(( This is a collaborative solo written by Appeal with the ideas and plots between both Appeal and LittleLilyKitty. It backdates quite a bit back to January 2011 due to the fact we never got to actually roleplay out our actual plot for the awakening due to real life. This roleplay's keypoint is when both Cora and Ainsley are awakened to their destiny and faced a rather lazy rat youma. ))
The month of December had flown away like the snowflake in the wind, passing in the blink of an eye despite the fact the days were beginning to get longer as the days moved into a new year and a new month to begin it. January had brought around new experiences for Ainsley after recently being thrown into the public school system which differed quite a bit from being homeschooled on the west coast. Regardless, the child tried to accept her fate with a smile. She had a new sister, a beautiful new cat and her birthday was in a month! There were plenty of good things to make up for any bad things that would come her way, or so she thought.
School had let out but it wasn't until after a few hours passed since the bell rang that Ainsley began to head home for dinner. The fact the days were getting longer didn't stop the sky from still darkening so early. The child's blue eyes found their way to the sky, a small frown coming to her face as she studied the light disappearing from the sky before her. She still didn't know her new sister very well, and she didn't want to be late for dinner! The walk home was tiresome, but if she cut through the park she could save time. She didn't think about the option very long and soon the child's teal shoes moved off the sidewalk and in between the trees, walking over the small mounds of snow that laid on the ground. She'd get home very quickly at this rate!
The child could hear her own footsteps as they crushed into the snow below her feet, tilting her head curiously at the sound. It was surprisingly quiet in the park today, although that might have to do with the fact the child was trying to cut right through the trees instead of the path over yonder. It would be much quicker to just cut through instead of following the path that was already lain in the middle of the park. This way she could cut straight across and make it home.
She must have been about half way there when the child stopped as she seen something strange ahead of her. She had to shake her head several times, and even blink, as she tried to bring herself back to reality. She could have sworn she had just seen Cora standing... right there. It didn't matter how many times the child shook her head, the cat remained in the distance and she had to force herself realize that Cora was definitely out here. The realization brought a question quickly behind it and that question was: why? Perhaps Ainsley had left the door open when she left for school? Or maybe Bell went somewhere and Cora got out?
She had been wondering for awhile when suddenly it didn't seem to matter anymore because there was suddenly something quite massive leering towards the two of them. What was it? The child tried to get a better look at it before finally deciding it was in fact a really, really big rat. It was rather gruesome looking, and even seemed to be drooling some weird substance out of its mouth as it continued to leer between the two, unmoving. The more she looked at it, the more she found herself startled by such a large rat, attempting to take a step back away from it when her foot hit the root of a tree and caused her to make a squeal.
"Aaaaaah!" She quickly covered her mouth with her hands as she leaned forward towards it again, her curiosity getting the better of her as she tried to get a better look. That was such a big rat! She didn't know if she should be afraid, or impressed. Luckily, her shock hadn't seemed to attract the giant rat youma, who seemed a little dumber than the usual youma. Instead she had caught the attention of Cora, whose bright pink eyes flew towards the child, slowly widening brightly as she stood there. She didn't quite understand the situation but she recognize her dear little owner. The owner who fed her salmon and Brussels Sprouts when her bigger owner wasn't looking! Excited, and happy to see the child, it bound towards her, her movements finally gathering the attention of the youma.
The youma growled deeply, its whip-like tail flicking against the snow on the ground. It was totally the opposite of reality when the giant rat began to chase after the cat as she ran towards Ainsley, her dear, precious little owner. She was so happy to see her that she didn't see the giant rat as it chased her and then caught her, causing the cat to let out a surprised cry that caused the child to hurry towards her.
The child didn't get to the cat though, not before there was suddenly a light burning bright under the rat. It was so bright, so pure, and when it flickered away like the flame of a candle at the end of a night, everything seemed to be clear to the Turkish Van cat who was now quite literally freaking out. There was suddenly so much information from the world seeping into her mind as the flood gates had opened, so much more than just the house she had lived in, and her little owner. There was a giant rat, an it smelled terrible too. Vast world knowledge seemed to be put on pause when Cora noticed her little owner coming right towards danger to save her! Cora struggled and squeezed her smaller body away from the youma before the scary thing ate her, leaping into Ainsley's arms as she got close.
"We have to run! We're going to die!" The cat meowed, however, it didn't quite come out as a meow and both Cora and Ainsley seemed quite surprised at this fact. They both seemed to be on the same wavelength when at the same time they both seemed to spit out the words, "Since when?!" followed by silence. They seemed to have forgotten the presence of the giant rat youma, and although it hadn't seemed to notice Cora had escaped, their talking had alerted it quite sufficiently and caused the youma to begin to slowly move towards them.
The child decided being impressed was not the way to go when there was a giant rat leering towards you and soon she found herself trying to back away, her arms squeezing protectively around Cora. The child could barely think of how or why there was a giant rat in the park, or why it seemed so determined to eat Cora. Cora on the other hand seemed to be having trouble thinking. There was a strange feeling buzzing in the cat's head as she was being squeezed by the child. Perhaps Ainsley was seriously squeezing the air out of her cat that Cora was going to pop? That didn't seem to be the case because when Ainsley was suddenly pushed by the oncoming youma and Cora fell to the ground, it continued. There was something ringing in her head, and as her bright pink eyes stared at Ainsley, it slowly began to piece together.
Sailor Hypnos! Sailor Chibi Hypnos, to be more correct at her age. Her owner was a senshi. Senshi, the idea seemed to entice the cat particularly. It felt like it was something she should know, but the leering rat was nearly on top of her and Ainsley now, although it paused as it seemed to be deciding who to eat first.
Ainsley was initially frightened of the rather large rat. She'd never seen such a big rat before, not even in the docks on the west coast, but she couldn't let it pick on Cora! She'd been unable to protect her friend before, and she was determined to not let that happen again. She needed to be brave like a knight, like Octavian Oswald! He'd always protect her, he was fearless! To the child, there was something magical about him and as her arms hugged against him softly she thought she heard a voice call to her.
"You can do it little princess," she'd heard him call to her.
The voice she'd heard in her head was enough to bless her with some courage, and soon she was trying to crawl close to her little kitty whom she dropped. Cora on the other hand was also trying to crawl to Ainsley but she knew better. She knew the rat wasn't just some big rat and now that the initial energy from her awakening was over, her little legs seemed to be frozen under the fear of the youma.
It was up to Ainsley to get to Cora, but Cora had to protect her owner. Her measly legs wouldn't move, but her mouth was more than capable of using its brand new ability of speaking the English language.
"Ainsley," she called, trying to sound brave. "Ainsley, it's not a rat." Ainsley, Ainsley she kept calling but inside her head it was screaming Hypnos, Hypnos. Did the child really not know who she was? Was Cora just crazy? What did she do? Her mind begged to know but when she found the answer she found herself unable to do anything about it, her fear of being eaten by the youma blocking her ability. Ainsley had seemed afraid just a moment ago but now she was coming closer? What had changed? The cat tried to recall and soon not just an image of Ainsley hugging Octavian Oswald now, but many images from previous moments did as well. It was the rabbit! Perhaps if... perhaps if she could hug him she'd be able to do it?
"Ainsley," she whispered, eyes pink eyes looking at the youma who seemed to be lending closer to Ainsley than it had earlier. "Ainsley let me borrow Octavian Oswald for a moment!" She hoped she'd said his name right, unsure of her new found speaking ability.
Ainsley looked to Cora for a moment and then smiled before pushing the bunny plush close enough to the cat. She watched carefully, interested in what her cat was planning to do with him. She'd never seen the cat really get that close to any of her stuffed animals before so the child was rather curious. Would she dance with him like Gwenliana had? It wasn't the case and Ainsley couldn't help but let out a small awe when Cora began to try to hug the stuffed animal with all her might.
Give me your strength! She prayed to the white stuffed bunny before she finally found herself able to stand up on her legs. She could do it! She had to do it before the youma finally decided one of them looked tasty enough to eat. She believed she could do it, and feeling the strength she had borrowed, she summoned a transformation pen, grabbing it in her mouth and carefully sneaking it to Ainsley as the giant rat youma turned its back to the two smaller creatures for some reason. It seemed to be a bird up in tree.
"Say 'Hypnos Power, Make Up!'" Cora insisted, hoping she recalled it correctly.
Ainsley held the pen in her hand curiously, studying it beliefly as she looked between it and Cora.
"Hypnos Power, Make Up!" but before she could continue and say 'What does that mean?' the child found herself enveloped by a bright light rather similiar to the light that had surrounded Cora earlier. The light had been enough to garner the youma's attention again and it slowly began to turn around. This time when the light disappeared, Ainsley was gone and in her place was Sailor Chibi Hypnos. It was a small senshi, dressed in blues and white, with stars and moons covering her fuku and bunny slippers covering her feet. The first thing she noticed was the feeling of snow in her shoes, or more correctly, slippers. Her eyes fell down and she gasped, hands flailing towards the snow in search for her shoes. Where had her shoes gone? Her blue eyes panicked slightly as she realized she was suddenly wearing completely different clothing. What on Earth had happened!
"What happ—" she tried to ask when suddenly Cora leapt towards her, causing the child to slide backwards and evidently out of harm's way as the rat's clawed paw was now where Sailor Chibi Hypnos was sitting. Sailor Chibi Hypnos stared and Cora was wide eyed as she let out a small sigh. "Eek! That was scary!"
The youma was not really any more intent this time but he did seem to follow their movements, its eyes back on the two as it stepped closer. It growled, and the tiny senshi's arms wrapped around Cora's body protectively as Cora seemed to hiss habitually at the rat as it made an attempt to defend its master. Neither knew exactly what to do now. Cora had already capped the tipping point on what she was able to do as a newly awakened cat and the small senshi knew nothing. She had to protect Cora. She couldn't let the giant rat have her. What could she do? Her fists were bundled and in them small particles were beginning to form as the dust began to materialize.
Hypnos... Hypnos... Sleep... Sleep... Dust...
Keywords had filled her thoughts and powered her on until dust seemed to be seeping out of her hands. The child hadn't noticed though, and instead she grabbed a hand full of snow that quickly mixed with the dust, and threw it at the beast. It was hard to miss such a big target when it was so close and your projectile had an area of effect, and thankfully she had managed to hit it right between the eyes. It stepped back, hesitantly looking at the two. They weren't as defenseless as beast had originally thought. Did it even think? Probably not. It seemed a little slower than it had a few moments ago though, thanks to the dust that had been covering the snowball the child threw. It seemed a little confused, and was that a yawn? It seemed to be backing away, and after stepping away a few steps it turned around and ran in the other direction until the two could no longer see it.
The heavy air seemed to finally lift off the two bodies and without delay there were two long sighs as Sailor Chibi Hypnos fell back against the snow with Cora still in her arms.
"It's goneeeeeee," the child celebrated verbally.
"We're alive," Cora whimpered.
Sailor Chibi Hypnos didn't see why their being alive would be such a shock, but she hugged Cora anyways and stayed like that for several minutes. In the time that passed by, both the guardian cat and the chibi senshi seemed to have a million questions hovering in their heads, all of which didn't seem to have answers to or ended up with another question.
"What's all this?" The child had been the one to break the silence first as she stared up at the tree tops.
There was a pause, and then Cora tried her best to explain everything she knew as the two laid out in the snow. The child tried to understand the best she could, even if it was only bits and pieces. She was able to understand that this pen was hers, and that she was able to power up into Sailor Chibi Hypnos, the Senshi of Sleep. They were the defenders of justice and protected the world! Quite literally the world, even if the child only would assume Earth for the time being. What would she tell Bell? What about her mother and father? Would they suddenly come to see her if they knew she had some great destiny?
"You can't tell anyone," Cora seemed to add in at the last moment.
The child pouted at first but slowly she nodded.
The two spent a couple more minutes in the snow before the child finally learned how to power down back to Ainsley. She didn't waste time, hurrying to pick Octavian Oswald out of the snow and set him carefully in her arms as she took one last glance at the footprints the rat had left in the snow before returning back to Cora. The rat didn't come back but Cora was still cautious as the two left the park and went home. It would be too soon if Cora seen another monster again. They would have a lot more to talk about later, but right now it was time for dinner. Ainsley would have to get Cora a special treat. It would be so much fun now that Cora could talk to her. It would be their little secret. It would all be their little secret. It was them against the world now.
