[MAU-R] A Cruel World for the Small (Hypnos/*********)

[Appeal]

It was ridiculously hard for Hypnos to find anything at her current size, or at least not anything she was actually looking for. She had run into several poor unfortunate souls like herself but she still had yet to come across any sort of landmark that would lead her to something she was familiar with. She hadn't seen a single store that she knew was nearby her home, no school, no library. She hadn't even seen any people she recognized. If she weren't so full of endless hope and the energy of a kitten, she might have given up and just rolled over.

Hypnos was not that kind of girl, or kitten, though. She hadn't given up, but she had decided to take a break on a nice warm suns-covered spot on the sidewalk near an educational facility. It was peaceful, and really warm. She let out a few satisfied mews but they were short lived. The small kitten had been grabbed by the scruff of the neck by a ruffian. Her next mews were not as pleasant as the ones prior and she quickly she began to squirm insistently, trying to free herself from the boy's grip.

She wanted to cry out at him, and his ruffian friends, to stop but she couldn't imagine what would happen if they suddenly had a kitten talk to them. Oh the humanity. She was left with no choice but to start mewing like crazy in hope that someone would hear her and come help her.

 

[LizzyMoo]

Oh how crazy things had been lately. A small round manx had been wandering about the city, keeping her eyes peeled for any sort of new felines with stars upon their foreheads. Eventually she managed to find her way close to a nearby school.

It wasn't hard to hear the distressed mewling of a kitten. Being a cat, it was difficult to fight off her curiosity. With a gentle jingling sound accompanying her movement, the manx eventually spotted the dilemma. A handful of older kids that were fussing over the kitten she had heard. From her spot, she did manage to catch the glint of something on the kitten's forehead.

There were ways to go about this, but at the moment, she figured the easiest route would be the most effective. Pausing behind a nearby wall, the cat rather suddenly shot up in height. Once she stepped back out again, she was a barefoot girl in clothing that was definitely not suited for winter.

In a cheery tone, the silvery haired girl approached the gathering with a playful phrase. "I spyyyyyyy with my little eye, some naughty boys who have my pet kitty!" In a nearly fluid manner, she slid up next to one of the boys. ********* only looked about 2 years older than the oldest of the group, but didn't seem intimidated in the slightest by their company.

"...might I have her back?"  

[Appeal]

The boys had been discussing the possible things they could do with the little kitten with the star on her forehead before ********* had arrived. One boy had poked and prodded at the kitten's forehead and another had tried to pull the star off of its forehead like a sticker. It didn't come off, but the kitten cried out, objecting loudly. Hypnos' cries stopped when a familiar voice chimed in from behind the group of boys though. She couldn't see who it was but it sounded really familiar.

********* had startled them but not enough that they lost their composure. One shrugged in her direction and another just glared. The boys didn't particularly want to give back their prize and one even dared to mock ********* with a 'finders keepers, losers weepers' while the others just plain sneered at her. Hypnos on the other hand would gladly take up in the arms of this new girl rather than remain with the boys and quickly she began to squirm frantically to try and get out of their grip. The boys didn't dare budge though, trying to act tough. No way were they being intimidated by some girl.

"So you say," a voice chimed, obviously trying to be clever. "Why would we give her to you?"

 

[LizzyMoo]

In a teasing tone, the silvery haired girl seemed to squeal out, "Oooooo... you boys are a bunch of tough nuts, aren't you?" She rather casually seemed to lean against one of the boys with the corner of her elbow (despite any complaints that soon enough came from the boy). The girl acted quite calm, but in all honesty, she knew she had to make this quite quick. The youma would be making their way quickly due to all of the energy she was leaking.

In a sing-song voice, she then began to weave a story for them. "Weh-EH-ell... I suggest if you don't want to be cursed, you set her down... I don't think you want to turn into cats as well. Even touching her is a risk... I wouldn't imagine you boys would want to be turned into cats by a witch, would you?"

She smiled sincerely, already expecting the boys to laugh at her in disbelief. However, to counter any jeers she might have gotten, the girl hopped back slightly, took off her hat, and after offering the boys a bow, shrunk back down to her usual form. At her new height, she then said "Please don't test my wrath, boys!"  

[Appeal]

The boys had been all ready to laugh at the ridiculous accusations the girl made in an attempt to get the kitten from them but then it happened: she turned into a cat before their very eyes. This ktiten really was cursed! The boy holding Hypnos almost immediately threw the kitten up into the air in fear and surprise, causing the small kitten to make a sound that sounded an awful lot like a human 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!' before gravity took its toll and she plummeted down to the ground. Thankfully it wasn't too bad of a landing, even for a faux kitten.

Hypnos looked around before her eyes met with ********* and only *********. The boys had been long done, taking off immediately after dropping the kitten. They absolutely did not want to test the wrath, running away with their metaphorical tails between their legs. It was quite probable that they were going home to change their pants and then scrub themselves thoroughly in hope of remaining their dirty, pathetic human selves. Nothing would change there but maybe they would have a new perspective when it came to plotting evil deeds on animals.

Hypnos was ever thankful and with a bit of a purr to her step, she padded over to ********* you so much for saving me," she replied softly.

 

[LizzyMoo]

********* couldn't help but giggle as the boys fled so quickly and so predictably. Given the right story ahead of time, ********* could have been the scariest thing in the world. Since the boys had left her alone with the other cat, or rather, kitten, the manx didn't hold back from approaching the other who had been in distress.

"I hope that you are okay... You obviously aren't adjusted to the feline life yet... as you probably shouldn't have to be, seeing as you probably suffered the same problem as many others in the city. Judging by your size, you are a child..." The brownish kitten was a bit smaller than herself.

When the kitten offered her thanks, ********* just simply gave the kitten a lick across the cheek. "You, my dear... need to speak up... and you should probably tell me who you are as well..."

The voice was familiar, even if it had been a bit softer than she would have liked.  

[Appeal]

"I'm okay," the kitten said with a little head bob.

Hypnos hadn't expected the lick across the cheek nor had she expected it to feel quite the way it did. It was different from when a cat normally licked her, aside from the tongue being quite a bit larger than normally. It caused her fur to lift slightly and her tail to practically spring to life in response. She felt puffy, and there was a small purr rumbling in the kitten's stomach. She wasn't quite used to the body yet and it tended to do things all on its own, like rubbing against ********* momentarily.

"It's Hypnos," she replied, trying to speak a little louder. "I don't know what happened but now I am a kitten!"

 

[LizzyMoo]

********* was not about to interrupt the child as she began to go native on her. She allow the kitten to rub up against her as much as she wanted, complementing her purrs with her own. The manx had obviously been doing this whole cat thing longer, since all of her actions were her own, and not so much to blame on being a random different sort of animal.

"Ah yes, Hypnos... I thought the voice was familiar..." With a bob of her head, she then ceased her purring and moved onto business. "Do you remember when you turned into this? Or even what you were doing at the time all of this happened?"  

[Appeal]

The kitten thought back about what she was doing when this all started, trying to rub her paws over her head to stimulate her thoughts. She remembered she was walking down the street when suddenly she thought she had fallen. That sounded about right. She remembered that the streets were empty and that she cried out for help but no one heard her. It must have been early if the streets were so quiet, right?

"I think it was early in the morning," she mused. "I wasn't doing anything special. I was on my way home..."

 

[LizzyMoo]

"Early morning?" the manx seemed to chirp back to the kitten. The timing definitely seemed about right, seeming to correspond with when the Mauvians turned on that machine.

However, soon enough there was a pretty darn good question that needed to be asked. "On your way home from what? Patrolling?" Certainly the evenings and early mornings were probably the best time for senshi to be active, but the chibi senshi (in her opinion) needed more sleep and probably shouldn't have been patrolling as frequently as the older senshi.  

[Appeal]

Hypnos nodded to reaffirm that it was in fact early morning when it happened, staring at the other cat with an interested gaze. She wasn't sure what the cat was thinking but soon she realized exactly what when the question arose. Hypnos never really questioned it, there was just something about the way the night called to her. Everyone else was normally asleep but she, she found she was more drawn to being awake.

"A walk," she simplified. It was embarrassing to admit that the senshi of sleep never wanted to sleep when she knew was the normal time to sleep but she found that the nice, crisp breeze under the night sky was a great way for the senshi of sleep to well, wash the waves of sand over herself for a change.

 

[LizzyMoo]

"A. Walk?" It was a vague response, which, if ********* were a bit more persistent, she would have tried to pry more details out of the kitten. However, as the manx was certain, the chibi senshi probably had many more things to be concerned about.

With a bob of her head, the elder of the felines replied "Well, I thank you for that information, Hypnos!" It was the mark that she was done with her official information gathering.

How was time for the informal stuff. "So, would you be willing to satisfy the curiosity of a cat such as myself? Where were you heading to before those boys got in the way? I could quite possibly escort you if you'd like!"  

[Appeal]

Where had she been going? The kitten thought back to just before the boys had grabbed her, trying to remember just where she had been heading. It didn't take much thought for the child to immediately remember and then attempt to explain the situation to *********. "I was on my way home, or at least, trying to find my way home. I'm afraid everything looks so different from this perspective that I am having a hard time finding my barrings. I've been wandering around town all day but I still have not found my way home."

There was a long, drawn on sigh as the kitten arched her back up with a stretch and then lowered it back down.

"Everyone must be dreadfully worried. Do you remember where it is? It is in the downtown, not too far from the park." If ********* could just bring her to the park then Hypnos could surely find her way home from there.

 

[LizzyMoo]

********* was very much familiar with the whole notion of having to work in a different perspective. It was very much her default setting. Being in that human-like form of hers was actually like a senshi's equivalent to being in the cat form. It was interesting, but it wasn't what she was accustomed to.

"Well, my dear... it just so happens that I am a kitty-GPS."

She really wasn't, but she did know quite a bit about locations in the city.

"If you'd be willing to whisper in my ear your address, we can then get started. I do believe that we aren't drastically far from your place... though it might seem longer to you because you aren't quite used to being in such a small body."  

[Appeal]

GPS? What did GPS stand for? Kitty Got Power Sphere? Kitty Going Pretty Speedy? Oh there were too many words that could possibly fit into that. Hypnos didn't really know much about technology, just enough that got her by on the necessities of being born in the technological world. She didn't need to know what it meant for her to know that ********* was going to help her find her way home though!

Addresses were important things though and very carefully the kitten leaned in close and whispered it to her. Hopefully ********* would be better use navigating the streets than she had been.