X-Men 1st Redemptions

46: X-punge

To his great annoyance, Logan was still beaten by Wally, even without his speed. Turned out being a superhero gave you a lot of endurance.

Only problem was how often he had to snack to keep from getting light headed.

When they rejoined the others at the end of the day, it was at a rest stop you could camp at.

"What happened to the hotel?" Wally asked.

"Storm thought it would be more natural to camp," Shine said.

"And we might have forgotten to look for one," Rogue added sheepishly.

"How do ya forget somethin' like that?" Logan said.

"I'm honestly so tired from all that riding, I don't care as long as I can lie down." Shine shrugged.

"It's not so bad," Wally said. "With the ninja, we were camping every night, and those kids didn't even use blankets half the time. And we'd get attacked by robbers every now and then."

"I get it, this is better." Shine rolled her eyes. "I'm not really a dirt and bugs kind of girl."

"Me neither, Sugar, but this ain't so bad," Rogue said. "I mean, we got a great view from here, and hardly anyone else is 'round."

"Yeah...which is a little odd in summer," Shine said.

"Ah, well...it might have something to do with a ranger telling them the area was off limits..." Morph said. "You know...so no one would notice us."

Shine gave him a look.

"Well, it's too late to do anything about it now." Wally patted her shoulder. "Might as well enjoy it. Look at all those stars."

"Didn't peg you for the stargazin' type," Logan said.

"Not usually, but you know, you gotta appreciate being away from the light pollution once in a while," Wally said. 

"We lit a camp fire," Storm said. "Really, it's not so bad. I've slept in worst places."

"What was it like growing up in Cairo?" Shine asked. "I've never been there."

"I'm afraid I'm not the best person to ask," Storm said. "The side of it I saw was not at its best." She frowned.

"Hmm." Rogue decided to change the subject. "Miss Shine, why don't you tell us about those ninja y'all keep bringin' up?"

"Oh, you wouldn't want to hear about that," Shine dismissed it.

"Why not?" Gambit, who was still sore and not in the best mood said a bit irritably. "You got something to hide?"

"No," Shine said. "But why would you care? It's another world, another culture--surely only geeks like us care about that."

"Hey, I'm not a geek!" Wally was eating an energy bar. "Speak for yourself there, woman."

"Says the guy who can quote like a 100 movies," Shine said. "That makes you a geek."

"Nah, makes me cultured. Being able to quote 100 books makes you a geek."

"Whatever." Shine dismissed it.

"But really, it sounds interesting," Rogue said. "Like a fairy tale. Just tell us."

"Yeah, tell us," Morph echoed.

"I'd like to hear this," Storm said.

Shine shrugged. "Well...all right, over dinner...which is going to be interesting..."

Well, they managed with trail food and some marshmellows that Rogue had thought to bring.

"Takes me back to the good ol' days of campin'," she said. "Before..." She stopped.