The Rise of Cyclops

A Leader In The Making

It was almost serene waking up every morning in the little cottage tucked away in the woods. The ambient sounds that went hand in hand with being that deeply into the forest was all any of the three residents could hear outside of the distant sound of waves on the shore and wind in the trees.

In many ways, it was exactly like stepping back in time. Outdoor plumbing, no electricity, and a wood burning stove for heat and to cook with ... but the rustic setting was good for all three of them.

For Logan and K it was simply a matter of going back into some of the old ways of doing things and using little tricks to make that style of living easier that had been long forgotten at least three generations ago. For Scott ... it was almost like a living, breathing history lesson. And he honestly enjoyed it.

He wasn't really one to sit still for too long anyhow, so television and movies all the time wasn't really how he preferred to do things. The fact that they had to do so much to keep up the status quo was kind of relaxing. It kept his mind off of things when he had to haul water to cook with and wash dishes, and the fact that there was firewood to be split so they could cook, too.

He was just finishing up splitting with Logan when K breezed by them with a towel wrapped around herself and a bar of soap in her hand. "Lake's this way," she said, pointing down another non-existent trail. "It's cold, but it works."

Both of them stood there for just a moment watching her disappear into the trees, the chore of splitting temporarily forgotten. "You going to follow or ..."

Logan turned Scott's way and couldn't help but laugh to himself. "No fun if it's too cold," Logan laughed before he simply went back to work. "Besides. Job ain't done yet. Just have to do it twice if I quit now."

Scott smirked and glanced down the trail one more time wondering to himself how far away the lake was. "Still ... We're pretty secluded here ..."

"Slim ..."

"I'm just saying. What if we were followed?" He watched Logan go from shaking his head to honestly tensed as he thought about it and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling when he saw the instant protective urge pop up. And he couldn't hold it back at all when Logan swore under his breath.

"You're testing me, aren't you?" Logan said as he leaned the axe against the side of the house, though by that time, there was no way Scott would be able to hide it.

He shrugged in response as he set up the next log to be split. "Maybe."

Logan cursed under his breath, shaking his head before he started for the path K had taken, sure to ruffle Scott's hair as he passed him. "Scream if there's a problem."

"Yeah, okay," Scott said, almost snerking as he went to splitting wood again. They were only gone long enough for the birds to start singing and the squirrels to start playing around the cabin though before Scott was once again thinking.

The one drawback to having nothing but work to do was that it didn't engage his mind enough to keep him occupied. By the time Scott finished the little stack that Logan had set aside to last them through cooking and washing up afterward, Scott was almost somber. He looked around the woods and took in the sights and scents of the place that were strong enough that even he could place them ... and he was trying to learn as much as he could about that too in case he ever had to describe something to Logan or K.

Scott sat down on the chopping block, his elbows on his knees as he closed his eyes and listened to the forest around him. He took a deep breath and tried to describe it to himself. Pine trees, of course. Not that it's any kind of shock. That's ... God, it smells like home. He frowned to himself and tried to get control of his emotions at the realization. It's a little different than Alaska. The moss smells different. And the ferns. He concentrated hard, but couldn't quite figure it out. He felt something on the toe of his shoe and looked down to see an overly curious ground squirrel that was watching him carefully, but the moment he smiled, the striped little creature darted off to safety, barking and chittering at him from the other side of the wood pile.