October's Clan

💜💛 evren checks his messages. none on this beautiful sunny morning. it's nice to know he can enjoy this latte in peace. ahhh, that hits the spot. valain isn't as relaxed. she's staring longingly out of the window. evren can sympathize. on his first long-term stakeout, he was much like this. idly, he wonders whether nya will even want to come. it's not as if they've made for good company these past few years. his thoughts are interrupted by a - is that a meteor streaking through the sky?

ok, nya may have miscalculated. should she have tried to traverse space and time when she was this distracted from her recent excursion? probably not. did she do it anyways? yes. she's in space, above the planet she meant to land on. oh, she arrived in the path of a satellite with no time to react. the result? a huge explosion. and now she's free-falling through the upper layers of atmosphere. and she's on fire. probably. everything is orange and white. ow. this was a really stupid decision.

💛💜 nya is sure the trees are not hiding an ambush. she checks just in case. nothing. then what's tripping off her paranoia? precisely nothing. nya wraps around the nearest tree in consternation. she startles several sleeping birds off of their perches. they cheep irritably at her. heh. like mini-darens. inexplicably, nya finds herself missing the loud company she had prior. tch. just what is wrong with her now? she needs to sleep, is all. the trip wore her out.

morning does not bring her relief. memories rise unbidden as she carefully explores what she now knows to be the forest near her first home. here, a tree she climbed. there, a stream she waded across to chase a rabbit. bird songs of past and present mingle as nya fights down bitter regret. she should have never left. she needs to leave. she doesn't want to. nya sulks. valain was always better at this... sentimental stuff. whatever. valain won't see this. so.

... ok, nya is never arranging flowers ever again. goodbye, lanar.

💜💛 SEARCH FOR MISSING EX-COUNCIL MEMBER VALAIN CONTINUES
Dear readers... valain scans the page for any new search areas. nothing. this is good news. with any luck, it'll stay that way. she wonders how her nyanya is doing. is she uninjured? hungry? cold? what sweets is she craving? is she big still? as small as a kitten? so many questions, and no answers in sight~ valain would like to make her fruit tarts someday. the local selection is surprisingly good~

nya needs to head off. there's nothing stopping her. nothing... is that bacon? daren's hiding behind a rock, eating breakfast. she corners him with little effort. he cowers. her bacon now. it's as delicious as it gets around here. after she finishes the morsels, she looks around for more snacks. nobody outside. hmph. time to go.

nya opens her eyes to a night sky and dense forest. yep, it's her first home. she'd know those constellations anywhere. the sight should steady her, but she only feels uneasy. she can't wait to leave.

💛💜 none of the ships stationed here are big enough to ferry her anywhere. none of the buildings can comfortably fit her, either. tch. at least they gave her a tablet to find out where karst is. it's far. nya doesn't know whether she can make it. she shoves down her rising frustration. why does she want to go to find them anyways? she's free. she can go do what she wants. wouldn't it be fair play to make valain wait for her, this time? but... she does care about how valain is doing, ok? she's not heartless. nya curls into a big ball and sulks.

in the end, she decides to try. she pulls up the map again. space travel for her is out of the question. the only way is to teleport. the stronger her memory of the planet, the better. there must be a way... and her eyes land on a planet in the same sector. it's been renamed. jera-2. gussied up as a vacation planet, still? same spaceports? yep. nya doesn't want to know what kind of face she's making. looks like she's going home.

💜💛 nya has a headache. part of it was from their yelling. the other part was from the damned thing shocking her as it got pulled off. nya startled so hard she whacked her face against a rock. really, valain? nya is going to shock her and see how much she likes it. nya glares down at a whimpering daren. at least he stopped shouting. some others are poking at the device.

"this says 'property of valain s'. who's that?" vain as always.
"no idea."
"both of you forgot already?"
"look, things have been hectic."
"around here?"
"oh, shut it."
"she's the pretty lady that visited." she's not pretty.
"THAT valain?"
"then what's it doing on this thing."
"i don't know. oh! remember when one of us turned into-"
"nya'sii?"
"yeah. she turned into a fox. and they were really into each other when-" tch. fictitious events.
"could it be?"
"THAT'S NYA?" daren. she's going to eat him. she lunges at him. he shrieks and runs away. the rest look speechless.

"um, i guess you don't need a visitor pass?"

Dawn was on the front page! She's really pretty

💛💜 she's attracted a crowd of loud people. too loud. they're not going away. there's one that's more annoying than the rest. she swings her head around. a panicked daren stares back. she opens her mouth. he shrieks. ow, her ears. if that's the reaction she's going to get, teasing her comrades doesn't seem fun anymore. tch. a braver guard steps forward.

"do you have a visitor pass?" what. she squints at them.
"all guests require one." if it were any other time, nya would almost be impressed. instead, she snaps at them. they wisely retreat. daren whimpers.
"it's gonna eat us." nya considers it. but being at this outpost... she could get a star map. hmph. she lowers herself down to write in the sand.
"what's that on its neck. a bomb?" what?
"no. it's a projector." ?!
"of what?"
"holograms, maybe." ??!
"do you think this is someone's pet?" !?!
"don't be silly." nya rolls over. she wants that thing off of her. more shouting. the flowers stay on her mane. tch.
"can i help-" hey!

💜💛 evren has forged new documents for the three of them. taking on a new identity is nothing new to him, but this time it feels significant. a step forward into the future, for once. vane walks the streets with a lazy saunter and a frown. he likes a good drink alone at the bar, and hates waking up early in the mornings. he's a loner, a drifter, looking for a place to settle. simple, but good enough for evren. and now, to wait for the last person to arrive- hopefully in a small, compact form.

what a good afternoon of fun! most of the intruders got away. nya would be more upset over this if she hadn't gotten paul's tablet working. karst. nya remembers going there on shore leave. dull city. and if she arrives there as she is now... hmph. she pokes the thing inside herself. no response. whatever. she needs to leave here before they send more people. goodbye, stupid spyboy base! she tries to warp...and ends up on a desert planet. wait. this was her outpost. hi everyone :awkward:

💛💜 just what is this message? it's from a paul in the analyst department. they've never spoken face to face. evren probably couldn't pick him out of a lineup. all things considered, he's relatively harmless to talk to. evren's half-hearted decoding attempts yield no fruit. it might be nothing.

evren: paul?
paul: UNJ9O5RT PPQZA7UKL
...huh? this is nonsense
evren: what?
paul: S5T9BUP4I2SD S09P6HYVB0OY
evren: who is this?
paul: NNBNM68YA
evren squints at the screen. several pieces suddenly make more sense. paul survived - probably on the other side of the base. he left the base to go scout. they ran into nya. and now nya got her not-hands on paul's tablet. which begs the question...
evren: how do you type with no hands?
paul: MMN0POW3SFE ,., 89IEDKJI9O5T
no wonder she can't hit the right buttons. it's cute :blush:
evren: do you need help?
paul: NB LPO
paul: WNH23EFRDE YKIO8U /'?
evren: karst. please destroy this tablet. we can't have them know.
paul: VNB7YSDE
Connection Lost

Fluffy was featured on the front page! Quite the cute lil bean!!

💜💛 valain wonders how nyanya is doing as she cuts her hair. is she safe? are they after her too? did she eat? ah, she misses her nyanya already! she looks in the mirror and makes a face. short hair never looked good on her, but it's a small price to pay for a new life. and now for the dye. a dark brown should work. she'll look downright plain! will her nyanya recognize her? ah, silly valain, she saw right through your costume at the masquerade party after almost a decade of separation. the thought cheers her up greatly.

nya gleefully pounces on the intruders. the old one takes a hard fall to avoid getting crushed. he doesn't avoid her tail whipping around. he ragdolls. the others scatter. tch. they brought guns. that's trouble. nya takes flight. can't catch her now, hehe! nya spends a leisurely afternoon divebombing the group. this is so much fun. spyboy can live another day for bringing her such great entertainment. oh, and they brought supplies. nya's hungry. hers now.

💛💜 the flowers are still obnoxiously colorful while nya is covered in dirt. tch. what she would give for a pair of regular arms. she cranes her head around. pristine and still somehow suspended in her loose hair. highly suspicious. the glitter is still there too. ugh. nya is going to have a good sulk about - hey! who dares to interrupt her? oh, it's spyboy's "friends". rude as always. hah. they're looking worse for wear. there's an old one that looks like a mob boss from adaro in there. he's shouting at her. ruined his plans? oh, really? nya can ruin a lot more than that. just a little closer...

"where are we headed?"
"a planet on the fringes. some place i've never been at."
"exciting~"
"we'll have to get disguises. you hair-"
"recognizable, i know~ i'll get rid of it."
"... you sure?"
"i'm pretty plain without it~"
"i'm not so sure about that."
"hehe, you flirt~ i'm not attached. it's nyanya who is~ she kept making faces at it until i dyed it the exact same color again~"