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Mirage · 01-28-2025, 05:12 PM

[First Post] In her dreams, Dani couldn’t see the ground. Step by step she moved, one foot in front of the other and always forward. Always ahead, though to where she couldn’t quite decipher. In every direction there was nothing, a grey mist that lingered damply in front of her face, clinging to her skin, making it clammy. And to look down meant nothing, the tops of her shins melting into fog so heavy that it sank, obscuring her feet. Mind and body were still connected, of course - vital as anything, a thread that wove its way from the top of the woman’s body to the bottom. Wiggling her toes, she could feel them moving around in her shoes. The soft pliability of leather. Good. She hadn’t entirely lost her mind just yet. There was an end destination to this place, she was sure of it. Still, the further Mirage went, the less certain she became that she was anywhere near to it. At the edges of her consciousness lingered feelings that she refused to allow purchase. Tingles of fear, the clenching heart-grasp of uncertainty. A fighting rage. The keen edge of pain. Those edges were black as night, threatening to close in if she stopped, but she would not let them. Couldn’t - there were too many things still left to do, too many mutants still needing the aid only her gifted powers could provide. Too many assholes like Bob Bell who still needed to be shown the errors of their ways, and not at all gently. In the mid-distance, something roared. Not quite enough to stop Dani in her tracks, but enough to curl fingers into her palms, ready for an altercation. Familiar, though, a roar that she had heard many times before after closing her eyes. Was her phantasmal fiend here to torment her again? This náhkohe, many times larger than any she had ever seen in life, full of strange energy and growled threats that it would take her, should it ever catch her in this in-between world. The barest twitch curled the corner of Mirage’s lips at that thought. She was far too practiced at running - her genes were that of hunters, and her heart and legs were strong enough to carry her far, even in dreams. “Hena'háanehe.” When she spoke, it was low, strong, feminine tones deep as though ready to be rooted into the earth. Just a silhouette for now, the shadow of the bear paused its roaring, eyes gleaming like lamps in the gloom. It had heard her, but the chase would never be over, she knew. Slowly, as though someone was dragging her out of the soupy mire by her arms, Mirage found her mind being pulled from this place. Dragged, kicking and screaming, back to the present that her psyche so desperately tried to protect her from. There was only so long one could hide in the other world, after all. Hadn’t her grandfather always taught her to face trouble head on, and with a strong heart? A cracked groan escaped Dani’s parched lips, settling in the empty room. Her head pounded and her back ached - her everything, it felt like. Some kind of metal slab that doubled for a bed was all she had been left to lie on, covered over with a sheet and surrounded by glaring lights. What the scientists had done to her… she couldn’t remember just yet. “Feet. Get to your feet. Ma'heo’o, help me.” Muttering aloud in a voice that barely existed, Mirage reached for the sheet and wrenched it aside with a hiss of pain, pushing to sit up despite the aches and bandages, dried blood spattered here and there. Her long, dark hair was a mess, standard issue clothes having replaced those she was captured in. After a moment to settle her stomach, brown eyes flicked down to her toes. She could see them this time, and they would get her out of here, as they always did. Steeling her expression into hardened neutrality, testing herself a few times before taking her own weight, Dani began to pace unevenly to the door of the room. “A maze built for rats, by exterminators.” Reaching the handle, she started the work of testing the mechanism, surpassing the first barrier. She had to, for her sake and as many others as she could help. Minutes were all it took, the fire door opening with only the barest squeak into a near-empty, sterile hallway. She’d heard the commotion from two doors down, but now with the backs of what she recognised as camp guards disappearing out of view, the Cheyenne took her chance. Swift, silent footsteps darted her towards the source of the noise, wasting no time on wrenching this door handle open too - only to find an equally beaten-up man inside, and a girl preparing gauze and alcohol. A glance over her shoulder and Dani shut the door behind them, then fixed the other two with an intent stare. “I heard commotion just as I came to. Are you both alright?” A bleary blink, and a slow, clouded frown of recognition. “Roberto...?”

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