AN- hello everyone! Nasomta here! Thank you all for the wonderful warm welcome back! I'll try to make regular updates, but due to me being knee-deep in college classes that might be a bit difficult. I've been considering posting this story for months now on my old account but never got around to it. Now that I have the new account I figured I'd might as well do so. These are headcanon drabbles, and just detail character relationships and fill in the gaps and unexplained occurrences within the anime. I will also tie in some manga elements here. I will jump around a bit and separate the occurrences by Raven's age at the time. Also, like all of my fics, the Zoidian language has been substituted with Gaelic. If you wish to translate any Zoidian in my fics you can use a Gaelic translator and it should hopefully come out as understandable English. In addition to that, I also use the original name of Saber Tiger to describe Zaber Fang Zoids; Zaber Fang was a mistranslation made by the dubbers. I hope you all enjoy the story, although it is rather different from a traditional fic.
Age 13- Shadow's First Night
[one year before the events of Chaotic Century]
This wasn't shaping up like he had hoped. Not two days ago the prospect of having an Organoid, a tool of unimaginable power and destruction, was something that Raven would have given anything for. Now that he had one, however, he wasn't so keen on the idea. He hadn't expected for it, or rather her, to have a personality, a will of her own. They had only been 'partnered', he hated the term, for three days, and not a moment had gone by without glares and swear words being exchanged. Or, he thought they were swear words. The Organoid spoke a strange language into his mind; he assumed Zoidian, but since he'd only been taught to read it and never heard it, he couldn't be certain. Brat beag was the most common phrase he could pick out when she addressed him. He just knew it was no term of endearment.
"I should have left you in the damn hanger." The Organoid was shuffling about the room, inspecting everything. This was the first time he had had Shadow in his quarters overnight, and he was seriously regretting that choice now. It was nearly midnight and the black Organoid had yet to settle down. She merely huffed at his words, glowing sapphire eyes the only light in the darkened room as she continued investigating any and everything. She found something in the dark that interested her, picking it up in her mouth with an audible clack of her teeth. Raven grumbled and rolled over so his back was to the Organoid, pulling the blanket over his head.
"Shut up and lemme sleep." he mumbled, hoping she would curl up on the floor or something. Instead, the bed shook slightly as she dropped whatever she had picked up heavily onto the mattress right beside her partner. From the sound it made when she had picked it up and the relative shape of it when it slid into his back, he figured it was his holstered pistol. Why was she so interested in his gun? Did they even have guns back in her time? Ugh, what did it matter. It was too late for this.
"Stop messing around and let me get some damn sleep, you overgrown pile of scrap." the young pilot hissed, lazily reaching over and shoving the gun off of the bed, "If you don't stop buggin' me I'm gonna kick you out." with a loud sigh he sank back into the covers, hoping she would get the hint. What he didn't expect, however, was a sudden burst of that nonsensical Zoidian chatter in his mind, or for the bed to suddenly lurch as the Organoid crawled onto it.
Raven tumbled against the Organoid's leg with a muffled thunk, cursing under his breath as he tried to get untangled from his blankets. "Shadow I swear, I'm gonna-" he didn't get a chance to finish, as the Organoid had ducked down with a disgruntled huff and grabbed the floundering pilot with her teeth. She got a good hold on the back of the neck of his nightshirt, jerking him off of the bed and to the floor with a loud thump; Raven let out an indignant squeak of surprise at the sudden fall. With the annoying human out of the picture, the black Organoid made herself comfortable and curled up on her partner's bed, not caring if her sharp claws tore into the sheets and mattress.
"Shadow, by the Gods I swear-" Raven growled angrily, untangling himself and jumping to his feet. Before he could do anything, he felt Shadow's tail-tip bump sharply against his chest, and with a swift movement she had pushed him right back down onto the floor. Although the scrawny human had tamed her, she was not going to put up with his attitude. She might not have been aware of what he was saying yet, but she knew from his tone that he had insulted her. That was something she was not going to tolerate in the slightest. Raven scrambled back to his feet, glaring harshly at the Organoid. Shadow responded with a glare of her own.
/"Iarracht dom, daonna"/ the metallic creature hissed into his mind, eyes narrowing dangerously as she remained curled up on top of the bed. Raven had no idea what she had said, but judging by the threatening edge to her tone it was serious. Despite the clear warnings, the young Imperial wasn't about to just let her have her way. He reached out to grab her tail and attempt to pull her from the bed, but Shadow reacted quickly, unfurling a wing in a split second and smacking him hard across the face and knocking his arm away. Raven yelped loudly and jumped back, a hand pressed to his cheek where he had been struck. He hadn't seen it coming due to it being pitch black in his quarters, and he honestly hadn't expected the Organoid to strike him.
The pilot quickly realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere with her. Muttering something along the lines of her being more trouble than she was worth, he gathered up his blanket and opened the door, dragging himself and the blanket tiredly to the hanger. Maybe his Saber Tiger, Cosmos, would let him sleep in the cockpit. It wouldn't be the first time he'd spent the night in the hanger, and if Shadow didn't shape up, he had a feeling it wouldn't be his last.
