I wish I could be as carefree and wild

[yousaytron]

Who: Keith and You!!
When: Any time between January 3rd-6th, before the newcomers start pouring in.
Where: Around the Far Shore - is he scouring the land outside of your temple? In a public space? Follow your heart!
What: K i t t y Q u e s t

[Following the abrupt disappearance of Yog-Sothoth’s temple and his unexpected days-long-nap, it doesn’t take very long for Keith to realize something somewhat distressing - the three cats that had made their home at the temple are nowhere to be found. With snowfall starting to creep more and more into the weather forecast, it’s for the best to try and find them as fast as he can, lest they find themselves subjected to the consequences of cold weather exposure…

Or, maybe he just really needs an excuse to keep himself busy and hold off on confronting him own troubles over Futaba’s disappearance. But, you know, still. He’s not going to just abandon a trio of cats who are used to spending time indoors, either.

Equipped with a few sheets of paper with the cats’ likenesses drawn on them, as well as a small bag of cat treats, he’s looking high and low, any place a cat or two might take shelter, which is naturally going to lead him to investigating around a bunch of buildings. Any spot that looks like it might be a cozy enough hideaway is getting a thorough look-over, even if that means sneaking around someone else’s property. It’s for a good cause. Of course, with the affinity so many heaven-bound residents have for cats, it’s only natural that he’s going to attract a good number of incorrect felines. Probably yours, if they have the freedom to go outside. Heck, his endeavors will probably catch the attention of some other temple specific critters outside of cats, too. Imagine.]


[[OOC: Hit me up either by PM or over on sandshrew if you’d like for one of the cats to be at your character’s temple, or want them to discover one of them together! Otherwise I’ll assume a fruitless search, but... maybe the real cats... were the friends we made along the way.]]

Comments

January 4th

[unlucky7]

[The grounds of Caster's temple in the Northest district are largely forest. Massive, ancient trees reach high into the sky, their sprawling root structures creating cavernous shelters perfect for an animal - or human - to hide in. Some of the trunks also twist and grow at an angle, allowing easy access to the intersections created by branches or the hollows within the trees.

With some searching, Keith ends up finding a cat, though not the one he's looking for. Sprawled across a large branch, a massive snow leopard - large enough to carry someone - blinks at him with large brown eyes, ears pinning back and head cocking to the side.

Hello, stranger.]

[yousaytron]

[If one of the cats were to have wandered into such a wild, expansive forest, what are the chances that Ketih would even be able to find them in a matter of a day or two, let alone the handful of hours he's dedicating to the location? Still, searching even a little is going to put his mind more at ease than skipping such an appealing area entirely.

Of course, one very large cat is going to be much, much easier to spot than any of the missing house cats, but being as focused as he is on lower ground, that particular discovery finds him at a somewhat... closer proximity than he would have liked.

Ah. Well then.]

Easy there, kitty.

[Holding his hands in sight in front of him, snacks and papers not withstanding, he tries to keep his tone steady, calming. Not that she seems hostile, but there's no reason to give her an excuse to be when he's the one trespassing in the first place.]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia is a light sleeper at best and it's no different in her vessel form. She wakes up as her ears pick up footsteps nearby, sits up when someone draws near. He's a stranger and she peers at him, trying to figure out if he's someone she's seen around before. Maybe at training or any other large gathering?

Hmmm... nope.

Her ears turn forward as she looks at the leaflets in his hands, also picking up the smell of cat treats. As she stretches forward to look at the flyers, it's also easy to think she's going for the treats.]

[yousaytron]

[Do big cats like treats just as much as domestic ones do...? That seems to be the question running through his mind as she leans in closer, and, he figures... maybe it's worth a try. Carefully, he tucks the papers under one arm to open up the bag and fish out a few morsels.]

I don't suppose you've seen any of the cats I'm looking for.

[Spoken as if he doesn't really expect an answer, and is mostly just talking to himself to break any tension brought on by the sudden appearance of one enormous snow leopard.]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia pulls back as the flyers are tucked away and the treats offered. She sniffs at them, whiskers bending forward. Fishy, not unpleasantly so. Despite looking like a large cat, it's only her vessel form, and animal instincts don't come with vessel forms. That fact hasn't stopped Ginia from trying to solve cat mysteries such as "why are boxes great" (inconclusive, more research required) and "is it comfortable sleeping curled up in an otherwise back-breaking U-shape" (YES).

So why not see how cat treats taste? Ginia sniffs again as she considers his question. Cats? Ah, that would explain the flyers. She shakes her head and huffs lightly. With four dogs and a pack of wolves around the forest, hopefully any missing cats have the sense to stay away. Still doesn't mean she can't keep an eye out for them. Ginia huffs and waves a paw at the flyers.]

January 6th

[missingache]

[Roxas is prone to wandering around and observing everything around him. So seeing someone crouching down and looking under things? That doesn't seem normal.

It might be even less normal for Roxas to come right over and crouching right next to this person with a curious expression.]

What are you looking for?

[yousaytron]

[Maybe a little odd, but who can really blame someone for being curious? When Roxas approaches, Keith pauses in his searching long enough to regard him, not finding himself too concerned about having company as long as said company isn't trying to chase him off the temple grounds.]

Some cats that have gone missing. Have you seen any around here recently?

[missingache]

I..... [Okay this might sound a little weird. But the guy is still fairly new so lack of memories and all...] I don't know what a cat looks like... So no? Maybe?

[yousaytron]

[Oh.

Okay.

That is probably the answer he never would have expected to hear, but he is at least kind of prepared for this situation.]

Like this, [and here he presents the drawings he’s made of the missing critters, though the one in the top corner has been crossed off after having been found the day before.] They aren’t very big, only about.... [And now he’s holding his hands out to give him an approximate size idea. You know. House cat sized.]

January 5

[replicatedform]

[After the busy days from the shrine visits, Yamanbagiri have taken this time to relax. Well, he try to relax until he feel restless enough to look for work around Konohanasakura's Temple. It's quiet enough that he doesn't mind letting the troop spirit run about. He'll be nearby in case the troop need to call for his attention.

Speaking of temple critters, Keith seems to have attracted the attention of the troop on his "patrol" around the temple. There's the sounds of a horse approaching, and if Keith turns to look he would see... a very tiny guy and his horse.]

[yousaytron]

[Surely, there are some strange things that wander around the Far Shore, and while 'tiny men on tiny horses' is probably not a typical sight by any means, Keith seems to take the sudden and surprising appearance in the kind of stride someone generally used to dealing with weird sights might.]

... Okay. [Well then.] Hello there? [Keith's guard is up, and ideally he'll try and keep at least a little bit of distance between himself and this shockingly small horse and rider duo, but he might as well find out if they're hostile or not to gauge how he should approach this situation.]

[replicatedform]

[The little soldier seems to be thinking while staring at Keith for a moment. He looks between Keith and the temple behind him.

After thinking for a moment, he points to Keith and frowning. And then gestures to the general area around them, before pointing back at Keith.

... While that's happening, Yamanbagiri's looking for the troop after he's done with a chore. Hm, where is he?]

[yousaytron]

[That doesn't seem like a particularly 'friendly' gesture, but it's not an attack, either. That much bodes well, he figures, but he's not about to be chased off so easily when he's got a mission to fulfill.]

I'm just looking around for something, I'll be out of here in a bit.

[Can the troop be reasoned with? Let's find out...!]

January 6

[frankensteins_moe]

[Jackpot!

In his wanderings, Keith does in fact manage to find one of the cats. There's just one problem...]

A-aaaaa...

[...It happens to be latched onto the end of Berserker's arm, mouth clamped around her hand. She winces in pain, but reaches out to pet the little guy with the other hand.]

[yousaytron]

[How fortunate! Minus the whole 'attacking a passersby' aspect but. Uh. Hopefully she'll be understanding enough once he pries the cat off of her?]

Whoa, whoa there, [He'll hurry over to her side, fishing a cat treat out in order to give the critter something more tempting to snack on.] Come on now, let go of her.

[frankensteins_moe]

[Cat treats are definitely more delicious than Berserker, so it doesn't take long. Berserker just looks down sadly at her hand, bleeding slightly.]

Uuuuu...

[yousaytron]

[Ah, jeez... at least he's managed to successfully capture one (1) cat, but he's also not about to ignore the person said cat was assaulting.]

Are you okay? [She doesn't seem too distressed about that injury, just... generally kind of sad?]

5th

[creepface]

[ A path leads Keith into the forest where a dainty little temple hides in the lush woods. Well, it's lush when it's not winter, but you can tell that it will be come spring. There's a cosy glow coming from inside and the door is ajar and there's the sound of metal music coming from inside. Meanwhile, one of the cats Keith has been looking for wanders around the corner of the building and into the little temple. ]

[yousaytron]

Ah-!

[As he investigates the grounds, Keith's sure he catches sight of one of the cats he's been searching for - or at least, one that looks enough like it to warrant a more thorough search. Grabbing a few cat treats out of the bag, he moves in closer to where the cat has snuck in, hoping to be able to coax it out.]

Come on, kitty, let's get you out of here.

[Hopefully the cat can hear him over the noise of that music, or at least have it's attention grabbed by the smell of those treats.]

[creepface]

[ Joke's on him, cats are gonna do what they gonna do

which is not come outside, because that's where the snow is.

Come inside or stand there like a fool waiting for the cat to come outside again? Up to you, Keith. ]

[yousaytron]

[He'll be more than happy to make a fool out of himself for roughly .005 seconds before exhaling a little in frustration - it shouldn't be unexpected to be ignored by a cat, but that doesn't make it any less difficult to corral the critter and get it back to the relative safety of Keith's current dwellings.

Considering he's already intruding on the temple grounds, there's no real problem to be had in sneaking his way into the building too. Let's follow the cat inside, and hope the temple resident either manages to not catch him in the act, or is... at least kind of understanding about it.]

January 3rd

[handsome_genius]

[ Following their text conversation, Yoon awaits Keith's arrival at Yona's temple. He's ready and waiting when Red shows up. He doesn't actually have anything in his hands, he's sure Keith's not injured, he's just prepared for whatever Keith may want to talk about in the wake of losing yet another god or goddess. For one thing, Yoon can at least assure Keith he'll have a guest room set up for him for as long as he needs.

He doesn't get too close to Red until it's clear the giant lion isn't moving anymore, having completed its landing, then dares to get close to the mouth as he had before when riding in it. ]

[yousaytron]

[As promised, Keith's trip is a quick one - thank you, Red, for always being so speedy. The landing is made with care, not wanting to disturb Yona's property more than the simple presence of lion is going to cause, and a few moments after the robot powers down, out steps Keith.

He is... a little taller, a little more filled out than Yoon would remember, definitely not the kind of change that would happen in a matter of a handful of days, and sporting a scar over his right jaw that definitely wasn't there last time the two of them saw each other. But, overall, he just seems kind of tired. More tired than someone who just spent the amount of time asleep he did has any reasonable right to be, but between the sudden shock of finding himself essentially homeless once more, compounded with everything feeling just slightly off from how he's spent his time in the Far Shore so far, another sense of security lost with Futaba vanishing... the idea of letting himself sink into something even remotely familiar and spending no small amount of time sorting out his thoughts there is all too appealing.

Thank goodness for Cnoc Áine, its goddess, and her exemplar.]

Hey. [He... really has no idea what to be saying right now. This is probably going to be quite a Conversation no matter how he opens it, so just going with the first thing that comes to mind could be worse. A greeting, and gratitude.] Thank you, again.

[handsome_genius]

[ Yoon waits until the jaws open and steps closer, but then there's his friend leaving the maw and he has to stop short. ]

.... Keith?

[ It's unmistakably him, but the changes are also way too noticeable to ignore. Keith was already taller than Yoon and stronger too, but this was different. The scar was obvious and concerning. It looked to Yoon, even from a short distance, like the kind of thing that had long since healed over and wasn't in need of immediate medical care. His shoulders lose some tension but only just as he realizes Keith isn't hurt, not physically, but that tone of voice - that exhaustion - isn't one he's heard often.

He closes the rest of the distance between them, coming to stand right in front of Keith and looking up at him - just trying to be very sure that Keith isn't in danger of toppling over. ]

You're... [ He's so confused. And concerned. ] This didn't happen when we lost Lance. [ Yeah, we. ] So why this time...

[yousaytron]

[Luckily, there isn't a lot of physical exhaustion at play here, just a mental one that makes up for it pretty decently.

As for why this might have happened, Keith really doesn't have an answer for Yoon. He wishes he did, honestly, but until someone can figure it out, it will have to remain one of those cryptic Heaven mysteries. He sighs, running a hand through his hair.]

I don't know. [Blunt honesty is all he can offer right now.] Last thing I remember is that it was still December, and I woke up today. [That whole 'days of sleeping' nonsense he knows Yoon's not unfamiliar with, and he figures that information is probably enough to get the two of them on the same page.] I... don't know when the temple disappeared, but sometime while I was asleep, I guess.