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Post by Cyclops on Mar 7, 2008 1:53:13 GMT -5
Roughly twenty or thirty minutes later after trudging back to the Sky-cycle Cyclops looked to Ember before he donned his helmet. Shutting his eyes and removing his ruby glasses he slid his helmet on and replaced his glasses before opening his eyes.
"Climb on." he said to her as he sat down on the Sky-Cycle and powered it up. He checked his watch and saw the time, it was getting late and there would be hell to be paid if he came back to the mansion with Ember too very late.
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Post by Ember on Mar 7, 2008 2:01:18 GMT -5
The walk wasn't so bad, actually it went by rather quickly for Aideen. Her mind was occupied elsewhere at the moment. The sick feeling hadn't left her stomach and she was glad for once that she didn't eat otherwise she was sure she would have gotten sick and lost any remaining food in her stomach.
Aideen picked up her helmet and slid it on carefully, tucking her thick hair into it as much as she could. She climbed on behind Cyclops, remembering the feeling of the first time they went in the air and securely locked her knees against his legs and held onto his waist tightly. At least this time she was prepared if the take-off was a little rough.
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Post by Cyclops on Mar 7, 2008 2:29:40 GMT -5
Cyclops felt her tighten up her grip on him as he revved up the turbine. He debated as he piloted the Sky-Cycle into the air, whether or not to just return to the mansion and come back out without Ember. 'Maybe it would be better to return without the concern for Aideen, or at first light', he thought. Then it occured to him that she had seen all of this with him and she should be allowed to see this through with him to the end.
He took the 'cycle up and over the trees to the cliff-side where they had been standing. The spotlight beam sliced through the dark and as Cyclops spun the Sky-Cycle around to look at the cliff as they descended. Wolverine's blood painted the nearly sheer wall of rock as they slowly dropped down into the dark chasm. Nearing the bottom Cyclops spun their ride around to see where they would go to next when a startling sight caused his breath to catch in his chest.
A huge scoop had been peeled up from the base of the cliff. The trees rock and land of the ravine floor and a large portion of the cliff wall were simply gone. The smooth glint of something looking like black glass lined the scar on the landscape. "What the hell..!..?..!..." Scott said shocked
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Post by Ember on Mar 7, 2008 12:37:11 GMT -5
Aideen gripped Cyclops tightly as they went up in the air, her still being a bit wary about the bike. The images of all the blood still played out in her mind as well as all the scenarios of what they might see down there. It made her a bit dizzy and sick, whether it was for lack of food or her graphic imagination. She leaned her head against Cyclops back and breathed in deeply trying to calm herself. She knew she would be alright and was just in a bit of a shock having not expected to have come this far and not believing all that had occurred in only two days. Aideen continued breathing in evenly as Cyclops flew down to the cliffs.
It didn't help her stomach at all when she saw all the blood she knew had to be Logan's as they neared the bottom. When Cyclops spun the sky-cycle around, she tightened her grip as to not fall from the sharp turn. Upon hearing Cyclops exclamation of surprise, she couldn't imagine it was anything good. Aideen lifted her head from his back, not knowing what to expect as the giant flakes of snow came down lightly all around them.
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Post by Cyclops on Mar 7, 2008 14:07:42 GMT -5
Keeping his eyes on the blood trail Scott followed it from above. Dropping down and flying through the trees, he followed on, knowing full well where the trail would lead them. Sure enough moments later they found themselves coming up to the edge of the craterous scoop that had been taken from the earth. Cyclops landed the Sky-Cycle, but he kept the spotlight turned on and pointed it out across the missing landscape.
"Have you ever seen anything like that?" Cyclops asked Ember. He knelt down to look more closely at the black glass-like surface of the bizarre looking scar on the land before them.
It had no snow on top of it, save for the few flakes that had just now begun to stick even though it had been snowing on them for nearly an hour now. He removed his glove and held his hand above the inches thick black glass. "Feels kinda warm. I want to take a piece back to Beast." He put his glove back on and looked around for some rock or something to break off a piece of it. He wanted to take a sample back to Hank for testing. It was obviously not a normal or natural occurrence.
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Post by Ember on Mar 7, 2008 14:35:47 GMT -5
Aideen sat on the sky-cycle, dumbfounded by the sight. What on Earth is that thing? She didn't consider herself sheltered in the least bit since growing up in South Boston, it was impossible to remain sheltered, but at that moment she realized how sheltered she was when it comes to the mutant world, it was for the most part the unknown to her other than the stuff she heard on the news about the Brotherhood and all that. There was barely any snow it it, meaning it must have gotten there while they were there since it only started snowing again a little while after they left the mansion. And Cyclops just said that it was still warm.
The trail of Logan's blood that they had been following seemed to end there. But where was Logan's body? Aideen's eyes widened as the lump in her throat swelled. What if Logan's body was crushed underneath?! Her stomach turned at the thought and she grew even more sorrowful as she stared at the black glass object with wide grief-filled eyes. Aideen had not felt so helpless and filled with sorrow ever before. She was so confused and had no idea about anything anymore, the only thing she knew was that Logan was gone, his body most likely trapped under this weird object, and she was useless.
Aideen swallowed hard as she watched Cyclops with her dark broken eyes as she spotted a jagged loose rock not far away, probably apart of the land that had fallen. "The jagged sharp rock over there might work," she pointed quietly not trusting herself to speak more.
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Post by Cyclops on Mar 7, 2008 18:39:43 GMT -5
Looking over to where Ember had indicated Scott saw the rock and picked it up. He hacked at the edge of the glass-like substance with it and was able to chip off a small fragment. It fell into the snow on the outside of the crater and hissed as it sank into it slowly.
Picking it up he realized it was still warm, warm enough to warrant caution in where to store it for the return trip. 'It might be radioactive, could this be from the bombs?' he thought.He walked over to the Sky-Cycle and held up the chunk in front of the spotlight to take a closer look at it.
It looked strange inside with the light behind it. It was almost as if there was some substance inside it that was moving. "This stuff is weird. I thought it might be glass... maybe a blast crater from the bombs I asked Nightcrawler to get rid of. But the thing is -it's not glass- and this area wasn't sandy at all. In other words, nothing to make glass from. But looking at it, well, it almost looks alive inside." Cyclops said as he stood up and looked over at Ember.
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Post by Ember on Mar 7, 2008 19:03:38 GMT -5
Aideen looked at the chip curiously with her large liquid dark eyes. She lifted the shield of her open faced helmet to take a closer look at the moving glass like chip. This was odd in many ways. It looked almost like a very dark lava lamp and the warmth coming from it did not go unnoticed to Aideen, who as usual absorbed heat like a sponge and was able to find it in odd places.
She looked at it closely and then looked back at Cyclops. "There is a lot of heat coming from this small piece," she said quietly as she was more susceptible to the heat than most and felt it very evidently on her face and almost felt the color returning from her skin. This was very unusual for so much heat to be coming from something so small. Everything about this place was just too much almost, so nothing should surprise her.
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Post by Cyclops on Mar 7, 2008 19:28:43 GMT -5
"Well we've lost his trail but we'll check around this crater thing and see if we can pick it back up." Cyclops said as he climbed back on the Sky-Cycle. He slipped the chunk of glass like substance into his jacket pocket and zipped it up. "Keep your eyes peeled because it could be real hard to see his trail if he stopped bleeding." Scott said as he powered up the turbine to lift off and waited for Aideen to climb on again.
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Post by Ember on Mar 7, 2008 19:50:18 GMT -5
Aideen nodded and pushed the face shield back over her face and swung her leg over the seat, securing her knees against Cyclops' thighs and held on to his waist again. She remained quiet, at this point having lost any hope she might have secretly held. Logan's body was probably crushed under that thing and she felt the search was almost in vain, but they had come this far and might as well finish to prove the obvious.
As Cyclops prepared to lift off, Aideen glanced back at the intimidating black glass-like object. The mysteries in this world seemed endless. She had an odd feeling about that thing, and she didn't like the feeling that was filling her gut. She watched it warily, her stomach turning at the thought of Logan being underneath it. Her eyes never left it as she braced herself for takeoff.
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Post by Cyclops on Mar 7, 2008 20:17:00 GMT -5
Circling the craterous looking scoop mark Cyclops kept the weirdly warm living looking glass just to his left as the sky-cycle flew smoothly around it at about ten feet off the deck. They saw no further trace of Wolverine, no blood, no footprints, not a trace. The snowfall had been steady for over two hours when he completed the loop around the mark in the earth.
Without a word he throttled open the elevation and they lifted higher and higher. He modulated the pedals and turned back toward the school throttling open the thrust and nosing home to the mansion. He turned off the spotlight so that they would not see the blood on their way back. He himself had seen enough, but he could only hope it hadn't been too much for the young Paragon Leader.
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Post by Ember on Mar 7, 2008 20:38:04 GMT -5
Not being surprised at all by the fact that there was no more trace of Logan, Aideen turned her head and looked straight ahead, not knowing if she could handle looking at the blood anymore. So that's it then, she was right all along. Then again why would it be different? Now only a couple of more weeks until she was eighteen, then things would change. Aideen didn't know how long she could last with all this threat of an emotional overload. Her uncle trained her to stay away from that and she didn't know if she could do that here.
Her entire demeanor had stiffened up and Aideen became more professional and detached, the same way she was whenever her uncle was nearby. She had let herself go big time since she arrived at this school. Her training from her uncle had loosened a great deal, she had lost her guard and forgotten the careful coaching she received on how she was to act in public. No matter, she would remind herself. Soon it will be like Aideen never left her uncle, she will remain the way she was taught.
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Post by Cyclops on Mar 7, 2008 21:06:39 GMT -5
Cyclops felt the young girl stiffen slightly behind him and wished he hadn't brought her out with him. He wished he had returned when the though had crossed his mind, before they had flown out and down the cliff to see the absolute truth revealed.
He had seen how she and Logan had been at the Christmas party, and he had noticed them that evening when he and Emma had brought the team uniforms to place under the Christmas tree. He had ignored them as he was otherwise occupied with Emma and some mistletoe, but the two of them were in the kitchen together late that night. 'They must have been close and this trip must have just destroyed her. Why didn't I listen to Emma? Damn my pride!' Scott cursed himself.
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Post by Ember on Mar 7, 2008 22:12:13 GMT -5
Aideen kept a firm hold on Cyclops for the sake that they were a number of feet up in the air. She would need to thank him for taking her to the Health food store so she could her food. And for the book. The snow had started falling a little bit more and the wind had picked up, but for some reason it didn't bother Aideen for the first time since... ever. Perhaps she just focused on the cold too much and that's what got to her. Now she knew the secret: just don't think about it and it will go away. She should have thought of that theory earlier.
As they reached the school and got closer to the garage, Aideen's mind went a bit blank and the only thing on her mind was the idea of going back to her nice warm room where she could be alone and eat her olives and drink her rice milk. Then she can finish the book she was reading the night before when she couldn't sleep because of that dream. Perhaps she will raid the library and find a good philosophy book that she can write her senior thesis on. Another thing Aideen had been doing is neglecting her schoolwork. Her Uncle would have punished her severely if he knew that she was putting off her schoolwork. Aideen never liked his punishments when it comes to neglected schoolwork, mainly because it involved him taking away something that she enjoyed, usually her motorcycle. The thought of that didn't bother her like it usually does. Strange... but now she didn't have to worry or be distressed that her motorcycle wasn't in her possession.
Wow the wind sure was getting cold. And Aideen was thirsty. Good thing they were right by the Hanger area so she can go to the garage and get her stuff and spend some time in her room.
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Post by Cyclops on Mar 7, 2008 22:49:20 GMT -5
Steering the Sky-Cycle to the back of the school Cyclops keyed the button to open the hangar doors and the basketball court split down the middle again. Inside the yellow safety caution lights flashed and the sound of the klaxon alarm let those in earshot know the hangar was in use.
Scott didn't know what to say to the young girl, so he took his time coasting in for a landing keying the control pad again before they touched down to close the hangar doors above them. The falling snow dusted the huge Lockheed Martin inspired X-Jet they affectionately called 'The Blackbird'. Scott brought the Sky-Cycle to rest on the deck of the Hangar. Looking over to the doorway he saw Beast standing there. Emma must have said something to him when she went to get Haven and take her up for a meal.
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