Alan Mason

Today was the day. Started just like any other, but then, why shouldn't it? Al was pretty used to getting up early and heading out on the road, catching a bus or hitching a ride or biking sometimes even. No rental places willing to loan their bikes out beyond town limits though. Which was fair enough, particularly considering where he wanted to go. It being a Thursday, there was some chance people would be heading out that way. It being the start of some strange collusion between certain men and some beasts... He wasn't going to be too hopeful. No one in High River was heading out the same time he was, it seemed, but he followed the better known roads, knowing that if he didn't catch a ride, he'd stand a better chance of getting a roof over his head before night fell if he stayed on well travelled roads.

As he walked, sometimes with his arm out and other times not really minding the wear on his feet, Al couldn't help his thoughts going again and again to the stories that kept popping up around him. Wild animals where they shouldn't be, well, that wasn't anything new. They escaped zoos and some wandered into the urban wilderness more than folks liked. But the number of them, and the variety, that was downright strange, not to mention the apparent reason they were wandering where they shouldn't be. Blue-eyed devils, he'd heard from a few mouths. Unnatural sympathy from others. And the ones who were trying for a laugh called them familiars, like what the witches in the medieval ages had. He'd seen one young girl curve two fingers below her lips and do her best impression of the great and mighty sorcerer, Tim. "Fangs!" He'd almost laughed himself, but who knew if it wasn't the truth?

Honestly, despite having seen the sights with his own eyes, he wasn't sure he could believe the stories. He'd sooner they weren't real than anything, but given the direction he'd picked to get away from it all, Al was more rather than less likely to be coming across a few animals of his own. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered why the hell he hadn't just continued on to Toronto. It was a big city, all urban sprawl and with enough smaller towns around it that the animals might content themselves with the people there instead of braving the 401... He'd just been feeling like he should turn around instead of going forward. All the trouble... But it hadn't been nearly as unstable when he stopped in High River as it was now. So that wasn't exactly a proper excuse. Too late now.

Al was just figuring out that it simply felt better to be heading back, even if it was a sideways sort of back, than it had felt staying where he was or moving on to Toronto when he passed the sign welcoming him to Okotoks. Had to be around noon by then, give or take an hour. His watch battery had run down over the winter and he'd forgotten to replace it. Good thing he wasn't likely to need it where he was heading. He knew it was over four hours he'd been walking though, and no one had felt like stopping for him. So it was going to feel nice to get off his feet a bit, pick up a meal, rest up, visit a bathroom... First restaurant he found, he told himself, or the first sign he could make out.
Tim's it was.

---

Every year Jack forgot how much he hated the drive out to the park. It took about three or four hours, depending on the weather and traffic...but that seemed like forever when it was so nice out and all he wanted to do was be at the park exploring. Digging rocks out of the stream, building a little dam, hunting snakes, or just lying in the sun.

He sighed and kicked a rock. Halfway there. If he was honest it wasn't just the drive that was bugging him. Missing the last few weeks of school, nearly a month, was kind of neat but also kind of not. Now he wouldn't get to see any of his friends until the fall, if then. He was going to miss the track and field day, movie day, and all the other fun end of school stuff they always got to do. It was his favorite part of the school year and he was missing it.

He felt a sudden shifting and wiggling in the pocket of his hoodie and grinned a bit to himself as a small red nose poked out of the hole, just the smallest tip of the nose, twitching and sniffing.

There was a consolation prize, and a pretty decent one at that.

Jack lifted his head from the pitted concrete and looked around. He'd finished his lunch quickly, and Uncle Danny had said he could go stretch his legs in the parking lot, as long as he stayed within sight of the window where his uncle was sitting.

The sky was the sort of vivid blue that promised of summer days, and it was pretty warm for this time of year, although Jack knew there was still bits of snow hiding under gravel piles in the shade. There was a gentle, if chilly, breeze ruffling his hair, and a little buddy hiding from sight in his pocket. It wasn't such a bad day after all.
He heard a scuff behind him, from the direction of the highway and turned around, keeping his eyes down like Uncle Danny had warned him to, and saw a man. Well, a man's boots anyways. Worn and beat up, and standing 20 feet away.

---

Tim's wasn't as popular as he'd been expecting, though that didn't necessarily mean anything, if it wasn't quite lunchtime. There was a time and a place, after all, to inundate Tim Horton's with customers. The schedule liked to persist even when strange things were happening. Well, best time to get out an ordering card was before he was standing at the register, and he had a few choices for lunch besides. Might change things up a bit.

He was paused and swinging his backpack free of his shoulders before he noticed the kid glancing his way, and offered the fellow an absent salute by way of saying hello. He probably didn't notice, staring at the ground like that. Well, that was fine.

Al whistled as he crouched beside the bag, an old Disney tune he couldn't remember the movie for, at least, he thought that might be what it was. Might just have been any old tune. Slinging his braid back over his shoulder out of the way, he started rummaging in the outside pockets for the index cards he used and then flicked through them, soup, sandwich or chili? Now that was an important question. He wasn't sure which he wanted though, maybe the kid knew this place well enough to be able to point out which one was their specialty. Not that Tim's changed much from town to town, but it was worth a shot.

Glancing up, he checked to see if the kid was still there, and changed his whistle to slide up, high pitched, maybe catch his attention that way. He waved him over once he had, and held up his cards questioningly.

---

Jack's head jerked up at the change in tune and he met the man's eyes for a fraction of a second before ducking his head again. The man had waved him over, and Jack knew he wasn't supposed to be rude to his elders...but he also wasn't supposed to approach strangers.

He glanced back towards Uncle Danny at the window, but his Uncle wasn't looking at him, he was talking to an older boy who had sat down in Jack's former seat. Jack looked back at the man, trying to keep his head down this time and moved towards him.

The old man was waving some sort of cards and Jack took another few steps forward to see what was on them.

---

Al blinked as the kid glanced up and showed his eye colour. They were a bit far away for him to be sure, so he figured he'd offer the benefit of the doubt, but he could have sworn he could see the blue from here. Sure and now he was being paranoid. What did he have to be afraid of a bunch of animal friendlies for? None of them knew him.

So when the kid inched closer after inspecting the area, maybe an adult was about somewhere, smart move that. Shouldn't be trusting strangers willy nilly, but Al didn't plan on trying anything. He just wanted help picking a lunch, and maybe a bit of a talk after nearly five hours of quiet. So he stayed crouching, so as to be less intimidating that way, and fanned the cards out, as far from himself as his arm could reach and pointed to each one in turn, raising an eyebrow questioningly while he did. They were all pretty similarly bent and smeared, even when written in pen, though the penmanship was at least as plain as possible, to make reading easier, and mostly the order was the same. Coffee or milk, chocolate glazed donut and ham and cheese sandwich. Or chicken noodle soup. Or beef stew, or chili.

---

Each of the cards seemed to have meals on them. Coffee, donut, sandwich. Jack's mouth pulled up at one corner as he thought. Why didn't the man just ask?

He stood there for a second, considering. Then had a flash of recognition. Oh! He must be deaf! Jack had had a deaf boy in his class the year before, they hadn't been friends or anything, but the whole class had learned a few things to make life a bit easier. Plus it had been kind of fun to have a secret language. The teacher had said it could be a kind of code, and the teacher Jack had had this year must be beating that guy up every night for giving them the idea.

It took another second of concentration, but Jack managed to remember the sign for hungry, and made it as he made a questioning look with his features. The teacher had stressed that facial expression was even more important than the signs you used, sometimes.

He couldn't remember any of the signs for food, and most of the ones he could remember were useless; pen, paper, book, hi, bye, and the alpabet pretty much summed up what he remembered.

---

Al waited, patient, for any hint of understanding or decision being made. He figured it wasn't too difficult a matter to figure out, but it was probably weird to be approached without words being said and have cards waved at you if you didn't know what was going on. He'd seen it before. What he hadn't been expecting was the sudden frown of concentration followed by rudimentary ASL. It made him grin, forgetting all about any worries concerning blue eyes, and he nodded, gesturing with a curled fist as well, that he was. Hungry, that is. Then, setting the cards on the ground a moment, he tried signing slowly. -You know sign language you?- Eyebrows up, question ending on a direct point towards the boy.

---

Jack nodded, pretty sure the man had asked if he knew sign language. He held his hand out and wobbled it back and forth, hoping the hand signal he knew for 'yes and no' would translate.

He pointed to the cards then slowly, and painstakingly, finger spelled -H-a-v-e. y-o-u. t-r-i-e-d. t-h-e. l-a-s-a-n-g-a- He'd had to guess at the spelling of 'lasagna', spelling was never his strong suit and he did much better if he could write a word out, or type it on the computer and have the word processor correct it.

---

Ah, just learning then. Well, in the interest of helping him along, Al figured he wouldn't tell the kid just yet that he could hear him. Might be a little bit of omitting the truth, but hey, it was proper incentive to practice what he knew. He had time to kill, and no need to rush. And conversation was conversation, even if it came along at a slow pace. The kid was trying, and he was pretty well succeeding, had to give him credit. Spelling all that out was hard on untrained muscles, he knew, he'd taught others before.

As soon as he'd deciphered the slow words, his lips pulled down consideringly and he tugged at his beard. He'd forgotten about that promo, hadn't seen a sign in a while or checked the menu. Hadn't figured on it lasting, but maybe it had. His hand came up to deny any attempt to deviate from his usual meal choices, and Al signed back the usual. -L-a-s-a-g-n-a (lasagna) good it?-

---

Jack caught the correct spelling, then nodded in reply before remembering to make a fist and tilt it as if it was nodding. The sign for 'yes'. He caught the sign for lasagna, and clumsily tried to make his hands repeat the gesture. He wasn't sure he'd gotten it quite right, but trying was half the battle - as Uncle Danny always said.

He nodded again, emphatically, then stuck out his belly and rubbed it as though he'd just finished a good meal. The closest he could get to 'yummy', a sign he didn't remember.

Suddenly, he realised he'd been looking at the man's face, making eye contact, and using his features to express what he'd wanted to convey - with the exception of the face he had made while concentrating.

Horrified, he met the man's gaze, then looked away, frantically trying to cover his eyes and knowing it was useless. And now he'd gone and made it worse by trying to hide it. There was no way he could fake that his eyes were naturally that color now.

He felt heat rush to his face as he flushed in a combination of fear, and embarassment. He had half-turned around when he felt the little strong body clamber out of the hoodie pouch and up the front of the sweater. He felt the little warm body nuzzling itself in between the bunched up fabric of the hood and his neck, tiny paws using his neck for balance, and the smallest flicker of a tongue on his earlobe.

No hiding it now, he met the man's eyes again with all the terror he felt rushing through him and preventing him from hearing anything other than the heaving thumping of his heartbeat.

---

With a grin, Al repeated the sign, then nodded firmly when the boy got it right. And couldn't help a small laugh, shaking his hands together just a bit apart, when he substituted what he knew for what he didn't. Well, he could understand that well enough too. Not everyone knew ASL, and really, it was close enough. So he gave the thumbs up and supposed that was what he'd order, since it came so highly reccomended. But even as he was leaning forward to pick his cards up, and trying to remember where he'd stuck his stub of a pencil, the kid's face shifted into something rather less than pleasant.

He found himself losing his humour as the boy's hands rose while he looked away, covering his eyes and then Al's own eyebrows rose. Of course! He'd been staring at it all along, one of those signs the news said to look for. Bright blue eyes... Well hell... He'd just been happy to have someone talking to him. But when he went to catch hold of the kid's shoulder, to try offering at least the reassurance that he wouldn't tell anyone, the other half of the deal made its appearance.

Al squinted to make out a bushy tail and beady little eyes and pointy ears. Was that a red squirrel? Well... best he not set his hand near it maybe. Plenty of national parks had warnings about squirrel bites, seemed strange until you saw the damage. Still, he leaned back on his heels, tugging at his beard when the boy looked back of his own accord. Then, he couldn't help it, he shrugged and set a finger to his lips before pointing at the squirrel and offering the toothy sign for the little animal.

He wasn't accepting it just like that. He couldn't, but he could decide that getting scared of a kid and his squirrel was maybe being a bit irrational. And starting anything that might lead to something worse happening, especially before he got his lasagna, when he hadn't seen the kid do any of the things everyone was getting all worked up about, seemed wrong.

---

Jack nodded slowly, uncertain and not sure if he'd completely understood the man's meaning...but hopeful since the man hadn't immediately recoiled, or shouted - um waved his arms? - for help, he wasn't going to freak out. Maybe he wasn't one of those psychos Jack has seen on the news beating up kids like him.

A tentative smile crossed his lips as the man made a sign that was obviously 'squirrel'. Jack imitated him, then reached up to his shoulder where the only part of his new friend's body that was protruding was the lithe red tail and scritched the little squirrel's head. He hadn't had a chance to name him yet, it had only been two days - and two days filled with terror, uncertainty, anger, and then hope. Too many things going on to give him more than a few waking moments with the little male who had leapt onto his head and then refused to let go.

Jack tucked the squirrel more carefully into the back of the hoodie. Now that he had woken up from his nap he knew the little fellow would be happy to hide underneath the bulge in the hood, his nose hidden by the folds of fabric. He was oddly intelligent for a squirrel...

Meeting the man's eyes again Jack smiled with a bit more certainty. Then motioned to the restaraunt and made the sign for hungry again, before he pointed to his Uncle and the boy at the four-top table. Hoping the man would understand the invitation.

---

He smiled back, hoping he wasn't making a big mistake but figuring that he could live with it if he was. The hesitance in that smile made it all the better seeing it, so maybe he'd leave off worrying for now. Just take a breath and try to relax, for all he suddenly had a million and one questions as to what the heck was going on. But a kid was hardly likely to know any more than he did. Unless this was some mass orchestrated cult or something, and it was all planned... Nah.

He started rummaging in his bag anyhow, thinking that it was about time he got a pencil and his pad of paper out. After all, he kept them for just this sort of occasion. But then the boy seemed to be extending an invitation his way, as he glanced towards a man and young fellow sitting right at the restaurant window. Family? And an open seat, or... Well, he had to go inside anyway, and it'd grow clearer once they got through the door if he was being invited to join them or if the kid was just reminding him that he'd started this whole thing because he was looking for lunch options.

So he grinned a little crookedly back and signed lasagna again, raising an eyebrow and nodding before slipping the index cards into the same pocket he'd pulled them out of and replacing them with the pencil and paper he'd been looking for before he stood up, swung the bag over his shoulder and stuck both items into a pocket. What's your name? I'm A-l.

---

Jack found he was understanding more than he thought he'd remembered. He repeated the sign for lasagna again, then when the other man signed what was obviously a question he caught the sign for name, which was enough to get it. Then the man had spelled out 'A-l', presumably his name. Al.

Jack thought for a second, then decided 'Jack' was a common enough name and, shrugging, spelled out 'J-a-c-k'.

He wasn't quite sure how to get accross that the man in the window was his Uncle, and spelling out whole sentences was a pain. So he just scuffed his feet as they walked across the pavement to the Timmies.

Jack knew there was a pretty good chance his Uncle would be upset about him asking the man to join them, but his Dad had always said that it was important to do the right thing especially when it was hard. In this case, he'd already seen the squirrel and hadn't freaked out, so Jack figured he'd just tell his Uncle nothing had happened and it would be ok. Hopefully.

---

Jack. Nice and simple. And short. He liked names like that. So, nodding, he held the door open for the young man he was going to think of as a friend for now, and moved to stand in line. He nodded when the kid pointed to the table again, making sure he saw the gesture, before heading over there. So it was an invitation, and he hadn't even been looking for one. Suited him fine, he liked company. And who knew, maybe he'd get lucky and they'd be heading his way. Hadn't he seen a well packed truck in the lot? Maybe that was this lot.

He could hope. Although it might not have been the best of ideas, travelling with one of them, provided nothing came of it, and the squirrel didn't bite him, he figured things would be allright. He couldn't keep from glancing over now and again, curious, and thought he caught the men doing the same with him, but a polite nod would have to suffice between them for now.

When it was his turn to order, Al handed over the new slip he'd written out, ordering a milk, 2% please and thank you, and his usual chocolate glazed donut with lasagna as the main course. It came well reccomended, and he was always up for trying anything once, so why not? After paying, and while he waited for his order to come up, he figured maybe it was best if he wrote out something quick to hand over right away. Ease their worries about him knowing the kid had a squirrel in his sweatshirt. So he scribbled a quick note before picking up his tray with a smile of thanks, and as soon as he set it cautiously down, he handed the pad over to the older fellow there. It was a pretty simple message.

Hi, I'm Al, met Jack outside. I won't say anything, just looking for some company. He figured waiting a bit on asking for a ride would make it seem less like blackmail....

*place holder*....

Mellie guided the fully loaded station wagon up the gentle incline and into the parking lot cautiously. She'd never packed her car this thoroughly before and she'd found it had even less manoeuvrability than she could normally expect, which wasn't much to begin with. Add to that the fact that she couldn't use her rear view mirror or side windows and she felt as though she was driving blind.

The little owl peered up at her from the nest she'd created in the hollow underneath the passenger side dashboard. She had been very careful to make sure he was both blocked from view of the window and that nothing would avalanche onto him, even if she had to break very suddenly. It had been a delicate and frustrating activity, made even more so by the insistence the little owl had for her making sure to leave a place where he could perch and look out the window, for once they got onto the highway. Mellie wasn't sure how she'd been so sure that he was insisting. His gently hoots weren't exactly forceful, and yet she couldn't shake the idea that he wanted her to make him a perch so he could watch the world fly past. The sense of satisfaction when she rolled her eyes at her own whim and placed a pillow on top of the pile was more than a little unsettling.

It had taken her hours to pack, and she wasn't sure exactly what use all of this was going to be if she couldn't drive right up to whatever place Landon was going to direct her to. She certainly didn't have a way to move it, and packing it all herself any real distance wasn't likely to end well. She wasn't out of shape, really, but she wasn't fighting fit either. Hauling everything out to the car had taken judicious use of a dolly she'd found tucked under the stairs in her basement and she'd made sure to pack the unwieldy device just in case.

She wheeled the wagon to a stop in a parking spot far from the entrance to the super mart. She didn't think she'd forgotten anything, but it wouldn't hurt to pick up a few, small, extras; drink powder, feminine supplies, biodegradable shampoo and conditioner, that sort of thing - the little extravagances that could make camping less of a trial. From what Landon had said she was pretty sure she'd be camping, but not positive. Maybe they would drive out to a seedy motel, or a cabin near one of the many lakes that peppered the country here.

She parked the car, opened the door, and stood leaning on it as she looked around. She hadn't had anything worth strapping to the roof, but she had brought ropes and bungee cords in case she found a great deal on a canoe or something. She wasn't holding her breath for it, but it was better to be prepared.

It seemed she'd beaten Landon here, although how that was possible she'd never know. She left the door open and sat back down in the drivers’ seat, leaving her feet on the pavement. Hopefully he'd be here soon, she didn't want to drive in the mountains while it was dark and at 2 pm they were getting close if she had any real distance to travel once she left Calgary. It had been a fair drive already from Lethbridge, but she'd been prepared for that part of the drive. She checked her watch, Landon had agreed to meet her here at 2pm today...hopefully he wasn't running too late.

Nick

Smoke filled the air...



It was about an hour, give or take ten minutes, until Nick started his shift at his newest job: guest service management at a local McDonald's. In addition to overseeing the service crew, he also dealt with all the fuck-up orders and douchebags that insisted their food was wrong when it wasn't. This go around, Nick had a lot of just plain annoying shit to deal with, and moreover annoying people. If it wasn't the customers, it was the ingrates for employees that worked evening shifts: teenagers. With that in mind, Nick did what Nick does best... get high. Really high. So high that when Pink, his companion, shared his feelings with him, Nick was just inebriated enough to have a full-term conversation with her.

As a matter of fact, it was this capability that led Nick to where he was now. It was only a few days prior that Nick was in the states, working as a secretary for a computer repair shop, that he began feeling these weird sensations. Considering the amplitude of drugs Nick done in his lifetime, he took no real notation of it and went on his business smoking pot and answering phones. After his shift, however, Nick had this odd urge to just trek into the woodlands of North Dakota - his previous state of employment - and get some fresh air. It wasn't long before Nick ran into the porcupine he now knows as Pink, but that's a slightly more enthralling story.



It seemed rather simple, but upon his first instance of toking it up with Pink, both went through an incredible journey. They reconnected on an incredible level, sharing basic instincts and essentially rebounding over the inebriated state of the other. Pink was granted another notion, however. Pink, for whatever reason, had the sheer instinct to flee. Not out of fear, but out of necessity. It could not be explained in the same reason a goose could not tell you why it migrates; it just does. Nick felt this desire and did what he did best; looked for somewhere new. After trying several avenues, he found that the best method was simply to let Pink watch him over his shoulder as he went through Google maps, and eventually picked out the place he wanted: Calgary, Alberta.

From there, it was as simple as any other job. Call in with an amazing resume, get the job, move. He started work in two days, and that was that. Since then, Nick is on his second day as management at the specific McDonald's in Calgary, and has outshone most other manager there... while high as fuck. This leads us to where we are now; Nick sitting beside Pink, petting her gently while they both watch the news. Aware of his powers, Nick swirls the air with his finger, creating intricate rings of smoke that he assumes he does out of sheer practice and since he's a badass, 'cause that's what stoners think about smoke tricks. Little does he actually realize he's manipulating the smoke, and it's essentially been that way for every other application of his new found powers.

After his shower and change into clothing, Nick made his way to work, sullenly leaving Pink at home on her favorite channel: National Geo. It was an early morning for him since he came in at the first shift after the nighttime break down, meaning lobby had to be opened up. He had to set up the registers, tell the opening workers where to go, and essentially lead the team for a little while since mornings were always slightly understaffed. What he didn't realize is that this was the true application of his power. Not just his element, not wind, but his leadership. Every person he came in contact with that morning was bonded together just a little bit and as a whole that McDonald's worked slightly more efficient. It wasn't a whole lot, but in combination with his experience it was enough to make him excel further than some more veteran managers on his second day alone.

---

Collab between Prince and Jakhi



Nick was overcome with panic. The car didn't stop at a window. The car didn't make an order. This red sedan that for a brief moment integrated itself with Nick's very subconscious just seemed to keep going. What he felt was an overwhelming relief when the car slowed and stopped at the dumpsters, which to his luck had their own set of close-up cameras to deter vandals and thiefs. As soon as she stepped out of the car alongside her friend to throw something into the dumpster - which was not permitted, although at the moment he didn't care - he fixed his gaze on one of them, and knew. He knew that whoever it was - whoever she was - must have been one of the driving forces as to why Pink led him to this place.

What happened next only cemented in this belief. A large scene outside involving what appeared to be a man defending a wild cat caused a small crowd to form in the parking lot, which Nick followed on screen. He rushed out to the lobby to watch through the large glass windows and the blond girl again, a rabbit, a wildcat, her friend and a McDonald's employee. Instinct drew Nick to look at his nametag which read Nikhil - an action Nick normally would not have had the cunning to commit.

The events that transpired next were mostly a blur. The other two managers, one being his 'trainer' and the other being the present day-shift general manager essentially told him procedure was to stay inside, while the grill manager was taking part in the scene outside. The red sedan he saw on screen quickly pulled a move straight out of an action flick and ultimately led to the get-a-way of the blond, Nikhil and the friend, as well as the rabbit and the wildcat.

The rest of the day was crazy. Local news showed up, the video of them all was given to the news crew in favor for an interview with the 'milkshake man' and Nick was left with little training that day (although he didn't really need it) and a migraine (unknowingly caused by the emotional distress of the crew that was pouring in on him) . Nick pressed on through the day and, with what ingenuity he had, acquired Nikhil's cell number from his employee file.

His shift ended at 2 PM; training days were shorter than regular shifts. As he drove home, he felt immediate relief from the headache that had plagued him while at McDonald's, and with that clarity (and somewhat sobriety, as he hadn't smoked recently) he remembered the number, and surmised he could find the connection between all of this. It crossed his mind that those people might be fugitives. It also went through some level of processing that he had no idea why he was doing what he did. In opposition to the normal rides home that left his car full of smoke and wonder that he could drive at all, this one was full of thought and contemplation.

Once at home and in the comforting pressence of Pink the decision to text Nikhil's number seemed much easier. It was as if the pressence of Pink made it easier for Nick to give in to the somewhat illogical, mostly instinctual method of thinking that he was beginning to develop. It was an oddity considering normally he sacrificed his sound mind through the use of drugs and as of late he had been doing so slightly less as his instincts were doing the real work for him. After loading his bong, it was set. He would text Nikhil and see where it went:



It wasn't from any of the staff he'd have guessed, it was the new guy. The brand new manager on his very first day. Nihkil exhaled loudly and ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it as he thought.

One of the regulars, an older guy who came by about once a week, had seen Nikhil's eyes the day before and handed him an address on a scrap of paper without a word. Outside of work Nikhil had been wearing sunglasses, but there was no way he could get away with that on the job. He'd accidentally made eye contact with the old guy, and something had shifted in the other man's posture. Nikhil had mumbled something about contacts, but he knew it wasn't remotely believable, especially to a guy who'd seen him regularly for the past year and hadn't ever seen him wear anything even remotely 'odd' or 'outside of the norm'.

Nikhil fingered the paper as he considered what to do. He wasn't going back to the McDonalds, no way. But if the guy could get himself to the address...











As insane as it seemed, Nick intended on leaving his job and his current station to essentially trek off into the wilderness to a place Google maps shown as an abandoned campground. Prior to packing his belongings, which were normally never completely unpacked anyway as he moved frequently, he called the McDonald's he worked for to tell them he would be unable to work under the conditions of their store and used the cougar scene as the foundation for his excuse. Considering just how batshit crazy the events of that day were, the General Manager of the store had no qualms with Nick leaving and offered his condolences for the events transpired. Pink, all the while, had been doing nothing more than feeding Nick encouragement through their connection. It may have just been her instinct just as it was Nick's when he was drawn to the blonde girl and Nikhil. Either way, it was essentially set. Nick loaded his 2008 Lincoln with his personal belongings (the only open seat was the passenger's side) and set off to the coordinates via GPS. With that last note, he sent a final text to Nikhil:

5:12 PM: OMW

Tyko Vaara


Alan Mason



Danny flashed a look of irritation at his nephew before gesturing for Al to join them. Jack had just finished explaining that Al didn't know anything, and that it'd all be fine. Yet that bit about not saying anything made Danny think maybe the boy hadn't been as honest about their conversation as he could have been. In any case, the guy seemed ok and hadn't started yelling - signing? - about animals and blue eyes yet. Maybe it'd be ok. Danny knew his brother wouldn't have been quite as understanding, but Danny thought they might as well see how things went. They'd only be here a few more minutes anyways.

~~~

Tyko offered Jack a nod and twitched the small plate before him, holding half of the chocolate glazed donut a little closer, giving the stranger a bit more room to sit and spread out at the table with his larger meal. He then looked back to Jack, and introduced himself, "I'm Tyko." He offered a smile, though it lacked warmth and honesty, too much worry and trepidation seemed to be clouding his mind as he thought about what may happen in the coming days.

~~~

Jack offered a half-hearted grin in return. He wasn't sure what this guy was going through, but judging by the beady eyes and pointed ears Jack had seen ducking below the window in the truck Tyko had come in, they were pretty similar to his own.

"I'm Jack. This is Al." He bobbed his head in Al's direction as they both sat down. The squirrel had make himself comfortable in the pouch of Jack's hood, luckily the sweater was quite a few sizes too big and the hood hid the little red-furred body just fine. Jack could feel the heat of the small creature seeping into his back right between his shoulder blades, it was comforting to know he wasn't alone. Wouldn't be alone again. For a shy and quiet kid that meant a lot.

"So, you're coming with us then?" He made no effort to avert his eyes, if his uncle trusted this guy enough to bring him along he had to know what was going on. At least part of it. Besides, Jack was reasonably sure that if the guy met his eyes they'd be the same ice blue his own had become last week.

~~~
He looked up from the surface of the table to Jack's face and hesitated for a moment, the piercing ice blue irises catching him off guard. When he had looked into the mirror this morning, he noticed his own eyes rather vividly, but hadn't anticipated just how...distinct and eye catching they may be to others. Seeing another who shared the same affliction, he realized the weight of it rapidly. "Uh, yeah." He quickly looked around, suddenly feeling like someone had to have noticed, that someone had to be watching them. The quick shift of his eyes over the interior of the coffee shop revealed nothing blatantly obvious; a pair of paramedics in the far corner, one with a bowl of soup finished, and pushed to the side of the table while he flipped through the paper, while the other was talking quietly, holding the the last two bites of his bagel sandwich in hand. A group of truckers were the loudest party, hard to see past the divider and fake foliage, but easy to hear as someone was animatedly talking about Doug and his flat tires. A pair of high school students sat nearby, headphones on and eyes glued to their laptops as they worked on something. A young woman sat in the eastern corner, dark hair tied back in a pony tail and reading a novel. Nothing stood out.

He looked back to Jack and Danny, making sure his eyes met theirs for a moment, "I have a couple pair of sunglasses in the truck, if you need them Jack." He then lifted the semi-circle of chocolate and took a solid bite out of it. Trying to return to normal, shed the worry. He was going camping. Camping was good. Relaxing.
He tried to smother, bury the knowledge that it wasn't so much of camping, as it was hiding. Hiding from potential violence.
~~~
Danny's lips quirked as he imagined the likely effect of too-large and very dark sunglasses on his diminutive nephew. He shook his head, "I think we'll stop at the gas station on the way out of town and get him a pair he likes. It seems he'll need them, and they may as well fit."

Jack shuffled his feet under the table, refusing to look at either of the older men. He'd never liked sunglasses, and hated the tan they would give him even more. He might be a boy, and an out-doorsey one, but he still didn't want to look dumb.

"Right then." Danny said, looking at Al, "I think we'll be off. We've got a long day ahead of us yet." He nodded and stood, grabbing his tray as he did so. He'd met one or two deaf men in his time, and was pretty sure Al would be able to lip read the meaning at least. A sneaking suspicion told Danny the fellow wasn't deaf though, something in the way he cocked his head. Either way, the well worn cards he'd produced at the counter suggested he wasn't faking it, but chances are he had some hearing at least. There was no way to ask that sort of thing without risking offending someone, so he just left it where it was.

An odd feeling struck him, as he looked down at the older man who had obviously had a bit rougher of a life than some. He stuck out the hand that wasn't holding the tray and said "Look, if you need to get a hold of a friendly face I'll be visiting a bar called the Lucky Strike in Calgary once a month, My buddy Carl works there and you can leave a message with him if you need to get in touch."

He hesitated and debated offering the guy a ride, but the fact is they were already taking plenty of risks and if things kept going the way they were Danny needed to protect the people who were already counting on him more than he needed to collect every stray that wandered by.

~~~
Al nodded as he swallowed the lasagna he'd had in his mouth before shaking the man's hand. He jotted out a quick "Thanks. I'll remember." on his note pad and flashed it at the man and boy with a brief smile. Who knew,maybe he'd see them again in a few months.

~~~
Tyko nodded at the idea of picking up a pair from a gas station, it made sense. He listened to Danny offer Al a way to get in touch with him, and smiled; he was a good man, with a warm, welcoming heart who didn't seem to pass judgement easily. Standing himself, he laid a hand on Al's shoulder lightly, to get his attention before saying, "It was nice to meet you Al, take care of yourself." He smirked when Al held up the note he had just written for Danny, except holding him thumb intentionally over the last two words, a way to save time and paper.

As he moved to the exit, he held the door for his to-be traveling companions, squinting in the brightness of a passing break in the cloud, allowing the harsh light winter sun to beam down. "Danny," he began as he walked them to their truck, "We taking 2A or 549 out?"

~~~
Danny tipped the brim of his hat up and squinted into the bright sun, assessing the time before answering. "I think we'll go the long way. I want to avoid Calgary entirely, so I think highway 7 out to 549. and North from there."

He slung his arm around his nephew as they scuffed their way to the truck. Theirs was obviously loaded for a trip, and Danny was pretty sure the other fully loaded vehicle was the same one Tyko had been driving the previous summer. If that was the case they were going to do ok for the summer, if anyone else showed up - he figured they might get a few visitors - hopefully they'd bring supplies. It was still too early to garden, especially up in the mountains, but they'd need to get seedlings started indoors right when they got up there.
"Alright. Lets get going. Do you need to gas up before we go? I topped up just before we went into Tim's. I think it'll be best if we try and stick together, so if you need to stop we'll grab those glasses for the kid while you're grabbing gas."

~~~
Nodding, he agreed with the idea of keeping a healthy distance from the city. Less traffic, but the roads would theoretically slow them down, but they had the time to kill. At the question, Tyko shook his head twice, "Nah, had time to kill before the bike store opened, so I filled'er near to dribble, and double checked the jerries. Could, in theory, drive straight to Grand Prairie if needs be." He smirked slightly, "But I suppose a couple bags of road food wouldn't go amiss." He paused to twist his torso around, stretching out the muscles in his back in preparation for a long stint of driving. "Lead on, and I'll be on your bumper....unless you push past one-twenty...then well....you have my number, and I'll catch up."

A plaintiff ‘hoot’ from the passenger-side wheel well made Mellie smile softly before she cracked the window. The poor little guy had sat in the car the whole hour Mellie had waited for Landon. It was April in the foothills, so it wasn’t oppressively hot, but for a creature who couldn’t sweat and was used to being out in the weather all the time the car had become a bit too stuffy.

She had run the car a few times, trying to get the air conditioning going, but sitting in a parking lot with your car on could get you some nasty looks nowadays. There was a no-idling bylaw, and it seemed to be enforced more by the angry glares of stay at home moms than by anything else. After the third nasty look from the woman three stalls over Mellie had huffed a sigh and turned off the engine; trying to convey that she was sorry to the little owl. Somehow she was certain he knew what she meant, and maybe even why…but she couldn’t put her finger on how she knew that so certainly.

After a full hour had passed as she read the same paragraph of her book over and over Mellie had given in and called. The first three times there was no answer. The third time an elderly sounding woman had picked up, sounding annoyed and distracted until she realized who it was.

The conversation was brief, but informative. Landon had been forced to stay home after he’d had a fall down their front steps; understandable, but inconvenient to say the least. Luckily the woman had been able to give Mellie the coordinates she needed. Mellie used the free wi-fi offered by the store to find out where the coordinates led to, and was instantly glad she had packed as much equipment as her station wagon could hold. It looked like she’d be camping, serious off-grid camping at that.

After a few minutes of thought, and a moment of thinking about what the next few months would look like to bring herself to the brink of hysteria, she called the principal babbling about her mother having suddenly fallen critically ill and needing an unknown amount of time off immediately. She didn’t give him a chance to say no, switching from pleading for understanding and choking back tears to thanking him profusely without giving him much chance to actually respond.

After the conversation Mellie had shut her phone, shaken herself off, and entered the store to grab the few things she’d planned to pick up. Then she added a large number of seeds and planting tools, even a few pots and bags of organic potting soil. There was simply no telling what they’d need, but if things kept going the way they were headed she wanted to be prepared to spend the summer, or longer, away from grocery stores.

She was actually on her way back to the car when she had a sudden thought, she had no idea who any of the people would be up there, and no idea what they would have brought. Her own supplies could, if managed carefully and used to their fullest, supply her and maybe a few others, if they helped plant and grow…but who knew how prepared they’d be.

It took her a minute or two to stuff the items she’d bought into the car, then she ran back in and filled a Rubbermaid tub full of medical supplies, biodegradable soap and other hygienic products – it wouldn’t’ do any good to wreck the campsite if they had to spend any length of time there – and numerous tubes of polysporin, vitamins, and pain killers. The cashier gave her a strange look as she unloaded the tub onto the counter, and Mellie gave her an embarrassed grin in return, but didn’t even bother to try for a lame explanation.

She took the tub out to the car and, with some careful shifting and rearranging, she managed to squeeze everything into the car. Barely.
Now, two hours later, she thought she was within an hour and a half of the destination point. Mellie took a few deep breaths to stave off the anxiety she could feel threatening to overwhelm her, turned up the radio, and settled down to finish her trip and deal with the rest when she got there.

(2 hours later)

~Bug!~

It was the fourth time she’d ‘heard’ that particular feeling of satisfaction mixed with joy and success and the following impression of a nice juicy bug wriggling down her throat almost didn’t gross her out as much as it had the first few times. Almost.

Mellie swallowed hard and tried to think of other things. Other things that were not food. She leaned back against her car and watched the bobbing brown head of the male owl as he scratched and hunted in the underbrush surrounding what could only loosely be called a parking lot. It seemed there weren’t any other burrowing owls nearby, so the local population of grasshoppers and other bugs was unaware of his hunting tactics.

Oddly, Mellie could feel the edges of his satiation as he considered whether to pounce on one more bug, or whether to find a spot for a nap. It was the oddest sensation, to feel what the owl felt.

The sound of a car in the distance roused her from her contemplation and she lifted her head to see if, this time, the car was coming down the winding road she had followed to this day-use area. It was only a minute before she saw that not only was the vehicle coming this way, but that there was another following not far behind.
The two trucks pulled into the parking lot at the far end from Mellie, clearly leaving space deliberately, and parked side by side.

Maybe these people were here fro the same reasons she was, and maybe they’d know who it was she was supposed to talk to. In early April there wasn’t much interest in hiking in the mountains, there was still snow – covered in dirt and grit – under the trees. She’d been the only person around for the past thirty minutes and she’d been beginning to wonder if she was meant to camp right where she stood.

As she contemplated the vehicles the owl meandered out of the brush and underneath the car. He clearly wanted to be right nearby, but out of view. Considering how small he was his presence made Mellie feel oddly safe and comforted, although she had a hard time imagining what help he’d be if these people did have ideas of violence and harm in their plans.

Spring was coming outside of the chill air in the Okotoks valley, warmer temperatures saw the fields in a growing patchwork of green, as new shoots of life promised great bales of feed for the ranchers. The roads were straight, trying to cling to the grid uniformity that made efficient use of the land, deviating when the river dictated. To the east, the earth rolled in undulating waves, and in a few months, would be primarily a sea of golden wheat studded with squares of green alfalfa, and other grains, a sea that waved hypnotically in the wind. West, the undulated started to buckle as they rolled into the mountains, the land heaving in small mounds, that rose larger as they turned onto Highway 22X, and drove west. Hills became forested, stands of stick thin lodgepole pines shooting straight into the sky, while cattle were let free to roam in the pastures after the winter months, even a herd of bison could be see, the large, lumpy, black-brown beasts grazing on the early spring growth.

The highway soon gave way to the grid, and began to follow the land itself, staying low and between the rising hills, as the mountains grew from small shadows in the distance, to towering peaks of dark, hard stone, capped in jagged white. The forest closed in as the trucks lumbered down the highway, Bragg Creek and the town named after it were skirted for a moment, before the forest opened back slightly as they joined the Trans Canada.

As the Parks Canada truck and the old Jeep merged onto the Number 1, Louhi stirred from her slumber. Dark eyes blinked against the hard light of the sun, breaking through the clouds before her lips curled back as she yawned. She had finally grown somewhat used to this moving metal beast that had, at first, kept her on edge. The first few hours of the trip she found herself jolting awake over sudden shifts in the vehicle, terror gripping her heart until the human laid a gentle caress upon her soft fur. It was alright. He was calm. His presence soothed her nerves considerably, the clanking, the vibration, the raucous droning and the whistling of wind eventually became bearable, and then, soothing white noise to slumber to. She was barely aware of it before the human she had found herself offered her a brown stick. Curiosity piqued, she took the thick, cylindrical object between her paws and smelled it, it smelled good...meaty, with many other things mixed in. She rolled the item between her paws, its main surface was smooth, but wrinkled, not quite dry, but a thin film of oily grease that smeared a little under her touch. The ends weren't smooth, but textured and soft. Moist with a bit more of the oily grease. It smelled like food, and the man seemed to be eating it, while watching her out of the corner of his eye. She nibbled at the object, tasting it, inspecting the texture of it again with her forepaws. It was rather tasty, she decided and settled in against the soft seat to consume the offering. She wasn't sure how he quite knew she was getting hungry, but she was grateful for it.

It wasn't long before they turned south onto high way fourty, in the Kananaskis region, headed down towards the lakes that gave the area its name. In the low mountains of the Rockies they climbed as the mountains rose about them. Few vehicles traveled the road, this early in the year. By now, Tyko had an idea of the region they were headed, and while he had initially thought they might head out further, he remembered that Danny had Jack with him, and likely had to keep within a reasonable range of the teen's father. Besides, if needs must, they could always go deeper. There was plenty of space in these mountains for a person to vanish if they were so inclined.

Following the pickup down to the Kananaskis interlakes parking, he barely noticed the solitary car already there as he thought about all he had packed, and where they were. Hiking into a location would be a hell of a lot more remote, but it also meant he had over packed. Massively. Things could get interesting. As the M-677 pulled to a stop, he left the engine in neutral and set the brakes, letting the engine idle to cool off the block and the turbo, to prevent damaging them through heat-soaking, before he jumped from the cab, followed closely by Louhi, scrambling to find somewhere to relieve herself. Her reaction and the sensation he felt through the link, or bond they shared reminded him of his own needs, and his own problems of soon needing an outhouse. First though, he stretched and looked to Danny, "We're hiking in farther, ain't we?" He was apprehensive to a degree.

Danny hopped out of the cab of the truck, grateful to finally be able to stretch his legs. He'd set the cruise control when he could, but his legs were long and he couldn't stretch properly without interfering with the pedals. He locked his fingers together and stretched, bending slightly to the left and right, then front and back. His ears came out of the thickness you got from a really great stretch as Tyko's last words reached him. Danny blinked owlishly a few times, giving his brain a second to process the words. Long distance driving always put him in a bubble of focus it took a minute to snap out of.

"Yeah." He nodded, then scrubbed at his eyes. "Yeah, well...sort of."

He rested his eyes on the heels of his palms for a second, forcing himself back into thinking mode. He lifted his head then shook it slightly, finally feeling himself re-settle and snap into awareness. He nodded again, then added "We're supposed to be meeting someone here, my partner texted me an hour ago. Anyways, we pick her up, hike in a few kilometers to where I've got the four wheelers stashed, then we can ride most of the way."

He eyed the loads in both trucks, then the concerned look on Tyko's face, and grinned. "It'll take a few trips to get all our stuff up there, but it'll be worth it. It's not like we'll have much else to do." He shrugged, then motioned for Jack to come over. The boy walked, stiffly, around the truck, backpack in tow. "C'mon kiddo. You ready for a hike?"

Jack groaned, but he'd been told to expect a decent walk when they reached their destination. "Yeah, alright." He answered his uncle, bending his head from side to side to try and stretch out the kink he'd gotten from napping the last half hour.

"Alright then." Danny said, "While we wait for our other party we should go through and get out the essentials. We'll only have time for one trip tonight, so only bring what you need for the night. We'll come back for everything else over the next few days." He suited action to words, walking to the back of his truck and lowering the tailgate. "We won't need to worry about anything going missing. It's still too early for most people, and anyone who's out here this time of year will have brought plenty of their own gear. Besides, this place is off the beaten path even in tourist season. It'll be safe to leave the trucks parked here."

He motioned Jack over and the two began pulling things off the truck and making a pile on the blacktop. They had packed most of the things they'd bring tonight closer to the back of the truck, but it was best to put heavy things on top during travel so there was still some things to move.

Suddenly Danny realized Tyko would have no idea where they'd be staying. Chances were the young man had brought his own tent, but those things could be awfully heavy. "Tyko," Danny said, fairly loudly since the other man was shoulders deep in the cab of his truck, "No tents. We've got two cabins. The men'll share one and the women the other. It'll be crowded for a night or two, but it'll work for now. If it ends up crowded we can bring them up tomorrow. We should fit ok for one night."

At the thought of some quads, he relaxed a little. Tyko was used to using his truck as a base camp, and if they were moving farther in, a quad would be most helpful as his gear as not tailored for backpacking or light weight travel. He did have a day bag though. He moved to the back of the old jeep and pulled the mountain bike from the hitch, leaning it against the rig, then he released the jerry-cans and lined them up beside the bicycle. Stooping next to the hitch, he pulled the pin on the welded aluminum contraption, and tugged it free, the metal crunched and ground into the gravel as he settled it down, thankful he made it out of aluminum rather than steel from the sheer weight savings. This finally let him to the tail gate and rear hatch door of the camper shell. It wasn't elegant or well engineered, but it worked for what he had needed. The tinted hatch swung up, and the tail gate dropped, with a slight groan of old metal and clanking of rusted chains before they pulled taunt. Climbing in, over the thin foam mattress that cushioned him from the hard plywood platform when he slept, he pulled a cover and pulled from the front well behind the driver's side, a old nylon day pack, black and green, and looking like it had seen plenty of wear and tear; two of the zipper pulls were replaced with paracord pulls, and the right hand strap had been reinforced after being sandwiched between a pair of thick nylon wedges, a different shade of green, that had yet to fade. As he started sliding back out, he heard Danny comment about no tents, slithering to the ground, he shrugged at the older man, while looking back into the truck for a moment, "Well...that's good. I think I forgot to bring one."

Sliding open the drawer for his clothing, he simply packed an extra pair of socks, and a second heavy sweater, or if he didn't need the stove..."Cabins?"Tyko looked back over his shoulder to Danny and Jack, "Stoves are already up there, right? If I don't have to drag my old Coleman with me tonight, that would be a welcome relief." his fingers reached down to the wooden haft of his axe, "Is there split wood ready? And do you know if the trail is clear?" If he needed to, he could haul his felling axe and bucking saw, they didn't add that much weight, considering their usefulness if there happened to be a tree down on the trails, or if there was a lack of abundant split wood ready for them. Suddenly he cursed himself silently, he'd forgot to brink a load of dry, seasoned firewood with him. It was always like that, you think of something you might need, when you're too far from home to return and fix the situation.

Finally the last thing Danny said filtered through Tyko's mind, "Wait...women? More people are coming?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah. We'll meet my partner up at the cabins. When I left to grab grad Jack she headed for the camp site to get things set up." He grabbed the strap of the smaller backpack he'd packed for Jack and a few solid tugs had it pulled free from whatever had been on top of it. "I got a text after we left Tim's that another woman should be meeting us here. I'm betting that's her." Jerking his chin in the direction of the fully loaded station wagon.

He'd noticed her when they'd pulled in, but Danny thought it'd be a good idea to let her approach on her own time. From the look of things she was alone, and lone women could get antsy when approached by a group of men.

"A guy I worked for once, we kept in touch. His niece headed this way and he sent her friend to us. She's probably in the same situation as you and Jack...but Landon didn't say." Danny knew that was awfully scarce on info, but to be truthful he didn't have much else. Landon had retired years ago, and wasn't the greatest texter, so their conversation had been short and sweet. Besides, Danny had had to relate his half through Jack, since he was driving and his brother would have killed him if he found out Danny had texted while driving with Jack in the car. Bad role-model, unsafe, ect. Danny half grinned to himself just picturing the lecture he'd have gotten.

~~~

Jack had grabbed his pack off the tailgate of the truck and set it down by the rear passenger wheel, out of the way. His uncle was shoulder-deep in the truck bed, fishing for his own pack, and he'd said they weren't going to take any extras tonight...so Jack wandered around the edge of the brush that came right up to the edge of the concrete. kicking stones, scuffing his feet, and generally being glad he wasn't cooped up in the truck's cab anymore.

He felt a now familiar push against his shoulder as the squirrel lept into the nearest tree. Jack heard scratching and scraping as the red blur raced into the canopy. Shortly, the climbing noises were followed by the piercing shrieks of an angry squirrel. The 'Chit-chit-CHIT' kept right on repeating and Jack looked over his shoulder, a bit sheepishly, at his uncle who was glaring at him. Jack lifted one shoulder in a lazy shrug and made a face. It wasn't as though he could control the little guy.

It was another 10 seconds of squirrel-chattering later that TWO red blurs spiraled down from the top branches of a pine three trees over from where the squirrel had entered. Jack moved close enough to the tree and his particular red blur launched back to his shoulder and re-buried himself in the hood of the sweater.

When Jack looked back at his uncle he was just quick enough to catch the end of an obvious eye roll. The larger of the two squirrels had retreated from the humans to a higher branch and was still loudly expressing his displeasure. Before the squirrel in his hoodie could start screaming back Jack made a tactical retreat to the rear of the truck.

Shrugging again, he stood silently, waiting for Danny to decide what would happen next.

~~~

It had taken Mellie a good 10 minutes to screw up her courage enough to start across the expanse of blacktop. Even then, the owl clearly sensed her anxiety and was matching her pace from the relative safety of the sparse underbrush. She could hear the occasional sounds from him, and was becoming more and more certain with every step that he was trying to soothe her.

Even more oddly, it was helping. She felt her shoulders relaxing and her breath coming more smoothly. Although she'd never had any men truly threaten her she still found herself very aware of how isolated they were and that there were two men and a boy, and no one else. The presence of the boy settled her a bit to, he looked like he was young enough to be in one of her classes, and if the men had taken on the care of a boy surely they wouldn't do anything...

This time she forced herself to take a deep breath, settle her shoulders, straighten her back, and walk right up to them.

"Hi. I'm Mellie. I think I've been waiting for you?" She felt her voice raise a bit more than usual on the last word, her anxiety peeking out, but the calm stance of the older man, and the fact that she had now read the 'Canada Parks' decal on the side of the truck, had eased her mind a bit more. She smiled, a little forced, but mostly just from the discomfort of meeting new people without any real introduction. She felt the lest of her anxiety melt away when the boy grinned back, obviously unaware of the squirrel peeking at her from the hood of his sweater.

Now a true grin broke her face, and she sent a welcoming tug towards the owl still hiding in the brush. He hooted softly, and cautiously sidled out from under the bushes. He didn't come more than three feet out, but there was no way the men could have avoided seeing him.

Tyko nodded, five total then. It shouldn't be too bad, plenty of time to get out for a hike on his own if he started to feel clustered, only for a week, he tried to tell himself. The edge of doubt crept into the shadows of his consciousness again before he pushed it aside, pulling a pair of pants from the drawer and rolling them into a more compact bundle before stuffing them into the day pack. He loaded a couple of novels as his listened to Danny, his head nodding as he closed the drawer and drew out the other, each drawer gliding on roller bearings for smooth use. If Danny's partner was there already, that likely meant that the trail ahead would be cleared for them, and at least some wood would be ready. He started filling his pack with dry grains packed in bags that had sealed and then vacuum packed at home, both to lengthen the time it took for the grains to spoil, and also saving packing space inside the drawer.

At the mention of other person in the parking lot, he looked up from his task, and leaned back to look around the truck to see who Danny was mentioning. A mild surprise greeted him when he saw her, and noticed her very dark complexion; to see someone who wasn't white wasn't unusual in Calgary or its environs, considering that the city's population was twenty percent of visible difference, but most of the visible minorities were of Asian or Indian decent. Black men and women being fairly thin on the ground in the western side of the country for reasons that were beyond Tyko's understanding.

As Danny continued about his friend, Tyko tucked a few more items into the pack, testing its ability to close, and then tucking another flashlight into the pack. Loaded up, the pack was solid, but far from being an overbearing burden. A quick roll of his sleeping bag before stuffing it into its sack, then a neat folding of the thermarest before he lashed them to the top and bottom of the day bag with some webbing straps. Scanning the back of the truck, he eyed the fishing rods and decided they could come tomorrow. Impi, his crosscut saw, named after his grandmother, would come along tomorrow as well, same as his axe.

~~~

She felt relieved to be in the green again, the air smelled more pure, and everything she touched felt cleaner. Less like there was a layer of something clinging to it, entrapping it. But those worm things were worth that feeling. The texture soft, slick, and with a resilient squish, almost like great, thin long worms. But so very different. Very uniform, and with such flavour she hadn't experienced since. She would find that food tin again. She would savor those again some day, she would find a way. Better yet! She had her human! Louhi still wasn't sure why being near the man brought such peace, or what had driven her to find that weight in the world that had guided her to him. Most humans had been nuisances, making all kinds of noise when she was just trying to eat from the food tins they had left out for her and her sisters.

As Louhi laid in the under growth of the shrubbery, she stretched out, relishing the movement as she blinked and looked around her. She didn't understand the surges of emotions she felt when he was near though. They were powerful, confusing, and sometimes consuming...something moves from the corner of her vision, he looked back to the rock ground where the humans were, and saw another human approaching her human and their current traveling companions.

~~~

Half into the back of the truck, setting the second jerry can of diesel into the deep reaches of the canopy for safe storage, he suddenly became a someone approaching. It was half knowledge, half unseen vision that he decided to attribute to Louhi. Her awareness was his, and his seemed to be hers in some ways. He still wasn't quite sure how this all worked. retreating from the truck, and stepping to the parking lot, he looked over and saw the woman approaching them. Half-consciously adjusting his shirt where it had caught on the waistband of his pants, he nodded to her as she introduced herself. Extending his right hand, he in turn, introduced himself, "Tyko Vaara. If you've been waiting for someone," his voice carried a hint of his native tongue, a bit hard and flat in areas, but quite clear, "it is likely us." He heard Jack approach from the other truck, followed by the grin breaking across her face, he followed the inclination of her head back to the small little figure that silently seemed to hop from the bushes, the little brown and cream blob watching them all.

He raised an eyebrow and nodded, before looking over tothe bushes where the little raccoon had disappeared into, "Louhi?" She was already on her way before he said her name. Somehow seeming to know it was safe. Was it her intuition, or his feelings falling into her again? In the moment of calm, he was hit with the probe of her curiosity as she popped out of the bushes, her grey, black and brown tinted fur now sporting a few bits of detritus from her lounging, she approached from under the old Jeep, before popping up on her hind feet and looking up at the new person, her head tilting to the right as she looked at the new person.

~~~

THOK!!

The seasoned billet divided in two and tried its best to spring away from the driving wedge-shaped head of the splitting axe. A hand sheathed in a worn and stained leather glove snatched one of the pieces and set it back to the old stump, currently pressed into service as a splitting block. Another blow descended on the block, forming quarters, to which she would divide again for use in the old cast iron wood stove. Pausing for a moment, Allison let the weight of the head drop itself into the stump, sinking the edge into the wood a little over a quarter inch. Pulling the gloves from her calloused hands, her feet carried her to the side bench where the sharpening stones, the bottle of oil and her water waited for her. The water, cool from the chill air felt wonderful as it rushed down her throat, it was hard work chopping wood, doubly so when you happened to be at over two thousand meters of elevation, just below the tree line. The view out from the little covered wood shed was, to most, mind blowing. Surrounded by the ridges and peaks of the Rocky Mountains, to the West lay a ridge that resembled the crenelated wall of a castle, a castle for the giants themselves. North was the gleaming white of the Haig Glacier, whose runoff formed the sheer chasm of Turbine Canyon, just a little north of where the cabin's themselves were built. East, over the tops of the trees she could peek at Black Prince and Hermoine Peak. South lay the little plateau shelf over the valley, between the hard, barren ridges and peaks. Not even a kilometer to the south waited Lawson lake.

She hoped Danny and Jack were alright, that nothing had happened to them on their way here, or the other two who were apparently coming with them. Weaving her fingers together, she twisted her palms out and stretched, knuckles popping in sweet release of tension as her shoulders swung her locked hands upwards and overhead, brushing against the canted, old roof. One final splash of water, a button undone on the long-sleeved checked shirt, a quick readjustment of the elastic that held her hair back from her face, and then the gloves were back on. She wanted to get the cord done and stacked before the others arrived.

The cabins themselves were small and rustic, log construction, with narrow doors and small windows to try an minimize heat loss. The old shingle roofs had long since been replaced with a green painted steel roof when the cabins were restored several years ago. Each had a healthy overhand above the front porch of the cabins, giving a place to stow boots, and other dirty gear, while protecting it from the worst of the elements. The windows had their protective winter shutters removed, and the regular cedar shutters turned out so the windows could be flung open, airing out the cabins that had been holed up for much of the winter.

Well that settled that. The tiny owl that had awkwardly side-hopped out of the bushes was an obvious indication that Landon had been right to send her. Danny just watched as Tyko's raccoon-friend - was it Lois, he wasn't sure - head bobbed at the owl and the woman standing a few feet away. Suddenly feeling a bit awkward and more than a little outnumbered Danny cleared his throat, ran his hand through his hair, and grabbed his pack.

"Alright. Well, if we want to make it to camp with enough time to eat before it gets dark we should get going." His eyes met Mellie's eerily blue ones, even more jarring in her dark face, "You have been waiting for us. Do you have a pack?" She didn't seem to be carrying anything, but from what he could see her car was stuffed to the gills. Hopefully she'd brought a smaller pack that would do for the night. A small part of him hoped she'd say no, just so he had an excuse to go through her car and see what supplies she had brought. He had a hunch it was going to be a long and lonely summer, and he wanted to know what she'd be able to contribute. What people chose to bring on this sort of last minute trip would be a pretty good indicator of their skills as well as their basic personality traits. He shrugged, mentally, he knew there would be time to do it. He just hoped that between the three of them they hadn't duplicated too many things.

"We'll be able to come back for another few loads tomorrow, so if you have a bag with just the necessities..."

~~~

Mellie nodded and replied "Yeah, I've got an overnight bag. It's not a pack though. I didn't know where I'd end up, Landon just sent me coordinates. It's just a gym bag." She shrugged, unsure if Landon and Ruth-Ann had even known exactly where she'd end up.

She felt a small prick on her calf and looked down to see the owl nudging her with his beak. She somehow knew he wanted a better vantage point, so she bent and lifted him to her shoulder. For once in her life she felt none of the need to cradle or protect an animal. It was the strangest feeling, but she just knew he'd be as competent as she was. She felt a quick warning, enough so she could turn her head sideways, before he launched off. He'd managed to barely miss buffeting her ear, but not by much and she heard his low 'hoo' of amusement - sure that's what it was - as he landed on top of the truck.

He boobed his head, then turned it nearly completely sideways, looking at the tall red-haired man and Mellie felt herself say "He wants to know your name." She was sure the look of shock on her own face matched that of the man's when he looked back at her. She turned her head, a little more certain of herself, "Yours too." Meeting the ice-blue eyes of the boy, and the other man.

The pack twisted in the air momentarily as the bulk of its weight lifted from the ground. Tyko jostled it slightly, and then looked back into the truck, thinking and trying to lay order into things. Tonight should be a solid load, and there were a few things he would worry about if he left over night. Since most of this load was compact, some bulky items could be taken this trip. Settling the pack to the tail gate once more, he climbed back into the truck and plucked his best fly rod from the three rod holder that was secrured to the roof of the aluminum shell. Sliding it out, down into the corner of the tailgate and bed, he then reached up once more, rolled a section of old bicycle tire inner tube off of a knob on the padded aluminum brackets, and slid out the hard, black plastic rifle case for the Enfield.

It wasn't then he paused, how would he explain the SKS to Danny? Danny seemed to be quite aware of the danger the three faced, but it wasn't exactly Canadian law to consider firearms as acceptable for self-defense. He couldn't even pass it off as his deer rifle, as the Enfield was, by all respects, a better deer rifle. He thought again for a moment, as the ammunition he had for the Enfield was a couple boxes of heady-loads meant for Elk and Bear. He sighed and shook his head, looking over to Danny, "I brought my Lee-Enfield and SKS by the way. Wasn't sure where I'd be going, or what I'd be doing." He paused for a moment, not giving voice to the sudden rush of fear and worry that kept trying to shake him, "Mind if I bring the Enfield along on this run? Can't say I enjoy the prospect of running into old karhu just waking from her hibernation without it." Absent mindedly as he talked, he reached into one of the pockets of the dark-tan brown canvas jacket, and fished a shred of elf jerky free between his index and middle finger. Crouching slightly, he extended it down to the waiting raccoon who eagerly snatched it from his fingers.

Rolling the shred of dried and spiced meat in her paws while standing upright, Louhi did her usual routine of rolling it between her forepaws, inspecting the food item, giving a quick taste, and then finally settling down on her haunches to nibble at the offering. Tkyo straightened back up and looked to Mellie, realizing she probably would be worried about a man suddenly pulling out a rifle in this situation. "Sorry, karhu is bear, in Soumi, ah...sorry. Finnish," pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts into a somewhat rational order, he finished, "About now, bears are really starting to wake from their hibernation, and they're hungry." He wasn't sure how much she knew of the wildlife, so he defaulted to informative.

Jack felt his eye widen at the idea of meeting a hungry bear just up from hibernation. It took a moment for the memory of his Uncle telling him about bears last summer to penetrate, but when it did he piped up "Yeah, but they'd rather leave us alone. As long as we're careful with the food waste - which Allison definitely will be at camp - we'll be fine. Besides, Uncle 'n me have got bear bells." He bounced up and down a bit jangling the bells attached to his pack wildly before he settled the bag back to the asphalt. "D'you have any extra ones Uncle Danny?" Pretty sure his uncle always had extras in his truck, since part of his job was to hand out the 'Canada Parks' emblazoned bells to as many hikers as possible. Even a government organization wasn't above a bit of easy advertising, the safety was a bonus.

Grinning broadly as his uncle nodded and opened the truck to retrieve a few more bells Danny shifted the angle of his smile to the new woman, Mellie. Her owl on top of the truck was eyeing up the squirrel in Danny's hood, but a round of ear piercing chittering - that had Jack covering his ears - put an end to that, at least temporarily.

~~~

Danny nodded to Tyko as he offered the bear bells to the other man and Mellie, "Yeah, go ahead and bring it. I've got a rifle at camp, but it's not a bad idea to have one with us now. Especially since we might not make it there before dark."

He shouldered his pack, locked the truck, and started across the blacktop to Mellie's vehicle. They would have a few minutes to check through what she'd brought if they needed to, but he had a hunch they would be ready to leave the parkinglot within the next 20 minutes. Good thing too, since they'd be cutting it awfully close to full dark at this point.