Welcome to Gaia! ::

The great thing about attending Crystal Academy, Melody found, was that she didn't really have to tell anyone where she was going and for how long. There was a curfew, sure, but that was definitely much better then having to tell her mother what she was doing where, when and with whom. She loved the woman to pieces, really, but she could only handle so much worry and fret.

But that was nothing to be dwelling on at the moment. Not when freedom stood before her! Which she was spending outside at a cafe, sipping a fruit smoothie and going over a few pages of her newest piece. The notes came to her in bits and pieces, nothing concrete at one time and she was worried about how it was flowing together. Honestly she should have been playing it out but she had left Esen in the dorm room and she hadn't wanted to disturb her roommate.

Shame that she likely should have stayed inside today, not knowing that she would be the one disturbed in her peace. Then again, if she had of known, she could have sold herself off to be a famous Psychic. Such was life.

It wasn't too often these days that Metis found herself creeping around the city in the day hours, not that she would complain about it to her feline friend. One hand played with and tangled itself within the top black scarf-skirt, her lips pursing slightly as she turned her head this way and that slowly. Scanning. Copper waves bounced around the area - and some sparkling yellow from ********* or regular yellow from what had to be strays in a few other allies she could see from there... but no black to be found by ground or air.

"Nothing yet," she soothed the energetic cat, looking down to her. "I can't see through buildings, but what few waves are coming out of alleyways aren't what we're looking for." She again began the slow scanning, looking up and down and every which way to try and make sure she wasn't missing something. No change. People moving around in their daily lives, sitting at tables, shopping, conversing. No signs at all of a monster lurking around that she could see. Troubling, really. "Do you want me to hit the roofs? Or would you rather I stay down here?" Again her useless eyes returned to the feline, her debate on this rather obvious on her face. Pros and cons, pros and cons. "I see nothing but the auras of humans and animals from here as it is."

Something in the feline's brain seemed to go off, in which ********* had to pause, sit down, and scratch behind her ear with her hind foot. Itchy brains really were troublesome things. When she finished up, it was obvious because her bell fell silent again.

"You go ahead and head up to the rooftops. Stay out of sight... I suspect I have just found something else I need to take care of..."

Was ********* about to explain what she was going to do? Not so much. In fact, without another word, she bounded to her feet, exiting the alleyway and bee-lined towards a tanned girl with blonde hair. The tailless feline did not stop until she was right there at the girl's feet, rubbing up and trilling out a few convincing cat sounds.

Come on, pay attention to me L-lacrimosa.

The jingling bell, the tale-tell sign of the tailless cat, had really gone unheeded by the blonde until something soft and furry rubbed against her ankles. Complete with kitty noises too! Brown blinked then glanced down to find an adorable little kitten (or what looked to be a kitten anyway) trilling up at her.

Melody giggled softly, amused by the feline's antics, then knelt down to run slender fingers through the short coat. "What is a sweet little thing like you doing out here with no owner?" she asked, voice soft and gentle. "Aren't you worried the pound catcher might find you?"

Blinking a moment, the tan girl laughed to herself at her questions. "Listen to me, talking to you as if you could answer my questions."

She'd backed away from the ledge, slowly creeping around the rooftop as she both tried to keep herself hidden and servery at the same time. Copper copper and maybe a tinge of yellow. No black. It was kind of frustrating. Over and over again her vision traced through the streets, the rooftops, the alleyways. Briefly she would peek down to check on ********* and the girl before continuing on, even at one point hopping up onto the roof of a three story building beside her previous perch.

For a moment, she'd begun to wonder if perhaps ********* had been mistaken. There was no trace of any youma, no one freaking out or pointing or running away and certainly no black waves. Once she'd fully pulled herself up onto this new vantage point, stood and straightened herself, she gave a small jolt. Chills bolted up and down her spine, the hair on the back of her neck began to stand.

That doubt towards the cat vanished as she once again began to search about, squinting on habit alone as she examined each and every one of the waves bouncing around her. The change in altitude did something all right - faint black waves were filtering through her sight, radiating off of some source she still couldn't pinpoint. Was it up on one of the higher buildings?


Perhaps if she'd looked straight up into the endless nothing that was the sky in her vision instead of the vague outlines of the towering skyscrapers and apartment complexes and offices, she might have seen it. Grimy wings flapped away, keeping suspended the large brown, black, and white feathered body. The head of a twisted sort of rooster glared down to the streets below as if searching for a target of its own with its inky, ribbon-like tail trailing behind it like a sick banner. Crossed between a hawk, rooster, it was perhaps one of the most annoying predators in the air that day.

Especially when it would begin to crow once it spotted the tasty senshi starseeds. For now, it was quite content with preparing for a swoop down into the busy streets to nab itself some citizen seeds.

********* was not strange! ********* was special!!!

The cat promptly stood up after the label, and bounded off ahead a little bit, pausing in step and looking back to the girl, as if inviting her to follow her. The manx wanted someplace a little more private to reveal herself to this girl.

Come on Lacrimosa, follow ********* like a good girl!

The cat turned back to her current pathway leading to the nearest alleyway. There was a small smile on her maw, even if this was not one of her girls. It was great being able to get what you wanted, when you wanted, just by being a cute cat. Good thing ********* wasn't one of those ugly half-starved alley cats.

Then the only people who would follow her would probably be the animal rescue catchers.

That would not be fun.

Once in the alleyway, the cat found the nearest trashcan, then bounded onto the metal top in a clumsy fashion, causing the lid to complain under her paws with metallic rattles and a slight clanging sound. Despite her lacking display, she turned around so she could face the girl who had been following her.

Taking in a deep breath, as if to prepare herself for the common "disbelief" reaction, the cat then opened her mouth and gave a slight explanation.

"It is not safe on the streets right now." There was that usual slight pause to let it sink in that the cat had just spoken. "And no, this is not a dream. Don't freak out, yes, I am talking to you. I need you to follow my instructions exactly to keep safe!"

If the cat had a tail, it probably would have flicked about curiously at the girl's reaction. Alas, ********* couldn't miss what she didn't have to begin with. The first matter which needed to be taken care of was the simple "Not 'Miss Kitten,' no. My name is *********. I am no kitten... just small!"

Before explaining what she needed the girl to do, the feline suddenly jumped up in a rather stiff looking back flip. Unfortunately, she had been on a trashcan, so the landing itself was very lacking.

In fact, the landing was more of a mess of a crash. It might have seemed as if the acrobatics had no importance, especially after the literal clatter of the nearly empty trashcan, with a ********* following in suit, but soon enough from the crash sight, the pale cat emerged. "Oh... it's in here somewhere!" she complained as she then began to peek through the mess. Before the tanned girl could say anything, the small cat was already stuffing her head into a small pile of garbage. When her head emerged again, she was holding a rather lovely (if gaudy) pink pen.

The cat's pale green eyes looked at the girl expectantly, since her mouth now had a pen in it. ********* did not talk with her mouth full, even in such a case like this one.