Through The Fire And The Flames (18/20)
Title: Through The Fire And The Flames
Author: thanku4urlove
Pairing: Hikaru-centric, Keito/Yuto, Yamada/Daiki
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Um... Dragons?
Genre: Fantasy AU
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: The village where Hikaru and his friends live has a bit of a dragon problem. While most of the people in the town want the dragons wiped out, Hikaru believes that there has to be some good in the creatures. Through a shocking near-death experience, he comes to find that there is more to the dragons than even he could imagine.
A/N: I didn't realize I was already on chapter 18! So close to the end.
Banner cred:
ryosukekoibito
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
It didn’t take long for even Yabu began to lose faith in his optimistic theory. When a week had passed and none of the dragons had returned, Hikaru began feeling hopeless. They refused to leave Daiki alone, holding on to each other for comfort, taking turns trying to say that things were going to be okay.
“It could still be fine.”
Daiki rolled his eyes, hands clenched into fists. Hikaru was tired of saying the phrase, but saying it was better than seeing his friends’ forlorn faces.
“No, I’m serious!” He insisted. “They took so long coming back because people were waking up, right? Which means they were awake in time to feel the eruption, and had time to escape. They’re regrouping and trying to figure out what to do. That’s all.”
“I hope you’re right.” Inoo said, looking up from where he was sitting. “I really, really do, but…”
The feeling of sad resignation was overwhelming, and the little bit of energy that Hikaru had managed to dig up while explaining his theory fizzled out, sitting next to Inoo and offering up his shoulder. Inoo took it, leaning heavily on him and sighing.
“What should we do?” Hikaru’s mother asked him when night fell and he returned home, office door open, looking through the doorway at him.
“About what?” he asked back, going into her office and taking the chair opposite hers, sitting at the other side of her desk.
“The dragons.” She answered. “Are they coming back? What should I tell the capital about the new citizens we’re supposed to be gaining? Nothing?”
“What do you want me to do Mom? Fly over there myself and find them? Go back in time and stop the volcano from erupting?” Her questions were pulling him closer and closer to the confirmation of the worst, and it was the last thing he wanted to think about.
“I’m sorry.” She said quietly, and Hikaru’s heart sank, realizing he had been yelling at her.
“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
She gave him a small smile, and somehow all it did was make him feel worse.
“It’s fine.” She said. “I know. You’re upset. I’m upset. But… We do have to look past this, at least a little. If there isn’t anything we can do, then…”
“Let’s go.” Hikaru said, suddenly struck with inspiration, surprising her a bit. “Let’s do what the others did, take a boat out to the island, and see what’s going on over there. That way, we’ll know if-”
He could tell she wasn’t taking to the idea. “What?” he asked her.
“Hikaru, the last time a group of people rode a ship down to the dragons’ home, only half of them came back alive. I don’t want that to happen to you.”
“But nothing would happen to me.” Hikaru insisted. “Keito will be there, he’s saved me twice before, it’s-”
“One dragon against all the others isn’t going to go well, for him or anyone else.” Hikaru could already tell that no matter what he said, she wasn’t going to agree to the idea. He decided against fighting for it because he knew that deep down, he was terrified of discovering an island completely devoid of life.
“Then… I don’t know what we can tell the capital.” Hikaru answered. “They could come back. We don’t know anything for sure. I mean, Takaki is already in the third stage of grief or something, but that doesn’t mean they’re dead.”
Dead. Hikaru hadn’t given the word permission to slip past his lips yet, and now that it had it weighed heavily in his stomach, making him feel a sick. They could all be dead, drowned in molten rock. He swallowed.
“You’re right.” Hikaru’s mother waved a hand dismissively, detecting the mood settling in the room and trying to disrupt it. “I’m trying to rush into decisions. I’m worrying about this too soon. There’s still time. They could still come back.”
The way she said the words really made it sound like they wouldn’t come true.
People in the town were asking again for the location of Yabu’s friends, asking when they were coming back to visit, when they could see them again. A lot of people missed them, and it made a lump grow in Hikaru’s throat. As easy of an excuse that it would be, he didn’t just want to say that they had gone back to the city. Really, he didn’t want to give any answer at all, so he just shrugged and said he didn’t know. Yabu began attaching himself to Hikaru at every chance he got, and Hikaru felt that he ought to find the constant contact annoying, but really, he was having the opposite reaction. It was nice and comforting having Yabu around, even at the times when they didn’t talk much.
Daiki had stopped venturing to the forest every morning to see if the dragons had returned in the night. While it was a type of giving up, Hikaru was grateful. Not seeing him go out at all was better than watching him walk back into town, looking resigned and disappointed. Hikaru didn’t see much of Daiki, to be honest. He would let them in if they asked, but he didn’t go outside.
Inoo had taken up practicing sword fighting. He would go behind his house with a wooden sword he borrowed from Daiki’s family’s shop, and that was where he spent most of his time, Hikaru sometimes coming around back with him to watch.
“What brought this on, anyway?” Hikaru had to ask one day, after he and Yabu had watched the third passata sotto in a row, his Yabu’s head on his shoulder.
“Brought what on?” Inoo asked, slightly out of breath.
“The whole… Sword thing.” Hikaru answered, unsure of how else to describe it, gesturing to Inoo’s body and hoping he would get the message. Inoo finished another jab, then stopped to answer their question.
“Ryutaro said that I couldn’t protect myself. I’m going to change that.” He answered, not looking at them. “I don’t need that jerk stepping in front of me every time something jumps out of the bushes.”
The look of determination on Inoo’s face made something in Hikaru’s heart ache more than it had in days, and he was about to get up and leave, unable to bear it, when Takaki ran to them. The expression on his face was some sort of mix of disbelief and wild excitement and it was the most alive anyone around Hikaru had been for days.
“What?” Yabu asked before Takaki had even opened his mouth. “What is it?”
The way Takaki had to hold up a hand and stoop to breathe after running was rather anticlimactic. Once he had enough air in his lungs to speak, he pointed in the direction of the docks and said
“The dragons. They’re flying up right now. They’re back.”
Takaki hadn’t even finished speaking by the time Hikaru broke into a run. There was something weird rising in his chest, a feeling that was either going to make him float into the air or constrict so tightly around his chest that his ribs would crack. Or both.
Sure enough, as he was running up to the docks, he could see them. Wings in the air, flying together in one formation. There were less dragons than he was used to seeing flying at them, and by a lot; the number had to be in the twenties. Despite this reduction in size, people were still rushing around, scrambling for weapons, and as much as Hikaru wanted to run up to the dragons in greeting, he needed to do something.
“Mom!” he shouted, turning tail and running for home, trying to find her. She had barely set foot outside the house, and he gave all the information to her at once.
“The dragons are back, they’re here, all of them are here and people are going to try to hurt them and we-”
She nodded and began running, somehow understanding his rapid speech. She entered the town square with an authority that demanded attention, stopping in the middle and taking a deep breath.
“STOP!”
Everyone immediately froze. The Chief barely ever shouted, and when she did it was for something supremely important. She glanced around, making sure she had everyone’s attention before she began to speak.
“We are not going to raise our weapons against these dragons.”
The protest was immediate. Voices swelled so loud that Hikaru was worried about his mother regaining her control over the situation, but she simply raised one arm into the air, waiting there until silence fell again. Hikaru glanced over his shoulder. The dragons were almost upon them.
“They are not going to attack us. I promise.”
“How do you know?” Someone spoke up. The Chief shook her head.
“Please, trust me. You can keep your weapons in your hands and as much distance as you feel comfortable with, but do not attack.”
Slowly, people began nodding. Many of them took steps back from the docks, behind Hikaru and his mother even, standing on the back edge of the town square. Inoo was the first one to run up and stand next to Hikaru, but soon all of his friends were there. Daiki was scanning the approaching dragons anxiously, looking for Yamada.
“Hey…” Takaki pointed. “Is that Keito in the front?”
With a bit of squinting, Hikaru realized that Takaki was right. He had expected to see Keito’s father front and center, but instead of pink scales there was the familiar frosty blue color, with Yuto and Chinen on either side of him.
Keito slowed in the air, letting his huge body rear up to be nearly vertical, then landing, feet making heavy contact with the land directly in front of the Chief. Complete silence filled the air, followed shortly by each dragon behind Keito landing, one by one. Hikaru heard a small gasp from his right, realizing with relief that the sound was Daiki catching sight of Yamada. With Ryutaro quite hard to miss, standing with two dragons that looked awfully like himself, Hikaru felt a weight on his chest lifting. All of their friends were accounted for.
Keito had the small bag containing his clothing around his neck, slowly contorting his posture so that it slipped off and fell to the ground. Then he began to change, blue turning pink, shrinking and gaining a human form. As soon as the transformation was complete, a buzz broke out from the people behind them. Someone even shouted out Keito’s name in confusion but Keito paid it no mind, quickly dressing himself. He caught Hikaru’s eyes for a moment, and Hikaru could see the fear coursing through his entire body, kept from the surface by nothing but sheer determination.
“This might be the wrong thing to do, or the wrong thing to ask. I might be asking too much of you. But our home has been destroyed, and we have nowhere to go. So, on behalf of my people…”
Keito got down on one knee, bowing upper body. He spoke a bit louder to make sure he was heard.
“Please… We need your help.”
Then, slowly, all the dragons behind Keito began to bow, each one getting down on their haunches and ducking their heads. It was an incredible sight, and even the Chief looked shocked by the full display of respect. Hikaru had never heard such a strong, deafening silence in his life, taking a quick glance behind him. The entire town was quiet and wide-eyed, weapons lowered slightly, eyes transfixed on Keito and the rest of the dragons. They were confused, and understandably so, Hikaru turning to his mother and giving her a questioning glance. What was she going to do?