Welcome to Gaia! ::

At the bakery, a small Himalyan was balancing on her hind paws, her teal eyes wide as she stared into the window. Her front paws were pressed earnestly against the glass, as much as any human child's might be at a candy shop or a toy store where something they really, really wanted was inside. Her fluffy tail wagged lightly back and forth, the black and white checkered flag attached there fluttering cooperatively as well. How could she get in? How? How? How?!

See, her keen nose never lied. There was salmon in there. The sign in the window confirmed it - it advertised bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Apparently it was some sort of new promotion, and the Mauvian wanted to be the very first customer to try it. The problem was that the bakery door was a round knob, not a push door. Knobs were hard to turn when one was as small as Horatio was - push doors, fine, long handles, fine, round knobs? Really hard.

Her ears flicked towards the sound of footsteps, and when Horatio turned her head she saw what could very well be her salvation! With the speed that she prided herself on, she sprinted over to the boy and began to rub coyly against his legs. Maybe he could help her inside!

Horatio eagerly sniffed at the boy's fingers, more for appearance's sake than anything. She was a pretty friendly Mauvian--some might say overly friendly--and any opportunity to make a new friend was a good one. Today it was down right lucky. Surely the nice child on his way down the street would rescue a starving kitty. ... okay, so maybe she wasn't starving, but there was salmon and she had to have it!

The misunderstanding about her goggles was sort of made better by his compliment of her tail flag - but at the same time, her goggles were just as awesome as anything else! She rubbed up against his hand, demanding strokes as penance, as she mewed defensively, "My goggles are racing goggles! It's so dirt and bugs and stuff don't get in my eyes while I'm zipping around. They're really handy in the rain, too, even if they get a little foggy."

It didn't bother her at all to be chatting with her new friend, and she tilted her head towards the window. "In there, they've got salmon on bagels. I'm trying to figure out a way to get in so I can get one. Can you open the door for me?"

"I did just talk, and I am a magical cat, but I don't know anyone named Carbonel. I'm Horatio. Hi!" She grinned up at him and gave another wave of her tail flag, since she knew that he liked it. "Who are you? We match because we both have eye gear, did you notice? That's pretty cool!"

At his question about doors, she switched gears. "I can open doors, but that's because of physical dexterity and luck, not my magic." The Mauvian jerked her head back towards the knob in question and explained. "See how round it is? Super hard to grip when you don't have proper fingers. I can do latch handles because I can jump up and use my stomach to press down on it, and I can do push doors because, well, I can push them. But spheres? Super, super hard. And I don't have any magic that can give me fingers. ... I think?" Something about the statement seemed off, but the Himalayan did a quick double check by wiggling the toes on her paws. Nope, no fingers there!

Her teal eyes sparkled as her forehead star began to glow. "If I show you some magic, will you get me a salmon bagel? I can do all sorts of stuff, like shoot a forehead beam but it makes me pretty tired. I can check to see if you're a winner though, and if you are, I can use my magic on you! What do you say? Fair deal?"

A grin spread across Horatio's face as Briar accepted her offer. The little ginger was a smart cookie, as far as she was concerned - knew a cool name when he heard one, was willing to deal for magic, and cute as a button too! "Alright, let's go!"

The Himalayan trotted over to the alley way that connected to the side of the bakery. She often came here to revel in the delicious smells and sometimes to steal the heat that radiated from the ovens. It was a good stopping spot on a cold winter's day, but really she was the only one usually there. Which just made it all the better a place for it! "Okay, Briar, now what I'm going to do is put a paw on your chest and feel to see if you're a winner. You might feel something warm and fuzzy. ... well, besides me. Catch!"

With only that warning, she made a mighty leap directly for the boy's arms. She could almost taste that delicious salmon now! Sharing it would a new friend would just make it twice as delicious.

The confident little Himalayan was not the least bit worried that her diminutive partner would drop her. He was a smart kid, all shock of red hair and brainy specs, and willing to trade smoked fish for magic. She curled up against his chest and squinted her eyes into little lines of teal. It took a bit of concentration to find winners, although she never thought about it much. She just reached out and felt around and--

There it was. Small, and bright, and warm and just… waiting. Waiting for her to come and tag it. Best. Game. Ever! “Congratulations, Briar! You’re absolutely, positively one hundred percent a winner. That means not only do you get to see magic, but you get some nifty prizes!”

With the same speed and agility she had used to jump into his arms, she now leapt back down. She made a speedy sprint down part of the alley, and two objects clattered out behind her. One was a henshin pen and the other a cell phone. Horatio pawed both towards the boy as though she was smacking a hockey puck across ice as she mewled, “Mkay, so first thing. Take the pen there and hold it above your head. Then say ‘Oort Power, Make-Up!’ Trust me, it’s awesome!”

The Himalayan sat, proud as any feline who had caught a mouse or a bird as she watched the henshin process take place. She really needed to keep a tally board of all of her successes so that she could show them off to everybody, but at the moment Briar's fascination was reward enough. There was no denying the excitement on the boy's face, and that made her grin excitedly too.

"I know, right? I never, ever get tired of waking up winners because they always have something cool to show me and o-m-g there are keys on your sash." Horatio got distracted by the dangling metal objects almost immediately, stretching her paws out so that the lightly colored toes batted at them. Her eyes swang from side to side as she followed it, but her mouth never stopped moving either. "So I'm guessing you've got lots of questions, right? Well, if you don't, you should, and I've got lots of answers besides."

She continued to paw at the keys as she mewled, "So, what do you wanna know about magic? I know all kinds of things. Like, you're Oort, Chibi Senshi of Keys, and your attack power is Oort Key Up, and... well, lots of stuff. Oh, and don't forget the phone--that's how you call for help if you need it!"

Horatio wanted those keys with every joule of her energetic being. Having them dangling just out of reach was too much of a temptation, so her paws continued to reach for them. She could hear her newly awakened winner asking question after appropriate question, though, and her tiny heart swelled with pride. Key game would have to wait until she finished her favorite game of fill-in-the-Senshi!

The Himalayan plopped her paws back firmly on the ground to keep still as she cheerfully replied, "Well, I dunno which particular stories, but you are most definitely a super hero! You get a neat costume and a new name and an attack and you get to fight monsters, it's pretty awesome! There's loads of other Senshi and Knights and even other kitties like me for you to play with, so you're gonna be part of the winning team right out the gate."

An itch overtook her ear and was immediately scratched with her hind leg. It jiggled her goggles down over her eyes, but that she didn't mind so much as evident by her continued tlaking. "Oort's... uh... well, sort of? It's complicated. Oort is you, and you are Oort, but Oort is also the place from which you get all your nifty powers and somewhere you were a long, long time ago. So it's a secret identity but also more than that. While you ave on your fuku--that's the fancy name for your costume--nobody'll know your real face, though! So it totally does act like a secret identity that way, in keeping you and your family's identities safe."

She ceased her scratching and began to bounce excitedly. Magic was always fun. "Sure can! Not quite sure what it does but... say Oort Key Up' and let's see what we get! I'll show you my kitty beam, too, so you know what it looks like."