Scarred? Or Sculpted? (Meld)

Meld was frustrated and confused after her very recent and very turbulent confrontation with Hunter, Lori and Aura. She had thought she had finally come to terms with her memory loss, thought that Lori and Aura had been completely honest with her in helping her to settle back into her life and helping to, ever so slowly, regain what was lost. And she was regaining what was lost, one tiny little fragment at a time, though the process was agonizing in its pace. A tiny moment of recognition here, one more piece of a scattered puzzle there. The bulk of the last three years of her life still remained gone, nothing more than cobwebs in her mind.

When Meld had returned to Sanctuary on the fateful day in which her memory was wiped, the first solid memory she currently had, Lori and Lenna had seemed like a godsend. They were her family, members of The Order in which she was a part of, there to help her in her time of greatest need just as she would surely do for them were the situation reversed. She'd had no reason to doubt there sincerity, no reason not to trust them. Then there was Aura, who had helped fill in so many of the blanks in her life, explained about the many missions they had gone on together in support of the mutant cause. Those missions she could corroborate, at least in spirit, with her own fragmented memories. There hadn't been any reason to doubt any of it, not really. Life had gone on as best as it was able given the situation.

Then everything changed. Meld and Aura had gone on a crusade to destroy a church full of anti-mutant bigots who were organizing anti-mutant protests. Everything started out very well and many people not deserving of life died that day. Everything should have continued to go well and would have if not for the sudden appearance of a vampire calling himself Hunter, a vampire that apparently knew Meld. It wasn't even the fact that he was stronger and faster than both herself and Aura or the fact that he had forced them to leave with the job only half done, it was what happened afterward, back at Sanctuary. Not only did Hunter know Meld but he said that she had come to him for help, that she had left the Order and was trying to reform her violent, murderous ways. She should have been able to dismiss him as a liar out for his own ends, but she couldn't and because she couldn't it brought everything that she had come to believe since returning to Sanctuary's golden gates into question.

When Meld was conflicted, and she had never been more conflicted than she was now, she typically dealt with it in two ways. The first was to hurt people, though perhaps that wasn't how it always was. The thrill of bringing pain and death to others was a rush like no other, almost an addiction and the fact of that addiction was one of the reasons she simply couldn't just dismiss Hunter's words. The second was safer, although sometimes led to the first. The second was merely to be alone in the city, to walk and think and hopefully resolve something within her own mind. She didn't intend to return to Sanctuary until things made more sense than they did currently.

Because Meld didn't want the former to occur, she decided to remain close to Sanctuary. There were reasons why it was safer for her to walk closer to the place she still called home, though for how much longer she wasn't certain. Reasons that, mainly, had to do with the fact that humans knew it was dangerous to antagonize mutants in the area and in her present state of mind it would be very very dangerous for someone to antagonize her. Even not desiring the death of anyone, she wasn't certain that she could fight her addiction in her present state of mind. She wasn't entirely certain that she wanted to. Still, it was better by far that she remain in a relatively safe area.

KRAH-POOM

Or perhaps safe was a matter of perspective. Hearing the explosion go off and knowing how many mutants lived in the area, Meld ran to see what was going on. The protection and assistance of mutants was her cause and her responsibility, if she wasn't able to assist them than she wasn't good fr much of anything. All of the killing, it had been in the support of her chosen cause and that cause mutants.

Bang!

The scene that Meld came upon horrified her. A crazy man stood, pointing a gun at a little girl. He was, she could only assume, the one who had caused the bang and, a moment later, she came to the realization that the little girl was the one who had caused the initial explosion as another PA-BOOM ripped through the area. It took only a moment to grasp what was going on. Something had startled the child causing her exposition to go off and cause a minor car pile up. The man had taken offense to a mutant causing destruction, even if it was obvious that the destruction had been an accident and the mutant was only a child, and decided to take things into his own hands by trying to kill her. The man was the worst kind of human, the kind that least deserved to continue to live.

Meld growled, not even pausing to think of what actions she should take. This man, this human, was trying to kill a mutant and not only a mutant but a mutant child. All thoughts of reforming her violence fled her mind, as with all thoughts of who could be trusted and who may or may not be lying to her. All that mattered was this monster's death and, given that she was a monster also but a monster who was put towards a purpose, she was to be the one to end it.

The man didn't have a chance to react, didn't have a chance to so much as turn and aim his gun at her. In an instant Meld began running, faster than any mere human could move, and was upon him. Her tail plunged into his neck and a geisure of blood erupted from the wound. He would be dead from the loss of blood in less than a minute and his life was inconsequential anyway. The important thing was to help the mutant child. "We need to get you to safety," Meld extended a hand, her mutant hand with the glowing blue veins, for the girl to take. She didn't stop to consider that she had just murdered a man in cold blood right in front of the girl and quite possibly scarred her mind forever. Death was an every day occurrence for her and had long since lost its impact. At least her concern for the girl meant she hadn't really had a chance to enjoy this one. This one was just business.

Why did there have to be so much hatred in the world? Why did humans have to lash out at anything they didn't fully understand and weren't able to fully control? Why, most of all, must that hatred manifest itself in the attempted murder of an innocent child? In the moments that she waited for the little girl to take her hand, those were the thoughts going through Meld's head. What must it be like to grow up in a world in which you were a mutant child? Her own childhood had been relatively normal, human. This child was not so lucky as that.

Meld could see the humans milling around in confusion. She didn't bother to count the injured, but knew there were quite a few of them. None of the injuries looked serious, at least at first glance, aside from the man she had killed. The man who had earned his death by the simple fact of trying to kill a child. Nothing could justify an action like that, absolutely nothing.

Meld knew that they didn't have a lot of time before people started acting. After a crisis there was always a minute or two of confusion, while people tried to make sense of what had happened to decide what to do about it. After that minute or two people would begin to formulate plans and well reasoned plans could be dangerous, especially in the middle of a potentially dangerous mob of humans with no backup. Their minute or two of safety was quickly running out and when that happened not only were cops a likelihood, but it was also not out of the realm of possibility that people would start attacking. Funny how vehemently they defended their own.

"No one tries anything and no one has to get hurt," Meld stated coldly, her voice showing no hint of emotion at all. "All I want is to get the girl to safety and then you can tend your own." She began walking, urging the little girl forward with her. Her tail eye remained trained on the mob, swiveling back and forth to prevent anyone from catching her unaware. It would probably be to much to ask for to get back to Sanctuary without any further trouble.

A blink of her tail eye showed Meld the snake mutant complete with disapproving look. She knew there were a great number of mutants that disagreed with her actions if not her philosophies. Little did they realize that she was doing everything for them in order to better their lives and the lives of their children. There was a place for the pacifists and the idealists, a place for those who preferred negotiation over action and she would never deny that. However, the sooner they realized that there was also a place for those willing to do what was necessary, including the taking of a life, the sooner the mutant cause would be furthered.

"Th... thanks,"

Meld nodded down to the girl, not paying a whole lot of attention. What was important at that exact moment was ensuring that no one came from behind and tried to interfere in their escape. Once they made it safely to Sanctuary then she would have more time for the girl and not a moment before. Luckily, everyone seemed preoccupied with dealing with the myriad of minor wounds that the girl had unwittingly caused, leaving little in the way of time to deal with the two of them.

"What happened?" Meld asked the girl. They were far enough away from the chaos by that time that she was beginning to relax, just a little. Her tail still blinked every few moments to ensure that no one was trying to follow them but they seemed to be outside of the worst of the chaos. It seemed to be safe enough to get a better idea of the situation at hand. Although she had some idea of the events that had led to their current situation, it would be better to hear it from the girl's mouth directly.

Meld nodded as the little girl made her description of the situation. She had expected that it might have been something like that but it was good to have the confirmation. She wasn't certain if she was more angry at the ignorance of humans in dealing with mutant children, or the overt hatred of many humans. A child should not, under any circumstances, have to deal with such things.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Meld assured the girl. Every step they took was a step closer to safety. They weren't far from Sanctuary now. "It was wrong of that man to react as he did, wrong of him to try and shoot you. He didn't understand that you didn't mean to do what you did." That and he was probably fueled by a hatred of mutants like so many humans but she didn't want to burden the girl with any more than she had all ready been forced to deal with that day.

"You do need to learn to control your powers, however," Meld informed the kid, trying to be as gentle with her words as she was able to. Which wasn't a skill she was very familiar with. "So that things like this don't happen in the future. I know it wasn't your fault, but its dangerous to have your powers go off like that, to yourself and to others. Do you have a teacher?" Controlling powers was something Meld only had a small amount of experience with. The nature of her own powers made control a rather less important issue than with many powers, a matter of learning to fully utilize new limbs and senses rather than making sure powers didn't go off on their own. Her mutant hand had, when she first gotten it, had a tendency to short out electronic devices but that was the sum of her experiences controlling strange powers. Still, it didn't take much to realize its import in a situation like the child's.

"Do you have a name?" The golden gates of Sanctuary finally came into view and Meld couldn't have been more relieved. She didn't exactly have a lot of experience dealing with children. Hopefully there would be someone to help with the mutant girl.

Meld nodded attentively, listening to the girl speak. She recalled seeing a bird lady around Sanctuary and it was something of a surprise to realize that that was where the girl, Kaitlyn, lived. She knew first hand that life as a mutant could be hard, especially if said mutant happened to blow things up randomly, but what must have happened to force her to a place like Sanctuary? Sanctuary may have been home but it was no place for a little girl. Surely the Mansion would be a better place for her, not only because it actually had children but also because it had teachers to teach those children how to control their powers.

"My name's Meld." Meld ushered the girl inside, closing the door behind her. "I'm glad to hear that you're learning to control your power. The more you use it the less often you'll find it going off by itself. It takes time and practice, but it will happen." At least she hoped that was true, for the sake of the child. Usually that was the case, but she could remember hearing about mutants who never learned to completely control their powers. What must life be like for them? She didn't want that for the 9 year old.

"Kaitlyn, do you live here? Have you ever heard of a place called The Mansion?" Meld ushered the girl into the kitchen where she proceeded to go through the freezer, searching for some ice cream. She remembered when she was a child how much she loved the stuff and her sister as well, so hopefully Kaitlyn would feel the same way.

Ice cream was found in the freezer and Meld put a large amount into a bowl for Kaitlyn. One never knew what one would find in the Sanctuary kitchen. There were so many people living there that food, especially good food like ice cream, tended to disappear rather quickly. She also made herself up a bowl, although a little smaller of one. Sitting down, she handed Kaitlyn her bowl. Unfortunately ice cream was just about the sum of her knowledge of children.

"Kaitlyn, I'm going to level with you here." Meld had the vague idea that this wasn't how you were supposed to talk to a child but it was the only way she knew how to talk. Hopefully she didn't scare the kid too much, but certain things needed to be said, no matter how scary they might be to a little girl. It was better she know the truth and the risks, rather than be taken completely unprepared.

"Many of the mutants in Sanctuary are dangerous and not all of them are so willing to protect children. You said yourself that your powers sometimes go off on their own and that can be dangerous too. I know people in the Mansion." At least she had some vague memories of knowing people at the Mansion but no need to mention that bit of information. "You need help and training and there are those there that can help you. I'm sure you could continue to live here, but you need help and that's the best place to go to get it. If you want, I can speak to some people and try to get you the help and training you need."

Meld had absolutely no idea if her words had gotten through to the girl or not. Maybe she should bribe her with sweets if she agreed to train her powers? She thought she remembered her parents bribing herself and her sister on occasion when they weren't behaving properly.

While Kaitlyn wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the ice cream, at least she was eating it and seemed to be appreciating it. Children were so much more difficult to understand than adults, though. Meld was pretty sure it was a good sign, but how could she be certain? She couldn't think of anything else to do, in any case, and the girl had just been through a rather traumatic event.

"I'll speak to some people on your behalf," Meld assured Kaitlyn. "I'm sure I can find someone to help you with your powers." She offered the girl a tentative smile then lapsed into awkward silence as she ate her own ice cream. What was one supposed to say to a child anyway? Especially a child who someone had just tried to kill? There had to be someone around Sanctuary better equipped to handle a kid than she was.

"Do you need anything else?" Meld finally asked, rising to her feet. It wasn't bad to leave the girl now that she was safely home was it? Children were just so complicated!