Child of Azimuth.
Chapter 1- An oath of protection.
Kaden ran towards his ship in a hurry, carrying the Dimensionator on his back and his son in his arms. He needed to leave Fastoon immediately.
The Dimensionator was at risk
He was at risk.
His son was at risk.
"Kaden! Wait!" A familiar voice called from behind him, causing him to turn around.
In the distance, he could see a white Lombax that had despair written all across his face as he charged at Kaden. This Lombax also had a bundle of blankets between his arms, wrapped around something too far in the distance to make out.
"Alister!? What are you--!?"
Just as the Lombax in question halted in front of him, Kaden paused mid-sentence, now perfectly aware of what Alister was cradling in the bundle of blankets. It was an infant, who even in his early age bore a striking resemblance to the Lombax cradling him, from the white fur to the faint red accents that would develop into stripes.
Could that be?
"Kaden, I-I need you to take him… to safety!" Alister pleaded between heavy pants, holding the child up in shaky arms over to Kaden.
Kaden looked at the kid, younger than his own, but already about the same size.
"Alister, isn't he your--!"
"Please…"
Desperation. That had to be the last word he could ever imagine being used in the same sentence as Alister Azimuth.
"Please, Ansel doesn't need to be raised in a society that hates me" Alister said, on the verge of tears.
"But, what about you?" Kaden asked.
Alister closed his eyes, letting the tears fall for a moment before he looked at Kaden, his resolve showing in his eyes despite the very visible tears.
"I'll go to Torren IV and lay low for a while. Once I'm sure everything is in order, I'll start a rebellion against Tachyon. But I can't do it while also taking care of Ansel. He doesn't deserve to grow up while surviving attacks coming from a hideous vermin…" Alister explained, still holding his son towards his friend.
Kaden resisted the urge to protest, yes, Alister was his friend, but as a father himself, he could tell it was instinct. Fathers had to protect their kin from any harm that may befall them, and Alister could not do it with what he was planning to do.
Raising a child while managing a rebellion would be too much for any father to handle.
It was similar to him in a way, he was still the keeper of the Dimensionator, but it was becoming too much. Kane, his son, needed safety, and protecting this device while on the run of Tachyon was becoming too much, in fact, it was the reason he was even willing to leave him in a planet like Veldin for his safety.
Besides, it would be hypocritical of him to tell Alister no.
He rubbed his chin, thinking it over for a moment, then he put the Dimensionator on his ship, freeing himself of enough weight before he went and took the white Lombax infant from his father.
"You have my word, I'll send both Kane and Ansel to safety" he said, putting both kids on the ship before giving Alister one last look.
"Kaden… thank you" Alister said, already breaking down in defeat and heartbreak, giving up a son, his own kin, would not have been easy for him or any father.
"Rest assured, Ansel will be safe alongside Kane, I promise" With that said, Kaden hopped into his ship "Goodbye, old friend" he finished before starting his ship's engines darting off towards Veldin.
Kaden looked as Alister became smaller and smaller as the distance grew, his friend looked absolutely miserable, which was not something he ever expected to see.
Still, he made a promise, and he will not back down. Kane and Ansel needed safety, and that was something neither he, nor Alister could provide.
"I hope this plan doesn't backfire, for their sake"
Veldin, a desert planet that held little of interest for anyone other than some garage's and delicacies, but other than that, it was nothing special.
The perfect place to hide two kids from a monster.
Kaden glanced over to the two kids on his adjacent seat, both Kane and Ansel had clung to each other for warmth sometime during the flight, it was a pretty adorable sight.
And perhaps one of the last ones
Kaden inhaled to get his emotions in check as he set course through the Veldin atmosphere, going over where to land, and after some deliberation, Kaden picked the Kyzil Plateau, it was a fairly large area that housed one of the largest cities on the planet, but it was also the safest one as it was far enough away from any dangerous creature that could inhabit the planet, making it the perfect place to ensure the safety of both Kane and Ansel.
Landing the ship, Kaden scooped the infants up, one in each arm, descended to the plateau and with a heavy heart, he started his search for an orphanage.
Now or never…
The search went on for what seemed to be hours, but there seemed to be no orphanage in the plateau as far as he could see.
What do I do!? I promised Alister that I would put Ansel to safety and I cannot do this to Kane!
Groaning, he sat on a rock as he put the infants down near him. Tears welling up in his eyes, putting his hands on his face, fighting the urge to just give up and cry.
"Hey!" A gruff voice called in front of him.
Immediately alert, Kaden raised his ears and head to face the intruder.
It was a Fongoid, one with a visibly tired look if the heavy bags under his eyes were anything to go by. He was dressed in an orange getup that sported a utility belt, making Kaden believe that he was face-to-face with a Mechanic.
A Fongoid…in Solana?
"It's not every night that I see a Lombax here in Kyzil, much less one with two kids, what are you here for?" the Fongoid asked with a tired yet concerned voice, he was also looking at him pretty closely alongside trying to catch a look at the kids, eyes widened slightly.
"Y-You know what I am?" Kaden asked, surprised. For once, someone from Solana didn't mistake him for a Cazar.
"Of course I do! My brother and I moved here from Polaris! I've seen plenty of your kind already," the Fongoid replied. "Anyways, are you looking for a place to stay or something? Or do you need some repairs to your ship?"
"No, it's just…" Kaden paused as he looked at the two infants besides him.
Maybe he could. This was the only chance that had presented itself to him since landing on Veldin, and it sure beat leaving them on a random doorstep hoping for the residents to take them both in.
Forgive me, Kane, but this is for your own good.
Taking both infants in his arms again, Kaden approached the Fongoid. "Sir, can you please take care of these kids?" he asked, fighting his paternal instincts as they tried to take over his rational mind.
The mechanic looked at Kaden in bafflement, not believing what he was being asked "Whoa there! What's wrong with you? Leaving me to take care of your kids? I'm a mechanic! Not father material!"
"Please sir! Y-you have to! It's not safe for them out there!" Kaden said, giving the Fongoid a pleading look.
"What's the problem, Lombax? Why is it not safe?" the Fongoid continued, looking scandalized.
"I don't have time to explain! Please! J-Just take care of them!" Kaden was begging now, feeling even weaker now that he was giving away his own child alongside Alister's.
The Fongoid looked back and forth between the two sleeping infants and Kaden, looking extremely bewildered. Before long, the Fongoid closed his eyes and put a hand on his forehead.
Please…this is my only chance.
After about a minute, the Fongoid looked at Kaden. "I'm not father material, but I'll do my best to take care of your kids, Lombax."
Oh thank the Zoni!
Kaden handed both Ansel and Kane to the Fongoid, his arms felt weak, his tail was limp and his eyes burned as he gave his son one last look. "T-Thank you, sir…." He now felt his emotions and instincts start to become unbearable, this was becoming too much for him. As the Fongoid carefully took them from Kaden, he closed his eyes, giving him a small window to move away before he regretted this.
Kaden hid in a nearby alleyway, and not a moment too soon he felt his ears pick up the Fongoid starting to speak.
"The name's Grimroth Razz, but I prefer Grim-"
From his hiding place, Kaden saw the Fongoid looking around, confused as to why he was suddenly speaking alone.
"Huh…guess that these things aren't exclusive to cheesy holovision shows." Grim looked at the infants. "Didn't even get your names, or the name of your guardian for that matter guess I can come up with something later."
Still in his hiding place, Kaden watched helplessly as Grim walked away to his garage, taking Kane and Ansel with him, feeling himself growing weaker as he did so.
I guess this is what Alister felt the moment he had to give Ansel to me. I'm S-sorry Kane, goodbye.
Once the coast was clear, Kaden went to his ship, now determined to escape and possibly hold Tachyon away from the Dimensionator.
Once out of the Veldinite Atmosphere, he spared one last look to the place that would now house his child.
"I hope you have a good life…Kane, I'm sorry I couldn't see you grow up… " he mumbled, wiping out the tears from his eyes as he flew back to Polaris.
That next morning, Grimroth Razz was awoken by two shrieking infants that laid on a small improvised cot he had hastily made in the night. That was one problem he had to solve himself, and now there was another, much more urgent one.
These kids were hungry, which is something that needed attention now.
I'm not father material! Why couldn't I say 'no'?
Grim approached the screaming infants, who were struggling in their blankets, punching and kicking.
I haven't even the faintest idea of how to treat children! Let alone a pair of Lombaxes!
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Grim grabbed the golden one.
"Waaaaaaah!"
He definitely had the strongest set of lungs. This kid could probably be heard all the way to Polaris with just how loud he was!
"Listen boy, I need you to be as calm as possible while I order supplies, you and your partner in crime need to be quiet." he told the infant in the softest voice he could manage while holding him close to his body.
The infant did indeed calm down, though only after he started snuggling on his shirt.
The white one seemed to calm his cries too, and was now looking at him with big, red eyes that just oozed innocence.
Why in tarnation are they so adorable?
Grim set the now calm golden infant by the other's side, one thought making its way to his brain: he had to pick up the essentials of childcare, which would definitely dent his earnings for the foreseeable future, but what could he do? He basically accepted this burden the moment he took them from the adult Lombax last night.
With no other choice, he grabbed his communicator and contacted the only store he could trust had the essentials for Childcare.
Thirty minutes later, he now had a list of things that were indeed needed for childcare, including formula that he was assured could be used for Lombax, bottles, two floating strollers, toys, clothes, diapers and all sorts of junk that he honestly doubted were quintessential for child care.
Seriously, whoever thought children needed those stupid things they call nightlights!?
But he had ordered them now, and the sum of bolts all those items had was honestly ridiculous, it was much higher than several materials he used for his repairs! Combined!
While he waited for the delivery of the items, he just sat there, looking at the two infants that he was now saddled with, while they did look adorable, he could already see that these two would be quite the children.
Especially once they grew up and dabbled in the trademark Lombax hobby: Tinkering. Just the thought of these two sneaking his spare metals, scraps and other junk in order to create something sent shivers down his spine.
But maybe I can drill them the need for actual thought and practicality as soon as they want to use tools to create, I'll be a blargian frack-monkey if I don't feed them in the Lombax craft.
Sparing them one more look, the kids had their ears up, eyes wide open and noses seemingly picking up his scent
The delivery arrived some ten minutes later, just in time too, as the kids were now starting to cry once again, they were hungry, so he paid the bolts, received the items and immediately went to work in order to feed these kids.
It took him some time to read the instructions on how to prepare the formula, and some more on making something that wasn't either too thick or too thin, but he made it in the end, and that is everything that mattered for him.
"Darn things, I swear they made these things harder to use than a top-of-the-line aircraft that has no spare parts in the market for a reasonable price!" he ranted out loud as he put the bottle caps.
That done, he started feeding them, and they were obviously not fed for several hours as they sucked greedily through the bottles until they were empty, after they were finished, they yawned and fell asleep, hugging each other.
Grim sighed in relief, at least they would be silent for a bit now "Now, to set everything up for you"
The next few hours were spent in creating a room for the two infants, putting the strollers, an actual crib for them to share, toys, blankets, some silly images and so much more.
All of this for two kids…
Grim looked at the scene he spent several hours working on, it was not half-bad if he said so himself, the crib was by the wall with one of those thingamabobs that hung from them, the blankets laid on top of the mattress of it, neatly folded and ready for the moment they needed use, he had also repurposed an old chest that used to hold junk as a toy box and he had also used an old chest of drawers he had planned to turn into a toolbox to hold their clothes, it might not be an ideal room for children, but it will serve its purpose.
Sighing, Grim went for the infants, and stopped dead in his tracks once he laid his eyes on them.
They were awake, but in his musings he must have left his toolbox near them, and they were now holding two particular tools, a ratchet for the golden one and a small hammer for the white one.
They could get hurt!
Not on my watch!
"Boys, those are not toys!" He called as he ran over and pried the tools away from them, but the only thing it seemed to do was make them start bawling their eyes out while screaming at full volume.
Feeling a migraine starting, Grim spouted "Well boys, if you two like these so much! Maybe I should name you after these tools!"
Two seconds later, Grim blinked, oh dear Zoni, what was he saying!? These were children, not tools! He couldn't name them after tools!
Then again, these were Lombax, a race that prided itself in inventing all sorts of stuff, so maybe he could.
Grim dropped the tools as he pondered on the names, which the two boys retrieved from him.
Grim rubbed his chin, deep in thought, names were not his strong suit, and outside of tools, he had no idea what to even call them, he didn't know Lombax custom names.
Groaning, he stopped his train of thoughts, looked at the kids– and saw that they had the tools once again.
Oh, heck no!
Grim reached out to pry the tools away from the kids, only stopping once he focused more, and saw that the boys were only checking the tools, not waving them dangerously .
Grim face palmed, of course they would feel drawn towards tools! These were Lombax kids!
"I am such an idiot…" He lamented, before giving the kids a thoughtful stare, after some determination however, he pointed at the golden one "You will be Ratchet" and then pointed at the white one "And you will be Hammer".
The boys gave him an innocent stare after he finished naming them, making Grim feel a bit warm, these innocent, fluffy Lombax infants were his responsibility now.
His responsibility, that just felt odd, but in a good way.
"I will honor my word to your guardian, I will protect you, until you both are ready for whatever the world throws at you both" Grim declared, smiling at them in what could only be described as a fatherly way.
I'll do my best to protect them until they are ready and that is an oath I will never back down.
