Author's Note: First Halo fic, so I hope I do the canon characters justice. Set after Halo 3, but AU as I had to have Johnson in it grin. Sorry MC fans, but this story is focused on the Arbiter and MC only has a minimal role in it. You've been warned.
Props to Kalshion for being my proof reader.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Halo universe, which is the property of Bungie Studios. However, any non-Halo species (and characters made from them) belong to me.
Chapter 1: The Stowaway
The Arbiter stormed down the corridor, Unggoy and Sangheili alike practically diving out of the way to avoid him, knowing in an instant he was in a particularly foul mood this evening. He had been in a foul mood a lot as of late actually, steadily growing in frequency ever since the Covenant/human war had ended and Master Chief was rescued along with his construct Cortana from the wreckage of the USNC ship Forward Unto Dawn. There were still skirmishes with the scattered remains of the Covenant, skirmishes he relished whenever they happened, but those were only a temporary distraction from his problem. A problem no one seemed to know, or willing it seemed, how to resolve.
In short, he wasn't sure of his purpose anymore. The title of the Arbiter was a Prophet given rank, one he had turned into a symbol of revolution. After the revolution was over though he was clueless, stuck with a rank that was Covenant given. If it was possible he would retake his old name and his rank, but that wasn't possible, nor practical since they symbolized his then hatred of the humans.
It didn't help that the leaders of his world hadn't figured out what to do with him yet. On the one hand they recognized him as a symbol of the new era their people had entered and a capable leader. On the other hand, however, they were not keen on letting him lead their entire race, no matter how many Sangheili called for it. So while they endlessly debated on what his rank meant now to his people, they sent him off on boring missions to 'keep him busy'.
The most recent being planetary survey missions to look for habitable planets both Humans and Sangheili could colonize, to help strengthen their alliance. It was a matter of courtesy really, since the Sangheili, while still under the Covenant, had made many of the human colony planets uninhabitable. Plus between the two species the Sangheili were the only ones that actually had the ships to spare for the task.
The Shadow of Intent, the ship the Arbiter 'technically' commanded but usually allowed his friend Rtas 'Vadum to control these days, had successfully surveyed several promising planets this past month. A couple other planets had evidence of primitive sentient life, so ground surveys of those were kept to a minimum to not disturb the inhabitants on those worlds, per the human's request. The Arbiter had participated in the ground surveys at first, but it quickly became old. After seeing so many worlds everything just started to look the same to him: besides, he was a warrior, not a scientist.
Thus he was getting bored and getting bored only frustrated him more. On top of that, his sleep as of late hasn't been the best, only adding to it all. For a while he would attend combat practice, but he ended up being so aggressive that no one wanted to spare with him anymore. Save for Rtas that is, but he didn't always have the time. He had voiced his frustrations to Rtas a couple of times, but his old friend had no advice to give him, only an understanding ear to listen.
Finally he reached his destination: one of the cargo holds of the ship. Here he could truly be alone since no one came down here unless they needed something. He'd rather stay in his quarters to be honest, but it seemed he got disturbed every few minutes in there, people seemingly forgetting the meaning of the phrase 'private quarters'. In the cargo hold at least, there was only a couple of consoles were people could try to communicate with him and he stayed well away from them. As for his personal commlink in his armor…he had turned that one off. So he prowled the cargo bay, looking for a promising way to vent.
He really wanted to scream, to vent his frustrations in a single satisfying (if only temporarily) outburst, but to do that would have everyone within hearing range come running to see what was going on, even here in the cargo hold: he couldn't help it if his almost trademark bellow could be heard nearly a mile away. So with screaming out, he did the next best thing: he grabbed a container and hurled it at the wall closest to him.
The container slammed against the wall with a satisfying crash, it's contents spilling on the floor. What was that other sound though? The Arbiter stared pointedly in the direction he thought he heard it from. "Who's there?" He demanded, irritated that even here he couldn't find solitude. When no answer came his already limited patience grew much shorter. "Answer me!"
There, behind the crates, movement. With a growl he approached the spot, figuring it was some Grunt trying to sneak an extra food nipple. What he found instead was something he'd never seen before.
It reminded him of, what did the humans call them….a tiger due to the patterning on it's coat and general body size and shape, but the resemblance ended there. The head and neck was almost half it's body length and the tail was longer then the length from the head to the base of the tail. It's head was vaguely reptilian, with two long pointed ears (which were currently flattened against it's skull in obvious fear). From the top of the head to the base of it's neck was a ridge of long semi-stiff fur and the tail had a similar ridge starting halfway at the top, down to the tip, then continued down on the underside roughly a fourth of the way. Each paw had four toes with a fixed, dull claw that seemed to be a bit off center. It's furry coat was mostly a dark, almost brown, orange, it's black stripes and spots hard to spot at first glance. He couldn't see the underside clearly with how it was laying, but from what he could see it seemed to be grayish color. The ridges of fur started with the dark orange color, then faded to gray and the creatures eyes had rounded pupils like a humans and were silver in color. When it noticed him staring at it, it's fur started to stand on end as it bared it's impressive array of teeth and started to growl. Ah, so the fixed claws were only a ruse: the real ones had been sheathed (now bared) right next to them and looked quite sharp.
Must have sneaked onboard during one of the surveys. He mused taking a few steps back so the creature didn't feel so cornered. Which planet it came from however there was no way to know, as the survey teams didn't report seeing anything like this. "Seems you got yourself in a bit of a fix." He told it, his tone sympathetic. "In a strange place, far away from home, not knowing if you'll ever live a normal life again…."
Sounds a bit like me right now…. He realized with a sigh. Looking at it he felt a strange sort of kinship with the creature, which had calmed down a bit now, one ear turned in his direction. "You're lucky I was the one that found you." He said, not sure why he was wasting his breath talking to an animal. "Anyone else on this ship probably would have killed you and used you as a food source." It snarled, it's ears nearly flat against it's head again: strange, did it understand him, or at least the intent in his voice? Studying it more carefully, it did seem to have some hint of intelligence in it's eyes. His translator however, wasn't picking up anything that sounded like a language from it, though it's possible it hasn't tried to say anything yet.
Now he realized he had a bit of a dilemma. He could just leave it here, but eventually someone else will find it and likely kill it, if it didn't die of starvation first: under it's thick fur he thought he could see it's ribs, which was a sign that the poor thing had been trapped here a while. What else could he do with it though? He couldn't exactly keep it in his quarters could he?
Movement drew him out of his contemplation. The creature had inched forward and was sniffing at one of the packages that had spilled out of the container he had thrown against the wall. The Arbiter noticed for the first time the container he had chosen to toss was full of food rations. He felt a bit guilty about that, though since he was the Arbiter, he wasn't likely to get in trouble for it.
The creature was now trying to open the package, somehow concluding (correctly) that it was food. "You must be hungry." He stated, careful not to make any sudden movements as he moved closer to it and knelt down. "Here…." He reached a hand toward the package it was trying to rip open, only for it to suddenly slap it with one paw, a faint growl accompanying it in warning. The action startled him not only because of how quick the slap came, but due to the size of the paw itself. Fortunately it's sharp claws were sheathed and did no damage. Not wanting to press it too far, he simply waited.
After a few moments it gave up and knocked the package toward him, with a look that just seemed to say 'you open it'. The Arbiter obliged, noting it was watching him as he opened it, which was a little more difficult then normal since the creature had thoroughly mangled it in it's own attempts. "I know it's likely not like anything you ate before." He told it as he finally got it open and set it in front of it. "But it's all we have right now." The Arbiter watched as it sniffed the contents, then gave him a quizzical look that seemed to say 'you call this food?' before diving in anyway.
I shouldn't be doing this. He thought. If the other's find out I am feeding a stowaway…. But the longer he stayed with it, the more he was convinced this was no mere animal. Case in point: while he was lost in thought it had not only finished the contents of the package he had opened for it, it had snagged another package and opened it on it's own by mimicking how he did it: a bit more awkwardly of course since it had paws instead of hands. If this thing was sentient, or at least semi-sentient, then it should be spared. Perhaps once he learned how to communicate with it, it could tell him which planet it was from and he could take it home. Where to keep it in the meantime was the problem.
Unexpectedly he yawned, reminding him that it was starting to get late and he really should 'try' to get some sleep, though he doubted it. Wearily, he stood up and started heading out of the cargo bay, figuring he would work something out on how to hide the creature in the morning. Halfway to the exit, something brushed against his leg. Beside himself he jumped, only barely suppressing a cry of surprise. Looking down he saw the creature beside him, looking up at him: either it was due to his fatigue or this thing could move around silently without even thinking about it. As he watched it rubbed it's head against his leg again, apparently thanking him.
"Uh…you're welcome, but it's best you stay here for now." He told it as he started moving again.
It stayed put for a moment, then bounded to catch up to him, making some kind of strange warbling sound. Looking in it's eyes he could almost read 'I'm coming with you' in them. "You can't, if the other's see you…." He stopped himself, realizing something. They were in slipstream right now, with most of the crew taking what rest they can before returning to real space. This meant that the chances of coming across anyone on the way back to his quarters was fairly low. Plus it seemed that once it's mind was made up, it wasn't going to change it no matter what. "Alright…" He sighed. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
The odd pair didn't encounter anyone else on the way to his quarters and once inside the Arbiter breathed a sigh of relief. The creature made a show of sniffing around the room, checking every inch of the place. He ignored it, not particularly caring what it did as long as it didn't make a mess and concentrated instead on taking off his armor. It took him a moment for him to notice the creature was staring at him, both ears forward as it sat on one side of the room with it's head tilted to one side. "Yes this is how I really look." He told it, slightly irritated as he turned toward it fully. There was a notable shift in it's gaze and he quickly realized what it was staring at. Subconsciously he covered the Mark of Shame with one hand. "It's a long story…" He explained with a sigh before turning toward the bed and flopping down into it.
It made another warbling sound and looking over at it he saw what appeared to be a sympathetic look in it's eyes. He watched as it strode over to the bed and for a moment he thought it was going to jump into it with him, but instead (and much to his relief) it simply laid down next to it.
With another sigh he closed his eyes, then preceded to have the best sleep he had in days.