Welcome to Gaia! ::

To his own surprise, Hadaya was early to the meeting. He was in the wrong alley, but hey, he had gotten there early and that was what counted. He actually found a clock in the library to stare at between naps, and did not realize until he arrived that it was running half an hour behind. His internal clock had never been that great, and it seemed the external ones were not good either.

If only this had been set at 'dinner time'. Then he would know when to show up.

It took him some wandering to find the right place, rumbling contentedly with himself when he decided he was probably absolutely in the right place this time. He did not immediately see any one else, but it would probably be easier to do so if he were not stuck against the side of the building and slinking around as if he thought he were a lithe black cat and not a rotund, brightly furred one.

It had certainly been strange for him, in many ways, but this was the most exciting and new thing to ever happen to him. At least as far as he could remember. He was content to just sleep in the cushioned comfort of the library, where the kind man that gave out all the books also made sure to keep him fed, but things had most certainly moved beyond all of that. He did his best to learn everything he could, and he was more than ready to do his best to be useful. He was curious, and he was excited. He was clumsy, yes, as he bumped into a dented gutter he did not see immediately, but he had all the best intentions.

Whatever this new summon was, it was going to be exciting!

Though he did hope someone would bring some snacks.

A fluffy white cat moved from her perch in the shadows atop a pile of boxes behind one of Mayet’s Pubs. She maneuvered her way safely down to the ground with such finesse, she didn’t even make a sound. The only noise was laughter from inside the building which could be heard when the backdoor opened, and a chef dumped some contents into the nearby trash can.

Pyper was tempted to stop and ask for a snack. Her habit of sitting outside until someone gave in and brought her tidbits and leftovers, made getting snacks relatively easy. She was just too cute to resist! But despite being a bit peckish, she marched along at a brisk pace, not wanting to be late to her first official meeting this evening.

She rounded the building, weaving expertly through a few of the pub patrons’ legs. A neon sign flickered above her head. She glanced up at it briefly, before darting off to the meeting spot. She had to resist the urge not to hum to herself as she set out. She was in a good mood, and this was all kind of exciting. She looked forward to finally being able to be useful in some way. Whatever was asked of her, surely she would be up to the task!

As she approached her destination, she snuck around to the back alley, peeking around the corner to see if anyone else was already there. Yay! There WERE others here. So this had to be the right place! She gave a tiny sigh of relief, as she padded a bit closer so she was within view of the others. "Hello~" she greeted them with a quiet, but happy chirp.

Princess left for the meeting quite early. She didn't care what WG had to say about her being a special sort of cat- she knew after three years that she was not some moron feline like those others- but the alley behind the station was terribly far away from her comfortable home with Jada and Mir, and every single noise frazzled the feline, and her fur was a mess.There were dogs, and people, and cars, and it was simply the worst.

By the time that Relli made it to the meeting location she looked quite frazzled; her whiskers were drooping, her floofs were blown and strewn, her paws were dirty, and her entire body was made of trembles. She should have made Jada bring her here, but that would have been even worse- she did hate riding in the car, especially when she was having to join Mir at the VET, for CHECKUPS.

Ugh.

She skittered into the alley on her tip-toes, glaring behind her as the walls closed up around her. Protecting her from being observed, but- ugh. It was smelly.

Without as much as a hello to the other cats, Shurelia shoved her large body into a small space and began cleaning her toes. Her floofs were so, SO dirty.

Ugh.

There were better things Broderick could be doing right now. Namely, he could be having a nice nap, or a tasty snack, or a good old fashioned karaoke session on a rooftop, but this meeting was mandatory and so, with great reluctance, he had pulled himself out of his comfortable donut shape in a (too-small) cardboard box and started making his way across town. He had set out early enough that he should make it with time to spare, at least hypothetically, and if he did maybe he could catch a few more minutes of shut-eye before they had to get down to business...

Unfortunately, he overestimated the speed with which he could move, and by the time he waddled up to the meeting place, there were already a few other guardians here. It would be a lot harder to doze off with others here watching and making conversation, and there wasn't anywhere that looked inconspicuous or comfortable enough for a good napping spot.

Darn.

Trying to look like he wasn't disappointed, and had actually meant to arrive after the others had started getting there, he perked up and trotted in with considerably more dignity than the ambling waddle he had been using until he reached the mouth of the alley, holding his head high.

"Hello, everyone," he greeted cheerfully, still a little taken aback by just how many other cats were already here. Maybe he shouldn't have taken that extra half-hour of dozing time earlier...? "I'm not late, am I? I could have sworn I set off early..."

Sing’s ears swiveled, and she lashed her tail with a profound -thwap- against her perch.

“I was talking about where they form an arch.” She said loftily.
“Mostly, it’s only the tiny humans who get in there; we’re small enough.”

She sounded huffy but looked as though she were considering the logistics of sightlines.

“Hmmmph… well, it could be inspected later to see if I'm not seeing something. Perhaps you are correct.”

She squinted down at him.

“… Would you like to be up here as well?”

He was small enough… She could manage.

"Star charts? You must be Duncas..." The silver tabby's voice came first, followed by a set of glowing eyes gleaming from beneath a pallet that had been left leaning against the side of the concrete steps leading up to the back door of the establishment. She'd arrived early -- earlier than she should have, with no plans at all for the day, staking out a spot and waiting for the right moment do to what cats did best: use a bit of slyness and intrigue.

Despite the suddenness of it, her voice was soft and friendly, carrying the sound of what would have been a somewhat obvious smile if she could actually be seen. One paw stretched out in front of her, followed by another, toes peeking out from beneath the pallet as she stretched before shimmying out. She shook off to re-fluff herself before padding over to take a seat not far from the grey feline. "Etta -- a pleasure to meet you in person finally."

As she settled she let her gaze wander to the others who had started to assemble. The majority were fresh faces; a number of them quite large, be it in actual size or volume of their fur. A fair amount of orange, some white, greys and silvers nicely represented, a fluffy black and white tux that looked entirely dejected by everything for a second before making herself scarce.

"Shurelia, darling, come join the rest of us!" She hoped that she was guessing her name correctly; that she was indeed addressing another Mau and not just a skittish house cat who'd gotten out of someone's purse while on a trip to some posh establishment to get fancy food for the kitty-witty -- or that she wasn't incorrectly guessing the name of some other Mau entirely! It wasn't as if the database had been completely updated to include all of their photo references yet... "It's good to see you as well, you know!"

There were a few others that she recognized as well; Sing and Sumi, arriving together, a picture of opposites entirely despite the similarity of their soft, cream coloration. The two of them had been 'awake' the longest compared to the rest of them. One had the wisdom of the ages while the other had a fount of knowledge if only he could remember enough to share it. Somehow it made sense for the two of them to arrive together.

And, of course, there was Arianna, looking around no doubt in an attempt to find her. "Over here! Near the front with all of the good students, Arianna!" Her voice took on a teasingly mischievous tone, pairing nicely with the bright gleam of her eyes. "Wouldn't dream of missing this for the world."

Duncas turned his head at the mention of his name and watched the silver tabby emerge from the shadows. "Yes! Hello, Etta, it's a pleasure to finally meet you too!" His magnificent plume of a tail swayed slightly, reflecting his utter delight at being surrounded by so many fellow intelligent felines. And especially a few, like Etta, with interests similar to his!

"My owners -- well, the place where I live, one never really owns cats, do they -- anyway, they own the entire building that my bookshop is in, living in the apartments above it, and they have a pretty decent telescope on the roof. Nothing like the Observatory's, of course," he laughed, "but it does the job. If you ever want to come over and peep the stars, you're more than welcome."

He was so excited he couldn't stop talking. "Have you had your charts done? I don't think we discussed that..."