Name:Tilly
Gender:Female
Age:8 neko years, so..... 8 human months?
Story of how you found him/her:I'm not really sure how I ended up keeping her. I was always prepared to let her go; I knew where she belonged, and it wasn't with me. But she decided to stay, and for that I must be grateful. I can just remember how cute she was when we first met; a sodden little scrap of white and cream fur mewing at me piteously, I shocked beyond all belief. I was surprised because I
knew she was different, I could tell she wasn't just some normal cat. Her eyes weren't right; they didn't have the telltale slit pupil of a regular housecat. And there, curled into her long, long tail, a strange orb, with orblets gravitating it. I found her washed up on the bank of the creek behind my house; it was the spring, and we had just had torrents upon torrents of rain for the past few days. The creek was satiated, my backyard flooded. She must have been taken downstream; a few miles upstream, in the state park, was the lake.
Wherever she came from, however she came to be there, I don't know, but I couldn't just let this tiny furball die. I scooped her up, held her close, and slogged my way back to the house, my boots making large ripples in the lake that was my backyard. She wouldn't stop mewing; I'm sure she was frightened after such an ordeal, so I closed my arms over her. I remember how light she was, like she'd float away if I loosened my grip too far; I swear, more than half of her weight that day was just the water soaking her fur. I have cats of my own, and a dog, as well, so I always have some old towels and blankets lying around, just in case. They proved their worth as I tried to rub as much moisture out of the little furball as I could. She was still damp, but I knew I had to get her warm.
At last, she started shaking, finally going into shock after all that she'd been through. Or maybe it was just me, or the strange environment, or even my dog. Rocky, his name is, and he's as gentle as a lamb. He had watched as I dried the kit, impatient to examine the strange creature but instinctively knowing she was scared. I wrapped her in a fresh blanket and settled down on the couch with some quiet music and a book. Rainy days have always been that way for me, a time to relax and unwind, take my mind to places other than the dreary gray skies. She had quieted down as I dried her before, and now she appeared to nearly be falling asleep. Rocky kept her awake, though, with his curious nosing and sniffing; I shoved him with a foot and threw him a tennis ball, and he finally settled down, too. The kit finally slept, and I went back to reading, the music and rain a quiet accompaniment to the grating sounds my dog made as he gnawed on a plastic bone.
About half an hour later, my lazy cats decided to seek out the source of the mewing they had heard earlier. First Buddy, the male, crept in, wary of the dog snoozing on the floor. He looked first at me, then eyed the bundle of blankets beside me on the sofa. Pixie, my female, peered around the corner. They could sense the presence of another living being in the house, I knew. They took their sweet time finally making it onto the couch to see our guest. They had never had another cat visit the house; I had no idea how they would react. But it appears that... neither did they. An adult cat they could easily deal with, but a kit.... They clearly didn't know what to do. After much examination of the sleeping creature, they retreated to their respective bedrooms to stew over their thoughts. She did not stir.
Another hour passed, and at last I was tired of reading. Not wanting to disturb her, I remained on the sofa; the TV remote was across the room and I had nothing else at my disposal, so I opted to make my own inspection of the fuzzball. The fur on top of her head had dried sticking up; I smoothed over it with a finger, surprised at its silkiness. Looking closer at her face, I noticed tiny.... deposits, perhaps? Tiny deposits of bright green
something on her face; they were so small, I hadn't noticed them before, when my only goal was to get her warm and dry. Suddenly, she opened her eyes; I could see she was still tired, but I had woken her up, unconsciously continuing to stroke her head with my finger. Those brilliant green eyes stared right into me. I've always been very affected by eye contact with other living beings; I never know quite what it means or why it means so much, but I always feel a connection with someone when we look right at each other, really
look. I always feel it when I look into my dog's eyes, and my cats'; we look right at each other, and it is as though our souls connect. It strengthens our bond. I think meeting that kit's eyes and really
looking at her connected us that day. I blinked and went back to my book; she yawned widely and nestled back into the nest of blankets for more sleep.
It wasn't difficult, taking care of one more "cat," so to speak. Cats require less maintenance than dogs, and this "cat" wasn't all too different from my own housecats. Until she started
floating. I could handle the really long tail, I could handle the odd things on her face, and heck, I could even handle the totally weird orb-thing hovering by her, but
cats. Don't. Float. That was the moment when it really struck me that she wasn't a cat, that she wasn't near so much like an average cat as I had thought she was. I resolved to find out exactly what she was, but knew searching the library for books on her species would be pointless unless I actually knew what species she was. I resorted to the one place I knew I could find answers for nearly any question: the internet. It's faster, anyway.
"
Sora... Neko..." There wasn't much information on them. But, apparently, they're magical, can fly (well, obviously), and their orbs are precious to them and possibly even critical to their survival. The website didn't really say whether they were kept as pets, but it did say they were an ancient species, so I thought they could fend for themselves well enough on their own. Plus, I hadn't ever even heard of the species before, much less heard of anyone taming one and taking it to live with them like a normal housecat. But this one seemed tame enough, already. "Well, now I know what you are, at least." I patted the kit, who hovered over my shoulder, watching me research her species on the computer. She wasn't even hardly a kitten, anymore; I had kept her for a week to make sure she was alright, and already she had grown a lot. She was happy enough with the dry food I fed my own cats, and quickly learned how to use the litterbox. She still didn't have a name. I wouldn't give her one, I knew that I had to take her back, back to the only place I thought she could come from. The park.
I took her to the park a few days later. I wrapped her in a blanket, same as I had done almost two weeks prior, and drove the few minutes to the reserve. I didn't really know where exactly I was supposed to leave her, but considering she'd washed downstream in the flood, I decided to park near the lakeside. I grabbed her up in her bundle, and set off to comb the shore for a sheltered place to set her. I knew of a good place, a little ring of evergreen trees surrounding a thicket of tall undergrowth; the ground was soft with a dense layer of fallen pine needles. It would be a fine place for the kit to start life again. I set her down, spread out her blanket, said a quick goodbye, and walked away. I knew she'd be fine; she didn't me. But, apparently... she wanted me.
I got back to my car, turned to slide into the seat, and she was
right there, hovering at shoulder height with her blanket draped over her back. I pride myself on always being aware of my surroundings, so it always takes me by surprise when, well, someone takes me by surprise. I received a nice bump to the skull when my head somehow mysteriously made contact with the roof of the car. Mysterious. While I was distracted by the pain, the kit floated past me and settled gently onto the passenger seat, exactly as she had been before. When the stinging dissipated, I could look at her. She was just staring at me; her eyes were clear. She didn't glare, didn't plead, didn't moan or grieve. It was a simple matter to her. She would stay. I had no way to argue; I had never really wanted her to leave, anyway. I drove home and plopped her on the bed with my two
normal cats. "Make friends."
Now that the decision was made, she needed a name. I always have a very hard time choosing names for my pets. It has to fit just right, it has to sound right, it has to be them in a nutshell, it has to be everything they are. I have never liked using people names for my animals, in the same way that no one would want to name a person after their animal. They are different, even though they are not
that different. After much thought, I wondered about a name I had always liked; coincidentally enough, it was also the name of a character in an old video game series that I love. The character's name was "Tilly" and she was a fairy. It sounded like it fit my sora neko perfectly; she could float, after all. I even already had a cat named "Pixie." Well, what are the odds?
I hope I don't make a habit of naming my pets after magical creatures; come to think of it, I hope I don't make a habit of bringing home more strays. I thought three was enough, but now I had
four? I really didn't need any more.
I don't need anything more. This was perfect as it is. I was already past the point of being able to imagine life without Tilly; having her for a few months has only enforced that. I was always prepared to let her go; I knew where she belonged, and it wasn't with me. But Tilly decided to stay, and for that I must be grateful. Yeah, this is great as it is.
What will you do with her if you win her:I am writing a story about CS pets, though I do have a few custom characters and species in there. I would like to feature her in it; she wouldn't play a big role, really, but I just think it would be cool to have her and use her in it. I love the diversity in my story; the more the merrier! It's basically about an apocalyptic world where monstrous beings quite literally suck the life energy out of all living things; the humans have fled to encampments in the far north, leaving behind their old lives, including most animals (pets, livestock, zoo animals, circus animals, wild things, etc.). So my story is that of the animals left behind; it would be really awesome to have another species to put in with my bunnies, cats, dogs, horses, birds, wolves, foxes, dragons, etc, etc. I portray a lot of different characters from a lot of different species, and it's always nice to exercise my writing muscles and really work at getting the personality, mannerisms, nature, etc. of a new, exciting species down to a "T."
I would certainly even consider using her in an official Sora Neko rp; I haven't rped in quite a while, but I am interested enough in this species (and especially this pretty girl) to seriously do so. Depends on the literacy, plot, and whatnot, though, of course. I hardly ever try out to win adoptables like this; I only do it when I find a species I like, and a particular adoptable I love. I don't think it would be right, nor fair to the adoptable, to have him or her and never use them for anything. I love all my characters, and I never want to allow them to collect dust.
Holy frijoles, is my story really almost 2000 words long? D: How the heck did that happen?
adoptedcharacter
