ic National Anthem (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

Claremont Academy 

Fall 2021 

 

The members of Red Squad had been told their special weekend project was quite a doozy, and they were right - though perhaps not in the usual superpowered way. Escorting selected structural supports and architectural plans from the Centurion's Sanctum to the National Building Museum in Washington was a high honor, even if by all accounts it was just going to involve a trip in a private jet and a short car trip to the NBM. Waiting for them as they reported for their bus ride to the airport was their escort for the day; a woman none of them had met before, not to speak of, but who all of them had heard of. 

 

The Patriot, second to bear that title, was a solidly-built Asian woman who looked to be maybe thirty (though really, who could tell the ages of adults well) her face partially obscured by a dark red and blue armored helmet complete with chin guard, eyes hidden by white reflective lenses over the eyepiece. Her armored costume consisted of a blue Kevlar tactical shirt, white stain-repellent trousers, and maroon gauntlets.  It's a look obviously inspired by the previous Patriot, with a few upgrades. She was waering a brown leather bomber jacket over the top of the costume with an American flag sewn on the back and white star over the heart. Her tactical boots didn't add enough to her height to make her 5'10" but she's close. 

 

Inside her helmet, Ashley was already dreading this, even as she was reminding herself to stow it. You volunteered for this job. That means keeping an eye on the kids, especially the ones Callie is keeping a special eye on. You spend  a day with them, talk about working for the government and not hiding in the shadows, it's great. Her red white and blue bike was parked nearby the bus, whose driver was inside grabbing breakfast before they all hit the road. It was early morning for teenagers; Ashley had been up for hours. She stood with her arms folded over her chest and greeted the first student with "Morning. Just wait right there till everyone's here, I don't want to talk over the engine." 

[angrydurf]

Utsawa still kept to a schedule not unlike that under his prior training and had already spent the morning in meditation and practice before dressing for this special project.  He observed their chaperone's well practiced body language and nodded slowly, "The engine which easily could be shut off, suggesting instead you simply wish not to speak."  He pointed out frankly.  He crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the bus with practiced indifference the long sleeves of his fitted black turtleneck creeping up to reveal just the cuffs of his tattoos and the slight markings of ink that wandered to the back of his hands.  

 

"I can understand it."  he added with a small shrug of his shoulders, "Chaperoning a field trip isn't probably what you had in mind when you signed up to be jingoism barbie."

[Avenger Assembled]

Ashley thought, eyes rolling behind her eyepiece, Spare me from #($ty teenage misogynist Raven-wannabes. She didn't remember him being that much of a dick the year previously, but he'd been interacting with her and Judy under very different circumstances than this one. 

 

She actually responded by yawning slightly and leaning back against the bus, looking down at the clipboard she carried just in case of electronics failure. "You must be Utsawa. Or do you prefer your super-name?" She checked his name off the list with a stroke of her pen, then looked past him to wait for the others. The driver was probably still getting coffee from the teacher's lounge, which meant they still had plenty of time. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine

Rosalind was in a bind, she didn’t think she was really suited for this team let alone this field trip. But she wasn’t going to be late to anything, her Granny would have given her such a stare and maybe a talking to for being anything but before time. After a slightly sleepless night trying to figure it out she’d settled on a bulky sweatshirt to try and blend into the background as much as possible.

 

“Erm are we expecting trouble with all this? Because I’m happy to sit this out for a real heavy hitter?” she said quietly, not really wanting to draw to much attention either way.

 

Maybe if she just stayed in the car, metaphorically no one would miss her?

[alderwitch]

Tori was in good spirits, standing next to Utsawa and looking about as much a contrast as it was possible to be. It wasn't possible to cover up her woad markings - they extended up to her face and down her hands and legs, but Tori wouldn't have thought to try. Instead, the bright teal and pink tanktop hung loose over a tighter sportsbra, revealing fit arms that were pale and freckled under the swirling woad tattoos that covered her skin. Sunglasses rested on top of her head where her curls had been pulled back into a haphazard bun. Between the jean shorts and paint spattered boots, it was quite the look. It wasn't in the least professional but she rolled her eyes at Utsawa and absently kicked his foot with a sort of fond carelessness that spoke of not finding him remotely frightening.

 

"Don't be a sexist jerk, Utsawa," Tori scolded with amusement. "Totally ruins the insult when you make it gendered, y'know."

 

Her accent was crisp; definitely English and probably upper class. Tori tipped her head back to watch where Rosalind was hoping to crawl back into a hole. "Trouble is pretty much always a risk, even crossing the road. Just depends on your luck. No one's sitting this out. Team activity means the TEAM. I'm not looking to get extra assignments. These sort of group building activities are always about learning to work together, even if there's nothing big going on. Hi, I'm Tori. Kid Celtic if you want to be formal. That's Utsawa. Kensei - he prefers that when working, yeah. He's not big on casual contact." Tori offered and then nodded to Rosalind, "And that's Starshine."

[RocketLord]

James was running late. Of course he was running late. He turned around the corner just as Tori started introducing the others and came running up to the bus.

 

"I-I'm here... sorry." 

 

James bent over, leaning on his legs with both hands planted just above his knees, while he panted heavily. His long black hair was tied into a pony tail, he was wearing a pair of jeans and running shoes, with a light grey t-shirt with a stars and stripes print on the chest. He was holding a dark blue hoodie in his right hand.

 

Finally catching his breath, he stood up straight. "I'm James..." He trailed off as he looked at Patriot, mouth slightly agape, before he closed it again. "I thought the second Patriot was a guy?" he asked out loud, before realizing what he had asked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything, I, it's just, the historical records said so... I guess they might be wrong?"

[KnightDisciple]

A hand gently patted James on the shoulder. Looking over, it was Sharaf, one of the other new students at Claremont. He flashed James a grin and a wink. Sharaf's pompadour was practically gleaming today; his face looked as if he'd decided last-minute to shave instead of keeping whatever he'd managed to grow out in the last week. He'd opted for dark blue jeans, white sneakers that all but gleamed, and a dark red button-up over a white t-shirt that was quite visible thanks to the buttons he'd "forgotten" to fasten. 

 

"No worries James. The first one was, and there were rumors that the second one was. She was kind of a last-minute change, I think?"

 

He glanced toward Patriot and gave her a smile that he thought was "confident", but that to Ashley read as "incredibly nervous". He turned to the others as he took a couple of steps past James and waved at the rest of the group. 

 

"Anyways, putting aside the weird flex going in there, my man, wouldn't Barbie actually be, like, stupid-good as a Secret Agent? Lady has like five million jobs. Ken's the boy toy, right? Just sits around being lazy and looking good?"

 

He suddenly clapped his hands in front of himself; a slight pulse of warmth seemed to burst for a split-second, but it could have been an odd turn of breeze for all that those near him could tell. 

 

"Right! Awkward attempts to assert group dominance aside, this seems like a fun trip. Cool not-quite-artifacts, then a museum about buildings. Buildings are cool! Right. Oh, uh."

 

He blinked and blushed slightly.

 

"Sorry. Yes. I'm Sharaf. Sharaf el-Jalil. I'm, uh..."

 

He stopped, and glanced at Patriot, in a gesture that seemed like he was about to ask permission...before he barreled ahead, smile back in full force. He held a hand up in a stage-whisper gesture.

 

"But if we end up in our 'uniforms', you can call me Patrioteen."

[Avenger Assembled]

Oh God, thought Ashley, seeing the future of the trip at once and not liking what she saw. It's a room full of teenage Captain Thunders, each one competing to thunder the loudest. One in the sweater seems all right but jeez, a little mousey. She took just a moment to steel herself, then said, "Historical record's probably thinking of the metahuman terrorist." Goddamn piece of crap history. "This is supposed to be routine, but hey, you're in the game, sometimes it goes wrong. Luckily you've got your team at your back. All right. Let me get your names, and let me know if you prefer your super-name or your actual name." Once she had that, she waved as they were joined outside by Larry the bus driver. Larry was an older guy with beefy, hairy arms and a greying mustache, a wool cap pulled low over his silver hair. He'd been at Claremont for a long time. "Hey, Larry! You got the donuts?" 

 

"Anything for my favorite all-American," said Larry, winking at the Patriot and raising a big brown paper bag stuffed full as he pressed the button to open the side door. "Come on in, kids!" 

 

Once inside, Ashley directed the students to their seats before she raised her voice in a sudden crack of sound that briefly filled the small space. "Listen up!" She paced the narrow corridor between the seats, looking at each student as she passed. "I know this seems like a bulls### assignment your teachers put on you to take time away from whatever is actually important to you." She pointed to the metal-lined chest at the rear of the bus, the carefully-strapped down one that actually held their precious cargo. "But the Centurion was one of the best people who ever lived. He was an immigrant who came to this country, made himself one of us, then made all of us better. And he literally died for each and every one of us, and we owe it to him to make sure that future generations know who he was and how he lived. We're going to make sure these pieces of his home make it safely to that museum." 

 

All right, laying it on a little thick, she thought to herself. But hell, these kids were born ten years after he died. The least they can do is get it laid on a little thick about the Centurion.

 

The bag of donuts was going around now, mostly chocolate glazed and plain but a few other flavors for the interested, all of them slightly mixed together by being in the bag. "Okay. I'm the Patriot. You can just call me Patriot. We're gonna spend the day together, so let's, uh..." Oh, Jesus, this is always death. "do some kind of icebreaker." By now the bus had started moving. "Two truths and a lie - I used to be a police officer, my husband's name is Albert, and I was born in New Orleans." 

[angrydurf]

"Kensei will suffice."  he replied coolly as the others arrived, he was not fond of his given name.

 

With a roll of his eyes Utsawa shook his head at Tori's admonishment.  "Sure that was the important part."  he huffed as he shifted his weight and bounced his shoulders off the side of the bus to rock up on the balls of his feet, "If they didn't think you had what it take you wouldn't be here."  he pointed out encouragingly to Rosalind, "And they know more then you think about what you can do."  

 

The last two arrivals earned a slow blink and pointed look between Patriot and her mini-me's.  "I don't know what you did to piss Her off but I think they might be more cross with you than me."  He turned and mounted the stairs to the bus, "and I don't know in what star spangled world that outfit says secret agent."  he added over his shoulder to Sharaf.

 

He mad his way toward the back of the buss out of habit slumping a couple seats ahead of the carefully stowed chest and sat through the Patriots speech with practiced disinterest.  He laughed lightly almost feeling bad for her as she tried to open with an icebreaker from a youth group mixer.  He took a moment to look at the others and shrugged, "The husbands the lie,"  He pointed out with a nod, "You'll not even tell us Your real name no way you'd tell your husbands."

 

"Does that make it my turn?"  he asked curiously before barreling forward regardless.  "Lets see,"  he paused for a short moment of thought, "I'm Vegan, I speak five languages fluently,"  he glanced up to the right before adding with a shrug, "My mother once told me I'd be better off never born."  he added with a cocky shrug.

[RocketLord]

"I-I'm sorry. R-really didn't need mean to o-offend." James seemed to struggle for a moment, standing up entirely straight by the time Patriot was done correcting him. 

 

He put on his hoodie, zipping it and making sure to pull the hood up by the time he found a seat as far back as Patriot would let him, preferably out of reach of Kensei and Patriot. "James is f-fine." He seemed more than nervous with the entire situation, but picked out a donut with white frosting, staring at it while Kensei picked the lie and then said his part.

 

"Did your mom really say that?" He sounded like the couldn't believe it, but he didn't pick it out as the lie, either. The way Kensei said it, it didn't sound like a lie in any way. Of course, now he had to say something.

 

"I, uh, I don't think you're a vegan? You... you don't really seem like you don't eat meat, I guess?" James did not sound sure about his response at all.

 

"I'm, uh, I'm from the future, I don't like chocolate and I like birds?"

[alderwitch]

"He's a vegetarian," Tori supplied cheerfully from where she'd dropped to sit on one of the middle seats, arms and legs akimbo. "Not a vegan. He doesn't like ramen without an egg in it. He doesn't eat meat, though."

 

She gave James a sunny smile of encouragement at his nerves. "I bet you're from the future. That seems Claremont-level-of-weird. And who wouldn't like birds? Sure, they tend to chatter an awful lot about all the things but that's just part of their charm so, I'd guess you really do like chocolate? I mean, that makes sense to me. It's pretty tasty although the stuff you sell here can barely be called chocolate. It's all carnuba-wax in the candy here. SO sweet, too. I mean, sweet isn't bad but sometimes its just too much, you know?"

 

Although it was punctuated with a question, Tori didn't really pause for breath to give much time for a response before barreling along. Her gaze swung back to whatever they were dragging to the museum and she made a small face. "I dunno about you folks, but I'm going to make sure my will includes a request not to put all my former bits and bobs under glass for my grandkids to have to awkwardly stand in front of in a few decades. That's a family tradition that I'm not eager to continue. Uh, let's see, two truths and a lie, right..."

 

This time, she actually did pause to think for a long moment. Unlike Kensei, deceit wasn't something that Tori was well trained in. "Lessee, I've been picked up by the police before. I got my nose pierced when I was fourteen. I can technically call myself a 'lady' in British society."

[KnightDisciple]

"Yeah, I'm hoping it's the chocolate thing, man, because birds are awesome."

 

Sharaf seemed fully genuine in his excitement, sounding a decade younger for a moment. He eyeballed Tori for a few moments.

 

"Gonna guess it's the bit about the cops? You seem too nice, among other things, to just get picked up by cops."

 

He shrugged his shoulders. 

 

"Anyway, um, let's see....I love baseball, I've never been outside the USA, and I'm currently working on my fried rice technique." 

Edited October 8, 2021 by KnightDisciple

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine
Rosalind listened along to the others and it didn't manage to make her any more relaxed. To her small town ear they all sounded so much exciting than her boring old life, and that was from statements that were one third false. So wrapped up she almost missed the last statement, and that it was her turn. After a few seconds silence she looked around guiltily before speaking.

 

“Well… erm… the rice thing I guess?”she figured she might have gotten away with if, so with a tiny bit of confidence she added “I was born on US 206, I’m an only child and I’d had an imaginary friend called Gerald.”

 

That should do it, she hoped.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Did you have an imaginary friend named something else?" Ashley asked Rosalind not unkindly. She remembered what Judy had been like when she was fresh off the bus at Claremont, scared to death of her own shadow, much less all these brightly-colored young demigods she'd been surrounded with. Don't go looking for a substitute little sister, she reminded herself, you already have plenty of those. 

 

"Okay. And you're right," said Ashley, nodding to Kensei. "If I had a husband, I wouldn't tell any of you about him." She hesitated a moment, then pressed on. "A lot of people are going to tell you that your identity tells you who you have to be. That if you're queer, or Asian, or a woman, or your parents are immigrants, that you have to be a certain thing or think a certain thing. But nobody decides who you are except you. Your identity is a precious thing. Don't let anyone take it from you." Absently she tapped the pins she wore on her leather jacket; the bisexual pride one, the Vietnamese-American one, the triple fleur-de-lys of New Orleans. "All right, we're getting close to the airport. Does anyone have any questions for me before we get there?" 

[angrydurf]

Kensei nodded to Tori's explanation in response to James.  "Technically she said the world and I."  he added with a shrug, "We're not close."  he continued as if that somehow excused the commentary.

 

Snickering lightly at Tori's responses he shook his head as Sharaf replied, "Piercing's the lie it's a clip on."  he teased playfully and observed the rest of the game play out before The Patriot spoke again.

 

He opened his mouth to say something snide about her PSA but instead settled back into his seat and stared out the window watching the traffic and buildings zip by.  "Why are we actually here?  You're enough cover for the cargo unless they are expecting trouble and despite our collective prowess the school isn't keen on students being in harms way."  He pointed out simply glancing at the other students with a shrug, "So this is either an evaluation or they think you're the one to push us into being a real team, which is it?"

[alderwitch]

"It is a clip on but that's just 'coz my mum made me take it out and let it heal," Tori grinned over at Kensei, scrunching her nose up. "But the aristocracy is largely in my maternal lineage. Can't be a lady if you're not the daughter of, say, an earl or somesuch. I get announced as the Honorable Miss, etcetera, etcetera."

 

She wiggled her fingers in a dramatic handwave that seemed to poke fun at such sort of ideals. Tori shifted, pulling her legs up tailor style on the seat and plucking at the fringe of her shorts before she gave Ashley more of her attention. When her head tipped to the side, Tori took in the pins before she glanced over their guide curiously though she made a slight noise of disagreement. "I dunno about that, there are some things that where you come from and your experiences absolutely color. I mean, aren't our identities in the end the sum of experience which is somewhat dictated by circumstance? I mean, yeah, judging someone because of what they are is messed up for sure. But, like, three of you are wrapped in the stars and stripes, so....?"

Edited October 19, 2021 by alderwitch

[KnightDisciple]

Sharaf gave Rosalind a friendly wink at her guess.

 

"Baseball is meh, it's basketball that I love. I didn't say I'd perfected the rice; the egg's still the tough part."

 

He frowned a bit at the comment Tori made about his "work outfit"; his brow furrowed as he visible worked over his next words.

 

"Yeah, but, like, we're choosing to take on those costumes. It's a conscious decision, not an external imposition of heroic identity. And frankly, while this country's by no means perfect, it's leagues better than what my parents managed to escape from. So yeah, maybe I'm okay wearing the outfit I do. Is that a bad thing?"

[RocketLord]

"I was, uh, kinda chosen for this, and uh, where I'm from, all the borers and such kind of... blurs together, I guess? It's more a kind of global thing?" James objected to Tori's statement about them being wrapped in stars and stripes, before visibly cringing. "... Sorry, it's just... kind of different where I'm from. Heroic legacies like that are a big thing. There's been a bunch of Patriots, Freedom Eagles and... and a lot of legacy heroes like that. It"

 

He leaned back in his seat, like he was almost trying to disappear, before perking up a bit, raising his hand.

 

"Umm, do you... do you expect us to be suited up for this?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"You're going to be operating in semi-public," said Ashley evenly, taking the last question  first as she considered the antsy James. "When you're out of the bus, you're in costume and using your codename until you're somewhere more private. And believe me, you check with your own eyes to make sure that place is private." She nodded at Sharaf, taking the boy's words for what they were but added "Symbols are powerful things. A centurion, a raven, a star-spangled flag. If you're going to pick them up, you'd better make them worth something. Otherwise you just have a nice sense of fashion." 

 

Tori got a faint smile. "Somebody had to do this job. There are a lot of people out there right now taking symbols like these and trying to tear them down. You've got people back home trying to knock down everything important to you, right?" She knew enough about Tori's politics and the British far right to take a solid shot in the dark, anyway. "Everybody has a flag they want to see flying. If you don't pick yours up, somebody else will."

 

Kensei got a firmer smile. "What, the pleasure of my company isn't enough for you? Your headmistress had to break out the look to get me to sign up for this, you know?" It was widely known around Claremont that the Patriot had been a Claremont student herself in earlier days. "She knows all of you have some relationship with a national government, and thought this would be a good place to start. But trust me, the last thing I want to be is anybody's teacher. There are too many grown adults who think it's a great idea to put teenagers in the line of fire and announce 'go be a good soldier for your mentor'." She shook her head. 

[alderwitch]

"Relax, stars-and-stripes," Tori rolled her eyes at Sharif. "I'm not taking a shot, I'm just pointing out that what you've experienced has contributed to those choices. They're not made in a vacuum. That's all. I don't pretend to understand the fondness over here to cover everything in the flag. I mean, you get tourist stuff with the union jack, sure, but its just not the same sort of fondness. My grandad was an American hero, but with my upbringing the focus has always been on the British side, you know? That's not a choice I've made but something I've been raised with. I just think it's good to be eyes wide over what's driving those choices."

 

Tori glanced over to the silent Kensei and then added simply, "Not everyone is sure they're a hundred percent on board with the legacy they ended up with, after all."

 

She turned towards Ashley and nodded once, "Quite right you are. But I'm still part of the elite which makes it all a little... I don't know. I have a lot of feelings about it - thoughts I'm still trying to work out. Guess its a good thing that it was decided I needed a bit more seasoning before I was allowed to act on UK soil." Tori's smile was bemused rather than upset. It certainly helped that she was finding Claremont helpful in finding her sense of self. 

[angrydurf]

Nodding acknowledgement of his misread of Tori's lie Utsawa shook his head at her ponderings on self determination.  "Ok the speech was canned, but being shaped by experience is not the same as being defined by them."  He countered squarely and glanced back to Sharaf and James, "Some legacies are not so worthy of imitation,"  he met Sharafs eyes with a challenging gaze, "And if you're defense is that the other guys are worse I see why you're still in the bush leagues." 

 

Ashleys own reply however resonated much more and he grudgingly settled back into his seat jerking his head her direction, "Now that, was almost inspiring."  he admitted reluctantly and may have even smiled a bit at her mention of 'the look'

 

After a moment he came back around to her commentary on costumes and codenames once they arrived and nodded to himself, "Full costume huh?  Well if we're talking about reclaiming tarnished symbols no time like the present I guess."  

 

He stood as the bus came to a stop and dropped his hands to his side the swirling tattoos under his sleeves flaring to life glowing through the dark fabric, spectral blue flames crawled up his arms in slow motion leaving the ghastly afterimage of blood red lacquered plates in their wake before joining with a small flash at his middle leaving him fully encased in the spiritual raiment of the Crimson Katana only his eyes visible above the demon faced mempo covering his face.

 

"One of you should probably step out first wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

[RocketLord]

James pulled of his hoodie, while looking apologetic at the others. "S-sorry, but I kinda... I really don't want to ruin another shirt." He froze while he moved to pull off his t-shirt too, staring at Kensei's transformation and the armor that he was wearing with wide eyes. He seemed scared, at least for a moment, before he turned away from the others and pulled off his t-shirt. If any of them looked they would see a vaguely bird-shaped silver metallic plate between his shoulder plates, stuck to his body.

 

While his back was turned, a silvery white substance started to spread from the plate and out across James' body, with the inside of his legs leading to a line up his upper body turning blue, separated from the white with red lines. The white substance grew bulky golden boots with red center on the front. Blue gloves that streched from his elbows to his hands, leaving his fingers silvery white, a white upside down A shape broke the blue at his waist. The blue that had been growing up his upper body extended up to his shoulders and continued to expand up to his head, covering it, though leaving his face visible. A somewhat bulky golden chest plate grew out on his chest, with dark red trim that separated it, and the upper right part of his chest left blue, with three white starts running up to his shoulder. Finally, as he turned back to the others, a golden face plate that no features visible grew out in front of his face, leaving him with glowing teal eyes and a mouth. No wings, not yet at least.

 

"I, uh... maybe Sharaf or Tori should go first?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine
“Actually I was thinking of star, what with the name and all…” Rosalind mumbled mostly to herself

 

She’d been working on a costume for a whilst but nothing so far had sprung to mind, so today she’d bought her Claremont Costume under her sweatshirt. Whilst some of the others were doing much more fancy transinformation sequences Rosalind was struggling to get out of her sweatshirt. Bracelet chirped what she took to be a reassuring sound.

 

“No, no, I’m fine, and this is one of my favorites sweatshirts”

 

Final struggling out of her top she pulled on a pair of old goggle and was ready to join the others in whatever was about the happen.

[KnightDisciple]

Sharaf waited for the others to "change clothes". Not out of modesty or curiosity; he was simply cautious. His own suit was safe, but he didn't want the still-assembling nanites to interact oddly with the magic of some of his fellows, or the tech in James' own suit. So he let everyone else get themselves out before he stood up and stretched his left hand forward. He gazed at the watch for several moments. Here and now, the words of the others didn't matter; simply his own will, his determination. His responsibility. His fist clenched, and silver that shifted to blue flowed over his body...

 

"Right then, here we go!"

 

Patrioteen stepped from the bus, his blue-and-white/silver outfight shining. The red gauntlet and boots gleamed, an almost candy-apple-red in the sun. For now there was no shield upon his arm, but Patriot knew that could change in an eye-blink. Instead, he simply opted to give everyone there a smile as the light pinged off of his goggles and the breeze ruffled his hair just a bit. While by no means a form-fitting suit in the way some heroes like to wear them, it was not hard to see he was in good shape. 

 

He stepped to one side, his hands unconsciously finding themselves resting at his hips, elbows to the side as he simply waited. 

[alderwitch]

Tori gave a small shrug at Kensei and his biting tone that appeared to be somewhat commiserating. Her legacy was nowhere near as fraught and she'd at least had the choice of not copying Lady Celtic's costume. Still wearing her civvies and making no move to change out of them, Tori bounced to her feet and followed Patrioteen out of the bus to take in the view. Halfway talking to herself, Tori tipped her head to the side, "What do we need? Keen senses and speed probably? Fast Reflexes? Seems like scouting would be useful."

 

Cupping her hands in front of her chest, Tori summoned a flame of the magic that ran constantly just under her skin. The blue swirls on her arms lit up with power as she murmured, "Allaidh, please. Lend me your senses and your speed."

 

The magic washed over Tori, creating a brief ghostly outline of a wolf over the teenager's body in the same glowing blue flame. A distant howl sounded, of a creature that had stopped walking the earth long ago before the magic settled fully into the tattoos that covered Tori. "Good to go!"