Welcome to Gaia! ::

The dog wriggled and squirmed and licked at her chin as Aludra stopped to catch her breath. Even with speed and strength boost that came with being a Senshi, it had taken over an hour to catch the lost dog. He’d decided it was a game they were playing and tail wagging had raced around the park, constantly eluding her grasping hands.

Finally she’d finally cornered it (or him rather, a quick glance down proved) near the play equipment and had scooped him up into her arms. He was a white scrappy little guy, some mixed breed she couldn’t really recognize. Terrier, she thought.

"Okay," she said, holding him close to her chest, one arm firmly wrapped around his middle. "We need to find out where you home is." She used her free hand to check his collar but other than a metal tag reading ‘Poncho’ there was no address. Darn.

The dog hadn’t given up trying to wriggle out of her grip and Aludra was really starting to wish she’d thought to bring a lead. "Stop that," she reprimanded lightly and received a lick on the chin and a high-pitched barkbarkbark. "Really?" But she was smiling and she gave him a scratch behind the ears.

Oh, wait a moment! The arrival of a new aura (definitely a good one!) caught her attention and it wasn’t long before she spotted the antlers and part of a face peering out at her from behind a tree.

"Hey! Hey you! Would you mind giving me your assistance?"

Aludra grinned reassuringly as the other Senshi emerged. Oh, he was so cute! “Well, you see,” she began as Poncho barked enthusiastically, “I found this guy wandering around and he was obviously lost. I managed to catch him but he’s a bit of a handful, so if you could help me find out where he belongs, that’d be really lovely.”

She crouched and placed the dog on her lap, encircling him in her arms. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not mean or anything.”

"You didn’t offend me" Aludra laughed and ruffled the Poncho’s ears. "You’re doing a good job and you do have to be careful."The dog barked and tried wriggle free to get at Adhil, clearly intent on licking the other Senshi’s face.

"Buuut… can you feel it? Our auras are similar. You feel warm and light." She closed her eyes, as if basking in the invisible glow of his aura. Then she snapped back to business.

"So we can’t exactly check if he has a microchip, so we might have to drop him off at the vet and they can do the rest."

Aludra watched his face and nodded when she saw the exact moment when he tuned into their auras. “After you’ve met someone from the Negaverse you just… know. They feel different, mean I guess, and the really strong ones just feel really scary.” Coming face to face with someone who was ten times stronger and probably likely to hurt you was plain terrifying.

Poncho sniffed and licked eagerly at the offered hand. “That’s a good idea. I didn’t have a chance to look around. We should walk around a bit and see if we can find one.” And hopefully if anyone saw them out and about, they’d just think they were a couple of kids playing dress up.

Aludra stood, maneuvering Poncho in her arms and turning to face the direction she’d come to get to this point. “Well, before we got to the park, I chased him for two blocks. I saw him running around in the streets.” She smooched his nose and got a big lick in return. “Maybe we should head back that. He might even know where his own house is and lead us there.”

Aludra trotted alongside him, doing her best to keep the wriggly dog from jumping out of her arms. She was grinning when Adhil introduced herself, remembering the odd slip of the tongue herself.

"Aludra," she replied proudly. "I’m the Senshi of Pathways."

"Yes please," Aludra said with relief as she handed the wriggling dog over to Adhil.

The antlers had probably made it obvious but it was still exciting. "I watched a show about deer the other day. Did you know the antlers of deer are the fastest growing living tissue on earth? They're so fascinating and the fawns are just super cute. I went to a petting farm a couple of years ago and there were some there."