The Wind

It was a windy day in Novum Aurora, his favourite type of weather. It tumbled and played changing its mind in the blink of an eye, it was free. The wind was always free, to travel where ever it wanted to, masterless. At least he was similar to the wind in this respect, no family no master, but he still missed them all but he knew what his teacher would say “We live on inside of you keep those memories as a bright jewel, one day you will have only have joy for these memories with no pain, then you will have detached yourself, but that is for the future.” But it still hurt. He walked home enjoying the wind, trying to avoid being noticed, but there were still the occasional pinpricks on his mind as people noticed him walk by as they did everyday. Rudraya wondered if he would ever be able to recognise people but for now what he had was plenty.... and then a little bit more. He let the world roll, focusing on nothing and everything as he made his way to his apartment in the rougher area of the city. Time had taught him how to stay alert without having to think, he could see the groups of potential thugs and opportunists pass their gaze and forget about him. As well they should, the last time he had been in a situation the result had not been pretty for the attacker or Rudraya. He was left with a scar and his assailant was left with a smashed ankle and knee, he probably wouldn’t be able to walk again without a stick. The one time Rudraya didn’t have a knife on him was the one time he was attacked with one, they say danger is closest when you are least prepared.

When he closed the door of his flat he let out an audible sigh. Had it really been 5 years since his life had been turned upside down? How he had begged to get a job in Novum Aurora in a fast food shop working the 14 hour shifts and sleeping rough outside the shop. And they had wondered how he had been on time for all the shifts, huh it was easy when you lived so close! He had been scared to approach the government official who dealt with illegal immigrants but his luck had been in and he had been allocated this tiny apartment in a shitty area of the city but at least it was his own, at least the basement was his own. Luck, he thought, was a funny thing, it could take away his parents and uproot him from his home and had made him a beggar and taken him to this city of corruption....but it had also allowed him to slip through the net, and secure a modest job as a librarian in the most prestigious library in Novum Aurora, it had also given him an abandoned basement just below his half a person flat to train. And it had given him a space on the bottom floor! Luck he thought, was a fickle mistress.

He made his way to his shrine in the corner of his room and said his prayers for a time. His faith had taken a knocking in the recent year, well what did one expect if your life got thrown into chaos it tends to test ones faith. But his faith was always a guiding presence no matter how rough things got how he cursed God for him misfortune he knew in reality that he was only a drop in the ocean of balance in the world. Focusing on his own misfortune meant he was really being selfish.

Now it was time to train, the only thing in his life which had kept him alive, even before his powers had manifested. His martial arts was his self expression and his saviour. He quietly said a separate message to his master. He knew he shouldn’t worship the man but he had given him so much and had asked for nothing but diligence. He went down to the basement and turned on the light. When he had first come down to the basement it had been a dirty stinking mess of rubbish, dead rats and droppings of all manner under the sun, he even wondered if anyone had been killed down here. It had taken him weeks to clean it out but now this was his space, at least he had something to himself, his clean but still fairly smelly training room, he doubted submerging the place in acid could ever get rid of the slight smell.

He took up his position and stilled his mind for a time, standing like a tree on one leg rooted into the ground the other carrying no weight. He ground into his standing leg so he was at a 45 degree angle and let his empty foot point along the NE line and held his hands out like the branches of the tree along the same NE line. And there he stood and gathered his energy. His mind was nothing, a blank slate. The possibility for everything and nothing. Any thoughts that came and left like the clouds blown by the wind his mind until it was an empty blue sky. Then he reset himself planted his legs 50-50 weighted and started his form. To the observer it would have seen like a set of slow easy movements with not much physical activity, but this belied its nature. Inside he was twisting and coiling like a snake, he was a coiled spring ready to explode, his eyes were flat and dangerous like he was looking through everything. It was as if he built his energy up and exploded furiously and intervals. His mind was empty, the years he had spent going over the movements thousands upon thousands of time meant he no longer engaged his conscious mind, he was in a meditative state yet fully aware of all around him. He finished the form using none of his powers, he would never allow himself to be at the mercy of his power he would control them and not the other way round. He then started another form but this time he let go, as he started the first movement if anyone was in the room they would have felt a slight tugging on their consciousness, their eyes would be drawn to him as his power activated. He felt the power course through him, like his senses sharpened and his body felt like it was vibrating. As he struck the air the sound of the force echoed around the room, his feet started to crack the concrete floor as they landed and he turned with lightening swiftness. It was as if the energy was growing and growing. But the supply was not infinite, there would be a price to pay if he took too much so he reluctantly finished his form. A few years ago he had woken on the floor of the basement, almost a cubic meter of wood had been in front of him and it still stood. After he had checked himself over for injuries he pulled himself up on the block, it had small indents of his knuckles. As he pulled himself up he patted the block and disintegrated into dust and splinters.

The noises made from his stamping and you would have thought that people would be curious about the noise but it was just another noise in the cityscape lost and forgotten.

Spiders are tingling my senses

After their unkindly encounter with the insects, Fayth and Travis carried on following the tunnel and they eventually reached a large chamber. Unlike the total blackness of the tunnels, a single lightbulb was hanging from the ceiling and illuminating light within the chamber. It wasn’t enough to banish the shadows from every corner, but it was enough for the sighted to see again after their journey of darkness.

The light hit Fayth’s eyes and after a few minutes of her eyes readjusting to the brightness of the world again, she started to make out her surroundings and was shocked at what she saw. There were spider webs all over the place, spanning across the enormous ceiling, along all four walls of the chamber and covering the floor that she and Travis were stepping on. As with any webs, there were spiders upon which they hung, waiting for any food to come along and become entangled within their silky, sticky traps. There were spiders in the thousands, all of different sizes and species, but all were hanging freely waiting for their next meal. Despite not being an arachnophobia, the presence of so many spiders sent shivers down Fayth’s spine.

The webbing was not simply smooth or flat decorating the chamber; there were various lumpy shapes that the webbing was holding in place along the walls or on the ceiling.  Along the floor, however, the webbing was weaker as their feet broke the fragile silk with each step they took, and objects appeared to be randomly littered around them. Upon closer inspection, Fayth was revolted to find that they were the bone carcasses of dead animals, empty of flesh and life. She looked up at the many webbed bumps and saw that some were fully cocooned, while some were only suspended by the webbing and partially displayed what was inside. Fayth guessed what most of them held though: something still living and ready to be the next meal of many spiders.

Her assumption was reinforced by the background of psychic energies that Fayth was picking up from her surroundings. The further she and Travis went into the chamber, the more she could sense the feelings of desperation, fear, and maliciousness, which were faint but impressionable to her. At times she would receive an instant flash of a miserable animal pleading for its life or spiders in the process of securing their meal with their webbing or a dark, sinister, and vague form.

Her gaze continued to track the lumpy cocoons and stopped at one shape in particular. Her heart sped up and tears started to well up in her eyes as relief washed over her. Finally, her brain reconnected with her mouth and she whispered, “Reina”.

Her psychic senses reached out to her friend and found that Reina was still alive, but unconscious. Fayth was about to alert Travis when she noticed a crawling sensation on her legs. She looked down and found several large spiders were making their way up towards her. Several more spiders were beginning to join them, as they revealed themselves from beneath the graveyard of broken webs. Her psychic senses had picked up on that malevolent joy again, the same one she had felt earlier that day. However, the emotion was more intense than before, and her mind started to freeze up in response and prevented her from reacting. She tried to call out or send a thought to Travis, but she was effectively trapped; her physical and mental self was paralysed by the spell of that malicious glee. But her sight of her companion filled her with dread, as he too had his own overly friendly creepy crawlers to deal with.

Then came the form of a gargantuan sized spider into Fayth’s view. It silently slid from the ceiling on a thick web from its enormous spinneret and landed soundlessly in front of the frozen telepath. It adjusted itself on the solid ground, disturbing many of the weak webbing as it did, and peered right into Fayth’s eyes. An eerie, almost alien, sound that was more of a screech than speech came from the mouth of the spider. “You’ve kept me waiting, Fayth Svartalf…”

The Pieces Begin To Assemble

A giant ship loomed over the crashing abyss of darkened stormy waters beneath. It was a merciless storm, it had been raging for three days now, endlessly slashing and crashing. The waves would slap against one side and then as the ship would rise, a second blow would fall and then a third. Sometimes it was hit on the left side, hard and fast then suddenly a blow from the right would knock it reeling to the other side again. Those on board would have felt like a ping pong ball in a very heated match. The cargo ship, dubiously named The Maiden, in no small part due to sarcasm had for the best part endured these treacherous sea's, all of it's cargo on the other hand had not been so lucky.

When she had set sail, The Maiden had over one hundred different pieces of cargo above deck and she carried far more precious things below in her vast hull. Inside the hull, the oddments and valuables concealed within had escaped any of the harm from the raging elements outside, above deck, that was a completely different story now. Off the hundred or so items, many ranging from full scale cargo container's, an expensive super car, a statue of a Greek goddess standing in nothing but her skin to pallets of wood and sheet metal, the storm had already claimed the statue and the car within the first day. They had all be strapped and belted down but the wind had found a way to rip that apart. They had tied and bolted down what hadn't blown away on the first day.

The second day, they lost the pallets of wood and sheet metal that was set for the construction industry off their final destination. They had been triple strapped down but a giant tidal wave washed over the ship and when all the water had cleared there was an empty space where they had once been. They bolted and tied all that remained that same day. On the third day they lost 5 separate cargo container's. The container's in question hadn't been bolted or tied down, for the soul reason that they weighed tonne's on their own account, loaded with supplies off every variety. Waves ripped across the deck, pushing the left side off the ship to the point of hitting the eerie blackness below, the cargo container's only needed that last little push from the next smash of waves to topple into the darkness to meet the depths beneath.

The crew never came back above deck after this, nothing on top was worth risking your life for. The main deck was at it's most empty now, anything and everything had moved position since it was first placed on board. What was on the left hand side could now be found on the right and vice versa. In the scramble to save things, order was no longer a problem and speed was off the essence. From all the confusion and chaos no one had noticed that underneath one of the cargo containers that had fallen into the sea, a lonely crate had been suddenly made visible. It was small, not much taller or wider than your average person. There were odd markings off a distant land all over it and right at the top a deep dark red "X" had been marked across it. It had been bolted to the decks surface and chains connected it to each of the four points it had been anchored to. If that hadn't been enough, there were several separate ropes of varying shapes and even colours that ran round and round in interlocking patterns to bind it up tight.

The next day, the storm faltered and rapidly brought forth the great blue sky above and in the certain of it shone the sun. It glimmered and glistened off the waves, cheers and shouts of joy rose from the deck as those on board came to the surface to bask in the warming glow of the sun on high above. Favour fortuned those that were both persistent and resilient. The crew on board were so overjoyed to have weathered the storm they paid little or no attention to the missing cargo. It would all be counted and marked off the list when they finally made port, right now they were all to happy to be alive and well. Our little hidden crate made the rest of the voyage undeterred and no worse for wear than when it had began, for you see, one man's story begins with this very box.

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It began in blackness. How long had it been now? It was cramped and stiff, each joint and muscle ached with every single movement. Breathing was a chore off it's own, as the breathe went out of the lung's, it felt like someone was applying pressure right over your ribs, holding a hundred pound weigh and if you wanted to breathe again you had to have the strength to force the next rush of oxygen past this ever growing pressure. When this began it was easy, you breathed in and you breathed out. Now, getting oxygen was like trying to find Hen's Teeth. Touching and scuffing against the surfaces around them, hands shuffled to and fro, groping mindlessly in silence for something beyond. The now boney fingers slithered over the surface like a hungry snake, sliding closer and closer, aiming for a certain mark that had been left behind earlier.

The hands crawled along the grain of the wood with close precision, no movement made was unnecessary and they moved with a subtle conviction and purpose, the smooth finished wood was cold to the touch, it was actually beginning to grow very damp and this made each continued breathe more uncomfortable as the damp seemed to not only get into the joints of the fingers and bones that lay flat pressed against the outer layer but now even the lungs began to feel the strain of trying to sift the water away from the oxygen it needed to power itself and the rest of the body. Everything had to be slowed down, breathing and heart rate especially. There was no food, in darkness there never was. There was no water, at least none not full of sea salt and then there was the worst of all, little air, in truth there was little of anything, especially Hope.

There were line's, just where they should be, clawed into the surface with a rough precision of their own. The hands had etched these lines before, now they slid over the surface off each one. The surface beneath the cracked and bloody fingers was a fine Beech Wood. The nails had tore chunks in the wood but as time passed and each new line had been made the wood seemed to gain more ground and some of the lines closer to the far end had a fine coating of blood were the wood had made it's own mark. In darkness, there were no plaster's for grazed knee's or cut fingers. There were now ten separate different slices in the wood, though there was also three different cuts on the fingers that had made the marks in turn. Three for ten? So far, it would seem the flesh was at least winning for now.

The digit's ran themselves to the end of the ten marks and began to claw into the wood once again, marking the eleventh day within this "cell". Eleven days already, trapped in such a hellishly cramped space it could have been eleven years. This was it own form of torture. Had it have been any normal man, their mind would have snapped and they would have bloodied and beaten themselves to death in a vain attempts to escape. There was no getting out of here till someone came and let you out. You could throw every single ounce of energy inside you at these wooden walls and all you would achieve is broken bones and exhaustion. However there had been no escape attempts made, the only movement made was off the fingers as they slid down to find the scarred wood that marked the count of days that passed since the crate had been first bound up in secret and hidden below a fully loaded cast iron container that would cover this little piece of secret cargo. Or at least, it was supposed to.

It began in darkness again, only this time, instead of the unrelenting emptiness that was there before, there was a new unease. Water leaked all around, it got everywhere and leaked into everything. The audible squelch was as unpleasing to the ear as the cold bite of the water was to the skin. Even wrapped in layers, the water kept seeping through, turning them into nothing but damp rags that sucked up tight to the skin, giving a bone chilling cold to the flesh that felt hung over every muscle, this was not going to be enjoyable. If the water had not been enough, the wind that howled louder and louder for hours on end did nothing but worse the spirit. It is often bad enough to be wet, then imagine being unable to move, then to not be able to breathe freely. Then there was the chill of the wind blowing through every gap it could find, running through your soaking clothes, as if it had the claws of a wolf. Like claws ripping at your skin, each new gust brought it's own bitter giving's. The fingers again reached out and carved one more line into the wood, made easier by the wood now rotting from all the water it had taken on.

The count was now twelve days, isolated in darkness, with nothing to sustain you but your own will to survive. With so little, how would any man survive? The answer to this question can only be found within the heart of those with nothing to lose, nothing to fear and true belief in something bigger.

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A man had laid down in the wooden crate, he had been carried across great oceans and weathered horrendous storms but when the ship had finally reached port and the crate was taken away discreetly by those who had anticipated it's arrival, what crawled out from within that "prison" box looked something awful to behold. His bones sat taught over his bones, every part of his face looked haggard and he wheezed with every breathe, like air just wouldn't go into his lungs. Large black marks had manifested around the whole of his eyes and there was a dullness in his eyes that spoke of a malaise that seemed almost haunting. The man was weak and unable to even stand though after the journey he had, it was a miracle of it's own that he was alive at all, few others could have braved such a trial of both mind and body. Two large men had carried him from the box as he had fallen as soon as he had moved to lift himself from the box. His muscle's had already begun to atrophy and he looked more like a corpse than a human being.

It was several days later that the man named Drake made his appearance. Hidden by those that had carried him from the dock he was put in a rather decrepit and dirty apartment building far out of the way. Here he was placed in a bed that he never left for two days straight. Someone had to forcefully feed him and make him drink. His eye's never once open but on more than one occasion you could see his eyelids flicker as he struggled in his sleep. Tormented by what exactly was hard to tell, his time in the box would of been it's own horror. The third day he woke, got out of bed in the early hours of the morning and disappeared into the crisp cool air and was not seen by those that had brought him out of the crate again. Drake sat atop a building still under construction, the builders had not yet come to start their work but it was this time of day that Drake loved most. The freshness, the cold, the mild darkness, all of this was it's own kind of perfection to him.

He was sitting on the outskirts of Novum Aurora, were he stood now was to be a suburban residential area of those lucky enough and rich enough to afford them. Drake had been rushed here early, there was much to lay in preparation for what was in store. This was to be the "battlefield" of what was to come, all those individuals like Drake and his new friend would gather here, how he knew this or how his new benefactor had gotten the same idea or gut instinct was unclear but there was something about this city, the new life it brought, perhaps the cities innocence and in turn the want to corrupt said innocence could attract those with the power to do these things on both sides of the fence. Drake's mind had already begun to sense the presence of certain individuals already making their move here, even in his delirium he could sense those like him, they all talked and sang and laughed behind his eyes when he closed them.

If he listened close enough he could almost hear what they were saying but more than that he could actually feel them, each person felt different and unique and as they got closer their voice, their face, it all got clearer. Sometimes he could even see their power if they were close enough and he wouldn't even have to have ever met this person in his life. In his sleeping state over the last few days he had noted that one particularly powerful and interesting individual had been making arrangements to move into the very house he sat on the roof off now. A young black man who had once been an Olympic athlete before he went suddenly and unexplainably blind. Drake hadn't figured out his powers yet but he was interesting in that his aura was pure and bright behind his eyes when he could see or feel him. He was here today, early to scope out the area, he was to leave this man a little present for the future when he took up his residence in the near future. He had something to leave here but he couldn't leave it just for anyone to find.

He moved off into the nearby forest, he figured if his target had hidden powers he would use these woods to be alone and use his powers without someone observing him, drake knew first hand, once you had a power you could use at will, there was always the drive to experiment and test what you could or couldn't do. When he had awoken, he had seen that the second item hidden aboard the ship had also made it out successfully, it had been hidden below deck in the jumble off other odd objects and trinkets. It was a dark blackened metal box, it had weird markings on it to clearly differentiate it from anything else, all marked in a blood red colour. If the markings were meant to mean something, it was beyond Drake's comprehension but he wasn't there to ask questions, only to follow a few simple instructions before he was to return to the city to claim his first payment. Drake had carried his metal box with him on his back, it was heavy beyond belief but he had managed it, he was ordered to bring it to this location and open it within the forest. He wasn't told what was in it.

He found a clearing and began to rummage through his freshly pressed clothes that had awaited him by his bed side that morning, inside one pocket was the key for the box. He removed it from his pocket and inserted it into the lock but before he could turn the key, something from within stirred and lashed out in rage, slamming hard against the edge of the box, knocking it from one side onto the other, tearing the grass as it slide down the verge slightly. Drake quickly turned the key, releasing the door and swiftly he bolted into a nearby tree. He watched from on high for a few moments but nothing happened. Drake was beginning to wonder had he imagined the box moving after all but then suddenly a misshapen figured lurched it's way out of it's confinement as the sound of chains shattering echoed off the tree's. Whatever stepped forward was not human, it's shape was bent and hobbled and it's breathe ragged and savage. It paid no attention to Drake and skulked it's way into the woods without a backward glance.

He supposed if he had been anyone else, this would have seem starkly unreal and endless questions would have been abound but not Drake, instead a small, thin sinister smile spread across his lips and he spoke softly to no one in particular.

"Things got a whole lot more interesting in Novum Aurora...."

Sometimes... Things are more than they appear

Travis could no longer think back to how this all started, it seemed somewhat off a blur from one second to the next, he remember heading into the city to track down a hidden figure fleeing the scene of the creature that had attacked Travis only a few hours earlier, he had pounded down streets, alleys and every little crevice along the way. He had been stopped by a little girl who seemed to know more than she let on and just as quickly as he had stumbled upon her, she had disappeared into the pressing crowds of the city. Thinking to find somewhere back on his original path he crossed the road to an ongoing commotion and in doing so he had stumbled upon a broad daylight attack on other people. Was it a chance encounter or was some strange hand of fate working all around this city?


He knew deep down there was something more to it than suddenly turning up here and so many strange and shocking things manifesting itself before him. Inside the shop, the riot that had sprawled out from within was like something only seen in films. A storm of bugs, to many to not have been somehow put or forced there had wrecked the shop, screams and yells filled his ears, hurting his senses intensely until suddenly one scream above the others had turned his blood cold, if even only for a moment. A woman had screamed, not for herself, the sound betrayed her emotion as clear as a smile might give away happiness and tears would forewarn sadness. It was so thickly accented with fear, fear not for herself but someone she had cared deeply for.


He had learned the woman had lost a friend later after he had taken care of the swarm of bugs that had surrounded them like a winged tornado, biting and stinging all they could in their path. The woman Reina she had been called was taken by a figure Travis had only seconds to have caught a glimpse of his shadow he left as he vanished with his prize. With his sense's Travis got a brief glimpse of the man who had been the kidnapper but the more Travis thought about it, he didn't really seem like an ordinary person. He was much bigger, his mass taking up more space than normal and something else was off with him. Either Travis was mistaken or he had felt like this guy had more than two legs, he moved with movements unnatural humans, speed faster than he could normally have achieved on two legs also further compounded his idea's on the matter.


Today was a weird day, that wasn't even the weirdest part of his day yet to tell it true. The girl who had screamed at the loss of her friend had panick-strickenly ran out hunting her friend, something within Travis had made him follow, was he a fool or a brave man, it was hard to tell, now more than ever. His new friend had not only punched him in the face one moment but next she had fallen to her knee's in some strange moment of weakness or perhaps a flood of emotion from some past event Travis could never have shared with her. There was only pity inside him for her at that moment, he had reached his arms around her and embraced her close. What was going on in his head right then and there he had no idea, he knew women were trouble, all of them only brought their own brand of mischief and misfortune. Yet he had hugged her, they had sat in silence for a time till she no longer sobbed and they parted. Travis let go off her awkwardly, not really sure what was going on but he realised that she had something else on her mind and she hadn't even noticed.


They had pressed on hard after any lead they could find, eventually a break came for them when Travis noticed and endless stream of marching feet, tiny and silent to ordinary sense's. In his head it sounded like the beat of a drum, they marched onwards as if called to war. It was strange, here he was helping some girl he hadn't even learned the name of yet and he was leading her after someone who had kidnapped her friend. He still hadn't found the man he was looking after all of this still to, though part of him had hoped that whoever they were chasing now would know the man or perhaps if he was really lucky he would find it to be the man he was chasing after all this time. Something sparked his memory to earlier on that day, the little girl he had meet, she had said something about the man he was chasing. It chilled his spine and he wondered even more as to what path was he walking down now. His own, or his hunter's?
"He knows about...us"
They had been following the ants for some time, on and on they lead them, till the reached beyond the limit's of the city and suddenly Travis felt his muscle's begin to ease and no longer was he so tense, he no longer had to block out all the noise that would assault his sense's, he felt so free now. He could always hear footsteps, the sound a person's chest made as it moved up and down with each breathe, even the twitching and straining of muscles in the body. People had become so immune to noise they never heard half of the sounds that were in the world. Travis could hear his stomach grumble internally when he was hungry long before the audible grumble would be heard by those around him, he even heard the blinking off eyelash's. How bad it had been at first when every noise he heard was like a stabbing shrill pierce at his nervous system. With time he had learnt to calm every nerve and stop things getting to him so much but now, in the quiet he allowed everything to flow back to its normal level. He could hear his partner's heavy breathing, she seemed fearful now, more so than she had been back inside the city.


He wondered had she ever been in a situation where she had to defend herself, not from a simple bully or a simple mugger. Travis' sensed only malice awaiting them with whoever they found. If that creature earlier had taught him anything, the world wasn't quite so friendly as he had thought only that morning. He flexed his muscles as he followed on and on. He felt like a puppy, being led around by it's master. Strangely she had led him by hand most of the way, he figured she had him pegged as blind and that she had to lead him by hand everywhere, he went with it, at least for the minute it wasn't all bad. Her hand was soft and smooth, his hand in her's didn't seem to be awkward or uncomfortable, at least for now anyways. It soon started raining, the soft pitter patter to the ordinary ear was transformed into a song for Travis. It was like the sky and the ground were doing battle, it was soft still, not harsh like metal on metal or the crunch of bone. It was always in motion, like waves and flows. It was beautiful in it's own way, so unlike what you would hear when you listened to it with your own ears. Travis enjoyed it, knowing only he knew the real majesty of rain. He liked the sound as it dripped off this and that, the splash and even the plop's as it hit more water below. He had little time to enjoy it.


He had followed the trail with his new partner but they had come to a standstill outside iron bars. They had been pulled apart as if by a bear with the sheer force it would of required to bend these bars. The whole that was made to make room for whatever pasted through here was of an unnatural shape and size. It didn't matter he figured, they had come this far, to stop here would be pointless, especially if the kidnapper was to keep his threats against this girl Reina. Travis had a sudden surge of adrenaline course through his body, it sent ripples of pain and pleasure through every muscle, he would of almost screamed but he collected himself as he realised that the feeling was suddenly pushing him forward into the darkness, his hand had already begun to reach for her, she had been talking to him, he could tell that much but there was such an overload of his sense's that he never heard a word she said, there was noises within this tunnel that both exhilarated and frightened him all at once, his blood felt alive and within him an energy was stirring. He couldn't tell what had brought these feelings over him but it was to late, he felt alive again like back when he could see with his own eyes.

"Wait...give me a second." She said, Travis had been pulling her for only a few inches before she froze in her tracks. Clearly she wasn't as interested in what was hiding at the end of this little cavern under the world above. He had forgot that his eyes seen what no one else could, this cave was no doubt dark and full of terrors to normal eyes but to him he could already see small passageways, precipice's, cliff's and even the odd chasm. He wondered more how this person had found a place so helpful for them to hide in. This was no doubt a hideout for whoever they had been tracking, this was his terrain and that meant they would be at a disadvantage no matter what. Though Travis figured they weren't counting on a blind who heard everything coming with force to claim their prize they believed they had stolen. Fayth took to much time to ready herself but Travis was patient and eventually a new sensation took over him. It felt like something new was crawling under his skin, something familiar yet so strange, it felt like.. well like.. his new friend was in his head, how could that be? His mind began to struggle, he couldn't fight her and all the noises in his head at once so his mind went into lock down instantly.

"Just relax and...breathe." He did what he was told but it all felt alien to him, he could feel as if she was gliding through his mind passing through his thoughts, like a flicker of the wind against a candle and suddenly it guttered out and disappeared and he felt at ease but as the peace came to him, he almost jump out of his skin as the woman's voice once more spoke to him, she was trying to be kind and reassuring but it was something unusual to Travis and the little girls warning flashed to mind once more. Someone knows about us... someone knows about me... the little girl.... even this woman I met. He felt much happier when he thought he was more alone in his gifts than right now as he had a woman in his head, a man who had watched as the monster had attacked him and here he was standing in some strange place with more questions than he could ever find answers for. They exchanged their names in complete silence, their minds binded together, though he sense's a little crudely, she wasn't in the deep reach's off his mind and he was thankful for that, your thoughts were your own for a reason, he didn't need her hear of the things he had only learnt of today just yet, he would tell her in his own words in time if he believed she could be trusted with it, right now they had far more pressing concerns as new noises were being picked up by Travis' ears. A familiar noise but not a friendly one.


A thousand voices at once, then suddenly it doubled and then tripled and before long there was more voices than even Travis could separate out in his head. They were surrounding him and Fayth, each one sounded angry, as if they had been riled up by some outside force. Travis could hear them but beside him he could almost feel the tension in his companion, he forgot that he had never told her it was him that had gotten rid of the bugs back when they first appeared when he wasn't sure whether to reveal his powers or not, he had kept silent and now he guessed it was probably time to fill her in, he moved suddenly so he was facing her, even in the darkness he knew she would see and feel him beside her, he closed in tight to her and whispered to her in as soft and soothing kind of voice that he could muster at that point. Leaning in closer and closer, he put his mouth to her ear, each time she breathed it was loud and clear, her heart pumping the blood faster and faster, each breathe pushing her chest in and out, all these things and more he could hear from within her, he felt he could even hear the girlish impulse to scream about ready to burst from her lips but as he had moved close she had seemed to forget the rest of the world and her focus was on him. He could smell her, she was sweet and from his eyes she looked pretty even in this darkness, even with his twisted vision, he breathed only a few words in her ear and then things had changed so fast.

"Close your mind...hands on your ears...pray this works..." He spoke the words soft and careful, he even slowly place his own hands upon her's and together they cupped her ears and blotted out what sound they could as Travis shifted and tensed every muscle in his body, it felt as if he was drawing in all the surroundings as it seemed like there was nothing but the feeling of being trapped in a vacuum as he drew in all the sound around him before shortly let it burst forward from his lips. It was painful to do, his vocal cords rippled and vibrated so hard it felt like they would burst. His stomach shuddered it's disapproval as he used every muscle from foot to head in his expulsion off sound and might. It was focused, twisting it into a shrill high pitched wail of sorts, the bugs were no sooner upon Travis and Fayth than they were assaulted by what Travis had named his power as the "Banshee's Call." The noise he had used to fight the bugs before wasn't going to be powerful enough to pierce every corner, this time he had to use real force, when using sound as a weapon Travis' ears would go completely deaf, during his attacks he was completely blind and deaf but he held onto Fayth tight with her warmth beside him he took comfort, she didn't shake or cower in fear. There was trust for him, however small it had been but it did not matter. He had screeched for what felt like a year and as he stopped he felt weary and tired.


One second he was standing holding Fayth's hands in his own and the next he was on the floor coughing blood. He hit the dirt hard and fast without even noticing it, he landed in a pile of dead insects, he didn't know whether his blast would kill or make them flee but he got the feeling he had maybe slightly over did it as he felt the bugs underneath his weight crunch. He wretched up blood violently at first but shortly it stopped, he figured he had torn a vocal cord or something. It had happened before when he was testing out the strength of his own powers a while back. He would be fine, in a short space of time it would have healed and his powers would work like nothing had even happened to him, it still hurt like hell though. He got back to his feet and soon he was once again able to take in all his surroundings once more. He saw the corpses of all the bugs he had killed, it was an awful sight, he hadn't been aware of just quite how destructive his concussive sonic blast would be, he had meant to hurt them not kill them. He guessed he wouldn't be able to apologise now, usually no one cared when they crushed one little bug but this was more like a killing field. If they were to move forward he was going to have to watch very carefully were he stepped. He wasn't really sure what had happened with since he had let his powers loose, he had felt almost blank until he had regained his feet.


He put his hand out to her as he starred out vaguely with his blank eye's scanning the area around them for were to go next. He studied the area and something seemed to stick out more than the rest, the was one area far off that seemed to have the constant sound of truly distant chattering. It was like things communicating with one another but it was so far off and strained that even with his abilities he couldn't exactly pinpoint it down to the last inch but he could get a vague idea as to what general location they would need to go, in a place with so little in it, there was only one sense he could trust. The noise of life in a lifeless place. It was a long way down, it seemed as if there was caves within caves around here. His enemy clearly had the advantage, he had no doubt they were walking in to a trap, what for he couldn't really guess. Had this new person kidnapped this girl Reina because she was one of "them" to? He had never asked Fayth about her more than he needed to, it was strange, she felt warm and comforting but something within Travis held back and held his tongue. It was to long since he had someone he could talk to... at least properly. He began to make the decent, his hand still held out to Fayth, if she followed him he could no longer tell, there was some new awakened curiosity with him than made him plunge deeper with pure determination.


Travis was a man of conviction and determination, in all his life if he had put his mind to it, it had come to him one way or another. His new found quest for knowledge was his current lust and little but exploring this cave to it's very heart and locating the culprit would slick his lust now. It was cold and damp around them, it had a very earthy and rich smell, not to say it was necessarily pleasant, it was times like this that Travis was glad that his sense of smell had been more less taken from him altogether. In truth he had lost more of himself than his eye's that fateful day but the only thing that anyone ever noticed was his eye's now, one stare at his cold implacable eye's and people no longer looked at him again. They treated him like he was diseased and contagious. Travis began to realise that beneath all this earth and dirt, it was growing colder and the air thicker and harder to breathe in. In truth the dirt filled air seemed to grate against his torn vocal chord sharply, like sand paper on an open wound. Occasionally he would cough and blood would trickle out amongst his spittle. He could feel it but not see it, it was warm and much thicker, he could tell with his vision but there was no colour, just a black canvas with a blue-ish tinted outline to people and the objects around him. Thankfully Fayth wouldn't notice if she was looking on as in the darkness no one would tell the difference between blood or water.


Down and down they delved deeper into this seemingly endless cavern they had stumbled in to, all to follow this mysterious attacker that had started this whole thing. Travis followed the faint noise of chatter to it's place of origin, it had been at least a good 40 to 50 feet below were they had come in, he stopped suddenly in the middle of a far more spacious chamber that opened into a wide space. He crossed to the middle of this new intersection and he could tell something was different, there was a squeak from Fayth, at least he assumed it was her that made the noise as something different had taken his attention, the room they were now standing in the middle off was well lit. Travis couldn't see light no more than he could see the sun or the sky anymore, what gave it away was the sound of the electrical current coursing through the light bulb, a slow droning noise it made, on and on it chirped in his ear, even up above him and quiet as it was, no sound escaped Travis. The light bulb swung from it's ceiling hinge high up above, something had passed by here recently, on it's path it had crashed past the light as it swung back and forward with vigour, each pass it made making it slow until it came to an eventual creeping halt. Travis felt strange, why lead them in darkness for so long to leave a single light on, there was something all wrong with this situation.
"Fayth.... You still there? ...I don't think we are.... alone anymore.... Fayth?"

I'm with Batman...or is it Man-Bat?

Fayth and her companion stood facing the entrance of a tunnel shrouded in darkness as it was hidden underneath a bridge. Water dripped from above as rain had started to fall in Novum Aurora and each droplet entered the flowing river underneath the bridge, which made loud echoing sounds. The stone surfaces underneath the bridge were heavily covered in artist graffiti, some of which were more stylist than others. Despite the invisibility offered by the shadows, the entrance to the tunnel was usually blocked by iron bars. Someone, or something, had effectively bent the bars to create an opening that was larger than the averaged sized person to slip through.

The trail of ants that Fayth and the blind man had found and followed was moving as a single line into the dark tunnel. It was evident that wherever the ants had taken them, they were leading the two to their destination.

“I don’t like this. How on earth can I see?!”, Fayth growled as she glared into the darkness of the tunnel. Her rhetorical question was met by the usual silence of her companion, who was facing her as she turned to look at him. “Oh…yeah. I forgot that you couldn’t see…”

In response, her blind friend took her hand and started heading into the abyss of the tunnel. However, Fayth grounded herself, which made the blind man turn back to her with a questioning expression.

“Wait…give me a second”, Fayth said as she closed her eyes. If they were going into the lair of whatever took Reina, they would need to prepare themselves. Although she was not combat-oriented, her time with Reina had developed her skills at using her powers to communicate and direct her friend, who was much better suited to the field than she was. Similarly, she suspected that the blind man was not as disadvantaged as she had first believed.

As she had found from playing around with her powers, connecting to a mind depended upon the interpersonal bond between her and the person she was linking to. Fayth remembered how easy it was when she connected to Reina due to their established friendship, as well as how difficult it was when she tried linking with strangers. Although she may not know the blind man well, Fayth felt a connection with him may already be forming; a blossoming bond forged from their current situation and recent events.

She found the superficial thoughts of the blind man, and followed them back to his mind. Her own mind brushed lightly across his and she could feel his response, his surprise at her mental presence outside the borders of his own. As a result of this, his mental barriers fortified themselves, as the brief surprise reinforced the will of his mind.

“Just relax and…breathe.”

As deep breaths of air were inhaled and exhaled by the blind man, Fayth felt his mental barriers begin to part ways, and as she willed herself through, she became acutely aware of the tangible force of sounds surrounding her. As she moved through and navigated his mind, Fayth realised that the sounds belonged to the blind man’s perceptions. Loud and powerful waves echoed through his mental domain and it was enough to disorient Fayth, but she strengthened her will and carried on.

Once she was within the eye of his consciousness, Fayth laid a psychic link as she retreated back to her own mind. She slowly opened her eyes and sensed his presence within her mind, just as he was sensing her presence in his mind.

“There. We can communicate this way without needing to speak."

“How…?”

“You may have your talents, but I have my own as well.”

The blind man hesitated for a moment, but seemingly accepted this as he turned and headed into the darkness that awaited them.

“Hey. I never got your name. I’m Fayth.”

“…Travis.”

-

It was like a whole other world as Fayth and Travis walked in complete darkness through the tunnel and deeper into the underground maze where Reina was kept. The air was damp and the walls moist as a large stream of water flowed through the middle of the floor, separating the path into two. An unpleasant odour lingered in the air, which assaulted Fayth’s nose and almost made her throw up when she first encountered it. But what truly disconnected the tunnel from the city was the eerie emptiness and lack of life underground. Fayth’s psychic senses, which were so used to the diverse vitality of people in the city, were acutely aware of the sparse energies around her.

Fayth was fascinated by the psychic realm of Travis’ mind as she was finely attuned to it through their link. She could hear all sorts of things with much more clarity and intensity through the way his mind perceived and processed auditory stimuli. And despite his blindness, a mental representation of their surroundings was constructed by the sounds that he could hear. With each step he took, the sounds bounced back and were received by his ears to shift the mental representation reflecting their movement through the tunnel. As Fayth realised, it similar to the echolocation of bats and how they use sounds to navigate at night.

She was also aware that this may make them alike in a way.

Suddenly, according to Travis’ ears, something was audible straight ahead of them. He stopped and concentrated on it, which Fayth could sense through their connection. They waited in anticipation, and although Fayth heard nothing through her own ears, she was aware that something had appeared on Travis’ sonar radar.

It hit her through her psychic senses, just as recognition of the sounds hit Travis. A swarm of insect, accompanied by that same evil cheeriness that she sensed earlier that day, was rushing towards them. Fayth panicked and began to turn and pull Travis back the way they came, but his strong hand gripped hers tightly to prevent her from escaping. Fayth turned back and found that Travis had not been moved by the oncoming bugs; he stood firm and strong as he mentally readied himself. As she took a quick panicked breath, Fayth fought the instinct to scream as the insects descended all around them and upon them, unleashing their hellish bites by the millions.

I punched him in the nose. Now we're friends.

“ARGH! Where the fuck did he go?!”

After roaming the crowded streets in search of Reina and her kidnapped, Fayth was becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of clues that would lead to their whereabouts. She was also finding her silent tagalong annoying, as he offered no help at all in her search-and-rescue mission. He was, however, a convenient target for her outburst of anger over the helplessness of the situation, and as such, she turned her irritated attention to him.

“And you aren’t helping, so why are you even following me?”

She was once again met with silence, which fanned the flames of her fury into a devastating inferno of aggressive emotions that spilled out from her. Caught up in her own rage, Fayth failed to notice that her intensive and hostile emotions were influencing the people passing by her and the blind tagalong. Her mental influence wasn’t coercively strong to reflect back upon her, but it was enough to shift behaviours. People became temporarily harsh and unfriendly, as apologises turned into insults and nudges became shoves. Thankfully though, most of them simply went on their way after their brief hostility with each other.

A hand pressed down on her shoulder, to which Fayth immediately responded by turning around and using her momentum to throw a punch at the person stopping her. Not surprisingly, Fayth had punched the blind man following her. He fell to the floor, clutching his now bloodied nose. His face looked panicked and his unfocused eyes were darting everywhere, as if trying to see the world all at once.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”, Fayth almost screamed at him. But despite her heated words, they did not reach his ears. Fayth was about to turn and resume her search, but she caught his eyes as they focused back upon her and their gazes met for a brief moment. It was long enough to halt Fayth as her mind flashed back to a memory buried deeply some time ago. In her mind, the frightened eyes remained the same as the scenery changed, and the face of the blind man warped into that of the bully who had harassed and assaulted her younger brother. Just as the facial features re-emerged, the memories of guilt and shame came rushing back to her as she was reminded of the bully’s fate, done by her hands. Although she had not known about her powers, she used them to destroy the bully’s mind, as guided by her intent and will. The bully, only slightly older than her brother, would now live his life in a comatosed state for an indefinite time. Once again, Fayth remembered the extent of her abilities and how destructive she had acted, as those panicked eyes shocked the foundations of her emotions. Tears started to well up in her eyes and she began to speak but only managed a stutter before breaking into sobs. She crumbled to the ground and avoided the gaze of the blind man, as well as ignoring the presence of people passing by and their now concerned thoughts.

A lone presence drew close to her and she felt arms surround her, pulling her gently into the comfort of their own body. Their close proximity felt almost intimate and warming, but Fayth's body and heart welcomed the reassurance and safety that it desperately needed. Their hand found the back of her head, stroking it gently as they made quiet, soothing sounds. Fayth leaned closer into the hug and stayed there for an entirely while her torrenting emotions began to gradually settle down. Once she was feeling calmer, Fayth looked up, only to be surprised to find that it was the blind man hugging her close to him. His face was a bloody mess and his nose was slightly out of shape, but the bleeding had stopped, and she found his eyes staring blankly down at her.

"W-w-why?", she asked timidly, as the sight of his face reminded her of how she had treated him only moments before. But her question was met with his usual silence, but rather than irritate her as it had done before, Fayth greeted it with gratefulness. She was reminded at how Reina would have similarly comforted Fayth during her emotional breakdowns, and although they had only recently met, the blind man was offering the same comfort to her despite not knowing each other. It was at that moment that Fayth realised that the blind man genuinely meant to assist her find her friend, and his additional presence would be helpful than if she was on her own.

"Um, thank you. I'm...sorry about...your nose.", she apologised awkwardly as they both rose gradually from the floor and attempted to fix their chaotic appearances.

"Let's go. My friend still needs me.", as she once again met that silence expected of the blind man. They both set off down the street, and Fayth was silently glad that she had a companion backing her in this search.

-

"Wait."

Fayth stopped upon the command of that single word, but rather than wait for her blind companion to explain, she instantly bombarded him with questions.

"What? Did you find something? Are we close?!"

But her desperate questions were met by his typical silence, which although she had become accustomed to, irritated her on this occasion. Instead, she saw his answer by the movement of his arm and out-stretched finger, pointing at the source of the blind man's halt. Fayth followed it and found that he was pointing at a busy trail of ants. Fayth looked closely at it and saw that something was different about the trail. It was a neatly formed line of ants, moving in a singular formation towards one direction, and their movements was exactly and strangely precise to each other, the motion of one ant was the same as any other in that trail. Following the trail in the direction that it was moving, Fayth saw other trails of ants joining with the singular line and they moved as one towards their particular direction.

"Follow the trail of my beauties, if you see to see your friend, alive...".

As that recent memory resurfaced within her thoughts, a spark was ignited as the words fuelled her with anger and reminded her of the person who took her friend away. Despite their futile search, the peculiar sight of the ants became a reassurance that she would find her friend. It was only clue they had come across so far, but Fayth knew deep down that this phenomenon was not a casual coincidence. Her upsurge of rage began to transform into a fierce force that she thought she had been losing for some time now. 

Hope.

“This is it! Come on!”, Fayth almost screamed as she grabbed the blind man’s hand and dragged him with her, following the trail to their unknown destination.

Two heads are better than one.

Insects of all kind invaded the small coffee shop, and panic soon erupted that crippled Fayth and grated against her psychic senses. People hastily escaped from their chairs and tables to the open safety of the road and the other side of the street. The coffee shop had also been infested by the bugs, and more people were rushing in the same direction towards wherever they would be safe. Screams could be heard from both inside and outside of the coffee shop, though this was quickly muffled by the buzzing of the winged insects. Nearby the coffee shop, innocent civilians scuffled away and stopping once they were out of the immediate danger. Despite this, no-one made any attempts to help those still trapped inside the coffee shop, and whilst they were concerned about the severity of the situation, there were no actions taken to call for emergency services. Rather, bystanders simply looked around to see if anyone else had taken up the responsibility, yet not bothering themselves to take out their own phones.

Fayth observed glimpses of this while being overwhelmed by the onslaught of anxiety and panic that struck her deeply, like blades of distress pinning her to her chair. She was shaking intensely, as she also felt the bugs physically crawling on her from the insects on the ground and the insects in the air. The sensation was irritatingly ticklish as the legs of multiple bugs explored her all over. As they made contact with her, through all the distress of the public and the wriggling of the insects, Fayth felt something else with her psychic senses. The feeling was almost gleeful, yet malicious in nature like the events taking place was satisfying to someone.

In that moment, Fayth swooped her gaze to Reina in an attempt to mentally contact her. Reina's immediate response to the unfolding events had been to stand her ground and locate where the source of the insect invasion. But due to the masses of winged bugs, her vision was blurred and she was forced to protect herself and her face from the swarms flying everywhere. Instinctively, Reina had held her hands out in an attempt to use her powers. To her surprise, she looked up from her outstretched arms and found that the insects surrounding her had been suspended in the air, frozen in the time that she could control once again. Wasting no time, Reina resorted to the other spectrum of her abilities and proceeded to accelerate the lifespans of the bugs, and swarm by swarm, they died and withered away in a blink of an eye.

But Reina had her limits and she was nearing the end of hers. Accelerating time, especially the short lifespan of insects, was relatively easy compared to the ongoing effort to freezing or slowing time down. But the constant accelerations began to take it's toll upon her and she was beginning to feel the drain of overexerting her powers. In the moment that Fayth turned her attention to Reina, she could sense and knew that her friend would only have moments before she too was overwhelmed by the bugs.

Several things happened from that moment onwards. In the midst of the chaotic scene, a higher pitched scream broke out and Fayth sensed a change from the confusion and panic to fear and terror emitting from the crowd of bystanders. A moment later, a large, black, disproportionate, winged figure swooped from above Fayth's field of vision and snatched her best friend from her defiant stance. Exhausted from her extensive time accelerating, the shock of the impact knocked her unconscious and she became limp in the arms of her winged kidnapper.

"Follow the trail of my beauties, if you wish to see your friend, alive...", the winged kidnapper shouted as he flew away with Reina.

Another moment later after the departure of the winged kidnapper and her friend, Fayth felt a sudden pressure nearby being built up. Sound seemed to become distorted around her and the pressure eased off as the pent up energy was released. The warped sounds snapped back to normality as the invading insects collapsed and fell from their places, dying from whatever had been released. Silence followed immediately as the last of the bugs died, which gave Fayth time to recover from her psychic shock. Yet, even after the nauseating effects of her psychic shackles, a burning determination exploded within her that ignored the discomforts she was self-inflicting upon herself.

"REINA!!", Fayth shouted both mentally and physically, despite the rawness of her mind and senses. Once the aftershocks of her mental overload wore off, Fayth set off on a sprint in the direction of where the winged kidnapper went and ignored people who expressed concern for her.

After a while of sprinting that gradually became an exhausted, light jog, Fayth stopped to take a moment to rest and to stuck fresh oxygen back into her lungs. She looked up quickly to see if she could spot any signs of where the winged kidnapper would have gone, but she had lost the trail a few streets back. All of a sudden, her psychic senses picked up a particular presence in the street behind her, one that was uniquely different to the ones she had felt before. She concentrated on it and sensed a curiosity and a desire, but not entirely sure what for. She whirled around to face whoever it may be, and almost bumped into tall, muscular man of African descent. He wore a simple plain light blue t-shirt that contrasted against his dark skin and tight shorts that Fayth had seen athletic runners wear on the track. At first glance, Fayth couldn't help but notice how his legs and arms bulged in his clothes, but eventually she snapped back to the reality of her situation.

"Oi, watch where you're going!", she said violently, which was emphasised by the push she gave to distance them both from each other.

"Sorry, I'm sorry.", the man said as he held his large hands up in an apologetic gesture. "Look, I saw what happened at the coffee shop, with your friend."

"Yeah? Like you did anything to help!", Fayth viciously spat back at him.

The man remained silent for a moment and Fayth could feel his reservation at wanting to reply back at her comment, but he quickly dismissed it. "I came after you because it's dangerous, whatever that thing is that took y-".

"I can handle myself, thank you very much."

"It didn't look like you could earlier..."

"Oh, and I suppose you're coming to help me, are you? What could you...", Fayth trailed off as her eyes wandered and noticed the way the man's gaze wasn't focused entirely on her. Rather, they weren't focused on anything in particular, yet they had an intense look, as if he was concentrating on something else. Fayth's intuition suddenly sprung to a conclusion and worked it out.

"You're blind! How are you going to help if you're bloody blind!?"

"Yes, I am.", the man said as he lowered his voice. "But I can help. It's like that saying, two heads are better than one.", he said and offered a smile to Fayth.

Before the man had even finished his sentence, Fayth had already fine tuned her senses and focused upon the superficial thoughts of the man before her. Although her senses became sensitive to stimuli around her, they wouldn't be a usual interference for a simple psychic task such as this one. Yet, what she found from her engagement with this man's thoughts was that she could hear noises more intensely and louder than before, and rather than hearing them with her ears, the sounds were present within her mind. The crunching of pedestrian's shoes hitting the ground, the hasty and heavy breathing of people as they went by on their daily journeys, the metallic shifts of mechanical gears operating within vehicles, and the blaring chattering of people from all directions as if she had been submerged in a very crowded room of cheering sports fans, amidst many other sounds of the urban life. Among the super concert of noises, Fayth picked up on a single thought from this man, but only barely:

I'll still see, just not like you do...

Fayth quickly withdraw her mind from his before she experienced a second psychic shock of that day. She looked up at the man again and directly into his eyes, which only stared blankly ahead of him. The urgency of her situation scratched at her again and she abruptly turned on her heels and spoke quietly enough for only the man to hear.

"Come if you want. Just don't get in my way."

Super-Sonic

Travis found himself dashing as fast as he could after the ever growing, distant echoes' of the steps taken by the man that had been watching Travis when he had been attacked by that creature. Who this guy would be, Travis had no idea but he felt in every fibre in his body that this person had answers, perhaps not the answer to everything, like how he was blind but could still see but maybe he knew who or what that thing he came across in the forest happened to be. It was possible that the very person he was chasing might have sent his assailant after Travis but it was worth the risk, his life was full of unanswered questions, now was the time for a few answers. He had started running from the woods near his home and he had pounded the pavement as fast as he could but whoever he was chasing was faster. How he was so fast was still beyond Travis as he was a world class sprinter. Was it possible Travis wasn't the only one that had something a little bit special about him, he had never found anyone else as unique as him but he had heard of people being oddly gifted. It was only news stories or vague hints in newspaper articles he had heard people talk about but now it seemed to make a little more sense. He was stuck in his head, mind swirling and his heart pumping blood around his body as fast as it could to keep up with the pace he was setting in this chase. Eventually he had to stop as a new sensation washed over him, his sudden realisation of where he now was had stopped his feet in place.

An assault force of noise met his ears in rapid fire burst's, it was like train's were running through his mind at full speed, roaring and churning up the dust beneath them, confusing his mind with wave after wave of sound. It took him a few seconds to rebalance, an overload of sudden sound tended to knock him to the ground, he got up and slowly he fine tuned his ears trying to cancel out the excessive noise level of the hustle and bustle around him. Here he now stood in Novum Aurora, he stood at only the city limits now but already this place seemed so alive, humans so easily block out the grinding, the scrapping, clashing, breaking, bending and banging that goes on in a city everyday. Travis had remembered why he had never actually come this far into the city yet, he enjoyed the silence of nature, the noises that came from life itself was peaceful and created it's own melody, here the city made only shrill screams and coughed and spat into life disjointedly. It was as if flesh and metal were scrapped together in a sickening clash that could only offend the ears. He would slow his breathing down, focusing on his heart rate, every beat of his heart it filled his ears until it drowned out the incoming noise of the city's stifled cries of torment. He was fine now, he centred himself and prepared for what he was about to face, in the city he could not use his powers to guide him through the streets. People would see his dead eye's starring blankly out into the void, here he would be crippled, he would have to play the blind man routine and make his way after the man he had set out to find originally in a now limited capacity.

Travis was unsure of how he could find his target anymore, to quieten the noise around him, he would limit how far and wide he could listen for the same footsteps he had been following the whole way here. His last reference point was just as he entered the outskirts of the city but already he could tell he was some distance behind his quarry. He was already in the city now, perhaps if he took some time and looked for leads he might stumble upon something, after all, he wasn't going to get answers in his nice calm forest or find anything new waiting for him at his rather empty house. He could only strike further into the heart of the city, even if he could only hear those sounds that were close to him now that he had shut part of his abilities down, his target had a rather unique sound when they moved, it was if there was several legs all moving at once, giving a two person foot step count to Travis' ears but he had seen him and he clearly only had two, Travis wondered was it possible that someone was gifted with super human speed just as he was given his burden of super hearing. He wished he could have traded in his gift of blindness for something much cooler like super speed or strength, he was already pretty fast, being extra strong would of been rather nice he thought as after all, ladies love a strong man who can charm them. He pushed such shallow thoughts aside for the time being as the trail was only getting colder and soon it would be dead altogether, he had to get a move on and find something solid before he could return home in peace. Where to start was the problem, this city was a sprawling Metropolis of almost never ending skyline and pavement.

He started by heading straight north into the main part of the city, he figured it would be the best place to start, if you wanted to hide somewhere, hiding in plain sight in the middle of the busy street's of the city was the perfect cover. As he walked he past many odd sights to his eye's, while trying to stumble around blindly as if he had no sight, he noticed in the city no one had time for anyone. No one ever even seemed to question why he was stumbling around, some starred at him in the eye's and saw their cold glance gazing back only to hurriedly look away and pretend they had never set eye's on him. He felt cursed, in this place no one would even so much as look at him at the best of times, even more people just walked right into him uncaringly knocking him to and fro. In his head, he thought of just knocking back at some of the people that just walked into him, he had more strength than them and he could easily push them aside and teach them a lesson in manners but he didn't want to start a fight here and now, he was aiming for something much bigger and far more important. He disliked playing blind but people weren't ready to hear of a blind man that could see, so he continued only, blindly stumbling from street to street, sometimes he would try and stop people for directions and most people just moved on and disregarded him, others started giving directions but once they noticed he was blind they would apologise faintly and walk on.

He had walked around for an hour or so, every direction he went, more people pushed and shoved, people starred and swiftly walked on and then there were those, the worst of all, who took pity from a far, exclaiming how awful it was but swiftly heading back to their own lives uncaringly not even bothering to lower their voice to talk to them. He was blind, not deaf! He had walked a fair distance now, he moved at a good pace even while pretending to stumble about in the dark so he had made quite a bit of headway through the cities busy street's. He had passed road works earlier and the breaking and busting of the machinery had almost drove him insane, those sounds so close seemed like something was literally trying to saw it's way through his head, he staggered through that whole street, no longer faking his stumble as the pain had gone through him like a knife. Falling into a small alley at the end of the street, he sat down and caught back his concentration and awareness, slowing his heart rate down again and making his beating heart the only sound he could hear in his head. He stayed locked in a trance, constantly focusing on his heart trying to block out the noise's of machines to calm himself when suddenly, he felt a sensation he wasn't expecting. Someone was tapping him gently, it was strange, the boney little fingers that poked him where that of a child, they poked his shoulder as if trying to spur him into motion, the person poking him probably thought he had passed out in the alley or something.

When Travis looked up from the ground, he was greeted by the sight of a small, young girl. She stood over him in her pretty little blue dress, a curious look on her face as she examined the man in front of her. She didn't say anything to begin with she looked over him with a well meaning gaze and smiled when her eye's met his. She held out a hand to the man and spoke in a tone of complete serenity and without fear."Hey Mister, Do you need a hand up or something?" She held her hand out for Travis but she couldn't have been more than 7 or 8, she couldn't have held his weight to help lift him up, Travis pushed himself to his feet and starred at the child with his glassy eye's starring straight at her, she didn't seem to flinch or seem all that worried by his odd appearance, she gave off an aura off deep calm and peace, she wasn't afraid. Travis was about to turn and walk away and leave her behind when she spoke once more.
"Excuse me Mister, I know your probably really, really busy but I need help, I think I'm lost and I can't find my mommy." Normally Travis would have left anyone else behind, he was busy and this was only helping him get more and more lost in this sprawling megalith of man and machine. This little girl was the first person that had treated him like he was even there at all, something about this little girl was unusual however and sure enough he gave in and agreed to help her find her family. He was trying to push through the crowd hard and fast this time, he didn't care so much, there was a little hand wrapped around his own now and swiftly he darted in and out of people without them even seeing his eye's, every now and then the little girl would chirp up and give him another direction, she led him down all sorts of streets and every now and then she would lead him down a dead end path she would giggle and only start giving him more directions. He had travelled what felt like half the town when she suddenly stopped giving directions and the grip on his hand tightened. She started to dart off into a small alley and here she pulled Travis behind a bin, he had thought nothing much off it but he started to wonder why he was hiding behind a bin with a little girl, what was she afraid off and even more so, why would he be afraid of it, he was about to ask her why they were hiding and step out from the bin's they hid behind when a noise peeked his interest.

That familiar noise, like two people running simultaneous charged past and stopped just short of where they had took up their hiding position. It was like the kid had known something was following her, though why was the guy that had been watching him in the forest fighting that creature now be hunting down a little girl. The man made no noise and silently he creeped forward, he made enough noise for Travis to hear him but the little girl would have heard only stunning silence. The footsteps crept forward until it was only a few inch's from the bins they had hidden behind, Travis was preparing to pounce on his target and unleash a sound blast to defend himself when a new noise startled the man that was stalking the small child, a rowdy bunch of drunk men came clambering down the road, cheer and jeering as they went. The man, clearly didn't want anyone raining on his parade and swiftly he bolted but not down the street, instead on the building opposite he started charging towards the wall. Travis thought he was going to run head first into the wall but instead to his amazement his ears heard the man hit the wall and he dashed with such speed it carried him up the buildings wall and soon the noise was gone as he hit the top of the building leaving everyone on the street none the wiser as to what had happened in only just a few seconds. Travis allowed the drunken yobs to pass him by before he and his new found companion ventured out from behind their hidey-hole. She still gripped his hand tightly, she seemed so apprehensive from the whole scenario but then as swiftly as she had clamped down on his hand her grip released and she let go of Travis' hand altogether now and peered around each corner and came back to meet Travis' eyes.

"Thanks, I didn't really lose my mommy, I..I just can't let that bad man find me.... You should watch out encase he comes back for you... He knows about... us.." Her voice was broken now, it seemed that talking off this man had somewhat destroyed her ever present sereneness from before. She had no sooner said the words than she had sprinted away and left Travis behind. Her words had left Travis' mind reeling, "he knows about... us" what had she meant by that? She was gone and now Travis was left with even more question and even less answers for them than ever before. He was now left standing in a part of the city he had no recollection of where it was or how he had even managed to get there, that little girl had led him so far astray he couldn't even tell if it was right or left he was to take. In the end the only thing that made any noise at that point was his stomach, he hadn't eaten in a while and his stomach growled unhappily, all these things that swirled in his head had made him forget about his poor old stomach and now it was time to eat. Without food he would have no energy to continue his search despite the feeling that with his target having already fled the scene up a high rise building, he wasn't likely to actually find him again. Stomach growling he set off once more, slowly he paced through the streets, his mind still ever over-flowing with new thoughts on what had just happened. If people had powers, Travis had the power over sound, that stalker guy was some sort of speed power and that girl, did she have the power to sense danger or something? To many thoughts filled his head as Travis stumbled on and on until eventually he came across a small little establishment that sold Coffee. Not overly interested in a hot beverage right now but perhaps they sold some small pastries or even better, a delicious bun or two would go down a treat right now.


He walked towards the front door, he had to stop to let the constant hurtling traffic go past, the screeching of brakes and honking off horns only upset his already unhappy mood, he was too hungry to think and to many troublesome thoughts buzzed around in his head after the afternoon he had just had, all he could think off was tray bakes and cakes right now, he could wash them all down with some nice hot coffee afterwards and perhaps from there with a renewed sense of purpose he could pursue the man that had stalked him back in the woods that morning. He had crossed the street and was just short off the door when he realised that there was a new noise that met his ears as he had passed the cars, the traffic lights and pedestrians streaming past him. Originally he thought the people pushing past him were just more ignorant by-stander's just pressing on to their next destination till it all came clear. There was a constant low buzzing noise, like the flicker off two pieces of material hitting against each other on mass. He knew this sound but usually there wasn't such menace to the sound. It was the buzzing off wings, those of insects, this time though it wasn't just a fly sweeping past or a ladybird grazing past his ear, this was a swarm and they sounded angry. Travis had never heard bugs so intent or driven before, whatever was going on in this coffee shop, it was not normal. Travis flung open the front doors as hard as he could, some of the bugs flew out into the street in every direction freeing up space for Travis to push himself in. His vision was blurred, all around him was one bug after another, he had to clear the room and once again his new found talents in the world of sound would come in handy yet another time. Gathering the surrounding sound from the bugs wings and the noise off the street, Travis summoned audio kinetic energy to him and slowly he leaked it out, in a frequency so low only the bugs could hear it, it would of sounded like screams off pain to their ears and soon many of the bugs fled as the low frequency resonated from Travis like a wave.

To those in the coffee shop, it would have seemed like nothing happened, just a sudden silence as the sound of wings beating was replaced with ultra sonic frequencies deterring the bugs and sending many of them flying back to their master while to the human ear it would have seemed as if all sound had just suddenly disappeared. Travis looked around the room, scanning from left to right but all the bugs had now fled at the shrill sounds he had created by using their own noise against them as his weapon of choice. Everyone seemed fine, people got up from the floor, others up out of their chairs and looked around themselves to check everything was okay. No one made any moves for a moment or two, some patted themselves down and checked nothing had been stolen in the confusion as Travis stopped using his powers and relaxed his muscles, sound returned to the coffee shop once more. It was safe now.... or so he thought as a woman standing on her own seemed to suddenly grow panic stricken and frantically began calling out another woman's name he hadn't heard before. Perhaps not all was as it should be.

Don't let the bad bugs bite

Reina hastily strode out of the library and through the university campus, passing all sorts of people, academics and pedestrians alike. Even with her time abilities, Reina had lost track in her studies and was only alerted when her stomach started growing. Before she had left to go to her lectures that morning, she and Fayth had arranged to meet up for lunch. Since Fayth had the day off, she would visit the site of where the supposedly lizard man had attacked her, which much to her disappointment, Reina was unable to join her. Still, her little feet moved with the hurried determined sense of purpose, and it was not because Reina was hungry. The thought of meeting another with a power had interested them both, though one more expressively than the other, but nevertheless, Reina was excited about the prospects. Apart from Fayth, Reina had been the only person in her home village to exhibit extraordinary abilities. Although her mother had previously possessed her own unique talents and taught Reina how to use hers, it wasn’t quite the same experience to relate and share with someone on an almost intimate level, like her friendship with Fayth.

Lost in her thoughts and in her determined haste, Reina hadn’t quite noticed when a cyclist was riding towards her from her left side. Even though the cyclist had rung her bell, Reina’s attention snapped back to reality at the very last moment before they violently collided into each other and fell into a heap of books and the bike. Both of them had landed onto each other without causing any serious injuries to one other, but it was Reina who was more shaken up by the experience.

As Reina was helped up by the cyclist and a number of other people around them, someone handed her the books she had dropped. Although, in her shocked state, they clumsily fell from her grip and Reina kneeled down to pick them back up. A moment later, Reina managed to peel herself away after reassuring the cyclist and the other people that she was fine. Yet Reina was walking away feeling far from it, as a number of thoughts rushed through her mind and worry started to set in.

Despite Reina’s usual carefulness, the deliberate clumsiness of dropping her books was a test to prove something, which was very much validated by the books hitting the ground. Before the crash with the cyclist, Reina had managed to take notice at the last moment and immediately tried to prevent the collision. Yet both outcomes confirmed what was running through her mind: what happened to her powers?

-

“Wherever he went to, it looks like someone got to him first. The Police were taping the area off, and there was a big crowd gathered around the scene. I could only get so close, but the crowd almost overwhelmed me. The Police didn’t have much, from what I picked up on. They just thought the scene was a bloody mess!”, Fayth reported to Reina on what she had found from revisiting the area earlier that day. But Fayth sensed that Reina was not entirely focused upon what she was saying.

“Rei…is everything okay? You’ve barely touched your food since you got here…”, Fayth asked worryingly. Since her arrival, Reina hadn’t interacted much and her eyes were unfocused and less intense than they were usually. Fayth could sometimes tell what was on her friend’s mind, even without having to rely on her psychic abilities as that was the nature of their friendship over the past year. But Reina was currently closed off and distant, and Fayth contemplated speaking to Reina through their telepathic connection to find out what was wrong. But just as that thought crossed her mind, Reina answered her, though it seemed to be gentler and vague than usual.

“Oh… oh, nothing much. I’m just…really tired.”, Reina said wearily, as if the words themselves had sapped her of the strength to explain it better. But Fayth would not take that for an answer.

“Bullshit.”, Fayth blurted out, which startled her friend. Despite her outburst, Fayth realised that whatever has happened to Reina, she had to remain patient and allow her friend to speak, rather than approach the topic in a coercive manner. “Sorry, Rei...what happened? Come on...you can talk to me…”

Reina hesitated for a moment, and opened and closed her mouth several times before she remained silent to choose her words carefully.

“I… I don’t know what happened… there was a bike…and it ran into me…I- I tried to stop it, but…I…I don’t know…nothing happened…”, Reina finally broke out in sobs, after what seemed like an eternity to Fayth. But she listened patiently to her friend while she tried to get the words out. “I…I think…my powers… I couldn’t use them…”

A sudden shock went through Fayth, and she was about to respond when a sensation crawled up her spine. It was almost ticklish and it felt like a thousand pins were running up the length of her back. Fayth froze, partly in shock of what Reina had said and partly because of the sensations she was experiencing. The prickling began to intensify and the sensations spread all over Fayth’s body, the feeling more itching rather than the previously gentle tickling. Suddenly, the area where Fayth and Reina sat was invaded by the abrupt burst of insects, which began to flood the floor of the street and the air was soon filled with flying insects. Panic quickly settled over the people caught in the assault of the insects, and the buzzing sounds of winged insects seemed to drown out the screams of the public.