7449/You Know What They Say About Those With Bigfeet

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You Know What They Say About Those With Bigfeet
Date of Scene: 09 May 2019
Location: Woods near Connemara, Washington
Synopsis: Rogue, Logan, Kitty and Carrie Kelley visit Doug in Washington state. A hunter shoots one of Doug's wildlife friends
Cast of Characters: Cypher, Shadowcat, Wolverine, Rogue, Carrie Kelley




Cypher has posed:
So, to fast-forward, the last place Doug Ramsey was noted as being after he fell off the face of the Earth a couple of years ago was a town called Connemara in Washington State. 'It's really nice here, I'm going to stay for a little bit, and live in the woods like Walt Whitman; except I'll wear pants. I don't want to get ticks.'

After having to solve a situation on the West Coast, Shadowcat floated a suggestion that they stop and see if they could find him. The X-Men swung by a little watering hole called the Dew Drop Inn (cold Molson on tap) and met a guy who claimed he was hunting Bigfoot. Somebody asked the Bartender about Doug, and she mentioned an 'Aaron le Chiffre' who matched his description, and lent the use of her 4wD to drive up to his cabin.

You can't miss it, it's a cabin off an old logging trail with solar panels and a water condenser.

And sure enough, there it is, a neat, sleepy little cabin with a wood pile, solar panels, and a water condenser. It's not even locked... but there's nobody home.

Inside, well, only Doug would bring a computer setup like that out to the woods, though there's also a weight bench and a lot of books, including a well-thumbed copy of 'Don Quixote', a journal, and a sketchbook, which is currently open on the desk -- he's drawn a *tubby* looking Lockheed lying in supine pose eating a donut. In the caption he scribbled 'Beach gonna get whatever body I *give* it'

Shadowcat has posed:
Once the 4x4 arrives at the cabin, Shadowcat hops out of the jeep. She's been growing more anxious and excited the closer they get. By the time they pull into the little clearing and the vehicle rolls to a stop, Kitty jumps out of the jeep, Lockheed taking wing to fly along with her as she runs over towards the cabin. "Doug!" she calls out. "Doug! It'd better be you here, or a Bond villain!" she calls out, just in case this Aaron Le Chiffre isn't who she thinks he is. Of course with Logan's nose, it won't be any problem confirming if this is Doug's place.

Kitty bangs on the door, and when she gets no answer she finally sticks her head through the door. "Oh yeah, that computer, gotta be him," she says as she pushes the door open then to lead everyone inside and take a look around. She stops at the sketchpad, giggling and telling Lockheed, "He caught your likeness." That gets a snort and some softly blown smoke her direction.

Wolverine has posed:
    In the back of that 4x4, Logan had been reclined with boots up and through the gap between the two front seats, with ankles crossed. He'd had his head pillowed with his fingers interlaced and the brim of his cowboy hat pulled down to shield his eyes. Through most of the trip he'd been alternating between napping quietly and snoring to wake the dead. Likely resolved with a needed nudge.
    Once they'd reached the destination, however, he'd pulled himself up and was the last to step out of the car, taking some time leaning on the hood as he gives the place a once over. Nostrils flaring, he did mention, "This is the place." But nothing more than that.
    A small lap had been taken around the cabin itself, just a slow stroll as the Canadian mutant got a feel for the land, the forest. Something about the place didn't quite sit right, but nothing he could put into words. It was only then that he moved into the cabin proper, holding the door open for an instant before moving on in.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue steps out of the jeep also, and raises her sunglasses up out of her leather bomber jacket to place them over her eyes. Her white and brown hair whips in the wind as she turns to look in the direction that its blowing in from, leaving it to flow wildly behind her shoulders as she walks in that direction, toward the east. She glances toward Kitty as her friend rushes to find Douglas, while she herself is taking a bit of a patrol survey on the property... just looking around and stuff and soaking in the sceneery. Unlike Logan though, Rogue stays near to the Jeep for the most part, before she can hear Kitty talking, then she starts to finally head up toward the cabin's door.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The ginger-haired vigilante from Gotham/Bludhaven known as Kestrel whom Kitty was familiar with tagged along on this. It was just happenstance she was near when this entire situation came up but she was more than willing to go help to look for the missing Doug. Like most from that dreary city she wears a mask in spite of it perhaps not being necessary at the moment. Willing, but perhaps regretting it after being heralded by the snoring Canadian they rode with for a good part of the trip.

She's quite relieved to get out of the 4x4, stretching even as she walks more sedately toward the cabin after Kitty. Though her eyes sweep around she doesn't take as thorough a look at the property as Logan and Rogue seem to. Either the folly of youth, or simply trying to ensure if there is trouble Kitty wasn't racing into it alone.

"Hey, slow your roll girl. If there's hunters out and about he might have set up some deterents to keep them away from the property."

Cypher has posed:
There is the sound of another truck, another 4x4, beat-up and secondhand but still serviceable coming up the path.

Of course, whoever's driving it is playing the long disco cut of Blondie's 'Call Me'at top volume.

The truck stops, in the clearing, and the driver gets out.

...It's Doug. His hair's grown out into a golden mane, and he's got a scruffy yellow beard. His t-shirt is hanging off his belt, and he's grimy and his jeans are wet, like he fell into the creek (he did) -- he climbs up into the back of the truck and opens a cooler, before he gets out a brace of fish -- some nice juicy trout and a couple of catfish.

He blinks, owlishly, at his guests. "...Hi!"

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty was in the midst of looking about the cabin for any signs of where Doug might be. "Oh, he wouldn't have something that would hurt anyone," Kitty says to Carrie.

When she hears the vehicle pull up, Shadowcat looks out the window and then hurries outside, just jumping out through the wall. If there was any problem guessing who the masked girl in the black and yellow unstable molecule costume with the coat overtop was after she ran through the wall, the flying purple dragon coming out the door would be confirmation.

"Doug!" Kitty calls, racing over towards him. It doesn't matter how wet or fish-smelly he is. He's getting a twenty-year-old girl jumping at him to wrap him in a huge hug unless he avoids it. "It's been so long," she says, nearly in tears. Though he's been back to life for awhile, she was in England and hearing things second hand rather than being there herself to see him.

Wolverine has posed:
    At the sound of another vehicle, Logan had turned about and taken the door again, though sparing a moment's glance for the computer set up. He shoots Kitty a look as if to see if she had any insight to add in that brief window before he holds the door open and passes through once again.
    Out into the daytime sunlight and resting his hands on his hips, ready to greet the new arrivals whomever they may be. But when it turns out that they're Doug and some dead fish his lip twists up slightly. Barely noticeable unless someone was looking for it.
    "Nice whiskers there, Grizzly Adams." He folds his arms over his chest and sniffs once affectedly as if the kid had done something wrong. When, well, he hadn't.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue steps out of the way of Kitty to let her rush out to see Doug upon his arrival. She'd turned to watch that vehicle come in as well, half expecting to have to pick it the damn thing up and throw it across the state toward Seattle... but thats what X-Men training and missions do to you, apparently, make you expect the worst and not the best? Doug's arrival is the best right?

Rogue smiles when she sees Kitty seems to think so. "Like he's just come home from war." She idly comments, her gloved hands still inside of her leather jacket pockets while she walks at a moare casual pace toward the man, glancing to Logan and Carrie as well.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"Well, if you're sure... Wow. That is one pricey computer setup," Kestrel has to admit as she finally catches sight of it. Before she can ask Kitty, either, the other truck pulls up and Kitty is gone. Her hands spread in a helpless shrug with a glance cast toward the ceiling with a quiet sigh. Taking the long way back out she joins Rogue and Logan on the porch watching the other girl jump on her friend.

"If her boyfriend saw that... Well, he'd mope," she admits with a chuckle. "But he makes the funniest faces when he does." Following suit she glances at Rogue offering the other redhead a grin. "Guess it's been a long time since you guys saw him? I only kind of heard about him in passing."

Cypher has posed:
Doug manages to hang the fish up, just barely, before Kitty jumps him, and he catches her around the waist in a hug. Oooof! "Kitty!" He says, laughing. "I smell like a trout! It's gonna get on you--" He still hugs her, though, tightly. He looks up at Carrie, and then says, "He's got nothing to fear from me. Kitty's like my sister." He peers at Kitty, curiously, "...Boyfriend?"

Then he sets her down. "Well, since you guys are here, let's have lunch." He looks to Logan, "You know how to gut fish, right?" -- he offers the Hairy Canadian a knife. Then he grins at Carrie. "Hey there. I'm Doug. I used to be Kitty's Man Friday, but Lockheed is cuter than me."

Lunch is absolutely old-school -- Doug batters the fish and fries them in some bacon grease in a cast iron skillet. It's delicious. He takes a slug off a diet coke and looks up at the others, and without being asked, prompts Kitty with, "...I can tell you want me to come back with you, Kitty -- but I can't." He holds up his hands. "It's not that I don't *want to*, it's that I *can't*. Not right now."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty is practically giddy. It's almost like one of her best friends returned from the dead. Or, exactly like one of her best friends returned from the dead.

Come to think of it, resurrection is becoming an all-too common theme amongst those she knows. Jason. Doug. Samuel. Logan.

Kitty grins at Doug, hugging him tight before letting him go so she can look at him. "Yeah, boyfriend. He's pretty amazing, I can't wait to introduce you," she tells him. Kitty will walk with Doug back over to the others. "This is Kestrel. She's not one of the X-men, but is a friend I've fought with in Gotham," Kitty says, keeping Carrie's secret identity intact.

"And you remember Logan. I don't know if you and Rogue know each other," Kitty says, motioning to the spicy Southern belle.

Kitty will join in getting the food ready. Pepper Doug with all kind of stories to catch him up on her life. "So, why is that you can't come back with us?" she asks, clearly not happy with that news.

Wolverine has posed:
    Correcting the comment, Logan offers in rejoinder, "_She_ wants you back." The elder X-Man says as he deals with the cooking, fish and fries are fine by him as he leans in his seat. Knife and fork working steadily, he waits til he has another bite before he elaborates, "The rest of us had ta be sold on the idea."
    Not entirely true, but can't let the kid get a swelled head. But that having been said he eyes Rogue sidelong at something she may have mentioned in passing on the trip up. "Me. I'm more along the ride ta find out what the plural is for Bigfoots is."
    A pause as he squints sidelong at Carrie, then Doug in turn. "Bigfeets? Whatever."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue had grinned over to Carrie's comments. "Guy's got a nice butt though, even if moody." She'd stayed outside a bit longer after they'd all migrated tothe cabin and eventually comes back in in time to hear Logan talking about the Bigfeet. "I think its Large Walkin' Pads. Don't make Twitter get mad at ya for improper titles, Logy-Bear." She says to the Wolverine, offering him a big and sweet smile before she finds a place to sit down at, sitting on the edge of it and keeping her back up straight.

"So we came all the way out here for Doug t'tell us 'No thanks?'" Rogue grins then. "Classic..." She glances toward one of the windows. "Maybe we can go find D.B. Cooper's money stash, its gotta be near here somewhere, yeah?"

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Kestrel grins back toward Rogue only to shake her head. "You think his is good, check out his older brother sometime. Adonis would weep." Then she lifts a hand to wave at Doug when Kitty makes the introductions. A faintly amused smile creeps over her even as she makes fake gagging gestures in the background during Kitty's gushing over her amazing boyfriend. It's done jestingly, and not with any actual disdain toward the fellow in question.

When it comes to the cooking she just lets the people who know what they're doing do it. It was her turn to kick back and relax in a chair as much as she can. She even unbuttons the neckline of her suit to make it a little less stuffy--It was almost Summer, they were in the woods, this was not as comfortable as it looked dangit.

"Maybe it's like a mongoose. The plural is just bigfootses."

Cypher has posed:
"It's nice to see you too, Logan. You can't fool me, though. I know that beneath that grizzled, hairy exterior, there's a grizzled, hairy interior too." Doug takes a bite of his fish.
    "...Funny you should bring that up." Doug says. He cleaned himself up before sitting down to lunch, and once everyone's cleaned their plates, he gets up. The first thing he does, is reach under his loft bed and pull out a rifle. "There are bears and wolves out here, and while I can say 'Please Don't Eat Me' in grizzly it does distressingly little to sway them."
    Then he fetches up a mesh bag full of... fruit. "Come with me. It's a bit of a hike."
    He slings it over his shoulder. As he walks, he talks. "It's... Sasquatch, I guess. Not the guy in Alpha Flight Logan knows, the real deal. They're as smart as humans. They have a language." He says. "But they think more like... evolved gorillas than humans. They have no innate sense of time -- they exist in the moment, not planning for the future or pining over the past. If you didn't have talents like mine, or maybe Logan's, you'd never, ever notice them. I only found her because she got desperate and came closer to my cabin than she ordinarily would've. Her partner didn't make it through the winter, and she had twins, which is super rare, I think-"

He comes to a gully, and looks down into the brushy ravine. "They're down in there right now. Everybody stand perfectly still." He leans the rifle against a tree, and opens the bag, before he backs away from it. "Don't say anything." He raises his hands to his mouth, cups them together and lets out a hoot that trails off into a whistle.
    A little bit later, there's the sound of something moving in the brush -- a black and gray-furred ape emerges, and turns dark, liquid eyes on Doug and the others.
    Doug lets out another series of noises, almost more like barks than anything else -- she remains still for a long time, but then she moves to grab the bag and drag it into the underbrush. Two smaller sets of dark eyes peer out, curious.
    "I told her you were my clan, and you'd come to find me. She understands that. The twins aren't big enough to travel, yet... so I've been bringing her food. They're not predators -- they eat mostly plants. They go *ape* for pineapple, pun intended."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde enjoys the fish, and grinning as Doug gives back the gruff to Logan. She looks over to Kestrel and reaches over to grab her shoulder and give it a squeeze. "Glad you were along with us," Kitty tells her, and then laughing at the fake gagging sound. She grins over to Rogue then. "It is pretty awesome," she agrees with a knowing look before looking back to Doug as they make their way out through the woods.

"Wait, really? You found Bigfoot? Feet. Sasquatches?" Kitty confirms. She glances over at Logan as if wondering what his nose is telling him. She doesn't know exactly what Doug might have gone through with coming back to life. But she's seen firsthand what it's done to someone else.

When they arrive out at the gully, Kitty falls silent, trusting Doug to see this through even if she was wondering. Clearly something's kept him out here. Her eyes widen as she sees the ape-like creatures emerge. Kitty stays quiet and doesn't move, not wanting to spook them. She does have a smile though, hoping the expression is universal.

Wolverine has posed:
    As for Logan, he had a small smile at Doug's reaction, since he could easily read the man's body language to know that it was just the proper amount of hassle that he gives most folks that aren't entirely horrible in his world view.
    But at the time they're about to strike out, he had stood up and gave a nod to them. "You go on ahead, there was somethin' I wanted to check up on down the ways." He gestures and it's likely that Doug knows exactly what he's angling about considering this has been his stomping ground for a good chunk of time.
    A glance is spared towards Carrie as he heads back towards the vehicle, "You comin' kid, or you gonna be the flat tire to their tricycle?" A curious thing to say, but sometimes the Canadian just pleases himself.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's green eyes go a bit wide at the sight of a gun and then when they're leaving again she glances around at everyone. She'd wave to Logan and Carrie and once outside she takes to the sky to fly up and save hersle from having to walk through a forest, which is not fun without a treaded pathway. Once they reach their destination though, Rogue settles down beside Kitty and glances over at her, then at this Doug fella and then at what he's brought them to see. "So its definitely fat guys in furry suits." She quips, with a sly little grin. She then lenns over against the side of a tree and puts her hands in her jacket pockets. "We're not gonna shoot'em are we? Cause thats pretty lame. These guys want what the rest've us want. A Starbucks out here."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Kestrel flashes Kitty a smile in turn at the sentiment. "Not a problem, but..." She trails off a moment only for Logan's piping up to earn a chuff of laughter from her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Flashing the others a smile she gives a shake of her head. "I'm not really equipped for a hike. In that I might melt before we got there. Tell me about it later, yeah?" Besides, she was curious now herself what Logan was wanting to go look at. Off she goes to keep up with the Canuck.

Cypher has posed:
Doug is quiet, as they vanish into the underbrush, moving away. He turns back to the others. "Like I said, the twins aren't big enough to travel yet." He puts his hand on his chin, and then his voice is subdued. "So I can't go. Not until she's ready to take them north." He glances toward Kitty, sidelong.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde reaches over to give Doug's shoulder a squeeze once the Sasquatch have moved away. "So you need to take care of them, give them food?" she asks. Kitty has a little look of disappointment, but it's not a big one. "Well, I understand why you can't come back yet, then," she tells him. "How long will it be until they are big enough to travel?" she asks. She glances off towards what would be the north. "Of course we could help them get there, but I doubt they would enjoy a trip on the Blackbird," she says.

Kitty looks over to Rogue, giving her a soft smile. "Doug's always had a big heart," she tells the other woman. Kitty looks back to Doug to say, "Anna-Marie and I were roommates at Xavier's. Oh, and just so you know, Kestrel doesn't know the school is mutants, or that the team is connected to there," she says. "Matter of fact it is her first time meeting Logan. And Anna-Marie she know already, but then she's a former Avenger, so kind of famous."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue glances toward the 'them' in question, then back to Doug, then over to Kitty and she smiles lightly. "Honestly, these things should learn to fend for themselves or they might not ever survive... But, I'm no animal expert. Just a thought." At Kitty's introduction, Rogue shows another smile then and a light nod. "You do what you gotat do, Doug, if ya need t'stay here awhile, then stay. If ya wanna come back, we can set ya up with any number'a ways'a gettin' ya back. Even a crumby commercial flight back. We have a lotta resources at our disposal t'help folks out. Thankfully so."

Cypher has posed:
"Normally she'd be able to forage just fine. But with two babi--"

In the distance, there's the crack of a rifle, and Doug looks up with a start. He reaches for the rifle, against the tree.

Shadowcat has posed:
The sound of the rifle shot causes Kitty to look up. She tries to locate a direction, though such things are hard to judge in the woods. "Hunters? After deer?" she asks, looking towards Doug. She didn't really catch the interest that the man at the bar had when he heard about the food that Doug, or 'Aaron', was buying.

Kitty reaches over a hand, resting it on Doug's shoulder. "I can phase you if anything dangerous happens," she tells him. Kitty glances up to where Lockheed had landed on a branch. "Lockheed, go take a look, see what's out there? But try not to be seen if you can help it." They might take a shot at Lockheed if they spotted him, after all. Though he's far more resilient than one would think.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is looking at Doug as he responds, at least until the gunshot goes off and then she stops leaning on the tree and stands up more alert and readied. She shifts her stare around the horizon and shakes her head slowly side to side at Kitty's words. "Maybe, but seems unlikely they'd be this close t'these things, less they were huntin'em specifically. I mean there's a reason these things aren't really common knowledge, right?"

"I can take t'the skies, see if I can't spot'em, trees might make it tough though. Course its best if they're gonna shoot anyone around here, it be me. Not gonna do a damn thing t'me."

Cypher has posed:
Doug looks up at the others, and he says, "...Go scout ahead. I'll catch up with you. I'm the one who'd hold the rest of you back." The color has drained out of his face, and he's gone pinched, tight, and anxious. He reaches into his pocket and begins to load the rifle, though.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty nods in agreement with Rogue. She turns her comms back on, having shut them down after Doc Oc was dealt with. "Let us know if you spot anything," she says. "Lockheed, try to work with her, ok boy?" The dragon gives a soft little call and then his wings take him aloft, propelling him through the air to take him in a direction off on a tangent from where Rogue goes.

Kitty lets Doug load his gun and then looks over to him. "Been awhile I know. But come on, we can run right through the vegetation as long as we stick together," she tells him. She offers Doug her hand and then will phase them both if he takes it, and then starting to trot forward with him if so as they go and investigate.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue nods softly once to the others and she takes to flight lifting up off of the ground and looking over to Lockheed as they're both off to scout ahead. "Careful, Purple Nurple." She tells Kitty's faithful friend.

Rogue's left hand lifts up and she moves her sunglasses onto her forehead so she can see more easily in the darkned forest as she flies through the trees, waving between them and scanning the forest floor for any sign of a hunter, hopefully one wearing one of those orange vests, that'd help quite a lot! Which means there's no chance that they're wearing one, of course.

"Nothin' yet." Rogue says into her comms.

Cypher has posed:
Doug grips Kitty's hand, and squeezes tight. He lets her bring him along --

And as Rogue scouts ahead through the trees, she comes along a slumped figure in the brush, with two smaller figures crouched next to it. As she spots it, the man they met in the bar earlier comes out of the underbrush, carrying a rifle in one hand, as he hurries toward the downed form. He hasn't looked up yet.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde leads Doug off somewhere between the directions taken by Rogue and Lockheed. It also should hopefully allow them to move along the gully and try to make sure nothing is going on around the Sasquatch. It has been awhile since Kitty has phased him. They just jog forward through the undergrowth, bushes and even trees, Kitty squeezing his hand back tight to make sure they don't lose touch with each other.

Should they get a report that gives them a better direction, they would adjust and begin heading that way. Otherwise they keep on, looking around for any signs of the source of the gunshot.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue continues to fly along, zipping through the trees, with flashes of that Star Wars moving that she watched with the kids the other night coming to her and now she finds herself humming like she's one of the hover bikes from that movie... dang kids, getting nerdy stuff stuck in her head!

She stops though when she spots movement, motion, and figures. What that figure coming out of the brush will find is a young woman dropping out of the sky, green gold and leather jacket on. "Heya, Sugah." She says to him with a husky southern charm to her voice.

Rogue's green eyes dart down to the weapon in his hand. "Ooo, thats so cool! Mind if I take a look at it?" She reaches out, and without his permission will try to bend the barrel of the gun so its facing upward and completely ruined. "Ah shit, mah damn strength! Sometimes it gets the better'a've me." Another smile is flashed at the hunter. "Sorry."

Rogue raises her left hand up and speaks into her comm. "At me, Kitty. My locator is beepin' yours."

Cypher has posed:
"My rifle!" The man says, taken aback, as she effortlessly bends it.

Just then, Doug and Kitty emerge from the woods, and when Doug espies the tableau, he shakes Kitty off, raises the gun and gets the man in his sights, with his finger on the trigger.

"What have you *done*!?"

The cryptid hunter freezes. "It was just an animal-"

"*She* was a *living, thinking being* - I should shoot YOU like an animal!" Doug's eyes spark with rage, as his finger curls.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty and Doug change course to home in on Rogue, the young woman in her X-man uniform spying the bent barrel of the hunter's gun. Kitty takes a few steps forward towards the downed Bigfoot when she hears Doug.

Kitty turns back to him. "Doug. Don't shoot him. It won't make up for what has been done already," she says in a soft, compassionate voice. She moves back closer to Doug, moving slowly. "Harming another won't help matters," she says to him softly.

Kitty reaches out her hand to him, not trying to take the gun, but with her palmed turned up as if wanting Doug to put her hand in his. "Come, you need to talk to the mother, and to her twins. Let's see if we can help them. That's what we do. We help those we can," she tells him softly.

Rogue has posed:
When Kitty and Doug arrive, Rogue looks back over at them and listens to Doug's reaction. She glances to what this Hunter had done, the animal it had shot and she does shake her head at it all... she's not a fan of guns, by any means, even if she knwos how to use them all too well because of Carol's memories.

"Yeah..." Rogue agrees with her friend in Kitty. "We're not gonna be shootin' anyone." She has to say to Doug. She nods to Kitty once then and she reaches out to put her hand on the Hunter's shoulder, she'd disabled his gun so she's not to worried about him in any capacity.

"Ya'll better get back the way ya come, I guess." She glances back to the Hunter. "You too, go home. Don't come back here'n bother these things again, or you're gonna have these delicate lil' trigger fingers'a yours..." She raises a gloved hand up and snaps her finger. "Crunched, like they were pretzels." She threatens the Hunter.

Cypher has posed:
Doug narrows his eyes, and then slowly sets the rifle down. He walks forward, and kneels down next to the animal. "She's dead." He says, "...She's dead." He looks up at her infants, who're crouched next to the slumped body, clinging to it. "...And if I leave them, they die."

He sets his jaw. "...I'm sorry." He closes the dead mother's staring eyes. "...I failed you." Then he shakes his head.

"...Go on, murderer." he says, under his breath, "Get the hell out of here before I decide I'm not the man they think I am."

The hunter backs up, and then turns, and bolts.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde moves over with Doug to the mother, though keeping an eye on the twins. If they look like they might at all be scared away by Kitty, she'll stop and back up. Otherwise she moves to kneel beside Doug with the mother.

Kitty reaches out and gently closes the Sasquatch's eyes. She looks over to the children. "We'll have to raise them," she tells him quietly. Kitty bites her lip as she's thinking. "We could use the Danger Room to give them a mother to teach them how to survive. But it would not be a long term option. Are they social enough that if we found others of their kind, they would raise them?" she asks Doug.

Rogue has posed:
Once the hunter bolts, Rogue watches him go for a few moments before she hears the voices behind her and she turns to walk over toward them. With hands on her hips she looks between the two of them. "We could get ahold of an animal sanctuary... maybe one for bears? Those places are generally run by people who'd see these... as the rare and endangered treasure that they are, I doubt they'd tell anyone about them. Especially if we pointed out that if they did, well, it wouldn't likely go that great for them thusly making all their efforts of runnin' an animal sanctuary kind of a hypocrisy."

Rogue shows a faint grin but its gone pretty quickly. "Sorry Doug." She says to him then. "You've clearly been up to a lot out here, and... honestly, this is outta your hands. One guy in the woods in a cabin can't stop this kinda thing, its too much t'put all on your shoulders alone. Ya need help, Forestry Rangers and such."

Cypher has posed:
"...They're very tribal... clan oriented. It's one of the reasons why they're so rare. I honestly don't know. They're smart, though. As smart as humans, like I said. They just don't *think* like us. They don't have the urge to use complex tools or... or build things, really. They just *exist*. Like I was trying to do. I wasn't thinking about the past anymore, really. I was just *being*."

"They're *people*." Then he says, "...I'm going to bury her. ...Then, I guess I'll take them with me until they're ready to survive on their own. They're two boys. I was calling them 'Thing One' and 'Thing Two'... they don't really have names." He gets to his feet.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde glances around the forest. "If their minds are close enough, Betsy or Jean might be able to find others. With Cerebro, or just coming out here as we fly over?" she suggests. "Then you could see if they are of the same clan, and would take them in?" Kitty suggests.

She reaches over to squeeze Doug's shoulder softly. "If you need to stay here with them, we can do what we can to bring back help," she tells him. "Whatever you think is best, Doug," Kitty tells him gently.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue slowly nods to what the others are saying, she raises one gloved hand over to Kitty and points at her. "She's right, everything she just said is right." She shows a slight smile then before she then is now pointing at the two boys. "Name that one Harry..." And then points at the second one. "And that one Henderson."

With that said, Rogue smiles as she starts to turn back the way she'd flown in. "Ya need help takin'em back t'the cabin, lemme know now, otherwise I might go fly after that Hunter and make sure he's truly taken off."

Cypher has posed:
Doug lets out a soft breath. "...I went to see my parents, you know. You know how I bought that cabin? My father put money in my hand and told me it'd be best if I never saw them again. That it was *easier* that way. I've never felt so alone in my life. I just wanted to forget."

"...But the world won't let you forget, will it?" He says. "I'll take them back to the school with me. They wouldn't be the strangest people there. And they've already had a taste of the human world. ...Fait accompli. Harry and Henderson. ...That's actually really clever."