Cade leaned against an oak tree watching the river meandering along. It was relaxing. He needed that. He could feel the tension building up, like something was going to happen here soon. But he couldn't imagine what. A few people wandered through the park, enjoying the nice August weather. Looking at each of them, none of them gave any indication through their body language that anything was amiss. And in a town this size, if anything was amiss, Cade knew that nearly everyone would know.

It wasn't a small town, per se. It had a population of about three thousand. The library was fairly large and very nice. The main street businesses seemed to be operating nicely. There were bars and churches and restaurants. A gas station on each end of town. The rest of the roads ran a grid throughout town, where all the houses stood. Everything one would expect in a small town in Southern Colorado. The sign said the name of the town was Kent. A bus passed through every hour, first going one direction, then the other. It only stopped in the town if somebody on board needed to get off here. Otherwise, it brought people between the nearest two cities, each an hour away. Of those, neither was huge, but both were large enough to have airports. Cade vaguely wondered what it was like to live in a town that was literally the halfway point between two such places. To his knowledge, he had never lived in such a place. Then again, a large part of his memory was still missing.

He pulled out his necklace. Clearly handmade. Silver, in the shape of a small flame superimposed over a heart. He flipped it over and ran his fingers over the initials, SME, on the back. It had been his girlfriend's, a gift that he had made for her. She gave it back to him after he had made a better one, so he would always have something of hers to keep close to his heart. He didn't actually wear it very often, preferring to keep it in his pocket. But he always hoped some latent energy in it would guide him back to wherever she was.

Movement to the right caught Cade's attention. Two young men, twins by the look of them, had made their way over to the weeping willow. They certainly weren't from this town. They each had a mohawk that had been died in a rainbow of colors, again, completely identical. They arrived at the tree and looked around. Nobody else was around, and they apparently didn't see Cade. Satisfied that nobody could see them, they bumped fists... and suddenly one of them was gone.

Mutant, Cade thought.

This could either be really good or really bad. Why would this mutant be coming specifically to a single weeping willow tree in this tiny town? Either he had been drawn by the same tense feeling that Cade had, or he knew something that Cade didn't. Cade partially hoped it was the latter, but also hoped finding out wouldn't involve a fight.

For now, he chose to remain at his tree and watch for anyone else.

---

Veronica Emily Davis.

---

Stepping off the bus, Veronica took a good hard look around. Those sharp green eyes of her scanned the area right as the bus drove off to it's next destination God knows where.

This place, normally, would be the last place that Veronica would be seen in. She had no choice, because that damn email told her to come here, at this time, if she wanted to join this little school of theirs. After jumping through a million hoops, she showed up in this city. Why a park of all places, she didn't know. What she did know was that she would be giving any recruiter a piece of her mind if she gets mugged in here. Though, if that happens, the bastards will be shocked so hard his heart will explode. She wished that it wouldn't have to come to that.

Veronica sighed, dragging the luggage behind her as she walked forward through the gates of the park. The cool autumn wind blowing her black hair back. She looked down and looked at her white button-up, black jeans, and black heels. She was well dressed, but didn't stick out too much among these hicks. Good. Which means they won't be putting too much attention on her. She'll just have to find this representative, then she'll be out of here.

While she wasn't too fond of America, what was the most surprising was the fact that her cards still worked. Looks like Daddy's still out there, after all. Without it, Veronica would be living in squalor. She was grateful for that, she wouldn't have made it this far without that cash. Bus ride after bus, motel to motel, it felt like forever, but she made it here.

... It better be good at this school.

Veronica sighed, and kept walking. Her feet were getting a little tired. Veronica didn't want to stop, and leave herself vulnerable, but maybe a little rest was in order. She found herself a little bench, and sat down on it, and put her legs together.

Sighing again, Veronica closed her eyes.

---

Phoebe Jasmine Sarin.

---

Phoebe's arrival was somewhat better. Since her parents dropped her off right at the park.

Waving goodbye to the speeding vehicle with a heavy backpack on, Phoebe strolled into the park, and immediately took a whiff of the fresh fall air. This place was beautiful. Phoebe put a smile on her face as she stepped more and more into the park. Every step she took, she absorbed information about the plant-life here. She knew more and more about the beautiful plants of this park. She passed by a dying rose, and looked at it for a moment. Before she brought it back to life by exerting her will into it. A drooping, decayed, rose, became the red beauty it once was in an instant.

Now, all Phoebe has to do is find the recruiter and she'll get to work.

Silas had arrived in the town a few days before the required meetup. Not knowing if he would be trusted, or if the school was to be trusted, he spent a couple days scouting the area. Overall, it was a fairly simple town with nothing too fancy. However, he knew well enough to know that he couldn't exactly just allow himself to be seen by the citizens of the town, especially after he burned down the inn. Therefore, he spent his time in the trees, staying hidden from view, peering out occasionally to make sure it was safe to move.

Eventually he settled into an oak tree near a river at the park where everyone was supposed to meet. This way, if there was a trap being set up at the park, he could find out instantly and then disappear before he was caught. Thankfully though, his days were uneventful as he saw nothing more than the normal day to day activities of regular people wandering the park.

When the day came, he payed special attention to the people, trying to spot who was a mutant and who wasn't. A couple girls stuck out like a sore thumb to him, seeing as their transportation left without them. One of them was obvious as she brought a rose back to its vibrant beauty.

Hmm, apparently she can bring things back to life. That can be a useful trait, he thought.

However, the other girl showed no signs of her power, but he vowed to keep an eye on her nonetheless.

Silas also noticed a guy beneath his tree, playing with a locket, which thankfully, wasn't shiny. It obviously had some meaning to the guy, but what the meaning was, he had no idea.

Two others arrived at the park as well, both with very colorful hair and easy to spot. They definitely seemed to want to be covert, which seemed backwards to Silas with their colorful hair, but eventually they reached a willow tree. After a quick glance around, they bumped fists, and one of them disappeared.

Immediately, that made Silas tense up. Was this guy a teleporter like he was? Does he disappear at will? Or was one a mirror image of the other, to throw people off? Regardless, Silas was ready to run or fight at a moment's notice, but needed to wait to see what happened next.

Toward the back of the bus, Abbie was sitting with her head resting lightly against the window beside her, her left foot tapping idly as she stared out at the nice little park on the other side. She'd been more or less like this for all of the bus rides over the last couple days, occasionally making a quick friend out of a nearby passenger, and asking them to wake her up at the stop they were going to get off, before taking a nap to keep herself going. She'd also been slowly working her way through the clothes she had packed away in her bag, changing in between buses whenever a restroom was available, and was now wearing a pair of simple denim shorts and a plain white tank top. It certainly wasn't the most luxurious way to be getting around, but it was the way that didn't cost her family an arm and a leg to get her out here to her new school.

Nope, just a leg.

Just as she was huffing a bit to herself at that, Abbie was jolted out of her thoughts as she felt the bus begin moving again. Suddenly realizing that she hadn't checked what stop this was, she glanced up and practically felt her heart stop as she realized that they were just beginning to pull away from her destination.

"Ah, hey, hold on! This is my stop!" She cried out as she jumped up to her feet, yanking her duffel bag up off the vacant seat next to her and slinging it onto her back as she hopped out into the aisle, ignoring the looks that all the passengers were starting to give her as she rushed up past the rows of seats, she stopped just as the bus was doing so again, pausing for a moment to turn to the driver and respond to his raised eyebrow with a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that, I was kinda spaced out there." She explained, before quickly fishing out the last loose dollar from her pocket and popping it into the fare box. "Thanks for stopping!" She added brightly, twirling on her artificial heel and quickly hopping out through the open doors to the sidewalk outside.

Straightening up as the bus finished setting off behind her, Abbie straightened up and took a deep breath of the fresh air, looking around for a few moments to get her bearings. The little park was nice, but not in any sort of showy way... exactly the kind of place she'd always loved. Looking to one side, she could already see what was presumably the river mentioned in the instructions for her meeting with the recruiter. With a quick adjustment of the strap of her duffel bag, she turned and started further into the park, beginning her search for the willow tree she needed to find.

After just a little while of walking as close by the bank of the river as she could, Abbie finally spotted what she could only assume was the willow tree she was searching for. If the tree itself wasn't enough to tip her off, there was also a guy with a funny-looking haircut waiting just underneath it. Recognizing what could only be another prospective student like herself, she smiled, and was about to make her way over to meet him when she happened to glance over and spot somebody else. Much nearer to her, on a little bench by the side of the main park path, was a girl with thick black hair, sitting with her eyes closed and looking just a bit out of place. Quickly theorizing that she'd just spotted another potential new classmate, Abbie smiled a little more, changing course to make her way over to the bench, unslinging her bag from her back just as she was drawing up to it.

"Hey there!" She greeted brightly, turning to plop down on the bench just beside the other girl while dropping her duffel bag on the ground on her other side. Once she'd settled in place, she turned to look at the girl once more, already shifting into a more relaxed position with her left leg crossed casually over her right. "Are you here for the school, too?"

---

"I don't care if you don't set the rates, it doesn't change the fact that they're ridiculous!" Kurtis snapped back at the understandably huffy taxi driver as he was stepping out of the cab with his wheeled suitcase, another bag tied onto the extended handle to make it easier to lug around as well. The blond was wearing a pair of thick gray sweats and a black jacket, both of which were just a bit warmer than was strictly necessary for the weather at the moment.

Grumbling a bit to himself after his little outburst as the door closed behind him, Kurt turned to look ahead at the park he'd been asked to meet the recruiter in. And what sort of 'recruitment' process was this anyways? Special school or no, he could easily think of some much better ways to welcome new students than making them stay overnight in some sketchy motel, only to meet in an even sketchier corner of some park. Letting out a noise halfway between a heavy sigh and a hiss, he just reached up to give the crook of his neck a few quick scratches, before setting off into the park proper, to meet with this representative of the school.

As he was walking along the path with his belongings wheeling along behind him, Kurt happened to glance up just as he was nearing the river he needed to head to. Thinking that he saw something move for just a moment in one of the oak trees just by the bank, he slowed down for a few steps, narrowing his eyes slightly, before letting out another heavy breath and shaking his head, turning instead to continue searching for the weeping willow that he apparently needed to find.

Miyuki

Miyuki had gotten off the plane in Denver and looked at a road map about 35 minutes ago. She knew she could have taken a bus to the town of Kent which she'd been told to be at but it might have meant she would have been late an besides she wanted to run after her long flight and confinement at airports.

She knew that she most likely had startled several people as she passed their autos on the highway at nearly the speed of sound but she didn't care. She loved America because of it's wide-open spaces which promised her ample running room.

She didn't just boil into the town figuring that to do so would have been a bit too far so she ran cross-country careful to avoid homes and people till she got to the edge of town and called a cab to deliver her to her final destination.

She was early to the location described in the E-mail she'd received but that was the way she liked it. So after paying the cabbie she grabbed her pack an headed down to the river munching on a power bar to replenish her calories so she would pass out while meeting those people she hoped could help her.

Near the river was the Willow that had also been mentioned in the E-mail and by it stood a boy with a brightly colored Mohawk who could either be a local or someone else looking for the special school or both. Having no safe way of finding out which it was Miyuki decided that it would be better to wait by the water and found a large rock to have an impromptu picnic while she waited.



Elliot had been enjoying her bus ride through the mountains and looking at the beautiful scenery till she went involuntarily Retro.

It was a huge surprise because she hadn't been using her power during the entire trip and it's regression was more powerful than she normally experienced because the bus and even the paved road disappeared.

She was flying about six feet above a rutted dirt road that was little more than a path winding between the mountains around her and as she was trying to figure out what year it was she overtook what appeared to be about four wagons drawn by six oxen each This was a clue that whenever this was it was between the 1840s to 1900 or there about. Rather than panic Elli took the chance to learn a few interesting facts about the town of Kent

She strained to see the town ahead of her and saw that it was an active mining town that was covered in a pall of smoke generated by the people that had founded it. The wagons she'd passed were obviously carrying supplies. Then just as she was really beginning to have fun peeking into the far past she was slammed back into the present day.

She was briefly dazzled by the alteration of her position from outside back to inside the bus.

"Miss, Miss; You asked me to tell you when we got to your stop." Said the driver from his seat as he opened the door for her.

Elliot thanked the driver and shouldered her computer bag an pulled her huge rolling luggage off with her an then stood on the side of the road as the bus rolled away. Catching her breath for a few minutes she looked towards the town trying to recall what she'd seen an trying to see if any of the buildings she saw then were still there but couldn't tell if they were.

Sighing she checked her watch an saw that she was on time for her odd appointment and headed for the described location.

As she got close to the tree she saw a guy with a mohawk trying hard to look out of place an it made her giggle a little. Never being one to be afraid of people she drug her big ugly bag close to the tree and said

"Hi I'm Elliot"

Cade continued watching as more people began showing up at the tree. Besides the mohawk guy, there was: a girl with dark, wavy hair; a girl who displayed the ability to bring a rose back to life; a girl with a prosthetic leg who apparently nearly missed her stop, judging from how the bus almost left before stopping again; a guy who appeared slightly agitated at something; a girl who started eating an energy bar, not unlike the one Cade had eaten for lunch; a girl who looked a little dazed, as if she had recently been daydreaming; and a handful of others with all manner of hairstyles, skin tones, and apparent personalities. Some seemed confident, some downright arrogant, some withdrawn. After the mohawk guy and the flower girl, though, Cade guessed they all had one thing in common: mutant abilities of some sort.

Hearing the creaking of a branch above him, Cade turned his attention on the tree he sat underneath. He stared at it for nearly a minute, scanning everything he could see for signs of human or animal life. Seeing nothing, he returned his attention to the growing group, which now consisted of about fifteen people, muttering, "Probably just a squirrel or something."

Knowing he wouldn't get any more information from observing the group from this distance, he stood and walked towards the group. Specifically, he approached the girl who had made the rose blossom. As he did, he passed by the girl who had almost missed the bus stop, who had just sat down next to another girl.

"Are you here for the school, too?"

So there's a school, Cade thought. Maybe these people were students. That was promising - it probably meant they weren't enemies, at any rate. But he needed more information. As he neared the rose girl, he looked at her and said, "Hey. Name's Cade. I saw you bring the rose back a little bit ago. That's a pretty cool ability."

---

Kyle was fairly sure nobody had seen his little trick. Not that it mattered, really. Soon he would be at the school he had heard so much about from his older brother, who was already there. He had no need to hide. He just didn't want to draw attention to his power. A mute twin, he could explain. A vanishing twin, not so much.

Shortly after he got to tree, others started showing up. It was as if his appearance had triggered some kind of signal for them all to show up. Most of them ignored him, but one decided to approach him.

"Hi I'm Elliot"

"Hi Elliot. I'm Kyle. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

It struck him how odd he probably sounded. Those words belonged at least fifty years in the past, and by all appearances, he definitely belonged in the Millennial generation. At the same time... he didn't really care how he sounded. He was who he was. Wasn't that the whole reason he had gotten the mohawk? To be different?

Elysia had a fun, and relatively easy, trip, except for the one time she nearly ran out of batteries... But anyways, she was dropped off at the park by her friends, Christopher and Emily, who drove off after a mildly drawn-out goodbye scene.

She walked into the park, taking note of the number of people already here, some seemingly innocuous, like the one eating a picnic, others obviously watching or waiting. She wanders over to the vicinity of the Willow Tree, finding a nice, shady spot with a good view under a nearby tree, observing the other people, listening to what she could hear. "Hmm, it's obvious that we are waiting for the school, but what exactly are we waiting for? And why here? This spot certainly doesn't LOOK like a school..." Elysia says, out loud but to nobody in particular. She then takes out a centimeter and a half thick cable with an odd connector on one end, and plugs it into a matching port on her neck, the other end of the cable disappearing into her backpack somewhere. After this is complete, she sighs and relaxes, and takes out a scientific journal on Physics, alternating between reading it and observing her surroundings.

The plugging in bit would have been visible to anyone who bothered to look in her direction during the process.

Elliot said "Nice to meet you Kyle"

Then she saw Elysia who asked about the odd location. It was a valid question after all but unless someone here was actually connected with the school already the only answers would be based on speculation unless she risked retrozoning and read the area but because she didn't know the others she decided against it.



Miyuki could hear the people around her talking but could care less what they were discussing because in the long run she wasn't involved. Perhaps when she got to know them an maybe even make friends it would matter but until then she would remain an outsider.

---

Veronica Emily Davis.

---

Without even getting a second to herself, Veronica promptly gets bumrushed by... Some short girl that caused a near comical size-difference between the much larger and imposing Veronica. Another thing was the fact that she was missing a bit of that leg of hers. Veronica's eyes shifted towards the little runt, as she sat down on the bench right next to a complete stranger. Normally, Veronica would have told the runt where to find the play pens, and walked away - but a mixture of loneliness, and a few curious words said by the girl certainly caught her attention.

Right off the bat, this girl asked about "the school", which seriously made Veronica wonder how open this school was (Or how other mutants were open with their ability - Presumably, up until now, she never encountered another like herself). She gave the girl a side-look, and was glad that she didn't jump the gun and tell her to buzz off too early.

While she wasn't interested in forming an interpersonal relationship, Veronica would play nice if only for the purpose of gathering information. Seeing what power this girl holds, and what she knows. "Hello there," Veronica replied, kindly and cooly. "You're right, I guess. I'm here to have a meeting with a representative of the school." She figured that she wouldn't beat around the bush, at this point. "Hey, what's your name? I'm Veronica?"

Looking up at the taller girl as she confirmed that she was also here to meet with a representative from the school, Abbie gave her a bright smile when she asked for her name, and introduced herself as Veronica. Well, it was nice to know that she hadn't just plopped down next to a complete stranger who also didn't even have anything to do with why she was here.

"I'm Abigail! But you can just call me Abbie." Abbie answered, turning just a bit in order to hold her hand out to Veronica in an invitation for a shake. "Nice to meetcha!" She added with an easygoing grin.

---

Continuing down the path through the park with his suitcase rattling along unevenly on its wheels behind him, Kurt glanced up after a short while and finally spotted the weeping willow that he had come here for. And from the looks of things, he was far from the only one here expecting someone. Noticing this, he just gave a heavy sigh to himself. Great. Other people. This day just kept getting worse and worse.

Resisting the urge to grumble to himself, still sour about the taxi driver's blatant overcharging, he just turned off the path and rattled his suitcase over to the nearest available tree. What he failed to notice in the midst of his internal complaining was the girl on the opposite side of the tree's trunk, with some sort of cable plugged into her neck, busy reading a physics book. Drawing his things up beside himself, he just stood them upright and then leaned one shoulder against the tree, reaching a hand up to scratch at his neck quickly, before crossing his arms unhappily.

The influx of people was quite noticable to Silas, but he still couldn't figure out who the leader was or who the representative from the school was. Content with watching to see who else arrives and see what happens, he stays in the tree, occasionally scampering from branch to branch when he feels no one is looking to get a new vantage point and gather what information he can.

Conversation continued on as the various assembled mutants waited for something, although not a single one of them knew what exactly they were waiting for. A few began to think this was some elaborate hoax, but others, perhaps a little antsy themselves, urged them to wait until the designated time, 4pm, before jumping to conclusions. During all the conversation, by way of carefully worded questions, Cade had deduced that there was a school for mutants somewhere nearby, and that this group had been invited as the incoming class. This piqued Cade's curiosity and interest, and so he pretended that he, like the others, had been invited.

Finally, at five minutes to four, there was a change on the horizon. No school magically appeared, or anything quite so dramatic. But on the river, downstream, a boat appeared. It was large, taking up nearly half of the width of the river. Plenty of room for the assembled mutants with more to spare. What was most interesting, though, was as it approached, it made no noise. There were no sails, so it clearly wasn't moving on wind power, but if there was any kind of motor, it was the quietest motor ever made. And also a powerful one, as the boat moved quickly, against the current.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, almost on the dot, the boat stopped directly across from the tree they had been supposed to meet at and moved a gangplank onto a small rise in the land where the grass stopped suddenly at a five-foot drop to the water below. Moments later, an older man, probably in his 60s or 70s, disembarked from the boat. He had little hair left, and what he did have was light gray. Still, he stood tall and walked with a confidence that few of any age possessed. Remaining on the boat, on either side of the gangplank, stood two others. One was a young woman with pale skin and bright red hair - likely fake in color. The other was a young man with very tan skin and bright blue hair - also likely fake. They both stood about 5'10", making him look short or her look tall, depending on one's perspective. They leaned casually against the railing on the edge of the boat, nearly mirroring one another.

The older man stepped ashore. Many of the mutants gather around him, some looking expectantly, others merely curious. A few others, nervous or slightly afraid, stood farther back, but still within earshot to hear whatever he might say. Kyle was one of the ones near the front. Cade found himself somewhere in the middle.

"Greetings to all of you.", the old man started. "It is my pleasure to welcome you to the School on behalf of the Director and the instructors. Now, as I'm sure you've deduced, the School is not here. But I promise you that we aren't far. You will get your first glimpse in a little over an hour. But, before we begin our journey, I must caution you all. While the School is among the safest places for our kind to learn, such learning must not be approached carelessly. Some of us have abilities that are quite dangerous, but we learn to control them, not suppress them. As such, we expect each of you to discipline yourselves to the highest degree. If anyone is whimsical about what they can do, they became a danger to the School, and they will be dismissed."

He paused momentarily to let that sink in. Then he continued, "Now, if it is still your desire to join us, then welcome aboard. We will leave momentarily. Make yourselves comfortable, as we will be on the water for about forty-five minutes. I do ask that you not try to go to the room at the bottom of them boat. That is where our crew ensures that we continues our motion in our desired direction, and they do not appreciate being disturbed or distracted."

Apparently finished, the man turned and walked back up the gangplank, disappearing into a cabin at the top of the boat. Many students began to immediately make their way onto the boat, while others hesitated momentarily, but they, too, quickly made their way to embark. Apparently nobody wanted to be left behind.

"Of course it would have to be water. Flooding in New Orleans, a bridge washed out in Tennessee, and now this. Why can't I ever catch a break from water." Elysia grouched to herself under her breath, recounting upon how she really, seriously does not like water in larger amounts than a cup of water, or any used for cooking. As she is grumbling about this, she gathers up her stuff, packing away her book, and unplugging herself from her bag, the wire coiling bag into the recesses of the bag. She then walks on board, obviously not at all happy about being this close to that much water, finding a seat that is decidedly a good distance away from any of the railings. Any who glance her way can see that she is in what looks like a constant state of agitation.

After hearing the old man's statements, Silas climbed out of the tree. Still quite distrustful of the people gathered, he tries to make it onto the boat without anyone looking, jumping on to the boat from the shore. He quickly finds a spot where he thought he was safe and still be able to watch the other people climb on board. As he watches the people, he catches a glint of sun out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he sees the leg of a girl that is unnaturally shiny, and Silas was filled with an overwhelming desire to leap to the source of the refracted light. Throwing caution to the wind, Silas leaps from the shadows, landing on the shiny leg, and marveling at how clean it is and how well he can see his own reflection on the curved surface.