Post by Mutant Play condemned on Oct 12, 2013 12:09:19 GMT -5
Riko Masuyo Linz | Adopt A Pic
Metahuman: Plant manipulation
Unregistered
Some day, one day, you'll miss me.
Mundane Sundays, when I'm gone.
Riko Masuyo
In one hand was a very expensive designer purse, in the other hand was a pair of very expensive designer heels, but neither one of those things were helping her at all right now.
She sprinted down the sidewalk as best as she could, glancing over her shoulder to see the two men were gaining on her. She had a hard time catching her breath as she ran with the tears stinging her eyes and throat, but she knew if she could make it to the river in the middle of the forest, she’d be fine… but it was going to be hell getting there…
..............
Cataclysma
I accept chaos, I'm not sure whether it accepts me
-bob dylan
(Jane)
She can't believe she let the waitress upset her like that. She knows better, knows she has to watch herself, her emotions, and have some self-control. But the pregnant dog has it coming to her and Cat just stares her down from across the outdoor cafe, toe of her shoe tapping against the sidewalk, crossing her arms.
She measures her breathing, but it just gets faster, rubs softly at the center of her chest to calm herself, mentally thinking of calm things, her cat at home, her mother, laying in a field...anything...
The ground shudders slightly, the silverware on the table clatters softly against the metal cafe tables, ice tinkles in glasses of water across the place, and now inside. She gets up, very slowly, carefully, taking up her bag and hugging it to her like a life preserver, starts to walk away from the cafe slowly.
"Hey lady, you did not pay! Hey there, you have to pay!" She doesn't turn her head, turns down an alley and tries to lose them.
...............
{TBD}
Real Name: Harvey Scott Deitrich
Assumed Name: Franklin Gregory Hunter
Former Green Beret now an EMT
Mutant
Powers: Super-Strength/Healing Factor
Reserved:Honorable:Quiet
It was his day off and he had spent half to day tooling about with Harley Soft tail, now he was just relaxing and driving around to take the edge off of almost losing the older lady that he had his partner had been transporting to the local hospital due to a series of severe mini-strokes.
Most people were looking for Harvey Scott Deitrich, because they knew he was an unregistered mutant, they also knew that he had been with the Green Berets. However, no one was looking for Franklin Gregory Hunter, the simple EMT and motorcycle enthusiast. Harvey had been an EMT for nearly 3 years now, he had lost count of the number of lives he had helped save, but could still count the number of deaths on two hands.
He had felt the slight quake out of nowhere and nowhere near a fault line. He shook his head inside his half helmet slightly, he had to have been imagining things. He watched the pretty blond girl as she got up and heard the exclamations requesting that she stop and pay for her meal. He was almost ready to keep on going, but then he saw the 3 men who were intent on making her pay.
Would he help a stranger or not?
.............
Jia
Avatar: A World Torn
(Heather Production)
Jia was a misplaced Air Bender. Somehow she had went from being in the Earth Kingdom to being some place else and on some other planet it seemed. There was things she had never seen before. Things that moved without animal power or the power of bending. Strange forms of money and even stranger clothing.
Another oddity was that she could understand the language though she had never heard it before or learned it. Whatever force had brought her here, she was stuck and had no idea what to do. As she walked down the street she saw a lady being chased by two men into an alley and then they disappeared around a corner. Next was a man on a motorcycle with a helmet on but she had no idea what a helmet was or what he was actually riding.
Next she noticed a blond woman running from three men after feeling the earth shake. Almost immediately she wondered if there was an Earth Bender around, because it was an unnatural movement of the earth. Just because she was an Air Bender didn't mean she couldn't feel the earth shake and move. Having traveled around the world to learn new techniques from the various nations, she had learned to sense the movement of the earth with her feet even if she couldn't bend the earth to her will. It was useful when bending against other benders to know what they were going to do before they did it.
As she watched the men follow the woman for not paying, she was unsure if she should help them or stop them. it seemed they were just trying to get payment for services rendered or something similar.
"This place is so strange..." she said. "Mou..." she let out a puff of air from her mouth.
....................
Cat walks faster, trying not to appear like she is in a hurry, but the more upset and worried she gets about being caught, the more the earth trembles and worries her. She looks back once, seeing she is still in sight of the manager of the restaurant. At the corner of the alley and the next block she sees a man on a bike and comes around, trying to find a crevice , an alley, anywhere where she can not be seen and can calm herself down. Maybe the fire escape. She looks up, seeing where it is low enough for her to be nimble and make her way to the roof. Seems like she would be cornered though.
"Bugger," she says under her breath, looking desperately to the guy on the motorcycle, not sure what she expects him to do. Pay her bill? She could stop, pay and maybe they would be fine, but the longer she spends out here, the worse the chaos will be and then they will be clued into her. Too much talk about it lately, too visible. She must not be found out. She passes a girl on the sidewalk and slows down for a moment, but thinks better of it, and picks up speed, taking a quick dash into an alley and pulls down the fire escape, yanking herself up.
....
Jia watched the woman continue to run. The man on the strange two wheeled contraption rode off and continued on his way. She followed the men who were from the establishment and the woman. The earth continued to shake as she followed the woman, which made her think the woman was an untrained bender. Some Benders had a natural gift and if untrained could cause massive damage. Like her who had an unnatural gift at bending air and an aptitude to learn so quickly she had outstripped her masters long ago.
By the time she got to where the woman had gone, the woman was no longer there. She looked around but the alley was a dead end. The men were standing around confused as well. Jia did see a strange metal ladder leading upwards but was unsure if that was where the woman had went until she caught a glimps of the womans dress.
"Up above..." she said to herself before she left that alley and went to the one on the other side of the building. Once over there she bent some air and leapt up into the air using the air to help her fly up and onto the top of the building.
"Now where did she go...?" she asked herself looking around.
................
As she concentrates on her climbing, Catherine is able to calm down herself, and the area around her also calms down. She conintues the climb anyway, thinking to stay up on the roof until they give up. She can mail them the money later. She is not a thief, only afraid. She must not be found out. A quick, furtive look down tells her that they are gone and not following her, at least not in this alley. With some effort she grabs the last ladder and pulls herself up, glad for all those extra workouts at the gym lately. She finally puts her hands on the roof and pulls, with some effort, her body up and over. It's that weird feeling. Or maybe something she saw in her peripheral vision. Being watched. Once her full body is up top she does a quick roll over and sits up, eyes wide as she looks at the girl from the sidewalk.
"Hell no. I just saw you. I know it was you." She stops talking, takes deep breaths now, winded. How did she get up here so quickly? Was she a danger to Cat? If so she is screwed. Her body has to recover, and her breathing.
..........
Jia saw the woman pull herself up and over the ledge of the roof of the building.
"So that's where you were..." she said to herself softly. It was why she hadn't seen the woman when she got up here, the woman had still been climbing. As for the people below she didn't know what became of them, but that did not matter to her.
"I climbed up the other side," she replied loud enough to be heard. "I'm very fast and very well trained."
That was the partial truth as she was fast and very well trained. However there was no way to climb up from the side she had came up on. It was a fib, but she had not seen any other Benders and she wasn't sure what their reaction would be to her bending the elements around her.
"Are you a Bender?" she asked in curiousity. She was not sure how to help someone who may or may not be a Bender. This was so confusing because this place didn't seem to have Benders at all, or if they were around they were in hiding.
...................
Catherine doesn't get up yet, sitting with her knees up, arms wrapped around them. She bows her head and breaths deeply, calming down more and more. She saw the girl and nearly freaked out, but hopefully she can trust her for this moment at least. She will have to take her chances, because she is not ready to walk, let alone get down from a building.
"I paid them inside, they misunderstood," she lies, talking muffled by her arms. She's been lying a lot lately, covering up. She's afraid, but there is no one to tell. No one to trust. She heard about the agents, saw it on the news. They pretend to be friends, then turn you in. She can't risk it. "I know I should have stopped but I have a lot of parking tickets. I was worried I would be arrested." Clear your head Cat, that one was a whopper, and that girl sounds and looks intelligent.
She lifts her head, confused now at the girl's ability to climb the building that quickly. She does not look tired at all. Could be a gymnast. But even gymnasts have to breath.
"What is a bender?" She asks, really lost now, and her expression shows it. She looks to the side, wonders if she had to run again from this girl, if she'd make it.
............
Jia didn't believe a word that was said, but then again the woman's body language said another story. Being a master Air Bender, a master Shiatsu specialist as well among other combat abilities, she had learned to read body language very well.
"You're lying," she stated calmly but making no move to get near the hyperventilating woman. Even she could tell the woman was frightened about being captured for some reason or another.
"A Bender bends the elements around them. Earth Benders, move earth which I think you are. Fire Benders, bend the element of fire. Water Benders bend the element of water. Air Benders bend the elements of air," she explained. It was simple but also complicated.
"Then there is the Avatar that can bend all four elements at once," she said as she looked around. No one was up there but them so she took up a stance.
"Here this is Air Bending," she explained as she went through several forms and she moved the wind and it was visible too. Gusts of wind lept from her hands and feet as she went through several martial art katas.
"Understand?"
..........
Her eyes dart to the girl's as she says she is lying, but she can see that she is not challenging her further, or doing anything about it, just saying it. She listens to the exclamations, but they are too fantastic, like a movie, or a cartoon on television. She shakes her head slowly, her body language speaking very clearly that she felt she was either being messed with, or being told a story by a very nice Asian mental patient. She scratches her cheek, her forehead wrinkling some as she tries to wrap her mind around it. It is a bit unbelievable, but the so is what is happening to Cat. And the sudden talk about Mutants on the news, in the papers screams that something is going on here. She gets up now, brushing herself off. Her legs are long, her blond hair hanging well down her back.
"I don't know, it all seems very.." she doesn't want to say any of the words that come to mind, not wanting to hurt her feelings. Then she is mentally knocked off her feet by what happens next, watching her move the air with her hands and her feet.
"I see it, but I don't believe it. Do it again please? Make me understand."
................
Jia had finished her demonstration and watched the woman get up and try to explain how she thought it was all very unbelievable though the woman had not said the words. Even so she understood, if someone had never seen bending before they would also not understand it or believe it.
"Of course," she smiled and went into some more katas, wind moving from her hands and feet once more. She also leapt into the air and hung there as if she was flying for a few moments. Jia really could not fly on her own, but she could manipulate the air to keep her afloat for a little bit or lift her up to the top of a building after leaping up high. One thing Benders were known for was great feats of martial skills and the ability to boost their own physical attributes with their bending skills.
Next she created a ball of air and she sat on it and zoomed around the woman with a smile on her face before the air ball disapated.
"There, see?"
..............
She is amazed and shows it, watching and believing, hell unless she is on some drug, it is all happening, right here before her eyes. She turns around as the girl moves round her and claps her hands at the end impulsively, like a child. Afterwards though, her face takes a different expression and she walks closer to her, taking her wrists in hers, if she would let her. Not roughly, just to make a point. She looks around them, as if anyone could see them, looks up at buildings that are higher, wondering if they are being seen. It had not occured to her until now.
"Do you not know how dangerous it is to be different here? They hunt people like us. They try to put you away, do away with us."
She suddenly lets go of her hands, bringing one hand to her mouth. She was so caught up in the moment, being with someone else with a gift that she forgot herself. Her eyes look as if in moments she will be caught up in some net, taken away. She said 'us'. Us. She puts her head down a little.
"That was no earthquake. That was me. But I-I didn't mean to do it. And you understand don't you? I could not let them catch me, let them figure out what kind of freak I am."
..............
Jia blinked, at the taking of her wrist and the explanation that followed. It seemed people here locked up benders. No wonder she had not seen any one bending. If anyone was caught they were locked away. Bending was against the law here which was not right, it was not right to stop bending.
"So you're an Earth Bender who doesn't know how to control it. You're kind of like me. All Benders are born with the ability to bend a element. Some however don't have control over it and must learn the proper forms and control to make it their own..." she stated.
"I'm an Air Bender, I can't really teach you an element you won't be able to control. However I did spend a lot of time among Earth Benders to know their forms and fighting styles. I could teach you their bending forms. It may help you learn how to bend the eart without losing control. Although you'd be better off with a Earth Bending master. But if what you say is true then those people are probably locked up or in hiding."
Jia understood that she should not be using her Air Bending in this strange place. Not the right thing to do here but bending was apart of her every day life. It was as natural as breathing walking.
"We're not freaks. We're special," she stated calmly as she believed it herself.
............
Her eyes say that she does not believe her completely. She turns her head away, paces slowly , her hands together, glad to be finally calm. She makes her feel calm. She wants to do as she says, and control her ability. But she must help her to understand what she is really dealing with. Somehow. But she might have to hide then from her as well.
"If they are in hiding, maybe they can be found. Maybe I can not be so alone." She turns around and looks at her.
"I am not like you, with a gift. At least not right now, it is more of a curse. When I get excited, when I am upset, afraid, elated, angry, things just....happen. I am still not sure why and I don't always know what to expect. Sometimes people get hurt. I don't want to hurt anyone. I want to go somewhere with a lot of room, land, somewhere I can be myself and not hurt anyone ever again. No one knows. Well my family suspected....something. They didnt' know what to call it. They thought I had a lot of accidents." She shrugs slightly. She tries not to think of them. She either misses them or gets very angry.
......
d. Perhaps they could be found and if not she could try and help her with the forms. She knew them by heart, even if she couldn't move the earth like an Earth Bender could. Those forms were helpful even to her when she had to face off against an angry Earth Bender. Knowing those forms taught her how to fight them as well as stand her ground. Air Benders were by nature flighty and always dodging while fighting back. Earth Benders stood their ground, and moved the earth.
"That's natural. Emotions play a huge part in bending. It's all a state of mind and when you learn the forms you can learn how to bend the earth to your will. It will not be easy and it will take time but you can do it. I'm sure of it," she stated.
"You will need a lot of room to practice. A prarie, a desert... Just a place with a lot of open space. Even a canyon would work," she explained.
Learning to bend the earth would take a lot of space away from cities. Easier to learn, more controlled area especially for one who had no control.
......
She does not fully understand, but she is kind and understand-ing and that is enough for her right now. It's like water in the desert, bread for starving soul.
"I believe the answers are somewhere between what you are saying, and what I am saying. I think it comes from a different place than yours. But I think you are right about one thing. With practice, maybe it could be used for something good. Make up for all the people I hurt. You have no idea...."
She turns her head away again, this time with shame. She speaks, but not looking at her. "I lost someone in my family. I know it was not my fault. I did not ask for this." At this, she balls up her fists at her sides. "But still, it came from me, and it breaks my heart that they are lost due to me. That is why I left."
She turns to look at her.
"I heard there are those who help, but I have no idea how to find them. They are here, hiding also, careful." She thinks about the man on the harley, the one that looked like he might actually try to help, then drove on. Something about the way he looked at her. There are heroes every day. Citizens. Then there are those that choose to look away completely. Too much fear.
"So where do we start? I really don't have a clue. Do you have a place to stay? I do not even know that you are new here but you seem new, you seem not to know how things are, the way things are being done here with mutants."
That dirty word. She hates even saying it out loud.
........
Jia let her speak, there was nothing she could say about losing someone. In her world Air Benders were raised in a community of monks. There were no real families for Air Benders where she came from. Different culture and all that for the Benders of her society.
"I'm kinda lost. Don't know how I ended up here. So no I do not have a place to stay," she replied to the easiest question first.
"As to where we start? Well finding a place away from this city would be good. A place with a lot of earth and no one to be hurt is ideal," she told the woman.
"Mutant?" she inquired having never heard the term before.
"If they are hiding, those that help, then they will find us. We should try to avoid using our gifts around those who do not appreciate them."
.....
She smiles a little at this. "You have wisdom too, don't you? You sound like someone much older than you are. Older than you look.
"Mutants are different. Anomolies. I know you don't like this word, but some would say freaks of nature. You would say, special, with special abilities that the average person does not have. People here, they are afraid of what they do not understand. And some do not even try to understant. They just hate, and try to cleanse the world of us, of anyone different."
Catherine doesn't understand the part about her not knowing how she got here. It is the only part that she mistrusts, unsure if is true. Then again, someone who could do the things that she just did was not an average person. They are not just special, they are magical in some way. Following different rules of nature.
"You can come to my place. I don't have roommates, I've been alone awhile now. Quiet building, no one bothers me. But should we take the fire escape down to the sidewalk? I wonder if you should not show your abilities....your bending quite so freely here, at least until we find someone to help us."
......
Even as a small child she was wise beyond her years, even if she caused mayhem and chaos like all children did in life.
"I pick it up here and there," she replied simply enough.
"No not a nice word," she replied after taking in the explanation of what a mutant was. People with powers were to be cherished just like those without. Life was too short to be wasted on hate, though in her own world it still happened there too. Still it was always easier to hate than it was to work with others.
"Ok then we go to your place," she agreed. "You lead the way and I promise not to use my bending unless we are alone and away from the city. Well unless I'm being attacked. I will defend myself."
.......
She nods, glad to see they are on the same page. She goes to the edge, looks over, and then turns around, starting downward with the first step, feeling for it with her foot. Then another, then one more, taking her time and being sure-footed. She remembers seeing sailors going down ladders aboard ships and submarines, riding the rails on the side and sliding down. She was pretty nimble, but didn't think that she should trust that 4 stories up.
She looks now and then to see if her new friend is following then continues, always being sure her foot makes contact before taking the next step downward. It occurs to her that she does not know her name, or likewise. One thing is for certain, down is so much easier than up. She takes it steadily and surely until her foot is touching the sidewalk at the side of the building, looking to make sure she is still there and needs no help. She wonders if someone so sure of her powers and being able to float around doesn't walk at all anymore where she lives but just rides on air. It is still fantastic to her to believe, but she is getting there.
She points the way down an alley, deciding still it is better to be as little visible as possible. She is only about 6 blocks from home but being afraid to be caught, it feels very far right now. Hopefully the manager of the restaurant did not concern himself anymore with a little 8 dollar bill.
........
Jia was nimble and quick and she easily got down the ladder though it was a bit slow going because the woman who she had just met was taking her time. When they got down to the ground the woman had pointed down the alley way but she shook her head.
"They will be looking for people acting suspicious. At least that's how law enforcement works where I come from," she explained.
"We go out in public, just walk along with the rest of the crowd. Don't make a scene, don't bother anyone else and mind our own business. The phrase 'hidden in plain sight' comes to mind. Not sure what that means though."
It had just popped into her head that phrase and it was odd because that was never used where she came from. However it seemed apt at the time and probably was the right thing to say.
Jia gently steered the woman out onto the side walks and down the street, letting the woman lead the way but making sure to act as natural as anyone else. Yes she as dressed in robes and not in regular clothing but she was confident she could explain it to anyone whom asked.
........
"Hidden in plain sight. Very smart. I think that was a movie." She thinks about being in a movie, living in a movie. Maybe positive thinking would pull it off. 6 blocks. The cool thing was that it really didn't matter what the girl was wearing. This is a city that has seen everything and anything. So no one really notices. Until you do something remarkable like lift up a car or grow a second head. Then they get a little crazy about it.
As they walk she thinks about what she could do to get a positive spin on her 'special' abilities. It really does feel like a curse and so far, has played out that way, in spades. The truth is, when she was very very angry and caused the tornado in the middle of Colorado, she also was able to pick up the car off a guy that was trapped under it. She got very strong even though one couldn't see any difference in her physical appearance. She'd pretty much chalked that up to an adrenelin rush. But then when the car exploded and she was caught in the fire, she had this black soot all over her, but she was not burned. She was greeted by an ambulance burn unit, but they could not find any burns on her. That was when she moved away. That was when she stopped sleeping at night.
"Turn here, I live 2 buildings down now. There is an elevator inside, and I'm on the 3rd floor. There are also stairs."
........
Jia nodded at the comment about a movie, but had no idea what a movie was. There were no such things where she came from. Although there was theatre and stage acting, nothing like moving pictures on a screen existed.
She followed the woman down the street, people ignoring them as they went about their business. Her hunch had been right, keeping in plain sight and not doing anything abnormal made people ignore them.
When the woman spoke again Jia just nodded and followed her to the building and inside. She had no clue what an elevator was but she would find out. Didn't want to cause trouble by asking about an elevator outside where people could hear. Some may chalk it up to cultural differences but others would become suspicious.
Finally when they were inside and no one was around to hear them she spoke. "What is an elevator?" she asked.
..........
"I'll show you." She crosses the corridor and presses a button next to an arrow pointing upwards. A whirring is heard and a thunk when the lift arrives and the doors slide open.
"Follow me." She enters the elevator, holding the door open button until she gets on. She wasn't sure if it would scare her, but from what she can see, the girl is not afraid of anything. She presses the button for the 3rd floor.
It travels up and down in a building, to take you quickly, instead of climbing stairs. Sometimes I do walk the stairs when I didn't work out at the gym that day." When the door swishes open she gets off and moves to her apartment door, 311. She gets out her key and puts it to the doorknob, jiggling it some before it engages.
"Home sweet apartment, welcome." She gestures for Jia to enter first.
.........
Apartments she was aware of, they had those where she came from, also they had elevators but they were not called elevators. They called them lifts which was why she was confused. However the lifts were not operated like these ones were. No they were operated by earth benders.
"Oh lifts!" she exclaimed as she got into the elevator. Scared of nothing, that was not true, she just faced her fears head on.
"Gym?" she asked not knowing what that was.
........
"Where I exercise. I swim there, go running, lift weights. They have a lot to do there."
She speaks in a very offhand way, her mind on anything and everything but small talk. She shows her a place to sit and sits also.
"My name is Catherine. I think I was freaking out up there, afraid of you, and trusting you. But I think we have to trust someone or we will not be able to find this safe place to go that we are looking for. You're right. Open spaces, not so many buildings with thousands of ants going in and out. I had it nice in Colorado before I spoiled it."
She looks at her sadly. Also with a bit of hope, for the first time in awhile.
.....
Jia blinked and shrugged, she had no idea what exercise was since everyone where she came from always had something to do. Swimming she knew of, but running didn't make sense and lifting weights didn't make sense either.
"Jia," she offered up her own name. She just listened to the woman speak about freaking out and just nodded.
"Don't know this Colorado," she replied not sure what to say. "You know of an open space we can go to?"
......
"I don't know. I need advice, I need to think and plan. I never had a thought to leaving until today. I lived my life, hoped for the best. There are always people who get excited about things and upset people. I wasn't really afraid until today, being chased. It is the first time I felt truly scared that I would be put away for what I am."
She gets up and takes a book off her desk, brings it over and lays it out on the floor.
"This is an atlas. It shows you the entire country. See these areas? Wide open, but a lot of people also own that land, even though you don't see the huges cities there. Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, so many places we could go but I don't have that kind of money. I think we need a friend, or friends. Others who have been in this position."
.......
Jia had seen maps before but nothing that was called an Atlas. Once again she was learning new stuff about this strange land. People owning unoccupied land did not make sense to her.
"Uh... if we go out to a place where no one is and no one lives on, then how are they going to know we are there?" she asked confused.
"As for money... well do you know how to hunt for food?"
She knew how to hunt, build a fire, live off the land. It would be easier to, all they needed was to travel on foot or via some kind of craft and they could ge to an open place and live off the land while teaching her how to control her earth bending powers.
Metahuman: Plant manipulation
Unregistered
Some day, one day, you'll miss me.
Mundane Sundays, when I'm gone.
Riko Masuyo
In one hand was a very expensive designer purse, in the other hand was a pair of very expensive designer heels, but neither one of those things were helping her at all right now.
She sprinted down the sidewalk as best as she could, glancing over her shoulder to see the two men were gaining on her. She had a hard time catching her breath as she ran with the tears stinging her eyes and throat, but she knew if she could make it to the river in the middle of the forest, she’d be fine… but it was going to be hell getting there…
..............
Cataclysma
I accept chaos, I'm not sure whether it accepts me
-bob dylan
(Jane)
She can't believe she let the waitress upset her like that. She knows better, knows she has to watch herself, her emotions, and have some self-control. But the pregnant dog has it coming to her and Cat just stares her down from across the outdoor cafe, toe of her shoe tapping against the sidewalk, crossing her arms.
She measures her breathing, but it just gets faster, rubs softly at the center of her chest to calm herself, mentally thinking of calm things, her cat at home, her mother, laying in a field...anything...
The ground shudders slightly, the silverware on the table clatters softly against the metal cafe tables, ice tinkles in glasses of water across the place, and now inside. She gets up, very slowly, carefully, taking up her bag and hugging it to her like a life preserver, starts to walk away from the cafe slowly.
"Hey lady, you did not pay! Hey there, you have to pay!" She doesn't turn her head, turns down an alley and tries to lose them.
...............
{TBD}
Real Name: Harvey Scott Deitrich
Assumed Name: Franklin Gregory Hunter
Former Green Beret now an EMT
Mutant
Powers: Super-Strength/Healing Factor
Reserved:Honorable:Quiet
It was his day off and he had spent half to day tooling about with Harley Soft tail, now he was just relaxing and driving around to take the edge off of almost losing the older lady that he had his partner had been transporting to the local hospital due to a series of severe mini-strokes.
Most people were looking for Harvey Scott Deitrich, because they knew he was an unregistered mutant, they also knew that he had been with the Green Berets. However, no one was looking for Franklin Gregory Hunter, the simple EMT and motorcycle enthusiast. Harvey had been an EMT for nearly 3 years now, he had lost count of the number of lives he had helped save, but could still count the number of deaths on two hands.
He had felt the slight quake out of nowhere and nowhere near a fault line. He shook his head inside his half helmet slightly, he had to have been imagining things. He watched the pretty blond girl as she got up and heard the exclamations requesting that she stop and pay for her meal. He was almost ready to keep on going, but then he saw the 3 men who were intent on making her pay.
Would he help a stranger or not?
.............
Jia
Avatar: A World Torn
(Heather Production)
Jia was a misplaced Air Bender. Somehow she had went from being in the Earth Kingdom to being some place else and on some other planet it seemed. There was things she had never seen before. Things that moved without animal power or the power of bending. Strange forms of money and even stranger clothing.
Another oddity was that she could understand the language though she had never heard it before or learned it. Whatever force had brought her here, she was stuck and had no idea what to do. As she walked down the street she saw a lady being chased by two men into an alley and then they disappeared around a corner. Next was a man on a motorcycle with a helmet on but she had no idea what a helmet was or what he was actually riding.
Next she noticed a blond woman running from three men after feeling the earth shake. Almost immediately she wondered if there was an Earth Bender around, because it was an unnatural movement of the earth. Just because she was an Air Bender didn't mean she couldn't feel the earth shake and move. Having traveled around the world to learn new techniques from the various nations, she had learned to sense the movement of the earth with her feet even if she couldn't bend the earth to her will. It was useful when bending against other benders to know what they were going to do before they did it.
As she watched the men follow the woman for not paying, she was unsure if she should help them or stop them. it seemed they were just trying to get payment for services rendered or something similar.
"This place is so strange..." she said. "Mou..." she let out a puff of air from her mouth.
....................
Cat walks faster, trying not to appear like she is in a hurry, but the more upset and worried she gets about being caught, the more the earth trembles and worries her. She looks back once, seeing she is still in sight of the manager of the restaurant. At the corner of the alley and the next block she sees a man on a bike and comes around, trying to find a crevice , an alley, anywhere where she can not be seen and can calm herself down. Maybe the fire escape. She looks up, seeing where it is low enough for her to be nimble and make her way to the roof. Seems like she would be cornered though.
"Bugger," she says under her breath, looking desperately to the guy on the motorcycle, not sure what she expects him to do. Pay her bill? She could stop, pay and maybe they would be fine, but the longer she spends out here, the worse the chaos will be and then they will be clued into her. Too much talk about it lately, too visible. She must not be found out. She passes a girl on the sidewalk and slows down for a moment, but thinks better of it, and picks up speed, taking a quick dash into an alley and pulls down the fire escape, yanking herself up.
....
Jia watched the woman continue to run. The man on the strange two wheeled contraption rode off and continued on his way. She followed the men who were from the establishment and the woman. The earth continued to shake as she followed the woman, which made her think the woman was an untrained bender. Some Benders had a natural gift and if untrained could cause massive damage. Like her who had an unnatural gift at bending air and an aptitude to learn so quickly she had outstripped her masters long ago.
By the time she got to where the woman had gone, the woman was no longer there. She looked around but the alley was a dead end. The men were standing around confused as well. Jia did see a strange metal ladder leading upwards but was unsure if that was where the woman had went until she caught a glimps of the womans dress.
"Up above..." she said to herself before she left that alley and went to the one on the other side of the building. Once over there she bent some air and leapt up into the air using the air to help her fly up and onto the top of the building.
"Now where did she go...?" she asked herself looking around.
................
As she concentrates on her climbing, Catherine is able to calm down herself, and the area around her also calms down. She conintues the climb anyway, thinking to stay up on the roof until they give up. She can mail them the money later. She is not a thief, only afraid. She must not be found out. A quick, furtive look down tells her that they are gone and not following her, at least not in this alley. With some effort she grabs the last ladder and pulls herself up, glad for all those extra workouts at the gym lately. She finally puts her hands on the roof and pulls, with some effort, her body up and over. It's that weird feeling. Or maybe something she saw in her peripheral vision. Being watched. Once her full body is up top she does a quick roll over and sits up, eyes wide as she looks at the girl from the sidewalk.
"Hell no. I just saw you. I know it was you." She stops talking, takes deep breaths now, winded. How did she get up here so quickly? Was she a danger to Cat? If so she is screwed. Her body has to recover, and her breathing.
..........
Jia saw the woman pull herself up and over the ledge of the roof of the building.
"So that's where you were..." she said to herself softly. It was why she hadn't seen the woman when she got up here, the woman had still been climbing. As for the people below she didn't know what became of them, but that did not matter to her.
"I climbed up the other side," she replied loud enough to be heard. "I'm very fast and very well trained."
That was the partial truth as she was fast and very well trained. However there was no way to climb up from the side she had came up on. It was a fib, but she had not seen any other Benders and she wasn't sure what their reaction would be to her bending the elements around her.
"Are you a Bender?" she asked in curiousity. She was not sure how to help someone who may or may not be a Bender. This was so confusing because this place didn't seem to have Benders at all, or if they were around they were in hiding.
...................
Catherine doesn't get up yet, sitting with her knees up, arms wrapped around them. She bows her head and breaths deeply, calming down more and more. She saw the girl and nearly freaked out, but hopefully she can trust her for this moment at least. She will have to take her chances, because she is not ready to walk, let alone get down from a building.
"I paid them inside, they misunderstood," she lies, talking muffled by her arms. She's been lying a lot lately, covering up. She's afraid, but there is no one to tell. No one to trust. She heard about the agents, saw it on the news. They pretend to be friends, then turn you in. She can't risk it. "I know I should have stopped but I have a lot of parking tickets. I was worried I would be arrested." Clear your head Cat, that one was a whopper, and that girl sounds and looks intelligent.
She lifts her head, confused now at the girl's ability to climb the building that quickly. She does not look tired at all. Could be a gymnast. But even gymnasts have to breath.
"What is a bender?" She asks, really lost now, and her expression shows it. She looks to the side, wonders if she had to run again from this girl, if she'd make it.
............
Jia didn't believe a word that was said, but then again the woman's body language said another story. Being a master Air Bender, a master Shiatsu specialist as well among other combat abilities, she had learned to read body language very well.
"You're lying," she stated calmly but making no move to get near the hyperventilating woman. Even she could tell the woman was frightened about being captured for some reason or another.
"A Bender bends the elements around them. Earth Benders, move earth which I think you are. Fire Benders, bend the element of fire. Water Benders bend the element of water. Air Benders bend the elements of air," she explained. It was simple but also complicated.
"Then there is the Avatar that can bend all four elements at once," she said as she looked around. No one was up there but them so she took up a stance.
"Here this is Air Bending," she explained as she went through several forms and she moved the wind and it was visible too. Gusts of wind lept from her hands and feet as she went through several martial art katas.
"Understand?"
..........
Her eyes dart to the girl's as she says she is lying, but she can see that she is not challenging her further, or doing anything about it, just saying it. She listens to the exclamations, but they are too fantastic, like a movie, or a cartoon on television. She shakes her head slowly, her body language speaking very clearly that she felt she was either being messed with, or being told a story by a very nice Asian mental patient. She scratches her cheek, her forehead wrinkling some as she tries to wrap her mind around it. It is a bit unbelievable, but the so is what is happening to Cat. And the sudden talk about Mutants on the news, in the papers screams that something is going on here. She gets up now, brushing herself off. Her legs are long, her blond hair hanging well down her back.
"I don't know, it all seems very.." she doesn't want to say any of the words that come to mind, not wanting to hurt her feelings. Then she is mentally knocked off her feet by what happens next, watching her move the air with her hands and her feet.
"I see it, but I don't believe it. Do it again please? Make me understand."
................
Jia had finished her demonstration and watched the woman get up and try to explain how she thought it was all very unbelievable though the woman had not said the words. Even so she understood, if someone had never seen bending before they would also not understand it or believe it.
"Of course," she smiled and went into some more katas, wind moving from her hands and feet once more. She also leapt into the air and hung there as if she was flying for a few moments. Jia really could not fly on her own, but she could manipulate the air to keep her afloat for a little bit or lift her up to the top of a building after leaping up high. One thing Benders were known for was great feats of martial skills and the ability to boost their own physical attributes with their bending skills.
Next she created a ball of air and she sat on it and zoomed around the woman with a smile on her face before the air ball disapated.
"There, see?"
..............
She is amazed and shows it, watching and believing, hell unless she is on some drug, it is all happening, right here before her eyes. She turns around as the girl moves round her and claps her hands at the end impulsively, like a child. Afterwards though, her face takes a different expression and she walks closer to her, taking her wrists in hers, if she would let her. Not roughly, just to make a point. She looks around them, as if anyone could see them, looks up at buildings that are higher, wondering if they are being seen. It had not occured to her until now.
"Do you not know how dangerous it is to be different here? They hunt people like us. They try to put you away, do away with us."
She suddenly lets go of her hands, bringing one hand to her mouth. She was so caught up in the moment, being with someone else with a gift that she forgot herself. Her eyes look as if in moments she will be caught up in some net, taken away. She said 'us'. Us. She puts her head down a little.
"That was no earthquake. That was me. But I-I didn't mean to do it. And you understand don't you? I could not let them catch me, let them figure out what kind of freak I am."
..............
Jia blinked, at the taking of her wrist and the explanation that followed. It seemed people here locked up benders. No wonder she had not seen any one bending. If anyone was caught they were locked away. Bending was against the law here which was not right, it was not right to stop bending.
"So you're an Earth Bender who doesn't know how to control it. You're kind of like me. All Benders are born with the ability to bend a element. Some however don't have control over it and must learn the proper forms and control to make it their own..." she stated.
"I'm an Air Bender, I can't really teach you an element you won't be able to control. However I did spend a lot of time among Earth Benders to know their forms and fighting styles. I could teach you their bending forms. It may help you learn how to bend the eart without losing control. Although you'd be better off with a Earth Bending master. But if what you say is true then those people are probably locked up or in hiding."
Jia understood that she should not be using her Air Bending in this strange place. Not the right thing to do here but bending was apart of her every day life. It was as natural as breathing walking.
"We're not freaks. We're special," she stated calmly as she believed it herself.
............
Her eyes say that she does not believe her completely. She turns her head away, paces slowly , her hands together, glad to be finally calm. She makes her feel calm. She wants to do as she says, and control her ability. But she must help her to understand what she is really dealing with. Somehow. But she might have to hide then from her as well.
"If they are in hiding, maybe they can be found. Maybe I can not be so alone." She turns around and looks at her.
"I am not like you, with a gift. At least not right now, it is more of a curse. When I get excited, when I am upset, afraid, elated, angry, things just....happen. I am still not sure why and I don't always know what to expect. Sometimes people get hurt. I don't want to hurt anyone. I want to go somewhere with a lot of room, land, somewhere I can be myself and not hurt anyone ever again. No one knows. Well my family suspected....something. They didnt' know what to call it. They thought I had a lot of accidents." She shrugs slightly. She tries not to think of them. She either misses them or gets very angry.
......
d. Perhaps they could be found and if not she could try and help her with the forms. She knew them by heart, even if she couldn't move the earth like an Earth Bender could. Those forms were helpful even to her when she had to face off against an angry Earth Bender. Knowing those forms taught her how to fight them as well as stand her ground. Air Benders were by nature flighty and always dodging while fighting back. Earth Benders stood their ground, and moved the earth.
"That's natural. Emotions play a huge part in bending. It's all a state of mind and when you learn the forms you can learn how to bend the earth to your will. It will not be easy and it will take time but you can do it. I'm sure of it," she stated.
"You will need a lot of room to practice. A prarie, a desert... Just a place with a lot of open space. Even a canyon would work," she explained.
Learning to bend the earth would take a lot of space away from cities. Easier to learn, more controlled area especially for one who had no control.
......
She does not fully understand, but she is kind and understand-ing and that is enough for her right now. It's like water in the desert, bread for starving soul.
"I believe the answers are somewhere between what you are saying, and what I am saying. I think it comes from a different place than yours. But I think you are right about one thing. With practice, maybe it could be used for something good. Make up for all the people I hurt. You have no idea...."
She turns her head away again, this time with shame. She speaks, but not looking at her. "I lost someone in my family. I know it was not my fault. I did not ask for this." At this, she balls up her fists at her sides. "But still, it came from me, and it breaks my heart that they are lost due to me. That is why I left."
She turns to look at her.
"I heard there are those who help, but I have no idea how to find them. They are here, hiding also, careful." She thinks about the man on the harley, the one that looked like he might actually try to help, then drove on. Something about the way he looked at her. There are heroes every day. Citizens. Then there are those that choose to look away completely. Too much fear.
"So where do we start? I really don't have a clue. Do you have a place to stay? I do not even know that you are new here but you seem new, you seem not to know how things are, the way things are being done here with mutants."
That dirty word. She hates even saying it out loud.
........
Jia let her speak, there was nothing she could say about losing someone. In her world Air Benders were raised in a community of monks. There were no real families for Air Benders where she came from. Different culture and all that for the Benders of her society.
"I'm kinda lost. Don't know how I ended up here. So no I do not have a place to stay," she replied to the easiest question first.
"As to where we start? Well finding a place away from this city would be good. A place with a lot of earth and no one to be hurt is ideal," she told the woman.
"Mutant?" she inquired having never heard the term before.
"If they are hiding, those that help, then they will find us. We should try to avoid using our gifts around those who do not appreciate them."
.....
She smiles a little at this. "You have wisdom too, don't you? You sound like someone much older than you are. Older than you look.
"Mutants are different. Anomolies. I know you don't like this word, but some would say freaks of nature. You would say, special, with special abilities that the average person does not have. People here, they are afraid of what they do not understand. And some do not even try to understant. They just hate, and try to cleanse the world of us, of anyone different."
Catherine doesn't understand the part about her not knowing how she got here. It is the only part that she mistrusts, unsure if is true. Then again, someone who could do the things that she just did was not an average person. They are not just special, they are magical in some way. Following different rules of nature.
"You can come to my place. I don't have roommates, I've been alone awhile now. Quiet building, no one bothers me. But should we take the fire escape down to the sidewalk? I wonder if you should not show your abilities....your bending quite so freely here, at least until we find someone to help us."
......
Even as a small child she was wise beyond her years, even if she caused mayhem and chaos like all children did in life.
"I pick it up here and there," she replied simply enough.
"No not a nice word," she replied after taking in the explanation of what a mutant was. People with powers were to be cherished just like those without. Life was too short to be wasted on hate, though in her own world it still happened there too. Still it was always easier to hate than it was to work with others.
"Ok then we go to your place," she agreed. "You lead the way and I promise not to use my bending unless we are alone and away from the city. Well unless I'm being attacked. I will defend myself."
.......
She nods, glad to see they are on the same page. She goes to the edge, looks over, and then turns around, starting downward with the first step, feeling for it with her foot. Then another, then one more, taking her time and being sure-footed. She remembers seeing sailors going down ladders aboard ships and submarines, riding the rails on the side and sliding down. She was pretty nimble, but didn't think that she should trust that 4 stories up.
She looks now and then to see if her new friend is following then continues, always being sure her foot makes contact before taking the next step downward. It occurs to her that she does not know her name, or likewise. One thing is for certain, down is so much easier than up. She takes it steadily and surely until her foot is touching the sidewalk at the side of the building, looking to make sure she is still there and needs no help. She wonders if someone so sure of her powers and being able to float around doesn't walk at all anymore where she lives but just rides on air. It is still fantastic to her to believe, but she is getting there.
She points the way down an alley, deciding still it is better to be as little visible as possible. She is only about 6 blocks from home but being afraid to be caught, it feels very far right now. Hopefully the manager of the restaurant did not concern himself anymore with a little 8 dollar bill.
........
Jia was nimble and quick and she easily got down the ladder though it was a bit slow going because the woman who she had just met was taking her time. When they got down to the ground the woman had pointed down the alley way but she shook her head.
"They will be looking for people acting suspicious. At least that's how law enforcement works where I come from," she explained.
"We go out in public, just walk along with the rest of the crowd. Don't make a scene, don't bother anyone else and mind our own business. The phrase 'hidden in plain sight' comes to mind. Not sure what that means though."
It had just popped into her head that phrase and it was odd because that was never used where she came from. However it seemed apt at the time and probably was the right thing to say.
Jia gently steered the woman out onto the side walks and down the street, letting the woman lead the way but making sure to act as natural as anyone else. Yes she as dressed in robes and not in regular clothing but she was confident she could explain it to anyone whom asked.
........
"Hidden in plain sight. Very smart. I think that was a movie." She thinks about being in a movie, living in a movie. Maybe positive thinking would pull it off. 6 blocks. The cool thing was that it really didn't matter what the girl was wearing. This is a city that has seen everything and anything. So no one really notices. Until you do something remarkable like lift up a car or grow a second head. Then they get a little crazy about it.
As they walk she thinks about what she could do to get a positive spin on her 'special' abilities. It really does feel like a curse and so far, has played out that way, in spades. The truth is, when she was very very angry and caused the tornado in the middle of Colorado, she also was able to pick up the car off a guy that was trapped under it. She got very strong even though one couldn't see any difference in her physical appearance. She'd pretty much chalked that up to an adrenelin rush. But then when the car exploded and she was caught in the fire, she had this black soot all over her, but she was not burned. She was greeted by an ambulance burn unit, but they could not find any burns on her. That was when she moved away. That was when she stopped sleeping at night.
"Turn here, I live 2 buildings down now. There is an elevator inside, and I'm on the 3rd floor. There are also stairs."
........
Jia nodded at the comment about a movie, but had no idea what a movie was. There were no such things where she came from. Although there was theatre and stage acting, nothing like moving pictures on a screen existed.
She followed the woman down the street, people ignoring them as they went about their business. Her hunch had been right, keeping in plain sight and not doing anything abnormal made people ignore them.
When the woman spoke again Jia just nodded and followed her to the building and inside. She had no clue what an elevator was but she would find out. Didn't want to cause trouble by asking about an elevator outside where people could hear. Some may chalk it up to cultural differences but others would become suspicious.
Finally when they were inside and no one was around to hear them she spoke. "What is an elevator?" she asked.
..........
"I'll show you." She crosses the corridor and presses a button next to an arrow pointing upwards. A whirring is heard and a thunk when the lift arrives and the doors slide open.
"Follow me." She enters the elevator, holding the door open button until she gets on. She wasn't sure if it would scare her, but from what she can see, the girl is not afraid of anything. She presses the button for the 3rd floor.
It travels up and down in a building, to take you quickly, instead of climbing stairs. Sometimes I do walk the stairs when I didn't work out at the gym that day." When the door swishes open she gets off and moves to her apartment door, 311. She gets out her key and puts it to the doorknob, jiggling it some before it engages.
"Home sweet apartment, welcome." She gestures for Jia to enter first.
.........
Apartments she was aware of, they had those where she came from, also they had elevators but they were not called elevators. They called them lifts which was why she was confused. However the lifts were not operated like these ones were. No they were operated by earth benders.
"Oh lifts!" she exclaimed as she got into the elevator. Scared of nothing, that was not true, she just faced her fears head on.
"Gym?" she asked not knowing what that was.
........
"Where I exercise. I swim there, go running, lift weights. They have a lot to do there."
She speaks in a very offhand way, her mind on anything and everything but small talk. She shows her a place to sit and sits also.
"My name is Catherine. I think I was freaking out up there, afraid of you, and trusting you. But I think we have to trust someone or we will not be able to find this safe place to go that we are looking for. You're right. Open spaces, not so many buildings with thousands of ants going in and out. I had it nice in Colorado before I spoiled it."
She looks at her sadly. Also with a bit of hope, for the first time in awhile.
.....
Jia blinked and shrugged, she had no idea what exercise was since everyone where she came from always had something to do. Swimming she knew of, but running didn't make sense and lifting weights didn't make sense either.
"Jia," she offered up her own name. She just listened to the woman speak about freaking out and just nodded.
"Don't know this Colorado," she replied not sure what to say. "You know of an open space we can go to?"
......
"I don't know. I need advice, I need to think and plan. I never had a thought to leaving until today. I lived my life, hoped for the best. There are always people who get excited about things and upset people. I wasn't really afraid until today, being chased. It is the first time I felt truly scared that I would be put away for what I am."
She gets up and takes a book off her desk, brings it over and lays it out on the floor.
"This is an atlas. It shows you the entire country. See these areas? Wide open, but a lot of people also own that land, even though you don't see the huges cities there. Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, so many places we could go but I don't have that kind of money. I think we need a friend, or friends. Others who have been in this position."
.......
Jia had seen maps before but nothing that was called an Atlas. Once again she was learning new stuff about this strange land. People owning unoccupied land did not make sense to her.
"Uh... if we go out to a place where no one is and no one lives on, then how are they going to know we are there?" she asked confused.
"As for money... well do you know how to hunt for food?"
She knew how to hunt, build a fire, live off the land. It would be easier to, all they needed was to travel on foot or via some kind of craft and they could ge to an open place and live off the land while teaching her how to control her earth bending powers.