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 Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2025 11:13 am
Her paws beat rapidly against pavement, cement, gravel--she barely touched any of them, the briefest contact to enable the propulsion of muscles to trigger and launch her forward. She was a streak of lilac, black, and silver, and in that moment, Realta was actually enjoying herself.
The youma that chased her gnashed multi-rows of teeth, slobber dripping from the too large maw of the canid looking form. Roughly four feet from snout to tip of its tail, it skittered along after her on four legs with oversized paws and claws clacking against the ground with each step. It was taller than her, perhaps around a foot and a half at its shoulder? Only a couple inches taller. Yet, that seemed to be enough for it to be that much slower, and the Mauvian nearly sneered.
"You'll have to do better than that," she jeered at the thing snarling behind her as it struggled to pull itself up over a brick enclosure wall she'd easily leapt over. Standing atop the wall, she saw it curl its lips and the fur along its back stand on end, long tail raised as electricity crackled along the peaks of fur. Purple lightning, it blended in well with the thing's black fur, its eyes gleaming with the same light. Reminded her too much of the storms--though if that were intentional or not, she wasn't sure. How much was this weather affecting..? She'd already seen reports of it affecting magics and transformations...
Letting out a crackling howl, the thing launched itself after her anew, and Realta was quick to flee, continuing the chase. This had been going on for a little while now--she'd caught the thing's attention as it seemed to be sniffing about for prey, and Realta was more than willing to offer herself as bait to lure it off towards some White Moon person or another. Anyone, really, that could more easily dust it than she could.
Plus... yes. She was having a bit of fun with it, racing through the city with the thing hot on her heels. Though she was concerned--now and then, it seemed to get bursts of energy, its steps crackling with pops of electricity as it all but flew over the ground. Brought its teeth a bit too close to her a few times, but Realta's ability to maneuver on less than a turn of a dime kept her tail from being snagged.
Her eyes lit upon the fence surrounding one of the parks in the city, and she slid through the bars without issue as she raced onward. The thing was paused slightly, required to figure out how to jump and climb to follow her, but it managed. She could hear it crashing through the underbrush as her sharp smile turned smug. Yes, it'd need to be a lot smarter to keep up with her....
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2025 5:27 pm
Yasmeen sighed softly as she walked through the park. Ballet class had just finished, Khaz and Keesh were both at swimming practice at their respective high schools, so she was making her way alone to the library at the other end of the park, where her mother was working part time as a librarian for the day. It wasn't that she minded going alone, honestly, she felt like a big girl in terms of being considered responsible enough to walk by herself for a few blocks. It wasn't even going to the library, Yasmeen loved going to the library. Nor was it ballet, they were starting to practice pirouettes now, and that was fun, spinning around, though nailing the pose and getting the kick just so was going to be difficult.
It was probably a confluence of the weird weather and the fact that she didn't mind not being really allowed to go many places on her own yet because Yasmeen liked being with her big brother and their cousin. She loved her family very much, and had a lot of fun hanging out with them. And, again, the weird thunderstorms, with purple lightning. It was pretty, but when the weather people struggled to explain weird local phenomena, it meant something was terribly wrong, and something always seemed to be terribly wrong in Destiny City. It would be exciting, like being in a story, if not for the casualties older people talked about, when and where they thought little kids like Yasmeen couldn't hear.
Not for the first time, Yasmeen sighed wistfully. It would be nice if magic was real. It would be nice to use magic to help people and maybe save the world. Sure, the world was more complicated than all the fairy tales said, but still...
It would be an adventure.
Yasmeen turned a bend in the undulating path through the park, unaware of a chase in progress drawing ever closer to her...
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 1:16 pm
The chase continued, and if anything, Realta was more annoyed that she wasn't detecting any nearby Order signatures. Really? Of all the times to not locate someone in a park! There was some injustice here, she knew it.
The youma kept after her, snarling and crackling with electricity, and she jeered it on to keep it on track till she could find someone to dust it. But there was the problem--it did need to be smarter and faster to keep up with her.
It likely didn't need that to go after a civilian.
Both heard the sounds of footsteps not far away, even as they raced through the underbrush of the park, and Realta skidded to a halt with a snarl as the thing veered off in the direction of the other sounds. It sensed what it assumed would be easier prey, and Realta hissed before bolting off in turn after it now.
The dark, purple-lit creature let out a lightning-crackled howl as it announced its new hunt beginning. It had little difficulty in tracking down the civilian. They were loud, compared to other folks, and their starseeds sang to the creature... or at least this one's did. Licking its chops, it lunged from the trees into the pathway ahead of the child, electricity glowing eyes bright as it locked onto its new target. Humans were, on average, far, far slower than four-legged beasts, after all....
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 5:21 pm
Yasmeen shivered as she heard a weird howl go up from the bushes flanking the path ahead, vibrating with crackles of electricity, like the sort of thing one would hear in an animated TV show. And then a dark, purple-lit creature pulsating with lightning, canid in shape, drool dripping caustically from multiple rows of teeth in a jaw too large for its form, leapt out onto the path ahead of her, oversized paws and claws crashing into the pavement heavily, despite being not much taller than a collie. She froze, feeling almost hypnotized by the strangeness of the monstrous canine in front of her.
Please let it not notice me, please let it not notice me, please please please, she thought as she held her breath, hoping to Allah that it was just catching its breath or something, or that this was part of some unannounced TV show or movie, or that this wasn't really happening.
Yasmeen tried to resist the urge to gulp in anxiety.
Its eyes, glowing like twin supernovae, bright and burning and dying in its impossible face, turned to face her, and it roared again, zaps of electricity and pure lightning accentuating its rumbling howl, which now carried undertones of thunder. Almost like it had seen something it felt sure would be easy pickings.
Nope. Nopenopenopenopenopenopenopenoooope~
Yasmeen turned and bolted for the nearest climable tree, an oak with thick branches and a gnarled trunk, scrambling up it as fast as she could, as the monster bounded after her, snapping its glowing fangs as it pursued her, only to find itself with a distinct lack of requisite thumbs.
And a lot of pent-up frustration.
Yasmeen scrambled onto a sturdy branch, clinging to the trunk and pulling her knees up so her feet were out of range. Not the best solution, not the most heroic act, but that was the thing about being a good hero, right? You had to be alive to keep being a hero. It didn't occur to her that a better option was in range.
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Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2025 8:59 pm
Realta ran, feet scarcely even touching the ground, her mind on nothing except getting to where that child was. At least it wasn't exactly difficult to follow the loud, electrical youma? Small silver linings, but she'd take it. Her main issue was the fact she still couldn't sense any Order energy signatures!
Yowling, the Savannah bolted down along the path and straight towards the tree the damn youma was clawing and snarling up, and... oh dear, the child was at least up on a branch... Bounding up, she made sure to claw the youma a bit as she used it for a launching pad further up, springing herself up into the tree. She'd felt an electric shock for her efforts, but the effect was minor with the burst of adrenaline she was dealing with. Sharp claws dug into the bark as she pulled herself up onto the branch with the girl, hissing and spitting down at the youma. Her tail stuck straight up, ears pinned back and the fur along her scruff and spine bristled and puffed up.
She could use her laser to at least stun the damn thing, though she'd hardly have a way to excuse that as a regular Earth cat to the girl, now would she? Or did that even matter at this point, part of her argued, an internal debate that raged as she leaned down to stretch out her paw and scratch at the youma once more as it tried to jump up awkwardly towards them.
She caught the thing on the nose and heard it yelp before it landed back on the ground, snarling anew at the offense. Realta hissed and spat back at it, not needing much effort to utilize the feline sounds of pure hate and rage. Pale eyes flicked to the girl, trying to scan her swiftly for any injuries. Yet... something nagged at the back of her mind... a tugging? The youma jumped again, and Realta's focus shifted back to take another swing and hiss at it.
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2025 9:29 am
Yasmeen watched, startled, as a lavender-colored cat with wildcat markings dashed toward the tree, yowling, using the monster as a launchpad to get up to her branch, before it started assaulting the thing angrily. Almost like it was defending her. She blinked.
Lavender fur? She shook her head. It must be a trick of the purplish light.
But it was still being an exceptionally brave little kitty, and Yasmeen felt more worried about the kitty's safety if that thing got the kitty, particularly if she didn't do anything.
So she did the only thing she could think to do, and lashed out with a foot, catching it under the jaw just hard enough to slam its jaws closed, right as it tried to bite the swiping claw. If it had had pupils, the pupils might have crossed in surprised pain, and Yasmeen was only denied the reward of a painful static shock by dint of the rubbery soles of her shoes dampening the electric shock. Thank Allah for rubber when it came to electricity.
Unfortunately, the monster shook its head, refocused its attention to her, and growled resentfully at her, saliva dripping neon purple from its jaws as the electricity pulsed faster and more intensely along its body, as if in response to its growing anger.
"I don't know if you have a plan, kitty, but I think we might need to figure out a way to get out of here," she murmured offhandedly, reaching for the kitty, planning to try to hold it before retreating closer to the trunk of the tree, in hopes that it would...what? Go away? It was a monster, and monsters, unless they saw an easier target, didn't do that. And easier targets were not ok.
Yasmeen drew a deep breath, stopped reaching for the kitty, unslung her backpack, and started hefting it by the strap. It wasn't a lot of weight, but if it could force the monster back, it would have died a noble death. She just hoped her teachers would be understanding if she needed a new set of handouts for homework. And new copies of assigned reading. She winced as she started some experimental swings with her beloved backpack, pastel and sparkly, with designs like a sky at dawn embellishing the fabric.
If there was any chance the backpack could stop the monster, it was a worthy death. Maybe worth a story. After surviving this thing.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2025 10:57 am
The Mauvian tensed as the child kicked out at the youma, terrified for a moment she was going to be electrocuted... but rubber soles were extremely useful in that, and she allowed herself a small, feline smile at the girl's bravery.
Realta eyed the growing amount of electricity though along its form, and nearly sneezed at the growing odor of ozone in the air--was this damn thing charging up? She felt offended at this.
The girl's logic was understandable, but Realta knew she didn't have a great plan for the moment... she could stun the youma, perhaps break a branch from the tree to use like a bat to strike at it... she'd likely need to turn into her humanoid form, though, for that, and she'd suffer any consequences of needing to explain magic to a young girl who wasn't even--
...oh?
That nagging was back, and as the girl clearly was testing her backpack as a potential weapon, Realta felt the sensation only grow. Perhaps, too, so did the youma, as it howled and snapped its fangs, clawing at the trunk of the tree in an attempt to find purchase to lift itself up. Its weight prevented that, thankfully...
"I have one forming," Realta said gently to the girl, watching her with bright eyes. "And I promise, I'll explain all I can once this is over and you're safe. But for right now... I believe I have something to help you in this situation."
The pulse of power from inside the girl was a beacon, and Realta was furious with herself for endangering the child, but ruefully grateful for the magic she felt emanating from her starseed. Pulling her own Mauvian magic around herself, the Savannah flipped backwards with undenied feline grace, focusing that magic into a small sphere that as she landed again with perfect ease on the branch, condensed and reformed into a simple pen that the Mauvian then caught in her mouth, and offered to the girl.
The words to awaken her power would come to her naturally, an instinct born to her starseed. Such was the wonder of such power.
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2025 5:35 am
Yasmeen blinked as the strange-looking cat suddenly started talking to her, like a person, like one of the talking animals from Narnia, or Wind in the Willows, or Redwall, or any of thousands of fairy tales. That was a surprise. But, then again, she did have a purple monster made of the storm chasing after both of them, so it seemed increasingly likely that magic was real, which also meant life was about to get really, really weird.
It occurred to her in that moment that, maybe, just maybe, adventures weren't all they were cracked up to be.
The cat did a somersault in the air, producing a pen and offering it to her.
"Ummm, okay," she said, taking it.
There was something strange about the pen, beyond its design, a whispering that filled her mind, and a song that began as the softest whispering lullaby somewhere in her toes, and rose to an epic crescendo as it reached her heart.
Raising the pen to the sky, listening to the voices singing inside her, she shouted, "AQUITANIA POWER, MAKE-UUUP~!"
Whispering ribbons and light suffused her, strong, yet gentle as they wrapped themselves around her.
When the light died down, the chibi senshi looked down at herself. A beautiful white dress with antique golden belts, red sleeves made of ribbons ballooning out from underneath a draping collar of a matching red, with a single gold stripe; stockings, ankle boots, gloves, a tiara, and a choker completed the ensemble. A princess who was ready to kick butt. A shield brooch inscribed with the outline of a roaring lion's head.
Chibi Sailor Aquitania smiled.
Time to find out what she could do.
Launching herself off the branch, balancing herself on her toes, the newly minted chibi senshi spun in a pirouette, the toes of her boots catching the monster in the jaw.
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