Welcome to Gaia! ::

To anyone who had ever seen a startled cat run so fast away from something that they actually moved absolutely nowhere. Legs going a mile a minute yet paws slipping out from under them so that their body seemed to remain stationary. Truly a sight to behold, but as the one currently trying to do the running, it was a harrowing experience, to say the least.

“Kyaaaa…” Xyla let out a shrill scream when finally her paws found purchase in the snow rather than on ice and she took off down the alleyway like a bat out of hell.

Behind her a reindeer in all its anger and fury stomped its hoof into the ground, carving lines into the ice it stood upon. Who in their right mind left the damned gate open and let the rabid animals out of their place of holding? Why would anyone let a creature like this wander freely along the streets? And WHY in Metalia’s blessed name was it in some dark alleyway beside an industrial trash can of all places instead of the park or someplace not so dirty.

If only she had a moment to think on those questions, then Xyla would have come to the conclusion that every Negaverse officer that had a personal youma did exactly that. But this was not some creature from the Rift that obeyed their Captains and Generals. It was, however, a sizeable animal that was easily no less than six times her size.

There was an explosion of snow when she took the corner sharply and slid into the bank that lined the sidewalk from when the snowplow had shoved the slush to the side. That didn’t stop her, no. Slow her momentum by a noticeable degree but Xyla refused to stop. “Eeee, leave me be!” the Mauvian all but shouted in a shrill voice.

Close behind, she heard the reindeer exhale loudly, and heard the galloping sound of hooves closing in.

Xyla was a streak of blue across a path of white worrying endlessly that she was about to be trampled to death or have her gloriously long and extremely soft tail stepped on. With what limited maneuverability she had, the blue-furred Mauvian darted under a bus stop bench. It was made of metal and she hoped if not prayed that someone would find her and quickly before the vicious deer managed to punch its powerful hooves through the metal grate.

Xyla waited a long moment until she was sure the rabid reindeer was long gone and didn’t just retreat a distance away until she left the shelter of the bench above her.

Cautiously, the blue-furred Mauvian peeked her head out then tentatively took a step, and then another until everything, except her gloriously long tail, was revealed. By comparison to most other guardian cats, she was no doubt on the larger side; not in weight but rather in height and length. Something akin to a Main Coon if one wanted to relate her to a domestic species but if asked she’d just smile up at them and claim she was nothing other than a Cheshire.

“Cold nights bring about fearsome fiends and friendly faces...” Gazing up at the witchling Senshi, Xyla canted her head to the side curiously. “But yours is not one I recognize. To whom do I owe my gratitude?”

Cautiously she slipped out from under the bench and circled the senshi, leaning against her calf in a form of affection and thanks. To a degree, Actaea reminded her of Cybelle, couldn’t place why exactly but it made her heart ache greatly.

“You are…?” Xyla canted her head to the side curiously, noting how Actaea seemed somehow confused by her shortened greeting.

While Xyla loved a good riddle, this Senshi was quite the enigma and she wasn’t quite sure how to respond to such a firm reply. Normally she’d have something witty to say but this time she felt a level of concern for how defensive Actaea seemed.

“A rose by another name would still smell just as sweet, but a rose still has thorns. You’d be wise to be careful who you p***k with them.” It wasn’t so much of a threat as it was words of caution since it would be easy for a General, or Sovereign for that matter, to take the firm tone as insubordination for not answering a direct question. Especially one from the old guard who wouldn’t hesitate to offer swift punishment to someone who was perceived as being disrespectful or copping an attitude with them.

As a chaos cat, guardian of all corrupts, she was somewhat used to being scoffed at or thought of as less than youma companions because of how little she had to offer the Negaverse aside from finding new recruits and aiding in their promotion. Being able to dampen their signatures was a useful skill but not one that was always needed. Still, it wasn’t really enough to have earned herself a place in someone’s home or a team with whom she could call her own.

“Are you ok?” Xyla asked, genuinely concerned.

Xyla felt skeptical when the Senshi said that she would be fine, a typical code word that she’d be anything but ok but the mauvian decided against pressing the topic further and instead chose to accept her reply at face value yet keep a line of communication available if the Senshi found herself in need of a feline friend. “If things change, please reach out to me. My name is Xyla.”

With sure steps, she walked over to the corrupt and bumped against the side of her leg in an affectionate manner. A debt of gratitude would be repaid if only the young woman found reason to ask. “Do be safe, and I hope we meet again.”

Knowing that the Senshi would be able to handle herself, Xyla turned to find a safe warm place to stay before that rabid deer had second thoughts and returned to the scene of the crime and tried to trample her again.