Owner	Pose
WilyKat	The Columbia River Gorge, formed by the Columbia River, serves as a natural boundary between the states of Washington and Oregon. Running through Portland, there are a few other places that work as tourist destinations. There's Vista House. There's Cascade Locks and the Bridge of the Gods. Follow it further northeast and it winds through Richland and the Hanford nuclear site. Closer to Portland itself is Multnomah Falls, famed for the bridge that creates a scenic viewpoint, along with miles of hiking trails through steep terrain. On a mild, sunny day, spring is finally...springing, and people have flocked to the site to hike or, in the case of most, just take pictures of the waterfall and leave. There is soon another visitor, or at least, something out of the ordinary. A crash of some kind, not far from one of the switchback trails near the top of the waterfall, a thump, a bit of smoke. Closer inspection reveals it to be a pod of some kind, with a small window in it. But, what's it for?
Vorpal	It has been a hectic week for Tommy Hunter, and the barrage of finals almost eroded his sanity. Still, he did have two free days before his last set of finals, and he was going to take advantage of them to the fullest. He was taking a break from the hike, sitting down and letting the sun wash over him as he rests on the trail, one earbud in his ear blasting some appropriatey bucolic music- (Seven, by Davi Bowie) -Or at least in Tommy's opinion, anyways. Nature, music, sunlight, who could ask for anything more? And then, he feels the vibrations. And he starts smelling smoke. It couldn't be.... Could it? The young man sighs and gets up to his feet. He doesn't dismiss the illusion of humanity just yet, though, as this could be just a false alarm. He breaks into a very agile run, heading towards the site where he can now see a plume of smoke...
WilyKat	It's not hard to follow the signs of the crash. A few splintered branches here, a trail of dirt and mossy grass that's dug into for thirty or forty feet, ending with the partially upright pod, fortunately vertical the correct way. Upon closer inspection, there's someone inside. Humanoid, from the look of it, yet different. Almost..feline? Yes, some kind of cat-person, evidently. It looks like he's asleep, in a deep slumber of some kind, and while the pod itself shows damage from the descent and impact, it's managed not to break apart. In fact, the being inside doesn't even appear to be scratched at all or otherwise roughed up. There is a button near the window, with alien markings of some kind ringing it.
Vorpal	Tommy frowns as he surveys the scene. He knows this pod construction, from having seen a similar one recently. Indeed... it is raining cat people from outer space. Just his luck, right? He approaches the pod with caution, enough to peer in the window and see that there is an occupant there. "Crap... are they..." He looks for a way to open the door. Then he sees the button. He is a cat. He can't help it. *BOOP*
WilyKat	*WHOOSH* A hiss of air follows, seemingly evidence of a lock or seal being released. As the door swings open, more of the occupcant can be seen. There are clawed fingers and toes, mostly orange and tan clothing, a couple different shades of color to the face, stylized hair that also features two primary colors, and a few items nearby. One looks like some sort of skateboard without wheels. There's also some sort of claw-like thing coiled up at his side. Suddenly the cat, apparently a young adult by the look of it, gasps as his eyes open wide. They're slitted, no surprise there, and unfocused at first as he comes to realize he can actually breathe the air around him. But he stumbles forward as he tries to take his first step out of the pod, a yelp of sound with it.
Vorpal	A Thunda.. Thundamaria... a space cat. Just like he suspected. Tommy quickly dismisses the illusion in order to reveal his true shape, in the hopes that seeing another feline will give the visitor less of a shock. With quick reflexes, Vorpal tries to catch the cat and keep him from falling... mostly because not falling on your feet is probably just totally embarrassing to them as it is to him. "Hey, easy there, easy there- you're among friends." He pauses, reassessing the veracity of this statement. "Friend. Potential friend, anyways. How many fingers am I holding up?" The Cheshire cat holds up two fingers up for the other one to see, after he's put an arm around him to stabilize him.
WilyKat	'Space Cat' fits, technically. Clearly, the newly-reawakened one doesn't yet have his legs beneath him, so Vorpal saves him the indignity of tumbling to the ground. Yet and still, there's a somewhat wild look to his face and eyes as he first begins to realize he's out of the pod. "<Where..where am I?>" he wonders, voice raspy and scratchy from disuse, then he stops and BLINKS. "<When did my voice get deeper?>" The problem is, the words he says are in no earthen language at all. Only after a thing or two about this has dawned on him does he realize someone else is actually supporting him and speaking to him. "Huh?" That, at least, comes off as a universal sound of questioning, and he simply stares at the other... "<Wait. You're a cat, too? And you have a tail! Did I land back on New Thundera?>" So does he, a bushier one in comparison, and this brings with it quite the surprised look. Studying the fingers, he mimics them with two of his own. That might not mean what it seems.
Vorpal	Okay, that was the Moonspeak he had heard Lion-O utter before he got his translator working. "Your translator..." Vorpal says, and mimics putting it on, and then looks at the pod, pointing. "Is it there?" But then he realizes this might stress the newly landed alien. He probably needs to know that he is not alone. He holds up a hand, and the cat crest that Lion-O had on his armor appears, floating in mid-air between his fingers, and then he points at Wilykat, as if asking him if the symbol relates to him. Because that will give him a lot of things in subtext- how can Vorpal know of that symbol without having seen others like him, right?
WilyKat	The upraised hand, as it happens, is the left one, the one with the partial glove on it. The right hand is bare. Wilykat then gestures with both hands up like he doesn't understand - no kidding! - as he steps back to partially lean against the pod, which is pretty well embedded in the ground. "<What are you trying to tell me?>" No doubt he's forgotten all about the translator for the moment. Hopefully it's not damaged. Then, something else happens. As soon as the familiar symbol appears in the air, like a hologram of some kind, the alien's jaw all but drops. "<You've seen that?!>" he exclaims, pointing excitedly at the insignia. "<Where?>" He looks around quickly, as if expecting someone he's more familiar with to show up at any time, only it's just them. No other voices yet, nobody close enough to stumble upon them. It really is a high percentage of people who only go as far as the bridge a few hundred feet below. There /is/ some kind of device on the floor of the pod, near the hoverboard. It looks sort of like a phone or similar to one. "<Wilykit? Have you seen her? Is she safe? What about the others? Lion-O? Tygra?>" Just have to get that translator working...
Vorpal	Vorpal raises his hands and takes a deep breath in an exaggerated manner, as if to tell the other cat 'calm down.' This is a pretty pickle. He doesn't seem to have his translator on him. At least, he doesn't think so. He knows it has an earpiece, but he didn't quite see what it looked like, up close. The symbol changes, and Vorpal shows a cartoony version of the pod cashing into the cat's palm, out of which emerges a cartoony Lion-O. A cartoony version of Vorpal walks up to it and then Lion-O and the Cheshire shake hands, and walk out of frame. He then looks up at Wilykat and reaches out with a hand to touch his shoulder, exhaling, hopefully conveying 'calm down.' Then he taps his ear and tries to convey a mimicked earpiece better. He may not be succeeding.
WilyKat	Calming down does not appear to be happening. No, not just yet, especially when another sequence of images is shown to Wilykat. He practically hops in place from one foot to the other in excitement, pointing at it. "<That's Lion-O! And you! You saw him!>" One might think this creature was one big kitten, the way he's acting. He even tries to tug on Vorpal's arm. "<Where is he? Can you take me to him? I have to see him!>" Only after the contact is made in return to his shoulder and the ear is touched does Wilykat /finally/ begin to figure it out. "Huh?" That sound again, then he turns to look back into the pod. Oh. Down there on the floor. The device..and an earpiece. He all but pounces upon it, fiddling with the thing, cramming the earpiece in place. "<Come on..work. Don't be broken. Don't be broken. Don't> be broken. Don't be broken."
Vorpal	"Its NOT broken, thank heavens!" Vorpal laughs. "It's good to be able to just talk without doing charades. I am the. worst. at. charades. ever. But then again, I also get the worst words. How the hell are you supposed to mimic Triple Heart Bypass, I ask you?" The cheshire cat realizes he's rambling, and leans against the pod. "Sorry. You can call me Vorpal. And what may I call your overly excited and hyperactive self, if I may ask?" he grins, reaching out a hand as a proper greeting.
WilyKat	"Huh?" /That/ sound again, but it almost sounds more understandable now, as if the translator is helping in some way. "I don't know what you're talking about, but /you saw Lion-O where is he I'm so glad he's alive we must have been separated and I guess I crashed and/" *deep breath* "/and is this New Thundera no it can't be because otherwise I wouldn't need the translator I don't think and/" *deep breath* And, he stops. "Whew. Sorry. I'm just really confused right now because you're also a cat and you /kind of/ look like you're part of the Tiger Clan but not quite." A long pause, then, "I'm, uh, Wilykat." The hand is met and his is actually shaking with excitement and hyperactivity. The tail is flicking repeatedly as well.
Vorpal	"Alright, one- this isn't New Thundera, it's Earth, and I actually look like maybe a zero point zero zero two percent of the population. We need to get you out of here, though, because you are an alien from another planet and the government hasn't quite figured out what to *do* in those cases yet. But don't be scared.. I'm a hero here. And I know others, so we'll make sure you're welcome, but we just got to get you guys together. I guess you must have been part of some crashed vessel or a fleet... and your kinfolk may be arriving over the course of... well. Who knows how long? Lion-O is with... Tygra, John said his name was? but I can't quite pinpoint where they are without contacting the guy who coordinated. I didn't get that good look at the place. So what I'm going to do is I'm taking you to my place, and you can rest from your journey there. At nightfall we'll make contact and I can take you to your... family? Friends?" He didn't ask, of course, because there's just too much information to process. "In any case... do you trust me?" He holds out his hand.
WilyKat	Wilykat runs a hand through his wild-looking hair. "Earth. Where is that? No, nevermind. You can tell me later." His brows furrow at the explanation that those like the two of them are evidently in the vast minority. "That..might not be very good." He begins to pace, only to stop a couple seconds later upon hearing Vorpal call himself a hero. "A what?" Pace again. Stop again. Stare. "Tygra's here too? Then that means Wilykit has to be..right?" A conflictingly worried, hopeful, and excited look flashes across his face as he thinks of his twin sister. This one has met Lion-O, at least. He /has/ to go with him. "I don't know about trusting yet, but I might not get any answers if I don't go. And..how did I get older? We're not supposed to get older in the stasis pods!" The translator's doing good work, fortunately. Finally, he makes up his mind. "Hold on, just let me get my things and..can you make the pod go away so nobody can find it?" Cradling the hoverboard close to him, he leaves nothing behind that he doesn't need, then he accepts the hand. With that, a portal opens up, leading the way to the place Vorpal talked about.
Vorpal	"Probably a malfunction. That pod looks all sorts of banged up..." The cat frowns. He knows Lion-O did NOT want to leave that pod behind to be discovered. It was really embedded, though, and Vorpal does not have super-strength. "Yeah. We can't leave it here, though, we don't want anyone to discover it. I haven't... really done this much, so let's hope for the best." Just a few days ago he did bring a massive statue to life, but technology was... pickier. He places both palms against the surface of the pod and exhales. "Please follow us..." A burst of chaos magic, and then there is nothing at all for a few moments. Then, the pod shakes and shudders itself until it is standing on some new protuberances, temporary legs, and digs itself out of its crater. "God I hope this is not too heavy for my floor..." otherwise he was going to lose that lease. Good thing he was on the ground floor, at least. "C'mon, Wilykat, let's get you some food and some rest." And Vorpal puts an arm around the other's shoulder, meant to be a reassuring gesture, and walks towards the portal, the pod following after them. That carpet is going to be so screwed...