Ghost's Reign Chapter 47: Coming out of the Cave, a How to Train Your Dragon + Big Hero 6 Crossover fanfic

Chapter 47, everybody! Currently on my laptop due to a hiccup with my big computer but at least this has the side effect of me focusing more on my writing. In other news, we got emotion.

Yes that's a reference to Disney's Dinosaur and a more oblique one to DreamWorks' The Prince of Egypt; Natto Island was originally a less oblique reference to Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Jack sacking Nassau Island, but instead we get the island of beans. And this latest cluster of chapters gave me some grief in writing partially because of the Callaghan confrontation but mostly because of untangling all the emotion and then talking it out, which these honyacks are finally doing. Some chunks of this were written well ahead and honestly throughout posting the last forty-some chapters I kept returning to this and picking at it…so happy to have finally untangled it all.

As for last chapter, realized that Hiro had fired two shots in one day, was thinking about writing one out, decided to leave it in; the little boi's growing up. ;v;/

In other news, since most if not all of these guys wouldn't know what handguns are I had to edit my writing from gunmetal gray. Also Momakase is one of those friends you need even if you don't think you do, the one who listens to your most self-depreciating thoughts and goes that's dumb and gives you the logic. You might not want to hear it, but sometimes you need to. And yes we're still calling out CTC.

As some of you may have guessed, this story takes place in a post-cataclysmic setting, well after our current year. It always kind of bugged me how the movies were so concerned about lining up with our own history when they were already a fantasy story with the dragons. Plus, such post-cataclysmic stories fascinate me, although that's cooled a bit since I lived through one.

They flew through the night, until a drizzle that steadily built into a storm forced them to seek cover, Tadashi and Gogo scanning until they found a cave high on a sea stack that they could skim into, deep enough that they were protected from the wet sheeting down. Shake themselves once the Yokai were off, let said Yokai take the saddles off before investigating the rest of the cave...not much to it, just basically a hole that had been slowly worn into the rock, would probably punch clean through at some point in the future. For now, however, it was dark, but at least it was dry, and he and Gogo were more than happy to flame spots for themselves before settling down on the warm rock, him having to fetch Hiro while Gogo kept an eye on the Yokai, who were busy shucking their outer layers and emptying their paw coverings of water. She finally took pity on them, lit her mouth and angled her head so they could see enough to find their way over but not in such a way that someone outside could see them.

She was coiled around two sodden but grateful Yokai a few moments later, all of them too tired and wrung-out to stay awake for much longer.

Stars I wish that were me, he thought wearily, watching as even Obake's breathing became even. He had had enough stressful moments today, this week, this month...it'd be nice to just drop off to peaceful oblivion over still being awake because of being so wound up.

A sigh beneath his jaw suggested he wasn't the only one still awake. "Are you okay?" he asked Hiro quietly.

"No," Hiro muttered, curling up tighter between Tadashi's front paws. "A dragon died today."

Yes, that was terrible, even if he had disagreed with Not-Sensitive on many fundamental levels. "Why were we even there."

"I think...Abigail wanted to see her dad again, but...I guess it'd be like us hearing that Mom or Dad was still alive, but they had turned into horrible hatchling-eaters. You don't...you don't want to believe the worst of someone you love."

This was probably true, and while it was giving the not-dragons more credit than he wanted to give them...that was the problem. This whole thing...he had found that they weren't so different after all, that their different shapes did not make them creatures devoid of emotion, that they, at the end of the day, wanted the same things dragons did and trying to make them less didn't absolve his dismissal of them. He had been wrong too, and that had been shoved in his snout repeatedly in the past few days.

And him, wanting to hold on to his anger at Hiro being kidnapped...Abigail had been treated the same way, had mourned Not-Sensitive, because she saw that they weren't so different.

Sigh, rest his head on Hiro and his front paws, effectively pinning his little brother in the little warm space made by his front legs and his neck.

"So today sucked," Hiro muttered, snuggling closer to Tadashi's chest.

It did. "Can I tell you something that'll make you feel better?" Tadashi asked Hiro. "I'm reasonably sure you had already spent your shot for the day."

Hiro considered this statement...he was right, he had accidentally fired it when they were disabling traps.

"I'm up to two!?" he gasped, excited.

"Well...maybe. We'll have to test it tomorrow." Tadashi tapped the blue crackling on his head. "After all, I know better than anyone that Night Furies can exceed their shot limit under duress."

"Fair," Hiro agreed, burrowing against his neck. "But this just increases my awesomeness."

"Whatever."

Momakase woke up to a steady drizzle, not too terribly heavy, but enough to make flying miserable. Sit up, look out the cave...spot Obake sitting near the entrance.

"It'll probably be done by nightfall," he said when she came over, not looking away from staring out at the rain.

"Probably," she agreed, sitting down crosslegged next to him. "Are you okay?"

"In what way?"

"In whatever way that matters." Probably not, he lapsed into a long silence after that. Stare out at the rain as it hit the ocean, pewter waves crashing on the shorter rocks surrounding their sea stack—

"It's all my fault."

She blinked, looked at him. "In what way?"

He was looking away so as to better not be looking at her. "All of it. Abigail being snatched. The Yokai being formed. Everything after that...she was stolen because of me. Callaghan got the idea of fighting the dragons because of me. Everything..."

She recognized this line of thinking, even if she hadn't really seen it in Obake before. "Mmm, no, sorry."

Twitch, look at her. "What?"

"Did you make Callaghan do all that? Did you hold him at knifepoint and tell him to do that?"

"I certainly didn't stop him—"

"Have you seen what happens to people who try to do that? You were how old when you started this? twelve?"

"Fourteen," he said stiffly.

"Oh yeah those two years make it so much better. You were a kid, he was the adult, it's the adults that are supposed to make the hard decisions, not the kids." Look at him, wondering if she was finally getting to the heart of what had been eating him. "Not everything is your fault. The rest of us have free will, you know. Abigail chose to stay there, you can't tell me that in twenty years not one chance to flee didn't pop up. We chose to be Yokai—it might have been the lesser of two evils, but it was still a choice. There's always a choice." Narrow her eyes at him. "You chose to run away from your problems instead of facing them."

He bowed his head, acknowledging this.

Silence stretched again, the rain drawing her attention; she wouldn't let it, would only allow her head to turn slightly to observe it, making sure that he dominated her peripheral vision. He wasn't getting out of this, not this time.

"I suppose it was foolish of me to think I could outrun those old ghosts," he muttered finally.

"I think you do a lot of foolish things," she said. "Running away, for starters." Look at him. "We tore Numachi Island to the studs hunting you down, if we wanted you gone we would have dusted our hands and sent the Moss-Huts a fruit basket. A bunch of us were planning to straight up leave before your stunt with the dragons; we stayed because of you." Watch him closely, give him a minute to digest this. "And if all this is your fault, then running away isn't going to stop it. If it's your fault, then you have to stay and fix it. It won't get better unless you make it better."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" he snapped, rounding on her. "Everything I touch turns to ruin."

She gave him an even look. "I wouldn't call that ruinous," she said, tossing her head to indicate the dragons resting deeper in the cave and doing their best to pretend they weren't listening. "Figuring out new ways to kill more of them was a choice; so was sparing and befriending one. That Nightmare...that's been the first dragon I've seen die in a long time, because of you. We have plenty of fish to eat and can go out and get other stuff in a fraction of the time because of you." Look out at the rain again. "I found out what flying was like, what that sort of freedom tastes like, because of you. It's not ruinous." Look at him, remembering what he had said before. "You're not nothing. You've always been brilliant, and this new thing you turned your attention to...it has the potential to be something, but only if you see it through."

Sigh, look out at the rain, silent for a long time.

"I suppose, if we ever find our way back, I might consider giving it a shot," he said finally. "But when it all comes crashing down, I'm blaming you."

"Sure you will," she said, smiling as she elbowed him. "Well seeing as how it's too wet for a fire, we might as well try sleeping a little more. I bet those ribs of yours aren't healed up yet."

"They're getting there," he said, rubbing that side gingerly.

"Well at least there's that."

The rain did ease up towards nightfall, the Yokai having to eat some of the preserved rations Momakase had packed to stave off starvation. The dragons dove and dipped and fished, Hiro bringing one back and offering it to them, eating it when they waved him off. Despite potentially being more satisfying, they had no means to cook and cure it, so that would simply be more trouble than it was worth.

The dragons were the ones navigating over the next several nights, angling north and west and further away from the various aggravations they had been encountering, Obake entertaining himself with trying to determine where they were. He hadn't properly paid attention to their travels the last several nights, more preoccupied with everything else that had happened, so he wasn't sure if they had missed the shipping lanes that would better establish where they were.

Stare at the various stars, debating. Would he go back, if they found out where they were? Should he go back? Momakase seemed convinced that he had something waiting for him back in Yokai, that he could turn that rabble into something…maybe not better, but useful, something that could be anything but a ravenous force bent on destruction.

This, he doubted. The village it had been before had not had many redeeming qualities in his estimation, and it wasn't lost on him that the Yokai had risen from that bog. My fault, all my fault—

Grit his teeth at Momakase's voice telling him no it isn't—this, perhaps, was the main reason he didn't want her coming along on this venture. Anyone coming along was problematic, he wanted to escape all that, no matter how thin that possibility was…but of anyone, Momakase was the one who could actually talk him around if she put her mind to it, and unfortunately she had. She didn't hold that same fear of him that everyone else (except possibly Carl) did, would be quick to poke holes in any of his plans if she saw the opportunity.

She viewed him as a person, and of anyone he still currently had liaisons with, her opinion was one he somewhat respected.

You're not nothing. This can work, but only if you see it through.

He wasn't sure he believed that, but Momakase was bullheaded enough that she did and would work to convince him, or at least continue to act like she did and kick him into cooperating. She wasn't like Calhoun or Helga, where he could make it clear he wasn't interested and had enough of a reputation that they would accept it, however begrudgingly. She believed this fallacy, believed in him, and he was running out of energy to argue. Wasn't certain he wanted to keep arguing.

I see you. I see something special.

It had been a sentiment he hadn't heard someone express in a long time, and part of the reason he didn't want to believe it or buy into it was….

Sigh, offered no comment as the dragons skimmed over an island in the pre-dawn gloom, finding a cave and letting them get settled, Momakase happy to curl up against Gogo and fall asleep, having spent all nigh on alert for black ships. Stare at the wing Momakase had disappeared under, trying to untangle that snarling feeling in his chest….

He didn't want to believe it or buy into it because he hadn't believed it before. Granville's voice was but one against a sea of hatred, of resentment at him surviving what should have killed him. Every time, resentment, he shouldn't have survived that, why won't he die, why won't she let them kill the revenant in their midst, the monster that had taken the form of a child to worm its way in, who stayed all bristly and standoffish because of their hatred, obviously it was evil.

"Hrr."

Start, look at the nudge to his leg to see Hiro looking up at him brightly before cantering over to his brother. Hiro, who had long ago stopped looking at him like he was a monster.

Tadashi, who he noticed had started doing the same, lifting a wing in invitation, Hiro snuggling under the join and barking at him to follow suit. Debate, still chilled from the night flight, gingerly accepted, watching Tadashi warily and ready to bolt if he changed his mind.

He didn't, layering the wing over and around them, Hiro snuggling up against Obake's chest and sandwiching him between two hot dragon bodies, chasing away the chill that lived even in his bones.

It was enough to make him fall asleep even with his mind still whirling, sleep soundly until Tadashi finally let Momakase poke him awake.

"What," Obake muttered, not opening his eyes.

"Come on, this island's big enough to have a proper ecosystem, we're getting something to eat," Momakase said. "Gogo and I already scouted the area, we didn't see any ships so we should be safe."

He didn't really want to get up, to keep going, but he knew that if he let it inertia would swallow him whole and he knew the present company knew this as well. This didn't stop him from grumbling mightily as he got up, looking hopefully for coffee despite knowing that was a pipe dream; they had been gone so long that anything they had left was either watered down or the stuff they had been desperately avoiding, which was probably why he was given a cup of Jian's herbal tea instead.

"I'm not drinking this," he told her as she grabbed a bag.

"Then you're drinking hot water," she told him. "That's all that's left."

In retrospect he should have stolen Callaghan's tea while they were on his ship. Groan, get up, follow her out of the cave, focus on picking his way down the rocky incline as the dragons stretched and flew overhead. The island did have greenery, various trees and bushes playing host to birds and small mammals, petering out softly into a long stretch of sandy beach. Possibly the whole thing flooded during storms, which meant pickings would be slim. Dug up some clams, collect firewood—Obake got a lucky shot at a squirrel, and after sampling a pond and declaring it fresh they had something resembling soup when the dragons came back.

"Should we stay a bit longer or press on come nightfall?" she asked him after the meal, leaning against a dozing Gogo.

"It depends," he hedged. "You know how fast the Yokai fleet sails." Never fast enough for his own tastes, but fast enough to overtake most ships.

"Meh," she noised, looking out at the sky—late afternoon. "Come on, either way we need to walk and work the kinks out."

"Must we?"

"Yes," she said, hauling him up and waking Hiro up. "I'm told it's good for you."

He doubted this greatly but knew better than to argue with Momakase—he was finally getting to the point where his ribs didn't hurt every time he sucked in a breath, he didn't need to goad her into socking him and bringing those injuries back to the fore.

Besides, he reflected as they wandered back along the beach, hunting for clams as the dragons decided to spend their energies gamboling, this was probably an attempt at planning ahead against a lean night and day, something that the Yokai had long ago forgotten.

"Oh look at that," Momakase said, pausing along the beach to stare at the sunset, prompting him to do the same. "I love it when they do those colors." Blink as though something occurred to her. "It's been ages since I stopped and looked at one."

Tip his head at her, considering…look at the sunset, back at her. "Do you know why they turn those colors?"

"No—don't tell me," she said, continuing along the beach, this time with her attention on the sky. "I don't need to know the how of it—it's enough that it's pretty."

Blink at that assessment, huff. "I can't understand that sentiment."

"Let me guess, you have to know how it's all put together."

"I do," he admitted, crossing his arms. "I like learning how things work, seeing the evidence that it was all put together with Intelligence."

She made a pensive noise at that. "I knew an artist once, couldn't look at something pretty without breaking down how to replicate it on paper or canvas." Stop, stare out at the sunset as Gogo lofted down next to them. "Maybe that's what it is. You can see something striking and then get further enjoyment from breaking it down."

"Perhaps." Scan the horizon as Tadashi swooped low, teasing Gogo into chasing him—blink as realization set in. "I recognize those formations."

"What?" Momakase asked, looking sharply at him.

"Over there," he said, pointing. "We've sailed past those before—we're about a day southwest of Yokai…less flying."

"Ugh, finally," she gusted, flopping back in the sand. "I hated being lost it made the whole trip suck."

He looked down at her. "You didn't have to come. Matter of fact, you weren't invited."

"Since when has that ever stopped me?"

Huff, look back out…hesitated before sitting next to her. "Why did you come?"

"To start with? Gogo sort of made me," she admitted. "But you didn't seem like you should have been left by yourself." Look at him. "Why? It's not…what you said, back there, you don't actually believe it, do you?"

Did he? It had been repeated to him often enough by enough people that it had been etched into his soul, almost—look back out at the sunset, at the deepening golds and blues and fading reds, at the pinpricks of stars starting to wink their way through.

"What measure is a man?" he asked, startling her. "By what means do you measure his worth? And what if you're told that no matter what you do, you never will have worth?"

"Spite," she said, thinking about it. "Spite usually works."

"And when it doesn't?"

"It's why we're told not to look through men's eyes when evaluating our lives." Obake looked at her. "Yes I know we're in trouble, I'm really glad we're not required to work it off because I should have started a few lifetimes ago."

He snorted, acknowledged that point. "It's the thought that nothing I've done has mattered, that after everything I've done nothing about how others perceive me has changed. I always wanted to do something with my life, emblazon my name in history…I feel my younger self would be disappointed with me, all things considered."

"If you were anything like a normal kid, your younger self would be stoked that you're riding around on the back of a dragon," Momakase said, arms behind her head and tone reasonable. "Younger you would think that was awesome and demand to know why you didn't do it sooner."

"Perhaps I wasn't as desperate then."

Silence but for the waves on the beach. "You were running away. This time and when you shot down the dragon—that's why you were never in the village."

He nodded finally. "A dragon so fast and camouflaged so well that no one had even seen it, let alone shot it down—it seemed the perfect means of escape."

Didn't look at her, focused on the waves as the last of the yellow faded and the moon came into sharper resolution—start when she commented.

"You know I've gone along with stupider plans, right?"

He looked at her, not comprehending. "Oh come on, your plan for sacking Natto Island was bonkers," she said.

"Go back to the part where you would have been willing to go along with using a dragon to leave," he said.

"Like I said, you've had weirder plans," she said—stared up at the stars. "I like this one though—and I think it's pretty clear by now that Callaghan wouldn't have gone with it." Expression scrunched—sat up a little to look at him. "Callaghan's daughter is living feral with dragons. That is weird, I need you to know this."

"I'm aware," he said. "The irony is certainly something to behold."

"Also Callaghan is still mad at you, but that one was a given." Hesitate. "So…how did he take seeing his daughter again? Obviously not well enough to show you any affection."

He snorted at that. "Callaghan has never shown me what you'd call affection, so that's par for the course." Once, perhaps, when he had willingly submitted himself to Callaghan under the impression that someone was finally seeing his worth and happy to give him the time of day…should probably do something about that low self-esteem, considering none of that was exactly a high bar to clear. Ah right, Momakase's question. "He…I don't think he wanted to believe it was her. Because then it meant that he was wrong about the dragons—that all of us were, that he willingly went down the path he did and ended up doing more destruction than the dragons even dreamed of. If it was just a trick I cooked up…then it means he wasn't wrong."

"I'm guessing you being stuck in there didn't help matters."

"Does it ever?" Shook his head. "He wasn't willing to believe her before seeing me—I suppose there was a moment when he was willing to buy it, but it was going south before he saw me."

"And he got revenge on the dragon that snatched her and didn't even realize it."

"And that is truly the ironic bit," he snorted; sighed and looked away. "I realized then…perhaps I had always suspected. Nothing would ever be enough to fill that black hole inside. It can't be filled up…not unless it's fixed, and I don't know how."

"Well if it involves discussing your emotions of course you're never going to figure it out," she scoffed. "You keep it all bottled up and I suspect you intend to do so until you die."

"Oh like you're all touchy-feely," he countered.

"With that in mind thank you for leaving me to deal with Abigail's emotions you suck you know that right?"

"I had suspected," he said, looking back out over the water…maybe a change in subject. "Did you know that directly under the moon is the darkest?"

"Huh?" she asked, sitting up—he pointed out the ocean beneath the moon, where a small black patch was, a tiny fog of brighter sky to either side. "Great, thanks, I'll never be able to unsee that, why would you do that to me?"

"Because it amuses me."

"Jerk," she huffed, aiming a kick at him as she laid back down. "I'm out here trying to enjoy myself and then you do something that'll aggravate me for the rest of the week."

"Just the week? I'm losing my touch."

"Oh go back to sulking."

Snicker at that, look back over the ocean. Perhaps they were safe from Callaghan, perhaps not. Perhaps he could finally relax somewhat, stop bracing for the next hit…but that was so unlikely that it wasn't worth entertaining.

"Okay you know what good grief go back to being a nerd the sulking is annoying," Momakase said. "What are you even getting so worked up over anyway?"

There was no way he was ever discussing that in this life. "I'm wondering about the Ancients."

"What's to wonder about them? They're dead."

"Dead and gone with just questions remaining."

"Such as what killed them? Isn't the answer themselves? How do you even pull that off?"

"The Ancients had the power to walk on the moon—I don't doubt that they made something powerful enough to wipe themselves out."

"Now that's—you're making that up," Momakase said, propping herself up.

"Somewhere up there, manmade footprints still exist, because there's no atmosphere to wipe them away."

"Okay you stop that," she said, tugging on his shoulder. "Staring at the moon too long makes you crazy, you know that right?"

"So I've heard," he said, tipping his head a little, not looking at the moon anymore but not looking at her either. "It's questionable, though—how could people living at the peak of civilization just—" Gesture vaguely. "Wipe themselves out, make it as if they never were?" Look out over the ocean. "They built such great monuments to themselves, and yet nothing remains."

"Oh, trust me, something remains," Momakase said, kicking irritably at a bit of refuse. "I like to curse them every day because of this garbage."

He snorted, staring at the detritus. "So many achievements, marvels of medicine and mechanics, towers of Babel that lost themselves in the sky, means to transport themselves anywhere, not even held back by gravity…and all that's left is their garbage."

"Is there a point to this conversation?"

"I suppose not," he said, looking back out to the ocean. "A generation of Ozymandias, where all that remains is the wastes and their word that they once were great. They weren't even Icarus—they were the ones our modern-day Prometheuses stole from, except their Olympus has long since fallen, and all that's left is to root through their remains."

"Do I have to tell you you're making no sense?"

"No." Stare at the horizon, face propped up by a hand, eyes distant, quiet long enough that Momakase went back to reclining for a while before curiosity got the better of her again.

"I'm going to regret this, but what are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Questioning my life choices," he muttered. "If people who could achieve such things can be rendered down as if they never were…that was a world-full of people. Trying to make a name for myself…it's foolishness."

"I wouldn't say that," she said, pushing herself back up. "Nothing's left of those losers, but they were also wiped out eons ago—I bet eons from now people will be saying we didn't exist, saying we were some sort of boogiemen superstitious parents told their kids to make them behave." Frown a little at that thought, look out at the horizon like what he was seeing would reveal itself to her. "Time and space and all that…it's huge. You can't be significant in comparison to it—it's why most of us prefer not to think that way."

"That must be nice."

Sigh, look at him. "Your problem is you think too much."

"I've been told that, yes."

"Well now I'm telling you again: you think too much."

Obake was quiet for the longest time, enough that she was convinced he wasn't going to answer her.

"I see now," he said abruptly. "That perhaps my greatest enemy is my own apathy."

She blinked, waved a hand. "Meaning?"

Deep sigh. "Meaning go tell Carl he's won—I'll be the stupid chief."

"Finally," she gusted, getting her feet under her. "And for the record, you've definitely got the stupid down."

Speeding away from the various objects thrown at her was more for his pride than any real danger she was in.