Author's Note: I've taken down the poll and decided to do reviews by request instead, so PM me if you want me to review something. Now in this chapter, we introduce the title character.
"Wow, what happened here?" Teriko asked. They had noticed someone working on the gates, which were bent and busted off the hinges. "A pack of monsters attacked the town." Said the guard in front of them. "They could've caused serious damage if it weren't for the Angel and Dragoon going to the festival." Teriko, Mai, and Cress decided to walk away. "Lee and Ken stopped a monster attack?" Teriko asked. "Lucky they were here, or this place would have been wrecked." Cress said. Mai sighed sadly. "Monsters have been appearing recently, and we don't know why." She said. "We can't let that get us down, there will be a way to solve this problem." Teriko said hopefully.
They turned a corner, and found a row of shops beside the the streets, and people checking out the goods while shopkeepers beckoned them. Cress grinned. "This is the place." Mai looked down the rows. "There's so many, are you sure you'll find your friend?" She asked. "Come on, she only goes to one place, and I'm right beside her." She took a right turn, and Teriko and Mai followed her. As they walked past the shops, several people noticed Mai and gave her cold looks,which caused her to cling close to Teriko. "A Cait Sith, here?" Teriko heard one man say. "Why wasn't she shooed out?" A woman said. "Her kind shouldn't be here." Another said. After that, Mai put her hood on to cover her ears. There were a couple of people who felt sad for her, so Teriko knew some people didn't hate Mai's race.
Cress stopped at in front of a shop that had a sign with a smiling cow on it. The sign said: [Aura Farm's Quality Goods]. "This is it!" Cress said happily. Teriko and Mai read the sign. "Aura Farm…your friend works there?" Teriko asked curiously. Then they noticed a girl's voice yelling over the crowd, which thinned out to reveal her. She was sixteen, with long red hair tied in a ponytail, a pretty face, and was wearing overalls over a yellow shirt. "Okay, I'm closing down!" She said while waving her arms. "Thank you for your business!" Her smiling face frowned a little when she focused on Cress. "Cress, you're late!" She yelled. Cress gave her usual grin and raised a hand in return. "Hey there Anya." She said. They walked over to the shop, and Cress offered a hand. "So is the business still good?" She asked. Anya just crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, then she noticed Teriko and Mai. She looked surprised. "Oh, some new friends I presume?" She asked curiously. "Yeah." Cress confirmed. "And we had quite the meeting." Anya became excited. "Oh, you have got to tell me!" She said. "Come on, let's go inside!"
When they entered, Anya pulled down a board that blocked the view of the outside, then she pulled a string above her head and some lights came on. "Just take a seat, I'll make some tea." She said. They sat around the table and waited patiently, while she boiled bags of tea in a kettle. Once it was done, she went to the cabinet, gathered cups for everyone, and poured them the steaming drink. Then she took a seat opposite from Cress. "OK, when did you guys meet, and how?" She asked. "We just met last night." Teriko answered. "And Cress and I didn't meet under the best circumstances." Cress chuckled. "He fell out of a tree, scared me, and I shot him." She explained. Anya laughed. "That's like you, 'Consequences be damned', right?" She said knowingly. Cress shook her head. "Hey, people don't normally fall out of trees. I was just frightened." She said in defense. Then Anya looked over at Mai, who pulled her hood lower. "What about her?" Anya asked curiously. "Oh come on, you can take the hood off." Cress urged Mai. She hesitated, then took her hood off, revealing her cat ears. Anya gasped excitetedly. "A Cait Sith!" She exclaimed. She walked around Mai and looked at her ears, which caused her to blush, but she didn't complain. "I've always wanted to meet one of you." Anya said in wonder. "How come she complains when I look at her ears, but Anya gets off scot free?" Teriko asked. "Because you're a guy." Cress answered with a grin. "Oh." A few seconds of silence, and he registered what she said. "Hey!" He said in annoyance. The girls laughed at his expense, and Teriko smiled as well.
"How did you meet her?" Anya asked. "She found my house." Cress answered. "On the pretense that she was following this guy, because he was falling out of the sky." She pointed at Teriko. Anya looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Falling out of the sky?" She asked suspiciously. Teriko laughed nervously. "I'm not sure of it myself, but it explains why I fell out of a tree." He said. Then Anya turned to Mai. "I really can't believe it, a Cait Sith is really here." She said. "You always avoided humans until now." She took another glance at the ears and hummed in thought, which caused Mai to tilt back. "What are you thinking?" She asked nervously. "You have the ears, but what about the tail?" Anya asked innocently, then she lunged at Mai, who quickly jumped out of the chair and ran around the room to avoid her.
Teriko watched the scene in surprise while Cress smiled in amusement. Finally, Anya managed to intercept Mai as she turned the corner of the table, and she yelped. She squirmed in Anya's grasp as she tried taking off the cloak. "Let's see what's under there, shall we?" Anya said gleefully. "No! That's private!" Mai protested with a blush. "This is making me uncomfortable." Teriko said while trying to shield the view. Cress just laughed. Anya managed to unfasten the cloak, and she took it off with a flourish. Teriko and Cress stared in amazement at the long cat tail that waved back and forth.
Anya looked ecstatic, while Mai looked like she wanted to hide. She looked down and a shadow hid her expression. She started shaking and growling, causing Anya's smile to waver. "Uh…what's wrong?" She asked nervously. Mai turned to her, then looked up with an angry and blushing face, and Anya stepped back. "Anya…" Mai began quietly. "Don't you know not to invade someone's personal space when you don't know who they are!" She yelled. The sound echoed outside the shop, causing a couple of passerby to look at it curiously.
