The future was something that Skydancer had been thinking a lot about recently. It was something she had only recently allowed herself to accept was a possibility at all. Being a visible mutant wasn't the end of the world, and in fact it could be the beginning of a whole new world. One dream ending meant that another had room to begin because there could be no new beginnings without there first being an ending. Well, at least that was true in her life, though perhaps not in the lives of all others. She knew she was an obsessive sort and when she set her mind towards something, well, she was rather one tracked about it.

Skydancer found herself sitting on a plush couch in front of a large TV inside The Mansion. The TV was currently on, although she wasn't paying it the least bit of attention. There had been a pair of teenagers in there who had been watching it and had, of course, left without first turning it off. Absorbed in what she was currently doing, Skydancer barely even noticed and, once she did, didn't feel up to the effort of actually getting up to turn it off. It wasn't bothering her any and there was no one else there for it to bother, so it really wasn't doing anyone any harm.

In her hands was a book titled "The Fantastic and Unbelievable History of the American Circus". Skydancer had only just begun her training but even so early on, she knew it was the right choice. There, she could be herself, perform in front of an audience and put her mutation, purple skin and all, to good use. She was nearly half way through the book and had been at it for the last couple of hours. Knowing the history of what she was getting herself involved in was important if she was to gain the proper context and the proper respect for her new profession.

Finally, the movie on the TV screen ended, the screen went black, and credits started to roll... and roll they did, just like the girl with the short brown hair who fell flat on her face in front of the couch with an "umphf".

Maya rolled onto her back, slightly panting from the past 45 minutes that felt like days, and stared at the ceilig.

"I knew it wasn't lupus."

It was good to have a quiet evening to herself. Skydancer had always had a problems just sitting and relaxing. She was constantly driven and all too often, in those moments she did allow herself to relax, she felt guilty for doing so afterwards. After all, she should actually be doing something, not just enjoying herself. At that moment, however, she couldn't' bring herself to care and that moment was a good one.

"I knew it wasn't lupus."

Skydancer jumped 2 feet into the air and her book went flying as the strange voice came out of nowhere. "Oh my god, you scared the crap out of me!" She turned to face the voice, heart beating a million miles a minute inside her chest.

>>"Oh my god, you scared the crap out of me!"

Someone yelped and jumped, and Maya yelped and jumped in return. She was used to scaring people when she made an entrance via mirror or, more recently, TV screen, but she did not expect it to happen in the Mansion.

Also, she did not know the purple girl.

"I'm sorry" she muttered, turning around and sitting up, gathering her legs under her "I can't really choose when I get out of a movie, gotta wait till it's over. Um, have I met you before?"

The girl appearing seemingly out of nowhere jumped and yelped, echoing Skydancer's own jump and yelp. Seeing as how the mysterious newcomer was just another person, she stood a moment as her heart stopped beating quite so fast and caught her breath.

"OK, sorry about the yelling. You startled me is all. You know, with the appearing out of nowhere thing." Skydancer stood up and retrieved her book from half way across the room.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Skydancer and I guess I should get used to these sorts of things, being in a school full of mutants." She offered a sheepish smile by way of apology for her unfortunate reaction.

>>"OK, sorry about the yelling. You startled me is all. You know, with the appearing out of nowhere thing."

"'tis okay you startled me too. And I appeared from the TV, by the way. I also walk in mirrors."
Maya stood and dusted herself off, even though there was really not much to dust. She looked at the girl curiously. She was always curious about newcomers.

>>"I don't believe we've met. I'm Skydancer and I guess I should get used to these sorts of things, being in a school full of mutants."

"Yes you should" she grinned, offering a hand tentatively; if purple girl did not want to be touched, she'd understand that "Nice to meet you. My name is Maya. Welcome to the school. How do you like it so far?"

Well it was good that the girl wasn't offended by Skydancer's less that diplomatic greeting to her appearance. Though she wasn't too hard on herself; after all, the girl had just fallen out of a TV. Or something. It was a little on the confusing side.

"Nice to mee you too," Skydancer answered, extending her arm in return to shake Maya's. "I hope I'm not the only one to react to your sudden appearance like that. It's a little embarassing." Things to improve upon and all that.

"The school still seems a little bit too good to be true," Skydancer answered. She was starting to accept that things were as everyone kept saying they were but she couldn't quite get rid of that lingering bit of doubt.

>>"Nice to mee you too. I hope I'm not the only one to react to your sudden appearance like that. It's a little embarassing."

Maya chuckled at that.

"You have no idea."

At least this girl did not find Gawain in the bathroom mirror. That usually earned a similar reaction (except for Maxine, because in her case, it was a completely different kind of yelp...)

>>"The school still seems a little bit too good to be true,"

Maya nodded.

"I know, that took me some time too, you'll get used to it. It's not always peaceful and quiet, but it's the safest place in New York for mutants. And we have a pool." she grinned "So, what brought you here?"

Skydancer could image the odd reactions Maya must have gotten upon simply appearing, not to mention the potentially embarassing situations. In thinking about some of the trials other mutants had to go through because of their powers, she was rather thankful, just then, that her powers weren't the invasive or even especially inconvenient sort.

"Here and Sanctuary is what I've heard, Skydancer answered, feeling mroe at ease now. She was still curious about that other place, her research into having, as of yet, not been entirely successful. "I might just have to check out that pool." Now that wasn't something anyone had told her about and it was something more than a little appealing.

"So, what brought you here?"

"You mean aside from being purple?" Although she had become more accepting of her skin in recent weeks, she still couldn't quite get rid of the hint of bitterness in her voice. "But really, I was living on the streets for a while and then Saph found me and brought me here."

>>"Here and Sanctuary is what I've heard. I might just have to check out that pool."

Maya wrinkled her nose at the mention fo the Sanctuary. Yeah sure, safe, apart from psychotic serial killers *cough*Aura*cough*.



"Oh" Maya grinned "Haven't seen that bastard around for a while. He's okay when he shows up. I'm glad you ran into him. I did my time on the streets too before I ended up here... a while ago. You'll like it."

She moved over to sit by her on the couch.

"So, Skydancer... is that your real name?... Is your ability simply being purple, or is there more to it?"

Maya's expression belied the fact that she didn't think particularly highly of Sanctuary, but Skydancer was used to that by now. It seemed like just about everyone she had met hadn't had a high opinion of the place, which only served to reinforce her motivation to actually see it for herself. In seeing it for herself she could make up her own mind, rather than let others make up her mind for her.

"Seems like a lot of mutants ended up on the streets for a stint," Skydancer replied with a grimace. "It just doesn't seem fair." Maybe the world wasn't entirely fair but that didn't mean she had to like it or accept it.

Skydancer shifted her position to make a little more room on the couch available for Maya. "Nope, not my real name. Real name is Devyn, but Skydancer seemed more fitting once I left home." She grinned at the question about her powers. For all that being purple had its inconveniences, her powers were pretty impressive. Instead of answering she demonstrated as a purple tube appeared and burst out from the underside of her wrist, extending about a foot. She wiggled it around, displaying its pointed tip and range of movement before reeling it back under her skin, which sealed flawlessly a few seconds later. "I've got a bunch of them under my skin. They're really strong and I can swing on them, which is kind of where I got the name from."

>> "Nope, not my real name. Real name is Devyn, but Skydancer seemed more fitting once I left home."

Maya nodded. That was part of the mutant (and street kid) code: if nothing else went your way in your life, at least you always got to decide what you wanted to be called. Choosing your mutant name was kind of a ritual, and everyone else respected that.

"They call me Mirror sometimes." she added. She'd explain the Gawain-Maya thing later on.

She tilted her head and watched closely; she could tell from Skydancer's gestures that she was going to demonstrate her powers. Still, she jumped a bit when the tube appeared, and watched it curiously.

>>"I've got a bunch of them under my skin. They're really strong and I can swing on them, which is kind of where I got the name from."

"Wow" Maya grinned, watching the tube disappear "That's so cool."

It really was. Once again, she was amazed at the diversity of the X gene.

"So... what's the plan? I mean, apart from training with mutations and all the fun stuff. School?"

"Mirror sounds fitting if you can come and go from mirrors." It was a little less obvious than her own chosen name but she liked the fact that her name was related to her ability only in a round about sort of way.

"Wow. That's so cool."

"Thanks," Skydancer grinned back. The powers were the best part of being a mutant and the reason why becoming one had been her greatest ambition when she was a child. Just because her ambitions had turned out to be a little tainted and niave in the end didn't take away from the fact that it was awesome to have powers.

"So... what's the plan? I mean, apart from training with mutations and all the fun stuff. School?"

"The plan is to join the circus as an acrobat." No, it wasn't something she could have ever possibly imagined herself doing while still in high school, but it was nevertheless exactly what she planned on doing now and she was having a blast learning. She couldn't wait for her first live performance. "As for the rest of it, I have no idea. I'm going to learn martial arts with Koga and...well, I guess you could say that's about the gist of my plans." Skydancer shrugged. The whole future thing was still a little confusing and up in the air.

>>"The plan is to join the circus as an acrobat. As for the rest of it, I have no idea. I'm going to learn martial arts with Koga and...well, I guess you could say that's about the gist of my plans."

Maya smirked.

"Koga's a good teacher for that" she nodded. She had not seen the guy around for a while, but if he was back, all the better for everybody.

"Also, circus? Neat." she grinned. She could see the girl as an acrobat. She had the build and the mutation to be exceptional. "Good plan. In the meantime, you can always take classes in the school if you want. That's what I'm doing... haven't figured out yet where I'm gonna go from here. Being on the team is about enough for now."

"Koga seems like a good person. He's the one who really helped make me feel welcome here." There were still moments that Skydancer wasn't entirely sure she belonged where she was now, but without meeting Koga she wasn't sure she would have any sense of belonging at all.

"The classes leading to a future thing is something I still have no idea about," Skydancer grimaced at the thought. That seemed to be coming up a lot lately and she didn't have any more idea at that moment than she had weeks ago when it first reared its head.

"What team would that be?" Skydancer asked, not bothering to hide her curiosity. Now that seemed like something worth knowing about, whatever it was. Hadn't Koga made some vague mention about a team as well? Her thoughts had been too jumbled then to really ask about it, but now seemed like the perfect opportunity.