Year 2048 North America: Somewhere in the Southwest

In a near yet far off future, the world had changed drastically due the governments across the planet. About 25 years ago, several different countries discovered a mineral buried deep within the earth, they called it Aendium. Aendium is said to be a color mixed between a teal and a purple, with strange almost magical properties. It is said to be harder than a diamond and can only be melted at temperatures too high to reach with any normal cooking appliance.

When it was tested by scientists, the discoveries they found were the start of the fall of humanity. Scientists found that Aendium contained properties that seemed almost magical and strange. And thus, the experiments started. Orphans and the homeless were recruited for these dangerous and inhumane experiments. There were many deaths that followed and only a selective amount was able to attain superhuman abilities, however, the public grew outraged.

Once the public learned of these experiments, countries began to fall apart one after the other over time. Citizens incited riots and countries fought each other for the right to own Aendium, some even using the power of the strange mineral in warfare. A once relatively peaceful world fell into a dystopian state. People ran rampant, laws ceased to exist, it had become a world where only the strongest would survive. Resources became scarce as disease claimed lives and livestock, it was the end of the world.

Arava sat at the bubbling river, washing her clothes. A deer had gotten its blood all over her when she brought it down. She looked over at the dead creature, there was a giant hole bleeding from its chest where its heart had once been. It had been strung to a tree nearby where it hung lifelessy, inches above the ground. She grimaced slightly at the grim sight, she felt bad for the brutal death caused by her hands. However, she needed to survive. She had been running for the longest, the world she thought she once knew had become a mess before her very eyes.

Old painful memories wanted to surface at the front of her mind, but she pushed those back and focused her thoughts back on the task at hand. She had to prepare the deer for cooking. She looked down at her worn jeans, dark red blotches dotted the hem of the once-dark blue material. Water had soaked into it, her feet having fallen to the same wet fate as her jeans. A heavy sigh left her as she stood up from her spot. She hobbled to her backpack, digging through her packed bag.

Pulling out her old towel, she dried her feet and found a pair of clean socks. Slipping the dried cotton over her feet, she pushed her feet into the black worn out boots. As she laced her boots, she prepared herself mentally for the trek she would need to continue on.

With the deer meat, she could chew on that for a few days once she dehydrated it. After she packed that up and filled all her canteens, she would be off once more. She looked at the dead deer and readied herself the arduous task of taking the meat and insides out of it. The sun was barely past noon, so she had time to finish the task and have the meat dry by a fire by the end of the day.

She knew that it usually took longer to properly dehydrate the animal meat, but she had learned a few tricks to move the process along a little faster. So she began the long process, starting with the most gruesome and stomach turning part.

Arava had grown so used to doing such things time and time again, her body had become accustomed to doing it. When she was a girl, after she escaped from the facility, she had learn to run and hide. In the beginning of her life on the run, she was hunted. She had to fight her way through many things, but once the world fell apart, they stopped coming after her.

She never remained in one place, still fearing they were still looking for her to do horrendous things to her. She shivered at the vague thought and moved her mind away from those thoughts. Arava was not sure where she was going, at this point, it felt as if she would be running for the rest of her life.

She avoided other people like they were a plague, fearing someone had bad intentions towards her in any way. If she's learned from past mistakes, even the most unlikely will always try to use her in some way.

The time ticked on as she finished the task at hand. With each change in the process, she found herself feeling a bit more on edge. Just as she had finished hanging the meat over a fire and was washing her hands, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

She stood up, pulling her fists up to her chest in anticipation as she turned around. The sun had begun to set, filling the sky with reds, oranges, and pinks. It would be dark soon and she had not anticipated meeting someone.

Her dark brown eyes scanned the area around her, noting she saw no one in the dim light the fire had to offer. "I know someone's there, come out!" She shouted into the trees, hearing her voice echo around her.

Lucky for her, whoever was hiding decided to come out. Unlucky for her, there was a lot more than she expected. She cursed under her breath as she clenched her fists tightly. At least ten people had converged out of the trees, encircling her at the river's edge. She threw a quick glance behind her, noting the water was not as shallow as she wanted it to be. She could not make a run for it across, most likely she would have to fight her way out.

She held her breath as what appeared to be the leader of their little group stepped forward. In the fading light, all she could make out from the distance was a head of black hair and a muscular build. Whoever he was, he was strong and they both knew it.

"What do you people want?" She called out, watching for any sudden movements. There were no major movements from any of the people, all of them were concealed by the dying light of the sun.

"You need to come with us." The deep voice called back, his words made her scoff and roll her eyes. Like she's never heard that one before.

"And why should I? I don't know you buddy." She called out, tensing as he took a few steps her way.

"You're an Aendium Enhanced, you will come with us. Whether you like it or not, you will not be able to get away from us." She tensed once more as she realized this man already knew about her and he was not making idle threats, he meant business. Him and his little friends all tightened their grips on their weapons and pointed them her way.

Ten guns all faced her, impending doom that could faze anyone. Avara however has done this multiple times, she wasn't so concerned. That was until the leader's body lit up with lightning before her very eyes. She blinked in shock, never having seen an ability like that before. "Shit, shit, shit." She muttered under her breath as she let her fists and arms light up with fire.

Heat licked her skin, the warm sensation usually felt so comforting to her. Avara may not have a special ability like lightning, but the fire she has could do more than enough damage.  "As fun as that sounds, I'm gonna have to decline your invitation." She took a deep breath in as she readied herself.

White electricity shot her way, her fire flared out to block it as she jumped to the side. A ball of fire grew in her palm, she clutched the burning ball of flames before she chucked it at him. It erupted against his arms as he used his ability to diffuse it. Another bolt of white lightning shot her way, this time it nicked her on her shoulder.

The pain of the electric current running through her body was enough to cause her flames to almost cut off. She grit her teeth as she decided on using the offensive. Letting fire light up around her feet, she used it to enhance her running speed.

She made a beeline for the man, swinging a burning hand toward his face. He jumped back, trying to swipe at her. She ducked under his arms, using her foot to land a solid kick to his chest. He stumbled back a bit, before returning a hard blow to her stomach. Pain bloomed across of abdomen as she fell back from the impact.

Another bolt of lightning flashed her way, her body barely missing it by centimeters as she rolled out of the way. Scrambling to her feet, she stepped back to study the figure surrounded by the white light. In the dim light, she could make out a pair of ice-blue eyes. She had to think of something quick, or she would become their prisoner. Gathering the fire in her palms, she readied herself once more.

When she felt the temperature was hot enough, a beam of fire went shooting his way. It had somehow hit him directly in the gut, knocking him down. He coughed as he struggled to dust off the pain from her fire. Not thinking twice, she let the heat build up between her palms again. Just as she aimed her palms his way, a sharp needle pricked the back of her neck.

She gasped as she pulled the object away, finding a dart in her hand. "Goddamn it!" She growled, feeling the side effects of the dart start to take over. Everything around her started to get blurry, her legs felt as if they were losing all their strength.

She stumbled to the side as she tried to run away, but it got harder to move with each second. She could hear them circle around her, their weapons pointed her way. She tried to crawl away, but a heavy foot pushed down against her back. The weight of it caused her body to hit the dirt. "The High Lord is going to love this one." A different voice sneered as a grimy hand grabbed the bottom of her shirt.

"Don't fucking touch me!" She shouted while trying to jerk her body away. Luckily the hand had jerked away, probably surprised by her outburst. The foot had been removed while hands grabbed at her arms and pulled her off the ground. Her eyes met those ice-blue ones and she glared with so much hate. "You're gonna regret messing with me, buddy." She spat with venom, everything around her blotting with black spots as her vision began to fall in and out of consciousness.

A smirk lit his face as he gazed into her eyes. "I'd like to see you try little girl." With him so close to her, she pulled her head back, letting it swing forward. Their foreheads connected with a loud thud, the impact causing him to flinch and groan, before he glared at her. "Looks like someone has to teach you a lesson." He growled.

A heavy punch to her stomach left her winded as he got his revenge against her. She groaned a bit before letting out a small cough. "You're nothing but a little bitch." She hissed, finding it harder to stay awake. As the black dots filled her vision, she let her body fall prey to the tranquilizer.

"This one is mine." She heard blue eyes say before everything went dark.