A younger girl was now sitting on the steps. She had brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and light eyes. Umbra immediately recognized her as the girl from the infirmary. "Hey," called the girl, smiling as they got closer. "I'm Kitty,"
Umbra smiled. "I'm Umbra."
"Kitty's a freshman," said Rogue. Kitty nodded, and raised her hand in farewell as Rogue led Umbra out the door. "Obviously, this is the outside. The mansion's got a tight security system, so when it's activated, I suggest you be careful. The professor is handling your records right now and enrolling you in the high school. I'll show you around it tomorrow, if you'd like." Umbra nodded, but then a curious expression shadowed her face.
"School? What about - I mean, I don't exactly look like everyone else.." As Rogue opened her mouth to speak, a cloud of smoke suddenly appeared, and with it, a boy with dark blue hair, dressed in a khaki jacket.
"Oh, Hi," he said, looking a bit embarrassed. Like Rogue, he, too, had a heavy accent, but his leaned more towards German. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm just curious about the newcomer." He turned towards Umbra. "I'm Kurt," a huge smile spread across his face as he extended a hand.
"Umbra," she replied, shaking his hand. At that moment there was a tiny click and Kurt's image blurred, then seemed to disappear. The new creature standing there looked nearly like him, except he had blue fur and very pale yellow eyes, and three digits to each hand, not to mention a tail.
"Oops," murmured Kurt, tapping a watch Umbra suddenly caught sight of around his wrist. "Battery must be running low, sorry," and with that his new image was replaced by his old one. Rouge, who had been standing to one side with her arms crossed, finally spoke.
"The professor can fix you up with an image inducer, like Kurt's. It's basically a hologram that'll cover up your appearance enough to hide your ears and tail. I'm sure Professor X is already working on one."
"Oh, okay," Umbra smiled, and followed Rogue once more, leaving Kurt to ponder over his own image inducer.
"So, where're you from?" asked Rogue as they both took a seat on the edge of the fountain. Umbra nearly floated, rather than sat, drawing her knees to her chest, but not resting her feet on anything but the air itself; anyone else more than likely would have fallen for attempting this.
"Some little town in the middle of nowhere," sighed Umbra. "This is the first time I can ever remember being around someone other than my mom."
"What about your father?" Rogue inquired softly.
"He left. When I was born, he simply called me a mutant, cursed that day, and walked out the door. My mother never let me set foot out of town, and I only left the house at night, or in the winter, when it got so cold I could bundle up enough to hide my tail and ears."
"So, this is your first time ever being around people? Whoa, you sure are calm about it. I'd be freaking out after seein' so many new faces."
"I guess it's because I chose to come into the real world. No one pushed me from the shelter of the nest. I simply left myself." Rogue nodded.
"Listen, it's going to be nearly impossible to find everyone around here. I figure you'll meet the newer recruits in the danger room since you'll be training with them. Everyone else will just appear gradually."
"Danger room?" Umbra looked a bit uncomfortable, her emerald eyes widening. Rogue chuckled a bit.
"Don't worry. It's just a simulator room. The professor runs different simulations and situations and everyone practices using their powers to get out of them safely. Everyone tries to be really careful. It's sort of like training." Umbra sighed, relieved. "Listen," Rogue continued. "It's getting dark. Want to head inside and check out your room?"
"Sure," said Umbra, and both girls stood and walked back to the mansion. As soon as the door shut behind them, Umbra perked one triangular ear. Once again she heard the whirring of a wheelchair.
"Ah, there you are, Umbra," Professor Xavier said as he approached. There was a plain white box in his lap. He stopped about a foot in front of the girls and held it out to Umbra. "This has your school schedule, the uniform you are expected to wear in training, and your image inducer. It's already been set, just wear it like a watch and activate the hologram using the red button. Have Rogue explain what it is, first of all, if she hasn't already. Also, don't wear it in training." The professor turned to Rogue. "I've already arranged with your teachers to let you be late to class, so you can help Umbra find hers. I suggest you head to your rooms now, it's getting late." He smiled and the two girls nodded, walking down the hall.
Umbra sat down on her bed, which she and Rogue had just made, and opened the box. She took the slip over paper from the top and read over it. Geometry, History, Biology, and Gym. That wasn't too bad.. it could certainly be worse. She set her schedule on the bedside table and next took out the image induced. She put it on her left wrist; it looked exactly like a watch. Standing in front of the mirror, Umbra tapped the button. She almost gasped as her ears and tail seemed to vanish, but when she reached up uncertainly she found one fuzzy point on top of her head. She took the inducer off and put it next to her schedule. She was taking the uniform and hanging it in her closet when Rogue appeared at the door.
"The professor sent Scott and Jean to the store today to pick up some things for you." Umbra noticed Rogue was holding a shopping bag. Rogue walked in and sat down facing Umbra, and dumped the bag's contents out between them. A hair brush, a tooth brush, a tube of tooth paste, an eyeliner pencil, and a compact of shimmery charcoal eye shadow. There was also a folded black nightshirt that looked her size. "The make-up was free with a coupon, I guess you might want to experiment with it."
"Never used it before," Umbra smirked, putting everything on top of her dresser. Rogue stood up and stretched.
"It is gettin' late. I'm going to go crash for the night." Umbra nodded.
"Good idea. I'll do the same. School in the morning." She paused. "That's something I've never said before."
"Lucky," Rogue smiled and walked out, shutting the door behind her.
Umbra changed into the nightshirt, hanging her other clothes in the closet next to her uniform. This is unbelievable, she thought. I've already got friends, a place to stay, and I'm going to school! She switched off the light and then lay down, pulling the blankets over her. Her mind kept turning those thoughts over for a few minutes, and then she was fast asleep.
