"Mark, wake up." Sean gently shook Mark's shoulder, earning a groan of annoyance with a tinge of weariness from the black haired man.

It was nearly dawn, the sky rising over the trees with the sky a collage of reds, pinks, and oranges. There were no clouds visible in the sky, meaning that today would be very warm.

"C'mon princess." Sean rolled his eyes, sprouting a rose in front of Mark's face.

"I'm up I'm up." Mark grumbled as he slowly sat up, examining his wound. The white cloth that was wrapped around his wound was stained a dark brown with dried blood.

"You can fix it when we get to your camp." Sean told him as he helped Mark stand.

"Good morning, I made breakfast." Ethan greeted them, offering each of them a piece of rabbit and some berries.

Mark felt a flash of sadness, the food reminding him of the dinner Nate cooked before he had to leave. He remembered Gunner trying to argue his way out of cooking, Kevin lying in bed with an arrow in his shoulder, and Bryan...he had warned Mark to be careful, and what happened? He got hit with an icicle and nearly died. 

He didn't realize how much he missed his friends until he thought about them.

"Did you hear anything I said Mark?"

Mark was yanked out of his thoughts by Amy's words.

"No, sorry." Mark apologized as he shook his head, his face heating up in embarrassment.

"You okay?" Signe asked.

"Yeah, I just...I miss my friends." Mark admitted somewhat reluctantly. He wasn't sure if he should mention his friends or not, considering he wasn't sure if he could completely trust them.

Everyone fell silent as they ate, the mood quickly becoming grim.

"How many friends do you have?" Amy spoke to break the tension.

"Four. Nate, Kevin, Bryan, and Gunner." Mark listed off their names, able to picture their faces in in his mind.

"Any family?" Ethan chimed in.

"Is this an interrogation?" Mark snapped.

"Sorry, just homesick." Mark apologized again with a sigh, running s hand through his hair.

That wasn't the real reason.

In reality, he didn't know his family. The only thing he knew was that Bryan told him that his parents abandoned him in the woods, just like him, his brother, Gunner, and Nate.

"We should probably head out." Signe suggested. Everybody finished eating as Signe got rid of the temporary dirt caves before they walked off following Mark.

They constantly had to stop to allow Mark to catch his breath or to let him figure out where they were.

"Can't we just fly with your wind powers?" Mark asked Amy.

"I'm afraid of heights." Sean admitted.

"Fine." Mark huffed as he continued walking forward, every muscle screaming for him to stop and rest.

Mark suddenly froze when he saw a flash of black dart by in the corner of his eye. He whirled around and started to chase after it, his friends shouting after him to come back before giving in and following him.

Mark managed to catch up with the figure and tackle him, surprised to see that it was a man with black hair that closely resembled him.

Another Shadower.

"Who...are you?" Mark panted as he struggled to regain his breath, pinning the man to the ground.

The man's eyes widened in surprise when he looked at Mark, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I found you...I finally found you." The man whispered with a shaky smile as he touched Mark's face as if unable to believe that he was real.

"Who are you?" Mark repeated as he flinched away, his friends standing a few feet away.

"I guess you wouldn't remember since you were so young when they took you...I'm Thomas, your older brother." The man introduced himself.

"I don't have any family, they abandoned me." Mark shook his head quickly, thoughts racing through his head like a whirlwind, none of them lingering long enough for him to understand.

"No. The warriors of the village killed Dad in a house fire and they took you away from Mom." Thomas corrected him, his smile fading away.

"How do you know?" Mark demanded, standing up and beginning to pace.

"Because I watched it happen. A friend of mine tried to help me get you, Mom, and Dad to safety when I was two. It didn't work...I thought I lost you for good." Thomas stood up and hugged Mark, stopping him mid pace.

Mark could've swore that he heard Amy and Signe say "aww" behind him.

"I'll take you to my camp if you want." Thomas offered.

Mark opened his mouth to say no, but Sean beat him to answering.

"That sounds perfect!" Sean exclaimed excitedly. Mark made sure to remember to punch him later when moving didn't hurt as much.

"Follow me, it's not too far from here." Thomas instructed as he jogged off, leaving the others no choice but to jog after him.