~ Angel ~

    I felt it from a mile away, the distinct brush of the mind of another like me. They’re like shining beacons among the regular flashing dots against the back of my eyelids. The more powerful, the brighter and these two were like miniature suns. Judging by the fleeting thoughts I caught from the mysterious person, it was a guy. Actually, two guys. I felt another come into my mental reach a few feet away from the other. It’s been a while since I’ve conversed with another like me; the last one died when the villagers stoned him to death. Not all of the Marked had a special something. In fact, most didn’t, just like my friend. Despite this, they were still shunned by people and most died early on in the period after the Plague when they were seen as a danger to humanity. They then realized that we weren’t going to do anything. There were still places that burn people like us, but most got used to it. Chances were, they knew someone decent that was Marked, maybe even a family member. Still, the Marked weren’t acknowledged by the Pures. We were abominations- people who escaped death once, but condemned to a life of solitude because of it.

    I contemplated for a bit, even though it was an obvious choice. I was kicked out of my village a few weeks back so I’ve only got some extra clothes, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a brush and some supplies for my other needs that I kept in a small bag. I had nothing, but everyone knew that the people on the bottom have the most at stake. Even so, I picked up my few belongings, and headed in the direction of the unknown Powers. Nothing like a mile long trek to start your day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Luhan ~

I shrunk back into the cloak a little more, not because I was scared or cold, but because I was playing the role of “terrified prisoner” right now. I was walking with a group people, mostly women and children that bandits captured while they pillaged the nearby towns. I was tasked with capturing the thugs and bringing the captives home safely. Kris was waiting for me in a clearing ahead. At least he should be. Tt wouldn’t be the first time Kris let me down. No matter, I could take them down without him. I suppressed a yawn and scowled. Of course I was stuck being the bait. Why did Kris get all the fun jobs while I was stuck with the boring ones? I grumbled but decided it wasn’t worth messing up the mission for such a petty thought.

Once in a while I would amuse myself by making one of my captors trip. It wasn't as fun when they didn't suspect me at all. Why should they? After all, I didn’t touch them anyway. I had a blue mark in the shape of a six circles, three connected on top and another three on the bottom with another circle in the middle. It signified that I’m a Power with telekinetic powers. Luckily, it was on my stomach and I could cover it up with some clothes; that way I could pass for normal when I wanted to.

I already did a full check on the my escorts: at the head of the group was the unofficial leader whom all the goons followed because it was obvious he was the strongest of the group. The thugs nearest him were not special enough to be considered powerful, but was deemed trustworthy enough to guard the captives by the leader. That was their first mistake, the second was that they weren’t making any effort to conceal themselves. They strolled through the forest as if they owned the place which caused for a lot of rustling and periodical yelps caused by people falling. They were all armed, but that wouldn’t make a difference if they were fighting a potent Power. I mentally shrugged, wasn’t my problem.

While I was thinking about this, we started nearing the clearing, which was straight ahead. I rolled my neck out, silently getting ready for the upcoming fight. Not that it would be much of a fight, but I should still be careful. I spotted Kris in the trees to my right. They didn’t notice of course, funny how the human mind only sees things when it wants to. The darkness helped of course and I nodded almost imperceptibly.

I counted off the seconds. 1, 2, 3, go. Suddenly, I let all the stones I gathered over the trek fly, making sure not to hit the innocents. The effect was immediate, the bandits all drew their swords, looking for the invisible attacker. I just kept the stones coming, taking out a few with precise shots to the back of their heads. By the time the thugs finally collected themselves, the next part of the plan was already in motion. Kris stepped off the branch he was crouched on and flew through the trees, away from the captives; purposefully creating as much noise as possible while doing it. The bandits all turned towards the noises; the leader called out a few orders and the group split into two groups. The bigger group, led by the head of the bandits, went after the noise while the smaller was left to guard and contain the captives.

It was chaos among the captives as the confused people in the back wondered what was happening. Some of the braver ones tried to make a break for it, but were stopped by their own personal prison guards. I was ready for this and let loose the few dozen tranquilizer darts I had hidden inside of my cloak. As the last of the guards fell, I went around the group of bewildered hostages to reassure them, get their possessions back and point them back to their villages. When it looked like the last of the prisoners left to return to their homes, I turned and jogged towards the direction in which Kris went.

It wasn’t hard to track them, just follow the bodies strewn about. Kris was the master of guerilla warfare. As he lured them off, he started to pick off the stragglers by using his super speed/flight combo to tranquilize them, or to make them conveniently fall into the holes he dug before hand when I was walking with the prisoners. It wasn’t long before I found the clearing where Kris was continuing to play with the bandits who had no way of defending themselves. I sighed at Kris’s behavior and stepped into the clearing, in clear sight of the bandits. For the first time that night, I shook off the hood of my cloak. In an instant, the bandits’ attention was on me. I knew what they saw: a lean, roughly eighteen year old boy that had a shock of blonde hair with deep brown eyes.

However, it wasn’t my looks that caught their attention, it was the fact that they actually had something tangible to attack now. They all charged at my with visible malice in their eyes. I rolled my eyes, exasperated. They should've already known they had no chance against me. Maybe some other Power, but definitely not me. I readied my stance and drew my concealed sword instead of calling upon my power. Call it swordsman’s dignity. I felt a brush of wind and knew that Kris was at my back and grinned feeling the adrenaline. In no time they were on us. I parried the first and sidestepped the other person’s downward slash. It was a dance; block, slash, avoid, strike, parry, feint, repeat. Before long, they were all on the forest floor.

“You better not have killed any, we need them alive for it to count as a successful mission” I said as I turned around to face Kris.

Kris smirked. “C’mon give me some credit, I’m not that bad at handling a sword.”

I grinned back at him. “Well then make yourself useful and help me get all these bodies. Can you get these? I’ll get the ones back in the first ambush site”

Kris rolled his eyes, “Yea sure, but I’m strong enough to carry them all so I’m going to get the car.”

“Hurry up then.”

He saluted me with a short, “You know it,” and was off in a blur.

I walked back to the clearing where the passed out bandits lay and got to work binding them all together in a big mass of thug. After making sure that all the bandits were accounted for, I scanned the clearing once again. There was nobody there, yet I had a feeling that someone was watching me. I looked around again just to make sure. Still, no one was there. I shrugged. Maybe my senses were going into overdrive. Busying myself with my luggage, the big mass of thug, I turned to head back in the Kris’s direction… only to run face to face into a girl.

“Hi.”