Rachel Ramsey the Radical Raccoon was a-sneaking. Perched up in one of "her trees" in the small patch of trees on the northwest side of the lawn. It was late in the afternoon, the sun was just beginning to set; the keen eyed could have seen Rachel's raccoon eyes glow slightly in the shade. The even keener eyed would have seen those slightly glowing 'coon eyes staring at something.

That something was Jewel, the Super Shaper of Shinies!

"Sooooo many shinies! Gold ones and silver ones and pretty ones and big ones and small ones and thin ones and colored ones and soooooo shiiiiny!" Chikachikachika Rachel whispered to herself, her bushy ringed raccoon tail swooshing back and forth as it hanged down from the branches. Little did Rachel know that her excitement had cause her tail to become visible under her hiding spot. One merely had to look in her direction to see a normal tree...with a giant raccoon tail hanging down from its canopy.

Lily liked practicing out in the open, especially on summer evenings when the sun was not burning so hot anymore, but it was still light enough to see the glimpses of the jewelry she kept floating around. She had bigger pieces of silver and gold, and a handful of smaller gemstones.
She moved in a steady rythm, shifting her weight from one foot to the other; from the outside it kind of looked like a dance. It was a series of movements she herself put together from her training session with Sam and the dance classes she had.
She closed her eyes and focused on her sixth sense. She could feel the gemstones fly around her in circles like the planets around the sun; she kept all of them spinning and circling at their own pace while she also focused on the silver and gold sliding smoothly up and down her bare arm. To keep all those different movements going, she needed all her attention.
Once the routine was over, she opened her eyes again; she had moved around while she focused on the gesómstones, so now she stood facing a tree...
... a tree with a raccoon tail hanging from it.
Lily kept the gemstonas floating, and the metals pooled around her wrists as she walked closer to take a look. Maybe some poor animal got stuck in the tree. A very big... raccoon... "Hi there little one" she muttered, half to herself as she looked up and clicked her tongue the way people usually do when they trie to communicate with animals.

Amber had just woken up from her afternoon nap and was preparing to head home back to Sanctuary. Her night's plans included dinner, made by one of Sanctuary's expert cooks and then all of nothing. Well, maybe not nothing exactly. Catching up on her reading sounded like a good plan though and she was looking forward to a peaceful night to herself for once. Lately she'd been a lot more busy than usual, between school and practicing the use of her power. Tonight was going to be a night dedicated just to herself and relaxing.

Adjusting her veil and putting on her backpack, Amber stepped outside. Although it was evening and thus her skin could deal with the last rays of sunlight, it still wasn't full night and thus a little extra protection was still needed. Like so many evenings before, she had planned to just walk out the Mansion gates and be on her way, but got distracted by the sight of a young woman moving little bits of gold, silver and gemstones around her head in what appeared to be some sort of elegant dance.

Amber quietly stood next to the door, simply watching the show. It wasn't until the woman that she was watching started muttering to herself that she noticed the raccoon tail sticking out of the bottom of the tree. A tail that, while she couldn't' be positive, looked rather familiar. Like, maybe, a sneaky little raccoon girl that had been caught breaking into the Mansion only days prior. Without saying a word, she began walking curiously up to the tree.

"Hi there little one"

"EEEP!" Rachel had been seen! From Jewel's point of view, the tree suddenly squeaked and with a quick woosh, the tail zipped back up into the tree, a few leaves falling out from the canopy. Then, the tree suddenly shook, rattled, and made a very distinctive chitter as Rachel darted up and around the treetop.

Shinies or flee? Shinies or flee?

Rachel already knew the answer to this question. It was always shinies. Scrambling down the trunk opposite of Jewel, Rachel let out an almost chirp-like noise, slowly poking her head around the trunk to stare at Jewel and her shiny things. Her raccoon eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped open. It was so beautiful, the pretty shinies dancing in the air. Her furry ears twitched.

She wanted the shiny things! All of them!

Lily chuckled as the racoon tail disappeared just to be replaced by the whole of a racoon-like object, namely a girl, who made weird chirping noises. It was not an animal. It was a Mansion kid. Not the first time someone had made that mistake, and probably not the last.
"Hi" Lily smiled at the coon girl "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."
The gems were still floating around her; she made it part of her practice session to keep them afloat even during the conversation. She tilted her head. "You like the shinies?" she asked with a friendly smile "Want to play with them?"
Playing with gemstones might have been strange for a normal kid, but it was completely natural for Jewel; so natural that she didn't even stop to think about what she was offering. The racoon girl seemed as nice as any of the mansion kids. There would be no harm in playing.

"H-hello?" Amber stated hesitatingly, before she got too close. She didn't want to scare the raccoon girl who seemed more than a little skittish nor did she want to startled the girl with the jewel's causing them all to clatter to the ground. She knew how important concentration could be in the controlling of one's powers.

"D-do you live here now?" she addressed the question at the raccoon girl. She looked different now that there was more light and now that she was looking at her with human eyes rather than dinosaur eyes. She looked very very furry and soft and she had to suppress the urge to reach out a hand to pet her and see just how soft.

"I'm th-the dinosaur th-that you saw on y-your first day here." Amber decided not to mention the whole break in incident.

Rachel was now very very distracted. She had been offered to play with the shinies! Shiny shinies! But a nice looking girl was talking to her, and she didn't want to be too rude, so she...

SHINIES!

Rachel waved, patted Amber on the head, and scampered over to Jewel. Diving, she instantly grabbed a handful of gems and jewelry, rolling around on the ground, cooing (#1), and pawing with the gems and such.

Sure she felt a bit bad with almost ignoring Amber, but SHE HAD SHINIES!

The effect the jewels had on the racoon girl was truly amazing. Lily laughed as she grabbed the floating gems out of the air and made funny sounds as she played with them, completely ignoring the presence of the other girl. Lily let the rest of the gems drop to the ground - she'd find them again later on without a problem. She turned towards the girl who claimed to also be a dinosaur.
"Hi" she smiled at her, extending a hand "And welcome to the Mansion. My name is Lily." she glanced at the racoon girl and made the gems twirl around in the air to amuse her "And I guess you already know her." she chuckled, turning back to her "So..." she tilted her head curiously "What do you mean, you're a dinosaur?..."

Rachel was suffering from an overdose of shinies. Her black beady eyes were glowing in the low-light of the dusk, matching the glint of the gems and trinkets she played with. She was chittering to her self, saying the word "shiny" over and over and over. Her actions looked like those similar to a drug addict who was experiencing a very powerful and enjoyable trip. This is because in a way, that is exactly what Rachel was going through.

chikachikachikachikachikachikachikachikachikachikachikachikachikachikachika

"oooOOOoooo SO SHINY!" Rachel grabbed all the shines in one armful and tucked them close to her chest. She curled up into a ball, looking like a furry, clothed sphere with a fluffy 'coon tail twitching back and worth erratically in the air. She looked to be in Nirvana, the grin on her face almost literally stretching from ear to ear.

Amber didn't quite know what to make of the strange raccoon girl. She wasn't insulted at being ignored in favour of the shiny jewels, the girl was far too adorable for that. It was just so very unusaul, everything about it. She thought she was starting to get used to the whole mutant thing in all its many shapes and sizes, but the funny girl was definately a new experience.

"Nice too m-meet you," Amber adressed the other girl, who seemed for more, well, normal. Well, maybe down to earth was a better dexcription than normal. "My n-name's Amber. I c-can change into dinosaurs." She had a funny feeling that saying such a thing should feel weird, but by now that, at least, she was used to.

The racoon girl apparently OD'd on the gemstones, and Lily let her have her fun, she was done practicing for the day anyway. She smiled at the shy girl who introduced herself as Amber. Amber who could... change into dinosaurs?
"Wow." Lily commented, then blushed as she realized it wasn't a very polite thing to do. "That is a fascinating ability." she added "I... well, you already saw." she chuckled and pointed at the racoon and the shinies "I manipulate precious metals and gemstones. And I live here." she added, smiling at the girl "Welcome to the Mansion."

The raccoon girl seemed completely uninterested in anything outside of the shiny gemstones so Amber proceeded to ignore her and allow her to have her fun. Besides, the one floating the gems around seemed to have more to say anyway.

"Thanks," Amber responded to the other girl's welcome. "And your p-power seems pretty cool too. I d-don't know much about g-gems though." Well, aside from the fact that they came in a myriad of rather beautiful colours, of course. But that was something that everyone knew.