Sleep was always quick to find Aya, but slow to release her from its grasp. With a small groan, she buried herself into her fluffy comforter and tried to deny the fact that she was awake. Sadly, her struggle was for naught. Finally giving in after twenty minutes of trying to go back to sleep, Aya let her eyes slide open. She yawned, and rolled out of bed, beginning her morning routine.

After she was changed, her hair was presentable, and her teeth were brushed, Aya crept into the hallway, careful not to wake her roommate. Walking into the grand kitchen, she plucked an apple out of a basket of fruit and listened as several names were called over the intercom. Curiosity nagged at her, but it wasn't Aya's place, she knew. With a sigh, she tossed the apple in the air once and walked out of the kitchen, unsure of what to do with her day. It was beautiful out – the sky was clear and blue, the sun was bright, and if she looked out at the forest lining the mansion's perimeter, she could see leaves rustling in a light breeze. 

Decision made, Aya peeked back into her bedroom to grab a book and her iPod off of her bedside table and made her way out into the forest. She stopped a little ways past the first line of trees, far enough in that she couldn't see the mansion, but not so far that she'd lose her way back. Plopping down to lean against a tree, she set her apple and book down to work out the tangles in her headphones. Aya's fingers paused, however, when she heard the snap of a twig. 

Aya felt her heart stop for a moment. Glancing around, she saw no one in her immediate vicinity and tried desperately to calm herself down, telling herself it was just a deer or another student who had the same idea as her. But still…

Aya closed her eyes and breathed in slowly. It was probably nothing. There were no predators living in the area, and if it was a student then… well, she was supposed to be working on making friends, right? Aya exhaled and opened her eyes. Nothing at all. And yet, she couldn't make her heart rate slow down. Clenching her fists in her lap, earphones long forgotten, she knew a simple solution to this. She could just investigate. The thought of using her power still disquieted her, but the professor had always said that her abilities were nothing to be afraid of. Years of keeping it a secret had left her hesitant to use them at all, but she couldn't just pretend they weren't there – she was at Xavier's School for the Gifted, after all. 

Mind made up, Aya closed her eyes again and felt her spirit detach from her body, a thin string of consciousness connecting them. Now in the form of an projection, she turned to where she'd heard the sound and walked forward. The fact that she was both invisible and intangible didn't ease her nervous heartbeat, but she moved forward regardless. She could do this. It was probably nothing.

This line of thought was promptly killed when she finally found the source of the noise. There, hidden in the shadow of the forest, was a hulking creature, a thin layer of fur covering its skin. His face was more animal than human, fangs clearly visible in his mouth and an elongated, almost canine snout. With a gasp, Aya snapped back into her body. 

[i]Definitely not nothing[/i], she thought, mind frantic.

It was then with a jolt that Aya remembered where she was. [i]Mutant Mansion[/i], she'd once heard a student say. The creature in the woods was probably just another student like her… she hoped. It was this thought that made Aya stand on shaky legs, belongings forgotten on the forest floor, and walk to the creature in the woods. She let her foots fall on crunching leaves so that whoever it was would know she was approaching. It was probably a student, but she also wasn't looking to startle something with fangs and claws that sharp.

"Uhm… hi," she said when she was finally before him, her voice a frail thing in the forest air.