Still should be obvious but this will contain spoilers. Seriously.
Notes: Thought's will show up as italics.
Some names of locations, and aspects of characters will be changed to better reflect the original Japanese translation, or have certain liberties taken.
Updated 2/24/18
A Home for Stray Cats: Chapter 2
The night sky was covered by dark clouds overhead. A familiar earthy scent hung in the air.
Rain was coming.
In the ship's hold, a number of the salvagers congregated in preparation for the job that would soon take place.A particularly burly salvager with dark skin stood on top of a table, addressing the crowd."Alright, men. We've all gotten the briefing on what we're here to find today, yes?" He announced, his booming voice reverberating off the walls.
"Aye!" They answered back, equally as loud.
The man grinned widely. "Good. We're to arrive at our destination within the next hour or so. I want every one of you cloud sniffers to be ready before then!"He paused for effect. "THAT MEANS SOBERING UP."
A few groans escaped the crowd.
The man's grin quickly faded, replaced with a snarl. "May I REMIND you all of the last time we tried doing a salvage while on a bender?!"
A few knowing glances were exchanged.
"Right, that's what I thought. Now go sober up you lot!" He yelled. "Else you'll have to deal with one our clients here." He thumbed toward a man decked out in black armor, wearing an evil grin on his face.
Inside a nearby cabin, Nia lay on a bed, having quietly watched the lecture through a crack in the door. A humorous grin now splayed across her lips. Just the sight of Malos probably made half those idiots spill their drinks! Nia giggled to herself for a little bit, before her mind began to wander again. Somehow or another, she found herself think about that kid Rex again.
She'd left him up in that crow's nest a while ago. She'd made the excuse that she was bothering him and he needed to focus on his job. She recalled how he looked a little sad to see her go as she was descending the stairs.
Nia wondered what he thought of her. Did he think she was weird for asking about his parents out of the blue? Did he want to talk to her more? What if he- her thoughts were interrupted upon hearing the door open.
She sat up to see a white tiger with black stripes pad his way in. "Oh, hey Dromarch." She gave a small wave.
"My lady." He said, giving a small bow of his head as the door closed behind him.
She watched him pad up to the side of the bed and lazily reached out a hand and placed it on his coat. "Where did you run off to anyway?" she asked, softly running the tips of her fingers through his fur.
He let out a small yawn. "Just making my rounds around the ship." He said, curling up around the base of the bed.
She smiled softly. "As you would. You always have to be sure of things." She cooed, gently scratching behind his ears, causing the tiger to emit a low purr.
"And what of you, my Lady?" The tiger asked, sounding more than content.
She leaned back on to the bed again. "It was getting a bit loud down here, so I was up in the crow's nest with that kid from earlier." Her hand now draped limply over the side of the bed.
"Which one?"
"The one we met in Bana's office and on the docks."
The tiger paused a moment to think. "Ahh… that young man… Master Rex was it?"
"Yep, that's the one."
"Really?" The tiger seemed to be surprised. "You two only seemed to bicker and make mean looks at each other. When you two met each other the trade guild. What changed?" He asked, clearly interested.
"I uh… I don't know." She had a crooked smile. "I kinda told him to stuff it and leave me alone. Then the next moment he's waking me up telling me something like," -she paused a moment to clear her throat for a falsetto- "'Sleep in a blizzard, sleep in the dirt.'"
"That sounds a bit odd." The tiger grinned, trying to keep his amusement at bay.
She eyed the cheeky tiger with an air of wariness. "I mean there was more banter in between, but well…" Her voice faded.
"Well what?"
"I dunno, he was just really nice to talk to." She mumbled. "That's not weird or anything is it?" She asked, feeling self conscious.
Dromarch smiled warmly. "No, that's completely normal. Do you think you two could be friends?"
"I mean I don't know about FRIENDS, but I would like to know him better it's only been like two days..."
"Baby steps then. Did you two talk about anything else?"
Nia thought a moment, considering whether or not to tell Dromarch about the last bit of their conversation. Should I? I know Dromarch isn't one to... well...
She felt herself audibly gulp. "Well... I asked him if he had any parents."
Dromarch quickly sat up, meeting her at the bed's edge, his calm demeanor replaced with an adamant stoniness.
"He said they'd died when he was still a child, and he was raised by some person named 'Gramps' or something." She continued. "The way he described him… The guy is a lot like you."
Dromarch was silent for a moment, looking as though he were pondering something.
"Dromarch, please don't leave me in the hanging in the wind here." She asked nervously.
"Sorry about that, my Lady. So you think you two are similar like that?"
"Yeah, I guess…" She mumbled, not meeting his gaze. That and he's got that whole cute 'Going to Eden' thing. Blegh…
"So you care about him?"
Her face went red hot. "NO! I- ugh! Dromarch, c'mon!" She stammered.
"Sorry sorry. I'm jumping to conclusions here, aren't I?"
"Sort of!" She hissed angrily.
"Here. Let me just..." She watched as the tiger stared at her for a moment, his icy blue eyes defocusing. The two of them began glow with a golden light and small ethereal string spun it's way between the two of them.
After a few seconds, he seemed to come to and his eyes refocused the string disappearing along with the light. "So you just don't want anything bad to happen to him..."
She sighed audibly, feeling like a weight had been taken off her. "Yeah... did you really have to do it that way though?" She asked, giving him a knowing look.
"Sorry. You were having trouble there. I only wanted to lend a hand, it's part of my duty as your Blade." He smiled sheepishly at her.
"It's ok. Just… let me say it myself next time." She said, giving him a tired smile.
Dromarch returned the smile, and she petted his head aptly."Thank you, my Lady. But what will you do about him then?"
"I... I guess watch over him during the mission and make sure nothing happens to him." She wore a small grimace. "At least until he gets back to the Argentum Trade Guild with the rest of the slobs…"
"That…is rather considerate of you, my Lady." The tiger admitted, giving her a look of approval.
She smirked at him. "Shut up. He's dumb as is. This is probably the least I could do."
Their conversation continued, mainly focusing on the job. While they wrapped up, Nia decided to ask Dromarch one more question that would help get any doubts she had off her conscious.
"Hey Dromarch?"
"Yes, my Lady?" He asked, his voice coming up and over the edge of the bed.
"Umm… do you think it's the right thing being here?"
The tiger didn't respond.
Her cheeks heated up a little. "I mean with the mission and Jin and all."
"Did something else happen up in that crow's nest?"
She shook her head. "No no, it's...just been bothering me since we boarded this scrap dump."
"Are you having second thoughts?" The tiger's voice softened slightly.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm just getting antsy is all…" she grumbled dismissively, curling herself into a ball.
"It is your first field mission with the Jin and Malos. Anyone would be." Dromarch reassured.
"Yeah, if it were any other mission than this one!" Her voice rising."I mean this whole aegis business sounds like a big deal! I just don't know if we're cut out for this..." she said, feeling more than a little flustered.
"My Lady?" Dromarch calmly asked.
"Yeah, Dromarch?!" she asked exasperatedly.
"I don't think Jin picked you purely based on chance. There would be a reason for you to be here."
"I know that, and I'm happy were actually getting somewhere in the world that isn't under a tree in the middle of rainstorm while we fight off hypothermia!" Nia paused a moment to let herself catch her breath. "I mean I do want to help Jin I-I owe him that much after all." She looked listlessly at her own gloved hand. "I just don't want anything bad to happen again because of me..."
Dromarch had a sad look on his face; she swore he was pitying her.
"Look, I know I'm being weak right now but-"She suddenly felt Dromarch nuzzle her face. "Ah- Hey! Dromarch what are you -" followed by a warm, course, tongue running itself across her cheek "- blegh?! Argh!"
She forcefully pushed the tiger off the bed, hurriedly wiping the slobber from her face. "Dromarch! You-" Her words caught in her throat upon noticing him warmly smiling at her.
"Ugh… you're an idiot." She smiled while blushing a little, landing a playful punch on his snout, feeling a bit embarrassed.
He nuzzled her reddened face one more time for good measure. "I think you'll do fine. Jin trusts you. Trust yourself as well."
Nia was reminded of when she first met Dromarch. She'd been much younger and weaker then. Back then, Dromarch was a lot bigger than her, and scarier, but as she got to know the Blade, she found his personality to be much softer than his appearance seemed to suggest. Whenever she used to cry, Dromarch always jumped into action and would comfort her anyway he knew possible. This just happened to be one of his ways of doing it.
She felt a small smile appear on her lips. "Thanks Dro-" She began to say but was cut short as a voice blasting over the PA system, echoing throughout the entire ship.
"We are in position. All personnel, report to stations. Salvage team, suit up and proceed to the hatch." It said, commanding everyone's attention.
It was time.
The operation was beginning.
Author's Note: Hey you're at the end of the chapter! Again! Yay!
I took a few liberties with Dromarch's character as him being a sort of giant tiger shaped sponge for Nia to talk to and get some of her thoughts out on the table. With anyone else she'd have held back, and kept it bottled up. But I also wanted him to have a little bit of an abrasive side (Much like a sponge) and him say stuff to keep her on her toes as well (Not that he's being mean on purpose...). Hope to hear all your thoughts on the change! (or the chapter in general)
Alright, thanks everyone who took the time to read this! It's nice to see people taking an interest in what garbage I come up with.
Also thank you to all those who took the time to review/favorite/follow. You guys are pretty awesome as well.
Finally, thanks for all your support so far!
Special thanks to the Beta Reader(s): (Their name here if they wish to be credited)