[REG] A Little Caution Never Hurt (********* + Ridley)[FIN]

[LizzyMoo]

********* was in town, hip hurray! Of course, at the moment she was on the fence, balancing on it and looking into the back window where a familiar beagle was looking right back at her. To the beagle, the cat probably just looked like some sort of play thing. The guardian liked to think she was a bit more complex than just a "play thing."

The little round animal padded along the fence, and the dog's eyes followed her. She moved back in the other direction, and those eyes continued to follow her. It was almost an interesting game. However, Dodger was not the one ********* wanted to talk to.

The manx had to wait for a certain someone to come out and get her.  

[chirigami]

As much as the beagle didn't like being outside in the cold snow, there were still really interesting creatures that seemed to not mind the weather. All the wonderful things to bark at. There had been come squirrels and the usual birds and thankfully after so many hours there was a small grey cat. Dodger whimpered, his whole body began to shake from excitement upon noticing ********* on the fence. A cat! A cat! Like the cat inside the house that hated him - maybe this one wouldn't!

Dodger watched her as she moved around the perimeter of the backyard, his tail going crazy. When she didn't seem to get any closer, however, he began to bark at her. Loudly.

Usually it didn't alert the family inside too often, given how much it happened. [The neighbors got annoyed every so often if it persisted]. But Ridley was in the living room at that moment, working on a bit of homework when the beagle started his barking. She glanced up momentarily to see what the fuss was about, ready to get back to work until she noticed... something familiar about that grey shape on the fence. "*********?" She asked, puzzled, pushing herself from the low table in front of the couch and to the sliding doors that lead to the outside.

It was *********! Ridley nearly squealed as she opened the door without a second thought ... and then promptly closed it when the cold air rushed in. Oh yeah, it was cold outside. This time, she opened up just a little bit and got lower to the ground and called out to the guardian cat, "********* ~"  

[LizzyMoo]

From her current perch, the cat couldn't hear the child so to speak. She could hear the vague sound of barking from inside the house, but not so much the child. However, when the door opened up briefly, the cat's ears perked up and her head turned to the door.

Only for it to be shut right away.

"...that was weird..."

The door soon enough opened up again, almost a bit shyer than before. Deciding to take this opportunity, the feline hopped off the fence, landing solidly in the snow, then seemed to almost bunny hop through the snow until she managed to make it to the door. She slid herself inside without question before shaking off her fur.  

[chirigami]

A giggle escaped Ridley as the small cat hopped herself right into the living room, "would you like me to get you a towel or something, *********?" Or a nice warm blanket. That would probably do some real good given how cold the weather was outside. A nice blanket and made something sweet, the little manx would probably love that.

She didn't even wait for a response as she left the room, the open layout of the living room allowing easy viewing as the little girl went from one side and through a portion of open doorways to the next into a kitchen. All, with arms being filled with objects. First it was a large ultra fuzzy blanket that she got from one of the baskets of blankets that her mother set out for the winter, to keep guests and family alike warm in these months. The next, she juggled a plate of various cookies Conner had made while being bored and cooped up.

This was all brought to the couch, the plate placed upon the low coffee table and the blanket on the cushions as Ridley set herself upon them herself and patted the seat next to her. "What's up, *********?"  

[LizzyMoo]

Once inside and shaken off, the manx glanced about carefully, checking to see what audience she had, before offering "Yes, that would be..."

And there went Ridley, off in some other direction before ********* even finished with her response. She wasn't put off by such at all, since this was Ridley, the child who was so easily distracted. Once the girl returned, she had not only something a bit better looking than a towel, but something delicious smelling as well.

Though the girl seemed to invite her to take a place on the couch with her, the manx's stomach seemed to have other ideas. Trotting up to the coffee table, the cat sprang up and soon enough all four of her paws were on said table, bringing her closer to the food.

"...oooo... so who made the cookies, Ridley?" Her nose was already sniffing the edges of one of the offending delicious treats, and her tongue couldn't help but slip out and lick her maw slightly. "...and can't I just come in for a visit every now and again?" The cat paused from her adoration of the food to give the child a wink.  

[chirigami]

Well, how could she have expected ********* to actually come towards the blankets when she had put a plate of cookies in front of her. This was a little bit of a no brainer situation of which the little manx would have preferred.

"My brother made them," Ridley proudly replied, taking one of the sugar cookies for herself. There was an assortment of sugar, raisin oatmeal, chocolate chip and snickerdoodle; really partly for show of how annoyed he was with the weather. "He's an awesome cook and was bored and made them! I was going to bring some over to you if I found you but you found me instead so that totally works out!" She giggled between bites of cookie, the crumbs sticking to her lips.

"If they're any left, maybe I'll see if I can save some for Dahlia," the orange haired girl mused to herself for a moment. "Do you know Dahlia, *********? She's a really pretty cat with long cream colored fur and two different colored eyes! I met her in the park one night," forgoing a few other details of course.  

[LizzyMoo]

The cat quickly seemed to find her way to the snickerdoodles first. There wasn't any hesitation on her part when it came to digging into the treats, grabbing up as big a mouthful as her tiny kitty mouth could manage and chewing maybe 3-4 times before swallowing the deliciousness. However, once she swallowed down that first chunk, she did giggle slightly.

"I'd tell you to thank your brother for me... but somehow I don't think telling him a cat was the one who said such would not work very well. Oh well... at least you know I appreciate his efforts, yes?" She might have been a piggy of a manx, but it didn't mean she didn't have manners.

Promptly taking up another bite or two, ********* wasn't expecting anything to shock her into stopping what she was doing. However, the orange-haired child said something that made her stop her current activities altogether.

Dahlia?... oh dear...

It was odd for the round feline to stop paying attention to the food that was so easy to access. It was also odd that, after she finished swallowing her food, she turned away and sat her haunches down so she could look to the youngest of her girls.

"...I do know Dahlia..." she stated very plainly. It might not have seemed odd, except for the fact that ********* usually spoke in a very friendly manner, so something so plain seemed pretty serious coming from her. ********* knew Dahlia before her star had turned black. She knew the old Dahlia, and she was aware of the new Dahlia. Some things stayed the same, but other things had changed drastically.

"...You need to be very careful around her, Ridley..." She didn't clarify what she meant yet, but she had every intention to spell it out for this girl.  

[chirigami]

Ridley picked up another cookie from the plate, breaking it in half for easier edibility. "I'll let him know!" Though, she would think it would be hilarious of ********* did talk in front of her brother, or any member of her family even. It was sad that ********* seemed pretty hellbent on not being around them too often. But then again, maybe they wouldn't have as much food if the little cat was around more often. It ********* didn't talk, it would be hard to explain where it all went...

********* tone wasn't missed as the little girl broke off a little more of her cookie before popping it into her mouth. "Careful?" The manx didn't clarify, but Ridley was prompting her to explain it better, "why would I need to be careful around her? She's a guardian and stuff and was so sweet and nice and stuff!"  

[LizzyMoo]

********* own pile of cookie seemed to go ignored for now, which was bizarre to say the least. However, this guardian was now tending to some rather serious business. If she could observe herself from the outside, she'd probably think it was too serious. The manx lifted a paw and looked as if she was going to brush it over the top of her head to groom, but instead she stopped partway, only so her paw was nearly touching her own star upon her forehead.

"Dahlia's star upon her forehead... it is black if I recall correctly, yes? Our stars are not meant to be so dark in color... it is a sign that her loyalty is to the Negaverse, a force of Chaos."

Her paw came down to touch the plate she had been somewhat standing on.

"...I don't know who you met her as... but promise me that whoever you met her as is the only one you will interact with her as. Dahlia should not know that Ridley is Hygiea or that Hygiea is Ridley..." There was a pause for the small cat to straighten up as tall as she could while looking to the child's orange eyes.

"Promise me, Ridley... please."  

[chirigami]

This was all getting ... a little serious, enough for Ridley to ignore her own cookies, even the one she was still trying to finish. Her orange eyes stayed on the manx, watching with interest as she lifted her paw to her grey little star. When the question was asked about Dahlia's own, she only nodded - not daring to interrupt, not when ********* seemed to have her serious voice and all and not seeing the point at first about a star (she had seen gold before this and well, ********* had a grey one...)

Though, when Dahlia's loyalties were brought to light, Ridley eyes widened with a mix of emotions that she couldn't quiet place, but surprise seemed to be leading the pack. "The Negaverse?" She knew what that meant, in kind of vague details. The bad guys, the ones they were fighting and like the one that had taken ********* during camp.

"But, why would she be on their side?" It didn't really make sense to her, it didn't make sense why they would need a guardian cat when it seemed like a senshi thing to have - though, she had seen that one dark senshi that one time... "She's so nice and stuff." Really, didn't make sense.

There was one fact that Ridley did catch, however. ********* wasn't forbidding her to see Dahlia again; something she knew would eat at her, denying her to talk to a talking cat and all would be horrible indeed. Caution was what the little cat was trying to get through her head. "I promise, *********."  

[LizzyMoo]

Why did it seem that the youngest of minds always asked the most difficult of questions? She had to be rather honest with her answer.

"...I don't know why she would be with the Negaverse... I know sometimes with senshi, they are taken by force to the Negaverse... and I know sometimes they are persuaded..." Subconsciously, the poor feline's fur began to fluff up as she recalled Sailor Hel, a girl she had awakened at one point who had gone to the siren song of the Negaverse. All the promises that the Negaverse had given her had probably all fallen short, but unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do about it.

She still remained quite puffed up even as Ridley confirmed she planned to listen to the little round cat. Perhaps it had to do with nothing, or perhaps it had everything to do with the fact that the idea of a cat being taken by force to the side of chaos was very unsettling. Hel had lost her memories. Dahlia had lost her memories. ********* didn't want to think about it, but that little voice in her mind kept poking out with possibilities she didn't want to hear.

What if you forget your girls...

"...I... I appreciate it... Ridley..."

In all honesty, it looked like the manx could use a hug, or at least some petting to calm her shot nerves.  

[chirigami]

Ridley hummed in response at first to ********* explanation, lost in her own thoughts and not taking notice of the cat's distress at first. Persuaded, huh? Well, couldn't that mean they could be persuaded back or something? Maybe what happened to Lina could happen to Dahlia again, and her guardian wouldn't have to make her make such promises.

"Maybe Cosmos can help Dahlia?" Ridley smiled brightly when she turned her attention back to the cat. But her smile only fell when she saw the state the little manx was in, all puffed up and sad sounding - she did not like the tone of voice from *********. This wasn't right, not at all. ********* should be happy, not depressed looking like this - well her being puffed up really looked hilarious but not like this.

Ridley reached out to the manx, her arms enclosing the little cat and pulled her closer until she was resting on the orange haired girl's lap. ********* looked like she needed a hug, so she was getting a very big Ridley hug.  

[LizzyMoo]

The child's optimism was noted, but ********* was awkwardly quiet for the moment. There was indeed a chance that Cosmos could assist Dahlia. She had heard the rumors about that senshi, but they were in fact that, rumors. The fact was that the guardian cat had never met this particular senshi, and it wasn't from a lack of trying. The manx traveled the city daily. She sought all sorts of things in her journeys, not simply just senshi.

********* soon enough found herself picked up and smooshed up against the child. Some cats might have gotten fussy with the close contact, but the little animal seemed to melt into the child's body. The cat closed her eyes and uttered quietly "...I don't even know..." She took in a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. The child's efforts seemed to have some sort of effect, the little guardian's fur gradually settling back down.  

[chirigami]

Ridley's smile returned when she felt ********* small body press against her and begin to relax again. There still seemed to be some sadness in her voice, but that only encouraged the little girl to try and squeeze the cat in a closer hug and rub her fingers through any available fur her little hand could reach.

"Sure it can *********! There's always a way and stuff," Ridley nodded, "like with math and stuff... sometimes its really annoying that you can't figure out a problem one way but then you figure out another way and it's solved and stuff and everything is awesome!"

"Just need to keep working at it, I guess." She giggled, wondering why she even brought dreaded mathematics into this. "I think we can bring Dahlia back to our side of awesome and then you won't need to worry and stuff." Obviously the little orange haired girl was missing probably what really brought ********* in a bummed mood having never met the senshi she had thought about. But she was thinking of the situation at hand.  

[LizzyMoo]

At the moment, ********* felt like one of those squishy toys that were solely meant for squishing. Not that she minded, the sensation was quite comforting. Even a few stray purrs managed to escape the feline.

With a slight (and vaguely forced) chuckle, ********* had to ask in her usual pleasant tone "...do you think you mentioned the word 'awesome' enough?" The guardian at least for now seemed to be feeling better if she was willing to laugh and joke around a bit.