No. 19: War of Change

Part 3:
Know Your Enemy









No 19: War of Change

Five teenagers all dressed in brown garbs were lined up at the edge of the mats. Stone faced, and looking as if they were starring death in the face.
The Professor sighed and wished they didn't have to grow up so fast, they were only sixteen. They have so much to live for! But unfortunately they have to put away those childish things and grow up.
   It's been three months of hard core training now. All of them have come so far from when they first started. Brandon and Kaleigh had gotten use to the whole telepathy thing, and Venn and Terra had just performed the Bonding and were still freaked out about that.
The Professor felt a little bad for Cliff who was on his own, but the boy didn't seem to mind, or think any different of it.

"You have been training hard, and all of you have come far, I'm proud of all of you."
Small smiles passed their faces, but they knew something bad was coming, so it was gone as soon as it came.
"But now I think you all have one question on your minds." The Professor paused, waiting for someone to take the chance he had given them.
"Yes sir." It was Cliff, he had stepped forward, his arms crossed over his chest. "What are we training for? I mean, we all know it's because we've got to protect the Savior, but we haven't even seen hide or tail of him and don't even know if he's alive. And that leads me to the bigger question, what are we protecting him from?"
Professor Wallace nodded several times before taking off across the room into the hallway that had the changing room in it. After a moments hesitation, Brandon walked after him, Kaleigh jogged to catch up with him, and the others fell instep behind them.

The Professor led them down the hall, and to a door that was hidden by darkness. The Guardians usually never went past the hall, they weren't allowed to, it was one of the rules the Professor had made very clear to them at the beginning. Yet the Professor opened the door and walked through with out hesitation, Brandon following in his wake, giving the rest of them the courage to step through the door.
The second pyramid wasn't what they expected.

When they were expecting more tumbling mats, beams and targets, they got glass tiled floors lit up by white light underneath them, desks that held high advanced computer monitors, and one wall that was nothing but a TV screen.
"What the...?" Venn didn't bother finishing his sentence as he stepped into the room.
"This is where all things have been monitored. The activity of the enemy, at one point your vital organs were monitored from here," The Professor looked at the triplets who understood what he meant. "We also, found the Savior years ago when he was just eight. But the strange thing, that always confused us, was that the boy lived with who was hunting us down."
Professor Wallace moved to a computer and typed in a command, a movie played up on the huge wall and Kaleigh heard herself gasp as she watched.
   The video showed a small boy around eight at different times in his life. Him walking to school one day, him playing with a brother, him laughing, crying, screaming. Kaleigh couldn't help but think this was something she shouldn't watch. Like it was someone's deepest secrets that should be chosen to tell, not shown by someone else. But that wasn't what freaked her out the most. The eight year old boy was of slight build, his dark curls was a drastic contrast against his pale skin, but his eyes weren't the ones that burned into her brain when ever she went to sleep, this boy's eyes were gold, pure gold.
No one noticed her gasp, as the Professor continued talking.
"This boy's father and now older brother, are in charge of a government financed company called 'Interficio'."
"Never heard of it." Brandon pointed out.
"You're not suppose to." The Professor stated. "Interficio's only mission is to hunt down and kill all the Elementals possible. Or at least that was their thing in the beginning. They still do that, but sometimes they'll kidnap Elementals and...test them."
A shiver ran down all the spines of the kids as they began to realize what they were up against.
"We've been following him for sometime, but we lost him a year ago. He disappeared from us and we don't have any idea where he went. He left home and cut off all contact he had with his family."
"Great." Cliff mumbled under his breath, earning a jab in the ribcage by his sister.
"Does this kid have a name? Age? Birthday? Something that makes him more than just a face on a screen?" Venn asked. His voice harsh but not mean.
The Professor nodded and typed in another key.
The video froze on a more recent image of the boy. He was probably fifteen now, and he was looking at something off screen, but Kaleigh could still make out enough of his face to know what she had guessed, was true.
"His name is Stryder." She jumped in with out thinking.
Everyone reeled around to look at her, the Professor looked up at her in shock, which was mirrored on everyone else's faces.
"I - uh...don't know his last name. And I'm not even sure if Stryder is his real name, but it's....its the one he told me..." She said quietly, glancing down as she twirled her whip in between her fingers.
The silence seemed deafening, and she was grateful when someone finally broke it.
"Kaleigh...what are you talking about?" Brandon asked, aloud for everyone elses benefits.
She let out a sigh and looked around at everyone.
"I've met him before. He was....he was looking out for me." Images bombarded her, the first time she had met him in the mall, than his warning, she knew it was him that had beaten off the men in the alley, and him who she had saved by using her Lightening for the first time. And than when she jumped him in the hall which she always felt bad for, but he hadn't shown his face around since then.
"What do you mean Kaleigh?" Terra's arm was resting on her shoulder, telling her that it was okay and as if she had the option to share or not. Which wasn't the vibe she was getting from the boys.
"He...I met him in the mall when we first woke up. He was nice, though flustered as if I had caught him doing something he shouldn't be doing. Then...I saw him again in the ice cream parlor Brandon took me too. He - he gave me a warning, something about when I learned who I was it would change everything, and people would start to come after me. I finally was able to get his name out of him when I asked if he was a friend or an enemy. He said his name was Stryder and then he said..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered the way he had looked at her when she had asked.
It was like he was hurt she didn't consider him a friend, but then knew why she wouldn't.
"Friend." When he said that single word, it was like he was putting all his being into the one word, as if he was trying to get her to see that he wasn't the bad guy. But when she had caught him following her, she had freaked out and couldn't think strait.
"What did he say Kale?" Brandon's voice broke her trance.
"Friend. He said he was a friend." She finished. "And he proved it later that night when he saved me from the muggers."
She paused, not sure what else to say. She didn't want to really tell them that he had been hired to watch her, and some one else. And she definitely didn't want to tell them that she had been dying to see him again after that little incident in the exit hall.
"You've...you've actually met the Savior?" The Professor asked, dropping into a seat, stunned.
Kaleigh nodded.
"I didn't know. Honest! He must have been wearing contacts because his eyes looked completely black, no hit of gold at all." She pointed out.
The Professor nodded and waved away the worry in her tone.
"We're not accusing you of hiding anything, but you should have told us sooner."
Kaleigh nodded, thankful she had gotten off the hook so easily, but when she looked back up at the screen, she was suddenly had to fight the urge to want to go and find him right now.
"His name is Stryder." The Professor confirmed. "And if what you say is true, than he's been under our very noses the whole time."

.:+++:.

Night had fallen fast, and the cold wind nipped at him from where he sat watching the silhouette behind the curtains. This bit always made him feel like a peeping tom, but he usually would go and take a break about this time.
Only this time he didn't.
He had been trying to back off ever since Kaleigh had gotten him in the mall. And he had been successful for several months now. But he couldn't stand it anymore. Not when she was so close, yet so far away.
Glancing around to make sure no one was around, though he knew they wouldn't be since it was midnight.
He ran across the grass to the turret and slipped a piece of paper under the window jam before running off again.

.:+++:.

Kaleigh walked out of the bathroom in her favorite pair of sweat pants and a cozy sweatshirt. The nights were getting colder and she was glad for the layers.
She squeezed the water out of her hair as she moved into her room. Turning on the radio, she bobbed her head to the beat and was soon dancing around her room like a typical teenage girl.
It was when her hand accidentally pulled the curtain away from the window that she noticed the piece of paper lying on the window seat.
Her dancing coming to a halt, she picked it up and saw unfamiliar handwriting.
Meet me by the fountain. Five minutes.
"What on earth?" She mumbled. She wasn't sure what to think of the little message. Shrugging she threw on her converse and slipped out her window.
"It's probably just Brandon messing around. Idiot." She mumbled to herself as she shoved her hands deeper into her pocket and hunched her shoulders against the wind.

The fountain was lit up blue at night, and so she was happy for the light. Though that didn't keep her from holding her whip in her hand. Just because it's probably Brandon, doesn't mean he wont jump at her. And if he does he's going to be sorry.

Her senses picked up another person coming in from her left. He was quiet, but she could hear his breathing just fine. Brandon didn't actually know how tuned her senses have been growing, so she figured that when he was only a couple feet from her that that was close enough.
Suddenly bursting into a flurry of action, she spun on her heel, sending her whip over her head in a graceful arch and come crashing down on his wrist.
He cried out in surprise, but it wasn't Brandon's voice.
When she yanked on the whip so he was pulled into the light of the fountain, she almost cried out herself.
"Stryder?!" She asked, her eyes huge in shock.
"Yeah hi. Would you mind?" He pointed down to the whip still wrapped around his wrist.
"Oh my gosh I am so sorry!" She gave another flick of her wrist and it came loose. He rubbed the red mark that looked like a painful bracelet.
"So...you were the one that gave me the note?" Kaleigh asked. Not sure how to start this conversation. As a mater of fact, she wasn't even sure what conversation she was suppose to start.
"Yes I did, I needed to talk to you."
"Okay...So I'm here now. Standing in the freezing could, so could you please hurry up?" She asked, jumping up and down to keep her flood flowing. Stryder watched her with a look of amusement.
"I wanted to apologize." He started off. "For freaking you out. And also to apologize because I wont be able to stay away."
Kaleigh looked at him strangely.
"Okay, not the way that sounded. I've got a job to do, and I don't want to have to do it behind your back." He chuckled nervously and ran a hand through his curls.
"I know it's weird coming from a guy of my background to be guilt ridden, but -"
His mentioning of his background reminded Kaleigh of the revolation they had earlier that day.
"You mean your parents that hunt and kill people like us?" She hadn't meant to say anything. It just came out before she could think.
Stryder froze and looked at her, his eyes wide at first, but then narrowed.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Kaleigh sighed.
"Please don't take this the wrong way. I wasn't snooping around, honest! It was shown to me, but...I know where you're from. Or I should say, what family you're from...and who you are."
Stryder sat down on the edge of the fountain. Looking off at something she couldn't see.
"'Who'." He muttered. "Not 'what I am' but 'who I am'."
Kaleigh sat down next to him.
"Yes. 'Who'. You're a person Stryder. A living, breathing, person. Nothing can change that."
"No, but if you've got a family that thinks you're a freak that doesn't really help with the 'I'm different' thing." He snapped back at her. And to his surprise she scoffed.
"You think that just because your family says you're a freak, it's the end of the world? You got the short end of the stick?" She asked. "Dude, try living in a world that's a scientist's video game and then tell me who has the short end of the stick."
Stryder didn't look surprised. And she knew why when she remembered what she saw when she woke up after she hit her head in the virtual world.
"But don't you get it?" She went on. "That's all the more reason to make a change, prove them wrong. Use what God gave you to benefit everyone else. If nothing else, that should at least give you the motive to take your contacts out." She turned so that she was looking at him now.
"You don't have to hide. Not here, not with me or any of the other guys."
They sat in silence for a long time. Neither barely breathing. Stryder saw the innocence in her eyes. The kind of trust a little kid has to just about everyone.
He glanced down as his finger moved to his eye.
Kaleigh couldn't quiet see, but knew what he was doing.
When he looked back at her hesitantly, he was scared of the response she'd have. The shock and disgust that always came with this curse.
But when he finally got the courage to look her in the eyes, he was shocked to find that that wasn't her response.
She just smiled.
"See? I told you, there's no reason to hide. We wont call you a freak, or run away. I mean some of them might be...slightly unnerved," He had to laugh at her attempt to put him at ease. Shocked that it actually worked.
"but then again, I've got silver in my eyes. So, it'll just take some getting use to."
Stryder nodded, the fact that she wasn't scared of frightened gave him the courage to do something he always wanted to do.
He reached over and grasped her small hand, tightly.
"Thank you Kaleigh." He said. Kale's eyes flew from their hands to his face.
"You're welcome."