Master Adern's Tales – The Arrival
This human was His Human, and Adern didn't like His Human annoyed or nervous. His Human, a being with little fur – only a bit black on its head and aiding, strange fur with the image of a cat, of course – was both.
They had been in the metal box for too long – Adern didn't feel uncomfortable himself, although he would never ever admit that. When they finally left the box, the bright sun greeted them – rising only! What was this witchery? Where were they?
His Human was a good human – he didn't complain about Adern taking his rightful place on His Human's shoulders. His Human was attached to a leash – in case he got lost – and equally unhappy about the strange sun. This was wrong – the sun should be much higher!
Two humans approached them once they left the loud place full of metal monsters – Adern would soon come to refer to one of them as Strange Human and to the other as Talking Human. The Talking Human's eyes showed dislike – he was an enemy; he didn't like His Human.
The humans greeted themselves in their strange way – fortunately, His Human didn't move forward too much as he did usually with the Sister Human.
"Ohaiyou gozaimasu. Watashi wa Haruhito-sama not honyakuga desu," the Talking Human greeted and continued talking.
"Uh…" His Human was confused, Adern realised. "Boku no eigo wa…" His Human broke off – he seemed to be realising something! Of course, His Human was a clever human – Adern would never choose to adopt a weak human. "… Ii desu yo."
Adern quietly watched the conversation. He couldn't speak the primitive language of humans, but he could see that His Human was nervous. Was it the sun? Was it worrying His Human? Understandable, Adern admitted to himself – it was even scaring him, and he was a cat!
In order to calm His Human (it was His Human's duty to provide him with food; His Human was very good at his duty and useful), Adern began purring. His Human responded adequate – he was trained well – as he began to pat him. Another thing, His Human was good at.
"Neko wa-"
"Adern wa kuru." His Human insisted. His Human was referring to him, Adern realised – were they discussing where he would stay? Hopefully not into another metal box, but they were heading towards one… Not good, the ginger cat decided. Everything here smelled strange.
They did enter the metal monster; His Human asked Adern to enter the box first. Of course, he was scared. A strong and powerful cat had to test the territory first. Brave as he was, Adern jumped onto the inside fur of the monster. Safe, he decided. He turned to his human and told him to come – the monster just smelled weird, but it was one of these monsters, His Humans travelled it often. A strange habit of humans. His Human followed.
His Human sat down, and Adern took his place on his legs. His Human moved around with a grey, strange looking ribbon. Adern turned around to watch His Human as he fiddled with it. One of the strange things humans did that he didn't understand, Adern decided. Again, His Human patted him nervously. Poor human, Adern thought, he was terribly afraid, huh?
His Human moved a bit – His Human was careful enough not to move Adern though; he had learned this lesson ages ago (unlike His Human's parents…) – and pulled out a strange looking thing. How did the humans call these things again? Newspaper?
The Talking Human paid no attention to His Human, but Adern wasn't so stupid. His Human rarely did things for the sake of just doing it, didn't he? For that, he was far too lazy. As His Human continued to pet him, Adern took a peek at the 'newspaper' himself. He could not read the primitive images humans used to communicate, but he recognised a human female on the 'newspaper'.
"Elisabeth Schreave da," His Human whispered quietly – only Adern could hear. If His Human paid attention to her, then the Girl Human had to be important too. Adern had trained His Human to only pay attention to important things. Humans were far from intelligent enough to pay attention to more things – they didn't even appreciate the red point on the wall that someday, Adern would catch! – and His Human generally did well. He laid around doing nothing a lot, but Adern presumed that it was his subconscious desire to be a cat.
* . * . *
This place was three things: big, smelt weird and filled with noises.
Adern wasn't sure whenever he liked it that much. He stayed with His Human – no doubt, he would get lost, and even the leash might wasn't enough to stop him! Protectively, Adern remained on His Human's shoulders as he was shown the way to what seemed to be his quarters.
Adern immediately went to inspect them. In the cat's humble opinion, they were usable. He preferred home – there was no direct way for him to climb aside of the ugly dead wood (maybe a make-over was needed?) – but this place was acceptable.
His Human told the other humans something, but Adern didn't catch on it. The other humans left him on his own, with his cat, and His Human headed straight for the bedroom.
Good, Adern thought when testing it. Acceptable quality.
"I think I'll sleep a bit," His Human said. "The jet lag is terrible." Not too soon after, His Human was under the faked fur, with his trusted companion napping next to his face. Adern knew that anyone with the intention to attack would back up at the sight of the powerful cat. No need to even be awake – plus, His Human usually didn't sleep either way. He seemed to complain about a lack of sleep, but Adern couldn't see why he wouldn't. Maybe the lack of fur made him freeze? Whatever. Adern knew that His Human – relatively – survived. He was fine.
His Human did fall asleep – maybe it was thanks to the strange behaviour of the sun? – and so did Adern. He couldn't help but be confused by the sun's movements. They made no sense, for heaven's sake!
Except, they didn't sleep long.
Another human, one that Adern would come to address as Helper Human, entered the room. How did he dare?! Even the Sister Human had the decency to knock! The Helper Human made a weird sound, but didn't gain His Human's attention – His Human was hiding under the fake fur.
"Sir, I apologise for not arriving earlier. My name is John Smith, and I will be your valet during your stay at the lléa palace… Sir?"
His Human wasn't moving; the faked fur still above his head. "Wha?"
"Oh, right. The translator. Uh…. I," Helper Human began making weird gestures, "you, help, valet."
"Get out," His Human hissed. Good – Adern was glad to hear that His Human appreciated the quality help of a cat over some stranger human in his room, and that he wasn't just listening to him. His Human was to serve the great master Adern! His Human patted him – still careful not to show an inch of skin from beneath the faked fur.
"Excuse me…?"
"Get. Out." His Human groaned. "I'm capable of depressing myself, thank you."
"What…?"
"Dressing. I meant dressing… Just, get out. Cultural differences, you know."
Adern knew that His Human was lying, but he didn't mind. He preferred peace and silence. The Helper Human, visibly surprised, bowed and left. Good! His Human was Adern's possession alone!
His Human sat up once the other human had left them. He seemed to be in a good mood, Adern concluded. A bit sleepy, angsty, but not as bad as he had been in the past. His Human patted him twice before getting up and disappearing for a few moments.
He would return with two of the fake fur things. One was white, smaller, with strange shapes on it. Unknown to Adern, the T-shirt spelled 'Crazy Cat lady' (alongside the shapes of what seemed to be hundreds of cats), while the black sweater said "Meow Universkitty". He pulled the black one over himself, having worn the white when he came in.
"Alright – what are we meant to do now?" His Human asked.
* . * . *
Lots of humans, Adern thought. Lots of humans.
His Human had, being a good human, helped Master Adern into his own festive fur. The ginger lost His Human within the first minutes they walked in the room after some Stranger Human had said human words.
"His Imperial Highness, Prince Haruhito of Mikasa."
Whatever that meant – Adern didn't really care. People seemed to use that to refer to His Human. The Talking Human was following him, but Haruhito seemed to have quite the plan of who to approach. Maybe the Icy Human approached him too. Adern wasn't sure. Maybe they had made a mutual agreement to approach each other. Adern didn't know that they both knew that they'd be some form of allies; human politics weren't worth the attention of a cat.
His Human spoke in a different language than usually, Adern believed. Of course, only Master Adern would chose a human who was so talented. Little did he know about the other suitors. The other human had lighter hair and skin than His Human and generally looked very much different.
"You are an ambassador in New Asia, aren't you?" His Human asked the Icy Human after they had exchanged polite greetings. Human greetings were strange, Adern thought. He pushed against the legs of His Human—who dared to ignore him!—because he was nervous again.
"Yes, and you are the son of the Prince Mikasa." Adern mustered the Icy Human—was he making His Human nervous? His Human was his! He was almost like a kitten! He had to be protected.
"Is that a cat? With a suit?"
"Uh, yes…" His Human straightened his back. "Adern, which is my cat's name, came with me. I…" He took a deep breath, trying to get strength obviously. They had to get out! No need to fight if they could escape! Back to the tall, black tree! Back home! Quick, Human, quick! "I… I apologise – my Russian is a bit rusty."
The Icy Human nodded polite. He was dignified, yes, Adern admitted that, but this whole large hall with many humans made His Human uncomfortable. He wanted His Human to feel better – now! "I speak Japanese," the Icy Human said—now in the language, the Sister Human commonly spoke. "If that's more comfortable for you, I'm fine with that."
His Human nodded. It had been a while since he spoke that language, Adern remembered. "Thank you," His Human said, hiding relief. His Human was afraid of mistakes. Adern glanced between His Human and the Icy Human. He needed to get rid of him. All of them, better.
The Icy Human was about to say something, but they were interrupted by Stranger Humans who both informed them of something. In the foreign language and the Sister Human's language, Adern came to realise. His Human stiffened. Whatever they told them, it wasn't too good.
The two humans moved, and His Human gave him a not very subtle sign to move as well. Something was happening, and His Human seemed to want to protect him? Of course he would. His Human was a good human, but Adern knew how stupid and childish he could be.
A procession of five humans (including the Girl Human) arrived, and several of the Suit Humans moved to one of the three fellow gingers, the Girl Human. What a strange progression. She was moving her feet too! Adern could see it! He glanced, like a worried mother, to His Human.
At some point, one of the Stranger Humans called His Human's call word, and he mimicked the others, but nothing happened. The Girl Human seemed to preoccupied with her legs and feet. Good. The Girl Human was important to the humans, Adern thought. If she didn't notice His Human's worries, then good. They'd have time to escape this strange thing.
* . * . *
Only once, he left the side of His Human: when a white-furred human pulled him towards the storm of strangely moving humans. His Human had avoided the ritual, but the white-furred, Old Human refused to give in. Previously, he had only spoke to one human—he had avoided any other—with whom he also, among other things, spoke about Adern. Adern liked that human.
Adern returned to the tables, hoping that His Human would find him there. They only had left them when the Old Human came either way. He dodged the humans, hid under the table but nothing really satisfied him. He couldn't see His Human.
He jumped up on a chair, but too many humans were there to allow him to see His Human. Down again, it was. Oh, he smelled good things. Salmon, it was? A bit strangely smelling, but he still recognised the good fish he enjoyed. Oh, he recognised the Girl Human.
Quickly away, he decided. Not until he knew more about the Girl Human, he'd move closer, he though…. On a second thought, she was close to the good food, and if she was anything like the female humans he knew (like the younger ones that frequented His Human's and the Sister Human's home), then she'd probably feed him some food.
"I could've sworn I saw somethi—"
He moved beneath the table, but the Girl Human was caught up by some other human. They exchanged a few words, as the Girl Human collected food. Food. Did she see him, and decided to make an offering? Good human, he thought. Whoever rose her was acceptable.
She came closer, whispering something human. "Aw, hi cutie. What are you doing here? In the midst of so many humans?" Without asking or giving him any chance (How rude!), she grabbed him and picked him up. The Girl Human definitely needed practise, but then again… She was important—somehow! He began to purr as she continued to speak. She came to pet him (His Human was better!) and moved around his faked fur. Keep it, Adern. She's important, and Your Human needs her, apparently.
"Elisabeth-sama ga Adern wo Mitsuketa sou ne?" His Human! His Human came to the rescue! Much more confident than before, he noticed. Good. His Human seemed to be feeling better. Maybe the Old Human had a calming effect, like the Nice Human back home whom His Human referred to as "Aunt"?
Too bad that the Talking Human was back, and he did as Adern expected—he talked. It was the Talking Human (of course) that made the Girl Human move abruptly. Adern hissed at the Talking Human. He better knew with whom he was dealing!
After they exchanged a few words, apparently about him, the Girl Human clumsily handed him back to His Human. Good – His Human hold him much more comfortable. The Girl Human continued talking with the Talking Human (whom His Human paid no attention), and she moved his faked fur a bit.
The Girl Human left with another words, "Excuse me", and he could feel that His Human was relaxing. So he was still tense, huh? Adern needed to figure out what was making him so tense!
Here you go, I promised it. ^_^
Another fanfic to Abi's The World Is Watching, featuring the character that, we all know it, will win the Selection - Master Adern (also Eliza, Haruhito, Niko, Haruhito's translator, mentioning Andromeda and Jinhai).