Only last night Skydancer had been brought to The Mansion and slept under an actual full roof for the first time in months. When she had first left home it was with a pocketful of money, curtasy of her parents. Unfortunately the money didn't last nearly as long as she had originally thought and it wasn't long before she was sleeping on the streets and stealing food in order to survive. New York had been her goal right from the beginning but even after she made it, things didn't exactly take an upward turn. That was, of course, until the masked man and Aura had found her huddled in an alley, cold, miserable and hungry. She could have gone with either one of them, but in the end had gone with the masked man.

Skydancer didn't know if she made the right decision or not in going to The Mansion and eventually intended to see that Sanctuary place for herself. So far she hadn't found much of a reason to trust either of the two mutants she had first encountered. So it seemed to her at least, but she felt as if they both looked at her as little more than the spoils of some fundamental conflict that she neither new anything about nor did she particularly care about getting involved with. All she wanted was a safe and warm place to stay, at least until she could figure out where to go with her life from there. What kind of life was even possible for a mutant like her?

Not feeling comfortable really in The Mansion, Skydancer took the opportunity to leave as soon as the weather turned nice again, the very next night as it turned out. She was planning on coming back, of course, or at least probably planning on coming back. It wasn't as if she had a lot of choices available to her, so it was either go back, go to Sanctuary which might not be any better and might be very much worse, or go back to the streets which was the least appealing idea of all. No, for now she just wanted some time to herself, to think and consider her options.

For a long while, Skydancer wasn't certain how long but it had to have been at least a couple hours, she walked, looking up occasionally at the rooftops for an appropriate bar or antenna to grab onto. Finally she spotted it, a satellite dish on top of a 2 story apartment. Taking careful aim and positioning herself at the edge of the building, a purple tube burst from her upper chest and wrapped itself securely around the satellite. In a matter of moments it had pulled the rest of her body onto the roof and retreated back where it had come, her skin healing over perfectly. She winced slightly at the pain before taking the time to look around. She always had thought best when high up.

It was very nice to have a real place to sleep instead of trying to find someplace either warm or with a large enough hole to let in the sun. Dahlia was immensely grateful to Kaitlyn for bringing her there. However despite the very obvious pro-mutant sentiment there, Dahlia still wasn't comfortable. Oh the rooms were very nice! Nicer than she'd expected since it was described as a homeless shelter actually. The people were great too. But Dahlia still couldn't wrap her head around the real pride most of the residents seemed to have in what they were. She could fake it and did so that no one tried to cheer her up. However the fact of the matter was that she looked monstrous so why should she actually be happy about that?

Being uncomfortable with that atmosphere, Dahlia had left for the day. She did that fairly often. It was easier to endure the stares and slurs of strangers on the streets than to stay put in the Sanctuary either be told to be proud or see so many examples of it. Being out in the city made it easier to remind herself that being like this was normal at all and probably not a good thing. Despite the dour thoughts the 13 year old chameleon girl was thinking she maintained a mostly cheerful outward disposition. Her skin was mostly yellow with only a few dark blue spots here and there. Dahlia just pretended that they weren't there or that she'd put them there as decoration.

A bright idea occurred to her and the blue lessened a bit more as she shifted the pattern of her colors so that the spots of blue were aligned in a line down her tail. That way they looked like they were meant to be there! With that little detail taken care of Dahlia shivered as she squeezed between a couple of guys. The sun was going down and she wanted to catch the last little bit of sun before nighttime forced her to return to the Sanctuary. Spotting a two story apartment building, Dahlia darted down an alley once she spotted the fire escape attached to it's side. As good as she was at climbing it really wasn't any challenge for her to scramble up the fire escape without even having to use the stairs. She did spot a kid staring at her from the alley entrance at one point but Dahlia was focused on getting up on the roof.

Once there she had only basked in the few bits of sun for a moment before realizing that there was someone else up there. Someone that looked just as strange if not stranger than she did.

"Hi!"

Dahlia's exclamation wasn't entirely full of false cheer. Meeting someone as weird looking as her made Dahlia feel a bit better about being a freak among freaks.

Skydancer knew she shouldn't let herself wallow in her own self pity, but what else was left for her? The one thing she thought would be the most wonderful of dreams had turned out to be a horrible curse. How could things have gotten so wrong so quickly? Yet there was nothing to do about the way fate had settled upon her now except to deal with it and try to make the best of it, whatever that might mean. She still had no idea.

"Hi!"

Skydancer visibly jumped at the uttered word, spinning around and two tubes shooting out of her wrists towards the speaker. She halted them just before they reached the small figure, vowing that next time she wouldn't be taken unaware. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had the ability to climb atop roofs.

Even knowing how much she hated when others stared at her, it was an effort for Skydancer not to stare at the colourful person in front of her, though she was pretty sure she didn't stare too much. Colourful definitely was the first and best adjective to come to mind and the second adjective was reptile. It was the first mutant that she had ever encountered that looked just as strange, if not stranger, than she did.

"I'm sorry, you startled me." Realizing that she had almost impaled the lizard girl with her tubes she carefully retracted them back into her wrists. "I haven't really met any other mutants who could scale buildings." It was strangely exciting to meet another freak mutant, although she hadn't the faintest idea how, exactly, she was supposed to react. She extended a purple hand towards the lizard. "I'm Skydancer."

Purple tubes shot out of the other person's wrists at Dahlia's enthusiastic greeting. Maybe she should have let the other person know she was there first? Just as she was about to duck the tubes stopped and the other person, Dahlia thought she was a girl like her, seemed to stare at her for a moment. The feeling was mutual. Whoever this person was she was the oddest mutant that Dahlia had met other than herself. They were clear purple but the purple tubes ran all over and were some sort of attack? It was really strange so Dahlia let herself stare too.

"It's ok. I should have let you know I was here."

Dahlia grinned and flexed her two fingered hands at the new mutant.

"I was pretty good at climbing before this. Now I'm even better! Didn't even have to use the stairs!"

She feigned swelling with pride over the accomplishment. Keeping one eye on the other person's face and the other on the extended hand, Dahlia cocked her head to one side. She hadn't really shook hands since her hands had changed. Still, she extended her hand to Skydancer so that the other girl could grasp it and shake it.

"I'm Dahlia!"

After the brief handshake Dahlia moved so that she was once again in the sunlight as the feeble rays shifted.

"Cold blooded. Gotta keep warm."

She didn't seem apologetic at all. Nope, Dahlia just sounded like she was explaining something.

For once in her life Skydancer didn't actually mind the fact that someone was staring at her because, quite frankly, the colourful lizard girl was rather fascinating in her own right and if she was staring it couldn't be considered rude if Skydancer stared a little as well, could it? She grinned down at the girl and the grin was only a little bit feigned.

It was a little strange shaking hands with a giant lizard and feeling scales under her own hands instead of flesh, but Skydancer was the last one to judge. Changing into one of the monsters that went bump in the night really did something for one's own perceptions of the world. When you were the monster, what was there left to be afraid of? Certainly not brightly coloured lizard girls, especially when said lizard girl appeared to be friendly.

"Nice to meet you Dahlia. I'm not much for stairs either." Skydancer pointed towards the satellite she had grabbed onto with one of her tubes, as if that explained everything. Which, if she had really stopped to think about it, she might of realized that it really didn't explain much at all unless the person she was explaining it to had an idea of what her power could actually do.

"Cold blooded. Gotta keep warm."

Skydancer nodded, as if it was a regular occurrence people coming up to her and saying they were cold blooded. Nope, nothing strange there at all. "Have you always looked like that?" Nope, not rude at all and besides, even if it was rude how often was she really likely to have the opportunity to talk to another freak like her? They were alike, her and Dahlia, alike in the fact that they were both freaks; the kinds of mutants that everyone seemed to hate or fear or sometimes both. Surely that meant something, didn't it?

Pointing at the satellite dish hadn't really done anything to explain how Skydancer had gotten up here but Dahlia wasn't going to press her for an explanation. Maybe those tube things did more than attack? Thinking about it was pointless as Skydancer nodded to Dahlia's explanation for moving as though it were the most obvious and normal thing in the world. The question about whether she'd always looked like that caught Dahlia a little bit off guard but after a minute or two she shook her head. What was a confession of monsterhood between fellow weirdos right?

"Nope! Happened a little over a month ago, at dinner. Mom and dad didn't take it so good so I ran away. Lived on the streets up until a little while ago when a nice girl named Kaitlyn took me to the Sanctuary! It's a nice place."

Even if they were a little too enthusiastic about being mutants, the Sanctuary was a nice place. At the least Dahlia was grateful for the free bed and food.

"So what about you?"

This was like mutant show and tell right? So now that Dahlia had told Skydancer about how long she'd had her mutation, Skydancer could do the same right? One of her eyes always remained on Skydancer while the other surveyed the area around her. And hopefully Skydancer wouldn't ask why Dahlia was staying close by because she didn't want to have to admit to her bad hearing at all!

Skydancer felt sad for the girl that the normal life she was sure to have led before she abruptly changed had been so recently taken from her. At least Skydancer had a few years to acclimitize herself to her new life as one of the creepy baddies of the world, not so the poor lizard girl. It was even worse to think that the girl's parents hadn't accepted her and she had to run away. In a way Skydancer had run away as well, but not because her parentsno longer loved her but to protect her parents, which seemed better somehow to her. Although, really looking at her, it seemed like she was coping a lot better than Skydancer was so maybe she actually enjoyed her new life. Stranger things, perhaps, had happened.

"I changed a few years ago." Skydancer never had been particularly skilled at hiding her emotions and now was no exception. She kicked a stray rock that had somehow made its way onto the roof. "Its not like its all bad or anything and having powers is pretty cool, I just wish I didn't look so...freakish." Did that make her a horribly shallow person? Maybe.

Skydancer's ears perked at the mention of Sanctuary. It was another check that Sanctuary was a good place which brought the tally to one against and two for, so far. "Do you know a young woman by the name of Aura? I met her the other day and she suggested Sanctuary." A pause for thought. "Also, do you know of any rumours of murders going on around there?" It couldn't hurt to ask, especially since she was still considering her options regarding where to stay.

Wow so Skydancer had been a mutant for years? That was amazing. Dahlia couldn't imagine that. Though apparently Sky felt the same way Dahlia did. Sure having powers was cool for some folks but looking freakish really did suck. Dahlia nodded and her skin took on a mostly dark blue hue that it rarely sported.

"Yeah, not the greatest. But at least I don't have to do laundry and I never have to worry about what to wear!"

Dahlia did her best to sound cheerful and upbeat. Sure she sympathized with Sky but Sky didn't need to know exactly how much. Besides, all to quickly Sky was asking about the Sanctuary. That suited Dahlia fine. She spun in place in an effort to seem random before answering.

"If I've seen her then I've never been introduced to her. I'm still really new there."

Both of Dahlia's eyes swiveled to focus on Sky when she mentioned murders happening near the Sanctuary. Murders?! That was very bad and very scary! She really hoped that there weren't such things happening near her new home!

"Um, if there are I haven't heard about them. But I'm still really new there. I hope it's not true. Murders, that's scary!"

Dahlia shuddered, both from the waning light and the mere idea of people being killed near the Sanctuary. The people at the Sanctuary had been really nice to take her in. She didn't want them to get killed!

"I guess its kind of neat that you can change colours," Skydancer agreed. She didn't want her own profound cynicism and bitterness get the lizard girl too down. Quite the opposite, perhaps this was a chance to look at things from a new perspective. If she could take her mutation in stride, then why couldn't Skydancer? It wasn't really all bad, after all, was it?

Skydancer watched in fascination as Dahlia's eyes swivelled to look at different places. "Is that, you know, hard to focus on? Being able to see in two directions at once?" Or maybe it was kind of like her own mutation and her brain had adapted to having eyes that could see in multiple directions. It would make sense really. Anyway, it wasn't really any stranger than having a couple dozen tentacle tubes. Mutants, she was coming to learn, were a strange group of people.

"Um, if there are I haven't heard about them. But I'm still really new there. I hope it's not true. Murders, that's scary!"

"You mean the murders were a lie?" Skydancer frowned at the thought. Her rescuer who had brought her safe and sound to The Mansion had at least seemed honest, if not entirely forthcoming about his motives, but what if he hadn't been? What if he was so determined to have her on his side in the proverbial war that he had outright lied to her about the true nature of Sanctuary? If he had lied about that then it stood to reason that perhaps he had lied about Aura being dangerous as well and with no murders to consider, there would have been nothing to convince Skydancer to go to The Mansion over Sanctuary. Aura, at least, hadn't hidden her face under a mask. Which was all the more reason that she had to go see Sanctuary for herself and she had to do so soon.

"I really don't know what to make of this city or anyone here," Skydancer stated despondently. She sat down in a slump, not at all concerned about the dirt on the rooftop. A year on the streets would fairly quickly remove any anxiety about a little dirt. "How do you know who to trust when everyone seems to have ulterior motives?"

Dahlia bobbed her head enthusiastically to Sky's somewhat less sure pronouncement of her ability to change colors being cool.

"I can't actually change the colors themselves yet but I can change the patterns. I don't know if I can actually change the colors myself. It hasn't worked so far but you never know!"

The follow up question about her eyes had Dahlia swiveling her eyes this way and that just to show off. One eye eventually fixed on Sky and she gave the other mutant a close mouthed smile, or something that came close.

"Not really but the change in colors was weird for a little while. I looked it up in the Sanctuary library just the other day. I can see ultraviolet!"

She hadn't known what the extra colors meant until she'd looked it up. All she'd known was that everything was a lot more colorful after she'd changed. The wider range of vision had been weird at first too. It took a little bit for Dahlia to break out of the habit of just looking ahead of her because that was what she was used to. Being able to see in every direction around her was so much more useful. On the subject of the murders Dahlia shrugged.

"I dunno. I sure hope so. That's just scary to think about! People aren't supposed to kill other people. It's mean and the bible and the law both say it's bad!"

Sky seemed to get really sad and Dahlia forsook her patch of sunlight to go over and sit in front of the other freak.

"Most people are good most of the time! It's just that this is a big city so there's gonna to be a lot of mean people too. You'll find someone nice soon I'm sure!"

Dahlia was sure of that. People were good. She was as sure of that as she was sure that she and Sky were freaks among freaks.

Hearing Dahlia talk about her own abilities to see different colours and change the patterns on her skin, not to mention the way her eyes could swivel back and forth like that, made Skydancer even more keenly aware that she was a freak even among freaks. The lizard girl was bright and colourful and just generally interesting, while Skydancer just looked like some sort of weird purple alien. Lizards were cute and innocuous, non-threatening and people kept them as pets sometimes. She didn't even know what she, herself was, but cute and petlike were two words that definitely did not apply.

"Seeing in ultraviolet must be really cool," Skydancer answered with a smile. She had learned quickly the skills of hiding what she was really thinking. Sometimes appearing confident or happy could mean the difference between being left alone and becoming the victim and she hated being the victim. Nor was she much of a fan of talking about her emotions.

"I dunno. I sure hope so. That's just scary to think about! People aren't supposed to kill other people. It's mean and the bible and the law both say it's bad!"

It was only with those words that Skydancer realized just how young the lizard girl was. It wasn't particularly easy to tell with all the scales and bright colours, but the way she talked was the way a young teenager would talk. It probably should have been obvious with the fact that she had all ready said her powers had only recently appeared, but she remembered her aunt telling her that she had been almost 18 by the time her's had appeared and Skydancer had just assumed that Dahlia was closer to her own age. It was a lot to go through, for such a young girl.

"Most people are good most of the time! It's just that this is a big city so there's gonna to be a lot of mean people too. You'll find someone nice soon I'm sure!"

"I'm sure they are," Skydancer agreed. She made an effort to appear more positive. Just because she was feeling depressed and bitter didn't mean she had to bring Dahlia down too. "I guess its just been a long last couple of months. I didn't mean to bring you down." She tried a grin on for size and found it mostly fit.

It was kinda cool. It didn't make up for being a freak but being able to see ultraviolet was sorta cool. Really though Sky was lucky. At least she still looked human. Dahlia couldn't even claim that. She was just an overgrown animal now. Hiding her sadness behind a facade of happiness was easy enough. You had to look like you were in charge or they'd target you. So when Sky apologized for being a little sad Dahlia just waved it off.

"No problem! I mean, mutants like us have it harder than the normal ones. Everyone gets sad and we deserve to be sad a little more often because of that."

Dahlia looked at Sky. She really was fun to look at but Dahlia's gaze didn't stay too long. She shivered again and as she did got an idea.

"Say, did you wanna go see the Sanctuary for yourself? I gotta go back soon anyway and we could ask someone about those murder rumors. I really don't wanna stay there if murders really have happened there!"

Though Dahlia wasn't sure where she would go if she left the Sanctuary. Back to the streets probably. There were plenty of people she could steal a meal from.

"Of course it's totally ok if you don't. I mean we just met and all. It's just that you're the first mutant I've met that didn't look like all the other humans out there and it's kinda nice being around someone else like that."

Oh goodness she'd just went on a babbling spree again. Dahlia took a couple of breathes and hoped that Sky wouldn't connect her current bright red color with her emotions!

"No problem! I mean, mutants like us have it harder than the normal ones. Everyone gets sad and we deserve to be sad a little more often because of that."

Skydancer nodded. The girl really was an inspriation for people like her. She was so strong and brave, taking everything in stride in a way Skydancer had never been able to do. If she was smart she'd learn from the little lizard girl. In fact, she vowed, that's exactly what she'd do. If Dahlia could remain posative in light of all the difficulties of being a freak, then why couldn't she?

"Say, did you wanna go see the Sanctuary for yourself? I gotta go back soon anyway and we could ask someone about those murder rumors. I really don't wanna stay there if murders really have happened there!"

"I would love to," Skydancer agreed and this time her smile was genuine. Seeing Sanctuary for herself was exactly what she needed to do in order to increase her own options. If anyone was going to try to force her to become a pawn in a war she wanted no part of, then the least she could do was at least educate herself on the two sides of the conflict. Besides, if the rumours of the murders were true, then would it be right of her to have Dahlia stay there, young as she was? She seemed to be doing well enough, true, but the risk of murder and law breaking was nothing that a young girl should have to go through.

"Of course it's totally ok if you don't. I mean we just met and all. It's just that you're the first mutant I've met that didn't look like all the other humans out there and it's kinda nice being around someone else like that."

"You're the first mutant I've met that didn't look human too. Maybe we should start a club for us freaks or something?" Skydancer winked at the girl as she got to her feet. "I'm guessing you can make you're own way down?" She walked to the edge of the building, preparing to jump.

Dahlia's features visibly brightened, literally in the case of her colors, as Sky agreed to come with her to the Sanctuary. A new friend! Why she could almost forget she was a freak if she had friends! So bringing a new one back to the Sanctuary was awesome. Plus maybe it sorta paid forward her own debt for being brought there in the first place? After all, Dahlia would never have found the place so quickly if it weren't for Kaitlyn. If she ever got the beads and such to make jewelry again Dahlia swore that she'd make a pretty bracelet for Kaitlyn. And as an extra bonus Sky seemed much happier now. She was smiling and everything! Dahlia eyed the side of the building where the fire escape stood with one eye.

"A club for non-human looking mutants? That sounds so cool!" Dahlia nodded to Sky when asked whether she had a way down or not. "Yup! I'll just climb down the way I came up! Meet you at the bottom!"

With that Dahlia scampered over to the side of the building as quickly as her scaly feet could carry her. With a tiny jump she was climbing back down the side of the building in the same manner she had come up. One minute down the building and another to the end of the alley and Dahlia was ready to lead the expedition to the Sanctuary.

Skydancer was happy that she had so obviously managed to make the little lizard girl happy. Life was so much more pleasant when joy was a part of it and it had been such a long time since she had experienced any sort of joy. A little voice at the back of her head told her that she didn't deserve happiness, not after what she had allowed to happen to her brother, but she tried to ignore it. "Do you think there are many of us freaky looking mutants around? I've only really met you and you seem pretty nice." Maybe it was time she embrace her state. Maybe.

Skydancer nodded at Dahlia as she began scurrying down the ladder. For anyone who happened to be looking, it might have appeared as if Skydancer jumped right from the top of the building onto the ground. In truth, however, what she did was a little less spectacular. Four tubes emerged from Skydancer's waist and shot down to the ground. They remained there, one on each corner, splayed out rather like the legs of a four legged spider. Once her landing was secured, she simply stepped off of the top of the building and was lowered gently to the ground by her four tubes. Sometimes it was good to be a mutant.

It took Skydancer about the same amount of time as it took Dahlia and she met her new friend at the bottom of the building. "So, care to lead the way to this Sanctuary place?" Certainly Dahlia was a different sort than the type Saph had suggested lived at Sanctuary, so perhaps the rest of the place was different than expected too. Strangely, she really hoped that was the case and she also kind of hoped Aura wasn't the psychopathic killer that he had accused her of being. Only one way to find out, however, and that was to actually go there and see for herself.