Hi! Lilrose again.
I recently got a message that Zanora/Lynxion is like an anime character. This is probably due to the fact that I originally planned her to be in a Fullmetal Alchemist story of mine. But she didn't really fit there, so I tried to change her a little to fit in this. If you see any way to make her fit better, can you review it please?
I've also noticed that in the cutscenes of ACIT, Kaden had green eyes and blonde fur. I originally thought he had a darker fur colour and brown eyes, which is why I thought this could work. But, just go with it, yes? That's why this is a fanfiction.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this universe except my OC, Zanora/Lynxion.
Zanora stared at the teenage Lombax in front of her, straining to keep her emotions in check.
'It's him.' she thought as his eyes gazed into hers, 'It's really him.'
She took a close look at him as he slowly got closer. His eyes and fur were obviously from her side, but his brown stripes must be from Kaden. He was wearing an impressive tech-suit and... that's Kaden's!
She stared at the Omniwrench on his back, recognizing it easily. She'd know the craftsmanship anywhere. But if Ratchet had it, then...
'Kaden did use the Dimesionator to send him away. He must've known that I'd recognize it.' she watched as Ratchet stopped in front of her.
"Are you Lynxion?" He asked, his voice gentle and making her heart stop and restart ten times as fast.
Her throat was closed, so she merely nodded, keeping a straight face.
'Don't cry.'
"Do you know the quickest way back to my ship?"
'Oh god, don't cry.'
She cleared her throat and forced out a few words, "Yes, of course."
Ratchet seemed surprised with the deep tone her voice naturally had, but got over it.
'Oh my baby, I'm so sorry.'
"Can you show me?"
Zanora let her wings spread as her horns and claws disappeared, observing as Ratchet's eyes widened at the sight of her two wings. She then let her wings fold peacefully behind her and walked toward the exit, beckoning him to follow. He did, eyeing her tails as he walked behind her, especially the bladed one. They walked in silence along the ravine path, until they reached another of the blue columns of light.
"What are those?" Ratchet asked curiously.
"They're time columns, according to the Fungoids." She started, walking along and dodging another column, "In their language, though, they're called 'Frimendi'. I don't know very much about them, only that the Fungoids once had the ability to control time, but they messed it up."
Ratchet became silent again, though Zanora felt that he wanted to ask more questions. She slowed down to walk beside him, making his hand twitch before relaxing.
She noticed this with approval, "You have good instincts. Ready to grab a weapon in a second's notice. You need that in the Polaris Galaxy. Not safe anymore."
He looked surprised that she had commented him on that, "Seriously? Where I come from, people don't like reflexes that much."
"Oh? And where are you from, Lombax?"
"The Solana Galaxy."
Zanora snorted, amused, "Those guys are rarely attacked. Too much weaponary there."
Her mind, however, was a different story.
'Solana? Kaden must have been desperate. They had too much firepower for Tachyon to cross to there easily. It would have taken many years for him to break through their defenses, and even if he did, Ratchet would have been grown up by then. But how then-'
"Why do you have Lombax ears?"
Zanora jumped at the sudden question, but didn't answer it as they rounded the final corner. Ratchet ran forward and stood near Aphelion, pulling out the canister holding the Zoni. He opened it, freeing the two creatures inside. They fixed Aphelion, who hovered for a few moments and landed. Zanora avoided Aphelion's sight range as Ratchet pulled in the two Zoni. She watched him with sad eyes, but then one of the Zoni saw her and approached.
"He will not be angry with you. You can tell him. But wait until the time goes back." It said, Zanora knowing what it meant instantly.
Ratchet put on the lid of the canister as the last Zoni slipped inside and turned to her.
"What did it mean?"
Zanora shook her head mutely and watched as he shrugged and got in the ship. She wanted to tell him, but her throat was dry and only a choked cough came out. Then, he suddenly got out again and walked to stand in front of her. He rubbed the back of his head before hesitantly speaking.
"Listen... I know this is strange, but you really seem familiar. I don't know where from, though." He looked at her cautiously, waiting for a reaction.
She smiled encouragingly and he continued, "Would you... come with me? I could really use your help and-"
She cut him off, a grin that hadn't been there for years on her face, "Mate, you don't need to ask. I have to tell you something though."
Ratchet looked confused. She leaned forward.
"That ship of yours is Aphelion. I created her on Fastoon years ago, before the massacre of Tachyon."
Ratchet froze and she took the opportunity to stand in front of Aphelion. Aphelion let out a series of beeps and whines before her familiar voice came through.
"It's you! Z-" Zanora shushed her quickly, as Ratchet shook himself out of his surprise.
He whirled to face her so fast, she was surprised his ears didn't continue and whack him in the face, "What do you mean, on Fastoon? You were there?!"
"Yes." Zanora replied simply, leaning against Aphelion, "I worked there as an AI creator."
Ratchet opened and closed his mouth for a while before giving up and hopping in. Zanora followed, pressing a blue button on the side. Suddenly, the back of Aphelion became longer, making room for her wings. She retracted her tails and sat on the passenger side, looking out the window as Ratchet lifted them into the air and proceeded to chase after Vorselon's ship.
"Tap water?! You... animals!"
Ratchet rolled his eyes, "Listen, I need you activate the Nav-beacon on your belt. Can you do that?"
A dot appeared on the screen in front of him.
"Thank you. Now hang tight. I'm on my way."
"Great! I guess I'll-" Qwark's voice cut off mid sentence as Ratchet turned the com-link off.
Zanora glanced at him from the corner of her eye before looking forward, at the ship ahead. She saw Ratchet look at her briefly in her peripheral. She mulled over the idea before giving up and sighing.
"Okay, Lombax. You win. You get to ask questions freely. But" she interrupted as Ratchet opened his mouth, "you can't ask me about Tachyon's attack and how I got away."
Ratchet seemed a little put down, but got over it.
"Why was Aphelion broken down on Fastoon?"
Zanora leaned back in her seat, "She ran out of fuel after-... a long trip. I had been avoiding Tachyon, but I was attacked."
She growled, "Damn Dropids had seeker ammo, the cheats. I crashed Aphelion on Fastoon and had no tools to repair her with. I had to leave her. There was one last active teleporter, so I used it to go somewhere Tachyon wouldn't bother attacking. So it transported me to a Fungoid planet. I knew they could speak the universal language, so I got some supplies and made a home. "
Ratchet was silent for a bit, then he asked another question.
"Why do you have Lombax ears? Why do you have wings and markings and- actually, you know what," he stopped, obviously not happy with the way the question came out, "I'll start again. What are you?"
Zanora chuckled when he changed the sentence, smiling at him, "I'm only half Lombax. That explains the markings and the ears. But I'm also part Nykril. That explains everything else."
"Nykril?" Ratchet asked, turning his head to look at her.
Zanora shook her head, "Later. Now, I believe there's a ship we have to break into. I suggest that entrance there. Has less ships near it."
"Less?! There are thousands of them!"
"Hey, you look at the other entrances and you tell me where you want to go. Thousands or millions, Lombax?
"Anytime before Christmas would be great!" Zanora yelled, dodging another robot's shots.
She shot her tails out, sweeping them around as they threw and sliced the guards. More came out of no where, though, and she was tiring quick. She dodged another shot and propelled herself outward from the wall, claws slicing through the robots in range. But more kept coming! Zanora growled and dodged more shots.
Ratchet, however, had another problem.
"The door's locked, Lynxion! And I don't take you for the type who has a lazer in their pants." He called back, trying the short curcuit the door unsuccessfully. It shocked him and he yelped, jumping back on reflex.
"Oh, for the love of-!" Zanora dodged another shot and sprinted over, "You know what? You go shoot, I'll handle it."
"But how will you-?"
"Shoot, Lombax, shoot!" She shrieked as the remaining guards came around the corner, startling Ratchet as he started firing.
Zanora brought her tail-blade down, guiding it into the gap between the wall and the door with her hands. She then pushed her tail forwards, pushing it to the other side.
'It's been a few years since I last did this. I hope I'm not rusty.' she realised as she climbed up the wall and wedged herself between the wall and her tail blade.
She pushed, her legs straightening slowly as the combined strength of her tail and her legs slowly forced the door open. She moved slowly across, keeping the blade straight as she body-shuffled over the wall where the door closes.
"Oi! Now would be a very good time to duck through!" She stated, grunting at the effort to keep the door open.
Ratchet dodged another blast and ran toward the door, sliding through quickly. Zanora turned her blade around quickly and jumped sideways, the door slamming on its lock as she landed safely beside her son. She grinned at his shocked expression.
"I haven't done that since the time that Grivelnox broke through the loading bay." She chuckled at the memory, "Good times."
"How could that blade do that?! That door is way heavier than it!" Ratchet exclaimed, staring at the tail-blade as it swung from side to side.
"Oh please." Zanora shook her head, walking over to him and patting him lightly on the head, "My weapons are stronger than mostly everything."
Ratchet pushed her hand away gently and tilted his head slightly, "Mostly? What can't it cut through?"
Zanora shook her head, pointing in front. Ratchet reluctantly left it alone, walking ahead to the cells, where Qwark was talking about how glad he was to see Ratchet. She wondered idly when the 'right time' that the Zoni mentioned was. She was REALLY having a rough time staying quiet and avoiding the subject.
"So..." Qwark began, the awkwardness getting to him, "Who exactly are you?"
Ratchet had launched everyone else out in an escape pod back to the Fungoid's planet, including Zanora. She was sitting beside Qwark, trying to silence her motherly instincts which screamed at her to go back to him. She rolled her eyes at his half-assed attempt at starting a conversation, but played along, all for a conversation.
"Lynxion. You're Qwark, right? Ratchet's partner?"
"Yeah." Qwark replied, trying to think up on another question, "You're, uh... you're the one who was following us. Back on the trail. Right?"
She nodded.
"Why were you following us anyway? Are you a stalker?" Qwark interrogated suspiciously, looking ridiculous as he tried to face her.
"No." She calmly answered, trying to resist the urge to strangle the guy, "I haven't seen a Lombax in years. I had to make sure I wasn't hallucinating."
Partly true. But she was thinking that she was hallucinating about her son being there instead of just a Lombax.
"Oh." Qwark fell silent, out of ideas for questions.
Zanora glanced at him sympathetically before looking out toward the ship. She recalled the first driving test she took Aphelion on, back when she first created the AI. Let's just say that Kaden was laughing at her about it for the rest of the damn month. She smiled when she saw Aphelion blasting out of the ship and following them. She heard the com-link flare to life as Ratchet told them that they were heading back to the planet they were from.
"Z- I mean, Lynxion? Can we talk?" Aphelion's voice came through the com-link, her voice sounding off slightly.
"Later, Aphelion." Zanora replied, glancing at Qwark, "I think this talk of ours should be private."
Aphelion was silent for a while, then let out a series of beeps that changed in pitch. Zanora knew what she was saying.
'I'm not very happy, Zanora. I hope you have a good explanation for this.'
Zanora watched Aphelion cautiously from her spot near her home. Ever since Zanora led them there, the AI ship had been keeping her sensor trained on her and blowing off a lot of heat. Something Zanora recognized and had grown to fear slightly.
It wasn't the first time Aphelion was pissed at her.
Ratchet looked quite confused. He had checked Aphelion over and seen nothing out of the ordinary, but he was forgetting something. Aphelion is an AI. And she is quite emotional when it comes to Zanora. She might have been joyful to see her at first, but now...
Zanora heard her let off a loud whir and narrowed her eyes, knowing that Aphelion was cursing at her. She let out a soft growl, which Aphelion responded with a violent crackle. In other words, she was extremely pissed off.
Ratchet stood beside her and rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know what's wrong with her. She was fine before."
Zanora glanced at him before continuing to glare at the ship, "Oh, I know what's wrong."
"What, then?" Ratchet asked, looking at her sideways.
She walked forward, ignoring how Aphelion revved her engine. She stood right in front of the angry ship and crossed her arms. She clicked her tongue twice.
'Okay, Viola. What?'
Aphelion let out a hum, followed by a series of piercing beeps.
'I think you know, moron.'
Zanora sighed and turned to Ratchet, who looked very confused. So he couldn't understand the robot language, then.
"I need to talk to her. You don't mind, do you?"
"No, it's fine." He replied, looking a bit lost, "But how can you understand her?"
Zanora smiled, "I learned the robot language long ago. As did most of the engineers."
She held up a hand when he opened his mouth and he stopped, looking a little annoyed, but staying quiet. She walked back to Aphelion, who let out a mechanical growl. She slapped her hand lightly on the ships front and flapped her wings once.
'Come on, then, you stubborn ship.'
She walked toward the garage, Aphelion floating behind her. She turned around to look back at Ratchet as the AI ship wandered in.
"Make yourself at home, Lombax. This is probably going to take a while."
"Thanks. And stop calling me 'Lombax', Lynxion." He shouted back, perching on top of one of the giant rocks, "My name is Ratchet."
Zanora watched as he started cleaning the weapons he had, shaking her head when an image of someone similiar doing the same thing popped into her mind. Now was not the time for that. She glanced at Ratchet once more before walking into the garage.
She had a loooooot of explaining to do.
'I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD, ZANORA. I WAKE UP AND YOU'RE GONE! AND GUESS WHAT?! YOUR SON IS THE ONE THAT FIXED ME! I THOUGHT YOU PROMISED THAT WE WOULD STAY TOGETHER AFTER KADEN DIED! IF YOU WANT FORGIVENESS FOR LEAVING ME, YOU SHOULD GRAB THAT DRILL OF YOURS AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR-'
'APHELION! SHUT UP AND LET ME SPEAK!'
'NO WAY! THIS IS THE LAST TIME! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!'
'I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO! YOU DON'T HAVE TO FORGIVE ME, OKAY?!'
Aphelion fell silent at that screech as the words behind it fully hit her. Zanora heaved a few breaths before closing her eyes and bowing her head slightly. She switched to normal speech and continued.
"I'm not asking forgiveness. I'm merely explaining so you know. I was weak, Aphelion. You know that. I hadn't had any water, food or rest. My mind was clouded and my tools were gone. When the Dropids used that bloody seeker ammo, you crashed. I couldn't fix you. I could barely move. But there was an active teleport with one more trip in it. So I took it."
Aphelion seemed to stall as she hesitantly spoke, "So... you were keeping our first promise? Not... abandoning me?"
"Never." Zanora smiled, "I wanted to stay with you, but it literally hit me in the head like a rock. I promised I would stay alive and safe, back when I had no one. So I checked the AI drive was intact and took the teleport here."
Aphelion seemed to have calmed as her sensor stared out at the young Lombax talking to Qwark. Zanora followed her gaze, eyes landing on him as a fond smile lit her features. Aphelion crept forward to park beside her, sensor glancing at her.
"You care a lot for him, don't you?" She asked softly, "Even though you never found him yourself."
Zanora's eyes softened as Qwark proceeded to squish Ratchet in a hug, to which Ratchet started flailing like a maniac. She could see Kaden in him a lot, the wise guy attitude he had being extremely familiar. She leant against Aphelion as Ratchet ran away from the ex-hero, the AI ship humming contentedly at her.
"I'll always care for him. Even if he never realises it."