Lightening
The sun rose for the group in the cave, it lit up tired faces in desperate need of sleep. They had found two of their other group members, their landing had not gone well. One, a male by the name of Zack was still unconscious, they were certain he had hit his head. The other a female, -Violet could not remember her name- was dead, her chute had tangled slamming her into a myriad of rocks before dropping her face first into a puddle. That's how Ted had found her, drowned in a mixture of water and blood. Violet had healed Zack's injuries, but as powerful as she was, revival of the dead was not within her prowess.
It was noteworthy, the girls death brought no clear grief or sense of loss to anybody. They had wrapped her in a tarp -produced from somebody's go bag- frozen her, and left her in a corner where she would remain out of the way.
The rest of the members had spent the remainder of the night and early hours scouting the area, deciphering codes, tracking down food, and sorting through their go-bags for useful items in said terrain. Those who had not been prepared, (ran out into the tarmac in pjs) and thus had nothing to offer, had been sent to find a clean water source with the promise that they would be exiled without proper results.
It has taken them a total of five hours, but the group now understood the objective of the mission. The trickiest part had been breaking down messages, puzzles, and linear code banks into common English. A particular cipher in Sumerian had left them all stumped, the group had sat in dismay only to be saved by a returning Violet who translated the text with stunning accuracy.
The four groups, (using their classroom's nickname), Henbane, Caladium, Nightshade, and Foxglove, had been dropped within a hundred miles of each other. At the very center of the rocky region sat Calaveras Peak. Reaching Calaveras peak was the final goal. All four groups had to survive two weeks without any assistance, and only on the final day could they climb to Calaveras to be transported back. One of the groups-unlucky bastards- had been tagged, a red gleaming transponder has been added to a members parachute pack. The transponder had a multitude of unhelpful functions: for one it contained a high-pitched whistle used for attracting animals, (the more dangerous the better) it also served as a disqualifying target. The member in possession at the end of two week period would automatically be sent home and their remaining squad members would be punished by Captain Kuznet personally. Team members could not exchange the transponder and the only way to get rid of it was to track down another squad and click it into any of the other members packs. Finally, once tagged you could not return the transponder to the team that tagged you, ensuring that the team tagged would have to go out of their way to find a different one. One hell of a game indeed, the words 'use any means necessary' were the final instructions.
They did not have the transponder, regardless it was important to have a general understanding of where the other teams were located. They broke up into groups of three's with at least four remaining behind at all times to guard their supplies and shelter.
There was an argument over Violet; as one of only two healers in this years' class and the only healer in their group several felt that she should always stay behind. Safe and ready to heal any hurt team members. Violet listening to the argument blank faced, annoyed at their still consistent viewing of her as fragile.
Violet cast her attention to the entrance of the cave where Zen and Alex where having a hurried discussion of their own. They appeared calm, a mere conversation to any other eyes, but Violet could see that Alex was taunt. For a moment Violet considered walking over, it was however obvious that they did not wish to be interrupted.
*"You don't understand! She called him manipulative and he laughed, not the fake laugh, a real laugh. He touched her hair! What if..."
"Alex, I understand your concern but what you're insinuating cannot be, Kieren is a lot of things, but he is not stupid and not even he could hide something like that, nobody can, we would know. Instantly."
"Those are technicalities!" Alex continued, "Kieren has never been what others are, and if he's capable of hiding it and we allow her to continue..."
"Enough! It has been passed down in his family for centuries, we four know about it and exist to keep him safe, he has a crush Alex, even he's entitled to want a fuck. It wouldn't be the first time, he's human, let him be. I will say no more on the matter, we should not even be discussing this in the open, keep your eyes peeled Alex but without proof do not pester him, or I for that matter." *
In the end Violet was paired with the twins, claiming that they could easily keep her safe. A subsequent fight ensued over Kieren, every female and most of the males wanted him on their team. Safety in strength, their requests were unsurprisingly denied. Kieren would switch between guard duty and going out on his own. The end of the day could not arrive fast enough, everyone was exhausted. It was unusually cold for an October evening and as tired as Violet was she doubted she could sleep, the wealth of many of her team members became evident as the night progressed. They had never slept without the comfort of a king sized bed, a bath, tea, etc. and some sniffles could be heard reverberating through the cave walls. They were awaiting the return of the last scout group, annoyed Violet slipped out of the cave to watch for their return.
Something was wrong, it was way past the return time. She leapt of a rock and took of into the night. She smelled it before she saw it, an armored bear. Shit! Eight feet tall, massive, at least 800 kilograms, and roaring its displeasure into the air.
The last three team members were trapped between two large boulders, directly beneath a cliff. Two of them heavily wounded and the third attempting unsuccessfully to fight of the beast. Most abilities are useless against a beast of this caliber as their armor protects as well as it deflects. To make matters worse, the bear was injured, the idiots had mistakenly wandered into its territory. Violet watched as the third member attempted to fight it, a fire lance in his arms. The bear swung angrily and if not for Violet flinging herself into the way, shoving her and her teammate out of the way her team would have encountered its second fatality. She cursed, feeling blood pooling from a slash on her shoulder, she turned quickly shoving him into a bush and drew the bears attention running quickly and gracefully. The bear, irate, would not have it, he turned his attention toward the others intent on finishing them off. Violet ran behind the area, pushed herself into the ground, grabbed the now unconscious girl and flung her high atop the cliff, she cursed again. Without revealing her sword and its abilities -something a healer was not capable of- their chances were slim. She arched herself, balancing on the balls of her feet in front of the two left wondering what the next move should be. The bear charged, a shadow flashed in front of them, his foot connecting with a massive head pounding crunch, the bear was flung back. Kieren landed easily anger radiating clearly from his figure. The bear moved to charge, blood squelching as it moved, it never stood a chance. Kieren had moved for the second time, his pace almost to quick to follow, a fist connected deep into the bears chest, the skies rumbled, a massive flash of lightening directed from Kieren's fist disintegrated the bear far too easily.
Everybody within a fifteen foot radius was flung off their feet and into the ground by the thunderous aftershocks. Violet moved to sit up, out of breath and astounded by the sight, Kieren was suddenly in front of her. Had had always walked without making a single sound? He picked her up off the floor and the soft concern churning behind dangerous eyes stupefied her even more. "You should have let them die." He released her gently, almost unwillingly, as footsteps sounded in their general direction.