A Familiar Force
Arc I: Job Orientation
I do not own Half Life or Zero no Tsukima. They are owned by Valve and Yamaguchi Noboru respectively.
Edit2: Big thanks to HiroshimaNagasaki for pointing out the OOCness of Louise in a part of this chapter, you were right: Louise backed down way too easily. Hopefully I changed it to a more in character interaction between her and Shephard.
Edit 5/30/2014. In hindsight i don't know what possessed me back then to write an even more stupid scene let alone keep it for so long. Fixed it.
"Excuse me, Sir?" The balding man piped up. Equality's a bitch.
Shephard swiftly turned to face him, his knife being brought back up in front of him. After that little stunt his paranoia was back up.
Except for the slight movement of the eyes there was no indication he even saw the knife. Or noticed the smell Shephard noted.
"I understand this must be a new experience for you, but rest assured none of us here mean you any harm."
The hateful glare from miss pinky coming his way said otherwise.
"In fact this is a new occurrence for us as well! You're the first human ever summoned." Yeah about that…
"And the first commoner as well…" the pinkette grumbled.
"Please, put away your knife. You have my word you will not be harmed."
Shephard began to consider his options. On the one hand he didn't fancy having another person having a say in what he has to do. Her less so perhaps, because she seemed the type to constantly remind him about it. On the other hand he had a feeling if he refused this could turn ugly very fast.
He was outnumbered. He had no guns. And to be frank there was something off about the man standing in front of him.
There was no malevolence or anything but at the same time he couldn't shake the feeling he was getting. It was the same feeling he got when he looked at some of the older Marines back home, like they've seen so much it was a rare thing that ever gave them pause anymore.
And more likely than not they've already devised a plan to take you down if ever posed a threat to them. In short: Dangerous. If there's one rule they wanted to hammer into you back at training it was 'You are not a superman'. With his PCV out of energy he was hardly in a position to disagree.
They also hammered another thing home: Improvise, adapt, and overcome. Time to start implementing that. First step: Be polite.
He sheathed his knife. "I guess I don't have many options here Mr.…?"
"Colbert. Jean Colbert" the man replied.
He nodded. "Where am I?"
"You are in the Tristain Academy of Magic. Young Miss Vallière here summoned you." He said gesturing to the pink haired girl. She blushed a little, averting her eyes.
Shephard however was focusing on one word in that sentence.
Magic. An Academy of magic. That meant every single person here, barring him of course, was capable of using it. He suddenly felt very uneasy when he thought about how close that girl's wand was to his head. In fact he looked upon the crowd with a new wariness. How easily he dismissed them as a knew it should have surprised him more. Hell he just came from a place where science and hard facts reigned supreme. But considering everything that's already happened to him it would be a bit silly to suddenly declare something impossible.
Colbert spoke up again. "If I may, can I have a look at those runes on your hand?"
Glancing at his hand he obliged. Colbert looked at them and started scribbling down something in his notebook."Interesting. Almost, well…" he trailed off lost in his thoughts.
More voices and Jeers rose up from the crowd.
"Real divine and beautiful Familiar you have there Zero, I can smell him from here!"
"Once a Zero always a Zero!"
"Tabitha, keep an eye on your dragon. She looks hungry." Said a redhead to a bluette.
Shephard looked at said dragon and found she was indeed watching him with an unceasing, almost longing gaze, those emerald green eyes never leaving his form since he arrived. Right. The alien blood. It must smell like catnip to the beast. How on earth it smelled it over the prevalent sewage stink he had no idea. Not helping matters was the way it licked its lips exposing some pretty sharp looking teeth that no doubt could chew through his vest in one bite.
However the one named Tabitha merely raised her staff and bonked its head and said 'No Eating.'
The dragon let a noise (mewl?) of disappointment. The Marine made a mental note to always look up from now on.
He was so focused on the dragon that he hadn't noticed Colbert had pulled away for some time and was watching him with an amused expression.
"Do not worry, all Familiars obey their masters without question."
"I'd think you'd feel a little uneasy if a dragon had you in its sights."
"This is true." Colbert conceded. "Well I'll have Miss Vallière here get you set up here. I have some things to discuss with the principle."
Said girl merely grumbled something, before replying. "Come Familiar!"
As they walked back Shephard noticed the other students actually levitate back to the castle. Oh how much trouble that would have saved him back at Black Mesa…
Louise was, to put it mildly, extremely unhappy. She wanted a divine, beautiful, powerful Familiar. And what did she get? A Commoner! But not just any commoner. Oh no that would have been too merciful from fate. She got one that was dressed in horribly stained clothes, carried a laughably small blade.
And by Founder did he reek! The effect was amplified as they entered the castle without the breeze to dilute the smell.
She glanced back at him. He had an odd haircut. He had short black hair, but the hair above his ears and most of the back of his head was almost completely shaved off. He was examining the castle wall with a curious look on his face
She sighed. Whether she liked it or not this commoner was now her Familiar. About the only good thing about him was that he proved she wasn't a failure in magic. She needed to establish just who was in charge here.
They were nearing her room when a thought occurred: She didn't fancy her room smelling like… whatever her familiar decided to roll in before he got here! Still a faint smile tugged at her lips. It was awfully generous of Kirche to lend her the space in front of her room.
She spun on her heels, put her hands on her hips and adopted her best commanding look and voice she could muster. "Who are you Familiar?"
"Shephard." He replied still scanning the castle walls.
"You're a Shepherd?"
"No, my last name is Shephard. First name is Adrian by the way." He turned to face her.
"Would you mind telling me EXACTLY what is going on here? Colbert back there was a little sketchy on details."
She huffed. "I'll let your informal tone go only because of your ignorance. In the future I expect to be referred to as 'Master or Lady Vallière'.
I performed the familiar summoning ritual, a sacred rite in which a magi, like myself, summon a familiar to be their lifelong companion. End result, I got you."
He nodded. "And what exactly is a 'Familiar' supposed to do?"
"Well they protect their master obviously. Familiars are supposed to obey all orders by their masters without question."
She paused. "I think you'll only be good for menial labor though. Not even ten commoners can even hope to match a mages capabilities."
He gave an audilbe snort. "I can fight..."
She rolled her eyes. "Yes with your club, and wimpy little sword. But mages use magic. You'll be cut down long before you can get close enough."
He opened his mouth, but closed it again without saying anything. A good point was a good point after all.
"Now I think we need to address something that has, quite literally, been lingering over this entire conversation: Your smell. No familiar of mine can be expected to smell like that so go clean yourself up. While you're at it you can do my laundry as well."
"So… basically I've been 'contracted' as it were, to be your undying loyal servant, forever doomed to do your laundry?" He said it somewhat distantly as if he were thinking about something.
She hissed. "What did I tell you about your tone familiar? And since you want the explanation of your duties to be so blunt: Yes."
He nodded, and then raised a finger. "One moment please."
He turned and "YOU LOUSY, ROTTEN, SUIT WEARING, BRIEFCASE CARRYING BASTARD!" He bellowed. He took a breath and turned back to a now wide eyed, mouth agape Louise.
"WHAT, WAS THAT?!" she screeched, voice now reaching ear degrading levels.
"Stress release, Master." He replied in a tone that made it seem he hadn't just had an outburst at some unknown figure.
"Well don't do that ever again! Everybody thinks that you're a filthy uncivilized pauper. We don't need you adding crazy to that list!" She said through gritted teeth.
"I'm going to change, wait here."
Shephard was carrying the laundry basket that held his 'Masters' clothes. She had been sure to remind him (repeatedly) not to touch them until he washed his hands, lest he permanently contaminate them with his stench. Though he tried to ask here where to go to do said task she just seemed content to raise her voice higher and higher.
Externally he was the picture of a calm obedient familiar obeying his master's orders. Internally he was cursing every minute of this goddammed 'assignment' he was on. Here he was a highly trained Marine, one of the deadliest forces on his planet, being made to do laundry. Over qualified did not BEGIN to cover this.
He knew that outburst back there had not particularly professional, or for that matter polite, but still after everything he had been through and guessed what he was going to have to put up with he felt a little yelling had been well within his rights.
Still despite his feelings he had to wonder just why he was sent here. More specifically he wondered why he was put under the order of a girl who had an ego the size of a pit worm and was only half as likeable. She didn't seem particularly important. The only difference he noticed was she seemed to be different when it came to the magic department if the jeers and taunts by her classmates was any indication.
But it didn't seem like he He would send Shephard here just to provide some relief for her. Hell Shephard doubted that He had any emotion besides plotting His next move.
He briefly wondered if he should say 'To hell with all this' and just run for the hills. But he dismissed that after coming to the conclusion that he would just be putting himself back at square one. Namely knowing fuck all where he was and being surrounded threats. For all he knew a few klicks from here in any direction was a dragon nest, or some other 'magical' beats he had yet to encounter. Surving a normal wilderness would be enough of a challenge. A magical one which he no intel on was just asking for trouble.
Considering what happened when she just kissed him he dreaded to think what combat magic could do. Staying here seemed like the best way to stay on good terms. For now. And besides, managment would likely disapprove of him leaving. If nothing else gather intel on the surrounding area before making a decison.
So it looked like for now he was stuck in the improvise phase. Just going to have to make it up as he went along.
"You, Commoner! Are you listening?"
Frowning at having his thoughts interrupted Shephard turned to find a young blonde haired man with a shirt that revealed most of his chest. Near him a young female student in a brown cloak stood with a tray of some food he didn't recognize. She had dark brown hair, and bright green colored eyes.
"You are the familiar Louise summoned, are you not?" he asked with one hand on his hip and another holding a rose ina flamboyant and dainty fashion.
"Yeah, you could say that." He tried to keep his tone neutral. No point in starting something unnecessary.
He shook his head."It must be pure torture for poor Louise knowing that THIS is her familiar. She couldn't even get a decent smelling one!"
"Of course, I guess you can tell which mercenary is cheapest by their smell. Everyone knows that the Zero is incapable of magic. You were hired to be her "familiar' weren't you?" Well, he was right… in a way.
"A familiar represents the skill of the mage, and you being a hired mercenary means that-"
"You know" Shephard interrupted "I may smell like it, but your still more full of shit than I am." He retorted while walking away from the now stuttering boy.
Okay so that was unnecessary but he didn't care. There were only so many brain cells he was prepared to squander by talking to that kid.
He wondered if maybe his 'Friend' sent him here to drive him into the deepest levels of insanity. While it fit in with everything he'd seen so far he only wished it was taking place on a tropical island.
Once again focused on the task at hand the marine again realized he had no idea where to go. He was in no mood to wander all over. He needed someone to point him in the right direction, preferably while acting like a decent person for once.
As he rounded the corner he noticed a girl with dark hair in a black and white outfit dusting a statue. She was humming an unknown tune of some sort. Well she certainly looked like a maid, even complete with the stereotypical headwear. Not seeing anyone else around he calmly walked up behind her and gently tapped her shoulder. The resulting ear ringing made him think it was a mistake.
Siesta was cleaning. She cleaned the statue of the previous headmaster, her feather duster clearing away the dust with each flick of the wrist. She hummed to herself, a tuneless melody but calming nonetheless. She noticed a certain smell in the air, that was considered by most people repulsive but she considered just another smell. Growing up on a farm does that to people. Still though it was out of place in the Academy. Just what was mak-
She felt a tap on her shoulder. In that instant that simple action however sent a wave of thoughts and emotions racing through her mind. She thought that this was the night she was going to be carried off by some noble and made into a plaything. She remembered that no one else was around as she felt dread and fear grip her. Not helping matters was the subject most of her books covered which gave her imagination plenty to work with. So she decided to do the one thing that would appropriately sum up what she was feeling.
She screamed.
Though it lasted for a second the figure in front of her seemed disoriented. Oh no. She caused him pain. Now what was he going to do? Was he going to 'discipline' her? Was he going to remind her just who her betters were?
The figure in front of her turned out to be a young man who instead merely shook his head. Putting his free hand to his ear he looked at her with deep hazel eyes. She watched back waiting in anticipation for any move that could signify a beating.
None of them moved. Finally he broke the silence.
"You want me to pick that up?" he asked gesturing to the fallen duster. She blushed.
"N-no it's all right I'll get it." She didn't hear any sarcasm or disdain in his voice. Was he being genuine? No of course not she told herself. Nobles would never degrade themselves by doing something simple.
"Sorry about scaring you. I just needed some help with some laundry." He said while gesturing to the basket in his arm.
Siesta actually looked closer at the man. He had black hair, albeit in an odd haircut, VERY stained clothes, and some sort of vest. He didn't seem like a noble. And now she realized just where the smell was coming from. A slight blush appeared on her face again as she searched for the correct words.
"It's okay; I know I smell like shit." Well she would not have worded it so blunt but it was accurate nonetheless.
"If it's not too much trouble could you tell me where I can get these washed, and get myself cleaned up Miss..?
"Siesta" she curtseyed "and I'll wash those for you. While the school does have a bathhouse only nobles are allowed inside. But you can use the servant's, and I'll fetch you some clothes as well while yours are being cleaned."
As she was guiding the man through the castle she realized she didn't know his name.
"Um e-excuse me sir, but I don't think i got your name." she stammered out.
"It's Shephard. Adrian Shephard. Pleasure to meet you Siesta."
Well as it turned out running into Siesta was an unbelievable stroke of luck. Not only did she help him with the clothes but she also provided some insight into this place he was in. Apparently he was in a place called Tristain, a place where a sort of feudal system was in place. The ruling class used magic; anyone who didn't was a commoner who had to serve their magical counter parts. It had certainly explained why everyone who had talked to him up to this point usually had their heads up their asses at least.
Fortunately Siesta was neither arrogant nor rude. In fact she was probably the kindest person he'd ever met. He also tried to get more information on his 'master'. It turned out he was correct in his suspicions: she was different when it came to magic. As in she failed every spell she ever cast. According to Siesta he was the only proof that she even did one spell right.
So a noble whose reputation depends on their magical ability has absolutely none to back it up. Add in constant insults from her peers and Shephard could understand why she was grouchy in general. He felt a pang of sympathy for her.
Still though he didn't like the idea of Louise taking out her frustrations on him. He would have to do something about that because there was only so much he was willing to put up with.
They had spent the rest of the tip talking when they finally arrived in the laundry room.
Siesta hummed as she filled the tubs with warm water and soap. As she did though her eyes wandered over to Shephard's strange clothes. They looked an odd combination of black and white, with numerous yellow stains crisscrossing and splotching in various places. This only applied to the arms and legs however; the center was almost completely clean, if a little foul smelling due to sweat. She attributed that to the strange black vest Shephard was wearing.
It was odd, it seemed very durable but at the same time frail. She rapped a knuckle against it. It wasn't metal, but it didn't seem to make it any less strong. How odd. Shephard had told her that he would rather clean his own equipment so she didn't do anything further. She had managed to fetch him some clothes while he took a bath, but she had to do it on short notice so she hoped they would fit.
Just as she was about to start the door opened and in stepped Shephard, now wearing some borrowed servant's clothes. While the vest had been concealing much of his features these clothes had indeed been a bit tight. She could see his muscles on his arms, and his abs showed through his shirt. He definitely looked strong…
"Uh, Siesta?"
She blushed as she realized she had been staring.
"S-Shephard. You were quick; I had assumed you would have taken longer."
He shrugged. "It wasn't really me that smelled, it was that just my clothes had been pretty much soaked. Although I must admit a good scrub down never felt so good in my life."
"Ah yes. Well let's get started."
Siesta started on Louise's clothes and he started on his.
This wasn't the first time Shephard had to get blood out of clothes, though it was the first time trying to get alien blood out. He only hoped the old technique worked. Run it under cold water to loosen it up, scrape off the crusted material, and judging by how long they had been there it was likely they would have to soak overnight.
Of course he was thankful that most blood was a greenish yellow. Everyone had no idea just how many things he's had to kill to get covered in so much. That and combined with the stench people likely though it was another form of bodily fluid. Although there was that one particular red patch on his right sleeve...
With his pants and shirt done he moved on to the vest. He had no intention of leaving his power vest here overnight. A simple scrubbing would do. If 'lady Vallière' complained about stains well too bad. Next the mask. Being rubber made it the easiest to clean, he just gently scrubbed the inside, getting any blood he could. His helmet soon followed suit as did his gloves. He noticed however, with no small amount of discomfort, that the lens in his mask had been repaired.
As he cleaned the maid next to him occasionally glanced his way. Not in a perverted sense (Yet) but out of curiosity. She had seen the scars on his arms, burns, slashes, claw marks, punctures, and they looked fresh, add in the blood on his clothes and it had been obvious he must have been through quite an ordeal before he was summoned. She wanted to ask him about it, but decided against it as she felt it would be rude.
Just what has he been through?
She realized she had been staring again and set back to work on the clothes.
"There. Just pick up the clothes before dawn; they should be dry by then. Though your clothes might take a little longer." She said as she hung Louise's clothes near a fire.
Siesta glanced at him and became worried when he appeared to be close to falling asleep where he stood, his eyelids slowly getting heavier with each blink.
"Mr. Shephard?" she asked, worry evident in her voice.
He shook his head clear of grogginess. "Sorry just tired." Ten hours of being constantly under attack, running, gunning, swimming, would do that he supposed. At this point the only thing holding back exhaustion was the stimulants from the vest. Wait.
Right. He took it off.
"Just need to… vest back on." His voice was beginning to slur. He needed to move fast.
As fast as his body would let him at any rate.
"How would that help you?"
He ignored her in favor of the vest. Putting it on he felt around inside one of the pockets for a raised patch. Finding it he closed his eyes. He felt the needles from the vest quickly shoot into his spine linking with his nervous system and sa slight tingle from the nanomachines once again reactivating in his body. The pain of the fusion somewhat woke him up but it would hold until the stimulants kicked in again. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and looked at the maid next to him.
She seemed somewhat confused as to why he was making a show out of putting on a vest. He doubted telling the intricacies of his PCV would serve any other purpose than to add to that confusion.
"Are you sure you're alright? You looked dead on your feet for a second there."
"Yeah. I'm sure." He paused. "Well thank you Siesta, you made a chore quite enjoyable actually." He said while smiling sincerely.
She turned crimson again. "A-ah w-well, it was nothing. Just let me know if you need anything else." She bowed and gave a small smile as she turned.
He turned to leave but as he walked away he thought he heard a 'Kyaa' come from Siestas general direction. He shook his head. He must be worse than he thought if he was hearing things.
Wow, the sun set pretty fast. Must have been closer to evening than I thought.
He decided to slip on his mask to test his night vision. Soon everything was coated in a green grainy glow as his mask enhanced any ambient light in the hallway. He also decided to check his vitals. Better safe than sorry after all.
Still at 100. Well it really just estimated how combat ready one would be in the event if you had to take it off before the healing process was done.
Without power his vest's reactive armour would not activate. A fully charged vest would protect the user from point blank shotgun blasts. An empty one was essentially glorified kevlar. But how he was supposed to find power in what looked like a medieval version of earth was beyond him. While it was made to accept energy from any source there didn't seem to be one source.
He shook his head. Nothing he could do about it now. Might as well head back to Louise.
Quietly as possible he opened the door to Louise's room opening it just enough to slip in. Night vision still activated he scanned the room and unsurprisingly found Louise curled up under her covers sound asleep. It was a bit shocking really to see something other than a frown or glare or any other form of hostility on her face. She actually looked peaceful for once.
Deciding to take a look out the window Shephard made a surprising Discovery:
There were two moons. It was a simple matter that ironically complicated things.
He just stared at them with a growing sense of confusion and at the same time clarification. This was concrete proof he wasn't on earth anymore, but at the same time it just raised further questions. Just where was he in the galaxy? Was he even in the same galaxy? Or universe for that matter?
This was unfortunately brining up memories of Xen, the alien borderworld. He quickly shoved them aside: he quite simply wanted to get to sleep tonight and thinking of that would not help. Although it did get him thinking that maybe their 'magic' was just their people trying to explain some sort of powers they have. He thought back to the way those red eyed aliens gathered up their green lighting of death. If these people could something like that... well just keep doing what he was now: be careful.
He looked around to see if Louise had set anything up for him and soon found it.
So just where was he supposed to sleep? He got his answer in the form of a pile of hay that had been prepped in a corner.
He's had to sleep in worse spots in his time with the military but that really wasn't what was bugging him. It was what that pile represented: That she really saw him nothing more than an animal.
He shot a glare at the sleeping girl. She was really beginning to push it.
Once again wincing as he took off his vest and mask he began to settle in for the night. He had to admit though: hay was a lot more comfortable than military bunks. Go figure.
Darkness began to overcome him, this time not caused by being knocked out, or being imprisoned, but rather by a welcome night sleep.
He awoke early the next morning which he took as a good sign. His internal clock was still functional at least. He got up and looked outside and saw the sun was still just below the horizon.
Despite the fact he slept on hay he felt completely rejuvenated.
He looked to girl under the covers and wondered if he should wake her up. After putting on the protective gear he decided on yes.
He gently tapped her shoulder. Despite being slower on the draw she had the exact same reaction as Siesta last night, except this time was a bit more dangerous considering she was armed with pillows.
"W-what are you doing in here!?" two pillows came at him, which he dodged.
Apparently somebody was not completely woken up, if two more hastily flung pillows were any indication.
She scrambled backward, falling off the bed onto her bottom wrapping herself up in her blankets in the process. Even if he didn't care for her that much he had to admit it was kind of adorable really.
He blinked. Adorable? Was that really the word he picked?
She stared back at him, her eyes just reaching just over the top of her bed, the cobwebs beginning to clear from her mind as the events of yesterday came back to her.
"Oh yeah. I summoned you."
She looked at her less than dignified appearance and quickly freed herself from the blankets, her face turning red, and adopting the now familiar form of looking like she wanted him dead. "What were you doing, scaring me like that?!"
"Waking you up. I figured you didn't want to be late for classes." He replied honestly. Well, that and he wanted to try and keep the yelling at him to a minimum. Things could be going better.
She considered this, and despite being embarrassed couldn't find fault with his reasoning."Well done familiar, I didn't even tell you to do that." She moved on, eager to put that little episode behind her.
"Now where are my clothes?"
"In the clothing drawer?" he gestured, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"I know that! I mean why are they not in front of me?"
"Because you haven't gotten them out?" he offered.
"You mean because you haven't gotten them out! Now I am ordering you: get them out and dress me!"
He stared at her blankly, trying to understand why she wasn't freaked out in the slightest at what she was suggesting.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Louise, listen to me very carefully: I am a man, you are a girl. Can you please put two and two together and see why that might be a little awkward for both of us?"
She simply put her hands on her hips. "You are not a man, you are a familiar, it doesn't matter if you see me."
Shephard decided to call her bluff.
"Okay then. Undress."
"What?" her commanding look disappeared leaving a surprised one in its place.
"Well you want me to dress you, so you're going to need to take off your nightgown."
While a part of her was hesitant to do so she noticed a glimmer in his eyes. He thought he could get out of this! Get out of his responsibilities! It seemed her familiar still had some unruliness in him.
She would just have put him in his place.
"Very well." she said, and then slipped off her nightgown. Needless to say her body was completely exposed now.
She held out her arms and stood erect as she awaited her familiar to dress her."Dress me."
She found it hard to keep her face neutral at the brief look of shock before her familiar turned away and put a hand up to his face to cover his view of her.
Once again she had managed to surprise him. She wasn't bluffing.
"Did you hear me familiar? I said dress me!"
Okay he could give some leeway to the kiss he got from her before. It was the way the wizards did... well that. But dressing her? Christ it was something out of a perverse comedy.
"I'll admit you caught you me off guard. But im still not dressing you."
"You are MY familiar! And i am ordering you to dress me!"
He shook his head. She wasn't willing to back down. Will tough. He may be stuck here but it would take more than a brat yelling at him to degrade him to dressing her. Really the way she was practically frothing at the mouth for a stranger to dress her was a bit concerning really. Then again it seemed like it was less about the act itself and more about her exerting some control over him.
Just an equal reason not to do it.
"Well either go naked or dress yourself, because im certainly not going to do it." Before she could spout some more nonsense he exited the room and began to wait for her.
The wait was not long. She came back out, face still set in a scowl, gesturing for him to follow. Suprisingly she made no comment on what happned in the bedroom. After taking a moment to reflect on how that would have sounded out of context he followed her.
As they neared the dining hall the sounds of students conversing and the smell of food became stronger. It had reminded Shephard just how long he had gone without eating. Twenty four if you left you however long he had been detained. He checked his pockets for food but he only had one chocolate bar that had been melted and put through various abuses during his adventure.
"You're lucky you know. Normally commoners would never be allowed in the Alviss dining hall. But you're a special case so this is an exception." He raised an eyebrow. Something was up here.
As they entered he noticed more than a few students look his way, eager to see the odd familiar. He didn't like the attention but one look at Louise told him she enjoyed it even less. She picked up her pace to the nearest empty table with Shephard in tow.
Shephard for one was amazed at all the food in front of him. The smell of sweets, meat, and fruit we're certainly a far cry from the industrial, dead, and stale ones of Black Mesa. He noticed he had salivated a bit and quickly wiped it a way. He reached for a nearby apple when a slap came down hard on his hand sending a wave of pain up his arm.
He shot a glare at the pink haired girl next to him. "What was that for?"
She gave him a 'are you serious' look that made it clear that he had asked a question that had an obvious answer.
"I said allowed in. Not allowed to eat. Besides you forgot to bring back my clothes." she lectured.
"I was going to let you eat in here, but consider this punishment for your earlier behavior. Now go out back to kitchens to get your food."
Ah, there's the payback. Deciding maybe the serving staff would be better for his blood pressure he set off. Maybe he would even see Siesta again.
"Oh! Mr. Shephard!" Speak of the devil. He had just entered the kitchens when the maid from last night came up to him.
"Morning Siesta." He nodded at her.
The girl blushed a bright red, hand beginning to fiddle with her skirt. "Oh, you remembered my name?" she chirped happily.
He smiled at her, the second time since he met her."Well yeah, so far you're only the second person I've met who was actually worth remembering."
She blushed brighter, hands twisting around her skirt so hard he thought it would tear. He took a moment to reflect (and cringe) on his choice of words and how they sounded.
What stupidity was responsible for putting those words into his mouth?
"I wanted to remind you to pick up your clothes. They should be dry in a few minutes."
He smiled "Thanks for the reminder."
For some reason even that caused the girl (who was nearing the color of a tomato) to let out a small 'Kyaa'. So he didn't imagine that sound. He didn't know what to think of that.
"Also, a package came for you, I tried to get it to you as soon as possible but I must have just missed you. I left it in your master's room."
He raised an eyebrow. "A package? Siesta I've only been here for a day, who would even know me? Who gave you that package?"
"Well it was…" a confused look came across her face as she tried to remember, but she seemed to be drawing a blank."I… this is embarrassing, but I don't remember. All I know is that, whoever it was, instructed me to bring the package to you."
This story sounded familiar. He thought back to the helicopter ride to Black Mesa. His teammates we're trying to strike up some conversation with him. They mentioned their suspicions about the operation when Shephard brought up the mysterious man hanging around the base. Despite the fact that some of his own squad had attested to seeing him before they then said that no one else besides Shephard had seen him.
Great. He can erase himself from memories, as if he needed another reason to fear Him.
"I'll check it out, thanks." He was about to leave when something fell out of Siesta's pocket. A bright pink bottle with a flower on the side, a cork stopper at the top, with an unknown liquid sloshing around inside.
He gave her a questioning look. "Oh, this is just something one of the students dropped. I'm still trying to find the owner." She explained putting the bottle back into place.
He nodded in understanding and then set off back to Louise's room, his hunger forgotten.
The 'package' turned out to be a small wooden crate sitting on the bed. Siesta must be stronger than she looked if she was able to carry it here all by herself.
Getting ready just in case Shephard drew the first weapon he had picked up at Black Mesa, his pipe wrench. Marker writing on the side indicated it had belonged to one Jack Ryan before he had scavenged it. Although why Mr. Ryan was using a metal pipe wrench to fix electrical wires was beyond him.
Pushing his internal thoughts aside he cautiously made his way over to the bed, ready for anything. He undid the latch, slowly opened the top, and something that should have been on an another planet lunged at his face.
He yelped in surprise, swatting the thing aside with his free hand. Just as he was about to bring his wrench down however he stopped. He knew this creature.
"Sparky?" he called out to the blue insect lying still on the floor. His heart sank as he realized what he had done.
Which then shifted to anger once said insect got up, clicking happily in a slightly mocking tone.
"Hey I thought I killed you, that isn't funny." He reprimanded the insect.
Said insect merely jumped up and latched onto his right arm, clicking contentedly as if he missed his usual spot. Shephard merely sighed. He would have some explaining to do when people saw his shockroach.
He remembered when he first picked him up. He killed a blue alien with one eye and four arms that was using the roach to shoot electricity at him. While he was catching his breath the insect decided to latch onto his arm, much to Shephard's shock. As he was about to hack it off with his knife a headcrab lunged at him and he somehow managed to do something which caused the insect to fry the parasite in midair. He decided to keep him after that.
A very intrigued scientist Adrian had encountered shortly afterwards had insisted on examining the creature and informed him that the xenobiologists involved in studying the various races encountered during portal travel had been calling the species a "Shockroach". They were thought to have been created by the larger blue aliens with two legs, four arms and one eye that carried them and which had been trying to kill Shephard most of that day. The fact a shockroach could only survive a short time without a live host was considered likely a failsafe of sorts that had been genetically-engineered into the weaponised bug.
They needed a host. So how did Sparky survive all alone in that crate?
Turning his attention back to the crate he opened it again and was met with two familiar faces. The ones that were also with him before he was taken.
Face number one: Gill the baby shock trooper, a baby version of the four armed aliens. He had picked him up out of pity mostly (he could make the most mournful whimpering) but the green amphibian earned his keep when an alien teleported behind him and in his panic had somehow made him spit out a glob of… something which promptly turned said alien into ludicrous gibs. A trait which was normal for their kind. he'd lost count how many times the grown ones threw green globs of epxlosive deathat him.
He purred indicating he wanted to be petted which Shephard wasted no time in doing. God he spoiled him.
Face number two: Barney the barnacle. He had picked him up out of necessity really. Some scientists had removed this one from its gestation point and found out it be used as a makeshift grappling hook. It was strong too; it could easily hold Shephard's two hundred pounds without even struggling. Of course his first experience with a barnacle was when one wrapped its tongue around his wrist and broke it trying to drag him to its mouth.
Even though he was the most stoic of the aliens even Barney seemed happy to see Shephard again as he kept licking him with his tongue. Heartwarming but gross.
Well it seemed one thing had gone right at least he wasn't completely alone anymore.
"Oh man, Louise is sure in for a surprise."
Barney made a noise which Shephard interpreted immediately after hearing it every single time he came across a human.
He contemplated it for a good long while. Sadly pragamtism won out. "No eating her Barney."
All right Chapter two is up! I would have done this sooner but the internet crapped out on me for three whole days.
Let me know what you think. Also I would like to credit Shephard's Mind for those names for the aliens. Big thanks to those people who faved and reviewed, seriously thank you.
Please, constructive criticism in appreciated. Really, good or bad i'll take feedback.
Edit: I noticed i left out a sentence in the shockroach explanation. I quickly fixed that.