By RPG\u00a0 (The actual background is in my Seattle Hunt logs that I have not written.This one will do, though it does not depict either of my Characters correctly, it is a good story.)<\/p>\n
\u201cRaven, we have a problem in Detroit,\u201d the computer\u2019s voice woke her instantly.
\n\u201cWhere is my beloved?\u201d It was her first thought.
\n\u201cHe is currently involved in a hostage situation in Irkutsk,\u201d the computer replied.
\n\u201cWhere is Ear koot ska?\u201d
\n\u201cRussian Federation, central Siberia. It involves a number of school children.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat is the problem in Detroit?\u201d She rolled out of bed, nude, and began to gather her fighting gear.
\n\u201cThere is a house fire,\u201d Spock replied.
\nRaven stopped moving, the lower half of her costume just pulled up over her hips.
\n\u201cHow are we concerned? Does Detroit not have a fire brigade?\u201d
\n\u201cThe Detroit Police have the house in question surrounded, SWAT teams are on site. They believe the fire was started by a mutant.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat would my beloved ask?\u201d
\n\u201cThe house is the home of a man who fosters children. His current foster is a 16 year old girl authories believe is the cause of the fire.\u201d
\nRaven absently pulled up the top portion of her costume, arranging it so as to protect silly human sensibilities about nudity. Stepping into her calf high boots, she stamped each foot as her Aaron had done so many times. Straightening, she flex her small hands. The gleaming black dragon gloves appeared and adjusted to the proper size. In her right hand the black bladed dagger appeared. Bending slightly at the waist, she tucked the blade into the sheath that was sewn to the right boot.
\n\u201cHow close can you place me?\u201d She asked the computer.
\n\u201cFour miles,\u201d it replied.
\nGathering her hair in one hand she pulled it free of any entanglement donning her costume may have caused. The dragon tattoo on her left hip slithered up to take its place just below the cut of her very abreviated costume, the spines along its neck not quite reaching the line of the leather. Its tail wrapped her leg only as far as her boot\u2019s top. The tattoo on the left side of her body slipped beneath the portion of her costume that covered her side from just at the top of her hip to just below the line of her breasts. Its head found its resting spot along the left side of her neck while its body coiled down her left arm.
\nVakoli, unbidden, pushed open the French doors that led from the bedroom\u2019s balconey and darted to her shoulder. The minature dragon was a comfortable and familiar weight there. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
\n\u201cFeel like travelling, my friend?\u201d The mini dragon hissed. \u201cI take that is a yes \u2026 Spock, you may enter jeyez.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detroit may have been in the throes of urban blight but downtown was still quite active, even for eight o\u2019clock in the evening. Archer had always made a point to arrange the teleport sites to be placed in some out-of-the-way area and this one proved to be the top of the tallest building in the city. From that vantage point she would have an unrestricted panoramic view of most of the city.
\n\u201cWhich direction, Spock?\u201d she asked the computer.
\n\u201cSoutheast,\u201d came the response. Valoki point with his nose. North and south and those other directions did not come easy for Raven even after years in the Cold and Green. That thought made her regret not collecting Archer\u2019s great cloak from the couch. It had been a warm night in the Valley but this Detroit place was cold. The Gift of Tsasaidor, her costume presented to her by the Great One, in fact kept her comfortably warm but it did not stop her from shivering as a blast of cold air blew across the rooftop. She would have to work very quickly.
\nThe dragon launched himself from her shoulder and moved out to scouting range freeing up her magic. Without hesitation, she followed the tiny drake and leaped off the building. Instantly she was lifted by her magic and pushed after Valoki. The pair matched speed as the dragon homed in on their target. He spotted the smoke moments before her and together they settled to the ground beside a very large truck thing. On the side huge letters in white proclaimed SWAT.
\nA hand came down hard on her shoulder and spun her around. Valoki reacted instantly and sank his claws into the offending hand resulting in a sharp cry of pain. The wounded man\u2019s uninjured hand dropped to the butt of a weapon and Raven touched his mind.
\n\u2018I am the Seeker of the Wild Hunt, I am here to aid you,\u2019 she said into his mind.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d The man was a police officer with three inverted white vees on his shoulder. \u201cThat thing bit me!\u201d
\n\u201cNo, he did not,\u201d Raven said aloud. \u201cHe was defending me from your attack. If he had bitten you, he would still be attached and gnawing away flesh.\u201d
\nSlowly the gun came up until it was centered on Vakoli who was resting in her shoulder, his tail coiled around her neck, as if nothing had happened.
\n\u201cYou got a license for that thing?\u201d The man demanded.
\nRaven blinked, then remembered. \u201cOh, yes, I do.\u201d She pulled the costume away from her left breast and found the small pocket concealed within. She pulled out a thin leather folder and opened it for the man. It took a moment for him to notice as his eyes were fixed on Raven\u2019s now covered breast. Inside the folder was Raven\u2019s US Marshal\u2019s ID.
\nThe man sputtered.
\n\u201cI meant a pet license for that monster!\u201d The gun was still pointed at Vakoli, who decided at that moment to notice. Raven had a split second to grab the mini dragon\u2019s tail before it would have sunk the poisonous stinger into the man\u2019s hand. As she did this, she sent a quick command to the man.
\n\u2018Freeze.\u2019 She spoke directly to his mind.
\nHe had no choice but his finger had already depressed the trigger enough to draw the hammer back on his weapon. It did not fall. Raven stepped to the side and out of his line of fire.
\n\u2018Put away your weapon\u2019 she commanded. When he had complied she smiled. \u201cShall we discuss this mutant you are planning to kill?\u201d She spoke aloud.
\nThe man stepped back, his hand going back to his weapon.
\n\u201cDo not make me put you to sleep,\u201d she warned. \u201cI will find and remove your mutant. You will have no need to kill her.\u201d
\nShe suspected something about the man and stepped into his mind. It was the usual jumble of chaos with his fear foremost, fear of not just Valoki but of her and the mutant inside. He was actually planning to have his team kill the girl.
\n\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so.\u201d
\n\u2018Go sit in your truck until I am gone.\u2019 She commanded. The man looked bewildered but stepped over to the truck and climbed inside.
\nA second man approached her, hands down and open.
\n\u201cYou are the Seeker?\u201d he asked. This one had two silver bars on his collar. She recalled this was his badge of rank, a captain. Human\u2019s were so stupid with their ranks. Was two silver bars better than three white stripes? Probably not.
\n\u201cYes, I am the Seeker,\u201d she replied to the man. \u201cI will take the mutant from here if you will keep out of my way.\u201d
\n\u201cOkay \u2026 the building is burning though, how will you get her out? We think she is holding her foster father hostage.\u201d
\nRaven smiled at the thought of the nice warmth she would find inside the building.
\n\u201cDo not worry, I am fire proof.\u201d She started for the house.
\nThe building was not fully aflame and it seemed the majority was merely smoke. Very thick smoke. She would not be able to find the girl through that. Close enough to feel the beginnings of the heat from the fire she stopped. It was plain there was a mind inside, a single mind.
\nShe called back to the police man. \u201cThere is but one person inside, I sense no other.\u201d
\nThe flame had begun to eat away the building front porch area now. She would have to be quick so as not to fall through charred flooring. Three steps brought her to the door. The knob glowed faintly in her \u2018fire\u2019 sight but would not present a danger thanks to Tsar\u2019s Gift.
\nAs she turned the knob and started to push the door open someone behind her yelled, \u201cBackdraft!\u201d
\nIt was as if the building chose that moment to take a great gasping breath. The instincts of a life in the Fireoak Forest kicked in. With the in draft she stepped forward two paces, drawing her dagger as she did so. The blade slammed into the stout wood of the door\u2019s jam just as the outward blast of flame enveloped her. The dagger kept her from being tossed out of the building like fireoak fuzz. Behind her there was panic and conflicting orders flew. One in particular annoyed her, the one about the hose.
\nJerking her blade free she stepped to the side out of the doorway just before the blast of water hit the flames. When the stream seemed to be safely away from her she peeked around the door jam and waved at the people watching.
\n\u201cI am uninjured,\u201d she called, noting that the white stripe man was out of the truck once more. She had told him to remain there until she was gone. She really had to be more careful of her phrasing with those of the Cold and Green. They could be so literal. The hose stopped and she was enveloped in steam as the fire struggled against the water. The girl was in the room just down that hallway and she began picking her way through the growing wreckage of the house.
\nThere was a body.
\nRaven stepped over it and into the room. The girl, about 16, sat in the middle of a shabby mattress on a heavy metal bed frame, staring at the flames and making no effort to escape. There was no way she was going to get anything intelligible out of that girl. She was obviously in the state of shock. Raven stepped into her mind.
\n\u2018I am Raven Fireoak, the Seeker, and I am here to save you.\u2019
\nImmediately the flood began, the abuse, the starvation, the beatings and finally the attempted rape. Raven saw it all replayed. The girl was strong, far stronger than the man but he had known that and brought with him a baseball bat. Before she could react, he had bashed her twice, the first one stunning her and the second knocking her out.
\nWhen she awoke she was bound ankles and wrists to the bed, her clothes ripped from her body. The man stood over her, his fingers working the button of his jeans. He never saw it coming.
\nSmoke lit with embers of flame erupted from the girl\u2019s mouth and covered him. Clothing burst into flame and the screaming began. He backed away, bouncing off the curtains that covered the only window, setting them alight. From there physics took over. The man died before the fire really caught hold of the building and the girl could have escaped but she had gone into shock. She had killed a man.
\n\u2018You defended your life,\u2019 Raven said into her mind. \u2018He was trying to kill you with that bat and if you had not been a mutant, he most likely would have succeeded. What is done, is done, and you are not to blame. Please, come with me. You will be safe with me.\u2019
\nThe girl\u2019s stare shifted to Raven.
\n\u201cAre you in my mind?\u201d she said over the growing roar of the fire.
\n\u2018Yes, forgive me, but your story must be known and I am a US Marshal. It is in my power to make a decision as to if you will be charged. I will not be charging you,\u2019 Raven said to her mentally.
\n\u201cBut the fire \u2026\u201d
\n\u201cSpock, two please.\u201d
\nThe burning building vanished to be replaced by the med lab of the Wild Hunt.<\/p>\n
Raven toed open the auto-doc.
\n\u201cIf you will remove your clothes so that you may be examined,\u201d she said aloud.
\nThe girl looked doubtfully at the white pod.
\n\u201cWhat is this thing?\u201d
\n\u201cThis is an automatic computer controlled regeneration pod. An auto-doc,\u201d Spock said.
\nThe girl cowered, looking around the room for the source of the voice.
\n\u201cThat is Spock, he is our computer,\u201d Raven explained.
\n\u201cHe?\u201d
\n\u201cIt is merely a choice of pronoun and has nothing to do with gender,\u201d the computer explained. \u201cGender means nothing to me other than its particular requirements for medical reasons.\u201d
\n\u201cHe doesn\u2019t care if you are a girl.\u201d
\n\u201cHE going to record all this?\u201d
\n\u201cYes, for review by Ghost Archer, should it be necessary.\u201d
\n\u201cWho is \u2026wait \u2026 Ghost Archer? Like in California?\u201d
\n\u201cHe is my mate,\u201d Raven said proudly.
\nThe door slid open. Raven threw herself into the arms of the man that entered. He towered over her but bent to meet her lips in a long, passionate kiss.
\n\u201cYou were successful?\u201d Raven asked.
\n\u201cThree dead, all terrorists. No children injured.\u201d He replied then looked over at the smoke begrimed girl. \u201cHello, I am Ghost Archer, call me Archer. Are you injured?\u201d
\nShe shook her head. \u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d
\n\u201cOkay, I\u2019ll stay over here, Raven\u2019s relayed everything that happened and even if you think you are okay, please let the auto-doc check you over. We can both leave if you would be more comfortable. Just undress and lay down in the pod. The lid will close and a drape will cover you to the throat.\u201d
\nBoth could see that might be the preferred choice so they stepped out.
\n\u201cHe tried to rape her, beloved,\u201d Raven said, tears welling up in her beautiful green eyes. \u201cHow can a man who is entrusted with a child do such a thing?\u201d
\n\u201cThe Cold and Green is far more evil then your forests,\u201d he replied.
\n\u201cThe pod is closed,\u201d announced the computer.
\n\u201cYou go in, ask if she minds my coming in,\u201d Archer suggested to Raven
\nShe stepped back into the med lab and as soon as she did Archer spoke to the computer.
\n\u201cSpock, send in that report, let DPD know we have things in hand. I\u2019ll have Raven submit her deposition in the morning.\u201d
\nThere would be a legal battle between DPD and the US Marshal\u2019s Service but judges tended to side with Ghost Archer. Besides, the Valley wasn\u2019t in anyone\u2019s jurisdiction.
\n\u2018Beloved.\u2019
\nThe call came through their shared mind link and he entered the med lab. He stepped to the display and scrolled through it without looking over at the patient.
\n\u201cSmoke inhalation, second degree burns over 20% of your body. Abrasions on wrists and ankles. Severe concussion. Cracked skull. Blunt force trauma. Split scalp,\u201d Finally he looked over at her and met her eyes. \u201cI think you need to get some sleep. Let the auto-doc do its job.\u201d
\nHe could see she was drifting, probably from the concussion. With a touch of the screen the auto-doc put her to sleep.
\n\u201cHow long?\u201d Raven asked, worry making her voice tight.
\n\u201cThree days,\u201d he replied. He looked down at her then leaned in and sniffed her neck. Gooseflesh erupted all over her body. She loved it when he did that. \u201cYou might want to climb in to the \u2018doc too. If she sucked in smoke, you did too so a little O2 might be called for.\u201d
\n\u201cDo I have to take off my clothes?\u201d She asked hopefully.
\nHe grinned and lifted her dagger from its sheath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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