The ocean – how it fascinated the young cat, with its beauties, so simple and awe-inspiring. The people of Arda all had responsibilities and hobbies, it seemed, but not Hattie; she was happy to drift around the beautiful landscape like the wind, drinking in the myriad of sights. For the greater portion of the last two days, the little orange kitty had been trailing up and down the coast, observing the crashing tide and smelling the salty sea air. To most, perhaps, the novelty would have worn off after all of fifteen minutes, but the forces of nature would never cease to fascinate Hattie, for two reasons.

For one thing, nature was pretty. Why not enjoy it? That was the kitty thinking, though most of her awe stemmed from the more subconscious part of her brain (meaning the other ninety-nine percent of it). To this more mysterious mind, nature and life were deeply intertwined, all the elements representing both life and death. Anything and everything was interlocked, painting a divinely beautiful picture, completing the circle of life. And that was what held the attention of not Hattie the Kitty, but Hattie the Sage.

Wandering closer to the ocean, so that the water lapped at the damp sand beneath her, as well as splashing over her right paws, Quess tentatively dipped an orange paw into the cool water, feeling and loving the cool sensation. A most delightful day It was, she realized, feeling the gentle sunlight on her face. I have the greatest life ever!

The coastline was breathtaking this day, and Stella, holding both her shoes in her hands, was running through the water, creating splashed to fly everywhere. It was so cool, and mixed with the hot sunlight tickling her face and exposed arms and legs, it was refreshing. In the colours of blues and whites, a orange blob stood out above all the others, and curiosity taking the better of her, Stella ran towards it.

It was a young looking kitteh, and it was all Stella could do from squeeling out. Or she thought. "Oh... my... KITTEH!!" She screamed, and began a mad run towards it, where she flung herself at the sand next to the kitteh, her eyes wide. Grinning, she geld out her hand to stroke it behind the ear.

"You are so cute!" She exclaimed.

As Hattie began to wipe her paw on the damp sand beneath her – ridding it of the salty sea water but also picking up large clumps of sand between her toes – she heard an incoherent scream. Whirling around in surprise, she was slightly perturbed to find a madwoman running at her, only to crash down besides her. Well…That was…An odd entrance the amused little “kitteh” thought, but she had herself made more flamboyant introductions.

Since the strange human seemed to pose no threat by the infatuated gleam in her eyes, Hattie did not deny the proffered hand, arching her neck up to accept the gentle scratching. Even as she gave a low purr of delight, her dark black eyes swiveled to take a closer look at her new friend; she looked normal but…Bright, as if she were emitting a soft glow. Well, who cared? Hattie wasn’t gonna question a good scratching if it came from Xoco himself!

Making sure her hat was still stable, the sage kitty thrust her muzzle into the young girl’s hand, licking at it and tasting the faintest scent of chocolate. Mmm…Sugar! But it was really strange that a random passerby would be so careless around her – it wasn’t everyone who would pet a wild kitty wearing a witch’s hat! Gingerly, she clamped her sharp teeth around the hand, letting her laws rest there for a moment before she pulled back to look at the weird girl in the eyes.

“Are you really sure you should be petting wild animals? I could have rabies, you know. Ooh, that’d be so cool if I had rabies! I could go “Raawwwr” and have foam on my mouth and stuff. Do you like foam? I like foam. Its so soft. I like soft things. Like silk. Do you like soft tings? Oh – I also like having tea parties with Mr. Carrothead, and taking walks, and having candy. I like candy. Do you like candy? Oh, I bet you do! DO you have any candy? Can I have some? Please? Please? Pleeeease?”

Rora had been watching the kitten for some time now, chuckling to himself a bit when the cat began to play in the water. From the point he was at the cat shouldn't be able to see him, but he could clearly see the cat playing with the water some. Rora barely noticed how beautiful the day was, but the cat in a hat was very interesting, nobody could really blame him for taking interest in a cat in a hat.

He watched joyfuly with a wide grin on his face until a squeal of excitement took place in his mind. He shot his head to see where the squeal had come from as he saw a girl with some sort of glow around her. She rushed towards the cat only to plop down on the beach next to it and give it a good scratching. As long as the cat wasn't displeased in any way Rora didn't really care. But now he was interested in the girl with the glow.

After a bit of scratching the cat began to speak! it utterly baffled Rora but he could hear what it had to say. And it was talkative. It asked several questions to the girl and made some goofy statements. Out of pure excitement Rora found himself rushing from his spot to the cat, stumbling every couple of steps.

He skidded to a stop a few feet from the cat and crouched down to look it in the eyes. "You can speak!? That is awesome! I've never even read about a talking cat, let alone read about one! you are amazing! Now that I know you can speak I would like to ask you some questions, starting with: Where did you get your hat, and how do you keep it on!" Rora's excitement gave him a sort of "glow" of his own.

As the cat spoke, Stella found herself shutting up, her voice drowned out by the cats own. Chocolate? She reached into her cloak, still rather dazed, and pulled out the bar, unwrapping it and offering it to the small cat, her mind still slightly fuzzy. A talking cat... Now that wasn't somthing you saw everyday! Shaking her head, she looked up at the sound of feet thumping against the sand.

His appearance was alike that of Stella's. He looked about the same age as her, young enough to be around 15- 16, and his hair was blond, spiked up in all directions, his eyes blue - almost both the same shade as hers. She watched him, his pale skin flaring in the sunlight, as he dropped down on his knees next to the talking cat, looking her in the eyes. Stella crawled back a little, slightly taken back. "You can speak!? That is awesome! I've never even read about a talking cat, let alone read about one! you are amazing! Now that I know you can speak I would like to ask you some questions, starting with: Where did you get your hat, and how do you keep it on!" The boy gushed, and Stella smiled.

It was exactly what she was going to say. She coughed nervously, unsure of what to say. What was there to say really? She cleared her throat again, and twiddled her thumbs. The fact that a talking cat achually existed was off enough, but a cat wearing a hat... well, that was indeed odd. Stella wondered why this was, but dared not ask right now.

Greedily, Hattie wolfed down the sweet chocolate, taking her time before she whirled around to face her newest admirer – oh, how she loved all this attention! She saw it was yet another young human overwhelmed with her pwningly cute looks. Giving him a mischievous wink, she asked as innocently as she could, “Have you been stalking me?”

“Oh, this hat? I love my little hat. That’s why my name’s Hattie. I don’t really remember where I got this hat, or anything besides travelling, really. Really – I don’t even think I had parents. It’s all weird. But the hat just fits me for some reason. Maybe it’s magical! Oh I like magic. It’s so weird and fun and stuff! And chocolate. Oh, wait, did I already say that? Mmm…Sugar. My friend says I shouldn’t have candy. He says it makes me talk too much or something like that! As if! Do you like kitties? Of course you do. I do too. And ponies. And unicorns. And duckies. And syrup. Oh wait, that has sugar in it too.

So who are you? You look funny. I think everyone looks funny. Not as funny as Mr. Carrothead though. He looks really weird. You should meet him some time. I don’t like carrots. They taste so plain. Actually, I really don’t like anything without sugar in it. Oh, I like the beach too. That’s why I’m here. It smells nice. Why are you guys here?”

Blabbering on and on, Hattie began to poke and prod at Stella’s legs, trying to find out why they were so glowy.