Rakash_NA

Alrighty... let's try this again...

(An elderly woman in a teal colored wool suit is buying a coffee and donut from a street vendor in Atlas Park. She goes over to a park bench on the City Hall grounds and begins to read a newspaper while having her snack. A young man with a "Press" button on his jacket recognizes her.)

Reporter: "Hey, aren't you Grannie Glimmer?"

(The elderly woman looks up from her reading of the newspaper and laughs.)

Grannie: "I haven't been called that in a very long time. What's your name young man?"

(The reporter extends his hand to shake hers.)

Reporter: "My name's Alex. Alex St. John and I'm a reporter with that newspaper you're reading. My column is the 'Where are They Now' one on page ten. It's nice to meet you."

Grannie: "Nice to meet you too, Alex. Do you like writing for the paper? You write a nice column about the past heroes of Paragon City. I've been able to look up several of my old collegues from your articles in the paper."

(Alex grins and motions if he may sit down on the bench with Grannie. She puts the paper down and nods while taking a sip from the cup of coffee.)

Reporter: "Actually Grannie I've been looking to do a story on you. I understand you were involved in the first Rikti invasion here in Atlas?"

(Grannie laughs again.)

Grannie: "Oh my, yes. Those were some dark days for the younger heroes in Paragon City. They didn't know what the Rikti were and were caught completely off guard. None of us knew what the Rikti were back then..."

(Alex begins to film with a small camcorder.)

Reporter: "Could you tell me what happened during the first invasion of the Rikti?"

Grannie: "Well the day started out ordinary enough. I was in the base watering our plants when the first bomb hit. Oh the base was safe enough and all the explosion did was to rattle the foundation just a little. It sounded like a muffled balloon pop. I didn't really pay it too much mind, but when the second explosion happened a bit closer, I became concerned."

(Another sip of coffee.)

Grannie: "You see, back in those days we were in the process of upgrading from hardwiring to satellites. The phonelines and powerlines had been knocked out in Atlas so I had to resort to the old arcane viewing mirrors and seeing crystals in our base to contact the other arcane supergroups. This was a bit time consuming but we were lucky enough to have kept the old systems as a redundancy - just in case."

Reporter: "Fascinating, do go on."

Grannie: *grinning* "Ya know, I take being called an 'Old Witch' or an 'Old Bat' as terms of endearment. Anyway, the other arcane supergroups had begun to organize to fight this new threat to Atlas and were sending messengers to the tech supergroups to inform them to fight. I volunteered as a messenger."

Reporter: "This is interesting... what were you thinking at the time?"

Grannie: "I wasn't really thinking anything, just doing my best to get the news out to the other heroes to rally them to the defense of Atlas Park. I was just doing what I had volunteered to do."

Reporter: "Were you frightened to be out there with the bombs falling around you?"

Grannie: "Of course I was frightened, but I didn't dwell on fear. I knew I had a job to do so I did it. As a result of the arcanists getting the word out all the available heroes in Atlas Park rallied to the defense of our citizens. I didn't do it alone. Many brave men and women came to the aid of this great city."

(A sad look passes briefly through elderly eyes now as sharp as any twenty year olds. The reading glasses are put away inside a neat beaded handbag.)

Grannie: "I tell you, young man, I lost many good friends that day... Many heroes made the ultimate sacrifice for our right to live free."

Reporter: "I'm sorry, can you continue with the story?"

Grannie: "Don't be sorry, it's what made them heroes. They did their duty. Our job is not to forget them or their sacrifices. We must work to make sure they didn't die in vain."

(A brief sigh before the story continues.)

Grannie: "The rikti ships were bombing Atlas Park... Some of the younger heroes were panicking but the older heroes knew what to do. As we organized into teams some went to destroy the bombs before they could explode in the industrial areas. Some of us stayed with the younger heroes to evacuate the non-combatants into the basements of City Hall. Some of us, like me, stayed to fight on the steps of City Hall."

(A distant look crosses Grannie's face as she remembers.)

Grannie: "The casualties were high and there were many wounded. The empaths and healers ran low on energy... but we held the line. Everyone fought until they couldn't fight anymore and even then they gave their all for the defense of Atlas Park."

Reporter: "Grannie, can you tell me more about what you did, specifically, during the battle?"

(Grannie chuckles then blushes.)

Grannie: "Me? Oh it wasn't that much, really. Before I left the base I managed to grab my gardening kit. I know, I know, it sounds really odd to do but in times of emergencies people tend to grab what is near and dear to them. I suppose it's human nature to want to face death with what you think is of value."

(The Reporter laughs.)

Reporter: "A gardening kit? Why a gardening kit?"

Grannie: "You know... I've asked myself that very question for all these years now... and I still don't know. But I will tell you this... it came in very handy that day."

Reporter: "Oh really? How so?"

Grannie: "There we were, around Miss Liberty under the great statue of Atlas. Miss Liberty was rallying the new heroes and the older heroes around her to make a stand and fight the Rikti. Blasters were blasting away... Tankers and scrappers were doing what they were born to do... Defenders were defending and the Controllers were keeping the enemy locked down. It was an amazing scene in the middle of this great battle..."

(Grannie pauses a moment to remember then continues.)

Grannie: "And there I was, with a belt full of plant seeds and fertilizer. What am I supposed to do in all this chaos? Well, I'll tell you what I did... the only thing I could do. I began throwing seeds into the ponds of the Atlas courtyard."

Reporter: "Seeds?"

Grannie: "Yes, seeds. With the arcane incantations I said as I threw them they began to grow and root the Rikti invaders in place. I threw out my seeds of confusion and turned the Rikti against themselves. I also tossed my spirit tree seed in the middle of groups of heroes to help the empaths with healing the wounded. Soon other plant powered heroes began doing the same, and together with the other brave heroes of Atlas, we won the day!"

Reporter: "That must have been glorious!"

Grannie: "Oh it was. It's what made my generation of heroes great. I see that greatness of character in the young recruits these days, but perhaps not as often as I'd like to see. We were born for that one glorious moment in time. It was our destiny."

Reporter: "And now? Now where are all these great men and women of destiny? What has become of these great heroes?"

(Grannie sips a drink of now cold coffee.)

Grannie: "Now? Why now we're forgotten by the younger generation... Neglected or put into the Old Heroes Home waiting to die... Unless..."

Reporter: "Unless?"

(Grannie gives a grandmotherly pat to the young reporter's hand as she gently smiles.)

Grannie: "Unless young people like you remember us, our sacrifices. Some of us have passed away. Some of us languish forgotten from this world. Some of us.. the very lucky ones... are written about in family histories, history books or newspapers. Please don't forget us... Treat us with the dignity and compassion we deserve...We each have our stories to tell."

(The reporter thinks for a moment.)

Reporter: "Grannie?"

Grannie: "Yes?"

Reporter: "Do you see yourself as a hero?"

(Grannie laughs.)

Grannie: "I see myself as a little old woman who tells her story to anyone who might like to hear it. No more and no less. I'm thankful for each day I'm alive and free. It's just that simple. I'm very uncomplicated."

(The reporter sits dumbfounded for a minute.)

Reporter: "Grannie, do you suppose you could help me find other heroes to tell their stories?"

Grannie: "I'd be delighted to. Let me find my cellphone and make some calls."

(The camcorder switches off and the two sit on the bench a while. Grannie making a few cellphone calls and the reporter writing down appointment times and addresses.)

Oh Rikti... oops. That's what I get for ADHD. I thought they were just news reports, sorry.

Post deleted by Rakash

Orchid decided to sit in the bleachers behind Kruth'T. She had found a Japanese parasol and had opened it up, careful to keep from blocking the sun from the reptilian friends. She had studied that most reptilian creatures liked to lounge in the sun awhile and her parasol was there if they should desire some shade. Of course Orchid always needed shade and she looked a bit like a B-grade movie starlet in her sunglasses, hat, trenchcoat and stilletto boots.

Yes it was an odd collection of beings on the court today and Orchid was content to people watch. The game of tennis had always been a bit too 'tweedy' for her tastes just as horse races and speed boating had been. So Orchid was content in the shade of the parasol to quietly observe life and the game around her.

"What's a litch?" asked Kruth'T to Orchid.

"That, my interdimensional traveling friend, is a very interesting question. There are those who say a litch is a very powerful undead sorcerer or sorceress. Others suppose that they are the supernatural embodiment of powerful elves or humans trapped in a type of magical afterdeath. There are rumors of litch kings and litch queens, but I've never heard of anything being substantiated by any research. The data just doesn't seem to exist for some unknown reason... I personally don't have much experience with litches so my knowledge is a bit sketchy at best. Perhaps Mitch or Sal could enlighten us more on the subject?" replied Orchid.

Orchid finished with the disinfecting hand wipe and declined to take a racket after all. "And no, Kruth'T, it isn't a normal part of tennis to lose a limb in the process of playing. The idea is to hit with a racket a round rubber ball over a net where the opposing player can't return it with a hit to you or your partner."

Orchid knew this day was getting more interesting by the minute. First with the hopelessly inadequate explanation of tennis to Kruth'T and second with the incursion into a very unusual tennis match between the four 'people' of the tennis team who's game had been interrupted by the arm attached to the racket Ian had found.

For some unknown, but seemingly appropriate moment, scenes from Douglass Adams' 'Hitchhihker's Guide to the Galaxy' circled in Orchid's mind. She smiled and shrugged to Mitch and Sal.

Orchid saw the disjointed arm on a tennis racket that had been carried in Ian's load of rackets and heard the man in tennis whites, who she presumed to be it's owner. She stopped in mid-grab and let out a very girly "Ewwww!" before backing away toward where Kruth'T was examining his racket.

It wasn't so much that Orchid was repelled by dismemberment, she had seen and caused plenty of it on her 'not so good' nights patrolling the streets of Paragon City. It was more the idea of a wayward arm still attached to a piece of sporting equipment that made her shudder. "Aren't they supposed to clean the equipment before someone else uses it?" was all she managed to mutter to no one in particular.

It was a quirk of hers, left over from her time before her change into an undead being, that she was a touch germaphobic. "I mean really, it's like going into a gym and using equipment that hasn't been sanitized between those using it. That's just so gross!"

She suddenly felt the need for some disinfecting wipes before she touched anything in the area. Hiding a slight shiver she took out a bottle of antiseptic hand cleaner from her western styled utility belt and offered it around to anyone who might like to sanitize their hands from touching the rackets...

"Underground facility?" thought Orchid as the hair on the nape of her neck began to rise. "What the heck kind of place is this?" she continued to ponder.

She had a brief subliminal flashback to the Council base and it's underground prison. The noticeable chill running down her spine made her inadvertantly shiver for a moment.

Orchid lowered her eyes briefly as a pained expression quickly crossed her face and then was gone. Her back had stiffened and her hands automatically clenched into fists before they too relaxed.

"Listen closely to any hints they may reveal about this underground facility" whispered a voice in Orchid's mind. "We need to know what they are doing to their 'patients' here..."

Orchid saw the tennis rackets in Ian's hands as she feigned a relaxed smile, "Ah! Tennis - I haven't played in years!"

She waited to see what the others would do before reaching for a racket or not.

*points* PUPPY!!!!

"...but she still managed perfect accuracy.”

Orchid could feel a blush begin to blossom under the ebony skin of her cheeks. A shy grin began to warm into an ivory smile on her face, "Well... I do confess to having a few lifetimes to practice my archery skills. And I do apologize for being a little inept at my social graces if I seem excited, it's just been so long since I've been around people."

She wondered if Sis had been to the spa and wanted to ask but decided not to confuse the conversations of the group. Instead she opted to stay quiet and observe, hopefully to rekindle some lost memory of protocol and manners.

"Speak when spoken to is what your grandmother always said" mentioned the symbiote to Orchid's mind. "Patience, it'll all come back to you in time. Like archery, all it takes is practice and restraint."

It slowly dawned on Orchid that perhaps she'd said too much. It was just so difficult trying to relate to the living beings around her, it had been so long since she'd been in anyone's company during her self-imposed exile.

She was aware of eyes staring at her which made her more nervous and self-conscious as her symbiote reassured her.

"We're alright host. They're just curious. I don't sense they mean you any harm, but you do need to be careful what you say about us to them - it could potentially frighten them or make them more curious about us. . ." said the symbiote to it's host, Orchid.

Orchid lifted her eyes to look into the eyes of the curious friends around her. "Ian's explanation is pretty accurate. Unlike some affected by my... condition... I'm really very shy and quite harmless. In my life, before my... change... I was a botanist. I was working on my PhD at the University when the... incident... in Talos Island happened. I'll spare you the details but the change has been quite... profound. I'm here for help in understanding what's happening within me as I'm still comming to grips with it all."

She had hopes that perhaps her new friends wouldn't ask too many questions. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about her 'condition' but rather she really didn't know to relate it in terms they could comprehend. She was still wary of who she could and couldn't trust with her story.

Orchid gestured towards Ian's headband, "Are you a martial arts practicioner?" Then she smiled to Kruth'T, "I'd like to hear about the worlds you've visited. I imagine you can tell some interesting stories." Then she looked to Ella, "I'd like to get to know you better, it's been so long since I've had a female friend to do girly things with."

It had been ages since Orchid had done really girly things like manicures, pedicures and playing with hairstyles. For that matter it'd been ages since she'd been shopping as her tattered and threadbare trenchcoat and leopard print dress hanging in the closet could attest. Perhaps if she remembered her more feminine charms it would help her transition into being more human and less cold toward the humans who's company she so desperately craved.

Kruth'T paused for a moment. "Such training is necessary for my... job."

*A Pop and a Whoosh*

"Job? What job?" asked Orchid as she became suddenly visible. She didn't know how her shields had turned themselves off but she was glad they had. "And my scaley friend, just what - exactly - do you want to know about each of us and why?"

Orchid had so much she wanted to say but it was hard to organize her thoughts into something remotely coherant. It was even harder to know who she could trust with what information about herself.

After all, how would they react to the notion of a rather reluctant space vampire in their midst? Would they wish to do her harm, or perhaps examine her as some odd lab specimen? Would they want to kill her, cage her or help her? How was she to know who to trust with her secrets?

She felt suddenly as if the whole world were looking at her, judging her, disecting her as her eyes looked away. "It's just there's so much to my story, I don't know what you want to know or what I can tell you that you'd understand. . . It's not a pretty life or undeath I've had. . ." Orchid sighed then continued with her apology, "It's just that it's so. . . complicated, you see."

Her downcast eyes watched her now uneasily fidgeting feet, her gloved hands toying with bits of imaginary lint on her spandex tights as she suddenly felt very exposed and small in the company of those who she hoped were her new friends. She waited for what seemed an eternity for someone to say something to take away her awkwardness of the moment.

Once they stopped Kruth'T walked up to a tree, and brought his hearing up to his highest sensitivity. With a single delicate looking claw, he started tapping out Ians' heart beat. Then Ellas', a squirrels', and then a couple of birds on a nearby branch. All five of his fingers was tapping out a different sequence of heart beats, and keeping perfect time.

Tapping... tapping...

It was enough to drive a sane warshade nuts, nevermind Orchid in her altered state as she followed the sounds.

It was an excruciating assault to her overly sensitized ears - the sound of 5 claws tapping on treebark like some distant concord of Pantheon drums or a gigantic leaky faucet in the solitude of night.

Tapping... tapping...

Orchid rounded a corner of the pathway and stood bobbing in all her ultraviolet orbed glory, dark tendrils of nether snaking from her etherial body.

Tapping... tapping...

Orchid saw it was Kruth'T and rather than glowering at him she merely stood with non-descript hands over her ears. She wasn't sure anyone knew she was there. She wasn't even sure that she was there.

Orchid was aware that she had changed, yet she was unaware of just how she had done so.

She seemed to go unnoticed by the Psych Ward staff as her nearly invisible form bobbed it's way down the hallways to the great outdoors. She was comfortably numb in this state of anti-being. Aware and more importantly, warm, for the first time in a very long time.

"How strange" she thought as she followed the signs to the archery range where she last saw her new friends. "I'm not cold, I almost feel alive again." She brushed by a fir tree, the scent so strong she could taste it and is was not wholly unpleasant.

Everything seemed brighter and her senses seemed more heightened. The white clouds in the glowing blue sky seemed tinged with baby pink - the intensity of colors made her darkly shining eyes ache. The smells in the air around her she could taste - the trees, the rich earth, the ozone, the wildflowers - it was enough to overwhelm and saturate every pore of her body now exuding their smells.

The soft singing of the birds was amplified and caused her ears to twinge now and again. She could hear the voices of people talking from good distances away as if they were right next to her.

The ultraviolet orb that was now Orchid trailing dark tendrils continued bobbing down the path to rejoin the other inmates of the asylum. . .

((/ooc Ugh, silly ice storms knocking out power for 5 days!))

* * * * * * * * * *

The shield of nether encompassed Orchid as she traced delicate pictographs with black tendrils following her fingertips.

"This is very odd and yet... somehow familiar" was all Orchid mused as an orderly peeked through her door to check if she was quiet.

He blushed when she turned softly ultraviolet glowing eyes upon him, "I'm sorry, just doing my job. How are you feeling?"

Orchid thought for a moment before answering, "I don't quite know. Is that strange?"

The humming of the nether bubble around her grew slightly louder and began to spin slowly on a hypnotic vertical axis.

"I think a specialist might be in order." The orderly was quickly paging someone to examine the phenomena around this most unusual of self-committed patient.

Orchid began to fade from view in a haze of ultraviolet light and dark wispy tendrils of nether.

"Nurse!" was all the orderly managed to yell before Orchid blinked out from view...

The humming noise had stopped as a barely discernible orb of ultraviolet light and nether tendrils bobbed it's way down the hallway from Orchid's room.

* * * * * * * * * *

Orchid's frustration and anger grew as the voice continued to chide her.

Voice: "You know what you're capable of... You know what you're programmed to do.... Just do it - it would be easy and then you'd be rid of me."

Orchid: "Programmed? Programmed! So the 5th Column did brainwash me. I refuse to be an agent of their twisted ideology."

Voice: "How droll... are we reverting back to this again? You'll do the mission you've been selected to do!"

Orchid: "And just what mission is that, exactly?"

The voice was silent as a defensive bubble of what appeared to be nether formed around Orchid. A haze of blacklight eminated from her eyes as her sybiote spoke in it's calm voice to her.

"I'm sorry to have to contain you, Orchid. You were becomming a danger to yourself and those around you. The voice has been quieted from tormenting us - though I don't know for how long." A calmness began to warmly wash over Orchid and her agitation and frustration faded away.

"Who really is in control of me?" questioned Orchid.

"At the moment, I am part of you and in control of preserving my host body" replied the symbiote.

Orchid tentatively reached out a hand to touch the inner confines of the nether bubble around her. It quietly hummed where she touched it as tendrils of blackness followed where her fingers traced.

"This is so bizarre - and a bit unnerving..." Orchid marvelled at a newly discovered mystery like a child with a new toy, unaware at what was happening outside her room.

“Soo…you’re an archer? Like Manticore?”

Orchid grinned a slightly wicked lopsided grin as she replied, "I'm many things to many people... but no, I'm not an archer and not at all like the great Manticore. I don't have the soul of a hero." A wave of purple flashed across Orchid's eyes as she lowered them to look at her feet.

Orchid grimmaced slightly as she remembered the stories of how Manticore had failed in protecting the heroic Sister Psyche. She had determined long ago that she could never be a hero, it would just be all too painful to lose friends and loved ones.

Orchid snorted then raised dead calm eyes up to look into Ian's face. She smiled a slightly toothy smile to him. "No, I'm no hero, I just have incredible luck to be in the right place at the right time on rare occasions. I could never think of myself as any kind of hero to anyone."

"Go on... change in front of everyone... scare the bejeebus out of him." The inner voice prodded Orchid to do what she was determined not to do. "For that matter scare the snot out of all of them... You know you want to. It would be fun!"

Orchid groaned and put her hand to her temple. Then she returned her bow and quiver of arrows to the drawer in the holographic vault.

"I'm sorry, I uh... think I have a migraine comming on. Please, excuse me" was all Orchid said as she gave her apologies to the little group she had had so much fun with.

Half walking, half running she made her way to the path and followed it through the woods. She began her inner dialogue with the voice that up to now had been quiet.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Oh for pity's sake... you're growing weak Orchid" taunted the voice.

"No, I'm growing stronger. I'm more in control. In control of you and you can't stand it. You're afraid... I can sense it" replied Orchid.

"Do you really think they don't know that it's me in control of you? Come on... you know you have power. Why don't you use it and be done with it?" said the voice again.

"Because it's wrong! It goes against the mandate and you know it!" argued Orchid.

* * * * * * * * * *

Orchid didn't know when she reached the door to her room she only knew she was getting more and more angry at the voice that so inhumanely chided her to commit an act she knew she couldn't commit...

She slammed the door to her room before collapsing onto the bed and breaking down into tears.

"I can't.. I just can't..."

Orchid saw Ian and not wanting to be rude to him extended her gloved right hand while she held her bow in her left hand.

"Hello, I'm Orchid. Please excuse my strange attire - bit of an allergy to sunlight. Are you a friend of Ella's?" she inquired just as Kruth'T was about to make introductions. "Have you met our friend Kruth'T here?" Orchid introduced Kruth'T before he could introduce her to Ian.

Orchid wasn't intentionally being rude she just wanted to enjoy her relaxed state of mind by being friendly. She was having to make an effort to remember social protocals after having been in self-imposed exile from people for so long.

She wanted to laugh as she had felt their eyes watching her during the release of the arrows as they flew into the target in the lane ahead. She surmised that they were examining her like some microbe under a microscope for some as yet unknown purpose.

How could she explain that she had had lifetimes of practice? How would they understand that in a state of total focused concentration she had shot the last couple of arrows with her eyes closed? Would it have been rude to laugh as she 'felt' the presence of each of their eyes watching her, hearing each heartbeat and exhilation of their breath with hers, sensing each ruffle of leaves in the trees around them, each fold of the breeze in time and space? How would they possibly understand the total sensitivity to a melding with each molecule, each atom?

Then Orchid grinned to Kruth'T, "I think you shot very well for your first time practicing archery. It takes a bit of practice to master and become familiar with the equipment. You know, when I was younger, I used to teach..." Orchid's voice trailed off as her eyes went back to a distant time in her collective memories...

Then her eyes shot to Ian, "Do you shoot?"

((/ooc Thank God my back is better - finally! Sorry that I've missed so much.))


Orchid's powers of concentration kept her focused on the target ahead as another arrow found it's mark.

"You know what I miss most?" she said to no one in particular as she lowered her bow, "I miss the 'thwack' sound I used to hear when real arrows from real bows would hit a paper target on a giant haybale. Ah well... at least this is relaxing and good for training the mind to concentrate."

Orchid then sighed contentedly and looked to the small audience gathered around Ella and Kruth'T. A tranquil smile crept across her dark lips as a twinkle of dark purple appeared in her eyes.

((ooc/ Sorry haven't been on much - aggravated an old back injury and been laid up a bit. Will resume posting again when better. Feel free to use and abuse my character within reason. LOL ))

I think characters in stories have tolerance levels - it all depends on whether they breach that level and 'snap'.

The easy way to begin writing for my characters is by relating some horror in recurring dreams that caused them to instantly 'snap'.

The harder way for my characters is by tolerating slowly spiraling affronts to their sensibilities that they have to manage somehow before they've had enough to finally 'snap'.

Don't know if this makes sense as I don't know your writing style but hope it gives a couple of ideas for your character's development in your stories.

Think about your character and write in accord with the way that seems natural for their reactions to their situations.

Writing should be a pleasure, not a chore.

Orchid nearly choked as a spoonful of the last of her yogurt went down the wrong way with Ella's hurried excitedness. "Um... ok. Let me just find a trash... oh, nevermind I can eat and walk at the same time" said Orchid as she stood then pushed her chair in under the table. Yogurt container in one gloved hand and the other gloved hand ready to take Ella's hand.

"Are we lifting weights or trying archery, or something else?" Orchid wasn't really sure just where, or what, was on the minds of Ella and Kruth'T to do. Anything was fine with her, she craved the companionship of people - no matter what dimension they were from. The truth of the matter was she felt a bit confused but decided it best just to be carried along with whatever her new friends had planned.

Orchid found it a bit strange that Ella looked to be around twenty-ish but acted so much younger. Orchid smiled to herself thinking, 'Ella has a zest for life. She has the enthusiasm of a group cheerleader. I think Kruth'T and Void like her. I can see why, I think I like her too. Where did Void disappear to anyway?'

And so Orchid walked, Ella in the center holding hers and Kruth'Ts hand, headed for wherever and whatever the day might bring.

Ella: “Yes, they have an archery range, but the bows they have available are very weak and substandard. They don’t like <air quotes> weapon grade </end air quotes> equipment around for security reasons. Unless it is part of your talents, then you are allowed supervised use at the weapons range for rehabilitation purposes. But that is for those that signed in and surrendered their equipment on admission. There is lots of paperwork involved.'

‘If you guys are interested they have a Heroes Discussion Group** starting in little while. That’s when one of the patients gets to story tell about their adventures and heroics. They are normally lots of fun despite that they usually end with a arguing and a brawl. There is someone who always thinks they know more about this or that villain group.' ”

Orchid grinned while replying, " 'Well I would hope that the archery range would be safe. I'm more interested in the mental exercise of concentration than in scoring points for hitting the target. At least for me it's an exercise in the art of zen - to concentrate so clearly as to become part of the mechanics of the bow, the arrow and the target. I suppose it's more an issue of psychology than of physics - of mental clarity and acuity versus physical strength and scoring.'

'As for the Heroes Discussion Group...' Orchid hissed a breath in through her mouth before continuing, 'it's probably best I avoid situations that end up in heated debates or a brawl.' She looked around and leaned in close to Ella and Kruth'T, 'I'll let the two of you in on a little secret - I'm a bit of a pacifist. I don't really see the point in getting violent over rhetoric, makes no sense at all to me. You have your opinion, I have mine, we can both discuss the finer points of those views for the sake of arguement without being uncivilized toward each other.' "

Then Orchid smiled to herself with the realization that what her grandmothers had told her when a child was true - she did look at the world a little differently - and she was alright with accepting that.

Orchid closed her eyes as she began the change back to her more human form. A satisfied sigh emanated from her as she regained her composure and placed the now emptied paper cup onto the table. "There's nothing like a satisfying breakfast to start the day off right."

"What's an archery range?" Kruth'T said softly, while eating some more insects.

Her ears caught the last of a conversation, "Is something wrong Void?" Kruth'T asked. Kruth'T then looked to Ella, and Orchid in confusion.

Orchid watched Kruth'T for a moment as she dabbed the corner of her mouth from the last drop of her breakfast. "I think I make Void nervous, I don't really know why. That or he's just really shy around women - though he seems to be alright around Ella. Yeah, I think I make him nervous."

"As for archery, if Ella or Void don't have plans with you, you're very welcome to tag along with me Kruth'T while I look for a range. I don't even know if they have one here." Orchid brought a spoonful of now warm yogurt to her mouth as her mind began to wander once more.

Void Blazer turned his head back to Orchid, noticing she had suddenly hunched over to finish her drink. "No need to turn away Orchid, it can't be that funky looking, after all, Kruth'T eats some uncommon food as well, but he didn't need to hide it or anything."

It wasn't that Orchid thought herself as merely 'funky looking' during a feed it's just that her own sense of politeness didn't wish to alarm anyone as she did. She didn't think herself a very attractive picture with the change in her appearance.

Her fangs were the least of the changes that happened to her as the bloodlust, no matter how controlled, began. Her eyes became more creature than human - solid black without a discernable pupil. Her face became more batlike - wrinkled and darker skin. Her fingers became more slender with long claws. Her ears became more pointed as her entire body gave off a blueblack aura of darkness. Even her hair changed to a dark blueblack color as she fed.

No, Orchid didn't think that she was the lovely bronze colored woman that anyone would recognize, so she hid herself during a feed. She had been known to smash mirrors and windows during a feed if she had seen her reflection during her changed state of being.

Orchid stopped long enough to hiss softly to Void, "I turn into a monster. Do not see me." Her fangs then punctured the bottom of the paper cup to get at the last of her breakfast.

Orchid watched Ella's reaction to Kruth'T and made a mental note not to offend her by being overly curious and friendly toward Kruth'T. The very last thing she needed was to make anyone uncomfortable or upset with her - she was odd enough as it was.

"Maybe I'll avoid the gym and look for an archery range. I've always wanted to try it", spoke Orchid softly as she took the lid from her coagulating warm drink. She swirled the contents of the cup for a minute.

Without lifting her eyes from the red goo in her paper cup she continued, "Kruth'T I'll be the last person to judge anyone on their diet here. If you're hungry, feed on what your system can digest."

Orchid's fangs were beginning to protrude from the corners of her mouth as both hands now clasped the paper cup securely. She politely turned away from her breakfast mates at the table, "I don't mean to be rude, but please excuse me for a few minutes, I need to finish my drink before it clots." In accord with tasteful rules of social etiquette, like some mantled giant bird of prey, she hunched over and hid herself within the loose folds of her caftan as her fangs sank into warm congealing protein. Always the lady, she was mindful not to slurp as she daintily consumed her meal.

She blissfully closed her eyes as she devoured her breakfast - hoping she was hidden enough not to unnerve anyone at the table or in the room that may have been watching her.