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Posted by Iris/Rayne on Jan 15, 2007 16:42:06 GMT -6
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Nov 20, 2008 23:33:20 GMT -6
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Rayne’s mind wandered idly as she wove her Expedition through Conneticut’s early morning traffic. As she drew closer to New York, the traffic thickened with commuters. She glanced in the rearview, glad she was ahead of the pack. Having grown up in the rurals of the Rocky Mountains, city traffic was not something she enjoyed. And yet, somehow or another, she found herself stuck in it more often than not, and usually for the sake of an animal. Case and point, his particular trip was being made for a set of ten birds, Quakers to be exact, all having been abused, and all looking to find new homes, courtesy of Rayne’s Rescue Ranch. Since the birds were illegal in most states, a road trip was needed to transport them safely from New York to Colorado, then to their new homes. As she drew nearer the city, and the traffic began to tighten, and horns began honking, Rayne began to question her sanity. What normal person would come halfway across the country for a bunch of birds the size of an overgrown rat?
Normal.
The meaning of that word had been debated hotly for the last few years, with New York right at the center of the flame. Mutants were not normal. But should they be treated normally? After all, there were so many now. Should they be considered as simply another kind of human, as were black and white races? Or should they be marked, studied, even eliminated?
Self-consciously, Rayne scratched at her left shoulder. Hidden beneath her oversized sweatshirt was her ‘mark’, the mark of the mutant. She was fortunate, or maybe not so fortunate, to be able to hide her ‘mark beneath her clothes. Perhaps she could have explained away the odd bull’s eye-shaped markings, but there was no explaining the colored stones embedded in her back. Even she didn’t completely understand how they worked. She’d practiced at bit over the years, but only a little bit. The results were still unpredictable, so she tried to stay away from situations that would force her out. Unfortunatly, her personality seemed to attract trouble. She hoped that this trip would be uneventful.
Just short of her destination, traffic ground to a halt. Rayne groaned.
“Ten blocks. Just ten blocks! Grrrr!!” Her head dropped to the steering wheel. “I knew I should have left half an hour earlier.”
With nothing to do now but wait, Rayne’s mind again wandered back to mutants. A little snippet of a memory materialized in her brain.
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She’d only been eight or nine at the time. She’d just started junior high. During gym, she and another girl had gotten into a name-calling argument, as kids often did. Rayne had run into the locker room crying. At the end of day, the other girl had been walking home with her friends and passed Rayne’s home. Rayne saw them from behind a tree. It had rained that day, and mud puddles were everywhere. Rayne saw the mud. She hadn’t really intended to do anything, but whether she meant to or not, her violet stone activated. Suddenly, the girls were covered in mud, and crying as Rayne had done earlier. She felt horrible, and snuck into the stable, not realizing that her guardians had been watching. Later that night, she heard them whispering, and quietly snuck up to eavesdrop.
“It was an accident Max. You saw her crying. She didn’t mean to react.”
“I know Carol. But she did react. Think what could have happened if she really wanted to.”
“Oh, she’s only a child, Max. And a kind-hearted one. She would never-”
“She could, if she doesn’t learn control. They can teach her that.”
“So can we. All she needs is practice, out here where it’s safe.”
Tio Max chuckled ruefully. “Safe? Not likely.”
“Come on Max. You’ve see her use her powers more than once. They aren’t exactly destructive. Not like some mutants. A bit of practice and emotion control, and she’ll be right fine. I’ll handle it myself if you don’t want too.”
“Not on your life. I’m the older brother, remember? I’m in charge of this family.”
A soft laugh reached Rayne’s ears. “We’re twins, Mr. In Charge. You’re only older by two minutes. And don’t forget who always ended up on their back when we wrestled.”
“Details, details.” Tio Max sighed. “All right. We’ll handle this ourselves. I’ll call Xavier myself in the morning.”
“Good.”
Rayne found out later that they’d been talking about a school for mutants, located in New York.
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The sound of a honking horn brought Rayne out of her daydream. The guy behind her was waving furiously, and from the way his mouth moved, most likely swearing at either her or the traffic. Obviously he didn’t have any control either. Fortunately Rayne had learned to control her emotions, if not her powers. Rather than retaliate, she merely moved a few more inches forward, then stopped again, unable to go further. She inhaled deeply, and let out a long, drawn out sigh.
“Welcome to New York. The city that never sleeps or shuts up.” From what she remembered, Xavier’s school was out in the country somewhere. She’d be in New York for a week. Maybe she’d drop in later, if nothing else, to get away from the city. And who knew? Maybe she’d actually learn a thing or two.
She glanced ahead, wondering what the holdup was.
(OOC: Continued in "Mansion Grounds->Front Gate")
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Jan 17, 2007 12:21:37 GMT -6
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