Chapter Text
Paws pounded the ground, barking and howling not far behind. Chimera panted as he sprinted away from the clan.
“CHIMERA!!!” A distorted voice called out.
“Shit shit shit shit.” Chimera panted as she shifted into a hawk to move quicker. Their hawk eyes locked onto a loading ship. One chance to escape, one chance to live. Poisonstand was a dangerous clan to be in ever since the drought washed over Iona-Alterra. Even the royals would kill their own clan members and eat them. Chimera dove into the closing doors of the ship, its wings clipping on the metal. Ze winced in pain as zer hid behind some boxes. Xe shifted into xer base form, xer tail wrapping around xer body. Ae held aer shoulder, the pain searing through aer body. “Fuck…” dey muttered, leaning deir head on the crate behind dem. Exhaustion and pain washed over vim as ve fell asleep.
“‘ey. Wake up.” A voice said, nudging Chimera’s leg.
Chimera was startled awake, accidentally hitting nys injured shoulder. “Ow, fuck. Huh?”
“Good. Ya ain’t dead. Y’know what ship ya on?”
“No. I just saw the ship while running from my clan and flew in.”
“Great… Well, you'll have to get off at the first stop. Can’t have stowaways on my ship, but since we’re already off the planet, I can’t just throw ya outside.”
Chimera nodded as he went silent for a moment. “Oh, uh… Do you have anything that could help my shoulder? I clipped my wing on the way in and my shoulder is now killing me.”
The pilot nodded and left the shapeshifter alone for a moment. They came back and handed Chimera a shoulder brace and some pain medication, which she immediately took, putting the brace on while swallowing one of the pills. The pilot left before Chimera could thank them, so they just shrugged and drifted back to sleep.
~~~
“‘Ey, shapeshifta, we’ve landed. Time to go.” The pilot nudged Chimera’s leg again hours later.
Chimera got up and walked off the ship with the shoulder brace still on. It looked around and spotting some native creatures. Chimera shifted into one to blend in while exploring the world. Just get to a town and hide out there. No one should find me for a while. Ze thought to zemself as ze ran through the forest. When Chimera found a village, xe hid amongst the villagers immediately. Ae helped out around the village after a few weeks, mainly focused on mechanical things since ae knew more about technology than the rest of the village. Dey were a highly trusted individual amongst the village for months. All until they attacked. The Makara Astralis... Chimera shifted into a bird and, like a coward, flew away and hid in the cargo bay of the Makara Astralis' ship. Ve made sure to make vimself as hidden as ve could, becoming the size of a tiny ant and holding onto the furthest wall from the entrance.
Shapeshifters and the Makara Astralis never got along, and Chimera didn’t want to risk losing a fight against one. Not when ne just got out of nys home planet. Not when he was finally free.
After a while, the ship rumbled to life. Chimera was a stowaway again. And just when she thought that she would never be a stowaway ever again. It felt like months went by before the ship landed on the planet of Delnara. Chimera crawled out and saw the grand Makara Astralis base. They crawled down to the ground before shifting into a canine and running off. Chimera’s claws on the hard, stone ground didn’t feel good, but ze had to keep running. While the base was very high-tech, the surrounding area was full of healthy trees. Which those trees helped hide Chimera a lot easier. After an hour of running, Chimera found a new village. This one was full of diversity, which made it easier to hide in with aer main form. Back to being a mechanic…
The village helped Chimera make a mechanic shop called "Shifting Gears," which Chimera both liked and hated, but eh. Why not risk it for the cool name.
~~~
Almost a year later, a new ship came in. Really busted up and damaged. Barely fixable by a normal mechanic. So the Grand Celestial sent out his guards to find the best mechanic on the planet. Unluckily for Chimera, the Celestial Guards went to deir village first. Chimera was focused on repairing something in the back when the guards entered vis shop, causing the bell to ring and notify vim. Chimera walked to the front and locked eyes with the guards. Anxiety spiked in nys chest, so ne took a deep breath and greeted them, “How may I help you, guards?”
“We are looking for a mechanic for The Golden Spear’s ship. The villagers spoke greatly of your shop’s name and ushered us here.”
“That’s the ship that just came in like 4 hours ago, right?”
“Correct.”
“Th-... Heh, I’m not a miracle worker. That looked… close to impossible to fix. I can certainly try, but I can’t promise anything.”
The guards nodded and motioned for Chimera to follow them. Eyes fell onto the group as he walked beside the guards. Most were curious, but some were scared. The ones who were scared were the ones that know Chimera was a shapeshifter and knew the dangers of a shapeshifter being around a Makara Astralis.
After more than an hour of walking, the group made it back. The guards led Chimera straight to the Grand Celestial. The Golden Spear was talking to his father before they interrupted. “Apologies for the interruption, sir, but we found a mechanic that was willing to try and fix the ship.” one of the guards apologized, bowing his head to the royals.
The Golden Spear turned to look at the group of 3, locking eyes with Chimera almost immediately, causing Chimera’s heart to race. “That child?” His distorted voice cutting through Chimera’s anxiety-filled mind.
“No offense, but ouch. Just because I’m short does not mean I’m a child. I’m just a short adult.”
“Alright then. That twink?”
“Tha-... You’re not wrong, but that’s just worse.” Chimera’s tail flicked behind her. The Grand Celestial stood up, silencing them both as he walked closer to Chimera.
His voice, deep and somewhat unsettling, asked, “What is your name, child?”
Chimera knew not to correct him. Chimera is too common amongst shapeshifters, he might know exactly what I am if I tell him. “Uh.. Syn. S-Y-N.”
“Where have you come from, Syn?”
Euphoria flooded their body. I guess that’s my name from now on… “I left my home planet after my parents died and came here a while ago. I set up a shop about 8 months back in the closest village south of here.” I hate lying to such a powerful force, but it's for my safety. Don't need to die out here.
“So did you drop your family name?”
“Yes sir. There wasn’t anything special for me to uphold. Only child on a small farm. Nothing to keep alive.”Lie after lie, I feel sick… I can’t tell the complete truth though ugh.
“That is such a shame. How long have you been a mechanic?”
“Hm… About 5 years in total… this planet’s time at least.”
The Grand Celestial looked at the guards, a bit disappointed with the low experienced mechanic, “This was really the best mechanic you could find?” he asked in a separate language, too bad Syn knew that language also. The guards silently nodded.
His son stepped forward, his distorted voice cutting through the tension his father created, still speaking in this other language Syn did not have a name for (more like the author can't think of a name) “If I may, father. Syn might be our only option here. And you still need me to find the Moonfallen. Perhaps you should give them a chance.”
Syn butted in, "I know I'm not that experienced in years, but I've worked on many planets with different types of technology. And I am pretty strong, even without looking the part."
The Grand Celestial glanced at his son, subtly confused on how Syn knew what they were talking about. “Perhaps I will then." He agreed in the common language. "How soon do you think you could at least fix the exterior and important interior parts of the ship, Syn?”
Syn walked out to the balcony to examine the ship from a distance. “Depends on how hard the metal is to work with. Exterior could take anywhere from 3 weeks to 8 months. Even if it’s a difficult metal, I will try my best to work as fast as possible.”
“If you were to fix the exterior in that time, would you be able to fix the unimportant interior while the ship is in motion?”
“Is the engine busted?”
“Only minor damages.” The Golden Spear answered.
“Well, no matter how minor the damage might be, it's better to be safe than dead. So, once the engine is fixed up, then yes, I would be able to.”
The Grand Celestial sat back on his throne, “It is settled then. You will be the new mechanic on my son’s ship, and you will stay that way until the ship is completely repaired, understood?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Now get to work. You have a lot of work to do.”
Syn nodded before being guided to the damaged ship by the Celestial Guards. Its heart was starting to calm down. Ze didn’t know why zer heart was racing. Was it anxiety? Was it fear? Eh, not the mission right now. The mission was to fix the… giant… space ship… Great. He didn't even ask about prices... Fuck my life, I'm not gonna get paid. Syn internally complained.
First, the engine. That was going to be the best thing to start with for safety reasons. It only took 36 hours to complete. Then, the exterior. Syn stood back mentally planning how xe wanted to go about this. “Stars… this’ll take a bit…” Syn sighed, as ae started at the bottom. Syn worked for 4 days straight before one night, the one and only, normally heartless, Golden Spear came out of the base.
“Have you even slept at all these past 6 days?”
Syn didn’t even look at him, dey were too focused on the ship. Or so ve thought. “Don’t need to. My race can go months without sleep.”
The warlord nodded. “Mhm… And hitting a bit of metal with your tools to place it when it is already welded on is normal for your process?”
“Huh?” ne stepped back for a second. “What the fuck… I-I’m not tired. I-I was just-”
“Just going to rest. And that is an order. I would like my ship to be put back together properly, and you cannot do that when you are sleep deprived and about to lose consciousness.”
“But my shop is so far away and I don’t wanna walk there if I’m tired.” Syn huffed, leaning on the desk he was using to help work with the smaller parts of the exterior.
“You can use one of my sibling’s rooms since it’s so far from here.”
“You have siblings?”
“Yes, but now is not the time to talk about them. Now is when you get off the ship and go rest.”
Syn groaned as she hopped down from the ship. “Fine…”
The blue bitch motioned for Syn to follow him, leading them to the Moonfallen’s old room. “This is one of my sister’s rooms. Rest. Then you can get back to the ship after you wake.”
“Mhm…” Syn muttered as it walked into the room, flopping onto the Moonfallen’s bed and almost immediately falling asleep. The warlord quietly chuckled as he left. That entire interaction reminded him of his younger siblings.
~~~
Syn slept for almost a full day before finally waking up. “Wh- how… where?.. Oh yeah…” Ze got up and walked to the ship. When xe got down there, xe saw a few of The Golden Spear’s younger soldiers working on the ship. It wasn’t too much more than what Syn had already done, but there was still progress.
“The mechanic’s awake! How do you work so fast on this?” One of the soldiers said as they got off the ship.
“Oh, uh… just experience.” Syn answered. Lies again... It was because ae gave aerself more arms to work with when people weren’t looking. “Thanks for the bit of help. I would’ve been out sooner, but I guess I really needed some rest.”
“Of course! The commander informed us about the situation. He was very adamant on us getting even just a bit of progress to somewhat help you out. Don’t know why…” Another soldier said as they started walking away.
“That’s nice of him. Anyway, thanks again!” Syn shouted as dey got onto the ship. “Now to make some actual progress.” Syn got to work quickly.
Finally, after a month of work, the ship’s exterior was finished right as the sun set on the day. Ve had only taken breaks when the commander ordered vim to. Ne was exhausted, but ne was done. He walked to the Grand Celestial by himself. “Ship's exterior is done.” Syn announced. “Should be safe enough to fly.”
The Golden Spear looked over at her. “Should be?”
“Yes, should be. I might have missed something, but I doubt it. I triple checked the entire ship before coming over here.”
The Grand celestial stood up and walked over to the shapeshifter. “Good. You shall leave at sunrise. Get some rest, you still have a lot of work ahead of you.” He commanded. “You as well, my son.”
The prince nodded and led Syn out. “You know, I don’t even know your name. All I hear is ‘commander’ or ‘Golden Spear’ or ‘son.’ Like ‘Golden Spear's is badass, but I know for a fact that’s not your name.” Syn curiously stated.
“And what if it was?”
“Golden Spear? Heh. You’re funny. I know that’s just your title. So what is it? Is it something boring like… Reed or something?”
“Reed? What kind of name is that?”
“I don't know. I just heard it in one of the villages I lived in. I had a friend named Chessie. Well, Chessire, but they liked being called Chessie.”
“My name is…” the warlord paused, “Classified.”
“Oh my stars… That’s such a shitty name. That’s worse than Reed.” Syn joked as they arrived to their separate rooms. “Alright, g’night, Classified.” Syn giggled as it went into its temporary room. Ze could hear the tall man somewhat chuckle behind the door, so ze opened the door again, “Oh my stars , did I make you laugh? Did I make The Golden Spear laugh?!”
He shook his head, “Nope. You didn’t hear anything.” He muttered, his voice revealing his lies. He closed his door behind him, leaving Syn alone. Syn closed xer door and threw xemself onto the bed, falling asleep.
—------
Darkness wrapped around Syn. Ae tried to call out for someone, anyone, but no sound came out.
“How did you handle that ungrateful girl for so long? I’m shocked you didn’t kill her sooner.” Mother Poisonstand laughed menacingly.
Mother? Syn thought.
“It was difficult. Dealing with that lying shifter.” The Golden Spear spat. The way he said ”shifter” sounded like he was saying a slur. It wasn’t a slur, but that tone of voice made it feel that way.
The Grand Celestial's voice cut in, “I would've killed her sooner, I just needed her to fix my son’s ship.”
No. I’m not dead. I can't be dead. I’m right here! Syn started to panic as dey felt someone shake dem, waking dem up. Vis scleras faded from black to white when vis eyes shot open.
“Apologies." The Golden Spear bowed. "It is time to go.” He definitely saw nys eyes shift, but he didn’t mention it. Which... could be a good sign. Could be a bad one too though.
“O-Oh, uh, yeah… I-I’ll be out in a minute… Gotta wake up…” Syn muttered, leaning his head into his hands.
The commander started walking out but paused at the threshold. He sighed and turned back around, “Are you alright?”
“Huh?”
“Are you alright? You look… Vacant. Like you are not in your own body.”
“I’m fine… just a weird... nightmare.” Syn stood up and opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but closed it before she said anything. It's useless to talk to him about it. He wouldn't care. The warlord slightly nodded before leaving Syn with their own thoughts. It took a moment to collect itself. Ze left zer room, still a bit out of it, but better. Xe bumped into the warlord the moment xe stepped out. “Oh, shit, sorry.” Ae apologized.
“No worries, it was my fault. I stayed in front of the door. I wanted to wait for you so you wouldn't get lost finding the proper entrance to my ship. This base is a maze to get through if you don't know that way.” he explained, motioning for Syn to follow him through the base. The winding paths to the ship caused Syn to retreat to deir mind. None of that nightmare felt right. Nothing felt right at the moment. And it felt like The Golden Spear felt Syn's mood shift because he paused in the middle of the hallway. No wait. That wasn't it. Syn finally came back into the present and heard the commotion.
“What's happening?”
“I have no cl-” He was interrupted by an explosion close by “shit… we gotta either get to the ship or hide.”
Syn used the vibration of the explosion, figuring out where it came from, “No use. We'd be walking through fire getting to the shi- woah!” The masked man drug Syn into a room, ushering nym into a corner from the door and using himself as the shield.
“Just use that.. hearing of yours to alert me if they're getting close, alright?”
Syn nodded, keeping a hand on the wall to feel the vibrations better. Barely 2 minutes went by before another, closer explosion occurred. Syn covered his ears, his breathing speeding up. She was trying to stay calm, but the noise was not helping… the memories weren't helping.
~~Neptune's POV~~
Neptune really wanted to help Syn calm down. He knew how, he's done it many times with his sisters, but his focus was keeping them both safe. He didn't care if any soldiers died, he didn’t even care if his father got killed. All he cared about was himself and this mechanic behind him. He sighed, knowing that he had to do something about Syn's breathing at least. “If you think it'll help… you can hold onto me. But only-” he was interrupted by Syn wrapping their arms around his waist. It wasn't exactly what he meant, but if that's what would help them the best, then he wasn't going to push them off. More commotion got closer to their area. Gunshots and screams were just getting louder. Each sudden, loud sound, Neptune felt Syn jump and hug him tighter. He calmed his own mind enough to pull up his teleporter. He typed in the coordinates of his ship's control room and got the two of them out. He can always order more soldiers to come to his ship later, he just needed to get them out of there. The ship's engines roared to life as they left the port. Once they left Delnara's atmosphere, Neptune sent out a call for soldiers to come to his ship as soon as they could since he saw there were only 4 total soldiers on his ship.
He turned to Syn, who was still holding onto him like a lifeline. He gently tilted their chin up and tried comforting them the best he could. “You're safe. We aren't on the planet anymore.” God he hated how distorted his voice was with the mask. It wasn't as smooth sounding as he wished it was at the moment.
Syn shook their head. “They… those… the attackers… They were a part of my clan. I know they were…” their eyes widened in realization, “they knew I was there… they had to…”
Neptune blinked. “Your clan? How could you be so sure?”
“Their… vibe I guess. The sound of the guns, the way they were attacking… either those attackers are stupid and not good at planning an attack, or that was my old clan trying to confuse the soldiers.. Maybe to kill me, maybe to get me back, maybe just to attack you and your clan…” Syn explained. Their breathing was certainly calming down. They were still shaken up, still pretty panicked, but they were calming down.
“Let's… let's find you a room. You can stay there and calm down. I can leave you alone if-”
“No! No… don't… don't leave me alone… not right now… I-I don't trust myself in this state…”
Neptune's gaze fell onto their eyes, their scleras faded from white to black. That must mean they're in major distress. I saw the same thing this morning. He theorized
~~Syn's POV~~
Syn was losing his focus. She couldn't hold up her disguise in this state. They could’ve gotten killed, or worse, taken back to their mother. The Golden Spear led it to the room next to his and sat it down on the bed. “I will stay right here then. I… I will just keep track of the situation of the planet.” The warlord looked down at his cuff's screen to keep watch before Syn could nonverbally acknowledge his word. Ze could feel every bone in zer body, every blood cell flowing through zer veins. Xe felt xer chest tighten, xer head felt like it was spinning at a million miles an hour and not slowing down, and xer voice felt like it had been ripped out. Every light felt like it was burning aer eyes, every sound felt like they were bass boosted and at full volume. Deir skin felt too tight, deir clothes felt itchy even if the material dey used to make them was the softest dey could find. Vis hands over vis ears weren't even helping with the sound, vis eyes being shut tight wasn't helping with the lights, and ve couldn't shift into a different, more sensory safe form. Not here, not with him here.
~~Neptune's POV~~
Neptune took of his cuff, turning it off in the process. He noticed Syn spiraling. Juni and Ve used to act like this when they were overwhelmed… I can't believe I'm about to help my mechanic. He took his chest and shoulder plates off, got off the floor, and turned off the lights. He knew that his armor wasn't going to be helpful or comforting. He hugged Syn tightly, tricking their brain to calm down with the pressure. He guarded their ears with his arms as he steadied his breathing, trying to trick Syn into doing the same. Syn's arms snaked around Neptune's waist, holding onto him as tight as their now weak body would let them. It took a long, 30 minutes for them to calm down. Their grip was loosening which gave Neptune the ability to crouch down. He looked up into their eyes as he spoke, “I know I am your commander, so I really should not be helping, but something was screaming at me that I could not ignore.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “Are you alright? Physically, emotionally, and mentally right now.”
Syn nodded. “Y-yeah. I'm.. I'm fine. No injuries… emotions are everywhere, but they're settling. My mind is still racing but… I think it's always racing… so…”
Neptune chuckled, “yeah that's fair.” He paused for a moment, soaking in the awkward but peaceful moment. “I hope I did not make you uncomfortable. Two of my sisters have had sensory overloads like that and that's just how I was taught to handle them.”
“No, no! That was very helpful, you- you didn’t make me uncomfortable. I would've just gotten worse if you hadn't done anything. I-I'm sorry you even had to deal with me like that in the first place. Someone like you shouldn't have to deal with a low-ranked worker's issues.”
“You have a very important role on this ship, so you are certainly not low-ranked. I would go as far as saying you are higher-ranked than the captain of my soldiers. A mechanic as skilled you is important.” Neptune exclaimed.
Syn looked shocked. “Me? Ranked higher than a captain? Are you joking?”
“Why would I joke about that?”
“I don't know. I just feel like a mechanic is even lower than cadets. They may be important, but they don't even protect anything...”
Neptune held his head in his hands It isn't getting through to them.. how can I...“Syn. You fixed this ship in a month all by yourself. That is both impressive and speedy. Record timing. And your hearing is amazing. You could tell where those attackers were and even who they might be! That is not something you can just teach a soldier, that's natural talent. Because of your timing, we were able to leave when we did. Mechanics like you are certainly more important than soldiers. You are the reason the ship doesn’t explode and suck everyone out in the void of space.”
~~Syn's POV~~
Syn glanced up at the Golden Spear, covering his face to hide the blush that was creeping onto his face. She was important for once. And the person who was making them feel that way was a Makara Astralis! A shapeshifter's enemy! This past week has been… eventful. Strange even. Syn calmed its face before looking up, “I guess when you put it like that, we mechanics are that important…”
"You have to stop talking down to yourself. the warlord shook his head.
Syn's mind had stopped. He was right... The two of them were practically alone on this ship and the silence was deafening. Ze had to focus on working so ze wouldn't mess up this trust they had. “Uh… since I'm feeling better, I'll go and start setting up a workshop a few floors down and repair some shit around the ship since I'm feeling better.”
“Stay safe and do not overwork yourself. Alert me if there is an emergency.” The warlord muttered as Syn left the room.
Oh fuck… oh shit... We're alone. Fuck my heart's racing. Gods he's so... Syn's mind rambled on and on, xer heart thumping hard in xer chest. As soon as ae were out of sight from anyone, ae shifted into a small bird and hid in the vents. Dey needed to think through a lot before interacting with the Golden Spear again. Time to ignore what he said and work until my arms fall off...