Alley Cat Universe - or ACU

After eating, Skylar decided to take a stroll around the town, the large house not quite to his preference of comfort. The hot sun pressed against his skin, giving it a warm glow as he walked. The cloudless sky expanded endlessly as descended down the hill, the town in clear light. Skylar strolled lazily through the district, gazing at the vigor of the people milling about. He wondered about the lifestyles of them all as they passed, from the smiling old couple to the stern businessman.

He decided to pay a visit to his old district, which always held the air of the poor and unappreciated. The apartments were deteriorated and in desperate need of construction. Few people held smiles in this area. Anyone not known by this part of town would meet bitter glares and closed doors. However, Skylar was welcomed with open arms and a friendly smile, the warm feelings overflowing from his neighborhood family. His old pals ecstatic to see their old leader again, the atmosphere making it seem time had never passed. He played ball with some of the kids, however, his skills in sports made him the laugh of the neighborhood. Eventually the heat started to become to much and he had to part. He waved them goodbye as he continued onward.

He stepped into the mall, the cool air conditioning was cold enough to create goosebumps along Skylar's skin. He found himself motioned into the food court, or rather his nose did. He grabbed a strawberry milkshake and took a seat alone in a chair. As he drank, savoring the smooth and sweet flavor, he noticed multiple nekos enjoying themselves. One one side a pair of twins, and the other a male who appeared to be injured. Seeing the injury, he got up, with drink in hand and motioned over toward him. "Hey, you alright? Your arm is pretty banged up there." he commented.

Charm sighed silently since no one even bothered to stop for her. There had been a few nekos heading to the mall, so she decided that could be a good place to find something decent. She could always search the trash bins for food that people didn't even bother taking a bite of. She trotted down the street, spotting the mall close by. She sped up to a run, dodging people's feet so she wasn't stepped on. She looked around as she stepped into the mall, seeing a neko playing the violin. She smiled as only a cat could and picked up a quarter someone had dropped, walking over to the violin case and placing it in there. She then layed down in the case, drawing some aws from the crowd and hearing the drop of more money. She felt the need to help this neko out of instinct, and possibly out of desire to hear more of the music that flowed from the violin. She curled up and continued listening to the sweet song that reached her ears.

Jake lightly rubbed the cold drink on the akward bruise every so often taking a sip since he loved the fresh taste of the smoothie. He didn't notice the blonde neko that had came up to him. "Hey, you alright? Your arm is pretty banged up there." The neko commented. "Oh yeah! I'm fine." Jake smiled at the neko. "I just bruise easily. I barely notice it just now." He put his sleeve down it slightly stuck to his arm from the cold drink. "Nothing to worry about."

Momo looks over to the man she bumped into and saw that she had bruised him. She became very worried,and almost wanted to cry. She looked at the stand that he had gotten his drink from and went over to it. She got a $10 gift card and then walked over to the man.

"Umm....sir. I'm really sorry for hurting you, I didn't mean to. I'm really very sorry." Momo said placing the gift card in front of him, as a sort of peace/forgiveness offering. She had a very worried look on her face, as well as a shy one.

"Nothing to worry about"he commented "Ah, that's good than. Name's Skylar, by the way." he smiled, extending a paw. From the corner of his eye he spotted one of those twins he noticed earlier approaching him. He wondered if it would be better to give them some privacy to talk.

Death woke up feeling better than she had in weeks. As soon as James had gone, she and Life had turned fully into their cat forms and found the most amazing place in the house: the attic. It wasn't dusty or gross, in fact, it was incredibly neat. One full wall was a window that faced east, toward the rising sun. The room was painted in soft oranges and purples like sunset, and the furniture was all soft cushions and thick cloth, perfect for digging claws into. It was like the whole room had been made just for Nekos. Life and Death had fallen asleep easily.

Life got up shortly after his sister. She was already up and exploring the room's nooks and crannies, of which it had plenty. Life stretched leisurely before laying back down, this time spread out to take up a ridiculous amount of space, ad only a cat can. "I could get used to this," he said. The morning sun was warming him nicely, completely washing away his jealousy of James.

"Oh, definitely. We should ask James to be our Master, just for this room. It's so - " Suddenly Death fell with a soft thud. Life was instantly at her side. Death licked herself furiously, trying together over the shock. The ledge had seemed so safe... At least she had landed on her feet. "I'm fine. Falling off cliffs really made me hungry, though. Let's go get breakfast and say good morning to James." Life fussed a bit more, but followed her down stairs.

They wanted to leave right away when they found out that James had already left, but the head maid forced them to sit down and eat breakfast. And eat they did. Death complained several times that she was gaining twenty pounds, but kept going back for more food. Lfe just shoveled down everythngas fast as he could, occasionally breathing to compliment the chef. When they were finished, they finally thought to ask where James had gone. None of the staff knew for sure, but Chaz said that the boy enjoyed going to the mall, so that's where they decide to go.

They were both ready to head out the door on their own, but Chaz insisted that he would drive them, since they were the guests. Upon reaching the mall, they got lost. They, poor, sheltered kids they were, had never been to a mall this size before. They wandered around place like it was a maze. Finally, after much nagging from Death, Life broke down and asked a couple of Nekos. Of course, they had to be girls, Death thought, internally rolling her eyes. The girls already seemed like they were in a conversation with some guys, but Life interrupted. "Sorry, but how do we get back to the, uh," he looked at Death to supply the parking lot letter.

"H, we're trying to get to parking lot H."

((okay guys this is so estrelas and i can catch up. we're a day behind, lol.))

Yuen lay on his bed, breathing deeply. Russet had actually kissed him! Okay sure, it was for a reason and it wasn't an actual kiss, but it was a kiss none-the-less! He recalled how they went on a walk through town yesterday, and how the acted like a couple the whole time. Yuen, knowing Russet liked to be pampered, got her everything she wanted. But it was morning now. A blush announced itself on Yuen's pale cheeks. Well, it had to be someday.... In the dead of night, Yuen had snuck outside of Russet's room and taped a rose to her door. And with it, a note asking if they could possibly repeat yesterday's date, but this time for real. For real. The words echoed through Yuen's head.

Trying to distract himself, Yuen got dressed. Slightly groggy, he stumbled down the stairs numbly. Thankfully, his mother was at a friend's house at the moment. He didn't think he could handle her this morning, as he was so occupied with thoughts on Russet.

((Yay for catching up! haha))

The morning was a fine one. Russet was already up and about in her room. She was deciding which outfit to wear when she heard Yuen's footsteps echoing quietly down the hallway. A small smile lifted her lips. Although he hadn't verbally mentioned that he had enjoyed their little act the day before, she was sure that he had been excited about it. That pleased her greatly. Finally. She'd waited so long to have an opportunity like that and it had happened almost completely as she'd imagined it. Only... not so much the pretending part. If only it had been real.

After many thoughts, the redhead chose a short black mini-skirt and a tight blue corset top. The outfit highlighted her slender figure. It was something she loved to flaunt; she just couldn't help herself. Once satisfied with her appearance, Russet opened her door-- to find a surprise. A rose, one of deep red color that made her cheeks flush with color. Her heart felt as if it had stopped cold in her chest. The note was so exciting that she almost jumped for joy - almost. A date with Yuen. What an oddly pleasurable idea.

"Good morning, young mistress," came the voice of the butler.

She smiled a dazzling smile in his direction, catching him off guard. "Good morning," she chirped before setting off down the stairs.

Jenna was unsure how long she had been playing, perhaps an hour had past, maybe two. Time seemed to blend together when she played and soon her cares were forgotten. She nodded a quick thanks whenever someone placed a bit of change or some spare dollars in the violin case. Every 15 minutes or so Jenna would take a small break to allow herself a sip of water and a quick rest. Though she was hungry and tired, even a tad bit scared, she let the bow of her violin take her away. She performed classic pieces and a few modern ones. Even one or two of her own works. People stopped to listen to her, and Jenna noted that a few people walked away with smiles, a good street musician was after all there to make people smile as well as make some money. Jenna was good enough to know what to play and how to play it.

Two, maybe three hours must have passed by when a young man walked up. There wasn't really anything that separated him from others, but Jenna could tell by the way he walked that he was in some amount of pain. He hid his face behind sun glasses but she could see the faint shades of a black eye. She felt sorry for the man but her mind changed to wonder when she glanced at the bill he tossed in. A 50, he put a full 50 dollars into her case. That was enough to buy her a weeks worth of meals and about what she made in a week of working, though sometimes she could pull in more at the mall. It was too much, but it wasn't like she could say no to his generosity. The boy stood off to a distance and took a seat at the nearby food court. He was looking around but it was clear he was still listening to her with interest. A small color rose to her cheeks, if he was going to give her so much, then perhaps she should give herself a challenge for his pleasure.

After taking a sip of her water to wet her throat a bit, she took up the violin and the bow again and struck the first note of Partita in E Major by J.S. Bach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_z4B39scXc
It was a very difficult piece that she had only just gotten a hang of. Her music director at school wanted it to be her finale in an upcoming competition, but Jenna played the piece simply because she liked it. She made a few mistakes here and there but overall the performance was sound. Many more people stopped to listen and even Jenna was surprised when a cat jumped into the Violin case and curled up. The comfortable look on the cat's face warmed Jenna a bit and her tail swished a little playfully. Jenna could not tell if the cat was a Neko or not, but it seemed very intelligent and had a glow in it's eyes, a spark you could say. Jenna was almost sure it was a neko.

At the song's end there was a small applause and a good amount of money was placed into the case as the crowd began to disperse. Jenna's face flushed red but a small smile was creeping across her face. Almost as if on key her stomach murmured loudly in protest. Jenna sighed but decided that a small brunch would be best before she continued to play. Carefully she bent down and stroked the cat that had crawled up into the Case. "Thanks" she whispered to it softly. "I'm packing up for a bit, I'm sorry to move you." she said as she picked the cat up gently and placed her out of the case. She replaced the cat with her violin softly but quickly pocketed the 50 dollar bill. As Jenna stood and looked around, she noticed that the boy was still sitting at the table. Her face flushed a little again and her feet felt like rocks, but she had to do it. Picking up her Violin case, Jenna made it through the crowds to the young man at the table despite the fear gripping her chest, she wasn't good at interacting with people. She reached the young man and stopped, beside him at a temporary loss for words. Finally though Jenna gathered her courage. "Um....here...." she said handing him back the 50 dollar bill. "I...It's to much, I can't accept it... you may need it more then me." Her bell jingled softly while her stomach growled in protest and her face was red with a mix of embarrassment and fear.

Charm lazily got up after she had been move, stumbling a bit and falling as her front legs fell behind. She blushed under her fur as many people laughed happily and gave more aws. She quickly restored her balance and trotted away, following Jenna. She decided she would follow the girl so that she would have an excuse to dig around in the trash for a half-decent meal. She entered the restaurant and jumped onto the table, grabbing a box with a perfectly whole burger. She looked around wearily to see if anyone would react. She then pulled the box off the table and dragged it away when there were no reactions. Once she was behind a fake plant, she started eating the burger in small bites. Her ears went back and she flinched when she heard the yell. "Who the hell took my burger?!" She started eating quickly, hoping to get out of there before the guy found her.

Jake smiled at the male neko he then notice a hand extend to him with a gift card. "Umm....sir. I'm really sorry for hurting you, I didn't mean to. I'm really very sorry." The neko (Momo) said placing the gift card in front of him, as a sort of peace/forgiveness offering. She had a very worried look on her face, as well as a shy one. "Oh its you from earlier." Jake said a little suprise and shock. "No miss I can't except this." He said kindly with a little blush across his face. "You actually did nothing wrong I bruise easily thats all." Jake smiled a bit. "My name is Jake Faber. What's your name Miss?"

Skylar saw best to step out and let those two talk in private, he faded out of the scene and went back to his table. He was about to sit down when he heard a shout, glancing over he saw a man yelling at a neko. He jogged over, as he approached he spotted the girl in behind a bush, looking frightened. "What's the problem here?" Skylar asked, crossing his arms.

James linked and listened, nearly falling asleep at the wonderful sound of the music. He managed to stay awake long enough to smile and rub his bruised eye gently. His face turned up while all other noises drained away and all he heard was the sound of the violin playing softly in his ears. His head, however, snapped upright when the music stopped, causing him to rub the back of his neck and grunt shortly, wincing.

He was still sitting there when the girl who had been playing the wonderful music walk over too him and tried to give back the money. He smiled politely and shook his head. "Oh no, you deserve the money." He said, refusing to take the money back into his own hands. "I know it takes a long time to master an instrument and effort. You're an excellent musician and honestly, I have plenty more where that came from." James said in a soft, low voice as if he could tell no one else. James's head nodded once more at his own words and he hugged his stomach slowly.

There was still incredibly uncomfortable bruising where his hands where and so he rubbed his sides gently. He smiled at the girl and slowly asked. "What is your name, anyways? Mines James." He said with out giving his last name this time. He felt like a dumb person for walking around with so much cash on him last time into an alley way, so this time he had his car and he wasn't walking much.

James look around through his shades, his eyes wide and alert. Well, one of them was at least. The other, darker colored eye, hung loosely in his head as he glanced around with out a simple care. It seemed rather ugly to look at though for him, it just hurt a lot. For other people's sake, he kept it covered by the glasses until further notice at least. He sighed and yawned. He hadn't gotten the best sleep the night before from the pain, but also because of the people he had been with. The girls made so much noise during bed time. James waited for an answer and sat calmly, in a state of barely existing accept to the one person talking to him. It made him fell in placer at home in a wa. No one staring or pointing at the rich kid.

The young man seemed to be a little surprised when Jenna tried to give him the bill back, but he smiled at her and didn't take the money back. "Oh no, you deserve the money." he told her, "I know it takes a long time to master an instrument and effort. You're an excellent musician and honestly, I have plenty more where that came from." Jenna's eyes widened a little bit and she quickly stuffed the bill back in her pocket, her face a flush with his comment. His voice was soft and his smile was warm, she wished she could see his eyes but they were hidden behind his sunglasses. She could see the bruising more easily now, and though she wished she could see his eyes she understood why he kept them hidden.

There was a moment of silence but the young man soon filled it again, "What is your name, anyways? Mines James." Jenna was a little shocked that he had taken interest. Not many people took interest in her unless they wanted to use her, but even without seeing his eyes, Jenna could tell that James wouldn't do that. James was sincere, his smile told her that. "Jenna...Jenna Serasa" she immediately regretted using her family name. Though her father was second rate, that name was known among the more classically inclined. Still, it was to late to take it back and she didn't like lying.

James seemed to wince a little and Jenna for the first time allowed her eyes to stray from his face, she could see the Bruise on his face but he was definitely hurt, she could tell in the way he carried himself. "James....if your hurt, I could help you. I have some lotion with me and I can see if anything is broken....I know a thing or two about medicine." she said softly, and raised her shirt a little bit to show a slim scar along her right side waist. Jenna didn't like showing her scars to people and honestly was a little afraid at what James would think. That specific scar had been achieved when her master had pushed her against a weak wooden bookshelf and had cut her side on the shelf edge as it fell backwards. She quickly covered it back up her eyes drifting downcast and her little ears drooping a bit.

Thorn heard someone yelling and smelt the scent of burgers. She perked her ears up and saw Charm, the little girl she brought in yeasterday. She narrowed her big pale grey eyes when she saw Skylar approach Charm and talk to her. Thorn growled very lowly, but she probably bet Skylar could hear her, since he was a Neko. She didn't know if he was a bad guy or evil guy, which was about the only categories she had for people. It's her fault if she gets hurt by him... It won't be your fault, it's her choice.. She kept thinking over and over until she turned, pulled her hood back up and started walking away from Skylar and Charm.

Bruce wouldn't turn his back on a little neko!!! That bad voice was talking to her again and this time it wouldn't stop talking. Thorn's head started to ache while she walked away. "Ignore it. Ignore it. ignore it. Ignore it.." she repeated the mantra over and over to herself until her step faltered and had to lean on the building next to her for support.

Charm shook her head quickly as she gulped down the last bite of the burger. "N-not at all. I'll just leave now. I don't see the need to stay here. I, uh, have to find a place to hide at the moment!" With that she turned into her kitten form and started running, hearing the angry guy chase after her. She was only a kitten, but she was quick on her feet and jumped into a sandbox, burying herself in the sand until the guy passed by. She then stood and shook the sand off of herself, looking around and spotting the guy that had spoken to her. She then trotted to the pond and sat at the edge. She looked over her shoulder at Skylar, finding something off about him. She shrugged her small kitten shoulders and started drinking from the pond to wash down the burger she had scarfed down.

Drake walks up behind Jake "her name is Momo, Jake Faber, and i would take the gift card, its on me" he smiles at Momo trying to show her 'you did a good job but i got it from here' he sticks out his hand to shake "my name is Drake Temple..." he motions over to Nina "that is Nina, and you have already met Momo, would you like to join us?" drake is also holding a smoothie strawberry banana his favorite. "i wouldn't mind ordering us all food, my treat"

Skylar heard a growl from someone close by, it sent chills down his spine. Whoever it was seemed hostile toward him. He looked around and spotted a woman out of the corner of his eye. He looked back toward the little neko, but she had already taken off in her cat form. Skylar sighed, hoping that the kitten would be alright. He had a naturally worry for alley cats, as he once took care of many and seen what they have gone through.

Skylar finished off his drink, slurping the last few collections of liquid before he tossed it into the trash. He started head back, when all of a sudden he spotted the woman who had growled at him earlier leaning against the wall. Skylar was hesitant at first to approach such a dangerous looking person, however, his kindness took over and he walked over to her. "Are you alright?" he asked, leaning over a little to her level.

Momo smiled at Jake. She thought he was kind and kinda cute. She Drake walk up to Jake and heard him spoke to Jake.

"Her name is Momo, Jake Faber, and I would take the gift card, its on me." he said. "My name is Drake Temple..." he motions over to Nina "That is Nina, and you have already met Momo, would you like to join us?"

Momo was happy about the offer. She still felt bed about bumping into him and thought that getting to know him better might make her feel alright.

Nina saw the hand motion and walked over to Drake, standing next to him. Her tail flicked a bit as she waved. Then she finally caught a wiff of Drake's drink and almost started drulling. She loved strawberries, and for some reason they always made her drull. She quickly caught herself though and wiped her mouth off like she was just scratching at something. Momo however saw what Nina was doing, and also smelled the strawberries, and then knew what was going on, which made her blush out of embarrassed.

James was quiet for a moment, listening. He went on smiling, despite the pain until the girl introduced herself as Jenna. He nodded slightly before looking around. "Uh, I think there is a mostly empty hallway over there." James pointed, feeling slightly embarrassed as he pointed. "Do you mind if we look at my bruises there and not in front of everyone in the mall?" He asked, looking sheepish.

James paused for a moment, rolling upright, pushing off of the bench with one hand and keeping the other hand over his stomach, wincing and mumbling softly. In all honesty, he didn't really wait for a response before tottering his way into the empty hallway. His head thumped around and he nearly fell at one point. It wasn't any single persons fault but all the noise had begun floating back to him and it was a little frightening at first for James, though it was not the first time that the sound system had been messy for him.

James slid into the hallway, sliding onto the ground with his legs out straight. He was slow to do it, but he took off his sun glasses revealing the ugly thing behind them. His eyes where luckily still focused in the same direction and could focus, but the bruising in his eye caused swelling and it looked incredibly big at the moment. Kind of like in the cartoons when there was a fight scene and then one of the characters, usually he one who got punched, came out with a fat looking eye and missing teeth. Luckily for James, also, he had managed to keep his teeth in tact.

James eventually rolled up his shirt, his flat stomach rubbed in with bright purple bruises and a few speckles from where blood would have come out from the point he was hit with a boot with what had felt like metal toes on the tips of the rubbed soles. Either way, it wasn't going to kill James, nor would it be there forever. He just hoped what Miss Jenna would do to his bruising situation would help because it really did hurt. Like, a lot to James. Mainly, though, that was because he had never been beat up before in his entire life and it felt horrible and nasty and he hurt on the inside as well as the outside. James sat there, feeling pathetic and looking distraught.

Rusty woke up next morning, stretching on his bed. It wasn't the most comfortable thing and he had to share it with Taurie - as they couldn't afford another one. The woman was still fast asleep - probably exhausted from her job. Rusty got out of bed and quickly showered and dressed. He had to go to the mall and pick that book one of his co-workers asked him to get before going to work.
It wasn't long before he left the apartment - after a quick breakfast consisting of cereal, and made his way to the closest mall.

Charm sighed and sat on the edge of the small fountain after she was full. She hopped down and walked around the mall, looking for something to do. She spotted the neko that had stepped in when the man had yelled at her. She then hopped up onto a bench and watched him, her tail swaying behind her. She hoped
to find out what had been a little off about him, and was very curious about why he stepped in. She smiled as only a cat could, thinking about walking up to him when she knew it would never happen. She was too shy.

Thorn blinked when she heard someone talking to her. She looked up with suprise when she realized it was Skylar. His words were like whispers among the voices in her head as she blinked back some tears. Thorn never cried in front of people, never.

"Control, Control I need to remember control..." Thorn spoke softly to herself, until the voices in her head stopped. She looked up at Skylar, and grinned, even though it looked feral it also looked friendly, barely. She stopped leaning against the building for support. Still a bit weak she swayed from side to side for awhile. Thorn's gaze watched Skylar but she never once looked in his eyes. "I'm Thorn. You are?" she asked, trying to act nice and civil for once. Her hood fell slightly back when she raised her head. Her ears were fully perked as she listened to people talk and walk by.

Skylar watched Thorn in front of her. He could tell immediately she was tough, not to type to rely on others. She reminded him of his alley days, she had the same tough appearance that he use to carry. She made an attempt to smile at him, which only showed her pained expression, but it still had a friendliness to it. "Name's Skylar" he introduced. "What's wrong?" he asked, becoming more concerned for her welfare as she struggled before him.

When she began to sway, Skylar ducked underneath her arm and supported her. "Come on, you need to rest. Do you have somewhere you can go?" Skylar asked, shifting his balance to better support her.

Jake didn't notice the man or the other neko come up behind him he jumped a little. "Her name is Momo, Jake Faber, and i would take the gift card, its on me" he smiles at Momo he [then] sticks out his hand to shake "my name is Drake Temple..." He [then] motions over to [the other neko] "that is Nina, and you have already met Momo. Jake smiled back at Drake and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you Drake." He said kindly, then he shook Momo's and Nina hand. "And its a pleasure to meet you ladies."

"Would you like to join us?" Drake said holding a strawberry banana smoothie. "i wouldn't mind ordering us all food, my treat" Jake got up. "I would love to join." He said happily, it had been awhile since Jake had actually went to hang out with someone. He then looked at Momo and Nina. "You two must be twins." Jake said most sure of himself. "Since both have the same charming features." He then look to Momo just a second longer. "She's really cute and very kind." He thought to himself "What a nice guy to adopt twins and keep them together."