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 Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 4:18 pm
The rumour mill was working hard within the Negaverse, awash with tales of a new enemy. A special kind of senshi, they said, no, something else entirely, an alien, a human... The rumours couldn't agree on exactly what the new threat was. The one thing they did all say was that Painite had taken one on.
Hiro had been intensely proud, of course. His number one non-senshi student, of course she was just that brilliant. But then Painite never showed up to confirm anything. At first Hiro assumed she was simply busy - Beryl knew he had enough other responsibilities himseld. But when patrols to the park and usual rooftops failed to turn up any sign of the Captain who trained as diligently as Hiro could ever hope for, the cat began to worry.
Had Painite been injured? he asked those whispering of the new threat. Yes, no, I don't know, came the differing answers. Which was simply not good enough for Hiro. Luckily for him, Painite had been open about her civilian identity to other members of the Negaverse. It wasn't hard to chase down someone who knew her, and to locate Gently Ponsonby from there.
This is how Hiro came to be squeezing through a barely open window in broad daylight. The upside to being a cat was that no one would call the police if they saw him (though there might be brooms or stones involved, which wasn't fun either). With a burst of strength, Hiro forced him way through the opening barely the width of his head. A small thump sounded as Hiro toppled to the floor inside. He sat up and shook it off, quickly assuming a graceful 'nothing to see here' manner.
All right with the world, Hiro slunk low to the ground, padding silently through the Ponsonby home in search of a civilian Painite.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 4:47 pm
In a way, Painite had been rather busy since the fight with Cimmerian. Like with the fight with her muscled guard dog, Gehenna. She had gotten into a few fights with senshi, including one that she was recovering from now. That damn super senshi and his fire knives of awfulness.
Her stomach, chest and even shoulders had been cut and burned by the last attack the senshi had launched, and she was too tired to go out and try to get any energy for herself. She would have to tend to her wounds first, recover some strength the old fashion way, before trying anything risky as she had been doing.
It was probably for the best. Learning the hard way when to take a break.
Gently was laying down on the sofa, remote in one hand, glass of wine in the other, flicking through the TV one more time before she told herself she would get up and put in a movie. As she had been doing for the last hour, to no avail. She didn't hear the kitty sneaking into her home, of course, her senses not that good even when she was powered up. Though, at least then she might have sensed him.
And then she jumped nearly out of her skin when a heavy thump cut the on and off again silence of inconsistent TV channels. She looked around and saw Hiro crawling along the floor, presumably in search of her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise, putting her mostly spilled glass down on the coffee table as she painfully sat up. She had a very loose t-shirt on, falling from one shoulder and then the other when she finished, in an effort not to put any weight on the burns. She had a slight scar on the side of her head, mostly healed now from her efforts but not likely to vanish completely, from where the Page had hit her before.
It didn't occur to her to ask him how he knew who she was.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 5:11 pm
"What are you doing here?"
Hiro's ears swivelled towards the source of the question, and his head quickly followed. His narrowed eye widened as he saw it was just Painite - Gently - which removed his need for stealth and subterfuge. He rose from his crouching stalk and trotted over to the couch.
"Looking for you," he said, matter of fact. If he had been a human teenager, there might have been an unspoken 'duh' on the end. But Hiro wasn't human or a teen, and instead he just took the question and his answer seriously.
A graceful leap and he was perched on the arm of the couch, staring at Gently. He took in the scar on her face, the loose clothing, and the wounds beneath it. He frowned - as best a cat was able.
"I heard you fought against some kind of enemy, but couldn't find you anywhere to confirm if the rumours were correct." His gaze flickered over her various wounds again. "I now see why I couldn't find you as Painite."
This new enemy must have been very fierce, to injure Painite like this. (Hiro of course not knowing that he had a senshi to blame for most of what he was seeing.)
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 10:40 am
Gently shook her head.
"You were worried about me, were you? That's so sweet!" She brightened immediately, laughing sweetly. She was surprised he had been able to find her personal home, but only because she didn't usually tie her two lives together. Being open about her civilian form with other Nega's was obviously an easy way for them to track her down outside of uniform, but she rarely thought they would.
She hoped, maybe, because she liked company and friends.
When he mentioned the new enemy she nodded her head, her expression dropped a bit. She was not easy to anger, most of the time, but she did not like these Pages. She wanted to find them, both of them, and any of their friends, and she wanted to make sure they understood where they stood with her. Under her shoe, at best.
"Oh! These are from... I got into a... few fights... recently," she grinned, seeming proud of that fact. One of those 'you should see the other guy' situations, in her mind. She pointed to the scar at her temple, "this is from those assholes. Pages, they called themselves. They had weapons, like we do. I think. The girl did. The boy punched really hard." She sighed.
"I'll be back on the grind soon, I promise," Gently said, her face determined, "I'm going to find them both, and make them regret ever crossing paths with me." She paused, then smiled, "how are you?"
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 4:41 pm
'Pages'... with weapons. Hiro filed that information away. It was making no sense right now, and he was here to see Gently, not to spend time puzzling over why these new enemies were so similar to the Negaverse warriors themselves.
"So these Pages are definitely against us," he said. "I don't suppose they mentioned where they stood on the subject of senshi?"
If these Pages were going to be joining forces with the senshi, the Negaverse could be in big trouble. They were outnumbered enough as it was. At least a three-way fight would take down some of the senshi numbers as well.
Hiro stuck his nose in Gently's face, examining the scar she'd pointed out. His whiskers twitched as they brushed against her face, but Hiro wasn't pulling back until he was satisfied the injury hadn't been too serious. When he eventually did sit back, he turned his teal eye on Gently. "I hope you hurt that stupid Page back for that."
Hmph, hurting his Painite. The very nerve!
He gave the kitty equivalent of a shrug when Gently asked how he was. "So-so," he said blandly. "I have a few more corrupted senshi to deal with recently, which is nice, but also keeps me busier." He gave his tail an upwards flick before adding, "Don't worry, you're still my favourite officer."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:46 pm
"I think so. They didn't have the same kind of energy as Senshi do. Not as good, you know? Senshi have that kind of energy that makes you think they think they're better than you, right off the bat." She grunted derisively at that. "But definitely not like ours."
She shifted a bit, wincing and putting her hand to her bandaged chest. After the discomfort passed she shook her head slowly.
"I didn't have much time to question them, I'm afraid," she looked honestly upset about that, letting down her Reporter training in a way, "I'm sorry. I should have learned more about them. But I'm not going to let them out of my sight now. I'll find them again, and any others."
She giggled at his whiskers on her skin, reaching up to pat his back reassuringly, brushing over his fur. She shook her head carefully.
"I stabbed the guy in the shoulder. It went straight through!" At least, she thought it had. He had punched her in the head pretty fast after that bad injury. But she knew she had done some serious damage to him, and he'd think twice about picking a fight with her again. Not that she wanted him to stay hidden away. Just the opposite. she was going to find them, and make them regret ever meeting her.
She grinned when he told her she was his favorite officer. She knew now that she couldn't compete with the corrupted senshi, that they were his job, but she also knew one of them was pretty awesome, at the very least, so the others had to be as well, right? She nodded her head, laughing.
"I'm glad to hear that! You're still my favorite cat."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 9:44 pm
Hiro made a considering hmmm as Gently described the energy signature of the Pages. Something in between Senshi and Negaverse? He wondered idly if they considered themselves 'neutral' (a wildly stupid idea - no one was neutral, everyone had an opinion or a side, even if it was versus everyone else), or whether these pages thought themselves 'good' and both the Senshi and Negaverse equally as 'bad' as the other.
He wondered if he might be able to chase one down and sucker some info out of it. Or would it attack a Guardian Cat on sight? That could end badly when they all had weapons...
A loud rumble filled the air when Gently described implaing one of the Pages on her spear. "That's my girl!" he crowed, leaning into her side. His eye glinted in the light. "For that," he said graciously, "you can have hugs."
You know, if she wanted. Which she had better, since he was so kind as to offer them. (Though really, with Painite being one of the most physically affectionate people he knew - to a cat, at least - he wasn't much concerned about her rejecting the offer.)
"I'd damn well better be," he grumbled at the insinuation that Painite might be spending time with other cats. "I don't know most of the other senshi too well, just yet. Excluding Alkaid, because she's mine." And clearly the best senshi, was the unspoken pronouncement. "But you should meet them some time. They've mostly been working with other officers, right? Instead of each other."
It made sense, he supposed, considering the energy signature of one corrupted senshi. A half dozen of them together? They might as well rent a billboard asking the white moon senshi to come get them.
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Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 11:22 am
Painite's face lit up like a child at Christmas.
It was a silly thing, but it felt like a long struggled for dream being reached. She had been working up from pats to scratches and now she got hugs? She was delighted, in her simple way, taking great pleasure in small acts of kindness and affection. In a way, it was not just the cuddles that were important. It was the process. Each step came with training and earning it, and now it seemed she had proven herself.
Also, she really wanted to hug him.
Picking him up carefully, she used one arm to support him and hold him against her while the other was free to hug and pet his fur. She chuckled as she gave him a good hug, but felt a sting in her chest. It wasn't from the burns and cuts, but rather ran a bit deeper than that. She had been in quite a few fights recently, and she had never been good at dealing with her mortality. If things had gone just a bit worse, if she had managed to get herself injured mortally...
"Thank you for visiting me," she said softly, against his fur. She was trying to fight the tears misting her vision by cuddles. "You're such a good cat, you know? A good friend. Don't go after those Pages. Please, don't. If they hurt you I don't know what I would do and I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself."
She pulled back and rubbed her eyes with her free hand, laughing and shaking her head. She usually resorted to comedy before tragedy, as it were, preferring to laugh rather than cry. "Ah, I'm sorry, I'm just... being silly."
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Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 10:09 pm
Hiro let out a quiet rumble as he was drawn into the hug. Gently was such a brave little soldier, and she got so happy over silly things like being able to treat him like a normal cat. Well, it wasn't so bad every once in a while. After the work was done.
And then there was salt water dripping into his fur. Hiro looked up in alarm to see Gently crying as she begged him not to chase down the Pages. His expression softened. Reaching forward, he brushed his cheek against hers, wiping away the excess moisture.
"Don't be silly. I'm the trainer here, right? How silly would I be to dash headlong into battle?"
Ignore the fact that it had been known to happen before. Er, during the rescue-from-the-BMC operation, even. He managed a feline smirk - more to do with ears and eye than actual mouth - as he said, "If I do anything, it will be an amazing plot of great subtlety and sneakiness. I am a cat, after all."
As curious as one, but hopefully without the fatal ending. Or at least nine lives if that was the case. In any case, it seemed as though Gently had found the more violent Pages in her jaunts as Painite. Hiro was sure that this new group would have all types, just like the Negaverse and the senshi. Somewhere out there was a soft-hearted, gullible Page with Hiro's name on them...
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Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 9:02 am
Gently laughed when his fur tickled her, and with his words. She knew he was just trying to comfort her and she appreciated it for that.
There was no saying with any certainty, though, that they wouldn't have to go running head first into a situation way beyond them. That was the nature of the game, and they did what they had to do to serve their cause, and to keep themselves and each other out of harm's way. Mostly because their jobs required them to insert themselves directly into it.
She smiled warmly, eyes still glistening, and settled back against the sofa. She watched him for a moment, than pat his slightly damp head. His fur was sticking together in some places, and she chuckled, ruffling it with her fingers to try and make it look normal.
"I am all for amazing plots of any nature," she said with a sage nod. She looked tired, though she was eager to keep awake and talk with Hiro for as long as he stayed around. Her burns were stinging and her swing in emotion was probably due to simply being more tired than she wanted to admit. The master of all things villainy, tired? Bah!
"Random blubbering put on hold for the moment," she said, shaking her head, "thank you for coming to visit me." She felt she needed to say it again, just to make sure that the point was heard. Without the crying and the sudden fear of losing him attached.
"I'll be back in fighting order soon, and we'll go out and find us some Pages." She grinned.
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Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 5:05 pm
"My plots are all amazing," Hiro said smugly, preening under Gently's hand on his head. As she settled back against the couch, Hiro followed, curling up near her shoulder. His little soldier was looking tired, so Hiro started up a soft, continuous rumble - a feline lullaby.
"You're very welcome," he nudged her softly with his head, more of a smooch, really. "I'll come visit again, so you can rest up for now."
Gently seemed like she wanted to remain awake, worried that Hiro would disappear while she slept. (Well, he would. But he'd be back again later.) But Hiro knew she needed her rest in order to heal up. And then, just like Gently said, they would go hunting these Pages, oh yes they would. And they would regret hurting his Painite.
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 8:20 am
Gently smiled and nodded her head. She didn't doubt him, really, when he said his plans were always amazing. He seemed like the kind of guy who could pull off whatever plot he wanted, with gusto. She liked to think she was the same way.
She cuddled him as he rested near her shoulder, thinking how awesome life would be if everyone could have talking cats around. Visiting them and making them feel better, being good friends and helping them train. Cats would be much more popular, which was interesting to think because they had, in the past, already been treated like Gods.
Figured.
She took a deep breath and sighed as she rested back against the sofa, closing her eyes and smiled as she nodded off.
She hadn't meant to fall asleep right away, but she couldn't help herself. She was tired from the fights, from draining her own energy to teleport away from the fight with the senshi and get herself home. She needed a good nap, which came over her like a wave now that she was comfortable and feeling happy.
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 5:12 pm
Hiro listened beyond his soft purrs, noting when Gently's breathing evened out. He could have left after a few minutes - this wasn't the light sleep of someone napping on the couch, this was the deep healing sleep of someone who'd given their all in battle. Still... for some reason he didn't leave right away.
For nearly an hour, he watched over Gently, making sure no nightmares reached her. At last, he couldn't deny his worry over Alkaid, the need to check on his own senshi and make sure that she was as safe as Gently currently was.
With one last purr for the young woman, Hiro forced himself up out of his warm spot on the sofa. On silent paws, he trotted back the way he'd come, slinking out of the barely-open window. Behind him, Gently slept on.
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