Hellcat's Journey

Disclaimer: I own Tawny and Skylar.

Notes: Thank you Dark Angel4523 and Osso for your reviews.

Chapter 5

"Hi Mr. Summers!" They all said smiling and giggling.

"Hello ladies," He replied smiling back. "This is Tawny, she'll be bunking with you for awhile. Tawny, these are Kitty, Jubilee, and Rogue." He finished pointing out each girl.

Suddenly feeling shy I say, "Hi," quietly while looking at the ground.

"Hi," They all said smiling at me with friendly curiosity mixed in.

"Okay Tawny, I'm going to leave you here so you can get settled." Summers then turned to the girls. "Ladies, I would appreciate it if you could make Tawny feel welcome. She's had a really long trip and I chose you three to bunk with her because I feel I can trust you with that. I would also appreciate it if you would take her to the kitchen in a little while."

He sounded like he had been reading a script the whole time he had said that.

The other girls didn't notice the lack of emotion in his voice and looked like he had just trusted them with an honorable mission.

They replied with an assortment of 'sure', 'O.K.' and 'no problem'.

After that he left shutting the door behind him. Feeling more like an intruder than a guest, I sat down on the only bed without a girl on it, and turned my head when the girl named Kitty spoke to me.

"So Tawny, like, where are you from?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm from Canada."

"Really?" Jubilee said. "What part?"

"Alberta." I say moving into an 'indian style' position.

"Alberta?" Rogue said suddenly perking up. I could tell instantly that she was southern.

"Ah traveled in Alberta for awhile. What city were ya'll in?" Yea, definitely southern.

"I didn't live in a city. My dad has a cabin in the forest. We lived there."

"Cool, so what do you're parents think about you being a mutant?" Jubilee said.

"My mother doesn't know. She left when I was a baby. Me dad is proud because he's a mutant too. We have the same mutations."

"Really! It would be way easier if my dad was a mutant. So your mutations are the exact same?" Kitty said interestedly.

"Mostly, except that I have a tail, and he doesn't."

"You have a tail!" They exclaimed.

I couldn't help but grin.

I reached into the back of my hip-hugger flares and pulled out my tail where I had wrapped it around my thigh. I had been hiding it for countless days and it had a lot of kinks in it. But, it felt awesome to be able to stretch it.

"Cool." They all say looking impressed.

Suddenly Rogue got a strange look on her face. Her eyes skimmed from my hair, eyes, teeth, hands and finally to my tail. She looked like she was trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together. Soon her eyebrows narrowed and she must have found what she had been looking for.

"Tawny" she said, with her voice sounding flat and emotionless.

"Is your dad really, really tall?" She said looking at me like a prosecutor would look at an accused serial killer.

I knew what she was getting at, but not quite sure how she was so sure.

"Yes Rogue. He's about 7'6"." I say trying to sound nonchalant.

"Tawny" She said looking quite irritated. "Does your dad hang out with Magneto?"

Jubilee and Kitty gasp and stare at me.

"Yes Rogue. His codename is Sabertooth."

Kitty and Jubilee stare at me horrified. Rogue just looked at me in surprise that I had made such a blunt confession.

"Tawny, oh my god, I'm so sorry." Kitty said as Jubilee nodded her head.

"Why?" I ask.

"What?" They say looking confused.

"I asked you why you were sorry for me. I'm not, I love my dad. He's the greatest guy in the world."

Rogue looked at me as if I was insane. And maybe I am, but what I said was the truth.

"Yeah, well ah hate tellin ya'll this, but your dad tried to kill me."

"So? He didn't succeed did he? Besides, the only reason he probably did that is because Magneto forced him to."

"Why should ah believe you! You're probably just a criminal like your daddy!"

Okay that's it! I'm going to claw her eyes out.

A small 'snikt' sound was heard and the girls looked down to see my claws. Two inches long from my finger tips. And like my father's claws, their black.

Before Rogue could react I slashed her face. Kitty and Jubilee screamed and Kitty got up and ran through the door. Literally.

Rogue was hunched over where she had been sitting on her bed. Her gloved hands were clamped over her face, but I could see small trails of red dripping in-between her fingers.

I raised my hand to slash her again and I saw the door open and a flash of bright red light and felt a searing pain on the inside of my wrist.

I cried out in pain and hugged my injured wrist to me chest. Looking up I see Summers standing in the doorway with Kitty hiding behind him. Kitty looked scared and concerned, but Summers looked angry, upset, and oddly smug.

He strode right past me and went to check on Rogue. I looked down at my injured wrist and saw a good sized gash. There were small streams of scarlet running down my arm and on closer inspection I noticed that the skin around the gash was burned.

I'm still pretty young. And my mutations aren't fully formed yet. So I have no idea how long it will take my healing factor to heal the gash. My tail is snapping from side to side and my wrist is steadily starting to scream at me.

I look up and see that Summers has gotten Rogue to lower her hands. There were three claw marks across her face. The middle one seemed to be the deepest and there is blood running down her face.

Suddenly I feel a great wave of guilt and shame run through me. I had let my anger and the feral part of my mind get control. Shamefully I retract my claws back into my fingertips.

This is going to be a long day. If I manage to live through it.

End of chapter

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Stray-