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 Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 10:50 am
It hadn't been Remarque's intention to power up that night; he had just gotten home from a long day of shelving and reorganizing the warehouse out back of J.W. Antiques and he was sore. He was just going to load into his car, get some fast food, and clean up the house so it was spotless when his mother got back in later this week, but a youma—go figure—had to catch his attention.
It was dark enough that he first suspected the creature was a cat, but its movements betrayed it; he hadn't encountered a youma while a civilian in long enough that he wasn't going to risk it. He didn't know if he could make it to his car without attracting it--and he didn't want to risk that thing somehow breaking in here and ******** up the store. No one else was around; his boss had gone home to watch Jeopardy or something. The only witness he'd have to worry about was that damn cat, and who the hell cared?
Locking up all but the back door, he'd flicked off the lights and powered up.
The youma was no issue; he disposed of it easily.
…But then, he was powered up. He couldn’t just power down after only two minutes. He had to make the best of tonight. At least an hour, he told himself, thinking that was a reasonable limit. Give him some time to work up his appetite, to really crave that burger…
And to get some work done.
Remarque walked a bit, not bothering to power down as he sought out a nice, easy location to spend tonight. Meandering through the park, he didn't know what he hoped to accomplish. He wasn't going to summon a wraith after what the last one did to Raven. He did the next best thing—wandered towards the nearest energy signature.
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 11:58 am
Sometimes it just wasn’t fair that guardian cats always had an energy signature following them around…but sometimes that didn’t really matter. Though…during times like this it really did matter, and in a very big way.
Julienne had managed to find herself a pretty good salmon filet and was just settling down to dig in when she froze, the fur on the back of her neck raising. Something wasn’t right. Something in the area was terribly…terribly wrong and it felt even worse than that! There was a strong member of chaos nearby…and that boded bad for Julienne, in all likelihood. She gave a soft hiss, though hesitated.
She could run, yes…but what if running only set the Chaos individual off…and what if they hunted her down and did terrible things to her?
What if they did terrible things to her salmon?!? The cat swallowed, leaning down and taking a rather large mouthful of the fish, fur still on end. Maybe they would just want to talk. Talking she could do…maybe she could even work on guiding them to the right side of this war…
And of course she had her laser…if it came to that she could always point and shoot…and hobble away.
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 12:14 pm
The last cat Remarque had encountered had been a rude little thing; he had never really met a pleasant cat. Dahlia hadn't been bad. Lyssa, he was still reeling from. They were chaos, though—they had the unique advantage in that he didn't immediately hate them for making his job harder.
Though, he did owe thanks to at least one order cat. A part of him wanted to find her, provoke her for being so foolish in awakening a senshi right in front of him. In tempting him to steal the senshi away.
He was belligerent, looking for a fight.
Until he saw a fluffball of a cat, feasting on some fish.
Remarque blinked when he spotted her and stared, for a long moment. She would have been a pretty cat—if he'd liked cats. "Eating on the job? Seems a little lazy. Shouldn't you be out, causing trouble for the negaverse or something?"
Not that he knew what the hell the Order cats even did beyond get in his way.
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 2:36 pm
Julienne paused in her chewing when Remarque spoke, though said nothing until she had taken yet another bite of her food. She had worked too hard for it to not at least try and eat it all. Finally she looked up, at least somewhat satisfied that most of the fish was happily in her stomach. “I’m not lazy, I’m hungry, and it’s been a while since I’ve had something as delicious as this…even if it was only sub-par salmon…it was still salmon.
The cat sat up and looked at the strange senshi, eyes narrowing just slightly. “You mention the Negaverse as though you’re not a part of them…yet here you are, clearly tainted with a very large quantity of chaos…if you’re not with the Negaverse…may I ask just what you are?”
He hadn’t attacked yet…so maybe she could get away with a conversation with this strange…well…he was a senshi, that was for sure. Just…a tainted one?
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 3:43 pm
A cat that didn't know the difference between a Corrupted senshi and a Dark Mirror? Oh, the horror!
He looked down at her, trying to figure out if she was playing stupid or just didn't know. Eventually he gaved and just shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. "Not with the Negaverse, per se. We associate with them. Allies, you know." He waved his hand nonchalantly, really not interested in describing that dynamic.
"You haven't heard of the Dark Mirror Senshi? I know we're not that small. Are you new, or…?"
Or what?
How could a cat be knew? Weren't they all knowing, or…?
Actually, he had no ******** idea. One day someone introduced a talking cat and then they all become normal. Had she always been a talking cat? Where did they come from? And who the hell was he supposed to ask without looking like a moron?
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 4:07 pm
Julienne scoffed, taking another bite of salmon and giving what was unmistakably a shrug. Of course, it looked quite strange coming from a cat.
“I’m not new…I’ve just…been in the dark, I suppose. Really in the dark or something. I’ve never heard of the Dark Mirror Senshi at all…” The Siberian moved closer to the male, looking up at him and then pawing at the strings that were hanging off of his butt wings. “Hmm…you’ll have to forgive me for this, but I am still a cat you know…”
She seemed more than half disgusted at herself for this display of feline affection—to a member of chaos of all people!
After a moment though, she walked back to her food, taking another bite. Upon swallowing, she looked at him. “So. Please tell me about this Dark Mirror Court. I’m quite interested to hear this. If you don’t mind of course.”
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 4:19 pm
"Polite," Remarque noted, ignoring the fact that she had just been pawing at the strings on his uniform. He brushed at them idly, as though such would dispel the cat germs. "That's a trait most of the other cats I've met are lacking."
It took only a moment to debate whether or not he wanted to tell this cat anything, though when he did, he shifted positions and crouched so that he was more comfortable and closer to her level. "We're a group of senshi who follow Ares. Who was once a parallel senshi and has now transcended into something greater—as have we. We are not so unlike the senshi you—I assume—have aligned yourself with, in that we have all of the good and none of the bad. We are them, but stronger. Better. More organized, united in a common goal. We have allowed Chaos to improve us, however we have not succumbed to it."
Such was important to note, after all. The Corrupted Senshi of the Negaverse were unfortunate in their course, though even they were better off than being lost within the White Moon.
"Do you have no one to tell you of these things? …Or has your queen—and the rest of the White Moon senshi—the senshi abandoned you, too?"
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 6:48 pm
Julienne took the final bite of her food and sighed happily. She listened to Remarque as he spoke of just what the Dark Mirror Court was, but honestly…she wasn’t impressed. With any of what he said, to be perfectly honest. Though, he wasn’t openly attacking her as someone from the Negaverse would most undoubtedly do, at least from what she had heard about them.
“Well, greater or not, I feel sorrow that you aren’t free of the poison that is chaos…” The cat moved closer, rubbing against his knee gently. “I haven’t been abandoned by anyone. I just haven’t made as many connections as I suppose I would like to have, and nothing about the Dark Mirror Court has ever come up.”
She sighed, sitting back down. “There is nothing bad about the senshi that I align myself with. At least I can find nothing bad. They are the keepers of the light...”
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 7:09 pm
It was difficult for Remarque to refrain from making faces as the cat rubbed against him, though he didn't push her away. Truth be told, a part of him needed some reassurance that not all cats were insane. Lyssa had scarred him a bit—at least this cat seemed like a cat…and not a budding psychopath.
"Keepers of the light? Fancy title," he said, propping one elbow up on his knee and extending a hand to brush his fingers lightly atop her head. It was soft, which should have been pleasant but instead he was just angry. He'd wanted an excuse to retract his hand, but she felt nice.
Stupid ******** cats. They weren't supposed to feel nice.
"The Chaos isn't bad, you know. It's nice. Reassuring. Gives you a clarity you didn't see before. It's not like I run around snapping necks or anything." He paused, recalling very vividly the ambush they'd had on the order meeting last year.
Well. He hadn't snapped any necks, at least that much was true.
"Or like we want to take over the world? One of Ares' major goals was to create a Utopia for senshi, away from the chaos. To repopulate the universe or something. Start fixing up everything out there that's gotten destroyed. Speaking of," he scratched behind her ears, suddenly deciding he wanted to be on her good side, "Have you ever been into space?"
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 6:38 pm
Julienne began to purr as he both stroked her head and scratched behind her ears. Oh this guy was a keeper…even if he was disgustingly covered in chaos…
She didn’t answer for a while, then just sighed. “You say that chaos gives you clarity that you didn’t see before…but have you ever tried not having any chaos? I mean…from what I’ve seen…and from what I can remember, chaos doesn’t bring clarity so much as it changes who you are and who you’re supposed to be. If you say…that the goal is to create a Utopia away from the chaos…then why does the chaos guide you?”
The cat rubbed against his hand again and nodded. “I know how to get there…in theory. Space, I mean. I’m sure I’ll end up going back someday again…hopefully. I mean. I think I’ve been? I can’t really remember.”
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 6:49 pm
It was unfairly true that he had never dabbled in the realm of Order—but why would he want to? He knew they were wrong, in his heart. He had watched them, spoken with them…what did they have to offer him? What could they give him that the Dark Mirror Court hadn't already?
It was a topic that, for the first time in a while, he didn't know what to say. He focused instead of something they could both wonder about. "I was there, once. On the Surrounding. Gaudy place, obnoxious." Utterly fitting for the Senshi he'd seen up there. "What would I have to do if I wanted to get into space? If I wanted to, say, go explore the great unknown?"
…To answer all the questions that had arisen, and maybe unearth a few more.
He didn't know if this cat would have the answers he needed—or even give them to him if she did, but it was worth asking. It was something he needed to know.
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 7:44 pm
“The Surrounding? I’m afraid I’m not quite sure just what that is…” The cat thought for a long moment. “To get into space…the only way I can think of is if a senshi brings you there. Do you have any senshi friends who would be willing to take you to their homeworld? I’m quite sure that that would be the only way. You know, provided they know how to get there as well. That is always a helpful thing.”
She thought for a long moment. “I could try and find one for you, if you really wanted to get back up into space. I know of a few senshi…maybe I could convince one to take you up to their homeworld for a sort of field trip or something?”
The guardian wasn’t quite sure why she was offering so much to this…this Dark Mirror Senshi…but if maybe one day he was able to get rid of the chaos that clung to him…perhaps it would be worth it? She was doing a good deed, that was all…it really had nothing to do with how good it felt when he scratched behind her ears.
“I’m Julienne, by the way.”
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 8:01 pm
The scratching didn't stop despite the fact that Remarque was a bit disappointed the cat didn't have a quick answer for all of his questions. "Julienne?" he prompted, looking down at her as he ran his pinky under her chin. "Nice to meet you. I'm Remarque."
Was it nice to meet her? She was certainly making nice enough offers. It didn't necessarily mean he could trust her, but the whole purpose of the Dark Mirror Court ended with them in space, didn't it? Shouldn’t they at least know how the hell to get up there?
Up there.
His eyes drifted upwards, towards the sheet of stars speckling the sky. A part of him missed it; being so far away from this planet. Surrounded by nothing but space. The things he'd seen…
He missed.
While not often, he still dreamed of his time on the Surrounding.
Remarque grunted and then looked down at the cat. "You'd talk to someone about getting me into space? What's the catch?"
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 8:20 pm
Ohh…that was nice. He could do that forever and it still wouldn’t be enough. The siberian’s eyes closed and she found herself purring loudly as he stroked under her chin. He really wasn’t so bad, not so bad at all. And if he was this nice all the time, really the only issue with him was how bad he felt to her…that was really all.
Did she have a catch to what she was doing? Oh…oh she could think of a pretty good catch.
“Of course I’ll talk to someone. But you have to bring me some salmon for when we go. Some good salmon. Herby and wonderful. I’m going to trust you to get me the good stuff…and I promise I’ll get you into space. There’s a few senshi that I talk to and I’m sure if I ask them they’ll let you hitch a ride!”
And she would get dinner out of it. And possibly more ear scratches...oh yes. This was a good plan indeed.
"You have to promise not to hurt them though, all right? I'm trusting you, Remarque."
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 8:26 pm
"Oh, please," Remarque scoffed, secretly taking delight in being responsible for the cat's current state, "Like I would hurt a senshi. I want them to join me, not fight me. I think we could help each other out. It's just a matter of getting them to see things from my standpoint. But, if it makes you feel any better, I'll give you my word. So long as no senshi instigates, I promise not to hurt any of them."
It was a fair bargain, he figured; he wasn't going to promise not to attack a senshi at all. If they attacked first, they were fair game. He could play by the rules as long as they did. Probably.
"Especially if your only price is a fish." And a fairly cheap one, at that. "You want it cooked, though? I thought most cats liked it—you know. Raw."
And herby? What, he was supposed to season a fish for a cat? What did a cat know about fine dining and taste?
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