Caboose's Adventure in Melromarc

by CabooZwei

As the fighting in Chorus has come to a stop, the Reds and Blues of Blood Gulch, along with Carolina and Washinton, recieve the news of their passing friend Church, who has now come to an end in his life. As they mourn their friend, Santa, the A.I. Construct of Chorus, sees into the world of Melromarc and thinks up of a way to help the struggling Shield Hero for the journey ahead.

4. Chapter 4

In the town

As Caboose followed Naofumi and Raphtalia, he looked around him and admired how closely related the city looked like as it was depicted in the history texts he'd read (look at the pictures only) when he was a child. From the way the pavement was made to the structures surrounding him, it made him feel as if he were in a fairy tale of medieval times. While they were walking down the pavement, Caboose turned on his helmet-cam and began to record what he saw. From children running around playing with a ball to civilians enjoying a conversation amongst themselves as they walked past them.

He stopped recording when Naofumi stopped at a back alley, as he began to see if anyone was around. A few people were around, but were busy with their own things to bat an eye towards them. Caboose being confused looks towards Raphatlia.

"Ummm, Raphtalia, why did we stop at this alleyway?" Caboose asks as Naofumi motions them to continue into the alleyway.

"Naofumi-sama suggested we get another companion in our party," Raphtalia answers as they both follow Naofumi.

"New friend? Yay. I hope we can be the best of friends" Caboose said as Raphtalia smiles at his childlike behavior.

"You can say that." Raphtalia said as she looked towards the front with a sad expression on her face. 'I just hope 'it' won't be too much of a bother to our party.' She thought to herself as she thought of the possible companion that they might get from that slave owner.

As they reach the end of the alley way, Caboose sees a tent in front of him similar to that of a circus canopy; however, the colors were a gray and dull white stripes instead of the usual colorful a child will see. Caboose, being himself, started to shake in excitement as he thought of the possible companions that Naofumi could recruit.

'We could have that elephant that does the ball trick with us, or the man that breathes fire. That'll make things easier to cook food. Or maybe we could add a tiger to our party because it is scary, but also fluffy to pet.' Caboose thought to himself as they began to move towards the canopy.

"Nofami, you never said we were gonna go to the circus!" Caboose exclaimed as Naofumi stopped and looked at Caboose with an expression that reminded him a lot of Washington when he finished telling him what happened at a firing range when Dr.Grey gave him an assault rifle.

"Ummm…Caboose. This isn't a circus. If it was, a ton of people would have been here. Especially children." Naofumi explains as he looks towards the canopy. "The canopy there holds slaves. Humans, demi-humans, or full on monsters of any category that are easy to catch. Sorry to burst that happy bubble of yours, but not everything is sunshine and rainbows in this world. Especially with how the kingdom is treating me." Naofumi finishes as he looks at Caboose to see if that explanation cleared things up.

"Hmmmm, that does make me a bit unhappy, but I feel like there is someone in there that is a good person. We just need to see for ourselves. And what do you mean by how the kingdom is treating you?" Caboose states as he looks at Naofumi.

"If you say so. But what do you mean by how the kingdom is treating me? Didn't Santa explain to you my situation?" Naofumi asked.

"Well, yes but actually no. Santa told us that you were being treated as nothing by the civilians, but nothing of the whole kingdom treating you bad." Caboose states.

"Guess I'll have to explain to you the situation, but later. Right now we're gonna see if we can get a companion to join us with our party." Naofumi said as he began to start to walk towards the canopy again as Raphtalia followed behind him.

"Ok then." Caboose said as he followed pursuit.

Once entering the canopy, Caboose looked around inside it. There was barely light, which was coming from the outside as the canopy let in little light from the sun. Bleachers were surrounding the other entrances of the canopy that lead towards the middle where crates were seen. Crates littered the middle of the canopy, as noises came from them signifying that there were live things inside them. As they moved towards the small tent in the middle of all the crates, Caboose goes towards the first crate to see what was inside.

"GRrrrrrrrrr" a red skinned creature with yellow eyes could be seen inside the crate as it looked back at Caboose. It had long fingers which turned a pitch black as it reached the ends of his fingers. His whole entire body was covered in black scars as it was whipped to be thrown into the crate he is in now.

"Scary." Caboose says as he starts to go back to Naofumi and Raphatlia as they walk towards the tent.

"You could say that again." Naofumi said.

"Ok. Scary" Caboose repeats as Naofumi looks back as Caboose with a confused expression.

"You do know you don't have to say that again, right?" Naofumi said as he couldn't believe Caboose repeated what he said.

"But you said I can say it again. So I did." Caboose states as Raphtalia giggles at Caboose's remark.

"Well you didn't have to Caboose." Naofumi said as he reached the entrance into the tent. 'So this is how low his intelligence is.' he thought to himself as he opens the flap.

"So you came back again, Shield User." Caboose hears a man as they all walk in. He looks at the man. The man is a short bald man with a black tailor outfit with purple feathers coming out around the upper chest and collar area. Along with the tailor, he wore blacks, black dress shoes, a top hat, a molecule, and a dark red bow tie that had an amethyst embed on it. He had an imperial moustache, which reminded Caboose a lot of Mario. "Oh, and I see you brought someone new along with you. Another person, you would like to enslave as well?" the slave owner asked as he saw Caboose walk in last.

"No. And don't say that again, unless you wanna be added to 'the victims that didn't make the Shield Hero happy' list. So unless you have a death wish,don't ever say that again." Naofumi retorted at him as he got defensive as how the slave owner saw Caboose as a person to be enslaved.

"If that's what the customer wants, I'll follow pursuit. So what brings you here again?" the slave owner asked.

"I'm looking for a new companion, but I would rather if you don't recommend me any that are in the crates back there. You got any others that aren't in crates?" Naofumi asks as he refuses to take any that are in crates, seeing them all already when he bought Raphtalia from the slave owner.

"Well you're in luck. At the moment I have a monster egg lottery going on right now. Stay here. I'll bring it over." he said as he moves towards the back to bring back what he mentioned.

"Ummm, Nufom. What does he mean by 'enslaved' again?" Caboose asks not knowing what the slave owner meant.

"Like I said, I'll explain everything later. Right now let's just see what he has in store for us. I'll rather leave sooner than later. This place gives me a bad vibe." Naofumi states as he hears the slave owner come back.

"Ok." Caboose said as he paid his attention back towards the slave owner.

'I hope he doesn't resent Naofumi once he finds out the truth about me.' Raphtalia thought to herself as she looked down at the floor with a worried expression not knowing if Caboose would accept the fact that Naofumi bought her off as a slave.

"Here you go," the slave owner said as he opens a box full of eggs with a symbol resembling an eye. " In this monster egg lottery, you'll have to pay 100 silvers, and you'll be guaranteed at least a filolial or if you hit the jackpot, you'll win a dragon worth 20 gold pieces." the slave owner explains the outcome if Naofumi buys an egg.

"I see. But I have no idea what a filolial is." Naofumi states.

"You have seen them, Naofumi-sama. They're the large birds that pull carriages around town." Raphtalia states as Naofumi starters to remember the overgrown birds that remind him of a peacock, but without the colorful back tail it has and is bigger than its regular size.

"Oh, those." Naofumi said.

"I say try it." Caboose said as everyone looked at him. "Try your luck and see what you can win. If you win a dragon, it'll help along our journey while fighting guys. Or. If you win a filolial. We could get or buy a carriage to help transport us around without needing to take days and days to reach our destination." Caboose states as he weighs the win-win situation that Naofumi may get if he buys an egg.

'He does bring up a good point. Maybe he isn't that dumb after all' Naofumi thought not knowing that Caboose wasn't finished.

"And it can give us rides as if it were a pony or horse!" Caboose exclaims

'Nevermind there it is again.' Naofumi thought in disappointment.

"Ignoring that last part, he does bring a good point. It'll help us in our travels if I win a filolial instead of a dragon. Alright then, I'll give it a try. It was 100 silvers right?" Naofumi said as he brought his bag of currency out.

As he pays the slave owner, Caboose looks at the eggs and wonders what filolials are like, not having seen one before. Once Naofumi got the egg, they all left the canopy and back into the pavement they were at before going into the alley way. Naofumi and Raphtalia engaged in a conversation about her being able to handle herself in combat while Caboose was behind looking around as they passed what seemed to be an outdoor market. Instead of recording, he took pictures of the stalls as customers were looking around to see what they needed. As he took pictures, he noticed some passersby giving looks at Naofumi and Raphtalia.

'So this is what he meant by civilians treating Naofume as if he were nothing, but what could he have done to upset even the people of this kingdom.' Caboose thought to himself.

"Are you alright, Captain Caboose?" Caboose hears Freckles through his radio frequency.

"Yes, just confused about something." Caboose replies towards Freckles under his breath to avoid Naofumi and Raphtalia from overhearing him.

"Naofumi, will explain everything once we reach our destination. If you have any other questions. Naofumi will answer them once he finishes stating what's happening" Freckles states as Caboose remembers something important.

"Nufomi, I just remembered. About this party, how do I know if I am part of it." Caboose asks as Naofumi turns around with realization as well that Caboose hasn't been added to his party yet.

"Ah yes your right about that. Just start thinking you want to join my party, and I'll add you to it." Naofumi states as he waits to get a notification from Caboose's request.

"Ok." Caboose said as he began to think of joining the party. "I WANT TO JOIN NOFUMI'S PARTY. I WANT TO JOIN NOFUMI'S PART. I WANT TO JOIN NOFUMI'S PARTY. I WANT TO JOIN NOFUMI'S PARTY."

In a few seconds, Naofumi's vision was bombarded with inboxes that requested permission to let Caboose into the party. Naofumi told Caboose to stop as the inboxes kept popping up in his field of vision.

"Jesus Christ, how long did you think about it." as Naofumi said as he began to close the inboxes that weren't needed.

"Enough." Caboose said as he waited to be approved into the party.

Once Naofumi got to the last inbox, he accepted the request as a notification appeared in his field of vision as it said that Caboose was now part of the party. At the top left corner, a life bar appeared under Raphtalia with the label Caboose signifying Caboose's health and level, which surprised Naofumi the most. Caboose's level was twice the level of his. Caboose was Level 41 and he was Level 21. Raphtalia was Level 29. He took a look at Caboose's stats and skills.

Micheal J. Caboose: Level 41

Strength: MAX (100)

Intelligence: NEGATIVE MAX (-100)

Defense: MAX (100)

Endurance: MAX (100)

Charisma: 35

Magic Mana: NONE

Stealth: 50

Agility: MAX

Skills:

Idiots Barrage- throws a rapid barrage of fists towards his opponent

Superior Confusion- confuses the opponent to the point that the opponent questions humanity

Friendly Fire: if told to help the enemy out, will attack instead (make sure to be behind user incase of hitting a friendly while in the process of attacking)

Charge of the Blue Blur: charges at the enemy face forward with full strength. Would work to create an escape if necessary.

Ultimate: Omalley's Take Over- Caboose's second personality takes over for 3-5 minutes depending of the situation. User becomes much more skillful in attacks and decisions. However, attacks become more brutal and aggressive, and may indeed turn against friendlies if entered in a state of pure hatred or anger.

Noafumi's attention was brought towards Caboose's Ultimate. What made it eye capturing was the 'second personality' and name of the skill.

' "O'malley's Take Over", sounds like he has someone else occupying his head as well, but it seems like he hasn't shown himself just yet. Maybe it's only when he gets mad or feels hate for someone. If he were me, that side of him would be coming out a lot.' Naofumi thought as he kept in mind not to use the ultimate with Caboose. Only if it was needed, like a life or death situation.

"Alright then, Caboose. Welcome to the party, now remember." Naofumi said as he pointed at Caboose "If you are ever gonna go somewhere by yourself let me know, for we could know where you're at incase of an emergency or you haven't showed up under the time I expected you to come back. As well as when we are engaging in combat, wait for my orders, don't just run around swinging, you may hit a friendly by accident or on purpose." Naofumi states as Raphatlia looks at him in a surprised state as she hears him say 'on purpose'.

"Ok. I'll try to remember that." Caboose said as he gives him a thumbs up

"If that's settled then let's continue our way towards the village. It's a long way to get there." Naofumi said as he turned around he began walking the same direction they were walking on 'Wait. What did he say about trying?' he thought to himself as he released what Caboose said.

In the village

It took them awhile to get to the village because Caboose constantly pleaded for them to let him chase the orange balloon monsters that kept on running around the open prairie. The both of them would always reply with a no each time he asked. After many attempts, he asked Raphtalia if he could hold the egg for a while. She replied with a 'be careful' and gave the egg to him with cautions of not dropping it. As they moved along to their destination, Caboose would constantly trip on the path, and kept on letting the egg fly off its basket; however, he would be able to catch using the blanket that the basket had to soften the landing for the egg. Both Naofumi and Raphtalia hadn't noticed because they were a few more paces ahead of him due to him tripping and were in the middle of a conversation to where Caboose is going to sleep since the room they bought had only 2 beds.

Once they arrived, the villagers greeted Raphtalia and Naofumi as they were the ones responsible for saving the village from getting destroyed in the recent Wave that came into the area. As they passed by, they would all stare at Caboose due to his armor and weapon he had holstered on his back. They would greet him with a surprised tone not knowing how his armor worked or his weapon. Caboose would greet back with a friendly gesture as well, which surprised them even more since they saw him as someone of noble status and would rather not interfere with the life life of a villager

Once they reached the inn, Naofumi asked Raphtalia to take the egg from Caboose and put it in their room and he'll check out a room for Caboose. After Raphtalia took the egg, Naofumi led Caboose towards the receptionist counter.

"Good evening Shield Hero, and who would this new fellow be?" the female receptionist asked.

"Just a new companion in my party, I was wondering if you have a spare room so I could get it for him?" Naofumi asks as Caboose starts to look around the inn.

"We do, we have one spare room next to yours and a spare one below your floor." the receptionist states.

"Hmmm. Caboose, how much do you weigh." Naofumi asks as he turns his head towards Caboose.

"I don't know." Caboose said as he turned his head at Freckles. "Freckles do you know how much I weigh?"

"You weigh approximately 1167.45 pounds, Captain Caboose." Freckles said as the receptionist could be heard asking if the weapon just talked.

"You weigh a ton, Caboose. Might be best if I get you a room below mine." Naofumi said as he looked at him.

"Are you saying I'm fat?" Caboose asked as he tilted his head as if he were a dog.

"I didn't even say that. In fact, I think you aren't overweight. You are well built, if that fight last night with the Spear Hero meant anything." Naofumi stated as he turned back towards the receptionist as she processed how much Caboose weighed.

"I'll take any room that is on the floor below mine. Just to avoid collateral damage." Naofumi said, breaking the receptionist from her thoughts.

"O-Oh, sure thing Shield Hero. I'll go get the room ready, I'll come back and give you the keys to the room once I am back." the receptionist said as she left the counter and went to the left of them towards a hall with rooms to each side.

"Ok then. Caboose you can hangout outside for now. Me and Raphtalia, we'll meet you outside in a bit." Naofumi said as he moved towards the inn's stairs up to the next floor.

"Ok." Caboose replied as he went outside and waited for them to come out of the inn.

"Freckles, I have a question to ask you." as he sat down on the dirt.

"What is it, Captain Caboose?" Freckles asked.

"Do you think Nefumo and Raphtalia like each other?" Caboose asked

"I don't understand what you mean by that." Freckles replied, not understanding the topic Caboose is asking about.

"Do they like each other more than friends?" Caboose asked again.

"Ummmm, Captain Caboose, I don't think that type of knowledge was written down in my database. So I don't think I'll be able to answer your question." Freckles stated.

"Why wouldn't they give you information about love. Love is very important in someone's life. If you don't know what love is then you would be like Tucker, boring and stupid. Swinging his sword/key and making Hey Chicka Bum Bum jokes, which aren't funny at all. I don't get them. Why would anyone laugh at him putting his sword/key inside a woman. It doesn't make sense." Caboose stated not seeing the funny in Tucker's jokes.

"I wouldn't either, Captain Caboose." Freckles replied.

"There you are. Come on let's go get something to eat. Oh, also I have the keys to your room. I'll show you where it is once we come back." Noafumi said as he and Raphtalia finished their business in the inn.

"Ok." Caboose said as he got up from the ground and followed both of them.

"What were you doing while we were still in the inn Caboose?" Naofumi asked

"Oh, I was just talking with Freckles." Caboose said

"What were you both talking about?" Naofumi asked as they took a left.

"Oh nothing much, just about a friend of mine back home." Caboose replied.

"Alright then." Naofumi said

It took them 1-2 minutes to get where Naofumi led them to. It was a diner where most of the villagers would gather to talk with their neighbors about the work they had done for the day, or other life experiencing activities. As they went inside, Naofumi and Caboose left to get a table and Raphtalia went to announce the diner receptionist of their arrival and returned with the 2. Caboose sat on one side and Naofumi and Raphtalia sat on the other. As soon as Caboose sat down, the seat broke. Naofumi and Raphtalia eyes widened when the seat broke. They immediately looked over the table at Caboose. Caboose looked at them as well as he had his hands on his knees.

"Tucker did it." was all Caboose said.

"Whatever you say Caboose. Raphtalia remember me that Caboose owes me for paying the broken chair for him." Naofumi said as he went to the receptionist to pay for the broken seat.

"We're gonna have to make sure that you don't step on any form of wooden platform without any support under it." States Raphtalia as she gives Caboose a hand. Sadly though, she couldn't lift Caboose without him getting on feet first to help her lift him up.

"You're lucky for now Caboose," Naofumi said as he got back. "the receptionist said that they'll fix it up without any charge. Just don't break anything else Caboose because anything you break from now on. You're gonna pay with what you get along our journey." he stated as he sat down and holded out a pillow towards Caboose.

Understanding what it was for, Caboose takes the pillow and puts it on the floor as he sits his knees on the pillow. Even without the seat, Caboose still made eye level with both Naofumi and Raphtalia. The waiter came around their table and asked what they wanted. Naofumi chose a plate of fish with corn and bread, which both Raphtalia and Caboose ordered. Once the waiter left, Naofumi turned towards Caboose as the long awaited conversation had come at last. And Naofumi was to tell the whole situation to Caboose. From the very beginning.

"Ok then. While we wait for the food to arrive, it's time we have that conversation about my situation" Naofumi stated as Caboose turned his head towards him. " My name is Naofumi Iwatani, I am 20 years old and from Japan, Earth. I was sent to this world by a book named the "Four Cardinal Heros", which was by a group of mages that used magic to create a sort of portal from this world to mine. There are 4 heroes as I mentioned, the Shield Hero, which is me, Spear Hero who you fought yesterday at night, the Bow Hero, and Sword Hero. Us 4 were brought here to fight these 'Waves' that bring monsters and bosses from destroying the countryside. And before you ask, we were brought from different versions of Japan, we aren't from the same Japan. It has been 2 weeks already since I was brought here to Melromarc, and on the first day I was already considered an enemy. I was gonna go alone if it wasn't for that red headed bitch who decided to join my party. Even if I didn't like the idea of going by myself, I would have gone by myself. After that, we left to get equipment and get a few levels up. At the end of the day, we rented a room at a nearby inn in the town. I went to bed early for the next day, and that's when the little shithead decided to frame me with rape." Caboose can see that Naofumi was starting to get angry by seeing his hands turn into fists and the way his voice fluctuated with a furious tone coming out. Raphtalia started to comfort Naofumi by rubbing his left shoulder and looked at him with a caring look. "Next morning, king guards come after me and take me to the king, the same place I lost all trust, respect, and kindness towards those that call themselves heroes and noble ones. They all accused me of 'raping' my own adventurer after vowing myself to help protect and fight the Waves for the kingdom. How stupid could you get by thinking like that? No offense Caboose." Naofumi said as he looked at Caboose for that last part.

"None taken." Caboose replied.

"After that, I was by myself for 3 days before realizing I wouldn't make it in this world without an actual companion, but it wasn't like I was gonna ask around who would want to join me since everyone thought I was some type of rapist. So instead, by coincidence, that little guy that we met up with earlier, met up with me in an alleyway at night and is also the same person I bought Raphtalia from here. I only bought her off for 2 reasons. One, She was in very bad shape. She was already dying of a sickness and had a real messed up mental state. Two, she seemed like the only thing I would want instead of the monstories he had locked up in those crates, and to be honest, I think she was the only I would have bought off that guy. I would have walked away from that place empty handed if I hadn't seen her at all." Naofumi explained Raphtalia's situation as well as explaining what the slave owner mentioned back in the canopy.

"A week passed by and we were faced with the first Wave which was 2 days ago. Instead of going into the actual battle, me and Raphtalia went to this town to save it from being destroyed by the enemies that came from the Wave, which is why the receptionist didn't charge for the seat that you broke Caboose, and even if they don't charge me for the next thing that you break, you're gonna pay for it once you start to gain money from our journey around these parts. But other than that, the village was saved from the monsters that came from the Wave. The day after that, which was yesterday, the king guards came to the village as me and Raphtalia were helping rebuild, to notify us that the king was holding a party for the heroes that fought bravely during the Wave and that were being invited to attend. I didn't want to go, but knowing I had to go and get my reward for fighting the next day, so me and Raphtalia left for this party, which didn't last long. As I was minding my business and Raphtalia enjoyed herself to what they offered to eat, the Spear Hero came up to me and asked me if Raphtalia was my slave, I told him it was none of his business, which he responded by having a duel with me for the freedom of Raphtalia. The guards took hold of her with her letting her have a say in what was happening." he looked down at the table when he mentioned about Raphtalia being held hostage."I wasn't pissed off about having to duel against the dumbass for her. IT WAS THE FACT THAT THEY THOUGHT I WAS DOING MISCHIEVOUS ACTS ON HER AND WAS FORCING HER TO KEEP QUIET JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT I DID." Naofumi said with anger as he raised his fists to slam it on the table, but was stopped by Caboose as he stopped his fists from letting them fall onto the table. Naofumi looked at him with anger but calmed down seeing that Caboose took off his helmet, and giving him a warm smile with a soft expression as he slowly lowered both of Naofumi's fist towards the table.

"I know that you are hurting right now Naofumi. You don't have many people alongside you to help you out in this world, and for sure you didn't want to lose Raphtalia over a lie that was put on you to make it look as if you were a monster. If I was you, I wouldn't have made it this far, I am kind of too soft on my emotional side of things. I may seem to be as strong as a mountain, but mountains can break down easily as well, just like everything in the world can break easily. Calm down Naofumi, it may not seem much but a person's actions can cause problems to those around him." Caboose said with a soft voice as he released Naofumi's hands and puts on his helmet again. "It may be your anger, but that anger could be transferred to other people as well if that's what you'll express all the time. Emotions are like a link to one another, you may have never met the person, but they could feel the emotions you give off with just looking at you or hearing you. And I understand where you're coming from as well, you didn't want to lose what you considered your first friend in a world where no one but yourself cares about your wellbeing."As Caboose finished, the waiter came back with the plates.

"Here are your plates, I'll bring your drinks in a bit." the waiter said as he left to get the drinks.

"Thank you." Caboose said as he returned to being his cheery self. "We could talk more after we are finished eating." he said as he began to eat through his food filter on his helmet.

Naofumi was secretly holding back his tears after telling Caboose about Raphtalia's capture from yesterday. Everything would have been ruined whether he won the fight or the spell Myne shot at him made an impact as he was unaware of it. They would have just considered him having the orange balloons as cheating for 'using restricted weapons' in the duel, but it was due to Santa and Caboose interference that made all of it come to an end. He may have taken advantage of it as well to get Raphtalia back without trouble, but he knows that he owes Caboose and Santa big time for interrupting the duel. Without them, things would have ended differently in a way that nothing good would have come out of it for him.

He was gonna thank Caboose, but was stopped by Caboose eating through his helmet. He looked at Raphtalia as she had a surprised expression as she saw Caboose eat with his helmet on. Naofumi noticed as well that the people to their right stared at Caboose as he ate. On instinct, he turned around and saw that most people stopped their business and looked at Caboose eat, even the waiter stopped midway from bringing their drinks.

"Didn't your mother tell you to not stare at people." Naofumi retorted as everyone went back to their business, and the waiter continued his pace towards their tables.

"Here are your drinks, is everything alright here folks? Anything else you need?" the waiter asked as he sneaked glances at Caboose eating his meal.

"Everything is fine here." Naofumi said as the waiter took his leave having his own thoughts about Caboose.

"Caboose, why are you eating with your helmet on?" Raphtalia asked as she got her spoon.

"Ot tgat, I jave u halmoh fuug fulger tgat aggoos mi tu eut wght mn hmalmoh un."Caboose said between chunks of food in his mouth.

"Caboose swallow first then speak." Naofumi said

"Wouldn't be the first time." Caboose said after swallowing. "I said that I have a food filter that allows me to eat through my helmet, and I got pretty used to it as well." as he got another spoon full of corn and passed it through his food filter.

'Guess people in the future grew shy of eating in front of others.' Naofumi thought.

"Well besides that. Thank you, Caboose." Naofumi said as his expression softened. "If it weren't for you and Santa. I may have lost Raphtalia yesterday during that duel. Apparently the same person that ruined my life tried to shoot me with a spell from what Raphtalia saw, but you got there before it hit me and that little interference that you both did there changed what I believe would have turned into a bad outcome for me. And I am very thankful that you got there before that happened. You don't know how grateful I am for you Caboose. It may not seem like it, but I owe you and Santa a lot for yesterday's event." Naofumi said as he got his spoon as well. "But let's finish eating first, you still gotta tell us your story."

Caboose gives Naofumi a thumbs up and pats him on the head. Naofumi stopped his spoon and looked at Caboose in confusion, but later smiled and rolled his eyes and began to eat. Raphtalia as she was eating was hiding the fact that Caboose was able to calm Naofumi down and brought a peace of mind to him. And showed no anger towards the fact that she was a slave to Naofumi, instead he sees Raphtalia as a friend that Naofumi doesn't want to lose.

'Caboose, you don't know how much you saved us from yesterday, and I feel like you're gonna be helping us when things grow too dark for us. You'll be our light to keep us from getting lost in the dark.' Raphtalia thought to herself with a soft expression and a smile.

They ate in silence, enjoying the noises of chatter around them as they finished up eating. Before Caboose began to talk about himself, Raphtalia began to look sleepy, catching the attention of Caboose.

"Ummm, Nefomu, Raphtalia looks sleepy. Maybe I could tell you about myself tomorrow for she could listen to what I have to say as well. I am feeling a bit sleepy myself as well." Caboose said as he proceeded to yawn after finishing.

"Alright then, tomorrow will work." Naofumi said as he got up. "Caboose carry Raphtalia to the inn, I am going to pay for food." as he left to pay, Caboose picked up Raphtalia bridal style and walked towards the diner entrance.

"You don't... have to carry me...I'll walk to the inn with both...of you." Raphtalia said between yawns as she gave in to sleep.

"You sleep peacefully Raphtalia, we'll get you in bed once we get to the inn." Caboose said as he waited for Naofumi at the entrance.

Once Naofumi paid for the food, he met up with Caboose and opened the door for him to pass through. By accident, Raphtalia's head hit the side jamb of the door. Naofumi tried his best not to burst out laughing, not wanting to wake Raphtalia, but told Caboose to be careful next time. Caboose nodded as they began their walk towards the inn. Not much noise was heard, as it turned dark outside and everyone was in their homes or in tents ready to sleep for the night.

Once they got to the inn, Naofumi opened the door for Caboose, who was careful this time with Raphtalia. Before he moved towards the stairs, Naofumi stopped him there and asked Caboose to give Raphtalia to him as he recalled that upstairs was off limits for Caboose. He told him to wait in the lounge as he took Raphtalia to bed. When Naofumi came back, he brought the egg in its basket as well.

"Just thought to give you some company for the night. Now come on, I'll show you the way to your room." Naofumi said as he led Caboose to his room.

They went to the left of the receptionist desk down the hallway, the fifth room to the right of the hallways was Caboose's room. With his free hand, Naofumi opens the room with the key that the receptionist gave to him, and opens the room for both to enter. Naofumi puts the basket on the desk in front of the bed that was nearest to the window. There was a second bed, but Caboose took care of it as he took Freckles off his back and put him under the blankets of the bed as the face of the gun was the only one seen.

"Goodnight Freckles, sleep well, sweet dreams, and don't let the bedbugs bite." Caboose said as he patted Freckles muzzle.

"Thank you Captain Caboose." Freckles thanked as he pretended to shut off, instead he put himself scanning mode on to make sure no hostiles were near.

"Ok then." Naofumi said as he saw Caboose's antics towards Freckles. "I'll see you tomorrow moring. Wait in this room til me or Raphtalia comes to pick you up." Naofumi said as he moved towards the door. "Oh and one last thing," Naofumi said " you don't know how grateful I am to have you in my party, Caboose. Goodnight." as he closed the door and headed to his room.

"Goodnight Numfoe, sleep well, sweet dreams, and don't let the bedbugs bite." Caboose said even though he couldn't hear him.

"Goodnight filolial, sleep well, sweet dreams, and don't let the bedbugs bite." Caboose said as he moved towards his bed and got the bed foam and pillows off the bed and laid them on the floor. "I can't wait to meet you." Caboose said as he laid in the bedsheets. He took off his helmet and put it beside him.

'I can't wait for what tomorrow holds for us 3.' Caboose said as he started to lose consciousness and dreamed of Naofumi and Raphtalia being in his world of ice cream.

Next morning

Caboose woke up to the sound of something cracking, he started to stir in the bed sheets as he sat on the bed foam and looked around to see where the sound was coming from.

"Captain Caboose, the egg has finally opened." Freckles told Caboose as he woke up.

Caboose got up and walked towards the egg. As Freckles said, the egg was cracked open but the animal wasn't there. He was about to start looking around for it, until he heard chirping behind him. He turned around to see a pink feathered bird on the bed sheets where Caboose slept on the previous night. He began to chirp happily as if it knew it got Caboose's attention. He stared at it as he tried to process what's happening in front of him then he inhaled a lung full of air.

"Ahhh, that's cute." Caboose said before doing the unthinkable. "AA-"

To be continued