"Obake said I snored."

"You did," Hiro confirmed.

"Like a whole cave of Gronkles," Older-Light-Fury said.

"With leaves up their noses."

Honeysuckle glared at Older-Brother.

"Oh, um—well you get used to it, see, and…I think it's cute?" Older-Brother tried.

Honeysuckle gave him an even look before bapping him on the head a couple of times.

"OW what was THAT for!?" he barked, jumping back.

"Next time just be honest," she huffed.

"Well if that's the case—" Cut off abruptly when she looked at him. "Shut up now?"

"Great idea," she confirmed, before mincing over to Obake and sniffing at the thing he had. "Yokai drink leaf-water?"

"Yeah, but this is bean-water, I think," Hiro said, pawing at it—Obake lifted it out of the way. "It's called 'coffee' and it tastes gross too."

"I want you to know," Obake said, tone conversational now, looking like he very dearly wanted to go back to sleep. "That of all the issues I could have listed about living with dragons, dragons snoring was not on the list. Matter of fact that wasn't anywhere a list could be seen."

"What is he saying?" Honeysuckle asked, looking at Hiro.

"I think he's bugged because he didn't get any sleep last night," Hiro said.

"Sorry," she said, wincing apologetically. "If SOMEONE had been honest with me then maybe I could have done something about it."

"HOW is this my fault?" Older-Brother asked.

"Welcome to mated life—you'd better get used to it," Older-Light-Fury counseled.

"We're mated now?" Older-Brother asked Honeysuckle blankly.

"We could be," she said. "But you don't tell me when I snore."

"I'm used to it, it doesn't bother me."

"It bothers my Yokai," Hiro said.

"And as far as I'm concerned that's a bonus."

Honeysuckle shifted to the side a little to avoid Hiro tackling Older-Brother.

Yoga was supposed to be relaxing. Reduce stress, loosen the body, hone the mind. All good things, theoretically.

Although when Juniper posed what she did, all that went right out the window.

"You want to do what?" Barb demanded.

"Well," Juniper said, wincing. "Dibs and Momakase already have, technically—"

"And if they jumped off a cliff would you do it too? Don't answer that."

"But it's been weeks," Juniper pointed out, settling into Horse Stance. "The dragons are here to stay, apparently…so claiming one—"

"Honey, I know the idea sounds appealing," Barb said. "I'm just not in support of it."

"But Obake controls the dragons now," Juniper countered, going from Horse Stance to Bow Stance. "And he's chief now. So don't you think, I don't know, it'd be in support?"

"Juney, I don't trust Obake as far as I can throw him," Barb said, lashing out a slicing kick before settling into a ready stance. "He's always been nothing but trouble."

Juniper gave her a look that was fighting very hard not to be a pout. "Then why are we still here? Why aren't we with Callaghan?"

Because honestly, Callaghan wasn't an improvement. At all. Barb could remember a time when he was the village's second in command, sensible and balanced and able to reign Granville in before she went off the rails with an idea.

And she could understand how losing his daughter could unhinge him so—if it had been Juniper, she would have destroyed everything that even thought about coming her way.

But under his reign things had fallen apart—so focused on killing dragons and then raiding and destroying their neighbors, destroying anyone they were pointed at…the Callaghan of then had died and left a shell fueled by anger and hate.

And then there was Obake.

Obake, the ghost their old chief had brought in from the cold. Opinions on shoulds or should-nots aside, Obake had always been, plain and simple, a terror to be around. Forget the prevailing superstition for a minute—Obake had the sort of intenseness and intelligence that just straight-up scared people.

And then when Callaghan had taken over, when he had taken the leash that Granville had given off of Obake…well, then everyone's opinions of him were proved horrendously correct. He had become the revenant people feared, destroying everything in his way.

Callaghan included.

No one could have predicted Obake training dragons, let alone bringing them down en masse on Yokai. No one could counter dragons presenting an organized attack in broad daylight. And certainly no one would have anticipated Obake, in the middle of a dragon invasion, challenging Callaghan and winning.

It was his own fault, really, for throwing Obake into that pit with that Nightmare—that old adage about how you always created your own worst enemies came back to her then. The man who had always expressed concerns about letting Obake go too far when it was Granville's head on the chopping block had been bitten hard when he finally yanked back on the leash. He had put himself in a position where he could be construed as an obstacle, and Obake had removed him.

And that was why they were still here: it just wasn't prudent to present themselves as obstacles to Obake.

That, and Juniper—oh she loved her but sometimes Barb wished she had more sense—opted to side with Obake. She could guess why—Obake could be construed as handsome at first glance, before you registered the sallow cheeks, unhealthy complexion, and the general air that promised pain and suffering. She could understand Juniper having a fascination with him, a brief fleeting crush before she realized looks weren't everything. It was another reason they needed to leave: Juniper really had nobody her age to consider an equal. She had been born after Callaghan had taken over, Barb had sided with him because the idea of killing the monsters that took her husband had appeal. Obake was Juniper's senior by a decade and a half. She had never seen him as anything but a high-ranking, cunning Yokai—not the ghost that haunted their shores. For someone raised solely on the vitriol of the Yokai, Obake was the winning horse to back, period.

Because, to be fair to Obake, he was right: killing dragons wasn't nearly as impressive as taming them.

But that still didn't change a key fact: Obake was not above ridding himself of his enemies. Ofttimes messily.

He now had the means to rule Yokai—and the surrounding islands—and even the whole of the Archipelago—with an iron fist. And anyone who opposed him now—or even remotely displeased him—was looking at a very messy end indeed.

And she didn't want to put Juniper under those crosshairs—hence staying. For now.

But that also meant keeping their heads down, hence her putting her foot down on this.

"Juney, I love you, but no," she said firmly. "We don't know what Obake has planned for these dragons, you don't want to be trying to claim one of his."

"That's easy enough, he's got the Furies," she countered. "So any of the other ones should be okay—"

Okay quick think—stall until you can cook up a better argument. "Give me a week to think about it, okay?"

Juniper made a noise that sounded like she dearly wanted to argue. "Fine. But after the week—"

She'd say no, but it gave her some time to collab with Helga and Calhoun on reasons not to do this thing. Asking one of them to tell her no was probably the better bet—the irony was that when it wasn't a parent saying the thing, it often had more weight. Parents were being cautious and careful and would say no to any 'fun' thing, after all.

But in the meantime…Juniper was right, the dragons weren't going anywhere, and with Obake continuing to make no effort to run the tribe, that left more than a few questions. Such as what were they supposed to do now or what was he even up to?

And, most pressing to her: would they survive whatever he had in store?

Helga had been asking Vitani about her observations when Barb came up to Helga and asked her to tell Juniper no on claiming ownership on one of the dragons.

"And you can't tell her because?" Helga asked her, sounding amused.

"Do me a favor and think back to when you were her age," Barb said. "Did your mother telling you no change your mind?"

Helga considered that, looked at Vitani.

"My mom died when I was still a little kid," Vitani pointed out.

"But did her telling you no make a difference?" Barb asked.

"Eh," Vitani noised, shrugging.

"Pithy," Helga observed drily, scanning the skies. "Under here."

"Helga's thinking the dragons are spying on us for Obake," Vitani told Barb.

"You hush," Helga said, waving a hand at her. "I've been seeing the same dragon enough times that I think it's following me. I'd like that to stop sometime in the near future."

"I'm guessing the old way isn't going to work."

"I'm not in the mood to be ripped apart, no," Helga said. "Barb, anything to report aside from your daughter's death wish?"

"Do me a favor and use that wording when you talk to her," Barb said. "And nothing you haven't already seen."

"The Furies following Obake is probably something worth reporting though," Vitani said.

"It puts a cramp into sailing off, to be fair," Helga said.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can handle dealing with these things," Barb said, arms crossed tightly. "I was willing to humor you on waiting until everything cooled down and we could get the lay of the land, but it's been weeks now—the dragons aren't going anywhere, and Obake is doing nothing. At least with Callaghan there was a plan."

"Are you regretting not going with him?" Helga asked her, an eyebrow raised.

"I'm starting to," Barb muttered. "At least we had a better option of escape with him."

"Theoretically," Helga said. "We don't know how many people he ended up throwing overboard in a fit of rage."

"And technically Obake went to that mercenary meeting, so that's something," Vitani pointed out.

"And we left the day we arrived—if he did anything, it was probably make some fresh enemies."

"Great—like we don't have enough on our plates," Barb said, giving an aggravated gesture at that statement. "Why didn't we go with Callaghan?"

Helga was quiet at that, and Vitani had had enough vitriol for the day to prompt her to walk away, looking for some other diversion to occupy her time. Not that she missed raiding, but…okay she missed raiding, or at least doing something.

To be fair, Vitani was kind of ambivalent to Obake's existence, so it didn't matter to her one way or the other. As to why she had passed on going with Callaghan…there was history.

She had been very young when her family encountered the Yokai.

She didn't remember much from before that, just that it was always a haze of fear because of dragon attacks and fights their chieftain picked—her brother Nuka had chafed at having to take care of her while their mother Zira kept them safe, assured that their chief would protect them—

She was wrong in that regard.

The loss of their chieftain to dragons had broken Zira, made her howl for revenge that many of the others in their tribe didn't want to go for, scurrying away when she railed about what cowards they were—

And then the Yokai attacked.

What had stuck with Vitani then was just how…chaotic it all was—chaotic but focused, targeted and taking out their defenses, rounding them up and looting their homes as they debated on which of them to kill—

Zira had stopped everything, parleyed with Callaghan—she had heard of what the Yokai did to dragons.

She wanted in.

It was why they had found themselves on one of the Yokai's ships, one of precious few survivors, Zira making nice with Callaghan as a trembling Nuka kept a tight hold on Vitani. She, meantime, was staring wide-eyed at everyone, barely hearing how their mother was promising that they would easily become the coldhearted killers the Yokai demanded—

Remembered how she had spotted Obake that first time, lurking in his coat and mask, looking younger than her brother and yet not out of place with those bloodthirsty marauders. It had seemed strange, stranger that no one seemed to want to talk about it.

Nuka had expressed concerns when they finally got the concept.

"We're teamed up with a bunch of mercenaries," he grumbled at her in the corner of the galley they had secured. "They killed everyone back home and burned it to the ground—and then they have an obake too? What was Mom thinking?"

She had teased him into telling her about obakes, knew he always enjoyed telling her scare-you stories—had shivered appreciatively at the thought of sharing a boat with a tamed revenant.

And then the training, and then the fighting—

And then Nuka dead, trying to prove himself to their mother, her dying not long after when her rage got the better of her.

And then it was just Vitani.

Huff at that—she owed nothing to the Yokai, they had taken everything from her, the reason she had agreed to Helga's plan was to get away from them.

But with that stunt Obake had pulled…given the choice, she'd side with whoever wasn't Callaghan. Obake hadn't been the one Zira had struck a deal with. Obake hadn't been the one who allowed Nuka to go do a stupid. Obake wasn't the one who failed to stop her mother. Obake, like her, had been a child going along with what their elders told them to do.

Obake, unlike her, had had the brains to manipulate and plan attacks even at a young age. Obake in a leadership position could be absolutely deadly. Honestly, they should be glad he wasn't taking the role of chieftain seriously.

But it still left the dragons as big question marks.

Watch their old foes carefully, the dragons watching back, some of the ice thawing but still that prickly feeling everywhere, like trying to navigate through a briar patch without getting scratched. It was enough to make her actually give weight to the prevailing superstition, that Obake was precisely his namesake and capable of things beyond human standards.

Bit concerning, to be honest.

Huff, shake that thought out of her head—she had other things to worry about. Like assorted dragons, some of which were getting too close. Get up from the perch she had picked, wend her way through the village, up into a loft, flopping into an old pile of blankets and hoping that mice and rats didn't suddenly decide to make a comeback.

Whuff.

Nope, not a rat, although she wished it was right now—flail away, spinning to see what she had disturbed—

Something big and golden blinked at her, icy horns growing out of a catlike face—a Sabertoothed Driver. Big, furry, with wicked claws and probably an appetite.

"No thanks, I choose life," she muttered, hands slightly up in a defensive position. Gingerly back away, down out of the loft, did her best not to scurry away when it poked its head over to watch her go.

Huff again, decide maybe she'd go bunk with Audrey again tonight. More safety in numbers, and all that rot.

Like that would matter.