She's a Killer Queen (Aura)

[James Piper]

It’s the terror of knowing what this world is about. Watching some good friends screaming, “Let me out!”

Aloof and eccentric. Both words described James Piper very well and honestly, he embraced them wholeheartedly. His eccentricity (and maybe a bit of stress he was trying to hide) was what caused him to dye his hair black and let it grow out. He wondered idly how long it would take before his beach-blonde roots would begin to show again. He figured he could try and sneak some inky black hair dye aboard a ferry, but he was already batting 0 with the prefects, and it probably did not help that he had joined the battle front, either. The organization was supposed to be quiet and underground, but, honestly, nothing was ever really quiet or underground. Or at least, most things were not when it came to “regular” high school students. The dark-haired young man was certainly not a normal teenager, by any means. Aside from the freaky electricity powers, he was also a semi-popular music star, both solo and with the band that he and some friends used to be in. A frown crossed his face at the thought, but, he pushed through the halls, allowing the frown to turn into a scowl. If he was able to put up a good front about being an angsty teenager, he would be able to keep people out his business.

James wandered through the long, stone hallways, trying to find a place to practice. He had been assigned a roommate, and he was not entirely sure his roommate would be too keen on him always playing his guitar or writing songs in the room. Besides, the young man was starting to feel confined and trapped, and he hated it. Sure, he had joined battle front for several reasons, but one of them was certainly not because he wanted to be oppressed and stifled. He wanted to be free and creative, like he had been before his powers had ever come into the picture. The family in Nashville that had taken him in were also artistic types; they were pretty much free spirits and allowed him to do what he wanted, when he felt like it. Of course, he was always considerate of others because the values of his family of origin had stuck with him for better or for worse.

The raven-haired young man reached a set of wooden double doors and tilted his head. He pushed on one of them and, lo and behold, they opened before him to reveal a room full of empty seats and a raised platform in the front. With a grin, he ventured into the room, feeling at home almost instantly. He tightened the strap on his guitar case almost unconsciously before heading up to the stage and making himself comfortable by sitting on the edge. He took his guitar bag from around his body and placed it on the stage, pulling it out and getting comfortable with holding the object again. He had not gotten a chance to practice with it in a few days because he had been adjusting to everything. He started to strum the scale to warm up before shifting into some random strumming. He strummed for a little while, keeping his attention on the guitar, and not his surroundings. More often than not, he got lost in his playing that he almost forgot there were people around. Maybe that was why Aura had been the lead singer of the band; she had more presence and was more interactive with the crowd. A small scowl crossed his face; he would not lie and say he was not a bit bitter about how his best friend had left. He turned his attention back to his technique, abandoning thoughts of emotions. It was better not to dwell, because he would get really angry if he did. The blue-eyed young man then slipped into a rendition of 'Fat-Bottomed Girls', not really hearing the sound of the auditorium doors slamming shut. He occasionally did glance up from his playing, and it was only after the third time that he noticed a familiar head of blue hair lingering in the room. "Well, howdy there, beautiful. Hope I didn't interrupt you with my performance. I tend to draw people's attention, after all." James then gave her a knowing wink; they had been friends for a long time, so he was sure she knew he was just joking with her. At least, he hoped that she did.

[Aura McKinly]

Aura grumbled to herself as she collected a few things in her dorm room, her eyes occasionally flashing to the acoustic with a now broken string. She had been waiting three months for her new strings to come in, only really trusting a single manufacturer. It irritated her that they were taking so long, they had never taken that long before. The fact that she was sitting there, with a now broken guitar string only irritated her, especially since she had been working on a cover. Sure, she had her electric guitar but she didn't like using it in a place where she couldn't turn up the volume on the amp. She let out a sigh as she looked at her purple electric guitar, taking a moment to let her mind relax. She could always go to the auditorium, it wasn't like anyone else used it on a regular basis. She didn't even know of any students who were as into music as she was.

She shook her head a bit, slipping her headphones over her head, letting them rest around her neck before collecting the guitar, placing it in her carrying bag. She glanced in the mirror, flipping her hair a bit before checking her clothes, making sure she was at least decent to leave her room. She didn't need to walk out in only her underwear after all. She nodded in content at her tank top and shorts before sitting and slipping on her converse, standing up quickly and bouncing on the balls of her feet a few times before gathering up the guitar, slinging it over her shoulder as she headed out of the dorm. She walked swiftly down the halls, slipping her headphones back up over her head as she walked, silently listening to a few indie songs she had found recently.

She stepped out of the building, glancing up towards the sun with a smile as she let the sun hit her, enjoying it's warmth for a moment before continuing on to the auditorium, singing softly to herself. She shoved the door open the moment she got to it, spinning as she lightly tapped the door, watching as it shut. She smiled a bit to herself before turning around and blinking, a very familiar face catching her eyes. she blinked a few times, slipping off the headphones as she started to slowly approach. James couldn't be there, it couldn't be him. Could it? There was no reason for him to be there, he never showed any signs of powers. She opened her mouth then closed it, listening to his voice as he spoke. It had to be James, no one else would talk like that with her on the island save for maybe Ashton, but Ashton would never be sitting on stage with a guitar singing.

"J-james...?" she stammered out after a few seconds, still in shock that she was seeing him. There. Sitting in front of her on stage. It was just shocking to the young song artist. She shifted a bit, looking at him silently for a moment before speaking again. "Wh-what the hell are you doing here?" she asks, subconsciously bending the light around the scar across her eye. That was the last thing he needed to see, she didn't need him charging off to try to fight a corpse after all.

[James Piper]

Usually, when James was in the swing of playing a song, he really did not pay attention to his surroundings. He often lost himself in the music, which he believed made him a better performing and more focused artist. He also knew that he could not keep looking down at the strings as he played, though, because it would make him seem like too much of a beginner. Granted, there was no one in the auditorium while he was playing, so he really did not have to worry too much about looking incompetent, but still, it was nice to be reassured that, if someone did, he would not look like a complete and total newbie. Or whatever the current term for someone who was new to something was. Honestly, he had not really been one to use any lingo but the slang he was used to, which, much to his annoyance, came from his early childhood. He briefly wondered how they were, or if his siblings missed him, but he cast the thoughts away almost as quickly as he had let them enter his mind. Family he had left behind was no more than a mere memory, as much as he hated to think of it that way. He had long ago shed his old skin and adapted a new identity, not once, but twice. Once after he ran away from his birth home, and after his closest friend had left. His adoptive parents tried to tell him that it was just grief presenting itself in acts of rebellion, like dying his beach blonde hair an inky black and changing his music from a country-pop sound to a rock sound. Of course, he wrote them off as not being able to understand, but he was grateful they did not oppose his choices.

The look on Aura’s face when she first saw James made the dark-haired young man chuckle slightly. Clearly, she was taken aback by his sudden appearance, though he was not really sure why. He had heard something about the numbers of gifted population exploding in the recent months, and he figured it was really only a matter of time before something happened to him. Of course, he had not really been expecting to nearly electrocute everyone in a bar to death while fighting with someone, but, he just rolled with the punches. Sure, he was pretty irritated that he was taken into custody even though no one was hurt, but he just went along with it. After all, what else could he have done? Not even the smartest and most clever PR person could explain what happened at that establishment. That did not mean, however, that he was going down without a fight. No, he was going to fight to the bitter end for his best friend to be free, because, after all, that’s what friends are for. He finished out the song he was playing and grinned slightly, laying his guitar carefully on his lap. “Yes, darlin’, James would be mah name. You act as if I’m not real. Well, beautiful, I am, so get used to it.” he joked with a grin, leaning back slightly.

The young man pulled his guitar strap over his shoulder and hopped off the stage and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. He wanted to confront her about what had happened the day that caused her to “disappear”, but he knew it was too soon to get into grievances. He figured he would let her know how he felt about it at some point, but she asked what he had done to land himself at the school they both found themselves in. He shrugged slightly, leaning his body weight carefully back against the stage as he answered. “I was playin’ a set at a bar,” he started, fiddling gently with the strap that secured the guitar around him. “The mic was bein’ pretty wonky for most of the night, shortin’ out, ya know? That wasn’t the weirdest part, though. The weirdest part was when I was chewin’ a guy out for interruptin’ my set. For some reason, when I started screamin’ at ‘im, the whole place sparked. It was pretty weird.” He sighed a little, rubbing his forehead slightly. He was glad that the set had been at a small bar, and it had not been a concert at a huge stadium. “I’m just glad no one got hurt,” he added, glancing at Aura. “So, how’s life here been treatin’ ya, beautiful?” he asked, tilting his head slightly. James had not seen or heard from Aura in two years, so he wanted to see how she was doing. Of course, he did not expect a happy answer, but, then again, he never really thought on the positive side anyway. Optimism did not fit with his current image of himself and the situation he found himself in.

[Aura McKinly]

Aura blinked a few times at his explanation, her eyes glancing down in thought. He had caused an electrical surge, meaning his powers had to revolve around electricity. But did it involve music too? It was a possibility with the fact he talked about the microphone sparkin. She tilted her head, trying to figure out what exactly he had without directly asking before glancing up, her light, by this point, hiding the scar completely from view. If he had powers how long had he even had them? She had had her's since she was about five, but never used them till recently. Save for her aura vision but that had been with her since birth. She shifted her weight again, deep in thought before realizing he had asked her a question, shaking off the thoughts quickly. They could wait till later.

She looked up and smiled a bit, not really sure how to respond to the question. Things were alright but at the same time things hadn't been fully alright. She had found herself in too many situations that threw her into combat or saw those around her injured, or worse. She decided to lie a bit, not needing him fretting over and trying to go after what who was now long dead. If the young singer knew anything about one of her closest friends it was that he was overprotective. She smiled up at him after a moment of thought and walked over, swinging her guitar off of her back as she easily hopped up onto the stage, her enhanced conditioning making such a movement easier than most would expect from her frame.

"Things have been alright. Too much free time on my hands but nothing I haven't really been able to handle. I do miss home though, horseback riding is something I really would love to do at this point but I can't complain otherwise. I still dance and sing, though I haven't been able to on stage of course. I do mostly covers though, I am just not the songwriting type." She kicked her feet a bit, setting the still bagged electric guitar beside her. Things were at least going to be less lonely as far as she was concerned. With James around she at least had someone to hang out with, to make music with. It was something she had been sorely missing for the past few months. Yes, he was the better guitar player but she knew she'd been working hard to catch up, and she hoped those two years had done just that, but she also just wanted to be around a close friend again.

She closed her eyes with a smile, humming a bit before speaking again. "I'm at the very least, glad to see you again. Maybe this little hell hole will lighten in mood when we start to play together," she stated with a light laugh, half joking half not. Maybe that's what the school needed, a live performance from well trained and gifted musicians.

[James Piper]

James and Aura had known each other for a long time, so he liked to think he was pretty good at reading her. He could tell the small smile she flashed him was more of a grimace than anything. Her response elicited a quirked eyebrow from him. He could tell she was bs’ing him, and it annoyed him a bit, but he gave her enough time to finish talking before he started to. He also watched as she hopped up on the stage, almost effortlessly. This drew a soft chuckle from the dark-haired young man; the young woman had always been agile, but it seemed that she had become more so the longer that he had known her. He was not entirely sure if it was because of her powers, or if it was because of a conscious effort she made to keep herself in shape, but he supposed it did not really matter. He was glad to see her again, at the very least. He hated to admit it, but it had been strange not having her around, at least to talk to. Then again, the band had broken up before she had “disappeared”, and he had started writing his own music and touring not long after his first album dropped, so he figured that he would not have had much time to talk to her, even if she had not been found out. He shrugged slightly, linking his fingers together and placing his linked hands behind his head in a casual manner. Relaxing in such a tense place seemed to be hard for other students, but James found that, as long as he did bother people too much, he was able to relax pretty easily.

“Too much time? I figured you’d be pretty busy in a place like this,” James commented, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. “Some people ‘round these parts are a little off their rockers, if ya know what I mean,” he added, his eyebrows raising slightly as he spoke. He had not run into too many people, but the few that he had bumped into were none too happy, even when he apologized. “I still don’t understand the riding horses thing. I think it’s weird,” he replied, shaking his head a little. He had grown up not too far from a farm, so the smell of animal droppings was permanently etched into his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was ride one of the animals that made his childhood days smelly, even if his family had not kept horses on their property. He nodded a little, chuckling quietly, “Glad you were able to keep your skills up at least.” He scoffed slightly at her mentioning that she was not the songwriting type, “Mm… I was always the brains behind the songwriting, but, let’s face it, they remember you more than me.” He reached over slightly to poke her cheekbone with his index finger, “After all, you have a rather pretty face, so many people would remember you as opposed to me. Though, the hair color certainly helps too. Don’t meet many people with blue hair.”

Aura’s admission made James chuckle and scratch the back of his head a little bit. Honestly, he had been rather ticked at his best friend, but, somehow, she had managed to placate him without even knowing it, like she always did. It also helped that she said that she had missed him. Maybe she does care, he thought to himself, chuckling softly at her words. “Maybe,” he said, removing his hands from the back of his head and picking up his guitar again. He leaned back slightly and started to play Kryptonite. He mouthed the words along with the chords that he played, keeping his ears tuned not only to the guitar but also to Aura, in case she had anything else to tell him. Once he wrapped up playing the song, he glanced up at her from under his inky black bangs. “It’s nice to see you again too, Aura,” he muttered, plucking at some random strings on the guitar while letting the silence lapse between them for a little while. Normally, they were able to bounce of each other like they were both made of rubber, but, for some reason, he found himself unusually quiet around her. It was almost like an awkwardness had built up between them and they were trying to ignore it.

[Aura McKinly]

Aura listened intently as he spoke from her new perch, swinging her feet in beat to a rhythm only she could hear as she took in what he was saying. She couldn't help but giggle lightly at his obvious confusion over her love of horseback riding. She knew not everyone could understand the feeling of freedom she always felt while doing so, it just wasn't something for everyone after all. the young singer nodded in confirmation when it came to songwriting, having always felt he was better at getting feelings to come across on paper while she was better when it came to the performances. She had always felt that's what made them a strong duo in the music industry, especially the times where she got James to actually respond on stage and act a bit more loosely. She tilted her head as he commented on her looks and hair, glad he hadn't caught sight of her scarring. She doubted she would ever return to modeling work with it, though she didn't even want to, planning on going into music instead once she got out of Ashford. "I wouldn't say so much my hair...anyone can dye their hair the same colour mine is naturally after all. I always felt is was more my eyes, it's often you see someone with eyes the shade mine are."

She shifted a bit, nodding at her statement a bit before looking back at James. He hadn't really changed much save for the obvious change in fashion, over the past few years. He still seemed quiet and reserved, not one to speak up in a crowed. She closed her eyes at the maybe, listening for a moment as he started to play, tilting her head as she recognized the song, smirking a bit at it. She hadn't really listened to much rock back home, but since she decided to widen her music tastes a bit after arriving on the island. She had found quite a few artists she ended up liking. She tapped her foot a few times, getting the rhythm down as she waited for the first stanza to pass, her voice suddenly ringing out as she started to sing along to the song. Sure, she had a lighter voice than a male, but she could still match the key, giving it a new sound.

As he finished the song she laughed lightly, falling back a bit and looking up at the ceiling. She smiled and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of his voice as he spoke more than the words. She wished he would use it more, though she knew how little he liked to talk. She sat up again after a moment, finally realizing what exactly he had said before smiling, hopping off the stage and suddenly practically tackling him, something she probably would've done had she not been so shocked to see him earlier. She was careful not to hit the guitar, knowing how much the instrument meant to people in their line of work before hopping lightly away, smiling at him. "Dude, you have nooooo idea how much I missed ya do ya? No one was there to talk to if I had a nightmare or anything. It was.... kind of disheartening to be honest." She glanced down and kicked her feet a bit. "It's hard to get close to someone after... that happened after all. It woulda been easier had you been around. Dealing with that shit ain't easy for a girl to do on her own." She looked up and smiled a bit, this one seeming a bit more pained than her usual smile.

"Just... try not to leave me, okay?"

[James Piper]

James shook his head slightly when Aura giggled at his confusion. Granted, he had a personal bias against horses, so there was really not much room for him to talk. “It’s alright,” he added with a bit of a shrug, “It’s not for everyone. I’m sure it gives you some kind of feeling I’ll never understand.” Something they did have in common though was music, but not necessarily how they expressed it. Aura was an outgoing person, almost made to be a performer. Unfortunately, James was not exactly known for his outgoing attitude or friendliness. Many people saw him in a dark, broody light thanks to his personal style and his music away from the band. Oddly enough, though, that description was pretty accurate for the young singer’s personality. He was rather pessimistic, which made him dark, and he tended to think a lot, so he was broody. He often tried to put his internal emotions into songs, both for himself and for their former band. Of course, the musical accompaniment for the two hypothetical songs would be drastically different, since background music style was an important aspect of both James and the former band’s sound. Regardless, the two of them seemed to work together, in no matter what situation they were in. “Honey, you don’t meet many people with blue hair on the country music scene,” he clarified, rolling his eyes a little bit. “Here though… I’m sure I’d see just about anything,” he continued.

James had not expected Aura to chime in singing with him. He blinked a little bit, continuing with playing and singing the words, but he did raise an eyebrow in her direction. He did not know that she was fond of any acts he was familiar with. He knew that she had always enjoyed pop and country music before. He wondered if the island had been so boring that, in her time there, she broadened her musical horizons. Of course, he was glad that she had; he was never one that discouraged new knowledge, especially when it was related to music. He made a mental note to ask her if anyone else had caught her interest and why she had never relayed this information to him. It was in that moment that he realized that they had been apart when she did this exploration, and he shook his head a little, finishing out the song while glancing at his friend. He was glad to sing with her a little bit again.

The soft ‘thud’ of Aura hitting the ground next to James made the dark-haired musician look over at her with a raised eyebrow. She seemed so content to lay there and just listen to something. He assumed it was the music in her head, though he could not be entirely sure, since she was not tapping or moving any part of her body. Abruptly, she sat up and jumped off the stage. He was about to ask where she was going before she launched herself at him. He shoved his guitar aside (carefully, of course), and opened his arms to catch her with a confused look on his face. He blinked a little at her admission, as if to say no. Honestly, he had thought she had forgotten all about him and just moved on, like she always seemed to do. “Well, I’m not psychic,” he grumbled, shifting slightly. It was a little strange that she was sitting so close to him, and he was not sure if he liked the feeling or not, which made it even more strange. He let out a soft sigh as she looked down at her feet; dammit, it was so hard to be mad at her. “Well, I’m here for you now,” he reassured her, patting her shoulder awkwardly. The pained smile on her face made him shake his head and hug her tightly, mumbling close to her ear, “I’ll try my best, beautiful.”

[Aura McKinly]

Aura sighed a bit as he wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the embrace. She was happy to see him, even if she was hiding a few things from him. She didn't need him fretting over the fact that she had been a part of the tourney. She pulled away, an idea suddenly popping into the young singer's head. She had been working on a new cover, Jin having helped with the translation and the overall lyrics had turned into something she absolutely adored and knew people would enjoy. But would James like it? It felt like a mix of pop and rock to the girl. She glanced over at her guitar bag before hopping to her feet and darting over to it, quickly unzipping it and sitting for a moment, tuning the instrument by ear. She shook her head and cringed a few times as she did so, the perfect pitch she had inherited from her father making it glaringly obvious to the girl when a note was out of tune.

She quickly set the instrument down, motioning for James to wait as she headed back stage. She shuffled things around, her eyes scanning over things. She hadn't been back there in a while and she could see some random people had probably been messing around with things. She smiled a bit a she finally found the amp she had left there, quickly plugging it into an extension cord before pulling it out, struggling a little with the weight since she rarely did any weight training. She smiled a bit as she ran back behind stage, fishing out the cable for her guitar and darting back out, her gaze flashing over to James as she plugged in the instrument.

"I know it's been a while, but I've been doing a few covers myself. This one I had someone help me translate, mostly because I saw a lyric video but wasn't sure how accurate the translation was. You played and sung a song for me, so it's my turn to sing and play for you." She took a moment to finalize the tuning of the instrument, smiling happily as she strung a few warm up chords, nodding in satisfaction. She looked back up at James, a soft smile on her face. "I hope the style isn't that much of a shock for ya. I know you're used to me playing mostly country."

With her last statement she took a breath, letting her lungs fill completely with air before starting her cover of 'Ai no Scenario'. She let her voice project, her guitar work being nearly spot on, only a few times slipping up on the tuning of a note only slightly, accompanied by a wince each time, though her singing never faulted. She did throw something new into the mix though, hopping to her feet smoothly after a few measures of the song, the girl swaying back and forth, soft flashes of light emitting around her a times.

She wanted to show off everything she had learned, that she could be a solid performer still, but at the same time hoped the message behind the song was noticed by James. Sure, she didn't know that he was going to be on the island, but she had planned on debuting it at some point after leaving the island with permission from the creator to try to put out a message to all her old friends. She ended the song, her eyes closing as the last bit of light faded away. She opened them back up after a moment, looking to James expectantly, awaiting criticism. Sure, the song would sound better with a full band, the girl only being able to cover a guitar part on her own, but she still wanted to know if she had been wasting her time on it.

[James Piper]

Even in the face of years of friendship, James still found physical gestures, such as hugs or reassuring pats on the shoulder, difficult. He had been a loner for most of his childhood and, even within the band, he tended to keep to himself. Aura had managed to get through to him more successfully than the other members, but she did not know everything, and it was better that she did not. After all, what kind of rich and famous singer, actress, and model would want to hang out with some backwoods hick? He brushed the thought aside and watched her perk up all of a sudden. He raised a raven-colored eyebrow, watching her bounce around in an excited frenzy. He was tempted to ask why she got so hyper all of sudden, but he remembered that she seemed to always get that way when she had a new idea. Usually, it was for a style of performance; things like different colored lights, a different arrangement of the instruments, a certain way to end the song with a flourish. The dark-haired young man supposed that it was good that she thought of those things, because he certainly did not. The aesthetics were never really important to him, which might explain why his sets were often pretty minimalist and without any kind of grandiosity. Then again, the type of music he played and wrote did not really call for dramatic flair.

James simply watched as Aura busied herself setting up the stage. He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes; she was so particular about having things just so. Or maybe she was just trying to find the plug for the amp. He watched her dart backstage to find the missing piece of the puzzle: the connection cord for her guitar. He idly wondered to himself where a school like this would get one of those, but, deep down, he did not really care. Honestly, he was more interested in getting the hell out then pondering questions he would never really know the answer to. Aura started talking to James and he zoned back into reality, blinking a little to try and keep his focus, both with his eyes and with his brain. He placed his hands out behind him, leaning his weight on them and watching his friend with curious, blue eyes. She said something about the song being translated by someone she knew, which caught his attention. It seemed that she had finally done some branching out. “I’m used to ya playin’ country,” he replied, “But still, change isn’t a bad thing, ya know.” With that, he sat back and listened intently.

Honestly, the style of song Aura had picked was not too bad. Then again, Aura never necessarily had a bad taste in music; just one that James was not always fond of. He blinked a little at the sudden appearance of light flashes. He supposed that she was the one controlling the lights, given that none of the dusty, black tubes that hung from the ceiling seemed to be giving off any light. James had to admit that he was impressed with his friend. She had grown as a performer since they had last interacted, and he was happy for her. It sucked that she had to go to an island miles and miles away from the mainland to do so, though. He chuckled quietly, clapping a bit before a smile eased its way across his lips. “Sounded pretty good,” he commented, “The performance was pretty good too. You were always pretty talented with the aesthetics, though.” He shook his head a bit at the the thought, but there was still a small smile across his face. He tilted his head a bit before asking curiously, “I’m guessin’ those flashes of light were from yer powers, right?” It was really for his own curiosity than for anything else. He was sure that was the case, but assuming had gotten him into trouble without fail, especially when it came to interacting with other people.