Chapter One: Bodal the Guardian.
"And where do you think you are going Tom?" Bodal drawled out the question in that flat voice of his.
Tom froze in place at hearing his guardian's voice. Half of his body was outside his bedroom window. If Bodal hadn't decided to check up on him, he would have been gone and probably would have been gone all night exploring areas he was never allowed to go. Now Tom just stayed where he was, not wanting to turn his head around to see Bodal's stern and angry face.
He tried thinking of any lie to explain why it looked like he was sneaking out, but he knew Bodal wouldn't believe anything he came up with.
"Answer me." Bodal said, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot.
For a moment, Tom thought about jumping out the window and running away.
Instead he turned around and stepped out from the window's ledge. Knowing Bodal, he would probably have an entire squadron of police search the city until his adopted son was found. Then everyone would be gossiping about it the next day.
He knows Bodal will yell at him if he tells him the truth, but he doesn't want to lie. "I um, wanted to go find that bar downtown that Accato said he was playing at tonight." Tom sheepishly said.
"What?!" Bodal shrieked. Tom winched at Bodal's high voice. The green Overwolrder was now clutching his hand to his chest as though he were having a heart-attack. Tom would have rolled his eyes at Bodal's over dramatic reaction if he wasn't in so much trouble already.
"Ah come on. Downtown isn't dangerous, and I can take care of myself." Tom huffed, angry Bodal wasn't going to let him have some fun for once in his life.
"Not during daylight, but at night is when all the ruffian come out into the streets. And besides you're far too young to be going out by yourself at such a late hour."
"Well I feel like I'm old enough!" Tom shouted.
Bodal was taken aback by how forceful Tom spoke, but he wasn't going to let his charge talk to him like that.
"You're only twenty-nine solons old. No other guardians are going to let their twenty-nine solons old children out this late at night by themselves. You can just get rid of that thought right now because I will not allow it."
"But I'm not like other children my age." Tom's voice broke. His face turned red. This was too much for him. He couldn't deal with Bodal lecturing him about this again.
Bodal's face softened. "Tom please set down. Let's talk."
Tom rubs his hands over his eyes to help compose himself. He sets on his bed and looks at his bookshelf. There wasn't anything special about the shelf, but he didn't want to look at Bodal.
Bodal sat next to Tom, folding his hands on his lap. "I know it's been very difficult for you to connect with other Creatures your own age."
"That's an understatement." Tom huffed.
Bodal ignored the comment. "But you must understand, you cannot just go where you want to when you want to. This is the seventh time this week you have tried going off on your own."
"I don't need someone to be with me wherever I go."
Bodal sighed, not sure what to say. He knew raising Tom would be one of the hardest things he'll ever do in his life. When Maxxor asked Bodal to be Tom's guardian, he wanted to say no, but he never could say no to Maxxor. But now Bodal couldn't imagine a life without Tom and he was thankful Maxxor thought him capable of raising a young one.
But there were many moments where Bodal had no idea what to do with Tom.
Tom just wasn't like other children. He was always weak, to the point where he appears to be sick all the time. Even as a babe he wasn't strong. Children his age are faster and stronger than him. His bones break too easily, and his skin will bleed from minuscule scratches. Bodal had to create a list of foods that make him sick just, so he could keep up with which ones made Tom ill. There have been many times where Tom was unable to carry objects when others his age have no trouble lifting them. Bodal understood that last part since he too didn't have any upper body strength, but at least he could eat anything he wanted without the fear of becoming sick.
Tom was just a fragile creature. Always has been and it doesn't seem like that will change even when he grows up. Healers have checked him many times, and they all say he must have been born premature, making his body weak and sickly.
Though Tom was physically weak, he did have something that gave him an advantage over other children. He is incredibly mature for his age.
If Tom wasn't so frail, then Bodal might have been fine with Tom walking around the city. But only during the daytime. And only in the safer areas.
But if any Creature tried to hurt Tom, then he wouldn't have a fighting chance.
And that's why Bodal wouldn't let Tom walk around without adult supervision. However, that has become frustratingly difficult as of late.
For some reason, in the last two solons, Tom has wanted to shed that adult supervision and explore the city by himself. Nothing Bodal has tried was able to change Tom's mind that he could walk the streets on his own.
"Tom, you're just. . . not able to defend yourself." Bodal said. "If someone wanted to hurt you, they could do it so easily and I cannot let that happen."
Tom was silent for a moment, making Bodal afraid that he ignored what he said. But then Bodal realized Tom was trying to keep his emotions from showing.
"Tom?"
"Please leave. I won't go out I swear, but I want to be left alone." Tom said.
Bodal didn't want to leave. But what could he possibly say? "Alright then. I will wake you up in the morning." He hops off the bed and exits the room, closing the door behind him.
Tom stays seated for a few minutes. Thinking about what Bodal said.
I know I can take care of myself. Why can't Bodal and everyone else see that? Sure, I'm not the strongest or the fastest, but I don't need to be strong or fast to just walk somewhere. Maybe when I start training to do Attacks then Bodal'll let me have some fun. But I can't wait that long. I need to explore.
Tom stops himself from thinking about that line of thought. He knows if he thinks about going out and exploring then the longing will come back, and he'll break the promise he just made to Bodal.
Instead he gets up, gets ready for bed and tries to think of anything else beside the world outside and all its wonders he wants to see.
Notes: I got this idea from an old fan comic someone made on deviantart. I read it years ago and now I can't find it, but in that comic, Tom was raised by Blügon and Raimusa in Glacier Plain. But the comic never got to the part where it showed Tom. There were only a few pages made (I think it was around eight pages) and those pages showed Kaz exploring the Underworld with H'earing. Whoever made it though also made other drawings for their AU.
I really loved that AU even though it was so short and now I'm going to try to create a story with the same premise. That premise being Tom, Kaz, Peyton and Sarah were found as babies by their favorite Tribe and were raised to be a part of that Tribe.
If you can find that fan comic, then please send me the link. Also, if there are other good Chaotic fan comics then please tell me about them.
In this fic, creatures that are twenty-nine solons old are like ten years olds. So, the Overworlders treat Tom as if he were ten years old. It also doesn't help that to them, Tom has always been like a sickly child so they're all overprotective of him. Tom is actually in pretty good shape. But human standers of what is strong/fit are very weak to Creature standards.
I decided I want Tom and his friends to be the same age as they were in the first episode. I think they were around fifteen/sixteen during season one.
Updates will be very slow.