[R/AWA] Awakening Thyme [Ridley(Hygiea)/*********]

[chirigami]

Shopping had been a rather lackluster affair, only through the needed stores and not the nice daily affair that Ridley's mother and her often took. Probably because it was still a week day and they had to go after Monica got home from work. Why they didn't go during on a weekend was a loss to Ridley, something about a sale and too many people? She didn't get it, there were always people around.

But she had gotten a lot of cute clothes at least. Ones to replace a few that she had accidentally ruined from a nasty run in with a rose bush ... and that other time she got into a fight with one of the neighbor kids and he tore her shirt. But new clothes were new clothes and she could show them off when she played with friends after school and when she went on her outside adventures. "Any idea what we're having for dinner?" Ridley asked her mother as they walked towards the outdoor parking area of the mall. Her attention really not on where she was going or even her mother, she was tapping and sliding her finger away on her iphone; the new seasonal addition of Angry Birds had come out after all.

"I don't know, Conner didn't mention before we left," Monica replied as she switched up the position of the bags in her hands to open the door. "'Ridley, please pay attention sweetie, I'd rather you not become a dashboard accessory."

"Huh?"

"We're getting outside-"

"No," Ridley interrupted, looking up from her game and to her mother. "Do you hear that?" It was hard to tell what she could be referring to with the squawking of little animated birds filling the air. But with the door open, it was clear that some kind of commotion was going on outside. Monica turned to where there was echoes of screams and the scurry of people.

"What?" She asked in surprise, ready to close the door but stopped in that action. "Wait, Ridley!" She called out, upon noticing her small daughter running out into the open parking lot.

"Ridley!" She called again, nearly leaving the bags at the door. There weren't many though, so she slung them over her shoulder and took chase. Thank god she could run in heels.

"I wanna see whats going on!" Ridley yelled back, dodging a person as they shot past her in their escape.  

[LizzyMoo]

There was a loud screech from the top of a large SUV followed by the sound of metal crunching. Towards the front end of the parking lot, a large creature seemed to be stalking about from vehicle to vehicle. It almost looked like the skeleton of a gryphon, except the bone-like structure was made of a black material. Initially this beast had been attacking regular civilians, but that didn't last very long when a girl with blonde hair and what seemed like a yellow school uniform showed up. If people hadn't been frightened by the monster, they were frightened by the arrival of one of the many terrorists in the city. It didn't matter that the girl was shouting out for all of the spectators to get to safety. No, apparently she was something to fear as well.

The girl had full on charged at the youma, knowing exactly what it was she had to do.

Her companion, on the other hand, kept to the asphalt. She had been trying to monitor both the senshi she was with as well as make sure no civilians got into the current war zone. Her eyes were busily darting one direction, then the next, and every so often she had to get moving as well so that she didn't become a kitty pancake.

However, the feline's ears perked up slightly as she felt a very familiar feeling. It wasn't the same overly noticeable sensation she felt with normal senshi. However, the sensation wasn't as light as that little tickle or itching sensation she felt when she dealt with a chibi senshi. No, this felt like someone was taking a finger and poking at her brain. It was peculiar.

Eventually, her eyes found what was causing this problem in her mental radar. There was a child with orange hair amidst the stampede of civilians.

...hello... Curiously, the tailless feline padded out into the open a bit.  

[chirigami]

Monica was in the next few stages of panic, her daughter was no where to be found through the scramble of people - how there could be so many and how bright orange hair could be missed was somewhat baffling. But with a lot full of cars, even ones that were coming to a halt or screeching away like a bat right out of hell. The mother called for her daughter again, eyes darting around as she kept doding other pedestrians. The metal of the youma suddenly caught her attention and she gasped in fright, her call more earnest. "Ridley!" She tried grasping for other people as they passed, hoping one of them had seen a little girl. Someone had to have seen her!

The desperate call sadly were on deaf's ear as the girl darted herself from car to car, trying to see what was going on. She seemed to be the only one headed towards the action and not from it. There seemed to be someone fighting.. something. At first all she could see was the metal gleaming off of some weird looking creature and then a flash of yellow and feathers. But as soon as a better view was coming upon her, some teenager knocked himself right into her sending her onto the ground. "OOF!" The wind was nearly knocked out of her as she hit the pavement bottom first and winced a little from the tingle of pain that came from her thigh. Ow, owow.

Thankfully the other boy wasn't a total a**, having gone to help Ridley up when he collected himself. "What are you doing? You're going the wrong way," he told her, brushing a little of the dirt from her clothes. He held out his hand to her, ready to escort her away when she suddenly punched him in the arm. "Ow!"

"You should watch where you're going," Ridley huffed with a sour look on her face. The two had a small stare down even while the teenager was still holding his hand in offer. "And I'm fine, I just want to see whats happening!" She told him, punching him in the arm once again.

"Ow, stop that, I'm just trying to help."

"I'm fine!"

"Okay, geez." He muttered, pulling himself up as he grunted a small inaudible 'brat' as he parted ways. Get yourself tangled in terrorists' messes.

Ridley huffed again as she rubbed her backside which was still a little sore. She had the thought to move when another one struck her, her hands were empty. Her phone! She looked around in panic, her gaze reaching eye level as well as ground to see if had slide somewhere far ... which only showed her how far she herself had gotten. "Aa, crap...." she groaned, she was going to get killed, and not by the fighting things over there. It was going to be from her mother's hands.

Ridley slouched, her eyes still darting around in search of her iphone - which would also be an added item to her death sentence - when they spotted something else. It was small furry creature with a bell around it's neck.

"KITTY!" She cried out, rushing towards it before she finished the word itself. A poor kitty was here! SHE HAD TO SAVE IT!  

[LizzyMoo]

This was bothering her. It was obvious this feeling was coming from the child. However, why was this feeling stronger than the other feelings she had felt with the other chibi senshi? Her paws padded her forward a little more with her whiskers twitching slightly in puzzlement.

She obviously wasn't awakened yet, or she would have known the child's senshi name right off the bat too. The feline stopped, then pinched her eyes shut. It was now time to figure out who this child was. Rather than pay attention to the surrounding battle or the chaos of all the people running away (loudly), ********* concentrated on that poking sensation in her brain.

She was...

She was...

Her eyes popped open quite suddenly. There was one name on her mind. Hygiea!

Prior to this moment, Sailor Irene had been the youngest member of her team. However, this orange-haired child definitely now won, hands down, in the youth department. It was a surprise to say the least. However, she reminded herself of something. Destiny is not biased by age.

With that, the manx ran towards the child, with what almost seemed like a smile upon her face. In her mind, all she could do was say one thing. HYGIEA!!!!!!  

[chirigami]

This was like some sort of fantastical dream, it always was when cats sensed her undying love for the small animal and ran towards her as well. Which is what the small blue-ish marked cat was doing now. Heaven. It was like they were now in a field of wildflowers on a bright sunny day, running into each other's arms in slow motion complete with shoujo sparkles and glitter. Kitty! She thought with a smile of great magnitude.

And of course, the screech of a car and a bang as it ran into another snapped that blissful bubble away. Ridley frowned as those thoughts were dashed - just dashed - away and brought back to the present situation at hand. It was as fun as slow motion running and this was proving to be a little dangerous. So, she scooped the cat up in a fluid motion as she got close enough and scattered a little from the battle field. "It's not safe Kitty!" She exclaimed to the manx, running her fingers through her fur. "Especially since you're so small!" And adorable! SHE HAD A BELL.

The little girl held the small cat close to her chest in an almost hug to keep the cat secure and began looking for a good place to hide.  

[LizzyMoo]

********* was clearly a happy cat. Even with Sailor Iris most likely getting her rear handed back to her by the boney gryphon, she was still super duper happy. It would be hard to rain on her parade right now. It was a parade that had the name Hygiea written on all of the overly large banners. Even with the sounds of cars getting crunched, the cat didn't seem to lose that happy expression as she was scooped up in the girl's arms. This girl obviously had experience with picking up cats, easily remembering to not leave the manx's feet dangling loose (like a certain senshi always did). She purred very loudly for a short moment, rubbing her face up against the child's body. Her bell let out a couple of jingles and a few other general clinking noises that were not even close to jingles. The feline felt absolutely giddy down to the pit of her momentarily empty stomach (something she'd have to fix later).

Though the excitement was running all through her body, the feline kept her voice to herself at the moment. There were still many people around, and a talking cat could easily draw their attention. No, this battlefield (where Sailor Iris was now flying through the air thanks to taking a harsh hit to the stomach) was no place to introduce herself.  

[chirigami]

Purring! A smile was brought back to Ridley's face as she continued weaving through the parking lot and between cars. People were scurrying every which way past her and in more reasonable directions, as in away from where the yellow suited senshi was fighting the steel based creature. Obviously Ridley wasn't paying that much attention to her journey, for one she didn't totally get it and two there was a distracting adorable cat rubbing herself against Ridley.

A short time later, and not that far from the battle, more just left of it really, Ridley stopped and leaned against a parked car. There weren't many people around which wasn't necessarily a good sign to be honest. But it seemed safe enough to her, as the echos of battle still seemed distant. She slide down the side of the car and to the ground, still cradling ********* close. "I think we're safe now, kitty!" She announced in triumph.  

[LizzyMoo]

"Unfortunately, I will probably have to go back there again, since I did leave Sailor Iris there to fend for herself."

That was ********* prompt response after the pair seemed to be safely away from the general populous. If that wasn't enough, the cat squirmed and wriggled until she managed to somehow find her way out of the child's tight hugging grip. With that, she hopped onto the asphault.

"I know this is going to be a lot to understand... but you are Sailor Hygiea. You are one of my senshi... one of my responsibilities." It would have seemed like a serious talking to if it weren't for that friendly tone and that feline smile the manx still had upon her maw. The smile only seemed to grow bigger as she added "I am glad I have finally found you. My name is ********* was naturally the point in which the child should have introduced herself, but at the same time, there really was a lot of information to process. Like the fact there was a talking cat.  

[chirigami]

It was a lot to process, but Ridley's brain promptly shut off in a state of bliss and awe when ********* began to simply talk to her. Her eyes were simply huge, practically wiggling and there were most likely hearts and stars within them from witnessing the wonder that a cat. was. talking.

"You can.. talk..." The little girl said in almost a whisper and followed by a squeal. Her brain really was stuck like a broken record now, replaying the fact that this small cat she had saved had communicational skills on level with that of a human. She had said something!

Wait, she had said something, "what?" Ridley innocently asked still starstruck and in a state of awe. She had totally missed what the cat had even said.  

[LizzyMoo]

For a moment, ********* thought that maybe, just maybe, this little girl had sparkling eyes because she was truly excited about her new role in the universe.

However, she soon enough discovered that this was not the case. "Yes, I can talk..." The feline padded into a slight circle shape. She tried to keep everything a bit more simple this time around.

"My name is *********... what is yours?" The feline stopped after she made one full circle. It was rather sudden, and seemed to come from nowhere, but the manx all of a sudden popped up like a spring-loaded toy, making one simple back flip. She was too small and stubby to actually make it look remotely elegant. It was strange, but all of a sudden two objects clattered to the floor under the spot the spotted cat had jumped over.

This time, she quickly walked another half circle around these new objects until they were facing the child. In a pleasant matter of fact tone, ********* then mentioned "These are both yours... put the phone away for now. Use the pen right now. Shout out 'Hygiea Power, Make-Up!' With feeling!" Hopefully this time this little girl listened.

Hopefully.  

[chirigami]

Ridley made a sound akin to what a high pitched dolphin whistling sound once ********* confirmed her observation. Her eyes were glued to the small manx as she moved along the ground, her expression still held in a state of awe.

"I'm Ridley," she replied in a small voice, not wanting to take away from the wonders of listening to a cat communicate like people do. And when ********* took to her backwards flip, the sudden action knocked Ridley out her daze, startling her enough to make her jump and have her back hit the car she was hiding behind. It wasn't something she was used to seeing cats do, especially given her own company of cat who was by no means capable of flips. It was surprising, obviously from her initial reaction which thankfully didn't register as terribly painful, and even if ********* didn't consider it graceful, Ridley sure would and clapped.

"That was neat!" Ridley exclaimed, pulling herself back closer to the cat on the ground. Her arms rested on the tops of her knees as she squatted before the blue cat, now intrigued by the items that now lay before her. "This isn't neat though," she frowned, picking up the very orange phone first and ignoring the pen and its instructions. She turned it around in one hand, letting her little fingers play with some of the functions, there weren't many. Her frown deepening as she gave it a look over and held it back to *********, "I don't need this one. I have a cooler one." The color was awesome, but it seemed... archaic next to her iphone.  

[LizzyMoo]

********* was not a little actress who could produce tears upon command. However, she sniffed indignantly as the child insulted the phone. The kids were spoiled with their "high tech" phones that really weren't all that high tech at all. Maybe the child should try using her iPhone to get into space.

"That isn't nice to refuse a gift like that, Ridley. You should just hold onto it, just in case...it's the right thing to do!" The child would understand soon enough that the phone was something a little more magical. All she needed to do was use her pen.

Seeing as the child was the sort to tune things out, the manx patiently attempted another redirect. She padded up to the child and nudged her shin with her velvety nose.

"Use the pen right now. Shout out 'Hygiea Power, Make-Up!' With feeling!"  

[chirigami]

Ridley simply made a face as she pulled back her arm, eyes still staring at the phone with a little apprehension. It was going to be so annoying having to carry two phones now, especially when so many companies were trying to combine technology so you weren't overloaded with so many appliances. Wasn't there an app she could just download to make her iphone do the same stuff? She wanted to ask, but ********* seemed seemed to be pressing the matters of the pen a little more than the actual phone.

"Fine," Ridley sighed, giving up the argument as he other hand gently picked up the pen that remained on the ground. She gave that a look over as well, it as orange and had a weird symbol engraved on the top. It kind of reminded her of the symbol she saw at the doctor's office. "With feeling?" She repeated, standing up to full height. Should she do a dramatic pose like a Power Ranger too?

Either way, without even thinking about it her hand shot up into the air clutching the pen tightly. "Hygiea Power! Make-up!" She exclaimed with vigor, as she was told. Was that enough feeling? Well, apparently it was her body began to glow and ribbons appeared out of no where, transforming the clothes she had previously been wearing to something else entirely.



It was something she probably would have worn normally, at least the skirt and stockings. But there was something about that just felt magical. And she had a circlet in her hair and a long cape and Ridley-now-Hygiea couldn't help but spin in circles, giggling, as she looked over her new outfit. It took a few revolutions for her to realize she still had something in her hand. But instead of seeing a pen there, her palm was enclosed around the arm of a very pink cat plush.

"Aa! How cute!" She squealed, pulling the plush in close to get a better look at it. It had been a while since she last had a new stuffed animal and she wanted to savor looking at it. But, "why do I have a plush doll?" Hygiea asked, turning her heels to ********* for answers.  

[LizzyMoo]

********* had seen transformations time and again. However, there was always something different when she watched one of her own girls transform for the first time. Though she sat back at a reasonable distance, the feline could not contain her excitement. When the child had dared to turn back to the cat, she'd find that there wasn't really a cat there anymore. In that place, she'd find a young teenage girl with silvery hair and a top hat. She had a silver bell about her neck attached to a collar the exact same color as the collar on the cat. In fact, her eyes were the same pale green color.

"I don't know..." the girl replied to the child's question. Then, without any hesitation, the girl leaned in and picked the child up in her arms in a hugging manner. She squeezed really tightly, as if she was seeing a long lost friend for the first time in years. Which, in all honesty, was perhaps the most accurate way to explain the situation.

"I'm so glad I finally found you, Sailor Hygiea! So so so glad!" With the child still in her arms, she spun about in a circle, careful to not hit any of the nearby cars as she spun about.

She probably could have continued on for quite a while in such a manner, but even a cat-earred girl could get dizzy. Carefully, she set the orange-suited senshi back down, and in the blink of an eye, the girl changed back into a cat.

The screams and chaos had seemed to calm down quite a bit. From a decent distance away, there was a heavy metallic WHUMP sound. It would seem that Sailor Iris had managed to somehow defeat the Youma she had been fighting.  

[chirigami]

Where had this girl come from and why did she seem awfully familiar? Hygiea couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at the teenager in a bizarre, but adorable, outfit. Her hands pulled in, clutching the cat plush as her head tilted to the side trying to figure the other girl out. She knew her, she knew she knew her. Those eyes, that bell. And where did ********* go? Wait-

She didn't have much time to think about it, though, when ********* went in for the hug. It was one of the most earnest, warm sincere hugs she had gotten in a long time and felt like one her dad would wrap her up on. It just felt so nice, like so much of the other girl's emotions were wrapped up in a simple gesture. Such words would never really cross Hygiea's mind to describe such a hug, but she could at least feel it and it brought a warm smile to her face.

And the excitement in that voice, that voice! "*********?" Hygiea giggled as she was spun around by the taller girl. That was *********? Cats could turn into people? Hygiea was simply giddy over this idea and she broke into a face breaking grin complete with more giggles as the two girls spun.

The little soldier wobbled a little when her feet finally touched back to the ground, her eyes back into the state of awe from when she had first even encountered the little manx. "You can turn into a person?!" Was all she could ask as her eyes twinkled with wonder.

Nevermind she apparently had a duty and maybe a destiny and that another one of her comrades had just defeated the monster some yards away. ********* was here setting the amazing bar way too high for any cat ever.