"Gunner and Kevin must've went pretty far." Mark mused aloud as he stepped over a root, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings for any signs of danger.

"Hello?" Mark heard a female voice call out. Mark nimbly climbed up the nearest tree just in time as a woman with blonde hair arrived.

"Amy, you're not supposed to be in the woods!" Mark heard a different woman behind Amy hiss.

"I know, but I thought I saw someone." The woman named Amy frowned in mild confusion as she looked around her. Mark held his breath, praying that she wouldn't look up and spot him.

Amy finally gave up her search and left, Mark watching her leave with a small twinge of sadness. He almost wanted to be found out so he could talk to her.

Almost.

Mark waited a beat until he climbed back down from his hiding spot, cautiously following Amy out of the forest at a distance.

There was a fairly small village that consisted of homes and buildings made of wood, similar to Mark's camp of Shadowers only slightly larger.

"What were you doing in the woods? It's a dangerous place!" A man with white-blonde hair snapped at Amy. Mark felt a spark of rage towards him, but managed to stamp it out. He wouldn't fight anyone.

At least not yet.

"I saw someone in there!" Amy protested defensively.

"Promise me you will never go back in the woods ever again." The man spoke coldly.

"Felix-"

"Promise me!" Felix yelled.

"I promise." Amy relented as she bowed her head to hide her anger, her eyes flickering with indignation.

"I will send a group in to take care of the Shadowers." Felix told her.

Mark felt his breath catch in his throat. The villagers wanted Mark and his friends dead, and he didn't know why.

"Ethan, Signe, Sean!" Felix listed off three names. A young man with blue hair jogged up, accompanied by a man with green hair and a woman with light caramel brown hair.

"I need you three to hunt down the Shadowers and take them out." Felix instructed.

"I'm coming too." Amy interjected, moving to stand by Signe.

"Fine, just go do what you must." Felix waved them away dismissively as if they were nothing but pesky flies.

That was when Felix noticed Mark hiding in the trees.

Mark's eyes widened in fear and panic as he scrambled to run away, Felix somehow creating a thick ice wall in front of Mark.

"Leave me alone!" Mark pleaded as Felix created an icicle in his hand and threw it at Mark with deadly precision.

The shard of ice embedded itself into Mark's chest, causing pain to explode in his torso as he crumpled to the ground. Black dots were dancing in his vision, but the last thing he saw was Felix walking away and Amy kneeling down by him.

"...alright?" Mark heard Amy's voice as the blackness started to recede. Her voice sounded like she was shouting at him from very far away.

"I don't know." Mark thought he heard Signe's voice, although he wasn't sure.

"I think he's starting to wake up." Mark didn't know who said that, although he guessed it was probably the blue haired man.

When Mark opened his eyes, he was somewhat uncomfortable to see the green haired man, blue haired man, Amy, and Signe crouched around him.

"Are you feeling better?" Amy asked hopefully. Mark looked at his chest and was relieved to see the icicle was gone and the wound was bandaged with white cloth, however the pain still lingered.

"Yeah." Mark lied, swallowing hard. He managed to sit up, although he immediately regretted the decision once he was upright. The pain in his chest intensified, the feeling like he was being painted with liquid fire.

"You need rest." Amy gently pushed his shoulder, causing Mark to lay back down.

"Who are you?" Mark questioned the group.

"I'm Sean." The green haired man introduced himself.

"I'm Ethan." The blue haired man waved.

"You already know Signe and I since you were watching us in the forest." Amy stated.

"How-"

"We know how to tell if we're being followed. Besides, you weren't exactly the sneakiest." Signe explained.

"You are?" Sean prompted to change the subject.

"Mark." Mark supplied.

"What do you want?" Mark's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

"You're a Shadower, right?" Signe asked.

Mark nodded, shaping the shadow provided by a nearby tree into a dog that padded over to them to prove his point.

"We want to prove that your kind aren't dangerous." Sean smiled reassuringly.

"My kind? My friends and I aren't some endangered species." Mark scoffed.

"We just want to help." Ethan quickly stepped in so a fight wouldn't break out.

"Let's just go." Mark changed one of the shadows nearby into a block that he used to help him stand.

"What else can you do?" Amy asked curiously.

"Watch." Mark closed his eyes and imagined that he was a shadow, black and silent.

"No way." Sean gasped in awe.

Mark had changed himself into a shadow and was playing with the shadow dog he created earlier.

"What about you guys?" Mark asked once he had changed back into a human.

"I control wind." Any demonstrated by creating a swift cool breeze that lifted her up in the air a couple of inches before lowering her back down to the ground.

"Plants." Sean waved his hands, causing a patch of dandelions to sprout and bloom.

"Water." Ethan raised his hands, causing the moisture in the ground to rise up as a stream of liquid before Ethan let drop back into the ground.

"Earth." Signe created a small hill by raising her hand.

"That was a great show and tell, but we should probably go before Felix or someone else finds us." Mark reminded the four.

"You sure you can walk?" Amy's eyebrows knot together into a concerned frown.

"I can try." Mark decided as he took a wobbly step forward. Pain screamed in his chest, making everything he did, even breathing, hurt.

He tried to take another step, but ended up tripping over his own feet, causing him to fall face first towards the ground.

Amy had the wind catch him and gently lay him down on the ground on his back so he didn't injure himself further.

"I'll take care of him." Signe had the ground rise up underneath him and move him forward.

"Can you tell us the way?" Ethan glanced over at Mark.

He was fast already asleep.

"I guess we'll stay here for tonight." Signe sighed, lowering Mark to the ground and creating caves out of dirt for them to sleep in.

It was better than nothing.

"Goodnight!" Amy told the group as she ducked inside her own cave.

That night, Sean stayed awake and kept watch for predators, creating flowers around him out of boredom.

It wold be a long night.