4 was sitting about in a tree watching the river as she draws the clouds in the sky and enjoying the sunshine as she leaned against the trunk of the tree she was sitting in. It had taken her a long time to find a tree that didn't have birds in it but now she had her tree and she was drawing so good...till the flapping noise...she looked up and a crow...came into view....and settled a few branches above her in the trees. She froze and pulled her sketch book close....how to get down....But then a few blue jays settled in the branches under her...She frowned and felt tears in her eyes...she was trapped...stuck here with no way down and small chickadees were slowly settling in other branches around her...She made the only noise she could which was a scratchy whimper like noise and looked about nervously.

Dracal was walking down one of his favorite paths in the park, taking in all of the sights and sounds from all around him. He sniffed the air every once awhile to see what he can get. His ears flick tothe sounds of flapping sounds before glancinf around to see what was going on. He narrowed his eyes towards the sight of a female that seemed to be cowarded in fear. "Hey! Stay there! I will get you down!!!" He called out to her. He runs towards the tree while yelling at the birds, getting his sword drawn out.

4 looks down to see the male cat coming towards her tree with a sword. Her eyes widened as she thought he was coming to kill her! Was she in his tree! Was she in danger from the male cat too! She freaked out and looked around nervously as she tried to figure out how to get away so she would avoid the male with the sword and the birds....how could she do both!! She scrambled out towards the end of the branch trying to not be easily accessable.

Dracal growls as he jumped onto a rock then into the nearest tree branch. He swings towards the birds that were closest to the girl. He moved the sword to where it wouldnt touch her or harm her. "Get the hell away from her!!!" He said before getting onto the next branch to swing at the rest of the birds, wanting them to be gone. He glanced at her to see if she is ok.

4 looked around as she watched him scare off the birds. They were not happy about it but she didn't care cause they were all leaving now. She looked over at him as he looked at her. She whimpered sadly again not sure what to think about him. She looked over him as she carefully held the branch and wrote on her paper. 'Are you going to hurt me?' she wrote and showed it to him and hoped that he knew how to read...

Dracal glared at the stubborn birds as they finally flew away. He flicks his ears at the sounds of writing and looks towards her. He shook his head and smiled slightly. "I would never hurt a lady at all. You are scared. That is why i am here, miss."

'your...going to save me?' she wrote and showed him as she scooted a little closer. She wasn't sure...she hadn't met many new cats since nick had dissapeared...she missed him greatly but it wasn'tsomething she could help now...She scooted a bit closer again and looked at him as she tried to figure out how they would get down.

Dracal nodded with a smile on his lips while shealthing his sword so she wouldnt get hurt on it. "I will get you out of this tree as well. Come here and get into my arms, miss. My name is Dracal. No harm will ever come to you in my presence." He opened his arms towards her.

Tucking her sketch pad under her arm and her pencil into her sweater pocket again. Pointing at herself and then held up four fingers. She moved closer to him and carefully let him take her into his arms. She blushed....she had never been close to anyone like this but Nick and her friends John and Ruki so she felt odd but she wanted out of the tree...

He nodded as he says, "Your name is 4?" He gently takes her into her arms and clinches her body against his protectively before jumping onto a lower branch. It would only take a few moments to get her to the ground.


She nodded and held onto him as she tried not to feel too weird being close to someone she didn't know. She didnt' much like being touched at the best of times but it was better then getting stuck in the tree with birds again. She looked over him before looking over her shoulder and at the ground wondering what she would do when they go to the ground again.

He gently set her down onto the ground once he jumped down. "There we go. No more birds and whatnot. If you want, miss 4, we can go to my place for a drink to settle your nerves down." He could sense her nervousness at the moment as he tries to be gentle around her. "Forgive me if i made you uncomfortable, miss 4."

She smiled softly as she stood up and looked at the male. Holding up one finger she took out her pad and pencil again and wrote. 'i don't see others often and don't have much contact. My boyfriend disappeared and so i haven't been close to someone like that in a long time.' she said as she thought about his question for a drink. She bit her lip as she pushed her glass's back into place and nodded. 'i think one drink would be nice...I don't want to be outside any more right now.' she wrote to him as she looked over the sky nervously.

Dracal tilts his head towards her, mewing softly. He was indeed curious about the female. "Forgive me for being so bold but I must ask you this.. Are you a mute, Miss 4?" He nods gently. "It is quite alright. You are always welcome to come around here. Just try not to get into the trees or the birds will come to you again." He watched her think a bit as he smiled. He then offers her his hand. "Then.. come on. I won't bite." He winks at her.

4 nodded at his question and pulled her sweater down just enough to show some scars onher neck. Cuts that were from her human experimenting on her and cutting her vocal cords so that the neighbors didn't hear her cries. 'my human was...not nice...he did bad thins to me.' she said as she rubbed her arms over her sweater still feeling the pain from it all. 'i will remember thank you. I haven't had anyone around to help me for a long while.' she wrote to him with a small smile.

Dracal frowns at the sight of her throat, tightening his form a bit. He hated humans that would hurt any animal especially his own species. "... I am glad that you are able to get away from... the human." He frowned softly. "My sister lives in the university.. I can easily ask her to get some information on a language for you. It is called Sign Language." He bows his head slightly at her. "You are very welcome, miss." He tilts his head at her. "You are not alone anymore. You have me as your friend now. You have a spot in my home whenever you need it."

4 smiled happily as she nodded and tilted her head a little. 'sign language? What does that mean? I just learned how to write recently. I know pictures!' she said as she opened her sketch book and showed the art she did. Fields and flowers and trees. Other cats and rivers and frogs and things. All done very well in charchol and pen and pencil. Different colors but all soft and beautifully done. 'Where do you ive?'

Dracal purred slightly as he smiled. "Yes. Sign language. It is a language for the deaf and mute. You can use your hands to make signs to be able to communicate with others." He looked down at her art and widened his eyes. "Oh, my. They are so beautiful." He glanced around to see where his home would be and points to the cute cottage that was built within a redwood tree. "That is my home."

4 looked at him and at her fingers. Her fingers could be used to talk with people with out writing things? That sounded interesting and helpful. Sometimes she couldn't find new pencils to use when she cut hers down too small. She looked at him as he lead the way to his house and she smiled a she looked at it and wrote 'oh wow its so pretty! You sure you don't mind me coming here sometimes?' she looked around it all and was sure she would draw it sometime soon.

Dracal smiled when she looks down at her fingers. "Yes.. Your fingers. I have seen various conversations between two humans.. They are really interesting. I even want to learn. Now I really have a good reason. You." He walks down the path to his home. "Thank you." He beams. "My Sensei helped with the building of it. He lives some ways away from here with his mate." He then nods once again. "You sure can. My home is open to those who really need some help in life. They are always welcome to stay here as long as they need to or even want to." He opened the door for her. "After you, Miss."

4 walked in slowly and looked uip and around at everything. It was a cute house and she liked how comfortable it felt. 'your mentore? What is that?' she asked as she sat in a chair and smiled as she settled. She hadn't been in something this comfortable in a long while. She had had a placd with Nick but it felt too big there when he went away. She pushed her hood back now that she was inside and her blond hair floated about her head. She had some small violet streaks in it too from her friend Horus.

Dracal glanced around his home before turning to lock his front door once they were both inside. "My mentor is what you call a teacher. He guided me through alot of bad things that happened to me in my life. He taught me how to mediate and do Tai Chi. I also know how to do martial arts." He says gently, moving to get some tea going. He caught a moment to glance at her when she took her hood down. "I like your hair. It makes your eyes pop out." He smiled.

4 looked over him and did not know those words that he used. She didn't know how to spell that stuff either. She smiled as she looked at him and pushed the longer side of her hair back and smiled. She looked up at him and blushed though as she realized that he had complimented her. 'oh yes i like my hair...i don't know those other things you talked about...are they like fighting?' she wrote as she curled her little half tail into her lap and pulled leaves out of it.

Dracal moves to get to his chair besides her and set the tea cups and tea jug down onto his coffee table. He looked towards her. "Just realized what I said, eh? What are you thinking about that made you a bit... well far away, miss?" He tilts his head and laughs softly. "Oh, yes.. Martial Arts is fighting but with honor so to speak. Tai Chi is a way to control your well.. Chaktra." He glanced at her tail then at her. "Forgive me for all of the info dump on you."

'Lots of words i don't know...i dont know a lot about most things. I don't...im not stupid though im very smart im sure. But i don't know words or how to spell big words. I was just thinking about...well the nice thing you said about my hair. Nick used to like talking about my hair too.' she wrote with a smile. 'what does it control? Can you show me how to spell these words?' she asked as she leaned forward and took up a tea cup and sipped it happily.

Dracal sips his own cup of tea and sets it back down. He gestered to the notepad. "May I, please?" If he was allowed to do so, he would write down various words of martial arts and Tai Chi, explaining them to her. "These words are easy to write down and actually say. But in your case, just think of how it would be spelled. I would understand you regardless." He smiled. ".. Nick? I am sorry if I am moving onto a sensitive subject for you, sweetheart." He softened the tone of his voice out in concern for her.

4 smiled and noded as she looked over as he wrote and watched him write the words and talk about them. She listened to what he said about them and nodded as she under stood now. She smiled as she nodded and took the pad. 'thank you. i will work on understanding them more. And Nick was my boyfriend' she frowned and shook her head. 'its not sensitive just sad. i dont know where he went and hes been gone for over a year now...i miss him but i don't think hes coming back. Maybe Santa took him...Nick was really good and liked Santa a lot. He was Santa to some of us cats in town...' she wrote with a small smile.

Dracal sips his tea once again between the writing to help her learn various things. "Anytime, 4.. Anytime." He then flattened his ears at her words, frowning softly. "Santa wouldn't take anyone away to make someone sad, dear.." He reached up to touch her on the cheek. "I am sure that he is fine but just unable to come back to you. Would he want you to be sad like this? Live life as your heart and soul tell you."

4 smiled a little and nodded. 'id like to watch you do this stuff. I don't have the coordination for that kinda stuff but i'd watch. i like watching. and...well maybe Santa wanted to have him there to help with presents to cats all over the world...im not sad if thats where he went...he loved Santa and im happy for him if hes with santa!' she smiled at him as she shrugged and blushed. 'im not sad. I miss the attention. i had just gotten used to the closeness with him. We never...well...did stuff or anything but i liked being with him and thats not something im always comfortable with'