He had lost sight of the figure, but could still hear its footsteps on the metal floor not too far away from him. Eventually, he reached one of the Cargo Holds on the ship, "Wait, I don't hear the footsteps anymore... they're in this room somewhere." he thought. He looked around the room; 'it was very tall and filled with a 'whole bunch of Cargo Containers of different colors, all stacked on top of each other; there was barely any light shining through the broken ceiling, 'for it was just now starting to turn dawn, "Hey, I know you're in here! I'm not going to hurt you, 'just come on out!" He yelled into the deafly quiet room 'his voice echoing throughout the room; 'he could hear the sound of shuffling footsteps 'but he couldn't pinpoint the exact location because of the echo. He started to walk around the room when suddenly a loud crash came from behind him in a heartbeat, 'he turned around only to find three metal crates stacked in the shape of a triangle and looked down to see an old toolbox had spilled, "Hey, I know you're back there. I'm not going to hurt you." He explained. A cloaked figure then peeked out from behind the crates, "Are you really not going to hurt me?" The figure fearfully asked. He was shocked to hear the voice of a little girl come from the figure, "A little girl? What is a child doing in a place like this?" He wondered quickly, 'snapping back to reality, "No, I'm not going to hurt you. Now come out from there." He replied 'motioning for her to come forward. She walked into a beam of light that was coming from the hole in the ceiling 'She was short and was wearing a dirty tan cloak that covered her entire body 'She also had the hood up obscuring most of her face the 'Man crouched down to her level, "I'm Xander, what's your name?" Xander asked, reaching over to take down the hood 'She backed away, "Hey, it's alright 'I just want to help you 'okay?" He asked her. She shook her head, "Niko..." She spoke, "Niko? Is that your name?" Xander asked her; She shook her head, and Xander smiled, "Well, Niko can you take off the hood for me 'please?" He asked Niko. She reached up and pulled the hood down 'revealing a pair of brown wolf ears that blended in with her fluffy but messy brown hair 'her eyebrows were also brown. 'She had her left eye covered by an eyepatch with visible black scares underneath it 'and her right eye was yellow. He looked down and noticed she had a big fluffy brown tail with a white tip at the end. "What are you even doing here all by yourself?" Xander asked. Niko looked up at him and replied: "I was hiding..." Xander rubbed his chin, "From who?" He worriedly asked, "From my father..." Niko responded, "Could it be? No, don't be stupid 'she's only a normal child." Xander wondered. "Why are you hiding from your father?" He cautiously asked, "He made a mistake... a really bad mistake." She quietly answered 'Xander's 'eyes widened, "What mistake?" He asked. Niko didn't respond, "Niko, what did your father do?" Xander demanded in a stern voice; 'she started to shake from fear, "Nothing! My father did 'nothing!" Niko yelled as tears started to roll down her face. "Shoot, I made her cry 'what do I do? What do I do?" He franticly thought. "I got to confront the problem head-on." He thought. Xander cleared his 'throat and then spoke: "Niko, are you the daughter of Amora White? Please be honest." He asked 'she sniffled 'wiping away tears from her eyes, "Why should I answer your question when you're mean to complete strangers for no reason?" Niko 'asked 'crossing her arms 'Xander sighed, "I never meant to be so mean, 'and I'm sorry that I made you cry." Xander apologized. Niko's ears perked up, "I did not cry." Niko mumbled 'Xander raised an eyebrow, "Really? You know crying is a normal thing everyone does 'right?" He asked with a smile. "I didn't cry!" She explained, " Okay, I believe you. But I do need to know, are you his daughter?." Niko sighed, "Yes, I am 'The Daughter of White." She explained. Xander smiled. "Okay. Hey, are you hungry?" He asked Niko, "Mhm" She replied Xander, stood up and motioned for her to follow, "Let's go get you something to eat then." Said Xander.
They were in a room that Xander used as a bedroom, 'he had pulled out an old rusty workbench from the room's corner to use as a table so Niko could sit and eat 'there was just one problem: The workbench was really tall and the chair Xander had grabbed was kind of short 'so Niko's head just barely peeked over the edge, "I wish I hade more to give but, unfortunately, I've started to run out of food rations so that's all I can give you for the moment. I hope that's okay." Xander explained as he handed Niko some dried berries and nuts. Niko took them and started to eat, "These are really good!" She marveled 'stuffing more into her face until they were gone, "They may be good at first but trust me 'if you ever live off of them as I have, you'll come to hate them." Xander chuckled. "Speaking of which, how long have you been living here 'all, 'alone?" She asked Xander, "You know 'I'm not even sure 'to be completely honest, 'I don't even know how I got here in the first place." Xander explained, "What are you going to do now? She asked. Xander sighed, "Niko, you may not like this, 'but I need to return you to your father." Xander answered Niko's face turned to fear, "What? No, you can't do that! You don't understand what he's become!" Niko shouted with fear. "I know 'exactly what he's become 'Niko, but I feel like there's a way we'll be able to save him," Xander explained his reasoning. "Why are you even trying to take me back to my father?!" Niko demanded, “I'm trying to help you! Without your father, you have nowhere to go!” Xander responded, "Well, why are you trying so hard to help me when everyone else either runs away or tries to kill me?" Niko asked 'Xander looked her in the eyes and replied: "Because it's the right thing to do." Niko 'then smiled and got down from her chair and walked over to Xander, "Well, where do we start?" She asked Xander, "Well, we should start with The King of Za to see if he knows anything 'and we'll just go from there." He explained, "When should we leave?" Niko asked Xander, looking into his gray eyes. "We should leave now so 'we have more daylight to cover more ground." He replied 'grabbing his bag and stuffing the remaining rations inside 'he put the bag over his shoulder, "come on, let's get off this ship." Xander motioned for Niko to follow him as they made their way off the broken-down cargo ship and onto the peaceful beaches of Za, where the sun was 'just starting to peek up above the horizon. "So 'how old are you?" Xander asked Niko, "Eight. What about you?" Xander looked down at her and replied: "Twenty-seven." Niko looked over at the ocean to their left and saw a big fish jump up, out of the water, and back down, "You ready?" Xander asked her, "Yup." Niko replied as they walked off into the forests of Za.
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