Welcome to Gaia! ::

Itsuki yawned and stretched from his perch atop a fancy stone fence surrounding an equally fancy restaurant in downtown Destiny City. The dinner rush was winding down but well-to-do patrons still occupied many tables inside the lushly adorned restaurant. A well-manicured garden was built and maintained for their viewing pleasure, with the tall, gray stone fence keeping their privacy from the street. He'd failed in his mission to retrieve scraps by begging the patrons, but he was shooed away as a pest and dirty and a nuisance. How rude! Didn't they know he was an important cat? He could talk!

And he was clean!

He'd have to find food elsewhere. sad

That is, until a youma roared somewhere in the distance. All alone, Itsuki wasn't much of a fighter, but he would certainly try to distract something away from a civilian. And that's just who the youma seemed to be after - a young lady with teal hair in braids. She was being chased by a youma that resembled a deer and cougar hybrid - the body of a big cat and the head and antlers of a deer with a deep purple hide. Itsuki's fur stood on end as the girl ran past his position.

Oh!

There was a sparkling star in her heart... maybe this would work out!

Quickly, the Mauvian started running across the wide stone fence to try and keep up with the girl, shouting, "Miss! Miss, up here! Can you follow me? There's a dumpster around the corner! You can hide there! Follow me!!" There wasn't any time to consider why a cat was talking, not with a bloodthirsty beast hot on her heels.

"Uwah, Miss, are you okay?" squeaked the cat in Delaney's arms. They were blessedly hidden behind the girth of the dumpster for now, but Itsuki's supernatural senses could still feel the youma stalking not too far away. Its heavy breathing was unmistakable. Itsuki could feel Delaney's ragged breaths and thudding heartbeat. She was probably running for quite a distance! The need for food forgotten, Delaney needed help.

She needed to be awakened.

"I know it's crazy to hear a cat talking to you," he started, fluffing up his fur to give Delaney some sense of warmth and comfort. "But you have to listen to me, okay? I promise, I'll do everything I can to help you! We don't have much time. You're a very special person and I can help unlock that potential! You and I can stop that monster - it's called a youma! I need you to do something for me, though!" With intense concentration and having no time for the usual pomp and circumstance (and flipping through the air, as some Mauvians tended to do), Itsuki squished up his face and the star on his forehead glowed softly.

After a few moments of soft light and tense anxiety, a small golden pen with an ovular top landed in Delaney's lap. Itsuki picked it up with his mouth to present to the young lady. When she took it, he was able to explain, "You are a magical warrior and that pen will give you special powers, okay? Onegai, hold it up and say, Meissa Power, Make Up! Then we can defeat the youma!"

Would she listen? Would she panic? Itsuki had to come up with Plan B - hoping his beam was enough to stun the creature and hopefully he would have the energy to lead this young lady to somewhere safe, or to call for help. "Onegai, hayaku!"

The brilliant flashing lights and the first magical transformation of a newly-awakened senshi never got old. Itsuki put a paw over his eyes to keep from being blinded, but was thrilled to find that Sailor Meissa had transformed successfully. She was lovely, but there would come time to admire her after the youma was put down. And for that, Sailor Meissa would need to lend her newfound strength.

"You are Sailor Meissa, Senshi of Bobcats! You can help defeat this youma! I don't think I could do it on my own, uwu... " Itsuki's next statement was interrupted by the youma ramming the dumpster with a huge metal CLANG! sound. It was near deafening with the force with which the youma practically threw itself into the metal, desperate to devour the two starseeds on the other side. The force was enough to move the dumpster slightly, scraping horribly against the ground. It hurt Itsuki's ears and he squinted.

"Sailor Meissa! I need you to use your magic! Concentrate on the youma, and shout, Meissa's Silent Stalker! It should distract the youma, then I'll jump out and use my beam!"

Itsuki knew he would be a much smaller target, and with slightly more experience than Meissa had at the moment. Meissa's magic should sufficiently distract the youma long enough for a good hit to land, and perhaps Meissa could punch it a few times if it wasn't too dangerous.

"Kanpekiiii~!" (perfect) cried the tiny feline, twisting between the senshi's legs to feast his eyes upon the large bobcat her magic had produced. "Kanpeki, Meissa-san~! Your magic is distracting the youma! Look! Look!"

Just as described, the youma, deer head and all, seemed to be cowering in fear of the bobcat as it circled. The deer head lowered to the ground, prominent antlers displayed but not out of aggression - the creature appeared to be keeping its antlers between its body and the bobcat in a defensive posture, completely forgetting about the talking cat and newbie senshi standing nearby. Itsuki appeared to be waiting for just the right moment, lowering his body as if to pounce from his position between Meissa's legs. Once the youma's midsection was facing the pair, Itsuki jumped forward.

The star upon his forehead grew bright and in a flash came a lilac-colored beam spouted forth and shot directly into the youma. "NEKO BIMU!"

With a shriek, the youma's great body fell to the ground and began to slowly turn to ash. Itsuki learned early on that he could only fire his beam one time before becoming exhausted, so it was crucial to getting the best shot possible. The guttural groan issued from the youma's throat was thick and sticky like the tar oozing from the wound. Soon enough though, the body was disintegrating as if it had never appeared in the first place.

Itsuki summarily flopped over in a fluffy heap immediately after. "Fuuuu... Meissa-san... you did great! But... could you... onegai, pick me up...? I'm... so tired now... fuuu..." (fuu is onomatopoeia for tired sigh and onegai is "please"!)

Itsuki was incredibly grateful for being scooped up off the ground. The beam always took a great deal of energy from him, and he could only fire it the one time. Nestled against Meissa's chest, he started to happily purr. "Domo arigato, Meissa-san. The beam... always takes a lot out of me... You did great! I'm so proud of you, Meissa-san." The small cat lifted a paw and placed several bean toes on her cheek. "You helped... save everyone in the restaurant! And me... and yourself, too. Fuu. Oh, I didn't tell you my name! Gomen. Watashi wa... Itsuki desu~ It's nice to meet you, Meissa-san."

He had so much to tell her, and provide for her, and would do his best despite his exhausted state. Tired or not, Itsuki couldn't awaken someone and then leave them behind. Themisto's pain at being abandoned kept the little cat motivated to make sure it wouldn't happen to any senshi he had awakened. "Sailor Meissa, you are a magical warrior... a senshi, fuu... It's my job to find senshi and awaken them so... they can help save the city! I still... have to give you a cellphone, fuu."

Normally, Itsuki liked to produce the senshi items with more pomp and circumstance (and aerial acrobatics), but he simply didn't have the strength to do so. Itsuki squinted and his forehead star began to glow in the same way his beam did, but the magic coalesced into a rectangular, very familiar cellphone. Plopping onto his fluffy belly, the phone seemed to perfect match Meissa's new senshi outfit. "Here you are! Your... fuu, senshi cellphone! It's connected to the Mauvian cell network, so... you don't have to worry about using your minutes~! You can take a picture of any senshi or knight... or neko like me... and you can contact them anytime~"

Oh, what else was there? Knights, and other senshi, and learning how to sense people... Oof, so much to do!

"Uwah, Meissa-san... I have so much to teach you, but... I'm so tired... fuu... Can I... sleep on you, for a little bit? Then I'll feel better. Fuu... It's safer to travel on the rooftops, Meissa-san. You can jump higher now that you're in Senshi form. Onegai, be careful!"