The pendant was a white plumeria, constructed of abalone with a mica
center, with a silver backing and hook. It was broken; half the silver in
the back was twisted or torn off and a long crack ran down across the
center. It was cold in her palm.
SheCat had no idea about anything. She was clueless as to who sent it. She had no living relatives and all her friends were inside the school. As to the fact it had appeared in her dream, she had guesses for that. It was possible that she had a second mutation, possibly precognition. It didn't truly occur to her that the pendant in her dream was unbroken, nor did it occur to look at the stamp.
Hearing the sound of children coming down the stairs into the hallway, she haphazardly stuffed the pendant into her pocket and caught her breath as Kurt bamfed to the top of the lockers. It was a position that reminded her of a gargoyle, stooped over above her. Then of some kind of demigod, watching over her. She smiled.
"We had a fencing lesson, yes, Liebchen? In the Danger Room?" He was already all decked out in his uniform, with his cutlass sheath at his back, sword in hand.
"Yeah, hang on a second." She focused on her sword upstairs.
SheCat could sense sharp objects. Not as if she could see them, just know where they were. Focusing hard, the sword came through the ceiling, leaving a sizeable gash to the floor upstairs.
"'Kay, now I'm ready." She was decked in uniform as well, but hers was none that the other X-Men wore. There was no Spandex or leather or any material of that kind. It was a red and yellow T-Shirt and cutoff jeans. When it got cold she switched to full length jeans. She was most comfortable (and agile) in this unorthodox attire.
Kurt looked at the ceiling, muttering something about repairs and slashes in the floor, then bamfed. SheCat walked down the hall to the Danger Room.
Kurt was pleased to realize his pupil was not entirely focused on the duel. She was faster when she didn't concentrate on stance or form, more fluid when relying on instinct. It actually made the match almost fair. Almost.
He could've disarmed her in an instant, after spotting her many tiny quirks. She leaned after a swipe; the parry brought her back. Her Cappa Ferro twisted her wrist too much.
"You are improving, Liebchen." he said, taking a swipe at her as she dodged. She loved him calling her Liebchen. Though he called many of the students that, ever time she heard it, it was as if the name was especially for her, like he had just thought of it off the top of his head.
"Thank you. I hope to one day-" Parried a block, returned a thrust and sidestepped "be as good as you are." Changed stance, locked blades, broke the connection and barely avoided a thrust.
"Maybe someday, but you have a way to go." He transferred his sword to his tail and whipped it at her ankles. She blocked, but barely; her sword flew from her hand. Without thinking, she mentally commended it back to her. It was back in her hands like lightning.
Kurt frowned, then bamfed directly behind her. With a whip of his tail, he disarmed her, then used his arms to lock her head in place. It was a hold that would prove very difficult to break free from.
"We agreed no powers, Liebchen." He let her go. She commanded her sabre back to her, readied herself for a second round. In response, he sheathed his.
"You must learn not to be so impulsive." His voice was that of a teacher or father reprimanding a child. She hung her head in defeat. Instantly a wave of pity swept over him. He embraced her with forgiveness. "You are still young, Liebchen. You will learn with time."
"X-Men trainees and Combat Team K report to Cerebro immediately." Xavier's voice was in their heads. It wouldn't be an important mission, not if trainees were involved, and Team K was not the strongest of teams. It would probably be some dumb recruit mission.
Though Team K was buffed by Kurt, Remy and Rogue, it didn't override the fact that most of the members were trainees, inexperienced and barely taught under real pressure. Just simulations, mainly, and a few recruit missions. SheCat herself was part of the team, though her hotheadedness and thirst for revenge were more of a liability than an asset.
Sighing that the lesson was over, she followed Kurt out of the Danger Room, wondering whether she had really been ashamed for her impulsiveness or had just needed a hug.
"I want you all ready for action in ten minute. A young mutant's powers are just manifesting and you may need to stop a lynch mob. I want you to bring him back here. It should be simple. In and out, like you've done before. You can go." Xavier, despite being in a wheelchair, conveyed some type of authority that was not rebuked or rebelled against. Team K left, but SheCat stayed as Xavier had telepathically told her to.
"SheCat, there was a fax for you. It asked to meet at sundown tonight at the Rose Plaza. It asked for you to come alone. I'm not pushing you, but would you feel safe doing this?" His lips weren't moving, but it still took seconds to register that he was projecting these words into her mind.
"Do you have any idea who this is?" Though she looked genuinely worried, he knew she couldn't care in the slightest, as long as she got to get out on a real mission.
"No." A firm answer.
"Couldn't you use Cerebro?" Act interested, she thought. Then go out and do something.
"No." Another firm answer. She wasn't taking this seriously. Maybe he should send someone with her.
"I'll do it."
"Good. You can walk there from here. You know the place, you've been there. Take a comm-link with you and phone Team A in case of emergency. Don't jump to conclusions, don't hesitate to use the comm-link, don't do anything stupid, and don't tell whoever it is anything that could be potentially dangerous." He was dead serious. She wasn't. She didn't realize that anyone who could avoid Cerebro's detection was some kind of force to be reckoned with.
"There's a lot of don'ts in this mission, huh?" She picked up the comm-link and donned a pair of sunglasses. "My first solo mission. I feel like part of the mafia." She checked her sword and box of toothpicks before heading out. He called out after her.
"SheCat!" She turned. "Be careful."
"As always, Professor." She left. She was never careful and they both knew it.
Waiting outside of the Rose Plaza was as boring as sin. SheCat had never been patient and it was at least an hour before the lady in the hood, trenchcoat and sunglasses approached.
"SheCat, right? I'm Yuriko Oyama. Pleased to meet you." SheCat shivered, despite the balmy weather. Yuriko offered her hand. SheCat took it, noticing the grip was tight. The grip of a businesswoman.
"What is it you wanted me for?" SheCat deliberately left her name out of the conversation.
"I believe that we have some...ties. You see, I am missing some family very close to me." She took off the hood and shades, revealing a pretty Asian face and black hair pulled in a ponytail all too similar to SheCat's. There was a pause. Neither spoke. "Don't you recognize me?"
SheCat had to be truthful. "Honestly, no."
Yuriko looked resigned. She let out a sigh. "In that case you're not that much use to me at all." Then she lashed out. SheCat staggered back to avoid it, but someone grabbed her shoulders. Then there was pain.
The world swam before her eyes as every solitary nerve was set alight. She reached for her sword, but the pain blocked her hands from moving. Her eyes rolled up, barely glimpsing the blond woman who held her. Yuriko moved forward and knocked her into the blissful depths of the unconscious.
"What a waste of a daughter. Her skills rivaled that of a chipmunk."
"She didn't seem that easy to neutralize, Miss. Her will was strong."
Yuriko stepped forward to the blond woman and slapped her face. "Have you not learned that will is useless without talent?!"
The blond woman dropped SheCat to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Miss. What shall we do now?"
Yuriko looked at the prone form on the cement. Her eyes gave a slight twitch that might have been emotion. They were obviously kin, you could see by the face, the way the eyes had defied pain, even when she was in agony. The way the hidden layers of psyche covered a drive for revenge.
"I'll take her to the base. Catch up after. Meanwhile, phone in the X- Men and tell them that a life of one of their own is on the line, courtesy of Lady Deathstrike."
SheCat had no idea about anything. She was clueless as to who sent it. She had no living relatives and all her friends were inside the school. As to the fact it had appeared in her dream, she had guesses for that. It was possible that she had a second mutation, possibly precognition. It didn't truly occur to her that the pendant in her dream was unbroken, nor did it occur to look at the stamp.
Hearing the sound of children coming down the stairs into the hallway, she haphazardly stuffed the pendant into her pocket and caught her breath as Kurt bamfed to the top of the lockers. It was a position that reminded her of a gargoyle, stooped over above her. Then of some kind of demigod, watching over her. She smiled.
"We had a fencing lesson, yes, Liebchen? In the Danger Room?" He was already all decked out in his uniform, with his cutlass sheath at his back, sword in hand.
"Yeah, hang on a second." She focused on her sword upstairs.
SheCat could sense sharp objects. Not as if she could see them, just know where they were. Focusing hard, the sword came through the ceiling, leaving a sizeable gash to the floor upstairs.
"'Kay, now I'm ready." She was decked in uniform as well, but hers was none that the other X-Men wore. There was no Spandex or leather or any material of that kind. It was a red and yellow T-Shirt and cutoff jeans. When it got cold she switched to full length jeans. She was most comfortable (and agile) in this unorthodox attire.
Kurt looked at the ceiling, muttering something about repairs and slashes in the floor, then bamfed. SheCat walked down the hall to the Danger Room.
Kurt was pleased to realize his pupil was not entirely focused on the duel. She was faster when she didn't concentrate on stance or form, more fluid when relying on instinct. It actually made the match almost fair. Almost.
He could've disarmed her in an instant, after spotting her many tiny quirks. She leaned after a swipe; the parry brought her back. Her Cappa Ferro twisted her wrist too much.
"You are improving, Liebchen." he said, taking a swipe at her as she dodged. She loved him calling her Liebchen. Though he called many of the students that, ever time she heard it, it was as if the name was especially for her, like he had just thought of it off the top of his head.
"Thank you. I hope to one day-" Parried a block, returned a thrust and sidestepped "be as good as you are." Changed stance, locked blades, broke the connection and barely avoided a thrust.
"Maybe someday, but you have a way to go." He transferred his sword to his tail and whipped it at her ankles. She blocked, but barely; her sword flew from her hand. Without thinking, she mentally commended it back to her. It was back in her hands like lightning.
Kurt frowned, then bamfed directly behind her. With a whip of his tail, he disarmed her, then used his arms to lock her head in place. It was a hold that would prove very difficult to break free from.
"We agreed no powers, Liebchen." He let her go. She commanded her sabre back to her, readied herself for a second round. In response, he sheathed his.
"You must learn not to be so impulsive." His voice was that of a teacher or father reprimanding a child. She hung her head in defeat. Instantly a wave of pity swept over him. He embraced her with forgiveness. "You are still young, Liebchen. You will learn with time."
"X-Men trainees and Combat Team K report to Cerebro immediately." Xavier's voice was in their heads. It wouldn't be an important mission, not if trainees were involved, and Team K was not the strongest of teams. It would probably be some dumb recruit mission.
Though Team K was buffed by Kurt, Remy and Rogue, it didn't override the fact that most of the members were trainees, inexperienced and barely taught under real pressure. Just simulations, mainly, and a few recruit missions. SheCat herself was part of the team, though her hotheadedness and thirst for revenge were more of a liability than an asset.
Sighing that the lesson was over, she followed Kurt out of the Danger Room, wondering whether she had really been ashamed for her impulsiveness or had just needed a hug.
"I want you all ready for action in ten minute. A young mutant's powers are just manifesting and you may need to stop a lynch mob. I want you to bring him back here. It should be simple. In and out, like you've done before. You can go." Xavier, despite being in a wheelchair, conveyed some type of authority that was not rebuked or rebelled against. Team K left, but SheCat stayed as Xavier had telepathically told her to.
"SheCat, there was a fax for you. It asked to meet at sundown tonight at the Rose Plaza. It asked for you to come alone. I'm not pushing you, but would you feel safe doing this?" His lips weren't moving, but it still took seconds to register that he was projecting these words into her mind.
"Do you have any idea who this is?" Though she looked genuinely worried, he knew she couldn't care in the slightest, as long as she got to get out on a real mission.
"No." A firm answer.
"Couldn't you use Cerebro?" Act interested, she thought. Then go out and do something.
"No." Another firm answer. She wasn't taking this seriously. Maybe he should send someone with her.
"I'll do it."
"Good. You can walk there from here. You know the place, you've been there. Take a comm-link with you and phone Team A in case of emergency. Don't jump to conclusions, don't hesitate to use the comm-link, don't do anything stupid, and don't tell whoever it is anything that could be potentially dangerous." He was dead serious. She wasn't. She didn't realize that anyone who could avoid Cerebro's detection was some kind of force to be reckoned with.
"There's a lot of don'ts in this mission, huh?" She picked up the comm-link and donned a pair of sunglasses. "My first solo mission. I feel like part of the mafia." She checked her sword and box of toothpicks before heading out. He called out after her.
"SheCat!" She turned. "Be careful."
"As always, Professor." She left. She was never careful and they both knew it.
Waiting outside of the Rose Plaza was as boring as sin. SheCat had never been patient and it was at least an hour before the lady in the hood, trenchcoat and sunglasses approached.
"SheCat, right? I'm Yuriko Oyama. Pleased to meet you." SheCat shivered, despite the balmy weather. Yuriko offered her hand. SheCat took it, noticing the grip was tight. The grip of a businesswoman.
"What is it you wanted me for?" SheCat deliberately left her name out of the conversation.
"I believe that we have some...ties. You see, I am missing some family very close to me." She took off the hood and shades, revealing a pretty Asian face and black hair pulled in a ponytail all too similar to SheCat's. There was a pause. Neither spoke. "Don't you recognize me?"
SheCat had to be truthful. "Honestly, no."
Yuriko looked resigned. She let out a sigh. "In that case you're not that much use to me at all." Then she lashed out. SheCat staggered back to avoid it, but someone grabbed her shoulders. Then there was pain.
The world swam before her eyes as every solitary nerve was set alight. She reached for her sword, but the pain blocked her hands from moving. Her eyes rolled up, barely glimpsing the blond woman who held her. Yuriko moved forward and knocked her into the blissful depths of the unconscious.
"What a waste of a daughter. Her skills rivaled that of a chipmunk."
"She didn't seem that easy to neutralize, Miss. Her will was strong."
Yuriko stepped forward to the blond woman and slapped her face. "Have you not learned that will is useless without talent?!"
The blond woman dropped SheCat to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Miss. What shall we do now?"
Yuriko looked at the prone form on the cement. Her eyes gave a slight twitch that might have been emotion. They were obviously kin, you could see by the face, the way the eyes had defied pain, even when she was in agony. The way the hidden layers of psyche covered a drive for revenge.
"I'll take her to the base. Catch up after. Meanwhile, phone in the X- Men and tell them that a life of one of their own is on the line, courtesy of Lady Deathstrike."