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 Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:50 pm
I have some exciting news! Can you pick me up at the park?
Ash squirmed as her phone gave the soft wooshing sound of a message sent. After a few moments, the sound came again, but with a second text from the burmilla guardian to the senshi of gardens.
Oh btw, can you bring some bandages too?
Crouched in the bushes under one of the big, shady trees in Destiny City Park, Ash listened to the singing of the crickets as she stared wide eyed out at the world, her phone between her paws. It had been... well, a 'busy' night would have been one way to put it. Clouds drifted over the moon, the movements of their shadows drawing her wide-pupiled eyes in nervous twitches. So, maybe the cats had defeated tonight's monster together, but that didn't mean there weren't others out there... sniffing around for an injured cat who had done her best to hide a shining silver coat until help arrived. It made Ash feel twitchy, reminded once again that she was not a combat kind of lady. She was information, support, the one behind the computer screen... she was not made for this kind of stuff.
Wind ruffled the grass and she twitched in place, feeling her spine arch in a far too instinctual way. Even now, it was hard to shake the habits she had learned as a pampered pet... well, especially now, she guessed. Either she needed to find a senshi to bond to so she was never away from a defender... or the silver guardian needed to become a permanent (read: agoraphobic) resident of HQ. Leave the fighting to the professionals...
At least something good had come of tonight. She hadn't lied in her text message to Thraen, even she had to admit it was something of a cover for her true intentions. She could be the very first to spread the news about the new abilities of the guardians, something she would relish later, when she wasn't all alone in the dark and irritatingly helpless.
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 11:08 pm
The excuse of his schedule's perpetual insanity of classes and studio time at least provided an out for resuming and continuing his unwieldy stretches of patrol. It also meant he was powered up and able to receive texts as instantaneously as they were sent. The second text chilled his blood- who or what had wounded a cat? A youma? He replied rapidly-
I'll be right there, Ash. With bandages.
For a cat? It'll have to do. Can she become a girl like ********* and the other....? I'm no veterinarian. She offered the asking as an afterthought- maybe it is minor. A quick stop at the safehouse he kept offered a messenger bag and a quick supply of basic medkit needs. He slipped in and out with paranoid care in spite of his hurry, but ran full tilt on the hypotenuse between himself and the park. It didn't take long, less than he ever expected, with an Eternal's speed now granted him. "Ash!" He called it as soon as he was nearing, trotting along the path, and typing into his phone again.
Here. Looking for you. Can you move? Call out if you shouldn't.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:37 am
The ping of a message received actually startled Ash so much her paws left the ground for a moment, coming back down with a hiss of pain and embarrassment. Mumbling something uncomplimentary, the cat read the messaged displayed on her screen with a feeling of relief. Thraen must have been rather close to have gotten here in such a short time, but she was not going to complain about it.
You used to like the dark, remember? But now, of course, we know what lurks in it and just how useless you are when you're not in front of a computer screen.
The senshi phone Ash had claimed as her own disappeared back into her personal pocket of subspace, her whole body reminding her of the night's events with small complaints as she moved out from under the concealing brush. Casting her eyes about, she searched for the figure in white and green she remembered. A small pointed ear twitched at the sound of boots on gravel and Ash turned, trying not to flinch in fear. This was fast getting ridiculous, actually, and she realized she had hit her emotional limit.
The burmilla wanted very badly to go home suddenly, and not to HQ... she wanted to go back to the apartment downtown. She wanted her cat bed by the gas fireplace, the soothing hum of computer fans and fingers on a keyboard, the dim glow of screens liming the room. Sadness tightened her chest on the childish desires, remembering long fingers stroking down her spine and rubbing the soft spots behind her ears.
"Thraen!" The guardian called, her voice breaking a little before she cleared her throat and tried again. "Thraen! I'm here, darling. I'm sorry for making you come all the way out here." It would be easy to pick the silver cat out, small as she was. Her light fur was a stark contrast to the green made dark by night. She limped out into the open only so far before she sat down, easing her weight off of her left foreleg. The cat was more mussed that injured, beyond the strain she'd received, her normally immaculate fur disarranged and smudged with dirt. Later she would be mortified she had let one of her senshi see her like this, but right now she was just happy to see him... and his new wings.
When the tall blonde finally came into sight, Ash was startled by the change in him. He looked so... regal, in his sheer train and the branches that stood from his hair like horns. And now that she was open to it, she could feel the power of an eternal pouring off him like the warmth of a fire, already soothing some of her aches as it washed over her.
"You've grown!" She chirped, both immensely proud of him and just a smidgen jealous she had not been the one to help him reach his potential.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:16 pm
He caught sight of the small,pale body as it limped into the more clear of ground. His stomach seized for a moment, but eased as he got closer and there was no pooling blood or entrails dangling. She wasn't about to flop over dead. She could speak and walk, if not well. "For what it has been worth, not much, yes, I am an eternal now." The Senshi of Gardens crouched when he neared, looking her over more nearly. "What has happened? Where are you injured?" Could Mauvians even go to a vet? Would they appear as a regular cat to blood tests?
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:33 pm
The burmilla beamed as Thraen crouched before her.
"I knew you had it in you, of course! No doubt in my mind at all. It was just a matter of time before you, ah... bloomed." She laughed, waving her raised paw at him. When he mentioned it, a bit of embarrassment swept over the small face and Ash tilted her ears back. He probably already thought of her as young and inexperienced, for a guardian. Hopefully this wouldn't sour his opinion.
"Well, we had a bit of excitement tonight and I fell rather hard. Which, of course I landed on my paws, what cat wouldn't? But when you hit them rather hard, sometimes they dislike it. Its probably a sprain, but I don't really know, I guess. I've never been injured before. I can move it, at least." The cat said as she demonstrated, stretching the slender paw out as she winced in pain. "You see, there was a meteor shower the other night and it had all of us cats on edge, feeling something unusual going on. We have rather acute senses, you see. Well, our instincts drew us to the park tonight and that's when the excitement happened."
With little prompting, Ash would launch into an enthusiastic recounting of the night's event. How both chaos and order cats had gathered, the sense of something that had drawn her aside with a few of the order cats and led them to being attacked by the dog-like youma. How she had boldly fought it and been thrown, which is how she had ended up with her strained wrist.
"I'm not a combat specialist, I'm an information specialist!" The guardian said earnestly, her tail flicking back and forth behind her. "Can you imagine, a delicate thing like me fighting that monster of a youma?"
The cats had banded together to defend themselves and eventually their teamwork had defeated the youma with little further injury to themselves. It had been gratifying, even if it had put Ash herself out of commission for the rest of the night.
"After the youma, we investigated some of the things left behind in the park. We had seen the meteors falling there and we felt sure if we looked, we could find them. The search proved to be something of a red herring, though, because a human man found one before we did..." The burmilla murmured, really getting into the story she was telling.
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:53 am
That she could move it was a definite plus, but it didn't rule out hairline fractures or other more serious problems with tendons or ligaments. Thraen pulled out a regular phone, thumbing to a series of cat anatomy diagrams and gently ran his thumb and fingers along the sections of the injured paw. There were three-legged cats out there that ambulated fine, which would do better for her to emulate for at least a few days to let the injured led rest, but hopefully she had already come to that conclusion on her own. "I'm no veterinarian, but I can at least try to wrap this in a way that will give you some support for when you have no choice but to be on it. " "I imagine all of you Mauvians can hold your own after a fashion in a fight. Its something of an urban legend that the origin of the Siamese breed of Earth cats was as guard-patrols that would drop from walls onto intruders, yowling with their mighty voices and rending the scalp and shoulders of their captures. " He carefully set to wrapping the paw, stabilizing the whole with loops around her chest and shoulders. "Though Mauvians are not to be taken for cats, so far as I've been corrected. " "Found one, but not all? Are you all planning on searching for other meteors? That does sound a suspicious thing. Actually, any celestial happening anymore is suspect, to me. We all bear names of them as 'worlds' and that lunar eclipse business." He shook his head. Thraen offered open arms to carry her, "Can I take you someplace? You need some rest, at the least, maybe refreshment if you feel up to it. "
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 5:37 pm
The burmilla let him manipulate her paw, though her ears remained pinned back through the process and an expression crossed her feline face that, with any other cat, might have preceded getting bitten... but heaven forbid she bite one of her precious senshi! It would be unthinkable, even if it hurt quite a lot...
"That's perfect, darling!" She managed as he finished the wrap, already feeling better with the support it gave her. Of course, with it bound this way she was even more stuck for a way home than before, but the open arms were the most welcoming sight she felt she had ever seen. This was why she had called him, truthfully. Because she had known he would take care of her, something she desperately needed right now, for all that she didn't say so straight off.
"Oh, we have all the usual fighting prowess of normal cats, but where we shine is in the intelligence we are able to bring to bear. That, and our kitty beams. You've seen one of those, haven't you?" Ash said as she lifted herself up on her back legs and let him pick her up, noting that unlike Astarte, this senshi knew how to properly hold a cat. "It doesn't do much more than stun and is exhausting, but its good when you're in a pinch. Speaking of, I used mine tonight as well, which rather links in with the need to find the rest of these meteors."
Settled close to his chest, it was harder to direct her voice to him, but Ash managed, never one to let a little thing like angle slow down her gossiping.
"Well, um... if you are still open to have a doesn't-take-up-much-space cat around who's good with tech, I could use somewhere warm for a day or two. But certainly don't feel like you have to, my dear! I can manage at the HQ well enough. Wherever I go, I'll be stuck there until this thing lets me get around better..." She murmured at the end, wiggling the toes of her paw. Perking up suddenly, triangular ears swiveling forward, Ash remembered she had been in the middle of a story.
"Right, anyway... That human man. He had found one of those meteorites and apparently whatever it was did not agree with him. It set off something in his human body that morphed him into something like what the guardians can do when we take human form, but this creature was not nearly as good natured as we are.... he gave us even more trouble than the youma did, actually... We.... lost one of us, in the fight." Ash's voice grew sad at that, her lambent eyes dimming. "She's... over there, I think. ********* and a friend were taking care of her, but I'm not sure what they ended up doing. I wasn't much help, through all of this, especially after I used the forehead beam on it. The real wonder of the night was *********, actually. She found another one of those meteor stones part way through and when she attached it to something she had pulled out of her subspace pocket..."
Excitement made the silver cat squirm and she twisted around to stare wide-eyed up at Thraen, her paws pushing against his chest to convey some of the weight of what she was saying.
"Thraen, ********* turned into a senshi! There is something very powerful about those stones that fell from the sky. I don't know if this will be the only human affected by them, but think about what the cats could do with them! Either way, they need to be found, and you have to promise me... If you ever find one, you tell me right away so I can come and get it. Don't touch it!" The burmilla urged as she reached her good paw up to bat at him. "I don't want you turning into a monster like that man did. Or anyone else for that matter."
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:14 pm
"I heard something of the sort from Sailor Acrucis...about cat 'lasers', but I've not seen one before." He clarified to her question, then quieted to listen more attentively. He wondered if touching a meteor would affect a senshi the same as it had a person, or if being powered up or down would affect it. Altogether, it didn't sound like something worth risking, and the news of Mauvian senshi seemed a better utilization of any such odd power bestowed by meteorites. "Mauvian senshi...sounds exotic and incredible all at once. And something that could have been useful so much sooner- you all know so much more about what is going on than the senshi. But....Ash...meteorites...'Mauvian' is a demonym. And Senshi get their power from their homeworld....did Mau...explode? That would be the homeworld indicated to be the place of Guardian cats." He started walking for the University, looking up at the sky, a faint worry line marring the place between his brows. What could a explosion like that mean for any senshi, knight or guardian?"I would be delighted to have you for a day or two." He considered momentarily about the logistics of a cat stuck in an apartment a few stories up with the only way in or out being leaping tiny porches out the window. "Its a few floors up...with a security guard. Not convenient with this leg, maybe." "I don't mind ferrying you in and out...but...wait, the safehouse. I've made a safehouse in one of the old University buildings. It was a medical lab building back a few decades, now just used for storage. But the elecricity and water still run, the janitors clean the halls every six months or so. I piled all the furniture in the room I claimed near and in front of the doors to it to make it look like that room is chock full and can't be entered. The rest is set up as a place to camp out for senshi or knights wounded. Scout Acrucis and her friend, Phact both know of it. I could set you up in there, and make a ramp of some chairs so you can get in and out the windows without jumping and without having to rely on me being around and not at classes. I could bring you what you need, camp out with you if you want. I could bring a Chromebook so that you could at least have internet and entertainment while keeping off that leg?" "Anytime, not just laid up, you'd be welcome to visit and use it, or bring stuff in and out to your hearts content. Is there anything you need to get from the HQ? I could swing us by there, wherever it is." Bluefire Dragonz SafeHouse was established last year, there's a description Here, if you're curious
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:07 pm
Dainty ears shot back flat as Ash briefly considered the idea of the meteorites being the star dust left behind by some catastrophic event that had befallen the Mauvian home world. The sheer terror that squeezed her heart made lips pull back from little white fangs and the burmilla panted in a moment of utter panic.... until logic took a strangle hold on her panic and shook it like a mouse. Snapping her mouth shut, Ash shook her head and frowned, the tail draped over Thraen's arm giving an upset flick.
"No, no... I think all of us would have felt it if something had happened to our world. As I would hope you would if yours were to suddenly cease to exist." She said, sounding sure of herself. "Actually... the idea of Mauvian senshi speaks towards its existence, if nothing else. If it were gone, there would be nothing to feed power to the new senshi... you get your power through a direct link to your world. Of course, our senshi are a bit different than you are for obvious reasons, but some of the same principles should apply."
A few floors up, hmm? That did not sound like a good crash pad, as much as she would have enjoyed the company. Even carried when needed... it was far too limiting for her tastes. So that was out. The safe house though... that sounded intriguing.
"Oh, there isn't anything you need to pick up, darling. I carry all my things on my person, so to speak. All the cats share HQ, after all, and I'd prefer certain ones not poking their noses into my projects." Bright, shiny bits made wonderful toys, and while Ash might indulge herself every so often with a game of bat-the-shiny, she always remembered to put it back where it belonged and not all the others were so thoughtful. Another benefit would be the privacy... she had no doubt she looked awful wrapped up like this and having a hidey hole to herself would allow her to recuperate without prying, judging eyes.
"Your safe house sounds like a godsend, Thraen dear. You can probably imagine how a hidden little gem like that might appeal to a cat, of all creatures." Relaxed now that things had been more or less settled, the burmilla guardian hunkered down to enjoy the rare pleasure of having a senshi to take care of her. "I'll have to find a way to pay you back for your help tonight.... and hopefully what help you can give me in the future. I'm reminded that I need to pick your brain about information for the senshi primer. I'm updating it, you know, but I'm not a senshi. There are things eternals might know that I don't."
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Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:33 pm
"That might depend non how much the mechanic of it is similar, " Though he could sympathize and agree with the theoretical possibility that Mau might be perfectly fine in order to draw strength from. "And how much traditional science even applies. Technically, many asteroids and meteoroids are just chunks of exploded other space bodies. " "But I suppose that will all be moot until the Mauvians are able to seriously study one of these....pieces." Draw strength from...Later, Thraen. He pushed the musing away, shifting his hold of her to try to keep her a littler warmer as well. Injury could cause chills. He picked up to a roll-stepped trot, so as not to jostle her but also not take long to get her to safety. She'd been out long enough, waiting in bushes. Navigating to the window to drop them both into the safehouse was almost like coming home, anymore. He'd spent days enough there with many injuries, or with adjusting its stock, or tending the aloe that Acrucis had thoughtfully left there for burns. The one palette left up was still fresh, so no one had been by except himself. Thraen set Ash down on it carefully before setting to grabbing extra blankets from the cupboard. "I would lover to help update the Primer...fancy...I just met Kallichore, the original author not long ago. " "The primer was more or less my first mentor, and what I was able to turn to regularly without a team or partner. I've pointed others to it as well. Its a great idea, Ash. Do you like to nest in blankets? Or pile them? "
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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 10:14 am
Despite the distance they covered being so short and how being carried could never be an entirely smooth process, Ash was very nearly asleep by the time Thraen slid into the safety of his hidey hole. Her whole soft body had been loose and relaxed up until that point and then she suddenly jerked up, her head lifting as she blinked around the room owlishly. Jeez, she was tired... but she'd already known that. It shouldn't be such a surprise that she was finding it hard to stay awake.
Set down on the floor, the silver cat stretched carefully, extending her back legs one at a time with spread toes. It wasn't as satisfying as normal, but it wouldn't be while she was laid up, would it? Lifting her little pink nose, Ash hobbled about the room to investigate, her stride hitching to keep her sprained leg off the ground as much as possible. She smelled... dirt, but not as much dust as she had expected. She smelled senshi who came in and out of here, the things they brought with them, something green and growing... Then the mention of Kallichore brought her attention back and the burmilla turned towards her companion again.
"Oh yes, Kallichore! Lovely girl. I tracked her down at one point to get access to the primer from her. She's not terribly tech savvy, but things should run far more smoothly with me to facilitate the data collection and collation. I've got a promise form her to feed me information." Little ears perked forward as she limped closer, eyeing the blankets. "Oh! You can just leave them in a pile, darling. If I feel like moving them around, I think I can manage that! It was just the, uh... distance from the park to HQ that was giving me a bit of an issue."
It was hard to admit that house cats, even ones that were really Mauvian, could be as much prey as predators, especially when injured. What if she had run into another dog youma? It made the fur on her tail puff up to think about it and she sat back abruptly, letting it sweep along the floor as she cracked a huge yawn that spread her mouth open wide and displayed her fine little teeth.
"Oh, dear, I'm sorry. Don't mind me. But yes... the primer is my first priority at this moment, though as I think I've said, I'm also trying to access the negaverse database. I also have another side project, but that involves some work with electronic equipment and it giving me a little bit of an issue. Please do think of things the primer is missing and send them to me. The more sources we can find, the better the information will be. And the better the information, the better informed we all are in the end."
Ash blinked slowly before she squirmed and hooked her paw over her visor, a duck of her head sliding it off of her face to fall rattling to the floor. Fighting another yawn, she set to washing her face properly now that she could put some small bit of weight on her bad paw. The green of her eyes was far more prominent now without the haze of purple her visor normally gave them.
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Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 5:57 pm
A ghost of a smile crossed Thraen's lips as he smoothed the top of the blankets he put down in preparation for a small, fluffy grey princess on a pea- sans pea he hoped. "I'll think on the Primer, then. " "And this is ready for sleeping. I'll stay with you a little, for company, and then go get some food to bring back for when you're up. What do you prefer to eat? I didn't stock any chicken and rice or ...sheba here. An oversight that I can remedy. " That way she didn't have to wake alone either. He could work on sketches and the primer entries. It was pleasant, for once, to have someone else there to visit with while at the safe house, instead of purely acting on a in and out basis. Or being trashed himself and bleeding everywhere. He backed, thumbing the space heaters on before settling to a seat nearby the stack of blankets with his back to the shelves. Bluefire Dragonz Did you want to close this on your post?
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Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 6:43 pm
The click and resultant hum of the heater was like music, the waft of warm air like heaven. Hobbling to the blankets, Ash settled herself on top of them, the bad leg extended in front of her as she folded up the rest of her in typical cat fashion. Oh, it felt so good... already her head was nodding, though she bravely fought off sleep.
"Oh... I don't know." The burmilla said as she yawned. "Whatever you please... I'll admit I don't typically eat normal cat food since it's hard for a 'wild' cat to come by, and I'm not much of a hunter. Most of my diet is scraps of whatever I can find. Or whatever some kind person gives me." A playful smile lit her face as she cracked an eye open.
"Bring something for yourself, by all means, and I can share, if you don't mind that. No need to go more out of your way than you have..." The last of it came out something of a mumble as the guardian settled her chin between her paws. A bit of a squirm and she was something of a disc of soft fur with ears poking out the top, within moments completely relaxed and deeply asleep.
More questions and answers would have to wait till later.
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