Guardians of Elpis
By Sokai and Evilness321
Disclaimer: Never will the series, W.I.T.C.H., ever be claimed to be owned by us - because then we'd just end up in jail and could no longer write for you nice people. However, where the NEW plot, characters (including one new one/'replacement' of sorts)/attacks/anything else that doesn't seem familiar to the original series are concerned, we DO own - so back off. LoL.
Dual Note (from Sokai and Evilness321): Sorry for the hugely late posting of this chapter; had to wait on Evilness to 'shake it off' in terms of the dreadfully evil (ha LoL) Writer's Block for her Sandra's debut. Thankfully I'd already written Katie's bit years ago, and needed only to copy/paste. Yay. LoL
In any event, we hope you'll enjoy, especially, the entirely newly added scene of the equally newly added Guardian-to-Be, Sandra, in lieu of the former Gina, in addition to enjoying the (familiar, for some who'd read it back, again, when it was still "Guardians of Eos") closing scene. =)
This story was first created on May 6, 2006, and 'canceled' within mid-2011. It has been revamped November 2011.
Chapter Two: A Flighty Situation
Grumbling within the midst of her fairly deep slumber, about some random thing or another, twenty-year-old Sandra Poole rolled over in her covers, dislodging one of her five cats that had been curled up at her feet upon her purple themed bedspread.
The white, long haired feline, aptly named Snowflake, hissed indignantly at her owner's sudden disruption and stalked off, tail held high in the air in furthered annoyance at being so rudely awakened before she was ready for the new day.
"Hmm?" Sandra groggily mumbled at this, still partially encased within a sleep filled haze, as she wearily cracked one sapphire colored eye open in time to catch her marshmallow resembling pet briskly saunter away from her.
It was still fairly early in the morning, possibly even as early as seven on the dot, it felt like to the raven haired young woman, before she somehow managed to rouse herself further from out of her previously content sleep and glanced over at her alarm clock to see the actual time of nearly eight-thirty.
Even worse. It's actually later than what I thought, yet I feel like I've barely slept at all, Sandra thought with a heavy, rather fatigued groan, before promptly snapping awake as the present time sunk in even more.
"Damn it. And now I'm late for my medicine. Wonderful day this is shaping out to be so far," she grumbled to herself in between a sharp series of yawns. Quickly pulling back her long, sleep tangled hair into a mid-back sweeping ponytail, Sandra practically catapulted herself straight out of the warmth of her comfortable bed, and settled her bare feet onto the cold, and unforgiving wooden floor of her fairly spacious bedroom.
Making her way into the bathroom, a bit zigzagging due to her continued struggle to completely shake off the last of her sleep deprivation, Sandra immediately reached for the clear drinking glass she always kept upon her sink in order to take her multitude of daily medication with. As per the usual day to day routine, Sandra mindlessly turned on the cold water faucet and filled up her empty glass with one hand, while reaching into her medicine cabinet to retrieve the correct amount of pills from out of its amber tinted bottle with the other.
As she slowly began to focus upon the cool, crisp liquid continuing to filter into the glass within her left hand, Sandra's admittedly agitated mind sifted through the other, various goings on within her life at present, much like she usually would each morning as of late.
In truth, she pretty much hated the way things were developing for her right now, the primary aggravation having to do with her constantly fluctuating health. Within the grand spectrum of things, possessing one which had always been, at best, precarious since early childhood, what with various allergies, stomach viruses and sensitivities and the like, it wasn't really anything Sandra could not and did not handle with as much grace as she could muster up to now. It was merely something she had learned to just roll with the punches over, and prepared and adjusted her daily routines and food intake accordingly.
However, now that she was a college student, a sophomore at that, her wishy-washy wellness was beginning to become rather daunting to Sandra, as it was now directly interfering with her academic progression. She was currently on extended hiatus from college, for the fifth time now (although it sometimes felt more like the five hundredth to her) that Summer early semester, due to a rather painful ear infection, an occurrence so frequent throughout the general scope of her young life it had honestly become second nature, regrettably.
At the rate she was going, it was becoming a rather strong possibility that she just may become a 'seasoned' sophomore, the way she was rapidly falling behind within the majority of her current classes. . . .
With another loud, and generous yawn, shaking off the last of her sleepiness, in addition to her brooding, quite familiar thoughts, Sandra then carefully popped the two white colored and slenderly shaped medicated pills into her mouth before lifting her full glass of water to her lips to take a deep, thirst-riddled swig.
A few minutes after, Sandra was ready to face the new day, a bit more fresh faced, both metaphorically as well as literally, now that her basic grooming rituals were out of the way. Exiting both her bathroom as well as her bedroom, her favorite lilac colored robe wrapped securely around her, she quietly moved down the short hallway leading to her kitchen to get a start on breakfast. All five of her affectionate, although at times much more so mischievous cats were already gathered, quite blatantly waiting, a bit impatiently it seemed for some of them, for their morning meal, as well.
Sandra felt herself go into autopilot by that point, moving further into the kitchen and carefully stepping over or generally maneuvering around each fluffy feline in order to reach her metallic silver colored CD player faithfully propped up against her kitchen wall nearest her stove. Like always, before anything else got done throughout the course of each newborn day, Sandra's prized album of her favorite J-Pop artist had to be blaring throughout her comfortably sized apartment. Not only did doing so usually helped keep her awake a lot easier, but it also just generally seemed to speed up the process of whatever daily chores and errands she'd have set for the day.
This particular day, it was Sandra's hope to go into town some time later on in order to pick out a few new art supplies, as she so desperately needed to let loose some creative steam, but since today's chore list was already shaping out to be quite the long one, it looked as though she was going to have to give the list to her mother when she stopped by a bit later to check in on her daughter, before heading to work.
Sandra couldn't honestly recall the last time she had been able to set aside an entire day for herself to simply embrace her creative side, the way she used to be able to do before entering college, and before her onslaught of repeated ear infections began. If it wasn't doodling, either by hand or digitally through the use of her trusty computer, she would be crafting homemade jewelry, a bit of clothing, or some furniture such as throw pillows.
And if that wasn't enough to occupy, or satisfy her ongoing zest for personal expression, Sandra would then switch to cooking or baking up various, delicious dishes and treats for herself or for her family, the majority of her recipes usually being gluten-free, of course, or else her extremely sensitive stomach would surely pay the ultimate price, otherwise.
Lastly, another pastime the multitasking, talented young woman rather enjoyed doing was writing, weaving literal yarns which were mostly short stories, if not the occasional poem here and there. Of all of her activities, it was her writing, especially those short stories of hers that Sandra was careful not to share with others, namely, her family.
Because although she was very much an adult, Sandra's parents, Raymond and Liv, still insisted very much upon telling her what to do, when and how to do it, for a fairly large encompassing part of her overall life and affairs. And although they, in truth, meant well with their overprotective nature towards their habitually poorly feeling child, it was nonetheless rather stifling to Sandra, especially concerning her various outlets.
It was, after all, through which she could and would escape the admitted limitations both her health, as well as hovering parents, especially her mother, would impose upon her, consciously or no.
And this was precisely why Sandra could never allow either parent to read any of her literary creations. And it wasn't honestly because said creations were of the brooding, rage filled variety, either, as what possibly might be expected from most anyone else placed within her particular way of life.
It was actually due to the fact her storytelling mindset had almost always been fairytale oriented, settings froth with abundant fantasy themes of far off places, magical creatures and superheroes. Although this was quite common, downright normal, especially nowadays for majority of society, what with the latest movies and television shows illustrating the point home even further, it was anything but to Sandra's parents.
To them, such activity was more or less a waste of time, time which could be better spent doing something much more productive. Sandra could only imagine the 'gripe-fest' (as she privately referred to whenever either her father, or more often, her mother would get going about whatever leftover errand or chore their daughter had yet to complete within her own home) which would be had if it was ever discovered that not only did she, herself, partake within 'such activity,' but more often than not modeled every hero, or heroine, more accurately, astoundingly after herself within her stories.
What a field day that would be, having to explain away the primary reason for her doing so was so that she could feel a way she never truthfully had before within her real life.
Strong.
Completely confident, and capable.
Unrelentingly brave, and utterly triumphant within all that she would pursue.
These were usually the main 'ingredients' Sandra would add to each superheroine she would create for any of her newest short stories. In truth, they really were the complete opposite to her actual self, the longer she thought about it to herself now.
She couldn't honestly imagine anyone who would ever, in their right mind, at least, take the time to write a fantasy tale about her, and the way she presently was.
No one would go pay money to go see a movie, or sit down at home to watch a television series about a young woman who possessed babysitter parents, a stomach made of jelly, and other numerous, lifelong health afflictions which would most likely cause the average person to go insane at having to deal with them for two decades now.
What a blockbuster hit that would be, huh? And what wonderful 'superpowers,' too, Sandra grimly mused as she set about feeding her practically screaming quintet of cats encircling her about the kitchen floor, and now also her two Golden Retrievers bringing up the rear, now that they, too, were evidently awake enough to eat. But I guess it's a good thing, then, that I'm really not some superheroine, after all, if I can't even be left alone to make enough decisions about my life on my own, not even about where I personally wish to live. The world would certainly be doomed having me as its savior, otherwise. . . .
Yes, without a doubt, things were certainly becoming rather strained between Sandra and her folks lately, this morning being the very first she'd actually fully realized this.
But she could cope, although just barely, with their constantly coming over, nearly every two hours (a small amount of time which lately made her rue that her parents lived close enough to their daughter in order to accomplish every scheduled visit so swiftly) just to check on her to see how she was fairing with her ear infection.
However, each visit was now mostly spent trying to persuade Sandra to pack up and move with them away from Washington state where they presently resided, away from her school, and all the way to, of all places, Italy.
No matter how many times she'd tell them no, that she liked her hometown as well as her fairly new apartment, and would rather eat a large helping of Escargot than move to Tuscany, Mr. and Mrs. Poole still insisted, quite emphatically, upon the move.
Sandra wondered when, no, if her parents would ever firmly realize that, despite the limitations her health would at times present to her, she was nonetheless quite capable of fending for herself, especially now that she was finally living on her own.
But at the rate things were going, it seemed as though her parents would get their way, yet again. . . .
Suddenly feeling her momentarily shaken off exhaustion now returning in full force, which also now curiously intermingled with an odd sort of tingling sensation deep within that she couldn't quite place, Sandra dearly desired more than ever now to return to her inviting bed. But the day was only just beginning, and so, too, were the mountain of 'to dos' she hadn't even made a dent in.
Straightening up her posture after finished feeding her sea of pets their breakfast, Sandra wearily slid her blue eyes towards the pile of leftover dirty dishes still awaiting her from the previous night within her kitchen sink, and groaned in defeat.
She then gazed over at her sealed refrigerator, to the right of the sink, and quickly looked over the hurriedly written list of today's affairs she'd propped up against the freezer door. Besides the dishes, there was still also the matter of cleaning out her cats' litter boxes, sweeping the kitchen floor, organizing her living room, taking her dogs out for their daily walk, and then heading to the pet store for some more cat and dog food.
"I'm definitely starting to feel a bit like 'Cinderella' right about now, certainly wishing I had a few extra set of helping hands," Sandra mumbled to herself as she vigorously rubbed at her smooth, and pale forehead, before peering up at the blue, gold, and silver colored wall clock perched above her stove. "Good. At least it's still pretty early. I should have enough time to get everything done before Mom and Dad come over for dinner. But, first, I'm definitely going to take my bubble bath now, instead of after everything is done, because this ongoing stress is just way too much, too soon today. . . ."
Grimacing one last time towards the stockpile of soiled dishes, alongside the disheveled living room adjacent to where she presently stood inside of her dusty kitchen, Sandra once again carefully leaped over or stepped around her clan of ferociously feasting animals, quickly pausing her CD player along the way, and eagerly headed back into her bathroom in order to draw her inviting and relaxing bath.
Unbeknownst to the young ebony haired woman, her bathe would turn out to be far more relaxing than she could ever imagine, not only for her returned fatigue, but also for the tasks still left to be done and that she personally would never get a chance to complete. . . .
The moment Sandra had sunk her entire body all the way into the warm, frothing bathtub full of soft bubbles, and shortly thereafter already began to lightly and carefully doze off within it, it was almost as though her entire apartment had suddenly taken on a life of its own.
Only her now befuddled, and frozen solid pets were able to bear witness to the kitchen faucet inexplicably turning on by itself, with each dirty dish and utensil lifting into the air one by one, in order to be soaped and rinsed by the simultaneously hovering blue sponge before them.
And once every last piece of plate ware had finished being cleaned by whatever, unidentifiable invisible force, Sandra's sometimes forgotten dishwasher suddenly then opened itself, and all the dishes swiftly 'flew' into it before settling securely inside, somehow, without one of them breaking.
Cabinets and drawers then opened, as well, and so, too, did Sandra's cutlery and drinking cups also hurriedly float over and into their respective places.
That was the last bizarre event any of Sandra's 'babies' bore witness to, as after that her broom and dust pail suddenly began to spring into action, as well, as it swept along the kitchen floor, causing all seven animals to scatter like roaches at the sight (although they honestly would have done so, regardless, as sweeping, nor was vacuuming a particularly favorite activity for their owner to do whenever they were around).
Sandra's two kitty litter boxes placed within the far corner of the living room simultaneously began to clean themselves up clear of the messes left behind by all five feline occupants at one point, as though a camouflaged hand were suddenly guiding the white colored litter scooper and small plastic shopping bag hovering within the air along.
And then finally, the rest of the living room itself promptly set about rearranging everything within it back into its former order of cleanliness. The same, undetectable influence as the rest of that nearby area of Sandra's apartment continually aided within the process, this time with pillows momentarily raising from off of the unsuspecting young woman's tan tinted couch to fluff themselves, just as randomly discarded books zipped through the air and replaced themselves away from the now cleared off coffee table, and back inside of the book shelf set behind the turned off television in the center of the vicinity.
One would have honestly believed the entire, unbelievable phenomenon to have been the product of some sort of otherworldly dream to have witnessed, otherwise, and when Sandra had reemerged from the bathroom, freshly dressed and far more rejuvenated than ever before that early morning several minutes later, she had truthfully surmised that she, herself, was still very much back within her bathtub, fast asleep and heavily within a dream of her own.
She felt her blue, much more alert eyes rapidly blinking for a few moments, before letting out a sharp outcry of alarm the instant she'd surveyed the now curiously tidy living quarters.
"W-What the –? I-I . . . Did I. . . .? Huh . . . I must . . . must have already gotten all of my chores done before my bath, and had simply . . . forgotten because I was still feeling pretty tired," she stated, rather weakly to herself as she shakily raised a hand to her lips, gently covering them in mild comfort as she attempted to feebly assess the situation and readily explain it away.
That had to be the answer, after all, right? What else could have been the case?
If Sandra's far less than ironclad stomach weren't feeling quite as uneasy as it was right then by the startling events, her normally daydreaming, fantasy adventurous mind just might have wished to entertain the notion that perhaps some sort of unknown, perhaps even magical entity, a guardian, perhaps, had decided to intervene upon her behalf in order to cut her some much needed slack within her workload.
Perhaps.
But even despite the amount of fairy tales concerning mystical creatures and godmothers she had ever read, as well as personally written about, herself, Sandra knew full well that none of that was, nor ever could be possible in real life.
It just couldn't. . . .
And so, before she could dwell upon it some more, and thereby further succeeding within honestly creeping herself out, especially since she was still very much home alone for another few hours until her parents arrived for dinner, Sandra immediately pushed such a notion far out of her mind, before swiftly deciding to forgo breakfast and instead take her two dogs out for their morning walk a little ahead of schedule.
The way her day was already molding itself, she absolutely needed to get out of that apartment, tout de suite.
The warm and inviting Canadian air playfully swirled and caressed the faces of nature, animal, and people alike that late Summer morning. And because the weather was positively inviting to be a part of that day, several parks which littered the grand and beautiful city of Ottawa were equally infiltrated with people of all ages.
Children scampered to and fro, or gaily swung upon tire swings without a care in the world.
Adults were either busy jogging, or 'busy' doing nothing, as quite a few of them leisurely rested upon the grass, or upon one of the platoon of benches splayed about the park, while meticulously looking after some of those playing children.
Teenagers (mainly boys, it seemed), meanwhile, lazily hung out sporadically up against trees or by other park benches, feverishly chatting away about how many dates each of them have acquired within the past week.
Even the elderly were a bit spry that morning, as some power-walked around the park or headed into and out of the nearby recreational building to participate within the morning Aqua Aerobics classes which were being offered.
The remaining statistic was an intermingling of people, both young and old, who were busy walking their dogs, or playing Frisbee with them further inside of the park.
Clearly, virtually everyone was remaining active either outside or near the flourish, populated park. However, there was at least one person in particular who seemed to be doing more work than relaxing.
Seated alone upon one of the benches nearest a lavish fountain erected within the center of the park, and paying zero attention to the goings on around her, was a young Asian American woman by the name of Kaitlin (or "Katie," as she preferred to be called) Lu.
Within her hands was a sketchpad, along with one of the many drawing pencils she'd brought with her; and upon her creamy complexion was an extremely frustrated expression. . . .
Argh! Why can't I get the face just right? thought the seventeen-year-old within exasperation, furiously erasing the face of what looked to be a mythical-oriented adult feline with feathery-like wings. I'll never get it done on time. . . .
One of Katie's good friends was an avid fantasy and cat-lover, and so as a gift, Katie had decided to merge her friend's two favorite interests together through drawing.
Quite an easy feat normally, as Katie was a natural, extensively talented artist; however, lately she hadn't been able to focus. No matter how much or how hard the relatively tall girl had tried, she couldn't make the picture come out exactly the way that she wanted it to - And it was, at this point, beyond irking her.
Especially since she was astoundingly aware of the reason behind her initial upset. . . .
"It's because of the stupid move," muttered Katie within reply to her brooding thoughts, brushing a stray strand of her mid-back length, ebony colored hair (that was occasionally on the messy, however nonetheless appealing, side) from out of her molasses-hued brown eyes. "And not just any move, either. Ohhh, no! It just has to be all the way to Europe!Ugh . . . sometimes my life can be such a drag. . . ."
Traditionally, Katie was a pretty carefree, 'happy-go-lucky' sort of girl. However, ever since her father, Alec, had made the announcement last week that he had yet another job transfer, her good nature had immediately wilted.
Just when I thought we were finally going to settle down. . . . she thought with a sigh, trying to resume her 'quest' to draw the feline's face without overdoing either the eyes or ears. The only good thing about all of this is now maybe Dad will be home a lot quicker whenever returning home from Japan. . . .
With her heritage being rooted within Japan, Katie's father often returned there once every two months and resided there for nearly two weeks while working on business deals. Recently, the stock which Mr. Lu had been working with had just been redistributed amongst the European countries, with Italy being the focal point (which was precisely where he and his family would now live).
Being transferred once more (and within a year of the last, no less) was bad enough, but halfway across the world? Katie was getting readily tired of being uprooted numerous times within the last three years alone - Far more times than the average person could not even begin to imagine, let alone undergo.
She didn't want to have to go through the entire 'moving experience' again, but she especially didn't want to go through the dreaded emotions which accompanied said experience . . .
What aggravated the young teenager the most right now, was that the day that she was scheduled to move was also the same day of her eighteenth birthday. Of all the days to leave the place she was finally able to call 'home,' did it have to be on her birthday?
To make matters worse, Katie had promised all of her friends a grand birthday bash at "Paramount Canada's Wonderland" in Toronto for an entire, fun-filled day. Now it looked as though it would instead have to be a going away party. . . .
Wrinkling her nose within distaste, Katie pressed her pencil so hard down onto the paper that she nearly ended up poking a hole straight through it.
Leaning back against the park bench, she exhaled an extremely perturbed, defeated sigh.
It was official: Today was shaping out to be a pretty defective day.
Plus side? I don't honestly see how my sour mood can get any worse, though,she readily thought within a bit of backwards self-comfort, at the same time that she idly set her sketchpad onto the bench at her side to take a momentary break.
It was right then, suddenly, that the gaggle of teenage boys who were hanging around the trees and benches across the way from her had apparently decided to adjourn from their spot and eagerly strutted over to the solitary young woman.
Instantly freezing, as Katie hadn't planned on socializing with anyone (especially not with a sea of pretty handsome-looking guys, who all seemed genuinely excited and interested by her presence), her brown eyes widened within pleasant surprise while subconsciously smoothing down her vaguely disheveled dark locks with one hand.
Hmm . . . maybe my day can be salvaged, after all,she mused within reinstated effervescence.
"H . . . Hi?" said Katie with a bit of uncertainty, while staring up at the crowd of high school aged males, who had begun to crowd around her without a word, with only small, bedeviling smirks spread across each chiseled visage.
"Yeah . . . hey. Say, listen, me and my 'colleagues' here were all just wondering something," remarked the tallest and apparent ringleader of the all-male group, as he casually propped his black sneakered foot up onto the bench's arm rest nearest to Katie's sketchpad.
Suddenly finding herself too engrossed within the obviously athletic young man (judging by the rippling muscles that seemed to be begging to break free from out of his white t-shirt and dark red Letterman's jacket) and his flawless, shady blonde hair and vibrant, emerald green eyes, Katie hadn't honestly taken notice of the curious ongoing of his fellow sportsmen that were beginning to take place.
"You . . . were, huh? What about?" she inquired as nonchalantly as she could, offering up a small, but nonetheless pretty smile to the seemingly enthralled male teenager.
"Well, you see, we sort of had a big debate going on between us," he modestly began while returning the smile, at the same time that he discreetly motioned to his friends to cease within the faint but growing collected snickering surrounding the unsuspecting girl.
"Mmhmm, see, we were all within a very heated give-and-take about whether or not you were busy over here, drawing yourself a boyfriend or something, since it's pretty clear that you're just some pathetic loserto be by sitting by yourself like this!" the boy finished harshly, snatching Katie's sketchpad from off of the bench and away from her before she could even react.
Katie felt her face instantly flood with hot, raging blood within embarrassment as she helplessly watched her former admirer and his buddies guffawing it up at her deplorable expense.
"G-Give that back to me, you jerks!" she'd managed to heatedly blurt out, after at last swallowing what felt like a watermelon-size frog down her dry throat.
"What, you mean your precious imaginary lover boy you'd been drawing all this time?" countered the leader of the still cackling pack (which now honestly sounded a lot more like a pack of wild hyenas, due to their unending, regrettable and unappreciative laughter), tauntingly flapping the confiscated sketchpad directly above the girl's raven-colored head, as he was greatly taller than she by comparison.
Although she desperately wanted it back, Katie was still far too dignified to jump up and down and beg like some sort of forlorn canine to retrieve her stolen property.
In the meanwhile, however, she did continue to verbally protest, while violently glaring daggers piercingly into her newfound bully's eyes, which now only reminded her very much of a snake due to their shade. And that's exactly what he was, as far as she was concerned, to willingly do such a thing to her - To anyone - like this.
"If you don't give me back my sketchpad right now, I can promise you that you will regret it!" she firmly threatened, surprising herself more than any of the surrounding males before her in the process.
Right. What are you going to do if this goon doesn't give it back? Draw him into oblivion?she mused with great skepticism, while continuing to mull over what she had verbally stated and why, given that she was not generally a volatile person, nor was she honestly menacing within any sort of capacity.
And against a group with a collected girth of a giant bulldozer? With the way her day, as well as luck was shaping out, Katie briefly surmised that her offending brutes could and would easily break her in half like a toothpick (that is, if they didn't first fold her up like one of the many pieces of paper within her still captive sketchpad, anyhow).
Shaking her sable tinted head within swift dismissal of her worrisome (however much exaggerated) thoughts, Katie watched as the blonde haired head honcho scoffed obnoxiously, before his friends followed suit for added effect.
"Oooh, hear that, you guys? This little lady here has a sharp tongue within that pretty little mouth of hers!" he lewdly commented, lowering his sketchpad-wielding arm and backed away from the increasingly frenzied young Asian American woman before him, so that she could not effectively snatch it away.
"You actually think that we're afraid of you? Let's hear what your 'boyfriend' has to say about all this - I don't think that he'd very much appreciate his woman talking ill of anyone in such a way," he finished with a disgusting sneer, before at last lowering his sickly green eyes onto Katie's unfinished, magically winged-cat.
She didn't have to be a psychic to know what was coming next, as she could outright tell by now that none of the unsavory young men within her vexed presence had a sensitive bone within their horrid, steroid-induced bodies. So, therefore, she knew right from the start of this whole unfortunate ordeal that the moment that any of them eventually and properly laid eyes upon her fantasy-themed drawing, that one, if not all of them, would immediately burst out into a renewed chorus of laughter.
Sure enough, after taking in the sight of the rather cuddly, yet also slightly formidable otherworldly feline, the blonde devil abruptly exploded into a ruckus of expressed mirth. A few of his friends around him had even begun to chime in, despite not having yet seen the picture, making it clear to Katie all the more that none of them had any sort of individuality, let alone brains.
"Holy crap! C-Check this out! Chick wasn't drawing herself a boyfriend - She was drawing herself one of those ridiculously stupid and useless imaginary friends that only desperate, lonely people make up 'cause they have no life!" he exclaimed with glee, before passing around the drawing for the rest of the guys to see.
"Geez! You're even more pitiful than I thought! C'mon, you guys! It's not even worth it to yuck it up at her expense anymore! Catch you later, 'Loser-Girl!'" said the leading perpetrator, before at last turning around to leave Katie to her own devices, his harsh cackling ringing throughout the atmosphere as he did so.
"Y-Yeah! You 'Loser-Girl!'" mimicked the shortest of the teenage boys, a redhead who was one of the last to leave and who also briefly held within his clammy hand Katie's looked-down-upon sketchpad, before carelessly tossing it down onto the grass at her feet.
Lightly cursing underneath her breath, Katie crouched down onto the soft grass to at last retrieve her now slightly dirty sketchpad, at the same time that her body curiously began to tingle within increased heat, as well as vague nausea.
". . . . Sure, you laugh it up now, boys, but I'd like to see how you'd react if you really saw one of these flying cats right in front of you. . . ." she muttered bitterly to herself, at the same moment that she seized the grass-stained drawing of the feline in question and peered down upon it a bit longingly.
Suddenly and without warning, an extremely illuminating, soft yellow light surrounded the two-dimensional drawing. The next thing she knew, Katie was face to face with a three-dimensional, living and breathing version of her feline friend.
Her eyes widened as the overly dark and slightly embellished eyes of the cat met with hers momentarily within kindness, before swiftly flying away through the air and towards the offending culprits with a startling-like vengeance.
"W-Wha -? Come -! . . . back?" stammered Katie within congested, frantic confusion, before scrambling to her feet and helplessly watched her once inanimate creation glide effortlessly over to the teenage boys.
"Whoa! Dude, look out! I-It's that freaky-looking cat drawing . . . come to life? Run!" exclaimed the short redhead who had been the last to hold onto the sketchpad of the bunch, and so was the first to recognize the fantasy being.
"H-Huh? I - Ahh!" screeched the blonde leader, as he and the rest of his crew finally caught sight of the creature now whirling teasingly over their heads, causing them to violently flail their arms around within protection.
Katie, meanwhile, was unsure of whether she should cross the distance between them to help, or sit back and enjoy the show.
Still, by the same token, despite having been humiliated by them, she knew that assisting them was the right thing to do . . . although, she did not know how, exactly, to go about doing so. She was still honestly trying to figure out how it had all happened in the first place.
Surprisingly, however, the encompassing atmosphere did not seem to agree with Katie's sentiment to aid within the newfound plight of the young men, as several people then began to either run away, stare in shock, or honestly laugh within amusement.
No matter the scenario, no one bothered to help.
"Mommy! Look at the funny men dancing!" gleefully cried out a little girl with auburn pigtails and dressed within a pink floral dress standing several feet away from the jumpy youngsters within question.
Her mother, who was by her side, swiftly snatched her away from the scene, a deep scowl of disapproval spread evenly across her face.
"Don't pay any attention to them, Susie! You boys should be ashamed of yourselves, causing a big commotion like this for nothing!" hissed the mother sharply towards the young group of males, before once more yanking her daughter's arm to walk her away from the scene.
"W-What? 'For nothing?' Are we the only sane people in the park today who can see this crazy, airborne cat whizzing around above us?" exclaimed the tallest blonde, while he and his men continued to duck for cover from their flying predator, at the same time that more people began to vacate the premises.
"W-Wait . . . Are they the only ones who can see what I'm seeing? It would explain why no one seems to want to help, nor even care to. . . . Then again, they could also just be aware of how big a jerk all of them are and feel they deserve it," murmured Katie to herself within utter befuddlement. ". . . . I guess it's . . . up to me to save them, after all. . . . Although, I still don't know how or why this has happened. . . . I mean, all I said was that it's too bad that my drawing wasn't real and - That must be it!" she began to figure out, at last managing to wrench her brown eyes away from the chaotic scene before her, as she then returned her gaze onto the blank sheet of paper where her feline conception used to be.
"M-Maybe if I just . . . just think - Concentrate on wanting this to stop . . . for the the cat to become just a harmless drawing again, then . . . maybe . . . hopefully it will -" Katie weakly reasoned, before the suddenly abrupt sounds (or lack thereof) of silence cut her off.
Looking up, she could see all of the guys huddled together within a tight circle upon the ground, heads covered . . . while the flying cat was nowhere to be seen. . . .
It was then that Katie felt the sketchpad within her hands grow inexplicably warm, causing her to look back down. As she did so, she could see that the winged feline, once again shrouded by the same eerie pale yellow light from before, as it calmly settled back into the book without protest.
Stunned, Katie could only stare, wide eyed a few more moments, before slowly reaching out to gently poke at the drawing to make sure that it had truly returned to its stationary status.
When nothing had happened, Katie immediately gathered up her belongings and sprinted out of the park before anyone - Especially not the still cowering group of male teenagers - could recover and then try to point fingers directly at her.
Suddenly, moving away again may not be such a bad thing, after all, as I'm apparently losing my marbles staying here!
- To Be Continued. . . .
(A.N. Ummmm...what to say...Chapter Two, everyone, with, again, a newly added beginning scene of the new/replacement Guardian-to-Be, Sandra, courtesy of Evilness's brain, and then the same second half as its Eos days. =) True, some may feel that both Sandra and Katie seem a lot alike, at least in terms of interests, or rather, both going on about drawing and blah blah, but to tell the truth, the majority of quintet of females these new Guardians are modeled after in real life each are into and/or partake within artistic workings. Coincidental, really. LoL
Methinks, even to this day, with the revisions to this story included, both Katie's, and then, later, Melody's power debuts are my favorite. =) Someone remind me to ask you readers which one was/is/will be yours, as well, after the next chapter is re-posted, as well, showcasing Melody and Shin's early abilities. =)
In any event, Evilness and I both hope you enjoyed the latest chapter, shall review, and stay tuned for the next one!)