With a shake of his head, Fox laughed and left his head out in the wind and the rain for just a few minutes longer. Then he leaned back into the seat again with a goofy grin, and hair messier then it had ever been before. "This is already so much fun!" Fox wriggled and bounced in his seat. And then he saw it. The beginnings of a full blown tornado. He stared. He squirmed. He squealed with delight, as unmanly as that was.

"Oh man! What a rush! That's so awesome. It's nothing like seeing it on tv." The young man leaned towards it. The funnel was like a magnet, his brown eyes kept moving to it. And then there was Ash, right there, always part of the view. Fox couldn't help but look at the man with more then a bit of hero worship.

Ash was maneuvering the vehicle through the soft earth, the wide, padded double tires keeping them from sinking. "Yeah, well it's a lot more dangerous than seeing it on TV, too. Keep your head in now, if it comes down it'll come fast." He didn't finish speaking before the funnel extended and reached the ground, the winds growing swift and hard and the train-like noise everyone always associated with tornadoes barely audible through the nearly soundproofed vehicles walls. It picked up dirt and debris and flung them around, hitting the diamond-forged windows with tiny clinks and clicks.

"Well lookie there, she's a big one!" Ash laughed, using his thumb on a small joystick at the left of his steering wheel. It directed the left camera to follow the whirlwind while the right was focused above to catch the clouds. "You liking it so far?" He looked away from the dangerous twister to look at the expression on Fox's face.

He jumped about an inch from his seat the first time things started hitting the windows. Then Fox settled down, at least long enough to notice the tornado slamming against the ground. It was so awesomely beautiful! Ripping the earth apart where it passed, dragging the clouds down from the sky, the sheer power was more then anything Fox had ever seen. Usually when things like this hit, he was huddle in a basement underground, playing on his DS and just wishing the storm was over, so he could eat real food again instead of canned stuff.

There was awe, and wonder, upon the young man's freckled face. Then he grinned, and nodded. "Liking it? I love it!" And part of that was the excitement of having jumped into a car with a complete stranger. For all he knew, Ash could have been, could still be, some kind of wacko that the police were after. But he didn't think so. All the satellite imaging and stuff would be way too easy to track for that. Unless he was royally smart ... Which Ash seemed to be.

Ash laughed, shaking his head. "Glad you like it! I'm getting closer now, the car will start to shake. Don't panic, I've got a serious load of metal keeping us grounded and this is just a baby for now. We're going into the eye." He reached up and opened the hatch at the top of the vehicle, and the noise got a bit louder, but not by much. "There's a dome up on the top, stand between the seats and you can take a full look around. When we're in the eye, look up. You'll see nothing but blue sky."

Because in the eye of the storm, there was no cloud cover. It was completely clear, like an eerie, almost otherworldly sight. He turned again and started toward the twister as it made its way over the street and to another corn field.

The eye of the storm. He'd heard about it, but never had he thought to see it for himself. Laughing, he waited, and waited. Gusts of wind buffeted the truck, it shuddered and quaked, but it didn't budge an inch. Instead, the wheels dug into the uneven ground. Fox smiled, and pushed himself up. He popped his head into the bubble, and gasped. Swirls of wind formed a tunnel, and up above it all was clear blue skies. "This is incredible! There's no way I'm going back home after this. Not ever." It wasn't like his parents hadn't been pushing him to leave anyway.

Ash laughed and tried to stay in the eye for as long as he could, twisting the wheel this way and that to follow the unpredictable movements of the funnel. He positioned the right camera straight up to catch the blue skies of the eye until it began to fog over, and they were left as Ash began to slow. He normally narrated for the dash cam, but knew he'd be hearing himself talking to Fox and not detailing a single thing. But he didn't mind---he didn't need that for this one. He must have helped Fox figure out what to do with his life. That was a wonderful thing, in itself.

"Glad you like it so much!" Ash laughed as he patted Fox's leg. "C'mon down, we're just doing some round shots now." He turned so Fox would get the full view on his side.

Groaning a bit, Fox slipped down from the bubble. "Do we really have to stop?" Of course he knew they did, but even so ... It had to be asked. The blond man shook his head, and stared out the window again. There was a goofy grin on his face, and a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Hey, what would it take for you to take on someone as an assistant or something like that?" With hope on his face, Fox twisted to stare at Ash. Surely this really awesome and cool guy would give him the answer he wanted. Ash hadn't disappointed yet, so Fox crossed his fingers and crossed his toes (mentally of course) while he waited. His attention was only half on the tornado now.

The tornado changed directions very suddenly, as they were wont to do, and started swirling back in front of them, returning toward the road. Ash stopped following it, looking back behind him to make sure the footage was being saved. He could definitely use that eye footage, and it'd be sought after by movie makers for anything from fantasy to documentary.

Curiously, he looked at Fox. He'd actually been afraid of that, but hadn't thought it through. The kid just looked so in awe of everything it was good to let him see everything as it was outside a bunker. "Uhhh..." He bit his lip, thinking a bit longer than he should have. "Um, well, I don't normally work with other people... Or, I mean, take on an assistant. See I tend to bypass motels and such half the time and just sleep in the back. I live off whatever I find in little gas stations most of the time. I got a good number of enemies, people that get angry for taking their best shots or getting something better than they can. I dunno if you'd want to get into it..." He actually doubted Fox knew half of the other side of the chase. The awful, boring treks, the hope that swelled in the face of a possible storm only to be dashed moments later.

Fox crossed his arms. "Then why did you even ask me to come along in the first place?" The young man squirmed a bit. "I mean, if you avoid people that much ... What's the point of breaking the rule?" The tornado, that beautiful and powerful thing, what would it be like to be swept away like that by something? To haven an adventure a amazing as Dorothy? Fox wanted to know. The world was so wide, and there was so little he'd seen! All he wished for was to see more, and this chance had dropped right into his lap. He wouldn't let it slip through his fingers.

Ash rolled his eyes. "I didn't say I avoid people..." He countered a bit defensively. True he didn't work with people much---or at all, he'd always been a singular, free agent type. He'd worked with someone overseas but regretted that in the end, and now he didn't dwell on that. If anything he worked with others long-distance, but only two people he truly trusted to send him in the right direction. He pressed his head against the wheel in front of him. "Okay, look, how about this... I have to go west to talk to an agent for a movie, how about... How about I give you until I come back down to think about it? Just... think about the bad that can happen, the boring days and nights on the road, and the possibility that you'll see something every so often and get into the thick of it all. Is that okay with you? Just a week at the most." He could sense himself in Fox, that spirit that didn't want to be held back, but he'd only wanted to show him what he could do, not give him a job.

"You didn't need to," said Fox with a hint of annoyance. "It's obvious enough." Even if Ash didn't see it. Fox shrugged and leaned back. He stretched his arms up high, wound his fingers together, and yawned despite the fact that a tornado had just whirled away behind them. A week to consider something? Deep in his gut, Fox already knew his words wouldn't change, no matter how long the wait. So he tilted his head, and smiled a little. "Sure, if you insist. But don't you dare think I'll actually change my mind. " He'd go ahead and sneak into the truck if he had to, somehow.

Ash shrugged and looked out his window again. The whirlwind was disappearing, and now there was only a trail in the air that was being swept away by a stiff breeze. He smiled, watching it go. Here one moment, so able to destroy almost anything in its way, and gone in the next moment, as if it were nothing more than a wisp of sand. Beautiful. "Well, I'm not saying you'll change your mind." He said, starting back toward the road and the gas station. "But most people---and I'm not saying you're most people---decide that, if anything, they'd rather go on their own and make their own way. You might feel cooped up with me, y'know?" He turned right, heading back toward the little gas station.

The gas station was a dreary sight. The town looked oh so dead, too. Fox shook his head, and glanced at the other man. Ash held just as much mystery as the wild weather did. Fox stuck out his tongue absentmindedly, nibbled at it. "Do you even want me to go with you?" That should have been the first question he asked. Fox wriggled and squirmed in his seat, reached out and tapped his hands against the dash.

Ash shrugged shallowly. "Dunno. I mean... I don't... not want you around. Seeing as I barely know you'n all. I just feel like... you're me, when I was young. Younger, actually. So I wanted to show you what you were missing. What you could do. I just don't know if you actually want to follow me specifically, though." He sighed and reached over, rolling the window on his side down. "And there's so much else you need to actually chase... these. And not start smaller. I mean, I started with a crab boat capsize. Then suddenly I was in the thick of things." He chuckled, raising his voice as the wind came in. "Didn't have anyone to teach me. I can do that, I mean, but you have to be absolutely sure. That's why I'm coming back here and not going on after I talk to this guy that wants my footage. I'm giving you a space, around a seven-day space to consider everything."

Wind whipped Fox's hair from his eyes, making him look wild, and mischievous. "That's thoughtful of you." The young man leaned back against the truck's door. He stared at Ash a bit. It would be easy enough to do some research about the storm chaser, to try and find what kind of things he'd captured on film and sold to the media. Perhaps he'd get a little biography too. It would help him make up his mind, and convince his parents that it would be alright , that he could leave and learn from someone with experience. He'd always wanted to leave, but had been held back by so much, including the worry his parents would have if he left all alone, inexperienced of the world. "I want you to teach me, so I'll use the week to work on convincing my parents that I'll be safe enough."

Ash's brows knitted and he looked sideways. How old was the guy beside him? He looked over eighteen. He still lived with his parents? Ash shook his head---he wasn't one to put labels on anyone. Besides, Fox worked at a little gas station. "I dunno how good a teacher I might be..." He admitted with a shrug. "I mean, I've never really trained anyone... or taught anyone... And would your parents really trust someone like me to keep you... y'know, alive? I might be pretty well known but I'm not exactly a good guard." He shrugged, looking out the window and seeing the gas station coming up on their right. "Maybe... I should meet them before I head off? Let them know what their kid's getting into? I still have the rest of the day here and I'm not really heading off anytime soon." He looked at Fox and his wildly blowing hair and laughed a bit.

Fox frowned. The young man crossed his arms and turned to stare. "I'm not a kid. And just because I live with my parents doesn't mean they run my life." There was nothing to run. Fox never had anything exciting to do. He didn't even have any friends. They had all moved away to places that weren't constantly under threat of tornadoes. Not to mention the fact that the places where they'd moved actually had jobs, and people. He wanted that. He wanted that or adventure.

Ash wrinkled his nose. "I ain't saying you're a kid. But you're their kid, no matter how old you are. But I'd still like to meet them. y'know. Just to show them who's spiriting their kid away into unavoidable danger." He yawned a little, feeling suddenly exhausted after the adrenaline finished running its course. Or at least give them a call, I don't even have to be there." After a few moments they arrived at the gas station parking lot. It was empty, and Ash pulled up to the door instead of away from it. "So here we are. What's your decision?" He checked the doors---they were unlocked.

Fox pursed his lips, then grinned. "If you want to meet them so bad, then I don't see why not." His mind was already made up. He knew he wouldn't be changing it anytime soon. Journeying everyday, always seeing something new, well that sounded wonderful to him. It didn't matter if there were long stretches of nothing happening, of what might be seen as boredom. Fox wanted that kind of life, with the highs and lows, the dangers and pitfalls.

Ash nodded curtly. "Well get them over here." He said, opening the door and stepping out to stretch his legs. "I kind of want to meet the parents of the guy I'm probably abducting in a week, whether it's against his will or not." He looked over the hood of the car to the store. Maybe they were already here. He just wanted to let them know who he was, what was going to probably happen, and if they even wanted to keep in touch with their son after he left town.

Fox laughed and jumped out of the car the moment it was still. He pointed to an old van and waved. "My parents are in that thing over there." He took a deep breath. "Hey guys, get out here! There's someone who wants to meet you." The young man shifted excitedly from one foot to the other as his too thin mother and more then average father stepped from their car and walked towards their son.

(They're npc characters, the parents)

Ash stepped forward and around his vehicle, looking from the rail-thin woman to the larger man and nodding to them both, offering a hand. "Hey, nice to meet you two, I'm---"

"Ash Carter." Fox's father said, grasping Ash's hand. "I saw you on that documentary a couple years ago, talking about people that risk their lives to get footage of supercells and fires and the like."

Ash laughed weakly. "Uh, yeah... Yeah---"

"And you're credited in more than a few movies and television shows." Fox's mother said knowingly.

Ash bit his lip. "Um, yeah. Well, your son... Fox... He'd like to do what I do. Thought it'd be best to get... your opinion first?" He looked between them cautiously.