Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with X-Men.
Okay, last chapter was left at a bit of a cliffhanger. Thanks for the reviews and everything. A lot of you are probably wondering whether or not Nate is really going to slam Pietro into the ground. You're just going to have to wait and see, but don't worry, you won't have to wait long. **Sigh** I'm getting tired of writing these things, it's always the same things over and over. If nobody minds, I'm just going to stop writing this thing at the beginning.
*~*~* flashback
*~* dreamscape
~*~ mindscape
/ / telepathy
The Mutant
Chapter 4
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"STOP!" yelled Xavier when Quicksilver was a few feet from the pavement.
Nate looked up, his tail uncoiling itself from the younger mutant's ankle, dropping him the rest of the way. On the ground he stayed, too frightened to move, unable to call for help, and a small puddle forming beneath him.
"Where is your father now?" Nate hissed.
Silence.
"Alright, what's in the container?"
"Nate, we won't get anywhere like that," Xavier said wheeling himself over.
Nate remained silent, merely wrapping his tail around Quicksilver to keep him from moving. Naturally he struggled, trying to free himself from the unbreakable prison. Just to prove his point, Nate tightened the muscles in his tail, squeezing the mutant in its grip, the scales slicing through his costume. Xavier reached up and placed his hands on Pietro's temples, closing his eyes in concentration. It didn't take him long to find what he needed.
"All he knows is that Magneto told him to get it," he removed his hands and backed away.
With a simple flick of his tail, Nate sent Quicksilver flying through the air, to hit the wall of the building behind him. His mind was still concerned with the boy, well, to be more precise, his blood. What was it about the girl that made him want her blood? The boy's as well, though the smell was much less inviting than the girl's.
"Professor, shouldn't we get back to the Institute and find out what that is?"
"Yes, let's round up the other's first."
*****
"So, what is it?" Xavier asked as he looked at the chemical formula on the screen.
"To be honest, I don't know, I've never seen an arrangement like this before," Beast said as he manipulated it left and right. "And this one shouldn't even exist."
"Magneto must know what it is, or else he wouldn't want it."
"Well, as long as it's here, he can't get it. So it's safe for now."
With that he closed it in a plastic vault and sealed it.
*****
Nate paced around his room on all fours, the pain had gotten worse and worse over the week that had passed by. It was almost unbearable now, so much so that he couldn't concentrate on his studies. This pain was infinitesimally (that's a lot) worse than the pain of his spines forming. It felt like his skeleton just wanted to rip right through his back, which wasn't too far from the truth.
Face contorted in pain he fell to his stomach, rolling over and over, suppressing the scream he desperately wanted to get out. He realized that the pain would pass if he just let go of his inhibitions, and he would have done it too, if he knew what was going to come out. His teeth were gritted to the point were his fangs, top and bottom, were being pressed so far that they were digging into his gums.
In all of this, there was one singular thought in his head...why? Why were these changes happening so fast, with such short respite in between. He had been at the institute for a little less than a month and already more changes have happened than in the last four years. First it was his hands and arms, then his legs and feet, then his tail formed, and let's not forget the scales.
By shear strength of will he pulled himself up onto his dresser to look in the mirror. Sure enough, there they were, two horns were growing from his head. Surprisingly, there was no pain from those horns, not a single drop. After turning around, he saw what was causing the pain in his back. The scales had parted, and what appeared to be fingers were clawing their way out of his back, literally.
Finally, he let go, just stop trying to stop it, and, in an explosion of blood, his back ripped open. Two massive wings spread from his back. They spread and spread, easily touching from one wall to the other, and kept going. The skin and scales rapidly healed around the new appendages, and the pain subsided.
"Ah," he sighed in relief, letting himself slip down to the floor.
Before being able to rest though, there came a knock on the door.
"Nate, you in there?" came Rahne's voice, she sounded worried.
"Yeah, I'm here," he answered not bothering to get up.
"Are you...decent?"
"What kind of question is that, course I am."
The door opened and she poked her head in, and gasped at what she saw. The entire wall behind Nate covered in blood, and that included the bed, nightstands, and lamp. When she looked at him, she saw the two bloody wings growing from his back.
"You never asked if I was clean," he chuckled slightly, she didn't laugh. "What?"
"Nothing," she snapped and left.
He shrugged and looked back at the mirror, the image was almost complete, wondering why his head hadn't changed yet. Instead of letting it trouble him, he just shrugged again and decided he needed a shower, what with all the blood. Before he left, he grabbed his soaked bed sheets, pillowcases, and clothes that were on the floor, deciding they needed to be washed as well.
Gravity started having its effect on the blood, causing it to slide down his wings, dripping onto the floor, leaving a trail in the carpet as he walked to laundry room. A puddle began to form on the tile floor while he stuffed the laundry in the machine, and carefully turned it on. With that done, he decided that he needed a shower, and left the room, knowing no one would touch his things.
*****
A few days later Bobby was leading a few of the other students down the hall in the basement. The group included himself, Jubilee, Amara and Ray.
"I can't believe Logan is actually letting us use the danger room," Jubilee said almost ecstatic. "But doesn't it seem kinda odd to you. Since when has he given us any kind of freedom?"
"However it happened, we should be glad that they're finally treating us with some respect," Ray quipped as they reached the door. "Here we go."
The doors slid open and there, waiting for them, with his back to them, was Nate. Even though he was turned away, they knew he was smiling. His wings were only spread half of their full length, which was about 20 feet each. The spines on his back were fully extended and were swaying side to side. Looking over his shoulder, the smile was confirmed, and it only got wider.
"So, you thought that Logan would actually let you use this room unsupervised?" he asked turning around completely. "You are so naïve."
"Who are you calling naïve?" Bobby asked getting irritated.
"What a stupid question," Nate said while idly preening his wings. "There are only five people here, and since I said it, who do think?"
Bobby quickly iced himself up and launched a ball of ice at Nate, who easily dodged. His smile widened as he lightly pirouetted on one foot, folding his wings around him as a shield when Bobby continued to fire, unaware of the long tail getting closer. He was completely ignorant of it till it smacked his ankle, tripping him.
"There, now that that's done, maybe you'd like to ask why I'm here."
"Well, I was, then Bobby decided to fly off the handle," Amara said. "So, uh, why are you here?"
"That's simple, Logan had to go somewhere, and he told me to supervise your training. Now, to begin," he looked up towards the ceiling. "Computer, run the preset training program."
"Affirmative, beginning P-K-four-five-nine," the computer's voice chimed.
"Which one is that?" Amara was able to asked before four tentacles came down and grabbed her wrists and ankles lifting her off the ground.
Ray would have helped her, if he hadn't been snagged by another tentacle that started dragging him towards something that looked to be a massive meat grinder.
"For some extra incentive, if you get through this in less than half an hour, you'll get the rest of the day off. If not, you'll do it again, and again, and again, until you get it right. Oh, and we'll all go out for lunch," he said taking a seat against the wall.
"Wow, lunch, how can I contain my excitement?" Bobby asked sarcastically while freezing the tentacle heading for him.
Lasers came out of the wall and fired at them. Jubilee took out a few with whatever it is she fires from her hands, and none of them affected Magma. Bobby formed a prism out of ice, refracting the beams away from him. Ray disabled a few others before getting whomped on the back by a tentacle with a spiked ball on the end.
"Time elapsed, twenty-seven minutes," the computer chimed when they finally finished.
It was really a disaster area, tentacles littered the floor, ice shards were falling from the ceiling, their costumes were ripped and torn in several places, leaving little to the imagination. They all stood in the center of the room, hands on their knees, panting like there was no tomorrow. All of them looked up when they heard clapping from across the room. Nate stood there, with what appeared to be blankets draped over his arm.
"Good, you get the rest of the day to do whatever you want," he said while going to each of them and placing the covering around their shoulders. "I don't think Xavier would appreciate you walking around the institute half naked."
"What *pant* about lunch?" Ray asked.
"Oh yeah, hehe, lunch," he looked around the room, tail twitching nervously. "Go get dressed then we'll figure out where to go, okay?"
They all nodded, too tired to talk anymore, and headed for the door, Nate stayed behind though. When they were in the hallway, and the door had closed, they all sighed.
"He's worse than Logan," Bobby said.
"No doubt, he never would have put us through that," Jubilee added. "But think about it, we actually made it, without help."
"Yeah, we must be getting better."
*****
Out on the bleachers by the baseball field, Scott and Jean sat, making out.
"Jean, do you ever feel like we're being watched?" Scott asked.
"All the time," she answered looking around. "You'd think people would leave us alone."
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" a voice asked from above them.
Both looked up and saw Nate on top of the fence behind home plate (I used to know what that was called, it does have a name). His new wings were held over his head to shield him from the sun, and his tail hung down the back, almost reaching the ground.
"Don't you have better things to do?" Scott asked getting irritated.
"Actually, I'm hiding from Rahne, that's something to do," he said spreading his wings enough to catch the wind. "If she comes here, tell her I'm in the danger room."
"Alright, on one condition."
"What?"
"Don't tell anyone you saw us here."
"Can do," he said and took off flying in the opposite direction of the house.
"Now, where were we?" Jean asked, placing her hand on the back of Scott's head.
*****
He flew in a wide arc around the compound, landing on top of the gazebo, over looking the ocean. Legs and ankles bent, wings circling around him, and tail winding its way around the roof, talons securing themselves in the shingles gave him the appearance of a gargoyle sitting on its perch.
"Ah thought Ah was the only one who came here to think."
Turning around he saw Rogue, leaning against a tree. Here arms were crossed over her chest and a small smile was on her face. He unwrapped his tail and stood up, jumping down to the ground.
"If you want to be alone, I can leave," he said and starting walking away.
"You don't have to go, there's room enough for two in there," she stepped into the small building and leaned on the railing.
Cautiously, he stepped in beside her, watching as the sun began to set. He felt strange being so close to someone who could easily drain his life away, even though she was adequately covered, his scales could easily tear through the fabric and touch her skin.
"Rahne's been looking for you."
"I know," his tail twitched a little.
"So, why are you avoiding her?"
"It's for her own good," he stretched his wings, feeling the tendons stretch and relax. "The less time she spends around me, the better."
"The Institute isn't all that big, you're gonna run inta her sooner or later."
"I know."
"So why not just tell her you don't like her?"
"Rogue?"
"Yes?"
"Can we stop talking about Rahne now?"
"Sure, I was just trying to help."
"I didn't ask for your help, but thanks anyway."
Rogue laughed a little, she felt strange, usually it was someone else helping her with issues. Nate turned to look down at her, wondering why she would laugh at such a serious time. But after a few seconds he shrugged it off and looked back at the ocean, aflame with the reflecting light of the sun.
"Ever wonder what they would think of you if you left?" he asked.
"Not really, I've thought about leaving, but then I realize that there's no where to go," she looked down at the waves crashing against the cliff. "What about you?"
He didn't respond, frankly, he didn't know how. Most of the students were sent to the institute by their parents, so they can learn to control their gifts and be surrounded by others like them. But Rogue and Scott had no such pleasure as to have parents. Though, Rogue had no siblings that she could visit, no family whatsoever. Well, that's not completely true, from talking with Kurt, he had found that Mystique was her foster mother, though she refused to accept it.
"She's here," he said casually not bothering to turn around.
"Who?" Rogue was about to turn around but Nate motioned for her not too.
"Don't turn around, she doesn't know we know she's there," he whispered after nudging her.
"Who?"
"Rahne."
"Oh."
"Rahne, if you don't mind, we're trying to have a conversation," Nate said wheeling around on the red wolf at the edge of the woods.
She made a whimpering sound and turned to go back into the woods, tail between her legs. Nate sighed and sat on the floor, he hadn't wanted to be mean to Rahne, but it was the only way he could think of. Being alone for the past few years had made him callous and untactful.
"You didn't have to mean to her."
"..." again he couldn't think of what to say.
"Well?" she was persistent about this.
He didn't respond, instead he stood up and began walking away, not even bothering to look back. It wasn't really what Rogue had expected to happen, but she was also relieved to be alone. Turning back, she looked out over the ocean, and sighed.
*****
Nate was on all fours, weaving around the trees, trying to find her. The scent was everywhere in the woods, there was no singular trail to follow. He grunted and decided to rely on other senses to find Rahne, perking his elongated ears to listen for her. His head was instantly filled with all the sounds of the woods and surrounding area. In no time he heard the sound of crying, and turned to follow it. He found her a few minutes later, under a tree.
"Rahne?" he asked stepping tentatively into the clearing.
"Go away. It's obvious you don't want me around."
"Now that's just stupid," he said jumping from one end of the clearing and latching onto the tree behind her. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
She looked up at him, her face streaked with tears. The look on her face gave him all the answers he needed. He would have reached out and tried to comfort her, but the spiked scales on his hand prevented it, to touch her would have meant to wound her. Almost of their own accord, the scales folded flat against the skin beneath, forming a flat surface on his palm.
"Rahne," he said placing his protected hand against her cheek, "I'm sorry I was mean to you. It's just that...that..."
"You like someone else?"
"No, no it's not that," he said moving down the trunk of the tree to be next to her.
"Then what is it?" she looked at him intently.
"Rahne, I'm not...exactly...human," he said trying to find the right way to phrase it.
"So, none of the people here are," Rahne said sounding hopeful.
"No, mutants are human, I'm something else," he looked at the ground. "Rahne, there are people after me, and you stay close to me, then you'll become a target as well."
"But, why are they after you?" she sounded worried now.
"Because I'm a dragon," he said getting up and walking a little ways away. "At the present time, they don't know where I am, but they'll find me soon."
His wings, which had been held tightly to his sides, unfolded and spread wide. The phone call from his mother this morning had been quite the eye- opener. He had left her home too soon, and she had had no time to give him some information. There were others like him in the world, other families who had descended from dragons. And there were others sworn to eradicate them, one of which were after him.
After he had told this to Rahne, she didn't look as shocked as he had thought she would. Apparently, there were some new students at the high school who were asking about him. She hadn't really minded, but they seemed truly adamant about knowing why he didn't attend with the others.
'So, they've found me already,' he thought and then asked Rahne. "Have you told Xavier about this?"
"Yeah, he said not to worry."
"Well, I'll talk to him myself," he turned and headed for the tree line, but stopped and looked back at her. "Hop on, I'll give you a ride."
The spines folded into his back, and the scales flattened. She stepped slowly up to him and ran her hand down his smooth back. A single spine rose between his shoulders.
"Grab that and hold on tight," he said.
"Right."
She grabbed it and swung her leg over his back, being sure to keep them behind his wings. His legs bent and the muscles coiled getting ready to take off. The sky was red with the setting sun, and looked somewhat like it was bleeding. With a relaxing of retractors, and push of extensor muscles he took flight above the trees, Rahne hanging on tight to the spine.
TBC
There, that chapters finished, sorry for taking so long, I've had to work every damn day for the past three weeks. That including school starting, Yu-gi-oh tournaments to attend, and other stories to write, I can't update as much as I'd like to. Well, that's really all I can say right now, it's about four in the morning, so I gonna hit the sack. Late.
Okay, last chapter was left at a bit of a cliffhanger. Thanks for the reviews and everything. A lot of you are probably wondering whether or not Nate is really going to slam Pietro into the ground. You're just going to have to wait and see, but don't worry, you won't have to wait long. **Sigh** I'm getting tired of writing these things, it's always the same things over and over. If nobody minds, I'm just going to stop writing this thing at the beginning.
*~*~* flashback
*~* dreamscape
~*~ mindscape
/ / telepathy
The Mutant
Chapter 4
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"STOP!" yelled Xavier when Quicksilver was a few feet from the pavement.
Nate looked up, his tail uncoiling itself from the younger mutant's ankle, dropping him the rest of the way. On the ground he stayed, too frightened to move, unable to call for help, and a small puddle forming beneath him.
"Where is your father now?" Nate hissed.
Silence.
"Alright, what's in the container?"
"Nate, we won't get anywhere like that," Xavier said wheeling himself over.
Nate remained silent, merely wrapping his tail around Quicksilver to keep him from moving. Naturally he struggled, trying to free himself from the unbreakable prison. Just to prove his point, Nate tightened the muscles in his tail, squeezing the mutant in its grip, the scales slicing through his costume. Xavier reached up and placed his hands on Pietro's temples, closing his eyes in concentration. It didn't take him long to find what he needed.
"All he knows is that Magneto told him to get it," he removed his hands and backed away.
With a simple flick of his tail, Nate sent Quicksilver flying through the air, to hit the wall of the building behind him. His mind was still concerned with the boy, well, to be more precise, his blood. What was it about the girl that made him want her blood? The boy's as well, though the smell was much less inviting than the girl's.
"Professor, shouldn't we get back to the Institute and find out what that is?"
"Yes, let's round up the other's first."
*****
"So, what is it?" Xavier asked as he looked at the chemical formula on the screen.
"To be honest, I don't know, I've never seen an arrangement like this before," Beast said as he manipulated it left and right. "And this one shouldn't even exist."
"Magneto must know what it is, or else he wouldn't want it."
"Well, as long as it's here, he can't get it. So it's safe for now."
With that he closed it in a plastic vault and sealed it.
*****
Nate paced around his room on all fours, the pain had gotten worse and worse over the week that had passed by. It was almost unbearable now, so much so that he couldn't concentrate on his studies. This pain was infinitesimally (that's a lot) worse than the pain of his spines forming. It felt like his skeleton just wanted to rip right through his back, which wasn't too far from the truth.
Face contorted in pain he fell to his stomach, rolling over and over, suppressing the scream he desperately wanted to get out. He realized that the pain would pass if he just let go of his inhibitions, and he would have done it too, if he knew what was going to come out. His teeth were gritted to the point were his fangs, top and bottom, were being pressed so far that they were digging into his gums.
In all of this, there was one singular thought in his head...why? Why were these changes happening so fast, with such short respite in between. He had been at the institute for a little less than a month and already more changes have happened than in the last four years. First it was his hands and arms, then his legs and feet, then his tail formed, and let's not forget the scales.
By shear strength of will he pulled himself up onto his dresser to look in the mirror. Sure enough, there they were, two horns were growing from his head. Surprisingly, there was no pain from those horns, not a single drop. After turning around, he saw what was causing the pain in his back. The scales had parted, and what appeared to be fingers were clawing their way out of his back, literally.
Finally, he let go, just stop trying to stop it, and, in an explosion of blood, his back ripped open. Two massive wings spread from his back. They spread and spread, easily touching from one wall to the other, and kept going. The skin and scales rapidly healed around the new appendages, and the pain subsided.
"Ah," he sighed in relief, letting himself slip down to the floor.
Before being able to rest though, there came a knock on the door.
"Nate, you in there?" came Rahne's voice, she sounded worried.
"Yeah, I'm here," he answered not bothering to get up.
"Are you...decent?"
"What kind of question is that, course I am."
The door opened and she poked her head in, and gasped at what she saw. The entire wall behind Nate covered in blood, and that included the bed, nightstands, and lamp. When she looked at him, she saw the two bloody wings growing from his back.
"You never asked if I was clean," he chuckled slightly, she didn't laugh. "What?"
"Nothing," she snapped and left.
He shrugged and looked back at the mirror, the image was almost complete, wondering why his head hadn't changed yet. Instead of letting it trouble him, he just shrugged again and decided he needed a shower, what with all the blood. Before he left, he grabbed his soaked bed sheets, pillowcases, and clothes that were on the floor, deciding they needed to be washed as well.
Gravity started having its effect on the blood, causing it to slide down his wings, dripping onto the floor, leaving a trail in the carpet as he walked to laundry room. A puddle began to form on the tile floor while he stuffed the laundry in the machine, and carefully turned it on. With that done, he decided that he needed a shower, and left the room, knowing no one would touch his things.
*****
A few days later Bobby was leading a few of the other students down the hall in the basement. The group included himself, Jubilee, Amara and Ray.
"I can't believe Logan is actually letting us use the danger room," Jubilee said almost ecstatic. "But doesn't it seem kinda odd to you. Since when has he given us any kind of freedom?"
"However it happened, we should be glad that they're finally treating us with some respect," Ray quipped as they reached the door. "Here we go."
The doors slid open and there, waiting for them, with his back to them, was Nate. Even though he was turned away, they knew he was smiling. His wings were only spread half of their full length, which was about 20 feet each. The spines on his back were fully extended and were swaying side to side. Looking over his shoulder, the smile was confirmed, and it only got wider.
"So, you thought that Logan would actually let you use this room unsupervised?" he asked turning around completely. "You are so naïve."
"Who are you calling naïve?" Bobby asked getting irritated.
"What a stupid question," Nate said while idly preening his wings. "There are only five people here, and since I said it, who do think?"
Bobby quickly iced himself up and launched a ball of ice at Nate, who easily dodged. His smile widened as he lightly pirouetted on one foot, folding his wings around him as a shield when Bobby continued to fire, unaware of the long tail getting closer. He was completely ignorant of it till it smacked his ankle, tripping him.
"There, now that that's done, maybe you'd like to ask why I'm here."
"Well, I was, then Bobby decided to fly off the handle," Amara said. "So, uh, why are you here?"
"That's simple, Logan had to go somewhere, and he told me to supervise your training. Now, to begin," he looked up towards the ceiling. "Computer, run the preset training program."
"Affirmative, beginning P-K-four-five-nine," the computer's voice chimed.
"Which one is that?" Amara was able to asked before four tentacles came down and grabbed her wrists and ankles lifting her off the ground.
Ray would have helped her, if he hadn't been snagged by another tentacle that started dragging him towards something that looked to be a massive meat grinder.
"For some extra incentive, if you get through this in less than half an hour, you'll get the rest of the day off. If not, you'll do it again, and again, and again, until you get it right. Oh, and we'll all go out for lunch," he said taking a seat against the wall.
"Wow, lunch, how can I contain my excitement?" Bobby asked sarcastically while freezing the tentacle heading for him.
Lasers came out of the wall and fired at them. Jubilee took out a few with whatever it is she fires from her hands, and none of them affected Magma. Bobby formed a prism out of ice, refracting the beams away from him. Ray disabled a few others before getting whomped on the back by a tentacle with a spiked ball on the end.
"Time elapsed, twenty-seven minutes," the computer chimed when they finally finished.
It was really a disaster area, tentacles littered the floor, ice shards were falling from the ceiling, their costumes were ripped and torn in several places, leaving little to the imagination. They all stood in the center of the room, hands on their knees, panting like there was no tomorrow. All of them looked up when they heard clapping from across the room. Nate stood there, with what appeared to be blankets draped over his arm.
"Good, you get the rest of the day to do whatever you want," he said while going to each of them and placing the covering around their shoulders. "I don't think Xavier would appreciate you walking around the institute half naked."
"What *pant* about lunch?" Ray asked.
"Oh yeah, hehe, lunch," he looked around the room, tail twitching nervously. "Go get dressed then we'll figure out where to go, okay?"
They all nodded, too tired to talk anymore, and headed for the door, Nate stayed behind though. When they were in the hallway, and the door had closed, they all sighed.
"He's worse than Logan," Bobby said.
"No doubt, he never would have put us through that," Jubilee added. "But think about it, we actually made it, without help."
"Yeah, we must be getting better."
*****
Out on the bleachers by the baseball field, Scott and Jean sat, making out.
"Jean, do you ever feel like we're being watched?" Scott asked.
"All the time," she answered looking around. "You'd think people would leave us alone."
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" a voice asked from above them.
Both looked up and saw Nate on top of the fence behind home plate (I used to know what that was called, it does have a name). His new wings were held over his head to shield him from the sun, and his tail hung down the back, almost reaching the ground.
"Don't you have better things to do?" Scott asked getting irritated.
"Actually, I'm hiding from Rahne, that's something to do," he said spreading his wings enough to catch the wind. "If she comes here, tell her I'm in the danger room."
"Alright, on one condition."
"What?"
"Don't tell anyone you saw us here."
"Can do," he said and took off flying in the opposite direction of the house.
"Now, where were we?" Jean asked, placing her hand on the back of Scott's head.
*****
He flew in a wide arc around the compound, landing on top of the gazebo, over looking the ocean. Legs and ankles bent, wings circling around him, and tail winding its way around the roof, talons securing themselves in the shingles gave him the appearance of a gargoyle sitting on its perch.
"Ah thought Ah was the only one who came here to think."
Turning around he saw Rogue, leaning against a tree. Here arms were crossed over her chest and a small smile was on her face. He unwrapped his tail and stood up, jumping down to the ground.
"If you want to be alone, I can leave," he said and starting walking away.
"You don't have to go, there's room enough for two in there," she stepped into the small building and leaned on the railing.
Cautiously, he stepped in beside her, watching as the sun began to set. He felt strange being so close to someone who could easily drain his life away, even though she was adequately covered, his scales could easily tear through the fabric and touch her skin.
"Rahne's been looking for you."
"I know," his tail twitched a little.
"So, why are you avoiding her?"
"It's for her own good," he stretched his wings, feeling the tendons stretch and relax. "The less time she spends around me, the better."
"The Institute isn't all that big, you're gonna run inta her sooner or later."
"I know."
"So why not just tell her you don't like her?"
"Rogue?"
"Yes?"
"Can we stop talking about Rahne now?"
"Sure, I was just trying to help."
"I didn't ask for your help, but thanks anyway."
Rogue laughed a little, she felt strange, usually it was someone else helping her with issues. Nate turned to look down at her, wondering why she would laugh at such a serious time. But after a few seconds he shrugged it off and looked back at the ocean, aflame with the reflecting light of the sun.
"Ever wonder what they would think of you if you left?" he asked.
"Not really, I've thought about leaving, but then I realize that there's no where to go," she looked down at the waves crashing against the cliff. "What about you?"
He didn't respond, frankly, he didn't know how. Most of the students were sent to the institute by their parents, so they can learn to control their gifts and be surrounded by others like them. But Rogue and Scott had no such pleasure as to have parents. Though, Rogue had no siblings that she could visit, no family whatsoever. Well, that's not completely true, from talking with Kurt, he had found that Mystique was her foster mother, though she refused to accept it.
"She's here," he said casually not bothering to turn around.
"Who?" Rogue was about to turn around but Nate motioned for her not too.
"Don't turn around, she doesn't know we know she's there," he whispered after nudging her.
"Who?"
"Rahne."
"Oh."
"Rahne, if you don't mind, we're trying to have a conversation," Nate said wheeling around on the red wolf at the edge of the woods.
She made a whimpering sound and turned to go back into the woods, tail between her legs. Nate sighed and sat on the floor, he hadn't wanted to be mean to Rahne, but it was the only way he could think of. Being alone for the past few years had made him callous and untactful.
"You didn't have to mean to her."
"..." again he couldn't think of what to say.
"Well?" she was persistent about this.
He didn't respond, instead he stood up and began walking away, not even bothering to look back. It wasn't really what Rogue had expected to happen, but she was also relieved to be alone. Turning back, she looked out over the ocean, and sighed.
*****
Nate was on all fours, weaving around the trees, trying to find her. The scent was everywhere in the woods, there was no singular trail to follow. He grunted and decided to rely on other senses to find Rahne, perking his elongated ears to listen for her. His head was instantly filled with all the sounds of the woods and surrounding area. In no time he heard the sound of crying, and turned to follow it. He found her a few minutes later, under a tree.
"Rahne?" he asked stepping tentatively into the clearing.
"Go away. It's obvious you don't want me around."
"Now that's just stupid," he said jumping from one end of the clearing and latching onto the tree behind her. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
She looked up at him, her face streaked with tears. The look on her face gave him all the answers he needed. He would have reached out and tried to comfort her, but the spiked scales on his hand prevented it, to touch her would have meant to wound her. Almost of their own accord, the scales folded flat against the skin beneath, forming a flat surface on his palm.
"Rahne," he said placing his protected hand against her cheek, "I'm sorry I was mean to you. It's just that...that..."
"You like someone else?"
"No, no it's not that," he said moving down the trunk of the tree to be next to her.
"Then what is it?" she looked at him intently.
"Rahne, I'm not...exactly...human," he said trying to find the right way to phrase it.
"So, none of the people here are," Rahne said sounding hopeful.
"No, mutants are human, I'm something else," he looked at the ground. "Rahne, there are people after me, and you stay close to me, then you'll become a target as well."
"But, why are they after you?" she sounded worried now.
"Because I'm a dragon," he said getting up and walking a little ways away. "At the present time, they don't know where I am, but they'll find me soon."
His wings, which had been held tightly to his sides, unfolded and spread wide. The phone call from his mother this morning had been quite the eye- opener. He had left her home too soon, and she had had no time to give him some information. There were others like him in the world, other families who had descended from dragons. And there were others sworn to eradicate them, one of which were after him.
After he had told this to Rahne, she didn't look as shocked as he had thought she would. Apparently, there were some new students at the high school who were asking about him. She hadn't really minded, but they seemed truly adamant about knowing why he didn't attend with the others.
'So, they've found me already,' he thought and then asked Rahne. "Have you told Xavier about this?"
"Yeah, he said not to worry."
"Well, I'll talk to him myself," he turned and headed for the tree line, but stopped and looked back at her. "Hop on, I'll give you a ride."
The spines folded into his back, and the scales flattened. She stepped slowly up to him and ran her hand down his smooth back. A single spine rose between his shoulders.
"Grab that and hold on tight," he said.
"Right."
She grabbed it and swung her leg over his back, being sure to keep them behind his wings. His legs bent and the muscles coiled getting ready to take off. The sky was red with the setting sun, and looked somewhat like it was bleeding. With a relaxing of retractors, and push of extensor muscles he took flight above the trees, Rahne hanging on tight to the spine.
TBC
There, that chapters finished, sorry for taking so long, I've had to work every damn day for the past three weeks. That including school starting, Yu-gi-oh tournaments to attend, and other stories to write, I can't update as much as I'd like to. Well, that's really all I can say right now, it's about four in the morning, so I gonna hit the sack. Late.