This charade had gone on long enough, and Gwendolyn Caspian was going to let the youma know it. At first, she admired its tenacity to keep following her, despite how she would leap fences and run down the sidewalk and even came close to scaling a building. But this youma, apparently a stalker in its former life, had kept its eyes on its prey, and with each attempt to escape its sights, Gwen knew that it would only be attracted to her energy and would continue the chase until she was too exhausted to run much further before it would make its move. Like a good predator, it relied on allowing the prey to wear itself down first.

Unfortunately for the youma, Gwen had a fair idea what a real predator would do, and despite being the ‘prey’, she was pacing herself as well. She was luring the youma away, far away from civilians eyes and to a place where she could show the youma who the REAL predator was, because once she transformed, Sailor Tsui would not put up with this game of cat and mouse for long.

As far as she was concerned, there could only be one cat, and that cat would be her, the Tiger!

Finally, after many twists and turns and another pace around the block, Gwen felt that enough was enough. She could tell that the youma was starting to lose its patience, and in truth, so was she, so when she passed by the alley, she took a quick turn into it and immediately jumped onto the trash can, and from there, grabbed onto the outside staircase on the wall as though it were nothing but the uneven cars and pulled herself up. She was hoping that she’d be quick enough to make it up there before the youma could turn the corner, and boy was she thankful that by the time she pulled herself up, the youma looked around the alleyway, momentarily confused. She had a brief window before its rely on its sense of smell to find her, and she wasted no time, grabbing her Henshin pen and shouting aloud.

“Tsui Star Power, Make Up!”

The change was immediate and Sailor Tsui always enjoyed the rush of power she felt in her body with every transformation. The youma, a fugly creature that looked like it came out of a Tim Burton’s flick, had looked up, just in time to receive a pair of boots to the face when she came crashing down on him. It was not strong enough to seriously wound it, but it was just enough to knock him off balance, giving Tsui the chance to leap away to a safer distance. She held her arms in the familiar cross fashion over her chest, anyone aware of her powers knowing that she was preparing for her strike, and she would have taken it at the first chance as the youma was stumbling back, had her ears not heard a familiar sound.

’Is that… kittens?’ Tsui looked behind her, seeing the old cardboard box in the corner and the mother cat that stood its ground as its kittens squeaked and mewled pathetically. Her heart melted at the sight of them, naturally, and she realized it was a mistake bringing the youma into this alley. She had put innocent, and extremely adorable lives in danger! ’That means I have to kill the youma quickly… THE YOUMA!’

Realizing her mistake, she looked back at the monster, just as it charged her. She moved into a more defensive position, refusing to give way as the mother cat and her kittens were behind her, catching the youma and being pushed back a few feet before steadying herself, holding the youma in a deadlock.

’What a fine mess you got yourself into, Tsui,’ Tsui berated herself, gritting her teeth and trying to push back the lanky creature and surprised by its strength. It managed to force her back a few steps, but she refused to give it any leeway. She was a Senshi, and a Senshi of Tigers at that, and her duty, for now, was to defend the lives of her smaller, less feral brethren. It pushed her back another step, and the kittens’ mewls got even louder, more frantic, and Tsui growled, managing to move her arms into the cross motion over her chest and gathering the energy that he so desired into her arms. She HAD to push him back… and there was only one way that she knew of. “Tiger… Fist… STRIKE!!!!”

The youma had anticipated a strike but it did not expect the Senshi to be able to overpower him and push him back entirely, and due to their closeness, Tsui went along with him, punching at the recently attacked chest and looking to weaken it for a second charge. In truth, she had never killed a youma before, at least not on her own, and this had bothered her, much more than she thought it truly would. She knew she was strong and capable, and she knew that she could get the experience she needed with time… so why could she not stand on par with the likes of Chibi Lenka, or Draconis, or Ate? Those three’s faces flashed in her mind, as well as a forth’s, the Dark Mirror Senshi, Remarque. All of them were strong, but they had to start somewhere too, didn’t they?! They all had their first youma or obstacle that they had to defeat, destroy? Why couldn’t she? Just because they had a focus and she didn’t?

The creature grabbed onto her shoulders and immediately, needle like appendages shot from its hands and arms, striking her arms and shoulder and bringing her attention back to the battle. She knew it was trying to suck her energy, but she wasn’t going to allow that. He was about to get all the energy he’d ever need, directly to the chest! Once again, she moved her arms into a cross pattern, and while the youma recognized the motion, it had already committed to latching itself onto her. And Tsui grinned at the sight of possible fear in those blood shot eyes of the youma. ’Damn right you better fear me…

“TIGER FIST STRIKE!”

She charged through, snapping off of the youma’s grip and completely plowing through the already weakened chest. It felt like she was charging through a wall, breaking through bricks and plaster, and when she hit the ground, she tumbled and rolled, hoping that she didn’t slam herself into the wall or into the open streets and trying to stand herself upright. She got halfway there before falling onto her knees, the needles remaining on her shoulders and arms for a while more before it disintegrated with the rest of the youma. Tsui at least got to see the fruits of her efforts, looking at the hole she created in the youma as it faded away, and all strength in her arms and legs were gone at this point. “I did it… I… defeated a youma all by myself…”

She wasn’t sure how to feel. It certainly wasn’t the first one she helped to defeat, but it was the first one to die by her hands. A sense of pride and accomplishment swelled within her, as though all of her time spent fighting along side other Senshi, or against, even, had boiled down to this. She could not fight on her own, stand on her own two legs and find her purpose as a Senshi, in her own right. Perhaps she could finally make a difference? ’With this… maybe… I can find my focus. I can finally have a reason to fight!’

That reason was still a mystery to her, but for now, she knew that she had the power within her to handle it. Besides, her focus at this given moment was to protect the mother cat and her kittens, and for now, that was enough. She flashed the cat a smile, aware that it would not understand the gesture, and she took no offense when it moved closer to her kittens, back still arched and moaning a warning for her to stay away. Tsui waved the cat off, before picking herself off of the ground and powering down, and despite the new aches and pains she felt, she sounded surprisingly chipper. “No need to thank me, miss! All within a day’s work for the Senshi of Tigers!”

So, with that, she began the long trek back home, but not even the aches, pains, and new bruises could deter her mood now. No, not even the dark clouds in the sky that threatened to unleash its rainy fury could wipe that smile off of her face…

((Word Count: 1462))