((ooc: Continued from Miles to go. Calley’s form is a mix of black puma and human. For concerned super-senses parties: his scent is the puma’s, his nervous system is the puma’s, his brain and brain waves are the puma’s, and his voice carries a different accent than Calley’s, and is enounced rather differently due to the different shape of his throat, mouth, and teeth.

WerePuma form used with the wondrous WereCat’s permission.

And with this post, I'm officially the top poster on the board. *air punch*))

It had been over a month since his birthday, spent alone. It had been a few weeks since he’d spoken with Raina, and left the Mansion; a few weeks, also, since he’d invited Bear to live at his apartment.

It was safe to say that Calley was a different person, these days. In a more literal sense than most.

A taxi honked loudly. And there went his precarious balance. He hit the crosswalk pavement on all fours and bounded to the curb, a heavy black tail followed behind him.

These days, Calley was wearing the form of a puma man. His fur was black, heavy, and sleek; his tail was long and thick. His glasses—square rims, with proud purple pastel color—where made to arch over his broad feline nose and hold tight. That grip was all that held them on. Earpieces weren’t exactly an option, when your rounded ears were set on the top of your head.

He was dressed in loose pin-striped black slacks and a vest. A purple vest, of course, of the same glorious pastel as his glasses. What could he say? That shade of gray looked really good to his color-blind eyes. And the looseness, though not exactly the best for keeping his fur from rubbing the wrong way, let him switch from two to four legged movement with ease. He was much better at the four legged variety. At its base, after all, this form was still a puma’s. He dodged easily between the legs of New Yorkers on phones and tourists gawking up at buildings. It wasn’t until he reached a familiar entryway that he wobbled his way back to biped, heavy tail swinging down behind him as a counter-weight.

Two years ago, he’d been a few hours away from joining the Order when the Kabal’s former leader had snagged him. Now? Now, there was nothing holding him back. Except his ties to the X-Men, and his loathing of violence. But did he really loathe it? He could care less if it happened somewhere out of sight. He just... didn’t like to get his hands dirty.

But part of him didn’t mind at all.

The puma man raised one thick-fingered paw, and pushed the Golden Doors open. Inside, Lisa was waiting, like Lisa was always waiting. The pads of his feet felt cold as he crossed the Sanctuary’s tile floor.

“I’ve heard,” he said, pushing purple glasses lightly against his broad nose, “that this place is ‘Sanctuary’. I could use a little something of that. You got room for one more?” A large black tail swung behind him, curled tip dancing just above the floor. A flashing of perfectly white, perfectly inhuman teeth below green cat eyes. “My name is Miles.”

Calley had tried being a goodie. Now Miles got to try being a baddie. Maybe one of them would figure out the difference.

Aura swung the femer with all her strength and struck the already wounded man across the skull, the femur cracked and the latter half struck against the brick wall behind the man, who dropped to his stomach after the blow. Aura looked up from the wounded Human in the alleyway, terror forever etched into his face, as his wound gave him his own red aura, tossing what was left of the cracked femur aside she smiled at her work. Alleyway trash never learned, jumping people without first knowing who you were fighting.

Aura had a way of atracting such people, maybe it was becuse human teenagers did not use the alleyways as much as the criminals. Whatever the Reason Aura used them to avoid police, who were looking for, for many cases, including the original death she had caused when she was just a kid. Leaning up against the brick wall she looke down to the man's fingers, somthing fragrent was wrapped in white paper, and wa sstill burning, picking it up she was reminded of her old freind Solkat, the plant girl had loved the stuff before she had been killed.

Putting it out she slipped it into her bag and started to walk away before an idea she had not soncierd came over her, she kneeled becide her first victem and quickly began to empty his wallet, then she moved on to his freind which simply had a clear bag of somthing gree, and several needles, not understanding what the needels wer eused for she stuck each one in the man's arm and then exited the alleyway, slipping her aquired gifts into her handbag. It was a short walk to sanctuary and as she aproached she saw a large cat like male enter the doors. One she had never seen before, briefly she wonderd if she was mistaken again like she had been with her skunk, shrugging she enterd a few minutes later.

"Hello Miles" Aura said closeing the door behind her gently, trying to be freindly as the guy had asked for a room. The man was taller then her and his black fur drew her eye. His mutation was beautiful she decided right away, despite saying that about every mutant. SHe did find each mutation beautiful though. Her long brown hair looked nice, only becuse it wa sheld back ina white silk ribben, her fitted t-shirt had seen better days though and wa smissing most of the right sleeve, her skirt also had a tear across the left side. her green eyes looked over the Mutant again witha soft smile. Not for the dirst time she wonderd about Lisa, the woman was strange, though Aura never could say just why.

>> "Hello Miles."

Black ears had twitched backwards as the door opened behind him; now a broad, inhuman face swiveled back over one shoulder to blink a green eye at the female through square lenses. She was shorter than him, but not by much; slender in build, next to the broadness of his own feline chest and limbs. Younger, but not by all that much. Not that age seemed to make much of a difference, in their world. The cat’s eye half-lidded sassily as black whiskers fanned near to his face.

“Hello, Sweets. You live here? Place as good as it sounds?” His tail swung in counter-balance to his body as he turned to face her more fully, one elbow leaning back to put cat fur on Lisa’s immaculate desk. “No humans, right?”

His broad, black-pink nose flared subtly. She smelled... interesting. Blood, marijuana, and... skunk? All without breaking much of a sweat. The tip of his tail curled up slightly, then back down to the floor.

Aura was unsure how to respond to being called sweets, so she ignored this and instead focussed more in the questions of Miles. His questions were quite standerd and now it really was mutant only envirement other then Lisa, but she rarely counted Lisa as human anyway. She wonderd if his fur was softer then her Skunks. The glasses looked strange on him becuse of his feline vissage. Aura enjoyed greeting new arrivals and had sort of made it her job, after all people had to feel welcomed at sanctuary so they would stay. She bowed her head slightly as she decided to answer his questions.

"I do live here and it is true it is a mutant only housing envirment. I am unfillmier with how the snactuary sounds so i am not sure i can answer that" she said a bit confused again. "The sanctuary offers many areas to help train and perfect your powers as well as housing and food of course" she said explaining what the snactuary had to offer. Flexing her hand, she made her Aura visable around her fingers and used it to comb her hair out of her face. "Sound's like your not so crazy for Humans" she commanted the smile remaining on her slightly chapped lips. Figuring she was correct becuse he had made sure to ask on the subject. The brown haired girl walked closer to the desk, waveing to Lisa as she did.

Oh, what he wouldn’t give to be able to sniff out mutants. Males and females tended to have different scents, but mutants and humans? Not so much. On the subject of little Lisa behind the desk, he had always wondered. Not that it made much difference. His ears swiveled forwards and flicked back with casual ease as the young woman spoke again.

>> "I do live here and it is true it is a mutant only housing envirment. I am unfillmier with how the snactuary sounds so i am not sure i can answer that. The sanctuary offers many areas to help train and perfect your powers as well as housing and food of course"

“That’s about how it sounds,” he spoke, sharp white teeth flashing with his words. Rather unavoidable, when his lips were feline. “About that food—just human-feed, or do they specialize for those of us that can’t stomach the regular fare?” In this form, he was on a strictly meat diet. The rarer, the better.

His eyes were naturally attuned to movement; as her hand rose, he instinctively followed its motion. One paw came up to readjust his glasses as... something pink blurred his vision. That was actually there, wasn’t it? He leaned forward, whiskers fanning towards that hand as if to confirm what his poor eyesight had just seen.

“Now that’s a sight, Sweets. What else can you do?” His heavy tail curled playfully behind him, as he took a slight step to the side as if to circle her; a predator’s natural stalk, when the prey is a curious sort.

>> "Sound's like your not so crazy for Humans."

“Not so much,” he confirmed, rolling his neck, as if unconsciously. There was a thin line of bare skin nearly hidden under the rest of his black fur; scarred skin, just the right width for a Camps-brand shock collar. “Some of ‘em know how to stay out of our business, but the rest... well, if a lady or gent doesn’t care much for me, then I don’t see any reason to care much for them.” His teeth flashed again, more sharply. Another step to her side, as his ears and whiskers pointed themselves in her direction. “Yourself, Sweets? And if you’ve got a name, I might just use it.” Might. A raspy pink tongue danced over white teeth, before disappearing again. Green cat eyes were playful behind their thick lenses.

"From what im told, they are willing to make anything you want" She said her own diet not being overly adventurous. Still she heard them say they would make anything. She wondered if he liked his meals alive, like a real big cat would which made her consider asking if she could watch. She had killed her own prey before, mainly wounded or young deer. "Do you eat things alive?" she asked her curiosity winning out against her normal instinct not to invade someone else's privacy.

Aura smiled as the other mutant looked over her Aura, she liked the mutations each person seemed to get. Then he asked for more, and Aura willingly obliged, her aura flareing into view sitting from her skin to just three inches out, though she could still be seen easily, the aura was pinkish and gave her the same tint. Raising her hand her Aura flowed until it made a knife like blade, then the aura began to flow like liquid again this time forming a hammer, this two dissolved back into the main portion of the aura, until a drill like object appeared on her fist which even spun, letting this flow back into her aura as well, she smiled, not bothered by Miles circling her.

"I see, Humans cause most mutants pain it seems" She said thinking of the stories she had mainly heard from people over the years. "I can understand that, one must look out for them selfs as well as those they feel close to" She said thinking more of a team issue as opposed to family. "As for me, i care little for humans myself, hey threw me in a cage after my powers came to be. Humans killed most of friends as well, so a mutant only place like this makes things more relaxing" she said, which was true outside she was always worried the humans would attack her, which had lead to her acidently killing a few people. "And the Name is Aura" She said remembering the question after the others.

>> "Do you eat things alive?"

A grin, and a flick of his ears. “Alive? No. Still warm?” His tail swung casually behind him. “Oh yes.”

One thick finger slid up his nose to push at his glasses as her display began; his tail balanced out behind him as he leaned in for a closer look, whiskers unabashedly fanned with interest. Knife, hammer, drill; and between them all, that pink flow that he’d thought was just his eyes playing tricks on him. It showed up in his black-and-white vision as a light gray, just visible. When she was done, he straightened again, with an approving rumble deep in his chest.

“Very nice. Very, very nice. Just offensive, then, or can you go defensive, as well?” He held up one paw in front of his muzzle, letting his claws briefly slide out before lowering it back down. “I’m more the offensive sort, myself, though I’ve never turned down someone who can watch my back.” For the Miles who had survived the New Jersey Camps, and his fair share of brilliantly failed escapee attempts therein, this would have been quite true. The words slipped out of Calley’s teeth with ease. Lies and truth. He used the latter so infrequently, it’d probably set off alarm bells on any lie detector. The former? That’s what he’d lived in, for a long time. This was just a new set of lies, and he’d put in his homework with them.

>> "I see, Humans cause most mutants pain it seems. I can understand that, one must look out for them selfs as well as those they feel close to. As for me, i care little for humans myself, hey threw me in a cage after my powers came to be. Humans killed most of friends as well, so a mutant only place like this makes things more relaxing."

“Amen, Sister. I’m a little sick of cages, myself.” The puma man reverently growled. “Is everyone here like you? ‘Cause I could see myself staying here.”

>> "And the Name is Aura."

The puma stretched out a paw. The fingers were thick and covered in thin, silky fur; the pads were black-pink and leathery. It was a warm paw. “Miles, as you’ve already heard. Not the name I was born with, but it suits me well enough. A friend of mine gave me it, and I haven’t set it down just yet.” His whiskers twitched close to his cheeks. “Yours seems to fit you just fine, too, Miss Aura.”

“So how do I get myself a room here? And I’ve heard it’s free—what do we do, trade off chores around here, or something? How do we earn our keep?” His ears gave a clear the-sales-pitch-is-too-good twitch; his tail tip curled; looking for the catch.

She was slightly dissopointed he did not like his prey alive, she had been hoping to see that up close. It looked like such a lovely thing to see, the chase the final bite the entire thing seemed like one amazing play of nature to her. "I see so you like freshly killed meat then? Seems like it would be more fun to actually hurt" she said considering the idea herself. SHe hunted in a way but felt she lacked the grace and power of real predators, it just never felt the same as when she watched.

"I can use it for both Actually, and i prefer to adapt my fighting to the environment and opponent im currently dealing with, in that way i can maximize effectiveness. I do agree good teammates to watch your back are always a good thing to have, after all Mutants should look out for one another if they can" she said looking back at him, still feeling the glasses made him look funny, almost like a story she recalled from long ago, though the pictures in her mind were faded.

"As far as i know most here have simmeler beliefs to that, many that i know of have had some issue with Human hatred or even worse, several that i met were actually exparemented on" she said sounding a bit sad on the idea of testing on Mutants, she did not approve of such things herself, beleiveing testing on sentient living beings was wrong. In fact in a way that very thing was what lead her here, her team had been hunted down so Humans could try and do somthing with Miracle, just what she ahd no idea.

"Just call me Aura Miles, no one's called me miss since before the woods" she said as if would know what she was talking about. The only time she really recalled being called miss was when she wa sin trouble in school, but even that was somwhat hard to recall, it seemed like so long ago. "Many of us begin by stripping ourselfs of our Human names" she said with a nod, it really was a common practice, Aura could not recall her human name but it did not bother her much, their was little she could do with it anyway.

"To be honest you go through Lisa, to get a room and what not set up, but as for earning your keep, i have never been asked to do anything in the months i have lived here, so i may not be the right person to ask. Many people seemed concerned with such things when they come here" Aura said almost more t herself then Miles. Everyone asked the question but Aura really had never been asked so much as to flush a toilet so she was always unsure how to answer sucha question. "If they do wnat us to do anything, it sure is not frequent" she said thinking further on the subject, as in 2 months she had really just lived thare and done as she liked.

>> "I see so you like freshly killed meat then? Seems like it would be more fun to actually hurt"

His ears flicked back fully, touching his skull in a brief gesture of disapproval. His paw came up again, readjusting glasses that were already perfectly in place. “I hunt. Hunting and hurting, though—those are two distinctly different things, my Little Lady Aura. It’s the difference between a real predator, and a human predator.” That distinction growled past his teeth. “Cat’s like me, we play with our prey, sure. But when it comes to the kill, that’s a quick thing. It’s humans that invented the slow death, and it’s humans that invented torture and experiments and cages. I ain’t human.” The fur at the tip of his tail was bristled, just the slightest bit. Not human; never human. Clearly, Miles was the sort who had to put up with that difference every day. Furred faces couldn’t just hide in a crowd, unlike some mutants.

>> "As far as i know most here have simmeler beliefs to that, many that i know of have had some issue with Human hatred or even worse, several that i met were actually exparemented on"

“Common story, unfortunately.” A tail swish that lashed the air behind him.

>> "Just call me Aura Miles, no one's called me miss since before the woods. Many of us begin by stripping ourselfs of our Human names"

His ears swiveled forward at that. “Woods, huh? That where you rode out the Registration Act, or something?” He couldn’t make out any bracelet or collar scars; his eyes flicked to her wrists and neck again as he asked that, reconfirming her lack of those Camp survivor badges.

>> "To be honest you go through Lisa, to get a room and what not set up, but as for earning your keep, i have never been asked to do anything in the months i have lived here, so i may not be the right person to ask. Many people seemed concerned with such things when they come here. If they do wnat us to do anything, it sure is not frequent"

His nose sniffed the air, at that. “Odd. Guess I shouldn’t be looking a gift horse in the mouth, though, and that’s about what I’ve been hearing on the streets.” The claws on all four of his paws slid out briefly, and his teeth flashed confidently. “ ‘Sides, I think I can take a horse, even if this gift pony decides to kick.”

He turned back to the lovely Lisa, who was still smiling her Receptionator smile. A bit of familiar paperwork later, and Miles had himself a room. If he remembered the downstairs floor map, it might even be a room near Abyss and the clones. He spun the key around his finger, turning back to Aura.

“You said somethin’ about trainin’ our powers to perfection? Where can a fellow do that?” Green cat eyes half-lidded playfully behind his lenses. “And who can a fellow do that with?” An invitation, if she cared to accept. He still needed to test this form in combat, and he wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more of her powers, while he was at it.

Aura realized her mistake in working almost immediately, "Forgive me, i mispoke, i actually meant to refer to hunting, but i do agree with you that Humans have onvented such terrable things. I am grateful you are not Human if you were i would be talking to a mere animal, not a beautiful, and intellagent person such as yourself" she said, really feeling his fur was quite nice looking. Aura could hide her powers but she was so use to lashing out first she useually did not.

"Actually i knew nothing of the act, after my powers emerged, humans tossed me in a cage, i broke out but had nowhare to go and no cash, but i soon met a woman named Miracle who took me and many other kids around 12 or 13 as guards to defend her against some people who were after her. Two years of fighting humans with , Guns and morters and the others including the woman i guarded were killed. So i made my way here and have lived here for the past four months or so" She explained not even having to think about the incident as it was at the forfront of her mind all the time. She often had dreams about her freinds, normally how they died, he bullets and screaming.

"On the brightside, only a fool would directly attack this place, who would try and attack a manion full of Mutants" She said shaking her head referring more to humans then other mutants the thought not crossing her mind at the moment. It would take an awful lot of humans in her opinion to try and take down a place like this.

"I can show you the way, if you like i spend quite a bit of time thare actually" she admitted waving him to follow as she took a set of corridors she had memorized some time before. She quickly arrived and opened the training room not that it ever seemed to be locked. Aura briefly thought of the loot she had taken and had considerd sto[pping by her room, but she was already here so she would just haveto look and see what she stole later.

A brief moment of preening followed her comments on his beauty and intelligence. He groomed one black-furred shoulder where it came out of his vest, with a rumble that bordered on a purr. Err, and caught himself doing it: the raspy pink tongue went back into his mouth, and his paws readjusted his vest with sheepish dignity. Public grooming: something not usually approved of. Or, at the least, one of the little habits which Miles was clearly trying to break himself of.

“I’m sorry about your friends,” the puma man said softly, ears twitching. That... was an interesting tale, if ever there was one. A woman named Miracle, gathering a group of kids barely into their teens? It didn’t take a cat’s nose to smell a little something called ‘indoctrination’. Or ‘brainwashing’, if you just wanted to be crass. He wouldn’t claim to know the details, but a cat was allowed his gut reactions.

>> "On the brightside, only a fool would directly attack this place, who would try and attack a manion full of Mutants"

His ears flattened against his head, for one more brief instance. “That’s what they did, you know.” Again, his words were soft. Simple. “When the Act hit its pace, they started attacking safe houses. Never underestimate them. They ain’t the same sort as us, but they didn’t earn their place on this earth by being pushovers.” One ear flicked her way, out of respect for her tale. “Though it ain’t my place to tell you things you already know.”

He followed her through the familiar halls, neck craning so that green eyes could take in everything with a fresh view. A slightly more blurry view, in any case. His nostrils flared wide in the training room. “Umm, nice. Roomy enough. Stands up to claws, right?” His eyes flicked to her, with a flash of teeth. “And knives?”

He stepped into the room, dropping to all four paws as he continued. His gait was more natural that way: liquid silk, instead of his poorly balanced biped steps. Once more, he started to circle the younger girl, in a playful stalk.

“I wonder,” he purred out, “which do you think is better; knives, or claws?” He dodged a small step closer to her, then leapt a good three feet back, landing with nearly noiseless grace. “Care to give that question a little field test?”

"Yes i learned a great deal from Miracle, she trained me in both the use of my powers and how best to use them in combat" Aura went on. Their was much more she had been tought by her late employer, such as unyielding loyalty, to put the good and princeabels of the group above her own. After all if ones personal issues came into conflict in battle one could quickly wind up dead. "We did well until a traitor betrayed where we held camp, we stood littile chance after that" she said which was true, by the time they had known they were under attack the explosions were already raining down around them. Aura was determined to find whoever killed Miracle and the others and to make them pay dearly for their actions. "Thank you for your concern" she said offering back a smile.

"I see, i had not known the details actually but that only reaffirms my goal then, My failure to protect my friends in the woods can not be repeated, i must develop my power until i can level cities with little effort. Once i achieve that, i will be able to deal with any threat they can offer" she said quite content this would be the case. She still blamed herself for losing her friends and she was unsure why she was telling this person so much. It did not matter really, but she was sure he likely did not care.

"Either works well, really depends on the situation really" she said thinking, not entirely sure how her Aura would against claws, she had never really tried it with a mutant before. animals claws were different she knew, usually smaller and the animals did not normally know how to use them in some of the more brutal methods. As he dropped to all fours, Aura once again admired the loveliness of the Mutant before her, sleek and powerful. "I am agme if you are, i enjoy fighting new opponents as much as i can, more so mutants then Humans, it's just more interesting with Mutants" she said with a smile and in many ways it was true, Mutants usually had more experience in combat then humans and their powers made each battle unique, she brought her Aura back into view as a way to prepare for the sparring match he had mentioned..

>> "Yes i learned a great deal from Miracle, she trained me in both the use of my powers and how best to use them in combat"

The Brainwash ‘o Meter was definitely pushing it towards the red zone. Rounded black ears flicked simply: not really his problem. Unless he actually decided to stay here for awhile. To really go deep. Then, maybe, just a little, yeah... his problem. How do you un-brainwash a girl?

“How old are you, again?” The puma man asked. “I’m nineteen, myself.” He felt like an older nineteen in this body than he did in his Calley form. It probably had quite a bit to do with his thoughts residing in a puma’s brain. And it might, though he’d never really thought about it, have something to do with his human brain not getting much use since he was... fourteen? Fifteen? Yeah. That sounded about right.

>> “My failure to protect my friends in the woods can not be repeated, i must develop my power until i can level cities with little effort. Once i achieve that, i will be able to deal with any threat they can offer"

“Umm,” the cat noncommittally replied, tail slowly swishing in his wake. “Power’s one thing. Keep a mind for control, though. I’d rather my claws could cut like a surgeon than level a building. You start leveling things, people you care about are just as likely to get hurt. And innocents. Believe it or not, I think there’s still a few of them out there.” He flashed a toothy, sardonic grin. “Most of ‘em are too young to talk, though. Or too furry.” Ah, children and animals. There was something they had in common: you never quite knew whether they’d turn out to be mutants.

>> "I am game if you are, i enjoy fighting new opponents as much as i can, more so mutants then Humans, it's just more interesting with Mutants"

“This’ll actually be one of my first times fighting a mutant. First time fighting without one of those shock collars on, too.” The puma man grinned a feral grin. Leg muscles tensed: he sprang another few feet away, facing her still. “Ladies first,” he invited, with a growl.

"14 or 15 i think" She said answering his question thinking back, trying to recall exactly how old she was. The issue was more from her forgetting when her actual birth date was. She was unsure why their existed such faded memories in her mind, but it did not matter, such information was not useful. he was older then her but she had figured he likely was from the way he spoke and carried himself. Most people she met seemed older then her, something she wondered about.

He was right that controll mattered but this was something she felt for the most part she had achaeived all ready. "It is true control in necessary, but that is an aspect i worked on for quite some time. I was told control was needed before raw power and so i have spent almost three years working on mostly that" She tried to explain, regardless how important control was what she needed now was the power portion, or that is what she felt she needed. "Their maybe innocents out thare and new Mutants should be saved wherever possible" she agreed with that portion at least. It was true if she wiped out random building she could hurt younger mutants, it was some thing to consider as she progressed with her strength.

"I trained by fighting other Mutants" she said which was true, in the wood she had fought Mutants almost exclusively outside of actual combat. Their were the few humans that Solkat and others decided to play with and held tournaments for fighting them and finishing them. Still the Mutants she had fought up until recently had been mostly far stronger then she was. As she came back to the city however she found herself on what seemed a more even playing field. Aura wonderd what the chock collars must have been like, and it did not take much to deterimine it likely would have been terrible. Aura could not imagine not being able to access her powers whenever she liked. In fact as she had figured before when thinking of the possibility Death would be preferable.

He decided she should go first so Aura called her Aura into view and considerd how to make her first move. Rushing forward she quickly cleared the distance before them, twin blades though blunted formed around her hands. She figured he was stronger then her but was unsure of his speed. Still she figured like every one else he would certainly have a weakness somewhere she just had to test areas to figure out just where that might be, she smiled as she moved, the calming effect of combat even sparring flooding through her body. She enjoyed this it kept her mind off of other things and made her feel alive, besides she was at her core just a weapon, and this was what weapons did.