Welcome to Gaia! ::

A neko, known as Silence because of her lack of speech, wandered through the back allies. It had started to rain, and she had nowhere to get away from it. She leaned against a wall and looked around, she was alone. All the other nekos were somewhere dry. Why was she always left out in the rain? She started to walk again, head lowered. She had taken only a few steps when she saw a pair of shoes and looked up, it was another neko. Silence knew the neko standing in front of her, his name was Ben. She had often watched him and others from the shadows. But what was he doing out here in the rain? She decided she didn’t care. When she tried to walk past him, however, he grabbed her arm. “Silence, what is your real name?” How could she answer? She didn’t know. So she kept her head down and hoped he would leave soon. But he didn’t, he continued to talk, “I’ve seen you hiding in the shadows, watching the rest of us. Why don’t you ever come join us?” Silence wished he would go away; instead he led her into a house off the alley way.

Ben led Silence down a hallway and into a large room full of other nekos. They all turned to look when Ben and Silence entered. Overwhelmed by the presence of so many others and feeling they did not want her there; Silence turned and ran back down the hallway and into the rain. She didn’t realize Ben had followed her until he touched her shoulder. She spun around to face him. “What was that for?” He looked concerned and confused. As if he actually cared! Silence simply walked away.

An overhang provided a dry area big enough for her to curl up and sleep in. But as she lay there she became vaguely aware someone was watching her. She sat up and looked around, and there he was. Silence glared at him, and as he spoke her anger rose. “I just want to help you. If you let me I can make you happy. I can introduce you to the others and I’ll see that they’re kind to you.” Silence shook her head, he sighed and left.

When she awoke she knew something was wrong even before she opened her eyes. She sat up and saw she wasn’t where she had fallen asleep. Cautiously, she got up and walked to a door, which turned out to be a closet. So she tried another door, this one led into the large room from last night. The nekos were all there, and unfortunately saw her as she tried to retreat back into the small room she had woken up in. One female neko, Elizza, came into the room where Silence was trying to hide and dragged her in with all the others.

Silence sat in a corner, watching and listening. No one acknowledged her. That is until Sadiqua approached. Sadiqua was a foreign neko; she was shy and quiet. Like Silence, no one knew much about her. But unlike Silence she spoke.

Sadiqua smiled as she neared Silence. “Hi. I’m Sadiqua.” She spoke softly. Silence nodded a greeting, she still wasn’t happy about being here. Just then Sadiqua’s twin brother approached, he was the male version of his sister. He introduced himself, “Silence, I’m Smyan.” His smile was warm and kind. After nodding a greeting to Smyan, Silence retreated back into herself. She had to get out of here, she just had to! “Come with us.” Sadiqua said as her and Smyan stood up. Wary of what the two might be planning, Silence stayed where she was. “Come on!” Smyan ordered and pulled Silence to her feet and kept a firm grasp on her arm.

Sadiqua and Smyan lead Silence into a room much like the one she had woken up in. While Smyan continued to hold Silence’s arm to prevent her from leaving, Sadiqua opened a window and crawled out. Smyan then released her arm and motioned to the window, “You’re next.” Still wary, Silence crawled out the window and into an ally.

Sadiqua grabbed her arm when she turned to leave. Silence looked at her suspiciously; she didn’t trust the other nekos. “Don’t look at me like that,” Sadiqua said firmly, “We got you out of there.”