STOP! CHECK OUT THE ORIGINAL SUBMISSION TODAY!

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Leo stopped mid-step while walking the streets of his village as he spotted a familiar figure running up to him. It was Kat, Leo's ninja disciple. She's been quite a helpful follower and student around Leo. He always enjoyed her company and treated her like a close friend. He smiled as she ran right up to him.

"Hi, Kat!" he said. "How are you today?"

"I'm doing great!" she replied. "I have to say that the adventures you've brought me on and the training you've had me invovled in were a lot of fun!"

"Well," he said. "I never get to hang out with anyone often. This village is often too busy with daily... whatever, you know? I end up all alone because of that."

Leo's heart skipped a beat while looking into Kat's sparkling eyes as he prepared himself for what he would say next.

"Th-That's when I met you: a nice, fun-loving girl like you who I enjoy talking to and showing my ninja skills to. You've wanted to know more about what I do as a ninja, and that's why I took you in as my disciple. But you're not just any disciple; you're a sweet, kind friend who I enjoy. Your smile makes me smile, and I don't feel lonely anymore."

"Aw, Leo..." Kat sounded touched by Leo's words as she blushed. "You really mean that?"

Leo began blushing ever so slightly.

"Er, well," he mumbled. "Yeah. I mean, I often don't meet fun furries like yourse--"

"Huggles!" Kat said joyfully as she suddenly wrapped her furry arms around him.

Leo was taken by surprise; he didn't expect this kind of reaction from such a sweet cat. But this was a soothing feeling; he knew she felt comfortable in his arms, and he felt comfortable that she was comfortable. Leo smiled gently; he was happy making those he cared about smile around him.

Kat happily purred as Leo's arms slowly but fully enveloped her in an embracing hug.

Leo may be a fire ninja, but this was a moment where he truly felt warm inside.

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I was lucky enough to grab an "Art Sla--" Er, I mean, "Art Disciple" spot from , so I'm getting free drawings from her for seven days! How exciting!

The cuteness! It's overwhelming! How does she draw such lovely pictures?

Right off the bat, she did a fine job with Leo's wardrobe yet again! Nice soft blend of orange and yellow lines for that cool fire design. Also very well done drawing his ninja sandals and designing them to fit her style of drawing the feet-paws which look primarily digitigrade; they look like actual cat-paws which honestly look pretty cool!

Even her fursona's wardrobe looks pretty cute the way she drew it; small frills on the rims of her shirt sleeves and bottom. Plus the colour almost matches the pink background, but it's in a lighter shade, so it's still easy to see.

Solid work on the shading. Got the lighting and shadows in all the right places.

The really awesome parts of this drawing are definitely the poses and expressions. The way she drew Kat standing just by her tip-toes are cute enough as it is as she comfortably leans into the hug. Very good work getting their arms naturally wrapping around each other. Nothing looks rigid; everything is drawn to look like natural, relaxing poses. And the expressions are just spot-on for this picture! Kat looks like she's enjoying every second of this hug as evidenced by her closed, happy eyes, her soft smile, and her slightly pink blush on her cheeks. Her face just screams "adorable!" Bonus points for the extra speech bubble and the cute way she wrote the word "HUGGLES!" Leo's face is equally well done as she drew him looking downward with bright eyes and a warm, gentle smile.

Splendid job for Day 5, ! Thank you very much for yet another sweetly-drawn picture!

WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING YET? GO DO IT NOW, AND TELL HER LEO SENT YOU!