<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/bf/Husk3.jpg)</div><hr/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>  Name:</strong>       Paige Elisabeth Guthrie<br/>  <strong>Title:</strong>          Husk<br/>  <strong>Affiliation:</strong>  Resistance<br/>  <strong>Location:</strong>   Shinto Shrine - Tokyo Burbs<br/>  <strong>Tags:</strong>          Open<br/></span></span><hr/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Paige let out a groan.  Without opening her eyes she could tell that it was night time.  She could feel a cool chill on her skin, though it took a few more seconds for her to decide to rouse herself to complete consciousness.   She knew she was lying on the ground in a cool place, but the bit of moonlight lets the edges in the dark.  She was in a shallow hole in the earth that much was for sure.  She could feel the earthy dampness against the sun darkened flesh of her back and buttocks.  One of her legs was elevated above her body and was resting on some splintered wood.  Yes it was uncomfortable.  Her arms were slightly elevated as well as if she was lying in a large bowl.  The cool air gave her a shiver and goose bumps.<br/><br/>“Yep.  Butt ass-naked. Great.”<br/><br/>Sure enough Paige was still lying in the crater her adamantine form had made after she plummeted from the sky.  Apparently she had landed on some kind of building.  Well through some kind of building really.  It had a wooden floor, the remnants of which her right leg was still propped up on.  The hole in the roof she created was what caused the chill air to wake her.  It wasn’t the first time she was damn glad she had been able to study the super strong metal, probably wouldn’t be the last either. With another groan Paige pulled her leg down and tried to roll onto her side so she could get up.  Her first success was unsuccessful and she flopped back onto her back.  It was hard to get up when you were laying in a hole.<br/><br/><em>‘I’m so glad no one is around to see me lying spread-eagle in a ditch.’</em>The thought made her pause.<em>‘Good Lord, I hope I didn’t hurt anyone.'</em><br/><br/>The urgency of the second thought made her work a little harder and soon her head was poking up out of the ruined floor of what looked to be some kind of a temple or shrine.  Paige’s entrance had done some significant damage to the little building.<br/><br/>“Hello?” She called, before remembering where she was. “And you wonder why they call you Hayseed.” She muttered.<br/><br/>“Konnichiwa?”  She called out this time and waited, her blonde hair scanning around the inside of the building looking for anyone.  With no reply forthcoming she waited only moments more before climbing up into the shrine.  She remembered jumping from the damaged plane with her bag clutched to her, but there was no sign of it inside the dimly lit shrine.<br/><br/>“Darn.” She said with her southern drawl. “Course it couldn’t be that easy.”  She padded her way across what was left of the wooden floor to a set of double doors that were now ajar.  She remembered the attack on her plane and the fall, but she didn’t know how long she had been out and was surprised that no one had come to find her.  Paige pulled one of the doors aside and poked her head around to look outside.  It was pretty, really pretty.  Beautifully manicured trees and landscaped paths surrounded the shrine.  Her rapid decent had apparently damaged only the structure.<br/><br/>“Sorry Buddha…or um whoever.” She said looking back inside and realizing now that there was no statue of a fat guy sitting anywhere.  Must be whoever she was apologizing to. Checking outside again she didn’t see a soul around.  She edged more of her naked body around the edge of the door to get a better look and saw the orange glow of flames around the outer edge of Tokyo.  The beams that carved downtown from the mainland had set some of the outer suburbs aflame.<br/><br/>“Sweet Baby Jesus.” She gasped staring at the sight.<br/><br/>“Check…Check… This Domino...Zebra23niner...check check...”<br/><br/>The sound jolted her away from the sight.  Her communicator!  Forgetting her nudity Paige darted out of the temple and followed the staticy voice.  It sounded near, but she couldn’t place it.<br/><br/>“who are you….Maybe you've heard of me…I was saying DICK!”<br/><br/>She continued to follow the sound until she realized it was coming from above her.  Looking up Paige saw her carry-on bag dangling from the branch of a cherry tree.  It must have snagged on the branch during her fall.  Now that was a stroke of luck she hadn’t been counting on!  Again she was glad no one was around as she climbed up the tree.  Paige was fit and by all accounts an attractive young woman.  When you have to shed your clothing to use your mutation you have to rid yourself  of all sorts of body image issues.  Even so, Paige knew that scaling a tree in the buff couldn’t look all that appealing.  She did so anyway as quickly as possible and was soon out of the tree with her communicator and a set of clothes.<br/><br/>“Thank the Lord for small favors.” She said looking up to the sky.  She flipped open the staticy device.<br/><br/>“Husk…Whisky18Bravo…Come back?”  She said trying to wiggle her way into her skirt and pull a tank over her head at the same time.<br/>