Lu's journey

[Lu]

(( Not really a plot as such, just odd rambling that I felt like writing at work one day. Thank yous go to Ves and 'Rin for their help with the ending and *hugs* for Ves to letting me borrow his toon. ))

Lu made her way across Paragon, the long bag slung over her shoulder looking almost like a sports bag. Its appearance suggesting an innocence completely at odds with the contents. Letting herself into the base of the Fletched Alliance, she made her way to the weapon display cases and placed her bag carefully on top. She loved spending time here on her own. It was mid afternoon and the base was silent. With exams coming up, the students had a study afternoon, so she was free to spend the time as she wanted. Alita would still be at the garage working on Akkarin's bike, and she suspected the others would be working somewhere, although she realised she didn't know what all of them did outside of their Alliance work.

Opening the bag, she unfastened the safety clips and removed her three blades, lying each carefully on the display cases. Here she could practice with all three and not worry about some one wandering off with two while she was using the other. Her basic katana that she had first learnt with was looking a little worse for wear. The blade was as sharp as it ever had been, the metal pristine, but the hilt needed a little work. The wrapping showed evidence of the sweat, tears and sometimes blood that had accompanied her training as she had pushed herself to the limit, using the blade to work out the daemons in her life. And yet it was comfortable, picking it up was like putting on an old pair of slippers. She was planning to replace the wrapping this afternoon to make it Alliance colours and to mark her transition completely from her old life in the UK to her new life in Paragon with the Alliance, with her new family.

Looking at the other blades before her, a smile grew as her eyes lingered on the silvered blade Alita had given her. The Latin inscription on the blade always fired her in battle and the care that had gone into its construction gave her a strong feeling of responsibility to live up to the blade. To be worthy of it. She smirked, Akkarin would have been a very worthy opponent, but she could not use the blade against him now. Perhaps she would have an opportunity against Arketh. Her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched involuntarily at the though of him. And yet they were twins. How was she ever meant to be completely sure Akkarin was not Arketh just trying to get close to the Alliance?

The third blade was one she had coveted for some time. Now she had it she was unsure how she felt. The darkness of the blade seemed to suck light into itself, any identifying marking were lost in the inky blackness. reaching out to touch it she noticed the blood spot drop from her fingers onto the display case and winced. She would have to clean that before it dried. Examining her fingertips before her mutated gene caused them to heal, she knew she had not felt the cut, not would she find any blood on the blade.

Somewhat reluctantly, she left the dark blade and the silvered one on the side. Picking up her basic katana she walked into the conference room and looked thoughtfully at the table. It looked solid, and working around the flame would be good practice. She deftly leapt onto the table, somersaulting over the chairs, landing lightly in a readied stance. Taking a moment to centre herself, her breathing slowed, her eyes unfocused, she could sense her surroundings, the sword in her hand an extension of her being. Then she began to move, working through gently flowing katas as her muscles warmed up before, on some unidentifiable signal she flew into a whirling dance. Her body moving smoothly around the table, skimming close to the edge and the flame.

Her mind invented opponents for her to work around, to tackle as she twisted and turned, trying to keep her movements smooth and flowing. Skulls, Hellions, Trolls, Igneous, Council soldiers, vampires, war wolves, Tsoo, Crey, Akkarin, Arketh, Veskit, the traitor...

Suddenly there was some one else there with her, working against her, challenging her, making her work harder to get around their defences. It was becoming more difficult to keep up, to maintain her edge. Already beginning to tire from her training, she felt as though her opponent was three Paragon Protectors rolled into one, or perhaps the trinity from Akkarin's family. Retreating, she threw herself into a reverse flip off the table to put some space between them and to get a better view of her opponent.

He laughed but did not follow, his eyes watching her reactions, noting her pulse rate drop and the rise and fall of her chest reduce as she recovered quickly from the exertion. "Your form is near perfect, cheer leader. And your skills with a blade ain't so bad either." he said, the smirk hidden by his mask obvious by the tone of his voice. "Maybe I should take Akkarin up on his offer if it means I'll get to play with some of his girls more often."

Blushing at his comments on her form, her right eyebrow arched as she replied "I'm hardly Akkarin's girl, but then I wouldn't expect a deserter to know what is going on." She watched him warily, readying herself to continue sparring, resenting the feeling she was being toyed with, being used as a plaything. She knew she couldn't beat him without more training and some research to identify any weaknesses, but maybe she could score a couple of points if she worked at it.

He chuckled "I know more than you think, Miss Stevens, like how your recent guest managed to get out of her room. Now be a good girl and keep practicing. You leave too many gaps open for your own good and if I come back I want to have at least *some* challenge when I come and play."

Lu watched him leave with a mixture of emotions and a head full of questions. How did he know her surname? How did he know how Meadow got out? Why did he keep coming back to Paragon? And why did every encounter with him leave her feeling infuriated and inadequate. She felt like a school girl. Well, she would just have to keep working and try to figure out where those gaps were he mentioned.

With purpose she put her basic blade back in the bag and selected the silvered steel Alita had given her. Just holding it in her hands cheered her up. Checking the daggers in it were securely stowed, she mounted the table again and began her whirling dance once more.

[Lu]

(( Okies, I've had this in my head for a while now and I have just managed to get it out. I suspect ideas will ease off soon and I'll leave you all in peace. In the mean time however, here is the next step on Lu's journey. I hope you like it.

Huge thanks to Akkarin for agreeing to practice with Lu and adding his bits. Until this morning I really didn't know what was going to happen ))

Entering the base, Lu paused, trying to get some feeling of the sentience Akkarin had mentioned on Sunday. The base felt quiet, silent, almost waiting, but then that could have been her projecting her slight trepidation about her planned practice with the boss. Her hand went involuntarily to her neck as she thought about her intentions. Her mind flicked to Alita and she hoped her rapid healing would mend any wounds left from this session before she saw Ali so she could talk about it with her first.

She walked into Akkarin's office, seeing him sat at the desk. "Ah, hey Lu, I'll be with you in just a minute, just need to finish these records. Running a business is great and all, but the paperwork is hell." Her breath quickened as he glanced at her and smiled before finishing the paperwork he was doing. Those eyes, those teeth. His resemblance to Arketh was uncanny. She consciously calmed herself, knowing his heightened senses would pick up her mild tension.

"I've been using the conference room to train in until now, shall I see you there when you're done?" she asked quietly.

Akkarin looked up again, noting her slightly elevated pulse rate, the controlled breathing and wondered why she was nervous. She seemed to do that a lot around him, but he still couldn't work out why. Perhaps this session would help. Keeping his face from betraying his mind, he nodded. "Yeah, I noticed the table had been used as a sparring ground. Go on through. I shouldn't be long."

Smiling, Lu made her way to the conference table. She mentally kicked herself for not talking to Akkarin about it yet, it hadn't seemed quite the right moment. Perhaps after the training session would be more appropriate. Opening her bag she looked at the blades within it, her hand moving, almost unconsciously towards the black blade. Stopping herself, she took out her basic katana, now wrapped with Fletched Alliance colours around the hilt. The other blades were special and not right to train with. She chuckled lightly under her breath. She didn't think 'Rin would appreciate it if she used Ali's blade to practice with him.

Taking off her boots she leapt deftly onto the table and began her warm up routine, losing herself in the movements. The peace she felt when working like this with her blade was incredible. Nothing else was there, nothing else mattered, just her and the blade. The smooth katas increased in speed as she moved into her training rhythm, her body whirling in a complicated dance around the table.

Entering the room, Akkarin stood and watched her for a while, assessing her style, quietly pleased at the flow of her movements as she traveled through the space she had available. His eyes narrowed as he focused on her technique, identifying the gaps she had, the ways she moved that led to predictability, the broadcasts she made of her intentions. A dark cloud of swirling mist emerged around him, gradually coalescing around his arm and becoming a blade in his hand.

Following her movements he chose his moment well and joined her on the conference table, working with her initially, letting her get used to his presence before gently challenging her. He watched for her broadcasts, weaving around her unexpectedly, going for the gaps he knew would be there.

Lu winced mentally as Akkarin scored another hit and re-adjusted her strokes once again. Every strike he scored lessened her focus, her internal serenity and she concentrated on getting it back, on following his actions with her calculating mind, trying to score a few hits of her own.

A couple of stinging strikes slipped through his defences, but did not draw any blood. Noting Lu was tiring, Akkarin eased off and raised his blade "Lets leave the sparring there for now. You've got a good technique, enough to deal with unskilled opponents anyway, but you need to vary it a little more, after a while it was fairly easy to predict what you were going to do. You need to work on your focus too. The relaxed and easy way you practised was impressive, I think it helps with your instincts. Work on keeping that throughout a fight, trust your instincts a little more than your head."

Nodding, Lu backed off and relaxed, feeling the rush of hormones run through her body as her genes rapidly made up for the exercise, returning her body to its natural, relaxed state. "Thank you, it would be good to work on the gaps. I know I need practice against a challenging opponent if I am going to succeed against the villainy in Paragon. Um, Akkarin I... "she started nervously, not sure entirely how to explain things, or how he might react. He watched her calmly, knowing from experience that if he waited, she would fill the silence with what she wanted to say. People usually did if you gave them silence to play with.

Taking a deep breath Lu tried to explain. "I'm glad you came back, and that you decided to stay. The Alliance needs a bit of stability now I think, to rebuild its reputation, to bring together the members, to support each other." She paused, working out exactly how to phrase the next bit. "I know you are a vampire Akkarin, and that means you need warm blood if you are to operate at peak efficiency and stay safe from the enemies of the Alliance." Looking into his eyes she very deliberately removed her two necklaces, the blood gem and the chain with the holy symbols on. Placing them on the table she approached him slowly, maintaining his eye contact as she did so.

"I heal rapidly and I trust you not to turn me into anything, or kill me just by drinking." She tilted her head slightly, clearly exposing her smooth pale neck, her vein pulsing lightly just below the surface. "I've thought a lot about things and I want you to know I trust you 'Rin. Anything you need, any support, any hot blooded sustenance, just say."

Her mind though of her conversations with Alita and how Ali had talked about vampires being different and not all of them being evil. She hoped Alita would understand. Lu didn't entirely understand herself, she just felt right, felt drawn to it, wanted him to drink. She stopped, close enough to him that he could feel her breath, smell her vitality, hear her heart beat pumping the blood around her body and waited, her neck inviting his touch.

Akkarin closed his eyes and breathed deeply, taking in her scent, feeling her warmth as she stood close. Opening his eyes he looked down at her neck, tracing the curve with his eyes and watching the pulse flow through her veins. Desire and hunger flooded through him, it would be so easy, she was offering, where was the harm in it? He clenched his fists and forced himself to take a step back "No..... I can't, I won't. I've resisted this long, I'm not about to give in now." He smiled, more for his own comfort than hers "You're right, warm blood would put me at my best, but I can manage with the life I drain with my powers. You have to understand, it's like an addiction that never lets go. If I started, I don't know if I could stop myself and I'm not ready to take that risk." He reached forward an put a hand on her shoulder "I appreciate it, I really do, I love that you can trust me that much. I'm just not sure if I can trust myself that much." He took a step away and turned his back too her. On his way out he called back "So, same time next week?"

[Lu]

(( More random story brewed. Had this one around for a while so if things don't hang together it's because I didn't update it right, but I hope it still works...))

Looking out at the sunshine, Lu thought of Akkarin in Miami and wondered how he dealt with the warm sun. She realised she had been missing the regular training they had begun and thought back to the last session. Her body had been left feeling bruised and battered after he had pushed her through a tough work out. Although he was always a gentleman and never drew blood he had worked her ruthlessly, pushing her as hard as he could, to understand where her limits were. After a time she was so tired and full of the regenerative hormones racing through her body that her focus had collapsed in tatters.

She felt ashamed and humbled that she hadn't been able to keep up with him. She remembered scoring some hits, but not enough to put him off his stride. How was she ever going to be successful if even her Alliance colleagues could pound her to a pulp. But then maybe she didn't have to be. Now Veskit was back, was she even needed any more? How could she contribute something meaningful to the group when there were so many good people there already?

She tried to analyse how she felt about Veskit. He confused her every time she saw him. Her hand went to the blood gem at her throat at the memory of one of their meetings. He was often helpful and obviously cared for his friends. he had trusted Akkarin completely, even when the magician had been controlling him. And yet she still found hum frustrating and infuriating. Possibly because he had left the Alliance after the incident with the traitor; a time when the Alliance was weak and could have really done with strong leadership. Could they rely on him this time? She hoped so. But then if he did stay she was going to have to up her game to still be seen as a valuable member of the team. If she achieved a standard at which she could face off against him and not lose, then she would feel she could continue to contribute to the Alliance. Perhaps she should ask him if he would help her train while Akkarin was away. But if she did, she would have to be able to hold her own a little at least.

That meant more practice to be able to keep that focus. Opening the cabinet to select a blade the frustration and confusions she felt faded slightly. She knew it was probably just the stress of all the change happening, moving in with Ali, her confusion over Veskit and the Alliance, and having lost her focus so completely when training with Lynix. She really didn't understand what he did to her, but despite losing, it hadn't been unpleasant. The hug he gave her afterwards had given her butterflies in her tummy, but it had felt good. Next time she wanted to keep her focus and give him a training session that was good for him as well as for her.

Lu looked at the three blades in the cabinet and decided it was finally time to accept the legacy sent to her. She took off the blood gem Veskit had given her and laid it on the coffee table before selecting the black katana. Moving to the middle of the room where she had a little more space, she grasped the hilt with both hands and closed her eyes, finding the focus she had lost in training. Her breathing slowed and her awareness stretched to the blade. She could feel it in her mind, knowing it was more than it appeared.

Pain lanced through her skull and she fought to stay upright, channeling her regenerative powers so she could stay focused. The pain increased and her eyes flashed open in unseeing agony, spasms running down her arms, her back arching with the pain. Unable to maintain her stance any longer her knees buckles and she hit the floor, the blade falling from her hands moments before she lost consciousness.

[Lu]

(( I'm not likely to be able to write much now - new job takes up a lot more time and energy than the old one.

However, this is the next written bit of Lu's journey. Those of you who have been around a while will know she disappeared for a bit (OOC reasons). This is a baby step back into RP. ))

"Lucy May Stevens" the young lady replied.

The clerk behind the desk frowned, his eyes glanced up to her face and back to his screen again. His fingers tapped an entry into his computer then he looked up. "Miss Stevens, you are already a member of Vanguard and a registered hero in Paragon City."

She felt a hand on her left elbow and sensed another person at her right shoulder.

"These gentlemen will take you to the ident-check and refamiliarisation suite to determine the extent of any amnesia or if some form of identity theft has occured. Pleas go along quietly, utilising 'hero control' is never pleasant."

Lucy nodded, her eyes looking withouth seeing, as her thoughts turned inward...searching.

Vanguard, Paragon City, she was here to help drive back the Rikti. Had she really been here before? Why? When? She wanted to get out of here, back to the hotel room so she could regain her focus, go through her mental exercises and feel her katana in her hands again.

They took some blood samples in the refamiliarisation suite and asked her lots of questions. They showed her pictures of places in Paragon city, people she had apparently arrested and put in the prison here. 'The Zig' they call it.

Through all the tests, the iris scans, the fingerprinting, E.E.G. scan of her brain waves, her mind was elsewhere. She answered all their questions explaining she had been training with her sensei in the UK and had come to Paragon to help drive back the Rikti.

No, she didn't remember being here before, only her training. And yes she was sure, 'The Fletched Alliance' meant nothing to her, was it a competitive archery group?

They allowed her to return to her hotel room that evening. Taking out her black katana, a smile crept across her lips as her now sparkling eyes followed the length of the blade from the hilt to the tip. Standing, she closed her eyes and her breathing slowed as she began a simple kata. The blade moved in smooth sweeping curves as her movements gradually became faster and more complex

She was lost in the movements, her focus taken completely by the actions of the blade and her awareness of the room around her. The furniture provided an extra dimension to her evening ritual but she snaked around and over it as though she was totally familier with the small hotel room.

Her eyes sprung open as she suddenly stopped before the bed. Remaining stock still her eyes looked around the room, taking in the positions of all the furniture. It was clearly her hotel room and yet she had just had a flash of a table in her mind. She had, for a moment, been about to leap onto a table, whirling her blade in her kata while avoiding.... a flame?

[Lu]

Lu sat on her bed and looked at the sword laying before her.

She was living in the flat she and Ali had bought together when she used to live in Paragon before. Ali had told her about it. She was being very patient with Lu and Lu worried that she would not live up to the person Ali thought she was. Listening to the things Ali told her about them: The evenings on the sofa with pop corn and a movie, the missions they had gone on together, trying to arrest the numerous Freakshow that were prevelant around Paragon... Lu thought it sounded like a different person. It felt like a world away. She could see herself doing some of the things, but still felt a little detatched from it all.

Ali had mentioned a katans she had given Lu. It was obvious to Lu that the weapon meant a lot to Ali because she had been very quiet when she mentioned it. Lu felt she had been almost nervous to ask about it.

It was that katana that lay on the bed in front of Lu now. It had stayed in her bag all the time she was in the UK. She had forgotten about it. Now she had taken it out and laid it on the bed. She traced the inscription on the blade. It was in latin.

Lu smiled as she thought of the love behind the gift. It made her feel safe.

She blinked. Wha...? Where had that memory come from?

Her hand moved to the hilt and she stroked the wrapping there. It was FA colours. She picked it up, feeling the perfect balance.

Perhaps this was her home. Perhaps this was where she belonged. She just had to find a job to do while she was here. Something so she could contribute to the home she and Ali had created before she left Paragon.

[Lu]

(( Okies. This is more of a response to the IC mishing rfomthe May Plot going on, but this seemed to be the best place to put it.

I wanted to write something. This isn't very good. It doesn't get across exactly what I wanted, but it gives an approximate impression. Hopefully it will get better sometime. ))

Walking stiffly Lu entered the base. Her legs still in splints from the expedition with Veskit, Richard and the others. She looked around, and let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding when it appeared no one else was in the base. Leaning heavily against the wall she almost pulled herself towards one of the sleeping quarters.

Reaching the corridor she needed to cross she took a deep breath, before walking, very carefully across it and into the room before collapsing, exhausted on the bed.

Easing herself into a straight position, she focussed on her breathing, trying to find her centre, trying to block out the pain. She knew if she didn't do something soon the broken bones in her legs would heal wrong. She couldn't let that happen, but she knew it was going to hurt to get them to heal correctly.

Gritting her teeth against the pain she removed the splints and then, grateful for the anatomical knowledge gained from her massure training, she manipulated her muscles to shuffle her bones back into the correct place.

"Arrrgh"

Having borne as much pain as she could she let out a scream. It helped relieve some of the pain somehow. She was glad she hadn't gone home. Lu dreaded to think how Ali would have reacted if she had discovered just how much of a mess Lu had made of herself. She really needed to improve on her landings.

Lying back on the bed she tried not to think about her legs. She thought about the mission. Veskit had been quite solicitous of her well being. She guessed a leader thought about those things, but it made her feel unconfortable that she had been seen to be so weak in front of him. And she seemed to remember him refering to her as 'hun'. What had all that been about? She hoped it was just like 'love' or 'duck' were used in the UK. At least, she was trying to make herself believe that.

She sent a quick text message to Ali to let her know she was back from the mission but just sorting out a few things in the base. Then she strapped her legs with some wrapping to ensure they would not move too much if she slept.

Closing her eyes and she willed sleep to come. Hoping the confusion in her mind and the pain in her legs would reduce with sleep.