A/N: Another one? Oh yes, another one. I love this story and I love writing the chapters; I just can't help myself. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. R&R. Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Found

He's standing still inside a capsule full of water or something like it. Slowly, he opens his eyes. Nothing. Complete darkness. Dipping his head back down into its previous position, he closes his eyes once more and he waits. Glass breaks. Water pulls out from all around him. John slumps onto the floor; half of his body still inside the capsule while the other half is laying outside of it. His face is pressed to the floor and he's gasping for breath. From somewhere above him, a light shines down and his eyes squint, nearly closing, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. The light is turned away from his face and someone is staring down at him, hidden within the darkness and shadow that surrounds them. A voice is calling out to him, asking him something, but it sounds so far away.

That voice…It sounds so familiar. Looking up, John can barely make out the facial features of this person.

But that voice…

It sounds like…Steve…

John shot up in his sleeping bag, gasping and panting, his heart racing. God, he hated having that dream and this time it was worse. He had seen more, but it still didn't make sense to him. And Steve's voice…that was new too. Of course, maybe he only dreamt about hearing Steve's voice because he missed him. Yeah, that was probably it; he just missed Steve so he heard him in his dream. At least, that's what he told himself; in all honesty, it didn't make him feel any better about the dream or anything he had seen in it. Ninety-eight times; he's had the same damn dream ninety-eight times.

Sitting up, John looked around the area where he and Wade decided to sleep in during the night. Beside him on his left, was Wade's empty sleeping back. Reaching out, he touched it; it was still warm, so he couldn't be too far. Stretching and cracking his back, John stood up and, just before he went to walk off, Wade dropped down from one of the trees surrounding them and landed beside John, grinning mischievously as he went to roll up his sleeping bag.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what, precisely John?"

"Drop down from trees like that. It's kind of creepy and weird and just plain goofy." Wade stopped grinning for a moment as he processed what John just said. Shrugging, he continued rolling up his sleeping bag until it was tucked in and neat.

"I suppose I do it more out of habit than anything else. Chris loved climbing around on trees and rocks and anything else that was high up. He liked keeping an eye on things from a bird's perspective. And he had an ability for it: wind manipulation. Hated using it though; he always complained about whiplash." John laughed and rolled up his own sleeping bag, tying it tightly before he slung it over his shoulder.

"Today, my friend, we shall finally reach Maynard. So let's start walking and we'll make it there before all of the eateries close. I don't mind hunting, but I need something aside from vermin and rodents to keep my spirits up."

Nodding in agreement, John walked beside Wade as they continued their journey to Maynard. He felt better knowing that it wasn't that far away and that he'd soon be learning what Steve wanted him to know. They didn't talk as they made their way through the woods; it was too early for it and, although Wade seemed to be in a talkative mood, he was probably keeping an eye on their surroundings. It made John think about all of the things he didn't know about the raven haired man. Questions started popping into his mind and, before he could stop himself, his mouth opened and unleashed its curiosity on his unknowing friend.

"Wade?"

"Hm?"

"You said that Chris was the leader of your little pack of nomads."

"That's right."

"Who else is with you?"

"My clan only has four people, since we're constantly on the move and what not. There's myself, Chris who is our leader, Justin and Heath. And before you ask, yes, all four of us are just like you."

"Do you all have special abilities?"

"To my knowledge, every single one of us humanoid beings has at least one ability. I don't know how many we may receive, but I've seen some who have numerous; those are usually the tribal leaders."

"There are tribes?" Wade laughed at the childlike curiosity that displayed itself in John's questions and John felt a twang of glee, something that made him smile. He liked hearing Wade's laughter and seeing him smile; he didn't do it very often – at least, not in the brief time that John had known him – and he didn't like that. Steve always told him that John had a way about him that made people smile and laugh.

"There are many tribes, some bigger than others. On that note, please dedicate it to memory that there are six major tribes of our…ah, race; all named after the place that they've settled in. One of them is the Jimen tribe which is located in a desert. Another one's located around Phoenix Point which is a mountain peak. And I do believe that there's one located somewhere around this forest. Not too sure where, but Chris told me that there's definitely one here."

John thought over this as they continued walking. So, there were a lot of beings like him and Wade out there; enough to form large tribes at least. It's kind of odd, knowing that there are so many like him and yet never once has he met any of them, at least to his knowledge. They kept walking, making their way closer and closer to Maynard. A few feet from them, John heard a twig or branch snap and he turned his head towards the sound. Something hard and heavy connected with the side of his head and he went down. Wade hissed and turned towards them, reaching for his weapon, but he too was brought down unexpectedly. Seemingly out of nowhere, they were surrounded by people and being tied up. Shaking his head, trying to stop the pain and dizziness, John looked up, expecting to see more Stalkers. However, he was met with sharp, penetrating blue eyes that were narrowed in a glare.

"Finally, I've found you. Do you have any fucking idea how hard it's been tracking you down? And look at you; you're bleeding. I guess I shouldn't have hit you that hard, but I need to be sure that I can control you before I bring you to him."

The man speaking had short brown hair and pouty lips. His sharp blue eyes held agitation and impatience. Judging by his height, John was taller than him but he still had this air about him, one that made John's skin crawl. Just looking at the guy annoyed John for some reason and he realized that he was probably feeling the brunette's annoyance. Looking over at Wade, he saw that Wade was wincing as blood poured from a cut above his right eye and ran down into his eye and down his face. Although it looked bad, he could tell from that it wasn't severe. Turning his attention back to the man in front of him, John was startled as his own blue eyes connected with the cold, sharp ones of his captor.

"Don't worry about your friend, John. No harm will come to either of you…yet. That's not what Randy wanted and, although I could beat him, I don't want to be bothered by a fight. Bad enough that he's keeping something from me. Anyway, Kyle!" From beside Wade, a small brunette teen looked up and wandered over to the older man.

"I want you to run as fast as you can to Castle Lake and tell Randy that we've got what he wanted and that we'll be there soon. Move it!" Startled at the urgency in the older man's voice, the teenager nodded and dashed off past the man, running faster than Wade did. It shocked John; these weren't normal people, they were just like him.

"Who are you?" The brunette man turned his attention back to John and smirked down at him.

"You can call me Miz. Get them up on their feet. We've got places to go, people to see, you know the drill."

John was hauled to his feet by four others while Wade was forced up by five. Unlike the Stalkers, they weren't roughed around or jerked, but John got the feeling that they'd be quickly subdued if Wade or himself tried anything. Although he had no reason to trust them, he felt a sort of kinship with Miz and his tribe and, given what Miz had said earlier, they weren't in any danger. In fact, they were wanted by some guy named Randy, although he didn't know why.

With Miz leading the way, John and Wade were shuffled along behind him. John's blue eyes scanned the area around them; although it was just the ten of them within his line of vision, John suspected that there were more hidden around the woods or even above them. He knew he was right because all of the emotions that he was feeling were practically overwhelming him. It took him all he had no to stumble and reel, although that probably had a lot to do with the others around him, moving him forward and keeping him standing. But that didn't stop the massive migraine that was pounding in his head.

How the hell could he stop all of these emotions from overwhelming him? Not only were they hard to handle, but they were starting to cause him pain. So many emotions… They were all hard to process and difficult to understand. However, Miz's emotions were the most strong and prominent: annoyance, aggravation, desperation, and distrust. Was this Randy person the reason behind all of these negative emotions? Miz did mention that he had something that belonged to him; what could that be? And was that the reason why Miz had captured him and Wade? Probably. John was positive that that was the reason why; it made sense to him at least.

No one spoke for the longest time. Hours passed before the first conversation started and even then it was mumbled and too low for John to understand what they were saying. Wade, however, seemed to be hearing what they were saying and, if his facial expressions were any indication, it wasn't suitable for young ears. Not able to stand the silence anymore, John spoke up.

"Hey, where are you taking us exactly?" Miz kept walking, not bothering to turn around to answer John's question. But John didn't need to see his face to tell that he was smirking; it was evident in his tone of voice.

"To the tribe residing at Castle Lake. I thought that you would've picked up on that." John frowned but then shrugged it off and continued his questioning.

"This Randy guy, who is he anyway?" A soft sigh escaped Miz's throat and he shook his head.

"Don't you know anything, John?"

"He was just informed of what he is and of our kind not too long ago." Wade's voice interrupted their conversation. Upon hearing those words, Miz stopped dead in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at John. The look of shock and disbelief reflected the feelings that John picked up on and he squirmed a bit under the penetrating gaze.

"Really? Really? Are you kidding me?" John shook his head and Miz frowned.

"Silvis! Come here please." A blonde man dropped down from a tree and straightened himself up, peering up at Miz with a bored expression on his face.

"Tell me if John or Wade is lying about what was just said. And be quick about it; the sooner we get to Castle Lake, the sooner we can be on our way."

The short blonde approached John and stared up at him, his brown eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the taller man. John's blue eyes met with brown and he quickly looked away, feeling uncomfortable. Nodding to himself, Silvis turned towards Wade who met his stare dead on, almost in a defiant manner. Another nod and Silvis turned back Miz.

"They speak the truth. There's no deception here." And with that, he left, grabbing onto a nearby tree branch and hoisting himself up. Miz groaned and shot a quick glare at Wade and John before he started walking again.

"Tell me, Johnny boy, what exactly do you know?" Although John was liking Miz less and less, he answered him all the same, not wanting to cause any more trouble.

"Just that we're not human and that we have abilities that human's don't have. That there are a lot of us; enough to form tribes. Wade's told me that there are six major tribes and that yours is one of them." At that, Miz smirked and held his head a little bit higher, pride radiating off of his light a lamp.

"Did he now? Who knew that Wade could be so nice? Is there anything else I ought to know?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact there is. John just received his first ability; he is sensitive to the emotions of others and can feel them. So try and keep yourself in line Miz." Cold blue eyes whipped around and glared into Wade's green ones.

"We may be 'brothers' Wade, but don't think that I won't kill you if you insult me again." Wade smirked as they continued walking and shook his head.

"If you think you can beat me, then let's have at it. I've got all the time in the world. Don't you?" A low growl escaped Miz's throat and he turned back around and continued walking.

"If we weren't in a hurry, I'd dispose of you right now. As it stands, Randy awaits us and he's not exactly what one would call patient. Getting back to your question, John… Randy is the leader of Castle Lake. He's one of the strongest of our kind and many of us look up to and respect him, although he's nowhere near as awesome as I am."

"What's he want with Wade and I?" A grin spread across Miz's face and John was filled with a sickening glee. Wade looked down, unable to hide the frown or stop the dislike that practically rolled off of him.

"Oh, he doesn't want Wade. All Randy wants is you. And believe me John-John, you'll find out soon enough."