A little about Fade's past

[Swix]

Want to know all about Fade's past? You know the one she'd kill to keep secret apart from the bare bones of the subject? Well... tough, you can't see it, I'm saving it for RP purposes . I can tell you her story before she became what she is now however.

Once there was a little girl. An ordinary little 10 year old with brown hair and watery grey eyes, who liked playing with her close few friends and her pet hamster, and even enjoyed doing her schoolwork. For this little girl was very smart and easily picked things up, she could often be found in the library reading books that people would consider slightly too advanced for a 10 year old. What was the name of this little girl you ask? Her name was Sophie Rrennll

Sophie Rrennll's eyes even then showed a secret, for you see she was not loved at home. School was the only place she could be happy, home was torturous. Sophie was not wanted, nor loved, nor even listened to by her parents and they delighted in reminding her over and over again that they didn't want her. She was hit if she did the slightest thing wrong, yelled at all the time and would often end up in hospital with broken bones. Her parents told the doctors she was clumsy and would often fall down the stairs, and pretend they were concerned. But Sophie never told anyone. She was too afraid.

The one thing she wanted to do was disappear, she longed to disappear from her abusive parents in some way. To run away and never come back. Little did she know her wish would soon be granted

The day before her 11th birthday she was sent to bed with no supper for apparently no reason other than her parents were in a bad mood. Sophie sat on her bed and cried silent tears, not knowing what it was she'd done, before she fell asleep.

She was awoken by her mother who slapped her round the head just to tell her that they were going out, and she would be locked in the house by herself.

This was just another day to Sophie, they never remembered her birthday. Or if they did they chose not to acknowledge it. Sophie watched her mother slam the door behind her before bursting into tears again.

Sophie got up an hour later, her face streaked with tears and hair un-brushed, making her way downstairs she poured herself some cereal, spilling milk everywhere. She'd get yelled at for that when they got back home too... unless she wasn't home when they got back.

Mind made up, Sophie started looking all over the house for something that would allow her to leave, finding things like hair pins and trying to pick locks with them. She wasn't very successful even though she could hear the mechanism inside. Sophie quit when it got dark and went to bed, to try again the next day.

She didn't notice at first but her hearing seemed to be growing steadily sharper, she could not only hear the clocks ticking but the mechanisms inside working. If she dropped a pin, she could hear that too, and suddenly having the TV turned up too loud hurt her.

On the third day Sophie awoke to the noise of an old car engine outside her house, and the voices of her Mum and Dad. Sophie cowered in a corner of her room as her parents entered the house and started yelling about the mess. She really, really wanted to disappear now

'SOPHIE! Look what you've done to the house now, you ungrateful little wretch!'

Her Dad yelled as he stormed upstairs, and slamming the door open glared around Sophie’s room. Sophie shrunk against the wall as her fathers eyes looked straight at her... then moved away. Couldn't he see her? Sophie watched as her Dad turned around and made his way back downstairs, yelling as he went

"THE LITTLE WRETCH ISN'T HERE!"

Sophie, both confused and relieved looked down at herself. Only to find she couldn't see herself. Where she knew her knees and hands were, all she could see was the floor of her room and the wall. She really had disappeared!

Sophie stared at what look like thin air where her hands had once been, shocked and afraid. But... she could leave now, they wouldn't see her. Quietly Sophie left her room and made her way downstairs. Through the hallway, and opened the front door. Her Dad heard it and came storming round into the hallway just as Sophie slipped out of the door, and ran for her life

[Swix]

"SOPHIE!"

Her Dad yelled as the now invisible 11 year old ran down the street, not looking back.

"GET YOUR BUTT BACK IN HERE!"

Sophie continued running, turning a corner she trips over and lands face first in a puddle. Getting back up and shaking her head she continues running, where to she doesn't know or care. At the house her Dad slams the door deciding she's not coming back.

Sophie runs until she's exhausted, and cannot run anymore. Looking around while catching her breath she realises she's in an unfamiliar part of the city. The people here notice her, her invisibility must have worn off. An old woman with a bent back, broken yellow teeth and a walking stick approaches her, smelling of cats. Sophie looks at the old woman as she bends down to talk to her

"Why, dear girl have you dyed your hair such an ugly colour?"

Sophie is confused, she never dyed her hair. And the woman’s breath was making her want to gag

"But I didn't"

"Your parents did it then?"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

Sophie says before she starts backing off, seeing an alleyway she starts to run down that. The old woman shakes her head, saying "Kids these days" and starts walking off

Sophie trips again, over a cardboard box this time. She crawls into it as it starts to rain and she has no coat. The little girl hugs her knees and is soon asleep, utterly exhausted

Sophie is awoken during the night time. The box she was in, it was moving. Someone was talking.

"... but it's got blue hair"

"She could have dyed it?"

"That young? I don't think so. She's one of those freaks you hear about on the news. You know, a mutant"

"Then it could be dangerous. Let's leave it alone, we're supposed to be at a party"

"I'm not an it, I'm a girl"

Sophie said before she could stop herself. One of the people she'd heard talking pulled her forcefully out of the box by her arm. Sophie staggeringly stood up to see two teenage boys looking at her. One was taller than the other and very lanky, with blonde hair and green eyes. The other short and stocky, with a shaven head and cruel blue eyes. The stocky one spoke

"You're right, you're not an it. You're a freak"

Sophie shook her head, looking terrified. The blonde one spoke.

"Come on, let's go. We're gonna be late. Leave her alone, you don't know what she could do"

The stocky one gave the blonde one a withering look before turning back to Sophie and smirking

"If she could do something surely the little mutant would've done it by now. Wouldn't you, freak? Run away little one, run away..."

Sophie's mouth opens and closes, she's not sure what to say. If she were a little older she'd have realised the stocky one was slightly drunk. Sophie steps back as the lanky blonde boy grabs hold of the stocky persons arm, trying to forcefully drag him away. The stocky one turns and punches him in the face quite abruptly, and Sophie instinctively disappears.

"Gerroff me, wimp! Hey, where'd she go?"

Absolutely terrified and now very hungry Sophie runs away from the two men while they fight.

Unknown to the three of them, someone who would soon play a vital part in Sophie's upbringing had seen the whole thing. Including the little girls’ complete disappearance from sight.
_____________________________________________________________

The next day Sophie stands by the side of a wall in another unfamiliar part of the city, trying to hide herself while she experimented.

Sophie holds a hand out in front of her face, trying to make it disappear as she had made herself completely invisible twice now. She concentrates hard... but nothing happens. She tries again, thinking 'I want to disappear again' but again, nothing happens. Sophie even tries making random movements with her arms and saying phrases but still nothing happens.

The last two times she disappeared she'd done it completely unintentionally, but now she wanted to do it at will. Sophie thinks back to them. The first time, huddled in her room and terrified, not wanting to be there. The second, last night, again not wanting to be there...

Sophie not thinking it's going to work this time tries anyway, trying to make herself not want to be here. She makes herself think she really doesn't want to be here.

Holding up her hand again, Sophie finds she cannot see it, it’d worked, but she hears something from across the street, like someone is quietly talking into a radio.

"Subject seems to have successfully faded"

Sophie looks around, keeping her sense of not wanting to be here and so keeping herself unseen she moves away from the wall and towards a food shop.

The now invisible little girl put her hands on a freshly baked loaf of bread, finding to her delight that it too disappeared. Pleased with her success she quickly exits the shop and goes back to her 'hiding place', tearing into the bread with relish. Despite the fact she couldn't see it, it still tasted good after having had no food for a day.
_____________________________________________________________

After a few days Sophie almost mastered her abilities, but her hearing would often not let her go to sleep at night. For she could hear everything that went on, and some things 11 year olds should never hear.

She had once been caught stealing some water and a few packs of sandwiches from a corner shop. But when she disappeared it caused them to go into an uproar about dangerous freaks and Sophie had managed to slip out without brushing up against anyone. She'd also heard the voice again, it seemed someone was watching her though she knew not why or who.

A few more days, a week perhaps, and Sophie had become quite the accomplished thief. She only stole bread and liquid, and on one occasion a hairbrush so she could survive. She no longer knew how long she'd been out here, or if her parents were still looking for her. If they had bothered to at all.

Sophie walked down the streets visibly, wary of any strangers. Especially stocky, shaven haired teenagers. She turned the corner to where she'd christened the hiding place... only to find someone was already there. A young man, with black hair and very dark eyes sat where she'd usually sit. He wore non-descript black clothing. He looked straight at her, as if he were expecting her and spoke softly as she started to back away.

"Please don't leave. I don't mean you any harm"

He said, and Sophie recognised the voice. It was the same one she'd heard talking into the radio. He was the one that had been watching her.

"You've been watching me, I heard you. Why?"

The man looks impressed, he hadn't expected her to know about him at all.

"Your hearing must be very sharp. I bet you don't get much sleep at night, the traffic must drive you mad"

It was an observation, but also a way of avoiding the question. Sophie obviously hadn't had much sleep, bags were showing under her eyes.

"It does, I can hear everything working. I can hear that watch on your wrist"

Again, the man looks impressed. His watch had been hidden under his sleeve. He smiles at the little girl warmly, before suddenly asking her:

"Would you like to be able to sleep under a roof in a bed again, and not have to steal food anymore?"

Sophie looks almost afraid, for memories of her parents came unbidden to her mind

"I don't have to go back home, do I?"

She asks sincerely, then is taken aback as the man suddenly starts laughing

"Of course not if you don't want to. Come with me"

He gets up and holds his hand out to her, hesitating Sophie eventually takes it. They walk for a long time, unspeaking and somehow avoiding all the crowds. Eventually they come to a building with a lift in the side, seemingly out of place. The man stops and turns around, letting go of her hand he crouches down to face her.

"Would you like to learn how to use your abilities properly?"

He asks, looking at her intently while she ponders this for the briefest of seconds.

"Yes"

"Then this is the perfect place for you"

He gets up and walks into the lift, gesturing for her to follow him. She does so and the door closes behind them. But before it starts to move, the dark haired man has one more question and a little information for her.

"What is your name?"

"Sophie. Sophie Rrennll"

"That's an unusual name... Keep it a secret. From now on, you shall be known as Fade"

"What's your name?"

"Me? I am called Wraith"

(Finiished! *Re-reads post* Wow that's the longest post I've done since my Creatures fanfic... and I'm sure I'll find some spelling mistakes later which I shall painstakingly edit... Tell me what you think )

[3kul]

Such a sad story, poor little kid...

That was really great Swix, I enjoyed reading it. I hope there's still more to tell, because I'd like to read it.

[Swix]

Hehe, thanks 3kul I enjoyed writing it.

There'll be more, I have to tell about/flesh out Wraith and the other 'trainees', so don't worry about that.

[Swix]

As the lift stops, Fade nervously clutches Wraiths hand. The young man looks down at her and smiles again, guessing what it was that was bothering her

'Are you okay?'

He asks as the lift stops and the doors ping open. Fade looks up at Wraith and shakes her head

'I'm okay, I'm just a little-'

'Nervous?'

"Yeah'

'Don't worry, the others will be nervous too. We'll look after you now'

Wraith starts walking out of the lift, into a well lit room gently tugging Fade after him. She follows, looking at the room as they go

It's not an overly large room but it's quite a decent size, but lights embedded in the ceiling flood the place with almost natural looking light. Pictures line the wall of great cities, seas and even open grassy plains. Fade points to a disjointed looking painting as they pass, stopping Wraith briefly she asks

'Is that a Picasso?'

'Smart girl. Yes it is but it's not the original. Come, we have to meet the others"

They make their way to a desk at the end of the hall, where a young woman sits. She seems around the same age as Wraith but her hair is long, wispy and almost white. She favours light white and flowing clothes... and her eyes... The 11 year old girl now known as Fade almost shrinks back from the woman as she notices her eyes. The woman’s eyes are completely white bar their pupils, yet this woman was clearly not blind as she took in both Wraith and Fades appearance.

The white and ghostly looking woman pulls out a pen and picks up a piece of paper, asking as she does

'Is this the last one Wraith? What's her name?"

Wraith slightly raises one of his black eyebrows as he too regards the woman

'This is Fade, she is the last one. And would it kill you to show some manners and introduce yourself? She's just a little kid after all"

The woman scribbles something down before walking through the table and crouching down in front of Fade, speaking calmly despite the fact Fade's hand clutching Wraiths had obviously become tighter

'Hello little Fade. I am called Spectre. Wraith and I will be taking care of and working closely with you from now on'

The white woman almost floated as she stood back up to look at Wraith, indicating the door next to the desk

'The others are waiting in there. I will be with you shortly, I have paperwork to deal with first"

And with that she promptly walked back through the desk and sat down again. Wraith opened the door to the next room and led 'little Fade' through it.

This room was much larger, and there were several tables in the middle of the room with other young people sat around them, talking. The same light filled this room and there was what appeared to be a podium at the opposite end to the one they'd just entered. Wraith walked with Fade down to one of the tables, and made sure she was comfortable before he left to join Spectre.

[Swix]

((Small waaaay overdue update for this ))

Fade looked around at the others sat at the table. There was a girl with blonde hair and deep blue eyes on her left, swirling a glass of water with her finger. Next to her sat another girl, this one had short dark hair and light green eyes.

There was also a short boy on her right with ginger hair and deep green eyes, he was at least a head smaller than any of the others sat in the room and was the only one wearing glasses.

Directly opposite Fade was a sullen looking boy, a little taller than the rest. He seemed to be fascinated with a small plant hat had been placed in the middle of the table. His hair and eyes were brown and tinted with green.

The girl who'd been swirling the water looked up and smiled at her.

"Hello. Do you know if anyone else is coming?"

"No, Wraith said I was the last one. I'm S- I mean, I'm Fade"

The little 11 year old quickly stopped herself from almost spurting out her real name. It would take her some time before she got used to her 'new' one. Her little slip up seemed to give the others cause to grin in amusement, so she didn't feel too bad. Everyone except the sullen looking boy, that is.

"Fade huh? I'm Cyan"

The blonde girl said as she continued to swirl the water in nothing but an ordinary glass. Fade leaned forwards on the table a little.

"That woman at the entrance walked through the desk. How did she do that?"

"You mean you don't know? She's a mutant, we all are. I think that's why they brought us here, because of our gifts"

"What can you do then?"

"This"

Cyan remarked as she moved her finger up and away from the water. Young Fade watched in fascination as the water seemed to defy gravity and follow the other girls digit up into the air. Then she moved her hand away, but the water remained suspended in place, twisting about into various shapes. That is, until it gently descended back into the glass. Her interest now piqued further, Fade turned her attention towards the short, ginger boy.

"So what can you do?"

He smiled rather shyly at her before pushing his glasses back into place on the bridge of his nose.

"It's kinda hard to explain, but I use these"

He answered as he held both hands up, palm outwards and fingers spread. As the young Fade began to wonder what exactly he thought this was achieving, she could not help but give a gasp of shock. The tips of the boys index fingers had moved up and out as the pink skin receded, revealing what looked like fleshy stems attaching his fingers proper to bud like ends. The stems appeared to have no length restrictions and were completely prehensile, as she watched, the buds opened to reveal many tiny organic wires inside.

"I think that's enough showing off for now, Port"

Cyan cut, causing the boy to retract them while looking slightly sheepish. The green eyed girl who'd remained quiet until this point spoke up with barely concealed eagerness.

"I'm called Shifter. I can change into different animals"

"Yes, we know"

Cyan cut in a second time, it seemed Shifter had been getting on the hydrokinetics nerves for a while.

"You've told everyone who's come in, even when they haven’t asked"

"She didn't know"

Shifter retorted, as if trying to take comfort in the fact. Fade turned her watery grey eyes on the sullen boy once again, he didn't appear to have acknowledged anything that had been said and he hadn't moved. Instead of bothering him just yet, Fade turned her gaze upon the other tables.

"What about them, who are they?"

"Well, that one sitting with her back to us is Strata" Cyan informed her, indicating a strong looking girl with earth coloured hair "she can turn things to stone, even herself. The boy next to her is Volt" Cyan this time pointed to a very tall, thin looking boy who had very light brown hair and light green eyes. He appeared to have just gotten into an argument with Strata, although Fade was doing her best to shut them out so she could listen to Cyan. She'd already heard enough to know that they were arguing about who had the best ability.

Doing her best to ignore the racket they were making, Fade turned her eyes to the next person Cyan was indicating. This was another boy, his skin so pale it looked white. In contrast, both his hair and eyes were completely black.

"That's Shade"

((Um, okay, maybe not so small

Also, prizes for guessing what Ports ability is ))

[Intyalle]

((Stick those organic wire things into a computer port and affect the computer, at a guess? It's a wonderful story, by the way, Swix. ))

[Swix]

What? Did I really make it that obvious? Ah well, here, have some for guessing correctly .

[Intyalle]

(("Organic wires"? That gave it away a bit, once I made the connection with computer port (and not ship port lol. I couldn't seem to get that idea out of my head for some time). But if it comforts you any, I did puzzle over it for all of about the 5-10 mins it took to read the rest of the story, decide whether or not to reply, then type the reply. ))

[3kul]

Wow, it certainly has been a while since the last update.

Still a very interesting story Swix, the kids have some pretty nifty abilities.

[Swix]

((Here comes another update for your enjoyment ))

"What's he do then?"

Little Fade asked, watching the boy carefully. He seemed almost as detached from his group as the boy in front of her was from theirs. He just sat where he was and watched impassively as the bioelectric boy and Strata continued their argument.

"I'm... not really sure. I think it has something to do with shadows though, and Spectre seemed to take to him better than the rest of us"

That was... interesting, it hadn't crossed the young mutants mind that the impassive woman at the desk could become interested in any of them, let alone 'take' to them. Shade must be a different sort of special to the rest of them.

There were only two left that she didn't know now, the sullen boy and another girl on the other table. The girl had very short, very light blonde hair and since she was sat facing them Fade could see her eyes clearly. They were almost as scary as Spectres albino ones, since they didn't even have any whites, they were utterly black.

"She's been called Banshee, and she-"

"-can hear you talking about her"

The girl who the eleven year old now knew to be Banshee called clearly to them over the din, making Cyan jump and Fade cringe. Apparently Cyan hadn't been aware of that particular ability of hers.

"And she will be over to talk to Fade in a minute - or two"

Banshee called again over Strata and Volt, with a lot of difficulty since their pitch had become quite a bit higher, before trying to calm the two down. The little mutant wasn't sure if she wanted Banshee to come and talk to her.

Cyan seemed to have recovered quite well from being interrupted, and indicated with a nod the sullen boy who still appeared fascinated by the small vegetation in the pot.

"It's probably best if you talk to him yourself"

Cyan then quieted, although she seemed to be watching them both expectantly. Fade studied him for a short time, wondering whether he'd even respond to her at all, but she mustered her courage and spoke anyway.

"Hi, I'm Fade"

"I heard"

The boy responded roughly, but didn't say anything else until the new girl spoke again.

"What are you called?"

"Toxin"

"Why?"

This time he did look up, his green tinted eyes seemed to bore into her own watery grey ones as she fought not to just run away from him. It wasn't his physical appearance that caused the reaction though, Toxins eyes lacked any feeling, any emotion. There was nothing there, it was as if he was hollow inside.

"Because of this"

The boy looked back down at the small, fragile object he'd been so fascinated with and deliberately slowly touched a single finger upon a single leaf. Fade only just now noticed that, if you looked really closely, Toxins skin was covered in a thin film of something which rubbed off onto the leaf.

Before too long, it couldn't have been more than half a minute, the plant began to wither. Its leaves and stem wilted before it turned a sickly brown colour and then lost all its foliage. It was dead.

"I kill things. Everything I touch dies. If you touch me, then you'll die too"

Toxin abruptly stopped speaking and receded back into himself, it was probably a good thing he didn't care what anyone else was doing as both Shifter and Port had edged a bit further away from him. Fade had to make a special effort to stop staring at him as Banshee had made her way over to them, like she said she would.

"So, Fade, it's your turn now. What can you do?"

Banshee asked, although it was obvious even to a shocked little girl that Banshee herself hadn't indicated all that her abilities were. Fade almost gratefully looked up at the scary, all black eyes as the other girl scrutinized her.

"Tell me the rest of yours and I'll tell you mine"

Fade answered, getting what appeared to be a half-smile from the other girl.

"Alright, I can morph my arms and fly. I can hear things a lot better than other people can, and I can find my way in complete darkness. Now it's your turn"

"You can hear things too? You can hear machines working and pins dropping and sounds you couldn't before?"

"Yes. So you can as well? Is that all you can do?"

"No, I can do this"

Fade said, before vanishing in her chair. This caused Port to gasp whilst Shifter and Cyan both smirked, even Toxin looked up at this display.

"Hey, where'd she go?"

Port was the first to say, obvious surprise showing in his voice. Fade allowed herself a small invisible smile before fading back into view of the others.

"I didn't go anywhere, I was still in the chair. You just couldn't see me, I can disappear"

"I wish I could do that"

Port muttered, although before she could ask why both Spectre and Wraith appeared from the doorway, making their way to the podium. A hush fell on everyone else as they all stopped what they were doing and watched the two who'd brought them here step up and turn to talk to them.

"Welcome to your new home"

Wraiths voice carried across the room even without a microphone to amplify it, and Spectre had a look on her face that Fade really didn't like as she added.

"Yes, welcome, trainees"