Post by Sofia Mantega on Jan 23, 2008 22:52:31 GMT -5
Today was not a good day. It was terrible, awful. It was a wonder that she had even bothered to get up. Her mother was dead. Not a new fact, but this week was the anniversary of her death. Sofia had to deal with the week, instead of one specific day because she had never been told exactly when or how her mother had died. All she knew was that she had been killed in a riot. That was all. Not much for her to go on, but it was enough for her to be miserable, at times to the point of physical illness, this week. But Sofia trudged on, smile in place. There were things to be done, things that could cheer her up.
She had gone to the orphanage today. She had been volunteering there a lot since that major viral outbreak. It made her so happy, working with those kids. And they were always so happy to see her, you know, since getting used to her. She hadn't been hurt. Sofia had understood that it would take time for the children to get used to her. The teens too. The orphanage she volunteered at had older kids too. It was the older ones that had the biggest issue with accepting her, but Sofia could tell that they were warming up to her. In the mean time, she spent most of her on-site time with the little ones. She bathed them, fed them, read to them, played with them. When they were sleepy, she tucked them in. When they cried, she comforted them. Sofia loved volunteering there, it always made her feel good.
Today? Not so good. Sofia's cheerfulness was usually met and sustained by the kids. If she was having a bad day, they made it better. Of all days, she needed those bouncy balls of joy, but it seemed a cold/flu was sweeping through and almost all of the kids had been sick and miserable. They had to be separated so the bug wouldn't spread as easily or quickly and that upset them too, of course. She had only stayed for a little while before returning to the mansion. The workers hadn't wanted her getting sick too. She was, after all, just a volunteer. She wasn't supposed to stay anyway.
Upon returning to the mansion, Sofia went about trying to find some sort of distraction. There were none and she wasn't feeling sociable right now. Usually, she could maintain her cheeriness by way of her own special reasoning...but not today. She didn't want others to see this though, knowing it'd strike others as odd. She was always happy, always cheerful. It was almost a given now. Sofia Mantega was a happy girl full of energy. Sofia did not mope, was never depressed, never sad. Only one or two knew otherwise and no one with such knowledge was here. Derek would probably call every day this week, late at night because both knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep.
All these things led Sofia to the Danger Room. You'd think she never came down here except for squad practice, being the peaceful girl that she was. Wrong. She did come here. A lot. Not a lot of people checked the logs to see who the heck came running through here, but anyone that checked would see User: Wind Dancer several times over.
"Username and access code," the computer prompted simply.
"Wind Dancer. Access Code...ventoso."
"Checking...username and access code cleared. Welcome Wind Dancer."
After checking that no one was around or coming, the Latina entered.
=====
Sofia stood in the middle of a clearing. She hadn't asked for anything specific, the computer was set to random. All she had said was that she wanted a gauntlet. A deep forest surrounded her and she could see mountains in the distance. It wasn't incredibly grassy, trees not very dense. That told her that this area was more mountainous than forested and she should watch for the necessary hazards.
She was busily admiring the realistic scenery around her when something whizzed passed her cheek. She blinked. Embedded in the tree ahead of her was a dagger. Hand to her cheek, the girl whipped around and shot in the air in time to miss the next dagger. A quartet of dagger-wielding opponents stood below her in their camouflaged gear. Annoyed, Wind Dancer summoned forth a whirlwind and scattered them. Two smacked into trees with an audible *crack*. They disappeared. One was stuck in a tree and the other had just been tossed to the ground. Shurikens told her these were ninja-esque assassins or maybe just enemies that favored really sharp and easy-to-throw weaponry. She maneuvered her way clear of them all, gracefully dodging each projectile. If they thought that a hit would be landed that way, then they were sadly mistaken. Another whirlwind knocked off one and a gust blew away the other.
The first round was always easy.
===
Four rounds later and the forest was noticeably less tranquil. Knocked over trees, peculiar slash marks in other trees, disturbed bits of earth, what appeared to be small 'dents' in the ground and a slightly disheveled Latina stood looking around. As the rounds progressed, her opponents were harder to spot at first - always trying to get the jump. Their weapons got better and they got smarter. Blowing away a few brown strands, Sofia tried to locate her next round of opponents before they made their move. The girl rubbed her shoulder. One had hopped out of a tree and tackled her to the ground [she'd only been hovering a foot or two off the ground]. Bruised shoulder, which had hit the ground first, was the penalty.
Sofia was about to send a nasty round of something new - razor winds - to flush out her 'buddies' in hiding when the computer announced:
"Incoming User."
The aerokinetic froze. Crap, no one was supposed to be here for this! But she had forgotten to tell the computer not to allow any incoming users as well as to disable the observation area. All she could do was wait and see who came through...
She had gone to the orphanage today. She had been volunteering there a lot since that major viral outbreak. It made her so happy, working with those kids. And they were always so happy to see her, you know, since getting used to her. She hadn't been hurt. Sofia had understood that it would take time for the children to get used to her. The teens too. The orphanage she volunteered at had older kids too. It was the older ones that had the biggest issue with accepting her, but Sofia could tell that they were warming up to her. In the mean time, she spent most of her on-site time with the little ones. She bathed them, fed them, read to them, played with them. When they were sleepy, she tucked them in. When they cried, she comforted them. Sofia loved volunteering there, it always made her feel good.
Today? Not so good. Sofia's cheerfulness was usually met and sustained by the kids. If she was having a bad day, they made it better. Of all days, she needed those bouncy balls of joy, but it seemed a cold/flu was sweeping through and almost all of the kids had been sick and miserable. They had to be separated so the bug wouldn't spread as easily or quickly and that upset them too, of course. She had only stayed for a little while before returning to the mansion. The workers hadn't wanted her getting sick too. She was, after all, just a volunteer. She wasn't supposed to stay anyway.
Upon returning to the mansion, Sofia went about trying to find some sort of distraction. There were none and she wasn't feeling sociable right now. Usually, she could maintain her cheeriness by way of her own special reasoning...but not today. She didn't want others to see this though, knowing it'd strike others as odd. She was always happy, always cheerful. It was almost a given now. Sofia Mantega was a happy girl full of energy. Sofia did not mope, was never depressed, never sad. Only one or two knew otherwise and no one with such knowledge was here. Derek would probably call every day this week, late at night because both knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep.
All these things led Sofia to the Danger Room. You'd think she never came down here except for squad practice, being the peaceful girl that she was. Wrong. She did come here. A lot. Not a lot of people checked the logs to see who the heck came running through here, but anyone that checked would see User: Wind Dancer several times over.
"Username and access code," the computer prompted simply.
"Wind Dancer. Access Code...ventoso."
"Checking...username and access code cleared. Welcome Wind Dancer."
After checking that no one was around or coming, the Latina entered.
=====
Sofia stood in the middle of a clearing. She hadn't asked for anything specific, the computer was set to random. All she had said was that she wanted a gauntlet. A deep forest surrounded her and she could see mountains in the distance. It wasn't incredibly grassy, trees not very dense. That told her that this area was more mountainous than forested and she should watch for the necessary hazards.
She was busily admiring the realistic scenery around her when something whizzed passed her cheek. She blinked. Embedded in the tree ahead of her was a dagger. Hand to her cheek, the girl whipped around and shot in the air in time to miss the next dagger. A quartet of dagger-wielding opponents stood below her in their camouflaged gear. Annoyed, Wind Dancer summoned forth a whirlwind and scattered them. Two smacked into trees with an audible *crack*. They disappeared. One was stuck in a tree and the other had just been tossed to the ground. Shurikens told her these were ninja-esque assassins or maybe just enemies that favored really sharp and easy-to-throw weaponry. She maneuvered her way clear of them all, gracefully dodging each projectile. If they thought that a hit would be landed that way, then they were sadly mistaken. Another whirlwind knocked off one and a gust blew away the other.
The first round was always easy.
===
Four rounds later and the forest was noticeably less tranquil. Knocked over trees, peculiar slash marks in other trees, disturbed bits of earth, what appeared to be small 'dents' in the ground and a slightly disheveled Latina stood looking around. As the rounds progressed, her opponents were harder to spot at first - always trying to get the jump. Their weapons got better and they got smarter. Blowing away a few brown strands, Sofia tried to locate her next round of opponents before they made their move. The girl rubbed her shoulder. One had hopped out of a tree and tackled her to the ground [she'd only been hovering a foot or two off the ground]. Bruised shoulder, which had hit the ground first, was the penalty.
Sofia was about to send a nasty round of something new - razor winds - to flush out her 'buddies' in hiding when the computer announced:
"Incoming User."
The aerokinetic froze. Crap, no one was supposed to be here for this! But she had forgotten to tell the computer not to allow any incoming users as well as to disable the observation area. All she could do was wait and see who came through...
