"I existed," Chilla sighed. "My father's been trying to kill me since I was ten." Chilla thought out loud, "That was fifteen years ago. I've been living on my own since then. Usually wherever I can find a place to hide." Chilla looked at the man sitting across from her, and laughed. "Like you're really harmless. But I appreciate the gesture." Chilla stood and shifted back to her human form. Keeping her four-inch claws. If the man should attack, she would be able to defend herself in this form, as well. But she didn't think he would. "Are there other like us?" Chilla asked the man. Chilla sighed audibly, and muttered to herself, "Now I have to find a new place to hide."

((ooc: Chilla's computer just got charmingly infected with a virus and she's havin' trouble gettin' it back up and running, so she just wanted you to know that she'll have a bit of lag time between her replies for awhile, Zephyr.))

(ooc: Thanks Calley for relaying my message for me... Zephyr, It looks like my computer is going to take me a few weeks to fix so untill then I will have to make trips into school to use the computers and should be able to reply while doing homework which I now have to do at school as well. So I will be slow in returning messages)

Zephyr leaned his head back against the bedrock and let out a low chuckle as he heard Chilla’s response, “I see” was all he said; such tales of abandonment were becoming more and more frequent these days almost to the point where they had evolved into a stereotypical cliché. It seemed as though the mundane humans were incapable of loving there own offspring upon discovering that the child had a slight alteration in their DNA, it appeared the old adage was true; people did fear what they did not understand and what people feared they sought to destroy.

‘When did life turn into one huge poorly written soap opera?’ he asked himself silently as he turned his gaze towards the heavens and sought out the pinpricks of light scattered over the obsidian sky, ‘you can’t go anywhere these days without encountering some minor drama or plea for attention… it’s starting to become dull really. Where is the grand plot? The master scheme? Surely all of these petty events must be building up to something’

Roused from his silent philosophical ponderings by the shifters next set of questions Simon slowly lowered his head and stared at the scantily clad women with a skeptical expression upon his sharp features, “You really have been out of touch a long time haven’t you?” he asked with a small laugh to display his amusement, “I can safely say Ma’am that the world is full of individuals who are not precisely human, they are a minority at the moment but they are growing steadily, you are not alone”

--

((OOC: Don't worry about it Chilla, as you can probably tell I have a few things of my own going on at the moment so I won't be breathing down you neck trying to get you to post.))

Chilla looked up at the mention of more "abnormal" people like herself. "So what has been going on in the world since I've been out of touch with the rest of the world?" Chilla asked. "Ive been gone for so long I dont know anything about whats happening in the "real" world." Chilla sat back down, while hoping to hold a conversation, rather then somone screaming and running away... It was a nice change

Still seated somewhat comfortably against the cliff face Zephyr rolled his eyes and treated Chilla to a dry expression when she made yet another request for information, he had not come here to entertain recluses after all, however since he was admittedly sharing her fire it would be rude of him to simply dismiss his query out of hand and so the elemental compromised. “I am not a walking encyclopedia” he stated plainly


“That’s rather vague question” he stated plainly, “However if I might be so bold why would you wish concern yourself about the world you have been fleeing for the past fifteen years?” It wasn’t that Zephyr actually cared about what the shifter had to say, he just simply wasn’t in the mood to talk and one of the most effective ways to avoid speaking with others was to get them to do all the talking for you.

Directing his attention back to the flickering flames briefly Simon noted it’s size had already begun to diminish slightly since he had first arrived, as he was somewhat disinclined to loose the comforting heat the small blaze granted the elemental subtly reached into his gift as he enhanced his perception of the air around him, becoming aware once again of the unbalanced spectrum of elements which comprised the planets atmosphere. After taking a few moments to reorient himself to this higher level of sensitivity the merc deftly began sorting through the mass of molecules sweeping them aside with faint thoughts as he sought the single noble gas upon which all life depended.

Although oxygen only constitutes roughly 21% of the air around us Zephyr experienced little difficulty in gathering a suitable supply for his own use, concentrating the majority of his stash just a few feet above the dancing flames in front of him the elemental fed the fire bursts of oxygen at a gradual rate so as to give the illusion that its slight growth was completely natural.

"I haven't been running from the world... just my father. He's the on who's been trying to kill me." Chilla answered with a sigh. "He was very rich and powerful so he ccould hire people to do his dirty work for him... Although I have not run into any of his people for several years now..." "Maybe he's dead" Chilla thought to herself. She could only hope, with the money gone there would be no more assassins comming after her. Chilla looked up and noticing that the fire was dying heaped more wood on the fire.

"So where are you from? And whats your name or what can I call you?" Chilla asked the man

[ooc: sorry it took me so long to answer school was really pileing on the homework this week]

As Chilla added more fuel to the intensely burning blaze between them Simon found himself battling the urge to yawn, how much time had passed since he arrived here? How much of it had been spent, and most likely wasted, in the company of this woman? Nagging thoughts which desired answers but were ultimately denied for he had purposefully neglected to bring Hunters communicator and his own chronometer was not blessed with any type of built in fluorescence. The flickering light of flames before him were also of little use for they were too erratic for the merc to distinguish any type of reading from the instrument on his wrist. Although he could easily solve the problem by bending the fire to his will such a task would in the end prove fruitless; he already knew it was late evening if not early morning, all that he would learn from his timepiece was the exact hour of the day, something he did not particular care about at the moment despite what the rest of his thoughts said.

"So where are you from? And what’s your name or what can I call you?"

Peering through the dancing flames once more Zephyr tilted his head slightly as he brought his sapphire eyes to bear on the shifter once more; the woman wanted him to give personal information? She’d be more likely to squeeze water from a stone. Still, a lack of response would only prompt further questioning.

“My name, like myself, is of no real importance. I would not wish to burden you with such knowledge as I highly doubt it will prove to be of any use after we have parted ways.” He began eloquently; pausing for a moment Simon raised his head to inky sky above and inhaled deeply attempting to drive away his fatigue with the chill night air. Unfortunately the fire before him was performing its task meticulously and so bequeathed the elemental a breath of pleasantly warm air overlaid with the agreeable scent of burning of wood which only further intensified his bodies craving for sleep. ‘I need to leave soon’ he realised blearily as he forced his mind into working order once more so that he could answer the second half of the girls question.

“As for your second question I am afraid I cannot truly answer for, like yourself, I am a wander, albeit for different reasons, I travel from place to place wherever the winds might take me.” Glancing back down at the woman Zephyr a raised and made an effort to conceal his drowsy state of mind as he spoke once more.

“Is there anything else you wish to ask me?”

"Will you take me with you when your return to where ever is is your from? I just want to become part of the real world again. I dont even think my father thinks I'm alive anymore so it should be safe for me to rejoin the world. I promise I wont be a burden and I can find my own place to live and can pay for everything. I know I dont look it but I have a lot of money, I've been saveing ever since I started living on my own. I just... dont want to return by myself..." Chilla blurted then trailed off.


"Please." Chilla added softly.

Zephyr stared at Chilla incredulously through the haze of his exhaustion as the woman began to rambled on pathetically with useless statements she seemed to think would somehow persuade him to accept her ludicrous request. Honestly if he hadn’t been so tired he would have been tempted to laugh aloud; as it was he simply shook his head wearily casting bleary shadows across the canyon floor. Even if he did believe the shifters somewhat panicked statements, which at this point he did not, the woman had yet to give him a single reason regarding precisely why he should help her; what exactly, would be in it for him? If Chilla were hoping to have her request granted out of pity then she was vastly mistaken; he did not do charity work.

“Please”

The whispered plea was almost inaudible over the crackling of the fire yet it was enough to give the elemental pause as he silently evaluated the woman with a different perspective; from what he had managed to observe so far she was easily capable of surviving on her own with what gifts her mutation granted her, why was she so desperate for aid with such a simple task? Granted she was women but even then he failed to see the difficulty in moving into the nearest city, it wasn’t as if the authorities performed ID checks on every individual in the vicinity and even if they did the woman could fly; that immediately eliminated any problems in the elementals hazy mind, and so with his curiosity aroused Simon voiced his query.

“Why should I?”

Chilla just looked at the man when he replied. Sure she could just move in to the nearest city... But how does one go about finding a home in one, surely people did not live in caves live she have the last fifteen years. If this man would not help her maybe he could tell her who would...

"You don't have to. But if you wont could you at least tell me who could help me? Or how one goes about finding a place to live in a city." Chilla answered with a somewhat irked tone.

Zephyr sighed, and then yawned as fatigue gradually began to increase its hold on him, he truly could not afford to stay any longer; it was likely that the staff at the hotel had already noticed that he had not yet reclaimed his keys, if continued to forgo his departure the manager would no doubt inform the authorities of his disappearance and therefore initiate some crude type of search party. ‘The last thing I need right now is attention’ he thought bitterly as he pushed himself to his feet, staggering somewhat as he struggled with his numb limbs to keep his balance before finally resorting to leaning against the canyon wall as he waiting for the circulation in his lower limbs to improve.

“I’m not really in any position to take passengers” he said wearily, “however if you are adamant about relocating to a more urban environment I would recommend New York. The mutant population is unnaturally high there so you should arouse less suspicion.”

Simon paused for a moment and glanced Chilla up and down once more his azure eyes taking note of her rather obvious state of undress and he wondered once again how long it had been since she had last had any human contact for she seemed completely oblivious to her own nakedness.

“Before you do that though I would strongly suggest that you invest in some new clothes, because dressed, and I use that term lightly, as you are you will attract attention no matter where you go. Now if you will excuse me there is somewhere else I have to be.”

With that final note the merc pushed himself off the wall behind and slowly started to stroll down the bottom of chasm and allowed the shadows to swallow his form.

Chilla looked down at herself before watching the man walk away. "Whats wrong with what I'm wearing?" Chilla wondered for a minute. She then yawned and stretched then she wondered off in the direction the man had gone to ask him. After finding and following the man back to his hotel she thought better then to ask him what was wrong with her clothing and went back to her cave to go to sleep.

After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours Chilla got up and went over to her stores area. Selecting a few choice items she went out to the river to bathe.

About an hour later she was clean and dressed in her new outfit which included; black skin tight leather pants, a bright purple "v" neck dress shirt and black leather boots and jacket. She had even found her hair brush and brushed it out and pulled it back with a piece of cord. She then went back to the hotel where the mad was staying for breakfast in the hotel's restaurant.

Considering the fact that he had only managed to return to his temporary abode in the early hours of the morning it should come as no real surprise that once Simon collapsed into bed he stayed there until roundabout midday. If he had been left to his own devices though it is likely the elementals hibernation would have lasted well into the late hours of the evening, however the mercs slumber had eventually been intruded upon by the hotels cleaning staff; a gaggle of matronly type women in matching pale blue uniforms who had informed the drowsy teenager in no uncertain terms that they would proceed with their assigned task regardless of whether he was in the room or not.

Still only half awake at the time Simon had wordlessly complied with their unspoken request and after taking a brief shower had dragged himself out of the room and stalked lazily down the buildings deserted hallways. As his mind slowly started working towards full capacity once more the British merc noted that it was shortly after noon and he would therefore have to seek elsewhere for his first meal of the day since the hotels current establishment had only seen fit to provide its customers with breakfast and little more. This realization had caused the young man some small amount of annoyance, however it had been swiftly put aside, he was after all in a tourist honey pot of sorts, the constant influx of people to the Grand Canyon had caused numerous business to take root in the surrounding area and more than 50% of these aforementioned business strived to deliver some type of culinary service. It would require little effort to find another location to sate his current needs.

Still moving somewhat languidly Zephyr had wandered absently through hotels foyer as he tried to recall what he could about the various dining services which surrounded the area, the large majority of them obviously fell under the label of “fast food” but at the moment the elemental was in the mood for something slightly more complex than a hamburger or fried chicken. He recalled passing a rather ornate Italian restaurant a few days ago but couldn’t seem to remember the name, glancing over towards a rather extensive/excessive brochure display to the right of the front desk Simons thoughts were abruptly derailed as his azure eyes picked up a strangely familiar figure seated somewhat uncomfortably in one of the rooms deep leather chairs.

‘…how?’ the bewildered thought echoed across his mind and was reflected only by the slight light of confusion in his eyes; the sun had long ago set over the horizon when he had finally left and the landscape had been shrouded in darkness. The girl should not have been able to locate him, there had been no light through which to track him visually and the stream which had coursed along the bottom of the canyon meant that there should have been no way to follow his sent or the sound made by his progress.

Raising a hand to the bridge of his nose the elemental firmly applied pressure to the soft bone in an attempt to subdue the headache which was threatening his senses. The how was of little importance at this point as was her presence, he had clearly stated last night that he had no intention of entertaining company. If the woman was not capable of comprehending such simple responses then that was her problem, for the moment Zephyr refused to even acknowledge her presence until he found some type of sustenance.

Without a word or even a glance in Chilla’s direction the merc stalked out of the hotel and into the busy street outside.