"Why would your father do anything like this, letting people hold you captive and even helping them out?" As she asked the question Hyacinth moved about. Her hands closed over the extra sleeping bags. These she spread out soft part up, and placed a pillow over. Then came the extra, fluffy, blanket that she kept throwing off. Satisfied that her guest would be comfortable, the young woman turned to her new friend. "You might be more comfortable sleeping here." She motioned to the impromptu sleeping arrangements with a small smile. They would talk about what they would do later, once they were well rested .. She hoped.

"He's not my real father, I just have to call him that because he created me..." He went quiet again, the smile sliding from his face when he remembered the steely, unloving gaze of the man. He shuddered and opened his eyes, looking over to where she was pointing. It was a nice thought, but Noah never slept. He was always sedated to preserve his energy, else he would run himself to death.

"Thank you," he said, curling up on the bed she had arranged for him. It was as hard as the bunk he had slept on for all his life. He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, keeping his mind open and searching the forest. The man he called Father was searching for him, stopping and glancing up suddenly. "Where are you, Noah? I can feel you watching me. I know you can hear me. How dare you disobey your father, your creator!"

Noah pulled away and rolled over, staring into the dark canvas of the tent and listening to the outside world.

What a strange, dreadful, life Noah seemed to have lived. The surface of it was bad enough, but once more things were revealed it would only get worse. Hyacinth sighed, shaking her head as she too lay down. Her mattress was soft, shifting to cradle her body upon air. "Created you?" She didn't know how he'd reacted to her earlier words, or why he was shifting about. Her eyes were on the ceiling of her temporary home, as her mind wandered over different ideas about Noah. Each thought was more impossible then the last.

Day finally came to the sound of many helicopters flying overhead. Noah sat near the tent's opening, hugging his knees and swaying slightly, waiting for the girl to wake up. He could sense the guards now searching the forest some more, questioning any hikers on the guise that Noah was a missing child. Soon they would check the camp site. He glanced at Hyacinth, feeling flattered that she cared for him so much. But he was merely a thing, a weapon to be used. He sighed and crawled from the tent, just in time to see his Father and a few guards questioning some nearby campers. He quickly retreated back into the tent and again looked over at the young woman.

"Father is here," he whispered towards her, hearing them coming closer.

Hyacinth couldn't believe she'd fallen asleep, and so deeply at that. She shook her head and stretched, just as Noah returned to the tent. Now, how to get out of this troublesome situation? The young woman grabbed a few bags quickly. She didn't mind leaving the tent behind, or the food. Noah on the other hand was another matter entirely. With that thought in mind, she rummaged through one bag in particular and began throwing clothing out, and plucked out makeup. She was sure she could use it to help and disguise Noah's features.

"Put the clothes on, and I'll use this to help make you look like someone else. Then we're taking the bags and getting out of here. If they ask, we're going into town to grab some supplies. It'll be fine, promise." She hadn't been part of the drama club for years for nothing. The problem was getting ready in time for their 'performance'.

Noah sighed, unsure if it would work, seeing the campers would have told his Father that they saw her with him last night. He put his clothes on, and had his hair tied back. Just as the guards came outside of her tent. Heart racing he put a beanie on and waited for them to say something.

"Excuse me, I am sorry to bother you, but we are looking for a lost child," he heard his Father speak.

She turned, sending the men a perplexed expression. "A lost kid? Sorry, haven't seen any around." Hyacinth smiled. "Is there a number I can call if I see them?" All reasonable, all expected responses to such a question. She was out camping, and doing any more then that with so little resources was quite beyond her means. Surely the imposing scientist would understand that.

"The other campers told me you were with a strange boy last night. He fits the description," one of the surly guards said. He pulled out a picture of Noah and showed it to Hyacinth. "Are you sure you haven't seen this boy?"

Noah heard his Father move a bit, sensing he was trying to pick up any feeling of his powers. He held onto them tightly, hoping that his Father would give up. "I don't think he would have come here... Not around people..." he heard his Father whisper to one of his guards. The bespectacled man turned to Hyacinth with a strange smile, as though he wasn't used to doing so. "Thank you for your time. Please, if you see this boy, call me..." He held out his business card.

"That's just my cousin, went to pick him up yesterday at my Aunt's place." She made a show of studying the picture anyway, and ended up shaking her head with a sigh. The few minutes passing were enough for the whispered conversation to pass. Once addressed again, Hyacinth nodded seriously. "Of course, I'll keep an eye out. Good luck finding him."

The young woman watched the strangers leave, and peered about as the other campers started going back to their business. Once assured that her actions weren't under any unusual kind of observation, she squatted down and clambered back into her comfortable tent. A grin crossed Hyacinth's features, and a sparkle lit her eyes, as she neared Noah. "See, told you everything would be fine."

Noah was still unsure. His Father wasn't usually like this... Maybe they thought he was dead? He kept quiet, his dark eyes brushing across Hyacinth's happy face. "You are a good liar," he said, rocking as he hugged his knees. The hat he wore was hot and itchy, so he pulled it off, smiling at the staticy feeling he got in his hair as he did so.

"I think they think I am dead... Father seemed very upset."

She wasn't quite sure if Noah's words were a compliment or not .. Under the circumstances, probably so. "Isn't that a good thing, since you were trying to escape?" Odd, so odd. The boy had amazing powers, and frightening. He was the weapon he'd mentioned then, and she could see why the scientist had been so insistent on finding him. What an adventure! It was kind of exciting, despite and probably because it was so dangerous.

"Now what?" The boy continued to rock, listening to the commotion outside. A disguise... He did need one better than that he wore now. Maybe cut his long grey-ish hair and colour it different. But as far as Noah knew, he couldn't change his appearance. His stomach rumbled loudly, making him look down at it. "Hungry."

She smiled. "We get out of here tomorrow, I take you home .... And figure out how to get you an ID card made and boring stuff like that." Hyacinth glanced at the experiment speculatively. She wanted to know more about him, but feared that poking about in his past might bring about disastrous results. Instead of doing that, the young woman stood and stretched, looking at the tent.

Another mattress would have been good, but for tonight it would do. The mention of hunger made her laugh and bend down to rummage in the box again, and this time she came out with bread. Then Hyacinth shifted to the cooler and pulled out mayonnaise and some of that expensive kind of salami. She made a sandwich for herself, then held everything out to Noah with a smile.

Noah looked hard at the strange log-shaped reddish brown meat, sniffing it and pulling a face. He ignored that and took the rest of the bread, eating it quickly and neatly. He stood, crouching slightly. "Show me around," he said, moving from the tent and stretching his legs. He was a lot shorter than most kids his age, but being in the cramped tent still made his legs sore. He focussed his powers on any distant threats, deciding that the guards and his Father were nowhere around. Perhaps they had gone back to the lab to create Number 99?

He waited for his new friend to join him, watching the other people closely.

Hyacinth sighed and shrugged. It seemed like Noah was determined to make things more difficult then they had to be, then again the youth hadn't lived anywhere save in some kind of lab. Curiosity now that he was out of that place was the most natural thing in the world.

She followed him out, green eyes flicking over the other campers for some sign of recognition. Luckily most of them had gone into their tents, or to do whatever campers did. She reached out and grabbed hold of Noah's hand. "Alright come on then." She explained things as they walked past them, pointing out the pool and the park, then the canteen as they walked past. None too far away lay a rental place for kayaks and canoes. Hyacinth was tempted to go in and get something for an hour, but .. Noah probably didn't know how to swim.

Noah listened to the girl speak, glancing at her hand as she held it every now and then. He wasn't used to this sort of kindness and contact, it made him feel hot. He looked over the lake and watched the people float across it on small orange things. He stopped there, enjoying the sight of the large body of water and the way the light reflected off the surface.

"We need to get my hair change to a different colour, perhaps cut it too..." He let go of Hyacinth's hand and moved closer to the water, feeling the cold liquid with his bare feet as he stood on the shore.

It was hard not to see the sense in that, though he looked ... well adorable. "What color would you like?" Cut, where could they go to get that done? Soon it would be best to leave this place, idyllic as this was. There were too many chances that the scientist would come looking for Noah again.

"We can leave tomorrow, like I said earlier I think." It was for the best. Noah would be so much safer in the city, where there were so many people. Hiding in a large crowd like that would be so easy, as long as they were careful.

Noah was silent, listening to the waves lapping at his feet and the people paddling in their kayaks. It brought back a memory, a very faint one. He was on a small wooden boat. Father was there, so was a strange woman Noah dreamt about every now and then. Was it his Mother? He was created, he had no parents like normal humans. Perhaps he just thought her up in a desperate bid to feel loved and to feel normal. He opened his eyes again, unsure if he really did once sit in a boat.

He turned away from the lake and his eyes fell on Hyacinth, who had been watching him with a strange look in her eyes. It was mild curiosity and motherly-like love that made her want to help. He smiled softly, walking back towards her.

"Hey, do you know how to swim?" Her eyes gazed past the youth and at the lake once again. "We could go out in a canoe if you do." She didn't want to risk it if Noah had no idea how to get back to shore on the off chance that the boat capsized. Hyacinth knew she wouldn't be able to swim while carrying her new friend, not without drowning under his weight. She'd never taken any kind of life guarding courses, and a shame that was at the moment.

Noah shook his head, feeling a bit sad. "I rarely left the lab... No water in there to learn how to swim." He gazed back over the lake, wondering just how deep it was. A few children played nearby in the shallows, going out as deep as their waists. That would be about accurate, as Noah was quite small for his age. A passerby had already thought that he was Hyacinth's son or little brother, though he said nothing, not wanting to reveal the full extent of his powers.

"Well I'll have to teach you, when I can." Hyacinth bit her lip at the thought. They were leaving tomorrow, so there certainly wasn't enough time at the moment. Then off to school she would go, though luckily it was her last year. That did bring up a rather thorny problem. How was she ever going to support the two of them? She'd figure it out she supposed.

Shaking her head, she reached out to grasp one of Noah's hands in her own to tug him along behind her. "Come on, I just remembered there's this really cool waterfall this way." The young man had probably never seen such a thing before.

He allowed himself to be pulled along, trying to ignore the many looks that were given by the people they passed by. So many voices... So many thoughts... It was hard to push them out. He had to stabilise soon, else he would turn this peaceful holiday spot into chaos. Then his Father would know where to find him. They followed a river that ran into the lake, through the forest, along a wooden walkway. Finally the sound of water falling heavily into the river sounded and they came to the waterfall.

The air was cool here, as little droplets of water floated through the air and rested on his skin. He stared at the waterfall in awe, never seeing something quite like it before in his life. He could hear the water pounding and it drowned out the thoughts of all the other people. He smiled. "I love it."

She had always liked waterfalls. They were a feat of nature, created not by man but by the power of water and the land itself. They were so awe inspiring, and this one was no different. "So do I. I've come here everyday since I found this place while camping here." It was peaceful, not to mention the fact that few people knew of the falls. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why she'd been compelled to guide her new friend towards them.

"Why ... are they chasing you?" Her words were a whisper upon the breeze. Hyacinth tilted her head to peer at Noah cautiously. She knew there were secrets surrounding him.