Uinma looked out the window at the increasingly beautiful scenery speeding by him, observing the wonderful transformation away from the steel and concrete jungle of the city into the serene and peaceful landscape now before him. The metal springs of the seat were jabbing into his backside painfully, the way the driver had flung his bags into the trunk probably messed everything up, and the smooth road seemed bumpy due to poor driving, but Uinma was happy.

He was happy because, for the first time since the legends about years past, one of his tribe had been given the opportunity to reach for something more, and that person had been him! He was the one who was going to lead his tribe into a new era, one uncomfortable, bumpy cab ride at a time. But then the bumpy ride ground to a halt, and Uinma hopped out of the cab, looked at the meter, and handed the driver a twenty-dollar bill.

"You can be keeping the change, thank you."

"Yeah, whatever man." The cabby responded handing Uinma his bags and slamming the trunk. He then got into the cab and did an abrupt u-turn, heading back towards the gleaming monument of human achievment that was New York City.

Uinma had spent three days in New York City proper, before hiring that cab and riding out there. The first day was spent catching up on his sleep from the jetlag, and the next two were used to do all of the touristy things he wanted to. The Empire State building particularly impressed Uinma. Now, standing before the gates of Xavier's sister school, Uinma didn't really know what to do. The gates were slightly open, so he walked in, looking around at the beautiful grounds. Following the path, Uinma began whistling an old tribal lullaby that his mother had sung him.

It had been a beautiful morning and Sam decided to spend that day in the courtyard doing things as he thought of them as of the moment he was busy digging a hole in the ground with a shovel his shirt off to the side, only after getting permission he decided a tree would be great here, and with a new plant manipulator in the mansion it would be a perfect time as any to work on the plants and flowers here. Sweat dripped downs his face as he wiped it with a towel he had in a wheel barrel next to where he was digging. Sam looked up from the towel and over to the front gate where he saw a cab and someone get out of it. The person walked into through gate and then it clicked, “Oh right I am a greeter now.”

Sam cooled his body down using his abilities as he walked towards the young man with a smile on his face glad that someone was interested in joining the mansion’s roster. As Sam approached he heard the tune the young man was whistling and almost out of reaction Sam blurted out, “interesting melody your whistling there.” Sam got closer to the boy and stuck out his hand, “Hey there, name’s Sam, how can I help you today?”

Uinma had ground his walk to a halt, and stood admiring the grounds. However, something didn't seem right, and it took him several moments to figure out what it was. There was a spot of the grounds that was curiously bare of life. No bushes, flowers, or trees grew there, and it was very out of place. Even as Uinma wondered about it, he noticed somebody working to amend that problem. There was a man there, with a shovel and a strange wheeled device, and he was planting a tree. Uinma had learned about trees. Just then the man looked up, noticed Uinma, and said something to himself that Uinma couldn't hear from that far away.

Uinma watched as the man rose and made his way toward him, and when the man reached him the first thing he said surprised Uinma. He had expected a query about what he was doing there, who he was, how he got here, where he was from, or something like that.

"Interesting melody you're whistling there."

"Yes, interesting it is. It is an old lullaby about a penguin who lost his mother, but after a series of arduous adventures finds her and his love. It is a favorite of my ma."

Watching as the man stuck out a hand and introduced himself, Uinma couldn't help but think, I like this man, he seems nice enough, and more interesting than most people I've met since coming to America. And truly, this man was more interesting than the other people he had met, most of whom where tourists from other states. They all followed the cookie-cutter tourist mold, and made for boring conversation.

"Hey there, name’s Sam, how can I help you today?" Sam asked politely. Politeness was a must in Uinma's experience, at least when you were meeting new people, and shaking Sam's outstretched hand would certainly qualify as polite, but for obvious reasons, he couldn't.

"I would shake your hand that you offered, Sam, but Badunta's blessing will burn flesh if I touch it with my hands. I am sorry." Uinma said, showing Sam his hands and shrugging. "My name is Uinma Craqamentdefu. I was recommended here by someone. They said that here I could be helped by you to, well, use my blessing with control that is better and use it to help people. That is why I am here."

Neena had mentioned in passing to Nathan that Sam was digging a hole for a new tree to be planted. Nathan had nothing else planned for the rest of the day so he decided to head out to the Mansion Grounds to see if Sam needed any help. He had felt like doing some manual labor anyway.

Nathan headed outside while wearing some old jeans and a t-shirt. Attire that was appropriate for work. As he was walking outside the front door, Nathan noticed Sam standing next to a new arrival. A boy of about 15 years. Not exactly someone they could take out for a night on the town, but nonetheless it was still someone new to meet and be friends with.

As Nathan walked up, he heard the young man's name. As well as his limitations on skin to skin contact. "Hello Uinma Craqamentdefu. Name's Nathan. And yes, the people here will be than willing to help you out. It's really interesting that you called your mutation a blessing."

"I would shake your hand that you offered, Sam, but Badunta's blessing will burn flesh if I touch it with my hands. I am sorry."

Sam didn’t move his hand but instead made it glow bright blue as he activated his powers as the hand covered in a cold ice. Sam then smiled and said, “My flesh doesn't burn to well.” Sam kept his hand extended to see what the reaction of the kid would be.

"My name is Uinma Craqamentdefu. I was recommended here by someone. They said that here I could be helped by you to, well, use my blessing with control that is better and use it to help people. That is why I am here."

Sam was about to respond but then was cut off as he noticed Seraph walking towards them, Sam took the other hand and waved to Seraph as he held back from saying anything.

"Hello Uinma Craqamentdefu. Name's Nathan. And yes, the people here will be than willing to help you out. It's really interesting that you called your mutation a blessing."

Sam smiled as he looked from Seraph to Uinma, “Well I am sure there is a reason he called it a blessing, right?” Sam tilted his head slightly as he asked the question. Then Sam said, “Like Nathan said, this is the place to come if you need help, would you mind telling me your abilities exactly?” Sam figured he’d get one of the big questions out of the way so he could fill it out on his own before giving Uinma the paper work he needed to fill out before staying at the mansion.

“My flesh doesn't burn to well" Sam said, keeping his now glowing blue hand extended.

Uinma smiled and shook Sam's hand, ignoring the plume of steam that went up when they made contact. "You have a blessing, my friend." Uinma said, still smiling, "Badunta smiles upon you."

"Hello Uinma Craqamentdefu. Name's Nathan. And yes, the people here will be than willing to help you out. It's really interesting that you called your mutation a blessing." Another man had come up, without Uinma really noticing, and heard at least some of his and Sam's conversation. This man seemed nice as well, and at least as interesting as Sam. This place just keeps getting more and more appealing, Uinma thought.

"I am glad to hear that, Nathan." Uinma said, before respectfully keeping his silence to hear Sam speak.

“Well I am sure there is a reason he called it a blessing, right?” Sam said. Sam seemed to already know this man, Nathan, and they seemed to have at least done some things together, though Uinma thought they were pretty good friends from the way they talked to each other. Or maybe stuff like that is different in America?

Now Uinma wore a confused face, not understanding how neither Nathan nor Sam could see how they were all blessed. "It is a blessing, Nathan. From Badunta. How else could Sam survive skin-contact without get being burned? How else could I be doing this?!" And with his last word, Uinma turned his eyes towards the sky, where a slight cloud of smog was drifting not 20 feet overhead, and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, without warning but for Uinma's snapping fingers, the sound of thunder ripped through the air, startling birds out of the trees, rabbits out of their holes, and deer into the woods. The smog cloud Uinma had been focusing on was no longer in existence, and in it's place stood a roiling ball of fire about five feet in diameter, the remnants of a tremendous explosion. Uinma smiled and shrugged, letting the explosion be explanation enough.

A loud crack of thunder resonated throughout the mansion. Poor little Nika nearly jumped to the ceiling as she was awakened from her sleep. She rubbed her ears for a couple seconds. What the heck was that? she though.

Becoming curious about what the cause of the sound was she got up and stepped out of her room. Walking down the stairway she looked around. No one was around save for a couple of the younger kids playing, but she knew they couldn't make a sound like that. The catgirl continued on and opened the front door and stepped outside. She first looked at the sky. There wasn't any sign of clouds big enough to cause a loud sound like thunder. Then she noticed a trio of guys. Sam, Nathan and someone she hadn't seen before.

"Alright! Which of you is making all the racket? I was trying to sleep ya know!"

Uinma seemed pretty emphatic that his mutation was actually blessing as if some diety had given it to him. Nathan wasn't going to attempt to convice this young man otherwise, especially when he wasn't sure himself. That wasn't the kind of talk someone greeted a new friend with anyway.

Uinma finished speaking and then snapped his fingers. Nathan heard nothing but the ringing in his ears for a few seconds. But following Uinma's eyes, he did see the combustion take place above them. Nathan quickly used his power to extinguish the flame that was still in the air.

When Nathan could hear, it was a moment too soon. Nika's yelling cut through the his momentary deafness. Wanting to stop the noise as quickly as possible, Nathan spoke. "Sorry about that, Nika. You know how it is when you get a group of adolescent boys together. We can't seem to control ourselves." Nathan had fought hard to keep the grin from his face but the grin was just too powerful.

Seraph spoke up first to appologize to the poor cat girl. Nika scowled at the group of boys. They had ruined her relaxing time.

"I know how you boys can be but keep it to a minimum. There's sensitive people here.*

With that Nika made a fake pouty face then stuck out her tongue and went back inside.

Uinma was confused. He was just demonstrating his blessing to the others, and by the time the ringing had cleared from his ears there was a strange girl with the ears of a cat yelling at him and the others. Nathan said something Uinma didn't quite catch and smiled. The girl frowned and went back inside before Uinma even had the chance to ask who she was. Turning to Nathan and Sam, Uinma asked "Who was that, and why was she angry? Is she sad now?" Uinma was helplessly confused.

"Who was that, and why was she angry? Is she sad now?"

Sam smiled as Uinma asked about Nika, “She’ll be fine. Her name is Nika and she is a resident here, and she loves to sleep. If you’re lucky you will have a chance to meet her. She is really friendly.” Sam smiled to Uinma and then Nathan and motioned for them to take the meeting inside.

Once to the door Sam looked to Uinma and said in a friendly tone, “Alright this is the front door but once you enter in here I would ask you try to refrain from explosions in the mansion… we like to keep injuries and repairs to a minimum here. So where would you like to go first, kitchen, rooms, bathrooms?” Sam thought about it and he figured he better ask some of the mansion staff if it was to much trouble to fireproof a complete room for the kid.

OOC: Sorry, I didn't realize there was a post waiting.

IC: Nathan spoke up after Sam to ease the Uinma's concern. "Don't worry about her. She'll be alright. Nika's just mad because she needs her beauty sleep."

Nathan noticed Sam motioning for them to go inside, so naturally he obliged. The group made their way into the front door of the Mansion. Sam pretty much had everything well in hand with the young man. So Nathan just kept quiet for the moment and listened as Sam helped Uinma.

"She’ll be fine. Her name is Nika and she is a resident here, and she loves to sleep. If you’re lucky you will have a chance to meet her. She is really friendly.”

That comforted Uinma. For a second he had thought that he had somehow insulted the woman. That was not a good way to make a first impression, though on hindsight maybe a demonstration of his abilities wasn't either. He smiled, and said "Oh, okay." Sam motioned for them to go inside, and Uinma held out a hand to stop them. "Before we go inside, I would like to give you both something." He reached into the small bag slung over his shoulder, and drew out a bone scuplture of a Penguin, and one of a type of fish that Seals really liked. He gave the Penguin to Sam, and held out the fish to Nathan. "Please, take them."

“Alright this is the front door but once you enter in here I would ask you try to refrain from explosions in the mansion… we like to keep injuries and repairs to a minimum here. So where would you like to go first, kitchen, rooms, bathrooms?”

"This is where you live? I big, wa- no thats not right.... A wood building? Not a tent? That's interesting..." Uinma had read that most people lived in wood buildings or steel skyscrapers, but it was still surprising to see it for real. "I will refrain from spontaneous combustion. I would like to go to the kitchens, please. Fire needs fuel, and so do I."