Chapter 20: Dreaming of Bones

There it was again. . . He knew it was the same smell. He was sure of it. But why was this scent so familiar?

The brown dog had ditched those teens and created his own trail to follow back, though in the past such actions resulted in his friends having to find him instead. They would not track him down by following the trampled brush he left behind, nor the tall grass he had snacked on along the way. No, those two had their own way of finding him, it was just a method that Boney could not comprehend, just as they couldn't understand how the dog was capable of such navigation. Boney knew Kumatora's and Lucas's special 'tricks' had something to do with how they carried out their tasks. Sometimes Boney wondered why Lucas hadn't done his tricks in the past, when they lived on their own—with Flint being absent throughout the day—it would have come in handy on many occasions. Like the time Lucas had been fishing, had finally gotten a bite, only for the fish to set itself free of the rod just as he finished reeling it in. They had both gone to bed hungry that night. By the time Flint would return home, his son and the dog had already gone to bed.

Boney then remembered that in those times, his boy did not show a bit of that power nor that mysterious aura that surrounded him now.

In the past months this aura had varied, it had its ups and downs. But to the dog's dismay, the boy would mostly be in low spirits. Much of it Boney knew was because of what happened that day. The sadness that hung around Lucas, Boney felt it too, he missed his red-headed boy very much, but his own sadness could not compare to Lucas's. Instead of feeling upset, he tried his best to cheer up his boy, just like he had in those three years when it was just the two of them. It would work. . . for a while and then Lucas would go back to his low spirits. This went on for some time, around a month after the ordeal. His meetings with the Princess and visits to his grandfather helped, but many times, Boney would feel that his boy wanted to be alone. He did not always understand, but respected the boy's choice.

His aura was rarely stable nowadays, now more than ever, especially in the past week. Boney could smell it, his sense of smell was that good. He didn't smell the energy directly but he could detect changes in the environment around him. It was enough for Boney to remain aware, but never feel on edge. He was certain Kumatora could help. Boney wagged his tail at the thought of finding her in the forest yesterday, but then remembered how upset his boy felt after he ran off in search of her. This was the first time, the first time since that day that Boney had felt Lucas's aura slightly shift into something much darker. . .

. . . Or Boney was just imagining things, yeah, that's what the dog thought. After spending some time with the Princess, his boy was sure to feel better.

For a while . . .

Okay, now what he was tracking was close, close enough to be in the area. (That smell can't be coming from something so far away, it has to be here!) The labrador was sure of this and his tail excitedly began to wag again. He straightened out, directing his snout to a very precise direction. "Arf Arf!" (I know you're here, come out already!)He stood still, trying to detect any movement in the brush. (I promise I won't jump on you if you come out. Come on, please?) He whined, a little antsy but his boy had taught him to be patient and polite. (I even said please. . .) He sat down for a moment, all this waiting made the back of his ear itch, so with a hind leg he scratched, loosening the bandanna around his neck.

Bad timing, something in the brush had moved! Boney stood, licked his nose once and continued to point it in that direction. (I don't know what this smell is, but I do know that I've smelled something like it before.) He hoped it would come out soon because the patience he had left was not lasting—

The movement continued, in the direction away from him. "Woof, Roouf!" (Wait, come back!) Whatever was running away was fast, fast enough to outrun the speedy dog. Soon Boney did not see any movement, he knew the direction the sounds were coming from, but that could have been anything, this was the forest after all. He did not rely on sight; hearing and most importantly his sense of smell was the way to go. So he raised his nose to the air again. A gust of wind carried with it trails of different parts of the forest and this time, the smell of something peculiar filled his airways. (It's that same smell, but this time it smells. . . burnt?) The dog tilted his head and walked to the new yet familiar burnt smell. He did not need to chase this one down.

Again something else moved behind him, but not at ground level. Now this scent he knew, though it wasn't the one he was hoping to find. "Bark, bark!" (Hey it's you! Why don't you come out?)

Something slowly faded to visibility, something transparent and grinning. "Alright, alright you caught me. Yeesh dog, you sure have one heck of a sniffer, dude that's a super power on its own."

(Steve. . . Why are you following me? Are you smelling for that smell too? I don't need help finding it but if you wanna come you can.)

"Sorry dude, but I don't speak 'barklish' so I don't know what the heck you're saying. I couldn't help but notice you running around and barking so I guess I just had to swoop by. Whatever you're sniffing around for must be what I'm looking for too."

"Arf?" (So you are looking for something too!) The dog tilted his head.

"Ha, it's like you can understand me, here I thought that kid was the one you could talk to. Hey, where is he anyway? Aren't you guys always together, you know, best buddies?" The Friendly Ghost had been told about their close friendship.

"Arf, Woof!"(I don't have time for you to keep talking, there is something important I'm tracking down and I'll loose the scent if I stop!) Boney pointed his nose to the ground, sniffing around in different places.

"Oh I get it, you guys are out here looking for that thing you're looking for. Makes sense that you went on ahead without them."

Once Boney found where the scent was the strongest, he scampered in that direction.

"H-Hey, wait up dude! Jeeze, this dog is fast. . . You're going in the direction where something crazy happened last night I know, I saw that bright flash in the sky, it made the whole mountain rumble, even I felt it and I was floating at the time." Steve continued to hover quickly, his attempts at following the dog caused him some trouble.

Now there were two scents Boney was trying to find. The direction where Steve mentioned was the same direction where the first smell was coming from and it seemed to be traveling to the burnt location which was the second smell. As Boney ran, he was unable to focus on anything else and did not keep track of the distance he had traversed. Soon, the speed at which his target was traveling had diminished, allowing Boney to feel it was time for a quick break. He sat panting, his mouth wide open with his tongue out as far as it would go. He grew thirsty.

"Phew. . . you dog. . . why'd ya have to run so fast. If I still had legs, they would be cramping right about now." The ghost 'leaned' an 'arm' against the side of a tree, though there was no need for him to catch his breath, he still did so.

Boney now used his ears, he heard the croak of frogs which could mean one of two things, water was nearby or there was a point to sav—

"Oh, wow, you sure know how to pick a good rest spot crazy mutt, it's so peaceful here, it reminds me of this one time in the castle. . ."

The labrador found a small stream and quickly lapped some water.

" . . . and then one of those Stinky Ghosts had to crash the party, that guy stunk up the whole atmosphere, such a bummer dude . . ."

Boney looked up from his drinking and turned to face the direction in which he came. Now looking though, he did not know which way it was but he was capable of getting back to his friends on his own. If there was nothing to get in his way.

"Anyway, I figured I'd come out here and look for some answers. That lightning from last night sure did cause a ruckus. I didn't bother posting anything on the notice board, figuring that your gang would come out here anyway, nobody was gonna ignore how suspicious that was and I guess I felt like I would run into you guys out here so I could tell you guys what we found out. One of my buddies did say something about—"

Even if there was something Boney came across, he would just slip away.

"—I don't know how important that is and besides that thing from last night, nothing really went down yesterday. I mean we got a new—"

Boney was proud of his speed, there had hardly ever been anything out there to match him.

"—I mean who would throw away a perfectly good—?"

Yeah, there were very few things that could out speed him in battle, the dog thought it would have to match the speed of—

"Lightning!" Steve shouted as there was an unusual flash in the sky. He huddled low to the ground shielding his head, he made himself invisible to any nearby eyes.

It was followed by a sound that really hurt Boney's ears. He yelped, trying to cover them. He lay his head down for a moment. (No. I have to be strong for Lucas. I'm not afraid of some lightning! How many times did the sheep pen get struck, how many times were we zapped at Thunder Tower? This l-little blast doesn't compare at all to—)

Another blast followed, Boney pressed down greater than before. He would quiver at the sound of lightning at first but had learned to get over it soon, so the third strike hardly had any effect on him.

"Bro, what is up with all this lightning? Are those Pig dudes at it again? I thought you guys wiped the floor with them." Steve turned around to face Mt. Oriander, the last blast causing a much louder echo effect, one that had not finished ricocheting off of the mountain. "I think it came from the cliffs. That's highly suspicious if you ask me. Well, nobody's asking, so. . ."

Boney barked at Steve. (That felt like Kumatora's lightning. Are they okay?) He whined.

"Hey don't sweat it doggy, I'm sure whatever that was, it wasn't a danger to anybody. Hey now that I'm thinking about it, that lightning did look oddly familiar, like when the Princess of Osohe would sometimes use her lighting. Well it makes sense since you're out here so she was probably the cause of it. I would like to say there's nothing to worry about but if she's the one at the helm, there's always something to worry about. My question now is why she would be using—"

This brought forth another whine from the dog.

"Nah, I'm just taking 'cause I can, I'm sure the Princess just felt like blowing off some steam, it's very like her, so everything's alright doggy." Steve hovered to Boney and gave him a few pats on the head. This however, did not comfort the nervous labrador.

The charge in the air he now felt, reminded him of yesterday's incident, when Lucas had shot lightning and it had backfired. (I hope you're right Steve.)

Boney walked away from the ghost, feeling the need to continue his search. "Hey wait up dude!"

As he moved forward, Boney couldn't help but sense there was something amiss with his boy in this moment. That wave of emotion that was felt with the lightning just now, he was sure he felt something similar to it the night before. When all were asleep, Boney was the only one capable of hearing the boy's silent breathing. The breaths he took, shallow ones, were like he was scared and deeply worried about someone's well-being. Boney had gotten up, licked the boy's hand, his breathing had settled. (I'm here Lucas, it's okay.) Boney had a hard time falling asleep after that, and he was awake to hear Flint get up and check on his son as well. Boney now knew he was not the only one who knew of the boy's trouble, and the struggle there must have been in his state of sleep. It was not the first time Boney had awakened because he felt his boy's nightmares, but this had been the first time there was something more perturbed about it.

(I want my boy to stop having bad dreams, I want him to have happy ones, of infinite bones and chasing down stinkbugs. Whatever those dreams are about, I won't let them keep him sad. I'll protect him, and if that means I have to deal with my own fears too—I'll never stop trying to help in the ways that I can. Even if I have to sniff under every rock and up every tree to find out the source, then I'll do it!) Boney sprinted even faster, his motivation having sparked.

He did not pay attention to the ghost whom he had left behind. "W-wait. . . Man, no wonder that kid looses track of you. . . Whatever this dog thinks he found must be very important."

There was no wind to carry the smell this time, which meant the source of the scent was exactly where he was running to. He just had to keep at it, eventually he would reach—

Boney had jumped out of the shrubs and had stumbled in a shallow hole, one in which the dirt had been freshly laid out. Upon his landing, he felt a shock of pain, his front paw going limp. His nose was now buried in the fresh dirt as a result of his front legs failing to stop his momentum. He sneezed to clear away the debris. Great, now he would have to wait until his fine tuned sense of smell returned, all he could smell now was dirt.

But wait, this dirt had. . . that familiar burnt smell. He found it! The source of the smell was right here, literally under his nose! He sure felt he deserved an extra two biscuits for a job well done. His tail wagged, and he eagerly looked around to find a good spot to dig—

—He yelped and jumped out of the ditch at the sight of a fresh chimera corpse right beside him.

It now made sense why the smell had been so familiar. It had been months since he had last detected it. Smells would jog his memory, and he thought of the first time he and Lucas had fought this type of chimera. . .

They had been in Sunshine Forest weeks before the journey, looking for a baking ingredient. Boney remembered how much he had been looking forward to that freshly baked nut bread. Caroline was happy to make it for them as long as Lucas brought the special nuts that would go into the mixture. Just outside of Kokori Hot-Spring was a good spot that Lucas had picked out. As they finished collecting nuts, a crazy creature zig-zagged right beside them, it had not tried to engage with them and Boney remembered its frenzied state, like it had no control of its movements. This had been before Lucas could perform his special tricks, so the way they dealt with it was with old-fashioned and reliable means, Lucas with a stick, and Boney with his evasive maneuvers and occasional tackles. It was tough back then, but they eventually got the creature to calm down. They seemed like weak flimsy little things, only capable of taking a few hits, Boney was confident in his ability to manage them. He excelled at combos, which guaranteed they'd drive any chimera away. They never intended to severely hurt them, only fight them off.

What ever had done this to this chimera had full intention of ending it. Boney shook at the idea, being afraid of whatever had done such a thing. He took a few steps back. Though he could not help but continue to stare, in turn making him feel worse but as he looked, he noticed that this Chimera in front of him was unlike those from way back then. He stared at its red scales (for him the colors he could see were unsaturated), its body bent in odd places. It took him a minute for his dog-sight to finally notice there was a second one covered in ash, mangled. It equally shocked him to see the many pieces of its body missing. Boney found the courage to get closer, there was a fading smell coming off from the bodies.

He smelled traces. . . of Lucas.

Boney had to back away again. Now he remembered. Didn't his boy say something about Slitherhens last night? Boney was just happy to see the boy return from the forest, not taking into account anything he had said to his father. At the boy's return, Boney did not notice any changes in him, he did know Lucas was very tired and a little nervous. But not at all threatening.

Just then, the friendly ghost emerged from the shadows, still making it seem like he desperately needed to catch his breath. His focus was set on the chocolate labrador. "I guess you found what you were sniffing around for, huh boy?" He began to look around, noticing the damage to the environment. "Whoa. . . something crazy did go down here last night. L-look at that rock over there. . . it's like somebody smashed it, it's cracked! Whatever struck it, must've hit it super hard. And look at this, the grass is all burnt over here. Oh, is this where the lightning hit?"

Boney did not turn to look at him.

"Uh, hello? Doggy, what are you — OH MY SPIRIT!" He coward behind Boney. "A-are they d-dead? What am I even talking about, of course they're dead. What did this to them? Th-this is some scary stuff bro. . ."

The dog remained still.

"Their ghosts are g-gonna haunt us. . . oh man. . . vengeful spirits aren't good ones. . ."

Boney tried being the strong one here.

"M-maybe they'll be friendly too — oh who am I kidding, chimera's spirits are scary. . ."

"Bark-bark!" (You have to try to relax Steve.)

"Y-you're right little buddy. The whole situation here is still scaring me. I know the kid said that us ghosts could scare the pants off of anyone if we tried, but I don't know. . . Chimeras are one thing, but their spirits are something else. Guess I can't really try being tougher when I'm being a total wimp huh? I-I'm not looking for trouble though, I make myself invisible when I'm afraid, and I'm always invisible." Steve covered his eyes. "M-maybe you can get your friends over here, then I'll feel safe."

(That's actually a good idea Steve. They should definitely see this.) The dog howled into the sky. (Kumatora, I think I found something.)

"Whoa dude, are you actually calling them? Do you think they can hear you from wherever they are?"

Boney's nose had recovered from the dirt smell, and he pointed it to the air. The suspicious smell he was tracking down before had not blown away. He growled, finally able to notice what he could not before. (We're not alone Steve. . .)

"I'm sorry dog but I'm a total coward. If you're picking something up that I can't, then I should get out of here. But before I go," He pulled out something from behind himself. "Here take this, it's a map to our secret base. I don't think I can wait until back-up arrives."

Boney received a Ghost Hideout Map!

"I'll tuck it behind your bandanna How's that? Once you got the gang together, you guys should drop by." Steve floated to the nearest trees. "I should go, don't wanna be stuck in some battle that I can't fight." He cleared his throat. "Now to depart with a spooky, Ohhhh!" He vanished, not leaving a single trace behind. Boney heard rustling leaves and thought he heard the ghost say, "Ow! Stupid tree branch! You ruined my dramatic exit!"

The dog was now alone. The fur along his back standing on end as he looked onto the vegetation, he knew there was something there and he suspected it was too afraid to come out, even now that the dog was alone. So it wasn't going to.

Boney looked back at the fallen Chimeras and the ditch they now lied in, he glanced at the splintered tree a short distance away and his sight quivered and the smashed rock Steve had mentioned. He was reminded of what type of destruction his friend's 'tricks' could do. Sure Kumatora was always scary and waved her PSI around just for the sake of it, but she never intended any harm by doing so. But Lucas on the other hand. . . In order for him to use his power to cause something like this. . . It was either because of a much more serious situation, or because the boy wanted to—

Boney never thought there would be a moment where he would ever dread his boy.