Petal's tail swished as she slipped through the undergrowth of the forest. She was greatly enjoying this locale. It was her first visit to the rainforest and it was bountiful with new scents and plants and animals. It was like a paradise for her. Of course, it was very very humid, but switching to her cat form had made it easier to deal with. Her light brown pelt wasn't the greatest camouflage against all of the green around her, so if she was attacked she'd have to run for her life, but that wouldn't happen, right? She had been lucky enough to not run into any sort of predator in her cat form to her knowledge, but then again, there wasn't too many memories in her head from earlier in her life, so who knew. Either way, she was moving through the forest very confidently, her tail flicking absent-mindedly as she opened her mouth again and again to take in as many of the scents as possible. How lovely a place it was. 

While she was taking in the surroundings, Petal wasn't doing the best job in keeping track of what was directly in front of her. The ground quickly rose up to meet her, and she banged her nose right onto the ground, letting out a yelp. She cursed inside of her head as she quickly got back up to her feet, glaring at the large twig that had caused her fall. However, she was quickly grateful for it, as she soon realized that she had stumbled into a clearing of sorts. This wasn't odd on its own, but there seemed to be a…small girl…in the clearing. Petal couldn't quite tell what she was doing, but she clearly didn't have anyone accompanying her. She quickly grew nervous. Was this actually a little girl or something else? If it was a little girl…why was she alone…? She didn't know what to do, so she found herself freezing up, only able to take a step back or so. She didn't even think of turning back at that moment, as her mind was simply whirling too much for her to focus.

Naturally, the child was nervous about entering the rainforest. But it was the fastest route. Besides, as long as Neera stayed by her side, Akira should be fine. Larka destroyed many lives on that fateful day, so… even safer, yes? ”The offer to fly you over is still there, Akira.” Neera was currently nestled within Akira’s robe pocket. She was about the length of her forefinger, with huge brown eyes, and the softest grey hair. A lemur she called herself.

Defiant, though, was Akira’s shake of the head. She needed to do this. No rainforest will scare her! Soon enough, after some time of walking, her feet refused to move once she got to the clearing where that happened. Several spirits remained here, having deep resentment for three women. She could feel them lingering.

”River need come here. Make camp spot safe again.” Akira whispered. The child knelt, fingers gently grazing the ground. This was the spot Celeste had died. ”Akira need learn more from Release.” The clearing was too big, and many of their bodies had since been removed. There was no way to find everything and cleanse it all.

An odd sound caused the child to jump. Behind her, there was a brown cat staring at her with an angry ghost towering over the cat. Instantaneously, Akira darted towards the cat, hand jamming into a pocket. White crystals, if tasted would reveal it was salt, showered over the ghost as the child scooped up the cat and continued to run. ”Got you! Ghosty almost had- HEY!” Akira came to a screeching halt, dropping the cat as she gripped her now scratched arm, her white kimono soaking the crimson liquid with greed. Being very protective of the child, Neera popped out of the pocket and instantly grew to that of a snarling tiger, easily ten times larger than the small house cat, baring her fangs.

Petal could only watch in fascination as the child appeared to be speaking to themselves. What was she? She had a very beautiful tail, and her ears certainly weren't typical. What was she? A sort of fox-person? Petal was beginning to feel a little bit worried. With the way they seemed, this wasn't an older woman, this was a girl either as little as she appeared or oddly…different. She took a small pawstep forward, but paused as she felt a chill run through her body. What was that? It was very hot, why had that just happened? She was going to look around, but all of a sudden the girl jumped up to her feet. The anxiety quickly flushed through Petal again, but as she turned to escape, she could feel the arms of the little girl grasping her. Now, Petal had been pet before; she had even been held before, but she had never been grabbed like this before. Panicked, she let her claws unsheathe, scratching her way to freedom. She looked back at the little girl, but was immediately shocked to see something seemingly appearing out of the girl. It quickly grew and Petal began to feel light-headed. Why her? The tiger staring back at her would have terrified her even if she was in her human form. It was terrifying! Her ears went flat, and she very clearly shrunk in her terror. The focus needed for her to turn back would have been nearly impossible for her to harness at that point, but the thought wasn't even on her mind. The only thing on her mind was that she was going to get eaten by this tiger because a strange girl had tried to pick her up. What luck. She didn't know what god had a grudge against her, but there must have been something. Regardless, she was very close to simply fainting from the shock of it all, and she began to tremble.

Yes, her arm hurt, but the sting of the scratches were ignored as fear gripped the child’s throat. ”Neera! No!” Akira scrambled to stand between puca and cat. ”That thing can be rabid, and you protect it?” ”It just scared!” ”You’re too soft, Akira!” The child ignored the tiger and looked behind her, eyes growing wide. In moments, her blanket had been pulled from her backpack.

Throwing it over the brown cat, Akira picked her back up, scurried unto the back of Neera the tiger. ”Hurry, Neera.” It was an unexpected challenge to keep her position atop a running feline and securely hold onto the blanket. Akira had thoughtfully positioned the the blanket so that the kitty inside had a hole for her head. They ran for awhile, in silence, as they delved deeper into the forest. It was only when they reached a known settlement that tolerated outsiders did they slow to a stop.

Akira slid off of the tiger, carefully holding the blanket as she scratched and thanked Neera for their safe trip. The puca returned to the miniature lemur form and curled up in Akira’s pack, ready for a nap. As if the cat in blanket was precious cargo, the child slowly walked into town, passing coin for wrapped parcels. Then she made her way to the largest building in the settlement. While it wasn’t tall, it was easily the size of several houses. Inside, a kind lady greeted Akira.

”Ah, if it isn’t our wandering foxling. Need a room today?” ”Yes, please. Akira also need some milk.Can Akira get some food for Neera and kitty too? Akira rescue it.” The woman gave a hearty laugh and agreed to send food and milk up to the child’s room. Once inside the room, she gently placed the blanket on the bed, peeled back the edges, and slowly began to pet it with great hesitation. ”Good kitty. Nice kitty. Safe kitty.”

Petal's eyes widened even further as the fox-girl and the tiger conversed. What special sort of hell had she just wandered into? Her tiny feline heart felt like it was trying to burst out of her chest from the stress, and she felt unsteady. Regardless, she had to run. She needed to get out of here and find a place where she could focus on turning back into her human form. She was about to turn and run when all of a sudden, the child had grabbed a blanket and grabbed her again. Petal struggled, but the child's grip was too tight for her to escape from, and the blanket was too thick too scrape through. She tried to squeeze through the open space in the blanket to get out, but again, the grip was just too tight. Sighing in defeat, Petal decided to try her best to relax. Hopefully, this girl wouldn't be taking her to some sort of adoption center. She imagined it would be a bit awkward for an adult to magically appear inside a cage. Petal was starting to relax when all of a sudden they began moving at an incredibly swift pace. Was the girl running? Glancing out the hole, she couldn't tell for sure. Surely she wasn't riding the tiger right? She didn't know, though. It was either that or the girl was incredibly fast for her size. Soon, the bumps of the ride became a dull rhythm, and within the warmth of the blanket, Petal began to doze off. This girl didn't seem to want to hurt her, so there couldn't be too much harm in it…right? When awoke, there was a pleasant feeling going along her pelt. Petal let out a small purr, enjoying it. What was happening? Where was she? She groggily opened her eyes, confused. The pleasant feeling continued, and Petal looked up to see what seemed to be a hand running through her pelt. With a start, Petal realize she was being pet. Jumping up to her feet, Petal took a few panicked steps back, swiveling her head around in order to see where they were. What was this, some sort of inn? The door was closed, and Petal realized that she wouldn't be getting out of here on her own unless she turned human, but to do that she'd need time. Time that she wouldn't have with this girl here. She watched the fox-girl warily, unsure of how to proceed.

Akira smiled as a sound vibrated against her fingers in the soft fur. The cat was opening its eyes, which was a good sign. She was beginning to worry that something had happened to it. Sadly, it was scared. This much was evident as it jumped and took steps backwards, something no cat had ever done that she had witnessed before. Her head cocked as she held her hands up. "Easy. I friend. Akira no hurt you," she said soothingly.

A sudden knock on the door caused Akira to jump. "Uh… One minute please." Agitated, Akira stood and looked apologetically to the cat. "I'm sorry, kitty." She picked up the blanket and created a wall of taunt fabric between the cat and herself, the door at her back. "Come in!" When the door opened, Akira managed to keep herself and the blanket from letting the cat dart around her. With some urging, the inn worker placed the tray on a table and scurried out of the door, closing it shut tight.

The blanket was dropped with a sigh of relief. She turned to the left items to see a pitcher of milk, a platter of smoked fish, cheese, fruits and bread. Akira's mouth watered, pulling a piece off to plop it into her mouth before pouring some milk out into the saucer. It was placed on the floor by the bed as she smiled at the cat. "Milk for you, kitty. Come Neera, time for dinner." The child stood, opening her pocket as she turned away from the kitty.

Neera jumped from the pocket and landed on the platter of food, grasping a grape and began to nibbling upon it. Her large eyes watched the cat wearily. "Think it like you, like Coco?" "Something is similar. What if she is, child? What if she means you more than simple scratches as harm?" "Kitty scared. Akira would be too if giant person pick up no warning, and scary tiger growl in face."

Petal warily watched the girl. She claimed to be friendly, but why exactly had she been taken here? Why had she been acting like Petal was in danger? She wasn't sure what to do. Her thoughts were interrupted though as a presence appeared on the other side of a door. Would this be her chance to leave? She took careful steps forward until she was at the edge of the bed. She was prepared to leap off and sprint out, but clearly the fox-girl had thought of her, and she had quickly thought of using the blanket as a barrier. Petal frowned, feeling even more defeated then earlier, sitting down on her haunches.

Petal's nose began to twitch. What was that? Her eyes widened as she spotted the source of the scent. It was cooked fish! Her mouth almost watered just at the thought. However, the girl put the platter high up, clearly not meaning to give it to her, at least not yet. Her stomach growled. She hadn't had anything to eat since that morning. Her body needed food, and although she grimaced as she saw the saucer of milk, she knew she wouldn't be able to resist the temptation for long. She felt wrong, like this stranger was trying to tame her or something. She clearly didn't think Petal was much more than a cat, considering she was just given only a saucer of milk. Petal sighed, casually jumping off the bed and padding over to the bowl. She glanced warily again at the fox-girl, begrudgingly taking her first sips of milk in her cat form.

She had expected something similar to the milk she'd had at various points of her time in the towns she'd visited, but this was…different. It tasted so much richer, almost as if it was some sort of dessert rather than plain milk. It was much more delicious in this form. She started cautiously but began to greedily lap it up, ignoring the other presences in the room. Petal could vaguely comprehend that the girl was talking to something, but she wasn't looking, caught in a new realm of discovery. She almost never used her cat form when not out in nature, so this was all very new to her.

As she finished, her stomach felt a bit sick at how quickly she'd consumed the milk, but she felt satisfied. Petal glanced up at the girl again, feeling more conflicted. She didn't want to be someone's pet, especially one who could summon some sort of tiger thing, but this certainly wasn't the worst experience. She would still escape at the first possible opportunity, but perhaps she could…behave…somewhat for this girl. Petal was confused though as she saw some small creature up by the platter with the fox-girl. Was that…a rodent of some kind? A pang of dread shot through her as a thought hit her. Could that be something like a familiar? Did that turn into the tiger? Her ears flattened as the terror of the situation washed over her again as if it was fresh. She never wanted to be towered over by something so scary ever again.

Young, golden orbs slid onto the fall colored feline, a smile playing at her lips. It pleased the child to see the cat lap up the milk. As she chewed thoughtfully on a piece of cheese, Akira swallowed before speaking. "I wonder what its name is." Neera scoffed. "Since when do you ask? You name everything you see." "Everything Akira want keep." "So, you don't intend to keep that… thing?" She glared at the lemur. "Go bed, you. Mean thing. Its ears flat when see you. Scary Neera."

The two were usually like this, bickering lightly back and forth. It was typical of a responsible elder and defiant student relationship. Muttering to herself, Neera grabbed another grape and scurried off the table, disappearing into Akira's pack. Meanwhile, the child grabbed her plate, set it on the ground and laid on her belly, propping her chin on elbows. She picked at the food, chewing each bite methodically slow. "You know… Akira think you're smart kitty. Pretty kitty, too. Want some fish? Inn lady know it my favorite." In her fingers was a piece of the pale flesh, held out far away from her body.

Her advancement toward Akira was hesitant. The child has had minor experience in dealing with feral animals, and with some distance closed, rewarded the cat by tossing the fish piece toward her. "Poor kitty. Bad day, huh? Mean ghost try hurt you, Akira scare you. Tiger in face, but Neera just protect me. Akira protect you." She chewed on some fruit as she held out another piece of of the tender fish. "Akira sorry." All the while, she kept her tone friendly and soft, not wanting to spook the cat any further than she already was.

Petal watched, her suspicions confirmed as she heard the rodent speak. This had to be some sort of shapeshifter. What was a shapeshifter doing with this little girl? Was it her protector? She supposed it would make sense. When she'd scratched the girl was when the tiger had appeared. She was glad when Akira forced her into the pack. Petal stayed still as the fox-girl approached her. She was such a little child. If Petal wasn't still half-terrified she'd probably find it very cute. As of now though she just wanted out. The fish though, that was calling to her. She slowly and cautiously padded forward, tentatively sniffing. As the piece was tossed Petal had to force herself not to step back. She quickly bent down and snapped it up, immediately closing her eyes in joy over the wonderfully smoky and succulent taste. She needed to try more food in this form sometime else. Opening them back up again, her eyes darted to the piece Akira was clearly holding for her. She focused intently on the piece, deciding to be adventurous and going closer. Once she managed to get close enough, she quickly snatched the piece of fish from the girl. Petal looked at Akira, curious still as to what made this girl tick. She would need to play along with this, even though it was probably going to mean she would have to act like a cat for a while. 

An instant smile spread across her lips as the cat took the food from her hands. Grabbing a chunk of yellow cheese, Akira stood and went to her pack. After rummaging inside momentarily, she pulled out a large pouch. With all manners of seriousness, she poured a nice line of it in front of the door, and ran to the window to do the same thing. The pouch was replaced in her bag, only to have a neatly folded pile of fabric in her hands now. ”Neera, keep eye on door.” Returning to the cat, Akira slid the plate closer to her. ”Help yourself. Akira go take quick bath. Okay? Don’t go out room. Not safe.”

Akira padded into the bathing room and quickly took care of business. Every inch of her body got a quick wipe down with the soapy cloth, and her scalp and tail massaged until a decent lather coated every strand with thick bubbles. It took a minute to rinse, another to dry herself mostly, and another to slip into a fresh white with pink flowers kimono. The child opened the door, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.