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"Slow down, please!"

A roar was heard throughout Destiny City's garden district and a youma blurred in and out of normal space, smudging this way and that until it was directly in front of a bounding Polaris Squire. Sutai squeaked and skidded to a halt. The youma was small and cross between a dog and a hairless rat. Black, leathery skin pulled taut over thin bone and muscle with a very long, whiplike tail. It would hiss and blur itself over to a new position, taunting and playing with its prey. Sutai slipped on her shoes and nearly faceplanted into a minivan.

"No no no no! Slow down, please! I cannot defeat you if you don--- EEEEK!"

Sutai was good at a great many things - cheerleading, cooking, bouncing around, letting things glide off her back like so much water. But defeating youma? She lacked the tools, the magic and and prowess to defeat one on her own. She could slow it down if she could get a steady shot at it but this youma was having none of that! "You don't understaaaand! You cannot eat the children and it's my job to protect them and defeat you if you go so faaaaast!"

A wild Whisler appeared!

Sutai completed her third circuit around a parked minivan with the creature in hot pursuit when she spotted a fellow squire! Overjoyed, she squeaked and ran to him at top speed, nearly flattening the poor guy in the process. "Oh thank you thank you thank you! You can..." The squire paused for a moment, taking in the details of her fellow squire. The copper-colored stars, the blue jewels in his hair... She knew something seemed very familiar about his attire, despite their differences in color.

Then it dawned on her. The squeal that erupted from her lungs could break glass. "You're a squire of Polaris! Just like me! Just like meeee! We can team up and defeat the bad guys have you met the princess isn'tsheprettyshe'ssowonderfulandtakesgoodcareofusohI'msogladIcouldmeetyou!" Sutai bounced up and down, giddy and bubbling with excitement at the prospect of meeting a fellow knight of the lovely Princess Polaris, who of course was the nicest princess in the whole wide world. She'd met Iris before, and the blonde was nice enough but not as nice and wonderful and snuggly as her Polaris!

The youma shrieked then, annoyed with all the terrible noises the jingly one kept making. With sudden determination spurred by the appearance of a fellow Polaris squire, Sutai bounced once and spun around, summoning her sextant. "We'll take this guy out together! I am Sutai, Squire of Polaris! And you will slow down now, if you please!" Within a moment or two, Sutai had the rat-dog creature in her sights and released her magic. A crisp snow blue stream of sparkling magic shot out from the tiny telescope of her sextant and hit the youma, its movements becoming slow motion. "Okay, Mr. Squire, could you go and bonk it, please? Thank you~"

It all seemed so easy in Sutai's head!

Sutai's squeak of joy (and possibly victory) snapped her concentration and broke the magic spell, giving the youma's speed back to it. Disoriented from the kick and the blow to the head, it sailed through the air, missed the landing and stumbled into a trashcan, falling over with a wail. It wasn't quite dead yet, but where the youma had an abundance of agility, it seemed to lack constitution. With a righteous battle cry, the squire ran over and stomped on the youma.

"You," jump "are" jump "so" jump "very" jump "mean to people!"

The squire liked to think that she had determination and enthusiasm on her side, even if she didn't have the strength or prowess to back it up. With a wheeze, the youma's long limbs shriveled. Wiping her brow, Sutai considered this a sound victory, even if the youma wasn't disintegrating like they normally do. "Oh, thank you so much for your help, Mister...?" She tilted her head when she realized the man never introduced himself. There wasn't much time at all. She giggled and gave him a delightful curtsy. It was only polite! "Thank you very much for coming to help me. I really appreciate you showing up when you did. I don't think I could have beaten a youma all by myself. I'm not strong enough for that yet."

She dug the toe of her boot into the ground sheepishly. "I'm very sorry I don't recognize you! I thought I was the only Polaris knight there was, but I was so very wrong! I mean, I figure she must have more than one! All princesses should have more than one knight. I mean, we're very fun people you know!" With a giggle, Sutai performed a quick twirl. "So, when did you become a page? You must have met the princess! Well, maybe not. I didn't meet her until after I awoke, so..." Tangent initiated.

Sutai giggled and bounced merrily when learning her savior's name. "Whisler! It's so very nice to meet you, Mr. Whisler!"

She was already going over plans to take Whisler to meet Polaris when his statements suddenly dropped off the sense-making charts and dipped into crazytown. He was never a page? The look on Sutai's face probably explained what she was thinking. "You... were never a page?" she asked, scratching her cheek. "Umm then... did you pass a test and skip a grade or something? I've heard of that in school but never heard of it during the war. You must be super duper cool, Mr. Whisler! But it's a shame you've never met the princess. We should fix that! You'd love her - she's so very nice!"

She started bouncing again, the confusion she had before sliding off her back like so much water. That is, until Whisler admitted he didn't want to continue to be, well, Whisler. Sutai blinked at him. "...wha? Really? Why? You just saved a whooooooole neighborhood!" To demonstrate, she trust her arms out and twirled in a circle. "You saved all the children and families from being attacked by the youma. You're a hero! Why would you want to stop doing that?"

Sutai listened intently to Whisler's story, tilting her head in confusion. "You... couldn't be who you were... and... you were part of the Negaverse?!"

OH NO OH NO OH NO!!

Alarm bells and sirens went off in Sutai's head and she struggled against the desire to run around like a chicken on fire. Hands slapped her cheeks. "B-b-b-but the Negaverse is scary! They're the bad guys, they kill people and destroy homes and families!" The squire gasped and grabbed at one of Whisler's hands to hold. "I am so very glad you're not on their side anymore! I don't know how it happened but it's wonderful and I am so very thankful to have you as a friend, Mr. Whisler!"

She didn't have any idea how to sort out the details of the life he had once before, but that wouldn't stop her in the slightest from trying. "Do you have a safe place to go? Do not worry, Mr. Whisler! I, Sutai of Polaris, will help protect you and guide you as best I can!" Her chipper attitude returning, Sutai started bouncing up and down. "I may not know how to help you with the real world stuff but... I will be your friend! I will help you however I can, and maybe, if you feel like it, of course, you can meet the princess! She always guides me when I feel lost or sad..."

"Well, for what it's worth, Mr. Whisler, I think you are very brave!" Sutai giggled, blushing from his compliments. She was like a schoolgirl in a tutu, really. "The Negaverse is very scary and I'm very glad you decided to leave. You did the right thing! Now you can protect the innocent! I mean, if you're up for that. It wouldn't be right to expect you to be jumping right into it when you've got other things to sort out first!"

With mention of the zoo, Sutai let out a happy squeal. "Oh I love the zoo! I can be your little sister, Mr. Whisler! And you can be my big brother! Things have their own way of working out and you becoming Whisler is very good for your karma. I can teach you all about that too if you want! Oh and I can cook for you too, if you want! I love to cook - do you like Indian food, Mr. Whisler~?"

She grabbed at his hand and began a slow bouncing circle around the new Squire. "And I'll take you to see the princess! She is very smart and loving and so very pretty! You'll really like her! I mean, what man doesn't want to be a pretty princesses' knight in shining armor? OH!" She stopped suddenly, realizing a very important detail to the whole princess story. "But she does have a boyfriend, but he's very grumpy. I don't know what she sees in him but it must be something good to keep him around, right? I don't even think he eats Indian food... or smiles..."

Hmm.

Sutai giggled and bounced in place, clapping with glee. "You see? You see? Good things have come from your good decision! I know... I know I can't understand exactly what you're going through but... but that doesn't mean you don't have a network of help and friends! And... and I'll do everything I can to keep you safe! I don't want the Negaverse having you again, okay?"

And she meant every word! "And I will invite you to have dinner and you can come to court meetings when you feel up to it! Oh oh oh and you can meet Tsui, she is so very strong and she'll protect you too! Ah, I'm so proud of you, Mr. Whisler! I'm so very happy to have you on our side. The Negaverse doesn't deserve someone strong and brave you like, no they don't!" Another giggle and set of bounces set off the crystals in her hair and on her outfit. She sounded like a jingle bell.

On the subject of the zoo, Sutai stopped her bouncing to consider the options. "Well... the animals are probably asleep by now so... what are you doing this weekend? We could go then! During the day, when the animals are all awake! Wouldn't that be fun? I think that would be super fun!"