Disclaimer: All X-Men and X-Related Characters are a TM of Marvel Comics.
The Umaros is a name I adapted from the Final Fantasy Series.  Jered, the
co-star of this story, is my creation.  :)

You can find the prologue for this story at either Lori's X-Men Page
(http://web2.spydernet.com/lori/x-men.htm) or the Shifting Sands
(http://shifting-sands.la.ca.us/~darqstar)

Note: This IS the sequel to my story, "Mystic Shores", which I wrote back
in February.  I suggest you read that story first before you go any
further.

***

Return to Aberlie
By
Reuben Macapinlac *Supereub*
June 1997

Chapter One
"Frozen Wastelands"

***

Remy, despite the cold air, felt his parched throat.  He slowly awoke from
his unconscience state, gazing at the icy blue walls around him.   He
leaned against the cold walls, the extending ice stones jabbed his back.
He shook his head, resulting in flakes of snow to fall on his face.
(Snow?) Remy thought.

The cajun lifted himself up, only to fall over and land on his knees as he
felt a sharp pain in his thighs.  His ribs, legs, arms, even his head,
ached beyond discomfort.  "Damn homme," Remy whispered, his voice hoarse.
"How in de world did I get to Frosty's playhouse?"

Once again, Remy lifted himself off the ground, gripping the wall as he got
up.  He had been lying in a snow cave, God knows how long, and the worse
thing of all...he was alone.

"Hank!  Logan!  Jered!" Remy screamed, his lungs felt as though it were
stabbed by a hundred tiny needles.

(I can' be dead.) Remy exhaled.  (Dis has happened to me before...but dat
was just a dream.  Unless...)

The cajun pinched himself on the wrist, then realized that there was no way
out.  (Oh my!) Remy searched his pockets for a card.  (Guess there ain't
know way out of dis dream.)

But how could it be a dream?  He was dead...Jered and the others had
crashed with him, after their controls were neutralized by the opposing
planes.  "No." he whispered.

Remy took out a card, then squeezed it between his fingers and kinetically
charged it.  The card started to fizzle, then he threw it against the wall,
cursing as loud as he could.

BOOM!

He buried his hands in his face, leaning against the wall.  Someone could
have survived a gunshot, but definitely not a plane crash.  He had to face
the facts...he was dead, stuck somewhere in the afterlife.

Slowly, he took a few steps at a time, his boots digging into the white
snow.  His trenchcoat contained countless ice particles on them, he briefly
brushed them off, then continued his way out.  (Dere's got t' be someway
out of here.)

***

It had been more than two hours, and still no luck.   The ice tunnel
continued to lead downhill while the snow seemed to become thicker and
thicker.   The cave was dark, the only light that guided Remy was his
kinetically charged card as it's radiant light reflected on the huge walls
of ice.

Everything was silent, and even the puddles of water which splashed after
Remy had stepped on them seemed to be a loud disruption to this peace.
Remy had began to shiver from the cold.  His lip was blue, hair full of
snow, and his forehead was hot, indicating that he had started to develop a
cold.  He sniffled as he passed through the dark tunnels.

Suddenly, a loud roar echoed throughout the tunnel.  The sound was distant,
but heard well.  The cajun froze in place, lowering his kinetically charged
card as he kept attentive of another roar.  He crept up against the wall,
slowing his pace.

The tunnel was silent...only the soft breeze could be heard.   The roar he
had heard was fierce, probably from some unknown creature who was familiar
to these parts...wherever here was.  Remy continued his trek down the
tunnel, which seemed to be starting uphill.  (Please let dere be a way out
of here.)

***

Even though he was not aware of the time of day, he had estimated that it
was probably night, considering the exhaustion Remy felt.  The cajun,
trembling from the chilling air, sat himself gently on the ground.  The
cajun rested his face in his hands, his palms cold and surfaced with specks
of ice.

THOK!

"Who's dere?!"  Remy whispered, scrambling to his feet, acheing from his
long walk up and down the tunnel.

"..."

(It was all in my mind) Remy thought as he sighed in relief, relaxing his
shoulders.

THOK!

(Not!) the cajun clenched his fist, grabbing a pair of playing cards from
his coat pocket.  He crept several paces towards the sounds as he
kinetically charged his weapons.

Remy kept on walking.  The cave, at this point, seemed to become lighter as
the area had expanded.  Ahead, Remy saw the shadowy forms of a cloaked
figure.  "Hold it, mon ami!" he cried.

In an instant, several rays shot passed Remy, colliding against the wall
with an explosion.  His eyes widened, this stranger was firing at him!
Immediately, Remy leaped to the right, then threw the cards at his
adversary in mid-air.

"Ugh!" the stranger dropped his weapon, grasping his hand.

Remy landed on the ground, no hesitation as he sprinted towards his
attacker and tackled him to the floor.  Despite Remy's endless Danger Room
training, this man was strong and skillful in his fighting techniques.
With swift movements, Remy forced his adversary against the wall, his
tanned arm crushing the attacker's throat.

"Grk!" the stranger uttered, struggling with the cajun's arm.

Remy slowly grabbed another card, he had already used half of his
inventory, and only had enough to satisfy him for a few more encounters.
Slowly, he lifted the glowing card up to the stranger's face, then gasped
and drew his arm away.

"Remy?" the man whispered as a dim light reflected on the cajun's face.
"Remy, its me...Jered."

Jered rubbed his neck and gave a cough as Remy backed away.  "I...I...I'm
sorry," Remy apoligized.  "I didn't know it was you, mon ami..."

"It's quite all right." Jered chuckled.  "I thought you were someone...or
something else, I should have thought before I acted."

"Yes," Remy agreed.  "But anyway, where de hell were you?  Where is
everyone else?!"

"Shh!" Jered covered Remy's mouth, his head turning left and right.  "Don't
speak so loud, the Umaros might here you."

"Umaros?" Remy questioned.  "Jered, where are we?"

"You do not know?" Jered said.  "We're in Aberlie...I thought you would get
a hint by now."

"Dat's not possible!" Remy protested.

"Shh!" Jered repeated, then pointed at the ceiling of the caves.  "They are
just above us...if you wake them up, we're as good as dead."

Ignoring Jered's warning, Remy was more puzzled at the fact that he was in
Aberlie.  "How did we get here?" Remy said.  "Our plane...we crashed."

"No." Jered replied.  "While we were falling, I managed to transport us here..."

"And how is dat, mon ami?" Remy interrupted.

Jered grabbed a black device from his belt holder, then revealed it to
Remy.  "This," he muttered.  "My dimensional transporter...it is a
scientific device, with a hint of sorcery enchanted on it.  This...my
planeswalking key, is how we got here from your world."

"Den where are we in Aberlie?" Remy asked, turning his back on Jered as he
examined the walls of ice.  "I never knew your land can be dis cold."

Jered stepped forward, rubbing his hands together as he faced the floor.
"That's the problem," he said.  "We're not exactly in Aberlie."

"Den where are we, mon ami?" Remy's eyes widened.  "I thought you said dat
we were in your world."

"We are," Jered retorted.  "I did not say we weren't.  Do you remember our
journey down to the Tuntar Empire during our last meeting?"

"Yes." Remy sighed.

"Good," Jered knelt on one knee, sketching an outline of the land with his
finger on the thick snow, Remy knelt down and watched his fingers closely.
"This whole area represents Aberlie, the main continent of our world." he
drew an oval around the sketch.  "And this is the magical barrier that the
mighty sorcerer called Nostrat created to protect our land from the fierce
blizzards some several hundred years ago.  We remain outside the perimeters
of Aberlie...in the frozen wastelands."

Remy gulped.  "Didn't you say dat every t'ing outside de magic barriers
were destroyed?"

"I'm afraid so," Jered said.  "Our scientific technology was set back
probably a century due to the destruction of our advanced civiliations."

"So dat means dat we're stranded in dis frozen wasteland forever?  Or at
least till' we die from de cold." Remy folded his arms.

"No, no, no," Jered protested.  "We are barely in any danger.  Even though
some of my devices, including my transporter, were damaged and no longer
able to function, I have sent a distress call via source detecter.  Several
fleets from Tuntar should be on their way."

Remy began to laugh, heart filled with relief. "Jered," he said, placing a
hand on the soldier's shoulder.  "I underestimated you;  your de type to be
a war leader."

"Good," Jered inserted the transporter device back into his belt loop.  "I
wouldn't want to think that I'm not qualified for my postion."

"What do you mean?" Remy began to walk on, Jered continued beside him.  "I
thought you lived with Sophie in de forest."

"Yes, that is true." Jered nodded.  "But after our mission to Valhalla,
Emperor Tourach of Tuntar decided that I should become one of his war
leaders, to better his militia."

"How?" Remy remained speechless.  "When de M'Krann Crystal was destroyed, I
had returned to my world."

"Emperor Tourach had planned that to happen," Jered gripped his wrist,
rotating it as he loosened it up.  "The M'Krann Crystal merely transported
all the foreign lifeforms back to their original realities..."

RRRRAAAAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!

Both men halted at the piercing scream; Remy gulped as he saw the fierce
looking creature in front of him.  It seemed to be some sort of sasquatch,
with dark purple skin and thick white fur.  He appeared to be much taller
than both men, his arms as thick as Remy's waist.  The sasquatch's snow
white eyes stared at them, sending a cold feeling up Remy's spine.

"An Umaro!" Jered said, drawing his gun.  "We can't run, these creatures
are swift and quick.  Hold until I give the signal!"

Remy, too shocked to answer, drew a couple of his playing cards and
activated them.  He got into his fighting stance, ready to attack.  (I
really want t' get out of here.)

END OF CHAPTER ONE

Supereub *Reuben M.*
supereub@lava.net

Visit the X-Zone: Unoffical X-Men Fan Fiction Archive at:
http://free.websight.com/Macapinlac4
__________________________________________________________
 Sneak Preview of my Story: Triggered

Monet: ACHOO!
Sean: I dinnae think you...
Jubilee: Uh, what happened to Sean?
Angelo: I don't know, chica.

***

Sean:  should sneeze...lass?
Wolverine: Err...hey Sean, what are you doin' here?
Sean: Logan?!  Where am I?
Wolverine: Westchester, you dope.
Sean: Uh-oh.

    Source: geocities.com/soho/studios/1400

               ( geocities.com/soho/studios)                   ( geocities.com/soho)