INVASION ! [Joseph]

[Skye [RIP]]

Lawaii territory-brilliant. Skye had this slight obsession with messing with the Retros. They were too little in numbers, too her, to truly have their own territory and be considered a threat. She proved this by going in on several occasions by herself just to show that she was right. Normally she wouldn't be so bitter towards a situation, but she figured when the origonal ring leaders(Manic being the last surviving one) first gathered, they fought skin and bones for their land and the fueds were ancient. The Retros- not even true people but simple packs, prides, and flocks of animal-brained creatures that can take a Shifter's true form, simply showed up and claimed land normally used for exploration, hunt, and general peace. The most beautiful, wild, magical of places was now infested with territorial monsters. Perhaps there was a deeper reason for her sudden distaste in them, but she would never speak of it. Although it seemed similar to Manic's hatred towards Anthros, it was not. She did not hate them. She did not believe they should rule over territory that she once, and still stubbornly did, believe to be freelands.

Thus, the great white tiger prowled these lands proudly, swiping down a few birds now and then, but never killing them. She only harmed those that intended to harm her. Suddenly, however, the small-brained individuals seemed to group together until an entire flock came swooping down at a surprized tiger, who, with ears pressed flat and eyes wide, suddenly bounded at full speed. They seemed to take over the skies down, darkening the very earth beneath her and descending to pick and tear at her as though she were the dead corpse of a deer. When she was outnumbered and surrounded, hit blindly from all sides, she simply stood her ground, roaring and swatting her mighty paws at them, mouth snapping down on a bird one by one to their instant deaths. Each swipe of her paw killed six small birds at once or three large ones depending, but it wasn't enough. She'd underestimated their numbers but she didn't give up until, pelt tattered and bleeding, she passed out.

She woke to dead silence only five minutes later. The birds were gone, even having carried their dead off with them. She was still in her tiger form oddly enough and rolled to sit up, shaking off and trying to find the reason for their sudden leave. The sky was much darker, leaving the Menagerie in near pitch blackness. With her feline eyesight, this proved no problem and she prowled and pounced along as though she'd won, only have a few gashes that she may need to clean up later and the rest were simply numerous scratches. It started raining slow at first and and she figured she would return, bounding down the mountain with some upity energy and through a slight crevice, leaping on the sides of it to climb for some foolish fun, to test her own strength. The rain started to pick up drastically until she found herself soaked to the bone and blinded by the rain. She could see nothing ahead of her by raging rain-drops and found herself lost in it. Just as suddenly, she was hit in the side by some force and taken completely under what could only be water. A flash flood flew down the side of the mountain, taken her under, trapped in the perfect crevice. The tiger faught, kicking and swimming as the current pushed her around as though she were no more than a stick in the river.

Finally, with a great burst of energy she forced herself to the surface, eyes searching for some ground. With all her real strength, she pushed to swim to the edge of the crevice, taken under twice more. Breaking through to breathe again, water surged up all around her as she clung to the rock of the edge of the crevice, mighty claws climbing up to a slight edge where she exhaustedly morphed back into her human form.

With the thunder and lightning the least of her problems, she clung to the rock with pale, little arms, strength beyond that of most packed into a petite form. Her expression was scrunched into concentration, though she shivered and slid, almost slipping off with the current again as more waves crashed against her. Nature's forces were so brilliant, she thought, so capable as they turn the mightest of feline queens into a kitten soaked in a bathtub.

[joseph]

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[atrb=background,http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc63/Jackmur/josemiddle.png] Joseph had gone wandering in these parts of the lands before, but never had he ever ventured here alone. He’d always been known to scold others for wandering around alone, especially in another groups territory, but today he was going against his own advice. He had come here to check this place out for his next hunting trip with some Tenderfoots they were taking a long. The lands were tough to manage, yes, but there was some decent game out here to catch. He personally didn’t think the Retros would mind if they were quiet—or if they knew they would be trespassing their territory at all. He thought it would be a good experience for the Tenders to try out. What screams out challenge more than a bunch of feral shifters watching your every move and an even more unforgiving surrounding to conquer? The sky was darkening and the clouds looked pregnant with water. He let out a low grunt as he kicked his feet against the rocky wall, pulling himself off the ledge. He wiped his brow and gazed up with a frown. It looked like it was going to rain down hard today. Maybe I should call it a day, he thought but hesitated while looking down. He had gotten so far up the mountain; it would be a shame to have to climb back down now. Mother Nature made it’s choice and began to drizzle over Joseph. At first the cool droplets of water hitting his face and his over worked body felt refreshing, but eventually the rain only continued to worsen and soon he was soaked and shivering in icy waters. Teeth chattering together, he watched as rain began to make its way down the mountain, clearing away stones and other objects out of its path. He knew he should get going before the stream would worsen. He didn’t want to get caught in what felt like a flash flood. He was cautious to make his way down the mountain and even sometimes he had to change his course around. The rain was so fierce, he could barely see in front of him. Some parts of the mountain were now swallowed in pools of water and were making their way relentlessly around the land. He remained calm although he knew he had fallen into a dangerous situation. Almost at the bottom, he over looked the scenery while standing over a flat boulder. The rain and wind pushed against his bottom, keeping it hard to balance himself while he over looked all the destruction the water had created. There was now a vicious road of water that was crashing around below him. It was an endless cycle of rapids and far too strong for anyone to swim through. His green eyes searched through the waters for an answer. The levels were rising at a dangerous speed and he knew if he didn’t think quick they would reach him. There in the waters, he saw jagged rocks that were large enough to break through the water’s surface. At first he saw nothing of it until when he concentrated his vision on one of them, he saw something clinging to the rocks. It was a person. He didn’t know if they were Retro, Rogue, Anthro or even another Ring’s Shifter, but he still dived down the hill without a second thought. It was still someone who had fallen into the waters and wouldn’t last very long if the rapids continued to strengthen like this. Cursing loudly to himself as he slipped and slides down the mountain, he reached the very end of the water and stood over a flat rock that worked as a platform. He rubbed his face repeatedly , rain drops burning his vision as he tried to get a better look at them. There was still distance between himself and the person, but he was able to get a better look at them. The panic that he felt earlier only escalated when he made out their face. “Skye?!” He said in disbelief. He really hoped his eyes were just mistaken, but it was hard to mistaken Skye’s identity. She was petite and had skin as white as snow with beautiful icy blue eyes to go along with them. When he had first met her, he thought of her as being too frail to be a leader. He was wrong though, she was a powerful woman and someone he even admired from a far which is why he was having troubles imagining his Alpha clinging to life like this. He gulped air and looked around quickly. There was no time to be asking what his Alpha was doing here. “Hang on, I’ll get you out of there!” He ran straight back up onto the mountain, leaving his Alpha in the waters while he looked for a solution. While running up, the wet ground had turned wet and no longer had any friction to it. He felt, slicing his knee on a rock. A heavy groan escaped him as he rolled onto the side and peered down at it. His jeans were sliced open over the right knee. Rain washed his throbbing wound as he hesitantly got up and more cautiously ran up the mountain. Though there wasn’t much life plant life on the mountain, there was an occasional tree that tied itself into the mountain’s side and stubbornly stood against all its harsh conditions. Joseph spotted one of these trees which was more of a sapling rather than a adult leaning in one direction. He quickly thought of its roots, which had to be sturdy in order to remain beneath the mountains unstable ground and got an idea. He fell to his knees in front of the tree and began to dig. The sopping wet ground around the tree was like clay now and tore from the ground with ease. He cut his hands on rocks that were embedded into the ruddy dirt but continued to dig and dig until he saw roots. Blood and water pooled in small puddles around him as he dug his hand deep into the non-existent soil and grabbed a hold of the roots. He growled, frustrated with all the time he was losing as he pulled at the roots. They would not separate from the tree, which was in a sense a good sign to prove how sturdy the thick roots are but were also bad because he couldn’t bring them down. “Hang on!” He shouted loudly, though he wasn’t sure Skye could hear him from here. He looked down quickly while his hands padded around his body. A sharp rock had pricked his palm as he squeezed it in his grip and slipped his hand back down towards the roots. He cut the thick roots after hacking away with the sharp rock and collected as much of the tree as possible before sliding down the hill again. When he reached the bottom again, the water only seemed to have worsened. His eyes flickered back and forth from Sky to the roots as he began to tie them together furiously, making a inflexible piece of rope. At the end he tied it into a large loop and made sure the knots were intact before he stood on his feet and called out to Skye. “I’m going to throw you a rope, okay? I want you to grab onto it and push yourself off the rock as soon as you get it!” He shouted over the rain pummelling the ground below him. He quickly stood behind a large rock to support himself and looked at her one last time with a solemn expression. “You have to trust me on this one.” He threw the rope over his head and in her direction. Joseph held his breath, praying it had gone in her direction so she could grab a hold of it. He was confident this would work. If he wasn’t he wouldn’t have risked her life over it.

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[Skye [RIP]]

Skye?! She didn't dare open her eyes, did she? Another rush of water forced a gasp out of her, nails digging into the rock painfully as she finally opened her eyes, translucently ghostly, a haunting baby blue. "J-Joseph." She said too quietly to be heard, shivers staggering her light, feminine voice. He was her newest Head Hunter, and he knew it was the perfect place for him to strive, grow, learn, and teach. She didn't have much time to get a good look at him before he was gone, having said something she didn't hear as the rain picked up again and sent another crashing rush of water, to which she slipped a bit and had to regrip, choking up water.

Eyes looked around, looking for his face, wondering if he would come back but somehow hoping he wouldn't.
He would only put himself in danger and she would never risk that upon a soul in her ring. Her heart sunk when she saw him come back with a gash on his knee, but hope also rose with in when he passed the root-rope...Quick thinking, she figured, on his part, although it felt like forever when he left her sight. It was inevitable that every second was precious, and so she did not hesitate to do as he directed, pulled out with some effort on his part as the water was powerful. As soon as her dainty feet hit his ground, she slipped herself under his shoulder and an arm toughly around his waist to support him - imagining the knee to be painful. "Let's go!" She looked at him for a second, harmlessly admiring a worthy man to lead the skillfull and vital hunters of the Fallen.

She pulled him along for at least fifteen minutes, oblivious to what he might be thinking and only focusing on getting the dreaded sound of the rushing water out of her ears. Finally, she saw an opening in the rock of the mountain- a cave. She hurried them in there and sat him down carefully, eyes concerned, calculating his wound. As she went to pace around and determine the situation, her body caught up with the events and she knelt down in the midst of a headrush, avoiding a black out. Still, she remained calm and sat back.

For some reason, she couldn't think of how to heal him. She couldn't think of anything. And although they were plenty far away from the rushing waters, she could still hear it in her mind. She looked up at him, confused. She started to internally panic, knowing the more she waited to figure it out, the more blood he lost. "I can fix you." She stated, hoping saying it would help her know how. You can heal. Remember, you can heal. Right, right. She crawled over to his side and leaned over to observe his knee, feeling a bit queasy at the side of it. Swiftly, she tore the rest of the pant-leg off so that she could see it better and then pressed her hands gently to it, blood oozing grotesquely between her delicate fingers.

An energy spread from her arms to her hands and a warm seeped into his knee, using her healing abilities to heal up the gash enough so that it would not bleed. But was as far as it got before too much energy had left her own body and her newly forgetful head throbbed.
She winced slightly, light-headed again and reached a hand to the back of her head, bringing it back to see more fresh blood. She must have hit her head one of the times the water had taken her under. Maybe it wasn't so bad, she though, looking back to see that at least his knee had stopped bleeding.

"Well done, Joseph." She said proudly, though the sound of her own voice was painful just to head and she squinted one of her eyes irritatedly. "Thank you." She nodded swiftly and shortly before leaning back against the wall of the cave limply, suddenly quite tired with everything. She sighed and rolled over on her belly, propping her chin up with her hands and gazing outside. "It's quite respectable, don't you think? How rain can be so powerful...You'd think we could learn from something like that, but honestly I haven't a clue." She pondered this uncharacteristically in circles, not coming up with her usual philosophy of ideas.

"Wow, you're old." She giggled rediculously, observing him with tired eyes. "How old are you?" She herself was ...well....She tried to count the years. He really wasn't old. But she had started as a ring leader at the age of 17, the youngest in history. By now, of course, she had to be about 22. "You have any babies, Monsieur?" She laughed lightly again and folded her arms, resting her head on them where she fell half asleep, which, with her own head injury, was the last thing she should be doing.

[joseph]

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[atrb=background,http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc63/Jackmur/josemiddle.png] He felt the tug of her grip around the rope and was quick to push his foot against the rock as he reeled her in. The water was playing a game of tug-o-war with him as he pulled her towards land. His muscles strained and stretched, screaming in pain as he gripped onto the root tightly. He knew tomorrow—that is, if they make it out of this mess—he would feel that pain come back to haunt him. When she came to the edge, he dropped the rope and helped her out. His eyes were still wide with horror, wondering if anything else had happened to her before she had gotten into the water that he needed to know about. “Skye, I need you—“ She spoke over him and surprised Joseph by leaning over and grabbing his waist and shoulder. She was helping him. It shocked him actually, he didn’t understand it first. I should be the one doing this! he thought stubbornly. But she was already pushing forward and giving him no opportunity to stop her so he could at least carry her away to safety. “Skye! You’re—“ She kept moving and he had no choice to follow. He didn’t question his Alpha where she was taking them, instead he followed. His mind drifted away for a moment from the thought of saving Skye, and when it did, he felt the harsh burning pain of his knee. It throbbed pain up his leg and through his entire body with each step. He winced, but tried not to act like it was a big deal. He could deal with it for now. Rushed inside of the cave, he gave her another surprised expression as she sat him down. He sat up straight and raised his arms up, gesturing her to stop. She was wounded too, from what he could see. It looked like she had scratches and marks of her own to deal with. He needed his leader to be safe. In Joseph’s eyes, it didn’t matter if he died or not. The group could move on without him, but without Skye, the Ring would be crippled without her guidance. He looked up at her and shook his head, refusing her help. “Please, Miss. I’m fine, I’m really fine! You should be sitting down!” He urged her, but she didn’t seem to be listening, or she was ignoring him. When she split the hole in his jeans even more, he realized how horrible the wound was. It appeared the rock had done more than just scratch him, but it had cut right into his leg. The actual opening was hard to see, his jean leg was soaked in his own blood. He bit his bottom lip hard, keeping in a groan in pain. The sight of it only made the pain feel worse than it had before. “Don’t,” He said weakly as she put her hand over his wound. He didn’t like to feel like the helpless one. He wanted to be the one that was saving the other, but he couldn’t. He was right before when he said she was a tough leader, and a devoted one as well. His mouth hung loose as he felt the warm, tingling sensation grow in his leg. He’d never seen anything like it before as she pulled away, showing that the deep wound was now just a harsh looking scab. His eyes slowly met her face and his expression clearly said ‘...how did you do that?!’ Snapping out of his trance, he looked at her and quickly before sitting up on his knees as she drew her hand back and revealed blood on it. “Skye!” He said worriedly again, grabbing a hold of her shoulders as he guided her gently to sit against the cave’s cold walls. The sound of water pounding the earth echoed through the cave as he faced her. His face scrunched up with a more somber expression as she praised him. He didn’t deserve the praise, not now at least when he let his Alpha take care of him instead of the other way around. Now her head was bleeding and he hadn’t done a thing about it. “Don’t thank me, Miss,” He said softly. “I don’t deserve it.” “It's quite respectable, don't you think? How rain can be so powerful...You'd think we could learn from something like that, but honestly I haven't a clue.” Head turning towards the mouth of the cave, he looked at the rain thoughtfully for a moment. She was right, nature was a very powerful thing. He respected it and feared it at the same time. “Yeah,” He muttered. Well, he hoped at least she’d learned not to wander out here alone again. If she had been anyone else, he might have chewed her out for being here alone. It was such a risky thing to do, and though he was being a hypocrite for thinking it, he felt that you had to be stupid to not bring anyone along. His anger was even worse now seeing that she was hurt and even could have died if he or someone else weren’t there to spot her. To think she could have left and never returned without anyone knowing...it was scary. It didn’t matter though, because no matter how much he wanted to scold Skye, he couldn’t. She was to be respected. "Wow, you're old." He blinked and looked back at her. His cheeks felt warm as he instinctively brought his hand up to his face. “Old?” Did he look old? Did the stress of this place age him dramatically? He was never a vane person to begin with so he never bothered to give himself a thoughtful look when he saw his own reflection. Maybe he should have because now he was feeling self conscious about his looks. “How old are you?" His face flushed again with colour. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to say his age now, especially if he looked old. “I’m twenty-three, miss,” He said after a long pause and swallowed. How old did he look? Skye looked so young herself, she could pass for being in her teens. He sat down beside her cross legged and brushed his sopping wet hair away from his face while eyeing the ground thoughtfully. "You have any babies, Monsieur?" She was just full of surprising questions, wasn’t she? His back arched as he looked at her with wide, comical eyes. “B-babies?” He stuttered the word. Oh god, what gave her that idea? Did he look like the father type too? She then began to relax and at first he thought that was a good thing but then when his thoughts had cleared up, he realized this was a very bad thing. Her head was bleeding! He shouldn’t be letting her sleep! She could have a concussion for all he knew! “M-Miss!” He urged her, grabbing her arm quickly and pulling her up to sit. He looked at her carefully and swallowed, embarrassed by his sudden actions. Something was clearly wrong with her, but he couldn’t do much about it now. At least not until the rain would calm down. He took off his wet long sleeved shirt and balled it up, handing it to Skye. “Here, have this.” He reached behind her head and pressed it gently against the wound. It would have to do for now. He scooted in front of her and quickly put his hands on her knees. He didn’t want to panic her, so he thought he would have to distract her so she wouldn’t sleep. “Don’t sleep. I don’t want to sit here alone! It’ll get...boring.” He begged. He would do anything to keep her distracted, even answering her obscure questions. Speaking of questions... “I-I don’t have any babies, Miss. But I always wanted kids—maybe not so much now, being in this place and all,” He shrugged while glancing down at the ground. “I gotta’ find the right girl too and that’s just as hard.” What the hell am I saying? He was saying things he would never say to anyone else and to a person who had probably no clue what was happening right now. Well, if it stops her from sleeping... “What about you, Skye? Do you have any...babies?” It was a stupid question. Obviously she didn’t, but if it could get her brain to think more about the conversation and less about sleeping, it’d be a valuable question to ask. OOC; LOL SKYE. Oh the poor thing!

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[Skye [RIP]]

She looked at him as seemed suddenly self-conscious, though she couldn’t remember why. Had she said something? She couldn’t recall, but the more uncomfortable he looked, the more she realized her own flaws – mostly one. She hadn’t been nervous about anyone seeing her arms in years, but a fresher mark of self-mutilation proved to be something she hadn’t quite gotten used to yet – the mark on her mouth. She tucked half her face in the collar of her shirt, holding it up with her porcelain hands to hide her lips.

”Babies, Monsieur?” A look of amusement showed in her laughing eyes. Now where had he come up with a subject as silly as that? Babies. Did she have a child? She did recall something along the lines of the Keepers taking an undeveloped whatever-they-call-it from her and messing with it’s DNA, releasing a child with no voice and red hair, not a bit of resemblance to herself or the previous mate and alpha of the Fulsi, Legend. Aside from her tiger shift, there was nothing in common. But it was not the fact that she had not even birthed the child that turned her away. Skye was a temperamental danger to herself and anyone that got to close. She could lead a ring, but she wouldn’t dare put a child in a line of fire. So she’d scared the kid off – morphed into her terrifying tiger and roared and raged until the little girl ran off crying.

That was the end of the relationship with both her supposed daughter and previous mate. Her brilliant eyes blinked once, then twice, to look at him again, coming out of a sort of trance. ”Ha! No. Never. Not then, not now, and not ever. It is not that I do not love kids…” She didn’t continue the train of thought.

She didn’t need the new members to know about how her and her tiger were hardly connected as every other shifter was connected with their shift. She didn’t need them to know that her creature was more of a demon that she struggled to control…Why did they need to know when she’d been doing so well lately? Manic had taught her a thing or two about releasing the energy her monster desired, targeting it…How stupid to depend on anyone. She glanced again at the new Head Hunter. He looked strong and spoke eloquently with respect. He hadn’t showed hesitation in assisting another being when most wouldn’t have turned and left to save their own tail.

”You deserve it more than you know.”

She said simply, recalling something he’d said earlier and coming back to it. ”You are perfect for your new position, and I do think should you stick around you could grow from that.” Her eye sight faltered for a moment, into double vision, blackness, then blurriness and double vision again. She squinted at him in confusion, trying to focus on his face, and holding the shirt against the back of her head. ”I can not feel it. Is not that neat?” She mumbled finding herself suddenly distracted by the fact that he was shirtless. There was a slight half-smirk before she averted her vision politely to stare at the ceiling of the cave.

”You are going to get cold.” She frowned heartedly, but then, they both would. They were both drenched to the bone with water and a breeze of wind and rain coming in from the opening of the cave. ”Let us get you home and warm, yes? I think that we can make it. The rain is not as vicious as before.” Wrong and wrong again. She tried to stand and a sharp pain sliced through her head, forcing her to sit back down. ”I am sorry.” She grinned sheepishly, only her pulled-together eyebrows showing the pain.

”You want to know how I did that?” She seemed to be recalling what he said out of order. ”No idea.” She laughed. ”Can you do anything special? I think it is something the Keepers are trying out, messing with out abilities or something. They must think it is funny, or interesting at least.” She tucked her mouth back in her collar. ”How is the hunting for you? Are you happy? It seemed most fit.”

[joseph]

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[atrb=background,http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc63/Jackmur/josemiddle.png] It looked like Skye was mirroring Joseph’s own expressions. He wasn’t sure if she was trying to be funny or if it was just her mind acting funny. She really did bump her head...he thought as he frowned at her. He hadn’t said a single thing not did he stare at the mark over her mouth but she pulled her shirt over her face like he had pointed directly at it and went “ew!”. He reverted his eyes in the other direction and cleared his throat out of embarrassment. Maybe he had stared but didn’t realize it. He hoped that wasn’t the case because then he would just feel rude. ”Babies, Monsieur?” Though he could not see her lips, he could tell she was smiling by the way her eyes glittered at his comment. His uneasy expression loosened as he looked at her and nodded. That’s what they were talking about, right? Children? She seemed a little confused. Maybe they weren’t after all. Whatever he had asked, however, it got her to think for a moment before replying back. His shoulders loosened and his hands fell to his knees where he looked down to give his scabbed knee one more examination. What an interesting thing she had done...did she always have powers like that? ”Ha! No. Never. Not then, not now, and not ever. It is not that I do not love kids…” He was quiet for a few moment before he realized she wasn’t going to finish her sentence. It only worried him more for her. He needed to take a look at that head of hers and make sure everything was alright. She was now speaking out of range, answering his questions in different orders which had him stopping to think for a moment and figure out what he had said before to make her reply in such a way. His hand nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced down at the floor. “Well, thank you,” He said sincerely. He hoped she was right because he knew he needed to do a lot of growing in a place like this. When she pressed his shirt against the back of her head, he calmed a little knowing that could decrease the bleeding and maybe give her head something to rest on. That comfort was gone as quick as it came when she said she could feel it. “Oh yeah, neat...” More like scary, he thought. “Just keep pressing it in, you’ll feel better.” He looked outside longingly, wanting the rain to stop so he could get help. He had already looked around the cave and found nothing of use in there. He really felt helpless just sitting there and watching his Alpha become groggy from the pain. Turning his attention back on her he blinked twice before quickly scrambled to his own feet as she got up and insisted they could leave. Not as vicious?! If anything, the rain was only getting worse! He saw the pain strike her face as she got up and quickly went to her side, holding her elbow gently as he assisted her back into her spot. “Don’t try like anything like that again!” He urged her and winced for sounding so harsh about it. “I’m fine, really. I can deal with the cold.” He felt even worse when she apologized. She shouldn’t have apologized; she was just trying to help. He gave her a tiny nod and looked at her carefully when she asked him how she ‘did that’. “Did...” He trailed off when he quickly remembered. “Oh, you mean my knee? Yeah, what did you do back there? It was like magic!” Magic? He thought in his head. There had to be a better explanation than magic. ”No idea.” She laughed loudly. Out of habit he smiled back but was wondering if that was the truth or if she really wasn’t sure how she did that. He chuckled lowly and stared at his shoes then back at her before looking up at the roof in thought. ”Can you do anything special? I think it is something the Keepers are trying out, messing with our abilities or something. They must think it is funny, or interesting at least.” “Do cartoon character impressions count?” He laughed but was quick to quiet himself as he looked at Skye with a more sober expression. “Nah, I can’t do anything like heal or move things with my mind. Why would the Keepers want to do that though?” He asked. If they gave us powers like that, what wouldn’t stop us from using them to get out of this place? He thought. He rubbed the back of his head carefully while thinking. The water clinging to his hair trickled down his bruised and scraped hand while looking at Sky. He sat up straight and nodded eagerly at her question. “Of course! I’m thrilled! To be honest, at first I was a little unsure what it was going to be like. It was a little out of my...comfort zone but then I realized it was exactly what I needed,” He explained, gestured with his hands as he stared at them. He’d always been use to taking care of others or doing the same daily routine but as lead hunter, things were always unpredictable. But that’s what he needed, it kept him sharp on his toes and made him feel alive. He enjoyed traveling around as well. It gave him time to think and concentrate on the task. He glanced at Skye and smiled thoughtfully. “I really appreciate you giving me this opportunity. I swear I won’t let you regret it.” He stared at her for a few moments before reaching out towards her face. He was hesitant at first; thinking that although she was weak from her injuries, she would have no problem breaking his wrist for doing what he was trying to do, but continued. With his thumb and his index finger, he grabbed the edge of her shirt and gently slid it down from her face. This time he stared at the mark that scarred her lips, but there was no repulsion, only fascination. Gazing up at her eyes, his own reflected calm and steady emotions stirring in him. “You shouldn’t hide a face like yours from the world,” He said quietly, like there was someone else in the cave that might have been eaves dropping on their conversation and then dropped his hand to his side. “My Mom— her neck and the back of her right ear were scarred badly. Her Mom wasn’t really right in the head if you know what I mean and threw a pot of boiling water on her when she lost her temper. She use to be really embarrassed about her scars and avoided going outside so no one would stare at her.” He said with a vacant expression on his face, his mind clearly in another world. “But, eventually she realized she couldn’t live that way and she knew she needed to grow thick skin if she was ever going to move on from the past. You would’ve never guessed they bothered her. Ever. She saw her scars of reminders of the past; lessons that she learned and survived from. You shouldn’t be ashamed, Skye,” He said gently, a twinge of pain in his voice that appeared from talking about his Mom. He didn’t speak much about his past to others because it always brought up emotions he didn’t like to show to others. He was willing to show them this time though if he could show Skye another point of view.

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