Turning Point (closed)

[Shadowcat]

Kitty walked back toward the upper west side with a kick in her step, a new feeling of importance. It was dusk, and some of the smaller businesses were starting to close. She stepped into a boutique and purchased a large messenger bag. She ripped off the tags once back on the street and slung the empty bag over her shoulder. She watched as the bodega across the street closed up, then circled the block, cut down the alley, and phased through the back wall of the little store.

Standing as still as humanly possible, she let her eyes adjust to the dark and listened for a long moment to make sure she was alone. The shop smelled like B.O. and red beans and rice. Looking around, she saw that she was in the back room, which served as a stock room and an office. After a few minutes of searching, she found the safe, phased her hand through the side of it, and started filling the messenger bag with stacks of cash.

Her heart was pounding with the adrenaline rush. She slipped back through the wall facing the alley and made her way quickly around the corner.

After three more stops, the bag was conspicuously full. She checked in at the hostel where she'd agreed to meet John and sat on the bed, the messenger bag still across her chest, her arms wrapped around it protectively. She was still on a major high and was excited to continue this adventure. She was actually pretty surprised that she had been as slick as she had so far. The thought of her criminal prowess tickled her and she found herself giggling.

Now, she just had to wait.

[stjohn]

(Posting order: Kitty, John, Astral, Lance.)

John had returned to the camp, managed to round up Astral and Lance, which happened to be an odd pair of hands to help, and convince them to return yet again, back into the city. The whole ordeal nearly took all day, and by the time they managed to make their way towards the hostel, it was evening, and the sun had set. Still, between the three of them, they managed to find the hostel. Starring up at the building, John raised an eyebrow. Was he supposed to go inside? Or, just wait for Kitty to come out? Standing in Limbo, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his eyes glancing uncertainly over at Astral, and then towards Lance.

[astral]

Astral had made a couple of trips out with John, but this had been the longest, for they were going all the way to Manhattan. She was uncertain, but John had told them he might be able to get them food, money and clothes, and it was too good an opportunity to turn down. Since they had headed right to the city, she had consciously kept her light off as to not attract any unwanted attention, lest she was recognised from the previous news reports. It took some effort as she had to concentrate, but it wasn't taxing.

When they were stood outside the hostel, she looked up at the building, equally unsure about their next course of action.

[Avalanche]

Lance wasn't too thrilled about appearing in the city looking the way he did, now after so many days of living in the tent. However, he appreciated the variety in the whole homeless routine - apparently, John has come up with something that could help them, and Lance could only welcome the idea. His hands in his pockets, he looked around warily, not knowing yet what to make of the place they had arrived at.

[Shadowcat]

It had been dark for awhile and Kitty was still waiting eagerly in the hostel. She stood and paced around the room, trying to control her excitement. As she got to the far side of the room, she looked out the window facing the street and squeaked. John was standing outside with two other mutants, all three of them looking menacing. She dashed down the stairs and out the door, almost running into the three of them.

Remembering John's earlier cruelty, she didn't look at him. She pulled the heavy messenger bag from her shoulder and slammed it into his chest, smiling at the other two. "Hi! I'm Kitty!" She said with an inappropriate level of enthusiasm.

[stjohn]

Kitty quickly appeared through the front door of the hostel, a bag over her shoulder. The bag was then roughly shoved into John's hands, causing him to just stumble slightly. Giving Kitty a glare, he moved to open the bag, curious to see what was inside. He was then very surprised at the sight of a large amount of cash. "What the f*ck!?"

[astral]

Astral blinked in mild surprise when a girl came rushing outside, not quite sure what to make of this. She had expected a much more seedy situation. "Hello," she replied, once she had gotten over her speechlessness. She turned her head to see John looking inside, mentally echoing his exclamation. She voiced a cleaner version. "What?!"

[Avalanche]

Lance hadn't expected to see a girl coming out to meet them. He gave her a grin, she appeared rather enthusiastic about seeing them. Glancing at the bag John was holding, he merely gave a low whistle - inwardly adding that he hadn't expected to see a girl with a bag full of cash, on top of everything.

[Shadowcat]

Kitty ignored John's comment and focused on the girl. "Well, if my calculations are correct, it should be two or three grand." She turned to the third member of the group. A taller guy, who would probably be handsome after a shower and shave. Still smiling, she addressed him, now. "While I was out today, I scouted a few other places. Surprisingly, there's a ski shop a few blocks over." She shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes. It was true that you could find anything in this city, even if it didn't really make sense. "They don't have any security cameras, but they do have A LOT of cold weather clothes and gear. They also have top of the line back packs, the kind mountain climbers use, that would be perfect for you guys." She hoped her giddiness at the prospect of this adventure wasn't obvious, but she could already tell she was talking too much.

[stjohn]

"We don't need top of the line, sh*t." John mumbled, as he quickly moved to close the bag, and moved to hand it to Astral. And they didn't. John would rather they save some of hte money, and buy cheap stuff, opposed to wasting money on overly good quality.

[astral]

Astral took the bag with a small grunt, as it was heavy. She felt like they would be arrested on the spot for carrying this and quickly zipped it up to hide the money.

[Avalanche]

"Cold weather gear?" Lance asked, as Kitty now seemed to be talking to him. She also sounded like she knew something of the situation. "You don't mean we'll have to keep living in the open, do you?"

[Shadowcat]

Kitty once again ignored John, who had burdened the poor girl with the heavy bag of cash. She shrugged at the man. She only knew that these people were living in poor conditions, she hadn't realized they were actually living outside. This revelation made Kitty's stomach turn, and for the first time, she had an inkling of the possible trouble she was involved with. She was determined to see this through, though, so she glanced to the girl and back to the man, making it obvious that she was addressing them and not John. "I only signed on to help you guys get some gear. I'm really sorry I can't help beyond that." She paused, picked up her train of thought and continued, "the ski shop is closed, so I figured we could make our way over there and take what ever you guys may need." Indirectly addressing John's comment, she added, "and I thought it would be nice for you guys to have higher quality clothes and gear, since it's free."

[stjohn]

"We don't need high quality." John stated firmly. Getting money from Kitty was already pushing his limits, due to the fact that John hated asking for help. He glanced almost nervously in Astral's direction as well. After all, she most likely wouldn't think highly of just taking the things, especially when they had a fair share of money. "We don't need gear anyways. We need food first, and then clothes."

[astral]

Astral nodded to back up John's words. "Food's definitely one of the more important things," she added. "We're running low."