Disclaimer: I own Nothing! Except my OCs!
Prologue: The Lost Bloodlines
The room was semi dark, the only real light being from the high tech screen, the holotable, and a few blue light panels in the ceiling. An elderly man with a long white beard and mustache stood in front of the screen, a straw hat covering his head. He was not the only one in the room either. There was a woman with graying blonde hair neatly braided down her back, and sharp gray eyes. She was wearing the outfit that archeologists typically are depicted wearing. Another elderly man stood next to her, this time he was clean shaven and had piercing green eyes. Those were the ones that were standing up. Then we have those sitting at the table. First there was a sixty-something man with peppered brown hair, and chocolate brown eyes. Then there was another man with gray hair and electric blue eyes. A lady with metal gray hair and gentle gray eyes sat next to him. Another lady was next to her, with pale yellow hair and pale blue eyes. A man sat across from her, with graying black hair, and bouncing sky blue eyes. Then there was a lady with black hair, and dark brown, almost black eyes. Next is a man with graying black hair, and gray eyes. Then there was a man with graying dark red hair, and pale green eyes. Then there was another female with graying brown hair and brown eyes. The next person was another male, with gray hair and cyan eyes. Then there was a lady with graying brown hair and bright green eyes. Next is a male with slightly dark skin, gray hair, and dark brown, almost black eyes. Then there was a man with gray hair, and light purple eyes. The last woman in the group had orange hair, and forest green eyes.
Turning suddenly to face his companions, the one with a long beard spoke with a tinge of sadness. "It has come to our attention that five of our bloodlines are lost to us." Pausing here, he took a deep breath. "Three of them are lost due to death before they could continue their lines. The other two are lost to us."
The other elderly man in the group spoke up, confusion edging his voice. "What are you talking about brother? Only two lines have been lost to our knowledge. Our friends sent on that undercover mission were discovered and killed."
Bowing his head, the man spoke again. "It has come to our knowledge that Mason's runaway daughter has recently passed away." Murmurs of shock rippled through the group, a couple of them patting the guy with peppered brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, on the back, presumably this is Mason. "As of the other two lines, Apparently Gordon's son, Cliff, had a child but instead of keeping it, he sent it away for adoption."
This announcement caused an outbreak of rage, many of them standing up to protest loudly. The fellow with electric blue eyes quickly raised his hand for silence before speaking. "We cannot undo what was done. My grandchild was given away at birth, and should be close to seven years of age by now. There is nothing we can do, besides look for him diligently."
"Thank you Gordon." The man conducting this meeting bowed his head in his direction. "Since we have lost these three bloodlines, it is of utter importance we find Chris and his family and bring them back into our fold."
The lady with the braid spoke up right then. "Should be easy enough. Chris never was one for staying where it is warm. Much prefers the cold. He also is very sociable, large ski resorts might know of him."
"Then it is settled. We should be able to find the two carriers of the bloodlines within a month if everything goes according to plan." The man beamed with excitement, trusting that he was right about how soon they will recover these two bloodlines.
~Seven Years Later~
The tall mountain was full of eager rock climbers, all of them carefully climbing their way up to the top. That was, all of them except for one. He was a young teen, with rather broad shoulders and a muscular form. He had raven black hair; he was wearing black pants, and had his rope hanging around his shoulders pinning his pickaxe to his back. His shirt was tied around his waist. Letting go with one hand, he quickly pushed sweat out of his chocolate brown eyes. A small smile crossed his lips as he reached for his next hand hold. He could see the ledge he was aiming for just up ahead. Scaling the mountainside with practiced ease, he grasped the edge of the ledge and swung himself up onto it. Pulling his pickaxe off of his back, he slammed it into the rock and tied the rope onto it quickly. He then threw the rope down below. Tilting his head, he shaded his eyes as he noted the sun's position. A loud screech interrupted him as a dark brown bird, a falcon, flew up to him, circling his head. Rolling his eyes, he swatted in the general of direction of the bird, but made no moves to actually harm it. A second later a peach colored hand darted up from the rope. Leaning forward, he helped pull the owner of the hand up onto the ledge. The hand's owner was another boy that was two inches taller than him, had stiff looking snowy white hair, and crystal blue eyes. As soon as the other boy was on the ledge, the falcon landed on his shoulder. The first boy merely crouched down to help pull up a young teen girl. She was smaller than him, and had short cropped black hair and beautiful hazel eyes. A gold and red bracelet adorned her one wrist. As soon as she was up, he pulled another boy up onto it. This boy had spiked auburn hair, hazel eyes, and a small notch indicating a scar on his left eyebrow. A scowl was on his face as he glared at the other boy.
"What took you so long?" He demanded as he folded his arms, ignoring the blonde boy who was already shrugging off the rather large back pack he was carrying.
"Come on, I did not took too long. You're just impatient." The first boy grumped, as he turned around to face the blonde.
The blonde quickly pulled out four different water bottles out of his bag. Each bottle was a different color. One was a fiery red, another ocean blue. Then there was one that was a muddy brown color, and the last one was a solid white. He very quickly handed out the bottles to their respective owners. Unscrewing the lid to the muddy brown bottle, the brunette quickly poured the water down his throat.
"I don't think I was that impatient, Cole." The auburn haired boy grumbled as he unscrewed the lid to the fiery red bottle.
The blonde nervously played with the lid to the white bottle, glancing occasionally to the girl. She ignored the boys as she drained the ocean blue bottle. Stopping, she shook the bottle to confirm that it was now empty, a smirk crossing her face.
"Yes you were."
"No I wasn't."
"Yes, you were."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
Cole and the other boy by now had both of their fists clenched as they glared daggers at each other. The other boy moved as if to punch Cole suddenly, springing forward. Taking one step forward, the girl aimed her water bottle and gave it a quick jab in their direction. Immediately, the supposedly empty water bottle threw the icy cold, clear liquid all over the two boys.
"Nya!" Both boys yelped in surprise, turning to face the girl.
Nya narrowed her eyes at them, causing them to gulp and back away in fear. "Enough! Look, Jay is expecting us to come to his birthday party in two weeks time. And we can't do that if you two are beating each other up!"
Mumbles of sorry slipped from the boys as they looked down at their feet in shame. With a soft humph, Nya spun around, screwed the lid back on and handed the bottle to the blonde boy. Marching stiffly, she went to sit up against the cliff wall, which offered a little shade for her.
The blonde looked to the two boys, amusement dancing in his eyes. "She has a point. You really shouldn't argue."
A groan escaped Cole has he tilted his head back. "We know Zane. We just got a little tense for a minute there."
"Perhaps you and Kai should rest in the shade for a bit. Cooling oneself down might help with your tensions." Zane nodded to the little shade, concern edging his voice.
Cole and Kai knew better to argue with him, and quickly made their way over. Sitting down in the shade, they stared at the dirt, not wanting to look at each other. A sigh escaped Zane has he sat down between them, holding his bottle up to the brown bird. The bird quickly accepted the offer of a drink, guzzling a few swallows. After awhile, Zane pulled out granola bars and dried fruit, with pieces of jerky, and passed it out to the others. They quickly ate in silence, not wanting to waste time talking with each other. Swallowing his last bit, Cole picked up their climbing gear, the rope and pickaxe, and sat them next to Zane's large bag. Settling down, he watched the sun dip below the mountain, throwing shadows across them. The other climbers were most likely setting camp up in the manmade cave in the side of the mountain. Zane pulled out a few rocks that he used to outline where the fire pit should go. Kai then threw a ball of fire into it, watching the flames roar to life. Settling back down, Kai wrapped an arm around Nya protectively. Cole slowly blinked as his eyes slid shut from exhaustion.
"One more day, then we shall start the descent. If everything goes to plan we should be at Jay's in time for his birthday." Zane murmured softly, knowing his companions were falling asleep.
Soon, only Zane and Kai were awake, even the falcon had tucked its beak under its wing. Shifting, Zane glanced over to the exhausted teen, before turning back to look at the stars. The twinkling lights in the night sky were, for Zane at least, very interesting. Sliding one eye towards Kai, Zane noticed that the teen was running a finger across his small scar, a haunted look in his eyes.
"Are you alright, Kai?"
"Yep, totally fine." Kai shifted so as to look into the flames of his fire.
Zane arched an eyebrow, before speaking again. "You are not alright. You are recalling that it was seven years ago this day that your parents were taken from you and your sister. Am I not correct?"
Kai gave his head quick shake, a wry smile crossing his lips. "Observant much?"
Zane smiled before turning back to the stars. "I recommend that you also recall that in three weeks, it will be the anniversary of when we first met."
Kai gave a small chuckle has he finally closed his eyes. Sleep quickly over took the teen, his breathing pattern relaxing a great deal. Zane closed his eyes, willing sleep to come.
…
Cole awoke with a start, his heart hammering loudly in his chest. Sitting bolt upright, he pressed a hand against the cold stone. The sun was just barely rising in the east, throwing its golden rays to the earth to warm the ground. Only that was not what woke Cole. His eyes widened as he felt the earth, pure terror flooding his chocolate brown eyes. Whipping around, he quickly shook Zane awake, panic causing him to be a lot rougher than he normally would be.
"Zane wake up! Avalanche!" Cole shook Zane until Zane blinked his crystal blue eyes open.
"What are you talking about Cole?" Zane pushed himself into a sitting position, confusion edging his rather exhausted voice.
"There's an Avalanche on the way! We have to get moving now!" Cole grabbed the pickaxe and rope, his mind reeling.
Zane quickly shook Kai and Nya awake, experience having taught him long ago that Cole never was wrong when it came to the stability of mountains, boulders, even the ground. Moving urgently, they quickly began the treacherous business of propelling downwards, towards safety. The lineup for this changed up slightly. Instead of going Cole, Zane, Nya, and then Kai, it was Zane, Nya, Kai, and then Cole. The rope which had been barely used the day before now tied them all together, while Cole used the pickaxe to stabilize them.
Cole closed his eyes as he reached out and pressed his fingers against the hard unforgiving rock. "Get to the cave! Stop everyone from leaving! We don't have that much time!" Cole hollered down the line to Zane, who gravely nodded in response.
Zane hurriedly, but carefully, scrambled down the face of the mountain, tugging his friends along for the ride. Soon, he was dropping down at the lip of the cave, the other climbers getting ready for the day still. Taking a deep breath, Zane promptly cried out to get their attention. "Avalanche! Stay in the cave!"
"What?" "Crazy kid, the meters indicate that there won't be one today." "Calm down I'm sure your imaging things, kiddo."
Zane was about to make a retort back that it was better to be safe than sorry, when Cole lunged forward, knocking Zane and the others further into the cave, just as a slide of loose dirt and rocks came crashing by.
A/N: Umm, yeah. I had this little thing pop in my head last night. Kind of a cliffhanger, I know. We shall learn what's going on together…
Any guesses who the group of people from the beginning is?
Till next time!
SkyTalon