Only days ago Meld had moved out of the Mansion and into Hunter's house. He had been helping her to get over her addiction to blood and violence. She still wasn't entirely certain what had brought her to his doorstep or if he would even be able to help her with her problem, but despite her lack of conviction she kept going to his sessions and still hadn't left. Did she want to be come a complete pacifist? Unlikely. But did she want to learn to function without the constant need to fill the void in her life with the pain and suffering of others? Without a doubt. If things continued down their present path she would continue to become more and more monstrous and that was a terrifying thought.

Meld wasn't even certain that she had it in her to succeed in the monumental task she had set herself. The addiction became so strong at times that it was something she had never been able to resist and only barely been able to channel to more practical ends. When the urge hit her she had to kill, the only choice she had was in how she channeled it. The second problem lay in how she looked and, in particular, how people reacted to her. She was a walking breathing weapon and there was no hiding that fact. Blades extended from her hand, feet and tail and there could be no mistaking their lethal nature. Everywhere she went, people reacted to her as if she was a killer and she was a killer. But if she managed to change those reactions wouldn't simply go away.

What Meld most needed was a break, a time away from Hunter where she could simply think. That desire brought her into the city where she simply wandered the streets, alone with her dark thoughts. So many decisions needed to be made in her life. Could she continue down the path she had begun on? And if so, how far did she want to go? A flash of blond fur distracted her. Blond fur that looked disturbingly familiar.

Sara wasn't really sure why she was on the street that day. Her best explanation was that she had the need to move. To do something other than sit still all day. Walking around helped her think and clear her head, and sitting still wasn't nearly as productive. At least mentally it felt that way.

Sara started out at a brisk walk. The day was too hot to wear her usual coat with the long hood, and a more bold emotion caused Sara to leave it behind allowing people to see her ears and her tail. It people had a problem with her, well then it was just that. Their problem. Today she didn't really care and ignored the people who yelled derogatory comments and opinions at her. A few norms braved paths on the side walk that took them closer to her, but most gave her a wide birth. The breathing room was a relief.

She was across the street from something, well someone with metal that flashed and caught her eyes. she remembered that body. She'd been in that body... sort of. there appeared to of been additions to it that Sara didn't remember. The tail made Sara smirk.

She chose to cross the street at the next cross walk. A light turned red, Traffic came to a halt, and Sara started strolling again. There was a familiar sound of a car reving, and one of the cars jumped into motion aiming to hit a cat crossing the street. Sara hopped the hood and the car's tires screeched to a stop. The driver leaned out the window yelling something best not repeated, and honking his horn. Sara's feet hit the curb of the sidewalk and she spun on her heals, blowing the driver a kiss. taunting back. "Idiot."

Meld turned her head and stopped to watch the glimpse of blond fur, which quickly clarified itself as a rather familiar furry cattish body. A body she had possessed for a very brief and very disorienting time. She remembered both hating and loving the sensation of actually being able to feel things and how disorienting the body's senses were; so much more sensitive than her own. Then there had been the tail, which had become part of the inspiration for her own tail flesh meld. She had never expected to actually see the natural possessor of the body, however, let alone in her city. Nor had she ever discovered what had caused her to inhabit it in the first place or to return to her own form later on.

Blond cat person moved to cross the street and some idiot in a car began revving his engine and then, of all things, actually tried to run over the cat girl! Blond fur moved fast, faster than Meld could have possibly moved and managed to avoid getting hit. Meld couldn't help but smirk at the taunt directed at the driver and it was the taunt that decided it for her. Well, the taunt combined with the fact that this woman clearly knew what it was like to be a mutant in a city that hated mutants. This person, whoever she was, had a body that Meld had borrowed for a while and that meant she really should meet the natural owner of the body. Who knew, maybe she might even have some insight on what had happened and why?

Decision made, Meld began walking in the direction of the cat girl, not taking any pains to hide her presence or her intent. Not that she really could hide her presence anyway; wherever she walked people parted from her. Her tail swiveled back and forth, eye blinking every few seconds in time with her natural eyes. "I think we should talk," Meld stated, once she got close enough for the other woman to hear.

The nerve of some norms. The light turned green and the angry norm speed off to the next light. Oddly that was the second time that week someone had tried to run Sara over in a car. The cat lady was getting used to the kindness displayed by strangers, and lack there of.

"I think we should talk,"

Sara's tail twitched and she glanced over her shoulder at the other obvious mutant on the street. "You mean other than talking on the phone and threatening me if I had taken your body on purpose?" Sara remembered their conversation well. As well as she remembered walking around in Meld's body. It was awkward, and the lack of senses was something Sara found disturbing. Yes her senses drove her in sane but she struggled to function with so few of them.

It was very surreal seeing the woman who's body Meld had lived in for a time, almost like waking up from a dream. Or maybe like falling asleep into a dream, she wasn't quite sure what would be the most appropriate explanation for that partiular feeling. She grimaced at the accusation in the cat lady's voice, but it was no more than she deserved. In fact, she probably deserved a lot worse than a few harsh words.

"I'm sorry about that," Meld answered. She felt real regret for her actions and, as a part of her new dedication to trying to curb her violent instincts, decided that apologizing was the least she could do. "I know its not much of an excuse, but I was stressed out and a little afriad." Fear was something she never would have admitted to even a few days ago but part of changing was admitting such things. "And I have enemies. How was I supposed to know that you weren't responsible?"

Sara waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine." It wasn't like Sara had never been threatened before. Threatened by other mutants and threatened by the norms. In reality they all sort of melted together for her. She did her best not to dwell too much but she also refused to forget. The day that she forgot might be the day that she let her guard down at the wrong time.

"There were a lot of people throwing accusation around back then." Sara shrugged.

"And I have enemies. How was I supposed to know that you weren't responsible?"

"I don't know. Again it's fine and understandable. I'd actually thought that the ordeal was a dream at first. I tried pinching myself and didn't feel it. That's normally the test."

"Did you ever come close to finding out how that Freaky Switch thing happened?"

Well, at least everything seemed to be good between herself and Sarah. At least, Meld was pretty sure she recalled the cat lady's name being Sarah. Everything during that time as all a bit of a blur, still taking on a vague dreamlike quality. It was still a wonder, sometimes, that she had even managed to get through it at all. It was also a wonder that she hadn't ended up killing someone out of frustrating and thus ruining the cat lady's reputation forever after. She should be thankful for that one, even if she didn't' realize Meld's own reputation.

"You aren't the only one that thought it was a dream. Imagine waking up and finding you're suddenly covered in fur." Meld grimaced and then realized that she was probably used to that by now, all things considered. That, and it probably wasn't any stranger than waking up finding you had no sense of touch and metal limbs, if you weren't used to such things. "I guess it was something of a shock for the both of us."

The whys and hows of the switch were still something Meld was trying to figure out. "I'm afraid I don't have any more of an idea now than I did then. I woke up and I was you. And then I woke up again and I was back to being me. I know it affected at least a couple other people, but beyond that." She shrugged.

A blink of Meld's tail eye showed people slowing in the streets behind the two of them, staring as they walked by. She let a wry smile play across her face. The pair of them must make a rather unusual sight.

Sara shrugged. "Well when I first woke up covered in fur, I didn't have a choice in thinking it was a dream or not." Sara said quite simply. She'd been someone who looked normal except for the healing ability till she was around the age of 12. By the way. Growing an appendage that was an extension of your spine wasn't comfortable.

"I'm afraid I don't have any more of an idea now than I did then. I woke up and I was you. And then I woke up again and I was back to being me. I know it affected at least a couple other people, but beyond that."

"Too bad." Sara said as her ear flicked back to listen to some of the comments that were being made behind them. Hello Super mutant hearing. I'm stanting right here. She moved to glance over her shoulder at them and making eye contact with a twitchy right ear. mean while Sara continued their conversation. "I don't like knowing that someone has that much power and ability over other people. It's unnerving."

Sara definitely didn't like being manipulated. Her past was too full of it. "You Hungary? There's a mutant friendly place around the corner. It's a Chinese restaurant."

Sometimes the looks Meld got everywhere she went bothered her and sometimes she was able to simply ignore them. For the time being it was the latter. She had made a vow to be non-violent, at least until her work with Hunter was complete and she intended to stick with that vow. Sticking with it meant, by necessity, being able to ignore those selfish ignorant humans who would rather people like her and Sarah simply disappear never to return.

"Try losing a hand and then discovering that you can acquire a new one." Meld grimaced. Her own discovery of being a mutant wasn't exactly pleasant, involving the suspected death of her sister and the severing of her hand in the process. It was a completely unexpected side effect that she could then replace that hand with an art project.

"You're not the only one that finds it unnerving." Tail eye turned and blinked at the conversation going on behind them. A young woman was pointing and there was much giggling going on and some catlike miming. That was just the sort of reason why people like Meld fought for mutants everywhere.

"I could definitely go for some Chinese," Meld agreed, very pointedly ignoring the mocking humans who probably weren't even aware that there was an eye on the end of her tail.

Sara shrugged and her attention turned away from the rude cat calling humans back to Meld. Meld. that's what she thought people had called her at the time and it seemed to fit. "I can only imagine how that would be." With a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure that they weren't going to be followed, Sara started leading the way to the Chinese Restaurant. It had been a long time since She'd visited with Johnny.

"I don't think there's been a time in my life that I didn't know I was different." It was the first time she was admitting this to anyone so soon. "In the beginning, I could always at least heal. The cat mutation came later." Sara still didn't know if it was natural or induced.

"The meals on me. consider it back paid body rent." They tuned right down a street that took them to the business section. Buildings were either built right next to each other with no space in between, or with narrow ally ways just barely big enough for the dumpsters. The Dragon Inn, was a restaurant that looked like it was build into the brick walls from the outside, with glass doors, and a take out window out front under a blood red awning for people on the street. A short line of norms waited at the window for the fast food version of their fine dining. Inside there was a small sit down restaurant that was mostly used by local business owners to host meetings. The establishment was small, but clearly well kept.

"I've eaten in the dinning room before but I don't feel like dealing with people that much today." Sara explained to Meld as she lead the way around the corner to the back entrance that divided a small table, and the extra dish room. A bell jingled when she pushed the door open.

Humans could just be so rude sometimes. How would they like it if people were constantly pointing and laughing at them? Maybe if they knew what it was like they might change their actions a little. Once Meld had actually carved the word FREAK into a man's face, a man completely deserving of it because he had followed her off of the subway and then proceeded to attack her in a dark alley. She had had fewer melds at that time, but it was still a monumentally stupid thing for him to do at the time and he had suffered for it. Somehow she didn't think that Hunter would approve of her doing that, even if it was far less lethal than her usual way of dealing with such people.

"Do you think it was easier knowing you were different from the beginning?" Meld ask. She followed Sarah as she led the way to the restaraunt. She felt genuine curiosity. Sometimes she felt that her own life would have been easier had there not been a period of being forced to adapt to being a mutant; if she had always known she never would have had to deal with her discriminating parents. So many problems would have been solved before they even became problems. Then again, all new problems probably would have manifested.

"I can't say no to free food," Meld agreed, smiling. "And I'm not much for dealing with people today either." Those mutants who were able to easily blend into the human crowd didn't know what it was like for those who couldn't.

Sara thought about that for a moment. She pushed the door open to the back room. The bells jingled alerting the people up front that they had company in the back. "I think that I would have had an easier time understanding what was going on as a mutant and making that assessment and change better, had the situation I grew up with been different." Sara's early life consisted of being an experiment. From the time that she was born, she knew pain, and schooling, and train, and questions. She didn't even know who her parents were.

A boy came from the front of the restaurant wiping a towel on his hands as he walked. Johnny and his family were true Chinese people running an Americanized Chinese food restaurant. johnny was had finished up high school this past year and already had the college of his choice lined up. But he still worked for the family business. "Hey Sara." He walked in spotting meld too. Though rather than the usual reaction, he jest stared for a few seconds. His eyes swept over her and then the mechanics of her arm. "Ah Right then." Johnny's head bobbed over his shoulders sudden enough that his hair flopped showing exactly how much his ears stuck out from his head. "Will your friend require a menue, Sara?" Johnny's cheeks blushed slightly on his olive colored skin. He'd suddenly remembered his first run in with Sara and you'd think he'd be used to odd mutants like her by now. There was no fear or hate he had of them. Sara was cool. It was just still a shock and awe factor.

"Why do you say that?" Meld asked. If she was prying too much hopefully Sarah would say something. Having borrowed her body for a while she almost felt like the knew the cat woman. "I was forced to flee from the only place I knew as home when my own mutation developed. My parent's weren't exactly friendly about the idea that their daughter was a mutant." As in, they probably would have tried to get her committed or imprisoned or some such thing. Just like they may have done to her sister. Thinking about that possibility, however, always made her angry so she forced her mind away from it.

When the young man came out and greeted Sarah, Meld couldn't help but smile in some amusement at his reaction to her. He had clearly never seen another mutant quite like her before but that wasn't so surprising since Meld herself had never seen another mutant quite like her before. Even in comparison to many of the other visible mutants, she was a sight that kind of stood out. "I would appreciate a menu, if you don't mind," Meld replied before Sarah could, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. She was used to a few stares, after all and, young as the boy was, she was willing to forgive him for a few minutes of getting used to her presence.

Johnny had been in the presence of a few very cool mutants when Sara had come in. He'd met a mutant that looked like a red dragon on several ocations. Then there was a man that Sara had lead in, who looked like he belonged in the movies as a walking car. Transformers. More than meats the eye. And then there had been Slate. He had those small gems that altered your language for you when you swallowed them. Johnny smiled and ducked out of the room to grab a menu from the front.

Sara shrugged at Meld's question. Her amber eyes watched as Johnny strolled out. Other than Ayesac, there was only one other person in New York who knew where Sara came from and the back ground she had, and that was because he had recognized the significance of the number that had been etched into the back of her right should. 0623. Sam had practically cornered her at the mansion to point out his number that was a tattoo. He'd been involved with a similar program.

"I was once an experiment." Sara began. "My first memory is being hooked up to machines and wires. The only thing that I knew back then was that the doctors could make me bleed and I stopped very quickly, however simple paper cuts lasted on them for what seemed like ages." The people back then didn't purposefully teach Sara how to fight, but when your restrained on a daily basis, you pick up techniques. "They gave me a number and not my name. Compared to everything else that happened back then, if that doesn't tell someone that they are different, I don't know what does." Sara shifted so that meld could see the back of her right shoulder blade while pulling back her long hair for the better view.

Meld kept her expression neutral as Sarah recounted her story of being a living experiment. She couldn't imagine the evil of doing something like that, especially on a child. Maybe she had been fortunate in having her parents the way they were after all, at least when compared to the pasts of some mutants. Certainly her experiences hadn't been the worst of the bunch. At least she had had a chance to be a child and remembered what it was like to fit in and be merely human. There were negatives to that, but there were also positives.

"At least you managed to escape though, right?" Even had Meld known Sarah well enough to be completely sympathetic, it simply wasn't an emotions she was well versed in showing. What difference would a little bit of sympathy make anyway? The past was the past, no matter how horrible or how good, it might have been. There was and never would be any way to change it.

"That's one of the reasons I fight more mutant rights as vehemently as I do. Because of programs like that and because I don't think its right that mutants should struggle merely to exist, constantly worried about attack and discrimination because of what they are." Meld thought back even to the very recent occurrence of the driver almost hitting Sarah. "Because some mutants need a little extra help." Because not all mutants were willing to go outside the law in order to help themselves, but she didn't mention that particular reality of her life.