Zilun cleaned a cup she used to mix the elements of a remedy. That was not the purpose of that cup, but in this situation she had to make do with whatever she had in the lab.

Zilun was the most famous healer of M and was known for her researches and for her thirst for knowledge, and she had been invited by king Kris to study the tree of life and it’s properties, but so far all she had done was take care of the soldiers wounded in battle, while the main healer of the kingdom, Lay, accompanied the king to heal any injury the man suffered.

One of the wounded soldiers moaned in his gurney and the woman sighed. That war was just so pointless. After all, why wouldn’t Kris just ask Tao to stop time and then take the tree away? No, he had to earn it, to prove to the kingdom of K they were the best. Zilun snorted at those thoughts. Men and their stupid pride…

Footsteps could be heard near the tent and the woman turned to see the sub-commander Chen and a soldier appearing through the curtain that separated the lab from the rest of the tent.

The soldier was carrying in his arms the sleeping body of a beautiful young brunette and Zilun came closer to take a better look on him. The young man was bleeding by the head and blood came down to his shoulders.  At seeing that, the woman raised an eyebrow skeptically.

-Another one? I can’t stand to medicate anyone else. - She complained while putting on a pair of gloves. - Chen, tell Kris that I am a healer and I'm here to analyze the tree of life and not to cure the men who get hurt in battle because of his carelessness!

Chen smiled with a grimace. –Don’t worry, he's not one of ours, and I think you will like to examine him...

-He has the power of teleportation. - Clarified the soldier when Zilun eyed them cynically. - So the king sent him to you.

He deposited the young’s body over a gurney nearby.

-Really? - She wasn’t amused. - They are almost impossible to see and even worse to capture. How did you get him?

-We hit him in the head with a stone. – Chen shrugged.

-Well, that explains the blood. - She dipped a swab in alcohol and gently turned the head of the young, rubbing the cloth over his wound. - Are you sure that he has that power?

Chen shook his head vehemently. - I saw it with my own eyes, miss.

-This is amazing! - The woman exclaimed excitedly. She had never seen anyone with that power so closely before.

-We brought him to you because Kris wants to know how his power works.

-And don’t we all want? - She asked, and it was kind of truth.

The thing about teleporters was, while all the other powers people possessed could be explained by some organ or natural biological device found in their bodies, the power to teleport had never been explained. According to the researchers there was nothing inside or outside the body of those people who could explain how a material body could simply disappear and reappear somewhere else simultaneously.

Also there were only few teleporters around the world, and they chose to live in seclusion, splitting into small groups camped in the forests or in communities on mountains impossible to climb, only reachable by who could teleport. All that made it difficult for healers to find someone to base their research on.

 She smiled thinking about how lucky she was as she now wiped the red stains from the boy’s shoulders.

As she passed the wet cloth at the young’s neck, the later moaned and turned his head to the other side. Zilun dropped the cloth, so startled she was, and turned to Chen.

-What do we do if he wakes up? – She asked, alarmed. - Two seconds and "puff" we no longer have a subject to study.

Chen motioned to the soldier to accompany him to the tent next and soon they were back, bringing some chains along, with which they immobilized the teleporter’s body on the hospital gurney. Then Chen took two handcuffs and locked one of his hands, as well as one of his feet to an iron bar next to the gurney.

-This should be enough. - Said the man proudly rubbing his hands together. - When he wakes up he won’t be able to move anything from his neck down.

-No. - Said Zilun with a wise air. – From what I've read, that never stopped any teleporter before, we have to try something else. Chen help me out here, I think I have an idea.

Zilun began to rummage through the drawers in search of a syringe that had not been used to heal the wounded from the war and she used it to apply a good amount of anesthetic into the young’s veins.

After that, they made a small hole in his foot, just above his ankle, into the small space between the Achilles tendon and the calf muscles, and passed an iron ring through it. So, if Kai tried to teleport, his tendon would be tore apart when he did it. That would make it impossible to walk so, even if he ran away, it would be easy to capture him again.

-I'll start collecting a sample of his blood for analysis. - She said. - You there. - She pointed to the soldier. - Go outside and tell Kris to send Lay here for some minutes. I may need him in case something goes wrong.

-Yes, ma'am. - The man withdrew with a nod.

-Chen, while Lay isn’t here yet, hold this for me. - She handed him a series of small test tubes, each about the size of a small finger, and then she approached the boy asleep on the gurney again.

With all the delicacy she had, the healer tugged the sleeve of the young’s raiment and, after doing the cleansing of his skin, pierced one of his veins quickly filling the first syringe, and its blood was equally distributed among three of the small tubes.

When she pierced the brownish skin a second time, however, the young moaned softly, awakening.

Kai blinked a few times, getting used to the light in the tent. Then he tried to get up but the chains kept him from making any move. Then he peered through the unknown location around him and his gaze met a woman who had just removed a needle from his skin.

Zilun gawked at the brunette’s watery eyes with some surprise. They were so dark and deep that she forgot for a moment what she was doing and just stood there staring at them. Then there was a snap of fingers, but Kai’s body did not teleport and he screamed in pain, tears streaming from his eyes and blood dripping from the wound on his ankle.

-Calm down, dear! - Said Zilun, affable, trying to keep him from trying to teleport again. – Don’t worry... - She turned to Chen when she realized she was not sure what to call the young.

-Teleporter? - Risked Chen.

-I hate treating people like objects. - She said disapprovingly. - What's his name?

Chen shrugged and shook his head. Zilun approached and gently the young’s soft cheeks.

-What is your name? - She asked tenderly. Kai just sniffled softly and turned his face the other way, refusing to share anything with that woman.

She insisted a few more times, but seeing that the man would not say anything, she shrugged as well.

-Ming. - She said finally.

-What? - Chen asked, confused.

-His name will be Ming. – She smiled. - I always liked that name, and it matches him, doesn’t it? - She pulled the brunette’s chin and turned his head to make him face her again. – Don’t worry Ming. – She continued. - I'll try to make all of this hurt as little as possible and, once I'm done, you will be free to go, okay?

Once again, no response.

Zilun sighed and dropped the jaw of the young, then went to the counter and put on her gloves.

-Chen, grab one of those collectors, would you?

Chen obeyed and Zilun took a  scalpel from the drawer, before turning to the man. - Hold him for me, Chen, I don’t believe he will enjoy this very much…

                                                                                        ><><><><><><><><

When Kai woke up again his feet was stuck to one of the bars of a small cage in which he was locked. His various injuries felt like they were burning in various parts of his body due to the invasive experiments Zilun practiced with him, and his half- body was shaking with the cold of the morning. It was in times like those that the man thought it would be best if he could just not wake up.

Zilun was standing nearby, mixing something on the counter table and Kai sniffed quietly when she approached him. He closed his eyes, trying to gather strength for what could be coming, but she only sat herself on the floor in front of the cage.

She was holding a small plate with some bread and meat and she offered some of the food to Kai, who snorted disdainfully at her and recoiled to the end of the cage.

-Oh, come on, it’s just food. - She sounded exasperated. - I get that you won’t talk to me, but if you don’t eat you will just get weaker.

No response again.

-Just eat whenever you want. - Zilun sighed and stood up, leaving the plate in front of the cage.

Voices were heard coming from outside of the tent and a familiar voice caught Kai’s attention and, despite all his pain, his lips curled slightly upward.

“Sehun”  Kai’s mind shouted. He could identify that voice anywhere.

And now he could hear footsteps approaching, and Sehun’s voice speaking to someone, laughing about something that t