Aaron's POV

"Aaron, what did your contact tell you? You look as pale as a sheet." Aragorn asked me and I just smiled softly at him.

"Well, just be careful and all the other stuff. That's it." Aragorn looked at me in the eye, not convinced and I looked down after a while, feeling uncomfortable as if he was looking into my soul. After a few minutes, he stand down, nodding to himself while the others looked worriedly at me, worried that I was not okay.

"I'm fine guys, just tired that's all." I gave them a weak smile and they all nodded, even though they were not completely convinced. We all went out to our position and my friends all looked at me, anticipating the enemy. I gave a slight nod and our operation started.

"Aaron, the enemy is in the room just like what the General said." I gave a slight smirk and took out my walkie-talkie.

"Good. Go do as planned." I heard the chatter of the others saying okay then silence as we started our mission. A few minutes later, my walkie-talkie was alive with the voice of my friends who were inside the motel.

"Coast clear. I repeat, coast clear." I smiled and pressed my eye to the eyepiece of my sniper, ready to snipe the enemy leader down. 

"Aaron, you can snipe the enemy now." I nodded and aimed my shot at the leader's head and took a deep breath as I focused on the enemy. Then, a piercing sound of a gunshot rang in the air and a loud thud followed the sound of the shot as the leader fell to the ground from his position, dead as a corpse.

"Target down. I repeat, target down. All units can retreat now. It is over." I sighed a huge sigh of relief as I heard that the enemy is dead and our mission was a success. I saw my friends running to our meeting spot and I smiled as I saw them all safe, hugging them in relief as they laughed, glad that the mission was over. Suddenly I got a call from the General and I pressed the accept button.

"Aaron. The mission is not over. I am worried that someone was pulling the strings and now two of the leaders of Xurenth are targeting you and the others. I need you guys to be careful and if you see the two leaders, run as fast as you can." We all nodded at each other and I replied the General.

"Don't worry, General. We will be okay." The General told us that he could count on us and disconnected the call. We all looked worriedly at each other because we knew that situation was bad and we have to figure out a way to throw the two leaders of Xurenth off our tails.

"Guys, let's go to the meadows first before we go to the meeting spot for me to call the pilot of our plane to take us back," I said while pointing to the alleyway that lead to the meadow. The others nodded and we set off using that way to the meadow. We all walked while talking about our mission and halfway through that alleyway to the meadow, a hooded figure stood there and completely blocked the end of the narrow alleyway to the meadow. 

"You should move to the side, man," Aragorn said while I stood there, staring at the hooded man's face. Something seemed so familiar about that hooded man as I looked closely at him. His tall stature, the way he spoke, and the way he was alert by the look of his stance. I heard a deep belly laugh while I stared at him.

"Tell you, friend, here to stop staring at me then I'll move and let you go through." He glanced at me and I suddenly felt a flicker of emotions clouding his face even if I cannot see his face. I groaned as I clutched my head because the emotions I sensed were overwhelming. All the emotions I sensed, the sadness of having to leave me in the care of the teachers in the academy, the anger at the new leader of Xurenth who told him to kill me, the pain of losing a brother, the guilt that he was having because he was too late to help Allen and me when Allen helped me escape from my cell, almost had me pulling my hair out. Aragorn saw this and held the hooded man at swordpoint.

"Who are you?" Aragorn asked and I saw the hooded man suddenly smirked. He looked Aragorn in the eye and his smirk grew even wider.

"Why not you ask your little friend, who is clutching his head, here about who I am?" I saw Aragorn looking at me, confusion laced his features as he was puzzled at how I am related to all of this. I looked up and met the gaze of the hooded man and gritted in pain as a new wave of emotion almost made me fall on one knee. The hooded man immediately rushed and tried to hold me up but I swatted his hand away, hobbling to the wall of the building, and sat down, trying to speak and breathe through this pain.

"Y-You-Y-You are m-my old f-friend in X-Xurenth." I winced again as a fresh wave of emotion or precisely, a fresh wave of sadness, pain, and anger, crashed into my consciousness when I said Xurenth. I looked up at the hooded man and I could see crystal clear tears dripping from that man's face. I smiled gently as he looked at me, tears flowing down from his eyes when he suddenly stood up, took off his sword from his scabbard, and turned and placed his sword in front of him in an attacking stance.

I'm so sorry guys for this cliffhanger and there we go, the first ship and pair, Aaron and Bryan. I hope you guys have a nice day and I'll see you guys very soon. Bye.

                                                                             -Angeline Chin Rue Ying