The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn’t the first time they’ve appeared in Destiny City, but no one’s been able to tell where they came from or where they’re going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.
Illyria was mesmerized. She had been following a set of coordinates that would lead her to a hidden geocache just inside of one of the downtown parks in Destiny City when she drew up short. The sight of multiple twinkling lights in the air was enough to make her pause. She sat down primly and flicked her tail back and forth before attempting to just watch a single point of light. Of course, these were fireflies. The feline had never really taken the time to observe them like this but with it being a warm summer evening and with nothing else pressing in her schedule the mauvian allowed herself the enjoyment of taking in something magical, if not ordinary in nature.
On first inspection these fireflies did pass the normalcy test. But after she began to observe more closely, the realization that something wasn't entire kosher began to settle into her mind. The feline rose to all four paws and padded around the clearing, almost as if deciding that the insects were no longer worth her time, but in truth she was taking a methodically path around the clearing, looking for what it was that had triggered her 'abnormal' radar. That's when she saw it - the lights that lit up the end of the insects would ... change. One could be the normal color, but another would then appear blue ... or red. The color shifts were small and almost seemed normal - but they weren't.
Illyria shifted and once more sat down with tail wrapped around her paws. Surely these insects weren't doing any harm, so why couldn't she enjoy them?
Shanyume
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:22 am
The Starfall festival was one of Eleonora’s favorite events. It was almost always warm out and unlike Halloween time, any rumor of strange incidents or magic usually wasn’t horrifying to run into.
Usually anyway…
Aside from the rifts that Alcor saw several days, there were talks of fairies, fireflies and fireworks that were silent as they lit up the night sky in an array of colors, all things she wanted to bare witness to. No to mention the lantern festival which, in her mind, would be quite a romantic scene to see with a significant other. A scene played out from the movie Tangled. Unfortunately, she was quite single and her twin wasn’t all that interested in seeing them.
No matter.
This evening did not disappoint. While the meteor shower had already ended, there were still little floating lights out and about; not as illuminating as the lanterns might have been, but the tiny bugs were still rather adorable.
Eleonora followed them aimlessly until she felt a small aura and for a moment she thought it might belong to Liryn. That is until she saw who the aura belonged to. A mauvian of similar size and just as precious looking from where she stood
“Hello,” she spoke quietly in an attempt to not startle the little one. “May I join you?”
There was an aura of significant interest nearing her position but Illyria wasn't alarmed. While the opposite would have been true if it had been a chaos aura, the fact of the matter was that the aura that she was sensing was clearly order-aligned. It was for that reason alone that she felt safe enough to remain where she was until the company came into view. The small feline gave a soft mrrrt sound of amusement before taking her gaze off the display that had so far managed to captivate her attention. The visitor, pausing in her steps, had managed to express a desire to join Illyria, and perhaps, just watch the fireflies? Unwinding her tail from where it had rested Illyria moved to pad around the newcomer before arching her back in a feline stretch. Her voice, when she deigned to speak, was soft. "I have no qualms if you wish to join me on this fair evening," her gaze ticked to the senshi before glancing back up at the tiny bugs, "Fascinating aren't they? I've never quite seen anything like this before."
Taking one more moment to observe the bugs, Illyria moved to gently bat at the senshi's draping sash as it was almost as alluring as the display above. "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
Shanyume
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:59 am
“That they are,” Eleonora reached out to touch one and quickly withdrew her hand. One would think a firefly would burn, but this one just zapped the s**t out of her. Almost as if she had stuck her finger in a lightbulb socket.
Yeesh… That smarts. The senshi narrowed her eyes at the bug in response to the scolding jolt but was kindly reminded that there was better company and conversation to be had.
In a fluid motion, she ran her hands down the front of her skirt and took a seat on the ground beside the creme-colored mauvian. “My name is Eleonora, I’m the Senshi of Heat.” The flame-like border trim around her uniform would have in some way alluded to this, but it kind of felt fun to say; a unique title that belonged to only herself. “Most call me Ele, though.”
She reached a handout, a silent offering for scritches; something she knew Liryn quite enjoyed. Gremlin… not so much; then again she hadn’t had much success in winning that hair-less chaos cat over. In due time Eleonora reminded herself. In due time she hoped he’d come around and realize she meant no harm to any guardian cat, regardless of faction. They were like chibi’s to her and needed to be protected.
“May I ask your name?” Her head canted to the side curiously causing snow-colored hair to slide forward over one shoulder.
Illyria logged this information in her mind. It was always nice to be able to meet new senshi that she could later reconnect with. Her gaze flicked back to the fireflies before she arched her back one more time before closing the distance to Eleonora's outstretched hand. There was no way that she would turn down an offer of free scritches. As the senshi's fingers made contact with her small form she gave a contented sigh before just enjoying the sensation of human fingers hitting just all the right places that she couldn't reach. A low purring began and Illyria shifted her frame slightly before ruminating on the question that Eleonora had asked of her. But introductions aside, was there any need to do anything else?
Instead of letting her eyes close and losing herself completely to the scratches that this senshi was willing to dole out Illyria turned her gaze to meet Eleonora's squarely before giving a cattish grin, "It's my pleasure to make your acquaintance Eleonora. I, ooh, yes, right there," the senshi's fingers had just hit a really, really good spot. Chagrined for a lapse in concentration Illyria ducked her head before she continued, "I'm sorry, my name is Illyria."
She would have been content to remain seated beside the senshi of heat but being who she was, it wasn't close enough to satisfy her anymore. Pawing at the senshi's lap did Illyria break contact with the scritching fingers in order to climb into Eleonora's lap. There she settled down and resumed her purring. Her gaze travelled back to stare at the bugs before picking up on the color shifting again. How odd was it that they were able to do that? She also remembered seeing Ele's reaction to touching one. What was behind that? Should she try?
Shanyume
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2022 12:44 am
“Illyria,” the sound of her name was as melodious as windchimes on a spring day, equally as pleasant to hear as it was to say. “A beautiful name for a beautiful mauvian.”
Truly, it was.
Markings that resembled a siamese but with ears that folded forward, she wore an elegant ribbon and golden accessory that framed her precious face. “You remind me of a little lady.” So much so that Eleonora could imagine her wearing a dazzling dress in her humanoid form befitting a princess. The idea left Ele desperately wanting to carry her around the park and just pamper her with sweet treats and illuminating sights. But for now, she remained seated where Illyria seemed most comfortable and continued offering scritches.
“Which begs the question, how come you’re out here all alone?” Eleonora asked curiously as she traced a finger along the edge of the mauvian’s ear. Never before had she seen a cat’s ear do that which made Illyria all the more unique in her eyes.
The sound of her name from another senshi's lips was music to her ears. Illyria might have also preened a little at the compliment of her name but she held back in agreement. She didn't want to appear vain in front of a new potential friend. Her purring ceased for a moment as Eleonora fell silent herself and she craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the expression of thoughtfulness that this senshi of heat wore at the moment. Illyria's gaze then moved back to the fireflies before deciding that the mystery of the different colors that shone from them wasn't as important at the moment. Instead she focused all of her senses on the hand that was continuing to offer the free petting. Her tiny paws kneaded into Eleonora's side in return and she resumed purring.
The question about why was she out all by herself caught Illyria off-guard. She stopped her gentle kneading before screwing up her face in thought. Why was she out here again? Ooh, yes. The answer came to her moments later and she once more sought out Ele's gaze before shivering at the feel of the senshi's finger tracing the edge of her ear. Oh, that sensation had been totally alien but at that same time, totally enjoyable. She almost asked Eleonora to do it again before stopping the request. "I was trying to find a geocache located nearby but got distracted by the fireflies. I haven't seen so many in one place before so it was easy to get sidetracked."
Still feeling the phantom sensation from the tracing of her ear Illyria felt her fur bristle for a moment and then settle. That had been a particularly interesting reaction. She let her paws stop their kneading before just relaxing for a moment. She was still purring gently in appreciation of this newly made acquaintance's soothing scritches that were freely offered.
Shanyume
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2022 2:35 pm
“Geocache…?” that… sounds familiar… Ele’s eyes squinted a bit as she seemed to be searching her mind for when she would have heard that word and under what context it was given. “That’s the- um…” Her face scrunched because she was about to ask if it was gem-hunting related then remembered that no it wasn’t a geological thing but hunting sounded right.
“That’s the large-scale scavenger hunt thing, right? You’re looking for caches left by other people?” Although she’d never participated in that kind of hobby, she seemed to recall a friend back in High School that like to go on those kinds of adventures.
Illyria was about to instruct her new friend about what a geocache was when it seemed that Eleonora came to the correct conclusion about what it was that she had been looking for. Her gaze left the fireflies and turned to meet Ele's gaze. Illyria offered a cat-like grin to the senshi of heat before nodding.
"That is essentially one hundred percent correct. Caches can be left anywhere and they can be of varying sizes. Most caches consist of a log claiming who has found it successfully and often more times than not there is a small choice of random items that you can pick from as a reward. It's also customary to leave something in the cache as well, sort of like a 'replacement item' for the next person who might hunt for the cache the next time. All those who geocache follow sets of gps coordinates that mark the approximate location of the geocache."
Illyria's whiskers twitched as she stared off across the meadow before continuing, "I've been meaning to find this one located close nearby for a while but I've always put it off. Tonight I had finally set my mind to locating it when this display above suitably distracted me."
Shanyume
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 6:45 pm
“Well,” Eleonora shifted so that she stood up without the use of her hands or needing to set Illyria down. “Why don’t we find it together then?” She’d be fine holding the little mauvian for a while or letting her perch atop her shoulder. She’d also be welcome to sit inside Ele’s hood and direct her if she so preferred.
Tonight was a good night for an adventure so might as well enjoy it in pleasant company.
