Brave Enough to Burn [IC] (Open to FL Auxiliary Members)

[alderwitch]

"I got no idea," Leilani avowed, the accent to her words thicker perhaps with stress but also more apparent now that they recognized the young woman as being local rather than from more exotic environments. She let her hand fall in then, hugging herself tightly as if she could somehow retract the heat of her body into her skin. For those with the ability to sense such fluctuations, the temperature DID drop at her gesture although the volcanic woman remained too hot to touch, the ambient temperature began to drop as her powers reacted to the woman's desires. 

 

"But, sure, seems likely okay. I don't think... I don't think I'm tapping into any vents or anything?" Her tone was doubtful, uncertain and she stayed where she was, trusting the League - even if these Leaguers were largely strangers to her - to see to people's safety. "I was out surfing and the storm was coming in..." She gestured towards the waves, dutifully answered Fleur's question and realized that the sky had grown clear and dark since that time. Her rocky-face crinkled with concern, "Oh, no, it's night already? My poor momma. She gon' be so worried."

[Fox]

"No, you're not tapping any of the local geology," Gaian Knight assured her, holding up a reassuring hand. "You were moving the ground a little when you were most upset, but it feels like you got that under control, too - which is a great sign, by the way - and you never went too far down. For all their panic, I don't think you actually put anyone here in much danger as long as they didn't touch you before you cooled."

 

At the mention of the storm, Tiamat made a noise in the back of her throat and took her eyes off the crowd long enough to glance up; Gaian Knight followed her gaze, eyebrows drawing down over the tops of his goggles as he did a quick check of the soil. "Leilani, we'll see if we can get a hold of your mother, if you can give us her name - and...okay. Times like these, we have to check a few things, so I'm just going to ask: do you know what day of the week it is? What's the last date you remember?"

[angrydurf]

Sandman shook his head slightly at the girls words.  He hadn't been in this business long and certainly not at this high profile an event.  But he knew loss of family.  If a girl had gone missing this morning and no body recovered the beach might have been reopened it was unlikely but tourism was a powerful force.  What was not possible was that that girls family would not be combing that beach, or that they would be remaining silent as a lava monster emerged from it. For all the bystanders this was exciting a rare chance to see heroes in action not a terrifying glimpse of what may have taken a loved one from them.  

 

"It's not right."  he'd whisper to Fluer, "Someone should be looking for her." he tried to keep his voice low and muttered under his breath, "Communists?" and looking to Frost then back to the girl shook his head.  Her powers were tied to her emotions the earlier rumblings had confirmed that.  Losing fifty years and all you knew was not the kind of thing one took in stride.  Not when pushed as far as this girl already had been today.  "We have to get her out of here.  To somewhere safe and controlled."  he said firmly and turned as the sands of his barrier melted away and with a gesture the ephemera of sleep given form snaked out to coil gently around the Lava creature, "Let's just hope she still sleeps."  he murmured mostly to himself as he attempted to pull the lava creature from the waking world.

[alderwitch]

"Mary. My mother's name is..." Leilani blinked once, shaking her head slowly back and forth. Feeling sleepy made no sense but it was all of a sudden near impossible to keep her eyes open. She staggered once before collapsing like a puppet with their strings cut. The change back to flesh was sudden and abrupt, with the obsidian plates cracking and falling away from the woman as she dropped from living flame to a human body's warmth in temperature the moment her eyes fell shut. She never had time to answer Gaian Knight's other question. When no longer rock and flame, the woman was clearly somewhere in her mid to late twenties. Her dark hair was cut blunt and short to her jawline and wore an anachronistic beaver-tail wetsuit with the swirling psychedelic patterns that were so popular in the 1960s.

[Avenger Assembled]

Dimitri caught Leilani as she fell, as smoothly as if he and Sandman had practiced the maneuver, supporting her with his inhuman strength in a bridal carry as easily as if she was a child. Drawing in on himself, he held in his cold - frankly far more effort than supporting the young woman's weight. Ah, this happens so often..."Quite a touch you have with the ladies, eh, Sandman?" He winked, then turned to Stesha, still carrying his burden. "Off to Sanctuary, eh?" There were fewer people to worry about there - and no risk of her melting through the deck when she woke up, as she might on the Lighthouse. "Best place for conversation with volcano woman."

[Electra]

Stesha looked troubled for a moment, giving Ellis an uncertain glance, but she rolled quickly with the change in circumstances. "Yes, Sanctuary's probably the safest secure place we have right now, but we all need to keep an eye on her in case there's magical interaction. Some metahumans react badly when taken off Earth Prime, or when teleported." She waved a hand, opening a huge orange tropical flower on the ground in front of Dmitri. "We should let her wake up as soon as we arrive, though. We shouldn't keep her under if we don't have to. Our destination is the civilian holding facility on Sanctuary, it's got plenty of supplies for whatever she might need right now." She motioned the others through the flower before following herself. 

[Thevshi]

Although Velocity had been busy trying to get the crowds to provide more space and hopefully disperse some, she had been able to keep an eye on what was going on with the lava girl thanks to her visors three hundred and sixty-degree vision.  When the young woman was rendered unconscious and caught by Frost, the speedster focused on the crowd once more.

"Alright everyone, things are under control.  Please stay back until authorities can ensure that the beach is safe to go back on.  We will be getting this young woman the help that she needs."

With that, Velocity was back over near Fluer and the others in a blur of motion. 

[Avenger Assembled]

On the other end of the portal, Dimitri walked a few steps away before gently setting Leilani down on the grass - notably for once, he was not withering the plants as he laid her down on the ground. Taking a few steps back, he relaxed, the air around him chilling to wintry temperatures again, and nodded expectantly to Ellis, pointing to the woman they'd rescued. "Come now, fellow, a kiss to wake the princess! Then we can talk of grim things like volcano gods and lost time." He hmmed, looking again at Leilani. "Fifty years, I would say," he said, his voice quiet. "Give or take.. I remember when all the girls on the American beaches wore those outfits." 

[angrydurf]

Sandman let out a slow breath as the lava woman crumpled and a slight double take as her human form was revealed.  That certainly answered that question at least.  He moved forward to meet Frost as the thermal vampire as he hoisted the girl into his arms glancing to Fluer, "To dangerous to reveal how much she's missed here."  he offered as explanation albeit weak.  He followed closely with Frost as the portal through the green opened to carry them to sanctuary kneeling near the girl's head as she was laid down.  As the rest of the league made their way through the portal he quickly checked her vitals, "All normal."  he offered quietly and stood taking a step back prepared to put her under again if things started to go out of control.  Withdrawing his power the fog of sleep would be lifted from the volcanic young woman.

[alderwitch]

Leilani stirred, turning on the grass in the way any normal sleeper might wake up, scrunching her eyes against the light and turning on her side. As she woke, for a moment Leilani thought she'd had a terrible string of nightmares - the storm, the drowning, the fire. But when she twisted her head, grass tickled her cheek and she cracked open her eyelids to take in the knot of super-heroes and the oddly pastoral setting beyond them.

 

"Not a dream, 'den?" She asked, as she levered herself up onto her palms and only then took note that she wasn't on fire still. That alone was significant comfort. "Did... did you fix me?" She wanted to know as Leilani levered herself first into a sitting position and then went to rise to her bare feet.

[Thevshi]

Velocity followed the others through the portal off into Sanctuary.  For the moment, the speedster slowed herself down to a more normal speed.  She frowned slightly as Frost commented on how long the young woman had likely been…well, whatever had happened to her.  Some sort of suspended animation most likely. 

"Well, we are still not entirely sure what happened to you just yet."  Velocity replied to the other woman's question.  "For the moment you have returned to normal, but that does not mean that whatever was happening is done.  Gaining unusual abilities suddenly can be a shock, just try to remain calm if something starts to happen again, otherwise your abilities could get out of control once more."

[Avenger Assembled]

"But hey, you were lovely lava woman, and now you are lovely flesh woman. Things are going on up and up!" sand Dimitri sociably, giving Leilani a reassuring wink. Sobering quickly, hands sliding into his parka pockets, he said, "Much has been happening in Hawaii recently. Tell us your story of today, from moment and place you awoke to last thing you remember, so we can help find the people that have lost you. Can you tell us date?" He didn't mention the year, or whatever she thought it was, - now was hardly the time for that. Normal people do not discuss what year it is. "Don't worry, we find them, we send someone people like like Fleur de Joie here - not Communist ice monster!" 

[alderwitch]

"Uh, well," she said as she turned her head to take in the very odd surroundings that she found herself in. The date question she didn't find terribly odd as it was like asking a person how many numbers they were holding up or the like. Leilani was pretty sure that she hadn't concussed herself but, then, she didn't think drowning in a storm would lead to being made of fire and rock either. "It's November... November eleventh," she provided in answer to Frost's question as he replied, "Nineteen-sixty-two."

 

Right during the cuban missile crisis which might explain her earlier panic about Frost's presence. She turned towards him as if to ask why on earth communists and the Freedom League were working together only to have her attention drawn by the more pressing matter. "But... but I'm not on fire?" She asked, the distress in realizing that she wasn't 'cured' palpable in her words.

[Fox]

"You're not on fire," Gaian Knight assured her. Coffee had only gotten him so far - he made an odd gesture with one hand, and the earth gently, quietly flowed up to form a few simple earthen chairs for anyone who chose to take one. Some of the grass had gotten taken along for the ride, for the sake of more comfortable seating, and so as to make room and disturb the rest of the plant life as little as possible; his own seat was barely formed before he eased himself into it, pulling his face cloth down around his neck.

 

"We're sorry for the, ah," he paused, glancing Sandman's way, "abruptness of your trip here. Safety comes first, for you and for everyone else...basically anyone who isn't us, heh. And this is the safest place we know, generally speaking. You turned back as soon as you fainted, and that's a pretty great sign, especially since you stayed that way once you woke up; between that and not grabbing at the earth anymore when you calmed down, I'd say you'll get pretty great control over yourself, even if you're not--"

 

"Twenty-sixteen," said the tall redhead.

 

"Tiamat--"

 

"No. She deserves to know," she insisted, leaning against the back of a chair, arms crossed. Her expression was hard to read, but when she looked at the girl she seemed...uncharacteristically sympathetic, something harsh but protective buried somewhere in her glowing red eyes. "It's 2016. Whatever happened to you, you've been out for 54 years. These people are too nice," she added, gesturing, "except maybe the Russian; they've been trying to find a careful way to say it. But you deserve to know."

[Electra]

Stesha appeared just as Tiamat was speaking, closing the flower portal behind her and taking a deep breath of Sanctuary's well-scrubbed air. The breath caught in her throat at the dragon's blunt admission, and she quickly jogged over to join the others. She cast a quick glance up at the huge crystalline ceiling overhead, spanning the width of several football fields, and wondered suddenly if perhaps one of the more remote pastures would've been a better place to conduct this debriefing. "I know it's a lot to take in," she began, "but we can help you get acclimated, find your relatives, get settled in wherever you'd like to live..." 

[alderwitch]

Leilani turned her head to watch Gaian Knight as his ease and calm words had continued their efforts to convince the young woman that things would be alright. At least until Tiamat shattered the spell abruptly and painfully. Her breath hiccuped in her throat; a sudden, strangled noise as her oddly-colored eyes widened. On some level, Leilani recognized that that gruff words and blunt manner had been delivered with rough kindness but at the moment, all she could focus was the bottom dropping out of her world. 

 

"No... no..." Leilani took a step back from them all, her heartbeat hammering. "Fifty years. That's not... that's not possible." There was anguish in that last word, even as the sound twisted by a throat that was no longer human. Where her heart beat within her body, the temperature skyrocketed abruptly spreading outward. It wasn't painful for Leilani - not physically - as her body ignited. The transformation was much swifter this time as the time she spent purely white hot and molten was a fragment of a second before hardening into protective plates of shiny black stone. It wasn't hard to deduce the response as being adrenal related from her obvious distress and although she ignited, Gaian Knight would feel no nascent grasping for the earth from the young woman. Leilani looked down at her once more burning body and made a single, broken noise of distress. 

Edited April 12, 2016 by alderwitch

[Avenger Assembled]

Comrade Frost pulled Leilani in for a hug - the exact same kind of hug he'd given Bombshell the day she'd come to tell him that Alexander Rhodes was dead, not that anyone here had been there for that. She was from a more tactile era, just as he was. "I'm sorry, child. I'm so sorry." The effects of the heat transfer on his embrace were immediately obvious, his pale skin flushing ruddy red, his bluish-white hair flushing a dark blonde - but he didn't push the moment too long, for fear of agitating her further. He stepped back, his hands still on her shoulders, keeping eye contact to pull her focus from her inner thoughts, or on the others, or the cavern itself for that matter. "We will do everything we can for you, and to find those who you have lost." His Russian accent was altogether gone - and for the first time since anyone had seen him, his eyes were brown. "You are not alone." 

[angrydurf]

Sandman recoiled automatically as Tiamat revealed what had been lost to the poor girl he at the least felt vindicated in ensuring this conversation happened in the relative safety of Sanctuary rather than the islands that may well have been the source of her power.  Almost reflexively the ephemeral sands around him whipped up defensively as if with a mind of their own as he shied away from the white hot intensity of the girls sorrow.  He looked from one league member to another uncertain what more they could offer the girl without knowing more of who she was yet refrained from pressing for more information, "Your powers are tied to your emotions."  he offered quietly, "When angry, upset, or, frightened."  he tried to explain, "They more readily answer your call."

 

He took a small step forward, "Breath deep, even just go through the motions and count backwards from ten."  he offered hopefully it was a rudimentary calming exercise but a useful one. Until they had a more sure read of her powers it seemed the best they could hope was to keep her calm.

[Electra]

A gentle breeze kicked up inside the leaf-and-crystal dome, as though unseen fans had turned on to whisk away the wash of ambient heat from Leilani's abrupt transformation. "I know it's hard to accept right now," Stesha told the girl calmly, taking a few steps towards her but still keeping a respectful distance. "This sort of thing has happened to heroes before, waking up out of their own time, I mean, and it's always painful. But we're going to help you. The first step is to help you control your transformation. The fact that you slipped out of your power form when you slept is a very good sign. Try to relax, and imagine your body the way you usually picture it, the way you look without the lava rocks," she encouraged. 

[alderwitch]

It might have been a little difficult to tell as rock didn't flinch in the same way that flesh did but Leilani tensed as Comrade Frost approached, afraid that she'd set him alight with powers she had no understanding and less control over. Her posture relaxed when the man failed to burn despite the hands resting on her transformed shoulders. She watched him with eyes that burned like coals in the black stone of her features. 

 

As other words caught her attention, Leilani's panic briefly hiccuped as she realized when Elis spoke that she hadn't in fact drawn breath and her shoulders heaved as she tried to make up for that by aping the gesture. It felt strange, drawing her awareness to the lack of anything like lungs or even a heartbeat that really ought to have been pounding in her ears. Finally, at Fleur's suggestion she ducked her head, holding her hands tightly together in front of her. "I'm not a hero, though."

 

The rock plates dropped to the grass with a soft thump, cracking and falling off of Leilani. She was still far, far too hot to the touch as tears sizzled off of her skin. That, at least, answered the question of if she was 'normal' in human form. Leilani held her hands tightly together enough that it hurt, as if she could hold the fire in with force of will. She met Frost's gaze then, directly, "I'm just lost."

 

Leilani dropped her head then, looking down at her linked hands, focusing on the fact that they were at least human for the moment, "What do I do now?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"We can help you do what you like," he said reassuringly, moving his hands to hers once she seemed to have lost any desire to bolt. "Control it, find out what happened to you, we can do it, easy-pie. In Russia, I handle cases like yours all the time, and these Americans, well, they eat it with their Wheaties." He hmmed, thinking about her case - and trying not to think about the sensation of all that heat creeping up his bones. "I tell you what, I was around all those fifty years, you want to know what happened, I tell you. Are you hungry?" he asked her. "Don't worry about complaining to us, if we gotta find you stuff that's fireproof, better know it now than later." 

[angrydurf]

Nodding agreement with Frost Sandman spoke softly, "What happens now is your choice."  he intoned carefully folding his hands neatly in front of himself, "We can help you control the fires within or find those who can."  he assured confidently and flicked a glance to Fleur and her unanswered question, "If you can tell us what you remember we might be able to better tell how your powers work."  he prompted carefully.  He not for the first time wished his grasp of the supernatural was better as such powers given the environs of her awakening seemed likely to be mystically inspired at the least.  A volcanic hawaiian mutant seemed too coincidental for belief after all.

 

Edging closer to Fluer he whispered quietly, "Can we locate her surviving family?"  he was uncertain of the powers and resources at their disposal for such things his own capabilities were of little aid in such matters.

[Electra]

Stesha nodded to him, then spoke up. "If you like, we can trace your family for you and help you to reach out to them. The League has extensive resources and a fair amount of experience, so I'm sure we can turn up something." She walked over to one wall, which seemed to be made entirely of woody vines interwoven with broad green leaves, and dug into a stack of plastic tubs that were sitting there. "But first things first. We should find you some clothes and shoes, and get you something to eat." She held up a couple of blue t-shirts and looked at Leilani appraisingly, her tone at once comforting and matter-of-fact. "What sizes do you wear? Would you like spaghetti? That's on the menu in the lunchroom today." 

[alderwitch]

"Hungry? No... no, I'm not hungry. You'd think I would be - fifty years and all." The noise that bubbled up wasn't quite a laugh and wasn't quite a sob but at least was not yet full blown hysteria. She swayed and then folded in on herself, sitting on the ground she'd scorched. Leilani clutched her hands together, twisting the skin until it hurt. With her oddly dual colored eyes focused on her fingers, she missed the first part of Fleur's statement, her gaze cutting up finally, "What would you tell them? What would I tell them?" She gave a slow shake of her head, not ready to open the lid on the box of whether or not she had family that lived. She took a slow steady breath and with it the heat finally began to drop. She plucked at her wetsuit and then offered, "Size nine," she offered, not knowing that even that had shifted over the last several decades. 

 

By the time Fleur found a shirt and shorts that Leilani could trade for, she was at least no longer venting ridiculous amounts of heat. She glanced over to Comrade Frost, at least without any of the initial fear she'd first had, before accepting the clothes. It was a small victory that she picked them up with normal hands and took things off to change. "Thank you," Leilani said before adding, "I'm sorry I burned your grass." 

 

What to do with an only minimally controlled, time displaced lava-kinetic, that was going to be much more than an early morning's adventure. At least life in the Freedom League was never dull.