What Happens When...Actually, it's Complicated

A few guitar chords floated through the still air. A thrill raced up my spine. Could it be...? I drew a little closer, then frowned. A strange smell hit my nostrils. I breathed deep, trying to connect the odor to something. It hit me with a jolt.

Brimstone.

I stopped so short Meag nearly slammed into me. "What?" she asked, gazing around.

"Do you smell that?" Her nose crinkled.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"If I'm not entirely mistaken, it's brimstone." She shot me a questioning glance. "Like with fire and smoke and..." I paused. She still looked confused. "DRAGONS!!" I snapped. Understanding lit in her eyes.

"Do you really think..." Meag's voice broke nervously. I shrugged.

"Why not?" Fear crept into my voice. Dragons. We couldn't handle anything like that.

"Maybe..." Meag looked into the trees hopefully. "Maybe... it's like... Toothless or something...?" I nodded. That's true, it could be. There was rush of air. I screamed, then slammed both hands over my mouth.

Another blue person dropped from the air. This one had suddenly come into being above our heads. The smell of fire intensified. The man stood up, shaking blue black hair out of his eyes, muttering very quickly in a language that wasn't English.

"Grosser Gott..." he growled. Then his eyes landed on Meag and me. I gasped, suddenly recognizing him. It was the eyes that tipped me off. They were completely yellow, no pupil or white.

I drew in a deep breath. "Nightcrawler..." I breathed. Meag whipped around to stare at me.

"From the X-men?" she asked, eyes alight with curiosity. Nightcrawler watched us warily, triangle tipped tail darting from side to side.

"Um..." There was an long silence, in which we all stared at each other. I have a serious obsession with the X-men. It was vying for first place with Scott, but faced with one of my favorite characters, I suddenly had nothing to say. I wondered if I would be any better with Scott.

A sudden scream rent the air. Nightcrawler shot a quick look at the sky, then exploded into blue black smoke, saving me the trouble of thinking what to say. I let go of Meag's arm.

"Sorry." I said. She glanced at me. "You probably want to stop and see someone too. I'll stop forcing you along." The truth was, I was suddenly unsure what if I even wanted to see my favorite Pilgrim anymore. I was frightened by the prospect.

Meag nodded, then smiled encouragingly. "Let's keep looking, who knows what we might find!"