Chapter title: Some things out there...

As the three members of mutant x trudged back through the woods, they were unaware of a shadowy creature following. Shalimar felt the hairs on her neck stair once again in the last 5 minutes and allowed her eyes to change to their perfect golden tint. She scanned the areas around them, but again, like all the other times, found nothing on their tail. She gave their surrounding area a confused look, before leading the two other men on. She had her wits about her, and was ready for any thing that may decide it was tired of sitting in the shadows.

Adam and Brennan nearly took a tumble a few times during the walk, but wiping their hands clean of the mud, and little branches as big as a needle, and continued after her.

Adam gave a sharp grunt when he stepped on an uneven part of ground. A striking jolt flowed now through his ankle, while he quickly tried to wave off the attention of Brennan and Shal. He too could feel some thing, out there. It was like having your back to the light, and seeing a shadow that wasn't yours flow past you. Every time Adam thought he'd heard some thing, the woods would betray him, and the wind thrash at bushes, wavering every thing to get no location of what he thought, could be tracking them.

He watched Shalimar wearily, and confirmed that she too had heard some thing moving about out there.

He kept glancing back at Brennan, who was watching the trees and bushes as if they would suddenly whip out and snatch him up. He was worried about Brennan. He'd been like that the whole time they'd been out there. Adam felt his forehead was beginning to crease just like Brennan's the more he looked at him.

Shalimar sniffed the air that was gusted towards them by the wind, hoping for some hint as to what was out there. Some part of her mind said she was imagining it, but could she very well imagine the smell of fear off her two other teammates... she doubted it.

When she found the path her and Brennan had took the resent day, she found the solidness of it, the reality of the area calming. She waved Adam and Brennan to follow, as slowly, the cave came into view.

Brennan saw the hand gesture to follow, and his stomach gripped onto its self. His mind started to act on its own and he felt his body start to move sluggishly, and slow down. He scrunched his hands into fists, and fought to keep himself under control. When he felt the sliver of coldness expand from his centre, he knew he at least had some control within.

As he followed, it felt like he'd stepped over an invisible line somewhere entering the clearing. Instead of fear and weariness like before, calmness and peace radiated from the place, and enveloped him in its trusting arms. He almost wanted to sink to the floor, the feeling so overwhelming he nearly did. He saw Shal move with still the stiffness in her shoulders, but he saw the same effect that was happening to him, take its toll on Adam. Adam's knee's nearly buckled, but with a jolt he was back up before any one knew the difference.

Brennan shook his head as he tried to clear the fog of calmness out of his mind. He needed to be alert so nothing could sneak up on them from behind. The thought seemed to have some effect on the fog, and with the advantage, Brennan cleared his lungs of the hot air, and welcomed the cold air that flooded into his looks with a deep breath.

Shal was standing in front of the cave, inspecting the wall that Brennan thoughts he'd had a dream about. Adam was next to her, doing the same.

Brennan stood back as he watched the two. He saw the gleam of interest in Adam's eyes as he studied the images. Shalimar's eyes however, held no interest like Adam's. Her eyes fixed on certain images, working their way along the rest. But still, her hazel eyes found the same ones she'd been staring at before. With an intense gaze, she grazed her fingers over a particular one, and then suddenly pulled back like the thing was a viper.

Brennan tried to edge closer, to see what she was looking at. He jumped when Adam suddenly spoke, stopping him in his tracks.
"This is amazing. I've never seen such detail, nor such realistic poses, in any thing of this type. That one you are looking at Shal is a drawing of an ancient animal, that some said could roar the voices of the gods. Hey Brennan, come here and see this one".

Brennan allowed his shoulders to sag, as he knew Adam would literally go into his lecture mode about the history of the place, and any thing else he could remember from research. Shalimar gave him a smile that was ready to spread to a grin while still be sympathetic.

He went over to Adam who was leaning towards a drawing, nose nearly touching the wall it was drew on. Adam grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, and nearly thrust Brennan shoulder first into the wall.

"This one I think means the eyes of the hunter".

Brennan gave Adam an amused little laugh, before it ended abrupt-idly. What he saw wasn't funny. On the wall, was a scene that triggered images from the dream?

The picture on the wall was a beast of some sort, in mid jump, its right eye that pointed towards some thing, was what was meant to be the main point of the picture. But the rest of it, made Brennan's breath turn to condensation in his throat. The creature was leaping towards some thing, claws outstretched from those huge paws.

Brennan felt his legs started to wobble as his insides turned to ice, which felt like, were melting. The eye looked to be bulging, to Brennan's eyes, making it seem too realistic. He tried to look away as his breath, started to be heaved for.

Adam wasn't looking at Brennan, since the sound in the woods had caught his ear. He had walked towards the woods, where he tried to peer through the trees and bushes that blocked all view.

Shalimar was standing next to Brennan, also looking at the image. However, she was successful at ripping her sight away from the image. With out even looking at Brennan, she gripped him by the arm, and pulled him backwards away from the cave and towards the cliffs edge.

When she was less than ten feet from the edge she sunk to her knees. Brennan was still staring at the cave, eyes transfixed on the exact position of the image, which held his mind in a tight hold. Shalimar sucked in fresh air, and tried to keep from glaring at Brennan. Her hands were glued to her thighs, scrunching the clothes into her tight fists. She didn't realise, that her lips were pulled back, showing off her teeth. She was panting for breath, trying to keep her feral side under control, while also trying to ignore its luring words of temptation. She knew if she gave in, the results would lead to only total damnation.

She felt the waves of the struggle glide over her skin, giving her goose bumps. She tried to ignore it, and after a few more tried, gave a whimper of frustration.

Adam came back into the clearing, and gave a sigh of annoyance. He was certain he'd heard some thing, even seen some thing. But it was like a shadow, but vanished in the presence of him. But always, just over his shoulder.

He saw Shalimar on her knees and started to feel worry clog his mind. He walked towards her with urgency in his steps, but froze when golden eyes blazed at him. A small growl emits from her, but it was loud enough to be heard by Adam. It was a warning to stay away.

He saw Brennan just sitting at ease next to her, looking like he really wasn't there. Hoping to catch his attention for help with Shal, he talked low, so not to provoke Shalimar with any loud noises.

"Brennan..."

Brennan looked up at his mentor, and when he saw the urgency in his eyes, blended with worry, he felt his mind detach from his foggy trance, and be invited back to reality. He looked at Shal when he heard the whimper, and slowly, his mind came back to him. As if still in a trance, he reached towards her hands, and successfully got one into his.
"... Shal..."

He was surprised him self, when his voice was so soft and low. It worked though. Shalimar slowly looked up at him, and after seeing he was trying to help. Scrunched her eyes shut, and nearly crumbled to the floor

With out realising what he was doing, he scooped her up with one of his arms, and pulled her to his chest. At immediate impact, he felt her shiver. Wetness soaked his chest, as she started to cry. He kept his arm around her though, protectively, not wanting her to feel any pain. He ached to end her tears, to see her smile again, and held her tighter to him when he realised... he couldn't do any thing to stop it.

After a few minutes of crying, Shalimar slowly started to feel the feral back off. It always happened in Brennan's embrace. It always made her want to laugh at the irony of it. The feral acted up when she would let her defences down, when she would enjoy her self and relax, and that was 8/10 times with Brennan. But when he held her tight, lending her strength, the feral coward away. She could feel the overwhelming feeling of not being in control flood the air. She couldn't tell whom it was coming from. Her because the feral had nearly beaten her, or from Brennan and Adam, who couldn't help because they didn't know how.

Adam slowly made his way over to the two members on the ground. He sat down near them, but ready to scuttle away should Shal go into another wrestling match.

Shalimar leaned off of Brennan after a while, and felt foolish for doing what she did. She didn't meet his eyes, and dared not meet Adam's. She knew his would be a mask of how he really felt, while Brennan's would be wide open for her to read.

She stood up, back stiff in determination, and newfound strength. Shaking off the worried hands of her team members, she told them to stop worrying over her and do what needed to be done.

"Are we done her Adam?"

Adam nodded, "Yes, this cave was what I was looking for, all I need to do is take some pictures and then get back to check them out".

Adam was off to the cave, where several flashes could be seen as he raised his COM ring to take the pictures.

Brennan didn't linger on the event that happened seconds ago. The feeling of being watched was back, and he couldn't help but picture the eyes in the cave blazing its hazel fury at him. He glanced at Shal, who seemed to had forgotten what had happened seconds ago, and was looking off into the woods.

He wasn't entirely looking forward to the walk back. He knew as soon as they stepped back into the woods, the feeling of worry and dread would return also, and follow them to mansion, where it would also creep into the floorboards of the place, settling in.

Shalimar was staring intently at a position; any position to stop every thing else from seeming like it was shifting.

Her eyes fell on a dull thing, which seemed to be standing on the edge of the shadows. She focused more, only to realise with fear it looked like some one, was standing watching them. She pushed her hand behind her back, and fixed her eyes on the figure, while waving her hand to Brennan behind her back. She knew if the figure saw, it would bolt, and she wanted to verify some one else could see it too.

Brennan saw the hand gesture, and felt his heart pick up a quick beat. He followed the title of Shalimar's head, only to feel his heart go into a seizure for a moment, when he saw some thing.

"Shal..."

"Can you see him Brennan".

Reluctantly, Brennan swallowed the lump in his throat and answered. "Ye".

He felt fear slice a new wound in him when he saw Shalimar's back bend slightly, and every muscle in her tense. 'No! please don't go feral Shal'.
"Good". He reached towards her in a flash at her words, mind already working what she was going to do. His hand gripped thin air.

Ok. That one was longer than the others so a reply would be nice.

Thx for any other replies I got.

Thx 4 reading and hope u enjoyed it.

Tunder28