Should be obvious already but this will contain spoilers. You've been warned.
Notes: Thoughts will show up as italics
Some names of locations as well as aspects of characters will to be changed to better reflect the original Japanese translation. Ex: Elysium = Eden Otherwise, some slight liberties will be taken with how some characters will be potrayed, while still remaining faithful to the source material.
This story will mainly be read in a third person limited view. This means that it will mainly follow that of a singular character through an 'over the shoulder' viewpoint. That character in this case will be Nia. Occasionally, the viewpoint may zoom out at points to provide necessary context or scene setting.
Oh and if you didn't see before Morag is a guy in this one.
Updated 5/22/18
Went ahead and gave this one a look through after an extended period, made some changes here and there. Mainly, stuff having to do with some of the wording, and phrasing. Nothing major. Expect to see more changes in the future.
- I am also looking for additional beta readers for possible proofreading at the moment. If you can, feel free to PM if you're interested.
A Home for Stray Cats: Chapter 1
Aboard the humongous salvaging dredge known only to those who were intimate in the trade as the 'Maelstrom', its crew spoke to each other with great enthusiasm about what they believed was to be one their most profitable salvages yet. Some of the salvagers in the ship's cargo hold spoke amongst themselves of what they would spend it on. Others wrote letters to send back to their loved ones, promising better times ahead. And still others had decided to start early and booze up, drinks slammed back within a matter of minutes.
Of the lot, there was one that decidedly less excited about the whole affair: a single Gormotti girl with grey hair and a yellow form fitting jumpsuit.
Until recently. she'd hunkered down in a dark spot in the corner of the hold, lost in thought. With the drunken festivities beginning, she suddenly found it much harder to actually think and was awoken her from her stupor.
"This is what we get for hiring run-of-the-mill salvagers… Morons, the lot of them…" She grumbled.
At first, she tried to ignore it all, quickly finding that the pounding of her eardrums only worsened over time. I just wanted to have some peace and quiet. Why is this SO hard?!
The final straw finally came when a stray airborne bottle flew past her head and crashed into a wall behind her.
She felt a deep anger within her quickly build, knowing that if she'd stayed there any longer she was liable do something she might very well regret. That and get a migraine from the noise alone.
She made a beeline for a nearby stairway in hopes to find some place quieter. She quickly found herself on the main deck. Unfortunately, she found the deck was also crowded with even more of the boozers, many of whom had decided to raise a toast in honor of some busty woman they somehow all knew.
Worming her way through the crowd, she spotted another set of stairs leading up to what looked like the ship's crows nest. That'll do.
With a nimble hop, skip, and a jump, she soared over the crowd with ease and escaped up the stairway without attracting too much attention, quickly finding herself stepping out onto the crow's nest main platform.
Much to her relief, there didn't seem to be anyone up there. Yet. She took a deep breath in the hopes that it would allow her to clear her head when she was hit with the sudden chill of the night's breeze.
A shiver ran through her. "Ugh, It's way too cold up here," she mumbled, hugging herself for warmth.
"You-" A voice came from behind her.
Her earlier anger returned in full and she whirled around to face the person. "Yeah what?!" she snarled. "I've got a name y'know?! It's -oh." She felt the words catch in her throat before she could finish upon noticing who she'd just yelled at.
As her luck would have it, or lack there of, it was the boy from the Argentum Trade Guild, specifically the one she'd already had a number of less than savory encounters with over the last few days.
"Yo." The boy greeted cooly, raising up a nonchalant hand in greeting.
The girl fidgeted uncomfortably, trying to hide her flustered face. "Y-you're that kid from the Argentum Trade Guild…" she said, hastily collecting herself.
She felt like an idiot being caught off guard like this.
"Rex." The boy said, pointing a thumb towards himself.
"Huh?"
He gestured to her. "My name. You were about to tell me yours."
She eyed him knowingly for a moment. "Uh... It's Nia. What do you want anyway?" She managed, still feeling a little aggravated at herself.
"I have lookout duty so..." He stated, holding up a pair of binoculars.
Nia eyed him again, wary that he may be setting up for another witty joke at her own expense. When she found no ill will, she let out a heavy sigh."Fine. Just try to keep the noise down. And don't bother me." she said, walking to a nearby corner, still a bit miffed.
She could see him stare at her for a moment before shrugging and walking out onto the of the platform to survey the horizon.
Much to her own surprise, Nia was able to enjoy a fair amount of silence.
Rex, true to his word, remained relatively silent as he scanned the horizon with his binoculars. Occasionally, he'd shuffle to different sides of the platform for a better vantage point from which he could observe for any potential objects.. But through it all, he tried his best to not bother her.
Nia herself meanwhile had, yet again, curled up into a ball in the corner she'd found. At one point she'd even started to doze off.
That is until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, Nia. Wake up."
"Muh- Wha?" She opened her eyes blearily, raising her head in confusion. It was Rex again, and he looked a bit concerned.
"You're going to catch a cold if you sleep up here."
"Mmm… I thought I told you not to bother me?" She grumbled, rubbing one of her eyes with a curled fist. "Why do you care anyway?"
"Salvager's Code: Sleep in a blizzard, sleep in the dirt." He recited.
She gave him an incredulous look. "And what? Sleeping in bad weather is bad for your health?"
"Well- err yeah. I guess…" He stammered, scratching the back of his head. "Honestly, there are some things I've have heard from the Salvager's Code even I question a little bit."
She narrowed her eyes at him; she swore he was mocking her again. "How many of those Salvager's code things are there?" She asked, testing for his response.
He paused for a moment, apparently thinking about the question. "I think there's over like, a thousand, but I only know like, fifty seven."
Nia was dumbfounded. She couldn't tell if the kid was just messing with her, or if he was actually this dedicated to his trade.
"Heh." He chuckled, rubbing underneath his nose. "Yeah, I'm not the most experienced salvager, but then again, there is always room to improve!"
Nia couldn't help but smile. He really was an idiot. Let's try and humor him a bit.
"Count me out then, I don't think I'd be cut out for life as a salvager, especially if I'd have to memorize that many rules." She declared, waving her hand dismissively in the air.
"Well, at least you can be honest about it." He complimented her, seeming a little distant. "Truthfully, I don't think I'd be very happy with just being a driver either." He smiled to himself. "Even with all the extra money I'd be able to make..."
Nia sat up from her reclined position, her interest rising. "Why is that? I remember when I first met you, which would've been like two days ago, you were yelling 'AMAZING!' and 'WOW DRIVERS ARE COOL!'. Were you just being two-faced about it or...?" She asked, testing his reaction while a sly grin that stretched its way across her mouth.
"Uh… well it's kind of a little embarrassing..." He said, chuckling to himself.
The boy's sudden modesty surprised Nia. Where is this coming from?
"It's because of that." She saw him point at something in the distance.
Getting to her feet, she peered over the railing and followed where he pointed to a large the tree that stood in distance. "What? You mean the World Tree?"
"Yep, that's the one." He nodded. "A lot of what we salvagers find is a mixed bag. Some of it is trash, other times its treasures… but all of it is from those people long ago."
Nia watched him lean over the railing and quickly joined him in surveying the horizon. "Have you noticed how there's less and less titans every day?" he asked, to which she nodded.
"I saw one go under just the other day. It was a pretty big one as well. There must've been a lot of animals still living on it when it finally went under..."
"Living space is running out day by day. Sooner or later, we'll be the ones sinking down into the Cloud Sea."
He looked back up from the clouds towards the top of the World Tree. "But up there… Eden is waiting for us."
"Pff Bwahahahah!"
She couldn't help but laugh Even if he was right about everything else, he was still talking about Eden. As in THE Eden: a place of unimaginable beauty. A place where everyone could apparently live. This kid, I swear. He has to be screwing with me now. He just HAS to be.
"Are you serious? 'Eden'? Don't tell me you believe that old wives tale that parents tell their kids?! And that's why uhh… why you're a salvager?"
He turned back to her, a look of annoyance on his face. "If there is a way to get up there, maybe it's hidden beneath the clouds. Is it really so crazy to think that?" He replied indignantly.
"Honestly though…" She reasoned, wiping some moisture from her eyes.
He leaned against the railing, putting both hands on the bar. "There'd be no need to fight over dwindling land and resources… We wouldn't have to worry about our homes sinking away… Everyone would be happy… I mean having a dream like that… Isn't that worth believing in?" There was a hopeful look in his eyes.
"No one can tell you what to believe, but..." she paused for a moment, putting a hand on her hip. Nia somehow found his dream to be strangely fascinating. Hmm…"Everyone," huh…?
"What is it?"
"Oh, uh, nothing. It's just that you kind of poured your heart out there is all..."
"I told you it was kind of embarrassing." Rex murmured, averting his eyes anxiously.
Nia shook her head. "I don't think it's embarrassing at all. I think it's a nice dream to have."
Rex looked a bit taken aback at the compliment. "Err… thanks Nia," he said —she noticed he was blushing a bit — and continued, "To be honest, that was actually the first time I've ever told anyone about it before..." He scratched the back of his head absentmindedly.
She managed a crooked smile, feeling a little embarrassed. "Oh... uh well... I'm happy to have heard it." I think.
Their conversation continued for a while longer as they discussed some other miscellaneous topics: what their jobs were like, what their favorite foods were, and so on.
At some point, in the midst of the conversation, a question began to nag at her. She knew it would've been weird to ask it to him out of the blue. But it was important to her, if only as something she wanted to confirm.
It was at a point where the conversation hit a lull that she found it too irresistible to ask.
"Rex, do you have any parents?" She suddenly blurted out, and instantly regretted asking.
Rex looked to her for a moment and then back horizon. "Ah, no." he responded quickly, sounding distant. "They died when I just a kid."
"Oh." Nia stated dumbly.
Nice going idiot.
"Sorry I asked... is it a sore topic?" She fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Not really. Not anymore anyway. I made peace with them years ago."
She twiddled her thumbs. "Er... ok. Do you remember anything about them?"
"No, the most I can remember of them is just short flashes and images…" He answered, putting a contemplative finger to his chin.
"Ah."
"The people of the village were kind of enough to bring me in, but it was Gramps who really taught me most of what I know.
"'Gramps'... ah, he's the one who taught you to use Arts?"
Rex's skill with using arts, especially from what she'd seen previously, showed that, while very limited, he had great potential.
"Yeah, he basically raised me himself." He smiled fondly. "Though he's… different from what you'd think."
She cocked her head to the side. "I don't think I understand."
"Think bigger." Rex responded simply.
She raised an eyebrow suspriciously. "Ah, huh. Bigger. Right." she acquiesced.
"Well, I don't know about you, but this Gramps of yours must be a good guy, especially if he's put up with you for so long." She turned to him, managing to give a genuine smile. "And well… You're pretty alright too kid- I mean Rex."
His eyes brightened for a moment at her compliment. "Thanks, Nia." He said, a small grin forming on his lips.
"Yeah yeah, don't get too mushy with me here." She said giving him a playful punch in the shoulder.
He's not all that different from me. Nia fondly smiled to herself.
Author's Note: Hey, if you're reading this then that means you've finished the chapter. Thanks for reading so far!
This is only the beginning, so expect more to come in the future!
I'd also like to take the time and thank everyone that had put in the effort to write a review, favorite, and/or follow as well. I'm happy people are showing interest in the story so far! (Seeing as it's only the first chapter).
All in all, thanks everyone for the support so far!
Special thanks to the Beta Reader(s): (Their name here if they wish to be credited)