Meow and Hunt! (SilverRain x AkiBlue)

Hidden away in the forest was a catgirl perched high in the treetops. She was silently watching everything below. Her black kitty ears swiveled around as she listened to the conversation. Her tail remained perfectly still to maintain balance and her orange ponytail drifted in the wind. Kita was one of the guardians of the cat people village and the bards down below had wandered a bit too close for comfort. Was she to scare them away with her telekinesis? Attack perhaps? But luckily she didn't have to do anything about that. The bards eventually packed up their camp and left as they chatted excitedly about a town up ahead.

Today was Kita's day off, but she still had a sense of duty to protect. The humans... they thought of her kind as demons and if they saw the catgirls, they would be hunted down. They had been moving from place to place and it was only now that the Felinians (cat people) were able to have something akin to a peaceful life. And Kita was to protect that.

Then that was when Kita heard the jingle of bells and a merry tune from the bards disappearing into the distance. The sounds attracted her - especially the bells. Her kind had told her about the ways of the humans and the towns, but rarely had Kita seen one except back then she was with her big brother. Back then he protected her from the dangers. Time had passed and her brother had become the clan leader. But what Kita always wanted was to buy a small set of those jingle bells (he didn't allow it). She couldn't buy them back then, but maybe she could now.

Thus, Kita searched the ground below and found a large cloth that could be used to cover up her ears and hide her tail. She followed the pretty sounds, eager to own one of her own. When she came to the human town, it was much larger than she expected it to be. There were many stores and there was music and dancing. Colourful banners decorated the town. So this was what a human festival looked like? The sweet smell of food filled the air, but it was not enough to pull Kita away from her search for those musical jingle bells.

The catgirl went from store to store trying to find them. Hopefully she would not be discovered.

This was Max's fourth....fifth assignment? Well basically he was fairly new to this game he played. That is the Demon Hunting buisness. He was recruited only three years before and surpassed his group. At such a young age, that is 20, he was the youngest Hunter with a high status. Oddly enough, for such a strong person, he was pretty laid back and...nonchalant.

The festival was in town, not to far from the demonic clan he was suppose to be clearing out. Seeing that he was the only one assigned to this mission- it should've been fairly easy. There Max laid, on a building, listening to the party below him. In his hand, he carried to small bells, ringing them. "Here kitty, kitty." Max mumbled as he stared at the clouds. Knowing a little about cats, he knew he could "toy" with them. So, why not use toys? His initial mission was to capture one so the Higher ups could....well do whatever.

So he sat. Listening to the party. And waiting.

The jingling of bells made Kita' ears perk up. She turned to the direction of the sound, following it eagerly in the hopes of beign able to purchase a set of bells. The sound sang out to her. As did a voice. The catgirl stopped at about two buildings before it and she remained under one of the canvases. She could hear the voice of a male human on the roof calling out 'Here kitty, kitty". Kita's eyes narrowed. So this was a trap. Very well...

Kita would have to take another approach then. She could not simply attack and steal with so many other humans about. She couldn't take them on in such a place. Kita was abuot to turn away when she noticed a small stray cat nearby. The humans would think that she was playing with it when in fact she was giving it instructions, telling it about her situation and how she wanted those bells. The stray cat agreed in exchange for live fish.

The small cat bounded up onto the roof and it tried to snatch away the bells from the male human with a well aimed pounce.

Max sat up and continued ringing the bells. It was actually a pretty sound, but got the attention of the wrong cat. When the cat pounced, Max caught it by the scruff of its neck and set it to the side of him. "Now, you're not the kitty I'm looking for...but here." To get the cat to go away, he did have a small bag of catnip. Given to him by a higher up. He covered one of the bells in it and rolled it around the building, just so the cat could play. "See. No harm." He looked down at the colorful festival and rang the bell. Max ran a hand through his black hair and sighed. This was a little....troublesome.

On his hand, he possessed a marking, a marking that helped him...find demons in a sense. The closer they were, the more it irritated him. "Just come out...heh I don't bite." Well it was true. He didn't bite, kill maybe~ but never bit. After another fee moments of waiting, his stomach growled lightly. "Now I'd like tohurry this up." He spoke more to himself and paced around the building all the while stepping over the cat that entertained itself with the catnip bell.

Kita gasped when she saw the human catch the cat by its scruff. She was afraid about what was going to happen next. She thought he would do bad things to it or use it as a hostage, but much to her relief he lets it go and even gave it a bell to play with. Kita caught the smallest whiff of catnip in the air and looking at he cat playing with the bell it would seem that the bell had catnip on it. Well this was going to be problem. Kita couldn't really get near the catnip without putting herself at risk. But the bell... she really wanted the bell. Many years ago she wanted one, but her brother disallowed it. He said that their kind were to remain in stealth and bells would defeat that purpose. Thus no bells. And yet the more that Kita couldn’t get the bells, the more she wanted them.

Kita heard the human calling out to her and watched as he paced around on the rooftop. So he knew she was here? Why didn't he come down then? Was it because that the roof offered him a vantage point? No, that couldn't be it. He was there from the start and still there now. It was as if the human was confined to the roof. So the roof was rigged with a trap?

Kita looked away momentarily... It was probably better to get a bell using barter from the other various stores around here. But the human rang the bell again, bringing Kita's attention back to the bell. Kita now identified that bell as her bell. The more she couldn't get it the more she wanted it. No other bell could replace it. She really wanted to get that bell!

*tap*

The human would feel a tap from under his wrist that was holding the bell. It was a telekinetic tap from Kita, who used her power in the hopes of bumping off the bell from his hand. If that worked she would try to have the bell float away from him. She was going to stay away from the possibly trapped roof though.

Max only waited. His expression hadn't changed- besides his hunger. Minutes passed, and he had gotten a little impatient. So instead of waiting and trapping the stealthy cat. He planned something else. Now, while pacing around, he planned as well. The stray cat did get bored of its toy and decided to...well Max assumed find something to eat. So he took the bell the cat had been playing with and hollowed it. This would surely upset the cat demon. He rang his bell, that he held tighter after feeling a slight pull, and then set the other bell on the ground. The one that now made no sound.

"Alright Cat you win...I'm going to find food..." Max said with a slight grumble. It was true, so convincing her shouldn't have been a problem. With that, he jumped to a lower building and climbed down the side. He easily blended with the crowd as they moved back and forth like a wave of people. Max happily stopped at a stand where a man was selling bakery items. Buying a churro and then a cinnamon bun, again he was hidden amongst the crowd.

It was now time to play cat and mouse. Max chuckled at his little joke. Knowing the demon had good hearing, he rang the bell again. To everyone, it looked as though he was cheering the performers on, or just moving the bell around as he ate. But really, it was to get the demon to follow. Hey, it followed this far right?

Kita was left speechless when she saw the bell being taken apart. There was now only one left and Kita was determined to get it - to save it from the hands of the human. It would also be a sign of her success, a treasure that she would keep with her. When the human hopped down she started to follow him. She heard the sound of bells in the distance, but now she wanted that one. And only that one. He stopped at a bakery to buy some food. Kita wondered what it tasted like. Her kind only had roast fish, berries and other small things to eat, but never baked food. It wasn't as tempting as fish, but it did smell very nice. Kita's tummy grumbled a bit, but she continued to follow him.

She had a few options here, but none of them really worked out. It was too crowded to use her telekinesis - she needed to see the target before being able to use it. To run towards him and snatch it away was too risky as her ears and tail could be revealed. She could hide them of course, but that in itself was spell that needed to be casted when she was resting. But she could not go on like this in her current form. Kita hid in a corner and with concentration, casted a spell that would hide her ears and tail for about 6 hours. It would probably lead to a tempoary spike in her demonic aura though.

Now that her ears and tail were hidden, she was able to move more freely. She followed closer to the human and when she was at a suitable distance, she would take the cloth that was wrapping her and throw it into the air so that it would hopefully land on the human. She then started to run towards him, hoping that during all the commotion she would be able to snatch away the little bell.

Max calmly walked around, aware of the demoness,as he now figured, following him. He never turned around as she followed, even when her aurora got stronger. The closer she gor, the slower he walked. Taunting her to come closer.
There was a loud cheer and cloth was thrown. Max tilted his head confused, but moved out of the way, letting the cloth cover a passerby. The sudden throw caused people to throw colorful cloths in the air, chanting. Max took that opportunity to run off toward the park, ringing the bell loudly. "Come on." He whispered to no one in particular but passed through people.

Kita hurried and followed the human. She was amazed when the other people threw the clothes in the air - it was a nice surprise that she was able to influence the townsfolk like that. She didn't know why he was leading her around like that. He didn't attack her and it didn't seem like there was anyone else around in on the chase. The chase was kinda fun though, bringing out Kita's kitty instincts. Eventually they came to an empty piece of land and whilst they were still running, Kita tried to shout out to the human.

"Excuse me, can I trade your bell for a dagger?"

Max had stopped, sitting along a fountain and looked at the bell. "You want to trade a dagger for...this measly bell?" He chuckled and gently touched the water, making a ripple effect. "No deal cat. No deal." He stood on the edge of the fountain, calmy walking along. "Try a little harder." He didn't know why toying with her was so much fun, but it was. Usually, in paired missions he wouldn't be able to do such things. Now he had the freedom.
Seeing the demoness, he noted she did some sort of spell to appear human. It didn't convince him a bit. "Ah, show me your true form." Max rang the bell, as a reminder of what she wanted and couldn't have. His curiosity led him to stop walking on the fountain and step toward her. He moved cautiously, seeing that she was a demon...and he didn't know how deadly she could be.

"If you really want this bell," He paused to let it shine in the light. "You have to give me a good reason. Heh, this is a very nice and pretty sounding bell. I don't think I should just give it away....to a demon ."