~ kitten ~
By Alexia Goddess
Chapter Nine
Kitten lay awake late at night, staring up with unblinking
eyes at the underside of her navy blue canopy. At her side, curled
up next to her in a mound of fluffy towels and pillows, as well as the
thick down comforter, was the kitten Kitten had found earlier that
day. Or rather, yesterday. Kitten's hand was bandanged and she had
taken several showers after tending to her new charge. The tiny kitten,
when scrubbed clean, had turned out to be a pure white medium length
haired persian/siamese breed. She was completely white save for an odd
marking on her forehead that was a blue gray.
As she lay awake, awful memories of the evening before running
endlessly around in her mind, Kitten stroked the small baby creature's
soft, silky fur gently, and tried to think of a name to distract
herself.
When she was completely unable to think of anything due to
lack of much needed sleep -it was near one in the morning- Kitten
struggled to find something else to distract her mind, but kept
coming back to the same thoughts and questions.
How could a dead corpse have been walking around, talking, and
have felt pain when she had attacked him? Also, how could his eyes have
bulged in agony like they had when she had er, finished her 'singing?'
Who were 'They?'
Why did 'They' want her?
What did 'Shinimejenya' mean?'
How did 'Shinimejenya' apply to her?
Why had she been driven to go back?
The last question she had managed to derive an answer of sorts,
one that somewhat made sense; she had felt, subconsciously, she
supposed, the need to assure herself that she hadn't been hallucinating
out of fear. Knowing that her pistol probably would have done much
good, either -since the would be kidnapper was already dead- hadn't
helped her frame of mind any.
Then the last question finally hit her like a bulldozer;
'What am I going to do?' Kitten felt tears come, and she rolled
over onto her side, careful not to disturb her tiny bed companion, and
cried herself to sleep.
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"She knows." Hiszeal said bluntly. His lord whirled from his
stance at the unlit fireplace. "She knows we're after her."
"*What?*" The man, still heavily shadowed as always, snarled as
he approached his minion. "Do you mean she is still yet free?"
"Yes, my lord," Hiszeal bowed his head slightly. The shadow
man snarled and whirled around again, slamming a fist into the wall.
Hiszeal's eyes glittered.
"Time is running out," The shadow man hissed quietly after a
moment. Then, a few seconds later, "We have little more room for
error." He turned, and despite being unable to see through the ever
present shadow over his master's face, Hisszeal could feel his lord's
cold eyes on him.
"Send in the Vamps," The shadowed master said, his voice hasty.
"The subtle abduction route is out; she knows about that one now, so
lets try a different style; option B."
Hiszeal bowed, the shiny luster of his acid scar reflecting
what little light there was ever so slightly. "As you wish, my lord."
He murmured, and left.
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"She's scared," Axis said wristfully. "What happened?"
"What do you think?" Zephra snarled. "A Corpis, most likely;
you can feel her self doubt. That always comes after someone is first
attacked by one of those walking corpses." There was a sound as if
the spirited Countess had spat.
"They'll be sending Vamps, next, most likely," Zion said in a
calculating voice. He sighed. "This is not good. But at least the
Corpis is out of the way."
"Its a good thing it failed, too, whatever its mission was,"
Kiros murmured. "I just did a deep scan of her aura; she's perfectly
fine other than extremely shaken up. In her amnesia state, she still
believes she is a tremagine in a antimagi plane."
"Translation?" Zephra growled.
"She doesn't think magic is real." Zion explained bluntly. "So
she's thinking she might be going crazy."
"This is not good," Axis muttered. "If the Lady Goddess stops
believing in magic..."
"She'll loose her powers."
"This is definately not good." Zephra muttered.
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"Goooooood morning!" Kitten dragged one groggy eye open at the
sound of an evilly cheeful voice; it was just wrong to be so peppy in
the morning. Once she managed to focus...
"GAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!" Kitten jumped up, sitting up bolt
right, away from the face that was *right* in front of hers. The real
kitten that had been snuggled up on top of Kitten's chest was
unceremoniously dumped into Kitten's lap. The feline glared up at Duo
and Kitten both with an indignent sound and began to straighten its
fur.
"Don't DO that!" Kitten growled, breathing heavily. Duo rolled
his eyes while laughing.
"Hey, whose the mini-you?" Duo inquired, reaching down to
stroke the length of the entire kitten's back with his finger. The
kitten arched her back, her face set in an expression of kitty heaven,
and began purring rather loudly for her size.
Kitten chuckled and scratched her tiny charge under the chin
ever so gently.
"Don't know," Kitten grinned, stretched, and yawned. Duo
gently lifted the baby creature into his arms, continuing to stroke her
back. "I found her yesterday on my way home from-"
"You went out?" Duo snapped suddenly, his finger stopped mid
way down the kitten's back. The kitty snorted her annoyance at the
distruption of Duo's administrations. Kitten blinked, and looked away.
"Yes," She said bluntly. "Why shouldn't I? I took my pistol and
I had my beeper and cell phone. Noth- Nothing happened." Kitten crossed
her fingers behind her back, and her other hand under the quilts to
hide their shaking.
"Nothing, no reason," Duo said grudgingly, his face almost in
a serious version of a pout. (AN: I've seen it, and its hilarious,
don't ask me to discribe it any better than that, cause you can't.)
"Anyway," Duo placed the tiny kitty back in Kitten's arms.
"Relena asked me to ask you to join us for the Orientation breakfast
this morning. Its to celebrate the official beginning of the
preperations for 'Gundam Day,'"
"Oh...okay..." Kitten felt a slight sinking her heart, knowing
she wasn't going to be included in the celebrations much. Still, she
thought, brightening, it was nice of the Sanq Princess to remember her;
they hadn't been able to spend much time together since that first day.
"Hey, you alright, Kit?" Duo asked suddenly, sitting on the
edge of her bed. Kitten blinked. Was it that obvious?
"Nothing!" Kitten cried, waving her hands. "I'm fine! Just not
enough sleep I guess, thats all!" She put on a big, happy smile. "See?
I'm *fine!*"
'She's trying to hard to convince me," Duo thought to himself,
but only grinned outwardly, wiggling his ears.
"Whatever you say, sis," He chuckled, stood, ruffled her
already messy morning hair, and left with a farewell and a wave over
his shoulder.
With a sigh, Kitten fell back onto her pillows.
"He knows." She whispered before rolling over and curling up
into a tight feeble position. Furthur sleep was denied to her, as
usual, however, so it was with a heavy sigh that Kitten flung aside the
bedding, stood, stretched, and headed for her bathroom for a nice long
morning shower.
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"Kit went downtown yesterday without telling us, and something
happened that she's not telling us about," Duo said bluntly as he
strode into the room and leaned against the wall, arms crossed while
glowering, very un-Duo-like.
"What do you mean?" Relena asked from behind her large
oak desk in one of her smaller, more privet studies. She took off her
reading glasses and looked at the American pilot curiously.
"I went to go wake her up -we all know how late she sleeps in
if we don't- and she was acting...funny." Duo scowled. "And when I
asked her if anything was wrong, she tried waaaaaay too hard to
convince me that nothing had happened."
"Could it just be you're being overprotective?" Trowa asked,
his voice almost careless in its lack of emotion from his position by
a a bookcase, open book in hand.
"Duo? Overprotective?" Dorothy said, her voice tainted with
sarcasm as she lifted an eyebrow. Duo made a face and sat in a large,
overstuffed armchair.
"But seriously, guys, I think we should keep an eye on her,"
The braided young man said seriously. Dead seriously. *That* caught
the other pilots attention more than anything else.
"Details," Wufei narrowed his eyes. "Go over your conversation,
word for word."
By the time Duo had done so, the others were halfway convinced.
Half an hour later, when they were all seated at a table on a
dais in one of the smaller ballrooms of the Sanq Palace, they were
convinced the rest of the way when Kitten came in, her manner...off.
She seemed perfectly normal to anyone else, but only the boys
noticed the slight differences in the way she stood, talked, glanced
around herself nervously.
So keen on observing her, they were, that it wasn't until Duo
specifically pointed it out that they noticed the tiny white cat with
the odd marking on its forehead balancing itself on top of Kitten's
head. This feat was made easier by Kitten's smooth, graceful gate and
hair piled into a loose, messy-style bun atop her head with curls
tumbling around it in a casual fashion.
Around the kitten's neck was was an ice blue bow that rather
than fight, the kitten seemed to wear with pride. It might have
something to do with the fact that Kitten herself wore a similar ribbon
around her throat as a choker, a silver dragon pendant around a pale
blue crystal dangling from it, resting in the small of her throat.
The silver of the dragon and the blue of the ribbons nicely
matched Kitten's attire; fitted black dress pants that flared out at
the bottom and had a silver filigree on the hems and going up the
right pant leg. A matching filigree was on the left, short, slit
sleeve of her slinky black, swoop-gathered neckline.
Wufei, as well as Relena and many others, raised an eyebrow at
the sight of an ornate silver dragon hilted sword strapped loosely to
Kitten's side. Even more surprising was the natural way she wore it, as
if she had been born with it at her side.
Kitten was stopped several times to by various young men and
ladies curious of her identity; they had never seen her before and they
had thought only people involved in the ball/faire had been invited to
the Orientation breakfast, and surely she was too young to be of any
importance, or so they thought.
It was because of these delays that it took the flabbergastered
blonde young woman to reach the dias where she had spotted her friends
sitting.
"Hi," She said, flashing a smile, sounding almost breathless
as she fell into a seat beside Duo, at the end of the table. "Sorry
I'm late."
"Thats fine," Relena said from the center of the table, having
heard Kitten's apology. The two could barely see each other, yet they
managed to exchange smiles and a few words before a chiming sound
rang out, and Relena stood up and officially announced the start of
the Orientation Breakfast.
"As you all know," Relena said to the small number -only
sixty, or so- of people in the small ballroom. "Today is a day that
we begin planning the preperations for the grand ball/faire that is to
honor those who did so much for the cause of good during the horrible
wars not too long ago."
The Sanq Princess went on to describe the processes they would
be going through during the next week. The G-Boys were all paying
decently close attention (All except Duo, that is, who was thoroughly
enjoying driving Wufei insane by flicking his tight pony-tail when the
chinese boy's attention was elsewhere). Kitten, however, mentally
shrugged it off and didn't really bother to listen all that well; she
had only been invited out of politeness and friendship, anyways; none
of this had anything to do with her.
The kitten that still had yet to be named that was still
sitting on top of Kitten's head mewed in a sympathetic way before
bounding down off of Kitten's head, bouncing off her shoulder, and
landing delicatedly on the white table cloth. The tiny creatures legs
trembled momentarily, then she regained her balance and attacked the
task of emptying a *much* to full minature pitcher of cream.
Kitten grinned and chuckled lightly at the absolutely adorable
sight the impossibly small baby kitten made, with its hind legs barely
touching the table, her front paws continuously slipping on the fine,
polished china edge of the small pitcher.
The kitten stopped its quest, looked at the girl with an
expression that clearly stated 'lets see you do better in my
situation.' Kitten chuckled, amused at herself that she had understood
the kitten's meaning so easily. Still smiling, the teenage girl lifted
the almost weightless creature and placed her on her shoulder before
removing her teacup from the saucer, retreaving the small pitcher of
cream, and pouring a decent amount in the now vacated saucer.
Kitten set the small creature back down on the table, then
laughed again at the comical scene her tiny charge made in her dash to
get to the now reachable cream.
'Sort of like me,' Kitten thought. 'I was trying to reach
something I needed, but I could not reach it, not quite. Then the
boys came along and gave it to me...'
Kitten reached out, in the back of her mind noticing that
Relena had sat back down and now everyone was talking while waiting for
breakfast to be served, and stroked the small animal's smooth fur.
The kitten purred in contentment, and Kitten smiled again.
'What do I name you, little one?' Kitten murmured in her own
mind. 'You're so ferociously cute, so avid and determined. You may
be small, but you're a fighter... You have a spark of light in your
eyes, a glitter. You're like a little dragon... Oh, *what* do I call
you?'
Kitten, while still stroking the small kitty, eyed the odd,
blue-gray markuing on the animal's forehead. It was small, the siz of
the fingernail on Kitten's pinky finger. As she examined at as closely
as she had since she first laid eyes on the creature, Kitten smiled as
she realized what it looked like.
"A little dragon indeed..." Kitten murmured. The small marking
on the baby creature's forehead *did* look like a miniature dragon,
doing a arabatic backwards somersault in midair.
'What to call you...my little firefly, my little light, my
tiny dragon...'
It came to her so fast Kitten blinked and almost physically
recoiled.
"Akari..." Kitten whispered the Japanese word for light.
"Little Akarijenya."
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Kitten's subconscious
translated it, and Kitten smiled. 'Little Light Dragon.'
"Well, little Akari," Kitten whispered, scooping up the tiny
animal and cuddling it to her cheek. "Looks like I've finally found
you a name."
Kitten's smug, victorious mood was shattered as something
slammed into her mental world, ferociously gripping her attention and
squeezing it painfully like a vice. Kitten didn't realize that she had
cried out in a blood curling cry of pain as she doubled up and shot
away from the table, her chair overturning as she curled up on the
floor. Little Akari was on the floor, vigorously merowing at her
mistress in avid worry.
Duo was also almost immediately at his 'little sister's' side,
quickly followed by Quatre. Even Wufei stood over her, looking slightly
concerned. Relena called for a doctor, and Dorothy had darted out the
door to find a phone.
But meanwhile, unnoticed by all...
The blade, hidden because of its being sheathed at the moment,
of the Dragon katana that was strapped to Kitten's side flashed icy
blue.
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"Damnit!" Axis roared. "Its too soon! She can't fight them now!
Not with all those people around!"
"What are we going to do?" Zephra's cry was entertwined with
avid worry. "We can't Appear now! It would ruin everything and then
They would know we're here!"
"Trust her, guys," Surprisingly, it was Kiros that spoke up,
his voice sure and calm. "We have to trust Kiticatya to do what she
has to do, the only thing she can do."
"But she doesn't remember!" Zephra wailed. "How can we?"
"Do we have a choice?" Zion snapped. "I just hope our hosts
have enough sense not to engage the Vamps head on."
Kiros snorted. "Mine will, but we all know yours probably
won't."
"Hush!" Zephra snapped. They all froze as the oncoming aura of
potent, evil power washed over them. "They're almost here..."
"Be smart, cousin," Zion murmured. "You may not remember, but
your body and heart will; use your instincts. Live! *Live!*"
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"They're coming..." Kitten croaked hoarsely.
"What? Who? Whose coming?" Duo asked, hands on her shoulders.
Kitten squeezed her eyes shut harder as darkness battered her senses.
Not the darkness of nearing unconsciousness, but the potent darkness
of approaching evil...
"Get...out..." She hissed through gritted teeth. That prescence
again...someone who was her, yet wasn't...the same voice that was not
her own that had taken over that one time in Heero's room. There was a
commanding tone in her voice, one that caught the Gundam Pilot's
attention and held it.
"I-I said go!" She abruptly, fighting the pain that latched onto
her mind and heart, stood up straight, hands clenched at her sides.
"We're not leaving." Heero said, monotone, taking an almost
defensive stance beside Relena as he said so, hand on his gun.
The people in the room were very well aware of something not
right, and uneasiness began to become catchy.
Kitten looked around her in frantic worry; what was she to do?
That thing...the prescence that was approaching...somehow she was
*positive* they were after her... She couldn't let the people get hurt!
She had to get away! Away from all the people! Draw the evil away from
Duo and Relena and the others!
Kitten, in a fluid movement she hadn't known she was capable of
doing, took a few quick steps and leaped into the air, somersaulting
over the table in midair to land on the floor, a few feet away from the
dais. She took of running towards the door, tiny Akari -whom had at
sometime climbed onto her shoulder- was digging her claws into her
mistress's shoulder for dear life.
But even as she ran, dodging the people that had begun to
panic, Kitten knew she wouldn't make it. Kitten suddenly gasped and
cried out in surprise as the Dragon Blade at her side flashing brighter
than a star, burning through the scabard so that the blade hung bare at
her side.
It was then, just as dread suddenly engulfed every sense Kitten
possessed, that the ceiling caved in as giant creatures that could only
be from the underworld rained down, and chaos errupted.
To Be Continued....
Heh heh heh....I've been wanting to write that part as a
cliffhanger for ages. *evil grin* Got ya now? I wasn't planning on
including much magic in this, but, hey, oh well...
Has anyone figured out the plot twist with Zion and co???? I hope not!
hee hee...Anyhoo, until next time! Ja ne!
-Alexia
*ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY; I DO NOT OWN GUNDAM WING. THE OTAKU
CHARACTERS AND PLOT ARE MINE, AS IS THE 'KITTEN' BRACELET.*
By Alexia Goddess
Chapter Nine
Kitten lay awake late at night, staring up with unblinking
eyes at the underside of her navy blue canopy. At her side, curled
up next to her in a mound of fluffy towels and pillows, as well as the
thick down comforter, was the kitten Kitten had found earlier that
day. Or rather, yesterday. Kitten's hand was bandanged and she had
taken several showers after tending to her new charge. The tiny kitten,
when scrubbed clean, had turned out to be a pure white medium length
haired persian/siamese breed. She was completely white save for an odd
marking on her forehead that was a blue gray.
As she lay awake, awful memories of the evening before running
endlessly around in her mind, Kitten stroked the small baby creature's
soft, silky fur gently, and tried to think of a name to distract
herself.
When she was completely unable to think of anything due to
lack of much needed sleep -it was near one in the morning- Kitten
struggled to find something else to distract her mind, but kept
coming back to the same thoughts and questions.
How could a dead corpse have been walking around, talking, and
have felt pain when she had attacked him? Also, how could his eyes have
bulged in agony like they had when she had er, finished her 'singing?'
Who were 'They?'
Why did 'They' want her?
What did 'Shinimejenya' mean?'
How did 'Shinimejenya' apply to her?
Why had she been driven to go back?
The last question she had managed to derive an answer of sorts,
one that somewhat made sense; she had felt, subconsciously, she
supposed, the need to assure herself that she hadn't been hallucinating
out of fear. Knowing that her pistol probably would have done much
good, either -since the would be kidnapper was already dead- hadn't
helped her frame of mind any.
Then the last question finally hit her like a bulldozer;
'What am I going to do?' Kitten felt tears come, and she rolled
over onto her side, careful not to disturb her tiny bed companion, and
cried herself to sleep.
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"She knows." Hiszeal said bluntly. His lord whirled from his
stance at the unlit fireplace. "She knows we're after her."
"*What?*" The man, still heavily shadowed as always, snarled as
he approached his minion. "Do you mean she is still yet free?"
"Yes, my lord," Hiszeal bowed his head slightly. The shadow
man snarled and whirled around again, slamming a fist into the wall.
Hiszeal's eyes glittered.
"Time is running out," The shadow man hissed quietly after a
moment. Then, a few seconds later, "We have little more room for
error." He turned, and despite being unable to see through the ever
present shadow over his master's face, Hisszeal could feel his lord's
cold eyes on him.
"Send in the Vamps," The shadowed master said, his voice hasty.
"The subtle abduction route is out; she knows about that one now, so
lets try a different style; option B."
Hiszeal bowed, the shiny luster of his acid scar reflecting
what little light there was ever so slightly. "As you wish, my lord."
He murmured, and left.
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"She's scared," Axis said wristfully. "What happened?"
"What do you think?" Zephra snarled. "A Corpis, most likely;
you can feel her self doubt. That always comes after someone is first
attacked by one of those walking corpses." There was a sound as if
the spirited Countess had spat.
"They'll be sending Vamps, next, most likely," Zion said in a
calculating voice. He sighed. "This is not good. But at least the
Corpis is out of the way."
"Its a good thing it failed, too, whatever its mission was,"
Kiros murmured. "I just did a deep scan of her aura; she's perfectly
fine other than extremely shaken up. In her amnesia state, she still
believes she is a tremagine in a antimagi plane."
"Translation?" Zephra growled.
"She doesn't think magic is real." Zion explained bluntly. "So
she's thinking she might be going crazy."
"This is not good," Axis muttered. "If the Lady Goddess stops
believing in magic..."
"She'll loose her powers."
"This is definately not good." Zephra muttered.
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"Goooooood morning!" Kitten dragged one groggy eye open at the
sound of an evilly cheeful voice; it was just wrong to be so peppy in
the morning. Once she managed to focus...
"GAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!" Kitten jumped up, sitting up bolt
right, away from the face that was *right* in front of hers. The real
kitten that had been snuggled up on top of Kitten's chest was
unceremoniously dumped into Kitten's lap. The feline glared up at Duo
and Kitten both with an indignent sound and began to straighten its
fur.
"Don't DO that!" Kitten growled, breathing heavily. Duo rolled
his eyes while laughing.
"Hey, whose the mini-you?" Duo inquired, reaching down to
stroke the length of the entire kitten's back with his finger. The
kitten arched her back, her face set in an expression of kitty heaven,
and began purring rather loudly for her size.
Kitten chuckled and scratched her tiny charge under the chin
ever so gently.
"Don't know," Kitten grinned, stretched, and yawned. Duo
gently lifted the baby creature into his arms, continuing to stroke her
back. "I found her yesterday on my way home from-"
"You went out?" Duo snapped suddenly, his finger stopped mid
way down the kitten's back. The kitty snorted her annoyance at the
distruption of Duo's administrations. Kitten blinked, and looked away.
"Yes," She said bluntly. "Why shouldn't I? I took my pistol and
I had my beeper and cell phone. Noth- Nothing happened." Kitten crossed
her fingers behind her back, and her other hand under the quilts to
hide their shaking.
"Nothing, no reason," Duo said grudgingly, his face almost in
a serious version of a pout. (AN: I've seen it, and its hilarious,
don't ask me to discribe it any better than that, cause you can't.)
"Anyway," Duo placed the tiny kitty back in Kitten's arms.
"Relena asked me to ask you to join us for the Orientation breakfast
this morning. Its to celebrate the official beginning of the
preperations for 'Gundam Day,'"
"Oh...okay..." Kitten felt a slight sinking her heart, knowing
she wasn't going to be included in the celebrations much. Still, she
thought, brightening, it was nice of the Sanq Princess to remember her;
they hadn't been able to spend much time together since that first day.
"Hey, you alright, Kit?" Duo asked suddenly, sitting on the
edge of her bed. Kitten blinked. Was it that obvious?
"Nothing!" Kitten cried, waving her hands. "I'm fine! Just not
enough sleep I guess, thats all!" She put on a big, happy smile. "See?
I'm *fine!*"
'She's trying to hard to convince me," Duo thought to himself,
but only grinned outwardly, wiggling his ears.
"Whatever you say, sis," He chuckled, stood, ruffled her
already messy morning hair, and left with a farewell and a wave over
his shoulder.
With a sigh, Kitten fell back onto her pillows.
"He knows." She whispered before rolling over and curling up
into a tight feeble position. Furthur sleep was denied to her, as
usual, however, so it was with a heavy sigh that Kitten flung aside the
bedding, stood, stretched, and headed for her bathroom for a nice long
morning shower.
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"Kit went downtown yesterday without telling us, and something
happened that she's not telling us about," Duo said bluntly as he
strode into the room and leaned against the wall, arms crossed while
glowering, very un-Duo-like.
"What do you mean?" Relena asked from behind her large
oak desk in one of her smaller, more privet studies. She took off her
reading glasses and looked at the American pilot curiously.
"I went to go wake her up -we all know how late she sleeps in
if we don't- and she was acting...funny." Duo scowled. "And when I
asked her if anything was wrong, she tried waaaaaay too hard to
convince me that nothing had happened."
"Could it just be you're being overprotective?" Trowa asked,
his voice almost careless in its lack of emotion from his position by
a a bookcase, open book in hand.
"Duo? Overprotective?" Dorothy said, her voice tainted with
sarcasm as she lifted an eyebrow. Duo made a face and sat in a large,
overstuffed armchair.
"But seriously, guys, I think we should keep an eye on her,"
The braided young man said seriously. Dead seriously. *That* caught
the other pilots attention more than anything else.
"Details," Wufei narrowed his eyes. "Go over your conversation,
word for word."
By the time Duo had done so, the others were halfway convinced.
Half an hour later, when they were all seated at a table on a
dais in one of the smaller ballrooms of the Sanq Palace, they were
convinced the rest of the way when Kitten came in, her manner...off.
She seemed perfectly normal to anyone else, but only the boys
noticed the slight differences in the way she stood, talked, glanced
around herself nervously.
So keen on observing her, they were, that it wasn't until Duo
specifically pointed it out that they noticed the tiny white cat with
the odd marking on its forehead balancing itself on top of Kitten's
head. This feat was made easier by Kitten's smooth, graceful gate and
hair piled into a loose, messy-style bun atop her head with curls
tumbling around it in a casual fashion.
Around the kitten's neck was was an ice blue bow that rather
than fight, the kitten seemed to wear with pride. It might have
something to do with the fact that Kitten herself wore a similar ribbon
around her throat as a choker, a silver dragon pendant around a pale
blue crystal dangling from it, resting in the small of her throat.
The silver of the dragon and the blue of the ribbons nicely
matched Kitten's attire; fitted black dress pants that flared out at
the bottom and had a silver filigree on the hems and going up the
right pant leg. A matching filigree was on the left, short, slit
sleeve of her slinky black, swoop-gathered neckline.
Wufei, as well as Relena and many others, raised an eyebrow at
the sight of an ornate silver dragon hilted sword strapped loosely to
Kitten's side. Even more surprising was the natural way she wore it, as
if she had been born with it at her side.
Kitten was stopped several times to by various young men and
ladies curious of her identity; they had never seen her before and they
had thought only people involved in the ball/faire had been invited to
the Orientation breakfast, and surely she was too young to be of any
importance, or so they thought.
It was because of these delays that it took the flabbergastered
blonde young woman to reach the dias where she had spotted her friends
sitting.
"Hi," She said, flashing a smile, sounding almost breathless
as she fell into a seat beside Duo, at the end of the table. "Sorry
I'm late."
"Thats fine," Relena said from the center of the table, having
heard Kitten's apology. The two could barely see each other, yet they
managed to exchange smiles and a few words before a chiming sound
rang out, and Relena stood up and officially announced the start of
the Orientation Breakfast.
"As you all know," Relena said to the small number -only
sixty, or so- of people in the small ballroom. "Today is a day that
we begin planning the preperations for the grand ball/faire that is to
honor those who did so much for the cause of good during the horrible
wars not too long ago."
The Sanq Princess went on to describe the processes they would
be going through during the next week. The G-Boys were all paying
decently close attention (All except Duo, that is, who was thoroughly
enjoying driving Wufei insane by flicking his tight pony-tail when the
chinese boy's attention was elsewhere). Kitten, however, mentally
shrugged it off and didn't really bother to listen all that well; she
had only been invited out of politeness and friendship, anyways; none
of this had anything to do with her.
The kitten that still had yet to be named that was still
sitting on top of Kitten's head mewed in a sympathetic way before
bounding down off of Kitten's head, bouncing off her shoulder, and
landing delicatedly on the white table cloth. The tiny creatures legs
trembled momentarily, then she regained her balance and attacked the
task of emptying a *much* to full minature pitcher of cream.
Kitten grinned and chuckled lightly at the absolutely adorable
sight the impossibly small baby kitten made, with its hind legs barely
touching the table, her front paws continuously slipping on the fine,
polished china edge of the small pitcher.
The kitten stopped its quest, looked at the girl with an
expression that clearly stated 'lets see you do better in my
situation.' Kitten chuckled, amused at herself that she had understood
the kitten's meaning so easily. Still smiling, the teenage girl lifted
the almost weightless creature and placed her on her shoulder before
removing her teacup from the saucer, retreaving the small pitcher of
cream, and pouring a decent amount in the now vacated saucer.
Kitten set the small creature back down on the table, then
laughed again at the comical scene her tiny charge made in her dash to
get to the now reachable cream.
'Sort of like me,' Kitten thought. 'I was trying to reach
something I needed, but I could not reach it, not quite. Then the
boys came along and gave it to me...'
Kitten reached out, in the back of her mind noticing that
Relena had sat back down and now everyone was talking while waiting for
breakfast to be served, and stroked the small animal's smooth fur.
The kitten purred in contentment, and Kitten smiled again.
'What do I name you, little one?' Kitten murmured in her own
mind. 'You're so ferociously cute, so avid and determined. You may
be small, but you're a fighter... You have a spark of light in your
eyes, a glitter. You're like a little dragon... Oh, *what* do I call
you?'
Kitten, while still stroking the small kitty, eyed the odd,
blue-gray markuing on the animal's forehead. It was small, the siz of
the fingernail on Kitten's pinky finger. As she examined at as closely
as she had since she first laid eyes on the creature, Kitten smiled as
she realized what it looked like.
"A little dragon indeed..." Kitten murmured. The small marking
on the baby creature's forehead *did* look like a miniature dragon,
doing a arabatic backwards somersault in midair.
'What to call you...my little firefly, my little light, my
tiny dragon...'
It came to her so fast Kitten blinked and almost physically
recoiled.
"Akari..." Kitten whispered the Japanese word for light.
"Little Akarijenya."
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Kitten's subconscious
translated it, and Kitten smiled. 'Little Light Dragon.'
"Well, little Akari," Kitten whispered, scooping up the tiny
animal and cuddling it to her cheek. "Looks like I've finally found
you a name."
Kitten's smug, victorious mood was shattered as something
slammed into her mental world, ferociously gripping her attention and
squeezing it painfully like a vice. Kitten didn't realize that she had
cried out in a blood curling cry of pain as she doubled up and shot
away from the table, her chair overturning as she curled up on the
floor. Little Akari was on the floor, vigorously merowing at her
mistress in avid worry.
Duo was also almost immediately at his 'little sister's' side,
quickly followed by Quatre. Even Wufei stood over her, looking slightly
concerned. Relena called for a doctor, and Dorothy had darted out the
door to find a phone.
But meanwhile, unnoticed by all...
The blade, hidden because of its being sheathed at the moment,
of the Dragon katana that was strapped to Kitten's side flashed icy
blue.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"Damnit!" Axis roared. "Its too soon! She can't fight them now!
Not with all those people around!"
"What are we going to do?" Zephra's cry was entertwined with
avid worry. "We can't Appear now! It would ruin everything and then
They would know we're here!"
"Trust her, guys," Surprisingly, it was Kiros that spoke up,
his voice sure and calm. "We have to trust Kiticatya to do what she
has to do, the only thing she can do."
"But she doesn't remember!" Zephra wailed. "How can we?"
"Do we have a choice?" Zion snapped. "I just hope our hosts
have enough sense not to engage the Vamps head on."
Kiros snorted. "Mine will, but we all know yours probably
won't."
"Hush!" Zephra snapped. They all froze as the oncoming aura of
potent, evil power washed over them. "They're almost here..."
"Be smart, cousin," Zion murmured. "You may not remember, but
your body and heart will; use your instincts. Live! *Live!*"
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"They're coming..." Kitten croaked hoarsely.
"What? Who? Whose coming?" Duo asked, hands on her shoulders.
Kitten squeezed her eyes shut harder as darkness battered her senses.
Not the darkness of nearing unconsciousness, but the potent darkness
of approaching evil...
"Get...out..." She hissed through gritted teeth. That prescence
again...someone who was her, yet wasn't...the same voice that was not
her own that had taken over that one time in Heero's room. There was a
commanding tone in her voice, one that caught the Gundam Pilot's
attention and held it.
"I-I said go!" She abruptly, fighting the pain that latched onto
her mind and heart, stood up straight, hands clenched at her sides.
"We're not leaving." Heero said, monotone, taking an almost
defensive stance beside Relena as he said so, hand on his gun.
The people in the room were very well aware of something not
right, and uneasiness began to become catchy.
Kitten looked around her in frantic worry; what was she to do?
That thing...the prescence that was approaching...somehow she was
*positive* they were after her... She couldn't let the people get hurt!
She had to get away! Away from all the people! Draw the evil away from
Duo and Relena and the others!
Kitten, in a fluid movement she hadn't known she was capable of
doing, took a few quick steps and leaped into the air, somersaulting
over the table in midair to land on the floor, a few feet away from the
dais. She took of running towards the door, tiny Akari -whom had at
sometime climbed onto her shoulder- was digging her claws into her
mistress's shoulder for dear life.
But even as she ran, dodging the people that had begun to
panic, Kitten knew she wouldn't make it. Kitten suddenly gasped and
cried out in surprise as the Dragon Blade at her side flashing brighter
than a star, burning through the scabard so that the blade hung bare at
her side.
It was then, just as dread suddenly engulfed every sense Kitten
possessed, that the ceiling caved in as giant creatures that could only
be from the underworld rained down, and chaos errupted.
To Be Continued....
Heh heh heh....I've been wanting to write that part as a
cliffhanger for ages. *evil grin* Got ya now? I wasn't planning on
including much magic in this, but, hey, oh well...
Has anyone figured out the plot twist with Zion and co???? I hope not!
hee hee...Anyhoo, until next time! Ja ne!
-Alexia
*ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY; I DO NOT OWN GUNDAM WING. THE OTAKU
CHARACTERS AND PLOT ARE MINE, AS IS THE 'KITTEN' BRACELET.*