It had been awhile since Syn had gone for a walk. The last time she had she ran into Miles and shown him Sanctuary, but that was during the day. This was a night time walk however. It was a calm clear night with a comfortable evening temperature. Syn wore a tight half shirt with a black mini skirt. The night air felt good on her exposed skin. She didn’t have a specific destination. Tonight was just a journey to wherever her feet took her.

The sun had set hours ago, but New York was earning its nickname once again. The night hardly phased the hustle and bustle of the City that Never Sleeps as the streets were still crowded with cars and people alike. However, the night brought with it a very different crowd than the day's tourists and business folks. Instead, the entertainers, party goers, freaks, and other more suspicious characters filled the streets, each searching for their own type of score from the night.

In addition, the darkness enabled a certain mutant to move around freely. Grim's powers had faded in the sunlight and now, he was almost useless during the day. However, the night still led its power to render him invisible even if he must stay well away from the wicked street lamps.

Although Grim did not necessarily like the light, he must definitely needed it for certain tasks like lighting a cigarette. You know how hard it is to light something you can't see? So Grim was leaning against a light post puffing on the last little bit of his newly formed habit when a flash of red caught his eye. He inhaled sharply as if seeing a ghost. The toxic fumes collided with his lung tissue, causing him to cough horribly.

There was no way it could be who Grim thought he had seen. She was dead. Fighting to see through the tears forming in his eyes from the pain, the shadow mutant caught another glimpse of red hair before it disappeared again. Locking on to it, Shade slipped back into the shadows disappearing from view as his mutation awakened. He was going to follow this copycat to wherever she might be headed. Maybe that would explain how and why this woman looked exactly like his former boss.

Most of Sanctuary had gone to sleep or at least to their rooms, Aurion did not. He kept strange hours, not always sleeping at the same time every day or for a specific length of time. In this case he had decided against sleep, at least for the time being. Instead he had made his way to the kitchen and into the well stocked fridge. He wasn't sure why so many were sitting there, but he wasn't going to question coming across a number of large, fresh steaks.

As he sometimes did, Aurion made his way outside and up to the top of sanctuary. There he stood, well, knelt actually, on the roof's edge like a living gargoyle. He was still as one too, the only thing giving him away was the motion of his long tail as it moved lazily from side to side, and his tearing into the steaks, sometimes tearing chunks off of one before tossing it into the air and catching it in his mouth to swallow whole. It was great up there, above just about anyone. People hardly never look up, and when they do, if they saw anything,especially at night, they convince themselves their eyes were playing tricks on them. It effectively made him invisible. And to him, there was hardly a difference in light from midday to midnight.

Since the main door was almost directly beneath him Aurion didn't see Syn exit Sanctuary, but when he scanned the area he noticed her. Actually the first thing he noticed was that someone had appeared, and was walking away from Sanc that hadn't been walking towards it the last time he had looked around, and not much time had passed since then. He blinked in mild confusion a few times, with a head scratch, as the woman moved further from the building.

Maybe he was being nosy, but Aurion did a little hop and skip off away from the roof's edge as he gobbled the last of the steaks. With a little stomp he dug his claws into the roof of Sanc and leaped to the roof of the neighboring building. It was a ways, but his legs were up to the task. For someone as large as he was, he landed quite deftly, scrambling to the top of that building and to the sidewalk edge of it. He was more or less above the woman and couldn't make out her face, but he thought he recognized the hair. He gathered speed and went to the next building in line.

With a quick glance he saw he was ahead of her and dropped over the edge at the building's corner furthest away from her. He let himself drop a nice distance before he locked all his claws into the building to halt his downward momentum. 'Nice.' He thought to himself. The angle was good, now he just needed to wait until she looked in his general direction to be sure. And....There! 'It is her.'

He had got to thinking he should get to know the other Orderlings. It had occurred to him that he really knew little of the other Order members. Hanging on the corner of the building as Syn walked closer, Aurion realized this was possibly one of the worst ways to do that. 'A little stalkerish don't ya think?' He made a gruff look at himself in his head. 'It seemed like a good idea at the time...' 'Of course it did, a lot of bad ideas seem like good ones at the time. Dummy. Think a little eh? You keep saying you're not dumb.' 'Oh shut up! I know, sheesh! ....Wait, why the hell am I arguing with myself instead of doing something, like getting out of here?' 'Because you're cracked man, that's why!' 'Shuddup!' Aurion was laughing at himself, in his head. 'Maybe I really am cracked...' He thought more glumly as he jumped up the wall.

Reaching the top, he gave himself one last push with his legs and pull with his arms. He went up into the air, let go with both hands, twisted midair and latched on to the edge with one clawed hand and arced, landing deftly on all fours. He was going to keep an eye on Syn until he figured out a way to approach her without looking like a freak. 'That's a better idea....' He made a face at the thought.

He quickly moved a few buildings down so he could watch easier without having to move as often, which would make it more likely he would be noticed. Aurion's gaze inevitably drifted from the woman to the rest of the area. It was all fairly normal for a New York night. Thinking that way he nearly missed it completely. There had been someone standing under a streetlight a few moments ago facing towards Syn. Aurion hadn't thought anything of it when he checked on the woman again. His gaze drifted back towards where the person had been and he blinked.

That's when he had to make himself look, closely. There had been someone there...and then, there wasn't. He scanned around the light..No one. If they had walked away, he would have seen them, but they hadn't. They simply were there, then, they weren't. Tail shaking in agitation, Aurion checked Syn's position again, not liking that someone had just POOFED! and gone.

Over the edge of the building he went, not thinking of stopping until he was halfway down. Claws into the building, he flipped head over heals, quite literally, going down head first. With another claw dig, he cut his momentum in half again as he flipped once more. As soon as his feet hit the wall, he pushed off with all his limbs and landed on the nearest streetlamp, bending it on impact. Not having a good grip, he slid and went head first, but caught himself by wrapping his tail around the streetlamp.

That hadn't been what he was going for, not that he had panned anything, but really, just about anything would have been a better entrance than that. He probably looked like a fool, hanging upside down from a streetlamp. He was facing towards Syn now. Lifting a hand near his head, he did a little wave towards her. "Uh...Hi." 'Smoooooth, dude, very smooth. He'd beat that voice in his head someday.

On her journey Syn periodically made glances around her with only slight tilts of her head in either direction. She did this to try to keep herself aware of her surroundings but she also did it incase something caught her eye. For the most part it was a typical night. Random people walking about or hanging out near a building or occasionally a street light.

She caught a glance at a figure hanging out at such a location, but once she had put his position into memory her eyes moved off to something else. A rather rough sounding cough resounded from the general direction from where she had seen the person by the light. With another quick glance the figure was gone, but Syn’s pace and direction didn’t change. She figured the person may have been sick or something and moved off to go home possibly.

Passing a few more buildings on her stroll Syn did catch a rather noticeable figure which she gave her full attention to. How could she not? This figure was hanging from a streetlamp by a tail, and it wasn’t her brother. The rather abrupt appearance made the dark princess pause and catch her breath. This quickly changed to a more sincere posture and expression as she raised an eyebrow and tilted her head a bit. “Hello.” Syn paused for a moment then decided to warn the large reptile mane. “You really need to stop dropping in around me like that. What’s your name anyways?”

Grim did not like surprises. He was the one who was suppose to catch others off guard. And he definitely did not like feeling embarrassed. It made him feel weak and vulnerable, like he was trapped in the daylight with no dark shadow to hide in. Grim hated that feeling. It made him feel like everyone was watching him.

Well, that red haired impostor had caused the shadow mutant to feel that way, and now, he hated her too. His fingers slid delicately over the black knife he had formed in the pocket of his hoodie as he contemplated the idea of killing the woman.

Jumping across the street, Grim reappeared out of a darkened alleyway. He had anticipated the Syn look-a-like to keep walking along her path, and Grim could slip in behind her. However, she had stopped...to talk to a large lizard, putting him out in front of her. Was the lizard mutant an accomplice of hers? Grim had to find out. This could be important information for the Order, but he had to get closer. Slowly, he began to make his way with the crowd towards the two mutants, trying to stay behind a large crowd of people or slipping into a doorway to not draw attention to himself.

Aurion hung from the light, swaying a little in the light breeze. His brow knitted together slightly as he tried to understand Syn's suggestion, which to him sounded more like a warning. A warning that was said politely, casually and maybe a bit friendly? But definitely a heads up. Pursing his lips to the side a little he let out a breath. "Why? You no go boom like Kaitlyn...will you?" Her reaction was a lot better than he had expected, but he was surprised that his fall and sudden appearance hadn't done more than make her pause and stop her walking.

Aurion's eyes flicked to a man who was just then getting up after falling to the ground at his sudden and unusual arrival. He flashed the man a large, wide smile of his serrated, needle-like teeth. The man squeaked, actually squeaked! and scrambled off. Aurion followed his departure until he was out of his field of vision. Turning back to Syn. "Aurion." His name coming out smoothly as he emphasized each syllable. Though he was looking at and talking to her, he looked at the people behind her. "And you Syn. Jupiter's sister."

The slight smile he had worn faltered a bit as he thought he saw someone appear then disappear again a slight ways behind Syn. "I was," He stressed the word, "Curious where you going..." With a little snap of his body and tail, Aurion executed a mid-air cartwheel. He landed lightly in a slight crouch, staring behind Syn. He shrugged, "Family look out for Family." Moving closer to her, he dropped his voice to a whisper. "I think you followed." His slitted, yellow, cat-like eyes glowed softly with reflective light as he tried to catch her eye, trying to convey more information that he thought he could give her in words.

Shaking her head as images of Kaitlyn appeared in her mind Syn wasn’t sure if she was about to disappoint the mutant or just the opposite. “No, I don’t explode like Kaitlyn does. You just have a very close resemblance to a nightmare I had once. Though looking at you more closely I can see you aren’t that same image.” She finished with a friendly smile.

Listening to Aurion speak Syn guessed the mutant was a male. This was her first time seeing a mutant so fully transformed as the one before her. She had grown accustomed to the other mutants normally surrounding her who looked more human. She had to remind herself that there are all types of mutants in the world.

Smiling a little she watched as a human passerby was scared off by the large mutant. “Yes Aurion, you are correct. I am sister to all of the big red guys like Jupiter. As to where I’m going…I didn’t have a specific destination in mind. I just wanted to get out and see what might catch my eye.”

Her eyes widened as Aurion dismounted the street lamp and landed. He was quite agile for his size. That could come in handy she thought. Aurion’s words about family were very similar to what Amber had said to Syn when they first met. The relationship with Amber was different, unless her brother had adopted Aurion as well. She really did need to have a talk with him about all that, but it would have to wait as Aurion whispered a possible warning.

It was very possible that she was being followed for any number of reasons. “Does that mean you’re going to protect me?” She spoke in a slightly sweet and helpless tone. “Just don’t hurt whoever it is too bad. I’d like to know what’s going on.”

The shadow mutant sat down next to a homeless man who was noisily shaking a coffee can with a small amount of change rattling inside. With his dark hoodie and torn jeans, Grim did not look out of place beside hobo. However, his shoes gave them away. They were far too clean and were not falling to pieces like the rags the man next to him had wrapped around his scarred feet.

From the tiny bits of conversation Grim managed to hear, it did not appear the reptile was very smart. The imposter had been able to convince him that she was indeed the Evil Queen herself. And where she was going? She dodged that question with relative ease. Oh, Grim would love to know where she was going too, so he could dispatch with them as well, but he couldn't wait. Not with this large lizard about to spill the secrets of the Order to this fake.

Rising from his seat, the shadow mutant felt the rush of a kill approaching. His heart began to quicken and his breath became heavy. His muscles tensed as a dagger slid into his hand that was placed inside his jacket pocket. An evil grin spread across his face. She wouldn't even know he was approaching. His footsteps would be masked by the other late night patrons that were moving through the streets. Most of the them were avoiding the odd couple, giving them several feet of berth. However, Grim strolled straight towards them. He was two steps away.

"Sin..." Grim said in at a casual volume. He hoped to distract her. He hoped she would turn, exposing herself so he could drive his blade into her gut. Grim's hand slid out of the pocket of his jacket causing the dagger to glint in the light from the street lamp above.

Syn's answer gave Aurion a momentary pause as he looked at her, his lips pulling to the side just a bit, in a slightly regretful manner. "I sorry. I no mean scare you." He wanted to ask what it was that he reminded her of, but, being so direct could be rude. Instead, "Bad memories?"

Her explanation to where she was headed struck a cord in Aurion. Not a bad one mind you. He had been doing similar things since he had lived at Sanctuary, though usually at night. So he could understand the walk with no specific destination in mind. "Night walks." He smiled at her, "Fun." His eyes danced a bit as he let out a soft chuckle.

Aurion had moved next to her, well within arms length. Besides the fact that Syn was one of the Order, there was something in that tone of voice she used that was at odds with her words. "You need protection?" He asked in a disbelieving tone and a smirk. Moving to put a hand on her head in a 'Silly girl' gesture, "Where fun in.."

His words cut off sharply when he saw the hooded person behind Syn. Aurion was surprised that the man, and he was sure it was a man by his voice, had gotten so close without being seen. The knife that flashed in the man's hand was the more surprising and immediate threat.

Aurion's body pivoted so only put his side towards the man, his hand that had been hovering above Syn's head moved and grabbed her shoulder. In the same motion as the pivot he pulled the woman against him, his arm around her shoulder, so that his body was protecting her. Tail snapping up, tensed and flexed, he just barely avoided trying to slice the man's hand off at the wrist by turning the fin. It slapped the hand and knife, with whip cracking force and continued in that arc, the tip slapping the attacker's face before wrapping coiling about Syn and himself.

In the half pause after the slap, Aurion's hand shot forward to wrap it's fingers about the man's throat. A chest deep growl escaped him as he bared his fangs, "Not smart."

The evil grin that was plastered across his face was literally smacked right off of it. Grim had been so focused on the kill that the sudden strike from the lizard man caught him completely by surprise. His weapon of choice was knocked away. It skated across the ground for a moment before dissolving into smoke. The entire incident happened so fast that Grim had little time to react before the rough grip of clawed hands were grasping at his throat. He felt the pull of sharp nails against his skin as he tried to resist. The struggling only caused blood to trickle down his neck from the sharp claws.

Grim tried to break the reptile's grasp by chopping at the clawed hands with his arm, but it was a weak effort. He doubted it would do anything against his armor-plated opponent. Grim's other hand tried desperately to pull at the claws wrapped around his throat as he struggled to breathe. Looking back at his assassination attempt, the shadow mutant had to admit that it had not been very smart.

"Not...her..." Grim said, barely managing to form words without any air.

"She's...dead..." The shadow mutant's fingers were going numb from the lack of oxygen and lights were beginning to dance in his vision. Grim had killed too many people not to know when death was near. And his own death was closing in on him.

Listening to Aurion speak was like listening to someone who barely knew English. It was all understandable but boy would he be in trouble with an English teacher. “It’s alright. I’m sure you didn’t mean to scare me on purpose, but to answer your question…yes…bad memories. Nothing you need to concern yourself with though.”

Nodding with a subtle smile she agreed with him regarding walking around at night. “Yes, it certainly can be fun. It can also be very interesting. Things go on at night that don’t normally occur during the day time.” Though Syn was suggesting such things as night clubs and other night time activities it also included some darker events that are more easily done at night. This did not include the possible attempt on her own life however.

Before Syn could respond to the needing protection part the large mutant went into action. He moved so fast for his size and with such control that it gave the dark woman a sense of awe watching him. He had wrapped her up and held her close to him as he moved to put himself possibly between her and something or someone else. In no time at all she was fully guarded by Aurion’s massive body and tail.

She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but she was certain she heard someone say her name. It was a male’s voice, but she couldn’t place it immediately. When all the movement had ceased and Aurion was growling like an attack dog at…something…Syn gently pushed against the large mutant in a gesture to let her go. She wanted to see what had just happened. Once Aurion had released her she stepped out around to see the man in her protector’s grip. His appearance was one she couldn’t forget. He was the only person she ever knew who always wore a hood that covered most of his facial features like some assassin. One who prefers the dark. “Hello Shade.”

Shade knew he was about to die. He was trapped. Trapped in the light and trapped in the claws of some horrible beast. However, just when he had thought he had breathed his last breath on this earth, the clawed hand relaxed just enough to allow air into the shadow mutant lungs. His breath came in gulps as oxygen flooded back to his depleted tissues and the numbness in his extremities faded away. The sparkling lights disappeared from his vision, allowing him to refocus of the two mutants before him.

The first thing that Shade's eyes were able to focus upon were the hundreds of sharp teeth lining the lizard beast's mouth. Each one looked razor sharp and capable of easily tearing his fragile flesh. However, the shadow mutant's gaze shifted to the more pertinent threat in front of him. Shade had to admit that this shape shifter was good, damn good. Maybe they had known the dark queen, because they were able to get even the very small details right, like the facial expressions and the way she stood. It was like a spitting image of Syn standing before him. But it was not possible. She was dead, killed during the defense of then King Pharmaceuticals.

"Who are you? And why do you look like Syn?" Shade asked, his voice dripping with maliciousness. His hands were still working at the claws around his neck, but he was not struggling anymore. Although Shade could breathe now, he was still trapped, and he hadn't that feeling. It made him feel claustrophobic, like he would never get out of his situation. Like he would be stuck in the claws of this freak of nature for the remainder of his life.

Aurion wasn't sure what the hooded mutant was trying to get at. How could Syn be dead, she was standing right next to him. She'd been walking and talking and reacting. Hell, she'd been scheming not too long ago, with the Abyss brothers, Markus and other Order members. From the way they reacted, especially the Big Reds, Aurion seriously doubted Syn was dead, or an imposter.

Syn didn't seem to be phased by any of what Shade said. That is what she called him, so she seemed to know who he was. The way she acted was like it was all a normal uninteresting daily occurrence. Aurion eased his grip on the man's throat after seeing how Syn reacted, though he did not in any way release the man. Aurion kept a hand on Syn's shoulder, putting a light pressure on it. She might know who the man was, but Aurion didn't, and he didn't know what the guy could do.

Shade's attitude and tone towards Syn irritated Aurion. With a quick movement his tail slipped between Shade's legs and twined about him. A quick squeeze of Shade's neck and he pulled his hand away, putting his stiff, razor edged fin against the man's throat.

"Be. Polite." Were his terse words to the man. "Disrespect. Open throat. I eat. Understand?" Glancing at Syn, then back to the would-be assassin, "Why she not? She's Syn. Or you stupid?" His upper left lip twitched.

For a moment the dark lady watched the…careful interaction between Shade and Aurion. The large mutant wasn’t letting down his guard and yet he eased up enough to let Shade speak while keeping a reassuring claw on the woman’s shoulder. He was being very protective, and it made Syn smile for a moment. She just might have to keep him around.

Raising an eyebrow slightly and tilting her head Syn gave a look as if to ask Shade ‘are you serious’? “My dear Shade, you should know there is only one true Syn in this world, and I’m standing here before you. The word that I was dead was greatly underestimated. I am alive and well as you can plainly see.” Syn’s expression changed to an inquisitive one. “What I’d like to know is why you would make an attempt on my life. Are you trying to change my present condition? If that’s your plan then you’re in for a huge upset. I’m afraid. Explain yourself.”

Shade had to shift his attention again as the reptile-like monster re-positioned the death hold that he had on the shadow mutant. With the massive claw finally released from around his neck, Shade lifted his arms up and out in a sign of surrender. It was a position he hated to be in. He was so exposed and helpless that it almost felt like he was in actually pain.

"I understand." Shade said sourly. Although, his tone did not appear to have changed. Presently, the shadow mutant wanted nothing more than to slit the throats of the two before him while they slept. His usual smirk was replaced by a lip curling stare of pure hatred.

The shadow Orderling's head turned back in Syn's direction as she addressed him. When the dark queen spoke, a momentary look of doubt passed the visible parts of Shade's face. Was it possible that Syn was alive, and staying here before? Shade's mind raced through the possibilities that the information he had received was received was false. Well, it could have been. Shade had never actually seen Syn's lifeless body. He had just assumed like everyone else in the Sanctuary that she was indeed gone. But that then raised the question: if she hadn't been dead, where had she been? And more importantly, why had they been lied to? These were questions Shade needed answered before he could believe that this was the real Syn.

Shade snapped back to reality and the possibility of death just inches from his bleeding neck, his face quickly returning to its previous sinister state. The moment of doubt had only been for a moment. It would have been hard to see to the untrained eye. However, the shadow mutant had to again agree that this imposter, if it was an imposter, was very good. Doubt creeped back into Shade's mind, but he refused to allow it to change his outward appearance. Defiance was a better shield to show than doubt. Doubt would only undermine the small ground that Shade had left.

"If you are the real 'Syn', you would know I am loyal to you. I only striked to protect yo- Syn's- image. I could not allow an imposter to survive. It would destroy the foundations of the Sanctuary. And possibly the Order as well."The shadow mutant said, halfway lying. A lot had changed since the last time the two had met. Shade worked more for himself now than the Order. If it came down to it that Syn's death greatly benefited him, Shade very well might assassinate the dark queen. But presently, he was not in a position to do that. And it was much more beneficial to play up his love for the Sanctuary as it might save his life tonight.