Finding Mr. Cuddles [PRIVATE, Lexia]

Days went by quickly, until one that arrived where they decided to deal with the missing cat issue. Urban City was a huge place, and the posters for the cat was almost everywhere. It could take forever to find him. If Bon could not offer anymore help in pinpointing where her cat was, all he had to go from was the picture. Even so, the picture was almost a zoomed in snap of the cat. If it was even a cat at all. Of course, it certainly did look like one from the posters. But he could not help but feel something was a bit... off from them.

Sly and Lexia had approached the apartment door, where the cat owner was supposed to be living in, according to the address. Compared to their place, the apartments here looked almost no different. Broken pieces of dusty furniture were left hanging near the rails, collecting more dust and becoming a home for spiders and other insects. The air smelt musty. Probably there was some growth somewhere that he would not bother trying to find. Paint had started to peel off from the walls, and the carpet was half ripped below them. If anyone wanted to live here, the interiors must have been much better.

This must be it, Sly said, rolling up the poster. He knocked on the door, and waited the pots clammering behind it to end. Greetings. We saw your posters and figured you have a missing cat problem?

"Ahh yes. I wont be a minute!" The voice sounded a bit heavy, right behind a series of shuffling as the tenant made her way to the door. With a loud click, and sliding of metal, she swung the door open. Sly was immediately greeted with a rather large woman in her silk skirt, the plump face heavily laced with powder and mascara, and the maroon hair almost seemingly overdone. Without a hair out of place.

Uh... good morning madame. We just wanted to grab some information about the cat before we are on our way.

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Words: 345/100
Post: 1/8

"Ah, yes yes!" The woman said cheerily, before holding open a rather unusual picture. It was cracked, but Lexia moved forward and took the image from her, looking at the updated picture of the giant dog. Wait, no, that was a cat. A... Giant cat? "Cuddles went missing a few days ago, but you see, he's a giant thing! And he could really get hurt by those kids out there!" She exclaimed, and Lexia almost raised an eyebrow. It looked like that cat would do more damage than anything could do to it. With a smile, Lexia nodded.

"Don't worry, dear, we will find it and it won't be long until we do." Lexia said with a smile. A smile light up her face, and she nodded several times, before the more elderly lady wandered back inside, saying something about preparing dinner for her precious baby.

More like monster. But Lexia had to admit, its cream and brown patches looked adorable!

"If it's been missing for a few days... And assuming it didn't leave the area, it shouldn't have gone too far without starting to leave a bit of an obvious trail." She gestured towards the ladies door, which had several large claw marks on it, "As it is, it seems like its tried to get in last night, but she simply didn't hear it, so it... Should be somewhat close by." Lexia sighed lightly, beginning to walk down and out of the pathway that lead towards the woman's house. There were back alleys around there, so... What about trying one of them? She gestured towards one of them, with a bit of a laugh. "Why not try down there. It might work and we might find a small trail of... Fluff down there?"

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294/100 words, post 2/8

It caught him aback when he looked at the new picture which the woman presented. That thing was a cat? It was enormous! Mayhap this was why it had been a long time since the cat was missing. With how much ground the posters took up, surely someone would have been able to step up to find him. Maybe the moment they saw the actual picture, they changed their minds. No wonder. He couldn't blame her for it though. Had she used that updated picture, nearly everyone in the area would be running for their lives that a giant cat was out. He was not convinced with the woman saying that her cat was in danger from 'kids'. More like the kids were in danger.

Then again, maybe Mr Cuddles was in danger. After dealing with a rat problem not too long ago, he should expect the unexpected by now. Maybe Mr Cuddles was not aggressive. Either way, he was a huge cat. Surely someone would have seen it walking out and about. Thankfully not, otherwise someone would either shoot him on sight, or cashed in on the reward by now. He nodded to Lex. If he left scratch marks here, then we are standing right in his territory. But I'm not sure how big it is. He was about to say they should split up, but quickly dashed the thought. Staying close to her was a feasible option as well, since they aren't sure if Cuddles was aggressive.

I have been seeing a lot of strange animals lately, Sly commented, as he followed her around the house to the alleyway. It certainly looked big, wide enough for a cat of Cuddles' size to fit through. There were balls of fur, forming a disorganised network mesh over one another, littered everywhere. Line of bins walled the apartment, with several garbage bags settled on top of them. Some of them had popped open and burst its contents everywhere, permeating a foul stench of rotten fish and other eroding food. No doubt they were so casually tossed from one of the windows above, but he would hate to be the one taking out the trash when someone decided to take a shortcut. What if they missed and landed the bag on someone's head?

I guess that is a good place to start, he said, starting to march forward. His eyes were up in the air, trying to catch for any objects being tossed out from any of the open windows.
He snickered a little. This is almost starting to remind me of the time we first met here in this realm. You remember? When we were to look after a flying dog? Just as he finished, he heard something metallic from the end of the alleyway, around the corner. Then the sound of something toppling over.

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Words: 474/100
Post: 3/8

As soon as the chunks of fur made themselves known throughout the piles of disgusting bags of food and rotten stuff, a smile light up her face. They were definitely going to be going in the right direction, especially with the sheer volume of fur that creature seemed to be losing simply by going through the alleyway! That was almost always a good thing, when trying to find the cat at least. A smile cracked on her face. They would be able to find it in no time. Sly's question caught her off guard, and she glanced over to him. "I guess it sorta does... But yes, I remember that. That dog was... Rather special, to say the least. However, I'm just a bit worried that if we speak too loudly and scare it off into someones apartment, well, we might cause more harm than good..." Lexia said gently, almost in a hushed whisper by the end of the sentence.

Then she jumped when the shrill sounds of metal against metal sounded, toppling over one another. She blinked, her heart hammering in her chest as she froze, staring down the cobbled alleyway. Whatever that was, that thing would have to be big to make a sound so loud. Swallowing hard, Lexi inclined her head towards that direction before quickening her pace a little. "That sorta seems like a good sign..." She mumbled nervously as she walked, before reaching where the alley split off in two directions.

As she rounded the corner, she stopped dead in her tracks. On top of a skip bin and perched on their plastic lids, was a gigantic cat, staring down at the trash cans it had knocked over while trying to jump onto its position.  

It was giant.

It looked fluffy.

And, as much as she didn't want to admit it, there was a giant inward desire from her to go over to it and squish it in a hug. Lexia wanted that adorable 'little' kitten. It was even more at her preferences size, too...

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340/100 words, post 4/8

He stiffened a bit, almost collapsing onto his own legs when she reminded him of their task. Right. He had almost forgot that the cat could still hear them. They would have been in a predicament if it were a ferocious beast. He gave her a somewhat stiff nod, like he was trying to make the least amount of movements as well. The rummaging around the corner continued, but no other signs of a disturbed call. A little closer and he could see a shadow looming from around the corner. One of a cat. His heart raced. Moreso from anticipation than fear.

As if just in case, Sly covered his mouth for good measure. Then he remembered that they were basically surrounding themselves with the pungent odour of garbage. He almost retched. Having to deal with a couple of oversized and overly aggressive rats did not help him get used to such unhygienic places. And he doubted he would ever will. Not like he grew up in a pig farm or anything, but much of his life he was raised within cleaner houses. Careful, Sly whispered between his teeth, trying to be as quiet as possible but not too quiet so she could hear. But she had already jumped around the corner.

Sly quietly followed suit, a hand to his rapier in case things turn awry.Then he froze. That cat was enormous. Never did he thought he would see the real thing from the poster, and here it was now. It was pretty much a cat. But as large as... a tiger perhaps. Piles of garbage cans had been tipped over and crushed under his weight, while he busied with scraps from another bin. It did not look like he was short on scraps anyways, but how would they lure something this large back to Bon? Get his attention? What if he was aggressive? The name "Mr Cuddles" surely made him sound too friendly. No, they needed to think of something.

Maybe we can lure it with fish. Or... something here. Sly looked at the used scraps below him. He grimaced at the chance of him having to pick something gross and slimy up.

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Words: 364/100
Post: 5/8

The cat seemed to notice the pair, turning its big head to face them. Instead of raising its fur and hissing, an almost pitiful whine left its mouth. Lexia frowned, tilting her head slightly to the side. It wasn't... Happy? With another pitiful cry, it looked from Lexia, to Sly, and then back towards the trash cans. Something about it...

Lexia glanced at Sly, seeing the look of distaste in his eyes. She almost smirked. He never could get use to the uncleanliness of these areas, and yet, this is the exact sort of thing that Lexia was fine with. Almost as if to prove it, she began to walk forward, but before she did so she noticed the glint of steel in Sly's hand. "Put that away, you might hurt the cute thing!" The cat's head perked up. "But really, I don't think luring it is going to work, if that cat wanted to, it would tear its way through the garbage bags to eat anything it wanted. Don't forget, their capabilities of scent are much greater than ours." She stated, before smiling and calling out to the cat in a gentle voice. "Come here Cuddles, here puss-puss!"

The cat turned its head towards Lexia as she came closer to them, eyes widening, judging the distance... Lexia turned its back to it, within a few meters, giving a grin to Sly. See, nothing to be afraid of!" She said cheerily, only for, moments later, feeling the feet of the cat landing square on her shoulders. The force knocked her down to her hand and the cat gave a startled mewl, before jumping down in front of her and between Sly.

Then it proceeded to nuzzle and lick her face.

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290/100 words, post 6/8

They got his attention for sure, the cat spinning its head to them and freezing like a statue, its large beady eyes focusing on the pair. Sly suppressed himself from a gasp, pulling back a little, and arms a little wide, almost prepared to make a run for it if the cat decided to pounce. But it just sat there. Whining? Then Cuddles just went back to rummaging the bins for whatever scraps it could fine. Before it was already a building pile. He had to pity the garbage cleaners once they passed by this apartment block.

At her word, Sly nodded and adjusted his coat, covering the shimmer of his blade. He could already tell the cat was rather tame for now. Neither was it that territorial and saw the two as threats. Why would he? Cuddles was a huge thing and he could knock out any human that came across him. Mayhap that was what he was thinking, no longer seeing humans as threats in a way. Then again, Bons did mention about children attacking Cuddles. Being a bit more confident, Sly took a deep and strained breath, realising he was still surrounded by filth, and relaxed. Lexia tried to coax the cat forward with her call, taking steps forward.

Out of instinct, Sly reached a hand for her slowly, but decided to trust her on this. If he remembered, Lexia had handled animals before. Like... Nithya. At a flash of movement, he snapped from his thoughts. The shadow jumped on Lex, before he could open his mouth, and it pinned her onto the floor. Cuddles. Sly quietly recollected himself and cleared his throat, looking off to the side and blushing a little. How embarrassing of him...

Yeah... well... just a little nervous, he said. Sly never had to handle animals before, and maybe he was just lucky that he brought Lex along for both the dog mission and this. He would be a bit flustered on how to approach either of them. Especially since they were... beyond the realms of what he thought was normal. Well umm... I suppose that was easy. We should bring him back to Bon. And umm... give you a change of clothes. He said as he looked at the grimy mess Cuddles had wiped with his paws on Lex's clothing.

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Words: 388/100
Post: 7/8

Lexia groaned a little, slowly pushing herself back up to her feet. "I know what it's called 'Cuddles' now." She said, slowly stretching her stiff back. The cat gave a rather proud purr, before going over to Sly to nuzzle his hand. But afterwards, Lexia quickly checked her clothing. Covered.

In.

Dirt.

Great.

Lexia chuckled a little, before placing a hand against the cats neck and she also scratched it gently. "That might be true, but still, this thing is absolutely adorable~!" Lexia said with a grand grin on her face. The cat seemed to sense her happiness and returned to her a gleeful mewl, before Lexia began to wander away. Thanking the stars, the cat began to follow her, purring a little. With somewhat greater ease, she lead him all the way back to the house, and with a short greetings with Bon, a passing of rewards, the two parties parted ways. A satisfied owner and Cuddles, and a grimy Lexia and Sly.

But she had to admit...

She really wanted a pet.

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174/100 words, post 8/8

Kitty! I mean.. Mei Approves!

1 D Rank Reward Dice per Person soon to follow. (Via Kas)

Lex, Sly.

The member 'Kodai' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'D Class Reward Dice' :