Snow was nothing new for Charlotte. She had seen it every year of her life for as long as she could remember, yet it still intrigued her to watch the snowflakes descend in loose, lazy spirals until they stuck to whatever surface was closest. In this case, it was the bench she sat on that overlooked the river, which seemed to be the only thing not completely touched by the cold. Small ice chunks bobbed in the water, but the rest of the river remained unfrozen. 

The blonde flipped listlessly through a Cosmo magazine, her other gloved hand digging into her jacket pocket for a cigarette. She exhaled, watching as the small cloud of smoke unfolded before her, mixing with the snowflakes until nothing lingered but the smell of the smoke itself. Not that it mattered: only one person had passed her since she sat down..however long ago that was.

As if on cue, a numbing tingle started in her foot and quickly spread up her leg, and would have probably spread further had she not stood up.The mutant slipped her magazine into her purse and zipped up her jacket two-thirds of the way, preparing to leave. 

A movement in the water caught her attention, and Charlotte took a few steps toward the river. A black shadow moved into view, and the blonde cocked her head. It was too big to be a fish, and she was almost completely sure sharks didn't live in the river. She scanned the ground and found a rock roughly the size of her fist, grabbing it as she took another puff from her cigarette. A flick of her wrist sent the rock flying through the air and at the shadow, which it hit dead on. 

She exhaled, not realizing she had been holding her breath.

Whatever it was, it wasn't moving. 

Swimming across the river was rarely fun, and with winter chilling the water to an uncomfortably numb feeling on his flesh, Sylar definitely wasn't having fun tonight. However sometimes swimming was the only way to avoid...unnecessary attention. He didn't need to steal to feed himself anymore, but old habits die hard they say. He had crossed the river to avoid any of his usual suspects he bumped into on a raid, and had managed to find a few places worth checking out. However coming back across had suddenly ended with a very odd bit of happenstance.

Sylar was heading for a specific point on the home side of the river, where he'd left some spare clothes to change into once he'd exited the freezing water. That spot however had now seemingly attacked him with a rock. He was sitting beneath the water, his monstrous form hidden beneath the murky shade of the river when a good solid rock sank through the surface and landed right on the boy's head. His shadow on the surface would have stopped dead, followed by a brief release of bubbles escaped to the surface as the boy mouthed the word "Seriously?". He sat for a moment, trying to figure out why a rock came at him before realizing somebody must be on the bank throwing them in.

Sylar needed his fresh clothes unless he wanted to catch the worst cold of his life, so it was time to play his favorite part and scare whoever was throwing stones out of their mind. The shadow in the water began to move again, this time straight towards where the rock had come from. Reaching the bank quickly, what crawled from the water was no human being, no pleisosaur, but just a monster clad in darkness. His armored arm erupted from the surface of the chilled water, a black claw digging into the earth and pulling more of him free of the river. A humanoid form rose as water ran off his flesh, the frosty air sending a shiver down Sylar's spine as he looked up to see a woman standing on the bank.

His tail flexed, curling up behind him like a serpent as he hissed out his first words of the encounter. "Did you seriously throw a rock at me?" He questioned, his black eyes glued to Charlotte from beneath the soggy mane of red hair weighing heavily off his head.

Charlotte felt the life drain from her face as the shadow shifted and started approaching the bank. She took a few steps back as claws broke the surface, followed by a body that was half man, half...thing emerged from the water. Her eyes saw the messy red mop and the young face beneath it, but her gaze quickly shifted to the claws and then the tail with the deadly blade.

"What the hell is that.." she thought as she flexed a gloved hand, activating her mutation. A thin stream of water  rose from the river's surface, slithered to the blonde and wound one end of itself around her right hand. A whip was a good defense, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

As Sylar spoke, the mutant felt herself shudder. She couldn't let him know that she was scared. He was a predator, and more often than not, a predator could smell fear. "You shouldn't be hiding in the water in the first place." she retorted, her voice shaking ever so slightly. Her grip on the whip tightened, and she took the last puff from her cigarette before flicking it away. "And there are more rocks where that came from." she added quickly.

The display of power between predator and prey was one of nature's more interesting moments to witness. Each creature attempting to convince the other that picking a fight would be a bad idea. And now this moment was happening between Sylar and Charlotte, and the first move from Sylar was definitely a good one. His nature affinity for appearing terrifying put his foot in the door of her mind. Sylar's eyes watched the girl for any sign, of fear, or of aggression, his eye sight revealing so much more than a normal person's could.

Her voice was shaky as the girl spoke, asserting herself against Sylar's presence. Sylar pondered on exactly how to act towards this girl, all he knew was that he wanted to get warm quickly, so best to scare her off. "I'm a monster, the darkness is my home." He crept forward another step, his body low to the ground at an angle that would completely tear and murder a normal person's muscles. His tail swayed back and forth a bit, the blade at the end curling towards the girl, gleaming in the moonlight. She tried to threaten throwing something else at him, and Sylar just smiled a bit.

An alien hiss crept from his throat, mixed with his breath as the cold air began to fill his lungs and his body began warming up. "Rocks? You'll need a lot more than rocks girl." Sylar finished his sentence, and silence fell on the area, an ominous setting before the sewer boy leapt forward, pouncing towards Charlotte with all the speed and ferocity of a tiger.

In the animal world, there are countless examples of tactical deception used to protect oneself. For example, there are certain species of butterflies with patterns similar to the poisonous Monarch butterfly. Some animals use bright colors and patterns to ward off a predator, while others, such as the possum, feign death. 

As much as Charlotte wished, she was not born with any of these tactics. Sure, she could play dead, but by the looks of Sylar, he would eat her all the same.

"Well maybe you should find a home that's less...wet." she spat, taking a few steps back as the monster moved forward. Her blue eyes surveyed her surroundings. She knew there was a bench and a few trees behind her, but none of that offered much in the way of protection. Her best bet was the river.

There was silence, broken only by the pounding of Charlotte's heart, which filled her ears almost to the point of being uncomfortable. She saw Sylar lurch forward, and suddenly she was moving. Before she had time to think, her legs were carrying her forward as her arm shot out, sending the whip whistling through the air. She aimed for his face, finding it to be one of the few unprotected areas on his body. If it did make contact, the monster would be surprised by how 'hard' the water was; the hit would be equivalent to getting hit with a piece of wood.

There was almost no distance between them when the blonde dove to the left, bringing her knees up to her chest as she hit the ground, rolling forward through the snow until she was back on her feet. Turning quickly, Charlotte took a few steps back, the river now behind her.

She stood, her breathing heavy, as she waited for her opponent. 

 

Sylar's plan had been to pounce, and either send the girl running, or pin her long enough to silence her. He'd already irked the cops on one side of the river, no reason to get a bunch people coming after him now when he was still ice cold. However as his body flew through the air towards Charlotte, a third option seemed to get selected. He couldn't make it out very well, but some secondary movement around the girl lashed out at him, smacking him straight in the face. He'd already been hit with a rock and now she'd hit him with something else, his ears were starting to ring.

A solid bit of force, like a good solid punch to the face sent him spiraling backwards while his body suddenly downwards towards the ground. He hit the dirt with a thud but quickly righted himself, shaking his head to banish the ringing still in his ears. what did she hit him with? It wasn't another rock, honestly it felt...wet? What the heck was going on here. His tail flicked back and forth, as the monstrous boy turned to stare at the girl again. She'd moved while he hit the ground, and for whatever reason was standing near the water instead of running for civilization.

Sylar remembered another night when he had to deal with a fighter, what was it about women lately. Usually they just screamed and ran, or worse fainted and had to be moved. Only mutants gave Sylar trouble like this...wait. Sylar hissed a bit, an action that would come off as hostile but was actually the boy feeling annoyed that he could guess how this would turn out. "You hit me...hard." Sylar slowly turned to face her, crouched low like a tiger threatening it's prey in a fight. "You should be running, I know you're afraid." Sylar's tail swayed behind him like an angry cobra, slowly from right to left and back again. The blade always pointed at Charlotte, like it had a life of it's own. "But instead you back into a corner, and stand your ground...like you could win the fight, why?" Sylar couldn't be sure, but he had a feeling in his gut.

"What's making you stay human?" Unlike before, Sylar held back clearly cautious. She'd hit him with something, he needed to figure out what. Either to know if he should run...or take this seirously.

Judging from the thud she heard as she rolled, Charlotte was sure the whip had made contact with his face. As she surveyed the crouched form on the ground, it took all her strength to keep herself from squealing with glee. "I can hit you harder if you'd like." she cooed as she bat her eyelashes, thought she knew it probably went unseen in the darkness. She allowed herself a simple smile, but it quickly transformed into a frown as Sylar spoke.

He knew she was afraid. It was probably in the blonde's best interest to run: she wasn't as well equipped as the alien. Yes, there was an entire river behind her, but she'd have to use her mutation sparingly or else run the risk of tiring herself out too quickly.

The mutant's eyes were fixed on the blade swaying in the air. She knew that if she got too close or was a second too slow, that blade would be gutting her like a fish. "I don't like being threatened, that's why." She needed to scare him away, or at least hit him a few more times. But he was just out of her reach, and she had to lure him in.

Hearing the word 'human', Charlotte stifled a snort and bent over, retrieving another small rock from the ground. If he thought she was a human, he was in for a big surprise. Her fingers curled around the rock as she cocked her head. "What's making you stay?" she pondered as she tossed the stone towards Sylar, sending it in a high arc. Whether or not it hit him, she didn't care. She just needed him closer to the river.

No human could hit harder than that, it was like taking a 2x4 to the face. Anyone else would have serious head trauma, only Sylar's dense musculature and bones made the blow more like a punch. And it still hurt, he'd rather not take any more knocks to his skull. The girl was either a mutant, or had some kind of weapon he couldn't see. Time to find out. "That would have knocked anybody out girl, but I'm still standing. You'd better worry about how hard I can hit." He growled, putting on his best monster act.

If the girl was a mutant, than perhaps this night could be salvaged, then again the last mutant he fought had no wish to compromise, best to take a winning position before bargaining. Her smile was wasted on Sylar, his blind eyes unable to see the gesture. As was the frown. "Then maybe you shouldn't pick a fight woman!" He hissed as he suddenly darted forward dodging the rock she'd thrown at him, closing the distance between them, but then stopping abruptly short, maybe three feet away from her, spinning his body on the ground and lashing out his own whip, a heavy armored tail at her, with the intention to knock the girl right across her chest with it. Time to test Charlotte's mettle.

This move would force a response but leave Sylar time to observe and judge the girls reaction, was it a weapon? A gun or self defense thing? Or was it a power, either way he'd know now and be able to react in the future. If he hit her, it'd be just as hard as the whip that cracked him across the head, but otherwise he could act based upon her retaliation. "There's something here I want, something that's mine." He responded to her earlier question, his mind shifting into the predator as he began to give up what little civility he had left.

The plan had worked. He was charging as Charlotte, and she was ready. She thrust her arms in front of her, palms open and facing Sylar, as two streams of water shot from behind her, one from each side. They came together in front of the blonde, forming one large stream, roughly 5 inches wide. She propelled it forward, aiming for Sylar's chest in hopes to knock him back.

What she had not accounted for, however, was the predator's tail whipping through the air. Her eyes widened as she felt the air forced from her lungs, followed by an explosion of pain in her sternum. Gasping for a breath, the mutant flailed her arms as the ground beneath her vanished. The blow had knocked her back off the ground and, unless she did something, she'd be going for a swim.

"You sonofa.." Charlotte thought to herself, followed by several expletives that would cause her mother to have a heart attack should she have heard. She had to work quickly. The water was freezing, and the shock alone from such a drastic temperature change could kill her. Flexing her hands, the blonde turned all of the focus to the water below her, mainly the surface where her shadow covered as she fell.

Hitting the surface, a small sigh of relief escaped her mouth as the water jiggled beneath her, almost as if she had landed on a water bed. The surface was holding her up, and she gave herself a mental pat on the back as she scrambled to her feet. She knew it wasn't without a price. A dull ache had started at the base of the back of her neck- the beginning of backlash from her mutation. She couldn't do this for long, not if she wanted to keep fighting. Not to mention the hit from Sylar's, which caused the large bruise Charlotte could feel forming. Even subtle movements of her waist and arms sent a lightning bolt of pain across her chest.

"You better hope I don't find it, whatever it is you're looking for." she teased, though she hadn't the slightest idea as to what this 'something' was. Whatever it was, the blonde hoped he found it soon and left. 

It seems both of them had planned a trap, Sylar's eyes watching as the background behind Charlotte, the river rose up at her command and struck forward after him. His body spun, slamming her with his tail, feeling a good solid blow against her but he'd have to immediately take another blow. The boy quickly rose up, bringing his arms together to guard his chest and soften her strike as a column of water struck him. He felt a solid force strike right into his arms, his guard quickly pressed back into his chest and pushing him back. This was stronger than her first strike, and felt almost like taking a horse kick to the chest. "Crap." He mumbled as his claws skid back in the dirt a bit before the water dissipated.

His armor had held, but a lovely bruise was forming on his arm and chest right now. He was going to feel like crap tomorrow. Having stood his ground, he watched as the girl stood hers, seemingly floating atop the cold surface of the river. Just like he thought. "I can't catch a break, another uppity mutant girl." He mumbled as he shook his arms, trying to shake off the impact she'd landed on him. If she could control water, going any closer to her now would basically be suicide. Never follow an animal into it's den, and the water was this girl's home. He backed up a few more steps, standing now as opposed to his odd crouch from earlier. "A water mutant, never met one of you before." Sylar said, unaware of her limitations and assuming they were at a stalemate so long as she was water bound.

"My hoodie and a pair of pants actually, not sure you'd want it lady." He said, his senses glued to Charlotte now, not missing a single signal she'd give off. "I hid it around here, and when I come back you're right on top of it." Generally Sylar wasn't a talkative person, but he didn't like hurting, or being hurt by other mutants, might as well talk her down a bit. At least till she got off the water.

"You think I'm uppity?" the mutant asked, tilting her head as she glanced up her nails, having noticed some chipped paint. "And I thought we were becoming friends."

Truth be told, she felt bad for having hit him with a rock. But how else was she supposed to find out what the shadow was? She would have apologized, but Sylar crawled out of the river ready to rip her head off. She couldn't back down now; she refused to appear weak. As long as she stayed close to the river and didn't over-exert herself, she could come out of this mostly unscathed. 

"I've never met an alien before. That's what you are, right?" Charlotte queried, tentatively taking a few steps forward as her opponent shifted back, the water rippling beneath her. Maybe getting back to the bank wouldn't be as hard as she originally thought. "Don't worry about your stuff. I only borrow a guy's clothes if he spends the night." She giggled, running a hand through her hair as she moved toward land, her steps turning into a stride. 

Stepping gently onto the bank, Charlotte couldn't help but roll her eyes. "It's not like I planned to be here when you came." Something else she hadn't planned was what to do when she reached the bank. Assuming Sylar wouldn't be dumb enough to attack her while she was this close to water, the blonde found and lit a cigarette, letting it dangle loosely between her lips as she shook the pack at the monster. "Want one?" 

She would procrastinate until she figured out her next move. 

Sylar nearly laughed out loud, but refrained as the girl switched gears and began to exchange jabs with him. "All mutant girls are just trouble. I need more girl friends like I need a whole in my head." Sylar quipped as he turned and move towards the bench she had been sitting on earlier. He began feeling around at the ground, moving from the bench to a nearby rock before blindly finding what he was looking for, a small bag. Though his eyes were turned from Charlotte, his ears weren't. Any sound out of the ordinary and he'd be ready to react.

She perceived him to be an alien, not the first to think that. He was predatory, primal, but not like any animal of this earth. "Maybe I am, I've also been called the Boogeyman. I at least know I'm a mutant." Sylar answered as he removed the shirt and pants from the bag. She made a joke about borrowing clothes, the clue being her giggle. This girl was a prime example of why Sylar disliked dealing with mutant girls, all blunder and fuss one moment, giggling at you the next. At least the humans were all equally terrified and easy to deal with. He sighed as he slid one of his claws up his shirt, cutting the wet cloth in half and throwing it off. He pulled the new one, and feeling better turned his head to look at Charlotte, noticing her coming nearer to the land. Good, less likely she'd want to keep fighting. More chance he could win if she did.

Sylar guessed that was a fair enough statement, generally people didn't intend to intrude upon his territory, or wherever he might be at the moment. It was hard to turn the territorial alpha instincts off. "I guess that's true. The rock just sort of ticked me off." He mumbled as he wondered what to do now. He could just bolt and be out of here, but talking with a mutant generally was an experience he didn't pass on. Might as well test the waters out a bit more, and make sure he didn't need to show the girl not to mess with him again. She offered him something, a small heat source? Oh a cigarette, he recognized that putrid scent. He held up his claw in a no gesture. "No, can't stand the things." He replied bluntly.

While he was turning down her friendly offer of a cancer stick, he unfolded his new pair of jeans and pulled the last piece of clothing free, his jacket. Charlotte was actually getting a rarity in her encounter, Sylar didn't have his usual hoodie on to hide his androgynous alien face, or red mane of hair. His tail swished behind him as he wondered if he should wait to switch pants or not, girls usually got bothered by that sort of thing right?

Charlotte puffed on her cigarette, hiding the smirk she felt tugging at her lips. "That could be arranged." She mumbled, her eyes focused on the monster as he groped the ground, retrieving what looked to be his clothes. He may be blind, but she was almost certain he had other ways to watch her. All other senses are heightened when one stops working; she couldn't fathom how precise his senses were as an alien, let alone a blind one. 

Apparently he was a mutant, which caught the blonde off-guard, as noted by her arched eyebrows. She had heard of physical mutations, but she had never seen one as... pronounced as Sylar's. What was equally surprising was his treatment of the clothes. Charlotte felt her heart sink as the tearing of fabric filled the air, the torn shirt hitting the ground with a wet plop. "What's the point of wearing clothes if you're just going to destroy them?" She asked, taking personal offense from such poor treatment of his attire. 

"Fair enough." Slipping the pack back into her purse, the mutant took another drag from her cigarette as the humanoid shed all other clothes except for the pants. She watched, waiting for him to finish changing. A minute had passed, and she blinked. "Oh, right." Charlotte uttered, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. "I can close my eyes." It probably wouldn't be the best idea to take her eyes off him; even a moment out of her sight could be fatal. But she hoped, deep down, that Sylar wouldn't attack her. Sighing, she let her eyes close. "You've got fifteen seconds." She warned, flicking the cigarette away from her.

As she waited, the blonde could feel her mutation kick in again, calling forth a small stream of water. It crawled through the air, just above the ground, and inched its way up the back of her leg. She couldn't let him know what she was doing, otherwise her plan would be ruined. When she was done, three small orbs had formed behind her, nestled at the small of her back, each no bigger than an orange. 

"Are you decent?"

Sylar's super human ears easily picked up on the girl's mumbling, seems she was still raring for a fight. He preferred avoiding conflict, but if she was going to threaten or go for round two, he'd show just how dangerous he was. "Try it and I'll gut you like a fish, besides I have no intention of going back near that water so long as you're here." He responded, his voice audible but without emotion. Sylar rarely let anger stay in his heart, preferring his comfortable taciturn state.

The girl questioned his attitude towards clothing, which Sylar didn't really care about, he stole plenty of it, and it wasn't like he had a washer/dryer to clean it up after something like a dip in the ice cold river. "I may be a monster, but I know what modesty is and I've no intention of running around with my junk out." He stated humorously as he tore his jeans apart next, the tough material again offering up about as much resistance as tissue paper.

The girl said she'd close her eyes as he donned his pants, but really Sylar didn't care. He spoke of modesty but really he didn't care if she looked or not, either way he was going to put his new pants on and start warming up, even with cold insect like flesh he knew what cold was after a dip in that river. His clawed feet tore through some of the jeans as they slid on, but that was fine. She gave him fifteen seconds it seemed, which was enough time. As the boy's foot slipped through the slightly cut up hole he felt the loose fit of denim around his thin hips. "Plenty of time, you can look now if you want." He said as he finished dressing.

Clad once more in semi-dry clothing, Sylar let his attention focus on the girl. She was still near the water, it seemed being as cautious of Sylar as he was of her. Sylar spoke, his voice abrasive as he confronted the elephant in the room. "So are we done showing off mutations here, cause going another round really sounds tedious." The boy exclaimed while his tail continued to sway, it's knife-like blade gleaming beneath the sunlight. So long as the girl was near water, Sylar had no intention of striking first, going after somebody backed into their corner was a fool's idea. The other issue was how cold the water was, his eyes could barely make out the substance besides when it was breaking up the girl's thermal image. Sylar preferred to fight when he had all the advantage, and fighting Charlotte didn't feel like it'd be a certain victory.