Hello, here's another Xenoblade fanfic. Been a while since I've written anything, since I've been playing Xenoblade Chronicles X a lot. Really big game, after 70h I've just completed chapter 6. Yay.

Anyway, this takes place pre-game, a few months after Dickson brings Shulk to Colony 9. So, Fiora and Reyn are 5, Shulk just turned 5, Dunban is just a couple of months from 18 and Dickson is "31". They're probably somewhat ooc, hope that's okay. And Reyns parents aren't dead yet, but Dunban and Fioras are.

Anyway, here's a new story, please read and review :)

New friends

~Late at night, at a bar in Colony 9~

Dunban and Dickson were having a drink at their usual bar after yet another successful mission. They had been of in Tephra cave, hunting some lizards that were trying to make a nest there. Them building a nest in the cave wouldn't be a problem in itself, but they were trying to build it right where people needed to walk to get ether cylinders.

Dickson was sitting in his chair, feet kicked up on the table in front of them, legs crossed at the ankles, with a beer in his hand, looking as relaxed as one could. Dunban, who was just barely not eighteen yet, was sitting next to his friend, sipping his soda.

Dickson grinned at Dunban, raising his glass in a toast.

"Here's to a mission well done" and took a long swig from his glass.

Dunban took a smaller mouthful of his own drink and eyed the bandage around Dicksons left arm, where he had gotten bit by one of the lizards when it had tried to jump at Dunban from behind. Dickson had reacted quickly, and caught the thing on his arm before shooting it. He had reassured Dunban several times that it wasn't serious, that it was just a scratch, but it didn't make the younger man feel any less guilty for it.

"Yeah" he mumbled. "Could have gone better, though" Like no-one getting injured, he thought to himself. Dickson seemed to pick up on his thoughts, and patted him lightly on the arm.

"Hey, didn't I tell you not to worry about it?" he lightly chided Dunban, casually tipping back his chair so he was balancing it on two legs. "We're a team now, that means we watch each others backs." He paused slightly to take another swig from his drink. "Maybe next time it's you saving my skin."

"Hmm..." Dunban agreed, kind of. "How's that kid you're looking after?" He decided to change the subject.

"Yeah, Shulk. He's fine." Dickson answered somewhat absent-mindedly, before letting his chair fall back down on all four with a loud 'thump '. "Oh, yeah! I needed to talk to you about something" he apparently just remembered.

"Yeah, what?" Dunban asked curiously, one eyebrow raised. Dickson took a few moments to pull out a cigarette and lighting it, before explaining.

"I need to go on another trip in a couple of days, since we're running out of stuff in the lab." Dunban nodded, not really understanding what it got to do with him. "So I thought leaving a kid who just got here a few months ago all alone for two weeks isn't maybe such a good idea." Again, Dunban nodded. He wasn't too keen on leaving Fiora alone for even a day, and she had grown up in the colony. He was somewhat surprised his friend had been so considerate. It wasn't like Dickson didn't like kids, it was more like he didn't quite know what to do with them. "So I thought you could look after him while I'm gone."

Dunban took a moment to think about it. It shouldn't be too much of a bother, since he was already looking after his little sister. Having another kid around her age might also be good for her, since she had been quite lonely since their parents died about a year ago. He looked up at Dickson and nodded, smiling slightly.

"Sure, shouldn't be a problem." Dickson seemed content, tipping his chair back and taking another swig from his drink.

"Good" he said. "I'll just drop him of at your place, then" and left it at that. He grabbed his glass again, only to notice it was empty. He grabbed the bottle from the middle of the table and poured himself another glass. He then pored the rest of the bottle into Dunbans now empty glass, since he had been sipping his drink all evening. "Here, have a drink."

"You know I'm not eighteen yet" Dunban tried to protest, but Dickson just waved him of.

"Just a couple of months short, no big deal" He pushed the glass into Dunbans hands. "Come on, live a little!" Dunban picked up the glass, shrugged deciding 'why not?' and took a small sip, trying out the new drink. The strong alcohol burned in his mouth and down his throat, before settling in his stomach, giving off a warm and content feeling. The after-taste wasn't too bad, either. He took another, slightly bigger sip, shuddering slightly at the strength of the drink.

He looked at Dickson, who was observing him, looking somewhat amused. "It's good" he mumbled, putting the glass down on the table; it was empty now anyway.

"Wouldn't drink it if it wasn't" Dickson pointed out.

A couple of hours and a few drinks later (well, Dunban had only had one more, but Dickson had seven... Honestly, Dunban was surprised the man was able to walk straight... ) the two finally decided to leave the bar. They parted ways at the bridges, where Dickson headed toward the military district and Dunban toward the commercial district.

"I'll see you in a couple of days, then?" Dunban said as they were parting ways. Dickson turned half around, lazily waving at him.

"Yeah, see ya then."

~A few days later, at Dunbans house~

A few days after the mission and their bar night, Dunban was explaining to his five-year-old sister they would be having company for a couple of weeks, and that she should be nice and maybe she could be friends with this boy.

Fiora was not too excited at the thought of some strange boy living with them.

"Come on, Fiora" Dunban was trying to reason with her. "You could at least try to be nice to him. You don't even know him." Fiora pouted at this, but agreed.

"Fine." She held up a finger and pointed at her brother. "But if he's a jerk, then I won't be nice to him any-more" she declared, making Dunban sigh.

"Fine" he agreed, really hoping this kid was the sweetest thing on the Bionis. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. "That'll be Dickson with the kid" Dunban guessed, going to open it.

It was indeed Dickson standing behind the door. His gunblade was slung over his shoulder and he was holding a bag in his left hand, which he handed over to Dunban. At Dunbans confused face, he quickly explained.

"Made some food for you and the kids, I know what your cooking skills are like" he said somewhat teasingly. Dunban took a look at the contents of the bag. Some food, indeed, Nothing fancy, but nice, considering his own cooking skills were pretty much limited to toast and canned soup.

"Thanks" he said, before asking what he had been wondering since he opened the door "So, where's the kid?"

"Right!" Dickson exclaimed, before reaching behind himself and pulling out a small boy who had been hiding behind his legs. "This is Shulk" he introduced the boy, who was holding some stuffed animal, trying to look as small and unnoticeable as possible. He had light blond hair and large blue eyes. If Dunban didn't know better, he could probably believe the kid to be related to Dickson, who also had blond hair and blue eyes, just darker shade than the kids.

"He's a bit shy" Dickson explained. He crouched down to the boy and put his hand on his head, slightly ruffling the blond hair. "Be good, okay?" he talked calmly to the kid in a gentle voice Dunban didn't know he was capable of. "Dunban's a nice guy, and his sister is a nice kid. You'll probably be best friends in no time"

Shulk nodded slightly, looking shyly at Dunban and then Fiora. He also managed a small smile.

"All right" Dickson announced, getting up. "I'm off" He waved slightly before leaving, slamming the door closed behind him.

Leaving Shulk standing in the middle of the room with Dunban and Fiora. Fiora walked over to the boy, extending her hand with a small smile.

"Hello, I'm Fiora" Shulk looked at her extended hand a few seconds before taking it.

"Hello, I'm Shulk" he introduced himself in a quiet voice. He held the stuffed toy closer to himself, looking quite lost and uncertain.

"Fiora, why don't you and Shulk go play outside?" Dunban suggested. "Maybe you can show him around the colony a bit more." He turned to address Shulk. "Dickson told me you haven't seen a lot of the colony other than the military district and the commercial district, is that true?" Shulk nodded slightly.

"Yes, I didn't want to go alone" he added. Dunban nodded., before turning back to his sister.

"So you could take Shulk to the residential district and maybe outlook park?" Fiora nodded enthusiastically. "Just don't go outside the colony, or you might get attacked by monsters" Dunban added as a warning, which made Fiora roll her eyes.

"Yes, yes, I know. You say that every time I go somewhere" She turned to Shulk and grabbed his arm, practically dragging him out the door. "Come on, let's go!"

"Just be back to dinner!" Dunban called after them, as the door slammed shut.

~Residential district, a few minutes later~

After a few minutes, the two kids had ran through the commercial district and crossed the bridges to the residential district. Shulk was staring wide-eyed at the buildings, the people and the children running around.

Fiora sat down on a nearby bench, patting the space next to her for Shulk to sit down as well.

"This is the residential district" Fiora told him. "This is where most people live" She turned to Shulk. "Dunban said you live in the military district with ." Shulk nodded.

"Yes. I think he lives there because he spends so much time in the lab. It's right next to his house." Fiora stopped to think about what Shulk just had said.

"But it's your house too, right? Since you live with him." Shulk looked a bit uncertain.

"I don't know. is nice and he lets me work with some small machines and I like him, but sometimes I feel like he doesn't want me there..."

He looked so sad at the thought, Fiora couldn't help giving him a big hug. Whenever she felt sad, Dunban would hug her and she would always feel better.

"I don't think he doesn't like you" she told him. "Dunban once said he thought it was surprising that wanted to take care of you, because he hasn't really had anything to do with kids. He probably doesn't know what to do with you."

She paused slightly, wondering if she should tell him about her own experience. She decided to, so Shulk would know she understood him.

"Our parents died a year ago" she told him quietly, her eyes tearing up at the memory. "And Dunban has taken care of me ever since." She paused to wipe the tears now rolling down her cheeks. "At first, he didn't really know what to do either, but it got better."

Shulk put his arms around Fiora to comfort her, since she seemed so sad. They sat there for a few minutes, until they both felt better. Fiora smiled at him and got up from the bench.

"You know, we should be friends" she declared. Shulk tilted his head, thinking about this. Friends sounded nice, and had said he should make some friends, so he wouldn't spend all his time in the lab. He got up from the bench and nodded at Fiora.

"Sure, sounds good. Let's be friends." Fiora beamed with happiness, grabbing his hand.

"Great! I still have to show you the outlook park, so let's go there!" She pulled him along as she was talking.

"What's outlook park?" Shulk asked, having heard the name before, but not knowing what it was.

"It's my favourite place in the colony!" Fiora told him. "It's a small park, and you can see the entire colony from up there, and - " Shulk never found out what else she was going to say about outlook park, because they were suddenly tackled by something and ended up on the ground.

A closer look let Shulk know they had ran into a boy about their age with flaming red hair. He was angrily glaring at them.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" he yelled at them, making Shulk take a step back in fear. Fiora on the other hand, stepped forward with an equally angry look on her face.

"Why don't you look where you're going! We were talking, but you just ran into us!" she angrily told him. The boy looked surprised, apparently not expecting her to talk back at him.

"Well, I was going to Giorgio's for curry with my parents! I was in a hurry because I'm hungry and then you just got in my way!" When Shulk and Fiora looked around, they noticed two adults who were probably his parents walking in their direction. The woman had the same kind of red hair and the man was carrying a massive sword over his shoulder.

"My parents are solders in the defence force" he told them, sounding quite proud. "When I grow up, I'm going to join the defence force, too." Fiora didn't seem very impressed.

"So what?" she asked him. "My brother is in the defence force, and my parents were in the defence force" she told him before pointing at Shulk "And Shulks guardian is in the defence force"

After this, the boy looked somewhat less irritated and calmed down.

"Oh" he said quietly "Didn't know that." He scratched the back of his neck somewhat sheepishly. "Sorry. And sorry for running into you." He extended his hand to them.

"I'm Reyn" he introduced himself. Fiora and Shulk both shook his hand and introduced themselves.

By now, Reyns parents had caught up to him and asked him if he was ready for dinner now. He left with them after saying goodbye to Fiora and Shulk. "See ya later!" he told them when he went.

Fiora sighed once they couldn't see the redhead any-more. "He was weird" she commented. Shulk nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we'll see him again" he said, not really sure whether or not he wanted to meet this brute of a boy again.

"Hmm... " Fiora seemed to agree. "Well, let's go to outlook park now, so we can make it back before dinner."

"All right" he agreed with her, wanting to see this place she liked so much. He paused slightly to pick up the stuffed animal he had dropped when they ran into Reyn, and followed Fiora as she led the way.

They walked over a small bridge, separating the residential district from the surrounding area. They walked up several staircases before arriving at outlook park. There wasn't much there, just some trees and benches, but it was nice. There was no one else there and the whole place was very peaceful, with a small breeze flowing through.

"This is a nice place" Shulk told Fiora, who seemed very happy at this. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the fence.

"Look" she said, pointing over the railing. "You can see the entire colony from here." She let him admire the view for a few moments before pulling him over to a bench.

"I always come here when I'm in a bad mood, and it makes me feel all better." She leaned back with a content sigh. "It's so peaceful.."

When Shulk leaned back and sat there next to her, Fiora decided that having Shulk stay with them for a couple of weeks wouldn't be so bad. They were probably going to spend time together after that, too. They were friends now, after all.

Well, this didn't turn out like I planned originally, but I thought 'Meh ' and decided to leave it as it was. It was going to be more Shulk and Fiora than it has, more Reyn as well. It was Dunban and Dicksons fault! Damn, took me almost two pages to get the guys out of the bar!

Reyn seems kind of like a jerk here, but they become friends later (Maybe they bond over dead parents or something...)