Greet The Year (Missouri to somewhere further east.)

Echo grinned, stretching. Morning was her favorite time of day. Which is odd, because it makes her crabby if she wakes up too early or too late. She chuckled as she walked out of her room and put a 20 on the counter of the small hotel, chirping to figure out where it was. Not exactly chirping per say. But we've all heard bat noises (or I hope we all have) and Echo's noises are exactly that. She can talk as well though and she isn't without her manners.

"Thank you," She whispers as she leaves the lobby. She chirps again to find the door and exits swiftly. It isn't very light yet and it is winter. Even in southern Kansas you can feel the difference. Things are just colder and less welcoming. ((okay, I've never been to Kansas, so I have no idea what I'm talking about... XD)) Echo sighed and stretched again, then started forward, chirping and keeping close to the few trees along the many fields, pastures, and the occasional country home. The sun was beginning to rise and Echo felt it on her cheeks. She had never seen the sun, but sometimes she could imagine it. Her echolocation didn't tell color, so she couldn't ever see it in her blind state and she was kept inside at all times back at the Facility.

She clenched a fist and continued, chirping to see where she was. She was dismayed to find that the trees were stopping and, though she didn't know it, she was entering a wildlife preserve. One of the last true prairies. About to be under a controlled burn. And Echo was oblivious. But she didn't like the space anyhow. She hated open places where she couldn't touch anything standing. She set her jaw and chirped again, moving forward across what seemed like endless grassland.

((So of someone wants to come along and save her from the burn or else try to burn her as well, I'd be very much obliged.))

Pain could find himself anywhere on the globe and it still wouldn't be far away enough to run away from everything. He wasn't exactly a big fan of the densely populated cities, he preferred a more laid back community so he had been glad to be here. At this point in life, he was constantly wandering the entire globe, and not staying in one destination for more than a week. He had been trying to find solace in something, and so far it hadn't been going very well. So he chose to come to this small town, but his intentions were even unknown to himself. He was like a lifeless satellite, drifting...

The big guy was just finishing up his breakfast at a local restaurant, wearing a simple attire, his favorite black shirt, blue jeans and black boots, and as usual the entire time he ate everyone stared. Everyone had been dumbfounded to see the old hero in their small town eating breakfast amongst them, but no one had the guts to say anything to him. Despite saving the world countless times, people still feared Pain, and that was never going to change. It didn't really bug him too much anymore, but at times it still got to him. What was so bad about him? He payed the check and left a generous tip before standing up and walking out with out even glancing at anyone. He kept his eyes closed, dug his hands into his pockets, and walked with what some would consider poor posture out of the restaurant.

Once outside, he stopped right outside the door and reached into his jean's pocket with his right hand, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter between his large fingers. His left hand remained in his pocket as he flipped open the pack, revealing several cigarettes and a few hand wrapped joints. He felt like smoking a cigarette right now, so he pulled one out and placed it it between his lips. He put the pack back into his pocket and then proceeded to light the cigarette. "Another day..." He uttered softly to himself as he exhaled the first drag from the cigarette. He put the lighter back into his pocket and began walking away from the small town, carrying himself calmly away from everyone who had been staring still. He never minded the attention, just what they were actually thinking.

He could barely feel the cool winter air brush against him, his dark gray hair gusting about in the wind, but his skin numb to the sensation. He had always longed for the ability to feel things, since nearly everything he did was numb, it made life difficult to enjoy at times. Not one to whine or say his powers were a curse, but he still always wondered what it'd be like to feel things to the fullest again. The town had drifted out of sight, and now Pain had found himself nearing a wild life reserve, a big open field of grass. He saw quite a few signs that made it very clear that no one was supposed to be here, but why the hell would that stop him? He didn't even bother to read them! Only person he ever listened to was himself, and he wasn't about to walk away cause some sign said so. Still, something did seem a bit off about this place...

To his surprise, some one was already here, and from here it looked like there was a young woman walking through the prairie. Her actual appearance was unknown to him due to the distance between them. He stopped moving for a second to scratch the stubble's of hair on his chin, he found it very odd that some one else would wander out here. Who ever this was, they couldn't be just some normal person. Could they? He inhaled another drag from his cigarette as he briefly thought it over, but his thoughts were interrupted by the smell of something burning, and it wasn't just his cigarette! His eyes opened up and examined the tall grassy field that minutes ago had been perfectly fine, and just as he thought, this whole grassland was being set to fire from the outside. The grass burnt quickly from all directions, some one or something from the outside had set fire to the prairie, so that it would burn up as quickly as possible. The fires grew quickly, far too quickly for a natural fire, and eventually they would swallow this entire grassland whole, with the girl and Pain along with it. Sometimes Pain knew he could be a real big dope, he had been completely oblivious to the fact that this place was under a controlled fire and he was walking right into it. He was too busy thinking about things to even notice. At least he wasn't the only one who failed to notice.

Pain went with his gut and did the only thing that made sense to him, spitting out his cigarette and sprinting at full speed towards the young wandering woman. He figured he was the only one capable of surviving the fires, so he would use his body as a shield for her. Wasn't like him to just leave some one to die. The big guy was rather quick on his feet, allowing him to close the distance between the two in no time. With out a word of warning, he scooped the unknown young woman off her feet, carrying her in his arms as he quickly sprinted through the smoky field. "Just hang on. I got ya!" He said in his rough voice as he charged towards the most fiery parts of the field, coming closer to the exit. He wrapped his giant arms around her, cradling her almost like a small child, using his impervious body to shield her from the fires. He would take little to none damage from these puny fires, her however, he was unsure if she was capable of that so he made sure she wouldn't even be touched by the fires.

Once he escaped the fiery prairie, he tried to stop his momentum as quickly as possible, planting his feet into the ground and tearing it up as he slid across it. He eventually came to a halt, and behind him laid a path of broken terrain. He was like a runaway train once he got going! Once the dust settled, Pain released her from his large arms, and placed her gently onto her feet. "Guess we should pay attention a little more huh?" He said with a soft chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck, just trying to make things less awkward. He wasn't too good at dealing with new people, usually he just seemed like a dick, even though he is actually a pretty decent guy.

Echo felt the heat of the flames, but nothing appeared in her echolocation. She turn about blindly, squeaking. She noticed a shape coming toward her from the same direction she'd just left. Between fire and human interaction, Echo almost would rather risk fire. But it was too late now. The guy had reached her and was picking her up and every nerve in her body was crying out. Echo squirmed and screamed, though she may have been drowned out by the roaring of the flames. She hadn't been touched in a while and she did not like it. Actually, It didn't matter wether she liked it or not, It just burned.

She felt the begin to jolt to a stop and (though she was already curled up as tight as possible and all her muscles were tensed) she cringed as she was jolted into her "rescuer"s chest. Slowly they skidded to a halt. Echo coughed as she breathed in the dust the guy had kicked up. He began to set her down and she leapt away from him, hissing in a very inhuman way and baring her sharp teeth. She backed away, squeaking frequently to make sure he wasn't following her.

Once she was about five feet away, she spoke in her gravelly voice. "I can't see., okay? It's not as if I can read signs that say 'Hey! We're just gonna light this on fire without supervision. Don't play here, kids!' NO. I can't read that. So thanks for your help and for... s-saving me," Echo's cheeks flushed a little, she hated to be helped and she had no idea who this guy was. He sounded as awkward as she was with people, which was almost a comfort. "but Im not a people person. I don't do well with humans or anything... else." She stopped, biting her lip lightly, hoping the response wouldn't be hostile.

She knew this guy could run really fast and, though she might be able to keep pace with him, she didn't know how long he could run or how heavy he had to be to slow him down. From her echolocation, he was pretty big. Broad shoulders and very muscled legs and arms. Echo, in comparison, was a twig, perfect for snapping.

Pain was startled by her sudden movement, and prepared himself for the worst. She let out a spine-chilling screech and revealed her sharp fangs, making the big guy cringe. What the hell was she? Her being a normal human was now out of the question. He held his ground as she backed away from him, figuring that he should wait to see if she was truly hostile. It wasn't his style to just attack some one.

As soon as she opened her mouth and spoke, Pain knew she wasn't an enemy. The tone in her voice gave it away, and if she were planning to attack him, she probably would have done it immediately. She seemed nervous, and almost worried that he would attack. He couldn't help but chuckle at her though, the way she thanked him was kinda funny. Though he was a bit confused on what she meant by she couldn't see, was she blind? Well then how the hell did she get around?

Pain chose to let his guard down, figuring that there was no threat with this woman. "No problem girlie." He said with a smirk as his soft chuckling ceased. "Not a fan of people myself, but I aint like everyone else." He said as he rubbed the stubble's of hair on his chin, examining the young woman before him from head to toe. "But what do you mean you can't see? How do you get around? You a bat or somethin'?" Pain was a curious guy, and he didn't like being left in the dark on anything. Not like he had anything better to do...

"You could say that," Echo growled. Not on purpose. Her voice was just like that. "I'm a hybrid. ninety-eight pint seven percent human. Like the teeth?" She smiled dangerously, but her tone of voice wasn't very hostile. Her guard was still up, however and she chirped, making sure of ehre she was. "The other one point three percent is a large amazon breed of bat. So yes. I am, in a way, a bat. I use echolocation, my bones are very light, i have pointed teeth and ears, and I'm small. I'm not blind because of the bat genes. Mostly."

She moved back her hair, displaying one pointed ear. Putting her hair back in place, she moved tentatively forward. Her hands went out.

"May I...? I can't really tell what you look like any other way. Echolocation doesn't do much for that bit," Echo bit her lip, moving to a normal talking distance. This was nervous business, but she was curious as to who this guy was and why he'd bothered to save her. his rugged appearance wasn't a contributing factor for Echo, so She had no problem with it.

"Oh.. By the way... I'm Echo. Uhm.. Who are you?" She squeaked immediately after speaking and found herself closer than she'd thought. She backed away a little, wincing, but re-extending her hands. "So uh... Can I... touch you? Not in a sexual way or anything... b- uh..." She blushed bright red and put her arms back, wrapping them around her body.

Pain calmly held his ground, he was very relaxed despite her constant growling, and at this point he was confident there wouldn't be a fight. The big guy stood with a slight slouch in his posture, his hands dug into his pockets, and a cocky smirk came across his face. He didn't fully understand what she was trying to say, but he got it for the most part. So she was part bat, that seemed more like a drawback to him, but what the hell did he know about being a bat anyway. Her bat features were a bit interesting, but it wasn't like he hadn't seen weirder things in the past. "So you're just a little blind bat..." He said with a soft chuckle, it was just his nature to be sarcastic.

Her next move surprised him, and he wasn't sure if he should trust her anymore. It wasn't likely, but this could all be a facade, and this was just her moving in on her attack. But the way she acted said otherwise, she seemed nervous about approaching him, and worried that he would be the one to attack. Pain didn't get why she needed to touch him to see what he looked like, or what the hell 'echolocation' was. For what ever reason, nothing about this gave him a bad feeling, and he felt like playing along. Anything to kill the boredom, even for a little.

Pain was very relaxed standing before her, and calmly watched as she nervously moved closer to him, barely moving a muscle. He couldn't help but smile, and that eventually became a chuckle. "I'm here for five minutes, and you're already askin' my name, and to feel up on me." He just enjoyed messing with people. He briefly shook his head as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket using his large right hand. He withdrew a single cigarette and placed it loosely between his lips before shoving the pack of cigarettes back into his pocket. "Couldn't hurt." He said as he lit the cigarette, inhaling the first drag before putting away his lighter. He didn't even care that she had gotten close to him, he was perfectly calm and knew he could take care of himself. "Pain." Exhaling all the smoke as he said his name and returning his right hand back to his pocket.

"Go for it, but if you try somethin' funny." He paused briefly to take another drag from his cigarette. "I won't hesitate to snap ya like a twig." Exhaling as he finished his sentence. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth with his right hand and held it low at his side, so that the smoke wouldn't blow into her face while she was close to him. He kept his eyes on her closely, even if he didn't feel threatened, he had to be ready for anything.

Echo smelled cigarette and wrinkled her nose. She smiled a little at his cracks about feeling him up and shook her head. She shrugged and reached back up with gentile hands. Echo very lightly traced the lines of his face, her hands scratching on the stubble. Every wrinkle and worry-line was interesting and a mental picture began to form past "tall, built, square-ish head". She felt scars and traced them as well. The entire time her hands were as soft as butterfly wings, flitting about on Pain's skin.

"You have an amazing collection of scars!" Echo said, her hands moving to his neck. She felt strong muscles and a large adam's apple. She moved away from there quickly, because it might be taken as a threat. Her hands moved to his shoulders and arms, tracing muscle lines and more scars. "How many? I don't think i could ever count them all by touch!" She moved to his upper arms, then his hands last. They were wonderfully ugly, interesting hands. Worn and calloused, scarred beyond belief. Echo liked them. They were large and made sense somehow. She withdrew her hands and stepped back quickly.

"Why are you smirking?" Echo asked, after squeaking. "I didn't do anything really weird did I?" She felt suddenly afraid, as if he might attack or just plain run from her. She put her head to the side, chittering a series of noises so she could get a wide view. She took a rather defensive stance and looked more reproachfully at Pain. Maybe he was harmful after all. But then why would he save her? She bit her lip, accidentally cutting it and tasting blood. She spat and stuck her tongue out in disgust.

The big guy didn't move a muscle, he stood perfectly still as her small hands reached up for his face. Practically numb to her touch, her fingers slowly dragged along his face. It was always something that would bother him, barely being able to feel anything, but Pain had learned to cope; it just made it difficult to be close to anyone. He could slightly feel her hands lowering to his neck, but it didn't bother him at all. He was confident that he could easily strike her at this distance, and with one strike, knock her out or possibly kill her. "Dunno, just been in a lot of fights." He replied bluntly as he gripped the cigarette tightly, eager to take another drag.

He moved his icy blue stare from her eyes to view her hands tracing down his arms, he didn't remember this being apart of the deal, but it didn't really matter to her apparently. Pain didn't really care, he could barely feel it anyway, but she was getting too comfortable too quickly. He never liked to trust anyone, especially not women. After she examined his hands, she chose to back away again. Showing the big guy that she feared him, but who could blame her, most did.

Pain flicked the ashes off of his cigarette before placing it between his lips, inhaling a quick drag from it before speaking up in his gruff voice. "Nah, you aint that weird. So what the hell did all that do anyway?" As he exhaled the smoke from his lungs, he rose his brow at her as she carelessly bit her lip. She must have been pretty nervous, or at least it seemed that way. Pain however was very calm and relaxed, he liked to keep a leveled head. "And calm down girlie, If I wanted to knock ya out I woulda done it already." His gruff voice slightly muffled by the shriveled cigarette hanging between his lips.

Echo laughed despite herself, a low rumblingly raspy sound from deep in her throat. It wasn't unpleasant, even though it sounded a little like a growl. "I'm not used to trusting. Sorry. What that did was give me an image of your face. The scars and the lines, the stubble. How your eyebrows are shaped and how well-washed you are. It's pat of my thing. But I can't really tell cuz you just ran through a walll of flame with me so you're covered in powder, which I can only assume is soot," She stated in reply. "And how do you know you could knock me down? I'm very nimble and light. I think I would be able to escape you- at least for a little while if there were close-growing trees."

She crossed her arms, aware of the amusement in his gruffness... but there was also a certain gentleness- a kindness. She'd felt it when he'd picked her up, even though it had caused her pain, he'd been as gentile as possible- without taking so long that they were engulfed in flame. "I can't tell tattoos from real skin though, and they don't show up in echolocation either. By the way, that's basically where I bounce my voice off of stuff and it shows me depth and shape and shit like that, but it's not too detailed and things can disrupt it. So I have to use touch a lot too."

Echo smiled a little, surprised at how much she was saying this guy. Maybe it was the boldness and fact that he wasn't afraid, but Echo was somehow... comfortable with him. He didn't seem normal. Echo liked it- the abnormality made her feel less alone. Less... desolate. She found herself dreading parting ways with this man who'd saved her from what could have been a very painful death. She found herself wanting, for almost the first time ever, to actually be in the company of another humanoid. Echo usually preferred animals, but this one man. This one scarred, huge, imposing man, made her feel safe... Or safe-ish.

Pain puffed on the short cigarette hanging between his lips, intending to smoke it to the filter while he listened to her explain the purpose of her actions. Her growling didn't at all intimidate him, nothing really did, but he just didn't get why she kept doing it. The first thing she said he found kind of funny, and the big guy smirked briefly. It was difficult to trust anyone, and he certainly didn't trust this woman he just met. He barely trusts the people he calls friends, but she can trust a guy she just met? He didn't get that, but then again, he didn't get a lot of things. Like how he still didn't get how she could know what he looked like with out having sight, but whatever not like he cared that much.

He briefly shook his head at her comment about him being well-washed, he just saved her from a fire and she's concerned about him being clean? Women, he never understood them, and of course he was clean! He found it funny and couldn't help but smirk at her again, but he quickly shook that off and inhaled one of the final drags from the cigarette. It was nice to talk to some one who wasn't scared of him, but he wasn't exactly trying to make friends. He was only killing time, and she was still a complete stranger to him.

He briefly chuckled at her bold statement, a cocky grin coming across his face as he puffed on what was left of the cigarette. She was already very close to him, and easily within reach of his long and powerful arms. He knew she was pretty quick on her feet, but he barely knew the limits to her abilities. After all, she only briefly displayed what she was capable of, but even with out that knowledge, Pain never doubted himself against any foe. "Yeah, maybe you'd have a chance if you got some distance." He paused briefly to inhale one last drag from the cigarette before speaking up in his rough voice again. "But you've been too busy feelin' me up to worry about that. " Exhaling the final drag as he spoke, a sly smirk coming across his face as he finished his sentence.

When she crossed her arms at him, he turned his head to the left and spit the shriveled cigarette out onto the floor beside him. He proceeded to put it out under his large black boot before looking back up to her, his icy blue gaze meeting hers once again. Even after hearing her further describe 'echolocation', it still seemed more like a nuisance than a power to him; he just preferred having sight. A soft chuckled escaped through his nose when she said had to use touch a lot too, "Yeah, you've made that clear." He stated in reply with that same sly smirk on his face. "I've got some tattoos too, but I guess you'll never know." His smirk faded as he slowly rolled his neck, cracking the bones loudly and exhaling as he did. He noticed her smiling at him, and he wasn't sure what to think of it. Maybe the big guy had made a good impression on her, or maybe she just thought something was funny.

Pain shrugged at her, unsure of what to say or do next, he wasn't exactly here to socialize. What the hell was he doing here anyway? Just killing time, and he had plenty of it. "Guess that's it then girlie. Take it easy..." As he finished his sentence he turned around and began slowly walking away from her, intending to head back towards the town. What else was there to do?

"Oh, just one more thing!" Echo said as he walked away. "Thanks again. It was nice meeting you. I'm guessing we'll never cross paths again so... Have a nice life." Echo grinned and waved before turning and walking slowly in the opposite direction of Pain, chirping so that she could see where the grass stopped and the fire and burned-off stuff began. She breathed deeply, sighing as she exhaled.

As she walked away, a barely audible low, growling voice sang quietly: "There ain't no rest for the wicked, money don't grow on trees, we got bills to pay, we got mouths to feed and there ain't nothin' in this world for free! No we can't slow down, we can't hold back though ya know we wish we could. Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked, until we close our eyes for good." The song trailed to a faintly audible whistle. And echo's small frame trailed to a dot in the distance.

Pain stopped dead in his tracks when he heard her voice call out to him, and he wasn't sure why he had stopped either. Something in his head told him he was walking away from someone who might have seen more to him. It was rare to encounter some one who treated the big guy like she did, but it was even more rare for some one to think it was 'nice' meeting him. He hadn't exactly been the best with first impressions. Her voice had been soft, sincere, and sounded almost disappointed that he had been leaving. He guessed he really did make a good impression on her. Too bad she seemed way too young, might have been fun to mess around, but Pain wasn't that much of a womanizer. He wasn't sure what to do from here, but he guessed he should be doing something

A smirk crawled onto his face before speaking up in his deep and rough voice. "Yeah...You too." His back turned while he spoke loudly enough for her to hear. "I'll see you around." He said right before he continued walking again, he was confident he'd end up seeing her face again someday. Hell, it might happen again shortly!