after a death [ narrative ]
After her run in the DR, X-23 goes to out to live on the grounds of the school for a few days. She's been trying to purge herself by going through memories. Still, she feels too unstable to go back into the school. If you don't understand why, I'm not explaining it.

If you want your character to find her, IM me first. Otherwise she might kill them and I won't be held responsible.

After a Death is by Tomas Tranströmer

--


Once there was a shock
that left behind a long, shimmering comet tail.
It keeps us inside. It makes the TV pictures snowy.
It settles in cold drops on the telephone wires.

X-23 was tired, but she couldn't stop. Uppercut, duck, one claw rip. Her breathing was harsh; the sound of it bounced off surrounding trees. Maybe if she kept focused, the memory of warm blood would leave her skin, her nose, her mouth. If she kept moving until passing out, maybe her mind would be dreamless from exhaustion. She used the support of an old tree to do a back flip before cutting across an invisible mid-section. Violence to cleanse violence. Her curse and only solace. Nate had been right in his first meeting with her - being a weapon upset her, but she was upset when she wasn't one. She couldn't shake off the instincts that chased her like a relentless hound. Her claws glinted under the red light filtering through the trees from the west. One by one, X-23 cut down the ghosts.

One can still go slowly on skis in the winter sun
through brush where a few leaves hang on.
They resemble pages torn from old telephone directories.
Names swallowed by the cold.

Thomas Crant, age 25. Killed in the twenty-fifth floor office he had in New York City.
Hart Fellows, age 56. Killed in a military facility in Jacksonville, Florida.
Randall Weddington, age 35. Killed in his tour bus, prepping for his campaign across the mid-west.
Colette Jenkins, age 29. Killed in San Diego in her Cadillac, after dropping her children off at school.
Nicolas Depres, age 43. Killed in Versailles, France after a banquet in his honor.

The spinning list was broken when she lost her footing on a damp patch of moss and slid forward too far. She hit her knee hard on a rock and punched the ground. Fury or pain, it didn't particularly matter which one was flooding her head at that moment. One tear dripped down her face before she was up and slashing wildly at the tree in front of her. X-23 knew it was going to fall, she knew she was cutting too far. But no matter how many times she pulled her claws through it, the bark still felt like flesh. As the tree leaned dangerously with a groan and toppled over, all she could see was the head of that nameless man she'd decapitated in the Danger Room.

What did it mean? X-23 already knew but continued to ask, as if the answer would change. She jumped the freshly cut tree and ran. The burst of speed only lasted until her vision blurred again. X-23 paused to lean against a large rock.

"You got my blood," Logan said. "I figure that makes you family."
"We *are* not like other mutants," Nate explained calmly. "We're supposed to be better."
"I know where you can steal some clothes from, that might keep you warmer."
"I'm not asking you to be anything you're not." Elisabeth turned, and sat back at the vanity, continuing her prep. "I'm just trying to be your friend."
"Why're you hiding in the trees, X-23?"

X-23 leaned over and pressed her fists against the sides of her head, her knuckles at her temples.

"I've been around," he replied, not that aware of how cryptic that sounded before looking up to meet X-23's gaze with calm, bright blue eyes and a small smile. "You were thinking about me."
"You can watch, not interact. Learn to blend, but remember that you're not one of them."

Her knees sunk into the soft, wet ground beneath her. She was hunched over so the tears could drop on her legs.

"What did you do with the child? They were all supposed to be dead."
"I asked if you would like to re-start the program... You failed your objective..."

It ran deep, a crack splintering along glass. The tears were painful; they made her sick.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around, sugar." Creed said, his eyes burning into hers.

Something was breaking inside of her. X-23 wasn't sure she could stop it. Her hands left her temples to bury themselves in the mud. A strained sob cut through the silence and she sat, fallen, believing it unheard.

It is still beautiful to hear the heart beat
but often the shadow seems more real than the body.
The samurai looks insignificant
beside his armor of black dragon scales.