Welcome to Gaia! ::

The Destiny City Star Festival was as lively as it was last year, or at least what Elissia could remember of it. Surprised to say that a full year had already passed but when working full time while taking night classes, the days just seem to bleed into each other without her really even noticing.

It was late, the sun had just set no more than a half-hour ago and normally, by now, she would be home getting ready for bed. However, the weatherman had predicted clear skies this evening which meant that, for the first time, she would be able to watch the meteor shower rather than just look up videos of it online.

Elissia had left downtown where all the lights would make it hard to view the spectacle, and found a place in a more rural part of destiny city with an open field with a neighborhood park atop a small hill near one of the places where she practiced her falconry. It was a wide-open space and thankfully she didn’t have to worry about trespassing on private property as it seemed a few others had a similar idea. From where she stood there were at least two sets of couples laying out blankets to stargaze without having to worry about bugs crawling on them.

After eating the last wedge of her mandarine orange, she walked over to the garbage to dispose of the rine. The sweetness was refreshing especially after such a long day with all the walking she had done.

She wondered for a few minutes, her gaze skirting over the horizon until they settled upon a small form parched on the hill. For a moment she thought the dark silhouette was a rock, or perhaps an opossum. But as she got closer she noticed the twin triangle shaped ears atop its head.

Elissia lowered herself to her knees and reached out a hand, “Hey sweetie. Shouldn’t be out here all alone.” She made a clicking sound to get the feline’s attention and hopefully coax it to come near so she could see if it at least had a collar on so she could take the little cat home.

“Hmm?” In a moment of confusion, her brows furrowed as he approached. However, once he got close enough for her to see Elissia smiled softly at him. “I remember you,” she commented as she gently tapped the star on his forehead. It was hard, yet smooth, just as she remembered from last year; not at all like the stickers, kids were putting on animals heads.

“Still quite the enigma.” Elissia took a seat in the grass beside him then turned her hand so she could offer him scritches behind his ear and beneath his chin. For so long she had been used to handling birds of prey with their glossy smooth feathers that it came as a surprise as to just how soft his fur was. “Seems like someone’s been taking care of you at least.” From what she could tell there weren’t any mats to worry about.

She sighed, then tilted her head up at the clear dark blue almost black colored sky just as a streak of light shot across the far horizon. “Looks like the meteor shower is starting!” It might seem odd to onlookers that she was talking to an animal but such was her life since she worked at the zoo. Animals were just easier for her to connect with as opposed to people especially this cat but for reasons she couldn’t explain.

“It might sound silly, but I can’t help but wonder what kind of worlds are out there.” Be it an open terrain that had been untouched by human-like beings, or grand civilizations with their own culture and beliefs.

“There’s no way we are the only living beings in this galaxy, not that I particularly believe in little green aliens abducting people. But on nights like this, I like to pick a random star and consider what it might be like living there.” Her eyes scanned the horizon, following an invisible line between stars like a dot puzzle in the sky.

As the moments passed there were more meteors cutting across the night sky in a streak of bright lights. “Who knows, we might be making wishes on falling angels.” Elissia laughed at how dumb the idea sounded after the suggestion already left her lips. She had never really been much into stargazing but natural phenomena like this were worth taking time to pause and appreciate the wonder and beauty of it all.

Elissia’s head snapped to the side thinking that someone had snuck upon them. However, there was nobody there. The only movement she saw came from the blade of grass dancing in the wind around them; everything else was still.

Her gaze then fell down to the cat and she canted her head to the side curiously before lifting him up to eye level, but not so high that his back paws were lifted off her lap. There was a beaded charm hanging from his collar and Elissia had to wonder if it was some sort of a tracking device for the cat or some trinket used to play jokes on people by making them think that the feline could actually speak.

“Say that again?” She asked hesitantly but wanted to see if this was all somehow in her head or at least confirm that the cat’s mouth wasn’t moving like a poorly rendered CGI movie.

“Um…”

In that moment, Elissia’s jaw dropped and eyebrows nearly vanished into her hairline. “I…” she cleared her throat and only after a solid minute did she finally blink. “I, um…” Whatever thought she had been holding onto had completely vanished as she slowly set the cat back down.

Again she looked around, and like before she didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary. For half a second she considered taking the collar off the cat just to confirm that she wasn’t going out of her mind. “You’re not a parrot…” she stated the obvious. “How are you…” Elissia started but then changed her question to “What’s your name?”