Time To Go Home
Rei yawned, stretching like a large cat, before plopping down onto a near-by park bench. Tired of the mansion's inhabitants, she'd been wandering around all day…trying desperately to avoid going back home. Darkness was falling; she'd been gone for hours and, perhaps as it was time to go home. Leaning back, she looked to the sky and was instantly distracted by the starts. 'A few more minutes won't hurt' she thought to herself, smiling softly as memories of home washed over her. Sitting out on the bayou's with Remy, laughing at each other as they made up names for the constellations….
Catgirl felt a lump forming in her throat as she raced forward. 'How could you have lost him?' she scolded herself, eyes darting frantically back and forth, looking for her missing brother.
"Pup….PUP!" She cried, finally coming to a halt by a park bench, and fearfully wrapping her arms around her stomach. This was bad…this was very bad. She angrily pushed back the tears and threw herself fiercely at the bench; a yelp of surprise and pain greeted her. Catgirl blinked in shock, it had been so dark that she hadn't noticed anyone on the bench….especially a sleeping someone. A girl of maybe seventeen was sitting up, shaking her head to try and regain her bearings. The two girls stared at each other for a long, silent moment.
Rei yelped as someone suddenly sat on her. 'Must've fallen asleep' she thought sleepily to herself, shaking her head to rid it of the 'cobwebs'. Looking up, she was startled to see a young girl staring at her. She was surrounded by an almost eerie glow, compliments of a near-by lamp post, her dark amber eyes watched her thoughtfully and she wore a flowing white shirt and black jeans. Rei felt fear clutch her chest. 'I really am a demon….she's gonna kill me' the southerner thought to herself, body tensing as she leapt to her feet and leaned back into the shadows, nervous in the face of a heavenly-being.
"You an angel?" she demanded, unconsciously shrinking further away from her.
Catgirl bit back a fearful gasp as the other girl leapt to her feet and half-vanished into the shadows. The older teen had strange red and black eyes, and wore a red shirt and black jeans, which were mostly covered by a heavy, brown leather trench coat. The shadows seemed to dance around her, arching and twisting to conceal her as she moved around in the darkness. Catgirl felt terror race through her as she gazed at the unearthly stranger.
"Are you a ghost?" she whispered, startled when the other girl asked a question at the same time. Blinking in surprise, they stared at each other for another moment before answering.
"No!" They both snorted, amused by such an odd question.
"Mutant…." They sighed simultaneously, before taking a step back and eyeing each other warily.
"Would you stop…!" they began, before stopping and glaring at each other. Rei snickered, raising an eyebrow and watching the other girl curiously. This encounter was rapidly becoming interesting…
"This is…weird" Catgirl muttered, stepping forward and sitting on the bench, eyes flicking back to glance at the other girl as she moved forward as well. Sitting down beside her, Rei leaned back and crossed her arms, head tilting back to gaze at the stars again.
"So…." Rei began; eyes still focused on the sky "…what's up?" Catgirl smirked, rolling her eyes before turning to face the taller teen.
"You mean besides having my heart jump out of my chest, thinking you were a spirit out to get me?" she snorted, watching Rei's reaction. Rei cocked her head, expression thoughtful.
"Y' might wan' t' get dat looked at" She finally stated, turning to regard the other girl, face completely serious "Ah've heard dat de 'art is important fo' life" she nodded, biting back a smirk as Catgirl stared at her blankly.
"You're nuts" Catgirl sighed, shaking her head. Rei just laughed.
"So Ah've been told" she grinned, accent not nearly as prominent as it was before. Catgirl glared at her, feigning anger at being tricked. Silence ensued.
"What're y' doin' out here, fille?" Rei finally asked, raising an eyebrow at the other girl, who glanced at her briefly. "…New York's dangerous at night, y' know…"
Catgirl narrowed her eyes, who did this stranger think she was, telling her what to do? She felt anger well inside her, fueled on by the despair she felt over losing her brother.
"None of your business, Ghost" she snapped, folding her arms impudently…but not leaving. Rei raised an eyebrow at the nickname before responding.
"Ah suppose dat's vrai…Halo" Catgirl sent her a bewildered look, evidently confused by something she had said.
"True" Rei translated, snickering quietly to herself. Catgirl glared.
"I know what 'vrai' means. But what do you mean, 'Halo'?" she snapped. Rei grinned, shrugging.
"You thought I was a ghost…" Rei said casually, and understanding dawned on Catgirl.
"You thought I was an angel!" She cried, sitting up straight and turning to face the other girl head-on. Rei nodded, and again silence ensued.
"So what are you doing-"
"Hush…" Rei whispered, jumping gracefully to her feet, and cocking her head. Catgirl narrowed her eyes, angry at being spoken to like a child.
"How dare-"
"Hush!" The older girl snapped, taking a few steps forward, and motioning Catgirl to follow her.
"D'you hear dat?' Rei questioned softly, straining her hearing. Catgirl rolled her eyes and, before another word could be said, her ears vanished and were replaced by triangular cat ears on the top of her head. Rei's eyes widened, but other than that, she showed no reaction.
"I don't hear…" Catgirl began, when suddenly her ears twitched, and she turned slightly to the right. She stifled a gasp, before, without warning, she took off. Rei blinked in surprise, debating whether or not to follow….it was rather dark out, and her friends were probably worried…
"Ah….what the heck?" She grinned, before taking off at a dead sprint after her new companion.
About two minutes later, Rei skidded to a stop beside her friend, startled to see her tearing ferociously at a collapsed wooden building.
"Halo….what's goin' on?" She asked softly, stepping forward to rest a hand on her shoulder.
"Pup…Pup" Catgirl whispered, turned terrified eyes on her friend and gesturing wildly at the building. "He's in there!"
"Who's in there?"
"Pup!" At Rei's blank look, she explained "My brother!"
"Are you sure he's-"
"Yes!" Catgirl cried "I can smell him…I can hear him…I can sense him…I can, I can…" She choked, unable to finish the sentence.
Rei felt her heart clench painfully. If it had been Remy trapped in the building…
"Well den...let's get 'im out o' dere" she growled, and Catgirl raised her head, looking at her new friend in surprise.
Rei ignored her, closing her eyes pushing out gently with her empathy until she could sense the young boy's panic. Using this location, she made a small force field around him, careful to encompass his entire body.
"What are you doing, Ghost?" Catgirl gasped, eyes widening as the ruble began to glow, red and black wisps dancing and twisting like heatless fire.
"Hush, amie….let me concentrate" Rei muttered, opening one eye to look at her, before closing it again, her face contorting with concentration.
Slowly, the ruble began to disintegrate, crumbling harmlessly into ash. In the center of the ashes sat Pup, completely safe in his red force field. The second the glowing faded, Catgirl surged forward to her brother, throwing her arms around him in a fierce hug before jumping back and scolding him like a toddler. Meanwhile, Rei fell to her knees, panting softly for breath. It took so much more effort to disintegrate objects than to simply let them explode…but she couldn't have risked hurting the young boy.
Catgirl suddenly spun around, turning to face the kneeling teen. Tugging at her brother's arm, she pulled him to his feet and brought him over to her friend. Rei slowly rose to her feet.
The two girls faced each other for a long, silent moment, grinning impishly at each other. Rei held out her hand, and Catgirl snickered, putting out her own hand and shaking Rei's solemnly. Pup raised an eyebrow, watching them curiously before shrugging….sometimes it's best to just not understand. Rei smiled, gently punching Catgirl's shoulder before turning to leave.
"Catch y' later, Halo" She called over her shoulder, raising one hand in a wave.
" Much later, Ghost" Catgirl grinned, shaking her head before tugging on her brother's arm. It was time to go home.