“...”

“What is that?”

‘This creature keeps getting weirder by the second.’ Snatcher pointed to the approaching bot.

She huffed and patted the frightened little bot. "It's a robot. Its function is to be a vacuum cleaner. But judging from its characteristics, it also serves as a sort of pet." She pointed out the little eyes and how it beeps like in a language.

“A pet robot? Weird..” He commented floating towards where his treehouse was.

"It sounds weird but when you've seen as much shit as I have, you learn to live with it." She said as she wobbled behind him till they reached a giant hollowed out tree. She gazed in wonder as she saw the golden warm glow coming from the home. It looked so homey and fantastic looking.

“Don’t stand and gawk, even I have style.” Snatcher mused to the woman.

She blinked and blushed a little bit. She hobbled up the giant tree roots and promptly fell to the floor. The adrenaline was wearing off so the literal pain in her side was coming back tenfold. She looked at the injury and cringed at the sight. It was a bloody mess. She wanted to use her own magical abilities to heal it, but she didn't know what the Spector would do if he found out. She laid her backpack down and activated the pods' hovering feature. With a press of a hidden button, the little pod hovered in place.

Snatcher frowned. ‘How had I not noticed that she was wounded?’ He was about to go help her out before the pod did its “floaty thing” as he thought to call it. It made him all the more curious. “What else can that thing do?”

"... It's a safety pod. It helps protect and provides for those who need to escape or seek protection from enemies. It also provides one to sleep in it in cryo sleep if necessary. Only those who have permission by the person in the pod or those in charge of that person are allowed to keep or take it with them while the person is sleeping. The hovering feature is just something that allows other people to easily carry with them. Seeing as how the larger ones are pretty heavy." She raised a brow at him in question. "Are you going to tell me where your medical kit is? Or do I have to find it myself?"

“Right. No. You are going to relax so you don’t lose more blood and I’ll fix up your wound. You’ve got someone in that pod, correct?” At least, that’s what he presumed from her explanation.

She looked uneasy. Should she tell him? Snatcher seemed to sense her apprehension and her tense and guarded look on her face.

“Agh. Never mind, your appearance says it all.” He picked her up and propped her on his chair before going off to get something. Soon he returned with a vial in hand. “Drink this… I promise it's not poison.”

She gently grabbed it and popped the cork off it. She gave it a sniff and seemed to slightly gag at it. She channeled a brief bit of magic to her eyes and took a peek at the contents. Her sight showed that she didn't recognize any of the ingredients in it. But her senses told her that it wasn't poison. So with hesitance, she gulped it all in one go. She nearly threw up at the taste but held it in as she coughed a few times. "P-potent…"

“The more potent the potion, the stronger the effects. It should be healed by tomorrow now.” Snatcher replied simply.

She coughed a few more times before she was able to clear her throat. Then, as she was about to ask something, the pod beeped little alerts and there were quiet little thumps against the inside of the pod.

Snatcher blinked. “Your little creature wants out.” He put the pod next to her, assuming she didn’t really want him touching it too much.

"..."

She chuckled as she processed his comment. She removed the lid and saw the crying toddler, who wanted to run around and cause havoc.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh…. It's okay Hattie… we're safe… for now." The woman cooed softly as she took out the small girl from out of the pod and began to rub soothing circles on her back. The child began to calm down, but she kept whimpering.

Snatcher watched quietly. ‘How long has it been since there was a kid here of all places? Is she the mother?’ That thought brought a strange sense of hurt to him that he didn’t understand. He shook it off quickly. “Is she hungry? I’m hungry.”

She smirked. "Well you're not the one crying your little heart out because you have no idea on what to eat. Or how to do it." She quipped.

Snatcher narrowed his eyes a bit in irritation and was about to say something but someone beat him to it.

"Mmmmmm!!!! Widia!!! Hwungwy!!!! It hurt!!!" The child known as Hattie complained.

The woman smiled. "I know. Hold on, let me get your food." She gestured for Snatcher to hand her her bag.

“...”

Snatcher sighed and retrieved the bag. ‘I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?’

He sent the bag next to her. She reached down and opened it up to reveal a black emptiness of an abyss. She reached in till her entire arm seemed to be engulfed by the bag. "Now where is…. AH-HA!!! THERE YOU ARE!" She pulled out a purple jar and put it on the small table that was in front of her. She then continued her search in the bag till she found a bottle of milk, a spoon and a small bowl.

She put the child down carefully on the floor while she opened and poured the purple and fruity smelling goop into the bowl and screwed the lid back on. She turned to Hattie and smiled amusingly at the happy clapping of the hungry toddler.

"Okay Hattie, despite our situation, our little routine still stands. What's my name~?"

"Widia! Widia!! Widia!!!" She cheered with her hands thrown up in the air in excitement.

The woman chuckled. "And what's your name?"

"Hairwiet Tymmarck!!!" She replied boldly and filled with pride as she beat her little chest like a tiny gorilla.

The woman rolled her eyes in amusement. "And how old are you today?"

The toddler seemed to blink owlishly until she counted on her small fingers. "I'm thwee!!!" She cheered happily as she seemed to figure it out.

"I'll have to remind myself to have you rewatch those math videos…" the woman mumbled. "Alright! Ready?"

Hattie nodded wildly and already opened her mouth for the food. The woman chuckled. "Here comes the spaceship~" she made little engine noises with the spoon filled with the baby food and gently stuck it in the toddler's mouth.

The toddler in turn hummed in happiness. "Ah, ah, ah!!!" The toddler cooed as she wanted more. The woman laughed and continued to feed her till she was full.  

Snatcher had gotten himself something to eat, after their little teaching session. “So… Widia I assume is Lydia and Hairwiet must mean Harriet. Pleasure.”

Lydia raised an amused brow at the ghost. "Yes, you are correct. My name is Lydia Starlight and this little one is Harriet Timmark. Also known as Hattie. Hattie say hello."

The small child finally paid attention from messing with her hair to finally paying attention to the Spector. Snatcher at first thought she was going to cry in fright. But that was further from the truth.

She beamed up at him with child-like curiosity and made grabby hands for him. "Up, up, up!!!" She yelled/demanded.

Snatcher hesitated a moment before picking the child up. “Is she your offspring?” He wondered out loud.

Lydia seemed to choke on air and coughed violently until she cleared her throat. "W-what?! N-no! I'm her nanny!" She blushed as thousands of embarrassing thoughts and memories of people saying that she was and/or asking if she was the mother countless times. Snatcher seemed… relieved? While the child seemed like this was nothing new to her and buried her face in his neck floof.

"Afaa, faa, faa!!!!" She seemed to chant happily in his floof.

“I see. What do you need help with… other than the wound?” Snatcher questioned, holding Hattie closer instinctively.

Harriet clutched his floof in her hands and continued to squeal in delight at the softness. Meanwhile with Lydia, she managed to shake out of her embarrassment and coughed to get her voice straight.

"Y-yes. Since we landed here on this planet, we need a place to stay. And I only have resources for us for a few weeks. The ships we came in are destroyed. And since this planet was in the restricted area, there are no repair or fueling stations. So even if it was possible to try to fix the escape ship, I wouldn't be able to. Also when the original ship exploded, the fuel source was scattered across the planet. It's crucial that I retrieve them as soon as possible. Or else things might get messy. So the list consists of food, clothing, other resources, a residence, an extra hand in watching Hattie, and most importantly, protection." She explained.

“Mafia Town and Metro City will have shops for resources and clothing. I am providing residence and food which you could also go to Cooking Cat, and…” He sighed. “I suppose I can help with Harriet.. If you don’t trust me with her, The Conductor has lots of experience with children.” He listed people and places she could go for what she needed. All the while he’d started rocking Hattie.

Lydia nodded and seemed to soak up the information like a sponge. "Alright. Well, I need all the help I can get. And since you're willing to let us stay with you… I suppose I can trust you enough to let you babysit Hattie while I try to retrieve the fuel sources." She smiled amusingly at the sight. "The only thing that I ask is your planets' leader's permission to stay here and have total protection."

He chuckled. “Our planet doesn’t have one specific leader. There are divisions to this planet, led by different leaders.” Snatcher replied.

"Are you one of them by chance? And if so, what is the guarantee of protection provided?" Lydia asked carefully. Snatcher raised a curious brow. She kept mentioning "protection". But from what?

“... What do you need protection from? Does it have something to do with the “war” you’d mentioned earlier?”

"Yes… our allies from our sister planet betrayed us and started a war. I was barely able to escape with Hattie alive. I'm a commander of our military forces and close friend with my commanding general. The King, my and the General's boss, ordered/hired me to be his daughter's nanny, teacher, mentor, trainer, and bodyguard. As to whether the King himself or any of the other commanding officers, or even the people I was close to, I have no idea if they are even alive. The attack was sudden and abrupt…. I am not sure if we will even be found by rescue ships, little alone go back home and resume my life. That is yet to be seen." She reported like the soldier she was.

Snatcher nodded slowly, absorbing the information given. "I can guarantee your protection… inside and outside my forest.." The thought of leaving his forest made him uneasy, but he felt like he HAD to keep Lydia and in extension Hattie safe.

Lydia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. That helps us more than you know." She then raised an amused brow at how Hattie was dozing off in the Ghost's floof. "You want to hand her over so you can pull out a bed for us to sleep in? Or are you fine with both of us sleeping with you on your chair?" She teased as she saw no other bed in sight but seeing the ghost's face turn yellow.

"U-uh- spectors don't actually need sleep! Th-the chair is yours.." He replied, mentally cursing himself for stuttering as he passed the child off to Lydia. "And..you're welcome. I'm going to inform the others of your stay here at Subcon Forest. There's one place you should avoid if you explore. A lonely old mansion at the edge of the woods."

Lydia wanted to question the ghost's warning but was too tired to argue.

"Alright then. Goodnight." She took Hattie and herself and settled in the chair. Both of which fell instantly asleep.

Snatcher's POV

One of the minions peeked its little head in as it saw their boss staring at the sleeping females. And just like in a cartoon, more minions climbed on top of each other who also stared at the strange sight.

"Boss. If you keep staring like that, it'll look like you're a peeping Tom or a creep." Minion 1 stated bluntly.

He shot a glare towards them. "WHO asked YOU?" I hissed quietly as not to disturb them. In fact, I should probably leave the house for this chat. It may get loud.

Snatcher moved from out of his tree home and moved a decent distance away with his minions following him. Once he thought he was safe, he turned and glared at them.

"What were you even doing there! What do you want?" He commanded, volume already increased.

The minions flinched. Well, except minion 1. If they had an actual face, they'd probably have a neutral expression.

"..."

"Weren't you the one that said you were going to tell us something? And besides, your battle with the lady was pretty funny. Been awhile since I've seen someone give you the runaround, huh?" They mused.

"Oh shut up!" Snatcher snapped. "I didn't mean that I was going to tell you THERE, you imbecile!"

They simply shrugged. "Well either way, some of us are here now. Just tell us and we'll tell the others." They honestly didn't look scared whatsoever by him. The others pretty much hid behind them in fright. They were probably one of the few that was. In fact, they almost looked amused at his frustrated state.

"...."

He sighed and decided it wasn't worth it for the moment. "That girl is off limits. Her, the child, and the pet bot. I want her protected. And if she goes near HER mansion, I want to know. Understood?"

The little minion stood up straight and mock saluted. "Aye, aye, captain creeper!" They giggled as they and the others scurried off while Snatcher roared at them.

"I AM NOT A CREEPER!!!"

"..."

"When the hell did any of you grow a pair anyway?" He muttered to himself.