This Is Paradise! In Disguise...[Lion!]

[Anonymous]

Maia was a bit hesitant now. She hadn't expected Kaito to be like this, to be curious about something strange at their door. Watching as he opened the door again, though, she was both relieved and a bit sad that the cat was gone now; she'd hoped she would get another chance at it all, to show she could be nice to the creature like Kaito seemed to want to be.

"It's not there." She said it slowly as she stepped out onto the porch. Looking out into the darkness, though, she caught a glimpse of movement and a flash of those colorful eyes the feline had. "It's probably still here...maybe it will come back," she said as she backed through the doorway to get inside again. "I'm sorry," she told him once she was beside him. "I didn't mean to act like that...it was just so sudden and it frightened me..."

What was she thinking? A Carpathian afraid of a cat that wasn't aggressive, one that had even purred in the presence of herself and her lifemate. It was a bit embarrassing, she had to admit. Looking back out through the door, towards the surrounding forest, Maia wondered what the cat had wanted, if she should go after it or if that would just scare it away.  "I think....I was right earlier to want to nap." Maia turned quickly, glancing back at the door, but she ended up going straight to the stairs and up to the bedroom. "I'll just...rest. Maybe feed later, I'm kind of hungry, but do what you want...I'm feeling a bit weird now." The truth was, Maia was afraid of anything that approached their family, as she didn't trust much now and felt it was necessary for her to do what she could to protect her lifemate and their child, even if something like this cat meant no harm.

[Lion]

If Kaito had known them, he could easily understand her sentiments, but he didn't and so he was a little upset that she had acted so rashly.  But he wasn't going to get into that with her and preferred that the night end in silence for a while.  If the cat returned, he would deal with it this time, and hopefully, not scare it off like she had.  He had hopes for a moment that the giant cat was what he thought it was.  And he smiled a off a little in the darkness, despite any of Maia's words and actions.  He acknowledged her with a slight nod and patted her arm while he held the doorknob firmly in his grip.

"Goodnight, Maia," he said behind her and looked out one of the windows by the door.  He would let her sleep if she needed it, and would let her get her rest and regain some of her wits about her.  If she only knew just what it was then, maybe she would be more calm.  Kaito then decided it was best that he wait for the cat, perhaps it would return if he was patient.  He kept smiling and thinking to himself even as Maia went upstairs and kept looking out the window.  Perhaps the cat would look for him...maybe, just maybe....

[Anonymous]

Once she reached the bedroom, Maia went silently to the bed. Eyelids heavy, she got under the covers and stared up at the ceiling. She missed Heike, though she knew she was right down the hall, but she didn't want to disturb her, as she was probably still sleeping. Sighing a little and turning over onto her side, she wondered what Kaito thought about the giant cat thing that had been at their front door. Obviously, it was something new to her, but he seemed so ready to accept it despite its foreignness. Perhaps he's seen one before, she thought.

Deciding it was out of her hands for now, though, she closed her eyes. Perhaps she would be wasting her night, but she felt it was better to be out of the way for now. Wondering if Kaito would go after the cat or let it be, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into sleep.

[Lion]

Maybe it was the giant cat he'd encountered when he was but a boy, the great feline that rescued him from his own lonesomeness and lostness in the woods when he'd decided it was a good idea to venture out on his own at the age of eight.  Stupid and young the cat had brought him back to his home and stayed with him until he felt better, perhaps even there to protect him if he really needed it.  Three hundred years ago and more, and suddenly it was back again.  But what for?

Kaito still couldn't tell if it was the same cat.  And furthermore he wasn't sure how to go about testing his idea.  Surely if it was the same one, all he could question was that it had no particular reason to come back.  He was older now and safe...  Kaito walked around a little bit, making noise with his clumsy footsteps as he was lost in thought.  That that didn't go away even when he fell asleep on the bear rug downstairs.

[Anonymous]

It had been about a week since the cat appeared at their door, and Maia had said nothing of it since that night. It wasn't that she was afraid to talk about it, but she just hadn't felt it necessary; she knew very well that even this excuse was cowardly. Now, she was keeping herself busy, going about the house early in the night to gather everything that needed to be washed, tossing it into a basket at her hip.

Venturing into Heike's room, she found the baby girl to be awake, for once. Smiling, she set her basket down by the door and made her way over to her, picked her up, and kissed her all over until she got her giggling. "Silly girl," she whispered sweetly, setting her down again so that she could change her, and when she was done she wrapped her up in a clean blanket so she could bring her outside with her. Holding Heike close with one arm, she picked up the basket again with the other and took them down the stairs and outside.

When she reached the area where she usually washed things, downstream of where anyone would ever go in or bathe, of course, she set Heike down and unwrapped her from her blanket so that she had her own little spot to stay on, trying to make it easier for herself to keep an eye on the baby. Talking sweetly to the girl, Maia had a difficult time with stopping and actually doing what she'd set out to do. Eventually, though, she got to work, kneeling beside the creek and taking care to be thorough with each item she washed. Maia wasn't sure what this night might entail, but she hoped it would be something good, something nice.

Occasionally, she found her thoughts drifting. She kept thinking of Kaito, of how she wanted to see him soon. She thought she might have just not seen him in the house or even that he was out doing something, but her heart did want him. Pausing from her work, Maia turned her head and stared off in the general direction of the house for a moment, smiling faintly, reflecting. It occurred to her then that they'd not been together in about a year, something she'd never really expected to happen but had, nonetheless. With a tinge of pink in her cheeks Maia giggled, shaking her head as she returned to her washing.

[Lion]

Kaito was exhausted and had been asleep for several days since the incident with the exceedingly large cat.  He had strange dreams of the beast emerging from the woods and wondered whether indeed the animal really was the one from his past.  Of course he hadn't seen it in years and didn't wonder whether or not that it had any valid reason to come back.  The beast was undoubtedly an ethereal figure.  He didn't know any cats that could live for three hundred years, not even large ones. At best, he knew that cats generally were not so long-lived, especially those in the wild.  Still his dreams swirled in mysticism and strangeness that even now as he slept, he heard the voices of those around him.

He wasn't aware that the creature had been lurking around the cabin for several days, watching and waiting.  The creature had fur as black as night and eyes as silver, unlike any other cat of it's kind.  It's true nature however, was a mystery, and most likely would always be.  It sauntered back and forth, away from it's place on a high rock, to a little dell where the creek had rushed in from, a spring of wonderful healing water that sated its thirst.

The cat felt a disturbance now and bounded off in a direction toward the house and watched with intent eyes at the woman of the house and her child.  It sat in a shadowed clearing, it's black fur glinting only slightly from the moonlight and it's large saucer, silver eyes glittering as it watched them with intent.  A slow, gradual purr came and eventually it became louder so that all within a hundred feet of the creature could hear it.  And it just sat there, watching, and it's eyes honed in on the child.

[Anonymous]

It was an easy distraction to fall into a daze of daydreams of her love. Due to this, Maia was exceedingly slow with her washing, and it wasn't helpful for the cause whenever she got distracted by her cooing baby girl. Now she'd stop altogether and was sitting there just playing with Heike, who seemed happy enough with her mother's attention being all about her.

Things got to the point where Maia stopped being halfhearted about it and laid down in the grass, letting the baby lay on her belly. Smiling to herself, she stroked the little girl's feather-soft hair and watched as her bright, curious eyes slowly slipped into that all-too-familiar state of sleepiness. Giggling softly, she hugged the girl against her for a moment, content to just lie there like they were for Heike to nap. It was at that moment, though, that Maia sensed something was amiss.

Slowly, she turned her head this way and that in her attempts to pinpoint the location of such a disturbance. "Who's there?" she whispered, her voice kept level. She could tell that something was there, she just wasn't sure what, and when she caught the faint glint of something in the drowning dark, she tensed. There was a sound, something faint as well, and it was making her nervous; she was only used to the sounds of the creek and the occasional rustling of the brush as creatures ventured near. This, though, was entirely different, and yet she got the sense that she'd heard it before.

As it got louder she sat up slowly, her daughter in a fierce grip as she waited in silence. Somehow it seems so...familiar. When it got even louder Maia's eyes widened a little; she could tell it was an animal now. A...purr. Oh no...is it that cat again?! she wondered, feeling slightly panicked despite what Kaito had said about the creature before, and all this without having any idea that it was staring at Heike.

Standing up, she had the overwhelming sense to flee, fully prepared to leave the laundry and the precious resource that was the baby blanket if need be so long as she could protect her child. "Come out here, come so where I can see you," she demanded, though her voice didn't carry the confidence that she thought it would have.

[Lion]

The cat was a beast with no master and no one could tame it, summon it, draw it out, or capture it without it willing that so.  The beast sauntered where it liked and hunted where it pleased.  There was no hunger burning in it's silver saucers at this particular moment, and no saliva dripped from the chops of the cat as it opened its mouth lazily to yawn.  It sat perched in the darkness, merely monitoring them, like a silent guardian awaiting to act when it was needed.

It shifted a little in the darkness, pawing the ground and even going so far as to groom negligently, aloofly and certainly not caring whether or not the woman and her child had spotted it.  It could vanish without a trace and without a chase when it wished.  The cat glinted again in the moonlight as it moved further from its place in the brush, its black fur blending in so serenely with the darkness the enveloped it.  

It sauntered further into the bright full moonlight when she called out to it, providing to the illusion as if it really was called.  It lurked on the edge of the forest and continued to purr, stalking back and forth with it's giant paws and gazing downwardly at them.  It's muscles were prevalent even through the soft fur and it kept it's eyes on the child.  Then it licked its paws and stared with unfailing eyes.

[Anonymous]

Spotting a cat like that wasn't an easy task, especially when she wasn't sure if it was the same one from before that she was looking for. Tense, she stared out before her and waited. She wasn't sure how long she stood there like that, probably looking every bit the fool for how she was reacting, but she turned her head sharply when she caught the faint glint of the animal's fur catching a sliver of moonlight. It was still purring, which wasn't all that upsetting anymore.

When, finally, it allowed itself to be seen, Maia wasn't sure if she should be happy or not with a giant cat staring at them. It didn't seem dangerous, what with its purring and all, yet she still feared its potential. Cautiously she began to back away and reached down to snatch up Heike's blanket before she turned tail and sprinted in the direction of the house. Although it was mostly herself causing anxiety for her, Maia was still so uncertain about the animal. Because of this, she was now running, seemingly, for her life, crashing through the front door and clutching her daughter against herself as she began running up the stairs. "KAITO!" she yelled. "It's here! It's here again, Kaito!"

Spooked by her own worries, she was now trying desperately to fend off having a panic attack; she had no idea what the cat was there for, what it might or might not do, and she also didn't know if she'd just led it straight to their house. Of course, she didn't know it'd been lurking around their home, and if she had she surely would have been on the alert much sooner.

Going down to the bedroom, she quickly entered the room and slammed the door shut. Heike wasn't too pleased with this, having no idea what was happening to her mother, and so she started to cry. Disheveled as she was already, a crying baby in her arms only added to the momentary onset of such high stress.

[Lion]

The fear she felt made the air thick.  The giant cat snorted, chuffing out fiercely and very distastefully.  It didn't seem to like this woman too much for now though it was necessary for her to be around for the sake of the Man.  The child was what it here for in any case and she was also necessary for the survival of the child, sadly.  The cat didn't understand the woman's fear, her behavior or why she seemed so anxious.  He meant them no harm, but it was not in the cat to care to let them know his business here.  He watched with steady eyes while his massive paws allowed him to saunter along the little stream.

But soon she took off running and he was left to sit and ponder, furry tail swishing back and forth and watching them take off, the woman shouting words it didn't understand.  The purring continued and the same cool feline confidence remained.

Meanwhile upstairs, Kaito didn't know how long he'd been asleep before he heard his name then saw Maia rushing in to the room.  He jumped out of the bed immediately and ran to her.  "Maia!  What's wrong?  What's here again!?"