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Kikomo stood on the edge of a tall boulder, his fur sticking out straight from his body. Now was the time to panic, but he knew he couldn't. If he let himself get too overworked, he could faint, and then he would never find Eiko. She was such a little troublemaker, the grey tabby kitten he had adopted only a few moons prior. Hiroshi had never given him such trouble, the ginger tomcat that stuck by his side like honey.

"Eeeeiikoooo!" he called urgently, hoping she could come to his call. She was such a tiny little thing... she could have gotten anywhere! Even a Skinwalker foal could snap her up as a snack. But no, he couldn't think like that, or he'd have one of his spells.

Springing from the top of his boulder with cat-like grace, he began to scent around, attempting to catch her smell. While she may be fast, she couldn't have gotten far... she had such short legs after all...

((I'm treating the cats like familiars, so they can communicate? Not sure if that's okay? ))

Kikomo twitched as he finally picked up his little kitten's scent at the base of the trees. Without hesitation, he turned and bounded through the underbrush, following the weaving path as best he could. Hiroshi padded along behind him, quite used to this process by now. The two would find little Eiko... they had to find her.

Meanwhile, the grey kitten peered down as a strange black soq started making sounds at her from below her tree-perch. She was playing her usual game of hide-and-seek with her horse-cat-friend, and this new one was not the one who was supposed to find her. Her ears twitched back and forth as the black Soq began chittering at her. She sounded like a cat, but Eiko wasn't quite so easily fooled. With a mewl, she stretched out a paw and batted a little at the tip of the proffered tail, "You aren't my Kiko. Kiko says not all Soq are safe..."

In that moment, Kikomo jumped through the trees, coming upon a scene he hadn't been expecting. The black mini before him with cat tails, his little Eiko in the tree, it was all too much for him and his heart jumped. In the moment of excitement, his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground in a dead faint.

"Oh! Kiko!", little Eiko cried out and jumped down from the tree to paw at her fainted friend with worry.

"You shouldn't scare him like that Eiko. You know better." Hiroshi purred as he stepped out from behind the trees after Kikomo, peering over at the other mini calmly, "And who are you?".

Eiko almost forgot about the new lady Soq until she came over to prod at her horse-cat. "Hey!" she growled, puffing up like a hissing cotton ball, "Don't you poke at him! He--"

"Enough Eiko," Hiroshi purrumed deeply before turning to the stranger and stating simply, "He is cat."

In that moment, the brief sleeping spell passed as quickly as it came and Kikomo's head popped off the ground. "Huh? What? Mousedung, it happened again... didn't it..." the cat mini groaned until he spotted the lady hovering over him. She was quite pretty... she even had kitty tails. "Oh, hello..." he purred and stretched out, attempting to show off his cat-like flexibility and play off the narcoleptic spell as something silly that just happens sometimes, "Such a pretty lady seemed to have swept me off my paws..."

Eiko puffed up even more, her little kitten fut sticking out in an unimpressive attempt to look ferocious, "Kiko is special! Not all cats are the same, and my Kiko is the best cat! You---"

At this, Kikomo reached out a big kitty paw, pulled his kitten to himself, and began to groom her gently. "Little Eiko, it's okay. You were surprised too the first time, were you not?"

The kitten just sputtered her indigence and wriggled out of Kiko's grasp, launching herself back up a tree to sulk huffily. Meanwhile, Hiroshi simply sat and licked the back of his paw, bringing it over his ears and face in a lazy display of his boredom.

Finally having a chance to give the lady his full attention, Kikomo blinked his doleful golden eyes at her, stating emphatically, "I am quite cat, and I am fine."

Stepping forward, he stood unreasonably close to the interesting new mare and grinned playfully, "I like that you have two kitty tails to play with..." With a quiet purr, he leaned in even closer to sniff at her nose, "I am Kikomo, beautiful kitten, and you are?"

Kikomo really was just a big tom cat with simple wants and needs. He liked fresh kill, naps in the sun, and pretty dames. Funnily enough, it was unlikely he would even need to be truly manipulated for Kasha to achieve her ends, because as long as he continued to get the three things he liked, everything else was just a bonus or clutter. In fact, today he felt quite lucky. Most other Soq didn't understand his cat-like demeanor, and his particular enjoyments. It was refreshing to run into someone who not only seemed to get it, but who thoroughly embraced the lifestyle herself. Though she did have an unusually cute way of talking... but what was an accent in the face of such lovely prospects as having this lady's company to enjoy?

A soft chuckle escaped him as she returned the charm. Now this was a game he enjoyed playing. "Why Kasha, you'll make me blush, and we hardly know each other!" Kiko crooned as he twined his way around her, slipping under her tails and walking back up her other side. "You know, before little Eiko got lost, I was planning on going for a hunt. I would still like to... Do you hunt?"

Kikomo chuckled as he felt her purr rumble through her body and against him as he twined his way around. He had never encountered another female outside of his family that purred. The gods must have be smiling upon him that day for him to have come across this miracle of a lady. With a small grin, he pressed his nose against her ear and whispered almost sultrily, "Well... stick around me beautiful, and you can sees my kittens all you want".

Pulling away rather reluctantly, he looked down at his little friends then back up at Kasha, "Shall we then? What are you in the mood to get after today? Together we could get a nice, juicy pronghorn, easy."