A/N: Was inspired by the story made by Demonic Irken called Decay even though this has nothing to do with that. Go check that out.
The first thing I can remember about Teacher is that coat.
He's always wearing it, the black material running against the dust as we wander around the planets we visit. Little clouds follow Teacher almost anywhere, his own personal smoke machine as we wander and it gets stuck on his legs a little as he moves along the roads we like to travel, especially on Foodcourtia. I don't get his obsession with the place, but Vort dogs are good and, as Teacher says, 'part of my culture'. I'm glad my culture is delicious.
I don't know what planet my Teacher is from. No one in the entire universe we see looks anything like him. He has this little snout, an odd mouth that's flush against his face, and that weird shield he wears to cover up his eyes. Not to mention that horn or lekku or whatever it is that stays upright on his head. I remember chewing it when I was little, almost like another person was doing it instead of me, but Teacher says that memories can be like that sometimes. I remember it was soft and bendy, not unlike that other creature I remember…
Teacher's coat…
I remember that a whole lot more. I remember being really little, watching it sway back and forth as he walked in front of me. I used to hold it a lot too, Teacher telling me to do it whenever we had to cross the street. But I remember it even earlier…
I remember being really small, my one eye almost swollen shut as that weird beat that keeps him alive, the sound of a 'heartbeat', played in my ears. His coat was against me, wrapping me up like a little burrito, before there was a rush of movement and we were suddenly in a cold place. It was like the ship, but smaller, like it was a tinier version or something. Teacher's always been with me since then, watching me from the corner of his eye, smiling in that weird way he does when he's onto something.
Teacher is really tall, like super tall. I can see others shy away from him as soon as we walk in, watching him run his fingers against any and all buildings that we pass, like he's searching them for something. He's that wizard from those books he gave me to teach me 'English'. Lord of the Rings?
Teacher taught me how to read, he taught me to speak, he taught me to walk and even how to pick locks. He says the Resisty gave me to him, but I don't know what that means. He says someone called Lard Nar did it, something about Vort and Irkens. He smiles at me sadly sometimes whenever I ask about it, saying that I remind him of someone. That's just one more thing for me to wonder about…
Teacher says I'm something called 'arrogant', too. I don't know what that means, either. But it's gotta be unfair because he said it to me when he was really mad because that really stupid cat thing started to fight me. I got him pinned to the ground, though and then I told him that could do it because I was much better. Because I was! After all, Teacher had taught me how to fight and everything! But Teacher got mad and told me I was to sit in the corner and read for a cycle!
Unfair!
There was another time when Teacher told me about his past but it really didn't make any sense. He started talking and everything he said sounded just like how it should sound but then he kinda...stopped. Like he was lost. I only know that he wasn't very liked...wherever he's from. I don't think I was, too. Why else would the Resisty give me up? Or maybe they did it so Teacher wouldn't be lonely?
But Teacher wasn't alone when I got there.
I asked about Irkens once, but Teacher got so quiet I apologized. I read up on Irkens on my own after that. They don't sound very nice. If you do one little thing wrong, they like to take you away never to be seen again. I asked Z about it, but he sounded even more distressed than usual when I did. Then really dark pink stuff started leaking in the goo he's usually in.
I wear an old shirt that Teacher had, but it looks way too small for him. It's blue and it has this neat grey face on it that looks kinda sad. He said that it stands for an 'unfiltered truth', whatever that means. I just think that it looks cool.
I wonder what my planet looks like, or if I'll ever see it. I like to imagine a place with a bunch of hooved and horned creatures would look like. Teacher makes me recite words so that I can learn their language. I don't like that, it's boring. I'd rather watch the tube in the back of the ship, writing little messages on it's glass to whoever is inside there. I remember the first time I put my hand against the glass because they scared me.
Teacher went to go get us more food, but he didn't know I was awake yet. It was when I was really little, cause I can remember that the tube was much taller-looking that night. The ship was cold, my hooves sliding as I tried to look out the glass of the hull. I heard a noise, then, kinda like groaning. I got so scared I ran into the back, where Teacher tells me never to go. I bumped into the tube…
I remember looking up at it, a dark form floating there and almost the size of me. It looked lonely, all droopy in pink goo as wires-wires-ran into it's skin. I can't really see him that well but I know he's hurt. When I put my claw up to the glass that night, my hand smudging it, I heard another soft groan. I think I was shaking almost as bad as he was, his own little blunt claw slowly drifting up to mine before just pressing against it. I could see some of the bone on his hand…it took a lot not to scream.
I gasped, fogging up his home before I decided to write there 'HI'. He didn't say anything, but his hand did move to pet the letters! So every night I sneak in a write new ones, like 'You'll be okay' or 'Hang on' or even 'Don't give up'. His voice is sounding stronger, even if it's just crying at night. Then I read to him, so he stops crying. I think he falls asleep.
I call him 'Z' because his weird little tube has this plaque with 'Z-23421872' on it. Teacher likes to call me 'Xion' but I like 'Xii' better. So that me and Z will rhyme. I think it makes the two of us feel more together, even if he's behind glass.
I don't know a lot about Teacher but the thing I want to know the most about is Z. Who is he? Where did he come from? What is his real name? Does he have one? And most of all I want to ask Teacher why…
Why is Z in that tube? Why can I see his bones? And why is there an Irken symbol on his left shoulder that's been scratched by three, blunt claws?