Ghost's Reign Chapter 45: Finding Strength in Pain, a How to Train Your Dragon + Big Hero 6 Crossover fanfic

Chapter 45, everybody! Yeah I know almost three months but honestly this next cluster of chapters has been one of those where I know what I want, it's just snarly to write. Been picking at them with like one or two sentences before fleeing to some later chapter. So...good news is Part II and Book III have some extra stuff going for them. Bad news is, next chapter isn't done, but since this one is we can have an update in the neighborhood of the fic's one-year anniversary.

So recently I found out that owls aren't waterproof? Guardians of Ga'Hoole lied to me man in that series owls are fine and it's Hagsfiends that can't stand a dunking. And hey, we know these dragons!

Also featuring references to: Evolution, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (movie version), Hocus Pocus, Blue Sky's Robots, and possibly a few more I'm forgetting. Now to get back to picking...

Okay. So. In other news, whatever had happened on Muirahara Island had definitely knocked him for a major loop because he was pretty sure he was still fever dreaming. After all, what other explanation could one have for Callaghan's daughter not, in fact, being dead?

Huff, wave Tadashi off when he glanced back at him—fine, he had an explanation: the dragons were intelligent. They were intelligent and they decided they were going to steal a person for…what, babysitting purposes? For whatever reason and they decided that Abigail Callaghan fit that bill.

His stomach did some weird things at the memory that thought brought up—the moments right before being knocked out and waking up tied to a bed in the infirmary had him pretty sure that she had pushed him out of the way right before getting snatched. Under severest of technicalities, that made this his fault, and in retrospect it was probably a good thing that Callaghan the elder never put this particular puzzle together.

But moving on—thanks to this here he was, flying on the back of a dragon, following the daughter of his former boss as she rode on the back of a dragon, heading to stop some raiders. Anything else? Oh yes, Momakase was here, but since she hadn't known Abigail this probably wasn't affecting her as heavily as it was him. Apparently her biggest point of confusion was the idea that Callaghan had any kids, despite being told that his desire for revenge had started from the death of his daughter. No, really it was him having the big bouts of confusion and thoughts spinning around in circles as he tried to fit everything together, don't mind him just the usual Obake train of thought that went spinning off the rails to crash and burn in a massive fireball…dangit Momakase had to have still been spiking his tea his thought processes were devolving into nonsense again.

The sun was close to setting by the time they reached the island Abigail had identified, them spreading out to disable the various traps without comment—caught himself pocketing parts of the traps with the intent to bring them back to Yokai for supplies. No. No he wasn't going back he had established this there was—there was nothing for him back there.

But was there anything for him out here? Look up at the bit of sky he could see through the trees, debating—who would accept a cursed Yokai into their fold, even before hearing his name? Oh he could change his clothes and his name, but he was still a stranger travelling alone. Not even traders traveled alone, for safety just as much to avoid being called an obake. Or, you know, being accused of being tied to a mast to be rid of.

And then…no. It was probably too much to hope that she was still alive, still out there—he was an idiot for not going with her when he had the chance—

"Wrr?" Hiro noised, nudging his elbow, making another concerned noise when he started.

"Sorry—just…thinking," he sighed, petting Hiro's head before curling an arm around him, Hiro leaning against him and looking up at him with eyes full of worry. "I do that too much, I'm afraid."

Hiro blinked, sighed like he thought Obake was being obtuse—fair enough—

Blink when he realized that this thing he was doing was something he wouldn't have even dreamed of this time last year—treating any living thing with genuine affection, let alone a dragon, let alone a Night Fury, the offspring of lightning and death itself…would he have done this if Hiro had been a full-grown Fury? Would he have gone ahead with it with no regrets? He had originally gone with his plan because he figured a young one would be easy to mold to his own needs.

And in that attempt he had discovered that dragons were intelligent and clever beyond their wildest dreams, that there was a whole bastion of knowledge that he had been cutting himself off from in his mindless killing of them. The dragons…they didn't view him like the Yokai did, different from, separate from them. Hiro…Hiro had been the first one in a long time that had seen him, and in doing so had finally wedged open the door to his heart, just a little.

Hiro made another concerned noise, pawed at his chest—hugged him a little tighter, resting his head on Hiro's. "No, it's—it's nothing." Nothing.

You're not nothing.

Deep breath, let go, push himself back up, like he always did.

"Come on," he said, glancing at the full moon on the rise. "We're wasting moonlight."

So Hiro really didn't know why everyone was acting like they were anticipating a bite, yes that nest had fought Tadashi and Gogo and that was rude but theoretically everything was fine now and even better there were now two nests that referred to him as Yokai-Tamer, even though, like Tadashi said, they hadn't actually tamed the Yokai—more so, they both realized there was no point in fighting each other and it was more fun to work together instead.

"Oh wait you've been sulking all this time because I'm RIGHT and you don't want to admit it, is that it?" Hiro asked Tadashi when they came across him in the gloom, bounding around him before bouncing off his shoulder.

"Hiro I am your brother," Tadashi protested, leading them down a trail. "Brothers never admit when the other is right."

"But that means I AM right, right?"

"I'm saying nothing."

"I'm right," Hiro said, grinning back at Obake—he didn't seem as...well, broken as when they first started this trip. "So not that this hasn't been all fun and enlightening and stuff, but I'm looking forward to going home soon. I miss everybody and there's LOADS of new stuff to tell them."

Tadashi made a pensive noise but didn't comment, more focused on sniffing out more traps; now that they were operating purely on moonlight the dragons had to take point, finding the traps and then illuminating them for the not-dragons to disable. "I wonder how Gogo and Momakase are doing."

"Pretty sure they're doing okay. Also I noticed Momakase packed all our stuff up."

"So I was wondering WHY not-dragons needed those things until Obake got his dunking."

"Yeah, you'd think they'd have clothes that keep them dry as well as warm."

"Maybe they're like owls." Stop, sniff again to confirm, bark at Obake before lighting his mouth to illuminate the trap.

Obake, as he had been, examined Tadashi's glowing mouth first before pointedly smirking at Hiro. "So it is an age thing."

"Hey I'm WORKING on it," Hiro protested—and he had, it was just the first time he tried it he had accidentally blasted the trap and spent his daily shot. At least this had the benefit of Tadashi being unable to talk while he had his mouth lit, so it postponed the brotherly gloating some.

But not completely. "So I'm the better brother," Tadashi said when he was able to swallow his fire, grinning at Hiro.

"Brothers never admit when the other is right," Hiro countered, not looking at him.

"So that means I'm right."

"Only if you admit I'm right too."

Tadashi was suddenly very interested in a nightjar flying by.

"That means I'm right," Hiro told Obake smugly.

"No you're not, because then you're going to be all smug about it and then you'll never be able to fly because you won't be able to get your big fat head off the ground."

"HEY—Gogo Tadashi's picking on me," Hiro called when they reached the beach again and spotted Gogo waiting with Momakase on her back.

"Oh good there you are," Momakase said, waving them over. "They're busy still, we can make it if we run. Well, fly," she amended, looking at Gogo.

"Hospitality was never your strong suit, was it?" Obake asked her drily.

"You tried to kill her yesterday—pretty sure yours is worse."

"Shush, both of you," Gogo said, flaring her spines and tail—this must have been a prearranged signal she had worked out with Momakase, because the other Yokai immediately clammed up and looked to where Gogo was watching the others come down the beach towards them.

"We might be able to do a few more islands tonight," Abigail said, still eyeing them warily like she expected a hit. "This goes faster with help."

"So this is your quality entertainment then?" Momakase asked, ignoring Gogo poking her with her tail.

"What Momakase means to ask is if these islands are targeted often," Obake said, giving the other Yokai a pointed glare. "Being as how we did have to fly a ways to get here."

"These are the ones targeted most often," Abigail said, getting on Not-Sensitive's neck so she could hold on to his horns. "They're not too far off from shipping channels so hunters are happy to make the detour."

The sharp glance the Yokai exchanged wasn't lost on Hiro—glance at Abigail to see if she noticed...didn't think so, she was keeping them in her peripheral vision but not looking at them directly, like she wasn't sure what to make of them. He wondered if she was wanting them to stay but didn't know how to go about asking.

Because he could guess at the Yokai's thinking: shipping channels sounded like the not-dragon version of flight routes, and a well-travelled one meant there was a chance they had travelled it before, which meant they'd know where they were and could get out of here. They were already packed up and ready to go; now it was a matter of the opportunity.

And the question of if these other dragons would let them, he thought as he eyed Not-Sensitive. This nest had already kidnapped one not-dragon, what was two more to them?

And then, he realized as they flew off—glance at Obake, ear flaps down—what if Obake wanted to stay? Tadashi would insist on going back to the flight, but Obake...judging by what he heard last night, what parts he understood...Obake wanted to flee his old nest.

But why? The bad alpha was gone, Obake was in charge now, they weren't fighting anymore...there was no reason to leave.

"Hey," Hiro chuffed, pawing Obake's chest. "You're not thinking of leaving us, are you? Because that would be bad we want you with us."

"Speak for yourself," Tadashi muttered.

"Yeah sure your BIG impressive speech really sold that," Hiro said, bapping one of Tadashi's ears. Look back at Obake, wondering if he'd be able to read the earnestness in his expression. "Please don't leave."

Maybe he wasn't able to, considering how absent-minded those pets felt—like it had become second nature, like...like he needed confirmation that Hiro was still there, wasn't leaving. Lean back against Obake's thin bony chest, no meat compared to a dragon, closed his eyes and did his best to just be there as Tadashi angled down to the next island.

By then he thought he had a plan on how to get things across to him—leaped off with the intent of finding shells, ignoring Obake and Tadashi's warning barks—

"DON'T STEP THERE!"

"Hyeiii!" Hiro yelped, skidding to a halt as a Nadder leaped out of the treeline and stopped him, flinging a spine to trip a trap barely a foot ahead of him—flared up bigger as she surged ahead to put herself between him and the others, another Nadder charging out with fire ready—

Yelped, twisted his head and cut off his flame so the stray sparks went harmlessly into the sky, dancing around to better see—"Obake!? Wait, over there—Hiro is that you?"

"Gleam-Scale?" Hiro asked, ear flaps up, at the same time Obake called the Nadder Narcissus.

"Do not tell me you know this dragon," Momakase hissed at him.

"You remember that Nadder that didn't actually die in the ring," Obake told her as Narcissus circled around to meet Hiro and the other Nadder halfway, having apparently read the cave and deciding that the former issues with Yokai were no longer a concern.

"What are you guys doing here? Is Boulders-on-Hill okay?" Narcissus asked Hiro, lowering his head to look him over before glancing at the others, including Tadashi slinking over while Gogo hovered over the Yokai. "This is your brother, right?"

"So I have questions," Tadashi said.

"I do too," the other Nadder said.

"You remember me telling you about Hiro and his tame-Yokai," Narcissus said, indicating Hiro. "Oh right introductions—Hiro this is my mate Preens-Much."

"Hi," Hiro said. "Were you one of the dragons we freed from the kill ring?"

"I'm Tadashi, since Hiro forgot his manners," Tadashi said drily. Flipped an ear at where Obake was apparently having something between a heated discussion and an argument with Momakase and Abigail. "I'm guessing you already met Obake."

"Gleam-Scale has to tell the story almost every night," Preens-Much said, batting Narcissus playfully with a wing. "I think he'll be able to tell our hatchlings in his sleep."

Narcissus coughed a little. "You know, when we have them—"

"If we can keep those stupid traps off the island for more than two days," Preens-Much agreed, tossing her head back at the tripped trap in the sand. "Gleam-Scale taught us a lot about what he learned, but there's still—"

"Wait!" Narcissus barked, suddenly excited—ran over to the Yokai, danced around a bit as Gogo mantled, hissing. "Excuse me sorry—borrowing this," he said, nudging Obake before running over to the treeline, bobbing up and down and indicating they follow. "Come ON, we need someone with longer paws than we have!"

"You mean—" Look sharply at Obake. "Right! Hi we need to borrow this," she agreed, running over and fluttering her wings at Gogo.

"Obake isn't a fish," Gogo apparently felt compelled to point out.

"No wait I get it," Hiro said, running over and bouncing around Obake's heels. "Come on! Someone needs help—don't they?" he asked, looking at Preens-Much.

She nodded, and by then Obake had apparently decided that it was worth investigating—hiss and wave off Momakase and Abigail's concerns, the Gronkle and Not-Sensitive's curious questioning—Hiro bounded along beside him as he heard Abigail mention something about their old nest in quiet tones to Momakase. Glanced up to see that Obake had heard that, if the thin line of his mouth was any indication—quirked up a little at whatever Momakase's not-quiet response was.

"It's nothing," he said when Hiro questioned this, and by then the other two not-dragons were following curiously.

Narcissus glanced back as he and Preens-Much led the way. "So...the plan worked? You have more than one tame-Yokai?"

"We have a whole nest full," Hiro said brightly. "We moved in with them, MUCH better than our old island just for the record—"

"Probably still has a great big stinking carcass fouling it up," Tadashi muttered to Gogo.

"It's been VERY interesting, everyone's learning that they're...kind of like wingless dragons," Hiro said, trying to figure out a way to sidle into explaining this.

"Like Speed Stingers," Preens-Much said.

"Uhhh maybe?"

"I've heard of Speed Stingers—the answer is 'yes,'" Tadashi said.

Preens-Much considered this. "So how did they get here? Using water-travelers?"

"Actually we've come up with a neat new bit of tech," Hiro bragged. "They're called 'saddles,' and we can use them to carry our Yokai around."

"You trust them on your backs?" Preens-Much asked Gogo, spines flared in amazement.

"I trust them more than the dragons behind me," Gogo said flatly.

"I heard that," Not-Sensitive spat.

"You deserve that," the Gronkle countered.

"So anyway Tadashi's alpha of the dragons and Obake's the alpha of the Yokai—this was supposed to be like, a teeny break from alpha duties while Older-Light-Fury kept an eye on things but then we ran into this weirdo island...what, that way?" Hiro asked Tadashi, indicating the direction with his head. "Totally fouled up our sense of direction until Momakase figured out how to get us off, so now we're uh..."

"Lost?" Tadashi said.

"Directionally challenged."

Preens-Much made a pensive noise. "I think the Yokai-island is back that way?" she noised, flapping a wing. "I'm not sure, it took us a few tries before settling on this island."

"And if these stupid traps don't stop we're going to have to move AGAIN," Narcissus groused.

"You could come with us," Hiro posed. "The island is MUCH friendlier now."

Narcissus looked at Preens-Much. "Honestly considering the Yokai intended on killing everyone trapped there, that's a tall order," she pointed out.

"Maybe this'll help," Narcissus said, pushing through some brush into a clearing. "Nip, Spark, you holding up okay?"

"Still stuck," one head of a Zippleback reported. "We're discussing just chewing the leg off and being done with it."

"We're not chewing our leg off," the other head argued.

"Technically it's my leg, it's on my side."

"You—what is that?" the other head asked, looking sharply as the rest of them came into the clearing.

"AAH IT'S A YOKAI!" the first head shrieked.

"BITE THE LEG OFF BITE THE LEG OFF!"

"HEY HEY HEY STOP STOP STOP!" Narcissus barked, dancing between the Zippleback and the Yokai with his wings outstretched, beating them a little to blow the Zippleback gas away from the rest of them. "It's a friendly Yokai."

"No such thing," the second head argued.

"This is it—we're dead, I knew it," the first head sobbed. "I'm sorry I kept taking the bigger half of our meals!"

"I'm sorry I stuffed your head in that log that time."

"I—wait that was you!?"

"You snore! I live with it!" The second head dodged a bite from the first. "The log only made it worse I'M SORRY OKAY!?"

"Oh good grief," Narcissus sighed, sagging—Hiro looked to see that Abigail was creeping forward to look at the leg, grimacing as she looked at the biting-trap that had it firmly in its jaws.

"I've seen this design before," she told Obake as he and Momakase edged closer to look. "It's a nasty one. Most times I can't get them undone, it's a foul piece of work."

Momakase looked at Obake, who was very pointedly not looking at anyone—made Hiro blink when he stepped forward pretty decisively.

"Oh no this is it," the second head moaned.

"I can't look," the first head said, burying itself against the second head's neck, eyes squinched shut. "Tell me when it's over."

It was over pretty quickly—Obake pressed something on the side of the biting-trap, tugged something long and thin out—

It fell back open, all bite gone.

The second head blinked. "Wait, that's it?"

"Are we dead?" the first head asked.

"No." Tug the leg up a little, examining the limb caked in old blood. "We're free."

"I told you," Narcissus sighed, looking skywards for help.

Abigail was similarly dumbfounded. "How did you—how," she asked as Obake grabbed the chain and tugged the biting-trap away from the Zippleback.

"Because I designed and built the thing, next question," Obake spat, still bristling even as he didn't look at her.

"And last I checked, that was a proprietary design," Momakase said, watching him. "I can't imagine anyone who stayed behind would still be setting these."

Obake gave her a dire look before shifting his attention to Hiro, who could guess what he wanted.

"How long were you in that trap?" Hiro asked the Zippleback.

"They've been in it three days now," Narcissus filled in, considering the Zippleback were still too stunned to say anything. "We've been bringing them fish so they didn't starve to death."

Hiro nodded, drew three lines before drawing the squiggle that Obake said meant sun.

"That means they'll be coming back soon," Obake told Momakase.

"Right. Time to go," she said, bodily steering him to Tadashi. "I know I don't want to see any old faces and I know you don't need to run into Callaghan again he'd kill you—"

"What?" Abigail asked, looking up sharply and standing much the same way. "What do you mean?"

"Okay fine you can stay but only because dear old dad probably won't kill you on sight—"

"Do not start with this again—"

"Please. Stop. Talking," Obake groused, eyes squinched shut as he massaged the sides of his head. Hiro watched him with concern, knowing he was thinking but wondering where he was going with this, if he'd follow that toxic trail again that had him giving up in the face of his old alpha.

"Off the beaten path, probably a few good days' sailing from trade routes, you said," he finally said, turning his head a little to finally grace Abigail with a look.

"I—yes, I've...I've seen the sails from a distance," she said, glancing at Not-Sensitive, who was ignoring the other dragons glaring at him.

"Which means it's likely they came here, set the traps, went to raid the trade routes, and will come back here."

"So back to my plan," Momakase argued.

"No," Obake said, making a sharp cutting motion with a paw as he stalked back to the other two not-dragons. "Seeing is believing, correct? Why don't we arrange a little meeting, hmm? You consider us liars," he told Abigail. "So we'll let you decide for yourself."

Momakase was staring at him like he had just lost his head, and Hiro wasn't too certain he didn't share her assessment.

"What is he talking about," Tadashi muttered at Hiro.

Hiro grimaced. "You're not going to like it."