A FEW DAYS LATER

Kyungsoo was exhausted. He had been keeping up a brisk walk all day with few moments of rest. He did not even stop to eat a hot meal but ate as he walked. He hadn't slept much the previous night between the recurring nightmares and the loud growling sounds he could hear in the near distance. He had seen tracks from a large animal on the path for the last 2 days as he neared the border. He couldn't identify the animal, but he knew that it wasn't a wolf and it wasn't a bear because the tracks didn't look like it came from paw prints. The tracks had a sharper defined edge.

Kyungsoo looked up at the sky and then back to his map. It was getting dark and he was at least another 14 hours away from the border. He sighed in irritation. It looked like he would be spending another night camping out in the open. He folded his map and put it into his pack. He had been keeping his eyes open around the path for a small clearing which he could use for a place to camp for the night that had some shelter. Thankfully, just a few yards off the path was a clearing.

He jogged up to the clearing and dropped his packs. He looked closer and saw signs that other people had used it before him. There was a small ring of rocks indicating someone had used the area for a camp's fire and a few charred logs had remained. Kyungsoo gave an internal sigh of relief as it would be easier and quicker to start a fire with the partially burned logs available to use. The charred logs wouldn't last very long into the night. He walked a bit into the surrounding wood and picked up small sticks and fallen wood that could be used to make a good fire. He returned to the clearing and used them to build his fire.

In preparation for his journey, Kyungsoo had spent months learning everything he could about travelling alone and what skills he would need to learn and practice before leaving. He remembered that trick from a book he had gotten from a travelling peddler. Kyungsoo quickly started to set up his place to sleep. He looked up at the darkening sky just as he was finishing and saw that there were no clouds to cover the stars that night. Kyungsoo gave a sigh of relief. A clear sky meant that there would be no rain. It also meant the moon would be bright and it would light up the clearing.

He had placed out his sleeping bag before taking out a pot from his pack. He had found a nearby stream when looking for wood and had filled up his canteen and used some of that water to heat some tea. While he waited for the water to heat, he thought back to the nightmares he had been having. He had begun to wonder if they were somehow connected to the terrifying sounds that he had heard the previous 2 nights.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the boiling of water. He took the pot off the fire and reached into his pack and took out a small cup. He poured a bit of water into it before adding a few spices that he had learned were helpful in relaxing people. He sipped his calming tea as the light in his small campfire flickered about. He felt exhaustion overtaking him as he finished his tea. He quickly placed the cup back into his travel bag and left the pot with the water next to the fire. He climbed into his sleeping bag before he fell into the darkness of sleep.

Kyungsoo was running through a city, dodging people and plasma beams. The ground was shaking as he continued to throw chunks of rocks at the robots. Out of the corner of his eye, another robot came at him with a plasma beam. He dodged and hid behind a wall that had collapsed from the nearby building. The ground shook even more as yet another building fell to the ground. The screams of fleeing people grew louder and then abruptly stopped for a brief moment as the collapsed building caused an intense shockwave, sending anyone who was running near its falling path of debris to go flying off their feet and to the ground. Kyungsoo covered his ears as another explosion went off a few yards away on his left. His ears were ringing, but he pushed his tired body and got up and went back out there to continue to fight.

For a brief moment, everything seemed to slow down. His vision zoomed in on a little girl that was crying. Her brown hair was up in pigtails and her little green dress was ripped in a few places. Her right hand was wiping away tears as her left hand held a teddy bear. As he looked around, he took notice that there were a lot more droids in the area and a few had locked onto the little girl, their red eyes glowing with evil malice. Just as quickly, everything resumed normal speed and he found he was running toward the little girl. He was a few feet away from her when the droid's plasma beam hit her. Kyungsoo held her in his arms as she turned to dust, the teddy bear that the little girl was holding was the only thing left. He held onto the teddy bear and cried out in desperation as the droids closed in on him. Just as they were about to hit him with their plasma beams, everything turned white.

Kyungsoo sat up with a silent scream and it took him a moment to realise he was back in the clearing. His heart was beating so fast that it's thumping beat was all he could hear. He slowed his breathing as he started to calm himself down. The dream he had just had seemed so real.

He looked around the campsite and saw that the fire was out and the bright stars had started to fade as the sky was showing the beginning of dawn. With a heavy sigh, He quickly got out of his sleeping bag and started to pack up camp. There was little reason to go back to sleep with the approaching dawn. He poured some of the water from the pot onto the fire pit to make sure the fire was completely out and the remaining water went into his water pouch. He placed the pot back into his bag before he rolled up his sleeping bag. He stood up, put his bags on his back, and looked around at the area where he had camped. He wanted to make sure he had not forgotten anything. He left confident that everything looked just as he had found it. He turned and found his way back to the road to continue on his long journey. He had a lot of distance to cover and he could deal with his thoughts while he walked.

Kyungsoo couldn't forget the nightmare from last night. How the girl was vaporised by the robots. He had been so close to saving her, too. He did not doubt that the nightmare was a memory from his past life. Kyungsoo nodded to himself as he walked back to the path to continue his journey. He thought back to the memory he had relived as he continued to walk. The robots had glowing red eyes and were attacking everything alive.

He thought back to the story the village elders had told all the young children at least four times a week. "But everything changed when The Red came. The Red had taken control of metal beings and they attacked the people of the land. Millions of people were lost before a sliver of hope arose."

He remembered it like he just heard the story yesterday. The robots were being controlled by The Red, killing everything in sight. The Red. It sounded familiar to him now that he thought about it. He knew that The Red was called "The Red something". He couldn't remember what was supposed to be in place of the "something" in that sentence, but he hoped he would remember it soon.

Kyungsoo was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a few faint shouts and the smell of burning wood. He quickly ran toward the source, running off the road and through many trees on his right. When he got to the other side of the tree cover, he found a small town that had buildings that were destroyed and many other things on fire. People were running around the place, putting out as many fires as they could with the water they were carrying.

Kyungsoo quickly ran up to the closest person. It was a man with light brown hair and black eyes. He looked to be a few years older than Kyungsoo. "What happened here?" he asked with worry and concern heavily laced in his voice.

Kyungsoo felt a wave of pity overwhelm him as he looked around the village scene. The people had many of their buildings and a small market destroyed because of the wild animal. He thought about his situation. He just came to a village that was attacked by a wild boar. There was damage everywhere and he wanted to help. But he was a Legend and if he showed more than one aspect of his powers, then he might be discovered.

"What did the creature look like?," Kyungsoo says with worry in his voice. "I am travelling through and I think I would rather avoid crossing its path if it is possible."

The older man looked a bit stressed at the question. "Well, it "looked" like a wild boar, but it was not like any boar I have ever seen. Not only was it unusually large, but it was behaving strangely. Usually, boars avoid coming to villages. If they do stumble upon one, they try to avoid everyone and everything. This large just came charging into the village, destroying everything that got in its path," the man said.

Kyungsoo looked back at the surrounding village and at the people struggling to fix the damage done.

"Is there any way that I can help?" Kyungsoo asked. He wanted to. No, he needed to help. The older man looked back at Kyungsoo.

"Well, we had a building cave in and no one with abilities can help. Though we have some of our strongest men trying to dig out the people under the rubble. We also have multiple fires and house damage around the village to deal with," the man replied.

He looked back at the man after thinking for a second. "Show me where the collapsed building is located. I might be able to help," Kyungsoo said in an urgent voice. The man nodded and speed-walked toward the west of the village. Kyungsoo quickly followed behind the man.

Around a minute later, they made it to a house. The roof had caved in and the walls were barely standing. Kyungsoo quickly ran to the rubble and saw a few men throwing rocks off of the pile. Off to the side were a man and a woman. The woman was in the arms of the man, crying her eyes out. The man looked desperately at the pile of rocks. Then, Kyungsoo noticed the stuffed animal in the mother's arms.

Suddenly, an image flashed in front of him. The little girl from his dream appeared in his vision for a second before it disappeared. Her brown hair was up in pigtails and her little green dress was ripped in a few places. Her right hand was wiping away tears as her left held a teddy bear. Then he was brought back to reality. He took off his bags and placed them on the ground next to him before he got a determined look on his face.

"Hey! You guys need to get off the pile of rubble! Any place that wasn't crushed could cave in. The person in there might become more injured!" Kyungsoo yelled as he moved toward the building. He dropped his bags on the ground as the men on the rubble started to retreat. Then Kyungsoo heard a voice from behind him.

"My daughters are in there! Please, you need to help them!" the woman yelled as tears continued to flow down her face. Kyungsoo turned toward her, brown eyes piercing in their determination. He turned back to the rubble and closed his eyes. He concentrated and imagined the rubble floating upward. He heard the clanking of bricks hitting each other and he opened his eyes. The rubble that was covering the girls was lifted and he moved it out of the way.

There were two girls. The eldest one looked to be about 15-years-old. She was wearing brown pants and a green shirt. Both articles of clothing were ripped and covered with dust from the debris. Under her, was a smaller girl that appeared to be around the age of seven. She was wearing a green dress with rips and dust all over it. The younger one was crying and holding the older one's hand.

"Thank you! You saved my daughters!" the mother of the girls exclaimed, holding her daughters to her chest.

"Thank you, son! You are a powerful ability user!" The father of the daughters complimented him.

Kyungsoo felt his face heat up a bit at the praise. "It was nothing, really. Anyone else in my position would have done the same," Kyungsoo said, looking away from the man. He felt embarrassment and overwhelming pride swell inside him. Then he heard the sound of a building collapsing in the distance. Along with the sound were the screams of people. He quickly turned to the direction and saw the main building starting to collapse onto a group of people. Kyungsoo could feel his heartbeat pick up as he ran toward the group of civilians.

He stood in front of the small group of at least 2 men and 3 women. Their clothes were slightly torn and covered in dust. The group was all huddled behind him, fear clearly on their faces. Kyungsoo quickly picked up his courage and used his ability. He could feel the weight of the structure as he pushed it back up into its original position. Upon a glance from someone else, it would look like he was pushing the air, but he was able to move the building through the connection of his ability. He could feel the sweat run down the side of his face as he continued to struggle with holding the heavy structure. Once it was back into its position and not a danger to anyone, Kyungsoo collapsed onto his knees, gasping for breath. He hasn't used his powers like that since his past life.

"Thank you, young man!" said one of the men from the group he had just saved.

"We would have been killed if you didn't help us!" one of the women exclaimed.

"Oh my gosh, I almost died!" said the 2nd woman from the group.

"What did he do to the building?" asked the 2nd man from the group.

"Are you alright, young man?" asked the last woman. Kyungsoo looked up from where he was kneeling. He was sweating profoundly and was extremely exhausted as well.

"I'll be fine, Ma'am. I just need a minute of rest. I haven't used my ability for a long time," Kyungsoo replied, sounding breathless. He was helped up from his spot on the ground by one of the women. She had grabbed him by the arm and supported him when he stumbled a bit. He felt a bit pathetic for having someone help him. He was supposed to be strong, not weak. He recovers quickly and the woman loosens her hold on him. He stood up straight even as his legs wobbled slightly. He was a bit dazed before he was snapped out of it by loud screams of terror coming from his right. He looked up and saw that there was a large fire that was engulfing the whole village. The fire was getting closer to them and Kyungsoo knew what he had to do. He stood up, despite his aching muscles, and ran in front of the fire. He used the last of his strength to bring up part of the earth making a slab. He moved it so that it was right above the fire. He dropped it and the fire was put out instantly. He lost concentration and he felt strange. He felt like he was floating and he was so tired. He stood there, not noticing that the villagers were all cheering for him. He fell to his knees in exhaustion as the world faded out. He could feel everything tilt as he fell onto his right side. He was out before his head touched the ground.

He was a few feet away from her when the plasma beam hit her. Kyungsoo held her in his arms as she turned to dust, the teddy bear that the little girl was holding was the only thing left. He held onto the teddy bear and cried out in desperation as the droids closed in on him. Just as they were about to hit him, everything turned black. When his vision cleared, he found that he wasn't in the same place as before. He was in a room that was far away from the fighting.

"D.O! How could you be so stupid as to let your guard down in a warzone!?" someone yelled at him. Kyungsoo looked up from the teddy bear in his arms at the person. The person, most likely a male, was blurry and looked like a black blob with blue on the top. Kyungsoo looked back at the teddy bear.

"I let her die, Suho! They turned her to dust in my arms!" Kyungsoo yelled back. He was upset, with both the figure and himself. If he was faster, then the girl would still be alive. He wouldn't have been a failure, again. Kyungsoo looked back down at the ground. Tears were streaming down his face once again.

"I'm sorry D.O. There was nothing you could have done. The Red Force was too prepared this time," another black blob said. This time, the blob had purple hair.

"I know Kai. I just wish that I was faster," Kyungsoo said as the person brought him into a hug. Their hug was cut short when an explosion went off near where they were hiding.

"Damn it! How did they find us?! Kai, get D.O out of here! I'll distract them!" the blue-haired blob yelled.

"I can't just leave you here Suho! You're the leader. We need you!" the purple-haired blob yelled.

"Then come back for me after your return D.O to the base. Lay can heal up any injuries he has and the beagle line can cheer him up a bit," the blue-haired blob said calmly.

"Fine! I'll be back though!" the purple-haired blob said. Just before they left, Kyungsoo saw the robots from earlier burst into the room and start shooting at them. His vision was covered in black as he saw the blue-haired blob run into battle.