Wingbreak (Echidna)

[Creda Shields]

In the Solstice gym, a girl was training herself. Clad in grey training pants and a white sports top, Creda Shields frowned as the stitches in her back pulled again, their uncomfortable stretching preventing her from training as well as she could. The ugly scars on her back were luckily nowhere near her wing tattoos, the raven haired girl being unsure as to whether or not any breach in the tattoos would cause issues with her powers. She still hadn't summoned them from the fight with Kikime, unsure of what the result would be. Those back wounds had been pretty horrific.

Regardless, she continued.

THWACK!

The sandbag rocked to and fro on it's chain, palm strikes and elbow impacting it dead centre every time. A quick jump and a front kick sent it flying backwards and Creda walked away, picking up a nearby towel and a water bottle.

It had been a good training session.

Allowing the lactic acid to not settle by walking around, Creda's mind turned to the main problem at hand.

Secernia and Kikime.

No sign of them since the incident at the hospital a few days ago. That Rust boy was still on the warpath, looking for answers and Creda was honestly afraid to approach him on that score. Merely because if her guardian was related to him, how strong could this boy be?

No matter. Cody has said that I must converse and understand him. I WILL do that for him. Fate decrees it.

She continued to wander slowly, the energy in her muscles dying down and refusing to ache as badly as they would if she'd just suddenly stopped.

[Kynthia]

Echidna checked her bag once more as she walked, yes walked, towards the gym. She wanted to make sure that she had everything she needed for her self imposed training session, though by now it would be too much of a hassle to go back for anything even if she did forget. Oh well, at least she could be prepared.

"Lets see, water bottle, towels, extra underwear..." Echidna muttered to herself as her arm felt around, then nodded to herself once she knew that everything was accounted for. "Alright...hopefully I can become better! That should make Jacob proud."

The girl very much wanted to impress her current teacher, though she knew that there would be no way that she could match his current skill as she was, but maybe she could at least figure a few moves on her own.

As Echidna entered the gym, she was surprise to find it so empty. Usually there were at least a handful of other students having a game of something, but today there was only one. A girl with black hair and wearing grey and white clothing, who was wondering slowly around the gym. She watched the girl, trying to figure out what she was doing.

When the black haired girl moved in a way that Echidna could see her back she couldn't help but flinch. Those stitches looked server, and she wondered what had caused them. Maybe the girl was here as part of some kind of physical therapy? That seemed the most logical reason to the Grecian...

Whatever the reason, Echidna did her best to look away and walk towards a punching bag. Once there, she did some stretches with her arms and legs, muttering to herself as a way to remember what Jacob had told her. Once that was done, she took a few deep breaths, then looked quickly behind her.

Echidna quickly shook her head and just turned her gaze back to the bag. There was no one in this gym beside that girl, and it shouldn't matter what she sees. Before or after the transformation. With that in mind, Echidna undid the Velcro holding her skirt together and folded it on top of her bag.

That done, Echidna immediately turned her legs into her tail, tearing and destroying the underwear she had been wearing earlier. Sweeping the torn cloth away with her tail, Echidna lowered her torso to the ground before with her elbows up to her shoulders and her hands beside her head. She then lunged at the bag and stuck it with her right elbow before doing the same with her left, following up with a swipe from the lower part of her tail, making the bag swing in a wide circle.

So engross with her training, Echidna completely forgot about the other girl in the very large room.

[Creda Shields]

Creda merely raised an eyebrow as a new girl entered the gym, her thoughts distracted. Her white eyes widened when she saw the girl take her skirt off.

Is she...no, that cannot be possible. Unless she is mentally ill, it must be something to do with her gift, correct?

Her assumption proved to be right. The girl's lower half shifted into the form of a snake. This made her eyes widen even wider.

A serpent's tail. A partial transformation too... It seems similar to my Gift, except with replacing her legs...how intriguing.

Clearly, she had been destined for this. So many interesting powers and Gifts. And yet, the one girl who entered the gymnasium today was the one whose power was most like hers.

Then, she noticed her training and she frowned.

"Flip your shoulders a little more when throwing the elbow." she advised from the sidelines, taking some more water from her bottle. "Increases the elastic potential energy in your limb and therefore, more kinetic energy when throwing the strike. Same applies to the hips. More twisting equals more power. Very much like a coiled spring."

This seems to be an adequate opening conversation. Besides, if I follow my guardian's advice on this matter, I shall not be steered wrong!

[Kynthia]

Echidna was about to make another lunge attack but stopped in the middle of it when she heard the girl talk to her. She listened to what the black haired girl had to say before turning her body to face her and gave a small smile.

"Oh, um, thanks," Echidna said with a small laugh and scratching her head. "I kind of just got into fighting not that long ago. Well...actual fighting with actual moves and all that. Sorry if I'm really sucking at this.

"So," Echidna continued as she faced the punching bag once more and got into her stance, "you mentioned that I should flip my shoulders when-" she struck the bag once more and took the girl's advice, knocking the bag back slightly.

"Ah, I see, that is much better," the Grecian said, half muttering to herself. "Then you said that I can do the same with my hips-" Here she once again whipped her tail at the bag, this time using the part of her tail that was closer to her torso while turning her hips into it, knocking the bag back a good deal more than before.

Echidna let a grin cover her face as she once again faced the girl. "Wow, that really did help, thanks! You really know a lot about fighting? Of course...seems like a lot of people are like that here." she said, then realized that she had no idea who this black haired girl was and wanted to rectify that. "Oh, by the way, my name's Echidna Desdemona. What's your name?"

[Creda Shields]

Creda just remained silent as the girl explained herself.

"Sucking at this?"...you're being awfully honest, aren't you? the white eyed girl thought to herself. So many little alterations could be made here and there to help the girl. Clearly her way was superior! If only this strange Gifted could SEE!

If Fate said that she would help this girl, then so be it. But that FORM...

Mentally, she tutted and crossed out various methods that required the legs. On the surface, she was totally impassive, cracking neither smile nor frown as the girl tried again, the impacts clearly sounding that little bit better.

Progress will be slow, it seems Creda thought to herself. All a test. After all, who else would teach the younger generation if not for myself? I must prepare for the eventuality.

She nodded as the girl thanked her.

"Naturally. It was how I was taught." was all Creda said on the matter. "From age 12." That fact was left hanging in the air in silence for a few moments, before Creda continued. "And naturally. Many of the people here were scorned in their past lives for circumstances beyond their control. Our gifts... regular humans often grow jealous and lash out at what they cannot understand. So naturally, Gifted are to pick up measures to defend themselves very quickly."

She shrugged, then hissed, arm going behind her back to grasp it slightly. Those scars were horrible to deal with. Damn Kikime to the depths of Hell.

"Creda Shields." she answered the newly announced Echidna's question. "I am assuming you are new?"

[Kynthia]

Echidna's eyes widen slightly when Creda said that she had been taught how to fight when she was 12. Did everyone have a head start with fighting except her? Of course, at the mention of the past Echidna had to shiver.

Flashes of her stabbing that man with her own rock arms came back to her. Though it had been in self defence, the memory of that murder is what had kept from user her powers. Then this girl, this Creda, kept using the word 'gift' where others would just simply say 'power', that caused the Grecian to frown, but she would get to that later.

"Yes, I am new. Just arrived here on the main boat the other day," Echidna said with a nod. "Luckily I was able to make friends with a boy who comes from around the same area I do. He's the one that taught me the few moves and stances that I do know."

The burnette couldn't help but flinch as the black haired girl hissed in pain. As Creda reached for her back, Echidna guessed that her pain must have come from the stitches she saw before. Still, she decided it would be best not to mention it for now if Creda did not wish to speak about it. Instead, she changed the topic.

"And I wouldn't exactly call what we do a 'gift' in any sense of the word," Echidna said as she coiled her tail around herself. "I don't know what your powers are, but they must be pretty nice if you think of them as a gift. Me? Well...just look. People are freaked out by normal snakes, even harmless ones. Let alone a snake with a tail as long and thick as my own and with this upper body attached to it, I highly doubt there would be many people who would be jealous of what I have. Scared? Yes...I know people are scared of me. But I guess I just never fought back...not after the first..." She began to trail off and she clenched her hands into fists as she remembered them being soaked in blood.

[Creda Shields]

Quirking an eyebrow at Echidna's little shiver, Creda could only assume a traumatic experience must have affected the girl before she came here. It was a common thing. So many on this island had horrible pasts. They were tests. Tests of worthiness in God's eyes. Clearly if they had come this far, they had overcome adversity and triumphed, the weak being weeded from the strong.

It was as it should be.

She nodded back at Echidna explaining she had only recently arrived on the island. She cared little for this "other boy" who helped her before. Clearly, either she was a sloppy pupil or he was an inept teacher.

Maybe that was a little harsh, but there were only a few thins Creda took more seriously than close combat fighting and martial arts.

Goddamn these stiches.

"Oh?" she asked as Echidna questionned her idea of the Gift. "What is it, if not a Gift? It surely cannot be a curse or a deformation. I saw you walk in, you can choose when to release your alternate form."

A regrettable circumstance that it is a serpent, but we cannot choose our Gift.

"A setback would have probably rendered you unable to return to your fully human form, and yet, you can. You just have to look with a different perspective. Fate would not be so cruel."

And if it were, then you were destined for it, regardless.

Seeing her hands clench, Creda decided to strike whilst the iron was hot.

"I see. So you've killed someone then." the white eyes girl announced, quite brazenly. "You are not alone in that regard. Self defence is an unfortunate occurance, but it is necesssary. To protect ourselves or other Gifted."

She looked at the sandbag swing to and fro after Echidna's strike, watching the bag still gently sway back and forth.

"That is what our Gift is for. You Look After Your Own."

[Kynthia]

Echidna sighed as Creda continued to state that their powers were 'gifts', nothing less seemed to satisfy her. Once again the Grecian had to wonder just what Creda's powers were. Obviously she was very comfortable with them, at the very least, else she wouldn't be talking like that. Perhaps, also, she grew up with people who told how amazing her power was and it finally got to her head. Echidna felt that it might have been a bit of both.

When the raven haired girl mentioned fate Echidna couldn't help but chuckle softly as a thought entered her head. Realizing that this might be taken the wrong way, she quickly said, "Sorry, I don't mean to laugh or anything. It's just that with all this talk of gifts and fate...you remind me of the old grandpas that worked in the vineyard with me."

A small smile crossed the girl's face as the memory took over. "Everyday after we were done work they would always tell the old stories and discuss millennia old philosophy with each other and anyone who cared to join in. Honestly, from the way they talked you would swear that they came straight from Ancient Greece itself. Though they always treated everyone nicely, including me..."

The brunette shook her head to clear the memory and once again focused on the topic at hand. "But still...though I do thank the gods every day that I am able to switch between my tail and my legs at will, it still doesn't make what I have a 'gift'. While with this tail I am faster and stronger and have access to my other powers, it still makes me an outcast from society. Not to mention I don't always have as much control over it as you saw today. You maybe happy with being an outcast, but I'm not. What I have is a curse, a deformity I've had since birth. I do not know why I have nor do I really think it matters why. It just is and I'll deal with it my own way."

When Creda correctly assumed that Echidna had killed someone, Echidna had to look away. So it was written all over her face then? The memory of that man and her younger self. That this girl brought it up so easily, as if it had been nothing. No, more expected of Echidna, then go on about how they need to watch each other's backs. The Grecian could only be happy that, despite her appearance, she was not snake-like in attitude. Otherwise she might have started hissing...

Luckily she was more human than snake in mindset so instead Echidna shook her head. "I understand that I had to defend myself, it was either me or him, but that doesn't justify what I did. Knowing what I know now of my powers, I won't have to take another life unless I'm really backed up against the corner, it's no longer necessary," she said then narrowed her eyes. "As for that whole 'look after your own' thing, all I have to say that these past nine years, it hasn't been mutants like us that have taken care of me. They were normal people, like the kind there are plenty of. Yes, I have seen the bad side of humans, that's why I killed, but that doesn't mean that they are all bad. Trust me, I hold no mercy for those who first drove me out and soon enough they'll get theirs, though this won't involve killing."

Echidna sighed to herself. "As hypocritical as this sounds, this doesn't mean I'm turning my back on all of the normal humans," she said with a slight smile, "and I don't think you should either."

[Creda Shields]

"They sounded wise." Creda agreed about the old men and left the point at that. It was becoming clear that maybe Echidna was not like Gabrielle in terms of the struggle for the Gifted. A pity. Her power was beautiful if not slightly symbolic. The snake would always struggle in the eyes of the Lord, after all. Ever since Genesis.

"Regardless of your feelings, my own are my absolute." The raven haired girl fired back. "And we shall see what shall come of our ideals in the future. I do not want to harm humans. Just those who persecute us for being better than them."

With that, she returned to drinking from her water bottle, feeling a bit more relaxed and less worn out. The talking had allowed her to recharge quite a bit of energy and she felt revitalised by the water coming down her throat.

"I shall soon commence my training once more. Would you like some aid?"

Perhaps if I can not receive an ally, maybe a neutral party shall suffice.

[Kynthia]

"If that is truly the case, then we may have more in common than you think, though of course I disagree with us being better than them," Echidna said in regards to Creda's comment about humans, then sighed. "Look, you can think whatever you want to think. I just don't want any more blood on my hands..."

Once that was out of the way, the Grecian just took a couple breaths to calm herself down. There really was no point in getting angry with this girl. Sure they had different views and Echidna didn't think that they would work as friends, but at least she wasn't being too mean to her.

"Sure, any help you could give me would be great," Echidna said with a very small smile. "Ideals aside, you obviously have a lot more experience than me, and I could use all the help I can get."

Echidna got into her stance. "Alright, well Jacob, the boy I was talking about earlier, this is what he taught me," she said before she coiled up her tail slightly and sprung at the bag, rolling her shoulder into the elbow strike while using her other arm to block an imaginary attack. She then did an uppercut with an elbow before quickly following it up with three more strikes. Finally, she did one more attack before suddenly wrapping her tail around the lower part of the punching bag, though she didn't squeeze nearly as hard as the first time. Even when she changed back to her legs it had been a pain to get the sand out.

Once that was done Echidna let go of the bag and turned back to Creda. "So what do you think?" the brunette asked.