[b]"RAH!"[/b]

All Lauren could feel were two huge, spindly spiders on her oddly turned body. Her eyes immediately shot open and she fumbled for the first thing her pale hands could grab--a can opener laying beside her futon. With a great yelp, she threw the can opener with all her might at the opposing force. The projectile met its target, and her dad's already misshapen nose once again became the bulls eye of Lauren's 'pitching arm.' Benjamin fell back and held his face, more out of surprise than in pain. The can opener fell to the ground, falling open on impact as though to hiss at Lauren for her misuse of the tool. Her father grunted and pulled back his palm till just his fingers caressed and rubbed his snout tenderly. His quirked brow mimicking, or perhaps mocking, Lauren's own permanent expression in search of a laugh but was instead greeted with a look of displeasure.

[i]"Dad,"[/i] Lauren started, her tone full of venom and stale notes as though she had spoken to him about this before.

"Yeah yeah I know. I'll stop." That was a lie. Benjamin Faust never stops, no matter how annoying or how cocky he was. Perhaps it was this trait that caused his daughter and wife so much stress, but he liked to think it was for their amusement. "You ready to go?"

"Give me a moment, would you?" Lauren half hissed and half dismissed her father from the room, waving her small hand at him. With a smirk, Benjamin took his leave, closing the door behind him with just a crack left. Left to her own devices, the small woman at last noticed the displeasing trail of goo lingering down her valley. She took this time to wipe down her arm with a rag and brush her hair with what used to be an extremely fancy comb. Nowadays it didn't have much use, with the diamonds and sapphires that used to adorn the handle no longer so shiny, some missing and some and falling out. Funny how things become less valuable when life is what matters most. Not that Lauren considered this life so different. She was born here, after all. While life outside the walls of the refuge was treacherous, it was more fun than deadly, at least in her experience. On the inside she knew she should take it seriously but she couldn't help it. There were so many more places to go out there, and in here, there was the morning run. Not much else other than what Lauren had already explored. As Lauren looked into the small, foggy mirror in her room and examined the pink, curved scar under her eye, she couldn't help but feel trapped inside the Refuge, like she was just in a cage keeping [i]them[/i] out. But who were they, exactly? The mutants, the other people, or the entire world? What could be out there that she hadn't explored, or even seen before?

That was about as deep into thought Lauren would go for the day. Satisfied with how her hair naturally flared out at her jawline, she gave her reflection a wink and shed her bedclothes into something more fitting for where she was going. Black baggy pants, black under armor that clung to her small, nearly curve-less frame and running shoes. She tossed her jacket into her backpack and dusted her hands with the powdered chalk within before moving out the door. As she made her way down the stairs and into the clinic where Yoko Faust was meeting with an early patient, she could see with her hazel eyes that her father was waiting at their starting point right outside the clinics massive opening beside the guardrail. Her mother, Yoko, gave them a glance and a smile, as though to wish them a good morning. Normally she would, but duty calls and she turned her attention back to her patient. Lauren jogged out to meet her dad who's arms were folded and chest was puffed out. 

The mall was a bizarre-style mess. The floor plans had bridges going across every which way on every floor, making it the ideal place for the scouts morning run. Being on the fifth floor couldn't have been better either, as it provided all kinds of opportunities to play with and create different scenarios. The only problem for the Scouts Inc. was outdoor training, and it often took time to find a safe enough spot to do their regimens. Lauren dropped her backpack and saluted her dad with an enthusiastic grin. 

"Chipmunk, reporting in to Big Lizard." She called, announcing her arrival and using her Scout codename. It was deemed necessary by Benjamin aka Big Lizard that all his scouts respond to him with respect, even his daughter. 

"At ease," Big Lizard responded, his hands clasped behind his back. His messy dark hair stuck out like an overgrown plant on top of his head, but it wasn't quite long enough to start falling over on itself yet. His carefully groomed mustache and small beard however, showed he did care about his appearance. He too, wore lots of black, with form fitting climbing pants and a thin turtleneck that betrayed his muscular form beneath his somewhat scrawny exterior. His squinted, dark eyes looked her up and down in 'inspection.' Upon his request, Chipmunk dropped her salute but retained a respective, open legged stance with her hands clasped in front of her. "Sleep well, scout?"

"Yes, sir." She nodded, a smirk slowly crawling onto her face. "But I was woken prematurely this morning, Sir."

"By what, scout?"

"A hulking mass of unwanted interruption, Sir."

Big Lizards face contorted into one that clearly struggled not to laugh at his scouts straight-faced executed dialogue. "Sounds like you need to start waking up more early, scout."

"Sir," Lauren's eyes narrowed. "I [i]firmly[/i] disagree, Sir."

Big Lizard couldn't stifle his giggle this time and turned away from her to peer over the railing to make certain everything was in place. "Let us begin then Scout." Without further 'ceremony,' Chipmunk pulled her backpack back on and the two of them leaped up to the guardrail. Below, bridges criss-crossed, people worked, and others went about their day. The two of them spun around to that they faced Yoko inside the Clinic, who had taken pause in her work to fold her arms and watch them. The two of them gave the good doctor a grin before relaxing their bodies and falling back into the maze of the mall below.

[center][img=https://d2cc33wbxe9sv.cloudfront.net/works/2011/024515/024515-000002.P.jpeg][/center]

Falling was the easy part. It had taken years of practice until Chipmunk learned the most important thing about being a scout. Trust. Sometimes it was trust in others. Sometimes it was trust in what may come in the future. For scouts however, it was most important to trust [i]yourself.[/i] Right now, Chipmunk and Big Lizard could be screaming, flailing for their lives as they were shocked into fear that would ultimately cost the their lives. A scout however, doesn't fear the feeling of weightlessness, the feeling of soaring or leaping over great distances. A scout [i]relishes[/i] it. 

Big Lizard and Chipmunk fell head first from the fifth story two floors down, and in a single synchronized and practiced motion, the two of them grabbed a sturdy pole mid-fall and swung their legs forward, using the momentum to hoist themselves onto the seventh floor. Both of them exhaled sharply as their sneakers hit the linoleum, but took no pause in getting right back up and running side by side at full speed across the bridge from where they had landed. As they padded quickly to the other side of the level, a familiar face joined them, falling in line beside Big Lizard. 'Mink,' she was called. An American woman with blond hair pulled back into a low ponytail and a body that was as sturdy as it was box-like. 

"Mink, reporting in!" The woman chimed, her voice rough as she ran at the same speed beside them.

"At ease!" Both Big Lizard and Chipmunk called back to her. Again, all in synchronized motions, the came to another guardrail and grabbed it with their left hand--as they had been taught to use their non-dominant hand so that they could still use their guns when necessary--before hoisting their legs over and dropping to the next level below. The run continued, Leaping over objects and diving around random obstacles. That was the great thing about the mall, you never knew who was going to be carrying around large pieces of sheet metal to dive under or where people would be standing so that you had to dodge them, treat them like the infected and avoid them at all costs. At last the trio arrived to floor ten. Chipmunk was naturally focused on what she was doing, but a thought in the back of her head was nagging at her at the fact that one person was missing. She chose to suppress this and continue on, spinning around a civilian carrying quite the collection of canned food. 

It was then that she was once again pounced upon, this time leap-frogged over by none other than 'Sidewinder,' the crews only black member and for today, the final scout that would be training with them. He shot Chipmunk a playful grin over his shoulder, causing Chipmunk to roll her eyes. His flirtatious but not-so-smooth-personality always triggered such a response. Reaching the third-to-last floor where the linoleum evened out without the need for bridges, the scouts ran to the center, panting and all put their hands in the center to chant their motto.

"Climbing to the top!"

It was simple, but it had a deeper meaning. Not only did it show their perseverance to do better, but it was at this moment they would symbolically begin their arduous climb up the sides of the mall and up to the sunshine-filled world above.

---

Lauren rested on a mismatched chair in the post, taking a break from the long free-run her and her teammates had accomplished and sipping her orange-flavored slush. Ordinarily she'd be drinking with Sidewinder and Mink, but they both had errands to run and as always her father was busy with his wife. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the cork board with a big, fat red and delicious looking flier on it. She had read it when she came in but now she mulled it over. Perhaps she would come. Maybe. Probably. Though the last time she'd gone on a code-red mission her dad had been flabberghasted. Lauren rested her head on the bar as she thought things over. Truth is that money and cred would come in handy. Her dad didn't like to admit it but he was no good when it came to handling the division of bullets and firearms, something they direly needed. 
She closed her eyes and sighed. It was time to step up... and show her dad she could be ready to take on Scouts Inc. if shit hits the fan. She was, after all, not a child anymore despite her choice of juice-like slush. Big Lizard was getting old, as proof by the flecks of gray along the perimeter of his hairline. Lauren opened her eyes and sat up. Her decision was made; and tomorrows schedule included Darklings.