Blue Moon Hotel

[Logan]

Tracking the spy was easy, even with the captive Weapon X was forced to take along. The nameless girl was very good, keeping her chains up, and moving with a quiet stealth matched only by himself. As an extra precautionary measure, Weapon X stayed farther away from the woman he was tracking, following her all the way to a seedy looking hotel on the outskirts of town.

It was the perfect place to hole up and keep an eye on her. The kind of place where people might not question it if a man checked in with a girl in chains. Still, he kept his captive out of sight, waiting for the woman to check herself in, and finding a vacant room next door.

Soon enough, Weapon X and his captive were in the adjacent room, and his extraordinary sense of hearing was more than ample to keep tabs on her. From the sound of it...she was on her computer. Probably reporting to whoever had sent her.

Their room was dark, and the girl was chained to the couch in such a way that her claws couldn’t do any harm. After an extended period of silence, Weapon X glanced over at her.

“Gotta hand it to ya,” he said. “You ain’t half bad.”

[Panthera]

((I moved this post from Storm's thread in the Savage Land to make it less confusing. I'm sorry if it was.))

…The Night Before…

Back in a small hotel just outside of town, Samantha sat on the bed with her laptop at her knees. The soft clicking sounds of the keyboard echoed through the walls as the only sound heard along with the soft beating heart of a young feline mutant. She had witnessed a couple of things that disturbed the woman. Now, in a bathrobe with dampened hair, the feline sat there typing away connecting herself with a code word and chat to her father back in the Savage Land. Communication of normal transmissions wouldn’t allow for such a transaction to take place, but the advanced technology of the helpers of the resistance had allowed for such impossibles to become quite probable.
Unable to establish connection

After several attempts to reach her father, the young mutant was becoming a little more concerned. Nick was awaiting her message and they had a designated time planned out for the communication to be clear. However, there was no answer, and Nick never forgot an appointment, especially with Sam. He was the father she never had and he had a fondness for the mutant that cannot be explained in mere words. A connection between the two was more than just feeble acquaintances, but a kinship and Sam would never hesitate in calling him father. He had raised her, trained her, and loved her most of the young woman’s life and missing this conversation, a key conversation, was the bearer of bad news. Something had to have happened to him or the camp.

A small trail of fear tingled down Sam’s spine as she finally gave up and closed the laptop in front of her. Contemplating the cause of the disruption, the feline remembered her conversation with the goddess and another cold chill traveled throughout her body. Surely she wasn’t going to kill innocent people would she? Sam always wanted to see the good in someone, even if it blinded her to the hatred and evil one can withhold in their hearts. She refused to believe such coldness and hatred could come from anyone, but here before her, that may very well be the reason behind her father’s absence. Maybe the power went out, some storm. But who caused the storm? Thoughts riddled the mutant’s mind as she lie there unable to sleep. Passing through the portal to the Savage Land now was dangerous if not deadly. A precise time had to be determined so that all the molecules of the body were taken, split up, and reshaped exactly on the other side. If not, Sam could die and her molecules spread throughout existing plains that no man has yet to see. She was forced to wait until morning….

[x23]

Weapon X had dragged her through half the city, staying well out of anyone's sight. It made it hard for X-23 to tell by sight who exactly it was they were tracking, but as they got farther away from the party, one scent remained fresh as the rest faded away. An odd aroma, exotic, and unlike anything the young girl had detected before. Under the unknown traces of tropical scents, there was something that X-23 couldn't put her finger on, but it made the hair on the back of her neck raise. She didn't know what it was, but it touched something in her. Intrigued by it, there were moments that she didn't follow the forced lead of Weapon X so much as her own curiosity as to the meaning.

The prisoner moved behind her captor with practiced stealth. Her nature wouldn't allow anything else. In time, they followed the unknown woman to the edge of the town, to a seedy motel that reeked of unmentionable activities. No one even questioned it when Weapon X dragged her, chains and all, into a dark room adjacent to the unknown target. He relenquished his deathgrip on the adamantium chains, but only after she was secured to the moldy and rotten sofa. Tensing her knuckles, she tried to feel a way to move, but all she would do was stab cotton or herself. That wouldn't get her anywhere, so she relaxed, slightly.

For a long while, they sat in dark and silence. Her ears were tuned as his to the room next door. A rapid clicking of keys, she typed away. Then the typing fell silent, a soft click, stillness, and finally the creak of bedsprings. A mouse chirped softly as it scuttled unseen in the wall. X-23 remained tuned to the quiet tells, and was surprised at the change in volume when Weapon X spoke to her.

"Gotta hand it to ya. You ain't half bad."

Her green eyes narrowed and tore away from the wall. She'd been staring at it, blankly and without blinking, though she couldn't see what lay beyond. Resting on her captor, it was clear she'd heard him, but what was she to say? Thanks? That would not happen. Regarding him with a long and silent look, she spoke a few quiet words.

"What is this?"

Her eyes flickered briefly to the wall before resting on him once more. However, it was a loaded question that covered much more than who the unknown woman was. X-23 wanted to know why he hadn't just killed her yet, why he'd brought her along on his mission, a whole host of other questions... Honestly, though, she didn't expect an answer and that much was plain. Not waiting for a reply, her gaze shifted back to the wall. If he had anything to say, she'd acknowledge it then.

[Panthera]

Samantha let out a long sigh as she looked out the window to the streets below. The place wasn't the best of hotels, but it would do for the one night she needed rest before heading back to the designated area for the portal to open the way back to her home, the Savage Land. All she could do now was pray that everything was alright back home and that her father and all those they had saved so far were protected.

"Please keep my father safe from harm", she quietly sad out the window. "And may the Gods watch over them and keep them from harm's way as well", she added to the humans they had kept safe for so long.

Her stride took her to the small bathroom, where she started the water, making it steam as the temperature rose to a nice level of warmth. Humming softly, she reached up and took down all the pins in her hair allowing for it to fall softly on her shoulders. Fingers ran through to comb any loose ends while they made their journey to the back of her lace neckline undoing the buttons. A small zip of the zipper buzzed the room. She let the dress drop exposing herself almost fully naked underneath. Picking up the nice dress her father bought, she laid it on the bed admiring it one last time. "Thanks for making me a princess for one night daddy", she said walking with her feline grace to the bathroom. A hand reached out of the door with underwear tossing it to the floor as the door closed behind her.

A nice hot shower, then bed would be just perfect.

[Logan]

Logan heard the woman he was tracking climbing into bed as well, though he didn’t bother actually turning his attention toward the wall. His eyes were on the mirror image in a female body laying there and glaring bloody ice daggers at him.

"What is this?"

“What?” he asked in a gravelly tone. “You ain’t havin’ fun?”

If it was a joke, there was no indication by tone or expression. He just looked over at the wall and fell silent again.

"Please keep my father safe from harm,” came a crystal clear voice to his ears. "And may the Gods watch over them and keep them from harm's way as well." He could hear the woman getting up and moving over to the bathroom. The water turned on, and he heard the metal zing of the zipper. "Thanks for making me a princess for one night daddy."

“Looks like neither of us are gettin’ a whole lotta answers tonight,” he said back over to the girl. Then he leaned forward, brows creased down intent and dangerously. “You smell that strange scent on her too.” It was partially a question.

[x23]

"What? You ain't havin' fun?"

X-23 looked back at him briefly. In different circumstances that might have been a joke, but from Weapon X it didn't seem like one. He wasn't the type to make jokes, she felt. It was just an odd word choice that she only replied to with a glance.

Then, as before, each of them sat in the dark silence, and heard the woman loud and clear. Not only was she moving again, she spoke.

"Please keep my father safe from harm, and may the Gods watch over them and keep them from harm's way as well."

She was praying, concern plainly in her tone. Who was this woman? Another shift of the squeaking bedsprings and she was moving. Footsteps and the shower roared to life. It was somewhat harder to distinguish over the running water, but there was the metallic noise of a zipper.

"Thanks for making me a princess for one night daddy."

For a moment, X-23's blank gaze at the wall took on expression. Her lips turned downward and she looked vaguely disgusted with what the woman had said. Such sentiment... As quickly as it came, the look was gone. Then, Weapon X had her attention again.

"Looks like neither of us are gettin' a whole lotta answers tonight."

The questions still nagged in her mind, but X-23 knew better than to be so hopeful. His words didn't surprise her. What he said next, though, held her attention.

"You smell that strange scent on her too."

The tone said it was just a statement, but the words were asking. After a moment, she nodded. She loathed relying on anyone to just give her the answers she needed, but X-23 still had to ask the question at the front of her mind. He might know better than she did.

"What is it?"

[Panthera]

The warm shower released some of the tension built up from the non conversation with her father, but she still had worries as to why the communication wasn't a success. She knew him all to well and this wasn't anything like him at all. Something was wrong, and tomorrow, the feline mutant would find out exactly what that something was. But for now, her body, dried off and ready for bed, slipped from the bathroom in a flannel pair of pants and top and slinked into the bed without so much as a word. As the young woman lie there a familiar scent crossed her nostrils making her sit up in bed and smell the air.

Must be my imagination she perceived lying back down and curling up with the covers beginning a soft purr and closing her eyes for the night.

[Logan]

"What is it?"

Weapon X took a deep breath, tasting some memory of the scent on his tongue. Then he shook his head as the bedsprings creaked next door again and he could hear her getting settled in nice and tight.

"Question is, where is it?"

He'd smelled it before, yes. The sweetest flowers, the spices so alive...

To him it reeked of death.

His brow furrowed as he cocked his head toward the wall. "Perfect," he said. The rhythmic sound of the woman's purring stirred something to minor agitation within. It was going to be a long night.

Heading over to the phone right next to the couch, Weapon X picked up the receiver and dialed a number that was scrawled on the printed page on the wall. "Chicken Lo Mein," he said gruffly, then looked over at the girl. "Make it two." He rattled off the room number and hung up.

[x23]

"Question is, where is it?"

"I don't recognize it."

The young girl didn't have the faintest idea. The tropical markers on the woman's scent were foreign to her. Plants, yes, natural perfumes, but where did she come from to carry such a scent? She could detect every nuance that Weapon X could, but she didn't have the experience to mark the significance. To her, it only peaked her idle curiosity.

She stared, as ever, blankly at the wall ahead. There was movement beyond. The woman's shower was done, and the footsteps carried her back to the creaking bed. At first, the springs moved calmly, but for the briefest moment, there seemed an urgency in the sound. Suspicion. Then, it calmed again and there was a stillness, broken only by the soft purring snore of the mysery target.

So that was it? They were just going to wait all night while she took a nap? This unwanted mission had begun so urgently, and now Weapon X was just waiting. Such inaction made little sense to her. He could have gotten the information he wanted to much more directly. At the same time, though, the young girl reflected that she'd refused such efforts from him earlier. She shifted in her seat and let out a deeper breath, calming her tensed muscles. The tone he used when he spoke made it clear they would be here for a while.

While she kept her ears tuned to the adjacent room, there was no change in the rhythmic breathing. Her curiosity lost its fervor and she was getting bored with this. Her gaze flickered around the room to find another point of interest. Mold and waterstains, the smell of old sex... If not blankly staring at the wall, there was only him to hold her focus.

His brows were scrunched down, and he looked agitated, and almost as bored as she herself felt. Like their first unencounter, she found herself fixed on him, noting everything the nuances of his expression to the stubble of his beard. Something she could place flared inside her, but she forced the odd feeling away. Part of her was out for his blood, filled with a burning hatred, but there was a contradicting emotion that felt... Quite honestly, she didn't know what it was. Something obsessive about him, endlessly curious and eager to know more, but it was not in her nature to question.

Weapon X moved quite suddenly. Startled, she tore her gaze away to hide what she'd been doing. As she regarded him, her eyes had been wide and attentive. She refused to let him see that, and only looked back at him with a vague sneer. With narrowed eyes, she followed his movement. He was coming toward her, and quite suddenly, her heartbeat betrayed her. It sped up for a moment, but he moved right past her, to the phone beside the couch. Feeling exposed, she moved her gaze off him, back to the wall, as if uniterested, but that was a lie. Her body had responded with anticipation, she just wasn't sure to what. Let him think what he wanted.

Picking up the receiver, she could hear the clicks and beeping tones of the phone. A man with so strong an accent it was barely English answered. He barked his order into the receiver, and she met his gaze for an instant.

"Make it two."

Another inexplicable flicker of emotion within her. He was buying her dinner? He'd made it quite clear he wanted her dead once his own curiosity was sated. He'd beaten her, half-drowned her, and taken her prisoner. Starving her hardly seemed like anything compared to what he'd done so far. It was almost...considerate. It seemed so odd a thing to do. Again, the gears if her mind cranked in overdrive, but nothing inside her could make clear sense of it.

[Panthera]

The night was not a sound sleep filled night. It was filled with nightmares, visions, and things being told to her that she didn’t understand. An older woman’s voice kept sneering in the background those words over and over again….

One who is born of two peoples…..The younger will devour the old.

Images of the people she had helped harbor in safety lay there in a molten mess. Their flesh riddled in burnt scents with expressions of fear and bewilderment still captured within their eyes and open mouths. Flies were already buzzing around them getting the scraps they wanted while buzzards pecked away at some cooked flesh for their meal. The camp was in ruins and Sam’s footsteps took her further inside towards the main hut, her makeshift home.

Into the valley of the Goddess……Must bury them all.

The fingers of the feline were rubbing the engraved stone around her neck with nervous anticipation. Her feet slid across the ground through ashes and debris. Something stopped her toe as the mutant looked down to find a toy. Picking it up, it was still warm from the fire, melting the plastic that was the face. The hair was almost gone and only one eye stared back to the feline. Not knowing why, she held onto the doll and continued her walk inside.

Darkness encompassed the young woman, as the hallways were hard to see. Even with her feline acuity, the dream didn’t allow for the feline to see anything, until she reached his room.

Blood will be spilled……All will be lost.

A faint figure lie on the floor making the young mutant’s heart race as tears streamed down. She already knew it was her father, she could smell the burning flesh. A patch lie next to his body in a puddle of blood. As Sam walked closer a voice came from the window. “All will be lost” in the words of the goddess.

It was enough to wake her from her slumber and spring up in the bed. Her heart was truly racing and a small stream of sweat was across the mutant’s brow. She closed her eyes in fear just praying this was only a dream, a figment of something conjured up from worry and anxiety. Her eyes looked at the hotel room’s digital clock. It was blinking telling her she had no idea what time it was, but by the looks of the moon, it was the middle of the night. Her legs swung over the bed as her feet delicately touched the floor. The creaks in the room were accentuated with no one else awake inside the facility. At least that’s what she thought. The night crisp air would feel good against her face. And even in this shabby room, there was a small balcony, a place to just get a hold of herself and relax for a moment before returning to bed.

Opening the door with a small creaking noise, the mutant in flannel pjs and tank top walked outside onto the very small wooden platform. The coolness of the air hit Sam’s face immediately calming her nerves.

[Logan]

Several hours later, the soft and nearly silent rhythmic breathing coming from the couch was mirrored by Weapon X's own soft snores. He sat on a plush but ratty chair that smelled like sweat, blood and other bodily fluids. It was pungent and breathing was almost difficult, but out of necessity he calmed his mind and dozed lightly.

When the springs creaked next door his eyes opened. One boot was on the table between him and the sleeping girl, and his sword was in his lap. He listened to the steady rhythm and pulse of the girl, mostly convinced she hadn't awakened, and then turned his head toward the wall.

The woman was up. He followed her movements through the wall to the back door, and distinctly heard it open.

Her movements were too slow and calm for escape. Plus, he was fairly certain she had no idea she was being watched yet, so Weapon X just glanced back at the sleeping girl. In front of her flies buzzed around an empty Styrofoam box that had contained more greasy Chinese food than any two teenage girls should be able to eat.

The dinner had been silent. Two ravenous creatures, feasting in quiet accord.

Rather than risk being seen, Weapon X kept his place where it was and leaned his head back again. His fingers gently constricted around the hilt of the sword.

(I figure we should skip ahead to morning or whenever she plans on doing the teleport thang...)

[x23]

It didn't take very long, only fifteen or twenty uneventful minutes for the food to arrive. Weapon X had left the meal in front of her and allowed her enough slack in the chains to eat, before going back to his own seat. The styrofoam box was filled with a slimy mess of poultry, vegetables, and noodles that stung her nose when she smelled it. It was most unappetizing, but she didn't deny she was hungry and ate until she was full. It didn't taste quite so bad as it smelled, and either way, food poisoning wasn't a concern for her. Content, she set the box down. It was the only eventful thing for hours, it seemed.

Weapon X never spoke. He could have been a statute, as little as he moved. Next door, beyond the wall, the woman's breathing hardly changed. A few creaks of the springs, like she rolled around, but she didn't wake. It was boring. This was an unwelcome mission that X-23 had been dragged along for. She didn't have patience or curiosity needed to just wait for something to happen. If anything were to happen, next door or from the threat that sat in the room with her, she would know. Finally, her blank stare at the wall faded. She shut her eyes, still listening for some time. The only change in sound was a muffled moaning some rooms away that quickly faded into snoring. She tuned her ears out to ignore it, and before long, had tuned out everything. Mind blank, she had fallen into a light sleep where she sat.

Hours passed and the night rolled well into the morning hours. Over time, her light slumber had deepened and she lay unaware on the couch. She didn't hear the movement from the adjacent room or notice the lack of soft snoring from him. The woman was of too little concern to rouse her, and Weapon X moved near-silently. Something was soon to happen, but she had yet to notice.

[Panthera]

Samantha had a bit more of a quickness to her step. The previous night left her with little sleep, but the small amount she was able to obtain did sustain her with enough energy to be alert and very aware of her surroundings. Getting to the transport was to be something she needed to accomplish with stealth and accuracy. And, the feline was very anxious to find out just why the communication with her father never happened. An explanation would be the first thing from the mutant's mouth, followed by a lecture that would normally come from him. Sometimes characteristics rub off on offspring even if they are not your biological parent.

With a pair of blue jeans and t-shirt on, Sam put on her black boots before making sure she had everything. A small duffel bag lie on the bed with her dress and necessities from the previous night and this morning. A small remote lie next to the bag, something she would carry in her hand. The rendezvous point was something out of a movie, but the technology they had was beyond that which is known by many people.

Making a last minute look around, Sam saw that everything except the unmade bed was as she found it. Taking the duffel bag, the female flung it around her shoulder and placed the remote in her right hand. Quickly, she went to her door and out to a more refreshing morning air. She took in a deep breath smiling, knowing that within a few moments, she'd be where the feline belonged.

Home.

[Logan]

As the prey was getting dressed next door, Weapon X woke up the girl with a swift kick to the leg. “Get up,” he growled. “We’re leavin’ in two minutes.” He looked her over. “Go doll yerself up.” He reached down and undid the chain, picking her up and pushing her toward the bathroom.

“Ya smell like a damn egg roll.”

Scent was going to be important. If there were two of them out there that could track by scent, there probably were more. Weapon X glanced out the blinds and saw that she still hadn’t left. His goal was to get out there before the woman did and follow her from a distance.

“Times up,” he growled at one minute and forty seconds. He pushed the door open and grabbed the girl. Quickly he pulled her down the stairs and into the parking lot to take refuge behind a tractor trailer. Just in time...the woman stepped out with a smile and something in her right hand.

“Get ready,” he said under his breath.

[x23]

The noises next door weren't of enough concern. Weapon X grasped his sword silently. At first, the factors weren't enough to alert the sleeping girl to rejoin the waking world, but finally, nearby movement roused her. Foodsteps were coming close, and she opened her eyes just in time to witness his foot crashing hard against her leg. She winced at the small burst of pain that resulted, but it did the job of waking her completely and quickly quite effectively.

"Get up. We're leavin' in two minutes. Go doll yerself up. You smell like a damn egg roll."

Whether she was ready to be or not, Weapon X had her on her feet in a heartbeat, undoing the chains and ushering her toward the bathroom. He moved so fast her mind didn't catch up to question him, she just acted as told. She cleaned up as best as she could in the minute and change she was given before Weapon X burst through the door and grabbed her again. Holding her wrist, he dragged her down the steps and outside, moving quickly behind a tractor trailer. With a fractional instant to spare, the unnamed woman followed them into sight, looking happy and refreshed. She had a bag over one shoulder, and something in her hand. It didn't look like a weapon, but X-23 assumed nothing about the small object. Keeping it in mind, she kept her sharp eyes on the woman as Weapon X growled beside her.

"Get ready,"

He barely breathed the words, but she heard him just fine. Still, it left her to wonder, for what? The look she gave him made the question unnecessary.