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((Backdating to Aprilish))

The weather was changing, it was warming. Spring was rapidly waning and summer was imminent. School was already rapidly nearing the end of the spring semester and she was powering through her classes as only a determined person could, with summer hastily approaching she needed to really knuckle down and focus. There was no chance that she was going to get anything but the best of grades as far as she was concerned. In order to pursue this noble goal she focused on school, her only extra curricular activities were her various training classes. Dance, capoeira, self defense, and other forms of Martial Arts. Patrolling was relegated to weekends only, mostly because of her tight schedule but living in the dorms also made it pretty hard to ‘sneak’ out at night or come back in the middle of the night. The first time she got caught by her roommate she said she was at a party but she didn’t particularly enjoy the ‘playful’ ribbing the other girl gave her so she limited her powered antics.

Long weekends like this were the perfect time to offset her normally civilian filled weeks. Even better since she spent most weekends at home, where her father was aware of her paranormal power. He wasn’t happy about it but he acquiesced after a particularly dodgy encounter. He learned that she knew how to protect herself, and why she was taking so many fighting classes. Her father even brushed up on his first aid training because he ‘didn’t want to let his little girl go out and fight without doing something to help’ according to him. It was kind of sweet, if a bit worrying, she didn’t want to see him get dragged into this nonsense any more than he already was. “Be careful. Call me if you need anything,” was his statement as he gave her a quick hug and sent her on her way.

It wasn’t until she was quite some distance away and in a secure location that she powered up. Ellicott sighed as her bare feet instantly chilled, even at 19 she was still a ‘chibi’ senshi. A child senshi. She just wished she knew what she needed to do in order to change that. That and how to get shoes. Bare feet were getting seriously old!

Ellicott was about to start her warm-up before patrolling, especially on this chilly night when stiff muscles would be a massive detriment, when a cat strolled up to her and spoke. A dark brow raised in general surprise but with a touch of snark, it was quite difficult for her to keep the smarmy quip inside. She was aware that she was quite a bit out of range for typical chibi’s, it wasn’t like it was her fault, and yet it still bothered her when it was pointed out. The urge to reply with a ‘thanks captain obvious’ was rather strong but she just gritted her teeth and nodded. “I am quite aware, thank you.” A touch of British accent coloring her voice, a hold over from her childhood. Something that became more prevalent the more annoyed she got.

Realizing that taking her general frustration about the whole situation out on the guardian was not fair to her or the cat, Ellicott took a deep breath and centered herself. “My current auric predicament is not something I have been able to address or correct at this time.” She admitted before adding rather grudgingly, “It does throw officers off though so I guess it's useful. Kind of.” She had found that unless they were massively unhinged most negaverser officers didn’t mess with chibi’s so her childlike aura, as much as it annoyed her, was actually a useful deterrent. At least that's what she theorized during the few times she encountered others during a patrol, it wasn’t exactly like it was something she could test with such a small sample size. Not that it prevented tangling with youma… those chaotic creatures didn’t have any ******** to give regarding aura. Regardless if it was accurate or not.

“What brings you out here tonight?” Besides calling me ‘old’, she mentally added.

Ellicott started to make a rather smarmy comment about a winning lotto ticket or actually just letting her ‘grow’ from being a bloody chibi senshi but rained in her frustration. There was no point in taking her anger out on the guardian cat. He wasn’t the one who awoke her when she was still a child. Nor was he a guardian that she had been working with for years… there was no guardian cat like that for her anyway. He was innocent in all this.

So she kept her thoughts to herself and just nodded before she started to stretch some more, “I don’t suppose you know a few people to train with do you?” She had her own collection of senshi and knights that she could contact for training or sparring but having more was always a good idea in her mind. Everyone fought differently after all. Ellicott was starting to bend into a deeper, back stretching, pose when a particularly frigid breeze whipped through the area.

“Bloody hell,” She practically chattered, rapidly rubbing her chilled arms. “You know what, scrap patrolling I think I’ll just go to my homeworld. Haven’t been there in a while.” The last time she had actually visited was back during the winter break when she was able to spend quite some time cleaning as best she could. “Would you like to join me?” It was only polite to offer after all, besides, maybe the cat would see or sense something she hadn’t after all these years. “By the way, Ellicott. And you?” She gestured to herself and then to the cat, offering her own name while asking his in the same sentence.

“Elliott?” Ellicott blinked at the cat before smiling and nodding. “Nice to meet you.” It tickled her funnybone to have met a guardian cat who sported a name so darn close to her own. It was rather amusing. What were the odds? The young woman chose not to dwell on that particular thought process when a particularly cold wind reminded her that she wanted to get to her homeworld, if only to warm up some. “Pardon me,” She said as she bent down and lifted the cat into her arms. “This is the first time I’ve brought feline company along so bear with me.” Even bringing other humans with her was exceedingly far and in between so better safe than sorry.

It didn’t take long at all. Soon the duo were standing not in the chilly, sparse, and frankly over manicured park but in a wild and untamed forest. It was still night but it wasn’t hard to tell that the trees towered above them, the first branches arching overhead so far beyond the reach of a normal human. Ellicott had once seen pictures of the giant redwoods of California but her trees made those look like little saplings. Grass, what grass there was, was either brown and dying or wildly overgrown. She could make out several glades bathed in moonlight where one of the giant trees had fallen, various plant matter lay scattered and forgotten around their entrance point. It was an old forest.

A forgotten forest. Where the ancient ones fell but no new trees grew to take their place. Ellicott could feel the emptiness and it made her heart ache. It was one of the reasons she didn’t come back here as often as she could, not since cleaning off a few stone pathways and clearings. The profound silence was just eerie.

For a moment she cuddled the cat close, feeling the darkness press in on her before she took a deep breath and placed the cat down. "Apologies." She was a grown woman! She could take whatever her spooky homeworld threw at her!