Welcome to Gaia! ::

The night was crisp and the sun had long set over the horizon. Stars freckled the night sky as the moon waned to a small crescent sliver. Winter still had a firm hold on Destiny City and didn’t seem like it had any intentions to lessen its grip any time soon. The cold nipped at any exposed skin and Chailee did her best to cover up as she made her way home from the stables. She had stayed longer than usual and missed the last bus home but the walk was generally quite pleasant, especially when she cut through the park. Though the cold was not helping.

The ground was covered in hardened snow on either side of the path. In places there were obvious signs of kids having had fun amongst the white stuff. Probably when it had been fresh, but now there was not a soul in sight as Chailee walked the weakly lit walkway. The only thing to keep her company were the few snowmen she had seen built. They all seemed to greet her with frozen smiles and waving tree limb arms. It didn’t bother her much though. She enjoyed the solitary time. It allowed her to reflect on things; Not that a fourteen year old had anything too serious to reflect upon.

She shifted the bag over her shoulder which held her school books, supplies, and her school uniform. She had gone right from school to the stable so had planned ahead. Thankfully she had packed her warm winter boots, otherwise the walk home would have had been more uncomfortable than it was. A yawn escaped her as Chailee trudged up the path. With it being so cold out it wasn’t surprising that she had not run across anyone. A lot of people holed themselves up in their houses when the temperatures dropped. Chailee smiled at the thought of making a big mug of hot chocolate and snuggling into her warm blanket with a good book. Which reminds me. I need to return that book to the library. I’ll make sure that I do that tomorrow.

It’s so cold. Chailee wrapped her scarf around her face as the cold air began to hurt her lungs. The hood of her coat was already pulled up to try and ward off some of the cold air from her ears and had been doing a fairly good job. Her legs were a bit numb though. The pace she was walking at was not strenuous enough to create much muscle warmth. Thankfully it was only another fifteen minutes or so until she was home. She could practically taste that hot chocolate now.

Out of the corner of her eye something caught Chailee’s attention. Even with the moon’s light being so weak it was more than enough with all the white snow bouncing back the light. What she saw confused her for a moment and she stood there staring as the creature bounded towards her. After her initial shock and then realization that the thing was much bigger than she had originally thought did she freak out. Chailee knew animals well, and this one, whatever kind of feline it was, was on the hunt!

Chailee turned and ran with a short scream. Ignoring the path that would have given her the best traction but also not get her far enough away for her tastes from the creature Chailee ran through the snow covered fields. The hardened pack was not as terrible as fresh snow but seriously hampered her retreat. She was terrified to look backwards. How close was it? Had it given up? What was it?! None of those questions really mattered though as she pumped her legs as fast as she could.

Like a horse in a dead run, Chailee couldn’t have seen the rocks below the snow. The only indicator were the few lumps, but the light hampered her ability to see how big the lumps were. She hit the rocks and her foot had slipped between two of them and gotten caught. Chailee found herself face down in the snow. Her pumping andrenaline cutting out any sort of pain she may have felt but did little to dampen the horror as she scrambled to try and roll herself over to see if the creature was still coming.

Chailee saw the creature running at her, saw it leap and closed her eyes trying to prepare herself for the impact that never came. In her terror she hadn't heard her rescuer run up but he was now between her and the feline creature that had been chasing her and he seemed not at all perturbed about it. In fact he looked calm. Well calm in her eyes compared to how she was feeling.

When he spoke to her she jumped a bit. "I, think so?"

She carefully dislodged her foot from the rocks it had managed to get caught between and winced at the throb of pain that occurred. Had she twisted it? Cut it? She couldn't tell and truthfully she was having a hard time taking her eyes off the creature who appeared to be dead set on trying to get to her as it prowled back and forth.

The feline growled growled at Chaonis. It's prey was in such easy reach but now an obstacle was in its way. It was crouching down and preparing to attack when it found something flying at it's head and dodged out of the way.

A book hit the snow not too far from where the creature had been standing. It hadn't been a perfectly good throw but was enough to distract the monster and Chailee felt proud of her achievement for a moment though a pang of guilt hit her for having to throw a book, and the library book she had borrowed none-the-less. It had been the only book in her grabbing range as most of the contents of her bag had gone sprawling out of reach when she had fallen.

Frustrated the Youma sprang forward. It attempted to use it's speed and agility to get around Chaonis to its original prey.

When the Youma attempted to get to her again, Chailee flinched but once again nothing occurred and she was quicker to open her eyes to watch. It was obvious that this guy knew what he was doing. Who was he? What was going on? Did he know what this crazy odd creature was?

Chay's heart rate was gradually slowing as she sat there watching the encounter going on in front of her. As that initial fight or flight response began to fade she was able to really take in what was happening and had a minor flashback to the New Years Eve balls. He's dressed just as strangely as those other people that night. Chaonis's white and black uniform with orange...was that caution tape, was most certainly not something that a normal person wore around while out for a stroll in the park. And secondly...where had he come from? She didn't remember seeing anyone else around.

The youma gave one more growl at the senshi and it's intended prey before fleeing across the snow. It might not be the smartest thing but it knew when it couldn't win.

As the youma moved again, Chailee was completely relieved to see it running away from them. At the same time a bit of horror went through her thinking that it might get away and be able to attack someone else. "Ah! Don't let it get away. It might attack someone else!" As the words left her mouth Chailee felt a bit absurd realizing that she was requesting something of this man that she herself couldn't do and felt bad about it. Her embarassment at her outburst caused a flush to grow across her cheeks.

Dumb? What did he think she was going to do chase after the thing? Chailee may not be happy with the thing running around like it pleased but she wasn't idiotic.

At his question Chailee adjusted herself again realizing that the snow she had been laying on had thoroughly soaked the back of her pants, but what worried her more was the pain that flared up as she attempted to stand up. "Um...I may have twisted my ankle when I fell." She mumbled, not really able to look up at him both embarrassed by the fact she needed rescuing and a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing that was happening to her.

When the book she had thrown was offered to her Chailee sighed and took the poor novel. "Tony is going to be so upset." She sighed.

Reaching she managed to grab her bag. She carefully put the book inside making sure that it would be wedged in so that it couldn't open and possibly be damaged anymore. Again she went to get to her feet, this time using the foot she had not injured and managed to stand without too much of a problem. Tentatively she stook a few steps trying to get herself away from the offending rocks that had tripped her up in the first place and winced again. Maybe if she sat with the snow around her ankle long enough to numb it she'd be able to walk home?

"So. Um...Do you know what that thing was? I don't think I've ever seen a cat like that before." She finally looked Chaonis in the eye. Her curiosity and desire for information beginning to override her initial embarrassment of the situation.

Carried?!?!

A crimson blush seeped over Chailees face at the mere thought of being carried. She turned her face away trying to hide her embarrassment. "No...uh...I think, I think I can manage." She stammered. Oh how she stammered and how much she hated herself for doing it to. Now though she would have to walk home as if nothing was wrong. I hope that all I did was bruise it badly and not sprained it. Otherwise this is going to be a very painful walk.

Adjusting her bag on her shoulder Chailee took a few tentative steps in forward. She made a point ot avoid putting too much weight on that foot if she could avoid it.

Her head snapped up though to look at the guy when it sounded like he knew Tony. Her brow furrowed but her focus quickly shifted from Tony to the mention of Youma and monsters. "Wait...So...you're like a superhero or something? Running around at night saving people from monsters and all? I mean...that's what it sounds like. You even got the whole, 'don't speak of this to anyone' sort of speech going on."

Taking a moment to internally gather herself, Chailee took a deep breath to calm down before holding her hand out. "I am Chailee Sterling." She tilted her head to the side and smiled somewhat shyly. "Thanks for saving me. I mean. I am pretty sure that thing would have eaten me or something if you hadn't come."

Alright then. Don't introduce yourself. I guess it goes with the whole 'keep this a secret' thing. Chailee dropped her hand to her side and shifted her bag on her shoulder.

"Um. It's not too far. Maybe a ten minute walk outside of the park?" She glanced around herself trying to get her bearings on where in the park she was exactly. She could see her footprints leading back to the path and was a bit shocked to see how close she was to it. It had felt like she had run such a great distance when she was being chased. I guess being scared does that to you.

"Why wouldn't people like super heroes? That doesn't make any sense since you're the ones keeping them safe and all." She sighed and shook her head. Some things in life never really make any sense she guessed. "Well I appreciate you."

And cue another blush as she realized what she said.

"Uh what I mean to say is I bet it's really neat and fun to be a super hero! I doubt there's many people who can say they run around at night saving people!"


A cold breeze drifted through the park causing a shiver to run up Chay's spine. She sucked in a breath as she tucked her hands into her pockets. I am so ready for spring to come. As much as I love winter I am over the cold.

She eyed Chaonis's outfit and raised a brow. "Are you not cold? You're making me cold looking at you." In truth it seemed like his outfit was doing very little in the effect of keeping him warm. Maybe it was part of being a super hero? Maybe he was just completely immune to it or, better yet, had magical powers that created a bubble of warmth around him. If that was true, maybe being carried would have at least kept me warm.

She wanted to know. She wanted to know all the details about why he did what he did and how he got into doing it. After all, it wasn't every day a girl met a real live super hero! This was all like out of book! Girl is enjoying her night, get's attacked, is saved by the hero and then...

She was swept off her feet. Literally. A little squeak escaped her before she realized what was happening.

If a girl could die of embarrassment Chailee would have dropped dead in her saviors arms right there and then. Her entire face felt warm and she knew, she just -knew- it had to be red enough that he could see it in the pale light. She was so stunned though that she didn't say a word in protest.

"Its...it's that way." She mumbled softly at his question as she ducked her head and tucked her bag close to herself. It really was very odd to be carried.

Amongst the tirade of mixed emotions and thoughts going through her mind Chailee did take note that, though he didn't have a bubble of warmth around him it certainly was warmer being against him. Though that thought did little to reduce her blush.

Looking at her bag that was held snugly against her middle Chailee finally found her voice. "Um...I really could have walked." She dared to glance up at him with a small tentative smile and prayed she wasn't as red anymore. "Thank you though."