[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XxVuenrl.png[/img][/center] At the top of a hill in the middle of a clearing, the small back-country shelter has a light on. Fourteen men just died because of it. I stare at that lit window, a soft electric glow in the pitch black of the forest, and I feel my hands shaking. I'm partly shaking because my blood is still up, adrenaline shooting through my veins from the fight, and I'm partly shaking because I'm finally starting to feel how goddamn cold it is out here. Going to that cabin will get me somewhere warm...but it also means I'll have to face off with whoever's in there, whoever those soldiers risked coming into my territory to capture. I take a look at the light at the hill, then back into the freezing chill of the woods. [Color=SandyBrown]"Hell with it,"[/color] I mutter to myself before I start trudging towards the light, [color=SandyBrown]"Someone wants to use up all my heat, they're gonna have to fight me for it."[/color] Back-country shelters like this one are made so lost hikers and wayward tourists can have a place to stay if the weather gets too bad. Most of 'em are just a little shed or hut, maybe a cot and a pantry full of canned food. I roam back and forth between a few of them in my territory, and go into town Every once in a while to keep them stocked up- my good deed I do for the privilege of being left alone. I'd be tempted to say whoever's in the cabin was just some camper who got caught out in the snow...at least, if it weren't for the two squads of American soldiers who were staging an assault on it. Slowly approaching the cabin, Claws out, I steel myself. Maybe this doesn't need to get ugly- a quick knock-knock, state your name, they tell me what the hell they're doing in my cabin and why the American military is after them, I send them on their way. Shame it never goes that easy. Carefully, I make my way to the door, and once I'm able to reach the know, I quickly open it and step inside, closing it shut behind me. [Color=SandyBrown]"I know someone's here,"[/color] I say as I move through the front room, the single light coming from a battery-powered lantern hanging from the ceiling. There's a loud, low buzzing as a propane gas heater in the corner blows hot air (or as hot as it can manage) into the room, its coils glowing an angry red. Scattered across the floor there's a pile of blankets. And the air is heavy with the salty smell of sweat, mixed with something else. Chemicals that give off what's supposed to be the smell of... [I]*Sniff*[/i] ...coconuts? [Color=SandyBrown]"Just come on out,"[/color] I say as I approach the smaller back room, little more than a closet with enough room for a person to lay down. [Color=SandyBrown]"No need for things to get ugly."[/color] Whoever's in the cabin with me, there really is nowhere for them to hide... ...except when I step through the door into the back room, it's empty. [Color=SandyBrown]"What the hell...?"[/color] I say, then I hear a [i]creak[/i] as one of the floorboards shifts in the front room behind me. Turning, I step back into the main room...and again, it's empty. Before I can start searching, I hear something knock against the wall of the back room again. How the hell can someone be so damn bad at sneaking, and still get past me? Slowly, I take a step back towards the doorway. [Color=SandyBrown]"I'm not gonna hurt ya,"[/color] I say, watching the thin wall between the two rooms. [Color=SandyBrown]"I just wanna know what's...going..."[/color] I step into the doorway, and out of the corner of my eye, I see a small, skinny figure moving [i]through[/i] the damn wall. [Color=SandyBrown]"...on!"[/color] On instinct, I lunge towards the figure, grabbing it by the throat with one hand, my other hand raised back to plunge my claws into it. [Color=Lavender]"Lemme go!"[/color] she yelps, kicking at me as she tries to break free. It's only once I've got her that I realize the person I'm throttling isn't some spec-ops spook...it's a teenage girl, scared out of her mind. The kid is a freckle-faced brunette, wearing about five or six layers of fashionable 'winter' clothing that [i]might[/i] keep out a chilly breeze. Her cheeks and nose are bright red, eyes bloodshot, a half-frozen drip of snot trailing between one nostril and her upper lip. [Color=Lavender]"I said lemme [i]GO![/i]"[/color] she shouts, and she slips out of my hand like she's not even there. The girl falls to the floor and scurries away from me. [Color=SandyBrown]"Easy, kid, easy!"[/color] I say, stepping back. [color=SandyBrown]"I'm not gonna hurt ya."[/color] [Color=Lavender]"D-don't get any closer,"[/color] she says, putting on a brave face. Frantically patting down the pockets of her heavy coat, she eventually reaches in and pulls out a pocket knife. [Color=Lavender]"I d-don't wanna hurt you, but if you come closer I'll...I'll cut you, I s-swear to God!"[/color] [Color=SandyBrown]"Okay, okay, I surrender,"[/color] I say, putting my hands up to show I'm not a threat. Then I realize my claws are still out, and my arms are caked in gore up to the elbow. I retract my claws back into my hands, and I sit down at the opposite wall. [Color=SandyBrown]"So. I don't wanna hurt you, and you don't wanna hurt me. How about we just talk it out, then?"[/color] The girl doesn't answer. She just keeps the knife pointed at me, trying to keep her hands from shaking. [Color=SandyBrown]"We'll start off easy,"[/color] I say. [Color=SandyBrown]"What's your name?"[/color] No answer. Don't give the enemy any information, right? [Color=SandyBrown]"Those guys out there,"[/color] I say, gesturing out the window. [Color=SandyBrown]"They were coming here after you?"[/color] She hesitates, then nods. [Color=Lavender]"...yeah."[/color] [Color=SandyBrown]"Any idea why?"[/color] The knife in her hand trembles, and she shakes her head. [Color=Lavender]"No,"[/color] is all she says, then a few seconds later, she starts again and can't stop. [Color=Lavender]"A few friends and I, we were j-just coming up h-here to go skiing. We'd rented a c-cabin a few miles from here, over near L-Lake Louise. We were j-just having a party, and th-then we see these..these helicopters f-flying towards us. These s-soldier guys, they started yelling at us, and then th-they started shoving us...and then th-they...they started shooting...and I just...I just ran, and I kept running and I-"[/color] [Color=SandyBrown]"Your friends,"[/color] I stop her before she has a breakdown. [Color=SandyBrown]"are they like you? Can they, y'know, do things?"[/color] She sniffles, finally wipes away the snot drip, and shakes her head. [Color=Lavender]"No. I don't know anyone else who's a..."[/color] [Color=SandyBrown]"A mutant?"[/color] I finish her sentence, then slowly draw and retract the claws in my right hand. [Color=SandyBrown]"Well, you know one now."[/color] Her eyes grow wide, and I can't tell if she's relieved she's found someone else like her, or afraid that she found out she's like me. [Color=Lavender]"The s-soldiers,"[/color] she says, looking past me out the window. [Color=Lavender]"Are...are they-"[/color] [Color=SandyBrown]"Yeah,"[/color] I answer, looking away. [Color=SandyBrown]"I got 'em all. Good chance they've got friends, though, and they'll be on their way before too long."[/color] [Color=Lavender]"...oh,"[/color] she lowers her eyes. [Color=Lavender]"What happens when they come back?"[/color] God damn it. There it is. God [i]damn[/i] it. This isn't your problem, Logan. Those guys weren't after you. You've been down this road before. You know what always happens when you try to play hero. You can just walk on out of here. Disappear into the woods. Let this dumb snot-nosed kid figure her own shit out. You don't have to get involved. There doesn't have to be any more blood. This isn't your fight. .... ....[i]God damn it.[/i] [Color=SandyBrown]"I know a place,"[/color] I say, hating every word coming out of my mouth. [Color=SandyBrown]"It's a long way from here- way back East in New York- but it's a place for people like you...like us. Those assholes from the choppers won't go anywhere near it. I can get you there in a few days."[/color] [Color=Lavender]"New York?!"[/color] she starts. [Color=Lavender]"But my friends are-"[/color] [Color=SandyBrown]"-probably either dead or being questioned in some black site,"[/color] I cut her off. [Color=SandyBrown]"Either way, there's nothing we can do for them."[/color] She nods, and doesn't speak for a few minutes. She just puts on that brave face again, and chokes down the tears. For a long while, the only sounds in the cabin are the buzzing of the heater, and the howling of the killer wind outside. [Color=Lavender]"Kitty,"[/color] she says at long last. [Color=Lavender]"That's my name. Kitty Pryde."[/color] [Color=SandyBrown]"Logan,"[/color] I answer with a nod. [Color=SandyBrown]"Just Logan."[/color]