New Beginnings (IC)

[Azuth65]

Vicky nodded at Jeena after she'd removed her protective eye wear, "I count myself lucky I only need to wear my sunglasses to keep a disguise up around the normal folks. Red on black eyes tend to have certain sections of society yelling about demons."

Beckoning the assembled mass forward, she looked over her shoulder at her boyfriend. "Yeah Morgan, I'm surprised he didn't break the sound barrier when he flew away." Moving near Gwen she kept her voice low so to avoid embarrassing the other girl, "Back to the subject of showers... No offense but you look like you could use one yourself. Twenty-hours on a plane and all."

[Breella]

Gwen looked down at herself then back to Vicky. "Oh dear, I should. she made a mental note to remind herself that she was no longer in the jungle an had plenty of running indoor water. "Between the Australian outback and the tropical rainforest I haven't had much need or occasion for that." Gwen blushed and pointed towards the dorms. "This way?" she asked.

[Heritage]

The more Jeena thought about it, the better a shower sounded; for the last several months, she'd just been shrinking down and using the taps in the ladies' room at the library. She hadn't had an actual hot shower in something like two years.

"Yeah, why don't Gwen and I settle into our rooms, clean up and then we can all meet for food in about half an hour?" She thought about savoring the hot water at her full size, with real soap and shampoo. "Or maybe forty-five minutes?"

It was just starting to sink in that she was going to have her own bed again, and she felt a little flutter of excitement in her stomach.

Tonight I'm going to sleep in a bed!

[Breella]

The room may have looked good, Gwen noted that she could always suspend a hammock if she didn't like the spring mattress. Better than that however was that the shower had felt amazing, Gwen had been using rain water for far too long. How long were we in Australia for? Four months! The voice piped up. Very good! Gwen swelled with pride at the things the vines were learning. She had chosen a pale green tank top with a darker green floor length skirt. Gwen laced the gladiator sandals up her thigh. She despised shoes and could remove these to run in the grass. Her pin straight brown-red hair now fanned out around her like a curtain. Stay somewhere pretty, where you can see and be in the sun but don't move too much ok? Gwen pointed to a spot on her wrist and the vines trailed down her shoulder, where the base flower blossomed a beautiful crimson and the vines trailed down her arm ending in a bracelet at her wrist. She knocked on the bathroom door for Jeena. "I'm finished, I'll check on Vicky while you dress."

[Azuth65]

Vicky opened the door to her dorm, half expecting to find Janis at her desk watching an episode of Top Gear on the computer but instead the room was empty. "Guess I'll have to make introductions later," she said to herself as she teleported out of her workout clothes, slipped into her robe, grabbed shower caddy and towel then teleported right to the ladies room for the floor.

Fifteen minutes later, between her regenerative abilities and the hot shower, she felt good as new. She'd changed into a pair of her hip hugging jeans and one of her shirts pulled from the ever expanding collection of geek clothing. New white and black sunglasses in place she was just about to head out when she heard Gwen knocking on the door. Rather than answer, she simply teleported behind the florepath, tapped her on the shoulder and smiled, "You knocked?"

[quotemyname]

Zachary had been sitting in his room when he received his sister's sending about a meeting with her new friends. Jerked from his concentration on the articles he was reading on his computer, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. He'd had to remain behind while his sister went out to explore the campus. She'd been able to memorize all the information about the Dutch and the rest of the details regarding their cover story much faster than he had. She had always been the smart one. Books and memorization always seemed to come easier to his sister than to him. He had always performed better at rote memorization and empathic feelings, so he regarded it as an even trade off.

'Friends'? Already, Jeena? We're supposed to be careful, remember. How much do you know about them? What are they lik...Oh, forget it. Of course I'm coming. It doesn't feel right you being alone out there. Not yet.

Zach closed the rather small computer the school had supplied him withand looked around his new dorm room. The place was rather spartan. The school had supplied basic furniture in addition to the computer. He'd only had enough earth clothing to fill two out of the four drawers in the dresser they'd supplied, and what was left of his Tektani military outfit and supplies was hidden beneath a false bottom in the second drawer from the top. The sheets spread on the bed (which he'd bunked with the other) were plain white, and his "side" of the room lacked any other sort of decorations. Only two hangers hung from the railing in the closet holding the few articles of clothing which he was told should be hung up rather than folded. Unlike his sister, he had not yet been assigned a roommate, so the rest of the room also looked like a ghost town.

Zachary slipped the small computer into the baghe'd bought at what the humans called a Mall. He gathered a few things, dressed, and took the stairs down to his sister's room. He chafed against wanton use of his powers. Not only did Duncan Summers warn him that it may be best to be descrete while in public with them, it couldn't help their attempts to remain ignominious.

He knocked at his sister's door. She opened it to see her brother wearing a wool capwhich only showed the tips of his white hair, along with red sunglasses that were otherwise an exact match with his sister's pair. The rest of his outfit included a pair of dark jeans, a red shirtmatching his glasses, covered by a button up shirt with the sleeves partly rolled upand the front left open to reveal the shirt. His left wrist held a watch on a leather band and his feet were covered by black shoes with buckles on them. He also carried the bag with his computer in it at his side.

"So," he greeted his sister with a smile when she finally emerged, "Let's hope this cafeteria food is cooler initially than those hot dogs we found."

---

Being accustomed to moving locations and getting ready quickly from their time in the Tektani resistance, the twins were ready quickly. Following the map of the school Duncan Summers had given them, they found their way to the cafeteria with relative ease. They waited in front of the entrance for the rest of Jeena's new friends to arrive.

[Quinn]

A bit of wind kicked up, ruffling the siblings' clothing and hair; and Morgan stepped up from behind them. Oddly enough, however, they hadn't heard the cafeteria door open, or even seen him cross the quad...

The teen'd changed from his sweatpants and sweatshirt into a plain pair of black jeans and a black Dropkick Murphy's hoodie, and his usual long black runecoat draped over the whole lot. Strangely enough, despite the somewhat heavy nature of his clothing and the hot summer sun, he seemed quite comfortable. One small design in particular on the back of his right shoulder still had wisps of smoke rising from it, and he idly waved his hand over to disperse it. His hood was up, but from what they could see of his hair he'd obviously just come from a shower himself; some of it still looked damp.

"Hey, 'm I early?"

[quotemyname]

This is one of them, right? I recognize the coat you mentioned.

"Well, Jeena didn't mention a time constraint, but we're here regardless." Zachary responded to the kid with the coat. He gave him a long stare from beneath his sunglasses, thankful that they obscured his eyes. Zachary was ready to extend the mental senses granted him by the procedures the Tektani scientists had done to pick through the newcomer's mind when another one of Summer's comments rang through his memory. He'd been instructed to keep such mind scanning to a minimum. Summers had informed them that most humans view it as a hostile action, or at the least, an invasion of privacy. Zach wasn't here to start any fights. He was here to meet Jeena's new friends. He kept his knee jerks in check, and reined in his senses.

"But by my watch," Zach continued, while actually giving the watch on his wrist quite a lot of scrutiny, "It's still... Five minutes?" He questioned, unsure, "Yea, five minutes until they serve the next wave of food anyway. I'm Zachary." He stated his name flatly. Almost as if he expected trench coated teen to already know who he was. Then, after remembering that not all humans were capable of mind reading, or kept it to themselves if they were, he gave a start. He made his best attempt at making it seem like he was simply continuing his earlier thought, "I'm Jeena's brother. We're twins." He motioned between the two of them with a finger. "I'm older."

Another awkward pause followed his introduction, and another jolt followed that. Zach abruptly shoved his right hand forward toward Crow, "Right. Forgot you guys shake hands here. I'm not as used to it from back home. You are?"

[Breella]

That must be pretty handy, coming and going as you please Gwen was talking to the vines when her thought was cut off by a puff of violet smoke APPEAR! The vines cheered in her head as Gwen jumped again and there was a chorus of APPEAR! AGAIN! AGAIN! like the cries of an amused child. "At least one of us finds it amusing, The vines seem to think you doing that is hysterical." Gwen brushed her hair from her face and pushed it behind her un-pierced ears. "Jeena has already left for the cafe, we should probably head over there now." Gwen looked at Vicky and had this sinking feeling in her stomach. "You're not going to--

[Azuth65]

Vicky smiled slightly, "I admit, I enjoy the actual teleporting. I just had to do that to you once to help cement in that Claremont is a sanctum for the strange. That done, I'll try and hold myself back in the future."

Pulling her hair back in loose ponytail she listened to Gwen, "I could," she started, "But you have this look on your face like you'd rather sit through a Justin Bieber concert than try it. I understand completely." With that she started walking with Gwen to the elevator and pushed the call button before leaning against the wall.

[Semi-Autogyro]

John had measured out the time it would take to arrive at the cafeteria doing his and set forth to meet the timetable. He had arrived almost a half minute earlier than he had expected; and was wearing a set of army cargo pants with boots with a white t-shirt. John was still wearing his ubiquitous reflective sunglasses from earlier, as he pushed open the door to see Morgan with not only Jenna but a white-haired male. Judging by facial features, skin color, and similar glasses; which probably meant they had the same light sensitivity, this was a close relative to Jenna. More than likely her twin brother based by his apparent age.

"Hello again." He addressed the pair before focusing on the white-haired male. "I do not believe we have met yet. Please, call me John. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He offered his hand for a friendly handshake.

[Breella]

Gwen had half been expecting Vicky to grab her up and teleport them to the cafeteria. Thankfully it did not happen that way. The girls enjoyed a nice walk across the quad. Gwen's hair flowed behind her freely, she thanked all goodness that she had a hair straighter again. As much as she loved being down and dirty in a field or greenhouse it felt amazing to be just a girl again. Gwen quickly realized that she and Vicky were the last to the Cafe. "Better late than never." she shrugged and noticed another teen among the three. She curtsied to the new boy among them. "You must be Jeena's brother. Pleasure to meet you."

[Heritage]

"I'm finished, I'll check on Vicky while you dress."

Jeena shouted through the door and over the sound of the water, "Okay!" Shard's Light, this shower was glorious! In all her sixteen Tektani years, she'd never known such a wonderful feeling! During her and Zach's last trip to the shopping complex, she'd snuck off and splurged at a place called 'Bath & Body Works', and now she was reaping the benefits.

'Friends'? Already, Jeena? We're supposed to be careful, remember. How much do you know about them? What are they lik...Oh, forget it. Of course I'm coming. It doesn't feel right you being alone out there. Not yet.

His sister had sent back, If we don't make any friends, we'll look even more suspicious; plus who knows what abilities or knowledge they might have to help us get home?

"So," he greeted his sister with a smile when she finally emerged, "Let's hope this cafeteria food is cooler initially than those hot dogs we found."

Jeena laughed. "Yes, it might be safer if we order the same things they do and watch how they eat them first, to avoid more pain and embarrassment."

- - - -

Smelling of strange and wonderful Earth plants, a very pretty and fresh-looking Jeena arrived with her brother at the dining area; she'd settled on a fairly plain black long-sleeved T-shirt, tight black jeans and black basketball shoes. Seeing as she was going to be eating indoors, she took a risk and perched her shades on top her head, as she'd seen human girls do at the Mall; it made them seem relaxed and carefree. She waved at the other students. "Hello again!"

"I'm Jeena's brother. We're twins." He motioned between the two of them with a finger. "I'm older."

"Yes, this is my brother Zach, a full seven minutes older than I am..." She rolled her eyes, a facial expression surprisingly common to both their peoples. "So do we have assigned seats, or can we just sit anywhere?"

[Azuth65]

Vicky shrugged at Gwen. "Yeah, sorry. I took a little too long choosing between this and my Mars University shirt," she said indicating her shirt. She held the door for the new girl and once she was through, teleported over towards the rest of the assembled teens, her cloud of bi-colored smoke quickly dissipating around her. Pulling a red scrunchy the same shade of red as her eyes from her pocket and pulling her hair back she said, "Sorry we're late. I just couldn't do a thing with my hair." Noticing the new guy in the group she smiled and inclined her head at about the same time Gwen curtsied.

"Nice to meet you Zach. So, anyone else hungry?"

[quotemyname]

"Yes, this is my brother Zach, a full seven minutes older than I am..." She rolled her eyes, a facial expression surprisingly common to both their peoples. "So do we have assigned seats, or can we just sit anywhere?"

What's that Earth saying? 'Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades', sister. Zach teased his sister over their mental link.

"Hello again." He addressed the pair before focusing on the white-haired male. "I do not believe we have met yet. Please, call me John. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He offered his hand for a friendly handshake.

"Uhm. Hi." Zachary shook John's hand after Morgan's. "Nice to meet you." The process was still awkward, but Zach was quickly learning where and how to grasp the other person's hand. It still surprised him how much the grip of certain individuals varied.

"Better late than never." she shrugged and noticed another teen among the three. She curtsied to the new boy among them. "You must be Jeena's brother. Pleasure to meet you."

Noticing the new guy in the group she smiled and inclined her head at about the same time Gwen curtsied.

"Nice to meet you Zach. So, anyone else hungry?"

"You too!" Zach glanced quickly at his right hand, and noticed that Vicky hadn't offered hers. He quickly but awkwardly shoved the hand into a pocket. He also noticed that she didn't mention her name. He could have probed her mind, or sent a message to his sister asking about it, but either of those may have been suspicious. He decided to play things safe. He followed his sister's lead and removed his sunglasses, though he chose to stow them in one of the pockets on the front of his shirt. He looked at Vicky again, his eyes shining with a very bright, very pale blue color. "And yea, starved. But I don't think I got your names?" His eyes moved between the two girls quickly trying to assess what they were looking at.

The humans are not so dissimilar from our own race, he thought to himself, Their females even look like ours. Nervously, his eyes flickered to Jeena briefly. Maybe she's right. Maybe this will work.

"I'm Zachary Vandermol," He smiled a broad, friendly smile at the two girls in front of him.

[Breella]

Gwen smiled around at everyone, "Hello, I'm Gwen. Now if you'll either follow me or excuse me, I don't mind either but pick one!" she hiked up her skirt in her hands so not to trip on it and made a bee-line for the layout of food. She in not time at all she had piled a plate full of food, plenty of greens, beans, fruits and an almost perfectly sized portion of chicken. Gwen also took a giant cup of water and a spare cup. "Please excuse my appetite, I have been living on jerky, protein bars and whatever the aboriginal people were cooking for the last four months, which while it tasted good it was hard to stomach the sight of." Gwen set some of the water aside in a cup just to the side of the table and onto the floor, hoping that no one noticed her. She picked up her knife and fork and went to town on her plate. Thank you! sung out in her head and she could feel the vine trailing down her leg and off to play in the cup.

[Azuth65]

Vicky blanched, "Oh my God, I'm sorry. My name's Victoria Knight, though I usually go by Vicky." She pulled her sunglasses off and met Zach's eyes for a moment, noting the twin's eyes and feeling a slight stab of nostalgia for her old eye coloration.

Once Gwen had left the pack to go forage for food, Vicky couldn't help but check out her legs as she all but ran towards the food before snapping back to the conversation at hand. "I'm with her. Archer started my workout with teleport-laps. I need calories and carbs," she said, her stomach growling in agreement. In a short poof she was next to Gwen grabbing some fruits and veggies before ordering three bacon cheeseburgers and a sausage pizza. Again she used her powers to 'jump' from the end of the line to the table Gwen had selected. "Feed me Seymour, feed me," she half-growled trying to impersonate the plant from Little Shop of Horrors.

[quotemyname]

Thankfully, Zach finally had some direction. He slowly walked off after the two girls. He watched the two of them make extremely different food choices. Unfortunately, this once again left him confused. Deciding there was no help for it, he strode to the line and began requesting different food items.

Some of the things had bright colors, some of them were dull. Others had sauces, or juices. Finally, he spotted something he recognized. One small section of the line was giving out Hot Dogs. Zach cracked a wide smile and walked right up. "I'll take two, please. Both with cheese and relish."

Jeena, look! They have Hot Dogs!

Zach made his way through the crowd to the table where the two girls were sitting. The accomodations reminded him of the temporary dining huts they'd had back on Tekton. When he reached the table he asked, "So, you usually all sit at the same table then, or...?"

He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. Nearby, a group of people had been talking. One boy quickly broke from the group and turned around. He was moving at a brisk pace, and didn't see Zach until it was too late to keep from crashing into him. "Woah!" The boy cried, mid-trip.

Zach had just enough time to turn and see what was happening. He winced, unsure if he'd be able to spread out his molecules fast enough. Thankfully, it worked, the tripping boy passed right through him, and tumbled into someone else beyond. The larger boy he'd tumbled into didn't seem to happy about the fact that he'd just spilled whatever was in his cup on his red and brown flannel shirt. He reached to grab the smaller kid that had tumbled through Zach.

Already a fish out of water, Zach could only stare, dumbfounded, "Oops." But when it looked like the kid that had fallen was about to be punished for the perceived threat, Zach finally found his voice, "Stop." He said, placing the tray with his hot dogs on the table between Gwen and Vicky. He lifted one from the tray, and stepped toward the other two boys. "Don't hit him. I think that might have been my fault. I might have been in his way." He looked up at the much larger boy holding the smaller one, and took a bite of his hot dog.

The larger of the two boys looked up, and stared at Zach through his long scraggly brown hair, "What did you just say?"

So much for not getting noticed. Sorry, sis, but you know I hate bullies.

[Breella]

Gwen saw the commotion out of the corner of her eye while she was mid motion with another spoonful of lentils. She sighed, put down her spoon and slid her chair back. Be ready. she told the vines and felt them retract from the cup they were basking in. Gwen saw Zach struggle both for the words and for an explanation. She gathered her skirts and approached the squabble.

"He said put the kid down and you won't be seeing the nurse." Gwen's tattoo began to shift their positions, weaving down her arms until she had thorn covered vines draping down to her wrists. If he moves, grab him. she told the vines, their childlike voice echoed in her head o0! Starting trouble! they giggled. No, Finishing trouble. she corrected them.

[Heritage]

Jeena, look! They have Hot Dogs!

Great! I'll definitely have to grab some.

She was about to head over to the line for a hot dog or two of her own when Zach decided it was time to show the humans what a dork he was...

So much for not getting noticed. Sorry, sis, but you know I hate bullies.

She pursed her lips, try hard not to laugh. Yeah, I do; you get a gold star for effort, at least.

"He said put the kid down and you won't be seeing the nurse."

Now this was getting silly; maybe having lots of teenagers with amazing abilites in the same school was a bad idea. Actually the academy back on Tektan had its share of incidents, now that she thought about it.

Zach, if your going to make a spectacle of yourself, it's only fair that I do, too.

And with that, Jeena took a deep breath and began to grow several feet in the blink of an eye, stopping only when her head touched the ceiling; standing some fifteen feet high with her hands on her hips, the now-giantess softly cleared her throat.

"Listen, Tiny Man Who Spilled His Lunch, why don't you apologize for being an idiot, get back in line and get some more food." She smirked. "Food helps you grow big and strong!"

[Semi-Autogyro]

John had just exchanged pleasantries with one of the food servers when he heard the normal mess hall background noise of people talking go silent. Looking for the source of the problem he quickly spotted the new students decidedly in the middle of things. He excused himself from the line, and approached the group with his hands in a placating gesture. "That is quite enough. There is no need for this to escalate further. It is just an article of clothing, which can easily be cleaned." He addressed to the teen holding the shorter one. "Let him go, it is not worth it." The smaller one of the duo sneered at him and said. "Stay outta this Kraut. This don't concern you."

John scrutinized the pair, ignoring the whispers and pointing coming from some of the other tables. "As you wish," He said with finality, before going back to collect his plate. I do not need yet another reason to raise Mister Summers' ire, he thought to himself. Besides, those two neophytes were clearly outclassed.

Picking up his tray again, he seemed to realize something he turned to Morgan. "Your music playback device fell into my training bag again. Here." He extracted the device in question out of one of his cargo pockets and handed it to the other teen.

[Azuth65]

Vicky had just finished one of the burgers, the massive amount of calories already making her feel less tired. She'd just finished piling lettuce and tomato onto her second when she heard the fight starting behind her. Sighing she turned around and eyed the instigators. When she spoke, she let her Russian accent seep thickly into her voice. "Put him down. Or Tiny," she said indicating the now towering Jeena, "And I break you."

Vicky had no intention of actually fighting the young man but she despised bullies and if the boy started anything, her plan was primarily to taunt him and teleport away from him every time he'd get close. Or grab him and deposit him outside.

[Breella]

Gwen looked up into the eyes of the bully. He may have been taller than her diminutive 5ft nothing, but everyone who was over the age of 10 was taller than her. Gwen was very used to that fact already and it had no effect on her. She felt the vines inch around her wrists and they were excited. now? they begged her. No, not yet. Not unless he moves first. Gwen clenched her fist and changed her stance.

"Whats it going to be big boy?" she asked the large teen.

[Quinn]

Morgan simply sat at the table, chewing on his lunch. Then he simply turned his head slightly, stared directly at the roughhousing parties; in turn, staring at each of them right in the eye. And said one word.

"Enough."

A very simple word, but one with big connotations. And he said it in a voice that only two people in that particular room had heard before, coming out of different individuals' mouths. The first individual was a certain woman, who had arrived in a hallway after a battle in Tian ready to do bloody battle. The second was a father who was considerably displeased with his son and his son's friends, for taking a highly irregular trip to a place he himself was prepared to go. A voice that carried a distinct undertone of footsteps walking across a person's grave. As Crowe had described it to his friends at one point, "eerie, turned up to eleven". Morgan calmly ate his forkful of fish, washing it down with a gulp of soda, then spoke quite clearly in the exact same cold tone.

"First, it's food, get over it. Second, nobody's going to start fighting here. Because you'll end up in front of Summers. Dig?"

Crowe speared some chips on his fork, looking at them musingly. He took the I-Pod in his free hand, sliding it into a coat pocket, and smiled amiably at Myrmidon; his tone completely changed from the previous one.

"I think that's pretty much it, then. Thanks, John, swear I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached sometimes."

[Breella]

Listening to Morgan's words Gwen took a step back but did not take her eyes from the brute. She kept herself still firmly placed between Zach and the larger of the boys. She relaxed her fists and opened her fingers, letting the blood flow freely. She sighed but kept her eyes on the teen still, she was scared of what he would do if she looked away before he did. Gwen felt like a giant cat locked into a stare down with a rival. She knew in that case whomever looked away first was the clear loser and Gwen disliked being the loser, she disliked it very much. No fight! the vines chorused. He scared! and More water now? followed it up. Gwen knew she'd have to appease them sooner or later.