(OOC: This takes place after the thread with Kasumi and before Jewel is in the camps)

The mode was simple. The passage was crude. The job they were doing was incredibly dangerous. All their jobs so far had been dangerous, but this was probably the hardest one to pull off. Crossing the boarder with a group of mutant families, women, children, and males; some looked normal and others… well others didn’t. Streak had decided that he and Jewel were only able to take a group of about ten at a time. He’d spent all day going over maps and escape plans in his room. “Ok, we’re going to take them through this wooded area here.” He said pointing to a spot he’d traced on the map.

There were multiple lines on the map that had been drawn on it from where they were to where they wanted to go. There were plenty of options that he could take to get the people out of the country. If these maps were right, and he thought they were, most of the trip would be through flat farm lands instead of the woods that he was hoping he would be able to hide his group in. “It’s not going to be as easy as I was hoping it would be. All of this… it’s all farm lands. If we want to take them to Bulgaria, which is closer then we’ll be out in the open a lot. I think you’re gonna need to take more of my silver before we go. Just for precautions.” He paused and sighed.


The silver mutant picked up his cup and took a sip of water before he continued. “If we run into to much opposition heading to Bulgaria, then we’ll have to take them farther to the west and head to Serbia. But that’s our last resort. I don’t want to take them farther than we have to cause that’ll delay our return for more people.” Streak wasn’t happy about this trip. It was going to be the hardest one he’d ever led for the X-Men. Personally he was going to be covered in silver the entire time, but he wasn’t sure how Lily would use more of his silver. Streak looked out the window. The flat land was going make it easier for any of the lookouts to see. The silvermancer looked back at the map.

“The government’s placed lookout stations here… here… here…and here…” Streak said pointing to each point. “They’ve got plenty of guards at each outpost but from what I’ve gathered they’re slacking and starting to get lazy. Hopefully we can use that to our advantage and slip past them without getting into trouble. I want to take them through the middle of these two guard shacks…here. It’s the straightest line between where we are currently and the other country.” Streak said. He paused for a second and took another drink of water. “Once we get the call we’re gonna have to act fast. We don’t want to let to much down time happen between when they call us and when we pick them up.”

Shortly after he finished saying this his phone started ringing. Ring. Ring. Ring. “That must be them.” He said before walking over and picking up his phone. He answered his phone and listened into it for a short while before hanging it back up. Streak was glad that he didn’t have to go over this with the people they were smuggling across. “Time to go. Any questions?”

Lily had been staring at the map for so long she was pretty sure she had it burned into the inside of her eyelids down to the last tiny line. At first, the whole plan looked impossible. By definition, the X-team was here to make that particlar kind of thing happen. Still, she thought there would be more of them... but it turned out there was too much to do in so little time, and separate missions were the only way to help as many people as they could.
So it was just Shawn and her.
“It’s not going to be as easy as I was hoping it would be. All of this… it’s all farm lands. If we want to take them to Bulgaria, which is closer then we’ll be out in the open a lot. I think you’re gonna need to take more of my silver before we go. Just for precautions.”
Lily nodded with a small smile, and put her hands on his, pulling on his silver slowly, careful not to take too much at once. She was still not sure how much she could take without causing some kind of harm, but using her powers on him always had some kind of effect on him, it was better safe than sorry.
While cool silver trailed up her arm under her clothes, she kept listening to the plan. Well, it was not much of a plan, but it was all they could come up with.
"What kind of transport do we have?" she asked "We'll have to go on foot once we are close to the border in the woods, but getting there... well, it's easier to spot, but we'll might have to risk it."
They had to deal with a lot of people. Even if in smaller groups, they needed protection, and needed to stay together, and all kinds of things they will have to deal with besides keeping an eye out for hunters and soldiers.
The phone rang; it was time to go. While Shawn answered the call, Lily put on her jacket and checked all her gear, making sure everything was ready and packed safely in her backpack. Except for the metals and stones. She needed those closer, just in case. The jacked and her other clothes covered the serious amount if silver and gold that covered parts of her body like a second skin. The stones were set in her belt and bracelets. She smirked. Kaz was right, shiningy adglittering just gives you away.
"All set" she nodded once Shawn put down the phone"Let's go."

(OOC: I’m moving things along a little if you need me to change it let me know)

Streak felt Lily pull on his silver. It was a more than the tickle before. This was an actual pull. Once again a light headedness was felt by him as she continued to pull more silver from his body. He still didn’t like the light headedness because it made him feel out of sorts. Shawn didn’t like feeling like that, especially on a mission. As the silver traveled away from him and to her he continued talking, and ignoring the light headedness. Streak took a sip of water before he answered her question.

"What kind of transport do we have?" "We'll have to go on foot once we are close to the border in the woods, but getting there... well, it's easier to spot, but we'll might have to risk it."

“We’ll be taking a car for most of the way. But once we get within a few miles of the boarder then we’ll have to go on foot. Once we get them across and we come back we can grab the car and bring it back. There’s a place where we can drop the car that should leave it unnoticed and pick it back up just as unnoticed.” Streak explained as he got ready for the mission. He’d waited for Jewel to say that she was ready. He knew that she had to get all her jewelry ready and place all her stones in a certain spot where they wouldn’t be seen from most people. “The governments got all the air around there under lock and key. That’s why we had to come in using public transportation. We didn’t want any extra attention by coming in on our own air.” Streak threw on his jacket, grabbed his keys and walked out the door with Lily.

Once he was at the elevator he pushed the button and waited for it to arrive. Once the doors opened he walked in with Lily and pushed the button to go down. “Are you ready? We need to pick up the car before we get the people.” Streak said as the elevator descended. When the elevators finally opened he exited and walked out holding Lily’s hand. They were going to be spending some time together in a stressful situation and this would be one of the few times that they would have to not be stressed out. Streak found it very probable that they wouldn’t be coming back to the hotel that night. At best it would take them close to a day to get to the border and back again.

“We’ll be taking a car for most of the way. But once we get within a few miles of the boarder then we’ll have to go on foot. Once we get them across and we come back we can grab the car and bring it back. There’s a place where we can drop the car that should leave it unnoticed and pick it back up just as unnoticed.”
Lily nodded. "Well, let's make the most of it then."
There will be a part of their journey when they will have to go on foot, and that was much more risky than the car. But at least the first part they could make easier, so neither the two of them nor the mutants they were protecting would be too tired.
“Are you ready? We need to pick up the car before we get the people.”
"Always" she nodded with a slight smile, holding his hand "Let's go save some people. How many of them can we take tonight?"
It was an important question. On the one hand, they needed to doget as many people out of the country the fewest rounds possible as they could; on the other hand bigger groups were harder to keep together and easier to spot too.
Lily felt weirdly calm. It's surprising how fast someone can get used to working missions on the X-team.

"Always" "Let's go save some people. How many of them can we take tonight?"

“We can take about 10 people. That’ll probably be about 2 families and maybe a couple extra people. I don’t want to split up the families if I can help it.” Streak said explaining his position, “Any more people and we might be too big of a group to hide well enough.” Shawn climbed in the van and started it up. Once Lily was in they drove down the street making turns here and there to get to the people as fast and as inconspicuously as they could. It was about a 10 minute drive to the pickup point. They pulled up in front of a small run down building. The silvermancer parked the car and got out. Walking to the door, he knocked on it and waited for someone to open the door. While he waited he glanced around the street…up and down…up and down…making very sure that there was no one there that would see them. Streak might have looked like someone that was up to no good, but that was because he was, according to the government.

Finally the door opened. It didn’t take many words for them to know what was going on. Luckily the dragon speak hadn’t worn off yet. “First 10 people. Let’s go.” Streak said to them. As he walked back to the car, the people filed out. Behind Shawn there were two toddlers, two mothers and fathers, one teenager, and a few older people that looked like they could be the toddlers’ grandparents. They all piled in the car one after another and Streak had the mental image of a clown car. Most of the looked normal, however, the teenager and a couple of the adults didn’t quite pass for human. The teen had a thick tail that looked a bit like a snow leopards tail, while one of the moms had obvious spots on her body, and one of the older mutants had obvious wings. The wings looked to Streak like when she was younger they used to be very strong; however, now they looked weak and frail. When everyone was finally loaded in the van Streak then started it back up and casually drove off. There was no need to draw any more attention to them than they might already.

First ten people, families together. Lily kept an eye - and her sixth sense - out for anyone who would happen to see the people getting into the van. Fortunately, there was no one around. She started to see how luck was essential even to the best planned missions.
Once everyone was inside and Shawn started to drive, Lily turned her head to talk to the people in the back.
"Welcome aboard." she smiled at them "My name is Jewel, and I will be your hostess for this flight. We are going to take you all to safety. It is our job to protect you from anyone who tries to stop us."
One of the toddlers started to clap and make cooing sounds; the others nodded and listened. Lily smiled at the children. They were the ones that needed the most protection, and also, unfortunately, their greatest risk. She made a mental note that if things take a turn to the worst, the kids will be the first to be taken to safetly. She couldn't help her motherly instincts from kicking in once again.
"All right, here are the rules. We need to make this as quick as possible. Once we leave the car, you will need to stick together and move as fast as you can, and very quietly. If anything bad happens, run and hide, and leave the fighting to us. This is very important." she looked at them over her shoulder "Don't try to fight. We were trained for missions like this, and we can take care of whoever tries to stop us, but only if you don't get in the way. Anything happens, you all go, hide, and only come out when we come for you."
Glancing at Streak, she thought for a while, then turned back to them.
"I will give you all something that helps me to find you. As long as you are wearing these, I will be able to see you no matter where you are." she explained, handing them a series of thin silver bracelets she conjured up from Streak's silver earlier "Don't take them off."
The toddlers made new sounds at the shiny objects, and the adults murmured in agreement. Lily smiled and reached back to adjust the brcaelets safely to their wrists.
"Everything is going to work out just fine. Don't worry."
Turning around to look at the road, she sighed. Now that the people were in the back suddenly the whole mission seemed very real. Here goes nothing.
"Streak? Do you have anything to add?..."

Streak smiled as Lily began to talk. Having a sense of humor was important in this field because it kept them sane. It was good that Lily was joking around with their people. They didn’t need to worry them too much during this part of the trip. The kids were cute, especially the toddlers. As Lily talked he made twists and turns that would take them to their first waypoint. Their first waypoint was the place where they were going to have to lose the car and travel the rest of the way on foot. Shawn listened to Jewel as she talked. As far as he could remember that was the first time he’d ever heard her use her code name like it was her real name and not as just something her parents have called her her entire life. The silver mutant agreed with the rules that Lily was setting out for their passengers.

Shawn was glad that Lily had given them all something so that she could track them. The silvermancer spoke up in English so that only Lily would understand him and said, “That’s good I didn’t even think of the whole bracelet thing. What would I do without you?” he said looking at her and smiling. Streak was glad that he’d been able to get her to go along with this mission. If anyone else had gone along with him it might have been a little awkward. It didn’t matter that her powers had a limit. To the passengers there was nothing their rescuers couldn’t do. They had placed all their faith in two complete strangers from a completely different country and managed to trust them enough to go out from their current hiding spot and risk getting caught.

Ahh freedom. It was such a wonderful thing that most people were willing to risk their lives for and willing to take great risks to achieve. When their desperation got the best of them or when the government has pushed people too far that was the time when people would leave the country by any means necessary. This happened to be their current situation. The people they were smuggling out had been squeezed enough by the government and they just wanted to get away from it all. Streak shook his head. He didn’t have anything to add to Lily’s little briefing of their escape procedure. As the buildings started to get lower to the ground and farther apart, Streak noticed that there were also a lot less cars on the roads. It started to look like they were traveling through patches of farms and patches of woods that hadn’t quite been cut down yet into farm land. That was good if that remained consistent for the entire way. It still wasn’t going to be any easier for them to travel by foot. However, the little patches of thick forest would provide more protection than running through some farms, which they unfortunately had to do also.

“That’s good I didn’t even think of the whole bracelet thing. What would I do without you?”
Lily flashed a proud grin at Shawn. "Honestly, I have no idea."
She could already sense the bracelets in the back of the van; they were easy to spot, being made of Streak's unique kind of silver. She really hoped there won't be a situation where she'd have to track anyone by them, but it certainly didn't hurt to have them, just in case.
She watched the patches of forest and farmlands passing by. With every minute, they were getting closer to the border; with every minute, they were in more danger as well. The people in the back were strangely silent; even though she did her best to make them feel safe, she knew there was nothing she could say to chase their fears away. Not only about crossing the border. Also about starting a new life out of scratch.
Lily opened her backpack.
"We are going to stop the car soon, and continue on foot. We have water and some food, if you are hungry, you'd better eat now, it would be good if we didn't make any stops during the crossing."
She handed back some sandwiches; the tenager with the tail took two, he looked hungry, and the others accepted the food with smiles too.
"We also have a first aid kit, let's hope we won't need it."
Lily closed her backpack and put it down to her feet.
"All right, that's about it" she sighed "Oh, one more thing." she turned back to them again "If there is anything about your powers that we should be aware of, now would be a good time to tell."

"Honestly, I have no idea."

Streak smiled with her retort. He was glad that she was still keeping the conversation light through all of this. If everything went well then it would be a bad thing if they had to track them with the bracelets Lily had provided them. In the rear view mirror Shawn could see that a toddler was more interested in trying to chew on the bracelet than look at the farms that they passed. Their lives would be difficult but there was nothing that could be done to prevent it. The only thing that they could do would be to stay in the country and hope things got better. Eventually things would get better but there really was no telling when that would be, even with the X-Men there to help straighten things out.

"We are going to stop the car soon, and continue on foot. We have water and some food, if you are hungry, you'd better eat now, it would be good if we didn't make any stops during the crossing." "…If there is anything about your powers that we should be aware of, now would be a good time to tell."

The silver mutant was glad that Lily was talking so much. It would have made for a very awkward trip if someone wasn’t saying anything. Lily was right. They were getting close to their first waypoint where they would ditch the car and travel on foot. It was a slower means of travel but it was also safer than trying to get through by using roads patrolled by military vehicles and personnel day and night. “Speaking of which… We’re here.” Streak said slowing the car down and pulling off the road. This part was a little bumpy but it couldn’t be helped if he and Jewel wanted to come back across and still have a car to make their return trip easier.

As Lily passed out sandwiches Shawn found the right spot and stopped the car. He got out and made sure that they weren’t seen, which they weren’t, and that they couldn’t be seen by a random passerby on the road. So far so good. Once the silvermancer was sure the coast was clear he walked back to the car, stuck his head in and announced, “Ok everybody out. We walk from here.” He’d stared at the map enough to know the general direction that he was supposed to be going. But, that’s why they brought a map. As they all started to pile out, sandwiches in hand, Streak couldn’t help but wonder when Jewel had found time to make the food and do all this packing. Unfortunately, or fortunately, none of the passengers spoke up about their powers. Maybe they were too afraid to say anything, or maybe they were just not sure how to phrase what they could do. Either way it didn’t seem like they felt like sharing.

(OOC: feel free to interact with them)

“Speaking of which… We’re here.”
Lily got out of the car, flinging the backpack onto her shoulders, and took a minute to let her senses scan the area.
"All clear, as far as I can tell" she nodded to Shawn as they walked to the back of the van.
“Ok everybody out. We walk from here.”
As the people started to climb out, she reached in to take the smaller toddler that so far had been sitting on the winged grandmother's lap. "I'll take her for now" she smiled; the kid was still mesmerized by the bracelet on her wrist, she kept flailing her arm around "I can't carry her for long, I need to be able to move, but I can help till you finish eating."
Finally they all got out of the van; the teenager came last, hopping out and landing on his feet with grace. Jewel smiled at him. He was through with eating already.
"Ready to go, aren't we" she chuckled, looking around "All right, Shawn, you take the lead, I'll go last. I can see you anyway." she smiled.
"I could scout" the teenager offered; it was the first time he actually talked during the journey. Lily turned back to him.
"I'm sure you'd do a great job" she nodded, very seriously "But we'll need to stick together. We might need to use your powers, later on. Stay alert."
The toddler in Lily's arms decided her earrings would make a much better toy than the bracelet, and there was a moment of confusion as Lily peeled her hands off her ear. "All right, young lady, it's time to let the grown-ups do their job." she chuckled, looking at the teenager "Is she your sister?" The boy nodded with a slight frown reserved by teenagrs for their little siblings. Lily handed the baby to him. "Keep her safe."
Doing a quick headcount and adjusting the straps of her backpack, she nodded to Shawn.
"Let's go."

Streak looked around as the people started to pile out of the van. He heard Lily talking and looked to see what was going on. Shawn couldn’t help but smile at Lily when she was holding the toddler. It was a cute scene but then the thought occurred to him. I hope she’s not one of those girls that when she holds a baby suddenly wants on. Although he was brought back to what was going on when the teenager actually started talking.

"I can't carry her for long, I need to be able to move, but I can help till you finish eating." "Ready to go, aren't we" "All right, Shawn, you take the lead, I'll go last. I can see you anyway."

“You can always see me.” Streak retorted with a wink as he turned around. Before he started leading the way he pulled out the map and made sure they were in the right spot and would be heading the right way. After taking a moment to determine the right heading, Streak called their attention. Most were still snacking on the sandwiches that Jewel had handed out but some were finishing up with their’s. Since none of them brought any personal belongings it would make their voyage faster than if some were carrying luggage. Streak chuckled as Lily fought with the toddler to keep her ears and earrings in place. This distraction was lifted when she handed the kid to her brother and got herself ready to go.

“We’re heading this way. I’ll try to keep an even pace for all of yall but we need to move as fast as possible. Stay close we don’t want to get strung too far out.” Streak started to walk away, leaving the van covered. They were going to be basically running perpendicular to the road, but they would also be trying to stay out of the line of sight of the roads. Once the silver eyed mutant started to lead the way all of the people started to follow him. This trip was going to take some time and there was no telling when they would be getting across the border. So far silence was pretty much all that was heard from the group. Now normally this is a good thing when you’re trying to smuggle a large group of people across a border controlled by a government bent on keeping people in the country; however, this seemed to make the time pass a little slower and the tension throughout the group as a whole a little more palpable.

The group was mostly staying together, but as with all groups there were some that were at the back of their little pack. Every now and then Shawn would turn around and look to make sure that no one was falling too far behind, and that he could still see everyone, including Lily. After only about 5 minutes of walking they reached the edge of their little patch of forest. Streak stopped at the verge of it so that he could look out for any eyes in the sky that might see them and give them away. So far there was nothing but would give them about a minute break to make sure that everyone would catch up with them if they’d fallen behind.

Jewel walked at the end of the line, making sure no one fell behind. She also kept an eye out for the teenager, who kept pacing up and down along the line, essentially moving twice as much as the others did, like some wild animal in a cage. She could tell he didn't like the rules. Being a teenager, he probably didn't like rules in general. But he was mature enough to follow them anyway. For the time being.
Letting her sixth sense work in its widest range, Lily kept monitoring the area; she didn't sense much above the ground, except for Shawn. That either meant it was clear and safe to move, or that they were unlucky enough to face opponents who were invisible to her senses.
At the edge of the forest, Streak stopped, and so did the others, waiting for whatever would happen next. It was dark out here, with no artificial lights, just the full moon and the stars. Lily was surprised how much light they gave. It would get worse once they enter the forest. She could see the teenager's eyes glowing in the dark, and to her utter surprise, one of the toddlers was giving a faint blue glow as well. Uh-huh.
Something else flickered in the distance, only for her to see.
"We've got something" she said quietly, walking up to Shawn "It's pretty far, I can barely sense it. But it moves, so it's alive. Might belong to one of the watchtowers, or a patrol. I can't tell."

"We've got something" "It's pretty far, I can barely sense it. But it moves, so it's alive. Might belong to one of the watchtowers, or a patrol. I can't tell."

As he continued to look around out of the edge of the forest he listened to what Lily said to him. "Man I'm glad I brought you along." Streak said to her just as quietly. Streak was in front of the group the whole way so he wasn't able to see much of what was going on behind him. Every once in a while he would see the teen doing some things. Since they were stopped he figured that it was probably best for him to address the kid before they started moving again.

Shawn walked back to him and said quietly so that no one else would hear him, "Look kid... I know you're anxious about all of this but you need to save your energy as much as you can. We may be running into something soon and in case we do I'll need your help to get younger ones and the older ones out of danger. Stay close to me if you want but don't keep pacing like that." The silver mutant didn't give him a chanceto reply. He didn't want to argue with the kid, or with any of them for that matter. Streak walked back up to Lily and asked her, "If we get closer to whatever it is, or it gets closer to us, will you be able to tell if its a watchtower or a patrol or not."

The silvermancer then turned around and addressed the group as a whole. "We need to move as fast as we can right now becuase we're going to be going into an open area. There's a full moon out, which means that we'll be showing shadows and it migt attract attention. Get ready." Streak turned back to take one final sweep of the area in front of him. About 500 yards away was a field full of what could have been corn. However, until they reached the field they would have to cross a wide, open, and very unprotected patch of grass. It could have been part of the farm that just wasn't growing anything yet but it didn't matter because it would still leave them unguarded and vulnerable for getting spotted. "On the count of three we're going. One... Two... Three."

"Man I'm glad I brought you along."
Jewel sighed "Don't be glad yet, I don't sense much unless we get lucky."
She was glad she could help, but every time she thought about it she was well aware of the limits of her powers. Precious metals and gemstones were not that common.
Shawn took a minute to talk to the teenager. He took the same approach she did earlier; the kid seemed like he understood he was important, and nodded in agreement to everything Streak said, but Jewel suspected feeling important wouldn't exactly make him pace less. Even she knew teenagers were like that.
"If we get closer to whatever it is, or it gets closer to us, will you be able to tell if its a watchtower or a patrol or not."
"If it moves in a small range it's someone in a watchtower. If it moves in a line, it's a patrol. If we get closer I'll be able to tell. But I can only sense people who have something on them I can work with." she reminded him.
"We need to move as fast as we can right now becuase we're going to be going into an open area. There's a full moon out, which means that we'll be showing shadows and it migt attract attention. Get ready."
Lily looked at the group of people. They all seemed ready. Taking off her jacket, she handed it to the mother who was carrying the glowing toddler. "Wrap her up. The less light the better."
"On the count of three we're going. One... Two... Three."
They moved as one. The instincts to survive were working in everyone in the group; they stayed together, moved as fast as they could, and made almost no sound. The teenager stayed close to Shawn, taking the lead, glancing back from time to time to make sure everyone was following. Jewel's heart was beating crazy fast, but she still didn't sense anything coming closer, and that gave her a feeling of safety. Probably false.
The reached the cornfield without trouble, which counted as a minor miracle. They stopped for a moment, people catching their breath. Jewel sighed and touched Shawn's shoulder.
"It's still ahead of us. It's going to be a watchtower or something of the sort."

"If it moves in a small range it's someone in a watchtower. If it moves in a line, it's a patrol. If we get closer I'll be able to tell. But I can only sense people who have something on them I can work with."

No one fell behind. And no other sound was heard other than the groups feet rushing through the open space. They reached the cornfield without any incident. Streak breathed a sigh of relief once everyone was well hidden by the corn field. What Jewel said was comforting. Once they were slowed down and inside the cornfield he continued to walk. The teen stayed next to him for the entire short run to the cornfield. "Let's keep moving people." Streak said to them all. They didn't have time to stop. At least not right now.

Walking through the field would take some time. They needed to find the quietest way through the field. Another apparent danger that Shawn hadn't thought of was the fact that they might run into farmers or their animals on the trip. Both were a bad thing. Many of them probably wouldn't stop them, but if someone should interrupt them or try to stop them, then it might lead to them informing the military of their actions and their whereabouts. Luckily there was some room for them to walk between the rows of corn. Streak lead the group down a row of corn as far as he could.

They were finally deep in the corn field and before he turned away from the current row. Going through the field this way made much more noise as they had to push the corn stalks aside to walk through them. This process slowed the group down quite a bit; however, Streak continued to push onward. Whenever they got to the end of the field he would let them take a very well deserved break. With all the ruffling it would be hard for anyone to hear what was going on outside their group. All their rustling would be a constant noise distraction from anything that might have heard or seen them and was coming after them through the field. The only thing he could hope for was for the farmer to be asleep and whatever type of dog he might have would be fast asleep also.