Nemesis and Orion
Summary: Every wizard has heard the story. When he was a baby no more than a year old, Harry Potter felled the greatest Dark Lord in the history of the world. He then became a powerful wizard under the mentorship of the great Albus Dumbledore before he confronted the reborn Dark Lord once more and triumphed. It's too bad that last part is only that, a story.
Author's Notes:
ShadowAI: Yet another joint project betwixt myself and Zaion Indulias. This is going to be a rather dark fic, just a heads up, that I think would give the story of Harry Potter a much less anti-climactic confusion than that given in Deathly Hallows. That being said this is a post Deathly Hallows fic (with a few artistic liberties taken). Enjoy.
Zaion Indulias: We both hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling doesn't own Harry Potter, the devil does after she sold her soul to him. I'm inclined to agree with my esteemed colleague on this point.
Chapter 1 – Day of Defeat
------**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**------
His body was aching. That was the first thought that went through his mind. Every part of his body was sending signals of numbing dull pain through his skull creating a skull-splitting migraine which, if he had any sensation he would notice, caused him to cry. After a few exceedingly long minutes basic information started to pour through the haze of his headache.
He was lying on the ground, dirt to be more specific; it had the slight amount of softness preventing his head from scraping across the floor when it moved. It was relatively quiet, not that he could pick up much through the ringing in his ears. His eyelids were heavy. He willed his eye muscles and they opened barely a millimetre. The picture was hazy, before his eyes was a distorted blue and white expanse, taken straight from the surrealistic paintings of Dalí and Picasso. He willed his other muscles to move as well. No response.
The pain subsided, and more information filtered in. Thoughts slowly began to form. Reaching through the walls of his mind, he began extracting information.
Who was he?
Harry J. Potter.
Why was he there?
Blank.
His ears picked up more sound, it was coming from nearby. It interrupted the ringing within his head with soft hums, he was unable to make out anything, not even the speaker's gender.
"Potter? Potter!"
His name, someone was calling out to him. The voice was getting louder until the sound waves reverberated through his body. Whoever was talking was standing close. More noises. He couldn't make out any of the words though.
Before he could react something grabbed his shoulders, and he felt himself being dragged up. The world spun before him like a kaleidoscope and he felt as though his head was rapidly stressed from multiple directions. He was released, forced to stand by himself. His legs instantly buckled and he collapsed. With an impulse he pushed his hands forward to prevent his head from striking the ground. They held. His world was still spinning from the rush of motion and he felt a wave of nausea buffet him. His throat constricted and there was a lurching motion in his esophagus. He threw up several times as several more of his senses recovered.
His vision started to sharpen further and his eyes began to focus more. His headache intensified slightly, however the nausea subsided.
"Bloody hell Potter, was that really necessary?" He recognized the voice.
"Malfoy?" He mumbled, cursing the acidy taste in his mouth.
"Good, you're conscious." Harry was certain the blonde's mouth had his trademark sneer plastered over his face. Energy flowed into his muscles as he tried to push himself up, however his legs were very sore and resisted the motion with all their might. He felt a hand wrap around his shoulders and lift him up slowly and he let Malfoy guide him as he slowly stood.
"Why are you helping me?" It was the immediate, thought not the only, question on his mind.
"Believe it or not Potter, not all of us who work for the Dark Lord actually want to." Malfoy replied, losing his trademark sarcastic tone.
Harry groaned a bit as his legs once again bore the brunt of his weight, "Hard to imagine you on our side Malfoy."
Malfoy snorted, "You're kidding, right Potter? Me, on your side? The Malfoys are always on their own side. It just so happens that our goals coincide."
Harry chuckled a bit. A ferret through and through.
"I wouldn't be laughing in your state Potter. You can barely move, and if I wasn't here I'm certain you'd be dead soon."
"Well why are you here?" Harry asked, still trying to reason out what had happened recently.
"Well let me see," he drawled, "you were killed by the Dark Lord's Avada Kedavra, however you didn't die, again. Despite that, you are dead as far as your friends and the Dark Lord are concerned."
Harry tensed, he needed to go after him. If Voldemort was still alive he had to stop him. His body surged with energy as he prepared to run off.
The hand around his back constricted him though. "No Potter, you're not going to rush off and fight, not in your state."
"Let me go Malfoy, I have to stop him." He growled trying to force his weak body free.
Malfoy let go of him and Harry stumbled, quickly falling to the ground. He wheeled and found Malfoy standing over him, his face wearing a scowl, and a wand pointing directly at Harry.
"I could kill you right now Potter, and that isn't saying much. If you stumble like that into Death Eater hands, you won't be able to pronounce a single syllable before they kill you." Harry returned the scowl and was about to retort when Malfoy cut him off, "you're alive, and the Dark Lord doesn't know about it. Don't squander this chance with your petty Gryffindor bravery. Dumbledore said you were almost one of us Slytherin, why don't you use that part of your brain for a change."
"What about my friends?" Harry shouted, as he tried to stand. "I can't let Voldemort kill them." He ignored Malfoy's mention of Dumbledore.
"They won't die Potter, not yet. Be sure of that." Malofy said lowering his tone. "Those that lived after the fight would be kept as the Dark Lord's 'prisoners'." Malfoy said the last word with a hint of sarcasm.
Malfoy was right, in many ways. Harry was in no condition to fight, and Voldemort and his followers were too powerful for him to face right now. "I'll need one night to rest at most." He sighed tired with a hint of anger, "We'll go after him tomorrow,"
"You still don't get it Potter." Malfoy snapped, interrupting him.
"Don't get what?" Harry asked tartly.
"You lost." Harry wanted to retort, however Malofy's words felt like a punch to the stomach. "You lost," he reiterated again, "and the Dark Lord has won. If you go after him tomorrow, next week, or even next month, you'll still wind up dead and complete his victory over Britain." Harry stayed silent, glaring at Malfoy, unable to say anything. "Dumbledore foresaw this. He told me that the Dark Lord's revival was too soon and left him no time to properly train you. Rest assured, he had expected his death last year, and he had foreseen the outcome of this battle as well."
"So I suppose we should bow down to Voldemort like proper subjects?" Harry spat venomously.
"You're not going to impress anyone with your dramatics," Malfoy replied in a bored tone, "I never said I wanted to surrender, and do you honestly believe Dumbledore would want us to?"
Harry began getting confused, he was still weak and groggy from, whatever it was that happened, and Malfoy's ramblings and behavior did nothing to help clear up the situation. "Then what?"
Malfoy pocketed his wand and then in a second produced a seemingly golden medallion which he then tossed toward Harry. Seeker reflexes kicking in, Harry's left arm reached out sloppily and clasped its fingers around the disk.
The disk was surprisingly heavy, weighing a little more than half a kilo. The waning sunlight glistened off of its golden exterior. It was mostly smooth, save for the etching on one of its sides which depicted a large mountain stretching well into the clouds. "What is it?"
"Search me. Dumbledore had it secretly delivered to me as part of his will. He wrote that you're the only who would activate it, and that I was to give it to you should the Dark Lord attack Hogwarts and win."
Harry fingered the medallion in his hands. It was cool, and showed no signs of activating. There were no hidden nooks or buttons which could be used to awaken the sleeping medallion. After touching every square millimetre of the medallion Harry sighed in frustration, looking up at Malfoy.
Malfoy seemed as equally annoyed, "Let me guess, Dumbledore left you no hint as to how to use that?"
Sharing Malfoy's annoyance with the former Headmaster's games he continued to inspect the medallion. After a somewhat spotty inspection, Harry couldn't sense any sort of energy radiating from the trinket, making him wonder if it simply possessed some sort of sentimental value to Dumbledore rather than any practical purpose. A part of him, however wondered why would the headmaster do something as aimless as sending him a paperweight when Harry really needed a hint as to what to do.
Not particularly in the mood to start playing guessing games with the Headmaster's machinations, Harry decided to try to see if it responded to a password.
"Lemon Drop."
Pause. After a second of holding his breath Harry decided that his first guess was wrong. Sighing in defeat he tried another one of the Headmaster's favourite confections to no avail. Several famous candy brands later Draco groaned and walked toward him.
"Blast it Potter, I don't have time to listen to you recite Zonko's inventory verbatim. Let me see that thing."
The instant Draco tried to snatch the medallion from Harry, they both felt a surge of energy flowing through them as the object began to heat up and glow. Taking the hint, Harry opened his palm to let Draco touch the medallion as well. The instant he did, Harry felt a pulse of power surge through the entire field. The password magically appeared on his lips.
"Olympus."
------**Halls of Olympus**------
The medallion was a portkey, Harry had recognized the sensation as they traveled to their current destination. He wasn't sure how long he was out, however when he woke up, he found himself, and Malfoy both lying on the ground, surrounded by several tall hooded figures.
Bugger.
"Wake up Draco!" he hissed as he tried to mentally remember where his wand went.
Draco groaned, seemingly suffering from the same splitting headache that Harry was, and began to sit up straight. The figures surrounding them stood watching without so much as an audible breath.
They were in a dimly lit structure surrounded by white marble pillars that were bathed in the orange glow of several torches. The floor was made of yellow-gray stone and was expertly tiled in a circle. The weather was cold and the sky outside was dotted by multiple stars. Behind several of the figures was a torch-lit passageway that extended into the darkness.
"There's no way we actually traveled to Olympus, did we Potter?" Draco asked as he was coming to.
As a matter of fact, mortals, you have. Harry wasn't sure which of the brown-robed figures had spoken, however the voice had no direction, it simply echoed in his head. The voice was difficult to describe. It sounded as if a multitude of voice spoke in union, and each one of them changed in pitch, speed, and volume. The cacophony of voices did nothing to soothe Harry's growing headache.
"This is Olympus," he croaked, his voice sore from his previous experience, "home of the Gods?"
The beings stood there quietly as if in deep thought. Mortals have called us gods in the past. Harry winced as their voices cut through his head again, and from the looks of it Malfoy suffered from it too. Why do you appear before us?
"The medallion," Harry said searching for it on the floor, "Dumbledore."
Dumbledore sends you? Harry recoiled from the forcefulness of the question.
"Y-yes." Malfoy answered weakly, cradling his head. The gods' speech seemed to really take its toll on him.
There was another thoughtful silence. Then the Dark Lord has won?
Harry's first response was stopped with a glare from Malfoy that caused him to reconsider answering.
"He has, Dumbledore's forces have exhausted themselves. No one in Britain has the power to oppose him at this point." Malfoy said, slowly recovering and standing up.
Then it is as Dumbledore predicted, most unfortunate. Harry felt himself tense up. Dumbledore had predicted their defeat, why on earth would he force them to fight then?
Dumbledore couldn't control the events after Voldemort's revival. Another voice, this one no more than a whisper, spoke in his mind. He had feared that his original plan would not be seen to completion, and he had prepared a contingency.
As soon as Harry had wondered if they were reading his mind, the voice answered: yes.
"So what are we doing here?" he asked, letting his anger with the Headmaster slip into his voice. "What is this great big contingency plan?"
"Dumbledore had asked for the gods to interfere should he fall." A young voice emerged from the hallway in front of them. Within seconds a small figure stepped into the circle formed by the hooded figures. She rubbed her eyes lazily as if she had just woken up. "I'm sorry that it took so long, however your arrival was most unexpected."
Despite the fact that the girl looked barely fourteen, her speech was calm and smooth. She had long amber hair held in three braids which whipped around in the strong winds. Her face seemed very simple with blue eyes and a small mouth. Her skin was perfectly smooth and seemed to glow slightly under the torchlight. Her dress was a simple white gown with blue embroidery and a cyan string tied around her waist; she was also barefoot. Despite her seemingly thin garments the chill of the wind appeared to not affect her in any way and her steps seemed to barely touch the floor on which she walked.
"You may leave now." She said to the hooded figures and with a wave of her hand they vanished into the dark passageway leaving her alone with Draco and Harry. She stood there calmly, without hesitation, looking at the two of them somewhat curiously.
"So you are the ones Dumbledore has chosen?" Her voice was soft and somewhat melodic.
"Who are you?" asked Malfoy.
The girl frowned, "I was told it's considered polite for mortals to introduce themselves first?"
She's worse than Dumbledore, Harry thought, his mind slowly awakening. He didn't have time for such idle trivialities as the events of that day set in.
"Draco Malfoy." Malfoy spoke up, his voice much stronger, "and this is Harry Potter."
She nodded in understanding. "Mortals call me Athena." She said dreamily her voice somewhat reminding Harry of Luna.
Luna…
Harry's thoughts went back to his friends. They had already wasted so much time. He wasn't sure if any of them were still alive or how they were faring.
"My friends," Harry said out loud, "we don't have time; I have to go help them."
"The only way to Britain is down this mountain." Athena said somewhat sternly, now shifting her tone to slightly match McGonagall's. "If you wish to return to Britain I will not hinder you."
"Wait," Malfoy hissed at Harry as Harry was about to retort, "Think this through carefully Potter."
"Without their help," he nodded his head at Athena, "no matter how much you want to, you won't stand a chance against the Dark Lord. We have to hear them out; this is what Dumbledore wanted us to do. Try thinking less with your balls and more with your brains."
Harry paused for a second before his fist connected with Malfoy's face. There was a soft thump as Malfoy's body struck the ground. He groaned as blood trickled from his split lip. Harry was shaking as rage filled his entire body. "I know you consider most of your friends to be disposable pawns Malfoy," he said taking breaths to steady his voice, "but I actually care about mine and I sure as hell won't abandon them."
Malfoy got up, face contorted in fury, "I care about my family and they're not much safer under the Dark Lord's rule. Since your parents are dead, I don't expect you to understand what it means to lose a relative."
White rage washed out Harry's sense of self control as memories of Sirius returned unbidden. He once again ran to strike Malfoy. Malfoy was preparing to retaliate against him with a punch of his own when a sharp crack of energy struck between the two of them.
Harry felt two soft and cool hands wrap around his waist. Despite the fact that it felt as if the hands barely touched him he could barely remove himself from their hold. Malfoy's punch was also interrupted. His fist was grasped by a red haired boy about the same age as Athena.
"Come now, no need to upset my sister." The boy laughed a bit as he watched Draco struggle against his grip. However just like Harry, Draco was paralyzed. Draco's captor was a young redhead, with semi-short hair that had streaks of all manner of reds, oranges, and yellows, giving the illusion that it was on fire. His eyes were dark black and his body was more tan and muscular than Athena's. Unlike her, he wore black jeans and a red sleeveless tunic which hugged his well-defined chest. He also wore many different and stylish adornments from his spiked leather belt to the golden necklace with rubies embedded in the chain. On his back sat a beautiful claymore with Greek writing inscribed in the hilt, and a single red ruby hung from his right earlobe.
The boy's mouth curved into a tight smile. "At the very least you two aren't bereft of energy. Excellent, then we can start right away." His tone seemed a tad feral to Harry.
The boy let go of Draco's hand, causing Draco to stumble back a bit. After regaining his composure he shot Harry a look and then returned his gaze on the boy. "Shall we proceed inside?" The boy asked motioning to the nearby passage.
Realizing that he was trapped for the moment, Harry let his shoulders sag, acknowledging his defeat. Athena released him, causing him to lose his footing for a bit. Once he had recovered from landing firmly on the ground for the third time in as many hours he began following the boy and Draco into the mountain.
Slowly they walked into the marble torch-lit hallway that led into the base of the mountain. They walked in a silence that underscored the tension between the members of the party. To Harry's dislike Athena hovered behind him while the boy, who introduced himself as Ares, stood between him and Malfoy. As the hallway ended they entered a beautiful domed chamber with marble pillars and an ivory tiled floor. The pillars depicted various drawings of battles, festivals, and several manners of ancient rituals. The Dome above them had drawings of what Harry assumed were the gods.
"This is the inner sanctum." Ares, explained. "This is the room where the Olympians convene." As he finished speaking several marble chairs rose out of the ground arranging themselves in a circle in the center of the room. Two additional chairs rose in the center of the room.
"Are those for us?" Draco asked hesitantly motioning at the chairs.
Draco's answer came in the form of a nod as Ares walked over to one of the chairs at the edge of the room before sitting down. Several Greek letters then carved themselves into the spine. Athena followed suit by sitting down in a chair next to Ares. From several of the other doors in the domed chamber other figures entered the room. Their appearances varied from what looked like a man in his sixties with all the regality and maturity that such age brings, to a stunningly beautiful strawberry blonde woman who, judging by her entrancing beauty, could only be Aphrodite.
After each of the chairs on the perimeter were filled Harry felt slightly uncomfortable as each of the Gods' eyes turned to Draco and him.
"I think they're waiting for us." Draco whispered.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Harry replied, giving away his underlying tension with sarcasm.
Their situation didn't improve as Harry and Draco sat down in the two marble chairs, which stood back to back preventing the two from seeing each other. Once again the gazes of all of the Gods were focused on him.
"So, judging by this meeting and the presence of these humans, I take it Dumbledore's faction failed to stop Voldemort?" The man who appeared as the oldest of the group asked.
"Unfortunately, it would seem so Poseidon." Athena replied calmly.
"Then what the fuck are we sitting around here for?" A girl who looked like she was in her late teens shouted as she stood up. "We shouldn't be wasting our time debating. Ares, don't you have an army or two you can use to stop him?"
"Trust me Artemis, I'm all for waging a war or two from time to time, but this is serious business." Harry felt his teeth grit. Was this guy serious? To Harry's displeasure Ares continued, "Athena and I have talked it over, and I don't think a full scale global war will fix things this time."
"What the hell do you mean, 'this time'?!" Harry caught himself shouting.
"I believe your people called it: World War II. Correct?" Athena said quietly.
"You can't be serious," Harry recoiled, "you mean you started a bloody global war,"
"We didn't start the damn thing," Ares brutally cut him off, "Grindelwald did. We just responded. The bastard set his foot here in Greece, what did you want us to do?"
"Grindelwald's reign threatened the entire world; we had no choice but to act, lest he would have awakened the Titans." Athena explained, "Unfortunately, by the time we had awakened he had already managed to capture a significant portion of Europe thanks to his meddling in non-magical humans' affairs."
"If he wasn't such a monster," added a man in his twenties with sun-kissed blonde hair and sapphire-blue eyes with a scholarly tone, "Hitler could be considered a rather amazing product of some subtle and not so subtle legilimency."
While Harry was still trying to digest this latest information, Athena resumed her explanation, "By the time we had readied ourselves, Grindelwald had Western Europe well in hand, and was working his way up to the Halls of Olympus. We called upon those humans we had personally trained, one of which was Dumbledore, and asked them to aid us in the war against Grindelwald."
"So is that how Dumbledore overcame the Elder Wand?" Draco asked.
"Yes. Dumbledore, like several other humans, was one of our disciples." Athena replied, "And others in Europe, America, Asia, and even Africa fought on either side of the war. Most of our disciples died facing against each other in that war. When you factor in the cost to human life as well, it was perhaps our greatest mistake."
"Which is why, Artemis," Ares continued, "we can't start another war this time."
Harry kept watching in silence as the gods talked, argued, and exchanged. Most of what they said seemed to exclude both himself and Draco from the discussion, so Harry tuned out of the conversation.
"So it is agreed then." the soft yet assertive voice of a man in his thirties dressed like a business-man asked.
"So what's the plan?" asked Harry, letting his previous frustration creep into his voice.
"Previously," Athena began, "Dumbledore had asked us to make you our disciples to help you face the Dark Lord, should the side of the light fall in England. However I fear even he was not aware of the extent of the Dark Lord's plans and power."
"So rather than simply train you as disciples we have decided to make you our Avatars." Ares finished.
"Avatars?" Draco asked in wonder.
"Those trained beyond the levels of disciples." The girl named Artemis said, with a hint of anger in her voice. "Each Avatar is chosen by a patron god, who then, through a ritual that links their souls, grants their avatar powers."
"How long is all of this going to take?" Harry asked barely able to keep his frustration in.
"Patience." Athena said calmly, "you must be patient. Your training will not take place overnight. You must learn how to wield the gifts we shall grant you."
Harry gritted his teeth, they didn't have time. "How long? A week? Two?"
"Ten years."
Even Malfoy seemed stunned by this admission. "Ten years," he said thoughtfully, "Voldemort will have Britain by the end of the summer and move on to Europe."
"To hell with Europe!" Harry nearly screamed, "Everyone will be dead in a month. I'm not sitting here for ten years!" He felt his throat and body freeze as his eyes seemed to lock with those of Athena.
"Rest assured," the old man, Poseidon, took over, "there is more to this plan and the one decade interval than your training. However there is little either of you can do for now. Your part in this plan requires you to wait and act when the stage is set for your appearance." He finished explaining to them before turning to the rest of the gods. "We have our roles so let us go and make preparations."
There were murmurs as the gods all stood and began walking towards several of the doors, including the one from which Harry and Draco had come. Athena walked over to Harry as he felt the spell lift.
"Come with me." She said to the two wizards as she pointed to one of the passages. "You shall rest tonight, but your training begins tomorrow."
--Line Break--
Ten Years Later…
------**Coliseum**------
Tourists flocked around the ancient edifice of the Coliseum, gawking at the ruins of the once-magnificent arena. They hustled and bustled almost like ants, a moving sea that appeared to flow around two singular points of calm in the crowd. Two young men somewhere in their late twenties stood side by side within the throng of people swarming past the ruined arena, immovable by the surging crowd.
Both wore hooded cowls that hid their faces. One had strong aquiline features framed by a lock of platinum blonde hair that slipped out from under his cowl covering his sharp grey eyes as they swept over their surroundings. The other had similar aristocratic features, but his hair was a neatly combed brown and his brown eyes were locked on a small golden time piece with an ornate set of scales etched onto the lid which he was holding, oblivious to the sea of people around him.
The blond looked over at his partner before taking out a similar watch which had a hawk perched upon a bow and arrow on the lid. He opened his watch noting that they had a few seconds before their next jump. Silently the pair gazed at the quietly ticking watches, the steady synchronized ticks deafeningly loud to despite the noise surrounding them.
As the hands on both watches aligned at the designated time they each flipped their watches closed. The air around the pair seemed to shimmer for a moment as their magic began interfering with the boundary of the magical wards that surrounded the country of Italy. The shimmer remained in place for a fraction of a second before both it and the two figures vanished with a faint pop. The crowd around them noticed nothing, the field of the 'notice-me-not' charm successfully hiding all trace of their exit.
------**Cé Cueran Political Prison**------
A faint shimmering appeared on the wall of Britain's most famous and feared prison, Cé Cueran, followed by a loud crack which was drowned out by the sounds of winds and waves crashing against the rocky shore. The event would have seemed to be nothing more than a strike of thunder, if not for the two cloaked figures whose entrance made it seem as if they rode the lightning bolt. Compared to the guards who seemed as if they were just waking up, the duo moved swiftly and effortlessly through the rain. As lightning cracked across the island the faces of the intruders were illuminated just enough to show the dazzlingly satanic smile which crossed one of their faces, and the two icy blue eyes of the other which seemed as if they could freeze all of hell with a simple glance. As the few perimeter guards were still debating whether or not to draw their wands or to run while begging and pleading for mercy, the pair of intruders drew pistols from their respective cloaks without breaking their stride.
Bang
Ten long years.
Bang
Ten years of training
Bang
Ten years of watching. Ten years of waiting.
Bang
And after a decade, finally,
Bang
The last guard left a trail of blood as his lifeless bloody slumped against the wall of the building. The duo, still in motion, attached silencers to their guns before pausing in front of the entrance to the prison.
Harry Potter had come home to England.
Fin.
ShadowAI's Afterthoughts
-See, everyone, I told you I'm not dead. In fact, Metal Gear Ryu is on the way.
-Just a minor note, although I will expound on this in the text, our greek gods are different.
-Finally, just as "All Your Powers Combined", we will have short Omakes following the end of some chapters. These are humorous non-cannon shorts designed to poke fun at people. Please enjoy.
Zaion Indulias' Afterthoughts
-Yes, don't worry, he has just been replanning some of his ideas for his stories, and working to get it all pulled together to ensure that you receive a quality publication. He uses me to bounce ideas off of. Trust me, I have the bruises to prove it.
-Oh yes, our Greek gods are very, VERY different. Look forward to awesomeness galore though.
-Omake Omake, the dumping ground of our crazy wonderings.
-Oh, and thanks to all of you who read this. I consider it an honor to have been asked to assist ShadowAI with this project, especially as this makes the fourth project where I am a co-writer on it, on top of my own works.
Disclaimer: Tex Avery is GOD!!!!
With a crack of lightning, two robed figures found themselves within the confines of a dark forest. A feeling of unease crossed the pair, had they mistimed a jump? The blonde scanned his surroundings for any signs of hostility. "So Toto, I take it we're not in Kansas anymore?"
The brunette shrugged, "Just a small set back." He took out his golden pocket watch and gave it a quick glance. "We still have time."
A snap of a twig caused both of them to wheel around and draw their silenced guns at the intruder. To their surprise, and relief, the disturbance was caused by a rather short bald man.
Standing at barely five feet, he was wearing an olive green ensemble with a rather silly looking hunting cap. In his hands was a large shotgun, and with slow determined steps he continued on his way through the forest ignoring either of the cloaked figures as he made his over exaggerated steps across the forest floor. As he was walking past them he suddenly stopped and turned his face to the duo.
"Shh!" he shushed them and emphasized his point by pressing his index finger to his lips.
"Be wevy wevy quiet. I'm hunting wabbits! Hehehehehe" He said in a rather strange voice before continuing with his 'sneaking.'
"Fuck," the brown haired man cursed. "I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque."