Cat crawling

[stalksindarkness]

Shadow here has been doing nightly patrols, starting from the Sigma Spire which he now lived, and throughout downtown and west side. West side seemed to be the more small time crooks, which he honestly preferred because they tended to pick on folks who couldn't really take care of themselves. Slow weekend though, it seemed.

Otherwise his plans were simple. Enjoy the warm weather, spend a dubious amount of time watching Ben's DVD box set of Sumo Slammers, and maybe get some time in at the park.

1. Catch Shadow on a patrol in the older neighborhood or downtown. He won't say no to the company, but if you want to cause him trouble...
2. On Saturday night, Shadow sneaks into an arcade after it closes. Beats having to deal with the crowds. Also the constant problem of him being a lion and people generally being afraid of him. At least he's paying?
3. Shadow now has his own room in the Sigma Spire. Why is there faint mewing coming from behind the door?
4. There's a lion on the soccer field! There's a lion on the soccer field. And of course the teenagers and the mothers are not all to happy about it. You'd think he'd have a more positive public relationship by now. Worst thing is all he wanted to do was play some ball!

Comments

[thesmartone]

[Gwen is on patrol when she sees Shadow. At first she thinks she might be seeing things, so she tracks it, following from the rooftops for a few blocks as it makes it's way around town.

Nope, that is definitely not a normal cat.

She throws a few energy beams down to try and block it's path. After all, she's not stupid enough to just jump down there in the line of those teeth.]

[stalksindarkness]

[Not a normal cat, but only the size of a large dog thankfully. It halts in it's tracks at the pink energy suddenly in his face, uttering a noise that distinctly suggests he's surprised.

He looks left and right, then doubles back and runs for it.]

[thesmartone]

[Seriously?

Oh, right, fight or flight. She doesn't want to hurt the thing, so she tries to guide it into an area that it can't get out of and she can close off. How she plans to figure out what to do next is seriously anyone's guess.]

[stalksindarkness]

[And one barrier to another, she's got him moving in a specific direction, at least until he figures out what's happening.

He turns and heads towards street light, dropping into the shadow cast by a mail box right next to it.]

[thesmartone]

Seriously?

[She's going to try and illuminate that area with a panel. Seriously, this is one weird cat.]

[stalksindarkness]

[Nononononono! He is not about to go surfing darkness at this time of night. Who knows what bumps in the night down there? With the light shining on him, he leaps out of the shadow and bounds at Gwen, trying to knock her off her feet.]

What do you want?!

[The words come paired with a-- Well you can't quite call it a roar. A snarl? It's like when a preteen sounds like when his voice just starting to break.]

[thesmartone]

[Gwen goes down with a 'gyah!' and is pinned. She tries to throw up a barrier between her and the cat but can't move her arms. Then it registers. The cat talked. The CAT talked.]

Did you just ...

[stalksindarkness]

[The cat sits and holds her arms down. She's either holding back or unable to do anything like this. Thankfully he's heavy enough to hold a fifteen year old girl down. Unless she can push off a hundred and twenty pound cat off of her.]

Answer the question. Why are you attacking me?

[thesmartone]

[She will sure try.]

I thought you were an escaped zoo cat; why are you talking?

[Answers for answers here cat!]

[stalksindarkness]

[Guh, of course everyone thinks he's an escaped zoo cat. Life is hard.

He starts thrashing his tail, just out of sheer annoyance of the inescapable fact that humans are afraid of him.]

And that's what everyone says--

I talk because I used to be human, and I have a chip in my brain.

[A low rumble is heard as he shifts his weight.]

If I let you go you're not going to try to catch me again, are you?

[thesmartone]

[She's already starting to wriggle out, but her costume is taking the brunt of it.]


Are you going to run?

[stalksindarkness]

Why should I have to run? You were the one making assumptions.

[Standing up, he walks off her, a paw stepping on her stomach in that same way that someone who wasn't aware of his surroundings would. Complete accident.]

I don't really gotta answer to you, do I?

[thesmartone]

[Accident her butt. That was totally on purpose.]

You're the one who's a giant cat. People are bound to think you escaped from the zoo.

[She refuses to deny that her own logic was right. She's also going to inspect the damage on her outfit.]

Great, now I'm gonna need a new suit.

[stalksindarkness]

And I didn't even use my claws. [Must have gotten torn on the ground.]

I'm not even that big! I'm not even a quarter the size of big lions, you know.

And some umbra beasts are giant sized. Like... bear sized. Come on!

1

[gigigigigigi]

[Amazon likes hanging around older neighborhoods, mostly because they aren't as crowded and terrifyingly loud and full of civilization, and they're not at all like the jungle.

What is like the jungle is seeing a big cat prowling around. This is a problem, for Amazon has learned that a big cat prowling around usually means someone's getting eaten or getting into a fight. He's following after Shadow now, intent on saving anyone who might need to be saved.]

[stalksindarkness]

[Amazon, your success will be determined on how well you can scale a wall, as Shadow leaps up to a window sill on one side of an alley, to the fire escape on the other side, and climbing up to the top off the building.

Once up there, he lays on the roof edge, watching the lights bleeping on throughout the town as the sun sets.]

[gigigigigigi]

[Amazon is pretty nimble, and there's a little bit of parkour action as he runs and jumps, using the fire escape like he's clambering up monkey bars to get up there.

There is also a scream from within the apartment building as someone sees a weirdo in a loincloth climb by their window, but it dies down quickly once he moves on.]

[stalksindarkness]

[If the sound of you coming up to the top of the roof didn't tip him off to being followed, the scream and the smell sure did. This was like the millionth time this has happened. He turns and emits a low rumbling noise, advertising his agitated mood he's suddenly found himself in.]

For the last time! I'm a good guy---

Whoa. [Is that Tarzan, or what?]

[gigigigigigi]

[Amazon was not expecting the lion to talk, and he growled in surprise as he took a step back.]

You talk?

[stalksindarkness]

I talk and I wear pants. [He gestures to the tan pair of shorts he was wearing, then lowering his eyes at the guy.]

What do I have to do to get you people off my back?

[gigigigigigi]

Pants no good. No like wear.

[Poor lion, to not know the freedom that is wearing a loincloth. And Amazon frowns a little, because his linguistic skills are still very much in the literal stage of things.]

Amazon not on back. Amazon stand right here.

[stalksindarkness]

You've never suffered through snow, have you? Hmf.

[Oh great. A literalistic.]

I meant, 'stop giving me trouble. That's what 'get off my back' means. You're being a burden by acting like that.

[gigigigigigi]

Snow?

[It is clear from the look on Amazon's face that he has no idea what that even is.]

Amazon want stop trouble. Why Amazon fight.

[stalksindarkness]

You don't know what snow is? [Oh man... What? Someone who doesn't know horror of winter?]

...Well, Amazon doesn't need to pick a fight here. There's no trouble.

[gigigigigigi]

What snow?

[Nope, he doesn't know. He's in for a rude awakening this winter.]

No trouble, good.

[He pauses and makes a strange hand gesture.]

Friend?