Welcome to Gaia! ::

There was usually routine here in the research facility. Wake up, go through experiments, fight, get punished, get dragged, thrown in, sleep, repeat. At least that seemed to feel like the routine for Judah. He was 8 now, but more like a little beast than anything else. Having been here when he was 4, he knew little else.

Judah whined in his cell quietly, after having bitten the lead scientist in charge of taking his blood sample and getting smacked across the face for it. His small arms were in the usual shackles attached to the collar around his neck, and his tail curled around his knees. All the demon could think to do was stare out at the moon showing through his glass window. Until he looked up to hear the cell across from him open and close shut. His neighbor had arrived.

Judah whimpered and turned over the best he could before pushing himself up to peek out his barred window. there was the little panther girl who usually waved hello and whined at him in a kind of beast talk.

Judah watched the girl cry and tilted his head before looking down at his hands. She was reaching out to him, and he wanted to reach too! But every time he tugged on his shackles, it only made the boy whimper in sadness. He looked back up at Hanabi and whined to her quietly as a way to tell her not to cry. Not that he really understood what it meant, but . . ..he never liked to see her cry. It hurt. His white, pupil-less eyes stared at her before he tilted his head and cooed again.

Judah purred for her in an attempt to comfort the girl, but he yelped and ducked a bit when hearing alarms blaring out and the lights shutting down quickly. The only thing now lighting the halls were the red, flashing lights and emergency lighting, as well as the moon. He watched as scientists and guards ran frantically in different directions, and listened to the shouting down the halls before looking up as a man rushed to Hanabi's cell.

He fumbled with the keys and cursed trying to find the right one before opening her cell door, "it's okay, sweetheart." he said and gently picked hanabi up into his arms, "we're going to get out of here. Alright? I'm getting you out."

The man gasped and scrambled after the girl in the darkness, trying to avoid the passing guards and doctors who were running to take care of the emergency a ways off. He didn't see the boy inside, who was pushing his face against Hanabi's hands then lifting his head so she could undo his chains. He was waiting for his change of freedom, so he could escape with her.

But he looked up in shock as the man hurried to grab the girl again, leaving the key in the lock of Judah's shackles. He looked down at the boy and only saw him trying to reach for the child before backing up, "c-come on, girl." he said and hugged Hanabi to his chest as he took off running. Judah cried out and struggled to reach for Hanabi again before falling over into the hallway from the panic, "ah! Ahh!!"

The man huffed and shoved through the facility doors and got into a waiting car, gently setting the girl inside and taking off down the road. He didn't know where to go or how far, but it was better than staying here, ". . .I know. . .I know you're scared, but we're going to get through this. Okay? You. . .You never have to go back to that miserable place." He nodded and looked down at the girl.

He sighed and shifted the glasses on his face before looking ahead, ". . .My name is. . .is Curtis. A-And I'm going to take care of you, alright?" He said then gently reached to brush through Hanabi's hair, ". . .I'll take care of

The silence around the forest was broken with the sound of large wings flapping around. A gust of wind blew overhead, past Hanabi, and a figure dived into the lake with a large splash. It couldn't be seen, other than the rapid movement under the water and the occasional disturbance on the surface before the figure crawled out of the lake with a few fish in tow.

The long, spiked tail was curled around them to keep the fish from escaping, and huge bat like wings were draped along it's side before they flared to shake off the water. When they folded, Judah was crouched there at the edge of the lake. He panted slowly, his teeth exposed behind his split mouth and white eyes were staring at the forest as he caught his breath. He had grown strong, muscular even and new marks formed over his eyes and arms. His hair was long, to his shoulder blades. . and there were new scars along his back and waist that look like he got into fights with animals.

Judah huffed and shook some water off like an animal and turned to grin at his fish before looking up, now noticing Hanabi up ahead. He. . . .He recognized this scent. . .those eyes. . .Judah blinked and crouched low in a bit of fear, in case what he was smelling was wrong.

Judah's eyes widened seeing the tail slide out, and the ears twitching before raising his head when he heard her voice. That was a sound he couldn't mistake, and one no one could imitate. Judah tossed the fish aside and ran to the girl on all fours before pushing his face against her hand. Just like he remembered! That soft hand and those gentle fingers~

Judah smiled happily and closed his eyes before rubbing his face and head against the gentle hand. He purred quietly and reached to hold that hand close, looking up at Hanabi after a moment with a relieved smile, "H-Ha. . .Ahhe. ." He muttered out, still unable to speak. But it was clear how much Judah had missed her.

Judah blinked in confusion when she said something else, and tried to follow her mouth movement until she spoke again. He whimpered when she moved away, then perked up when she took hold of the fish and started to walk down the path. Not wanting to be away from Hanabi . . .and wanting his dinner, Judah followed after the girl on all fours and glanced around as they passed by the surrounding trees.

He had never been this far away from the lake, or forest before. The demon whined lightly in worry, and felt his tail curl behind him for a moment then turned to see Father Curtis come out from the back door of the church, "Hanabi? Hanabi, are you alright? You kind of took a little longer than-" Curtis stopped seeing Judah behind the girl, and hurried over to bring Hanabi away from him. Seeing someone else holding Hanabi made the demon growl defensively and crouch lower, "H-Hanabi, where did you find him?! How. . .W-What is he doing here?"