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This wasn't the Castle Playground. This was just like any other playground with the tube slides and the kiddy equipment that she had at her own school, she was used to this stuff - even if they were each all tempting to play with at the moment - so it didn't make it all that special. Ridley pouted with the choice of location when she had come upon it and hadn't scampered off towards it like she had anticipated she would be able to do.

It had been obvious, with her disappointment, when her brother Max had come by with her. He had questioned her about it, but she simply waved him off telling him it was nothing and he simply shrugged and told her to call him when she was ready to go - he was going to head off to another part of the park. His little sister was nine years old, was more than able to operate a phone and he was not wanting to be be bored watching her do.. whatever she did.

At least she got the cat in all of this, however, which pleased Ridley to extremes. The rest of the world was forgotten in the initial parts of the meeting once ********* was on her lap. Her little fingers began to run through ********* fur and snaked up to scratch her behind her ears. This might be something 'important' but that didn't mean she couldn't pet the cat. ********* was a cat! A CAT. And she grinned all the way, even with the presence of Ellie Spectre near her.

Ridley's grin faulted for a moment when the blonde introduced herself. She was both Iris, who she thought was amazing beyond reason, and Ellie, who she thought was so terribly mean. Urg, this was a pickle of a situation and the little girl wasn't sure how to wrap her head around it. But at least there were other people, like the pretty brunette who she had never encountered before, which she so happened to be sitting closest to.

"Hi!" Ridley announced, to both the girl and to the dog next to her. Neat, she had a dog... and a dog that seemed to be really well behaved. The orange haired girl prepared to launch into her series of introduction and questions when the next member of the team suddenly appeared.

She was a little taken back by him and his accent, it was funny and she had never heard it before. And with him being said to be a member of their team... well. "*********, I thought you said this team was all girls?" The little girl was very confused, that was clearly not a girl unless there was something she was missing. He had long hair though, but his voice. Did he transform into a girl or something?

The time for introductions was lost for now.

A rather noticeable grumble escaped from Waylon, but he didn't comment any further in regards to the gender issues mentioned by some kid.

Sensing the Hillworth boy's frustration (it was hard to miss it in all honesty), the feline in the child's lap was the one to answer. "I apologize for the misleading term I use. However, before I knew Waylon, I have been referring to you all as 'my girls'... It's just a habit now. I assure you, he is not a girl." She turned to face the boy, who had a displeased expression looming upon his features. "I apologize, but it's honestly something you'll have to get used to, Waylon. I have my quirks, as does everybody." She offered a smile, but she wasn't certain if it had even been noticed.

Thinking she was done tending to the boy's "wounded" pride, she turned to the child who had rather easily forgotten her introduction. Ever so patiently, the manx reminded the child "I believe that leaves you... why don't you introduce yourself to everyone else?" It probably would have saved time if ********* had done all of the introductions, but alas, that wouldn't have been nearly respectful enough for her girls.

"Oh, okay!" Ridley simply replied, taking the information as it was given. ********* answered easily enough and even to her it made sense; after all, most of the other sen-shi people the little girl had encountered were girls... so, it was easy to assume? She didn't press the matter after that - even though she really wanted to ask is Waylon transformed into a skirt - and besides, the manx wanted her to introduce herself.

"Oh! I forgot huh?" The little girl giggled, again running a few fingers through ********* soft blue hinted fur. "I'm Ridley Pendergast!" She grinned, "I transform into Hygiea and a rather cute pink cat plush appears also!" There she goes, grins all around as she glanced at the others in the circle. The heels of her yellow chucks began to slide against the side of the plastic step she was occupying, as she continued without a care. "At first I thought it was super weird that it kept appearing but all the other sen-shi my age seem to get them too so ... I dunno, I guess it just happens. So, then it kind of got to be kind of neat, huh?"

Who the HELL cares?!!! That was what Ellie wanted to ask aloud right now as the kid spewed out all that pointless nonsense about her animal plush. Who cared if she had it or not? Who cared if other kids also had toys (Iris was very aware about Hugbell's bear)? However, the moment, the blonde was about say something, she got a look from the cat in the child's lap.

A look that said "Don't be a pain in my side today please."

"Good, good." The feline rolled her neck around, making certain to catch the sight of each teen (and child) before moving to the next person. Lilith was perhaps the only exception, since she couldn't see like this. "And though I am certain every single one of you knows my name already, let me introduce myself as well. My name is *********, and I am your cat." There was a pause before she lifted up a paw and began to point from teen to teen, ending on the child of the group. "Yes, I am Ellie's cat..."

"...Never asked fer a cat..."

The interjection went ignored as she continued on with her point. "...and Lilith's cat, and Waylon's cat, and Lydia's cat, and Ridley's cat. I am every single one of your cats. You are my responsibilities, and I am one of yours. I belong to three others as well, but we need to find them before I can claim them. I belong to this team. The Main Belt Asteroids." The manx seemed to be beaming a bit from her momentary lap-pillow that was Ridley.

Ellie rolled her eyes a bit. "So... is that all this meetin' was 'bout... jus' sayin' 'Howdy' and junk like that? I mean, I've got a million and a half things I could be doin' that ain't chattin' a cat up." Her fingers continued to find comfort in the fur of the golden retriever.

The cat turned to face the teen who had the patience of a wild bull. "Well, since someone seems eager to be off on her way, I suppose we can get down to business now. No, Ellie, the point of this meeting isn't just to say hello to everyone. Even if it was pleasant, that would be a waste of all of our times. Including my own." There were three more senshi to her team that needed to be located, and sitting here playing tea time wouldn't help in any manner.

Arching her head back to make certain the the child's attention had not drifted, the manx began to speak again. "The reason I called you here today is to decide something very important. We have this wonderful team here..." All of her words were completely sincere "...but there is no leader currently."

This confession seemed to catch a few of the teens by surprise, and one very vocal one easily voiced her opinion on the matter. "I thought you were th'leader, Cat."

The pale tailless cat couldn't help but giggle at the notion of herself being in charge. "Oh... oh no! Oh no no no no no! My duty is to guide, not to lead." Her giggles quieted down and she resumed business as usual. "All of this time, I have been guiding this team along. However, now is the time to decide the form this team shall take. You might ask why this hadn't been discussed earlier?" She knew the question was going to be coming from the blonde of the group to say the least. "For a long while, the team was only 2 members. To pick a leader amongst a team of two is assinine..." She paused a moment, then reconsidered using a word substitution for Ridley's sake. "It would have been foolish. Even amongst a team of three, it would have been quite a strain to decide such a thing. To be honest, I was waiting for a fourth team member to be found."

Here she paused and looked to Lydia first, then rolled her head to looking at Ridley again. "To be honest, I was quite pleasantly surprised that I found two of my girls so close together. It means you both have a say as to who shall be put in charge of this operation." She smiled one of her feline smiles.

"...now... the decision is up to you as a team. Who do you think should be captain?"

There was a momentary silence, as if everyone present was now trying to process all of the information that had been given. Yet, it wasn't a surprise when the first voice to speak up after all of that was the infamous Ellie.

"I say Lil should be in charge." The teen's body leaned back so her shoulders were against the bars next to the tic-tac-toe spinner. For a moment, it didn't seem like she was planning to give any reasons, but then out came the reasoning, tumbling from her lips in a nearly haphazard manner.

"I say Lil 'cause she's smart... leaders are supposed t'be smart, right?"

Ridley heart almost fell when ********* first mentioned she was Ellie's cat. The way the blonde treated her didn't make her seem fit to be the manx's owner. But then all the other names she was learning today began to get mentioned, followed by her own. Her heart settled back into place and her hand went back to brushing through ********* fur.

It was the least she could do to keep a small bit of attention. There was a lot of information that ********* was giving out; about the team, about their numbers, about finding some people. Stuff like that. Conversation was beginning to pass between the others, about leaders and stuff like that. Truthfully, Ridley had no idea what to answer to this. The only one she had seen in action was Ellie - or well, Iris - and that wasn't much to go on.

"Could I be captain?" She had to ask, her grin wide and hopeful.

It was worth a shot.

For all of those who were able to see, they would have noticed as Ellie's expression had gone from indifferent (when she had offered her vote) to rather grumpy looking as the votes continued to rack up against her. What was all of this bullsh*t about experience?! If Sailor Iris had experience, wouldn't she have been able to do her eternal attack instead of f*cking it up every time?! It was fortunate for the group that for once, the tomboy was keeping her thoughts to herself instead of blurting them out for everyone to hear.

There would be a lot less cussing that way.

The manx kept herself quiet, listening to the various votes and keeping count silently. She wasn't surprised that Ellie didn't vote for herself. She was very stuck in her ways, and probably somewhere in her moral code, there was some rule against voting for oneself. It was sometimes hard to understand that girl. Lilith was next and basically counteracted Ellie's vote with her own. Her reasoning was far more thought out than the blonde's less eloquent way of phrasing it. Two more votes, one from Lydia who seemed of a like mind to Lilith. Maybe it had something to do with the fact the two girls were attending Crystal Academy? Things were rarely easy enough to explain in such a simplistic manner. Waylon, when he offered his vote, definitely didn't have the eloquence the two young ladies before him had. Simply voting because he had assumed something to be fact already wasn't exactly the most reasonable way to vote, but alas, it was not ********* place to argue against the votes.

That left Ridley to be the last one to offer her vote. The feline arched her head back so she could look to the child to silently ask about her vote. Instead, she got a question in return. The question seemed to say a lot more than the face value of the words offered. Not only was the child asking if she could be in charge, it seemed to almost read as if she was asking Does my vote or opinion really matter?

"Ridley, you could be captain. Any of you could be the captain for the team. However, the decision is up to not just you, but your teammates as well. Being captain is not just a title, it is a responsibility."

There was a faint pause as the cat then turned to face the sour faced tomboy. "It is a responsibility that seems to be yours to have now, Sailor Iris."

"I call bullsh*t! Th'kid hasn't even made her vote yet!"

Somehow ********* was not surprised by the outburst. "Even if Ridley voted the same way you did, that would still give you 3 votes and Lilith 2 votes. The burden of leadership is yours to have."

There were some grumbles on the sidelines and harsh glares, but it seemed as if the blonde could not argue her way out of this. It didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

"Fine, fine, fine... Would any of you like to change your vote?" It seemed Ridley wouldn't have minded taking a few votes. However, as a lengthy pause, nobody seemed to be willing to change their votes. All of them were set in their thoughts, even Ellie. ********* nudged the girl whose lap she was occupying. "You can't say I didn't try..." she offered in a playful tone before attempting to steer the meeting again.

"...now that that's been taken care of, are there any other matters which any of you would like to bring up?"

Wait she could be the leader? Really truly - no wait, ********* was just making some sort of example like she had when she was saying she was everyone's cat. Ridley made a face with the Ellie was announced as leader, she didn't even try to object. It seemed stupid to try, most of the other people here made it seem she was the best choice. Having butt wings seemed like it gave her the edge.

Without waiting for answers to Lydia's questions and concerns, The orange haired girl's hand shot up like she was in school. But unlike in school, she didn't wait until she was addressed and allowed to speak.

"Can I get a new power?" She asked, lowing her arm to rest against the edge of her seat. Her expression was still on the grumpy side but also held a little determination. "It's really not useful and when my school got attacked by those bad guys it really wasn't all too helpful." Well, wait, "it did help Hypnos' cat a little but still it didn't help defeat those dog things." She had nearly gotten mauled, so not cool!

Did Ellie have to take any of this gracefully? No, she didn't. As others spoke, she was quite rude, instead seeming to pay more attention to the tic-tac-toe spinners nearby. She spun a couple of the triangular pieces lazily, somewhat hoping the sounds of the spinning would tune out the words the other girls offered. Unfortunately, it wasn't working. The blonde could hear every word, despite her efforts. It didn't mean she had to say anything.

The manx listened carefully, and though she tried to remain polite, she couldn't help but let out a tiny chuckle at Hygiea's quip about her own abilities as a senshi. When it was obvious that Waylon was not going to add his own two cents (was that a cell phone he was fiddling around with?), ********* glanced to Ellie.

"Do you have anything you want to add or comment on, Ellie?"

In an obstinate tone, the tomboy uttered "No" while flicking another triangular piece.

"Alright... then let me touch on Ridley's concerns." Arching her head back to face the child, ********* offered and answer in a perky, gentle tone.

"Unfortunately, there is no power trading policy. What you get is what you get. The powers will progress and get stronger as you rank up. It is a senshi's duty to adjust to what power they have. Iris is the Senshi of Rainbows. Metis is the Senshi of the Third Eye. Waylon is the Senshi of Tar. Irene is the Senshi of Peace. And Hygiea is the Senshi of Herbs. If your power cannot defend you, then you will need to defend you."

The last sentence was a good tie into the next subject, so ********* continued forward to touch on both Lydia and Lilith's points. "I don't ever expect every senshi to know how to fight the moment they are awakened. However, the fact you are willing to learn speaks volumes about you as an individual, Lydia." There was a pause as the feline glanced to Ellie, then to Waylon, and then finally to Lilith.

"Lilith, in all honesty, has been in the same situation as well, Lydia. She and Ellie were the first two I met of all of you. Ellie has managed to assist her with her fighting skills." There was a pause, as if hinting that maybe Ellie should chime in to say she'd help.

Unfortunately, the blonde remained silent.

"And from what I have seen, Waylon also knows how to fight and defend himself."

Ellie rolled her eyes a bit, remembering the ugly bruise she got from him back in Elysion.

Since nobody was offering anything in the way of volunteering, ********* decided to do it for them. "I suspect your teammates would be more than willing to assist anyone in regards to potential sparring or tutoring on the whole senshi-ordeal."

The feline cleared her throat, then turned back to face the child. "Now, you piqued my curiosity earlier, Ridley. Do tell us more... what happened at your school?"

There wasn't much of a chance for Ridley to grump over the lack of power exchange for herself, she was apparently stuck with it. Suckage. But there was attention on her still, she was being talked to and addressed.

Though, a quick, "it sucks," was whispered as the orange haired girl leaned in carefully to Lillith. Just to give her opinion on the matter. Because, again, it did.

But again, there were questions to her and concerns. First the soft ones from the brunette besides her and then from the cat sitting in her lap. Ridley shifted herself straighter, her arms still resting against ********* soft fur.

"Some bad guy was apparently doing some bad stuff at our school and made a big hole in the ceiling and there were dog creatures that tried to eat at Hypnos and me. And they came with an angry red haired girl who shot arrows at us and it sucks really hard. But I met HugBell and there was another boy there who helped us and also Polaris." There was a pause, as Ridley's brain finally began to filter her unevenly told tale. "Oh, Polaris was the one who sent the message to us and stuff and I got it during class, which was awesome since I got to leave class since it was really really boring." Ridley nodded, excited.

"And it was like the first time I got to transform too since the first time ********* found me. But yeah, she sent a message saying we were under attack and there were a bunch of us who fight off people and then there was another cat who I helped heal and then she helped Polaris and then Polaris got a new outfit with wings like Iris." Her head nodded towards Ellie, with a smile, "but she didn't have as much clothing as Iris though... but her boots were super cool and her hair too. But she beat the bad guy and then school was canceled the rest of the day. It was neat!"

- wait, did ********* mention something about special training?

There was momentarily a silence as the various members of the team listened to the child. Ellie notably seemed to almost snarl at the mention of a "red haired girl who shot arrows," since as Sailor Iris, she had quite a bit of experience with the girl called Sassolite. Lilith and Lydia could both be seen shaking their heads in disgust that the Negaverse had dared to get children involved. Even the senshi didn't put full classes or schools of children in danger. It wasn't as if the cats were recruiting an army of children. Only a scant few were selected. Waylon was still a bit busy texting in a disinterested manner. It was harder to read him for any sort of reaction, so it was hard to tell if he had even heard the explanation the child offered.

It might not have been the most organized report on the scenario for the child's school, but it would have to do. Ridley's account would be respected just the same as any other member of the team.

"Thank you, Ridley. You have supplied us all with valuable information with your experience."

Now that the child had finished, the cat once more offered the floor with a simple "Does anybody else have anything they would like to say?"

"Since you mentioned it earlier... I wouldn't mind helping out anybody else with training," Lilith offered after the feline paused to let the others speak if they wanted.

"Oh, good to know!" The cat smiled wide to the brunette before seeking any other subjects to discuss. "Anybody else?"

For a moment, the silence remained as others waited for someone else to speak up. Shifting slightly in her place, the blonde of the group straightened up, then spoke slowly.

"...I think I've got somethin' t'say..." She glanced to her audience of teens, a child, and a cat, as if checking to see if anybody was going to interject. When nobody else spoke up, she then mentioned "...if we're gonna be a team... shouldn't we have some rules...?" Her eyes went to the cat.

Catching the drift of what the newly appointed team captain was trying to say, the manx nodded her head with a slight jingling sound accompanying her gesture.

"If you feel the team needs it, then please feel free..."

"...alright... then I've got three rules guys..." A single finger flipped out to signal the first rule was about to be announced.

"Rule one... Nobody patrols alone. That should hopefully prevent ya guys from gettin' into trouble."

A second finger flipped out.

"Rule two... if yer out and sh*t happens... ya call fer back up first, then ya may engage in combat."

Lilith and Lydia's lips both formed a small "o" shape at how one of the rules flat out had cussing in it, especially around a child.

The third and final finger was flipped out, but there third rule wasn't mentioned nearly as fast as the other two. Her gold eyes looked to Waylon, the only other one in the group who would understand the severity of this rule. His eyes were distracted by his phone. In an effort to get his attention, she cleared her throat, and when that didn't work, she simply called him out.

"Hey dipsh*t... pay attention and put yer f*ckin' phone away!" At that point, he set his phone down and rolled his eyes until they were on the tomboy.

"Rule three... th'only thing we're allowed t'kill are youma. No Lieutenants, no Captains, no Generals." Sailor Iris had crossed that line one time, and to her knowledge, Parthenope had as well. Though she had a tough exterior, it was something she had struggled with ever since it had happened. She'd never be able to erase from her mind the image of that poor unknown boy's head rolling away down the street a bit. In an effort to give a bit of justification, she mentioned "...I don't give a rat's a** how evil they are... we don't kill. Ya can beat them up as much as ya want... but we don't supply the final blow."

The blonde could tell the child of the group had somehow distracted herself again from the current subject. In a sense, Ellie was almost glad Ridley seemed to consider petting the cat to be more important than the final rule. Rule three definitely was not a rule for someone so young and naive, yet it was necessary for everyone else.

The manx, having enough intelligence to know how to count (and speak, but that was already given), spoke up once the final rule had been mentioned.

"Alright, to reiterate, Rule one is to never patrol alone. Rule two is to call for back up before fighting against anything dangerous. And Rule three is to only kill youma. Did I sum that up correctly?" As the feline spoke, the child seemed to perk up, as if she knew listening to ********* was important.

"...yeah... that's right, Cat..." Her eyes glanced away from the rest of the group before she ruffled her bangs out of her face. The guardian made it sound so simple.

With a nod of her head, the cat then looked over the whole group. Once again, Waylon had gone back to texting, and even Lilith and Lydia seemed to have been spent in regards to the attention they had been paying.

"With that, I think we can call this meeting over." She glanced up to the child with a smile. "I believe that means you can now play if you'd like!"

With that, each individual stood up. Not everyone felt the need to play on the playground, but the team members who felt the need sprang to play. Eventually, everyone left as they needed to, but nobody left without the meeting upon their mind.