It had been almost four months since Aura had last strode through the golden doors of Sanctuary. She had a modest travel duffel bag on her back as she looked around the building. She could have easily been mistaken for a new girl in the mutant only building. She even looked different then she had those months back. Sanctuary however looked the same, sure the people were different, they changed on a day to day basis, some staying a day and never coming back others like herself spent years here. She had lingered in the shadowed areas of the city a few days before coming back home. Even Lisa was still at her desk, tirelessly doing her job. Of all the humans aura had ever met, she found Lisa the only one she liked. Lisa might as well be a mutant in her eyes.

Her aura was on and so she was covered in her see through pink cocoon. To many this told who she was, some had seen her on various news programs, others knew her from having been here so long. She knew her room was likely still in tact or at least as in tact as she ever left it. She had a habit of tearing her room apart on memory induced rages. Still her hair was now long and black, and styled with a soft curl in it. She felt somewhat calmer now that she had returned from her accidental journey. SHe watched other mutants with a smile, she envied the ones with the visible mutations the most.

Aura sat down and leaned back, setting her bag down in front of her. "Home at last" she said to herself, she would need to see Lori soon and explain her absence. She felt quite guilty about it. Still things were what they were and Aura assumed with Lori's track record she would live through the issue. Aura formed a hammer in her fist for a second then playfully let, the hammer melt away like it was dripping back down her arm, before gathering it again, to form a sword, then she let the shape flow back into her aura untill their was no visible difference in her smooth pink outline.

The Sanctuary was still a very foreign place to Shane. He’d never call himself moved in, but he was starting to get a better sense of the place. Locking himself in with other people was not a course of action he’d ever just jump into under any circumstances. The fact that the people here were all mutants did wonders for his faith in them, but he had a natural sense of skepticism that he likely wouldn’t be shaking any time soon.

For the time being, he preferred to keep to himself and explore. Streets and forests were easy places to get a good lay of the land. All that’s required in places like that is a high vantage point and a decent memory. Here though, where he had a roof over his head and hallways to deal with, he had little choice but to do a little sight seeing.

He’d past a few other residents, a few with outward signs of their mutant status (he preferred it when that was the case), but most didn’t pay him much attention, and he returned the same level of interest. He came across a girl who appeared to be glowing though who caught his interest.

It would probably be fair to call him a mutant fan at this point in his life, getting the kind of giddiness someone would have at the sight of a minor celebrity when he spotted someone with a truly intriguing power. This girl, and the way she formed objects – weapons really – out of the air fell into this category. He watched as the girl formed the weapons in her hands and then let them melt away.

Then he realized he’d been staring, and for a little too long.

She looked up and saw an obvious mutant before her, which of course fascinated her. Aura found mutations to be fascinating because everyones powers worked differently. Even people with simmeler powers might use them entirely differently. He had been watching her and it took her a second to wonder if he was fascinated with her power or something else. This what she liked about this area of Sanctuary you got to meet a good number of mutants, that and her door was being put back on its hinges. It seemed since the door had still looked attached, no one had even bothered with it.

She stood up in a fluid motion, but her voice was friendly as she spoke. "Hello, my name is Aura, and yours?" she asked. As she stood there, her Aura seemed to fade away until it could no longer be seen, then faintly it came back into view, barely visible and not yet solid. She wondered what the other mutant could do, their were a great number of possibilities. "I am named as such for my power" she said though she was not sure it was necessary to highlight this at all.

"I live here, have for a few years" she said, her last few months being the first time she had been away in quite some time. It was home, it was safety, her being cared for her and she had things she was needed to do here. Still japan had been quite nice though crowded, far to crowded. No one had even recognized her which was strange for her. Looking around she realized other then Lisa they wer ejust about the only ones in the foyer at the moment.

The girl had spotted him. No surprise there, it’s not as though he’d been very subtle about his stare. He’d assumed the girl was going to snap at him, tell him to mind his own business. He was about to walk off and pretend that nothing had happened when she started speaking.

"Hello, my name is Aura, and yours?"

Not quite what he was expecting. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t pleased though. He hadn’t met much of anyone at the Sanctuary in his brief time spent at the shelter, and a friendly face was certainly something he was pleased to see. He never really went looking for friendship, and he didn’t really need it (as far as he was concerned, anyways) but he certainly wasn’t against it.

“I’m Shane,” he started, stuttering a little. The girl had mentioned she was named for her power, which seemed to be a trend among the few acquaintances he’d met here. He’d picked up a nickname himself over the years and was beginning to think he should start making better use of it. “I go by Shade too, if you prefer.” He added.

“I just moved here myself. Still trying to get a sense of the place.” He felt as though he were lying, possibly to himself as he said that. The word “moved” just sounded incorrect to him. It made it sound so permanent, and that made him uncomfortable. Clearly this place was going to take some getting used to.

"Well Sanctuary is big and intimidating to many." she said. She based it on what others said though. Aura had recalled only ever really living with Mutants. Many even feared to use their powers openly. Aura felt none of this, she did hide yes, but more because the humans knew her and wanted her very dead. Aura discounted the human name almost out of mental reflex, they were meaningless. They were better then Humanity and one day Humanity would be in the rightful place. "Here you can do one thing most of can't any ware else, openly use your powers, assuming of course you don't like blow stuff up." She said, pride for the Sanctuary rolled off her voice. They only had one mutant currently who caused explosions and Aura tended not to see her for one reason or another.

"If you don't mind me asking, can i ask what your gift is?" She said curious on what the man before could do with his powers. She asked most people she met it and no one had ever replied terribly to it. Surprised sometimes however was much more common. She looked him over again curiously. She also asked because she figured any mutant willing to show their powers, obviously was not a human trying to get the more colorful residence such as herself.

"My own" she said and even before the words were out of her mouth her pink aura swiftly covered her body. "Is to form weapons and armor from My Aura" To demonstrate this, she first started to angle the Aura around her leaving few flat spaces anywhere around her, this flattened out a bit, as an axe formed around her fist. The Axe melted together forming a drill this time, Aura even spun the drill a bit though only her aura spun. She liked demonstrating her powers for others. She felt their mutations were gifts that needed to be used and she made sure to use hers at every chance she got.

"If you don't mind me asking, can I ask what your gift is?"

She genuinely seemed interested in his mutation, and he liked that. Despite his desire to stay out of the public eye, he’d never say he was ashamed of who he was. Before he was able to let out a response, though, she was already on top of showing off her own.

The axe she constructed out of the pink glowing light was pretty damn cool. “How solid does that get?” he asked, genuinely intrigued. He realized he hadn’t actually answered the girl’s question, and decided that showing seemed to be a pretty solid way to explain it. His arm twisted and extended out of his jacket sleeve, the mass moving from his other arm. His stretched the clump out in an attempt to fashion an axe similar to the one she’d made.

“It’s pretty far from sharp.” He commented examining it as he polished off little imperfections. “Likely wouldn’t hurt much at all to be hit with it. I try to stick with blunt weapons if I need them." It was true. Regardless of what kind of impressive shapes he managed to form, they were still just limbs essentially, and one this thin would likely cause him more pain then his opponent.

He let his hand collapse in on itself and he turned his attention back to the girl. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Aura.” He even managed to let out a smile.

"Sharp enough to easily cut through Bone and lighter metals. I can Break a cinder Block with the hammer" She said feeling those were fairly accurate measurements When she spoke of her powers or mutant powers at all she was always full or pride. In aura's opinion it was a sad thing every mutant did not feel it and some worse still even feared their Powers or disliked them. "Amazing how much powers can be so different from each other" she said stretching her back a bit.

"Sometimes a blunt object work's much better then a sharp one." SHe commented. It was true, she could not even recall how many time she had fought with her Aura hammer to prevent herself from killing as easily or simply because she was fond of the weapon. Sometimes though she hated to admit it, leaving a stream of bloody bodies in your wake could get you killed.

"How far can the stretch?" she asked curiously as she watched his mutation happon. He turned his body into axe like hers, but Aura thought she could tell it was duller. "Do you ever form a hammer?" she asked having a fondness for the weapon itself from her own frequent use of it. SHe even watched at the transformed limb turned back into his arm. "your gift is beautiful" she went on commenting.

"I have enjoyed meeting you as well. Have you had a tour of our wonderful building?" she asked knowing sanctuary had a lot to offer mutants, certainly ones who needed help, practice or just a place to stay. Sactuary somtimes got a bed reputation and Aura did her best to dispel that.

"How far can the stretch?"

He stopped to think at this question. He’d never really though about what his limits were. It was something that was probably good to know, but he’d personally never made any effort to learn. It was more of an instinct thing usually. Once again, a demonstration seemed like it might be the best option.

“Pretty far, I would imagine. So long as there’s enough of me on the other side, I guess.” He held both of his arms out and moved the mass from one to the other. The one on the left deflating in appearance while the other looked to be swelling out of control. And then she complemented him.

If he could blush, he probably would have. "Your gift is beautiful." It was such a simple thing to say, but it was something he’d never heard before, and it filled him with an abundance of joy to hear it. In a way, he felt justified, but he wasn’t really sure in what way. He managed a smile, but couldn’t find the right words for a verbal response. There was a brief moment of silence that he hoped wasn’t as awkward as he felt it was before she brought up the Sanctuary.

“I haven’t, actually. Not really anyways.” He looked around a little bit, taking in the vastness of the space again. “I’ve mostly just been exploring on my own.” It was at this point he noticed her bag. “You new too?” He asked, The idea of a fellow new comer seemed nice to him.

"I see, so you keep the same Mass and move it" she said as she observed. She looked a bit like a kid in a candy store as she watched fascinated. It was the first time she had seen such a mutation in her life and she had seen a good number of them. "Our Mutations are a natural part of us, no different then an arm or a leg" she said. her voice was filled with pride in her people and what they could do.

""I have lived here for years, though i recently took a vacation for awhile" she said, It was not the entire truth, no her vacation had been hunting a dead man from her past. One that should have been dead but still showed up to taunt her every now and then."I know this place very well, in fact their reframing my door in my room, i sorta broke it" she said leaving out the fact that she had fallen into a rage and struck the door frame very hard with a hammer.

Aura smiled and moved past shane for a moment, scooping up a black furry creature into her arms. She turned back around, and now it was much more apparent that the creature was not simply a cat, the obvious white stripe going down his nose to his tail told anyone but Aura this was a skunk. "This is Solkat, my cat" she said. Despite being told numerous times his was no cat and even researching it she still could not understand the difference between skunks and cats.

As soon as the animal moved into his peripherals he started to jump back a bit. He’d seen enough skunks in his life to know one when he saw it, and that was most definitely not a cat. The animal didn’t seem to be agitated at all, which was a relief. Despite the fact that he could seal up his nose and block out the smell, the scent that the skunks dropped always persisted longer the he could justify going without a sense. His confusion by the whole thing was written all over his face.

“That’s… that’s not a cat.” He insisted with a slight tilt of his head. He wasn’t sure if there was a joke happening and he just didn’t get it. As far as he knew this could be some kind of prank that was pulled on new arrivals like himself. He took a paranoid glace around at his surroundings, but the few people around all couldn’t care less what was happening between the two of them. Choosing to believe that this was as strange as he felt it was, he decided to bring the conversation back to normal.

“So, you know your way around here then I take it?” His eye’s had a hard time leaving the skunk, but he managed to pry them away long enough to ask he his favour. “Would you be willing to show me around a bit then? Let me see some of the cool hidden gems.” He did want to have the most detailed mental map of the place as he could.

"yes, many have told me that but i can't seem to tell the difference" She said honestly. Aura as observant as she was had never quite been able to tell the two creatures apart. She shrugged having relegated such questions to wording differences like tomato and tomoto however. When the boy did not press the matter froward she let it drop as well. She set the skunk down who then went walking off towards the front door.

"Of course" She said with a smile. She liked showing people around the masnion, though admittedly more so when she got a cute girl to give a tour to. Still she liked this guy and had granted such a request to people she had talked much less with. [coloe=F700C5]"As you may know Sanctuary exists because Fuast Pharmaceuticals funds it, which s why things like rent and food are free[/color] she explained knowing that many thought their would be a catch somewhere.

"Follow me" she waived him on as she picked a hallway with long rows of evenly spaced dorm type rooms. "These are the living quarters as you may know, people sometimes stay over night or like me stay for years" she went on a she went to an empty room, and opened it to display a clean simple room ready for an occupant."This area sometimes needs frequent repair due to power mishaps and just anger" she said recalling a number of incidents she alone had caused.

Shane did very little to hide his pleasure as the little skunk wandered off down the hallway towards the door. His audible breath of relief was loud; to the point where he was a little concerned he could offend the girl. But really, a cat? He watched as the little creature waddled away, grabbing the nervous attention of a few people he passed on his way. He just couldn’t see the connection.

Aura managed to grab his attention again with a guided tour and the two of them headed off down the hall towards the dorms. She spoke with a level of familiarity that implied she’d done this several times before. If he didn’t know better, he’d assume she was hired by the Sanctuary to do this. She recited off facts and history about the place effortlessly, the most interesting to him being the name of a pharmaceutical company attached to the building. His eyebrow arched when he heard the name. It wasn’t something he would have expected, but he didn’t pursue it. For now free rooming seemed like a nice privilege that he intended to milk for all it was worth.

He personally hadn’t set up in any of the rooms himself yet. He didn’t really have much with him when he arrived, and he was used to carrying what he needed with him, so dropping down bags and unpacking wasn’t really a part of the move-in process for him.

“I suppose I should probably get myself one of these.” He thought to himself out loud. He examined the sample room she’d shown him for any signs of damage, but nothing jumped out at him.

"They can be nice, they each contain a bathroom, as well" She said as she watched him inspect the room. She pointed to the bathroom door in the room as she mentioned it but never ventured past the door of the room. She had the rooms memorized and did not wish to crowd Shane. "Before here i lived in a forest for a awhile" she said thinking back to those for more demanding times.

She would let Shane explore the room until he was satisfied. When he was done she would lead him further down the hull, then turning she lead him into Sanctuarys Finning hall, complete with cooks able to cook almost anything once could want. "Foods pretty good here" she said with a smile. She had learned to like several different dishes such as steak, prime rib and ham, as well as various other things she sometimes had them cook for her.

The Dining hall was large enough to receive a decent crowd. And Aura could recall days it was very crowded, now however only a handful of people sat spread out eating various dishes. "They cook almost anything" she commented aloud. She took a sniff and smiled at the scent of roasting meat. The place looked quite clean and other then some talking was fairly quite.

His gaze lingered on a few nice features of the room as he scanned it, but as they began to move on Aura managed a comment that really sparked his interest in the girl.

"Before here I lived in a forest for a awhile."

A wave of connection poured over him. “Really?” he started with a slightly tilted head. “Me too. For years actually.” He took a closer look at the girl, trying to imagine her in a setting like a forest. No matter how he spun it, the idea didn’t quite seem to make sense. He’d spent years on his own up north in the woods, but he’d rarely ever come across another human being, and he himself didn’t exactly look the part of a person. But still, the newly discovered link between the two of them was something he could get excited about.

“No skunks in your forest I guess, eh?” he joked as they rounded the corner into the dining hall. The more he was seeing of this place, the more he was reminded of the school that Gina had brought him to a few months ago. The whole idea seemed to be the same, but this place was already giving off a vibe that he felt comfortable with; something he could never say about that school.

"No, but a lot of cat's." she said obviously missing the joke entirely. "I can only hope the Forest you lived in was more pleasant then mine, or at least had less people with guns" She said looking back at the man. She was being very truthful and sincerely hoped the man had a more pleasant experience then her own. Thinking it over she realized most people lacked her forest history.

" Sanctuary houses any mutant, including those with questionable backgrounds" she said with a smile. that told her record was likely unclean. Her own record she imagined was likely the size of a large phone book and that was what they could prove on her. "The food and board here are free by the way" she said honestly. No one was ever charged at sanctuary and if the place did not take an in the less law abiding of them, it would have likely been a lonely place.

"From here we can either go to the recreation room or the library she said, even as the smell of cooking steak filled the air. She wanted let him decide which way they would end up going. She also wanted to give him time to eat if he desired.