Paladin's Path

Team three led by Carmen ford met at the meeting point to see the team led by Robyn Wilson, team four.

"Oh it's you guys." Chloe spoke out in a bright and cheery tone as usual and Theon seen Robin's bright eye widen as she noticed him walk through.

But he didn't miss the cold stare and shiver that Elena gave when she first set eyes on Jon who made sure his eyes were elsewhere.

'Guess they haven't solved their issues.' Theon knew that Jon had some conversation with Elena due to what happened the previous month but he doesn't know the specifics and decided to ask him about it later.

"You guy's took your time." Carmen echoed loudly as she stepped forward and then gave the three a closer inspection. Theon could tell she was closely looking at their Od. She didn't say any more but instead just laughed.

"So what are we doing today teach?" Chloe asked Ms Wilson.

"Ms. Ford proposed the idea to play a game of hide and seek to improve your stealth skills as well as the flow of your OD."

"Like what we were doing yesterday?" Elena asked fully turning to her teacher and whispered lowly.

Team four had already been training in stealth and improving their OD flow. Considering what their abilities were Theon considered it to be the best option for them. He remembers Robin's being something to do with transformation because of the recording he gathered that night, and he knows that Chloe's is forging constructs out of paper.

No idea on what Elena could do though.

CLAP!

"Alright guys, we're going for two rounds, one where I'll come searching and the next with Ms Wilson coming to search for you." Carmen stated.

This drill wasn't something that was meant to be too taxing considering we have a mission later on in the day.

"You are to split up and work on your own in both rounds. Last as long as you can anddd...." She extended her words signalling for the students to get ready. "... Go!"

And with that all six students ran straight into the forest.

___

Theon bolted into the forest, his shoes crunched against the underbrush as he ducked between trees, eyes scanning for a place to hide. He noticed the other five people splitting off in other directions like shadows.

Carmen would be on them in a short minute and Theon didn't think this whole escapade would last very long. From what he could see from the last day or so, Carmen's power was related to wind and was incredibly powerful at that.

Most elemental powers were.

'She said she was no sensor.' But Theon still thought she had a way around that since she could control wind. He already figured that staying completely silent while moving was his best bet.

No more stepping on dry Autumn leaves or snapping twigs while running with little thought. Theon hopped around the forest while stepping lightly and slowed down as he pushed through a thick patch of brambles wincing as a thorn scratched his arm.

He emerged onto a small ridge, below him was a shallow stream carved into a winding path through the forest floor. The terrain was uneven here, a mess of rocks and fallen logs- a perfect hiding spot if he could find the right angle.

His mind was still thinking on Jon's explanation of suppressing OD. Suppressing his OD, making himself small and unseen by closing a flow of running water. He could do that he was good enough at image training because of his power anyway.

Theon crouched low, slipping into a dip of the ridge where the trees thickened, and regulated his breathing. He then reached deep inside of himself, feeling the natural flow of his OD like a gentle current. Slowly, he started to rein it in, pulling back the invisible energy until it was barely a trickle, almost imperceptible. He could feel the pressure in his chest lessen, like he was sinking into the earth himself, becoming a part of the forest.

The forest itself around him was alive with the soft sounds of nature. The rustle of leaves, the chirping of birds, the gurgle of water moving lazily over the stones in the streams. Everything seemed peaceful, just for a moment.

"Ready or not," Carmen's voice rang through the air, not incredibly loud but more like she was right beside him. Theon felt a pull in him to not react and he followed. "Here I Come!"

Again her voice felt so close even though he knew she was far. He quickly started to piece together what it could have been.

Quickly he came to a conclusion that she was able to make her voice travel through the wind.

Theon froze in place, pressing himself into the earth, his heart was beating a steady beat like a drum. His breathing was slow and every sound felt amplified.

He could hear a branch snap in the distance followed by Chloe's muffled voice, Theon smirked slightly despite himself. He could almost imagine how Chloe accidently snapped the branch he had just stepped on before getting caught.

There was another sound then- a shift underbrush nearby. Theon tensed, his senses flaring to life. Carmen was close now. He could hear her light footsteps moving through the forest, her approach was slow and calculated. She wasn't running, wasn't crashing through the foliage like a predator, she was moving deliberately searching for them all.

For a short while Theon heard nothing but the sounds of the forest. He wasn't sure how long he had been crouched in position but it had felt like eternity and he could feel it in his legs now.

Then, footsteps again. Closer this time. Carmen was moving through the trees, her pace slower and more methodical. She was hunting. Theon could feel the pressure of her OD as it brushed over the landscape, searching for any sign of a person. He continued to keep his presence as small as possible, barely letting his energy trickle out. It was like trying to disappear into the earth beneath him.

For a moment, everything was silent. Theon decided to glance up from his hiding spot, and fortunately for him, Carmen was nowhere in sight. His breath came in shallow gasps now.

And then, a sudden shout from the distance, Elena. She had been caught too. Theon could also hear Carmen's triumphant teasing.

"Two down! Four to go!"

Theon shifted in his position, the damp earth pressing against his skin. The minutes ticked on like hours.

A breeze rustled the leaves above, and Theon used the moment to let out a slow controlled breath.

'She's close.' Theon figured out that she was using the slight breezes in the air to find them, probably sensing movement in the breezes she sent out.

He only figured out because before she was heard near him there would always be a weird breeze that came before.

And he was right as he could hear quite footsteps walking in a controlled gait trying to make as little noise as possible by stepping over patches that must have been trampled over before.

Theon was sure he had stepped lightly as he got closer to finding a spot for himself but he could never be too careful.

"Bell!?" A surprised voice from Carmen came forth. "Awh! I was hoping to catch all of the other team before finding one from mine. Do better next time!" She shouted out dramatically as Bell stomped out of the forest back to the starting point.

And as Bell had surrendered over her position, Theon had already been on the move trying to stay away from that patch of dirt that Carmen was getting so close to.

He chose a different spot not too far from where he was but this time he was above, he had climbed his way up a tree and stayed on one of the lower branches that was hidden by the denseness of the leaves that had yet to fall completely.

After a few more treacherous minutes Theon heard another crunch only for him to hear Robin's voice wincing out in dismay over being caught.

So now it was just him and Jon.

'Of course Jon would still be here.' Theon thought. 'I could start searching for Jon and try get him caught out before me though.'

Theon jumped out of his hiding spot and crouched lowly before quickly but quietly pacing through the forest. He went off in the direction where he was sure he had seen Jon scurry off into in the beginning.

As he walked for some time he would stop every so often to hide behind a tree as he felt he hear the presence of his team leader and was lucky enough to miss her.

Eventually he could feel a familiar tugging motion pull him in a direction that looked similar to almost every other path he had walked in this small forest.

"Psst." And to his right Jon was there trying to get his attention. "What are you doing?"

Jon stood calmly with his arms crossed looking toward Theon.

Theon stayed silent and as soon as he was a mere three feet from Jon he had flared his OD.

"What the hell?" And then he blitzed away from Jon with his OD suppressing itself and before he got far he could hear the voice of his team leader behind him stuck with Jon.

"And what do we have here? Red Man!" Jon was caught leaving Theon as the winner.

"Congratulations Dragon Boy!"

As Theon walked back slowly to see Jon with a disappointed look on his face and Carmen with a thumbs up he knew that his win was at least real.

"Now lets get back and ready for round two. I want you guys on the winning end again alright. Robyn's a hard one to hide from. An even better seeker than I."

___

And that she was. The second round barely lasted a minute for Theon as he was caught instantly by the leader of team four, much to his own team leader's disappointment.

But Jon won the round like he probably would have the last.

"Alright good work guys." Carmen said enthusiastically. "Now, should you tell 'em or I?" she turned and asked Robyn who walked forward obviously ready to speak.

"Today you six will be working together with us on another mission. You have four hours of rest before we meet up and head out. Get yourselves ready and don't be late."

With that the two had left the students to their own devices. Bell instantly left saying she was going to pack.

We didn't even need to pack much, clothes? We would be going in what we would usually wear to school anyway. Food? We take bugs before we leave.

Bugs were just gummies typically in the shape of beetles or cockroaches that had the texture of actual jelly. They were made for paladins in a way Theon didn't know. But from Mr. Adams in class explanation as well as their first use of them they understood their great use as a paladin.

Taking took away any feeling of hunger and leaves you replenished for the day as well as taking away any need for the bathroom.

Mr. Adams did make sure to let us know that taking them constantly, everyday, would eventually lead to bad side effects like having extreme immune issues once it has been flushed out of the system.

"Oi Theo." Jon called out to him. "Buy me a cake."

"Huh? Why would I do that?" Theon asked back reciprocating Jon's attitude with a serious but playful glare to him.

"Cause of what you done in the first round." Jon said while poking at his head in jest.

"It was part of the game idiot. You should have known better."

Jon stepped back crossing his arms.

"It's not like it has to be a big one."

"Yes it does." Chloe came out of nowhere and joined the conversation. "You'll get one for us, won't you Theo?"

Theon had no idea why she would also be asking for one but Robin turned their way as Elena left seeming like she expected something as well.

Theon had wanted to speak to Robin privately since the incident but never had a chance, not just her but Ava as well.

'Maybe I'll find a moment...'

Theon agreed on getting a cake.

Jon had already suggested a place that was close, telling the newly formed trio that he had already been there.

___

There was no opportunity.

Chloe had stuck herself to Robin at every turn and even Robin was looking flustered. Theon didn't know if she had noticed his lingering gaze wanting to speak but there was no point, he wouldn't get to speak to her.

Theon did notice a couple things that seemed "New" about her though. For one whenever they passed by a mirror or something that would show off her reflection she would avoid it like the plague.

She would also stutter before checking her phone whenever she felt it vibrate with a notification, almost as if to remind herself that her tormentor was gone. And when she did check her messages it was so clear to Theon that she was double-checking the messages or even triple.

Before she was more or less the typical bright-eyed teenage girl that one could find in any high school, but now she had become more quiet and closed off.

'Maybe Chloe noticed.'

"We still got like two hours." Jon said after checking his phone. He had put his arms behind his head as he had ripped off the wrapper of a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth. "Should we start heading back?"

"Yeah, I still want to get in the shower before we leave." Robin answered for the group.

The four quickly made it back to the campus before getting ready to leave.

Theon was now in his room and sat on his bed, he felt the tug of his revelation bringing him up and over to his drawer by his desk.

He opened it up and pulled out a phone, it wasn't his phone. It was the phone that he had swiped from the first mission.

Since swiping it those few days ago he hadn't turned it on or taken it out. He had just left it in the drawer, but now as he held down the power button it signalled that it was dead and out of battery.

Theon had a charger, he remembers getting one earlier on in the school year thinking he would need it for the school issued phone before remembering that they can be powered by the OD of its user for its own privacy issues.

He plugged the charger into the phone but placed it behind his bed so it could not be visible to anyone that could end up in his room. This was all guided practice.

There was still no hints from [Revelation] as to why he took it but he was at least hoping to find something interesting.

___

"We're taking the infinity train!" Carmen announced dramatically.

Chloe was first and only one of the students to react.

"Really, but that cost a bunch of money and we haven't got our pay-check yet." She sounded panicked which only made Carmen laugh and caused an unnatural sigh from her team leader.

Theon knew of the infinity train. It was a train that started off as an ego tool from a paladin of the past who could summon trains to travel through space.

Master Conductor was the only name he went by.

"Chloe. We're paladin now, so the infinity train is free for us when on missions." Only for missions, they would still have to pay the fee of ten thousand dollars just to use it for their own luxury.

"This will be my first time on it." Chloe said turning to her group who both nodded in unison without stating their first time experiencing it as well.

"How long will it take?" Theon asked, knowing that the train made travel across countries no longer than one hour.

"Travels within the same state only take two or three minutes. So you won't have super long to enjoy it."

That wasn't long at all, Theon expected maybe ten minutes but he wasn't complaining. He was happy that it was of no expense to him anyway.

The eight of them started heading out and had drivers already waiting outside for them ready to bring them to their destination.

The drivers were dressed as plainly as they were, the experienced paladins wore the standard muted uniform which was just a black shirt and blank work pants of high grade material. You could get it customised which was told in the appearance of Theon's own mentor.

Carmen basically wore it the same way everyone else did, the only differences being subtle golden accents that swirled around her cuff area which was easy to spot on a plain white shirt.

On her collarbone was three golden stars stitched in that was there to signify her rank as a paladin. Theo and the other unranked rookies had nothing to signify their rank. After a few weeks that will all change.

It didn't take them long to get to a *checkpoint*, the checkpoints were locations around the world where the infinity train's could travel to.

As the group approached, they were met by an imposing metallic archway shimmering with an ethereal blue light.

The entry-way didn't seem like much from the outside, just decorated as a simple train station, metal railings that were more well-kept than other train stations and a large banner on top of the arch reading; Infinity Train Station-Gate 17.

There was an unmistakeable hum in the air of OD radiating that the awakened in the station could feel, a distortion perhaps.

More people than the paladin's were there though, elderly people and people that looked to come from very affluent backgrounds were waiting. Not many in number but still a sizeable amount.

The couples looked as if they had been carved out of magazines and given life and they were all in muted coloured, highly sophisticated garbs.

What Theon noticed most though was the fact that his group didn't look much different other than the number of children.

An older man in a crisp navy uniform-station attendant, scanned all of our paladin licenses before nodding and letting us on one of the carriages that we got for ourselves. "You're in for a smooth ride." He said with no change to his face.

The moment Theon stepped in through the door's opening, the world shifted.

Inside the infinity train, the air felt different. Time itself seemed to still. Theon blinked unsure of how long they had been standing in the dimly lit station before stepping into their carriage. The transition was seamless, yet disorienting.

"Feel's like we're not even a part of the world anymore..." Bell said aloud, everyone agreed. It felt like they were standing in another cupboard of space.

The carriage was pristine- white walls, golden accents with hints of a baby blue colour dancing in parallel to it. Polished metal gleaming under soft, ambient lighting. The seats, each a deep red colour, lined either side of the train. A feint hum echoed throughout, barely perceptible, like the sound of wind rushing through a tunnel miles away.

Theon glanced around feeling oddly light-headed. Jon was standing next to him as he said, "Feel's like I'm standing underwater." He shook his head, "You think they pump something in here to keep everyone calm? Or is this just the trains way of keeping everyone sedated?"

Carmen's voice came from behind him. "It's your OD. The train disrupts it so no one can use their abilities in here. Safety reasons." She patted Jon on the shoulder and moved down the aisle to find her seat, her movements casual yet alert as though preparing for a sudden shift.

Bell, standing beside Theon, was staring outside the window, even though there was nothing to see but a dark abyss that had glints of white in it that made it look like a starry sky at night.

Team four filed in after them, and took their seats as if routine. Their team leader Robyn Wilson sat straight-backed and composed, but Chloe was vibrating with curiosity, practically bouncing in her seat. "It's a lot more... old school than I imagined."

"Well it was designed and created in the eighties." The ginger haired Robin explained.

The seats were plush, far more comfortable than they had expected. Each of them found their place, the teams both settling into a shared silence as the train prepared to depart.

Without warning, the train jerked slightly, signalling the start of their journey. The hum beneath their feet grew louder, a rhythmic thrum that pulsed with the movement of the carriage.

The train's motion smoothed out as they accelerated through whatever space they travelled through. Theon leaned back as he looked up to a spot above the seats of where Chloe was sat, it read {No Conductor Available}.

The infinity train was as autonomous as it gets, gliding through space as effortlessly as a bird through the sky.

"I wonder how many people get on everyday?" Robin said.

"A lot." Jon answered, stretching his arms out wide. "Especially paladins since we're first responders for threats like these."

"You're right. When it was first created though, even paladins had to pay the extortionate fee. That didn't last long though once they realized how needed we are." Carmen answered.

Paladin's didn't always come in high demand, the job was too dangerous for normal people to want to just step in to it. Even for those that do, many of them don't even stay for ten years if they live that long.

"Oh yeah!" the silence was broken by the voice of Carmen Ford. "I got to explain the mission now."

She clapped her hands getting everyone's attention.

"The mayor of the town Cedar Peak reported his son missing and believes that an awakened is responsible, so we were enlisted. We're going looking for clues." She exaggerated her movements by making it seem like she had a magnifying glass in hand.

"Is this related to the attacks that have been happening for the last month?" Elena asked, Carmen looked at her with a raised eyebrow and instead team four's team leader answered.

"There's a chance." She then added on a brief description on her. "The suspect is a female, with long dark hair and red eyes, that's all we know."

Carmen took over... "The report was actually given like three weeks ago so there's still a chance that she has left already but we still have to sort out business."

There was nothing on whatever power she may have, "Red eyes. So she's a vampire?" Jon asked in a sarcastic tone.

Before Carmen could answer, Robyn put her hand over her mouth and kept her restrained so that she could answer without any of the bravado.

"There is no such thing, she is human most likely just a dangerous awakened." Robyn put her hand down as she realized she was bit by her colleague.

There was more of a serious reaction now from the group in the train, Theon could hear Robin tell Chloe that she didn't think she would be on such a dangerous mission so early on.

Carmen heard so too.

"Every mission a paladin takes is dangerous." she smiled while looking intently in her eyes. "You don't choose when you're ready. Every creation is only as strong as its foundation! So make sure yours holds or you'll crumble."