Welcome to Gaia! ::

The murmur of the sea was a constant, the ebb and flow of ocean was everywhere you went. Of course that made sense as Stornoway, (knowing as 'Steornabhagh' in the local Scotch-Gaelic tongue) was a coastal town. It was also the only town in the area, with a small population of only 8,000. Like many Scottish town it's history was rich, a point of pride for the young woman that sat on a sun-warmed rock. A small hill bordered by a little park she frequented was her usual haunt; it had been since she was old enough to wander on her own. Presently the fifteen year old was hunched over a battered and much-loved sketchbook, idly drawing the coastal view before her and adding in detail of far off tourists boats and fishing skiffs, blue-green eyes intent on the paper and growing picture. Youth fueled her obsession with art and strong talent would fuel devotion and if it had been a week in the past year she would have been content.

There was reason for that of course, her childhood had been happy, raised by her parents, with her twin brother and older brother. Life was simple, the children were school, the twins got into mischief, and the one marring event was the death of her mother Miri, from a long illness, when she was twelve. A year later as the girl entered puberty she and her brother became to show signs of elemental gifts. Hers was with lightning, when she was angry or frustrated she felt tight and tense, once getting a glimpse of her face in the mirror and seeing the worrisome image of tendrils of lightning flickering in her eyes. It had faded in an instant, but she hadn’t forgotten it in the years she had been able to get somewhat used to her gifts. In time she learned meditation techniques to keep herself calm, though at times the power was erratic enough to make lighting crackle around her in ghostly tendrils for an instant before fading away; luckily she had been able to get to privacy when that happened, as far as she knew.

Her brother on the other hand suppressed his power, understandable after an accident lit his bed and hands on fire, scarring him for life. Surgeries later he was functional and improving more and more, but the young man buried his power deep inside, small blame really. Mena still worried that it would emerge again, that the next time he would perish in a self-created inferno, but no help was to be had in this town and when they came to age they would move away, to make their way in the world and to understand the gifts that they helped. For now, they lived their lives and the girl enjoyed her home town and her simple existence, the day would be held in dim memory as the last time anything felt normal and right, before her life fragmented in the course of the years to come.

It's difficult to say what drives the feeling that something very bad is about to happen. Is it intuition? A spike of adrenaline that increases awareness at the exact right second? Or a long dormant flight or fight trigger that has been with humanity before they even walked upright? It didn't matter, but a moment before the bounty hunter moved from the trees a distinct chill rolled over the young woman and she shuddered.

In the next few seconds a series of emotions coursed through her- disbelief, shock, fear and the sheer ludicrous nature of the situation. So as he flipped in the air before her, she scrambled to her feet, the notebook dropped and forgotten as the blade punched through paper and charcoal. Mouth open foolishly she gaped at him a moment before scrambling back and turning to flee in headlong rushing terror. He was blocking her way to the town and help, but even so she had the instinct to get home and her protective nature thought of this madman finding her family. So, Mena fled into the forested area of the park, her heedless flight leaving much to clear a trail.

Marco was a merc-for-hire. He carried a minigun with him everywhere, and usually had a cigar in his mouth. He'd recently been hired to kill a man known as 'the hunter'. Right now he was in a crappy little pub.

Hours before the first contact between Mena and the Hunter.

Bartender: Are you sure? That guy's pretty high-tech. Plus he's after that Mena girl that everyone wants to capture.

"I've heard of the girl. I would try to uh, capture her, but uh..."

Bartender: You're no good at that! You couldn't watch over my daughter for a night without gunning down every construction worker that whistles at her!

Marco got up and grabbed the bartender's arm, pulling him closer. He then burned the man's throat with his cigar.

"Just tell me where I should look."

Bartender: I got nothing! Get the ******** outta my bar!

Marco sighed as everyone in the pub pointed their guns at him, ready to shoot.

"Oh, fine."

He grabbed his minigun and got the hell out of there, as everyone was already shooting at him. He lit up another cigar and began walking, carrying his minigun in one arm. It was a pretty shitty day and he needed money real bad. The bartender had a point, he wasn't good at bringing people in alive. If he were to protect anyone, he'd probably end up firing at everyone who looks suspicious.

The man he was hired to kill was looking for this girl. If he could find her, he could offer to protect her, kill the man, AND turn the girl in, if she trusted him enough.

Or it could end up being a failure. He smelled of booze and smoke, not the most trustworthy of smells. Whatever would happen, he'd need to find either the girl or his target, before they found each other.

With another burst from his boots the hunter was flung forward. That combined with his swirling allowed him to land in the middle of the clearing facing Mena rifle arm raised and pointed at her his shoulder gun also aimed at her. “Pity. Bounty as large as your's usually means theres a challenge.” The remorsefulness in his voice had been drained out through the digital filter making him sound detached and cold, more so then he already was.

Mena skidded to a stop, so fast she nearly toppled to the ground. Breathing raggedly and feeling a mix of terror and sickness she stared at the man and the two guns, eyes tearing up. Under that though was a flash of temper and lightning crackled in her hands "Challenge?" she asked, voice wavering. A reckless need to prove herself filled her and she lashed out, bolts of thin lightning arcing at the man's guns as another stepped out, firing at her hunter. Sense returning to the young woman and she bolted once more as the hunter was hopefully distracted, pelting head long into the underbrush to her left.

Marco did a side tumble while still holding the minigun. He then fired upon the hunter in a crouched position.

However, as he did this, it seemed like a copied version of himself jumped out of his own body, and began climbing a nearby tree using his claws to assist him.

Randy sat in a room in the Heroes' Guild. It looked like an ordinary office. He sat in front of someone who distributed assignments.

"Right. She sounds very remarkable. If she has such extraordinary talent, why can't she just get herself out of this mess?"

"We don't know how experienced she is in dealing with shady agencies trying to kidnap her. We don't know if she's in control of her powers either. We would really like to get a hold of her before someone else does."

"Okay. So I find her, bring her back here. Then I get paid handsomely for my efforts. Provide me with a picture, please."

The Heroes' Guild worker shook his head and handed him a picture.

Randy looked at the picture.

"Please find her. It could already be too late for all we know, there was a delay when the information was sent to us."

"Very well."

"Put that jetpack to some good use, y'know? Instead of having races with government fighter jets?"

The guy smiled, Randy's facial expression didn't ******** you."

Randy said flatly as he left the room, and then the guild building.

A shuddering explosion sounded behind her and she felt a rush of heat that only propelled her to move faster. Panting now she winced feeling a stitch beginning to work its way along her side. She burst out from a line of trees and skidded, a small decline ahead and yelled, sprawling forwards. She rolled painfully a few moments and crashed to the underbrush below, a bit stunned.