2015.02.24 - Joining the X-Men

While it still may be bitter cold outside and the snow still may be piled quite high, one area that has the snow stamped down is the rear grounds, specifically by the stables. The snow has been crushed under booted feet and hooves, as Dani and Brightwind practices fighting tactics together. Currently, Dani sits upon Brightwind, saddle-less, as the two navigate the snowy landscape. At various points 'snowmen' have been built by Dani and the two of them are ruthlessly taking them out.
Yes, stationary targets seems easy enough, but sometimes this is the best way to train together.
Currently, Brightwind is rearing upward, to smash his front hooves into the 'face' of a would be attacker. Dani, for her part, is shooting an arrow (a regular arrow) at another 'attacker' who sits about a yard away from the two of them. Even without a saddle, Dani sticks to the back of Brightwind like a burr.
Since Dani's been making her presence known lately, she's been reaching out to various teammates to see how they've been doing. One of those teammates was Wolverine. She left messages in two different fashions, either a note, or an e-mail, depending on the person. With Wolverine she went with a note slide under his door.
Logan had been watching the pair move. Dressed in a leather coat that had yellow accents, a pair of jeans and brown cowboy boots he watched horse and rider. Moving up to the scene of dead snowmen he was quick to comment, "Good work fer snowy conditions n' stationary targets. What ya gonna do if they move?" 
That was the only flaw to the woman's plan. It was still good for training with her horse. Plus mounted combat was difficult in the snow. So if she had a handle of her horse in these conditions then it was a really good start. That one flaw needed to be fixed somehow though.
When Brightwind stomps upon the last snowman, he adds an extra little kick to it, to make sure the 'snowman' is truly dead. Laughing, Dani will slide off of Brightwind's back, landing upon the snow with a soft thud of a sound. "Yes, I'm pretty sure 'he's' quite dead." Says the amused woman, as she offers Brightwind a gentle pat upon his neck. "Time to get you cooled down and brushed and the arrows - " Begins the woman, though her words fall silent as Wolverine lets his presence be known. The two were too wrapped up in their training to spy the other mutant, and Brightwind gives a faint snort and toss of his head towards Wolverine.
Moonstar, for her part, simply raises a hand in greeting, waiting to say to Logan until he's close enough to hear. "Hey, Logan. Good to see you." As for his praise, she looks back to the 'carnage' upon the grounds and offers a faint grin, "Thanks." And his question earns another glance at the scene of the crime, as well as a nod from the dark-haired woman, "One, I'd shoot faster -" That answer is for his question of what would she do if they moved, "And two, if I wanted to practice with moving targets, I'd probably invite a few friends to come out here and play Cowboys and Indians with me. The non-lethal version."
"Yer gonna need a lot of friends to make it fair for em'," Logan was quick to respond. His eyes looked over the carnage again. "Good horse," his eyes sized up the horse and what little he knew of Brightwind was that Dani had good tastes. The cold continued as he looked over the snowfield of death, "I got yer note. What did ya want me out here for?" Dani seemed to have things under control given her training session.
Again Brightwind turns a rather intelligent look upon Wolverine, far more intelligent than a mere horse should be, and with another snort from the Pegasus, he begins to trot towards some of the downed snowman. Pawing the ground, he'll reveal one of Dani's arrows. The winged horse trots a few more feet away and digs into the snow again, revealing another one of Dani's arrows.
The nearest arrow to Moonstar, is quickly scooped up and brushed free of snow, as she listens to what Logan has to say. Dropping the arrow into the quiver strapped to her back, Dani turns to face Logan, "I know I haven't been around as much of late, but that's going to change. I wanted to see if you needed anything specifically from me? Or if there's anything I can help you with. I've been coasting too much lately and I really need to get back into the swing of things."
Brightwind continues his find the arrows game, as he meanders around the grounds. A few of the snowmen had carrots for noses and when he finds one, he happily crunches away. Dani continues to speak, even as her gaze flickers over to Brightwind for a moment. "I already started volunteering down in Mutant Town, but I wanted to touch base with you to see what's going on here."
"We got some new blood. One's been trainin' to put on the uniform. She'd be a prime candidate fer yer hand n' teachin'. Name's Sahira. She's a copycat wit' powers. Rogue's back. She could use a shoulder," thinking on it he knew Scott had gone on sabatical. Jean had gone quiet too. Thinking on it more Logan sighed and pushed aside a thought. 
"Professor's back. Say 'Hi' to him," thinking on it more ideas ran though Logan's mind. One stuck out, "One question: Know anyone with magic?" Logan waited for the answer. He moved through the snow and retrieved an arrow. "If yer lookin' to give back get wit' Kitty and Bobby. Former students should help out the young guard," he looked to Dani. "We've got a few new faces could use people like you helpin' em."
Dani listens intently to Wolverine's words and when he moves to snag one of her arrows, she likewise picks up a few more Brightwind has revealed. When she's close enough to Wolverine, Dani will offer to take the arrows he's retrieved for her. "I plan on helping and yes, I've met a few of the new faces. Specifically Sahira. She seems very nice, a little naive, but weren't we all at one point in our lives."
Once the arrows are back in the quiver, Dani will motion for Brightwind to come back over. Which he dutifully does.
From her pocket a good sized hand towel will be pulled out. Then she's briskly wiping down Brightwind, since the weather is not good for being sweaty.
As she works, she continues to talk, "The uniform? Really? I hadn't pegged her as going after a slot with the team." Muses the dark-haired woman, "Especially after she said she just /loved/ your training classes just so much." And to make certain he knows she's teasing, Dani will offer the shorter man a smile. "But I'll help her and the others as best I can. As for magic? The only person I can readily think of is Illyana." Dani says, "I take it she's MIA?" And Dani doesn't sound too terribly surprised. For as long as they all have known Illyana, there are always times where the girl goes missing for some length of time. "Otherwise, I can see if I can locate anyone for you. I might have some contacts that could find you someone."
"Illyana's been around more than ya think. More than others anyway," Logan said firmly and he moved through the snow of the outside ground retrieving more of Dani's arrows. Giving them back to the woman, "Sahira and Cessily got a friend too. They say the friend's trained, she's got potential, but I'd rather see the three of them have some kind of trainin' before they do something together." When Trios like that got together and costumes were involved Logan wasn't stupid that vigilante tactics were going to happen. They weren't the first nor would they be the last. "Rogue could use a friend too. Just got back, kinda adjustin' to things." 
He moved around and looked back at the winged horse, "Magic advice ain't fer me. It's fer 'Ro. She's dabblin' with some Shaman stuff. Priests, Priestess African stuff. I know how it works just don't ask me how to explain it cause you'll get the dummy version," he was not and would never be a student of magic unless the magical world needed a hail Mary play. Logan was absolutely fine with that too.
Moonstar and Logan are out back close to the stables which sit upon the rear grounds. Before the two mutants and winged stallion, is a scene of carnage, at least, for the snowman type. The majority of the snow around the stables have been stamped down, thanks to Brightwind's hooves and currently the pegasus is standing near Dani, as the dark-haired woman wipes him down from their little target practice.
Wolverine is also moving around the area, helping to retrieve all of Moonstar's arrows that were lost in the 'battle'. It's clear the two are chatting with one another with each dressed for the bitter cold weather.
"I'm glad she's around." Dani says truthfully, "I always worry when she spends too much time 'away'." Away in Limbo, the dark-haired woman means, but that's another subject for another day. "And I'd be glad to help with Sahira and her friends. Whether it's training for fighting, or even survival. And I'll make sure to look up Rogue too, see how she's doing." And make sure she's all right, as well, which is left unspoken. As to Logan's next words, they earn a surprised look from Moonstar. "Ororo?" She says, that surprise echoing in her voice now, "She should be careful with dabbling. A lot of bad things can happen, when you don't take the necessary precautions." Comes Dani's concerned words, "If you like, I'll reach out to some of my grandfather's friends. Perhaps they can offer advice, or help."
Cessily has been looking for Logan, and inquires among students and staff gave her the information that he was last seen going to the rear grounds of the Institute, so there is where the metallic girl is checking next. Dressed with thick winter clothes (even with a wool cap), the girl threads the snow-covered path to the backyard of the premises, spotting Logan from afar along with Moonstar. Not wanting to be rude and just yell at him, the girl keeps walking toward the duo, eventually getting within normal hearing range (i.e. not yelling), and then finally she speaks, "Hello, Mr. Logan. Ms Moonstar." she says, bowing her head a bit in a greeting, the girl smiling softly.
Logan nodded to Cessily, "Cessily. Dani Moonstar. Dani. This is Cessily, one of the rookies I told ya about a few seconds ago," he moved to let the two get acquainted with handshakes or hugs. Retrieving the last of the arrows he wondered how Cessily was going to take a Pegasus that was nearby. "What can we do fer ya darlin'?" Logan asked Cessily as he was making sure every arrow in the snow had been retrieved.
Before Cessily gets within easy speaking range, Brightwind immediately raises his head upward, catching the sounds of the approaching metallic young woman. His intelligent gaze will turn sharply towards the woman. At Brightwind's reaction, Dani will look over her shoulder towards the incoming mutant, as well. Pausing in her wiping down of Brightwind, the dark-haired woman will raise a hand in greeting.
"Hey Cessily. Nice to meet you." Comes Dani's easy enough greeting and she'll nod towards Logan, "Like he said. What can we help you with?" When it's clear, at least to Brightwind, that Cessily isn't a threat, he'll drop his head again and nose at a little bit of the snow near him.
Cessily Kincaid looks at the winged horse with a soft blink before looking at Logan and Dani when the two speak, bringing the metallic girl back to the subject she wanted to bring forth for Wolverine. "Ah, yes, Mr. Logan, I'd like to know if I can join the X-men." she says, smiling as she clasps her hands together behind her back.
Logan was quiet for a very long time. His eyes ran up and down Cessily. If she had ever been sized up before then the mutant would have known what he was doing. The only difference between the past people that had done this and the current one was a trained killing machine. His reputation was probably worst than those of the past. Quiet continued before Logan pulled back suddenly. 
Cowboy boots crunched into the snow. Moving up to pegasus he tried to show the horse he was a friendly. "Sure, if ya wanna join ya can. Just one condition." That phrase lingered in the air, "Gotta impress her." A hand pointed to Dani. In his mind Dani Moonstar was the perfect mutant to judge potential as the Young Mutants had a variety of individuals. They had powers of difference makes and sizes, and they started out young. If anyone was a good judge of this it was her. Plus Dani said she wanted to give back to the School now was her chance.
Megan had hoped to find Wolverine so she could sign up for the next x-assessment. But of course, during a free period, it might have been fun to play with snowmen. Walking around to the back of the stables, she is quite shocked to see a beautiful white pegasus standing there, and her eyes go wide, instantly attracted to it.
"Wow, how cute, a pegasus!" she coos, finding nothing out of the ordinary with such a magical creature amid the normal mundane horses. Of course not, she's a faerie after all..
Then she spies the trio and smiles and waves, "Oh..Heey guys! Whose the pegasus belong to?"
Once Dani was finished wiping down Brightwind, the winged horse starts to trot away. However, before he goes too far, he will give Dani's arm a quick happy nudge, before he's giving Wolverine a friendly enough snort. Yes, he's definitely smarter than your average horse. Then with a kick, Brightwind is off trotting around the area, though always close enough to see Dani, if he wanted to.
As to Cessily's question? Dani can't help but look amused and with a faint grin, she turns that amused look to Wolverine. "Man, I wish I had her bravado when I was her age." When Wolverine falls silent, Dani shakes her head, offering Cessily a friendly smile. Dani's seen Wolverine do his silent sensi act, before, and in fact has received the same treatment in the past, so it doesn't strike her as something 'scary'. Of course, when he drops the bomb that /she/ gets to decide, she can't help but turn a look towards Wolverine. "Thanks, /Logan/. I appreciate this opportunity." And while her words do have some sarcasm in them, it's clear that she doesn't really mind as she turns back to Cessily. "So, tell me why you want to join?" A simple enough question, right?
As for Megan? As soon as Brightwind sees the young pixie woman, he can't help but snort with surprise. He'll even toss his head upward as he takes in Megan and her wings. Megan's question earns a wave of Dani's hand, as she speaks up, "He doesn't belong to anyone, but for all intent and purposes, he's with me."
Cessily's lips become a thin line as Logan goes silent. She's almost sure she's getting a big 'NO!' to the face, but when his answer comes, she can only blink, "Huh?" she asks, very intelligently, before looking at Moonstar, just as the woman reacts with a bit of sarcasm toward Wolverine. Then comes the question toward her, "Well, I..." but Megan arrives, and Cessily stops to look at the fairy girl, smiling and waving at her, before addressing Moonstar again, "Well... It's a bit hard to explain." she says, bringing an arm up to rub behind her head as she struggles to put feelings into words. "I want to help. I want to repay everyone by helping them as much as I can. My mutation allows me to do many things, and I feel it'd be like a waste if I just stayed in the institute, studying."
Logan gave a nod to Megan as she appeared. He was going to point toward Dani when it came to the questions about the horse, but she had beaten him to the punch. Inwardly he was grinning. Dani said she wanted to give back so here was her chance. Plus if Sahira hated his sessions so much then he was going to give Cessily her own teacher to gripe about. That simple. Hearing Cessily's answer made his brows furrow. Moving back he was just letting Dani handle this one start to finish on her own.
"Ooh,really?" Megan continues to watch the pegasus with fascination, although he trots off before she can pet him. "What's his name? Where did you get him from? Oh, I want one too!" She trails off though, when she hears Cessily wants to become an x-man too..That was the reason Megan came here, looking for Logan in the first place. But it seems Cessily beat her to the punch.
Hmm, this should be interesting to watch at least! Cessily seems pretty tough, and it'd probably be entertaining to see how she utilizes her powers to impress Moonstar...Perhaps Megan will ask another time, take notes this time.
"You can do it, Cessily! I'll bet you'd make a great x-man!" she cheers her team mate on, although her gaze still lingers towards the pegasus, hoping he comes close enough for her to pet.
Megan's questions earn an amused look from Dani, though she'll say, "I'll tell you the story of how Brightwind and I became friends another time." Brightwind, for his part, simply snorts again as he continues to trot around the area. Though he does occasionally look towards Megan, perhaps trying to figure her out too. Her wings remind him of some sprites back home ... 
As for Cessily and her answer -
Dani shakes her head. For those that know her, they know she can sometimes be a hard taskmaster, even harder on herself, "That's a good answer. The majority of us here want to help, especially those mutants and non-mutants that are in need." Begins the dark haired woman, "But why can't you do those things without being an X-Man? You could go down to Mutant Town today and help people down there, just as you are today. They'd appreciate your help, I'm sure."
Cessily watches as Megan lingers toward the pegasus for a moment, before returning her attention to Moonstar, when she gives her assessment of Cessily's answer. "Oh." the metallic girl says, nodding slowly, "I figured I'd get that answer. I hoped, but... no, it's ok." she nods softly, "Anyways, I'll... um... go back to my room. I still need to return a book to the library, and... yeah." she says, taking a step back before turning around.
Logan stopped Cessily. "It's a test. She wants to know why the 'X-men' what makes that different than another team," he was there to clarify. He looked at Cessily, "She wants to know why ya want to wear an 'X' Symbol instead of an Avengers's 'A'." He stopped and waited for the recruit to answer Dani again.
Megan falls into thoughtful silence as she listens to the exchange. Actually this is good as it has her wondering her own reasons for wanting to join the x-men. "Heey, but when you're just a student, you're here to study. In fact, it can even be dangerous to go out and play 'hero' when you're not fully trained. Besides, it's not like you're doing it on a public level, making a statement, right?"
She takes a breath.."As an x-man, isn't it like, you're a professional mutant, sent on the most dangerous missions, fighting against the most powerful supervillains like..Like Magneto, n' stuff? Isn't an X-man someone who protects innocent mutants and tries to prove to the world that mutants and humans CAN co-exist?"
At Logan's words, Dani nods even as she steps after the young woman, "He's right. This is a test, but it's also to get you to really think about your decision. This isn't something you do lightly." Dani begins, even as she nods to Megan's words, "You can get hurt, others can get hurt and people can die." Dani continues with, her expression turning grim and her eyes shadowing for a moment. "There will be times you go into a situation where you can't save your friends, or times you have to /choose/ not to save them, because of the greater good. I want to make sure you realize this."
"And also to get you to get you to realize that when someone asks you a question in return, that doesn't mean it's a no. If you really want something, show us that. Even if all you can get out are angry words, or calm words, or passionate words. Show us that."
Cessily's lips become a thin line as she thinks, then she shrugs, "I can get hurt or die no matter if I join or not. People can get hurt or die even if I don't join. So I'm not sure how that argument holds any weight." she says. She turns back half-ways, not facing the group just yet, as she rubs the back of her neck with her hand, "And I don't really believe in 'greater good'. All my experience with 'greater good' so far tell me that it is just something people say to excuse doing something bad." she shakes her head at that. "If I have to choose to let someone die, then I'll be choosing NOT to let this someone die.”
Logan couldn't have argued Cessily's judgement. He had heard the greater good used in a lot of bad context. However, her heart was in the right place when it came to life and death. Sensing something he said, "Do ya wanna be an X-man?" Then he looked over to Megan, "What brought ya out here?" he had a hunch. Plans were forming in his head. 
His gaze went to Dani was Logan was making sure he had an okay to continue with his plans. She could tell he was thinking of something. His gaze went back to Cessily and Megan for a moment while he waited for answers to his questions.
"No way..." Megan counters. "At least as a student, we're kinda protected, aren't we? We got you guys.." She points at Logan and Moonstar, "Watching our backs. But as X-men, we're kinda on our own, aren't we?" She hugs her arms, shaking her head, still remembering her first encounter outside of the protection of the Xavier school..Back in limbo.
"It's a scary world out there..I'm not sure if I could let people die for the 'greater good.' I mean, isn't every life valuable, anyway? Even so, I'd be willing to make..Sacrifices of my own, before expecting sacrifices of others.." Black eyes narrow at that, massaging her hands. Oh yeah, she knows a bit about sacrifices. Losing a portion of her soul to save some of her team mates. She still has nightmares of that realm, and so many unanswered questions..
Then suddenly Logan turns the question on her and she grimaces. "Me? Uh....Actually...I was hoping to take the test to become an x-man too...But I'm not quite sure if I'm ready yet. Hearing all this stuff has been a real eye-opener." She beams, "I wanna learn a little more about the X-men before I make any major decisions. Besides, I'm not yet sure if i could stand up against the likes of you, Mister Logan, or Miss Moonstar...Not yet anyway."
Megan smiles sweetly, "Not that I'll ever stop trying!"
Brightwind's head perks upward and he looks toward Dani. With a faint chuff of breath the winged stallion trots dutifully over to Dani, even as she continues to look between Cessily, Megan and Logan. She nods at what Cessily has to say, even as she adds, "I'm glad you feel that way." Choosing to not let her friends die, that is, but Dani has seen death enough times to know that that choice is not always there to take.
Megan's words earn another nod from Dani and then she offers a faint grin, "I'd like to know who put the rumor out that there was a 'test' to complete to become an X-Man. It makes it seem like there's a multiple choice test floating out there somewhere, to be taken when needed." She shakes her head, even as she reaches for Brightwind, "Listen, I hate to run away from all of you, but I actually have an appointment in Mutant Town." She looks to Cessily specifically, as she says the next, "But I think you'd make a fine X-Man, with a little help. When I return, what say we continue this conversation?"
At this point Dani's player had to leave for RL :) Thanks!
Category:Log