Strawberry Surprise
Chapter One
Rogue span around in a circle, the looming trees crowding her body like soldiers standing tall and readying themselves to pounce on her. Luckily for them though, they were stuck, couldn't move and they weren't alive anyway. "What the heck?" she muttered to herself, pausing and holding the compass over the sun that was burning her eyeballs. "This thing don't work none. It's real faulty. We've been given a dud, Miss Popularity!"
A sighing Jean was crouching down beside a nearby tree, her back to Rogue as she checked the contents of her rucksack. "It works," she replied, glancing over her shoulder at the southern girl. "You're just not using it the right way."
"The right way?" the Mississippi hell raiser snorted, shaking the compass in her hand and huffing as she looked around the woods they were stuck in. "We ain't never goin' tah see Bayville again 'cause this thing don't know what the right way is, neither. But Ah've got mah own 'right way' to deal with this, Grey." She tossed the compass onto a nearby rock and stamped her boot onto it, grinning when it crunched under her weight. "There we go."
"Rogue! What did you do that for?" she asked in exasperation, straightening herself out as she picked her rucksack up. "That's our compass!"
"Nope," the girl said, smirking. "It was our compass. What do we need one for anyway, huh? Ah've been out in the woods before an' Ah can probably find the way back." She shrugged, turning the rock over with her toes and watching the pieces of plastic fly to the ground. "An' Ah'm kinda thinkin' this a real waste of mah time. What's the point of bein' out here in the middle of nowhere?"
Jean sighed and settled the backpack on her shoulders. "It's survival training," she explained for the thirteenth time. "Our objective is to keep our wits about us while staying safe, too. We need to make our way to the pickup site where Storm will be waiting for us in two days. We're spending a few nights out here, Rogue. And now we don't even have the compass to guide us. What were you thinking when you destroyed it? I thought the Professor had talked to you about your temper?"
Rogue rolled her eyes and yawned lazily. "Yeah, yeah," she said, stretching her arms high above her head. "There's nothin' wrong with mah temper, ya just don't understand meh." She grabbed her bag and headed for the clearing in the woods, spotting a pathway that shot off and greeted the horizon with a punch in the jaw.
"Hey, that's not true," Jean called after her, frowning as she followed the ornery girl. "We do understand you. How could you say we don't?"
"Real easily," she muttered under her breath, weaving her way around the overgrown shrubbery. "Not one of ya gets meh except Wolverine, but now he's gone tah play with a bunch of chopsticks 'cause he's a duck's ass."
"Logan hasn't gone to Japan to use chopsticks and eat duck," she told the girl gently, trying to catch her moody teammate up as she strode with her long, athletic legs. "He's trying to discover himself and work on his mutation. You must understand his reasons for leaving."
Rogue growled in reply. She didn't understand nothing and Logan hadn't even called or sent her a damn postcard. He'd forgotten all about their friendship and had hurt her real bad in the process. In fact, she hoped he burnt in duck / chopstick Hell because she was done with him. If he could forget her, then she'd forget him, too.
"He hasn't forgotten you, Rogue. Logan would never forget you," Jean whispered, squeezing the girl's shoulder as she reached her. "He cares, you know he does."
The scowling southerner shrugged the hand free from her shoulder. "Like Ah need ya in mah head," she grouched, scowling at everything she walked past. "Stay out my thoughts, Grey. Ah didn't ask ya tah hop in mah brain an' start paddlin' about in ya panties."
The redhead sighed, removing her hand and leaving the girl to her sulking. She had often tried to break through Rogue's anger and wall of stone, but she wasn't Logan, and only he'd managed to coach a smile and a chuckle from the harshness within the temperamental X-Man. "Okay," she said. "I think we should keep walking until we come across a cave or something. I know Storm mentioned there were lots of caves around here."
Rogue grunted and left it at that. She couldn't believe she had been tossed into the lion's den of trips here, stuck with Jean and kicked aside by the only person she'd gone and trusted at the mansion. But the hurt kept her walking and half of her wanted to make Logan real proud. So, she shut her mouth and told those niggling thoughts to hit the road because she wasn't going to thump Jean in the face.
The hours slipped by in silence and the world around them was soon dimming as the sun began to set. Jean was the first to speak when she spotted what looked like a cave to the left of them. "Come on," she instructed, climbing over the rocks and glancing off to the side. "I think that's a cave and it's right near a river, too. How lucky is that?"
"Real lucky," the southerner answered, folding her arms as she trailed after Miss Popularity, wishing she'd gone and spotted the cave first.
"I thought so," Jean said cheerfully, leading the way to their home for the night. "It'll make a perfect shelter if the elements stand against us." Climbing over a large rock, she reached the mouth of the cave and smiled. "And it's also perfect for the two of us."
"Whoop-de-doo," Rogue grumbled quietly, overtaking the cheerleader and storming into the darkness. "Ah should've brought mah damn lighter with meh."
Jean's face was schooled with disappointment as she stepped inside the cave and removed her backpack. "You know, I'm getting sick of your attitude. I haven't done anything to deserve it and we're supposed to be working together on this mission. Don't you want extra credit?"
The girl with the two-toned hair dumped her own bag on the ground and heaved a long huff. "Ah couldn't care less about extra credit, Grey. As for the rest of your words, Ah don't get why ya even bothered by mah lack of airs an' graces, anyway. If ya don't like it none, Ah suggest ya go sleep under a rock."
"And I suggest you watch your attitude, Rogue," the older girl warned sternly as she collected all they needed to light a fire. "I'm tired of you talking rudely. I haven't done anything to deserve it."
"Says ya," she grunted, sitting her butt down on the bag and watching the redhead catching all the work. "An' Ah don't have tah do anythin' ya tell meh, Grey. Ah don't gotta stay here neither. Ah'm only doin' it 'cause Ah get tah escape a tonne of homework Ah ain't in the mood tah waste time on."
Jean shook her head. "Schoolwork is important, you know," she stated, glancing at the girl as she placed the large collection of twigs down neatly between herself and Rogue. "Don't you want to make something of your life? You have the brains, so why don't you put the effort in, too?"
"Yap, yap, yappity, yap," the sullen X-Man shot back, clacking her teeth together. "Change the record, huh? Ah don't give a flyin' fu -" She slammed her mouth shut when the crunch of broken rocks clouded the air close to her side. Her eyes swung to the right and she stared as a hunchbacked figure hobbled out the shadows, leaning heavily on a beanpole-style walking stick. "What the… ?"
An alert Jean stepped forward, her eyes narrowing and a steady hand held in front of her. She was ready to use her powers to protect them if she needed to. "Who are you?" she called out, her voice clear and careful as she spoke.
"I'm Murtle, dearie. And, you're in my cave," the elderly woman replied, her words hoarsely cracked with old age. "I've lived here for ninety-five years without a spot of bother and now my home is being invaded by a poisonous attitude."
When both the old hag and the redhead stared her way, Rogue scowled. "Ah ain't done nothin'," she grumbled, scowling. Her glare searched the old witch's wrinkly face, the ball of white scarecrow-style fluff on her walnut-shaped head and her long black clothes. "An' Ah'm guessin' ya gonna fit in with the townsfolk once Halloween comes along."
Murtle raised a bony finger, her dirt encrusted fingernail pointing at the brunette girl. "You are very far away from home," she stated, looking through the child's soul.
An uncomfortable southerner hugged her knees to her chest, freaked out by the old hag's attention being cast her way. "Don't be tryin' ya Hocus Pocus stuff on meh, Endora," she snorted, trying to sound tough as her stomach sank. "Ah've seen Bewitched an' Ah bet ya actin' out a scene from that. An' it's real obvious Ah ain't from around here. Mah accent gives it away."
"Your friend is using a sword to banish his enemies as we speak, young one. He has an old soul, but he's become lost. His heart howls as he cuts the men down and yet, he misses his home, he misses the man he used to be," the witch continued, drawing a gasp and a gulp from the other inhabitants of the cave.
"Logan?" Jean whispered, concerned by what she was hearing. "You're talking about Logan aren't you? Is he okay?"
"He's fine," Rogue growled fiercely, her worried fingers digging into the tops of her knees. "Don't ya be draggin' him into things 'cause he's fine where he is. There ain't nothin' wrong with Wolverine; he's on vacation is all. He loves ducks an' chopsticks so he's gone and run away tah the land of dragons."
The haggard, emaciated witch stepped forward; her tongue alight with a tightly pressed string of meaningful mutterings as she continued to speak. "He will return eventually, stronger and more at peace with his inner demons. But you," she hissed, her finger still poker straight and raised toward the angry girl. "You're unhappy. You yearn for company but you cannot touch. You yearn for a figure in your life to stand tall when you fall short, but you drive others away. You yearn for love, but you're forever rewarded with the turning of backs when you're in need."
Rogue pushed herself to her feet and started to approach the ancient lady, fury rolling in circles and kicking up a mass of hurt feelings in its wake. "An' Ah ought tah spit in ya eye, Endora," she snapped, cracking her knuckles. "Get out of mah face and quit talkin' about meh!"
Jean grimaced as her teammate's voice echoed around the cave. "Not so loud!" she hissed quietly, stepping forward and trying to diffuse the situation. "And stop being rude. I think Murtle has every right to voice her opinions, but perhaps not in a way that upsets you." She parted her lips again; ready to explain her thoughts when Rogue's temper got the better of her once more.
"Ah'm sick of folks gettin' in mah head an' thinkin' they know meh! Ya'll don't know meh at all, so keep ya damn noses outta mah life!" she yelled fiercely, swinging around and storming out of the cave in search of a place to sulk. "An' if anybody follows meh Ah'm goin' tah start swingin'!"
The redhead sighed in embarrassment, a peach tinge to her cheeks. "I'm really sorry about that, Murtle. She's just upset at the moment and none of us can reach her. Her friend, Logan, he left a few weeks ago and we haven't heard from him since."
Murtle scratched her hairy chin with her slender finger. "Hmm, he will return. Mark my words, dear girl. The Wolverine will return. As for that bratty girl, I put a curse on her." She twiddled her other fingers against the thin walking stick she was leaning on. "I curse her forever and a day. She can touch now, but it won't be what she was hoping for. Oh no, she is cursed."
"I, uh, I see," Jean gulped, turning to glance out of the cave. As she hoped Rogue was okay, she went to speak to the witch again and found she was all alone and still surrounded by the gloomy rock walls. "Murtle, are you still here? What do you mean she's cursed? Murtle?" She was rewarded with silence and she sighed. "I don't like the sound of this curse at all."
The night was soon upon the two X-Men and Rogue was still in a foul mood. She tossed her discman back into her bag when the batteries died a slow death and now she'd be forced to either talk to the walls or glare at Miss Popularity. But at least Endora hadn't shown her ugly face again. "Ah can feel ya thinkin' mah way, ya know," she said to Jean. "What don't ya just come out an' say it, huh? Ah could do with a laugh."
Jean sprinkled a couple more flimsy sticks onto the flames and warmed her hands by the fire. "I'm just worried by what that woman said," she explained gently, glancing at the moody girl. "I think you hurt her feelings."
"Yeah, well, she hurt mine first, an' what about all that bullshit about Logan? She was playin' with us, Grey. Ah should've spat her in the damn eye," she grumbled, snapping a stick in two and dying of boredom.
"You wouldn't have spat at her," the older girl said, smiling. "You're just acting tough, and I understand why. I think Murtle raised some good points, and do you know what? I have a proposition for you."
Rogue's greenish-grey eyes snapped to Miss Popularity and she frowned darkly. "What are ya talkin' about, huh?" She felt her heart sinking because she missed Logan and this whole exercise out in the woods had been a disaster. All she wanted was a warm bed to sleep in and a mug of steaming hot coffee. "Spit it out then."
"There'll be no spitting," Jean replied, picking up her rucksack and taking out a notebook and a black biro. She opened the first page and glanced at Rogue for a moment. "It's more of a dare really, I think. A dare, a proposition and an agreement which I hope you'll listen to."
The pale girl rolled her eyes at the list of clues that told her nothing. "Riiight," she snorted gruffly. "An' what exactly are ya thinkin' of doin', Grey? Ah'm never one for turnin' down a dare or whatever ya call it, anyway. Ah stick tah 'em till the very end and Ah win all the time."
"You don't win anything with this one," she answered, beginning to write quickly on the lined paper. "I think you need a mother figure in your life, Rogue," she started to explain, avoiding the girl's horrified face. "And if you agree to our dare then for an entire month I'm in charge of you. That means you have to behave yourself or else. Do you agree?" Rogue was scowling at her, and she smiled innocently. "Well, you did say you would never turn down anything? Are you going to go back on your word?"
Rogue sunk further against the cave wall and grumbled. Her big mouth had run away in real good style and now look where it had gotten her! She was stuck either making a damn fool out of herself in front of Grey or agreeing to the plan and somehow winning against the redheaded beast. With her mind made up, she glowered at the other girl. "Fine," she muttered, not wanting to lose her dignity. "Ah'm agreein'. This is me agreein', okay?"
"I'm glad," Jean said honestly, ignoring the dark looks being cast her way as she continued to write. "I want to help you, Rogue. And when this month is finished I think you'll be a better person because of it." And it was true. She really did want to help the poor girl. She was also sure this was the best way to do it, and by the time she had finished, Rogue was going to well behaved, well mannered and well adjusted. As for Jean, she would probably be unwell, but it would be worth it in the end because the girl was going to change her attitude from this moment on or feel the sting of a fierce spanking.