Rising Star (An Idiot Arrives)

Kai gasped heavily as he leaned against the steel pole of a nearby streetlight. He'd been running for 2 hours straight to get into Empire, and as he looked ahead of him and saw the vast urban expanse, he knew he'd arrived. It's been somewhere around 4 years since he'd seen these streets. It was after visiting to see a theater play with Maryle that she had told him she was leaving, never to return. If she's really anywhere in the city, she'd be here in the neon district. Kai let out a sigh as he looked above him, seeing the sky painted a fiery orange. The sun was to be engulfed by the horizon soon, and Kai was exhausted. He'd need to find a place to stay, or else he'd have to sleep out in the open like a hobo, and this man was no damn hobo. It'd still be quite some time before his uncle would set up shop in the city, so he'd have to find somewhere to stat for a few days, preferably at very low cost. "What are we gonna do Maryle," He said, quoting himself from the day she left.

A trash can nearby suddenly burst into flames. It was sitting in front of an alley and crackled, as if in surprise of its own sudden ignition. From the alley stepped a girl, with a choppy mess of red, bobbed hair and black glasses. She wore a black, mid thigh dress with a pleated skirt and long black stockings and shoes. A pea coat covered the top half of dress.
She stepped into the slightly cold street littered here and there with discarded drug needles used by the local gang. She took out a cigarette and lit it on the flames of the fire. She put it to her mouth and took a long, long drag on it before blowing the smoke. The smoke vanished into the cold morning air and her leather gloves, shiny, glistened off the firelight. She looked at him. "Hey. Cold?"

Kai's head jerked around to meet his eyes with the girls form. Young, and quite pretty, but maybe too young. Too soon to be sure. But that didn't matter. She was of the female persuasion, and Kai can't stand those. "No..." Kai said rather bluntly as he turned back around, "Just new."
 He could only hope for her to disappear and leave him be, but with him and women that never happens to be the case. "What's it to you anyway?" He say's as he bites his lower lip. Perhaps that was a little too cold, he thought to himself.

"Hey, relax. I'm just on break from heating up one of the medic stations." She sighed, blowing more smoke. She took off her glasses and rubbed them. "You say your new? It's not safe out here you know. Reaper territory isn't far. They don't take well to strangers." She flicked her cigarette ash.
"You hungry?"

"Reapers?" He asked, jerking his head back. Kai had heard of all the messed up stuff that was going on in Empire, but who they all were, and all of their varying motives eluded him.
 "I might be..." He then answered, "Depending on how much you can tell me."
 Kai's distrust for women would have to rear it's ugly head for the moment, as this could be his quickest and safest way of getting to know the city. And if she were to prove this wrong, he could very easily extort the information out of her. She did seem to know *something* about the city.

"Wow." She muttered. "You're just kind of a dick, huh? I'm the one offering food and shelter. You're just being rude and demanding. I dont have to give you anything. These are hard times and I'll gladly give some of our food and hospitality to the people who deserve it. You're just an outsider who had a nice home to go back to or at least a roof over your head. So, fuck you."
She flicked her cigarette, disgusted. "If you're not here to help collect coats, give out food, or protect the civilians here then you're just another mouth to feed. More bullets wasted. More medicine needed. These people here lost their lives, their loved ones, their children. So if you think you can just walk in here and expect I give you anything you're sorely mistaken." She took an angry drag on her cigarette, she felt her body heat rise and cooled herself down.
To use her powers to frighten or to harm this ignorant piece of shit wasn't even worth the effort. "Avoid that area." She nodded to a few blocks down. "The slums are full of gang activity, as well as the upper class district and the industrial area. Get yourself minimal supplies and get the fuck out of my city if you're not going to help anyone."
She glared at him, her glasses shining malevolently in the firelight. Her hair seemed to also turn a darker red.

Kai let's out a heavy sigh. Perhaps he was being a bit of a douche, but he has no time for messing around. It's also true that this woman didn't know the extent of his power, but then, it seemed he didn't either. He looked down the way she pointed, and walked a few steps in that direction. "How about I prove how much I can help. Then we go get something to eat," He said before turning to look back at her. He shuttered at the notice of another girl. He'd tell her to go buzz off but the other was already mad enough, and it seemed they both new each-other.

"Ah!" Teah jumped in surprise, causing her glasses to fall into the trash can fire pit. "Harukaaa!" Teah laughed. She reached her hand right into the fire, and sifted through it. She didnt even seem to care her hand and arm was on fire. She snatched her sizzling glasses and picked them up out of the bin. "Aawww! the lenses melted!" She sighed, squinting unhappily.
Her eyes burst into flames. The sockets withheld the fire carefully but it didnt seem to hurt her... at all. She patted her arm to get the fire out on her pea coats sleeve. Her hand was fine. If anything it looked healthier than before... but her eyes were still fiery. "Much better..."

Dear Lord. Now, it even seemed to be that they were both conduits. And not only did they know each other, they knew each other well. Mayhaps a little too well. This made it even more imperative that he earned their trust, lest he have several assorted gangs, as well as an army of female conduits trying to murdalate him. He made a mental note of what they could do. The rather fiery girl had an immunity to fire, perhaps even control. And the other one could do... Something. He decided he might kill three birds with one stone then. See what other conduits were capable of, earn their trust, and determine if they are in control of themselves. Otherwise, he'd have to do what he can to stamp them out. "I'm sorry I hadn't introduced myself earlier," He say's as he extends a hand out to the both of them, "My name is Kai."

Teah glances at Kai and ignores him. "Don't mind him, Haruka. He was just leaving." She grabbed Harukas hand and marched away with her in tow, her fiery eyes flashing menacingly as she looked back at him in disgust.

"Hey wait!" He shouted in an annoyed tone, now somewhat frustrated, "I just said I'd try to help! And I *politely* introduced myself, The least you could do is give me your name too!"  Kai, by this point, didn't know if it was all really worth it, consorting with angry conduit women, but he needed to get to Maryle somehow, and it'd most definitely help to know who would and wouldn't shot at him on sight.

Teah stopped... and sighed. She looked back at the guy. "Teah." She muttered, holding Haruka close. She didn't like this guy, and she didn't trust him. No one likes an asshole. But if he was going to help, she was going to give Kai the benefit of the doubt. "If you're really here to help out, then you can follow us back to the Makeshift hospital. Break is over..."

Eww, lord. Medical work. Kai has always almost been somewhat afraid of sick people, worried they might get their sick onto him. He also had no people skills, no patience, etc. Couldn't he just punch something a couple of times. "Uh... Err... Alright..." He said, tugging the brim of his hat to lay a shadow over his eyes.

Teah jumped to action, motioning for Haruka to hold him down and throwing the bandages into Kais face. She held her fingers up and let them turn a bright orange color, her eyes still burning with flames and put pressure over the wound. There was a sizzle and the smell of meat in the air for a moment before she let him go. She nodded to Haruka, snatching the bandages out of Kais hands and wrapped up the burns and other gashes he had in him.
"Haruka, maybe you should sing to him until Danny gets back." She nods to Haruka, glancing back at the whimpering man whos burns ailed him.

"Uhh..." Kai sighed heavily, now completely out of his element. However, he steeled himself as he took in a long breath, and exhaled in meditation. "What should I do?" He asked Teah, now ready to deal with whatever they needed him for.

"Danny, we've been here all day volunteering." She frowned softly, her eyes still on fire. She had also noticed her control improving. She had swapped powers... with that weird man... she frowned and wondered where he was now. She hoped he was okay...
"You're a brilliant doctor.. just pretend we're not here."

Kai couldn't help but be a little bit baffled by all of this. He was reaching the limit to what he could tolerate, and now he felt as though he was being ignored. If he didn't find something to punch soon he'd probably go berserk. But there he stood, waiting for an order. Anything that could get him close to finding Maryle, he'd have to endure.