Chapter 36, everybody! I would like to announce that I hate the Aptos font and Word's insistence on switching to it make it go away.

Yes you can have snapping turtle soup, one of Mom's aunts made it when Mom dragged a snapping turtle that had gotten on her line home one day. To call someone a philistine is to say they have no appreciation for the arts or finer things, and yes it does reference the Philistines from Biblical times. Granted, if you've read Calvin and Hobbes, you might have seen this word usage as well.

Obake's opinions of kidneys and livers mirrors my own, although I've never had to worry about eating those growing up—both organs act as filters, the livers specifically filter out toxins from the bloodstream, why are these considered healthy?

On the naming conventions, iku means to go while ugoki means motion. Yoru, meanwhile, means night and is a pain with Word's autocorrect because they keep wanting to change it to your (had a friend who had a character named Yoru, and every single stinking time I wrote the name Word said but what if you didn't). Ikari can mean fury but apparently it can also mean anchor, so strangely that still describes Tadashi since he's a grounding presence (literally right now). As for Tadashi's name…looking up name meanings a while back and saw that his name means loyal and devoted, although looking it up on WordHippo also gives just, fair, and honest as meanings too. Hiro, meanwhile, is pretty straightforward: it's literally the Japanese word for hero.

Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney

How to Train Your Dragon © 2010 DreamWorks

Obake had been trying to place where they were on a map when Momakase held something bleeding up right next to him, startling him off the log he had been sitting on.

"How do you feel about turtle soup?"

"A lot better without the coronary, thank you," he said, patting his chest and evaluating what she had. A snapping turtle, obviously headless or she wouldn't have been able to hold it, body bigger than his torso. "Where did you even get that?"

"Your dragons fished it up," she said, whistling for Gogo. "I figure this makes us even."

He wasn't sure a turtle equated a deer, but he had to admit snapping turtle soup was tasty enough. And it was interesting watching Gogo's reaction as she put the turtle in one of the packs.

"Oh stop it's headless you're fine," Momakase told the Nadder, latching the pack before patting her wing. "Of course, this means we'll be needing a means to cook it very soon."

He huffed a sigh, scratched his nose as he considered the map. She was probably hinting at going back to Yokai, but he was very much wanting to press on in this direction…actually no, scratch that, the original plan was to finally bail and flee Yokai. Momakase following put a cramp in that plan.

"I suppose you could take it back to Yokai," he suggested, testing this theory.

"Yeah, no," she said, sitting against the other end of the log he had returned to, Gogo settling down next to her. "You might wander off a cliff and then who'll be there to laugh at you?"

Turn his full attention on her now, eyes narrow. "Carl put you up to this."

She held her thumb and forefinger up, a hairsbreadth apart. "He seems to be operating under the impression you're going to fly off into the sunset, never to be seen again."

He had to seriously work to keep his feelings on the matter down, knew he hadn't quite succeeded when he felt the tingling along the side of his face—look away so that side wasn't exposed.

She noticed anyway. "You never said why that happens."

The truth was, he didn't know. All he knew was that it had something to do with the dragons, had started shortly after the dragon attack that had nearly killed him and prompted him into Callaghan's service. Strong emotion triggered it, the dragons interacting with it triggered it. Sometimes it happened despite his best efforts. In no way did he know the why or how of it.

It was, pure and simple, a longstanding and unwelcome reminder of the idiocy of his youth.

Not that he was going to tell her any of this.

"If I thought it was any of your business, I'd tell you," he hissed instead, rubbing at the side of his face. Gaah, why did everyone have to conspire against him on what was supposed to be a simple plan?

"You wouldn't tell me anyway—be honest, you like pretending that you're some big scary revenant, don't you?"

"I'd like it better if scaring people away was consistent," he said, glowering at her.

"Well excuse me for not being intimidated," she said, stretching a little before looking around. "Hey how long are we staying here anyway?"

"What is this we business? You are free to go whenever you please."

"Again I cite the cliff thing. Come on, you can help me find some herbs for this thing and maybe we can try burying it with coals, that might work."

Oh good grief. "And if I don't want to?"

Momakase's response to that was to snap her fingers, directing Gogo's attention. "Keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"I heard that."

"Good," she said, heading off. "Maybe then you'll listen."

Grumble as he watched her disappear in the foliage, glower at Gogo pointedly keeping an eye on him. "I'm not incompetent," he spat at the Nadder. "And I'd much rather you two stop acting as such."

Gogo chattered at him before going back to resting her head on Tadashi's saddle, one eye still on him. Good grief. Look over when Tadashi came back in, Hiro bounding into the clearing with half a turtle shell in his mouth. "Can we go now?"

Tadashi flipped an ear up, pointedly sat down and started licking a paw. So that didn't help.

"I'm going to need you to convince these two," he said to Hiro in an undertone, watching the little Fury lick the inside of the shell. "I can't stay on this island with Momakase forever—I'd go insane."

The dragons, at the very least, seemed singularly unconcerned with this possibility.


Momakase returned with a bag of herbs and a small ground bird that she had startled, which told Obake that they were comfortably out of reach of Yokai now. At least, Yokai as it had been—Momakase being here was just a needling reminder that they were able to range farther why had he decided that Yokai on dragonback was a good idea?

Grumble to himself as he watched Momakase debate over some of the feathers, Hiro watching her with naked curiosity—maybe he had hoped that the concept would distract the Yokai, make them focus on something other than him? Or maybe he had grandiose plans he hadn't even bothered to tell himself, that was an option.

Or, maybe, he had finally accomplished something difficult and exciting and he couldn't manage to keep it to himself.

That, if it were true, meant he was right in his original assessment—that he had never really outgrown everything, the need to earn the approval of a group that hated him, that in the end he was still some broken idiotic boy who would never achieve anything.

That in the end, he was still no one.

Expression darkened at that—shifted to startled at the pan shoved at him.

"These are for you," Momakase said. "Jian insisted—well Carl did but we both know the source—and I already called dibs on the drumsticks."

Obake gagged, knowing that irritating doctor would be insisting on him eating 'healthful' organs like livers and kidneys. "I will not and you cannot make me."

"Perfect," she said, putting the pan next to him and settling next to the fire, poking the rest of the small bird to see if it was done. "More for me."

Obake considered the meat, speared one of the kidneys with a knife before offering it to Hiro. Hiro sniffed it—drew his head back in disgust.

"That's about my feelings on the matter," Obake told him. Great, there went feeding this to one of the dragons.

"He ate the rest of the guts well enough," Momakase observed, looking amused.

"I think they have opinions about what we put on our food."

"You have no taste," Momakase told Hiro.

"Consider the fact that under usual circumstances they would have no reason to eat those seasonings."

"You philistines," she persisted, tugging the ground bird onto a plate and adding more herbs. She noticed him watching, grinned pointedly. "It'll probably be hard to finish off on my own, but I think I'll manage."

"So the point of you following me was to make me suffer."

"It was a bonus, yes," she said, standing up with the plate and going over to sit next to Gogo. That dragon, at least, seemed interested in the dish.

"You haven't even figured out the turtle—you didn't need that why did you bother?"

"I startled it out of one of the turf patches I was harvesting and reflex took over," she said, holding up a finger to stall him while she had her moment of silence. "Besides," she said when she finished, slicing a leg off. "I'm using some of those feathers and technically it made two meals. It's not like it's going to waste."

"This is not a meal—it's a travesty," Obake said, holding up the pan with the organs in it—yes it had greens but the rest of the contents still rankled.

"Then polish it off and I'll share. Maybe. I make no guarantees."

"Hrrf," Gogo noised, nudging her.

"You I'll have to think about," she said, polishing off the drumstick and considering the Nadder. Finally came to a decision and tapped her nose. "Open."

Obake couldn't help but glower at Gogo happily taking the bones, did his best to resist asking am I being punished during his moment of silence, worked his way around the organs (did she not know what kidneys and livers did he was pretty sure he had explained it to her) and finished right about the time she fed the last of the ground bird to Gogo. Dangit.

"Good girl," Momakase said, petting Gogo. "That makes you the best-behaved one here."

"Excuse you," Obake grumbled.

"I don't think I stuttered. Did I stutter?" she asked the Nadder, who chittered as Tadashi came in and flopped down. "See? I have a witness."

Grumble, try to figure out a different angle to stab her at. "I do have to ask you what possessed you to name that dragon that," Obake said, eyeing her leaning against Gogo's side.

"Tadashi feels more questionable," Momakase countered. "As does Hiro."

"Excuse you those are both perfectly serviceable names they're not the same word twice."

"See, now I'm not motivated to tell you."

Huff at her. "Fine. I wasn't that interested anyway."

"Yes you were," she countered. "If you weren't interested, you wouldn't ask—you hate small talk."

This was true. "And yet I doubt you'll bring yourself to tell me."

"Maybe if you ask nicely."

"You know me better than that."

Her snort said this was true. "Okay then." Poke the fire, considering…leaned back and eyed him. "You're telling me you haven't noticed the way this one holds herself—she looks like she's always ready to move."

"So you couldn't name her iku or ugoki because?"

"Oh yeah like we're all going to follow your naming theme. While we're questioning naming logic, what possessed you to name two Night Furies Hiro and Tadashi?"

"I don't dare ask what you would have named them."

"I'm just saying that by your naming logic their names should have been Yoru and Ikari."

Fury was definitely the name to describe Tadashi. "Tadashi means loyal and devoted—considering he came to Yokai spoiling for a fight to get his brother back, I feel that qualifies."

"He certainly isn't devoted to you," she snorted. "And the little one?"

Debate—Hiro had been named for how he was going to rescue him from his situation, broaden his horizons and get him out of Yokai. Momakase had admitted to being sent by Carl to make sure he didn't go scurrying off. He most certainly didn't need to reinforce that concept, that he was still planning on leaving as soon as he had an opening.

Finally twitch his shoulders in a shrug. "He looked like a Hiro to me."

"Liar," she accused.

"Why ask if you expect chicanery?"

"Why tell me the truth on one and not the other?"

"And what makes you so certain?"

Shrug. "You glance away when you're coming up with some line of baloney—it's a little flick of the eyes, but it's there."

Scowl at her. "I do not." Do too—augh he thought he had trained that out—

"You do too and I can tell that you know it."

Dangit—huff, cross his arms tightly and glare at nothing.

"Are you sulking now?" she asked.

"That is none of your concern."

"You're totally sulking."

"You have better things to do than needle me."

"No, I actually don't."

"I can certainly make some suggestions."

Momakase looked like she was winding up for a response, but Gogo—who had been trying to fall asleep during their conversation—flipped a wing up and wrapped it around her, effectively cutting the conversation off.

"Ha—I win," he barked—squawked when Tadashi did the same thing to him.

"Ha," Momakase countered, muffled by wing membrane.

Obake tried worming free of his own situation—got a paw on his chest and a low growl in his face for his trouble. Immediately subsided, prompting Tadashi to move, tucking Hiro firmly under his jaw before settling down tightly to sleep. Sit up, brush himself off, glower at the black dragon before looking at the Nadder. Hadn't let Momakase go, and unless he missed his guess they were both fine with that.

Huff, trying to sort his feelings on the matter—just—why? Momakase was as proficient a dragon killer as he was, and yet she hadn't required much nudging to fall in with this new concept, seemed happy with it. Why? What was he missing? Why was this bugging him this was possibly a good thing—

No, he was not jealous that her dragon was perfectly fine with her and 'his' wasn't. Hiro was fine with him, and he should be glad at that. Tadashi was a bonus, a power play, a shift in gears in his plan to escape. Any other dragon would be perfectly serviceable.

Hiro wouldn't leave Tadashi though.

Growl under his breath, grab his pack and flop down, using it as a pillow. Might as well try for some sleep, it wasn't like anything would try for them with two apex predators sleeping beside them.

And he was pretty sure that if Tadashi were going to kill him, he'd have done so by now.


Tadashi was getting very good at keeping one eye open as he slept now, kept an eye slit open and focused on the Yokai next to him. Not that he thought he'd jump up and kill him as soon as he fell asleep but…okay yes that's totally what he thought.

"You know," Gogo murmured sleepily, not opening her eyes. "You could just kill him, it'd be faster."

Older-Brother snorted. "I would, but then Little-Brother would be mad at me." Glance at her. "What are you doing, Swift-Strike? You were always just as skeptical about this as I was—what changed?"

She slit an eye open, then the other, lifted her head to consider him…tipped it to consider the Yokai she had curled up around, sleeping hard against her scaley side.

"I knew what it was like."

He twitched, not expecting that. "Huh?"

"I knew what it was like," she repeated. "Having some awful alpha making you do bad things. Being rid of that alpha, having that heavy weight gone from your shoulders. Realizing that your future is yours, and realizing that you never really gave that concept much thought before, because you never thought it would happen. Maybe…I recognized that she was as scared as I was, when you killed Mountain-King. Scared because all of a sudden I no longer had some mad tyrant telling me what to do and I had no idea what to do with myself." Look at him. "Our two flights killed so many of each other…but maybe Hiro had a point. Maybe we're more alike than we care to think. Maybe that thought scares us because it makes what we did worse." Shook her spines out, lower her head back down. "Or maybe I'm overthinking it."

Maybe, but she had nosed close to some of his own concerns, even if she didn't realize it. Removing their alien shapes and mannerisms, ignoring the nasty killing habits…a lot of their behavior jived similar. They needed to eat and sleep and survive just like dragons did, were on their same level. They weren't witless prey animals that fled in terror when a dragon soared over, or a senseless predator that would do damage in an ill grab at a meal.

No…from what Little-Brother had intimated, the Yokai had been simple not-dragons before, who had been targeted by Mountain-King's hunger before either of them were born, who had employed draconic levels of intelligence and changed to something ferocious.

None of this resembled comfortable thinking, though.

Sigh, laid his head back down and curl up around the shapes against him. "It's late, we should get some sleep."

Her chuff suggested she suspected him of blowing smoke, but she obliged. "Good night, Older-Brother."

Deep sigh, close his eyes. "Good night, Swift-Strike."

And hopefully they survived to have a good morning, too.