Keaton nodded and clambered to her feet, nibbling her lip shyly. "I'm Keaton," she offered quietly, before spinning around and dashing off again. Weaving between the cages she let out a small joyful cry at the sight of Puma, who was sniffing the air for something. Smiling in her own childish way the girl flung her arms around his roughly furred neck, giving Puma an enthusiasic kiss on his oddly deformed cheek.

As only a child Keaton had not yet distinguished between beautiful and ugly, and she treated everything as if it was a shining light. Puma purred and accepted her thanks, whiskers twitching with amusement. His golden eyes caught hers and he gave a raspy purr, resting one paw on her head.

"Youuuu diddd gooood childdd," he hissed approvingly, a fanged grin appearing on his maw for a moment. "Not forgettt youuu." Dipping his head in Akeli's direction, Puma disentangled himself from Keaton's hold and with easy grace clambered up the vent and out into the world, his sable-furred tail flicking out of sight.

Turning around Keaton beamed at Akeli, proud of her work in a way only a child could be. "What do we do now?" she asked, trotting up to Xavier and giving him a wide-eyed look. "And who're you?"

--

Akeli smirked widely, clapping Xavier on the back as she approached him quietly. Rolling her shoulders in anticipation she eyed the missiles, running a finger over a particularly long one. Most of them were the same, about a foot in length and slim tubes. However, as she prised open a second container Akeli saw large round objects with an oddly shaped head.

Grenades.

"I am going to have so much fun with this," she said, grinning wolfishly at Xav. "Bombs, missiles, freaking grenades. It's like, a terrorist's dream. And mine too, come to think of it." With a bit of mental calculation that got Akeli wincing she figured out where this room was positioned from an aerial position.

"Well, we just hit it with all we got, I suppose. Are there any air vents leading down here? It'd be easier if the fire and...gelatin-stuff...actually hit these explosives." Grimacing Akeli looked back into the cage room, noticing that there were only two people there. And now that Katon was bothering Xavier, one. A similarly dark-haired girl stood there, maybe thirteen years old.

Are those two sisters? Akeli wondered incredulously. It seemed rare to have related mutants in the same facility. 

Xavier glanced down at the girl that had been helping Akeli earlier. He blinked for a moment, thinking the girl was Riley at first. After a moment of looking up and spotting Riley herself, he arched his brows and peered back down at Keaton. "I'm Xavier, Akeli's best and only friend," he said and leaned in closer to Keaton to whisper something in her ear where Akeli wouldn't hear. "And don't tell anyone, but she's secretly in love with me," he chuckled out. As he pulled himself back into a standing position, he winked at her.

Akeli's attention was still full on the missiles and explosives. Xavier shook his head and smiled, but his ex
pression hardened when she turned to him for advice. He bit his lip and looked at Riley instead of answering Akeli. "Riley, are there any other mutants here? Not in this room, but being tested on?" he asked and Riley shrugged.

"Honestly, there probably are, but only one of the cages from here was empty," she remarked. Xavier nodded and turned back to Akeli.

"One more mutant. Also, I'm sure we could stuff the missiles in the vents above us. The flames will automatically go through the rest of them and blow up the building. We just need to place some of the missiles in the hole right there where we can blast them and set them off inside," he said, nodding to himself as he did. "So, should we see if we can find one last mutant around here or blow it before they find out?" he asked as he chewed on his lower lip.

"If you say so," Keaton replied shyly, letting go of Xavier's shirt as he stood. Glancing around nervously she noticed a strange absence of sound in the place that had been her only home. All the other mutants were gone, and the only ones left were her and three others. Blinking in confusion Keaton trotted out of the explosives room and into the main lab area, here the cages stood empty and silent. Nibbling her lip Keaton headed for the door, dragging over a cage and standing on it. Though young she was tall and lanky and with the extra boost Keaton's head reached the small window set into the door. Expressive violet eyes peered out cautiously.

There was the sound of footsteps and Keaton stumbled back in surprise as a hulking Eraser hurried towards the room, a snarl on his furred face. Panic flashed across her delicate features and Keaton tripped off of the cage, sending it crashing on it's side. Flushing with panic she lay on the ground, nursing bruised knees as she waited for the Eraser to bash it's way into the room and capture her again. Curling up Keaton found herself fading into a ghost, form going pale and see-through.

--

At the loud bang Akeli looked up and fear entered her eyes. "Crap," she hissed and looked out of the explosives room. She couldn't see any sign of the little kid, but there were loud footsteps and voices outside of the door. With a bit of concentration Akeli melted the metal doors together, affording them some time. For extra measure she destroyed the keyholes with some heat as well.

Shaking her head she turned to Xavier and sighed heavily. "Looks like the place blows now," she muttered. Annoyance flitted across her face before she managed to subdue it. It was hardly the girl's fault for being clumsy.

"Grab whatever and we'll stuff it up the vents after us," she decided quickly, knowing that they had no time for anything but snap decisions. Taking hold of a good sized crate Akeli flared her wings and walked out of the room, looking up at the vent with distaste. It was small and her wings were smarting with the thought of having to fly out of it. With a leap and two wingbeats in quick succession Akeli found herself dashing up the vent and bursting into thin air. Looking around for any stray Erasers she yelled down into the vent, all caution gone to the winds. 

"Send the kids up!" she hollered. 

Everything happened so quickly after Keaton's little excursion with the Eraser at the door, Xavier barely had time to react. He ran over to Keaton to make sure she was okay, blinking when her from started to grow evanescant, the transparency making his head tilt slightly in confusion. He discarded her appearance and looked down at her knees to make sure they weren't too bad.

While Xavier was busy with Keaton, Riley set herself to work. As soon as Keaton had fallen, she had sprinted into the room with the bombs. She stuff grenades down her pants and held two heavy missiles in her arms. When Akeli yelled for them to come up, the Erasers had begun to bang on the doors.

With black wings thrust out with pure adrenaline and fear, Riley took off shakily and made her way up the air vent. It was a tight squeeze; she barely managed to fly in the enclosed space, but once it leveled out, she was fine. She shot past Akeli, dropping small bombs and grenades in the air vents as she went.

She could barely hear Xavier way back in the other room, calling to Akeli for her to find Riley. The dark-haired girl shook her head and continued to go throughout the building. Once, she heard a few shots exploding beneath her, the metal of the air vent bursting open. She had howled in fear, eyes wide when she thought the bullets would hit one of the dropped bombs.

After a few shaky flutters of her wings, she doubled back through the vents and made her way to Akeli. Breathless, she leaned against the side of the vent. "Placed...bombs...everywhere," she managed as she sucked in breaths. "Hurry," she managed before she pulled herself out of the vent and flew out the hole Xavier had made prior to their escape.

---

"Can you fly?" Xavier asked Keaton as he crouched next to her. His blue eyes flickered as he saw a small fuse box hiding in the corner of the back room with the explosives. "Get to Akeli," he murmured before picking himself up and hurriedly approaching the other room.

The roars on the other side of the doors was deafening and Xavier suppressed a shiver. He grabbed the fuse box and was dismayed to see that it was just the fuse wire. A quick-thinking idea sparked in his mind and he grabbed the coil of rope. Before checking to see if Keaton was up and out, he flew up to the vent.

He nodded to Akeli, watching Riley fly manically up the hole they had come from. He uncoiled the wire and took one small end piece. He held up his right hand and let the goo grow in the palm of his hand. Once there, he stuck the coil into the red-hot jelly-like substance. He then stuck that next to one of the bombs Riley had left.

Finally, he stuck the jelly to the side of the wall. "It'll blow," he said grimly. "Let's get out of here," he said.

Wings fluttered on Keaton's back as she stood, shviering in her tiny cloth dress. Rubbing her face nervously Keaton flapped her banded wings, causing loose sheafs of paper to blow around the room. Looking around she saw she was alone and felt alarm tighten in her chest. Bounding towards the air vent Keaton could feel herself turn slowly back into a solid form, feathers fluttering on her back. About to jump for it the girl looked up and saw the tight fit that the vent was. With a pang of dismay she jumped into the air, ready to start bashing her wings on the walls, and felt herself shoot forwards.

Only, she wasn't flapping her wings. But she was at the same time. Everything seemed large, and sharper. With a short cry that sounded strangely loud and piercing Keaton zipped up the air vent, her wings barely touching the sides. Confusion reigned in the child's mind as she wheeled above Akeli, Xavier and Riley. They seemed so large from her perspective now, and clear. Looking carefully Keaton could see the individual hairs on Akeli's head. It was unsettling.

Dipping lower Keaton prepared to land, but as she neared the ground she felt a sharp pain in her feet and rose again, making unsettled noises. Something clearly wasn't right.

--

Akeli was just about to go down again for the kid when something dark and small rushed past her in a blur of feathers. Frowning Akeli picked up her box of exposives and stuffed it down the vent, brushing her hands off on her jeans.

"I think that was Keaton," she said slowly as she padded up to Xavier, eyes troubled. "Or another mutant. But Keaton isn't down there anymore and..." Looking up Akeli's cyan eyes widened as she saw a small eagle fluttering above them, making distressed caws.

"Oh damn," she muttered under her breath, walking over to stand underneath the bird. "Keaton, is that you?" she called loudly. "You're in an eagle form right now. Calm down and concentrate. It shouldn't be hard to turn back into a human."

How did you coach someone onto turning into a human again?

--

Keaton heard Akeli's voice pierce through her thoughts and cawed in confusion. She was an eagle. That was...unsettling. Her wings twitched and she banked to the left, wheeling around Akeli's head. Concentrate. That was the key. Taking in a deep shudderng breath Keaton thought about her human self. Her long coal-black hair. Her strange diaphanous, amethyst eyes and her pale, ghost-like skin. With a convulsing pop Keaton found herself falling towards the ground, rolling instinctively when she hit the stone.

"T-thanks," she murmured, getting up slowly. Her knees stung from earlier and all of this action wasn't helping her heartrate. 

Xavier's head was spinning, his sensitive ears attuned to too many things at once; Akeli talking, Riley rushing through the vents, the Erasers pounding down the doors, and Keaton letting loose shrill cries as an eagle. HIs head was beginning to spin and he rubbed his temples in an attempt to rid himself of the ache that was in his head.

Keaton turned back into a human more quickly than Xavier expected and when he believed everyone was clear, he touched Akeli's arm for a moment, fingertips lingering on her pale skin. He opened his mouth to say something, the words yet again on the tip of his tongue, but the Erasers chose to break in at that moment. (Damn Erasers....We are so having a scene later where Akeli asks him what he was about to say. Then first kiss, YAYYYY)

Xavier cursed as he gripped Akeli's arm tighter and pushed himself into the air. The Erasers could still climb through the hole they had made, but they still had little time. "Keaton, Riley, get into the air," he ordered. Riley acknowledged him with a huge sweep of her glorious black wings. She pushed herself into the air and hovered there for a moment to await the others.

"Aki, let's go," he said reluctantly, wanting to say other words, but now was not the time. He held up the fuse coil. "Light it?" he said with a grin.

Akeli looked at Xavier hesitantly, a question hovering on her lips as the Erasers burst out into the room below, their snarls echoing onto the roof. There would be time for that later, but something in his face made Akeli flush and nibble her lip. There was something honestly unfathomable Xavier at these moments, something that Akeli simply couldn't make out. 

Akeli flared her wings, their feathers rustling against each other loudly as she prepared them for a quick take-off. Right now, speed was of the essence. Responding with a toothy smile Akeli flicked her wrist and pinched a small bead of fire in the air, it's core glowing white hot. Akeli was putting all of her negative emotions into this one, that was for sure.

"I want to blow this place sky-high," she muttered, scowling at the men below. They milled about, shouting loudly. Soon they would figure out that the escapees were on the roof. Letting go of the spark Akeli mentally controlled it, letting the seed hover at the tip of the fuse.

"Good luck getting out of this one," she called down sweetly, before spreading her wings, the tips of her feathers brushing against Xavier's arm for one brief moment before Akeli jumped into the air, circling around Riley.

Letting her control go Akeli watched as the fire touched the fuse and it began sparking, the fire racing down its length straight for a box of explosives.

--

Keaton huddled down on the roof, clutching at her head and shivering. This hadn't happened before, but right now that wasn't what was on her mind. It was how Akeli was so willing to kill their captors. Keaton had never seen a mutant so...so defiant. Rebelling had never entered her thoughts before, but now all Keaton wanted to do was fight the School with all her strength. No matter her age or size.

Snapping her head up at Xavier's hurried voice she frowned and rubbed her arms before she flapped her wings, gaining altitude slowly as her weak muscles burned with all the activity Keaton was getting into. She had flown before, obviously, but she wasn't particularly good or strong at it.

Looking down Keaton watched as the School spiralled away into the distance, though the noises and yells from below barely diminished. Hovering next to Riley the child waited for what she expected was coming next. More noise, more fire and a very, very large explosion. 

He could see the bemused ex
pression on her face, the way she bit her lip, face flustered as she had an inkling as to what he was about to say. He wanted so badly to tell her to 'wait', but she was already lighting the fuse to blow the School sky high. When she lit the flame, Xavier held the coil, watching the bright flame eat its way through the hole.

He held himself steady in the air before dropping the crispened remains of his end of the coil. "Five," he murmured. The erasers were scrambling below them, one actually climbing onto the roof to shout up at them. He pulled out something and Xavier honed in his vision on it; a gun.

"Aki, Keaton, Riley; move!" he cried as he surged upward, grabbing Akeli by her arm as he did so. Bullets whizzed past his head, but all he cared about was getting Akeli out of there. Riley fluttered her wings above him, recognition settling in after a moment. She darted off to the left, large sweeping strokes of her wings helping her sail through the air.

Good flier, Xavier thought glumly as he glanced down. "Two," he said to himself, though he was sure Akeli would hear. He hoped they would be out of the blasting zone, but of course, they'd have to be a good mile away to get away from all of the flying debris. "Brace yourselves!" he shouted again.

"One," he ended just as a deafening boom hit his ears. He turned his head back to see the School engulfed in flames, the jets of fire making the windows burst open and concrete fly from the roof. No, it was the roof. The pieces approached them quickly, though most of the heavier chunks fell before they could reach, ultimately succumbed to gravity.

Akeli, startled, wrenched herself out of Xavier's grasp and automatically began climbing. Seeing a confused Keaton panicking beside her Akeli just grabbed the small girl's waist and flew higher and higher. After what seemed like eternity Akeli stopped, hovering in the air with broad strokes of her wings. Seeing that Keaton had calmed down she let her go, watching the raven-haired child flap her wings awkwardly before finding a steady pace. 

Looking at Xavier Akeli couldn't help a broad grin that stretched across her face. Despite the numerous scrapes, cuts and bruises that had come from the smaller rocks and detritus Akeli felt a fierce joy bubble up in her chest. The scene was more or less perfect. Red tongues of flame shot out of the smoggy hole that had once been the School. Smoke billowed out and tinged the air a deep gray, the smell of brimstone and fireworks spreading through the air. 

"Burn baby burn," Akeli muttered, smirking as a flaming Eraser stumbled out of the ruined building, letting out screeching howls.

"Let's put the mutt out of it's misery," she grumbled, letting caution to the winds as she hurled a fireball at the Eraser. With the amount of force Akeli had put into it the Eraser disappeared in a cloud of fire, leaving only ashes behind. 

"Where to now," she asked, turning to look at Riley and Keaton. She noticed how the younger seemed to hang around Riley, face pale and nervous, despite those large purple eyes that seemed to look straight through everything.

Unnerving, Akeli thought, wondering if the kids would have to tag along. To be honest the thought didn't appeal to her. 

Riley's muscles slackened when the group of birdkids slowed their pace. She could barely feel the heat against her back from the flames that consumed the School below them. The tongues of the fire licked at the forest, threatening to become more than just a minor explosion. Riley fluttered her wings anxiously and her gaze slidled to Keaton as the girl drew closer.

Something overcame Riley then; a feeling of...protectiveness? The girl looked at Keaton's wide eyes, nervousness splayed clearly as the ex
pression on her face. She found herself feeling more of a loner, one who was not important, when Xavier and Akeli were around. The two were already bonded so closely and the look in Xavier's eyes when his gaze lingered on Akeli, Riley knew she would get in the way of that if she tagged along.

"Akeli? Xavier?" she said their names cautiously. Xavier turned his head from the burning wreckage, face solemn and ex
pression...sad. He wiped the emotions clean away when he turned to Riley, and more importantly, Akeli. He jerked his chin toward her in acknowledgement and Riley twiddled her thumbs.

"I'd like to go off on my own," she said quietly. Without waiting for their answer, she turned to Keaton, her green gaze landing on the girl. "You can come if you want."

At the word own Keaton instinctively brushed up against Riley, fear playing across her face. She didn't know Xavier and Akeli, though both seemed rather nice. But Riley...despite the fact they had never spoken to each other before this day they knew each other. Eyes meeting across the room as they were left alone for yet another night in the School, a quick glance as Keaton was being hauled off again to see what else she could drift through while as a ghost.

Shyly, timidly, Keaton wrapped her short fingers around Riley's hand, wondering how the stern girl would react. Riley was so calm in these situations, reacting in just the right ways and not getting all worked up like Keaton was. Her wings beat raggedly as she looked at Xavier, hiding her eyes behind a sheaf of dark hair. 

--

Akeli mumbled something under her breath and then looked at Xavier, wondering how he was going to react. Riley seemed like a dependable sort, a leader. If Keaton tagged along Akeli felt certain that they wouldn't die within the first few days. Or be captured again. The only issue was that Keaton was a kid. Just a child who didn't really understand what was going on. Or, at least, didn't show she understood.

Chewing her lip consciously Akeli waited for Xav's judgement, assuming he would know best. In Aki's defense she didn't know the first thing about kids. She hadn't spoken to one before today, and now it seemed as if they were depending on her and Xav like they were...parents or something just as ghastly. 

Riley's eyes widened slightly when Keaton's ghostly frame gripped her hand, the child's strength weak as she grasped her wrist. Her initial reaction was to pull away, as she always had, always hated contact, but she felt she needed to be Keaton's strength. That was, she would be until the girl could care for her own. Riley brushed her wings against Keaton's for a moment in assurance.

She looked at Xavier challengingly, taking from Akeli's response that it was up to the elder boy. The blue-eyed boy cocked his head and matched Riley's gaze, his brilliant blue wings cutting through the sky easily, without the least amount of strain in his rippling muscles. Unlike Riley, whose wings beat with haggard tiredness, but also with newfound strength of freedom.

"Riley, with us, we'll try to look out for you," he said quietly and Riley shook her head.

"We both know how risky that is and you, both of you," she said, looking at Akeli in turn. "have your own ways to go. Keaton and I....we'll make it," she said surely as she grasped Keaton's wrist in her own in an awkward hold before sliding the smaller girl's hand into her own. Xavier watched silently, looking both of them over before deciding.

"Maybe we'll meet again someday," he said with a smile and Riley nodded.

"Thanks for letting us go," Riley murmured.

"What else could we do?" Akeli interjected softly, shrugging. In the heat of the moment Akeli hadn't even considered leaving the mutants in their cages. She knew exactly what they had gone through and she wasn't about to keep them in that sort of life any longer. Drawing in a deep breath she flit closer to Xavier, arm brushing against him for reassurance. After this they'd be alone again, only this time with a thought weighing heavily on their minds.

What if the erasers went after the easier targets? Well...perhap not easier, but certainly less experienced. Riley may be a true leader but she'd never been in the real world before. It sent chills down Akeli's back, thinking about little Keaton.

Stop worrying, she thought. You'll only send yourself into a panic. They are not your or Xav's problem. They can deal with their own decisions.

Straightening she nodded at Riley, offering Keaton a tight smile. "Good luck and all that. If you head east, I think it is, you'll hit a small city. It might offer some shelter."

--

Keaton trembled at Riley's decision but didn't move. She supposed she trusted Xavier and Akeli, but childish instinct had her latching onto Riley as a mother figure. Turning her pale amethyst eyes on Riley she smiled tentatively, feathers fluttering as she tried to stay hovering. Keaton wasn't used to the new strain put on her muscles and she almost dropped, letting out a startled cry.

"Riley, c-can we fly now? I'm gonna fall," she murmured miserably, feeling next to useless as she felt Riley's strong wingbeats brush cool wind over her skin. 

Riley looked at the two elder bird-kids in front of her. She could feel their close bond and see it when Akeli brushed up against Xavier for comfort. She tightened her hold on Keaton's hand, wanting to send the same sort of strength to her that Xav and Akeli gave to each other. She closed her eyes for a moment, making the final decision to leave before looking down at Keaton.

"We can go now," she said as she gave Keaton a reassuring smile. "And you won't fall. I promise," Riley said as she turned on her wings. She stopped the membrane from shaking, utter exhaustion threatening to take hold over her body. She wanted to stay strong for Keaton so she kept up her strong wingbeats, and she would keep them up for as long as she could.

Riley tugged gently on Keaton's hand and led the girl away from the two, gaze casted in front of her, away from the setting sun. They would head east like Akeli said and they would rest. She looked back down at Keaton and grinned. "We're free." Was all she said.

---

Xavier was still watching Riley and Keaton when Akeli approached, her arm gently brushing against his. He glanced at her for a moment before he watched Riley and Keaton leave. He took one hand and rubbed at one eye, pretending to cry. "They grow up so fast," he sniffled before giving Akeli a sly grin.

"So you got your fireworks, Kitten," Xavier said as he turned slightly to look at the charred rubble in the distance, smoke still billowing out from the area and curling into the sky. His nose crinkled at the acrid smell that had been carried faintly on the light breeze.

"You're such a wuss, Xavy m'dear," Akeli said with a light chuckle. Stretching out her arms she didn't even bother scolding him on using her nickname, too elated by their triumph to care. Arching her wings in a similar manner Akeli looked back at the fading figures before grinning, feeling a bit lighter now that everything was done with.

"We'd best hurry or we'll be attacked by a host of erasers," she said cheerfully, her sentence accentuated by a distant howl. "And they seem hungry." 

Rolling her shoulders and hearing the subtle crackle of her muscles loosening Akeli turned around, utterly lost.

"Human compass, where to?" she called out, flying a few wing-lengths away.

Xavier glanced back at the receeding forms before shaking his black hair out of his eyes. It had grown and the black hair curled just under his ears; it irritated him. He brushed it out of his eyes again with a flick of his neck and grimaced when the locks flopped back onto his forehead. He decided he'd have Akeli chop it off later when they were free of the erasers.

"Is that necessarily a bad thing?" Xavier asked as he heard the howl, too. He cracked his knuckles and gave Akeli a wink. The exhaustion he had felt earlier was slowly taking hold of his limbs again. He shook his head and bit back a yawn.

"Well, if they're heading east, I say we go west," he said as he turned to point toward the setting sun. He smacked her wings playfully before soaring upward into the sky.

Following Xavier's lead Akeli let her conscience drift, leaving only a small part of concentration for the task at hand. Swooping forwards she let the air currents take her, boosting whatever height she had and sendin her soaring above Xavier. Tilting her wings slightly she drifted over him, covering his body with her shadow.

"Sun's gonna set soon!" she yelled below her, pausing to spit out a strand of errant hair. Letting her wings balance her Akeli tied it up quickly with a loose thread she tugged off her sweater, not that it did much. Still bothered by some bangs too short to pull back Akeli groaned and dropped to fly beside Xavier, frowning at him unhappily.

"I'm getting a haircut at the next stop," she mumbled. "And, by the looks of it, you need one too." Tugging on his black locks playfully she grinned, all worries gone. With a quick glance upwards she assessed their position and realized they'd never reach a settlement before it became dark.

"I think we may have to camp in a tree tonight."