Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was 9 o’clock and the sun was finally setting. Another nearly cloudless day save for random wisps of clouds that dissipate as the day progressed.

Once blue sky now lit a bright orange across the western horizon. Yet as the light diminished the warmth remained. Summer had come early and with it the temperature rose dramatically from what it had been just a few weeks prior.

Comfortable 70 degree weather with a light breeze made up for the fact Sonia had to stay late to help put away the practice equipment after fencing practice. With her ombre brunet colored hair still tied up into a high ponytail, the breeze across her bare neck was much needed comfort to her achy shoulders.

Normally everyone was responsible for their own equipment however something had happened in the back with one of the shelving units. One moment everyone was saying their goodbyes and the next everyone was sprinting to the storage area after hearing a yelping scream followed by a loud crash. When they got there one metal frame shelving system had fallen over, or perhaps pulled or pushed over, with the contents burying Lindsey under foil practice swords and sever helmets.

Needless to say it was a mess trying to get everything off her while someone else called 911. A few stayed behind while others either went with her in the ambulance or simply went home. Not Sonia… this place was like a second home to her and so she set about making order out of chaos the accident left behind.

“Sonia?”

Startled, the young woman’s head snapped towards where the voice had come from.

“Lo siento*, I didn’t mean to startle you.” A large yet gentle hand rested on her shoulder in an attempts to calm her nerves. “You should go home,” her instructor urged. “This is about as good as it will get till I can get the frame fixed.”

The older man, and long time mentor, stood up and crossed his arms over his chest while eyeing the bent bar. “C’mon,” he clapped her on the back.

With a deep sigh Sonia finally resigned herself to leaving for the night. “Okay,” she replied, offering her long time mentor a half hearted smile as she pushed herself off the brick wall. The only reason she had been outside was to get a few minutes of fresh air; the back room was starting to get stuffy and moving heavy objects was making her a bit over heated.

“You’ll let me know if you need help si?” It was a heartfelt offer since one of Sonia’s pet peeves was to leave something unfinished especially when she was almost done.

A chuckle met her ears as sunset colored eyes slid over to the exit sign above the hollow metal door. “Si* si. Go grab your gear, I’ll lock up.”

No argument met his suggestion as one of his favorite pupils turned her back and disappeared back inside. “Buenas noches señor Galeano*” With a bag in one hand and her helmet in the other, Sonia nodded her head good bye before exiting out the front door and headed towards her car.

Small ticking sounds tapped against the wood floors of the practice studio. Too many people. Far too many for the little youma to make use of anything. So, it’s long legs and pincers had been curled around its form, hiding inside one of the helmets. Already it had lost one target and now it sat waiting for the next.

For a long while, it had waited for a young woman's energy it had felt. Now that was replaced.

Slowly the helmet rose and its cargo along with it. “Strange. Did they leave…” The old man questioned as he turned the helmet to look.

Out came eight long legs and two hooked claws! The youma sprang forward and grabbed onto the face of the elder man. Screams could only be muffled so much by its small size but as it latched, it started to glow!

Energy flowed into the eight legged youma and it began to grow! Quickly, it over took the man’s head causing him to drop to his knees.

Not even half way across the three lane street, Sonia’s attention snapped back towards the now dimly lit exterior of the practice gym. “Señor Galeano?” That was him wasn’t it? That yell…? It had to be. “Señor Galeano?” she repeated, only this time a bit louder.

Where a third party on-looker may have advised her to call 911, Sonia’s mind was most definitely elsewhere. Pivoting on her heel she hurried back over to the storefront glass doors and dropped her helmet and bag on the concrete sidewalk only to kneel beside her belongings to retrieve her saber sword she brought to practice.

She held onto the handle with a firm grip as she rose to her feet to peer inside the dark room by using her free hand to block the light from the street lamp.

The fact her teacher wasn’t responding and he had yet to emerge from the back of the gym was cause for concern; normally he would be outside by now.

Sonia grabbed the door handle and gave it a tug only to be left sorely disappointed and slightly frustrated that it had been automatically locked when she stepped outside. Damn it. Where is he? No longer willing to wait and see where he was at, the brunet young women sprinted around the building to the rear exit which she hoped was still open.

“Señor Galeano?” She repeated a third and final time as she poked her head inside the cracked door.

A sound. A door jerking.

The youma jumped from its meal source back to the floor. It had drained enough at this point to be the size of a mid-size dog. It was also enough to cause the dinner plate to fall head first on the floor and collapse.

Still, the long legs of the youma carried it back towards the shadows. This time, with its new size and strength, the youma made it up a wall and into the corner of the room behind the door.

Stretching out its legs, it waited.

The door creaked in protest when Sonia pushed against it. Light from alley filtered into the back room from outside, while green light from the exit sign cast eerie shadows down the length of epee blades as if they had been hand dipped in poison.

Down one of the narrow aisles a pair of feet could be seen. Unresponsive and motionless, Sonia fought the urge to run and find help as she stepped over the threshold to approach her fallen teacher. No blood pooled on the ground around him which was a good sign, at least she hoped, and upon further inspection she could see his chest rise and fall. He passed out…

Kneeling down beside him, Sonia shook his leg to try to rouse him awake. “Señor Galeano, you need to get up. We need to get out of here.”

Motionless, the youma remained in its place.

Had it a neck, it would have turned from side to side, watching the female version of these tasty creatures. Instead, all it could do was shift its pinches in front of what should have been a mouth. Two little clicks escaped and it dropped to the ground quickly placing itself between her and the door.

“Holy!” Startled beyond reason Sonia rose to her feet and turned to the door. The grip she had on the sword was tight enough to turn her knuckles white as she stared wide-eyed at a creature born from nightmares. What the ********>

Dark as obsidian, the monster was in perfect silhouette against the dim lights behind it. Long shadows reached out towards her at jagged angles. Like a spider the creature before her possessed long segmented legs that made clicking sounds as it moved. However, in place of fangs, at least she hoped it didn’t have any, were two barbed pincers like a mantis or a crab.

Hell no… that, that thing was in here?!? Her body tensed the moment its body moved in a jerking fashion, as if it were pump faking her into action. Unfortunately it worked and in response Sonia took a step back in anticipation of its advance only to catch her heel on her teachers calf. One arm swung out wide in an attempt to grab ahold of something to keep from falling and steady her so she could retreat out the room into the main building.

For a brief second, as she righted herself once more, she lost sight of where the creature was at which made the whole situation all that more terrifying that it was far closer than it had been a second ago. It was like a weeping angel from that Doctor Who episode her younger brother made her watch; Blink.

Sonia groped the shelf beside her with her free hand for something, anything, to grab onto that she could throw at the clicking monster as it appraised her with hungry eyes. With each movement it made she too slid her foot backwards as if she were facing off against a sparring partner till her fingertips brushed against the wire mesh mask of a fencing helmet. The need to scare it away, to make it leave was overwhelming and so she grabbed the protective gear and with what strength she had left after being startled to death minutes prior, Sonia threw it at the insect.

Years of training took over then as she advanced forward two steps with the tip of her epee sword pointed forward, then lunged with the intent to land a hit and hopefully chase it off.

With a rather loud crashing sound, the helmet landed smack in the face of the so called creature sending it backwards and landing on to its back. Rolling two and fro, its legs moved wildly trying to right itself. Being in said position though made it hard to defend against the strange attack method. Instead, the creature road out the hit and used it to flip itself over.

Several clicks of its pincers to insure the shell it wore was intact and the little one spun around once more, this time heading quickly towards the female.

Benitoite wasn’t out looking to gather energy nor was he out looking for a fight. Tonight was a simple patrol night but it was also a night for Katya to perhaps meet and greet other officers or possibly a corrupted senshi. She had more than once voiced her want to meet them all. With the russian blue in his arms the General moved from roof top to roof top with ease born from time spent traversing the city in this manner.

It was at some point, as he was walking across a rooftop, that he felt it - a youma. He knew what they felt like and could pick up on their signatures with ease and sureness. “Looks like a youma is near by. Would you care to see one feeding, Katya?” He asked while glancing down at the prim and proper cat who was held against his chest securely. Her green eyes staring out ahead of them while her ears flickered about taking in all the sounds of the city which they could pick up.

Shifting her a bit he leaned his head down till his chin touched the top of her head. “I don’t believe you’ve seen a youma feeding on energy.” And while it may not be feeding at the moment he was sure that if they followed it they could see it find someone to feed off of.

At the russian blue’s nod he felt a small smile tug at his lips. “Alright then, let us find the youma.” And rather than jumping to another rooftop he moved to jump down to the sidewalk and followed the aura till he was pushing open the door of a building. It was inside the building that the aura was strongest and that he found what he was looking for. Letting Katya jump down from his arms he made his way slowly toward the hungry youma. “Well, well, well what have we here…” The words were almost purred out as slate hued eyes roved over the scene presented to him and his partner.

Katya, ever wanting to learn, had jumped down from her General’s arms and made her approach. Tail swaying behind her she paused and stared at the young girl with the sword in hand and then looked to the fallen man. No, it wasn’t him that felt… different, it was her. The Russian Blue had felt it when they’d entered the building but she had been unsure of it, having only felt it once before. She was an unawakened senshi. The cobra like smile which came across her face paired with the bright green eyes might scare some but it was a good thing - she was happy.

The youma had to be dealt with though, and she could not do that, so she turned to benitoite even as she tried to slowly approach the girl who was on the ground. “Call the youma off, he cannot touch her! This girl will be one of mine!” No doubt the General would understand what she meant, he was not stupid nor slow in understanding things. “You will give me another senshi.” She simply stated.

Startled by Katya’s words he only hesitated a moment before jumping into action and summoned his communications crystal. While it wasn’t near to his lips, so no one heard what he said, he looked to the youma taking in it’s rather grotesque form. “Go, you are done here this evening. Find your energy elsewhere. This one is ours.” He spoke, giving the other while his right hand made a sharp gesture, slicing through the air, as he motioned for the youma to do as he said and leave.

It was halfway in motion when the creature froze. Clicking, it looked back in the direction of the door.

If a youma could curse, it would have seeing the general. However, it knew it was no match as it jumped towards the man, disappearing a moment before coming in contact.

Having just witnessed the creature she had spared against disappear into thin air for no apparent reason other than because it was told to do so, Sonia could do nothing more than stare wide eyed at the two new arrivals that so quietly made an entrance without her, or the youma, noticing. Now what..

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Translation
Lo siento - I'm sorry.
Si - Yes
Buenas noches señor Galeano - Good night Mr. Galeano.

Sirene Naiads

NPCed the youma and parts of Mr. Galeano - 472 words

Sleet Tempest Snape

Katya and Benitoite - 614 words