Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Taylor jogged through wet streets, the squelching sound of shoes on concrete matching her heavy gasps. Jaya ran at her side, a rock in a storm, each step perfectly synchronized, each breath utterly calm. Taylor grit her teeth and fixed her posture, re-assuming what Jaya had called her runner's form. For the past three weeks the pair had run together in the evenings, Jaya providing helpful advice and Taylor striving to keep up with her companion. It was impossible, Taylor eventually concluded despite her competitive pride, to rival someone who had clearly been at this for a long time. That she was willing to match Taylor's pace was touching, almost like they were friends instead of two strangers who ran together, and Taylor strived to at least give the older girl a minor workout.
They made an odd pair, jogging through the docks, all the way down to the beach, well past the Boardwalk. Taylor was tall for her age, well on her way to six feet, with pale skin, twig-like arms and legs and a slight, if receding, gut. Gawky. That was the term that best described Taylor Hebert. Awkward, maybe as well. Plain, certainly. With a wide mouth, thin lips, and large eyes, she could easily be mistaken for a boy if not for her long, curly black hair. Jaya disagreed, when Taylor briefly mentioned it. A runner's build, Jaya said, or a model, once they toned her arms and legs up. Taylor appreciated the lie.
Jaya said a lot of things, after all, most of them insane. Taylor could be called shy on her best days, but quickly learned if she didn't speak during their runs Jaya would. And when Jaya spoke she did not stop. No topic was off-limits to her, as she seemed to have an opinion about literally everything, and made zero effort to control her volume. She seemed most at ease when giving scathing criticisms of everything from inter-dimensional trade to Scion himself. Eventually, Taylor forced herself to actively control the conversations, after Jaya gave a particularly loud and oddly hostile diatribe about the 'staggering arrogance' of the local Protectorate leader, while they ran through a packed Boardwalk. They changed to running along the beach not long after.
The girl was the opposite of Taylor in nearly every aspect. She was impulsive, utterly unconcerned with the opinions of strangers, and seemed to take perverse pleasure in making people uncomfortable. Even her looks contrasted sharply with Taylor. Where one was tall, the other barely broke five feet. Rather than twigs, Jaya had actual limbs, well toned and tanned, though slim enough to look natural. Her long, straight black hair was streaked with light blue highlights and pulled into a perpetual ponytail with locks framing her face. Gawky, she was not. Hardened, maybe. She had the face of a weathered soldier, hard angles and intense expressions and eyes that betrayed a slight Asian heritage. Cold, almost, or at least at first glance, and far too jaded for a seventeen year old.
Taylor had been petrified the first time the older girl appeared next to her, matching pace without a word, and following like a specter. It happened again the next day, and the next, before Taylor screwed up her courage and asked her silent companion just what the hell she wanted. Jaya had burst out laughing, "I wanted to see how long it would take you to ask me that." She spent the next five minutes offering unasked for advice on running form, before bidding Taylor goodbye and rocketing past her. Taylor had ignored the crazy girl, because clearly she was crazy, and continued her routine. The next day the girl returned, critiquing Taylor's choice in outfit and shoes, before once again sprinting off into the sunset. This happened every day for a week before Taylor changed her running path and times. When she ran into the strange girl yet again she finally gave up and took her advice. One thing led to another, and they started running together. Dealing with Jaya was good practice, Taylor figured, for when she was out on the streets and had to deal with the general insanity that seemed to define Brockton Bay.
This was important, because Taylor wasn't like most people; Taylor had something special, something that made her different, something allowed her to make a difference. Taylor was a parahuman, a cape, a hero, or at least she would be, just as soon as she finished her costume and got into acceptable shape. It was a secret, her biggest secret, and so far she had told no one. She didn't see that changing any time soon. Trust wasn't something she gave out easily these days, not since the last person used it like a shovel and buried her social life.
Besides, it's not like she knew any capes that she could ask for advice, and the only other person she might have thought to tell was her father, but that would only worry him. So, she trained, her powers and her body. She studied up on the capes in Brockton Bay, heroes and villains, evaluating the competition, and tried to come up with strategies for how she would handle each one. She wasn't very successful. All she had to work with were bugs after all. What could bugs do against monsters like Lung and Kaiser? Even so, she had the responsibility to try. That was what heroes did after all, they tried, and if necessary died, to protect others. Not that she was in a hurry to die. No, dealing with the major players was something she'd prefer to avoid when possible.
If there was one thing bugs were good at, it was stopping small-time crimes. Her radius was pretty good from what few comparisons she had found online, over two blocks in every direction, and Brockton Bay had a lot of bugs. She had eyes everywhere, so to speak, even if they were tiny, imprecise eyes. Finding crimes to stop should be a simple thing once she finally started patrolling.
"Taylor." Jaya's voice, soft and warm and never quite matching her face, snapped Taylor out of her introspection. The pair had finished their run, and were performing the cool down exercises that Jaya always insisted on, and Taylor had zoned out while Jaya was talking.
"Uh, y-yeah sorry, what's up?" Taylor mentally cursed her inattentiveness. She didn't understand why Jaya was helping her, but paying attention to her was the least she could do in thanks. Perhaps the girl was simply bored? It seemed like the sort of bizarre reasoning she would have.
"I wanted to know if you'd like to take Krav Maga lessons with me. There's this little place just past the Boardwalk that gives lessons and I was thinking about going."
"Oh um, that's like karate right? For self-defense?" Jaya nodded with an amused grin, "I don't think I could afford that," Taylor said, somewhat morosely. It was unfortunate but true. She had very little spending money, which was a shame because learning how to fight properly would actually help her hero career. At the moment her close combat plan consisted entirely of 'use lots of pepper spray and hope for the best.' Hardly the most foolproof strategy.
"Nah, don't worry 'bout it." Jaya waved her hand dismissively, "The guy who runs it owes me a favor so the first month is on the house for me and a friend."
Taylor blinked in surprise as she digested this new information. Why on earth was Jaya inviting her of all people? "Are you sure? I mean, I'd love to go but I don't want to take a spot from one of your friends..."
The older girl's brow furrowed and she stared at Taylor with a frown forming on her face. Taylor fidgeted under the intense scrutiny, but stuck to her guns. Jaya could be pretty air-headed sometimes so she probably just forgot to ask other people first. Unfortunately Taylor's tact was completely wasted on her companion, who simply maintained her piercing gaze. Finally, Jaya sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Taylor, you do realize you are my friend right? I mean, I assumed that was what was happening here," she gestured between the two of them, "because I don't hang out every single day with people I dislike. Since I'm not trying to sleep with you, I think that only leaves one option."
"Oh." Oh. Taylor's brain frantically sifted through her dusty tomes of social interaction while her mouth continued to move of its own accord, "I-I just meant if you wanted to invite any other friends, er- instead of me that is. That you might have... known longer..." Taylor trailed off lamely as Jaya continued to stare. Finally, with a cheer of success, Taylor's brain transmitted the appropriate social cue, "Yes Jaya, I would love to learn self-defense with you."
Her friend smiled victoriously, "Good! We'll start next Monday kay? I'll be busy the next few days, so we won't be able to run together until the weekend. If you give me your number I'll call you when I'm free again."
"My number?" Sift sift sift, "Right! Yeah, of course." They swapped numbers, and Jaya gave her a hug of all things, before the two went their separate ways.
Taylor made it home in good time. She hopped over the rotted front step and unlocked the door to see her father lounging on their old couch, watching television in the living room. He gave her a wave and a small smile, "Welcome back pumpkin. How was your run?"
"It was fine." Taylor replied automatically. A moment passed as she recalled the mountain of awkwardness that had been her evening. "I think I made a friend."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone