Chapter 1: Discovery
Notes:
First ever story! This was originally inspired by madkat89's space au and wanted to take my own crack at the idea. I've literally never written like this before so excuse the awful pacing.
~edit, the longer the story goes the more I realize how little this has to do with canon. It uses the characters but it def is almost it's own thing. It still has dadzawa, papamic and co, but the majority of this fic will follow it's own thing lol. Just leaving this as a heads up for my own piece of mind.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The signal that was being picked up was weak, barely even a blip on their radar. It signaled a ship in distress, but it was light-years away and getting weaker. The winged Falaik and furred Thrael team locked their star cruiser to the coordinates of the signal and headed there at breakneck speeds. It was their job as galactic heroes after all.
Engines and machinery seemed to hiss like feral Thrael’s as Sho'ta and Hi’z’shi carefully made their way through the ship. The layout of the vessel seemed ancient, the tech was too outdated to have been working. But somehow they continued to walk through this seemingly abandoned and pressurized zone.
“This is so unsettling, like nobody's on here” Hi’z’ashi chirped out as he manually opened a door. He had to duck down to clear his plumage of feathers.
“That's illogical to say, clearly someone must have activated the distress signal” Sho'ta took up the rear, carefully investigating the nooks and crannies of the rooms they went through.
Signs of life were evident, there was loose debris strewn about and papers laid out on the floors. But no creature or sentient was there to greet them. There was no indication of what species this star cruiser belonged to, and no evidence to support any living thing still currently inhabited the space; it was a ghost ship.
Sho'ta mumbled out those thoughts. Hi’z’shi squawked and batted at him to not jinx at the chances of there being ghosts as sho gave him a mocking grin. Soon enough they came to a set of stairs that led them deeper into the haul of the ship. Stepping down the lights slightly flickered and there was an odd blue glow.
The air smelled musty in this part of the ship. It clung to the air and the walls in a moist haze. “Sho-” Hi’z’shi gasped and stepped back, bumping into his partner. “Wh- what is this?”
In front of them stood 12 pods, all of them emitting a slight steam, there were screens that took up portions of their bottoms and glass windows that exposed strange contents. The screens either blared large red symbols that neither the pair could read or bore a blank black screen that reflected their faces back to them. Inside the pods held shriveled bipedal creatures. All of what could be assumed to be varying ages, due to their sizes and frozen composure. Their skin looked mostly smooth with tufts of fur only sprouting from their heads and faces. Their skin tones seemed to be between tans and browns except for the large blotches of purple and green that seemed to grow off the skin.
They had found the cause of the musty smell. Whatever race they had encountered had attempted cryogenic stasis. The failure sickeningly stared back at the two heros. Hi’z’shi turned in an attempt to stop himself from vomiting as Sho'ta stepped towards one of the pods. Out of all of them, this one has no red message nor blank screen. Its screen had a pleasant if not unsettlingly green screen that displayed all sorts of data and graphs. The chamber was fungus free and the being that was held inside looked to be untouched, as if they were just asleep.
Its tuft of fur was green and bush-like, it wore what looked to be a loose fitted tracksuit that bore an unknown symbol on its chest. Comparing the creature to the others kept in pods, it seemed to be younger. Its size was considerably smaller than his own. Sho'ta lifted his paw to the glass and was pleased to see that it was cold to the touch. And not the unsettling cold of the rest of the room, this pod seemed to be functional.
Just how long had this cruiser been here? Where was the crew? What had happened?
He was so lost in his thoughts that when something grabbed his shoulder he almost instinctively reared his head to bite the offending limb that touched him. “Sho, we've got to report this to the embassy. And what do we do with the bodies?” Hi’z’shi’s voice trailed as his eyes locked onto the screen below. “Wait, is this one still active?”
Sho'ta sighed and crouched down to inspect the device. “Seems so, no clue if whatever's in it is alive though”. He stood back up and looked to his partner who was staring at the machine as if it held the answers to the universe.
“Sho, we've gotta open it” Before he could even react Hi’z’shi bent down and started fiddling with the screen. Even though the age of the ship was questionable they were lucky in the fact that whatever species they had stumbled upon has the technological advancement of touchscreens to aid in Hi’z'shi's fiddling.
Sho'ta grabbed Hi’z’shi's shoulder and quickly pulled his mate back. Growling. “What do you think your doing?” the Falaik stared back incredulously, like his actions were the most obvious thing in the universe. “We need to let the poor thing out, there's nothing else on this vessel that can do it. And! If we don't, it's just going to die here.” Hi'z'shi whistled and gestured to the rest of the pods to emphasize his point.
Shrugging, Sho'ta relented and stepped back allowing for his mate to continue messing with whatever was on that screen. He wasn't as technical as the Falaik and had no clue where he would even begin to open the machine without endangering its contents. Hi'z'shi quickly pressed and flitted between different screens. Graphs and data popped up with contents that they couldn't even begin to decipher as they looked through. For the next few clicks the only sounds that came from the room were the sounds of Hi’z’shi's padded talons tapping on the screen and the occasional sigh coming from him.
It was around 4 clicks later when a mechanical whirring began within the pod as if a vacuum was activated. The noise cut through the tension of the room and caused both aliens to jump back in shock. “What did you do?” Sho'ta quickly moved to stand next to his partner, fur standing on end at this new development. ‘Z’shi’s eyes were locked onto the screen though, responding slightly distracted “I’m not one hundred percent sure here. I've just been trying anything. It looks like it might be diffusing the gas chamber though? And here,” his talon tapped some symbols that were changing rhythmically “I believe it's counting down to something…”. His voice trailed off before locking eyes with Sho'ta.
“We just have to wait it out” shrugging Hi’z’shi stood up and padded over to the steps they came down on and took a seat on the bottom one. Sho'ta stole a quick glance at the tube. The temperature on the inside must have been changing, the glass had become fogged over and all he could make out was the hazy outline of the strange biped. Chuffing a sigh he turned and sat next to his partner, waiting out the timer.
Notes:
Hmmmm, now why are there these frozen tubes so far out in space??? And I wonder who's in them.
Chapter Text
Sho'ta had his transmitter pulled out and was trying to contact the embassy. Every time he reloaded or tried to send a message, he was met with an error. “The signal is being blocked.” he grumbled out in annoyance. The damn thing was working before they had entered this stars forsaken ship, why wasn't it active?
Reaching for his own transmitter Hi'z'shi was about to check on the signal, but as he did there was a soft click. The hinges on the cryo tubes door squeaked open in a way that butchered Sho'ta’s ears. A five-fingered meaty paw slapped onto the glass, smudging away the condensation that had built up. It weakly pushed open the door as the two heros sat in silence.
When the door was half cracked open an oddly shaped foot stepped onto the metal floor, it's claws were blunt and flat and it's ankles were positioned much closer to the paw than any other species Sho'ta had previously encountered. The figure hauled themselves out of the tube, stumbling forward. Although it didn't seem like they had their footing as when they took another step it wobbled slightly before falling onto all fours.
Now awake and unfrozen the creature looked a lot more pink, the blood rushed to its extremities and gave it a lively color. It's green hair bounced as it fell almost reminding Sho'ta of the flora that resided on his home planet.
The creature looked up at its fellow crew members' pods and gave a startled shriek before falling back on its behind. Its chest was quickly taking in air and the being looked to be hyperventilating. Quickly standing up Sho'ta moved to place his paw upon its shoulder before it turned and met his gaze. The largest green eyes he had ever seen stared back at him.
They looked almost gem-like, their color was so bright. But in them pooled many emotions, fear seemed to take over as the leading one as their pupils began to dilate in terror.
Crouching down to make his size appear less threatening Sho'ta mumbled a greeting. This was met with little fanfare or even clear understanding before the odd creature began to pick up it's hyperventilating and crawl backwards on its behind.
Glancing behind himself he saw Hi'z'shi was standing but also quickly glancing between his transmitter and the odd being in front of them, Hi'z'shi gaze looked intensely concerned but he couldn't focus on that right now. “Hello, can you understand me?” Adding a low rumble to his tone that would be used to calm kits in hope of a better response, this looked to do little as the small creatures back pressed against the tube behind it.
Upon touching the cryo tube the terrified being shrieked once more and appeared to have reached its limit before it's eyes seemed to roll back into its head and pass out.
Sighing, Sho'ta stood and picked up the creature. It was light, and it's bones could easily be felt through the cloth that covered it. The cloth even seemed to be ill fitted as it hung slightly off of its form. Taking a quick sniff it seemed to be a male from what he picked up on pheromones. Turning to Hi'z'shi he was met with a very concerned partner.
“Sho, something is not sitting right with me about this. I can't get any signal through from here but this is where we picked up the original distress signal.” Z’shi shifted his weight from one leg to another as he nervously continued. “And this sector is just on the edge of embassy territory, I, I think we should leave-”
Just as he finished squawking the unmistakable sound of nova thrusters could be heard outside of the ship. Sho'ta gave a quick nod to Hi'z'shi before situating the creature in his lower set of arms before rushing back up the stairs. The two partners raced through the haul of the ship and made it to the central docking station before they heard a foreign language indicating something.
They didn't stop to see as they raced back onto their own star-cruiser. But glancing behind him he saw another docking door open as Insections, chitin covered space invertebrates, rushed onto the ship.
The space bugs looked like armored cockroaches and wore ragged suits. They had too many arms in Sho'ta's opinion, and he himself had two sets of arms. In them they held stun batons and maces.
“Get them! They have the cargo!” That was the last thing Sho'ta heard before the gate slammed shut in the space pirates faces. He dumped the creature in a seat and quickly buckled him in as Hi'z'shi started booting up the ship. Banging and scraping could be heard and as soon as Sho'ta’s back hit his seat Z'shi detached their personal cruiser from the abandoned shop and activated their nova thrusters.
“Buckle in babe! Their gonna be on our tail feathers for ages if we don't lose them soon!” Hyped up on adrenaline Hi'z'shi cawed over to him. “You should get Night-Eyes on the transmitter! It'd be best to report this as soon as possible, and it looks like our signal is back online”
Their ship rumbled before streaking forward, nova thrusters blasting at full speed leaving their pursuers in their space dust. As they blasted off Sho'ta began contacting their superior, Night-eyes. Night-eyes was their commander, and was known throughout the galaxy for their strategy and ability to think ahead. They were cunning under pressure and enemies of the embassy had spread the rumor that they had the ability to see into the future. So it wasn't surprising that it didn't take long to buzz before the bug eyed face of their commander unenthusiastically glanced them over.
“Mic, Eraser, what's your report?” Night-eyes' voice was dry and his disinterest was evident.
“We were patrolling sector gamma when we stumbled on a distress signal, we tracked it down and discovered and abandoned star-cruiser belonging to an unidentified species. We were able to recover one from cryo-stasis before being ambushed by space-pirates. I believe they were using the distress signal as a trap for a trafficking ring of some sort.” Taking a calming breath Sho'ta continued his report. “They are currently in pursuit of us as we speak”.
If Night-eyes wasn't interested before he certainly was now. “Sector gamma you said?” His eyes stared directly at Sho'ta causing his fur on the back of his neck to stand. Steeling his expression he nodded.
“No one was assigned to that sector. Why were you-” Night-eyes' gaze flitted behind Sho'ta and his eyes widened in either surprise, fear or anger. Sho'ta wasn't sure he truly wanted to know which one it was.
“Tell me why you have an unconscious Terran aboard your vessel”
Notes:
It LIVEEEESSSS!
Damn imagine waking up from a frozen induced coma to being face to face with a giant panther. Id imagine that's pretty terrifying.
Altho it does remind me of that one Futurama scene lol
Chapter 3: Shock
Notes:
Thanks for all the sweet comments!! I loved reading them :D
Please enjoy this next chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hi'z'shi squawked in surprise as Sho'ta looked behind himself to the now identified Terran that was strapped down. A deathworlder? Just as the two began to speak a large crash shook the entire ship. The comms began to buzz and they only caught one last glance of their commander before it shut off.
Checking the extra sensors Sho'ta could see that their pursuers had managed to catch up to them. He checked on Hi'z'shi who had just set himself up for evasive maneuvers. “They've knocked out our comms! We have no signal!” Shouting Hi'z'shi yanked the ships wheel and made it pivot quickly to evade another oncoming attack.
Sho'ta pulled up the weapons defense and began to aim at their adversary. Muttering obscenities under his breath he quickly scanned the situation. The space pirates had a large star-cruiser, sporting 6 plazma cannons. Insections could be seen manning their weapons as they were being chased down.
The hero's ship had the advantage of maneuverability, theirs being the more aerodynamic vessel. It whizzed around the incoming blasts. Hi'z'shi managed to avoid the majority of the shots with practiced ease as Sho'ta took up their own plazma gun.
Aiming at their enemies he managed to take them out one after the other. It wasn't long in the dogfight before their pursuers turned tail and fled.
The two sat in silence, the only noise on their ship being their panting breaths and the slight hum of the idle engines.
“Shit shit SHIT!” Hi'z'shi was completely puffed up, feathers puffed out in stress as he struggled to unbuckle himself. “a terRAN?!” His voice slipped into higher decibels as his composure fell.
“This whole thing was a mess in the first place, all we had to do was pick up that package from Rotaan, and of COURSE on the way we were the ones to find that distress signal. Now we have a damned deathworlder on our ship”, z’shi was spiraling in his thoughts, he stood up and began to pace.
His chest was rising and falling rapidly and he was beginning to hyperventilate. “And on top of all of that we have no radar or signal to find our way back to embassy territories! We! Are! STRANDED!”
As Hi'z'shi had his little meltdown Sho'ta's ears were pinned back to his head as he struggled with z’shi’s noise. Standing up he quickly moved to his partner and gently rubbed his back and let out a low purr that he just knew soothed his mates rushing thoughts. “Deep breaths z'shi.”
He wrapped his partner in a comforting embrace. They both took some calming breaths. As they were doing so there was a noise behind them. Just then Sho'ta remembered the reason for his mates panic. They had a Terran on board and they needed to figure out what to do with it, fast.
Terrans were known throughout the galaxy for their ruthlessness, they were called deathworlders for a reason. The planet that they came from was wild and unpredictable. With extreme temperature changes and volatile environments. The planet that these creatures came from was dangerous enough. But the beings that came from it?
Hundreds of planetary cycles ago a race of colonizing space dictators had claimed Terra as their own and began their invasion. However it didn't take long before their fleets had been whittled down to a mere fraction of its original size. Terrans had completely wiped out the invading fleets and it was rumored that any survivors left on Terra were eliminated.
The planet had been black listed. The embassy's top scientists predicted that the planet, though lethal, was so far incapable of deep space travel and therefore could be considered a non issue if left to their own devices.
It should have been impossible to find a Terran so far in space. Thinking back to their last known location Sho'ta was sure they were nowhere near the Terrans home solar system, but something had to explain the unknown craft they had discovered. And if this truly was a Terran, he had to do something about it.
Leaving his mates side Sho'ta unbuckled it from its seat. Once again he was struck by its size and weight. “A kit?” He mumbled, but mostly to himself.
Thinking back to the abandoned ship it was the smallest out of the other eleven occupants. It would stand to reason that this could be a kit of the Terran species.
“Its kind of, tiny.” Z'shi was now standing over his shoulder and looking down at the unconscious boy. “I always expected Terrans to be these hulking beasts” he lifted his arms to emphasize the hulking part.
Sho'ta rolled his eyes at his mates antics, but was slightly glad that his previous episode seemed to be past. “I believe this is a kit”
Hi'z'shi stared back at him slack beaked before shaking his head and realigning his thoughts. “A- a kit? Like a nestling? We have a nestling Terran on our ship? Will we be hunted down by its kin??” His chirps were once again rising in volume before Sho'ta grabbed his talon and began to rationalize with him.
“If it's just a kit we could probably dispose of it on some other planet. Wipe our paws of the issue and just be done with it” he waved his paw nonchalantly as Hi'z'shi stared back at him with a slightly horrified look, one that quickly chipped away at his heart.
“What do you mean, dispose of it? But it's just a nestling” his chirp was now softer. “I- I might not like that we have it on our ship. But I will not be harming a young one. We, we haven't even seen it do anything yet.” He started fiddling with his talons, a nervous tick that he hadn't been able to kick since he was a fledgling in the hero academy.
“We should return it, maybe. Or at least try to see if it can be returned? To its home star system that is?” Hi'z'shi looked at sho'ta right in his eyes.
Sho'ta's eyes hardened as he stared back. “Your the one who was freaking out about this in the first place. And we both know what Terrans are capable of”, he thought about the countless peace treaties that were sent by the embassy since the black listing of said planet. “We are currently in possession of one of the most dangerous species in the galaxy”
This time Hi'z'shi retorted with a stubbornness that at any other time Sho'ta would be proud of. But now it was just getting on his nerves. “But if you are right and it's just a nestling, then how do we know it's as bloodthirsty as it's kin? Shouldn't we give it a chance? Wouldn't you want someone to do the same if it was ‘Toshi that was stranded alone?”
Immediately feeling guilty for using their nephew against his mate he began to back down. “Look, what I'm trying to get at is we don't know what it is capable of. But, all of its kin on that ship are dead now, and it is completely alone unless we bring it back.” Looking over at Sho'ta, Hi'z'shi knew his partner was contemplating how to respond.
“We need to keep it contained,” Hi'z'shi squealed. “And we need to make sure it is not aggressive to keep it on the ship” slightly bouncing in place Hi'z'shi planted a kiss on Sho'ta's head before rushing to their sleeping quarters.
Sighing Sho'ta glanced down at the still unconscious Terran. His gaze turned into that of a glare. No matter how much of a bleeding heart his mate had, if the Terran proved to be an issue, he would eliminate it.
Notes:
I know Hizashi's opinion flipped really quickly, for some extra context I think once he realized how small it was compared to what he thought they looked like, he realized he was probably over reacting. That and once he found out it was a kid he just had to help. They are heros after all. It is their job to help people.
The two both have lots of conflicting feelings tho. Shouta included.
Chapter Text
The two decided that they would hold the Terran in their sleeping quarters. Their cruiser was not a large one by any means. There was only a total of four sectioned off rooms. The previously mentioned sleeping quarters, a lavatory, storage, and the med bay.
There was a social area in the center of the ship that could be used for dining and entertainment, it housed a center pit that sunk in the floor for eating or just lounging, it was cushioned with a large block in the center that worked as a table. This main room was what connected the four outer rooms. To the very front of the room was the cockpit. It was sectioned off with a slight archway, but no door.
The very back had another archway, this one however was closed with a metal gate. This was the ship's docking bay and weapon storage, basically a small room with little air compression that served as the entrance to the outside. Sadly it wasn't fully pressurized and they couldn't use that room to house the Terran. Without said weapons that is.
This left the other four rooms, and after much deliberation they decided to lock it in their sleeping quarters. It was easily defendable and they wouldn't lose access to much if they kept it there, compared too the other rooms. They would just lose their comfortable bed. But they would be able to manage. Logically, it was the best option.
After deciding this, the two set to ‘terran proof’ the room, and had taken out all knick knacks and objects that weren't necessary. They had also fashioned a lock from the outside-in and disabled the indoor lock. So hopefully the creature would be locked inside, while not being able to lock them out.
After a few more clicks of preparation they felt ready. Quite honestly they were astounded at the amount of time the Terran has spent knocked out. But after being frozen for an unknown period, they didn't know if it was still recovering or if it was being affected by side effects of the process. Clearly something was wrong if the others had died, so who's to say it also wasn't unharmed?
Sho'ta carried the Terran in and laid it down on their bed. He felt unsettled that the creature was in such a personal space of his, but there was no other option if they were to keep it alive.
“Do you think they drink water? Or do they ingest similar food to us? It would be a real pain if they didn't” Hi'z'shi was rambling again as Sho'ta checked the room one last time. There was a port hole that allowed for view into space. Looking out he hoped they weren't making a mistake.
“We will just have to see. Now let's go, I'd rather not be here when it awakens. If I recall, last time when it woke it fainted upon seeing me.” He walked out of the room with z'ashi on his tail.
They locked the door behind them.
The door to their room also had a window, this was originally seen as a pain by the pair. But now they were relieved, they could check in on the creature without being put in harm's way. That was until the creature would need to be fed.
Situating themselves in their lounge area the two would need to plan. They had to find a way to get their communicator running again, repair their ship from the minor damages caused by the pirates and return to the embassy territories before they could even start returning the Terran.
The plan was to try to return to the location of the Terran star cruiser. It was orbiting an uninhabited planet. Then, from there, it would be useful for them to backtrack their way into familiar territories. Hi'z'shi pulled out a star map to cross reference their journey as Sho'ta took stock of the damages.
They were busy for a few nths before they heard an odd noise coming from their sleeping quarters. Like something had fallen over. The Terran must have been awake.
The two quickly made their way to the room and looked in through the glass window on the door. In the room the Terrans' back was turned to them and it looked to have fallen out of the bed. It was carefully taking in its surroundings and Sho'ta realized how unsettled by its very being.
Slowly the Terrans gaze moved towards the door and they locked eyes with it. “Sho! It is awake!” he stressed his words like he hadn't known this was the most probable outcome, Hi'z'shi got his first good look at the conscious being. It certainly didn't look deadly.
The Terran has a mop of green fur on its head, but it's body sported little fur other than that. Its skin looked like it was a newly born hatchlings, pink and squishy. It had little splotches of freckles on its cheeks and large eyes. It strangely reminded Hi'z'shi of the pictures he had of Sho'ta as a kit.
Once again it had fallen on its behind but the hyperventilating didn't seem to be happening. Sho'ta decided this was a good thing. At Hi'z'shi's words it tilted its head in an almost cute way.
“Do you think it understands us?” Testing his hypothesis. He already had an inkling that it didn't. Anytime they spoke around it there was no understanding in the beings eyes. In almost confirmation to his question the Terran cocked its head to the other side.
It began to slowly look around the room again, this time taking special care to not turn it's back to them. Clever.
Hi'z'shi whistled in curiosity. “I wonder what it's thinking. Hopefully nothing too bloodthirsty, hehe..” he was trying to joke. It wasn't really working sadly. Slowly z'shi stepped back from the door. “Why don't we give it some more time to decompress?”
Sho'ta chuffed in acknowledgment, but didn't take his eyes or the Terran or make a move away from the door. The Terran had locked eyes with him again, after a few seconds of staring, the creature backed down. Eyes flickering away it purposely turned its head and broke eye contact before pushing itself to the back wall and huddled into a ball, tucking its head down and hugging its legs.
Finally Sho'ta left the door. “We should get the ship running. I'd like to finish this journey as soon as possible”
“As would I, mate. But we both see how messy this has already been.” Hi'z'shi chirped over as he sat in the driver's seat. “But yes I agree, let's get moving”
They both took their places in the cockpit. Hi'z'shi aimed the ship in the estimated direction that they came from, in the dogfight he had become very turned around. But after going over the star maps with Sho'ta he believed he should be able to get them in the right direction.
Sho'ta worked on seeing what he could do with the navigation system; it seemed to have been disconnected during the chase. His technical understanding was not up to par with his mates though as he quickly found himself in over his head.
There was quite a bit of damage received from the fight. One of their nova thrusters was damaged, it wasn't dead, but if left unfixed it could become a problem. Their communication system was fried and that left them without any signal to connect with others. And lastly their navigation system was knocked out.
Yes this trip had really fallen apart, fast. They had originally just went to run an errand, pick up some parts from the planet Rotaan. A quick back and forth.
But as they were crossing the Gamma sector they had picked up the distress signal. And here they were. Stuck on a ship with a terran, and unable to easily return home. He just wanted to curl into his nest and sleep for a few solar cycles. But even that was unavailable to him as the Terran had taken their sleeping quarters.
This was such a pain.
Notes:
First they gotta prep the room for their new resident Deathworlder. Here's some exposition to the ship that they are on, I imagine the ship to be kind of shaped/ have a similar layout to the spaceship in lost in space.
Also their living space is based on a conversation pit, if these aliens are all based on animals how could they not basically have a nest as their living room?Also he's awake!! I wonder what he's thinking?
Chapter 5: Confused
Chapter Text
He woke up slowly, with his consciousness feeling scattered and foggy. His fingers felt odd and tingly and his body felt like mush. Images flashed through his mind as he gathered the energy to open his eyes.
They were going to be moving onto the next stage of experimentation
…
They locked him somewhere.
…
It was cold. And dark.
…
He, he woke up?
…
There was a monster! It was huge and scary!
…
It was dark again….
But now he stretched his limbs, he was… Comfortable? Certainly more comfortable than he had been in months. Opening his eyes Izuku began to sit up. He was in an odd bed, it was as if someone had created a nest from a mattress.
The fabric was odd, not like any fiber he had felt. It was cool and silky. But made from patches that reminded him of a video he had seen when he was younger, where scientists blended 3D printing technology and fashion. It was strange.
Crawling out of the nest he slowly made his way to the edge of the bed. The floor was metallic, it looked cold. He was really tired of the cold.
Taking a deep breath he slowly stepped off the nest-bed-thing. It seemed to have been raised off the ground and would be probably up to his waist when standing. His foot met the ground and he was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as cold as it looked. He went to quickly make his way off the bed, so quickly that he hadn't even realized he should be more careful.
His body was extremely weak, his knobby knees fell from under him and he tumbled to the ground. The ground painfully met him and he sat back up rubbing his now sore leg.
Izuku quickly glanced around the room, gauging the size of it before slowing down to take a better look. His mind was absolutely racing. ‘Where was he? Why was he awake? Why was he in such a lavish room compared to the others he had previously been given? Would someone come and retrieve him now that he was awake? What on earth was going on-’
He took a deep breath and dug his thumbnail into his ankle to ground his thoughts. First things first. Figure out where he was.
Taking more care to observe what was around him, he carefully took in his surroundings. There was the nest to the left of him. A window looking outside, it was oval shaped. It was also dark out. Maybe night? A large yet empty bookshelf and cabinet system built into the wall. The shelves were empty, and if he had to guess, the cabinets would be empty as well.
Turning around he found himself looking at a large metal door with a single glass window. It was like a ship's porthole window. And right on the other side were two massive beings.
He had never seen a mutation quirk make someone look so, unhuman. One looked like a large panther, but it had a set of sharp, saber-like teeth sticking out from its mouth. Its eyes were gold and it looked to have a second set of smaller eyes under those. The pupils were slitted, like a cat. There was a pair of odd looking antenna poking out of its fur near its ears. The creature looked oddly familiar to him for some reason.
The other creature was very bird-like. At first glance it reminded him of a show he watched in his childhood, one from the pre quirk era. What was its name? It was on the top of his tongue.‘Big Bird’! The thing looked like if Big bird was a giant cockatoo. Its feathers arching to the ceiling in a quite impressive display. It looked to also be wearing headphones? And its beak looked sharp and raptor-like. Maybe not one hundred percent big bird then.
The back of his mind supplied that these two were not human. He had seen some of the craziest mutation quirks out there, but there was always the deep seeded feeling of humanity in those people. These things?
These two looked like predators. Their eyes were front facing and their attributes screamed ‘hunter’.
Not too long after locking eyes with them the bird one he had mentally dubbed ‘Big Bird' squawked something out. He couldn't pick up anything understandable and it only solidified the thought that these two were not human. He tilted his head in thought as the panther responded in equally unrecognizable words.
The sounds were definitely strange. But both seemed to understand each other. His head unconsciously cocked to the other side as he mulled his thoughts over.
The door looked to be firmly shut so he felt safe enough to finish his look about the room, but definitely not safe enough to turn his back to them. He had plenty of experience under his non-existent belt to know that rarely ended well.
There were a few gadgets set up on the wall and what looked to be a dresser at the end of the bed. It wasn't a big room, but it also didn't feel suffocating. He appreciated that.
Big bird squawked again and Izuku looked back just in time to see it's shoulders bounce up and down, almost like it was laughing? At what? Were they laughing at him? He contemplated this before looking back at the panther. Big bird said something else as he moved away from the door and the panther had responded with a huff.
As big bird turned away he caught a glance at what looked to be a pair of wings on his back. Their feathers were vibrant golds and silvers. He looked in awe before turning his attention back to panther.
Their eye contact did not break. The situation reminded Izuku of when he was much younger. He had researched as much about feline body language as he could when he had found a stray cat near his house. He remembered learning about how making prolonged eye contact could be seen as an aggressive action. And to not do so if wanting to gain the trust of cats. Sadly a few weeks later he had found the cat run over and was unable to fully gain its trust.
Slowly he averted his eyes and blinked away. This was all so strange. He felt like he was being judged, which to be fair wasn't new. But these two looked at him with suspicion and not utter contempt. Scooching back against the wall and deciding that avoiding this situation would be better than complaining, he curled into a ball. Hoping to fall asleep.
He partially wanted to crawl back into the bed, but if he was being watched, he didn't want to upset the people watching him. Who knows? Maybe this was a test to see if the quirkless kid was stupid enough to take someone's bed without properly asking for permission?
Part of him wanted to argue with himself. Clearly something was different. But he just didn't have the energy to care at the moment. Turning his head to the window he wondered just where he was right now. Probably on some other continent? Maybe that's why he didn't understand them.
Slowly Izuku's thoughts drifted off and he fell asleep on the floor.
Notes:
Now we get to see Izuku's perspective!
I'll be cutting back on uploading for a bit. Gonna try to make a concrete upload schedule. But we'll see how long that lasts.
Thanks for reading!
Chapter Text
Hi'z'shi had decided to not use the hyperdrive to get back to the Terran ship. They might over shoot their destination, or completely miss the thing entirely. However this would make the trip last much longer.
So he just aimed their ship and let it fly. With Sho'ta and him looking they could never miss it. And once found they would be home bound!
It has been a few nths since they had last checked in on the Terran and who knows how long since it had eaten last. Making up his mind Hi'z'shi stood up and made his way over to the kitchenette.
“What are you doing?” Sho'ta had turned his chair but hadn't left it. Hi'z'shi had a feeling he already knew, he always seemed to know what was on his mind, but happily chirped back an answer.
“It's been awhile since we last checked on it, no? I was just going to bring it some food and check if it needed anything.” With a pep in his step he responded before quickly gathering up some food.
He filled a tray with an assortment of foods. Some fruits and veggies if the terran was an herbivore, some jerky and processed meat slices for if it was a carnivore. And one of his mates jelly packets for something on the sweeter side.
He didn't want to make the Terran feel completely unwelcome. Even if it was being held captive in a locked room due to the possibility of it being a danger to him and his mate.
Anyway.
With the tray set he started to walk to the door before remembering the most important thing! How could he forget water?
Now, at last, he was fully sure he was set. “Sho? Could you stand guard at the door? I'm going to have to enter the room to feed it…” Without hesitation Sho'ta stood up and made his way next to the door.
Hi'z'shi gathered his nerves and rapped his knuckles against the door. This would be the first time either of the two would enter the room without it being unconscious and he felt like giving the terran a heads up that they would be entering was a good idea. He waited a few seconds before unlocking the door and entering.
Inside their sleeping quarters hadn't changed much. Their furniture was still in place and nothing was torn apart, a fear Hi'z'shi had in the back of his mind. The nest was comfy, sue him for not wanting it destroyed.
In the furthest corner away from the door, the Terran had itself curled into a ball. It only seemed to tighten itself further as he made his way across the room. Crouching down Hi'z'shi placed the tray onto the floor. He whistled in slight concern. ‘The ground can't be that comfortable, why has it not moved to the nest? Maybe it's scared…’
The Terran hadn't even looked up since he had entered the room! Looking back he saw that Sho'ta had also made his way into the room, but was standing next to the door. Sho'ta glared right back at him, right, don't turn your back to the deadly space creature, got it.
Turning back around he wasn't really surprised that the terran hadn't moved one bit. Was it even breathing? He focused his attention on its torso, and thought it was hard to fully tell due to how curled up the thing was. It was certainly breathing.
But it also wasn't making any move to eat the food he had brought. Scooching the tray closer he let out a low warble, hoping to get the Terran to react. Slowly it raised its head and looked at him.
Once again Hi'z'shi was taken aback by how green it's eyes were. Like pools of deep emeralds. They flickered back and forth between him and Sho'ta. Murmuring a low coo he purposely moved his gaze to the tray of food on the ground.
The Terran followed his gaze and looked skeptically at it.
“It's food, for you to eat.” The green furred Terran only reacted to his words with a small tilt of its head. “It can't understand us Z’shi” Sho'ta had crossed his arms now and was grumbling.
“Well it doesn't hurt to try now does it? And look, it's clearly listening in on what we are saying! What a smart little listener it is!” Turning back it looked like the Terran had uncurled itself from the ball it was in. But still it kept its distance. Maybe it didn't understand that this was food that they were offering?
Slowly moving his arm towards the tray Hi'z'shi plucked one of the fruits on the tray and popped it into his beak, chewed and swallowed. He then pushed the tray closer to it.
The Terran stared wide eyed at his actions, and he also heard Sho'ta's objections to his proximity to the Terran. He then chirped and tapped the tray before pointing at the creature.
The chirp didn't mean anything, at least not in common. But that didn't matter, as after a few moments of waiting, the Terran hesitantly reached out it's paw towards the tray. Looking up to Hi'z'shi as if waiting for permission before quickly grabbing a berry and popping it in its mouth.
Hi'z'shi was startled by its speed, but was soon calmed by the pleased hum the Terran let out. He then got the Terrans attention again and mimed drinking water before pointing at the Terran.
It reflexively curled inward at the gesture and Hi'z'shi was struck with the notion that this could be considered insulting to the Terran. Putting his hand down he bowed his head in an apology. The terran kept its head down and did not end up looking back up towards him.
With a small sigh, Hi'z'shi stood up and slowly left the room. Quite honestly he didn't feel anything malicious coming from the terran. It just seemed scared. The poor nestling was on an unknown ship with no knowledge of where it was.
He wondered if the nestling even knew much about space. After the planet had been black listed, by the embassy, barely any contact had been made with their species. Last he had checked Terrans were still unable to do such deep space travel, and that was one of the reasons why the discovery of the vessel so far from Terra was so astonishing. And terrifying.
But if they hadn't encountered many aliens, then how was the nestling reacting to them? Was this level of fear the norm for children of their species?
Sho'ta was right on his tail feathers and locked the door behind him. They both walked into the living space and silently stood for a few moments.
“I don't think it's dangerous” Hi'z'shi blurted out after a long hesitation. This one interaction had greatly changed his opinions on the creature. Maybe the others were as deadly as people say, but this Terran, this nestling. It was scared, and alone. And as a hero he couldn't have that if they were well within their ability to help.
“What do you mean?” Sho'ta immediately moved forward and stared right into Hi'z'shi's eyes, gauging if he was joking or not. No, not about this.
“It, it's just a nestling. It seems very young and it looks so lost and scared. If it was feral it might as well have destroyed our room or attacked me when I had my back turned-” Hi'z'shi rushed through his words, not wanting Sho to interrupt him or tell him he was wrong.
He felt so strongly that this nestling needed their help. Slowly Sho'ta took a deep sigh. “You're imprinting on him, aren't you?”
Looking up Hi'z'shi was quickly taken aback. Imprinting? On the Terran? “NO! I mean, I'm certainly wanting to help it but I wouldn't go that far-. Did, did you say him?” Had he misheard his mate? How could sho'ta know such a thing?
Sho'ta's eyes held a skeptical glint to them. He definitely wasn't convinced at Hi'z'shi's display. “Yes, I believe the Terran is a male.”
Hi'z'shi was floored at this revelation. “Well tell me how you came to this conclusion!” Flapping his arms he dramatically whined to his partner. Sho'ta scratched his jaw and looked away as if embarrassed. “When we were escaping the pirates, it had a very distinct male pheromone. I guess I didn't think it was that important…”
“N- not important? Mate sometimes you are more dense than the largest black hole. We know little to nothing about the nestling. Anything we can get about him is important!” Sighing he slowed down. “I will forgive you because you are cute when you are embarrassed”.
He moved closer to sho'ta and pulled him into a hug and nuzzled his forehead. They both basked in each other's warmth. Quite honestly these few solar cycles were intensely stressful, they took what comfort they could get.
“Maybe… it would be fine to assess its threat levels and… Make an attempt to socialize it.” Hi'z'shi beamed at that. But Sho'ta had not finished. “It would be illogical to mistreat a sentient without first giving it a chance. However I do have some rules. If, at any point, it harms either one of us, we will return to this setup. It will be contained until return. And if it becomes an obvious threat. We will eliminate it.”
Notes:
Hizashi is trying his best (^v^)
Shouta is not amused.Next chapter will maybe be posted on Sunday???
I need to rebuild my buffer bc a few parts have been and absolute pain to write.
Chapter 7: Perspective
Chapter Text
Izuku had woken up a few minutes ago, finding himself curled up on the floor. After stretching, he stood up to investigate the room again.
First things first. The door to the outside. Silently making his way over, Izuku crossed the room to the metal door. It was actually a lot taller than he had originally thought. The window was much too high to easily peer through. He had to stand on his toes and grab onto the window sill to get a good look.
On the other side seemed to lead to what looked like a conversation pit. A style of living space he remembered reading about. It was a popular setup to have in the 1970s.
Across the room was two doors that looked a lot like his own. Was that where other humans were being held? He shivered at the thought. To the left was a set of stairs leading to a platform. He could just make out the form of a slender black forked tail. Was that the Panther?
Slipping back down he turned his attention to the window. It was still dark out. How long had he been out? Just a few minutes? Hours? Or had he slept through the entire day? Moving towards the window he was caught breathless.
Outside was only space. It wasn't the night sky that he was looking at. It was the vast expanse of pure space that was outside his window. The stars moved past them as whatever he was on sped forward.
He was hyperventilating now. ‘I'm in space. Those weren't quirked people. They were aliens!’. He found himself slinking back to the wall, but this time he moved into the corner. It felt, safer? If he was truly at the mercy of the unforgiving universe and it's creatures then the literal least he could do was put himself in a somewhat defensive position.
Curling into a ball he decided to just resign himself to his fate. His mind turned fuzzy as he was left to stew in his thoughts.
An hour later he was startled by a rhythmic knocking at the door. Curling into the ball even tighter, he tensed as the door slid open. Footsteps made their way across the room and stopped a few feet in front of him. This was it. The end of Izuku Midoriya. Dead at 12. Lost in space. Killed off by some space bird and extraterrestrial panther.
He held his breath in anticipation for the inevitable. Either a killing blow or some form of torture. But instead he heard something being placed in front of him. And a soft whistle. He let out his breath but still did not uncurl.
After a few seconds a sound pierced through the silence. Something was being pushed towards him. Noises clinked together before stopping in-between himself and whatever was in the room. Then, a light warble emanated from the creature. He peaked up and was met with the big bird.
Its feathers arked up to the ceiling and they really did shine. Its bright colors reminded him of animals back on earth. Did this alien race have a type of sexual dimorphism? Were its colors so bright to attract creatures or warn them? Was the bird a male? Izuku just assumed he was a male, as it resembled such similar traits with those of animals on earth that it was hard not to. At first he thought the bird looked like a cockatoo, but it's colors more closely resembled those of a male cockatiel.
Glancing behind Big Bird he noticed the panther standing guard at the door. It looked unimpressed. Its eyes were half lidded and its antennas were lowered. But its muscles seemed to twitch. Like it was ready to pounce on him at any second.
He then looked back at big birds eyes. They were an intense toxic green. Soon enough he seemed to say something. The bird slowly dragged his gaze over to the tray that was in front of him. Was he wanting him to do something with the stuff on it? What even was all of this stuff anyway?
Odd chirps and noises came from Big bird, was it trying to talk to him? ‘Does he know I can't understand him?’. A stern response came from the panther quickly afterwards. But the Big bird seemed ready as he responded with a snarky tone before turning its attention back to himself. It was quite amusing honestly.
Big bird then reached out and grabbed what looked like neon blue marbles. Its hands were odd. Like a rectangle but with two fingers positioned on the end of either short side. It looked like a cockatoos foot, but more adapted to holding and fiddling with objects that just latching onto branches. It really was fascinating…
It popped the orb into its beak before pushing the tray even further towards him and chirping. Was it-, was he trying to get him to eat? Reaching out a hesitant hand and looking for that final bit of permission, Izuku grabbed one of the berries and popped it into his mouth. It was delicious! It tasted like an odd mix between a raspberry and a pineapple.
Before he got a chance to take another one, Big bird stole his attention by miming… something? It looked like it was drinking the air. It pointed at a glass that was on the tray before pointing at him.
This was suddenly too much. Why was Big bird trying to get him to eat? Was it for ulterior motives? For a second there he felt like it was trying to help him. But now the things insistence with him eating felt odd. No one else had sat with him through a meal before. Or had even cared if he ate it not. Why else, if not to gain something, would this alien try to get him to eat?
With all his worrying he hadn't even noticed the big bird or panther leave the room. It was all too much.
He sat there, curled up on the floor for who knows how long before his thoughts were interrupted by his stomach rumbling. That berry that he'd eaten earlier just now made him realize how hungry he was.
The two were gone now and he was free to investigate the food without judgment.
Crawling over to the tray he inspected its contents. There were the berries from earlier, some leaves and roots? They looked like purple carrots. Then there was a loaf of pink bread and some meat. Overall it was more food than he'd had in a very long time. Grabbing some more of the berries he knew he liked, he went for the glass. It was water. Just plain old water. Hopefully.
Taking a sip just made him realize how dry his mouth was. He chugged down half the water before stopping. Who knew when he'd get water next? That, and also what if the food was extremely dry? It would be best to conserve the water he was given.
After sampling everything on the plate he ended up just ripping the load in half and adding the meat to it to create a sandwich. It was actually really tasty! And what surprised him most was a little package of goop, it had the consistency of applesauce but tasted like strawberries. That was probably his favorite.
Not long after his meal Izuku found himself feeling tired again. But this time, instead of it being pure exhaustion that lulled him to sleep, it was the comfort of a full meal filling his belly. He knew he should probably stay awake in case Big bird or Panther decide to drop in again. But his eyes just felt too heavy and his body felt sluggish. Maybe a little nap would be fine.
Notes:
I got to excited to hold off on uploading. I finally got to the point of the story that inspired me to finally write this in the first place. It will be awhile till I post it but I can't wait. Until then, please enjoy this new chapter!
Also I'm trying to figure out how to post a picture on here but it's not working :'( , I've got some references for Hi'z'shi and Sho'ta. Hopefully I will have it figured out by next chapter lol.
Chapter 8: Communicate
Chapter Text
It had been a few nths and both Hi'z'shi and Sho'ta were waking from their slumber. Sleeping in the chairs was not as comfortable as Sho'ta had hoped. Well, he'd been sleeping on them for cycles before. But that was when he wasn't supposed to. Now that he was, it was as uncomfortable as sleeping on a bed of rocks.
Stretching he made his way over to the kitchenette and started on some breakfast. Hi'z'shi went to go freshen up in the lavatory. Soon enough both sat down to discuss their plans for the day.
“We still haven't found the Terrans ship, I would have expected to find it within the first couple nths, but no luck.” Hi'z'shi explained in a sad trill. Grabbing a nutrient pack Sho'ta sighed.
“I think at this point we need to find a habitable planet to land on and fix the transmitter ourselves. We can't get anywhere if we have no set destination.”. The two sat in silence for a few clicks. Quite honestly, they were in a bad situation. Getting lost in space without any sort of navigation could be a sure fire way to die. They weren't out of options however and would not be giving up anytime soon.
“I'd like to give it a few more days, we have enough food to last 4 lunar cycles and enough energy to do the same. I'm certain I've got the correct location set. We just have to search for awhile.”
Hi'z'shi finished his plate while Sho'ta got up and threw away his empty pack. After that he started to make a meal tray for the terran. Hi'z'shi and him would be going in again and seeing if they could find a way to communicate with the thing.
He found himself lost in what to put on its plate though, would a nutrient pack and some water be enough for him? What had Hi'z'shi given him yesterday? During his worrying Z'shi made his way over and tutted the ‘meal’ he had put together. “The little listener can not eat only your jelly packs. Here, I checked through the window and it looks like he's at least tried everything I gave him. He must be omnivorous. You need to give him a balanced meal!”
After the two fretted over the tray for longer than necessary he and Hi'z'shi set forth to their sleeping quarters. Or should he now be calling it the containment room? The prison? No. That felt too cruel, even if he wasn't fond of the thing. If Hi'z'shi could get over the terran being a kit of the most dangerous species in the universe, then so could he.
He took his place next to the door. Feeling that this spot was ideal, here he would be able to prevent the Terran from escaping or quickly jump in to defend Hi'z'shi from any danger that the Terran posed.
Once again the Terran was sitting in the corner curled up. But this time its eyes were alert and tracked Hi'z'shi's movements across the room. Once his mate sat down the Terran seemed to attempt to scoot further into the corner. Hi'z'shi gave a slight warble that tended to soothe upset kits. This seemed to be led with curiosity.
The Terran glance between Hi'z'shi, the tray of food, and not so surprisingly, himself. Sho'ta was well aware of how Thraels were considered one of the more intimidating species in the universe. Their slender form contained many deadly attributes, most notably was the males' large tusk-like fangs that protruded from their jaws.
But after a second of contemplation both he and Hi'z'shi were shocked by the terran making the first move for communication. It spoke in a very quick and smooth language. Though completely incomprehensible its tone came off as questioning.
Hi'z'shi clearly was trying to restrain himself from squealing (a poor attempt) before finding his composure. He scooted the tray across the floor and right in front of the Terran. The creature tensed as it seemed Hi'z'shi had crossed a personal bubble it had, but relaxed as he retracted his hand.
“Hello Listener! My name is Hi'z'shi! My Hero alias as governed by the Universal Embassy is Present Mic! You could either call me Mic or Hi'z'shi” The Falaik chirped out so fast that Sho'ta, with full compression of common, had trouble keeping up with what he said. “Z’shi, if it can't understand us then surely that is too much for it to catch”
“Z… Zashi?”
They both stopped.
Looking back at the Terran in shock Sho'ta took a hesitant step forward. The Terran had picked up on the way the two were communicating with each other. That was clearly obvious. But the fact that it had identified a name, and even tried using the foreign language to say the name was shocking.
Hi'z'shi, as a language teacher, was quick to step into his teaching persona. “No no” He shook his head and pointed to himself. “Hi'z'shi. Hi. Z. Shi.” He sounded out all the syllables and visualized it by using his hands to emphasize the syllables.
“Hi’... Zashi”. It responded. The words tumbled out of his mouth oddly. But considering this was his first attempt it was admirable.
Again Hi'z'shi shook his head and pointed to himself. Speaking slowly he sounded out his name. “Hi. Z. Shi.” His mate looked on expectantly at the kit. The kit who in turn looked down at its lap and seemed to mumble the name under it's breath a few times before looking Hi'z'shi right in the eyes and confidently speaking.
“Hi'z'shi.”
Clapping his mate scooched slightly forward and nodded. “Yes yes, Hi'z'shi” The Terran kit looked back with a slight upward tilt of its lips. “Hi'z'shi, yes Hi'z'shi” This time Z’shi could not contain his joy and let out a happy trill.
The kit looked startled but held its composure. “No, Yes, Hi'z'shi.” It spoke clearly with the extremely limited vocabulary that it was taught. Then it looked expectantly at sho'ta with an odd sort of confidence. Chuffing out a sigh he gave the Terran his name. “Sh’ota”. He crossed his arms and leaned his back on the wall as the Terran contemplated his name.
“Shouta?”
Hi'z'shi stepped in, “No, no. Sho. Ta. Sho’ta”. The terran pouted slightly before trying again. “Sho’ta” Rolling his eyes he gave the kit a slight nod of approval. The boy grimaced at this. Showing off its teeth to both of them. Hi'z'shi quickly scooched back and Sho'ta stepped closer. Why had the Terran suddenly given them such a hostile body language?
But apparently it quickly stopped and looked at them utterly confused. Hell, Sho'ta was confused himself.
Though aggressive, it did remind him of his own species' similar expression. One where they would bare their teeth to one another in a sign of joy. Most other species found this expression aggressive so most would not do this without the company of another Thrael. He had thought this to be something only Thraels would do.
The kit then quickly bowed. Was, was it apologizing? Hi'z'shi recollected himself after the shock of whatever that was left him. He waved his hand slightly and repeated no a few times to the terran.
It looked up at him and wiped at its face as liquid began to accumulate in them. The kit took a quick deep breath and said something in its language. Before slowing down and pointing at himself. He then spoke a slow word. “Izuku”
Hi'z'shi then attempted to replicate the word. “I. Isuuku ''. The kit slightly chuckled. “No, no. Izuku. I. Zu. Ku”
Izuku.
Sho'ta mentally sounded out the Terrans name. It was different. But its oddity seemed to match the strangeness of this Terran as a whole. After a while of trying to communicate with the T- with Izuku both Hi'z'shi and Izuku looked to be getting mentally worn out. The kit still had yet to eat.
So Hi'z'shi grabbed the leftovers previous cycle and waved goodbye to the kit. He left Sho'ta behind. The two stared at each other for a moment before Sho'ta spoke. “Izuku.” The word felt strange on his tongue. But the kit gave him a slight grimace. Not as bright or toothy as the last one. Even though it was a very universal sign of threat to bare one's teeth at another. He felt no malice coming off of the kit. Maybe this was just an odd, (and slightly terrifying) way of showing appreciation or joy to another.
Ducking his head into his scarf Sho'ta left the room. His head was spiraling with conflicted feelings and this whole event just made him want to lie down and nap.
--------------------------
Notes:
References for zawa and zashi!! Art done by me :)
Thanks to Darksider58 for sending me the tutorial get this working! That was a huge help (^^)
I didn't know how to draw Hizashi's legs so y'all can just imagine them however ig.
We love dadzawa in this household. Sadly dadzawa is reluctant to being the father figure he was meant to be :'(
But he can't hold out for long >:)
Chapter 9: Next steps
Chapter Text
Izuku, the nestlings name was Izuku. This last meeting with the boy was enlightening. He was extremely curious and seemed excited to learn common from them. But he had also seemed quite nervous with proximity.
They would have to take things slowly, but overall this interaction was a success! It had cemented the feeling that the little listener was just a confused nestling. One that didn't know how to communicate with them. But Hi'z'shi would fix that.
Though there was a slight hiccup with Izuku bearing his teeth at them, it did remind him of what Sho'ta would sometimes do with their nephew. Grinning. Did Terrans and Thraels share this strange behavior? If so, Hi'z'shi realized he might have to quickly get used to it. Izuku looked like he had a face made for grinning.
He'd been able to teach the boy a few words. Mainly their names, yes, no, food and water. He'd wanted to teach him more, like the items in the room and other important rules of grammar. But all that would come with time.
Mentally forming a plan Hi'z'shi began to think about what he would need to teach Izuku common. Also, they'd left the poor listener without anything to entertain himself. If his mind was so quick to learn then were they harming him by keeping him in an empty room? That would have to be fixed soon. So many things to do.
Damn, he was getting attached wasn't he?
It wasn't his fault though. The terran was quite cute, and it had not done anything to actively harm them. He'd even bowed an apology after the ‘grinning’ incident.
Another thing that worried him was the fact that the boy seemed to only be staying on the floor. Had he not been using the nest? That must have been really uncomfortable. Maybe he could convince Izuku to not sleep on the floor anymore.
“Sho, that worked out so well! We now know his name and ohmystars isn't he just adorable? The way he got so concentrated on his new words just was the cutest!” Sho'ta just rolled his eyes at him before heading over to the cockpit. “Your just enjoying the fact that you were able to get distracted from flying, aren't you.” Sho'ta said it more of a fact then an actual question.
“Well that's just an added perk!” He sat down in the driver's seat and booted up the engine. “But I really am pleased with this risings success! We've learned so much in such little time. Izuku, Izuuuku. Funny name isn't it? I’d love to learn more about him and his planet. I wonder if they'd have a fun name to give us? Remember when we were learning Garlak and the teachers gave us Garlakien names to fully acclimate to the culture? What if Izuku did that for us! Oh that would be so-”
Sho'ta had lightly pinched the hook of his beak and gave him a fond look. “Why don't we go back to focusing on our current objective.”
Hi'z'shi had noticed his mates reluctance to interact with the Terran. He certainly didn't seem to keen on the idea of caring for the thing and was extremely reluctant to get so close to facilitate the interaction that he and Izuku had. But if Sho'ta was letting him do this then the least he could do was let him go at his own pace.
Nodding he adjusted himself into a more comfortable position as he sat back. “Alright alright, guess we gotta get this show on the road then.”
The two’s ship began to move and they were once again on the hunt for the star cruiser. Not only were they turned around, but when they'd initially left the thing in the first place Hi'z'shi had activated the warp drive to escape as quickly as possible. But that left a lot of room for over jumping the ship if they tried to return the same way. So they were stuck trudging along trying to spot the vessel on their close range radar.
It might take a few cycles. But he was sure he'd put them on the right track.
…
Two.
Whole cycles.
Of nothing.
They'd been looking for a total of 3 solar cycles and weren't finding a damn thing. It was getting on Hi'z'shi's nerves. He was feeling cooped up and antsy. His patience was wearing thin and he was getting nervous. If they couldn't find the ship then getting home would be even more painful.
The thing that helped him calm down his raging anxiety was distracting himself with Izuku. The kid was none the wiser to their predicament, each time he returned to the sleeping quarters the boy would greet him with his newly learned common. Hi'z'shi had been surprised by his ability to quickly learn new words. He wished his own students were as excited to learn as this one was.
But he also had to remember that the boy had almost no other option then to learn common with him. The guilt of keeping him in such a small room was bearing down on his conscience. If he himself was feeling cooped up, then how stir crazy was Izuku?
“Sho? I think we need to try something different with Izuku.” Sho'ta hadn't been very involved with the nestling since the second interaction. Telling Hi'z'shi , ‘The kit doesn't seem to be any sort of threat. Someone needs to be on the lookout while he's being watched. It's not logical to stop everything just to care for it while we can have one of us flying and the other working with it. If anything goes awry I'll just be a room away.’.
He was comparing a holo star map to their current location, attempting to pinpoint just where they were. He grunted in response.
“Well, last cycle we were talking about seeing how Izuku would do if given the chance to roam the ship? And I was thinking, since he's been so good, maybe we could try letting him out today? Give him a little opportunity to show us he can be let out?” Sho'ta so far was not looking impressed. “He's been really cooped up and I think we might even be able to improve our interactions by giving him our trust.”
Scoffing Sho'ta crossed his arms, “You really want to give it free range of the ship? Hi'z'shi, you don't know what it's going to do. It could tear apart the ship for all we know.”
“He would do no such thing! He's been in our room and has been very respectful. I had to convince him to even use the nest! You are treating him like an animal while he's as sentient as us.” He grumbled but before he was able to respond Hi'z'shi continued. “Look Sho. We don't know how long we are going to be stranded.”
“And that's why I don't want to give it-. Give him the opportunity to endanger us.”
“If he was going to harm me he would have done it already. He's been fine with every other opportunity we've given him, think of it as just the next step ya dig?”
Hi'z'shi was really trying to get Sho'ta to understand, and he knew his partner was trying, but in certain situations he could really dig his heels in the mud.
“So we're just going to let him out?”
“Well what would you want us to do”
“...”
“Other than keeping him in the damn room.”
“...”
“Come on, work with me. Please?”
Sho'ta’s brows were furrowed. “What if instead of giving him unlimited free time out. We give him monitored time, an nth.” Hi'z'shi squealed. “You fly the ship and I watch him.”
“This'll be great! And who knows? Maybe we could even get our nest back.” Hi'z'shi felt like he was going to burst; he was so excited. He pulled Sho'ta into a hug, which was returned with a long groan.
This would work well. He knew it.
Notes:
First of all! The name change of the fic! I now actually have a plot that is mostly planned out and the old name wasn't really fitting what I've got planned and have already written, no matter how much I love space core. I need something that I feel fits my story better. Hope this clears up the confusion (^^)
Second. Damn this part was a pain to write. Hope you enjoy it tho.
Thanks for reading :)
Chapter 10: Out
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The two aliens had just left his cell and he was so confused. For one thing, Big bird, now dubbed Hi'z'shi, had treated him quite nicely. The bird was basically sunshine incarnate, and though he couldn't understand ninety nine percent of what he was saying, he knew that Hi'z'shi kept encouraging him to keep attempting their language.
Hi'z'shi had patiently waited as Izuku stumbled over the new words. “Yes, no, Hi'z'shi, sho'ta, food, water.” Izuku spoke them out loud a few times to make sure he memorized them. The time that Hi'z'shi had put into helping him teach was really nicer than he deserved. But he certainly felt a lot less nervous around the bird person.
Sho'ta on the other hand. He still made Izuku a little nervous. His cold disinterest and demeanor reminded him of the way the scientist would look at him back on earth. He was glad that Sho'ta had volunteered his own name though, it let him feel like there was some progress to be made. But progress nonetheless. Especially the fact that Sho'ta had even used his name!
When he was working with Hi'z'shi on words he had heard sho'ta refer to him as something. ‘Kit’? Izuku didn't understand what it meant, but it didn't seem entirely malicious.
Thinking back, during both the times the two aliens had entered his cell they had definitely seemed on edge to his very presence. Nervous about being around him. Which was NOT something he felt comfortable with. Why would these large aliens find him menacing of all things. Hi'z'shi had seemed to move past that quickly enough. But Sho'ta still kept his distance. Still seemed wary of him. Hopefully that would improve.
Over the next two days Hi'z'shi had come and gone a handful of times to give him food and teach him some new words. He was struggling to fully grasp their languages' possessive terms and verbs. But he could sort of understand pronouns like ‘I’ and ‘you’ in common. He'd also learnt that their language was called common.
Hi'z'shi had made it clear to him that sleeping in the nest was okay and that he could knock on the door if he needed more water or food. He'd also brought in this strange tablet that allowed him to draw temporary images onto the screen. It was a black screen that seemed to use pressure to etch whatever you were writing or drawing onto the front. But with the click of a button it would erase and he could have a blank canvas once again. It definitely helped to pass the time.
He and Hi'z'shi would use it in their lessons as they learned the very basics about each other. But every time Hi'z'shi would try to ask questions about things Izuku felt were too personal or what had happened before they'd found him, they were quickly shut down.
Izuku had many ideas as to why he ended up in space. Before they'd put him in the cold chamber he had been tested on. Experimented with. Scientists with coats pushing him to his limits with cruel tests. He didn't feel ready to talk about before, and every time he thought about his mom put him on the verge of tears. No, he didn't want Hi'z'shi's opinion of him to be soured by his own past.
He still spent the majority of time to himself though. And that was extremely boring. Part of him yearned to knock on the door and ask Hi'z'shi to keep teaching him. But he didn't want to test their kindness, plus, the last meeting had Hi'z'shi very tense. The bird tried to assure him that it wasn't his fault. Or at least that's what he understood from it. But it really left Izuku wondering what was going on outside his room.
Hi'z'shi seemed like a very touchy creature. When they spoke together he made sure to give Izuku plenty of room. Even seemed to back off if he noticed that he was getting too close to Izuku's personal bubble. Quite honestly he couldn't remember the last time someone had been that empathetic with him.
Izuku found himself genuinely enjoying Hi'z'shi's company. Either that or he was going insane and he'd made this whole scenario up as some fantasy to distract his brain. But enough arm pinching told him that no. This was truly his reality.
While he sat in the nest stewing in his thoughts he was startled by a knock on the door. It was Hi'z'shi's knock and sure enough a second later his door was opened and the bird man waltzed right in. “Hello Izuku!” Hi'z'shi's voice took a bit of getting used to. It was loud and incorporated whistles and clicks. He waved back and began to crawl out of the nest, aiming to tuck himself into his now signature corner before he was stopped.
Hi'z'shi had hesitantly grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door. “Come come, Izuku come with Hi'z'shi?” Izuku was partially stumped by the words but with the physical context he got the picture. Hi'z'shi was taking him somewhere.
Slightly stumbling over his own feet, Izuku was gently pulled outside his cell. He'd taken a few peaks outside his window, but he'd known better than to get his hopes up. However he passed his door for the first time and was brought into the central living space. “H- Hi'z'shi, what?”
The bird's crown of feathers raised in what Izuku had discovered meant joy, it was like a smile. “Izuku's been good! Hi'z'shi and Sho * Izuku out for * nth, see * safe?” Understanding about three fourths of what was said and picking up the rest with context Izuku was taken aback. They were letting him out of the room? Or at least giving him a trial run of freedom that was.
Yesterday he and Hi'z'shi spent a while going over each other's systems of time. A click was like a minute. Short compared to an nth, which was closer to an hour. A solar cycle was a day where a lunar cycle was a week. They called mornings risings, and evenings settings. It was honestly surprising how similar human and alien time systems were.
So they would be letting him out of his room for an hour? Or were they bringing him somewhere and we're going to experiment on him? Bring him to a new smaller room after realizing he wasn't good enough for the large space he'd been given. No, Hi'z'shi said he'd been good. At least he thought so.
Hi'z'shi let go of his hand after they crossed the threshold of his cell. He held up both of his hands in a placating manner before giving Izuku space once more. “Izuku good. Izuku * food? Water? Izuku get. Izuku * to roam. Understand?”
No, he didn't. They were giving him a lot more personal autonomy than what he's been allowed in a long time. Looking around the space hadn't changed much from when he'd first looked out through his window. If a bit more cluttered. There were blankets strewn around in the pit and some odd technology was placed here and there.
Izuku took a step forward, glancing around and he saw Sho'ta perched in the cockpit. He stared Izuku down with suspicion. Though not saying anything, his face alone told Izuku to behave himself and not cause them any trouble. He took a gulp and subconsciously took a step towards Hi'z'shi.
Hi'z'shi just happily ruffled the kids hair. “Izuku roam, one nth”. He then moved to sit next to his partner in the cockpit. Izuku stood there dumbly for a whole minute before shaking himself out of his daze.
Izuku was left on his own, in the center of the spaceship. He looked back at the two aliens who were still sitting in the cockpit. Hi'z'shi seemed to actually be driving the thing while Sho'ta sat and watched him through half lidded eyes, at a first glance he would have thought that the Panther was falling asleep. But his eyes were alert. And watching every move Izuku took.
Looking around he realized how small the ship actually was. From only being in his cell he'd believed that it was way bigger. But in reality there were only four side rooms and one weird garage door type thing in the back.
He hesitantly moved over to the room across from his own, wanting to check if there was another human in there. It seemed like it was only used for storage. And the room next to that seemed to be a very small doctors office. There was also a bathroom. Oh how he'd missed bathrooms.
He shuddered.
After leaving the bathroom he crawled down and investigated the conversation pit. It was incredibly comfortable and had a table at the center with papers strewn about. This was his first chance to look at commons’ written form. The symbols that stared back at him were completely unrecognizable.
He felt his eyes going cross as he stared at the text and before long he moved out of the pit. Then a thought struck him. If he had been staying in the bedroom, and there seemed to be no other bedroom. Where were the others sleeping in?
Hesitantly walking over to the cockpit he was met with Sho'ta giving him a hard glare.
Since the first time Hi'z'shi had tried to communicate with him Sho'ta had not been in the room since. It had just been him and Hi'z'shi learning from each other. But Sho'ta apparently had just stayed in this area of the ship. Had the two taken turns to steer? Or had the panther been purposely avoiding him?
“Hello Sho'ta,” Izuku hesitated moving any closer before the panther let out a low grumble, Hi'z'shi spun his chair around and excitedly waved at him. “Izuku! * you okay? Safe?”
He nodded his head before calling out Hi'z'shi's name in a questioning tone and pointing at the door to his cell. He then mimed out a sleeping position before pointing back at the two and giving a questioning hum.
His question must have landed because both aliens looked at each other. Speaking very quickly amongst one another Izuku was struggling to follow what they were saying. Both suddenly stopped talking with Sho'ta growling at the bird man. He then turned to Izuku once again and slowly spoke. “You, Izuku, you Terran. Terrans’ *.” At that last word Sho'ta held his paw up to his own throat and mimed a slashing motion. “Terrans not safe. Izuku Terran”. He then pointed to the room he had been locked in. “There safe.
Izuku felt his stomach drop. From what he gathered, he was what they called a Terran. And Terrans were dangerous, killers apparently. They must have locked him up in the most viable location because they believed that he was also dangerous. He dropped his head as Hi'z'shi softly crooned, “Not Izuku, Izuku safe”. He leaned forward to ruffle Izukus’ hair but he quickly flinched away. He gave a stiff nod to the two before he quickly made his way back into his cell and slunk down into his corner before curling up.
He didn't know why he was so hurt by that realization. It was like they were treating him as some rehabilitation project. That he was some dangerous animal in need of caging up and locking away.
It was so starkly different to how he had been treated like in the past, but yet so familiar. Both being needed to be locked up, but on vastly different ends of the line. On one end he was nothing, just a nuisance that was an utter waste of space. Better to be kept in one place and out from every worthy quirked persons sight. On the other, he was some dangerous beast, one that it was safer to just keep locked up.
Before he knew it he had found himself crying. Part of him hoped that he could find a new sense of peace. But these kind aliens must have been terrified. Having to share their limited space with the likes of him.
He cried about the fact that he found Hi'z'shi so comforting. He reminded him of how his mother used to be, before he was diagnosed as quirkless. The way she so carefully would stand by him and encourage him to learn. When Hi'z'shi had ruffled his hair he'd realized that that was the first time in forever that he had some sort of nonviolent physical interaction.
He cried over being scared for so long. Being beaten down relentlessly by his peers. Being given up by his own mother. Being treated so cruelly by the adults in his life. A sob wracked his body. He just wanted to be left alone. Or even be treated fairly and without hate.
As he cried, he missed the sound of steps walking closer. He missed the arms that wrapped around him, pulling him into a hug. He was so deep inside his own vicious head that he missed the way he was pulled into someone's lap. Being gently rocked back and forth as he bawled.
He missed the way his own cries slowed down and the way the soft singing lulled him into a deep slumber.
Notes:
A well deserved cry I'd say.
Damnit Sho'ta. He's just a baby :( be nice to him.
Okay some info. This story does not follow the main tl, here Izuku ran into the sludge monster and All Might when he was 11, he is now 12.
This arc is very close to being done and I can't wait to post the next one, it's been a lot of fun writing. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 11: Guilt
Chapter Text
Hi'z'shi held the sleeping boy in his lap as Sho'ta silently watched from the door. He listened in as Hi'z'shi hummed and rocked the kit back and forth. The boys sobs began to subside into quiet hiccups as his mate gently carded his talons through its hair. After a few clicks the boy stopped making sounds and Hi'z'shi moved.
“Is the kit asleep?” Sighing, the Falaik nodded and looked at Sho'ta. “He's out. Tuckered himself out from all the crying I think. Poor listener really had a lot bottled up in him.” He then awkwardly stood up lifting the terran. “I don't want him to be alone right now, we can lay him down on the couch and keep an eye on him. Can you grab some blankets? I wanna wrap him up.”
Quickly leaving the room to gather some warm covers for the boy, he returned to the central living space to find his mate placing Izuku down. “I told you to be more gentle about telling him.” Hi'z'shi's voice was clipped. “You were way too harsh, the boy, he's so young and has clearly been through a lot.”
Sho'ta huffed. “How was I supposed to know he'd burst into tears? The kit wanted to know, so I told him,”. Hi'z'shi scoffed. “Look. No matter how gentle the things been acting. There is a history of danger associated with his kind. He is a Deathworlder.”
Hi'z'shi glared right back at him. “But has he done anything. Anything to us that has been aggressive? Anything to harm us? He is a child. And while originally I agreed we needed to be careful if he was any threat to us, he has been proven fine, safe even! Letting him out was the test to see if we could trust him outside of the room. But you've been too caught up in your own brooding to fully give him that chance!” Izuku shifted in his sleep. “It's like you were just hoping for him to prove you right.” Hi'z'shi whisper yelled the last part.
Sho'ta felt guilty. It clung to his bones as his hardened expression fell as he thought about it. If Izuku was any other species he's sure he'd be as doting as Hi'z'shi, just in his own way. A deep part of him wanted to care for the kit like any other, defend him like the hero he is should.
But fear had twisted his view of the kit into disgust and anger. He'd been willing to do what Hi'z'shi had asked because in this confined space he believed himself capable of eliminating any problem that arose. He could acknowledge that fact. He's been afraid of Terrans. Hateful of their species after the loss of one of his closest friends to their planet. No. It was not fair to take out his anger on the lone kit.
“I, I can see where I've been caught in my own prejudice. That is unfair” he bowed his head in shame.
“You're damn right it's unfair. I joked about you being dense, but not this dense.” Hi'z'shi's eyes softened. “We, we will just have to work on this. And you will need to apologize to that poor nestling.” He stood up and walked over to Sho'ta. “It was a mistake, just work on correcting it and all will be well.” Hi'z'shi gave Sho a soft smile before pulling him into a hug.
“I will admit, the little nestling has grown on me quite a bit. And I was hoping the same could be said for you. You know how much I like it when you get all broody for your kits” Hi'z'shi's voice dipped into a low warble. Sho'ta felt his face flush before pulling away from his mate in embarrassment.
“Shush you loud beaked hellion.” He used his paw to bat at his beak playfully. Hi'z'shi backed away, fake pouting. Before his gaze turned somber.
“I do wonder why he cried so much, did you see the way he flinched?” Sho'ta gave a slight nod as the feeling of guilt took root in his gut once again. The flinch was a substantial red flag. Hi'z'shi continued. “I wouldn't hurt him. I had thought that we'd gained one another's trust.”
At this Sho'ta couldn't stop the scoff that bubbled out of him. Hi'z'shi looked offended. “What? What's so funny?”
“You can't expect the kit to fully trust you in such a short amount of time. That's illogical. That and if you think about it, we are probably the first aliens he's encountered since entering space. Unless it was the Insections that put them in cryo stasis. Which I find unlikely.” His mate's gaze turned thoughtful.
“The poor little listener…” Hi'z'shi leaned down and messed with the kits fur, “He's been so brave for us.” The green locks twirled around his fingers as he continued. “He's certainly been scared, but you must admit he's braved us out quite well. I wonder if all Terrans are like him.”
Sho'ta bristled slightly, “As a kit he certainly is brave.”
“I wonder how he got there. All alone in that tube. Was he put there? Do you think that the others were his kin?” These were questions both had been having since they had found the boy. So many questions surrounding him, the ship he was on, and Terrans' in general.
“Well,” Sho'ta hesitated, “if you continue to teach him common, I'm sure he'd be able to answer your questions.”
Hi’zs’shi gave his mate a small ‘smile’, knowing his partner was thinking at least he was trying to think about the future with some sort of positive spin. A feat that rarely came from the Thrael. “He has been a quick learner…”
Letting out a sigh, Hi'z'shi untangled his talons from the bramble of fur that sat on the kits head. “I will get him something to drink, I'm sure he must be in need of something to drink after all of that crying.”
Sho’ta just stood watch over the kit as Hi’z’shi was doing his thing. There were a lot of questions about him, and he knew that the answers wouldn't be simple. Over the last few cycles they'd talked over what the next steps would be. They had originally wanted to stop on a nearby planet to make repairs but there were none on their radars. So they just stuck with the original plan of trying to fly back the way they came. Then once they were back, bring him to his home planet and be done with it.
But the closer Hi’z’shi got to the kit, the harder he knew it would be to separate his partner from the kit. Hi’z’shi had always been one to become attached to the kits he saved, but the extended periods of time the two had spent working together had made that attachment stronger than ever. It would almost be amusing if they didn't already plan on bringing it home. Who knew, maybe Hi’z’shi would try to stay in contact with the boy.
A small voice in the back of his head told him that the chances of the kit even going back were low. The red flags and constant nervousness he'd seen were too glaring to just be its natural disposition, and there must have been a reason.
He shook those thoughts away as his partner returned with the drink. Once the kit woke up, he'd try harder. Or at least have a more open mind to this whole ordeal, it's the least he could do.
Chapter Text
One of them had to stay with the nestling while he was asleep. Even though he trusted the boy to be fine, what he didn't trust was how the boy would react to waking in a different spot than where he'd spent the last few cycles. Hi'z'shi was pretty sure the boy didn't even realize he was sobbing into Hi'z'shi’s arms before he passed out.
Sho’ta went back to the driver's seat after their talk. They'd both decided it would probably be best to not have the little listener wake up and Sho’ being the first thing he saw.
He ended up waking a few nths later. Hi'z'shi was sat close by and noticed him stirring. The boys arm reached out from under his blanket cocoon and rubbed his eyes. Slowly Izuku looked around the room. Blinking a few times he stiffened as he realized he wasn't in ‘his’ room.
Hi'z'shi quickly stepped in to calm down any fear. “Izuku good, Izuku safe”. The nestling hummed in acknowledgment, but his tense muscles barely relaxed. “Hi'z'shi?” The little listener looked so confused, staring up at him like a baby Falaik. It was an internal battle to not coo.
He reached over to the table and handed Izuku a cup of water. “Izuku drink water.” The boy didn't protest as he gingerly took the cup and sipped it's contents. His posture relaxed as he drank and once the cup was finished he handed it back. The boy avoided locking eyes with him though.
“Izuku, what's wrong?” He knew that Izuku wouldn't understand the words that he was saying but hoped that the intent came across.
“How Izuku say…” he then bowed like he did to apologize. The boy had just woken up, and his first thought was to apologize. Hi'z'shi was stunned slightly, but shook it off. “Apologize. Izuku say apologize”.
The boy looked at his lap and had a thoughtful expression. Hi'z'shi also heard very quiet mumbling before Izuku looked up and caught his eyes. “Izuku a-apologize Hi'z'shi” his voice cracked as he spoke before he then bowed low.
“No no no, no apologizing. You have no need. Izuku is not in trouble.” He tried waving off that apology.
The nestling looked confused. “Trouble?”
“Bad, Izuku is not bad” Hi'z'shi held his hand out, offering it for the small boy to hold. “Izuku is scared, Izuku is not bad.” He hoped his reassurances helped. The boy gently took hold of his hand. He looked nervous but Hi'z'shi squeezed his hand. “Izuku,” he took hold of both of his hands. “Is brave. Izuku, is smart.”, poked the boy's nose. “Izuku is good. Izuku is not trouble.”
Even though the boy didn't understand all that he was saying, his eyes once again welled up with tears. He looked conflicted, probably not believing Hi'z'shi's words. But after a moment of hesitation he barreled into Hi'z'shi's chest for a hug.
Patting Izuku's hair, he just let the boy cry it out. He'd clearly had many more issues than just being lost. With the flinching and avoidant demeanor the boy must not have the best upbringing.
Part of Hi'z'shi knew it was not a good idea. But he'd become attached. If they returned the boy, and his suspicions were correct about his home life. Then they would be keeping him. Izuku was his nestling now and any idea of giving him up was off the table.
Hugging him back Hi'z'shi looked to the cockpit. Where his mate sat. For the first time in a long while, he could not guess what the Thrael was thinking. But before he could overthink it Sho'ta gave him a soft look before turning back to drive.
A few nths later the boy had full freedom to leave his room. Sho’ta walked over and apologized to the boy, who in turn frantically waved it off. After the two were able to not upset each other Hi'z'shi decided to move onto other things. They had tried explaining what was happening and where they were flying to. But that just left the two with headaches. Izuku had taken to sticking close with Hi'z'shi for most of the time. Pretty content with his earlier exploration of the ship and decided to sit next to him in the cockpit. The first time he went to look through the driver's window would be forever etched into Hi'z'shi's memory.
Izuku's eyes reflected the stars themselves, in the pools of green it looked as if golden flecks had been added. He gawked at the infinite galaxy that surrounded them with awe. There were a few other emotions brewing under the surface. But it was clear that he was completely starstruck with the view.
Even Sho'ta seemed to be affected by Izuku's excitement. Looking over at his mate he could see the grump ducking his chin into his collar and watching the boy, not with the caution he had been so used to seeing. But there was some fondness.
They'd been flying since Izuku had woken up and settled. Hi'z'shi was humming a tune while Sho'ta was napping. That was, until their close range radar had finally picked up an electric signal.
The Terran ship was finally in range. Sho'ta was shaken awake by Hi'z'shi as Izuku was left to wonder why the blip was so important.
The star cruiser was still left abandoned. Peacefully drifting next to a large planet with 2 orbiting moons. One that when their lifeform analyzer was working, told them basic life had been detected, but no sentience was inhabiting the surface. The view was almost serene after the long cycles of nothing they'd experienced.
But in the cycles since they'd last arrived it had seemed to have taken extensive damage. Scorch marks had covered the outer walls. But what shocked them the most was the thing looked to have been shot at. Like someone was trying to destroy it.
A portion of the haul had been blown out and its contents were floating aimlessly through the surrounding space. Sho'ta quickly moved to shield the view from the kit.
The room that was ripped into was the cryo-stasis room. Parts of the now most certainly dead Terrans were scattered. The sight to say the least was a gruesome one.
“Sho’. Stars. Get the listener out of here, put him back in the room. He doesn't need to see this.”
Swiftly getting out of his seat he continued to block the boys view, the boy who was protesting being removed from the room.
“H- sho- Sho'ta no!” The boy might have seen the very silhouette of his ship, but once the two aliens noted the damage they knew it wasn't good. Sho'ta corralled the boy into their room once again and locked the door behind him. Banging could be heard as he tried to get out.
“Wha- Who could have done this?” Hi'z'shi was dumbstruck. It was rare, especially in the Gamma sector to encounter such damage and cruelty. It was a very peaceful sector and rarely encountered conflict. Their ship had drifted closer to the destroyed ship as a piece of debris and gore bounced off their windshield.
Hi'z'shi felt sick and Sho'ta looked guarded. If they had not found Izuku, would this have been his fate as well? Left alone, dead in the cosmos? And where were the signs of the embassy? Night eyes should have reported their absence cycles ago but there were no signs of any structured interference. Had there been no attempt to look for them?
“The Insections. They said something about cargo, no?” Sho'ta, being the logical bastard he was, was already trying to make sense of the situation.
“This goes against so many galactic codes... We need to gather evidence to return to Night-eyes. This shouldn't be happening within embassy territories.” His voice was strained, mad if Hi'z'shi had to guess. A growl lined his words.
“On it, gathering photographic evidence now…”
Their cruiser slowly orbited the wreckage as the two sat in silence. The only noise came from the hum of the engine and the occasional pounding at the door. It hurt Hi'z'shi to do that to the kid once again.
They were just about to finish their last circle of evidence before their radar picked up an incoming object. One that was quite large. And it was approaching them fast.
Notes:
This marks the end of arc 1 :)
I'm sure everyone here is probably ooc, but I swear Sho' gets better later on lol. Idk how to write conflicted feelings. Dadzawa is on his way just give him time to adjust to fatherhood <3
Gonna take a lil break tho. Probs won't be too long bc I'm impatient but I gotta flesh out the next chapters a lil better and probably revise some of the last ones as well.
Thanks for reading!!!
Chapter 13: Dogfight
Chapter Text
Within clicks a large starship carrier cut off its warp near the Terran wreckage and their own ship. The thing was massive. It was beat up and rusted, but there was a resemblance to old embassy tech. It was clear that it had been hijacked by whatever pirating organization this was. Looking at its stations there were many sentients arming the cannons.
“Shit! Sho! Did they expect us to return?”
“I've no clue, just fucking get us out of here.” Sho'ta buckled into his seat then activated their plazma gun and took aim at an attacker. The Carrier had released half a dozen star cruisers that were now on their tail.
As Hi'z'shi prepared to evade them, another blip popped up on the radar. There had been a cloaked cruiser staking out the Terran ship! The cloaked cruiser got a few good hits in, shaking their vessel. As it whizzed by Sho'ta managed to hit the enemies sweet spot causing it to explode.
“These things are cheap and weak. They might have the advantage of numbers but if I just get one or two good shots we can take them.”
“We've got a problem though, they've knocked out our warp engine. We can't outrun them.”
Thinking quickly Hi'z'shi turned their ship towards the orbiting planet. “I've got a plan. You keep aiming at those guys, and I'll use the planets environment as cover!” He dove the vessel into the atmosphere. Their ship shaking violently upon entry.
As they raced off, their pursuers were hot on their trail. One flew ahead, trying to overtake them and cut off their escape. But as it moved in front Sho'ta was able to shoot down the attempt. Clutching the trigger of the plazma cannon he locked onto the vessel, hitting it right on the engine. Five more to go.
As their personal star-cruiser only shook, one of the five pursuers ships simply couldn't handle the dramatic pressure change of the planet. The cheap make caused it to collapse in on itself, before exploding upon re-entry. Four left.
The planet was covered in lush green forests and mountains. Hi'z'shi aimed his ship to take cover in the terrain. Ducking into a mountainous ravine two ships kept following the direction that they were going. But the other two saw their attempt and followed them down.
They exchanged fire and entered a dogfight. Hi'z'shi aimed shot their ship out from the ravine and Sho'ta continued to shoot at the others chasing them. It wasn't long before one of the attackers was hit. One less ship.
The other two found their way back to their crewmate and they now had only three more ships to take down.
However the energy reserves for the plazma cannons were running low, Sho'ta would have to make each shot count if they were going to make it out of this alive.
“Z’shi, we need to split them up again.” Looking back Sho'ta noticed how tightly his partner was gripping the steering wheel, the sharp pointed talons dug into the lining of the wheel. His feathers were puffed and his eyes were on the planet in front of them. Looking for any path that would lead to them getting an advantage.
Their haul shook again as they took another hit. Yanking the wheel Hi'z'shi pulled the ship into a quick stop, throwing the other ships past them, as they weren't expecting the maneuver. Sho'ta took this opportunity and hit one of their engines. It crashed into the planet in a fiery explosion. Two more.
Turning back to the forest their ship cut through the trees and foliage. The further they went into the woods the larger the trees got. The massive canopy covered the sky and the trees acted as their pillars. Weaving in and out Hi'z'shi was able to avoid crashing. One of their pursuers had their stabilizer clipped and lost balance. Losing all control it crashed into the ground.
They were now against the last ship. Its driver had considerable skill as it copied Hi'z'shi's erratic flight path. Following each turn with ease. Shooting at them once again their vessel landed another hit. This time alarms began blaring around them. Hi'z'shi pulled up.
Crashing through the canopy they breached into the open sky once again. Though the view was beautiful, they had no time to appreciate it as plazma shots flew past them. This last ship was still going. Still chasing them down.
It was now time for a dogfight. One on one. They twirled around each other in a dangerous dance. Shots ricocheting off the air. Engines burning as they tried to be the last one flying. Looking at their reserves Sho'ta only had enough for two, maybe 3 shots. And their adversary was becoming more reserved with their own.
Finally Hi'z'shi was able to give Sho'ta the in for the killing blow. The attacker was caught in their crosshairs and Sho'ta took the shot.
The wing of the other ship was clipped badly, while his shot didn't hit the kill point, he'd managed to hit a bundle of wires that made it lose control.
The ship let out a final shot. Hitting the airlock of their cruiser. The door ripped open and started sucking out the weapons and materials from the back room, but the garage door held in place. Its hinges cracked and it was clear it wouldn't hold for long.
Just as they were about to cheer, a noise caught the two's attention. “Hi'z'shi? Sho'ta?”
In the fight many of their systems were damaged. The alarms that were still going off indicated such. Engines needed repairing, the haul needed to be patched. But apparently one of the systems that had gone offline was the door locks.
Izuku was hanging onto the wall looking frightened. His fur was a mess and it looked like he had a bruise forming on his cheek. He must have gotten thrown around the room in their fight to survive. His voice was wobbly with tears streaming down his cheeks.
Sho'ta quickly unbuckled himself and began to walk over and check him for any major injuries when in a split second everything went wrong.
The garage door was sucked out. Completely losing all air pressure within the cabin. Izuku hung from the door clinging on with all of his might.
“IZUKU!”
Sho'ta lunged to grab onto the kit. Hoping to make it in time before he was sucked out. Just as his paws latched onto the boy he heard the muffled scream of Hi'z'shi.
But he couldn't understand what was being said.
He was being pulled out as well. His claws tried to dig into the metal of the ship but it was of no use. The kit had lost his grip on the wall and they were both ripped out.
The last view Sho'ta got from the inside of the ship was the red tinted hue of the alarm light and his mate's terrified gaze.
Notes:
Sorry for the wait, exams have been crazy. I probably will only post maybe once a week tho, I have a few chapters written out but as this gets longer it's been harder to make sure it's going in the right direction. Overall I'm pleased tho. Just makes me realize how far stranded strays from canon lol.
Finally we make it to what inspired me to write this! Arc 2 baby (^^)
Chapter 14: The pines
Chapter Text
The wind viciously whipped past them as they fell. Gusts of cold air slammed against them, acting as the only resistance to their fall. Looking back, Sho'ta managed to catch one last glance at his ship; he noted the trail of smoke that was billowing out of it but he couldn't worry about that now. He was falling, they were both falling down to the forest below. The canopy quickly became larger as they plummeted towards its waiting branches.
Sho'ta yanked his capture weapon and simultaneously snatched the boy close to his chest. He'd only have one good shot to safely break their fall without killing them both.
His eyes watered from the wind, which was making it difficult to pinpoint a suitable branch to latch onto. They'd only have a few more ticks of airtime so he had to make it count.
Izuku was silent as they fell, but he had a death grip on his suit. Sho'ta could tell the kit was clinging on for dear life.
Once they got within good range he flung the end of his capture weapon to wrap around the top of one of the trees. It managed to get a hold, snagging around a branch. But just as their weight fully pulled down on the scarf, the branch itself snapped off the tree. They had managed to slow their descent, but they were once again in free fall.
In the split second that they'd been attached to the branch the capture weapon helped swing them in range of another tree. He dug his claws into its bark. Splintering wood trailed down the edge of the bark, marking the path of their descent and slowing their fall.
They had finally stopped, Sho'ta's claws held their weight to the side of the tree. Izuku was still there as well, holding onto his chest. While his four arms gripped into the bark, his paws screamed in agony of the force put on them but he held firm.
Panting, he positioned the boy on his back, the boy who was now as white as a sheet. His own arms burned now from the strain of holding both of them up, but looking down showed that they still had a long way to go. The trees now seemed even larger than when they had first flown through. They towered high even now, and when looking down he wasn't even sure he could see the ground through the canopy of leaves.
“Shit”
Izuku's eyes were pinched shut but as he spoke he just barely opened them to assess the situation. He peeked down and immediately regretted it. Eyes clenched shut once more he clung on even tighter than before. Sho'ta noted that his skin even took on a slight green hue.
“I'm, I'm going to get us down. But you need to keep holding on, okay?” Logically he knew the kit couldn't understand him. But for his own peace of mind he spoke out loud.
He looked for a branch to climb to. But it was just their luck that the massive tree they'd been thrown to just happened to have no branches within easy range.
The closest one was below them, and by quite a bit.
Slowly.
As slow and steady as he could go, he began to move down. His claws dug deep into the flesh of the tree. His original marks from where he slowed himself down slowly disappeared as he made his way down.
He moved backwards, moving one front paw, then back, then two more front, then back, then his fourth front paw. This excruciatingly slow method was working though. Izuku was shuddering on his back but still silent.
Just as he moved his back paw down, the patch of bark that he'd tried to cling to fell away. It was dead, and very brittle.
This new obstacle proved difficult. Trying to avoid the dead spots was getting harder and harder. But finally, after way too many clicks, maybe even an nth. He had reached the branch. His back paw touched down and he had to resist the urge to cry.
Maneuvering the boy off his back with the limited space they had was a chore. But Sho'ta needed to rest his arms and back before continuing their descent. The kit made no move to help with this task but also did nothing to make it more difficult. In the grand scheme of things, that was better than nothing. By the time he managed to settle the kit onto the branch the kit finally began to move.
In very stiff movements the kit was able to stand on his own, but the knobby joints shook and his eyes looked dazed. Izuku looked like he was avoiding looking down, his glassy gaze was strained and would not fall below a certain angle and his normally pink complexion was still drained of color.
Groaning, Sho'ta slid his back down on the edge of the tree and sat. He was exhausted, and the kit was up and moving, he could manage the brief respite. The dog fight had been extremely mentally exhausting, and the climb down itself was physically taxing as well. Closing his eyes and leaning his head back he sighed.
After a moment he looked back at Izuku, who was stiffly standing and looking ahead. Just then he noticed how long the branch they were on was, the branches split and wound around one another, creating intricate natural paths between trees.
Looking back at the boy he noticed he was putting most of his weight on only one leg. The other had a slight gash lower down under his knee, however he did not seem to notice. Maybe the kit was in shock and couldn't process it. He was pretty sure his own adrenaline hadn't crashed yet either so he wouldn't be surprised.
Reaching for his capture weapon he realized was left with only a portion of its original length. It must have snapped in the fall. Disappointing.
He used his claw to cut through another portion of the fabric and moved to tie it to the kit's leg. Upon touching the kit though, he was met with a surprised squeak and a flinch. The kit had flinched away from him.
Chuffing a sigh he held up a paw in a placating manner and pointed at his leg. “Sho'ta help.” He spoke as dry as ever and the boy seemed to gulp. But then he slowly nodded and moved his leg towards Sho'ta, who in turn quickly tied the fabric around it to stop the bleeding.
Testing the makeshift bandage Izuku let out a pleased hum. Once he was sure the cloth would hold, sho'ta began looking around, mentally mapping their next path. They had to get down eventually, and by looking up at the sky, this planet's solar cycle must have been coming to an end as the sky was beginning to darken. He stood before hunching over and indicating the kit to hop on. If the kit was injured then he needed to be carried so as to not slow either of them down or trip and fall over the edge.
Izuku hesitantly climbed on, wincing at his own injury. The kits arms hesitantly settled around his neck, but was careful to not cut off air. Once situated they took off.
Walking along the branches was odd. It felt like with each step he took the damn things would bow under his weight. There were a lucky few times branches would overlap and he was able to climb down to a lower portion.
They were steadily making progress. The kits grip did not seem to loosen but his frantic stuttered breaths had stopped, mellowing out into a slow rhythm. He had also not said a word since the fall.
Over the last few cycles he'd spent some time sitting by the door to the Terrans room, just observing or listening. Never entering however. He'd heard the kit mumbling in his native language almost constantly after Hi'z'shi had given him the writing pad. And even louder did he speak to Hi'z'shi when they were learning new words together.
But now, other than his breathing he was utterly silent. Sho'ta could go on and on about how much he preferred the silence on any other occasion. But the eerie quiet that came off the boy made him nervous. He must have been in shock.
As the sky grew darker and darker, walking became more difficult. Though he had the ability to see in the dark, it had the problem of messing with his depth perception.
They had made a considerable amount of progress. The ground was in sight now but the branches were becoming fewer and farther apart.
He attempted to climb down to a thin branch, their only option to get to the next suitable branch. As his paws held his weight, it snapped from under him. This time Izuku let out a cry as they fell. Sho'ta tried to claw into the bark again, but now the bark was hard and scaled. One of his paws managed, but that arm alone was not enough to stop their fall.
It felt like his arm was being ripped out. In a roar of pain he let go and they began to free fall once again.
As they fell Izuku had somehow managed to lose his grip and accidentally let go of Sho'ta’s suit.
Their falls were broken by much shorter foliage, gigantic leaves cushioning them just enough. But the final few feet were free of any obstacles. The two landed hard onto the forest floor.
Sho'ta's head had slammed against a tree, and as he tried to stay conscious, all he saw was the Terran trying to stand once again.
His eyes hurt, a migraine was pounding in his skull and his limbs were sore beyond belief. Groaning in pain he let his eyes slip closed for a second, but by the time his brain caught up to realize what he'd done he had no energy left to re-open them.
Notes:
Yeah probs not gonna promise a specific uploading schedule. Life is busy, and promising anything will just leave both me and you disappointed. Anyways.
Thanks for reading!
Chapter 15: Kindling
Summary:
Aftermath of the fall!!!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Sho'ta's senses came back slowly. Too slow for his liking, but as long as they came back at all he would be able to manage. His limbs felt like lead and his thoughts were sluggish.
He couldn't be sure about how long he'd been out of it, but by the throbbing pain in his head it must have been awhile. Groaning, he attempted to prop himself up, before quickly discovering that moving his lower left arm shot a white hot jolt of pain through his nerves. He eventually managed to pull himself into a sitting position while cradling the injured limb to his chest as he looked around.
It was dark out, completely pitch black when looking deeper into the forest, the thick canopy blocked out any possible moonlight from reaching the floor. The gargantuan trees that surrounded them created their own hazy depth. But nothing could be seen beyond a few trunks. The darkness had completely enveloped this world.
However there was an orange glow a little ways away from him. Something had set up a fire. One that was crackling away.
It took him a few ticks of blearily watching the fire for it to hit him. The Terran ship. The fight. The fall. The Terran. Izuku.
He whipped his head around to search for the kit. Though his body felt sluggish and sore, he began to stand up, his arm screamed at him to not move but he had a job to do. Find the Terran. Check if it was okay. And return to Hi'z'shi.
His panic was quickly calmed once he noticed a pair of large green eyes watching his every move from across the fire. The boy watched with concern and actually matched Sho'ta’s rise, before quickly scurrying over.
Izuku muttered something before trying to pull Sho'ta back down. His five fingered paws grabbed onto his arms and tried to pull him back into a sitting position. As soon as Izuku touched the injured arm Sho'ta's body flinched. The stabbing pain increased ten-fold and he couldn't stop himself from an involuntary hiss.
Except with how physically and mentally exhausted he was, his normal discipline was weak. He roared in pain, right in the kit's face.
The kit turned as white as a sheet and stepped back. Sho'ta immediately was hit himself with guilt, a tick away from apologizing the kit beat him to it. Izuku gulped down his fear and spoke.
“I- Izuku help”
The boy then carefully placed his paws on Sho'ta's uninjured arm and again attempted to make Sho'ta sit down. He complied. But only because he felt guilty. He'd allow the kit to make him sit, and not just because his head had started spinning again.
Sho'ta was incredibly confused by what the kit was doing. Having a Terran this close normally was considered a death sentence, there is not a single record of an injured sentient being left alive when in the vicinity of such a race. But the boy gently made him sit down, there was no air of hunger or violence. Just concern as the kit looked him over, eyes landing on his injured arm. Izuku then pointed at it expectantly.
Confused and slightly dazed he slightly held out the limb for the boy to inspect. Sho'ta was fairly certain it was broken, snapped from the fall. But nothing poked out, so hopefully he could just bear out the pain.
Izuku ran a finger along the arm, noticing when Sho'ta winced at a specific spot. Immediately the boy stood up and moved to leave, Sho'ta grunted in confusion but Izuku held his hands up. Possibly indicating for him to stay.
Sho'ta wasn't any damned house pet. But his injury was now starting to hurt more and he didn't feel one hundred percent inclined to argue with the kit.
He watched as Izuku walked back to where he was sitting, the kit dug through a pile of sticks and bark. Perhaps collected to make their fire. He then pulled out two shorter yet thick branches, walking over and compared the length of the sticks to the injured arm. Watching curiously, he stayed silent as Izuku did his thing.
Izuku then caught Sho'ta's eyes, “ah?”. He pointed at his own neck. What was he asking for? Sho'ta let out a noise of confusion before Izuku got incredibly close to Sho'ta's personal space. Reaching across his body the boy went for something at his neck.
Sho'ta quickly swatted away the hand and let out a low hiss. While Izuku was certainly startled, he wasn't deterred. He once again reached across, and just before Sho'ta could push him off, Izuku seemed to have grabbed what he wanted.
Izuku was holding onto Sho'ta's capture weapon. And suddenly what the kit had been trying to ask made sense. Izuku stopped, as if waiting for permission to take the fabric.
His muscles itched to bat the boy away. But his mind supplied him with what Izuku had said. ‘Help’. When had he learned that word? Oh right, glancing down at the boys leg, he remembered wrapping it with his capture weapon. Was the kit attempting to do the same?
Giving a stiff nod, but not moving beyond that, Sho'ta allowed the kit to remove his scarf. After it was off his neck, the boy spared a moment to investigate the fabric. His eyes seemed to sparkle just looking at it, he quickly muttered out something in his native language. But Sho'ta couldn't even begin to comprehend what was so interesting. His arm felt like it was throbbing. Each time his heart beat he could feel the pressure in his arm.
Izuku then handed him a stick, holding it close to Sho'ta's jaw. “What do you want me to do with this?” Izuku didn't respond verbally. But mimed biting into the wood.
“Why would you want me to-” The stick was put into his mouth. And before he could react Izuku had grabbed his injured arm and forcefully (maybe not forcefully, Sho'ta was in pain and he could just have been over reacting) stuck it in between two of the sticks he'd brought over.
He yowled in pain and began swearing obscenities, but didn't pull his arm away, resorting to biting down on the stick that had been “given” to him. It splintered in his mouth but at the moment he didn't care. It helped take the attention away from his arm.
The kit worked efficiently, creating an effective splint to hold the break in place. He carefully, but firmly wrapped the arm, so that the two sticks would hold it in place. The capture weapon was used to bind it, while also adding pressure so that it couldn't easily shift.
Finishing up Izuku once again got close to Sho'ta personal bubble. He used the last length of the scarf to wrap around his neck and create a sling.
Finally the boy backed off, raising his hands in a placating manner. He then pointed one hand to himself. “H-help, Izuku help Sho'ta…” then pointed at Sho'ta's now wrapped arm.
After the initial pain of the wrapping, Sho'ta had sat painfully still. Watching the kits movements in fascination and interest. He wasn't pleased that he was being cared for by such a young creature, especially a Terran, but it was clear that the boy had practice. And that raised many red flags in his head. But by the time Izuku had finished, there was little room to doubt that the boy's work was good.
Shifting around his arm sat comfortably to his chest. Looking back up, Izuku had already made his way across the clearing to the other side of the fire. It had started going down but neither made a move to rekindle it.
Under the dying light of the fire Sho'ta clocked that the kit was also injured. The bruise on his face had darkened, and a his long sleeved shirt had a rip on one sleeve, there was a new gash on the kits arm, but it looked like the bleeding had long since stopped.
Both were beaten up and worn out. The fact that the kit was even awake had been a surprise. Sho'ta felt his eyes lulling closed once more. As he was giving in to his exhaustion he heard a sneeze. His eyes snapped open and locked with those of the kit. It was shivering. Either from cold or fear.
The kit quickly broke the contact and played with a hole in his pants.
All of his training had told him never to get near a Terran. Never let one close or you were sure to be dead. Who was he to not listen to his own lessons?
But this Terran, this kit, who has seemingly gone through his own hell. Risked his safety to help him. Even though he had terrified the young kit. Izuku helped him. Most of Sho'ta's instincts told him to ignore the kit. To sleep this days hell off and search for Hi'z'shi. But the shivers called to something deep within his soul.
Raising his right arms he chuffed to get the kit's attention. When he looked up, Sho'ta patted the ground next to him. “Come here.”
He almost winced at his own dry tone, clearly the kit looked skeptical at this proposal. His head cocked to the side, eyes squinted in thought.
Once again Sho'ta patted the ground, this time though, he let out a gentle purr. One that was used to calm kits. Izuku's eyes widened at this.
Slowly but surely, he hesitantly made his way over. His arms crossed his midsection in a defensive pose but he still approached. Carefully he crouched down and sat next to Sho'ta, who was still purring. But the kit still left much room between them.
Sighing, Sho'ta swung his arms over the kit and pulled him close. If the boy was cold, then it was only logical to stay close and share warmth. Hi'z'shi always told him how warm his fur could be anyways.
Izuku squeaked at the action and sat stiffly next to the Thrael. His face was oddly slightly red. But that could just be from the cold. Eventually, with the encouragement of the purring, he relaxed at Sho'ta's side. Resting his head on his side the boy's breathing slowed into a steady rhythm.
He finally fell asleep. Sho'ta noted that the shivering had subsided as well. Wrapping his tail around the boy he slightly repositioned to a more comfortable position and let himself fall asleep.
Notes:
Sorry for disappearing. I always wondered how other authors were able to not post the chapters for their stories but now I definitely get it. Life is busy and motivation comes and goes. But I do intend on continuing this! Especially since we can finally get to the good shit. Dadzawa.
He doesn't even know what he's in for.I wanted to thank all the kind commenters and book markers! It really does give me the motivation to post and I can't thank you enough for it.
This is probably one of my favorite chapters so I hope it was worth some sort of wait. Enjoy!
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