[color=#7393B3][i]Stand by.[/i][/color] Was Xavier's answer before he turned his mind momentarily away from Scott as Ryder responded. 

It looked to him as though she had concentrated similarly to the way she had just a moment before. Whether she repeated the action with more radios or did something else, he wasn't to know. Either way, it was not agreeable.

[color=#7393B3]"I acknowledge you have experiences of which I cannot relate and I will not pretend to,"[/color] he responded levelly, [color=#7393B3]"However, I have a great many of my own-[/color] His point was cut off by Ryder's update about the guards. He hoped the "pistols and shotguns" regarding the townspeople was a supposition on her part, even though he expected not.

[color=#7393B3]"Ryder! Stop!"[/color] He reached out for her but wasn't in a position to reach her, nor was he to catch up. [color=#7393B3][i]'[b]Yes[/b] -you can stop Ryder from exacting revenge on Umbra. She's gotten away from me and is headed back.'[/i][/color] Suddenly his eyes widened -then shut in hurried concentration.

Ryder was right about most of the townspeople -yet at least one was already in the area with a little more than a mere flashlight.

[color=#7393B3][i]'Hurry but tread carefully. Someone with a hunting rifle and nightscope just had it trained on you from 100 yards. They'll find they've forgotten how to use it. I'll do what I can with any more I sense, though as you know not every mind is quite so forgetful.'[/i][/color] One with a very specific action in mind was quite a different matter than multiple thinking in only general terms of "get the mutants", and hatred always ran too deep for even Xavier's mental reach.

[color=#0096FF][i]'Literally hunting us, now?'[/i][/color] came Cyclops' vexed thought; more reflexively than as a response.

[color=#7393B3][i]'I believe it was an enhanced variety of net gun, but yes,'[/i][/color] he empathized with his X-Man's consternation, [color=#7393B3][i]'and I cannot reach even Ryder's mind to warn her of the same.'[/i][/color]

Cyclops didn't need to be told twice -- he had already been moving at the first word of "go". 
Where he had walked for his personal moment had been in Umbra's direction, so he was already nearer to Ryder than Xavier, yet the paths weren't the same. He was essentially some distance [i]parallel[/i] to Ryder.

He'd pause every now and again to silence his own movement so he could listen for Ryder's; this wasn't as informative as he would've hoped. Cyclops was also really starting to feel his injuries again. The hurried travel -as hurried as it could safely be in a forest at night- the time it'd been. Jean had given him pain medication when she treated him but he was on the other side of the window.

[list][*]The Good News was: Ryder also had injuries, and though hers were more recent, they hadn't been able to give her pain medication when they'd treated her since she'd been unconscious. He and her were on a level playing field there.
[*]The Bad News was: she was a telekinetic. She could use her powers to "feel" around and tread more confidently than he could.
[/list]


Meanwhile, Xavier knew where his limits lay.
He headed in a direction of his own.