Chapter II
Lilacs and Lions
"Logan! LOGAN!"
Screams filled my ears.
In a split second, I sprung out of the bed, claws at the ready. My eyes searched the room franticly. "Half-pint," I spat with a glare. The brunette grimaced hesitantly as she phased out of the wall, "Sorry, Mr. Logan, but it's an emergency! The Professor wants everyone in his office, like, pronto. It's urgent!" I growled in response. She squeaked and phased through the wall and out into the hallway. I sighed and sat back down on the bed. I retracted my claws to clench the sides of my throbbing head.
This was the seventh night I'd had this nightmare, and, as the girl said, it always ended the same. In the end, she always falls. Always. No matter how hard I try, I can never change the dream; I never save her. And the weird thing is, is that I don't know who she is, except that she dies every night in my dreams and that I had the overwhelming feeling of needing to be there to save her, even if it cost me my life. I didn't know why, and it bothered me as much as having the stupid dream in the first place.
I sighed and stood up to get dressed. Now wasn't the time to ponder dreams; now, I had to meet with the Professor for "urgent" matters.
Omnipotent POV
"Sorry to wake you so early, but I'm afraid this is an urgent matter," Professor Xavier began as a beautiful African American woman escorted him into the room. The Professor wheeled his chair into the middle of the room to confront the team he had assembled.
"Cerebro has detected another mutant," Xavier announced to the room. "And you had us wake up at four in the morning, why?" Logan grouchily mumbled as he entered the room. Xavier nodded, "I'm afraid she needs our help, and fast." "What's the situation, Professor?" An older teen wearing a visor of some sorts over his eyes asked. "That's a good question, Scott." The Professor sighed, "One that I will answer once we've left. Her life depends on it." With that said, the team left the room and regrouped at their means of transportation- the X-jet.
The conversation resumed once the jet was on course and in the air.
"From what I've been able to gather," the Professor began, "She's been running for quite awhile, and her luck has finally run out. She's scared, terrified if you will. That's all I could gather before I lost her." "Lost her?" Jean asked. The Professor nodded, his face hardening, "Yes, I believe that we're not the only ones following her." Logan growled under his breath, "Magneto." The Professor simply nodded. "I," the professor rubbed his temples with a deep sigh, "I don't know very much about her; something's been messing with the connection I was able to make with her. Her mind, I'm afraid, is deteriorating; she doesn't know who to trust and her mentality is spiraling downward. She's in real trouble. If we don't reach her in time, she might be lost forever."
"What about her power, Professor?" Jean, the only red head on the mission, "Is it going to become a danger?" Professor sighed again; he turned his sight to the window, "That's the thing, Jean. I don't know. I wasn't able to find her power, or even her name. All I know is that she's…special."
Silence fell upon the cabin as the team- Kitty, Jean, Scott, the Professor, Ororo the beautiful African woman, and Logan- turned to look out the glass, all searching for a scared unknown girl who desperately needed their help.
"Like, where are we?"
"Canada," Logan grumbled as he glared from one snow dusted tree to the next. He sniffed lightly at the air, perplexed. Somehow the icy forest struck a chord; he just couldn't recall the source of the familiarity.
"This was the last place she was," the Professor frowned as he searched the tree line for answers. "It was only a few hours ago, so she should still be here." Logan grimaced as a faint stench hit his senses like a brick, "Magneto." "Where from?" Scott voiced, readying for a fight. Logan scoffed and crossed his arms, "Not here. He's been gone for a while. The smell's faint." "Is there anyone else?" The professor prompted from the ramp of the jet. Logan lifted his nose into the air and inhaled deeply. His eyebrows furrowed, but said nothing. "Alright," the professor nodded, "Split into groups of two and report any signs or discoveries you find." The formulated pairs- Ororo and the professor operating from the plane; Kitty and Logan, and Jean and Scott on foot- set off to search.
"What are we looking for, exactly?" Kitty questioned as she shivered and rubbed her arms from the cold. Logan stopped, picking up another scent- the strange, faintest scent of pure fear. His eyes scanned the brush until they settled. "Something like that, half-pint." Logan scoffed and moved to investigate the site of a "struggle". "A bunch of twigs?" Kitty frowned, confused. Logan leaned down to inspect. He shifted through the mess of evergreen branches and debris of nature and produced a vital sign. "This must have been hers," he voiced as he brought the object closer to his face. "A pink ribbon?" He sniffed the object and scowled even deeper. Familiarity was a step closer. "Lilacs," he muttered. "What?" Logan growled; Kitty backed off. "I'm going to, like, search over there."
Logan stared at the mess before him. Lilac wasn't the only scent. "Sabertooth." He could practically feel his presence. He was here, for sure. It wouldn't be much of a push to say that he might have been the one chasing the girl in the first place- alongside Magneto, of course.
So Magneto'd pulled out all of the stops, Logan wondered, the ribbon twisting around his knuckles as a light wintry breeze caressed his hands. He'd wanted her bad, which brings up the question, why?
A faint cry in the distance set him on edge. Instantly, his claws penetrated the skin between his knuckles, ready to take on any oncoming obstacle. He froze, the cry becoming all the more familiar. "A baby?" Cautiously, he set foot onto the path leading to the noise.
The cry grew louder as he grew closer. Reaching out, he swatted a tree branch from his path to step into the clearing hidden behind it.
"Christ!" He shouted in alarm, the bladed claws reeling back into his skin as he ran forward to the source of the cry. His arms lifted the crimson infant into his arms and cradled the child closer to his chest. He held tightly to the child with one hand and used to other to scramble to his belt to unclip his only source of communication. "I need help!" He growled, panic over the injured child increasing as the red blotch on the infants white garments steadily grew in diameter.
"Don't die on me," he whispered as he fumbled to take off his jacket to wrap around the baby. A vice clamped on his heart as two tear-filled honey brown eyes pleaded for help. Blood covered her back and flowed from four large gashes that covered the tiny canvas and draped over the back of her shoulders. He pressed the material of his jacket harder to slow the bleeding. "We're-" The small radio he'd used to contact the team grew harder to understand as static swallowed a response.
"C'mon kiddo," Logan whispered as he huddled closer to block Jack Frost's wrath. The back of his fingers brushed over her pale cheeks- he shuttered when he found them colder than ice. A slight giggle caught him by surprise. His eyebrows knitted in confusion. Tears scattered down her face like snow falling from the sky, yet the brightest smile lit up her entire face. Her tiny little hands gripped his thumb; she brought it closer to her crimson covered self in an embrace. Her eyebrows lifted into the brown tuft of hair upon her head; the action mirrored his own.
The clamp squeezed almost painfully and he feared that his heart would burst. "…little lion," he whispered as a ghost of a smile crept upon his lips. The baby gave a giggle and kicked her legs to her hands as she hugged her tiny body to his hand. The entire sequence was like a scene from a long lost dream…
"…do you know me?" A light whisper on the wind carried his gaze from the year old angel to the figure who uttered the words. Behind him was a little girl who couldn't have been any older than six. A sudden loss of weight in his arms diverted his attention. His heart pounded in his chest and his lungs failed to produce oxygen; the bloodied infant was gone from his arms. All that remained was his dark, blood-free coat.
"Do you know me?" She whispered again as she stepped forward. A light breeze scattered the confined brown locks of her pigtails across her face. She lifted her pale fingers to swat the loose strands out of her honey eyes. Her daisy imprinted sundress ruffled with her movements, but remained otherwise silent.
"Where is she?" He asked, standing to his feet, the jacket still close to his chest as if still protecting the infant. The young girl before him looked remarkably like the baby, he thought. "Do you know me?" She smiled brightly; the move was odd and contrasted against her lips, blue from the cold. Again, the repeated question caught him by surprise. Did he know her?
The girl stepped within feet of him and sealed his suspicions. Marring her back, draped over her shoulders were four parallel scars.
"Little lion…" She repeated, her head tilting to the side joyously; "I haven't been called that for the longest time." "Who are you?"He retorted, stepping away. "Can you help me?" She whispered, her eyes growing glassy as the wind picked up. Logan remained silent as wisps of white swirled in spirals around the clearing.
"I," her eyebrows knotted as she struggled for words, "can't find my way."
Logan's blinked. "You're lost?" She nodded shyly. "I've can't find my way. Can you help me?" After a few minutes, her sad eyes broke him. A lost kid, he mused; sounds like he's found the mutant they'd come to Canada to find. Logan sighed, "Fine." Noticing the time lapse, he reached again for his belt and brought the radio to his lips, "Found her." The girl the professor had foretold to be in danger was finally found. "Here, kid," he muttered, tossing his jacket to the chilled, shivering child. Problem solved.
"Where are your parents?" He questioned. "I can't remember," she frowned, her eyes lighting with irritation as she failed to answer the seemingly simple question. He frowned, "How did you get out here?" She scowled. She didn't remember that either, he'd bet. "Alright, kid," he sighed as he scratched his neck. He glared at the unresponsive radio in his hand. He attached it back to his belt and crossed his arms, "What's your name?" Her scowl flipped instantly. She offered her small hand out with a great smile, "Leo!" Logan couldn't help but feel amused at the name; the earlier comment now made sense. Leo the lion. "Logan," he replied as he hesitantly accepted the handshake.
"So," Logan muttered, searching for the words he needed to express, "Where is it that you're trying to find?" Her eyes shined with focus as she struggled, "I have to go to the place where I can be found." Logan stared at the girl hard; the words were intricate, and in all sense made none. "You have been found," Logan grumbled, his patience growing shorter with all of the questions. "No," she whispered sadly, "I haven't." Before he could say anything else, she'd grabbed his hand and started to pull him towards another direction. "This way!"
"This is where I always get lost," Leo frowned as she looked around- every tree looked exactly like the next. Her spirits fell; she squeezed Logan's hand and cuddled into the jacket. "It's always here." Logan glared heatedly at the winter-sprinkled trees. He silently cursed himself for allowing himself to be dragged around by a six year old. He should of picked her up, found Kitty (who was still MIA), and gone back to the jet. But he didn't, which wasn't completely unlike him. His eyes fell to the crestfallen little girl holding his hand as if it were her line to the world. It was all because of her…
"Cedar, Spruce, Redwood…" Her head fell to a rest on his hip; she yawned, "Willow, Pines…" Willow? Logan looked up to the line of trees. His eyes fell upon a certain unique landmark- a crooked willow tree. Instantly, the nightmare that had haunted him for days returned to his mind with full force.
Trees rustling in the wind suddenly fell silent as limbs became stilled; a large crooked willow had been swaying in melancholy, but now stood frozen in a permanent pose. Nature and wildlife, although unseen, lost voice and fell to hushed, deafening silence. Time stood on end; time for that moment had stopped.
His feet propelled him forward to follow the same path the terrified woman had treaded. This was her path; this was the road that led to the place where she can be found. It all made sense now.
Feet pattered against the frozen ground. Logan's breath heightened as he rushed with the little girl at his side. The landmarks in his dreams passed by- first, the willow; second, the boulder; third, the waterfall; and fourth… the cliff.
"This is where…" Her soft voice trailed off as her gaze was ensnared by the rivers beyond the cliffs. "It's where she died," Logan paled as the screams echoed off the canyon walls. "No," the girl shook her head. A zealous persona took over as a grin grew on her brightening face. Color began to return to her face and her lips were changing from frosty blue to a velvet red. Her brown eyes seemed to glow, matching the rest of her features. "I know where I am now!"
The little lion tugged his hand as she turned onto a new path and raced along the faint outline of the twisting trail downward to the shore.
"This is the way!" She shouted over the flow of the waters. In her excitement, she released his hand and raced across white blankets of snow and sand, heading away from the cliff and back into the forest, following a small stream that branched from the river into the woods. Logan raced after the exuberant girl. He followed her excited cries and the sound of rustling leaves and snapping twigs. A flash of white and yellow daisies caught his eyes; he followed suit and burst out of the greenery. The girl turned on her heel and beamed a toothy grin, "Thank-you! I'm not lost anymore!" Her giggles echoed before her figure began to fade. Soon, the girl was gone.
Logan was at a loss for words.
The girl, the baby; the ghost, the vision. Both were gone, but now replaced by something real.
She was there, lying on a patch of green grass surrounded by snowy tundra. Lilacs cushioned her body and acted as a sort of blanket against the cold. Her long dark brown hair was messy and thrown across her waist. Her eyes were closed, and the lids were dark with lack of sleep. Her skin was pale and her frame was thin from malnutrition. Blood and broken bones burst from bruised and battered skin, all of which were probably caused by a long fall from a high place. She was dressed in tattered dark jeans and a ripped crimson-spotted white blouse. She looked like she was sleeping; she was at peace, a feat that the teen very seldom felt. But the most noticeable thing was what he'd seen in his dream.
The grass was encased as eternal spring. The grass remained a vibrant green, untouched by winter. Lilacs formed a crown around her head, bloomed and never to die. Tendrils of her hair had been ensnared by the wind, and had remained captured; a small pair of sparrows, whom had swooped into the dome of spring, shared the same fate. Falling snowflakes fell everywhere except for the invisible dome around her body; the flakes fell into the dome and stuck, stranded in the air. Everything in that small spot had simply stopped.
But that didn't change what needed to be done. The girl needed help, fast.
Logan stepped forward and kneeled down onto the grass. "Let's get you home, Leo," he whispered as he reached down and slid his hands carefully underneath her and lifted her off the ground. Like a chain of dominoes, all seemed to release. Chirping rang in the forest as the sparrows were set free. They flew off into the treetops and twisted away into the sky. The cluster cloud of snowflakes fell to sprinkle the grass and lilacs. And as if she were holding her breath, the teen inhaled a deep breath of air, a sure sign of her return to the living, yet her eyes remained shut.
"LOGAN!" The shout came from his radio.
Shifting her into a one arm hold, he reached for the device and brought it to his lips. "'Bout time," he grumbled. "Logan! Where are you?" The Cyclops frantically demanded. Logan glanced around, "Near trees." "Doesn't matter, we've got you on radar. We lost you for awhile." Logan thought hard on that; he'd been lost. "What?" The Cyclops seemed to understand, "Something was messing with the signal; all of our technology was out- even the compass!"
Logan's eyes fell upon the girl; he chuckled, a challenging smirk crossing his lips. "Well, well; I have to hand it to the professor. You're one special kid." "Did you find any sign of the girl, Logan?" The professor asked urgently. "I'll do you one better," he replied as he stood from his crouch. "I found the girl." The professor let out a sigh of relief.
