Chapter Text
Lloyd thought that the Merlopians would stop with the human. He was very wrong.
Three sleep protocol rotations after they dropped off the human, the ship stuttered to a stop. Lloyd assumed it had landed somewhere, but without any windows he couldn’t be sure. They were stopped for a while and Lloyd had the sudden realization that they were raiding again. Another sleep rotation went by before his suspicions were confirmed. The two Merlopian guards who had brought in the human returned, preceded by the whir of machinery as the ship lurched into movement again. They were dragging a Qildan behind them, bound in chains and muzzled. From the little bit of the Qildan’s face Lloyd could see, there seemed to be two curvy yellow stripes under the eyes – the unique face markings of a female. Her left arm and tail were both missing. Judging by her size, she was probably still a kit, or close to it.
Surprisingly, the Merlopians passed by Lloyd’s cell. Through the glass wall, he watched them drag the Qildan into the cell next to his. Lloyd noticed that her eyes were open and very aware, but there were metal shackles surrounding the entirety of her remaining paws, making her claws useless. One Merlopian leveled his spear at the Qildan’s face while the other undid the chains around her waist and chest. As soon as she was able, she scrambled back into a corner, slipping on the shackles around her feet, and tried to remove the muzzle on her face. Without her claws, though, it was useless.
The Merlopians laughed as they backed out of the cell. One of them waved condescendingly at Lloyd as they passed. “I’m going to kill you first.” Lloyd promised, smiling menacingly at them.
They closed the prison bay doors behind them, ignoring him completely. The ship lurched as the Merlopians jumped through a phase gate and hit lightspeed.
Lloyd glanced at the human. It was still unconscious, so Lloyd turned his attention to the Qildan cowering in the corner of the cell next to him. “Hello,” he started gently, lowering himself to the floor beside the glass wall. He smiled, trying to make it less toothy and aggressive looking. The Qildan stared at him, the shackle of her top paw resting on the side of the muzzle. It looked like she was trying to hook the lip of the shackle under the muzzle strap. Smart. “My name is Lloyd. I know you can’t talk right now, but is there any way to tell me your name?”
The Qildan shook her head slowly. Relief shot through Lloyd’s chest – he wasn’t sure how she managed to get the Oni language into her communicator’s database, but he wasn’t going to question it. “Okay, that’s okay. Well, I’m an Oni.” The Qildan’s face almost comically dropped, eyes going wide as plates. “No, it’s okay, don’t panic! We aren’t actually that mean anymore. Not after the Overlord and this whole crystal thing– anyway. The point is, I have people looking for me, and they’re super smart, so we’ll be out of here in no time.” The Qildan’s face did a complicated shift of emotions before settling on something a little bit too close to grief for Lloyd’s comfort.
Lloyd grimaced as he realized why she might be grieving. Qildans were just as fiercely protective of their young as Onis were, if not more. For the Merlopians to manage to capture a Qildan, one who still looks like a baby….. Either she was alone like Lloyd was or her parents are dead. Both options are horrible.
Suddenly, the Qildan whimpered. Lloyd half-raised to his feet in alarm and then noticed that the Qildan was looking behind him. Slowly, he turned his head.
The human was awake.
A mantra of what the fuck was repeating over and over in Arin’s head as he stared at the creature across from him. It was large, with inky black skin dotted with specks of gold. Four arms protruded from its sides, ending in wickedly sharp claws. Two horns curved up around white hair, tipped with gold. The alien was staring at Arin with glowing green eyes. Arin was beginning to realize he was in a very dangerous situation. He was flat on the floor of this…cell, and the creature had a very natural advantage over him – both in terms of it being on its feet and its claws. The thing clicked cautiously, and Arin’s communicator started to hiss in his ear, the tell-tale sound of it struggling to translate. He knew it wasn’t going to work – he’d never seen this thing before, there was no way its language was in the translation database.
First things first – get off the floor.
Arin sprang to his feet and scrambled backwards until he was in the corner as far as he could get from the thing. The creature surprisingly made no move to follow, remaining half-raised to its feet. It clicked some more and its face shifted. Arin was mildly surprised to see that he could actually read the facial expressions – wariness and concern chased themselves across the creature’s face.
“I can’t understand you,” Arin said shakily. The creature’s pointy ears perked up, like a dog who’s attention just got grabbed. It started clicking faster, rising all the way to its feet. Holy shit , Arin thought, ice flooding his veins. The creature was so tall it had to bend over, and its horns were still scraping the ceiling.
Arin whimpered, shoving himself into his corner. The creature froze. It looked over its shoulder into the other cell, trilling quietly. Just over its shoulder, Arin could see an alien that looked incredibly similar to the tigers back home, curled in the corner of the other cell. The tiger shrugged – a shockingly human movement – golden eyes flickering back and forth between them. The unfamiliar creature looked back at Arin and then did something very familiar. It spread its hands to its sides and sat back on its feet – the universal symbol for I’m not a danger .
Arin wasn’t about to push his luck with something that looked like a demon. He slid down the wall, pulling his legs in to protect his stomach. He didn’t allow himself to look away, cataloging every movement the alien made. To the thing’s credit, the only time it moved was to settle a little more firmly on the floor of the cell. Arin watched with bated breath as it settled its hands on its knees and shut its eyes, blocking the green glow that had been lighting up the cell.
Arin let his breath out, controlling the speed so he didn’t surprise the thing in the cell with him. The thing didn’t move as he breathed, and barely looked to be breathing itself. It stayed unnervingly still and quiet. The tiger in the other cell hadn’t moved either, but it was looking at him in unabashed curiosity.
Arin knew he was out of place in the intergalactic sphere of influence. Humans were new to the cosmic scene, and they had been scared off pretty quickly because of the technological advancements and other natural advantages that alien species had. But clearly, the aliens were not as invulnerable as humanity had been thinking, and humans were maybe a lot stronger. Arin could still remember the way that Merlopians face had caved under his fist.
It was definitely an interesting thought, but one that he pushed to the back of his mind. He could dwell on that later, when he was in a safer space. For now, Arin settled in for a long night of keeping watch.
He was determined not to die in this jail cell. He wasn’t sure how he was going to keep himself alive, but for now determination would be enough.
Lloyd could tell the second the ship entered Primerak’s atmosphere. He could feel it in his chest, where most of his magic was coalesced. He could feel it in the way he could breathe a little easier. And he could see it in the way the Qildan in the other cell tensed. It was pretty common for aliens who weren’t deathworlders to be tense on a deathworld – it really said something about the human, that it didn’t seem all that bothered. At least, it didn’t seem more bothered than it already was. Anyway, point is, the Merlopians were back on Primerak, which Lloyd had to admit was a pretty stupid idea. Garmadon was absolutely on the lookout for them. They pretty much just signed their own death warrant.
“It’s okay,” Lloyd whispered to the Qildan. She was shaking, pupils blown wide. “I promise, nobody on this planet will hurt you while I’m here. I won’t let them.” Lloyd could tell that the Qildan was losing her hope quickly. She’d stayed curled in the corner since the Merlopians put her there, over ten sleep cycles ago. The muzzle was still tied tight to her face and Lloyd could tell that the totally encompassing manacles were really starting to bother her. She’d taken to rubbing the edges of the chains against her face and chest – patches of her fur were missing.
The Qildan shook her head, and her pupils shrunk just a little. She jutted her chin in Lloyd’s direction, so he turned and looked over his shoulder. The human was still curled in the corner, its head on its knees. This was the first time since it’d first seen Lloyd that it let down its guard at all. It seemed a little less afraid now, more relaxed in Lloyd’s presence and had taken to alternating between watching Lloyd and watching the hallway outside of their cell. The Merlopians stayed out of the prison bay most of the time, but every once in a while one would come down to look at them like they were creatures on display. The human would wrinkle its nose at them in response, baring its teeth in a snarl that Lloyd often made himself.
It was nice to see the human be a little more aggressive to something that wasn’t Lloyd.
While it seemed more comfortable with Lloyd, it had still stayed pretty resolutely tucked away in the corner. Lloyd couldn’t really blame it – humans were new to intergalactic space. It probably hadn’t seen anything like him before.
The ship rocked softly as they finally breached the lowest part of Primerak’s atmosphere, and the human’s head shot up from its knees. Lloyd stayed on the ground, trying not to overwhelm it anymore than he already had. The human looked towards him first, and he waved softly at it.
Before the human could even react, the prison doors shot open. The two Merlopian guards came waltzing in, unarmed and cocky. “Hello, hello, hello!” One called cheerfully, grinning at Lloyd. “We’re back in Primerak. Maybe we can catch some more deathworlders. Enough of your magical energy could fuel the ship for millions of lightyears of travel.”
Lloyd rolled his eyes. “I’m so excited for my parade to get their hands on you,” he snarled, baring his teeth at them. “You don’t have any idea what pain feels like until they’ve warped your bones to the point where they don’t fit in your body anymore.”
The Qildan made a chuffing sound that Lloyd guessed was laughing and the Merlopians' faces warped into anger. One slammed the wall of her cage and the other opened up the door to Lloyd’s. “You better watch your mouth, Oni,” he hissed, ducking into the cell. “I’m not afraid of you or your people, and I’m not afraid to get a little aggressive.” There was a clattering from the corner, and Lloyd and the Merlopian turned to look. The human had risen to its feet so quickly that the tiny bed beside it had slid a couple feet, slamming against the wall. It was watching the two of them intently. “Sit back down,” the Merlopian snarled, turning on the human. He advanced a few steps, and the human faltered, rocking back on its feet with a strange sound like a mix between a whimper and a whine.
The human chattered angrily, pointing at the Merlopian. He gargled angrily in response, advancing another step. The human backed off, nearly knocking its head against the wall in its haste to get away.
Lloyd grinned sharply, overcome by anger and protectiveness. “You’ve just made your last mistake, buddy,” he snarled. “Your first was coming in here with no weapon.” In the blink of an eye, Lloyd was across the cell, two hands around the Merlopian's throat. With his bottom arms, he grabbed the Merlopain’s hands and twisted them sharply. The Merlopian let out a mangled scream, and Lloyd threw him out of the cell.
Lloyd risked a glance at the human. It was looking at him with an expression he couldn’t decipher. It wasn’t really fear, but it was still closed off, so Lloyd turned away. He stalked out of the cell, straightening to his full height until he was towering over the two Merlopians. “Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said softly, cocking his head. “You’re going to unlock her cell and remove her bindings, and we are going to leave. And if you set off that alarm, I’ll make sure the entire might of Primerak is rained down on your measly little crew. Are we clear?”
The Merlopian who still had his hands nodded. “Very good.” Lloyd smiled sharply at the Merlopian slouched against the wall. While they worked on releasing the Qildan, Lloyd turned back to the human, trying to soften his face. “Come on out, buddy. We’re getting out of here.” He waved his hand, which the human seemed to understand. It stepped hesitantly out of the cell, eyes glancing between Lloyd and the Melopian on the floor. Its face hardened and it kicked the Merlopian hard in the chest.
Lloyd ignored the fact that it did far more damage than it should’ve.
The human stopped a couple feet from Lloyd, watching the other Merlopian unlock the Qildan’s cell. He unlocked the hand shackles and the muzzle, and the Qildan moved so quickly Lloyd almost missed it. She lunged forward, snapping at the Merlopian. He stumbled back in surprise, tripping over his webbed feet and landing hard on the cell floor. The Qildan snarled – Lloyd had a feeling she was calling the Merlopian a few choice words – and then snatched his keys. She stepped out of the cell, pulling it shut and locking it behind her.
“Alright then!” Lloyd said cheerfully. “Let’s get out of here.”