It had been ten years since Sora had thought about that night. She lived happily with her older brother on the outskirts of Pinckneyville. After their arrival in the little town, Sora and her older brother Keith found a sympathetic twenty six year old woman who willingly took them in as her siblings. They would work for her, carrying out choirs and performing odd jobs and errands. Sora and Keith also learned the famed Breanna that took them in was a spirited young woman. She taught then to fight on many levels, most being street wise.
Though the town was small enough for every one to know every one, and every one was somehow related, they found it easy to keep a low profile. It didn't take long for everyone to except the two as Breanna's younger brother and sister.
Sora excelled in the kitchen as well as the fighting ring. Breanna worked particularly hard to train her. Not only did she teach her hand-to-hand, but improvised weaponry. By the time she was fourteen, she was able to take down her cookie-thieving brother before her roast even started cooking. Sora and Breanna were the envy of the town with their pies, cookies, and of course the coveted Jell-O-Cake only the two shared the secret to. The older women called them domestic goddesses, while the boys tried calling them to dinner.
Keith, however, while also becoming greatly skilled with combat, had to learn a different method from his sister. Along with the same training Sora received from Breanna, he had trained with his mutant powers. Breanna knew he was a mutant. It wasn't too hard for her to figure it out, but she was sympathetic. She had set up a training arena for him to train his wings and agility in flight. "You can't slow down in any field." She would say over and over. "You need to fight with just as much skill and agility in the air, as you do on the ground."
He would be sent to run seemingly meaningless tasks, like carrying buckets full of stones from one side of the forest, to another while avoiding getting hit by the water balloons shot at him by both girls. Sora always found this amusing, but in the end, when he was too tired to retract his wings, let alone stand, she was there to carry him to bed. With his muscular build and mysterious air, the vigorous training in flight came in handy more than once in avoiding the girls.
All the girls found him attractive. They even went as far as chase down Sora so she could get them a lock of his supernaturally blond hair. He had to wear contacts to make his amber eyes green again, and left his long, straight blond hair long to hide his elf like ears. His pale skin never tanned or burned, no matter how much sun he got, only adding to the mystery. His physique was one of baseball player, because that is what he was. Muscular and lithe; a deadly combination for spots and fighting.
Both Keith and Sora got an education at the local school, but since Keith graduated four years ago, Sora was left to fend for herself.
She inherited her mothers' hourglass figure and her fathers' dark auburn hair. Her unusually bright green eyes drew attention all too well, but when they lost that attention, it was her lean muscles that spoke for her in the form of a swift kick.
Keith naturally excelled in all sports while Sora stuck to gymnastics and dance. That's how she was greatly able to expand on her own fighting techniques. Every day after school, she went home and worked on combining her flips and swings with graceful fluid movements. It was an art for her, one that worked better with music.
Keith didn't miss his past life, but honestly, Sora did. She missed her parents, but they were a forgotten memory now. She learned a few days after her and her brothers disappearing act, that the apartment they had fled from burned to the ground that vary night. It was in fact her parents that started the fire. The description in the paper said that the fire was started on top floor, but could not be contained before reaching the gas lines. A large explosion ensued and the occupants of the top five floors of the thirty-story building were consumed.
She silently cried for a week after she found out, but that didn't last long. If fate wanted her and her brother to die, they would not have jumped out the window, and he would not have been able to glide them there.
Every year after the news, she would sing a sad song for her parents. That day was just a few hours away, and she would once again, at exactly twelve, make her way out to the clearing and sing her mournful song. At the moment, she lay awake in bed, reading the new book she got for her collection. She read more than anyone could find time for, especially with her schedule.
In her small attic room, she had shelves lining the walls, all of them full of books. She had an armoire for her cloths, a desk for homework, and her twin sized bed. Candles lined the headboard, melted to the wood were she would sit up at night reading. Much like she was trying to do now.
Unfortunately, her mind was too restless to either sleep or read. She was anticipating something, something not too good. Giving up on her book, she glided to the window and looked up at the red moon. The alarm on her desk going off startled her out of her thoughts. She turned it off and grabbed her sweater.
Silently slipping through her window, she made her way to the clearing. Sitting on the soft earth, she sang her sorrowful song. She couldn't remember why she did this every year, but she did. Her soft voice filled the clearing, making all the stubborn icicles of early spring quiver with her pain.
Then, while she was stopped to take a breadth, she heard a crunch of snow. Some one was there and she knew it. She remained silent for a moment, trying to locate the source of the noise. It came again, closer, on her right. Slowly she turned her head in that direction then stopped when she could see a shadow out of the corner of her eye. The figure was that of a woman. 'What is she doing?' Sora thought, starting her singing again. She kept an eye on the figure as it came closer.
The woman suddenly stopped when her head turned towards it all the way. "Show yourself." Sora demanded. The woman stepped into the moon lit clearing and looked down at Sora with yellow eyes. "Who are you and what are you doing here. This is privet property."
"Hmph, I am aware of this, yes." The woman said. She had dark skin that looked to be blue in the strange lighting. Her long red hair framed her face nicely as she wore a strange black out fit, revealing more than Sora wished to see. "I wish to speak with the male of the house, would he be awake?"
"No, the absurdity of the time has unfortunately condemned him to bed, as with most other normal peoples." Sora responded a bit impatiently.
"So then why are you up?" She challenged.
"I am anything but normal. If you must know, I am always up at this time on this day. I no longer remember the reasoning to this, but something urges me too. And perhaps this is the reason." Sora said glairing at the woman. She was ready for a fight if need be, though she hoped she didn't have to.
"I can see that now. So tell me, what can you do?" She asked curiously, eyeing Sora with interest.
"What do you mean 'what can I do?'"
"Your mutation, what is it?" Her voice was more demanding this time, but kept that interest.
"I don't have one, because I'm not a mutant. But I am guessing you are?"
The woman smirked, telling the girl what should have been obvious. "Can't you tell?" She then turned into Sora and stared her down. Sora stood unwavering, watching her new copy.
"So then, tell me your name."
"After you."
"Fair enough, Sora. Sora Ravencroft."
The woman's smile grew as she turned back into herself. "So your Keith's sister. Hmph, I am Mystique. I came here to speak with your brother about joining our cause."
"And what cause might that be?"
"The liberation of all mutants." She replied with a sinister smile.
"You mean the destruction of all no-mutants?" Sora asked harshly, shooting the strange woman an evil glare. That seemed to have struck a nerve as she lunged at the seventeen year old in furry. Sora was ready for it long ago. She sprang up and charged head first into the shape shifter. They were both knocked back, Sora's vision fading in and out.
That didn't do her any good at all when Mystique got up first and charged at her again. Sora rolled away, ending on up on her feet again. She turned and jumped up off the tree and aimed a kick at her head when another joined the fray. She didn't get a good enough look at him before being tackled and pinned to the ground, face in the mud. She screamed in pain as the new comer drove his claws in her back. The low growling coming from his throat gave her that notion.
As she screamed, a bright flash of light came from her body and she blacked out, completely at the mercy of the mutants that held were thrown away from her.