Amber could tell the lack of making a difference was getting to Regan just as much as it was getting to her. In truth, it was likely far more obvious than her own helpless feeling. She crossed her fingers in front of her and bowed her head. How could one live like that, alone and unwilling or unable to accept the help of others? Her own period of solitude seemed like a lifetime ago but she clearly remembered how hearbreakingly difficult it all was. It was different now that she had pack; family but that didn't help Tses.

Amber watched the play of emotions on the other woman's face, desperately wishing she was better equipped to interpret what she saw there. It was clearly...something. Was she finally getting through to her? She made no move to approach nor did she speak for a time, content to watch and listen.

"There is always hope," Amber stated. It seemed like such an inadequate replay and one she knew, back she was in her darkest pit of depression, she never would have accepted. Yet, it was all she really had.

"I won't push you. Ever. But if you want to talk, or if you want someone who will be there without judgement I can offer you my number; even a place to stay if you don't have one." Hopefully her offer didn't negate any of the small good she had just done. Or at least, seemed to have just done.

Regan watched Tses’s face go through a wide range of emotions as Amber spoke to her. Her body language softened, was less hostile then it had been. Regan’s ears perked up as she focused on Tses. She could see Amber out of the corner of her eye, she was getting a tad frustrated herself but she was keeping her head on straight which was good.

Finally Tses started to speak, finally opened up to them. She was comparing herself to a wounded bird, and it was a good comparison. But here she was, the wounded bird with two predators standing around here and trying to help her instead of trying to eat her. She wanted to say something, but she kept herself quiet for the moment seeing as she was on a roll and letting everything that she could out right now, she’d put her two cents in after.

Tses continued and admitted that she only wanted to hurt herself and offered Regan an apologetic look. Regan gave her a slight nod back in thanks but kept a slight frown on her face. She didn’t understand why Tses would choose to seclude herself from the world when she would easily be able to fit in and have a normal life, unlike her and Amber. Regan envied Tses, she could blend in with the world, have a free life, find someone to love her. Regan would never have that, she would never find someone to love her, she was a monster, and that’s all she’d ever be. But now was not the time to focus on herself, it was time to focus on Tses and Amber had just given her an offer for her number and a place to stay.

Finally Regan dared to open her mouth and speak, hoping that she wouldn’t make things worse. “Sometimes a wounded bird just needs someone to pick them up and protect them until they are able to fly again, and here you have two predatory mutants who want to help you, not hurt you.” She stood up from her squatted position and took a few steps forward. “Unlike me, you don’t have to be alone Tses, you have so many more opportunities to make friends and relationships. I don’t have that luxury in life and yet I have still managed to make some friends because I let them in. I am willing to help you out just as much as Amber is, and in many ways I could probably relate to you, you just have to try and let people in. I’m one to talk really, I try to keep everyone out myself, but there are a few who have jumped over my walls and helped me a lot, made me feel better about what I am which is not easy to do.”

>>"There is always hope."

Tses listened, watching the facial expressions of the two figures in the dim lighting. The frustration seemed to melt in their features, and there was something that looked.... hopeful. Why did they care? Why did they want so much for her to listen, for her to believe them? On the streets, no one looked out for you. If you were slow or if you were weak, you got left behind, you died. That was it. But this... it was different. It was like she was starting to wander into new waters, the leading edge of the tide lapping her legs and chilling her. But as she stood there, it felt warmer, more inviting. The shock was gone, now there was just the curiosity, trying to draw her deeper, draw her closer. What would it be like to trust someone, regardless of whether or not they would leave? What would it be like to have a friend, someone to turn to... She couldn't imagine it. But she could see it somewhere in the distance between these figures, something she didn't understand, but was so tangible and real; it was a hope she wanted to reach for, but fear kept her still.

>>"I won't push you. Ever. But if you want to talk, or if you want someone who will be there without judgement I can offer you my number; even a place to stay if you don't have one."

Tses slowly let her head drop, and she turned her head to the right, eyes gazing over her shoulder at nothing in particular. She sighed slightly, and her mouth twitched slightly on one side almost like a half-hearted attempt to smile. "I don't own a phone, but the cat-lady next door has one she'd let me borrow. My apartment's in the city and it's been working well for me." She said, voice abnormally polite for her. She looked back as Regan spoke, and pushed her hair out of her face. Her body stiffened slightly at the words, and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. The defensive edge was trickling to the surface, but she didn't lash out like before.

>>“Sometimes a wounded bird just needs someone to pick them up and protect them until they are able to fly again, and here you have two predatory mutants who want to help you, not hurt you.”[/color]

Tses shook her head, eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't want someone to protect me. I don't need anyone to protect me. I grew up protecting myself; what doesn't kill you will strengthen you, and I'd rather be strong on my own." She said sharply. But then her face softened as the rest of the words moved through her mind.

>>"Unlike me, you don’t have to be alone Tses, you have so many more opportunities to make friends and relationships.

Tses scoffed slightly, the harsh laugh moving up from her stomach and out her lungs in a puff of air. The idea just didn't make sense to her. What made her that different? Sure, Regan had an animal like appearance, but that didn't make her an animal. She had just as much of a change to make relationships as anyone in Tses' mind. "I think you limit yourself on what you could do. I've seen visible mutants have plenty of friends, and engage in society as if they looked as 'human' as I do. Mutants who are covered in feathers, mutants who have tails and wings. The difference is in personality. You care about people. You long for comfort, you enjoy companionship. That... is something terrifying to me. To build relationships would require me to change everything I am, everything I've been. I don't feel the need for people. But... in a way, I just grow ill without it." Her words grew quieter as she spoke, a distant look in her face as she reflected inward at herself. Then she looked back at the two figure, and slowly her face started to harden once more.

"Maybe I could learn to be different. Maybe some day, we'll cross paths again, and the encounter will go better. But for now, the only person responsible for changing me has to be myself." Tses finished. She took a small step backwards from them, physically increasing the gap between them, and herself. It was a choice she was making, albeit a sad one and a lonely action. But that empty path she chose to travel was the only way she could figure out who she was, who she'd become from here. Was she more than this destructive cynical person? Was there someone more human inside her, or would she always be a monster on the inside?

Maybe it was a sad curse that the world had created...these two figures that were labeled as mutants, labeled as monsters, were far more human than the lone creature that lurked inside the 'normal' appearance Tses wore.

After hearing Regan speak to Tses, Amber turned to the cat woman as well. "I think I would also enjoy getting to know you better. Its rare for me to meet someone who also understands the predator and, if we have a slightly differing ideology, I think you have a good heart." It was always a risk to approach a mostly stranger mutant in such a way, but in this case it seemed right to follow her intuition. What was the worse that could happen anyway? She'd get turned down?

"I don't want someone to protect me. I don't need anyone to protect me. I grew up protecting myself; what doesn't kill you will strengthen you, and I'd rather be strong on my own."

Amber nodded in understanding. "Sometimes protection and support are different. Sometimes its not your outer self that needs protection but your inner self." So many scars. So very many and not just upon Tses' soul but Amber's as well. The only real difference was, she had found that support and those who could help protect her inner self. For her outer self, well, there wasn't much to be afraid of there.

Amber bowed her head sadly at seeing Tses take a stop back from the pair of them but made no attempt to interfere. The decision was hers and hers alone to make, after all. "The offer is there Tses. You have only to ask, only to seek and I can be there for you." There was nothing else to be said, nothing else to be done, really. She had done her part and could feel no guilt in the attempts she had made. So why, then, did she feel like she had failed and that failure fell upon her own personal inadequacies?

"I don't expect I'll be getting much hunting done tonight, after all." Amber's tone changed to one more casual, having all ready said her piece. "Even if we never deign to meet again, I don't suppose either of you have transport back to the city?"

Regan’s emerald eyes watched Tses closely. Watching her facial expressions and body language was like watching a tennis match, bouncing back and forth between softening up and rebuilding the hard, protective shell. Her heart sank in her chest as she felt for poor Tses. She was so full of hurt, anger, and loneliness, and Regan knew those feelings so well herself. These women had their invisible scars just like she did, they may not all share the same ones, but they were all pained in some way.

Regan listened to Amber and Tses talk and couldn’t help but grin slightly as Tses mentioned the cat-lady who was her neighbor. She wondered if that lady would like her as much as she liked her cat collection. She doubted that greatly, but the thought amused her for a few moments.

Then Tses started responding to her statement and she didn’t seem to appreciate her words all that much, but Regan appreciated hers’. She made a valid point after all, the only one that was holding Regan back was herself. She offered Tses a small smile. “I respect your choice to be strong on your own, but I don’t suggest you do it for too long, it will eventually catch up to you and not in a good way.” She sighed a little before continuing, “And I have to say thank you for your words. You are right. The only one stopping me from walking past the trees is myself and my fears. Someday I hope to conquer them. You’ve given me something to think about.”

She then turned to Amber as she mentioned that she wanted to get to know Regan more. Regan smiled warmly and nodded to the pale skinned mutant. “Thanks Amber, I would like to get to know you better as well. We might not share the same ideas, but we share other things in common. I think we would get along quite well.”

Out of the corner of her eye Regan could see Tses backing away from Amber and herself. A small frown passed over her maw. She looked in her direction as Amber shared a few more words with her. She tilted her head to the side slightly as she watched Tses try to retreat from them, back behind her walls. She sighed softly and offered one last sentence to the moon powered mutant. “I hope you find your place in this world Tses, I hope you find your happiness.” The words were sincere and she truly meant them. The two of them may never be friends, but she didn’t want Tses to suffer in her dark place alone any longer then she had to.

Her attention was once again drawn to Amber as she mentioned hunting and a ride home. Regan smiled to her, a fanged grin. “If you like to hunt Amber, maybe sometime we could hunt together. I don’t particularly enjoy it, but the other side of me needs to hunt once and a while.” She didn’t know why she opened up that much all of a sudden to Amber, but seeing as she had a beast side to her as well, she felt a kinship and an understanding, and it sure felt nice. “As for a ride home, I don’t drive but maybe someone back at the mansion can give you a ride, or we can call you a cab there, it’s not far from here.” She smiled as she extended the offer to Amber, but glanced over at Tses to extend the offer to her as well.

Words drifted through her mind in a language she couldn't understand. They were the words of a book, broken and fragmented by her mind in ways no one else could understand. She was a beast, trying desperately to be human; she was a ghost, trying desperately to exist. But she didn't know how, and that made her feel afraid; she didn't know how, and that made her run away. In her mind, there was no shelter from the monster she'd become. There were words they said that cut her, because of how true they were.

>> "Sometimes its not your outer self that needs protection but your inner self."

How could she be protected from herself? The pain she caused, the anger she felt, the things she did. She didn't understand them. She could hardly control them. She didn't follow boundaries, she was reckless to a fault, and she was doing everything in her power to screw up her life. Yet, someone cared. Yet someone took notice. These words were so fragmented, because it was a kindness she couldn't understand.

>>“I respect your choice to be strong on your own, but I don’t suggest you do it for too long, it will eventually catch up to you and not in a good way.”[/color]

She didn't hear the thank you. She just heard the warning. She didn't see the positive things she did. She only saw the flaws. She was running, she was struggling to escape. It was a long journey she was on, but she only hoped eventually, she'd arrive somewhere. she'd find that inner piece, she'd figure out who she was, and who she wanted to be. But right now, she was a broken glass doll. And anyone who tried to touch her would just get cut on the edges. "They say time heals all wounds. Perhaps, if it's true, eventually mine will heal enough to appreciate what you've said."[/b] She was still irritated at the cat woman, and she still disliked her. But maybe that would fade when she realized what she was trying to do: help. She didn't need help, didn't want it, at least in her mind. But in time, there may be a point when she would, and could accept it. If she could learn to read, maybe she could learn to deal with people, and let them closer. Let them help. She wanted someone to be there for her.

But that person had left, and in his wake, she was broken in a way she felt was beyond repair.

>>"The offer is there Tses. You have only to ask, only to seek and I can be there for you."
>> “I hope you find your place in this world Tses, I hope you find your happiness.”

Echoes of something. Echoes of nothing. Echoes of things she couldn't quite grasp. Happiness. A place in the world. Someone to be there for her.

Echoes of something. Echoes of nothing.

Lost within the echo she'd become of herself.

When Regan offered to give her a ride, Tses gave a slow shake of her head, and nodded towards the trees. "It's a nice night, I have the moon as my guide. I can walk home from here. It'll give me to think. Thanks for the offer though." The thank you felt forced at first, but she felt somewhere inside her, she meant it. There was a confused nature to her, a conflicted one. But she knew there was something kind in their actions she had to acknowledge. She started towards the trees, letting the shadows engulf her, and turning her back on them to finally run away from the things they had said.

"Perhaps we'll meet again." Was all she said, and then she left them behind, walking slowly, but after a short while, breaking into a run. She ran until her sides burned, and her legs hurt, and her lungs felt like they'd give up. She ran from everything and with every pound of pain through her body, she tried to bury the raw emotions they'd touched.

The paid was an echo of something. What it was, she didn't know.