May 17, 2017 (Back dating a bit.)
Coming up with an idea for the perfect gift for Bazzite was not easy, not when he was looking for something perfect. He knew the other liked trinkets and shiny things, how could he not? He could cheap out, like some people would, and just get him any sort of trinket that was shiny. But that was easy and that was meaningless - there was no feeling there. He wasn’t going to take the easy way out when it came to Bazzite - never.
So after scouring stores here and there around the city, hoping to find something the other would like, Benitoite was down in the Rift with Katya trying to brainstorm ideas with her. The guardian cat had even taken to helping by looking at night, during her wanderings. She knew this was important to him and so was helping as best she could, and he appreciated it.
The rift was, and always would be, a place he found somewhat comforting. He knew there were youma down here that wouldn’t even listen to him - big and powerful youma. He knew he was vulnerable here but in a sense that was part of what was relaxing. He knew here he stood down here. He also had power down here, power he didn’t have when a civilian. He could at least defend himself if need be.
He used to come down here to read by crystal light or just to think, when things got too hard in his civilian life. Bazzite had even known that if he wasn’t home and he wasn’t out patrolling in the city that he could be found down here. That was in the past though, Bazzite was no longer Bazzite...or rather he was but not the same Bazzite. He knew there were parts of the Bazzite still there, hidden inside the new Bazzite, as they made their presence known from time to time. Those small peeks of the old Bazzite, of Jonathan, were both a blessing and a horrible tease for him. Waving around who the other had been and no longer was but also little glimpses of his old friend, little bits to treasure.
“I have to find him something…” He whispered looking to Katya who was walking at his side, keeping as close as possible without being stepped on. She knew how the youma felt about her kind, something he would never understand really. She had, in a sense, repented for whatever the guardian cat she had once been had done. The same thing applied to their corrupted senshi. They were not on the other side now, they were allies and served chaos. It was best to accept tham rather than risk driving some away. But he supposed you couldn’t talk sense to them, even Bazzite didn’t like Katya but rather tolerated her since he requested it.
As he moved, walking past what had perhaps once been small homes or businesses, he let his feet do the walking as he glanced down once more to Katya. He had been glancing at her a lot, making sure she was safe, he didn’t want to find some youma grabbing her and dragging her off with some hand or tentacle over her mouth so she couldn’t scream for help. So far though she was safe, every so often brushing her tail to his leg to assure him of her safety. It was an unspoken method of dealing with being down here together.
“I wonder what this place had once looked like...before all this.” Waving a hand about to signify what he meant. “Before the moon and it’s royals got involved with Earth.” Wanting to clarify what he meant. He had once been told he’d been a Castor knight in his past life...so he figured even if he were to ever have a past life memory, again, it wouldn’t be about here. But he’d only ever had the one where he had received some sort of awards, for what he didn’t know.
Nearly tripping over some chunk of rock, how he missed it he didn’t know, the General gave pause as something pinged off his senses. A glance to Katya’s still, though alert, form told him she sensed something too. “What could that be…” It didn’t feel like a youma or an officer. So then what? There was no way a senshi or a knight had gotten down here, much less this far into the rift, so what could be giving off a signature that wasn’t pure chaos?
“We should check it out…” He didn’t like something being down here which he didn’t know the feeling of. He had been in this war long enough, felt enough signatures, that he was certain he knew all of those available. From transcended to royals from all sides he knew auras and this was not one he knew.
Moving, a bit quicker now, he headed towards the signature. The problem with signatures was the same as always, you never knew exactly where something was. You had an idea of where and how far away but it was never precise, which was annoying in all honesty. That in mind it was no surprise that the General, followed faithfully by the guardian cat, wandered about the rift for some time. He was, as far as he could tell, right on top of the signature but he couldn’t see anything which stood out.
“Could I be looking for the wrong thing...or expecting what I shouldn’t be?” A glance to Katya gave him a shrug of her shoulders and a look which told him that she was just as clueless, and he was left on his own. She agreed with him but was more intent upon focusing on everything rather than verbally answering him. He knew the signs, he knew her well enough by now, she was getting absorbed in what she was focused on - which was that signature and he wasn’t about to get her attention for more than a few seconds at best.
“Maybe inside…” Moving to check out the inside of the first ghostly remains of a building he scoured the place top to bottom, finding nothing, he moved on to the next and than the next as he looked for whatever it was which he felt. It was as he entered what had to have been a small store that he felt it, not that he hadn’t been this whole time, just a bit stronger and clearer.
“In here…” But where? Moving around the shelving and countertops he moved to a back room and continued to look about. Moving the few objects found scattered about the place.
Moving around, boots thunking on the old wooden floor, he wasn’t surprised when a few of the blanks gave out under his weight and almost sunk a leg of his. The place was, in his opinion, dangerous and clearly a risk to his health but he had to figure this out.
After crawling across the floor, in order to get his leg out from the damn hole, he managed to move back, carefully, in order to peer down into the darkness of what he assumed had been a basement perhaps? More storage for the place? Down there it looked more like..a workshop of sorts? Curious he was careful in lowering himself down, Katya jumping onto his shoulders to join him.
Landing on his feet was a bit jarring, it always would be he figured, but the glance around really told him nothing - it was damn dark down here. As he stumbled and smacked into a few things he sighed. “Katya...your sight is better than mine...please.”
Feeling, more than seeing, her head move around and feeling her ears flicker he smiled. It was good that he had brought her, her eyes were far better for this than his own. As he felt her shifting and moving he went to ask what she was doing when he felt her leap off his shoulder, or maybe she dropped down from his shoulder, either way she was on the ground and moving around.
Listening to her little paws on the floor, she seemed to be making noise on purpose for his sake, he stood where he was so he didn’t hurt himself or Katya. He didn’t want to return home injured from this and have to try and explain to Aiden, it was never easy to try and gloss over things and tell the truth while not telling him everything. Not only was it not easy, since he was terrible at lying, but it hurt to do that to Aiden - it hurt a lot. But he’d sworn he would keep him out of this war, at all cost. He didn’t want the other involved...it would be a risk and a weak spot for himself, and surely for the other as well. They would be each other's weakness...and one that was easy to exploit.
As his thoughts were continuing down that path, one which he never liked them going down, he was brought back from them as he heard something which sounded like a chain…? A thin chain nothing like a heavy bike chain or something equally large and bulky. “Katya?” Questioning her he waited and no response. “Katya?” Trying again he almost started to worry, but he could still feel her signature and she hadn’t made a sound so she couldn’t be hurt - right? Just before he could call her again he felt her against his legs. Bending down, slowly, he reached out to where he figured her head was and pet behind her ears. “What’s going on?”
As she turned around, to make another pass at rubbing against his legs, he felt something large in her mouth….metal? “Jewelry?” He questioned as he felt a chain then, thin but not too thin and definitely made of metal. Why was there jewelry down here still? Hadn’t anyone ever come down here and gone through all these places and taken everything from them? Why hadn’t some of the smarter youma? He wasn’t going to complain though - not one bit.
As he took the object from Katya’s mouth, ignoring her complaints over dust and dirt and needing to clean her mouth out, he held it in one gloved hand as he felt that feeling again. So this...this was the cause of it? It seemed harmless. “We should go…” He needed to see this and examine it - in private. He wasn’t going to bring this up to anyone until he’d looked into it on his own, well aside from Katya of course.
Word count: 1,770
