Disclaimer:
I do not own Dark Cloud.
Heck I don't even own any toys from it.
Can you even get toys from it?
Must... have... Xiao!
Author's Note:
"This fic might not be so good but at the same time,
who knows? Please, no flames, especially not complaints
about the pairing. Hello folks, I'm bringin' out the strangest
couple yet in this category! Don't judge me for accuracy,
although I'll try not to write things that you might already
know or might spoil the plot for those who haven't got there
yet. And, uh . . . well, let's hope I don't stink. This is another
Between-the-Lines style fic. ON WITH THE SHOW!!"
==(={[DarK ClouD}]=)==
~(Behind the Scenes!)~
[Part I: in which the adventure begins]
(]Adventure Day 3[)

Toan walked groggily upstairs to his room,
cutting a small lamp on as he exchanged goodnights
with his mom. His mother cut the overhead light out
as Toan pulled out his journal and began writing.

"Adventure Day 3.
I found my house amidst the caverns today,
along with my mother. I've been on this quest
for three days now, and it's getting to be a
lonely job. My best friend is still missing; probably
locked away in that cavern. I saw that little house
cat again, as well. I wish it would stop running from
me; I could use some company in the caves..
Well, that's all I can think to write. Maybe that doughnut
I found today will cheer me up a bit."
With that, he closed the book and ate
a fluffy doughnut before falling asleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(]Adventure Day Five[)
=Time: Evening=
=Place: Dran's Cave=

Toan spit out a bit of blood, then turned
around to look at the cat he'd just saved. (To
those who haven't made it this far, don't ask,
just play the game yourselves.) The silver haired
young man faded away, and the cat smiled at
Toan before walking off, then being sealed in
an Atla. Toan blinked, stood up, and walked over to
the Atla, breaking the seal and transferring the feline
to his little wrist thing. Then he stepped forward
to the river and looked at it closely. "I can't jump
that.." he said to himself, with an annoyed sigh as
his stomache growled. "Well, I'll think of something
later I guess." muttered the green clad hero as the
Fairy King teleported him out of the cavern.
=Time: Nightfall=
Toan sighed and fell onto his bed as the
lights were turned out, and heard a soft mewing
as the house cat silently strolled up the stairs
and into his room. "Hey Xiao." Toan said as he
began scribbling an entry in his journal.
"Adventure Day 5.
Well, I met a silver haired moron who tried to take
away that cool magic thing the Fairy King gave
me. Fat chance! I was about to whup his butt
and dodge his slow attack, but I noticed that
house cat behind me; if I'd moved, she would've
been blasted. Well, it payed off; I brought the
feline home with me later, and named her Xiao.
Cool name, huh? Anyway, I'm irritated now; there's
a river I can't cross. I'll think of something
tomorrow. For now, I need rest."
The boy closed the book, sliding it into his
pillowcase as the cat hopped up into bed with him,
falling asleep up against him. Toan didn't bother
pushing the cat off the bed, and instead fell asleep
soon afterwards.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(]Adventure Day 6[)
=Time: Evening=
=Place: Toan's House=
"How was your day, hun?" Toan's mother said,
greeting the young hero as he walked in. Toan sighed.
"Boring. I just about died of boredom!"
"We wouldn't want that to happen."
"By the time I find a way to cross that
river I'll be an old man!"
Toan sighed, walking upstairs to his room.
"Maybe if I had some help.." he thought as he
climbed the staircase, and was greeted by a meow.
Toan looked up, and saw Xiao sitting on his bed.
"I wish you could help, Xiao." he said, before something
dawned on him; He reached into his pocket and pulled
out a potion labeled "Changing Potion," then
looked at Xiao, who eyed the bottle curiously. "Hmm,
maybe you can.."

The boy walked over to the cat, and petted her
softly, before opening the bottle and offering it
to the feline. The cat sniffed it warily as Toan
poured it into a small bowl, but ended up drinking
it soon afterwards as if it were milk or cream.
Then, in a flash of light, the cat transformed in the
blink of an eye. Toan stared in awe as a young girl stood
before him, with feline ears and a catlike tail waving
about slowly and twitching once or twice. She examined
herself for a few seconds, then squealed. "Wow, I'm, like,
a human!" she exclaimed, jumping up once or twice before
noticing Toan and walking up to him. She got uncomfortably
close to his face, sniffing him, then stood back a bit after
a minute or two. ".. Master!"
"Uh, call me Toan." the boy said uneasily.
"Master Toan!"
"No, just Toan."
"Okay then, Toan! Xiao can help you with your
adventure now!" said the feline girl joyously as
she hugged Toan's leg affectionately. Toan looked a bit
embarrassed, especially as his mom came in to pick up
his laundry.

"Oh, I'm glad you found a new friend, Toan." said his
mother happily as if she saw nothing unusual about the
catlike features, or about the House Cat not being
there anymore, as she walked down the stairs.
"Let's get some rest." Toan said with a yawn. "We
can start again tomorrow."
"Can Xiao come?" the feline asked. "Please?"
"Of coarse you can!" Toan said with a grin
as he wrote a quick entry in his journal.
Xiao watched curiously from behind his back, without
the boy noticing.
"Adventure Day 6..
I tried to chip a stalagmite (or is it a stalgtite that
sticks out of the floor of a cave?) away in hopes of knocking
it over and forming a bridge. Pch, you can guess that plot
didn't work too well. You remember my house cat, Xiao? Well,
I gave her a Changing Potion that the silver haired guy
tossed me, and - you probably won't believe me when I say this -
she transformed into a half-feline girl! No joke! I'm
embarking on my quest again tomorrow with Xiao. I'll write
again after that."
Toan closed the book and hid it once more, and jumped,
startled, as Xiao said, "Why were you drawing scribbles?"
"Um, I was writing." he said as he cut the lamp out.
"What's writing?"
"It's like drawing, but you're putting words on paper."
"Really? How?"
"I'm sure mom'll teach you sometime."

Xiao shrugged and slid over to where he was, lying next
to him. "uh, what're you doing?" Toan asked. Xiao
turned around to face him. "Xiao's sleepy." she yawned. "Xiao
wants to sleep."
"You're not supposed to sleep so close to people.." Toan
said, sliding back a bit.
"But you let Xiao sleep with you last night." Xiao said,
looking at him strangely. "D-Don't you like Xiao anymore?"
"That's not it, it's just humans aren't supposed to
sleep in the same bed-"
"But Xiao's a cat, not hum-" Xiao ended the sentance
abruptly, remembering that she was human now. "Oh, Xiao
remembers. Why can't Xiao sleep with you?"
"It's complicated."
"Then where's Xiao supposed to sleep?"

Toan opened his mouth to say something, but no
words came out. There was no guest bed; he certainly
needed a good night's sleep tonight; his mom's bed isn't
big enough; and he couldn't make Xiao sleep on the floor.
The young hero sighed. "There's nowhere else to sleep..
I guess it's alright if you sleep here-"
"Yay!" Xiao said, lying down again with a purr.
Toan turned over, scooting away from Xiao, and
fell asleep a few minutes later, not noticing a pair
of cat eyes staring at him untill he did.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(]Adventuer Day 7[)
=Time: Morning=
Toan awoke, yawning, and felt something lying up
against his back. He turned around slowly and saw
Xiao, curled up and peacefully asleep. "I've got to
get another bed." sighed Toan as he nudged the
cat girl. "Xiao, wake up.. Xiao?"

"Xiao still sleepy.." muttered the feline, grabbing
Toan's hand and falling asleep, holding it like a
teddy bear.
Toan sighed, annoyed, as he tried to pull his
hand away, to no avail. "Xiao, stop it already!"
Xiao muttered something and turned over, dragging
Toan's hand with her. "Xiao! Wake up already!"
"Rowwrr..." Xioa muttered, sitting up and releasing Toan's
slightly scratched hand. "What time is it..."
"It's morning, and I'm about to head out to the
dungeon again, so if you want to come--"
"Yay!" the feline said, jumping up and clinging
to Toan. "Take Xiao with you!"
"I was planning to." Toan said with a smile. The
cat girl grinned and pulled out a slingshot, following
Toan out of the house and into the dungeon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(]Adventure Day 13[)
Time: Morning
Toan wrote one last entry in his diary before
he and Xiao left to go to Dran's chambers.
He'd been in the cave for days on end, so he
hadn't had much time to write.
"Adventure Day 13..
I've missed a few days, I know. I guess I
lost track of time, although sleeping on dungeon
floors isn't that comfortable. It's been great so far.
We reach Dran's chambers today. Xiao is an excellent
fighter, and probably my closest friend now. We
talked a lot these last few days; her about her previous
life as a cat, and me about, well, everything she asked,
which was pretty much my life story."

The writing was a bit messy and shaken after this.

"Uh oh, Xiao's getting impatient, she's jumping on
the bed (which I'm sitting on while I write this).
Jeeze that's sloppy writing, oh well. I'll write
again tomo-----__________________/ "

(Author's Note: Yes that line is meant to be there.
Xiao jerked his hand to drag him to the dungeon, thus,
the line was accidently sketched.)
=Location: Dran's Chamber=
Toan and Xiao crept up to a huge door. Toan
put a key he found in Dran's Windmill into the keyhole
of the door, and walked into the large room.

There was a smell of rich earth in the air, as well as a
bit of dust to irritate one's eyes; above were crystals, reflecting
small rays of light that leaked through the roof. And up top, a
huge flying beast roared, leaping off of a high cliff and flying
towards them, spitting a fireball. Toan and Xiao leapt out of the
way. "Dran is Possessed." the Fairy King said, appearing behind
Toan. "You'll have to defeat him to break the spell."

Toan nodded, then looked over at Xiao. "You sure you're
up to this?"
"Xiao's ready if you are!" the feline said, hissing as Dran flew
overhead. She rolled over and began shooting at him with her slingshot;
the feathered creature glared at her, enraged. "Uh oh.." miowed the cat
girl as she ran out of the way as Dran charged towards her. Toan pulled
out one of the monster's feathers, his body becoming instantly lightened
as he dashed towards the beast, slashing at Dran's feet untill it took
flight. Xiao stood up and began shooting him again untill he landed, enraged,
and Toan began slashing him again untill he dashed up into the air.
The two exchanged glances and smiles as they found a strategy that
worked and repeated, surprised at how stupid whatever possessing
Dran was untill Dran fell, regaining his old composiour in a few seconds.
((Short? Maybe. But I'll make the duels better to make up for it, alright?))
(]Adventure Day 13[)
=Time: Nightfall=
=Place: Canyon between
Toan's hometown and the
forest regeons=
-
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-
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Xiao and Toan sat around a campfire,
both munching on fish Toan had caught.
(Author's Note: Yes, yes, you can't really keep the
fish you catch, I know. Pretend he stole'em
or something.)

"Hey.. Xiao?" Toan said in between bites. "Which
have you liked best so far, being a cat or a human?"
"Definately human!" Xiao said as she ate her
second fish and began on a third. "How about you?"
"Me? I've always been human -"
"No, do you like Xiao better as a human?"
"Of coarse!" Toan said with a smile.
Xiao smiled too, then began devouring her third fish.
"So when'll we get to this new villiage?"
"Tomorrow I think." Toan said, finishing his fish and
drinking some water.
"Good, 'cause Xiao is sleepy." the feline girl muttered,
walking over to Toan and lying down with her head in his
lap.
"I can tell." Toan said. "Let me get out the sleeping bags."
-
-
-
And in a few minutes, Toan was lying down in a green
sleeping bag, Xiao in a white one; Toan fell asleep, exhausted,
and Xiao did after staring at the sky for a few minutes.
=To Be Continued=
Author's Note:
"Can you guess the couple? Xiao and Toan maybe?
Or will it end up being Ruby and Toan?
Or will I be strange enough to make a Goro and Xiao
pairing!?.. Heck no, I loathe and despise that chubby hunter
Goro. Keep reading, this shouldn't take too awfully long to
complete. Pending on if I can ever get that blasted crystal
door lock to activate.."
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