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The whole fence shook, chain links shivering together and nearly dislodged the ginger cat perched atop it, as nearby destruction took its toll on the scenery. Tomlin had sensed the ball of dark energy rampaging through the nearby back streets, and he certainly heard the clamour it made as it tore up the area. The sudden changes of direction made it difficult for him to guess where it was going to end up, difficult to head off or know where to direct a senshi (had there been one anywhere around). The guardian hadn’t dealt with many youma, but it seemed to him that this one was taking entirely too thorough a tour of the alleyways, moving too deliberately.

From up here, he could finally see the problem. The b*****d thing was chasing a cat. Tomlin was appalled. It was bad enough the monsters went after helpless civilians, but animals too? He was not going to let some innocent feline be menaced by any youma – and the awareness that there weren’t any senshi close by wasn’t going to hold him back either.

He jumped to the ground and took off after the pair, running parallel until a connecting gap between buildings let him through. He hurtled out of the alleyway, an orange blur, and leapt for the creature’s back foot, throwing his whole slight mass into the tackle and sinking claws and teeth into the shadowy limb. Even with momentum on his side, he didn’t have the size or strength to be much more than a distraction, but the longer he held on, the more chance the white cat had to get away. And he was going to give the poor frightened thing every chance he could.

Tackle and bite were not very effective, but he’d definitely gotten the thing’s attention. The youma’s head swung around, red eyes searching behind it for the sharp burr that had attached to its leg. Tomlin stared back, tense, and dug his claws in deeper. The thing had substance enough to smash through metal and brick, but it had a strange texture, solid smoke. It set his teeth on edge, made him want to spit.

Beyond that darkness, though, he caught the flash of a white flowing tail disappearing around the corner, and for a moment he felt triumphant, that she was getting away.

Except the youma noticed it too. If he’d hoped to drag it away from its previous target, he was out of luck. With another annoyed growl, it kicked back, easily throwing him off, though his claws left long thin lines in the shadow. The ginger cat tumbled to the ground, his bracers adding to the metal cacophony, but he was back on his feet in moments, this time ducking dangerously close in front of it to block its path.

“You want to chase a cat, chase me!” he challenged. “Leave the lady alone.”

If there was anything strange about the other cat, he didn’t notice. He knew the moves of a catfight, but against a youma? That was long odds.

With the oppressive dark aura of the youma bearing down on him, now was not a good time to get distracted. The voice took him by surprise, and he looked up at the cat – the guardian - on the ledge, a moment of inattention that could have been fatal if the monster hadn’t been so neatly potted.

Her star looked very dark against her pale fur, but the significance of that, too, escaped him. It could have been any colour in the dim alley.

“Nice aim,” he called back, dodging clear as the youma flailed in a shower of flowerpot shards. He kept his eyes on it this time, watching for an opening to dig his claws in again, and raised his voice to be heard over the angry snarling. “Wasn’t planning to. Just thought you could use an extra set of claws with this one, until a senshi gets here. Don’t worry!”

When he risked another glance her way, she was disappearing again – which was the smart thing, and a moment ago that would have been plenty for him. But she was a guardian too! He wanted to talk to her!

Tomlin followed her up onto the windowsill, but the sudden movement attracted the youma again, its fiery eyes refocusing on a target it could see. Tomlin crouched back to the window a it lunged, but it aimed too low and smacked into the wall. This thing was an affront to felines everywhere – he wasn’t sure if it was dazed or just stupid. Or maybe it had a plan after all. The ginger cat felt the sudden shift of the sill, of the wood coming loose from the brickwork, tilting beneath his paws. A second pot slid slowly over the edge, shattering beside the youma.

Tomlin scrabbled at the splintering ledge as the youma took another shot at him, another thunderous crash as it headbutted the wall. If he got out of this, he thought, he was going to be a good cat and not go wandering so far from his senshi.

The sill gave way completely, smacking the youma on its eerily feline head on the way down. Tomlin jumped clear with more determination than grace, just barely managing to land on his feet. The white guardian, he realised, had not gone far, but there was still no sign of a senshi aura in range, and the youma was already shaking off the damage. There was really only one trick left. Fixing the thing with an angry orange glare, he poured all the strength he could into the thought, felt it build from the centre of his forehead into a beam of amber-gold light that lasered from his star, turning bright white as it hit its target.

He wasn’t expecting it to actually work.

He coughed as the street abruptly filled with black dust, staggering back a few paces before sinking to the concrete.

Tomlin shrugged away the compliment with a tired smile (and ignored the other suggestion). Maybe it had been foolish, but he didn’t see that he’d had any choice. If he’d gone off to find a senshi first, the other guardian might not have made it. “It was attacking you. Anyone would have...” he began, but broke off abruptly. The dark aura hadn’t completely faded away. It seemed to linger where the white cat stepped closer, thick as the dust around them.

“I’m Tomlin,” he started again. “Not a hero – just trying to help. And your name, miss?” He looked for teasing in her words, but could find nothing but genuine concern in the pretty two-toned eyes. He had kind of rescued her, he guessed.

“I don’t really know this area, it's a little far from home. I’m fine,” he said, which wasn’t quite a lie, but the signs of his exhaustion were obvious when he struggled back to his feet. It would be a good idea to move away from the area, he thought, glancing around. Someone might come to investigate the energy output, and there was no guarantee it would be the senshi he was hoping for. Moving slowly himself, more from tiredness than caution, he bridged the last few steps between them to get a proper look at the other guardian. Her star was so deep and black against her pale fur, like a piece of starless sky, unsettlingly empty.

“Did it hurt you?” he asked, soft worry in his tone despite her apparent wellbeing. The touch of chaos here just wasn’t dissipating like it should.

Strong and bold? Tomlin had never thought about his name that way before. It was just something for people to call him, when they felt he was worth more than a ‘hey you’. He was equally at home responding to curses and generic cat names, but until just now compliments weren’t a thing he was used to dealing with.

“Pretty name,” he returned, trying his tired best. “I guess they named the flower after you.” It sounded lame to his ears, and if he wasn’t already ginger, he might have gone red, but she was being so sweet helping him along (when he should be the one helping her.) He looked into her eyes a moment longer, searching for any hint that she was less okay than she said, but it looked like they really had stopped the youma in time. Miraculously, they had both come out of it more or less intact. Even if the after-effects of using so much energy were making his head spin. He glanced away, to the sky far above the buildings, as if the stars could tell him what to say next.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Though he appreciated the support, he tried not to lean too heavily against her. After all, he was coated in dust (and probably worse substances), and he doubted the white cat would be quite so obliging if he messed up her lovely long fur.

Again, he felt the momentary suspicion that he was being laughed at, that something was wrong, before his tired mind made sense of the soft even thrum he could feel more than hear with her standing so close. He relaxed, reassured by the faint sound, by the fact that he’d found another guardian to lean on, and that despite the odds they were both still alive.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here. Lead on, Dahlia.”

Box Mountain was a welcome sight to the tired guardian, even if it meant his companion was probably going to stop leaning so close. It looked cosy and dry, and it meant they were in an area where scavenging a snack later shouldn’t be too hard. Tomlin wasn’t going to complain about such a cushy set-up. He slid into the welcome shadows of the crate without question, moving to the back to allow Dahlia space and circling to find a comfortable position. Eventually he settled with tail tucked around his paws. It was very good to be able to lie down. He was perhaps a little more bruised than he wanted to admit, he should probably rest at least long enough that he could walk back to his senshi on steady legs.

“You are too kind,” he told Dahlia, but he couldn’t help but argue a little. “You don’t need to keep watch, though. I’ll be fine in a couple of minutes. You must be pretty tired yourself, how long were you running?”

Now that they had some relative safety and breathing space, he was curious to know more about her and how she’d managed to get such a nasty youma on her case.