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Description
Rise Today

Kara sat in a small clearing in the woods, her raven hair shining in the noonday sun as she brushed it. A full suit of plate mail, coupled with her zweihander, sat not too far out of reach, leaving her in a thin blouse and a green short skirt. She giggled, lightly stretching as she played with the purple ribbon in her hair. 'That was such an odd dream I had last night! It was so exciting too! I wonder who that person was.' She squealed excitedly, falling back onto the floor with a laugh. "It's such a lazy day! You know, the kind of day that just makes you want to lay back and daydream! Or sleep, even better!" She smiled blissfully, reveling in the warmth.

She kicked herself back up to her feet, stretching languidly again as she reached for her armor. First on were her gauntlets, snapping into place on her wrists and forearms. She tightened a strap with a groan, shaking her hand as the weight of her armor settled. "Still, I wonder, what was up with that dream? Why did that boy appear right before me, out of thin air, no less?" She mused to herself as she strapped her breast armor on.

-------

"Hey Hayate, you ok?" Hiro frowned, looking at the bodies of the fallen nekos. "Dude, don't you think you might've over done it with the Riot a bit?"

"Dude! I didn't do even half of this..." Hayate groaned, holding an arm as he stumbled over. He looked exhausted, to the point that he might simply keel over at any moment. "I got wiped out just tryin ta keep up with these guys..."

"Is this Hayate?" Lassic asked curiously, examining the youth curiously. Hayate frowned, ducking behind Hiro.

"Who's this guy with the crazy ears? Friend of yours?"

"Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Lassic. Tis an honor to meet you," Lassic bowed politely, arms at his side.

"I'm Twixy!" The blond neko introduced herself, waving. Hayate nodded somewhat stiffly, his vision swimming.

"Dude, you seriously seem out of it. You need to rest," Hiro decided, grabbing Hayate by the shoulders before he could tumble. Hayate shrugged apologetically.

Lassic glanced around alertly, listening for some slight sound. Twixy responded casually, reaching into a house behind her and pulling out one of the enemy humans.

"I call first dibs!" Leena shouted, reaching a hand out for the human, but Twixy had already dropped the human down her shirt, smushing her breasts together gleefully yet gently.

"Can we talk inside, where it's reasonably safe, instead of talking out here? And I hoped you disarmed him before you did that Twixy," Lassic added as an afterthought.

"Hey, who're you to order us around?" Leena growled, stomping her foot as she lifted him.

"Leena, behave yourself and let him down, now!" Kri growled, sitting on a chair in a huff. "I hate agreeing with a tiny, but he's making sense, at least."

Hayate shrugged, half in amusement, half in exhaustion as Hiro helped him to a cushion.

"Kri, do you know anything about the military force that's after you?" Lassic began thoughtfully.

"Well, they seem like-"

Hayate groaned, holding his head as a small, throbbing pain permeated his skull. He rubbed his forehead, the conversation fading into the background as he tried to will the pain away, to no avail. His vision swam, a blue haze starting to cover everything...

-------

"Here here, right here!"

Kara closed her eyes, frowning. She could hear something, no someone chanting a spell of some sort, but she couldn't really tell what it was. She crouched, trying to walk as quietly as she could with all her armor on, carefully cutting through the forest. It was definitely a neko's voice she heard, but where was it coming from? What was it-? She paused in her train of thought, realizing belatedly that she hadn't had anything to eat for a day now, and licked her lips, tightening her grip on her blade.

One step. Another. She was starting to run through the forest now. She saw blue energy gathering in a clearing up ahead and vaulted, bringing her blade down in a devastating slash. Blood erupted in a crimson geyser, flying out from a victim's severed neck as another lost her arm, falling to the side with a scream. The last of the trio fell to her rear, her legs shaking as she beheld the huge cat before her. Kara ignored her for a moment, turning to the neko she'd just dis-'armed'. She was screaming in pain, trying to stanch the flow of blood with a bandage. The pain was just too much for her to even try and cast a spell.

"I'm sorry. I don't know exactly what you're up to, but I'm pretty damn sure it's dangerous for the little people." Kara closed her eyes, her blade stabbing through the helpless neko's heart. "Forgive me..."

"N-No, please, stay away..." The other catgirl begged, staring up at the raven haired girl before her. "I-I don't want to d-die..." She whimpered, crawling away from her. Kara advanced on her slowly, setting her blade against the vulnerable neck, but stopped. The eyes of the girl were wide in terror, tears falling in a veritable waterfall down her face. "P-Please..."

Kara's hand shook. She shook her head. "Fine, I'll let you go, on one condition."

"A-Anything!" the neko whimpered. Little sobs were heard from her chest.

"If you eat or torture another innocent human, I will know." Kara's voice turned more and more dead as she continued. The poor neko on the ground before her could do nothing at all to prevent the dark words from slithering into her head, into her very soul. "And you will run. And you will keep running. And running. But I'll find you. And I'll subject you to a death FAR worse then I would've given you right now. And you'll know that I'm there, waiting for you to drop your guard. Soon enough, you'll take your claws, and you'll turn them on your neck. Because you know if you don't, you'll be tortured, brutally, until you finally die."

The neko, tears in her eyes, nodded pitifully, completely overwhelmed. "F-Fine! I won't hurt another human! Just please...let me go..." Kara nodded, jerking her head to the side. The terrified cat jumped to her feet, running.

Kara sighed, her stomach grumbling, and walked off to find a fruit tree.

-------

"Lassic, what's going on?" Twixy wondered, staring at the deep blue sigil that shone on the floor. Lassic groaned, putting his claymore down in exhaustion, having just spent the last ten minutes trying to break through the barrier.

"I don't know, m'lady, but something's not right! The very air is getting charged up with magic, it seems," Lassic shivered, staring down at the unfamiliar sigil. Hiro and Kri both stopped what they were doing as a scream erupted from nearby. Leena charged in the direction, pushing over a couch. She resisted the urge to toss him in her mouth, picking up a screaming Hayate. Or at least he had been screaming. As soon as Leena lifted him, Hayate grew quiet, eyes wide in shock.

"What the hell is going on Leena? Everything's starting to fade away!"

"What're you talking about hu-" Leena started, stopping when she realized that the house they'd been in had disappeared completely, leaving only the symbol they were on. "Holy shit, what just happened!?"

Lassic and Kri both stared in shock, falling to their butts as they tried to make sense of what was happening. Hiro looked amazed, barely managing to put his gun away. Twixy and Leena watched their surroundings in fascination; Twixy swallowed slightly as she reached out.

"It's almost like we're in...space..." Twixy shook her head, glancing back at the others. "Anyone have any idea where we're going?" She blinked in shock, Leena, Kri and Hiro were already lying on the floor, knocked out. Hayate lay on a chair, hands clasped on a lily over his chest, looking for all the world as though he was dead, and Lassic was struggling just too breath, pinned under Kri. "Lassic!" Twixy knelt, gently freeing her friend from Kri's hips. "Are you ok?"

"Just a little...smothered...m'lady..." Lassic coughed, reaching for Twixy before he fell still, lost to a deep sleep.

"Lassic, we'll be fine...right?" Twixy shook her head, her own lids starting to become heavy as well. "I just...wanted to be a...designer..."

-------

Hiro groaned in pain, sitting up. A flash of pain erupted from his leg, prompting a small yelp.

"You really shouldn't try to sit up you know. You got badly injured," Kri commented dryly, sighing. Hiro looked around, realizing that he had just been sleeping on her tail. Lassic gently pushed Hiro down, a faint green glow coming from his hands.

"Please, just calm down and rest. You were really hurt."

Hiro frowned but did as he was told, looking around. From what he could see, almost everyone was there. He immediately noticed two people that were quite conspicously absent, sighing. Twixy sighed, shrugging in response to his unasked question. "I'm sorry, but I don't know where Hayate is..."

"Leena went to go find something for us to eat," Kri added in a noncommital tone.

"Where are we?" Hiro groaned, coughing as the pain slowly subsided.

"Nekosia...my home."

-------

Hayate groaned in misery, holding his head as he sat up. "Where am I?" He wondered out loud. He looked around at the forest, rubbing his eyes. After some struggling, he managed to sit up. Almost immediately after, Hayate jumped in surprise, staring at an absolutely MASSIVE pile of armor in front of him. "Woah! Who the hell needs a pile of armor THAT big??"

"AAAH! That was such a good meal!"

Hayate flinched, turning to look behind him. There stood a raven haired neko. "Oh, hello! Who're you?"

Hayate found himself lacking the courage or the strength to answer, falling to his knees. The neko positively loomed over him, her eyes seeming to pierce into his very soul.

"Oh! How rude of me! My name's Kara Zastel, a freelance Neko Knight! And you are?" She smiled kindly, bowing politely. "There's no need to be afraid. I don't eat your kind, except for the evil ones."

"M-My name's...Maehara," Hayate's voice fell to a whisper, his throat completely dry. "I'm Hayate Maehara."

Kara did a double take, putting her face so close to Hayate that he could quite clearly see himself reflected in her blue eye. "Did you just say Hayate Maehara?"

He nodded, looking slightly terrified. "Ye-Yes, that's me." Kara immediately grabbed him, lifting him up before her face. From Hayate's point of view, she looked like she was turning bright, bright red.

"It's true, now that I look at you," She started softly, smiling. "You look just like that guy in my dream..." She leaned her head forward slightly, her raven hair falling over her blue eye, revealing only her yellow eye. "Hayate Maehara...I'll protect you."

Description
Rise Today

Kara sat in a small clearing in the woods, her raven hair shining in the noonday sun as she brushed it. A full suit of plate mail, coupled with her zweihander, sat not too far out of reach, leaving her in a thin blouse and a green short skirt. She giggled, lightly stretching as she played with the purple ribbon in her hair. 'That was such an odd dream I had last night! It was so exciting too! I wonder who that person was.' She squealed excitedly, falling back onto the floor with a laugh. "It's such a lazy day! You know, the kind of day that just makes you want to lay back and daydream! Or sleep, even better!" She smiled blissfully, reveling in the warmth.

She kicked herself back up to her feet, stretching languidly again as she reached for her armor. First on were her gauntlets, snapping into place on her wrists and forearms. She tightened a strap with a groan, shaking her hand as the weight of her armor settled. "Still, I wonder, what was up with that dream? Why did that boy appear right before me, out of thin air, no less?" She mused to herself as she strapped her breast armor on.

-------

"Hey Hayate, you ok?" Hiro frowned, looking at the bodies of the fallen nekos. "Dude, don't you think you might've over done it with the Riot a bit?"

"Dude! I didn't do even half of this..." Hayate groaned, holding an arm as he stumbled over. He looked exhausted, to the point that he might simply keel over at any moment. "I got wiped out just tryin ta keep up with these guys..."

"Is this Hayate?" Lassic asked curiously, examining the youth curiously. Hayate frowned, ducking behind Hiro.

"Who's this guy with the crazy ears? Friend of yours?"

"Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Lassic. Tis an honor to meet you," Lassic bowed politely, arms at his side.

"I'm Twixy!" The blond neko introduced herself, waving. Hayate nodded somewhat stiffly, his vision swimming.

"Dude, you seriously seem out of it. You need to rest," Hiro decided, grabbing Hayate by the shoulders before he could tumble. Hayate shrugged apologetically.

Lassic glanced around alertly, listening for some slight sound. Twixy responded casually, reaching into a house behind her and pulling out one of the enemy humans.

"I call first dibs!" Leena shouted, reaching a hand out for the human, but Twixy had already dropped the human down her shirt, smushing her breasts together gleefully yet gently.

"Can we talk inside, where it's reasonably safe, instead of talking out here? And I hoped you disarmed him before you did that Twixy," Lassic added as an afterthought.

"Hey, who're you to order us around?" Leena growled, stomping her foot as she lifted him.

"Leena, behave yourself and let him down, now!" Kri growled, sitting on a chair in a huff. "I hate agreeing with a tiny, but he's making sense, at least."

Hayate shrugged, half in amusement, half in exhaustion as Hiro helped him to a cushion.

"Kri, do you know anything about the military force that's after you?" Lassic began thoughtfully.

"Well, they seem like-"

Hayate groaned, holding his head as a small, throbbing pain permeated his skull. He rubbed his forehead, the conversation fading into the background as he tried to will the pain away, to no avail. His vision swam, a blue haze starting to cover everything...

-------

"Here here, right here!"

Kara closed her eyes, frowning. She could hear something, no someone chanting a spell of some sort, but she couldn't really tell what it was. She crouched, trying to walk as quietly as she could with all her armor on, carefully cutting through the forest. It was definitely a neko's voice she heard, but where was it coming from? What was it-? She paused in her train of thought, realizing belatedly that she hadn't had anything to eat for a day now, and licked her lips, tightening her grip on her blade.

One step. Another. She was starting to run through the forest now. She saw blue energy gathering in a clearing up ahead and vaulted, bringing her blade down in a devastating slash. Blood erupted in a crimson geyser, flying out from a victim's severed neck as another lost her arm, falling to the side with a scream. The last of the trio fell to her rear, her legs shaking as she beheld the huge cat before her. Kara ignored her for a moment, turning to the neko she'd just dis-'armed'. She was screaming in pain, trying to stanch the flow of blood with a bandage. The pain was just too much for her to even try and cast a spell.

"I'm sorry. I don't know exactly what you're up to, but I'm pretty damn sure it's dangerous for the little people." Kara closed her eyes, her blade stabbing through the helpless neko's heart. "Forgive me..."

"N-No, please, stay away..." The other catgirl begged, staring up at the raven haired girl before her. "I-I don't want to d-die..." She whimpered, crawling away from her. Kara advanced on her slowly, setting her blade against the vulnerable neck, but stopped. The eyes of the girl were wide in terror, tears falling in a veritable waterfall down her face. "P-Please..."

Kara's hand shook. She shook her head. "Fine, I'll let you go, on one condition."

"A-Anything!" the neko whimpered. Little sobs were heard from her chest.

"If you eat or torture another innocent human, I will know." Kara's voice turned more and more dead as she continued. The poor neko on the ground before her could do nothing at all to prevent the dark words from slithering into her head, into her very soul. "And you will run. And you will keep running. And running. But I'll find you. And I'll subject you to a death FAR worse then I would've given you right now. And you'll know that I'm there, waiting for you to drop your guard. Soon enough, you'll take your claws, and you'll turn them on your neck. Because you know if you don't, you'll be tortured, brutally, until you finally die."

The neko, tears in her eyes, nodded pitifully, completely overwhelmed. "F-Fine! I won't hurt another human! Just please...let me go..." Kara nodded, jerking her head to the side. The terrified cat jumped to her feet, running.

Kara sighed, her stomach grumbling, and walked off to find a fruit tree.

-------

"Lassic, what's going on?" Twixy wondered, staring at the deep blue sigil that shone on the floor. Lassic groaned, putting his claymore down in exhaustion, having just spent the last ten minutes trying to break through the barrier.

"I don't know, m'lady, but something's not right! The very air is getting charged up with magic, it seems," Lassic shivered, staring down at the unfamiliar sigil. Hiro and Kri both stopped what they were doing as a scream erupted from nearby. Leena charged in the direction, pushing over a couch. She resisted the urge to toss him in her mouth, picking up a screaming Hayate. Or at least he had been screaming. As soon as Leena lifted him, Hayate grew quiet, eyes wide in shock.

"What the hell is going on Leena? Everything's starting to fade away!"

"What're you talking about hu-" Leena started, stopping when she realized that the house they'd been in had disappeared completely, leaving only the symbol they were on. "Holy shit, what just happened!?"

Lassic and Kri both stared in shock, falling to their butts as they tried to make sense of what was happening. Hiro looked amazed, barely managing to put his gun away. Twixy and Leena watched their surroundings in fascination; Twixy swallowed slightly as she reached out.

"It's almost like we're in...space..." Twixy shook her head, glancing back at the others. "Anyone have any idea where we're going?" She blinked in shock, Leena, Kri and Hiro were already lying on the floor, knocked out. Hayate lay on a chair, hands clasped on a lily over his chest, looking for all the world as though he was dead, and Lassic was struggling just too breath, pinned under Kri. "Lassic!" Twixy knelt, gently freeing her friend from Kri's hips. "Are you ok?"

"Just a little...smothered...m'lady..." Lassic coughed, reaching for Twixy before he fell still, lost to a deep sleep.

"Lassic, we'll be fine...right?" Twixy shook her head, her own lids starting to become heavy as well. "I just...wanted to be a...designer..."

-------

Hiro groaned in pain, sitting up. A flash of pain erupted from his leg, prompting a small yelp.

"You really shouldn't try to sit up you know. You got badly injured," Kri commented dryly, sighing. Hiro looked around, realizing that he had just been sleeping on her tail. Lassic gently pushed Hiro down, a faint green glow coming from his hands.

"Please, just calm down and rest. You were really hurt."

Hiro frowned but did as he was told, looking around. From what he could see, almost everyone was there. He immediately noticed two people that were quite conspicously absent, sighing. Twixy sighed, shrugging in response to his unasked question. "I'm sorry, but I don't know where Hayate is..."

"Leena went to go find something for us to eat," Kri added in a noncommital tone.

"Where are we?" Hiro groaned, coughing as the pain slowly subsided.

"Nekosia...my home."

-------

Hayate groaned in misery, holding his head as he sat up. "Where am I?" He wondered out loud. He looked around at the forest, rubbing his eyes. After some struggling, he managed to sit up. Almost immediately after, Hayate jumped in surprise, staring at an absolutely MASSIVE pile of armor in front of him. "Woah! Who the hell needs a pile of armor THAT big??"

"AAAH! That was such a good meal!"

Hayate flinched, turning to look behind him. There stood a raven haired neko. "Oh, hello! Who're you?"

Hayate found himself lacking the courage or the strength to answer, falling to his knees. The neko positively loomed over him, her eyes seeming to pierce into his very soul.

"Oh! How rude of me! My name's Kara Zastel, a freelance Neko Knight! And you are?" She smiled kindly, bowing politely. "There's no need to be afraid. I don't eat your kind, except for the evil ones."

"M-My name's...Maehara," Hayate's voice fell to a whisper, his throat completely dry. "I'm Hayate Maehara."

Kara did a double take, putting her face so close to Hayate that he could quite clearly see himself reflected in her blue eye. "Did you just say Hayate Maehara?"

He nodded, looking slightly terrified. "Ye-Yes, that's me." Kara immediately grabbed him, lifting him up before her face. From Hayate's point of view, she looked like she was turning bright, bright red.

"It's true, now that I look at you," She started softly, smiling. "You look just like that guy in my dream..." She leaned her head forward slightly, her raven hair falling over her blue eye, revealing only her yellow eye. "Hayate Maehara...I'll protect you."