Kitty Kat

Alex sighed, removing his wallet and paying for the two girls and himself to enter the ferry, the old man behind the counter just chuckling softly at the poor man. He couldn't really argue with the cat girls new look though, he certainly wasn't against it, that was for sure. Catching up to the two aliens, he stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against the rail.

"My name is Alex, by the way."

He says calmly to Kitiara, before looking out at the water in front of him. Under normal circumstances, the assassin would be thinking of all the ways to utilize the lightning in his body in conjuncture with the water, but at this moment, he was taken back by how beautiful the falls really were. Majestic pillars of water fell and crashed with a simple, yet destructive, force to them. Small rainbows formed from the particles of water that seemed to cascade down from the crash at the end of the falls. All around them, couples of all ages, ethnicity, and culture seemed to be enjoying a good time. The thought of the contrast between them, and Raikou's chaperoned alien date, caused him to chuckle slightly, before shaking his head and laughing.

"I can see why you like the water so much Kitiara, it's really quite beautiful."

Kitiara stared out at the waterfalls, completely enthralled. She acknowledged Alex’s presence but she was enraptured. It was like she had never seen this much water before, and that was very much the case. The other tourists were just... all taking pictures and videos, chatting among themselves, making small talk of how beautiful it was, but Kitara was wholly immersed – body and mind- at the sight. Enjoying herself was a major understatement; as she stood at the railing in absolute silence, crouching down to touch the water, making small wakes with her hand. Tears came to her eyes.

Ky’leeah was kind enough to provide the narrative, standing beside Alex to ensure he had a basic understanding of their mutual friend. “You know, Alex... it’s difficult to believe but this place fits the description of an ‘afterlife’ or ‘heaven’ among her people, a place of abundant, flowing water. There are other worlds of water, but on our travels this is the first she visited. I cannot hope to describe the heights of what she’s feeling right now.” She explained, her translator giving her voice a melodic quality.

Kitiara fetched something from inside her jacket- a small stone with many etchings on it, and slowly slipped it into the water. Ky'leeah simply watched her ward as she performed a private ceremony.

Alex watched with interest as the girl performed her ritual, it was strange for someone to revere water as much as she did, especially growing up on a planet so full of water as Earth is. Cocking his head to the side, the lightning meta tries to watch carefully, making sure to memorize the ritual as best he could, in case she ever did it again. He also made a small mental note of her great respect for water, sure that would come in handy later.

"So, tell me, why does she adore water so much? I understand that it's important for life and all that, I guess I just don't understand why her culture views it so highly. Understand though, I've never left earth, and it's hard for me to wrap my head around the concept of worshiping a substance we've always had in such high abundance."

Ky’leeah looked at Alex, finding his lack of awareness in his words amusing. She decided to fill his ears with Kitiara’s tale as the cruise was underway. She watched as Kitiara marvelled at the water.

“Yes, something so precious to life would be taken for granted if it was abundant, would it not? Imagine then if you will Earther, when there will come a time in your world when water becomes scarce. Alien world weaponry boils away your oceans and seas, and a hundred generations are born unto such a world hence. So scarce it was worth more than gold, and your every waking moment was devoted to finding it, preserving it... that even the dead keep only their bodies but not the water within them. Rivers and lakes were fables to be told to children, and rain was unto the very gods coming down to earth. Kitiara came from such a world, and I too marvelled for a time at her utter reverence for it.”  She paused to catch her breath to continue. She had to be poetic about the story too.

“Yes... I remember when we found her on that world. We smashed apart her shackles and took her from her overlords, merely a mewling kitten that looked up to us and called us Sky Warriors. We could not save them all, but young Kitiara swore she would return.” Surrogate mother and daughter exchanged glances once more as Kitara looked over her shoulder for the sixth time in the last few minutes, making sure her companions were still there.

"...I have observed that not all the earth's humans possess abilities like yours. Or any exceptional abilities for that matter." Ky'leeah asked in an inquisitive tone after a few moments for when Raikou would take in Kitiara's story. "Are you some kind of mutant among your kind?"