Chapter 32: Flee

Just had a busy week. Next week will also be extremely busy but I will try to post when I can. After next week, work will calm down again.

*

Miles's tail happily thumped in excitement. He anticipated what was to come of his future hunting sessions.

Perhaps killing a bear or even a moose wasn't out of the question now! A bear was one of the most ferocious beasts of the animal kingdom while a moose boasted insane defensive capabilities. It took lots of pure strength alone to topple a goose down onto its side.

If Miles had to fear one or the other though, it would definitely be a moose. Miles needed to know for sure he could kill a moose before trying to challenge it. He could likely outspeed a bear, but if a moose caught Miles off-guard, no doubt it would pose a risk to his life!

There was a clear reason why humans steered away from moose sightings. They could even crush a person's car with ease. They were dangerous creatures in both offense and defense.

And since this was the Canadian wilderness, coming across a moose wasn't out of the question. They were solitary creatures though, so unless Miles's luck was unlucky enough to come across one, he would have to go seek one out.

Thankfully his burrow was on the outskirts of Cold Lake. The more dangerous animals lurked deeper in the forest. There were mountains and slopes that made the terrain rougher to cross here atop the hill, but it was mostly flatlands and farms further down. 

As Miles's tail continued to thump, he heard a notification inside his mind, which distracted him.

[Ding! Due to Host biding his time away inside the shadows, a new Skill has been created, Stealth.]

'Cool. Was wondering when a Skill like this would show up. It'll make it easier to hunt my prey. I wonder if Skill Combination will be a thing too with this system of mine? Masking and Stealth both display similar effects. One hides my scent while the other hides my presence. I could see these two Skills combining into one..', Miles mused to himself.

Miles wondered if he could eventually start combining his Skills together. He had quite a few now, but there was still plenty to create. 

As he thought that, Miles's eyes remained on James. The adrenaline he felt coursing through his body while he vanished from the Howlett Estate began to die down. This allowed the second, brown-haired boy to catch up to James, who was his half-brother, Victor.

Many people confused Victor with Dog, making them appear to be two different people. But when Miles remembered the movies, it was clear to him that Victor was Dog, Thomas Logan's son. The very same man who shot Master John in the chest with a shotgun only moments ago.

Though Victor went by another nickname people remembered more. He was the one and only Sabretooth, who sported many of the same abilities Wolverine did. They even had the same bone-like claws, though the latter would get infused with adamantium later on during forced experimentation.

Miles wanted to know which version of Victor this was. In some comics, he met his future self and wound up time travelling to the 21st century and joined the Hellfire Club thanks to what are known as Time Diamonds. Time Diamonds have the ability to give its user mastery over time and space, allowing them to embark to a timeline of their choosing. This was right up Miles's alley. Some Time Diamonds fell down onto Planet Earth and made their way into a secluded mine in Yukon, Canada.

Wolverine would eventually find himself in a miner's camp together with Rose, and in Yukon no less. That is, if it went by the comics.

If this went by the movies, both Victor and James would leave Canada outright and flee into the United States, only to join the American civil war of 1861, and later on, join a particular team of mutants. Since it was 1896, the first part of this wouldn't happen, but Miles wondered if the two would still flee Canada.

Uncertain of what the future held for Miles, he saw Victor finally catch up to James. With a single leap, Victor tackled James, causing James to fall onto the soft grass beneath him. Thanks to the force of the impact, it caused James's robe to part ways around his legs. This revealed his sickly, pale body and it allowed Miles to see just how pales James truly was.

'This must be the result of his overactive mutant gene. His body can't keep up with it. Is that why he's always so sickly?', Miles wondered, observing James from afar. James panicked, and tried to back away from Victor. Feeling a tugging sensation, Victor surprisingly eased his grip, allowing James to back away a couple feet. He then took up a defensive posture. His razor-sharp claws were now back inside his hands, and the holes the claws made already started to heal.

"I-I didn't mean to!", James yelled at Victor, still panicked. Victor seemed to ignore James's disrought appearance altogether. Instead he just simply remained back, keeping his composure. Something that didn't seem right.

"Oh but you did. He deserved it.", Victor replied, taking a moment to take in a deep breath. He too ran after James, and exerted some stamina to do so. He took this time to calm down. After steadying his breathing, he continued to speak. "And you gave it to him.", Victor continued.

James could see the seriousness in Victor's eyes as Victor leaned closer to James. James didn't back away, and he saw his shoulders now gripped by Victor's hands. Victor applied some pressure onto James's shoulders, which further allowed James to see how serious Victor was behaving right now.

James took a moment to look down at Victor's hand that was now holding onto his shoulder. He could see elongated nails, very similar in shape to James's razor-sharp claws. Unbeknownst to James, Victor had already awakened his mutant powers. He had very similar abilities to James. That was the tragedy that befell James's other older brother, the nameless John Jr. Victor had awoken his abilities, and caused a rampage, killing John Jr. in the process.

It almost provided a sense of comfort to the panicking James. This caused James to turn still, letting Victor look directly at James in the eyes. Victor even addressed James by his nickname, which many didn't do. Only Rose and Victor did when the trio were alone.

"We're brothers Jimmy. You know that right?", Victor asked. "And brothers protect each other.", Victor continued.

"I-I want to go home...", James uttered as sweat dripped down his face.

"That isn't an option, Jimmy. Not anymore. You have to be hard now. So hard that nothing can get in our way.", Victor replied in a firm voice. "We stick together. No matter what, got it?", Victor asked James.

"No matter what?", James uttered again, looking back at Victor. His eyes didn't falter.

"Can you do that, little brother?", Victor asked without hesitation.

James didn't answer Victor. Instead, he simply nodded his head.

It was then the estate started to get rowdy. The hired arms of the Howlett Family had started to spread out after catching wind of what had happened.

"We've not much time. We should head down the hill--?", Victor tried to say to James, only to get distracted by a couple figures closing in on their position. Yet one seemed to be much closer, causing the two to look in a particular direction, away from Miles's gaze.

"Master Victor, Master James, thank the lord almighty you two are alright!", Rose's voice spoke out to them, appearing very panicked. Much more panicked than James's current appearance. The two saw Rose in a simple night gown. She still even had her maid's apron on.

"Stay right where you are, you wench. You called pa to the estate, didn't you? You instigated this entire thing!", Victor yelled, immediately blaming Rose on what happened, even though it was James who went in for the kill. Rose paused in her tracks, not believing what she had just heard.

"Oh heavens no! Am just as shocked as you, Master Victor! I didn't even know what to do after the shot was taken, I just had to make sure you two were safe and sound.", Rose explained, taking a few moments to calm her breathing. She was running even faster than Victor and James, and still managed to catch up to the two.

"And you'd think we'd take the words of a lowly maid like you? You've done your job, so get lost!", Victor yelled at her again.

"I can't do that, Master Victor. Mister Howlett always had doubt that something like this would come to happen, he always had a dislike for the groundskeeper. No matter where your pa went to he would curse him to no tomorrow.", Rose said.

"I know that much. Pa would always beat me after getting berated by that stinky old man. Are you really not with him?", Victor asked. Doubt appeared in his eyes.

"Both your safety and Master James's safety are my number one priority. That took precedence of what Master John tasked me to do. I am Master James's caretaker after all.", Rose replied with a nod of her head.

"Y-You can trust Rose, brother. Us three always stick together, right?", James asked. He seemed much calmer now, but he was still scared and frightened.

"You said that grandfather of yours saw this coming?", Victor asked in doubt.

"If you don't believe me, take this.", Rose said, reaching into her bosom, only to take out a couple train tickets.

"That's...", Victor tried to say, recognizing what they were. "Is that our ticket out of this place?", Victor wondered.

"We really can't go back home?", James uttered, feeling disappointed seeing Rose take three train tickets out of her bosom.

"I'm terribly sorry, Master James. They will likely suspect you if you return now. Fleeing this place further north is our only option. In response, Mister Howlett no longer considers you his grandson.", Rose explained the situation at hand.

"So that old man cut ties, huh?", Victor said, likely realizing what had taken place for Rose to come here. Some time had passed since James first fled the estate, and it was enough to let Rose meet with Mister Howlett, James's grandfather.

"I'm afraid we can only flee from here. We've not much time before the train departs. We must go.", Rose urged Victor and James to follow her.

'Oh no you don't. It was a surprise to see this development. It looks like they are planning to leave and go to Yukon, but I still have my Mission. I need to take James back to my burrow. That's the only thing the Mission required me to do, but it wouldn't hurt to bring two more guests in. There's plenty of room inside the Tree of the Divine Fox to let three kids stay inside it. I really need to change that name though...', Miles decisively thought.

Now was the time to take action. Miles had to persuade Wolverine to come back with him. He was his only ticket to locate the wolf pack!