”Well I know who I’m going out with when we get back state side, I tell you Ghost drank for the first time a few weeks before her wedding. She was entertaining to say the least.”
Lily snickered. She didn't know Ghost personally, but if her own experience was any indication, she could imagine why Sam used the word 'entertaining'.
"So you wanna see me carry a piss drunk Shawn to bed like he did last night with me?" she asked, folding her arms "Very mature."
”...Anyways the orphanage I was at weren’t really that well equipped to handle kids like me so I spent some time seeing what I could do.”.
The grin melted into a soft smile as Lily watched the ice figures form and then disappear. She couldn't tell who they were, but they must have been important, and brought up from the memories Sam was talking about.
"So, you grew up in an orphanage?" she asked softly. She'd figured out by now that everyone in the Mansion had a story, and most of them were not always cheerful... she started to feel like she was the weird one, with her protective family and her happy childhood.
"Who are they?" she asked, although the ice statues were gone, she knew Sam would know what she meant.

He laughed on his mound of snow, ”It’s only fair after all Streak had to do that to you and Alex already did that to me so we are even.” he stuck out his tongue momentarily before he snickered and then pictured a drunk Streak needing to be carried upstairs and an irritated Jewel trying to drag him.

As she questioned him about the ‘orphanage’ he grew up at he could help but think back to the small single room with nothing but a dim light and the dark nights he spent alone and scared. Coughing trying to forget his previous thoughts Sam nodded his head, ”If you could call it that, Orphanages have people come in who wanted kids, me on the other hand, I was pushed to the back.” hidden was more like it, the more he thought about it the more thought calling T.A.T. an orphanage a sick joke. Orphanages didn’t going around kidnapping kids either.

”They” he said calmly eyes still closed ”Were my parents, got separated,” (kidnapped) ”When I was young, and I never saw them again, used to think they would come and save me if I did everything I was asked but,” he shrugged and sighed placing his hands behind his head, ”They never came, and then last year my brother showed up to the mansion with news that were my parents were dead.”

His eyes remained closed and the only movement he had was his hand to the back of his head, he wasn’t going to cry. In fact he hadn’t cried about his predicament since he was a kid even if he found out recently that his parents died in a car crash. Crying never made anything better in the past so why would it help now?

”If you could call it that, Orphanages have people come in who wanted kids, me on the other hand, I was pushed to the back.”
Lily bit her lip; here was another story she didn't know how to react to. The things Sam talked about sounded so far away from her own little world it could have been another reality.
Juka was not the only one with bubbles around him. Of course, his were more obvious. Sometimes Jewel envied him for it.
She wondered how he was doing. He, and the others back home. Her parents who thought she was on a field trip, and had no idea their darling little daughter was hunting mutant hunters.
”They were my parents, got separated, when I was young, and I never saw them again, used to think they would come and save me if I did everything I was asked but, they never came, and then last year my brother showed up to the mansion with news that were my parents were dead.”
Lily drew a breath and looked down at the silver running around her fingers. She didn't really know what to say. She couldn't even begin to imagine how it would feel to loose Dad and Maman.
She was beginning to understand something new about her friends. She was not sure she could put it into words, but it was something about loss, and comfort, and relationships, and families. Mainly loss.
"I'm sorry, Sam." she muttered after a while, glancing up at him, and then, because she felt like she needed to say something to break the silence inside the dome of snow, and because she was curious, she asked "...Who is your brother?..."

Jewel was relatively quite for his little sob story of his childhood it meant she was listening. The first thing she did was something everyone else had a tendency to do in situations like this they started with an apology. It was a nice gesture on her part but it didn’t do much to make him feel better in fact all he could do was offer her a smile, ”It’s alright, it’s not that big of a deal there was little anyone could have done to change things.” lied Sam as he leaned upright, ”I wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for my upbringing, I’d probably be working with the Order if I was raised differently.”

He grinned at the sudden change of subject from one he didn’t like to talk about openly. ”His name is Dominic, calls himself Feral on the team from time to time, I left him behind state side to help Luke and the others if things got out of hand back home.” he then let out a laugh, ”He is the one that sings, “Put a ring on it” from time to time…” he shook his head slightly, ”Pretty obvious that we had different childhoods.”

The snow on the dome was slowing instead of a constant pace of weight being pushed on it the weight slowed, it was still coming down but it was at a slower pace from before, ”If you could try to keep my childhood quite not a lot of people know and I like to keep it that way.” he nodded slightly as he stood his head a foot from the center of the dome. ”We can get moving now but you’ll have to stay close and guide us, cause it’s still a snow storm out there…”

The glow stick scooped up in his hand before he brushed the snow off it and handed it to Jewel, ”Can you light our way?” as soon as the glow stick was in her hands he waved his own forcing all the snow around his dome of control to shift it’s location. No longer being covered the cold wind beat down upon them as the snow was redirected away from them. ”Lead the way.”

”I wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for my upbringing, I’d probably be working with the Order if I was raised differently.”
Lily offered a kind smile and two dimples as she looked at Sam. "That would be our loss. You are doing great job at the school. And we'd hate to go up against you." she chuckled. As if they could. All right, maybe teamed up, but definitely not alone. She remembered her training sessions with Sam.
”His name is Dominic, calls himself Feral... He is the one that sings, “Put a ring on it” from time to time… Pretty obvious that we had different childhoods.”
Lily nodded with a smile. "I think I met him at the wedding. He was with Shawn's sister." well, they were talking at least, when she met Alison for the first time. She grinned at the singing comment. "I can't say I miss the image of you singing that song. No offense, boss."
”If you could try to keep my childhood quite not a lot of people know and I like to keep it that way.”
Lily nodded again, more serious this time. "Sure."
She was good at keeping secrets. She'd never been a chatty one anyway, and people who trusted her with something important she usually respected enough not to share it with someone else.
Time to move. Good. Lily adjusted her scarf and pulled her coat tighter before taking the glow stick from Sam. When the dome collapsed and the wind hit them, she almost lost her balance; the wind was still blowing, but at least Sam kept the snow away. That left them slightly more things to see.
Focusing her powers for a moment Jewel turned in the right direction.
"That way. They haven't moved since I found them."
She lead the way, maneuvering around objects like bushes and trees carefully, snow crunching under her feet. Under her coat and gloves she kept the silver moving around; they had the advantage of knowing where their opponents wer,e but that didn't mean they could go unprepared.
After a while - she couldn't really tell how much time it had been - Lily stopped. There was a slight slope ahead of them.
"We go up that hill, we should be able to see them." she said, just loud enough for Sam to hear over the sound of the wind.

It turned out that Jewel had met Dom, for he was spending sometime with Streaks sister, he also made note of the compliments she had given him and the willingness to keep his childhood a secret. He grinned and thought about giving Jewel a vacation then and there when they got back state side she certainly deserved it.

After maneuvering behind Jewel he grinned, and crawled up a hill to see the camp was finally in sight as a half dozen space tents huddled behind a large tree in hopes that it would cut down on not only the wind but the snow as well. For the tents directly against the tree it seemed to be working but those further from the tree seemed to suffer at the hands of nature. Sam grinned slightly and fell to the ground on top a pile of snow. Grabbing Jewel’s ankle he gave her a tug and then pointed down to the ground.

They were uphill but still it was best to remain as hidden as possible till all of them were visible it was important for Sam to see who he is targeting. The snow continued to fall as Sam kept up a level of control around them so only cold wind could pass, there he sat and waited for a moment. Turning his head to Jewel he spoke quietly so she would have to concentrate on his voice. ”We are going to pick them off one by one if possible, if you have enough materials to help detain them feel free to help.”

Sam inched closer to the camp and back down the hill to where they were, ”Oh and it’s about to get really cold so try not to get to far from me…” with that he activated his mutation, what was once a slowing snowstorm turned quickly into a blizzard of mammoth proportion. Little specs of snow turned into quickly falling flakes and as the amount of snow increased so did the weight it was putting on the tents. He smiled and started to laugh as the first man quickly got out of his tent with the sinking roof to brush the snow off. He was the first to be picked off.

A Golem saw to that, slow moving and blended with the falling snow perfectly reaching for the mans mouth the ice figure quickly shot backwards and away from the camps. Focusing on two locations was difficult but it could be done however when the visibility was poor it was bound to have a few flaws.

As the first golem backed up with the first captive it managed to bump a tent that was not easily perceived due to the storm. Sam cursed as it fell onto the tent and tugged the one it was carrying to the ground on top of the tent. ”Got a feeling things are going to go from bad to worse!”

Lily got down onto the ground next to Sam (codenames on the field, dammit), and followed him down the hill in the storm that soon turned into a blizzard with some help from certain mutant powers. Jewel didn't feel sorry for the hunters, but didn't envy them either.
”We are going to pick them off one by one if possible, if you have enough materials to help detain them feel free to help.”
She nodded, eyes narrowing as she looked over the camp site.
"They are out of my range" she frowned "We either need to go closer, or I do. Otherwise I can't do much."
It didn't feel good to say that on the field, in the middle of the mission, but so it was, and C.S.'d better know it before he counts on Jewel doing something she was not capable of with her current powers.
The golem seemed to be doing a pretty good job, taking out the first one that was stupid enough to leave the tent. Lily could hear Sam laugh; for a moment her thoughts wandered to her favorite topic, mutants, nature and mutations. The blizzard, the cold wind and the whirling snowflakes seemed somewhat connected to his mood.
When she turned her attention back to the camp, she could see one of the crumble under the golem. If someone was inside, they'd have trouble getting out of there with the amount of snow, ice and one additional person on top.
”Got a feeling things are going to go from bad to worse!”
"So much about one by one" Lily nodded, already on her feet and ready to go if Sam let her. The silver under her clothes formed itself into her usual chest plate and enveloped her hands and arms. She could feel pieces of precious metal moving around in the nearby tents. They will soon be out, at least the ones close enough to hear the tent crash.
"I can secure the ones you bring down, I've got enough metal on me." she added. The blizzard was still on, full force; without Sam's approval she couldn't even get to the tents. Well...

Chaos under the blizzard was commencing and Jewel said she could do little to help from the range they were in. his concentration on the golem faded and he decided it would be best to start a new with a new approach. It was clear that as far as they were from their targets it would be messy and there would be some casualties if he couldn’t see where his golem was going. The thing was made of ice and pretty heavy after all. Getting to his feet he gave Jewel a tug on her shoulder, ”If you need to get close stay hidden! I’ll bring them down to the ground you keep them under control.”

His rushed tone might have come off as a bit harsh but as he let go of Jewel’s shoulder Sam called forth a few figures made of ice as his own body became immersed with it. Now resembling the figures he created Sam focused on two other golems while the others stood around the camp meant to intimidate and distract more than anything else. He and two others was all he was going to need, after all from what he could tell two men were already down. One on top of a snow covered tent and the other inside it most likely pinned by everything else.

The blizzard died down, it was still snowing like crazy but he made it easier for both he and Jewel to see the targets. As soon as the blizzard started to die down it seemed like all the hunters came from their tents like snakes seeking out an easier meal and for the moment both Jewel and he were at the top of the menu. One of the hunter pulled a gun and aimed it at him and pulled the trigger, before the bullet could fire out of the barrel towards not only his direction but Jewel’s as well the bullet shattered and he was hit with flying frozen scraps of metal. Luckily the bullet didn’t have any force behind it so when he readied for a second shot the closest ice figure grabbed him and slammed him to the ground knocking the wind out of him and imprinting the hunters body in the snow.

”Alex said she would kill me if you get hurt Jewel so try and avoid getting hit… I doubt Streak would be happy either…” he smirked as a pair of hunters charged him with a pair of short stubby clubs. He didn’t know what they were but didn’t give either hunter time to strike. Ducking and jumping at the same time Sam rotated mid air as one fist was brought into the jaw of one hunter while a foot clipped another in the side of the ribs. Both fell momentarily as Sam tumbled to ground.

”If you need to get close stay hidden! I’ll bring them down to the ground you keep them under control.”
Here goes nothing.
Jewel took a few steps to get away from Sam; being to close might have disturbed him in whatever he was doing or planning on doing. Lily winced at the sight of the gun.
No, don't go there, not now.
But the shot never got fired, and the man did not get a second chance to try.
”Alex said she would kill me if you get hurt Jewel so try and avoid getting hit… I doubt Streak would be happy either…”
Jewel rolled her eyes as she felt the silver harden around her body, ready for the fight.
"Shut up, Sam" she smirked back, keeping her eyes on their opponents "I can take care of myself."
Two others attacked, and Jewel found herself wondering just how stupid they were - all right, maybe they didn't know Sam's abilities as well as she did. A moment later both of them paid for their ignorance with hitting the ground and rolling in the snow.
They are down. Let's keep them down.
By the time Lily covered the few steps' distance one of them had already rolled onto his back. He tried to yell something too, but that was stopped by Jewel's knee hitting his chest; the rest of the struggle cut short by a metal clad fist colliding with his temple. Ouch, thought Lily sympathetically as she pulled the man's wrists together behind his back and secured them with a band of metal. When he wakes he'll have trouble getting them free.
The other one took the harder hit, thank God; by the time Jewel finished, he was still back on his knees, groping around in the snow for his weapon. He was saying something too, but it couldn't really be heard in the wind. When Jewel got close to him, he sprang, tackling her; there was surprise on his face when a knife blade slid down her side, tearing her jacket but not going through the metal underneath. Lily groaned, pushing against his shoulder with her hand, and fighting to keep the silver flowing from her to him. Seconds later he was trying to get away from her, groping at the band of metal winding around his neck.
"I hate doing this" Jewel growled as she pushed him down on the ground; once his hands were bound, she pulled back the silver from his neck.
Two down, one more to go. Standing up, she looked around to see how Sam was doing; she also had to locate the one who had the gun. Taking a deep breath, she moved some silver from one hand to the other.
Ready, steady.

Landing in the snow Sam rolled back to his feet and tackled one of the guys he had hit moments before. Once the man was in Sam’s hand Sam pivoted and flipped the man over his back in the direction towards Jewel, ”It’s either this or we get more violent, sometimes this is the best we can do Jewel… Heads up,” the man he had flung at Jewel landed to her feet and tried to make a move for something at his side.

Before he could act however a sharp pain flew throughout his body as the other man he had hit had hit him with a blunt object of some kind. It must have been the club they had been trying to hit him with earlier, and now he knew why. His body locked up and he fell to the ground twitching, his first response was to make sure Jewel knew that the guy he had thrown at her was reaching for something. It was for good reason as well, Alex said she would kill him if anything happened to her drinking buddy, that and he had grown rather found of the precious metal manipulator.

Without much thought one of the golems that had stood out around the circle made a move once Sam hit the ground. Looking up to see the man standing over Sam he shifted his eyes for a moment and saw a flash of blue and white as his golem tackled the guy away from him the way a pro football player tackled a toddle. The sound of a bone or two breaking was loud and almost as defined as the scream that was released.

This was the last thing he wanted, he didn’t want anyone to get hurt that badly and it seemed that things had potential to progress badly if he and Jewel couldn’t regain the situation. It the wild animals fought for territory all the time and often had smaller families inside larger ones. The alpha’s remained at the head of the territory and as of now he wanted to make it clear that he and Jewel were in control so he could bend the head hunters wills to his own.

”It’s either this or we get more violent, sometimes this is the best we can do Jewel… Heads up,”
Men were falling at her feet. One man in particular. With a particularly loud crash. And a painful one too.
"Got it, boss" she smirked as she kicked the guy, not out of cruelty, just hard enough to turn him onto his stomach and keep him from getting up. Once his face hit the snow, Lily knelt on his back to tie his hands together with a band of silver. It was done in mere seconds; the next moment he tried to get up, and Lily lost her balance on his back, rolling into the snow. It probably saved her life. The man she'd been looking for, the one with the gun, seemed to come to his senses, even worse, find his weapon, and fired a shot at Jewel, only missing her becuse she fell.
There you are.
The guy she'd just tied up started yelling something at his teammate, probably about firing shots at him in the middle of a fight, and even though his words were lost in the wind they were enough to draw the gunman's attention for a few seconds.
Sitting up in the snow, Lily reached out her hand and fired back.
It was a series of five smaller gemstones, pulled from her jewelry hidden under her coat; they were not fast enough to work as bullets, but they hit the man right on the forehead one after another, and he staggered back, grabbing his head and dropping the gun.
Most expensive ammo ever. Lily thought as she sprang up and tackled the man, kicking him in the guts for good measure before she managed to bring him down. They rolled around for a while, Lily's silver spikes and blades fighting against the superior strength of the man, but finally she managed to deliver a punch at his temple and a minute later she was sitting on top of his back, gasping for air. Phew.
"Two more down, C.S.!" she yelled at Sam. With more than a bit triumph in her breathless voice. She really hoped Sam was doing as well as she did.

Two more down? Sam asked himself as he knocked out another guy with an axe kick to the collarbone forcing the man to eat snow. ”Clearly I miscounted!” Sam yelled aloud to Jewel, as she seemed to have her hands free. Leaning down and icing the man he just fell to the snow Sam got up and looked around, ”Looks like that is all of them,” he said calmly but just to be sure he raised his hands into the air and stopped the snow from falling around them by forming a large dome barrier.

Again the wind would continue to break through until the snow covered the dome completely. ”Jewel check and see if you can find anyone else in the area, I doubt they would have wised up to our tracking system yet.” Deciding to hurry the doming process Sam called the snow on the ground to reach up and cover the barrier both inside and out. Surrounded from all sides now in a large barrier that gave everyone tons of moving room Sam bent down and forced the ice to adapt to the mans arms and waist as he was lifting him.

Walking him over to the side of the dome and forming pillars of ice Sam forced the first man to it and then proceeded to gathering the others, ”Once you get them to the ice pillars call back you silver and other materials, I’ll hold them from here on.” Once the men were all rounded up he walked over to the one who was conscious and asked, ”Who is in charge, I don’t feel like asking again!”

(OOC: Jewel feel free to play the hunters as well)

”Clearly I miscounted!”
Jewel smirked as she stood up. As if anyone could have counted better in a blizzard. At least all of them were down now.
”Jewel check and see if you can find anyone else in the area, I doubt they would have wised up to our tracking system yet.”
Takind a deep breath, she focused on their surroundings again; pieces of silver and gold shone through the snow and wind.
"Far as I can tell, this is all of them." she yelled back, watching as the dome formed over them and Sam took care of securing a place for their prisoners. Thank goodness all of them were conscious, more or less, and even though they needed some help walking over to the pillars, at least they didn't put up a fight. Jewel could hear them murmuring comments at her, but decided not to react, and not to tell Sam either. No need for more beating at them right now.
They were clearly surprised one fo their attackers was a lady. That made Lily smile.
Once they were all secured to the ice pillars, Jewel pulled her silver back, wrapping it around her wrist; she made sure she didn't take more than she put on them, she needed to leave them something she could track. Just in case. With that done, she stepped back next to Sam, and left the talking to him.
”Who is in charge, I don’t feel like asking again!”
At first, none of them asnwered. Two were barely conscious, and the rest hung their heads or looked away, murmuring about mutants and other unpleasant things; but all of them did glance in one direction sooner or later, and Lily followed their looks.
"That's him" she nodded at the guy in the middle, the one that used to have a gun and now had blood trickling from a scratch on his forehead and freezing into place. He looked up at her voice, and his face was everything but friendly.
Lily smirked. She was good with people.

Watching the men as they were all posted to the pillar Sam grinned slightly looking at the few conscious ones tilting their head to the side in the direction of one of the older looking hunters. He was defiantly hardened which was good; it made things possibly easier to do what he wanted to do. Nodding his head to Jewel he grinned, ”Thank you Jewel, now let’s get down to business.” Sam said as he walked close to the leader, ”Now I notice that you all are in quite a pickle, and I’ll tell you how things are gonna go.” Sam looked down on the man who was sitting down against the post.

”Like we’ll listen to what you have to say mutie! Your lot are nothing more than cattle ripe for the herding!” Sam let out a laugh and looked to Jewel while pointing at the man attached to the pole. Sitting down in front of the man and crossing his legs Sam smiled, ”If we are cattle then what are you? Grass for the grazing? Cause as things are right now you guys are in trouble, best I can tell we are miles from any major city or small town. Your scream if there will be any will fall on deaf ears and this place…” Sam lifted a hand as the snow behind him lifted and shifted into a shape of a giant human.

”You see unlike most of the mutants you have been hunting me and here, we are a bit more special, we have an idea what we are doing and out here,” Sam lowered his hand and the giant snow being reverted into a pile of snow behind him, ”We make the rules, we bend nature to our will and her power, let just say without as much a thought she could choke half of you to death,” he nodded over to Jewel so she could take credit for being what she was.

”Now, if you don’t want to be left behind or left in the capable hands of my accomplice I suggest you hear out what I have to say,” Sam paused again and looked from the leader to the conscious members of the group most of them seemed to be fond of life, not that they were going to take their life in the first place but a bluff never hurt anyone. ”Not only will you walk away with your lives but we can pay you handsomely to do what we are requesting.” He gave them a minute to talk amongst themselves about what they would do.

Jumping to his feet and slowly walking over to Jewel and smiled, in English he whispered low and put a his hand on her shoulder, ”I need you to do something for me, if there is any metals in the ground nearby that you could sense you think you can bring them here?” he wanted to give them something in good faith however if gold or stones weren’t possible he could just give them cash, not that he had any on him but it would be one of the first things he would do once he got to a bank.

Lily stood in the background, letting Sam deal with the hunters as he pleased, he was the leadr in this mission and also he was much better at intimidation that she was. And that seemed to be the key issue in this negotiation.
”We make the rules, we bend nature to our will and her power, let just say without as much a thought she could choke half of you to death,”
Lily blinked. Did he just threated the fearless mutant hunters with... her?...
She fought really hard not to grin. This should be the other way around. The fragile lady telling them she would leave them at the hands of her strong and frightening companion if they don't talk...
Well, she could choke them to death. Some of them anyway. Not like she wanted to do anything like that, ever. But as bluffs go, Sam was doing a good job, and none of the hunters called it. Lily glared back at them in a menacing manner, and she could see the confusion in their faces. Let them wonder.
”I need you to do something for me, if there is any metals in the ground nearby that you could sense you think you can bring them here?”
Lily nodded and with a sirk she whispered back to him.
"I can try. And if it doesn't work, I can fake it."
She probably had silver and gemstones on her person that was worth more than a year's payment for these people.
Walking away a couple of feet, she let her senses pick up the signs she'd sensed earlier again. They were on rock here, with a thin layer of soil covering the bones of the earth; and through the bones trickled the tiny veins that had been driving people crazy for centuries.
Kneeling down on one knee she dipped her hand in the snow and touched the ground. She'd never tried this before; true, she'd never been to a country this rich in precious metals either. Takind a deep breath, she focused her powers on the metal in the ground and pulled.
For log minutes, nothing happened. At least nothing Sam or the hunters could have seen. And then then, with a long sigh, Jewel stood and walked back to Sam, holding out her palm for him to see. There was pale gold wrapped around her fingers and wrist. Her eyes glittered with triumph.
"There you go." she told him quietly "It's probably worth a lot more than they deserve. I can mix it with silver if you'd like."