Passed on from Veteran to Greenhorn(Hawkgirl)

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Wulfen was sitting down on a roof top. He had just finished fighting off a few thugs. He didn't know what they were doing. But he knew it involved weapons. Both melee and long range...... And for some unknown reason pepper spray.

"Why did it have to be pepper spray?" He asked in a slightly whimperish voice. As he said that he wiped the tears from his eyes. It was his first time being hit by pepper spray. And he hoped it was his only time.

'Buck up lad!' Lupin his mental companion said. 'Your dressed like a wolf to look tough!'

"Look its not like I got the suit knowing that I was gonna get hit with pepper spray." He was able to find his way here due to Lupin. And a strong sense of smell didn't hurt with navigating. He was still having trouble when it came to identifying.

He was just starting to get his vision back. He got up and wandered around abit and tripped over just about everything in his way. So Wulfen decided to sit down before he tripped off the side of the building. He looked down at his feet and blinked. Some more tears fell to the ground. He didn't know if he was crying because of the pepper spray or if it was because of the fact this was the first time he had ever recived a beating like this. Now he wasn't crying loudly..... It was more just silent tears falling. He got up again and then felt his mouth filling with something.

'Oh no....... That better not be blood.' He thought and then he spat some. He was relieved to see that it was mostly spit and only a little bit was blood. Its probably came from one of the times he got hit with the bat.

He kept pacing around trying to regain his balance and still had trouble with his vision. "How long has it been since the pepper spray?" He asked Lupin.

'twenty minutes.'

With that Wulfen grunted with frustration. "ten more minutes until I can see again." He said then he just plopped back down into a seated position and hung his head. He just wanted the pain to stop......... Or at least to have his vision back.

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Hawkgirl is on her last patrol of the day. If it was up to her she'd be home already, but Gotham's crime scene only really starts to get going at night so it's worth staying out a bit late make that much more of a dent in it. With the FBI now gone, the city is starting to regain some of it's normalcy. Yet there are criminals who are trying to take advantage of the temporary chaos while the city is adjusting to the change. And she's doing her best to make them pay dearly for that.

But at the same time, she knows that it's about time for her to make another change of her own. Gotham just isn't her city. She's more accustomed to going wherever she's needed instead of being so confined to one place. While the FBI was in town, she was needed, but now that they're not the resident vigilantes can manage without her. Which is just as well - she's never quite approved of their methods, and they've never quite approved of her. They may be on the same side, but they don't exactly see eye to eye. So once the initial surge of post-FBI petty crime is over she'll be out of here.

Movement on a rooftop ahead catches her eye, and she peers at the unfamiliar costume. She frowns slightly - while new faces to the costumed set aren't uncommon, they're more likely to be criminals than crime-fighters. Though as she comes close enough to start to read his movements she can tell by his stumbling that he can't see at the moment. Which means that, friend or foe, it's highly doubtful she needs to be wary of him at all. Still, she keeps her approach slow enough to observe him for a moment before she reaches him.

And she's surprised by what she's hearing. Though her eyesight is far superior to her hearing, her hearing is far superior to a normal human's. And though the words he says helpfully tell her why he can't see and the tears, what's odd about them is that it sounds like he's he's talking to someone she can't hear. Very odd.

Almost never one for stealth, aside from the fact that she's fast and can come from above, she isn't quiet as she lands on the rooftop. Her wings sound like any other bird's wings - only much, much bigger. Her footsteps mark her as a person instead of a bird, though, as does her voice. "So how did a wolf manage to get pepper sprayed?" she asks. It's conceivable, given the number of winged women there are on the planet, that he'd be able to identify her based on sound alone. She is, after all, famous. Perhaps not quite to the same degree as some of her friends, but she's prominent enough for it to be odd for someone to not recognize her on sight. Then again, without sight and with burning eyes, she wouldn't be surprised if he just wasn't able to connect those pieces at the moment.

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Wulfen heard a wooshing sound and then the sound of something landing shortly followed by a voice. All he could tell at the moment was that it was female. When she asked her question he said in a still somewhat wimperish voice. "I don't know........ I turned and then...... then..... I don't know suddenly I couldn't see and I felt extreme pain in my eyes." He said. He didn't mean to sound like a wimpy coward but it was hard to keep ones composure when your eyes were burning.

"Please I don't want to fight right now. If that's what you want I'm sorry go find someone else." He said. He didn't usually talk to new people like this. But the pepper spray was making it hard for him at the moment. He blinked trying to clear his eyes. He wished he had a bottle of water that would allow him to rinse out his eyes but he wasn't that lucky.

"Who are you anyways?" He finally managed to ask. He was glad to see his vision was clearing. But not nearly as much as he wanted. He then realized that he was still sitting down and he tried to get up. After all it was only respectful to stand when a woman entered the room. Or roof top as the case may be. He groaned as he got up. The dude with the baseball bat hit him a few more times and anit harder then he realized.

His eyes had finally cleared enough for him to finally see shapes again instead of just colors. But he still couldn't identify anyone. He looked at the shape in front of him assuming and hoping that it was whoever was talking to him and not a chimney or a storage area or anything like that.

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Watching him in silence as he speaks, Hawkgirl can't help but think about Thanagar. How different is a human's reaction to the sensation than a Thanagarian's! True, her kind is simply built tougher and can take a lot more punishment before being injured, but as far as she's able to tell the sensation of pain isn't any duller for her. "Physical pain means that your body is damaged," she comments neutrally, "It does not mean that your mind or your spirit has been harmed. Only the body." She's been hurt plenty of times herself, but she's never let a little thing like that get in her way.

And she sounds almost amused when he says he doesn't want to fight. "I don't fight the helpless," she replies. Okay, that's not the nicest thing to say. Though if she had something that would help on her she'd offer it. But she's not Batman, and the odds that she'd ever get hit with something like pepper spray is... not high. And if she did then she'd just power through it, so that's not something she needs to carry with her so that's not something she'd just have on her.

Still, she has to remind herself just how young this guy must be. It's not easy to tell someone's age when they're in costume, but humans are either too aged to fight or hopelessly young in her eyes. Even Batman is still a child to her - such short lifespans. By the time they're gained mental maturity (at least to her standard) they're bodies have already started to fail them.

The answer to his last question is somewhat cryptic. "That depends on who you are," she says. Though perhaps fortunately to him, she makes no move to come any closer. And her bright costume contrasting against her large, gray wings is probably obvious-looking enough, even with highly blurred vision. She's a superhero, not a vigilante. Lurking in the shadows is just not what she 'does'.

And she's quick enough to note the way he groans when he stands, "You're hurt." It's not a question, since it'd be obvious to her even if he hadn't made a sound. She is, at heart, a warrior. And a very skilled one at that. Even though she's not thinking about fighting him at the moment, it's all too easy for her to read someone's body and see the weaknesses. Being able to detect current injuries based on the way someone moves is far from hard for her.

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Wulfen listened to the woman talk. "You think?" He said after she stated that he was hurt. "You really have a amazing bed side manner." He said sarcastically. Then he stopped himself.

"Sorry I'm not normally like this. I'm not a warrior. I'm more of a scholar." He paused and gave a weak laugh. "I'm not used to all this. So this is quite a change of pace for me." He blinked some more and he was finally able to see again.

"Oh wow! I actually know you........ Hawkgirl right?" He said. Then he figured that he should answer her question as to who he was. "I'm Wulfen." He said and then out of pure habit he offered to shake hands with her. "Thanks for not trying to attack me."

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Hawkgirl smirks at his comment about her bedside manner. "I'm not known to kiss owies to make them better," she remarks, as if it's no big deal. Which, for her, it really wouldn't be. It would mostly be an annoyance at not being able to see for awhile - the pain is something she would just shrug off.

Another thing she shrugs off is the apology, which she ignores because she wasn't bothered by his sarcasm anyway. Instead she asks, "If you're not a warrior, what are you doing on a rooftop dressed like a wolf?" Seems like the obvious question, anyway.

She smirks a little when he says her name. Looks like his eyesight is starting to return. She's simply standing there at the edge of the roof with her arms folded, the edge no more than an inch behind her heels. "What gave it away? Was it the wings?" she asks, though when he supplies his own name she pauses for a thoughtful moment. "Hmm, no, don't think I've heard of you," she replies after a moment.

And she's a bit surprised when he offers a hand to shake - there's a reason why that's not normal among heroes. He'll probably get a sense of it when she takes his hand, being sure to be gentle. 'Gentle' meaning 'not gripping tightly enough to damage his hand'. "Pleased to meet you," she says with a smirk, the rest of her expression hidden by her helmet.

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When she asked about why he was dressed like a wolf if he wasn't a warrior he sighed. "Its a long story." He said as he took back his hand shaking slightly. He didn't expect to have his hand gripped like that. "I got to break that habit" He muttered.

When she asked if it was the wings that gave her away he knew it was sarcasm. "No it was the helmet." He replied. He may not have been up to a fight. But some verbal jousting was ok.

"I don't think you would have heard of me" He said and then after a few seconds he said. "I sorta just started. Hence the reason I was just knocked around and pepper sprayed." He said. "As far as I can tell your the first hero I've met. Or if not your the first one I've met in costume." He said grinning slightly. He knew he was getting better since he was grinning.

He felt that he should tell her why he was dressed like a wolf. "I sorta took up this side job to honor my uncle............ He was a law man and he died a few years ago. So I'm carrying on his legacy I guess." Then after thinking about it some he said. "I never really thought about it." He scratched his chin as he said that which was the only part of his body not covered by the suit.

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"That would be wise," Hawkgirl replies to his muttered comment, having no trouble hearing it. Generally speaking, any words spoken clearly anywhere in her vicinity aren't hard for her to hear, no matter how quiet they are. If they're loud enough to make a sound at all, they're loud enough to be heard. Though actually, among the more senior members of the Justice League, she's probably the worst at handshakes. Even Clark and Diana are capable of getting it just right in spite of their massive strength - Hawkgirl's problem is that she's only been on this planet for five years and doesn't have their level of practice. Though it's actually the newer heroes you have to be careful about - some of those are completely new to their strength. Hawkgirl is simply living on a planet where the natives are a lot weaker than her own people.

His crack about her helmet causes her to snap her fingers and say, "My next guess was going to be the mace."

She listens as he explains about the fight he just got the hard end of, and she curiously asks, "If I'm the first that you've met, how do you train?" She has a certain natural desire to see those on her side doing well. It comes from her days back in Thanagar when she used to teach espionage classes for the military - it was always so fulfilling to see young warriors refine their skills. Many more of them live long enough to become old warriors if they're well trained, so it's an important question in her mind.

If her helmet weren't in the way, he might have seen a raised eyebrow at his last comment, "You've never thought about why you fight?" Well, he's definitely quite the young one then! Her next question may seem like a sudden change of topic, though it really isn't. "Who were you talking to when I came?" she asks.

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Wulfen smiled at her comment about the mace. "That was a clue but you never know someone else might have bought a mace at a pawn shop." He said humorously. Then he blinked again. He could see and he wasn't tearing up anymore. But he was still feeling a burning sensation in his eyes. When she asked how he trained he grinned somewhat.

"I took martial arts classes a few years ago. I'm surprised at how much I remember." Then his grin got abit wider. "Plus you'd be surprised at how much you can learn from book and games." He said. Most of his military like moves he had learned from games. And everything else he knows he learned from a book somewhere. But he always did his best to find out more about something before trying it.

Wulfen let loose a sigh and shook his head. "No one has ever asked me. So I guess I didn't think I needed to know." He said soberly. He looked at his feet as he thought back to his uncle. "All I know is that there is something driving me to........ Protect? I guess that's a good word for what I do." Then she asked him about who he was talking to.

"Damn!" He hissed. Then he looked at her and put his hands up in a "why" gesture. "How is it that most of the people I've talked to pick up on that? And why am I acting so stand offish?" He asked. The second question was directed to himself. "I was talking to a friend of mine." He said hoping that would satisfy her. He was afraid that if she knew she wouldn't be so talkative. And also he always had a hard time describing it.

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Again Hawkgirl's helmet spares him from seeing raised eyebrows. No wonder this kid lost... But rather than saying something more harsh, she decides to merely say, "You'd be surprised what you can learn from someone else too. As soon as you can, you should find someone to team up with - wolves may be able to make it on their own, but they do better in packs. Hence the Justice League." She smiles faintly at that, not having to think very hard to remember many moments where she's glad that she wasn't fighting alone.

What he says next causes her to give a long pause before she says, "I fight because there are a lot of people out there who are weak. But they're innocent, and they're free to chase their dreams. They have people that they love. They have little children. And there are other people out there that can and would take all of that away if I didn't stop them. And knowing that adds strength and speed to my every move." There's a brief pause before she adds, "And I have to admit that I enjoy the job." She is known to be rather... aggressive, after all. Truth be told, she's not fighting because she has a good reason to, she's fighting and happens to have a good reason for it.

She smirks somewhat at his reaction to her last question, commenting, "In my case? Eyes of a hawk, ears of an owl." But no, the answer he gives doesn't satisfy her. "And exactly how were you talking to your friend? Unless you've been borrowing tech from Batman, I would have heard them talking back even over a communication device," she points out, though her tone is more curious than accusatory. She simply knows that either he's not giving her the whole story or is lying outright.

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Wulfen nodded as she talked about a wolf in a pack. And raised his eyebrows which were hidden by his mask. "Believe me. If I ever get the chance to join a team, or "pack" I'd jump at the chance." He said. "And I would love to have someone train me..... But like I said. As far as I can tell I haven't met any others like you and me." And what he said was true. He didn't know that he had met the one and only Starfire.

He listened to her reasons for fighting and nodded as she talked. Then gave a belly laugh when she gave her other reason. "I......." He had to think about what he was going to say. He wanted to get his point across. "I respect what you fight for and that's a very good reason to fight..... But I've never thought about my reason." He said gazing at his feet. Then he looked back at her. "Ya see. I don't know alot of people in this city so Its kinda hard for me to think of a true reason. 'Cause this I'm not taking from a book."

Then he sighed when she brought up that she would have heard his friend. He closed his eyes tightly and tapped the side of his head. "He's in here." Then after a few seconds he said. "Its hard to explain." He started to think hard. "He's also the source of my.......... Powers." Then he decided to just tell her before he was asked. "I have a creature. Who exists purely as a mental entity. And is called Lupin. And like I said he gave me my powers." He said. Then he tensed slightly getting ready to defend himself. Or rather run if she felt that he was dangerous and crazy. And also he was preparing to be laughed off or something similar. He was more afraid of that then getting attack.

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Hawkgirl nods to the first part saying simply, "Like I said, when you can. Keep working the night shift, and at the very least Batman will poke his nose into what you're doing. He's a bit picky about who works in 'his' city." Which may very well be a scary thought for Wulfen, if he has any doubts about what the dark knight may think of him, but Hawkgirl is unconcerned about that. If Nightwing is any indication, the man knows how to handle young vigilantes. Even if Batman is rather young himself to be doing anything like that.

"Which is a part of the reason why, as much as myself like the idea of training someone again, I can't offer," she adds, "With the FBI out of the Gotham, the city's need for me has greatly diminished and we've never seen eye to eye on methods. If I don't leave soon, we'll probably end up having another chat about whether or not it's 'okay' for me to be here." A small shake of her head informs him on exactly what she makes of that idea. "But the other reason is because even a city the size of Gotham isn't big enough for me - I'm going stir crazy and need to go stretch my wings," she adds, her eyes naturally drifting over to the western horizon for a moment. When you've been confined to an area you can cross, the long way, in about 2 minutes for this long... she definitely needs to find some fresh scenery to look at.

But her attention shifts back quickly when he talks about why he hasn't thought about his reasons for fighting. She smirks lightly and simply comments, "Welcome to the real world."

Her smile shifts into a more neutral expression with is hard to read with her mask covering her eyes as he explains about the creature in his head. Though when he finishes and gives her that tense look she laughs. But its a very friendly laugh, and she comments, "You're talking to an alien, kid. Who has seen, experienced, and fought with or beside many things stranger than you. Many of them before you were born. If you want to shock me you'll have to try a lot harder."

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Wulfen swallowed abit. "Your not saying that he is gonna get upset about another man dressed like an animal in Gotham?" He asked feeling slightly worried about the prospect of being threatened by Batman. But also trying to be humorous.

He listened to her talk about not being able to train him due to her not needing to be here anymore and needed wider skies. He watched Hawkgirl look off to the horizon. After a few seconds he spoke up. "I know the feeling. I'm from an area that was alot bigger and more open then Gotham. And it took me awhile to get over of confined I felt here." He said in a sober tone. His pain was starting to go away so he was better able to be himself. Though he still felt some pain.

He grinned at her real world comment. "Actually the better choice of words would be 'modern day'" He said grinning. "I always knew that I was no match for any of the other super powered people in this city. Or really any of the veterans in this city. Which is why so far.... I've only fought muggers, bag thieves, and the like." He said. "Honestly I didn't really want to become this." He said pointing at the costume he was wearing. "Maybe I just haven't found out what my reasons for fighting are. How long did it take you to find out yours?" He asked.

"You say you've come across weirder?" He asked after he relaxed abit. Realizing that she wasn't going to attack. "The way I see things this is pretty weird" He said tapping the side of his head. "Its not the fact that I have some other being in me. Its who he sounds like that's weird." Then he realized that she said that she was alien, which didn't surprise him. He had always been open to the idea of other forms of life in the universe. What caught him off guard was that she said that she had been fighting stranger and seeing stranger since before he was born. "You don't look that old." He said without meaning too. Then he looked at her abit harder. Trying to see any signs that what she was saying was true. He couldn't pick any out so he said. "Let me guess. Your kind has a much longer life span. And my kind has one of the shortest?"

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Hawkgirl's smile actually becomes somewhat amused when she notices him being nervous about Batman. "Depends on whether he likes you or not. He's a very 'my way or the highway' kind of guy. Not a problem if you like his way. Personally, I don't think it's right to commit crime when you fight crime - defeats the purpose a bit and sets a bad example. And he compromises with criminals. And while I don't mind taking orders, I object when my junior has to take control of the situation every time," she explains, before smirking at herself and adding, "Sorry, ranting a bit."

She listens as he explains about how he's been working. "It's a start, though if Batman has taught me anything, it's that with the right training and equipment there's few things humans aren't capable of," she comments, showing only a hint of the amount of respect she has for the man, even though she was griping about him only a moment ago. She has to pause for a moment before answering his question, though, as the answer to that question is deeply rooted into why she joined the Thanagarian military, and not why she became a peace officer as she's claimed in her cover story. But after a quick mental edit, she answers, "There was a lot of crime where I grew up - I saw what happens to people who aren't able to protect themselves many times. When I became old enough and strong enough to shield them from that, I knew I could do nothing less. And then when I found myself on this planet, I saw very quickly that they have the same problem." Her expression becomes rather serious as she finds herself reflecting on her past for a moment. How is Hro doing? Is he still alive? Probably - he's a very good warrior. And yet...

But when Wulfen starts talking about how weird he feels, she pulls her thoughts away from that and smirks, "Weird to you, perhaps, but not weird to me." Compared to many of the people she associates with, he's practically normal. And as delicate of a situation as it can be, Hawkgirl's smirk when he starts wondering about her age indicates that it doesn't bother her at all. "You're not far off - I'd say that humans are about average, but Thanagarians do live a lot longer. I figure that I'm about ninety, the way you measure time. Though if I'm lucky, I might make three hundred," she replies. And she's not particularly bothered by the look he gives her, having been told before that she doesn't look a day over thirty. Her people just don't age very fast.

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Wulfen listens to Hawkgirl talk about Batman. He hasn't ever met the man. But from what he has heard he probably doesn't want to get on his bad side. After she talked about not likeing his methods he couldn't help but speak up. "I feel that the ends don't always justify the means. You need," He paused with a slight amused smile. "I'm gonna sound like a samurai here but. You need some form of quote. "honor" and not just run off and do what ever you want and say its the right thing." Then he just kept quiet after that. Feeling that he had said what he wanted to say on the topic.

Wulfen then listened to Hawkgirl talk about Batman proving that humans can do anything with the right tools and the right training. Then about Earth having the same problem as her planet. "My response to both is that Earth history if full of examples of that." Then he paused and thought deeply. "Well I guess I should find my own reason, eh?" If he had any he would have put his hands in his pockets.

After she explained her age and the fact that humans have average life spans he sighed. "Ok so we're not the shortest living race out there." Then he paused. "But we're no where near the strongest I know. We're not the weakest are we?" He didn't know why he was asking her these questions. It was just something about him. She could have said that she was from England and he would be asking questions along these lines. Though not about alien races. "So is three hundred your cut off age? Like one hundred seems to be for some of us. Though that doesn't seem to be the case anymore."