Adventures of Nina of the Ocelots

Prolouge

"Welcome to the Ocelots Base!" Lukas exclaimed as he waves a hand over the base. It was huge, made out of 4 kinds of wood, surrounded by beautiful oak trees, crops ready for the harvesting, and banners showing the likeness of the adorable and epic Ocelot.
"This is beautiful!!" Nina complimented, fully in awe, it truly was a work of art, and she was about to LIVE there? she almost couldn't believe it. Lukas rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.
"heh, thanks, we all put a lot of effort into it. Now! let's get you a tour of the inside!" they both start walking up the stairs

Nina was ecstatic, but also super nervous as well, she lived alone for so long, wasn't even brave enough to find a pet. She wasn't your everyday person in this world, she was from another, outside of this ecosystem, Specifically the Moon. It had been a year since she let her original home, and now, it was her chance to be one with the people of Earth. They got to the front door and Lukas let Nina go in first, it was rather spacious inside as the outside would make one think.
"Whoa!! this is just as good as the outside!" Nina concluded, she began to look around frantically, unable to decide where to look first, thankfully Lukas was there to help.

"Let me show you to the beds." He walked over to the right and motioned to the bunkbeds, then paused, and looked towards the other side of the room to the kitchen.
"Aiden? Where's Nina's bed?" Lukas asked. Aiden stood from his chair at the counter and walked over, looking amused. He motioned to a pair of trap doors by the window chuckling to himself.
"She sleeps under those, heh." Aiden pointed out, and started walking back to his chair, laughing, Lukas almost looked shocked, almost, then sighs
"I'm sorry about him, he likes using 'Tough Love' for people he just met." Nina walked over to the trap doors and opened them. a nice comfy bed a few blocks down with freshly washed black sheets, Nina also noticed there was no dirt to be seen, must've even replaced the dirt with wood. Normally she'd be pretty angry to be picked on so soon after arriving, but at the very least, she could make this work.

"I can help lift it out and place it up here-" Lukas began but she cut him off. " Thank you Lukas but, I actually kind of like this! With it underground like that, the sun won't wake me up!" She smiled at him as thanks for his offer. It's going to help even more than that, this form she holds is a lot of work, with her bed hidden, she can sleep in her true form without worrying about the others seeing her.
"Oh, well, good!" Lukas smiled back. "Everything we have is yours too, but if you have anything you don't want us to take, you can put it in the barrel at the foot of your bed. Same goes for all " the barrels by everyone's beds." Lukas explained. "Now, help yourself to some food in the kitchen, and welcome to the home of the Ocelots!" Lukas went to the bookshelf in the corner, probably to find something to read.

Nina took Lukas' offer and headed over to the kitchen, rummaging in the barrels above the smoker and found some meat, however it was uncooked, so she placed it in the smoker and watched it cook, then Aiden cleared his throat from behind her, she turned his way, assuming he was trying to get her attention. Aiden had a mischievous grin on his face while he was eating his bread. Nina looked at him confused, as the other two Ocelots walked over with the same grin on their faces.
"Can..I help you?" Nina asked, not sure if she was comfortable with this sudden attention. Aiden was the first to speak.
"So! What makes you think a basic builder like you can fit in with us huh?" Aiden asks with no prompting needed, the other two laughing behind him. Nina looked at them all, her sassy defense mechanism she learned when she was a kid instantly started building up.
"Oh? Is that how this is going to be?" Nina got her newly cooked steak out of the smoker, and grabbed a bottle of water from the barrel above her, she walked past them and sat at the table near the door. "Well, as you probably know." She takes a huge bite out of her steak, not caring how feral it looks. "Lukas said I had potential." She answered simply, with her mouth full but was still rather clear.

"He said that, did he?" Aiden pondered out loud.
"Yeah, yeah he did. Let me guess, you think he's wrong?" Nina looked at him with annoyance showing in her eyes, sparking like a flint and steel.
"We saw your old house!" Maya said with irritation in her tone. "It looked like a block of cobblestone and nothing more!"
"Yeah! It sucked!" Gill said from the back. Lukas now saw this display and was about to go over there, but he saw Nina hold her hand up to him while she was still glaring at Aiden and the gang, so Lukas watched from where he was, ready for the simplest of signals to go help.
"Yeah? And? You plan on gatekeeping builders like me who are new to it all hm? New builders have no ways of learning their own style unless they make mistakes and keep trying. I'm good at following directions, Lukas realized that when we met." Nina explained with confidence.

"Yeah, sure but-" Aiden began but was cut off.
"Here I thought you guys would be overjoyed to teach me a thing or two about how to build right." Nina added, pushing Aiden's buttons. She finished her meal and put the bottle in her inventory, and walked to the door. "I'm going for a walk." She said simply as she shut the door in Aiden's face, which he stomped away fuming from the interaction. Once everyone filed away Lukas stood up and followed after Nina. Once Nina got down the stairs, she let out a frustrated sigh she didn't know she was holding, and headed to the river that was near the base to refill the bottle she used, she sat down by the river, putting her legs in the water and let them sway. She just put the bottle in the water when Lukas walked up behind her and sat down beside her.

"Are you ok?" Lukas asked, Nina didn't look at him, but responded nonetheless.
"Could be better." She began, as she kicked the water at her feet. "Nothing I can't deal with, even if it is annoying."
"I'm..sorry, they did that to you." Lukas apologized. "They can be a bit...prickly, I hoped they wouldn't do it, I should've warned you." Lukas hung his head low in shame.
"Hey, I don't blame you for something they did." She patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sure you have your reasons for sticking around them for this long, I can't imagine it myself." Nina laughed a little, trying to lighten the mood.
"Do you wish to leave?" Lukas asked after a few moments of silence. Nina looked to him then, to see what kind of emotion his expression was holding, he looked at the end of his rope, he hoped she wouldn't leave. With this in mind she smiled, she could make this work.

"Nah." She said simply, Lukas looked surprised. "I think I can still learn something from them, even if I'm just watching, it's better than my year of solitude. I want to get better at building, and I think the Ocelots..Mostly you, can help with that." Nina concluded. Lukas continued to look at her confused.
"I feel like their actions are going to get worse from here." Lukas added, he knew them all too well.
"I have ways of handling them, I've dealt with worse before." Lukas decided to not to pry into that. "Who knows, I might even learn how to build a few pranks, it could happen." She laughed.
"Well, for all it's worth, I'm glad you decided to join us." Lukas stands up with a little huff. "I'm gonna head back in, so you can have some alone time." He starts walking back, before Nina stops him.
"Hey, Lukas?" Lukas turns around, to see Nina with a soft smile on her face. "Thanks for checking on me, it really means a lot." Lukas smiles back.
"Anything for a friend." Lukas resumes his walk back, leaving behind a freshly red Nina.

"He said that like it was no big deal." She whispered to herself, as she covered her face in her hands. Little did she know, that phrase would continue to live in her head, rent free.

End of Prologue