After her talk with Garrett Raina had headed out for a walk off campus. She took the bus through the city and had gotten off by the harbor. It felt nice to be close to the ocean even if she was still stuck in the city.

She hadnt been out here many times before and she wondered why that was. She looked up at the statue of liberty and wondered why it was it was green. She remembered a few years ago when the original x-men had come through here. New York would never be the same.

She sat thinking and watching the water for a little when a strange boat coming to port caught her eye. It was a fishing boat- a really run down one... but not something you'd see this side of the harbor. It really stood out and there was something suspicious about the men on board who kept their heads down while unloading their cargo. She could see a splash of red across their boots and the boat.

She wondered what they were up to and if anyone else was noticing this...

As much as Sara liked books, Sara loved fish. She had just been on her way to the full circle book store, to pick up the latest copy of Janet Evonavich’s work when she caught the scent of fresh fish. Sara stopped on the sidewalk, as her head the needs for her mind, did battle with the needs of her stomach. She breathed in the air as the moist breez pushed at the hem of her long coat and hood.

Slowly the smell of the air, began giving her stomach the edge in the battle of books vs. Fish. It didn’t even occur to her that there might be something wrong, at first.

Since Sara had escaped from the camps, she had done her best to isolate herself. She said hi to those that she knew, but her residence wasn’t any of the factions. Understanding whereeach of them stood, but not comprehending where she wanted to be. As a result, she lived, more as a nomad. She had two bags that she lived out of and every few weeks, when her feet started to itch, to moved on to a different part of the city. Choosing to keep a low profile and move before people put together that she even stayed anywhere, for any period of time. Money was easy enough to come by. She either picked pockets, or found thief work. No one got hurt, physically, unless they pushed her, physically, too far,and she got the basic things her body needed.

Technically she could buy her own fish, but that would mean someone would have to see her. If she could sneak them right off the boat, that would be easier. Then grill them back at the place she called home, for tonight, and choose the spices herself.

Her pace quickened, as she followed her nose. Fish, Fish, Wonderful Fish. Sara was nearly at a run when she realized she had hit an area that opened up. She skidded to a stop, checked left and right, to see if someone was watching her, before she pulled her hood back enough to look out over the water… “Oh that doesn’t look right.”

Raina sat still puzzled watching what was going on. From the far end of the boat the men were dumping something overboard. The men in the front continued ushering in boxes while red splashed around and the smell of salt stung the air. There was something not right about this... and Raina was worried why no one else was noticing.

She decided to get a better look. She strode over to the edge of the harbor where a railing lay against a dock. She took a look down. It was easily 10-20 feet until the water but Raina could see clouds of red in the murkey green. Nope. Totally not right. Was it really a fishing boat? what was it doing here. She looked around.

She thought about what Garret had said, about using her powers and the thought crossed her mind. Without thinking she hoisted herself to the other side of the railing. A man caught sight of her then and started running toward her yelling "don't do it!" but Raina couldnt hear him and was concentrating on her judgement of how well she could jump. There was something down there and being able to breathe underwater would help her figure it out.

With one last look at the boat to be sure the men weren't watching Raina dove elegantly through the air into the water and obviously as she was transforming did not resurface.

The man who'd been watching her went wild. "help! Police! Someone! A young girl just committed suicide!"

Sara didn’t know why because she didn’t want to care about humans all that much, but a surge of adrenalin went through her body when she hear the cry for help, that some girl was committing suicide. The wanting to not care and the fact that her mind actually did. Just another thing that made her half in half out list.

Ignoring the fact that Sara had been trying to be so subtle, She headed over to the man that had apparently witnessed a young lady go off the side of the railing. “Where?” She demanded as she skidded to a stop and a man pointed indignantly over the side. Sara sucked in air. Fishy but human, Her ears flicked back, making her hood fall to her shoulders. Raina? She looked around as the man started screaming something about a cat monster.

Sara chose to ignore him. Instead she was staring down at the murky red film that seemed to drift over the top of the water. Yuck! Ok fish smelling film, but… Eeew. Someone, possibly Raina, jumped into that mess. Someone was going to have to do some serious exfoliating later.

She paced back and forth twice, as the man, who was now down the road, was still ranting about giant cat creatures. She couldn’t see anyone below, or smell the fresh gasses released from a dead body. So that either meant her nose was fooling with her, or that the man was right, and someone who was, or smelled similar to, Raina had just gone off of the railing. She swung over the side and dangled from the bottom of the path. Trying to get a better look. Wishing to stay out of view, but still refusing to get into the water.

Duke had decided to walk around a harbor and gaze into the sea today to enjoy the subtle waves and flows that the waters usually provided. Because of his... curse... a calm and orderly day would soothe him, helping him. As he continued to walk on the harbor, he noticed the slight changes in color in the water. He didn't know what was going on, nor did he care much, but it was still suspicious.

"Murky..." Duke said to himself as he looked slightly into the water.

Duke had heard that a girl had just jumped into the waters below recently and walked in the general direction, not only were the water's color odd, but suicide? Now he was interested. He would need to keep a low profile and not get his mind out of hand. Lifting the headphones attached to his shirt and set the genre to classical. This was so that he wouldn't get too exited or worried. He just wanted to inspect the area.

"Maybe someone finally took a plunge, huh...? Duke said to someone who had also heard the news. Duke then moved toward the dive, but stood back in the crowd.

As Raina his the water she could no longer hear what was happening above. Her body twisted and snaked , crackled and popped and it shifted and morphed into her fishy form. Despite having gills the water was so dirty she was still finding it hard to see- she'd have to get deeper and closer to the bottom to know what was going on.

She followed the cloud trails of red down and down. She expected it to get dark but it really wasn't all that deep it was just the murkiness of the water obstructing her view. The sun was still penetrating and the water was relatively calm.

That's when she saw the group of sharks and panic ran through her body. She'd had this power for a while yes- but actually encountered many sea creatures, let alone a shark? No. Her body froze with fear but it took her a moment to see that the pile of sharks wasn't moving. She started to clam down and wonder- what type exactly of sharks did they get in New York City? She knew some sharks did sleep in big piles while others ahd to keep moving or they'd die. The ribbons of red where coming from the sharks so against her best judgement with a kick of her tail Raina was closer.

Smelling through water is an interesting thing- it can usually only be done through gills. The overwhelming scent of blood and death was too much for Raina. If it was possible for eyes to water under water hers would be doing it. The sharks were all dead, and more were being dropped down from the surface. They had a strange smooth shape - all of their fins had been removed.

She tried to think. This was illegal. That boat was a shark finning boat. She didn't know that much about the ocean but she knew catching sharks meerly for their fins was as bad as shooting an elephant for it's ivory tusks. Wasteful, torturous, and sick. She wasn't a vegetarian by any means, but she didn't support cruealty to animals- especially one so close to her own DNA.

Thoroughly desgusted with the scene she started to head for the surface. Upon breaking it her eyes were clouded by the salt and sun and she gave her head a shake to see a cat like creature staring down at her. For a minute that fight or flight instinct kicked in when she realized she only knew one cat creature. "Sara!" she called out trying to clear her eyes and pulling herself to the ladder meant for boats that came to dock. She wasn't even caring or paying attention to who was watching as she hoisted herself up half way- just enough to get her fin out of the water so her legs would come back.

"That boat over there is illegally finning sharks. It's when they catch a whole bunch of them and slice off their fins and throw the bodies back in the water. It's like a massacar down there." she winced a bit while explaining everything she saw. Finally her legs where back- but her pants weren't exactly. Thank God her shirt hung pretty low... this would be interesting.

"I need to call the police, or stop them before they try to leave, but I also need some pants..."

Sara hung there just under the board walk where Raina had jumped from. Nostrils flared, as her ear swiveled back and forth. She knew from her experience with Raina’s power growth at the camps, that she had gill and could breath very well under water. Sara had a healing factor, but no gills. If there was a problem deep in the water, there wasn’t much Sara could do, during a long amount of time, before her longs would crave air again. Apparently healing required breathing. Ha! Take that super smart scientists with your supper stupid experiments. Something they hadn’t had time to solve.

Sara leaned forward where she thoughts she saw movement over the water. Something was coming up from the deep and curiosity got the better of her as she leaned out over the small space of water. Her feet braced against the solid area just above the waters edge and she dangled out from her hands. What was coming didn’t seem predatory, but Sara pulled herself back, anyways. Sitting on a wooden beam that stretched horizontally, under the walk way, where there was a bit of a crowd gathering, and a ew were leaning over the railing, gauking at the cat, that just might be the cause of fish related suicide… Nice to be known or things Sara didn’t do…

Raina broke the surface of the water, and Sara instantly reached out to grab one of her hands, and help her out of the water. Staying steady, even when Raina was startled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A cat helping a fish out of water wasn’t normally a good thing for the fish.

"Sara!"

"That boat over there is illegally finning sharks. It's when they catch a whole bunch of them and slice off their fins and throw the bodies back in the water. It's like a massacar down there."

"I need to call the police, or stop them before they try to leave, but I also need some pants..."

What a waist. Sara glanced at the water, not liking the look and then at the boat. “how many do you think are on the boat?” She shifted her back pack over to her lap, where she began fishing out her extra pair of pants. Sure Sara lived on the street, she carried her life with her, including on extra pair of pants, because healers tend to go through pants like shape shifters. “These might be a bit big. I don’t have another belt or anything.” Sad, when someone’s entire life could be summed up within the confines of a single back pack. Sara zipped it back up, covering the rest of her belongings.

She bit her lower lip. Getting involved in this, would probably mean something like what had happened back at the community service for the camps. There had been a fire, and Neena, Raina, Ted, and herself, had entered the building, to get people out. The people didn’t even like them, but Sara still saved their hides. The animals were different, and she doubted she could talk Raina out of continuing this. “I can run a good distraction.” She said after a pause. “But if I see something in the Tabloids about a giant cat attacking a fishing boat,… Nuff said.”

Raina eagerly took her friends hand and momentarily thought of the comedy of a giant cat helping a giant fish. She'd never thought of Sara as someone who could eat her one day. Well hell, if she was gonna be eaten by someone! She hoisted herself up and thankfully took the pants. "Thanks, I'll return these. I don't seem to remember that two legs merging together can destroy a pair of pants. I need special pants, like the Hulk guy or something." she twisted around on the ground a bit. People were watching.

"Sara, when your mutation started were you always a cat? or was it something that was triggered?" she asked it out of curiosity and in a light tone because she knew she could learn a lot from Sara.

She stood herself up and looked at the people who were now looking at the pair. "Uh... h... BOO?" that was all it took and they went off running and screaming. She smiled embaresssed. "Getting in there now is probably not a good idea." she admitted. "Now that I've drawn so much attention to us..." she looked around and saw a flyer floating in the wind. She snatched it up and pulled a wet pen out of her pocket. "I can report them." she added writing down every detail about the boat. "And if the authorities dont follow up, I will There's nothing I can do about what happened now." she turned her head a bit. "The smell must drive you crazy!" she laughed. "but even a fish easter can appreciate using a whole animal and not torturing it."

She gave her hair a squeeze and water fell on the concrete. "Can I get you lunch? Maybe fish after all this teasing? I'd love to catch up."

"Thanks, I'll return these. I don't seem to remember that two legs merging together can destroy a pair of pants. I need special pants, like the Hulk guy or something."

Sara chuckled. “I think that is part of his ability. Anything around his waist grows with him then the rest gets shredded. You know how confusing gama radiation is.” She shrugged. “I rip my pants all the time, and I don’t have that shifting problem.” Though the ways she ripped them were normally sort of hard to explain.

"Sara, when your mutation started were you always a cat? or was it something that was triggered?"

“I looked like everyone else once.” She said with a shrug. “If that’s what you’re asking.” The truth was, Sara knew something triggered the feline mutation but she didn’t know if it was a natural trigger from the x-gene, or if it was from what had gone on in her youth. “It’s the healing that has just always been there.”

The reaction of the crowd to Rainas boo made her laugh again. Showing the tips of her sharp teeth, with the odd sound from the more feline voice.

"Getting in there now is probably not a good idea. Now that I've drawn so much attention to us..."

"I can report them."

Sara smirked. “Alright.” Ok so not being a good idea was a big part, but since when were most of Sara’s decisions good ideas?

"I can report them. And if the authorities don’t follow up, I will There's nothing I can do about what happened now. The smell must drive you crazy!"

“I was sort of starting to plan out my lunch when I got here.” She admitted. The smell, even with all the gore and film of blood she could see on the water, was fresh still. She swallowed, Sara liked fish as much as she liked crab wontons from the Chinese restaurant, and she purchased those several times a week.

"but even a fish easter can appreciate using a whole animal and not torturing it."

She tapped her nose. “If you need someone to sniff things out, just let me know.” She was better than a blood hound.

"Can I get you lunch? Maybe fish after all this teasing? I'd love to catch up."

The smile spread wider. “I’d love that, though I warn you, I can put quite a lot of food away.” Poor slade had been the last person to offer Sara a meal.

"Well, Miss Raina can handle it!" she laughed. "Afterall, I make the money of a music teacher and guidence councellor combined. Which isn't much, but it'll buy us sushi." she laughed pointing in the direction of a Sushi bar a few blocks away. She led the way with a smile, thankful to be reunited with her friend. "It's been a weird week." she announced. "but being out in the fall air is nice even if it's cool." she pulled her dripping red hair back. "You look like you still haven't found a place to stay- but I guess you prefer it that way heh? Sorta like my brother Naveed. Can't quite remember if you met that boy."

She laughed to herself as she rounded the corner. "I don't think we've seen each other since the camps. I don't know how many stupid mistakes you've made since then but I've made plenty! No more rescuing people from firery buildings though."

She stopped infront of the door. "Here we are!"

ooc: feel free to Gmod a bit so we can get in and eat

“Well Miss Raina… I don’t think I’ve had sushi.” Sara had made contacts with the people in a restaurant called Dragon Inn. At first she was stealing the meals from the delivery boy, but once he learned she dropped extra change in his pocket while stealing the meals, he soon sought her out. Other places she still had to be sneaky about getting the food, but he was nice and would just let her order. He’d even let her sit in the back to eat. However what they sold were fried rice meals with the Americanized Chinese dishes. Those still tasted wonderful, but, Sushi? Maybe this sushi place had a delivery boy too.

"It's been a weird week. but being out in the fall air is nice even if it's cool."

“Hey, we’re just adding to the weird then. We’re a cat and a lady who can change into a part fish thing, about to go eat sushi.” Sara, still, didn’t like saying mermaid out lowd. Though right then in might of sounded better.

"You look like you still haven't found a place to stay- but I guess you prefer it that way heh? Sorta like my brother Naveed. Can't quite remember if you met that boy."

Sara shrugged again. “I’m use to the nomadic life. When I come to a city, I don’t normally stay this long.” Or let this many people know her. “I believe I met your brother very briefly, since we were in the same transport, though I didn’t know his name.” It was by his actions Sara guessed he was Raina’s brother. “If you do need to find me during the winter, check the empty warehouse buildings on the north side.” If her plans continued to stay the same, she would be in one of them, for the winter. So long as others didn’t get wind about where she was staying.

"I don't think we've seen each other since the camps. I don't know how many stupid mistakes you've made since then but I've made plenty! No more rescuing people from firery buildings though."

“you’re right. We haven’t. I’ve made my share of extremely stupid mistakes, but at least I’ve stayed away from the flaming buildings as well.” Not saying that Sara wouldn’t enter another though. Stupid continence. Always getting in the way of self preservation. At least her continence didn’t get in the way of her stomach and her pocket money.

"Here we are!"

Sara paused at the entrance. Looking up at the sign and then in side. She was about to get stared at, witch was precisely why she normally avoided being seen. Her lips pressed together, and she pushed open the door. Much as was expected, she was stared at.

The waiter staff froze. The lady at the front stood there, blinking with wide eyes and a plastered smile, that looked painful to keep on her face. One waitress dropped her tray, but hadn’t realized she had glass to clean up, and one of the men, behind the bar, was cutting the same two rolls apart over and over again.

“We’ll seat our selves.” Sara said to the hostess at the front, who amazingly till had a smile on her face. With that, Sara lead Raina, who must have still been wet, despite all that ringing out of her hair, to a booth in the back. “huhh.” It’s going better than I thought.” The man cutting the sushi rolls had only been cutting the same roll over and over again, not sharpening his knife. The distinct sound of metal against metal made it’s way to Sara’s ears, and she checked over the bar. “Oh look. They sharpen their cutlery with one of those round files.”

Aren’t these people known for eating fish, and cats? Not that Sara would get in the way of someone’s good eaten. She settled into a seat, removing her bag and her coat.

(hope I didn’t go too far with the freedom you gave me here.)

ooc: no worries, is great!

Ic:
Raina listened to Sarah as the two women walked. Raina often forgot what Sarah looked like to others- mainly because she was so used to it herself. So when they arrived at the Sushi bar she mentally kicked herself and gave Sarah an apologetic look. When Sarah announced they'd seat themselves Raina grinned with pride and snagged them a seat in the back. She laughed at Sarah's jokes about people's reactions and decided to buy into it herself.

"Look guys, my friend here is a giant CAT. How much do you think Cat's like Sushi? A whole damn lot. How profitable do you think this order is about to be? Pretty profitable. We'll have the house special's mixed plate please, and lets get some soft drinks over here!"

It wasn't like her to be so assertive but this situation was pretty hilarious and she admitted to herself already that if they asked them to leave it wouldn't be much of a loss. Indeed a few people did get up and leave. She turned her attention back to Sarah. "Sorry, sometimes I have dumb moments. But I think you'll like this place when everyone starts closing their mouths and breathing normally again!"

Sara caught Raina’s apologetic look and she shrugged. She was use to this.

Sara made her self comfortable in the booth. Removing her long, light weight, coat, so that she now sat there in her dark red tank top. Satisphied that the back rest of the booth, would hide the numbers that were branded there, as well as the leather arm band, she kept around her right arm, would hide the ring around her wrist, left from the shock band in the camps. Sara’s healing wasn’t perfect, but she had a choice in showing people that part of her ability. Even if, in the way she dressed herelf, she made it obvious she chose to hide something.

She smirked at Raina’s cat and sushi comments. They didn’t know the half of it. “Change the second soft drink to hot tea.” Sara said added, before the lady, who chose to write down their order, from across the room, could pocket her note pad, and disappear into the back.

Sara was picking up on the change in Raina’s attitude, compared to her normal demeanor. She’d only seen Raina take charge one other time, and that was back at the camps, when Sara and Streak had a change to train self defense, before the break out.

"Sorry, sometimes I have dumb moments. But I think you'll like this place when everyone starts closing their mouths and breathing normally again!"

Sara waved her hand. “I’m use to it.” She leaned against the table, glancing over the rest of the place. The waitress who had spilled the glass, was back, cleaning it up, and things were starting to settle. Even if the place had a few more empty seats. “At least it smells good.”

After a few moments of thinking and waiting for food raina brought up the sharks again. "I've been struggling a lot- since we left the camps, with finding a purpose. I guess everyone human or mutant needs a purpose and is always trying to find it... I thought I'd be happy being a member of the x-men and teaching at the school..." she trailed off for a minute. "But the x-men seem so divided- they can't even agree on simple fundamentals. And as for teaching, well it's rewarding and what I thought I've always wanted to do but it's still nto enough. One of the guys at the mansion, Garrett, hinted that finding a purpose for my power might help... so here's my weird question for you..." she smiled. "thinking about those sharks... I wonder if I could ever do work with marine animals... I mean since I practically am one myself. Maybe help at a marine park, or help conservation movements, prevent stuff like this happening. Have you ever thought about your powers that way? Like, i guess, in regards to big cats?" she gave a half smile but she was completley serious. Having an animal based mutation was different than some of the others and Raina wanted to honestly know what Sarah thought.

Sarah always seemed to thoughtful and rational in Raina's eyes since the camps. She was glad she took the extra effort to be sure her comrad got out.

(Apologies Duke. I was hoping that you would bring your character towards us.)

There was a silence for a few minutes, but, to Sara, it didn’t feel awkward. She felt it was when you could sit in silence with someone, that meant you were the most comfortable around them. The camps had brought on several silent moments, but this moment was different, it wasn’t there because it had to be. The corner of Sara’s mouth tilted up, slightly as if she knew the two of them had just passed a test.

The staff still hadn’t brought them their drinks. Maybe they wished to make the entire delivery in one swoop. Typical. They probably wouldn’t even come back to refill their drinks. Oh well. So far, the place was still taking thing well.

Raina started their conversation again, and Sara listened. “I’ve, honestly, never thought about my exact purpose.” Sara admitted. “After the camps, I’ve been struggling more with where I know I stand. I actually agree with both sides of the coin.” She admitted to Raina. She wasn’t sure with how Raina would take that, but Sara’s voice remained steady, as did the contact with her feline eyes. There was only one person, she knew of in New York City, that would understand her reasoning. “I’ve decided I’m looking for peace, but I haven’t decided what the best way to get it is. That, and I noticed the differences in opinions, back at the camps. I see a few of your members, and residences, as hypocrites. In that sense, I have trust problems.” Sara learned a long time ago, not to trust hypocrites. She would rather stand alone.

“I guess I’ve been more concerned with making decisions, for myself.” Even if she was a bit of a thief. “My own survival. Maybe once I figure things out, I’ll think about other big cats.” Her lips paused together for a second. “Have you ever left a box of left overs out on a bench, and seen how long it takes the box to disappear in this city?”