"Oh wow," Arielle stretched her arms, feeling the cool brisk breeze flow over her bronze skin and caused her copper strands of hair to blow slightly in the wind. Looking out over the lake she took in a deep breath and exhaled.

"C'mon Jack Frost, you coming or what?" she turned back to Sam, with her usual smile. She was kind of happy to actually have a chance to hang out with him. Ever since the incident with Aiden, she felt her friendship with the ice elemental was a bit strained. Along with Shin, Leila and Nathan, she did find him to be one of her best friends at the mansion after all so she took the chance to get things settled back to the way they were by coming out on a nature walk with him through the forest part of the park. That and to just get him to take a little break from his duties as Mansion greeter and being a teacher.

"Seriously, ready when you are," she smiled.

Sam was sitting by the lake taking in the view and the cool breeze and the smell of fresh nature. ‘This place is beautiful,’ thought Sam as he thought that if he could paint or draw this scene would be a perfect location for him to draw and then paint. The sun reflected off of the water and shown brightly in his face and as he looked away he was brought back to reality, something as of late he was happy to escape.

One of the main reasons was someone he was with for the day. Sure he was mad at Arielle for dating Aiden and bringing him back to the mansion but you don’t say no to walk in scenery this beautiful. Sam stood up and began to jog to catch up with Arielle, he knew she was mad at him and he didn’t want to make things worse especially since she would one day be apart of the team.

As he caught up to Arielle the breeze became cooler and he asked, “Aren’t you cold?” It was warm enough for him but that didn’t stop him from wearing sweat pants and a large sweatshirt, “if your cold you can borrow my hoodie…” Sam said trying to sound as nice as possible, he didn’t hate Arielle he was just a little upset with her. “Thanks for brining me along needed a break…” Sam said as he passed Arielle on the rocky path.

"I'm good. Thanks though," Arielle said, perfectly fine in her light pink sweater, blue jeans, and black boots. She sighed following behind him after he had thanked her for inviting him on the walk. She could still sense a little tension between them and the whole purpose she invited him was to squash it.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you came with me. I missed hanging out with you," she said trying to sound as sincere as possible. "I just want us to get passed what happened that night..." she could remember that fight all too well and she still had no clue about why he and Aiden had gotten into it. It was obvious that they had some kind of beef, but why did they? She wouldn't press that question on him yet. One step at a time.

"I just...I don't know. You really don't know how much it's been stressing me out, Sam. I really like you. You're like one of the greatest people I've ever met and you're one of the best friends I've ever had. While on the other hand Aiden is one of the greatest guys I've ever dated and I can't stand having to be torn between my friend and my boyfriend...." she sighed walking around and pausing in front of Sam.

"Which is why I don't bring him around the mansion because I respect you and I'll be damned if another fight breaks out. Ever freeze me again and I'm kicking your ass," she said with a laugh. "So are we good? Huh? C'mon. Water & Ice," Arielle smiled giving him a light punch to his chest.

Letting out a sigh he continued to walk the path with his eyes closed, ’is this why she brought me?’ wondered Sam as he was feeling the wind brush across his face, “Were fine,” Sam lied, “I just don’t feel like talking about it” said Sam as he put a fake smile on his face he turned around and showed the smile to Arielle, “Just pretend it didn’t happen.” There was no way he was going to tell Arielle about his past the way things were now, maybe if she took his side over Aiden’s he might have been able to trust her more but she picked Aiden over him. Something that didn’t say a lot to Sam.

Feeling the light punch on his chest Sam nodded and said, “Yep water and ice” pausing for a second he added, “Sorry bout the whole freezing you think…” Sam turned around and walked up to the hill and spread his arms out letting a huge breeze catch him and send his hoodie and the extra large sweatshirt flap about. ‘Love the wild’ thought Sam as he looked over the treetops that were down painted out into an ocean of green that spread out through the distance.

"If you say so..." Arielle sighed, knowing that her words hadn't really iced the bruise that strained their friendship. She decided to to just stay quiet about it. Somethings just take more time to heal and hopefully, he'll realize how truly sorry she was. Arielle continued to follow Sam and took a stand next to him, looking out over the wilderness. A chuckled escaped her body watching him spread his arms. She was expecting him to declare that he was king of the world at anytime. Her hair blew wildly in the air and she brushed the strands from her face so that she could look out over the greenery.

"I always liked being out in nature. There's just a feeling I can't explain that I get. Scenery like this are what truly make me cherish life. I can't tell you how many times I've thought about leaving all the problems of civilization behind and becoming wild girl. Then I remember that there aren't any stores in the forest," she sighed. "Still tempting though. Animals usually fight for a reason like food and to defend themselves. Our world is nothing but senseless violence..." she added placing her hand over the scar over her abdomen left still there from Aura's blade.

Sam sighed as he let his hands down to his side, “Humans and mutants are no different we all have the same basic feelings wants and needs.” He paused for a second to sit on a rock, “Just humans and mutants tend to be more frightened than the rest of the animal kingdom.” He looked at an eagle flying off in the distance, “Humans and mutants are both the biggest disgrace of the animal kingdom…”

He watched as the golden eagle swooped down over the small lake to grab a fish of some kind and then watched it fly off into the distance. Things would be way easier if I was an animal…” he paused for a second then grinned, “More than I am not at least.” He then opened up to Arielle a bit, “a year or so ago before I came to the mansion I lived of the land, Grizzley Adams type deal, treated my own water hunted for my food built my own shelter. Think that was the most peaceful time I ever had in my life.”

Getting up from the rock Sam felt another cool breeze as he began the descent down the rocky path, “How’s the wound doing?” Sam asked knowing that she had another run in with that kid who stole from the gas station. “Heard you protected a few people as well, bet that made up for the wound right?” Sam asked knowing the feeling of saving some ones life in a dangerous situation.

"That's cool. I guess there was more to you than I thought." Arielle smiled listening to Sam's tell of living in the wilderness. " To think just a few years ago all I did was lounge around on the beach sipping pina coladas and my biggest worry was finding the right dress for a school dance or getting a pimple. Pampered little brazilian princess. And then I think about people who never had such a comfortable life and it saddens me because I think everyone should live contently."

Arielle sighed as Sam brought up her fight with Aura. That definitely wasn't the most flattering moment in her life. But his statement about protecting people boosted a spirits a tad bit.

"That little girl was awful..." she began telling Sam more details of the fight. "She actually used those civilians against me so she could win. But when I think about it, I'm glad it was me who took the blow and not that little boy. I don't want to imagine the pain of a mother losing her child or losing a family member period. If something were to ever happen to my family...I don't know what I'd do..." she trailed off and then looked over to the ice elemental.

"That was the first time I ever heard you talk about your past. You never told me about your family or anything..."

Sam listened to Arielle as she talked about her life growing up. The thought of his life compared to hers made him laugh slightly, “Sounds like rough life!” Sam said jokingly as he found himself on a dirt path that lead through the woods. “Couldn’t imagine what I would do if I couldn’t find the right dress for a school dance.” Sam turned and showed he was joking with a small wink and a grin on his face. He wasn’t trying to be mean but he thought it was somewhat of a joke when people complained about trivial things such as pimples, which he had been fortunate enough not to have growing up.

Again quieting down to listen to Arielle talk about the incident Sam nodded once she was done and said, “You did the right think, despite you getting stabbed, sometimes your best isn’t good enough…”

Sam didn’t respond at her next questions not right away at least… Sam thought he heard something off in the distance like a small cry for help he listened for it again and didn’t hear anything.

Frowning as he looked off in each direction for the sound, when he heard nothing he looked back to Arielle and said, “Don’t have any simple as that…” Sam heard the cry again and took off running in the direction it sounded. Not knowing if Arielle was coming or not Sam continued to run through the woods avoiding the trees as fast as possible, ‘who’s crying’ Sam wondered hoping it wasn’t some little kid that was left for dead in the woods.

"No Family?" Arielle felt her heart sink upon hearing his response and started to feel a bit bad for him. He kept a happy exterior, but she knew deep down he probably felt a bit lonely. Before she could reply Sam bolted ahead of her and it wasn't long before she figured out why. She could here the cries too and followed after him. Leaping over rocks and fallen tree branches, she eventually caught up to him and the cries where getting louder and louder.

"Those cries don't really sound human..." she shouted over to him as they kept their pace. A minute or two more of running Arielle paused in her foot steps, as they came upon a large tree with a crevice in it's trunk and she could definitely hear whimpering from within it.

"You're the big strong man. Go check it out," she turned to Sam.

Sighing shot Arielle a look saying, ‘oh thanks for being so tough’ reluctantly Sam walked over to the tree as he felt his heart melt slightly it was a box of puppies that were obviously left for dead. Unfortunately the task that the old master left for the wilderness to do to these puppies seemed to have done what he was asking for.

Kneeling to the ground Sam dug through the box that felt cold to the touch and then found himself looking a five dead puppies, without showing any emotion Sam took off his sweatshirt and picked up the other five living puppies and bundled them up in his sweatshirt.

To his surprise however most of the puppies looked to be different breeds all except two puppies that looked like huskies, a puppy that looked like a Saint Bernard, a Shepard, a golden retriever and another puppy that he could quite make out, the water that had swelled up in his eyes prevented him from finding out what kind of puppy it was. All the living puppies were shaking and crying out for help as Sam finished wrapping his sweatshirt in a large bundle.

Hoping that they would be okay for another minute Sam created a large shovel of ice and created a hole, from their he picked up the cold box with the five frozen puppies after doing a once over Sam checked them all and sighed, placing the box he quickly filled the hole with dirt and said holding back a few tears, “Hate this…”

Arielle waited somewhat on edge to find out what exactly was causing the crying from the tree. Her heart melted when she saw Sam remove 5 puppies from the trunk. The poor darlings where shivering and crying out obviously for help. Her eyes were already watered, but when Sam removed the box with the other 5 deceased puppies, it was just too much to bare. Clasping her hands over her mouth and nose, her tears were finally shed.

They were just babies. They may not have been human or mutant, but they were still infants and some heartless soul had the audacity to leave this litter out in the wilderness helpless, cold and hungry. Five potential lives had been lost and Sam took the initiative to give the pups a proper burial. She could tell that he was just as heart broken as she was and nodded when he mentioned how he hated the situation.

Arielle simply nodded and walked over to the puppies that were still alive. Scooping up two, she took the bundle in her arms and held them close in an attempt to give them more warmth from her body temperature and to console them.

'Why would anyone do this!?" she exclaimed. "These puppies don't look more than a few days old! They couldn't have stood a chance out here! The cruelty and coldness people have in their hearts cease to amaze me these days..." she sniffed, snuggling the pups even closer. "It's alright....everything is going to be fine...you're in good hands now..." she chided. "No more tears," she sighed looking over to Sam who had completed the burial.

"This is quite the litter..." she sniffed. "2 huskies, 1 Shepherd, 1 St. Bernard, 1 golden retriever and a Shiba Inu...." she told Sam, identifying the 6th mystery pup. "They're so precious...I can't believe people would actually leave them out here to die. It makes no sense what so ever."

It had been a two long weeks, which consisted of Sam constantly visiting the puppies in the infirmary, which to his great pleasure had seemed to only help improve the rate of care that DocProf had given them. It seemed Sam wasn’t the only one that had been attached to the puppies he noticed on more than one occasion DocProf had spent a little time playing with them when Sam wasn’t around.

At the end of the second week DocProf had deemed them all out of his care for they were as fit as a puppy their ages could be and he didn’t want to become even more attached to them. Sam had picked out four of the puppies naming them all. “Think I am going to keep them… sure it’s a lot but I think Cammie needs some friends when I am not around…” he said to Arielle as he pointed out the Retriever, the Shepard, the Saint Bernard and one of the husky pups.

Looking over to Arielle Sam said, “If you don’t want the other two I think we can find homes for them, they are cute…” picking up the male Saint Bernard Sam said, “Bruno!” putting the puppy back in the small play pen Sam picked up the Golden and the Shepard, “Mackenzie and Roxxie and that leaves,” Sam put the two pups down as he picked up the husky pup that already had a gray back with a white line that went down his back, “Thor” the husky pup gave a small bark and Sam put him down.

Looking over to Arielle he waited to see her reaction to his puppy’s names.

"Are you kidding. I'm not giving them away!" Arielle shot back. Everyday, she'd spend hours watching the little ones with Docprof, making sure that they were ok. They may not have been able to get to all the puppies that they had found back in the woods in time and the sight of Sam burying them still lingered in her mind. She was glad the these puppies had made it through however.

"Cute names. Guess the remaining two are mine..." she smiled walking over to the pen. She glanced over at the other silver coated, blue eyes husky and picked her up. "I'll name you...Aurora." Arielle smiled and placed the husky back into the pen and reached to grab the tan coated shiba inu pup. "You're such a beauty...I've gotta go with Belle." Arielle chuckled as the puppy reached up to lick her cheek, Arielle gently placed her back with the other pups.

"This is totally awesome! Bruno, Mackenzie, Roxxie,Thor, Aurora and Belle. Welcome to your new home!" the water elemental smiled watching the puppies wrestle each other and then she smiled back over to Sam. "I guess you lied back in the woods when you said you didn't have family. Not only are you a father to these dogs, but I can't help but consider you family after all the time I've spent here at the mansion. Because you don't have to have the same blood to be a family. Take it how you want Sam," Arielle said patting the ice elemental on his back. She wasn't quite sure if he still harbored a bit of anger towards her for Aiden, but after what she'd been through with him and these dogs, she let by gones be by gones.

"Just know from here on out, you're not alone and I'll be there for you when you need me. Family comes first. Which was why I did jump in front of you before you froze me. To protect you from Aiden." she gave Sam a light hug and then walked over to the puppy pen to pet them.

"Heh, I can tell we're gonna have our work cut out for us taking care of these little guys..."

*BARK!*

"And gals..." Arielle laughed at Aurora's little bark.

Even though Sam knew that Arielle was trying to comfort him it wasn’t working to well, all he did was give a small nod and smiled, “yeah…. guess your right,” he did however feel a certain closeness to the ones in the mansion, the girl he loved the friends he made and mow these four little pups. One of the last comments she made however gave Sam a bitter taste in his mouth, ‘can’t believe she got in our way’

Frowning as he picked his four puppies Sam walked to the door and waited till it opened, “Just for the record, he was the one who needed protection…. please don’t get in my way again because if I see him I don’t care who’s in my way, cause I need to cut that loose thread for good.” With that he walked out of the room and headed to his own, his heart warming at the four little pups in his arms, he thought, ‘Sorry Arielle…'

Sam's works stung Arielle painfully, so much she actually cringed a bit. I know ice powers revolve around ice, but did he have to be so cold?she thought picking up her two puppies. They sensed that Arielle was distressed and the two little dogs whimpered and snuggled about in her arms in an attempt to comfort her. Arielle let out a smile looking down at them, but that smile quickly faded as she thought about what Sam had just said.

She knew there was a reason why Sam and Aiden didn't like each other and neither of them would say why. It was obvious that both of them were stubborn, but Sam scared her now. Would he actually kill her just to get to Aiden if they were to fight and she'd intervene again? Her life was less important than some stupid grudge they had going on?

"The X-men are supposed to look out for each other huh? A load of bull I guess. I shouldn't have to worry about the safety of my boyfriend and my life..." Arielle frowned. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I don't belong here..."

((Thread Ended.))