What's Your power?

A Mission

Thomas' POV:

I really hate going on missions. They take me out of class sometimes for weeks at a time, but we essentially need to go on missions its the best way to make money. We do have jobs so we do make some money but it isn't nearly as much a single day at a mission. The school provides us shelter and food for free but if we want anything else we have to pay. Clothing, tech, phone minutes, and books all come out of our pocket. I mean it's not the worst system our school stays up to date with everything the latest phones, latest fashion, and anything else that comes out that could help us seem more normal when we're out n missions. I really wanted to get Steven and Mandy birthday presents but everything is expensive especially with how much I have to pay for pet food.

That's how I ended up in China exploring the Yellow Mountains searching for a tour group that went missing up here a week ago. They sent me with Stu "the steamroller" Tomba and Elise "the wildflower" Summer. Our code names have to do with our powers Stu is super strong and Elise can control plants. Me I'm called "the animal whisperer". We each were sent here specifically because we have powers that may come in handy. I have one of my dogs, Daisy a boxer, tracking the scent while Elise clears the brush and shrubbery without damaging the ecosystem. Eventually we're hopelessly lost still following a dog, in the middle of a new country, searching for people, and on top of it all the suns going down. Stu clears his throat "alright guys we need to stop for the night we can continue this search in the morning"

Stu is physically intimidating. He's tall, muscular, shaved head and piercing blue eyes that are more serious than most forms of cancer. His voice is clear and very deep. Elise, however, is average height, thin, short blonde hair in a cute bob, and the softest green eyes ever. Her voice is high and yet extremely calming. I don't exactly know what people see when they see me but I know they see my tan hair is brushed up with a fade, I have green eyes and I'm scrawny as heck. That's why the school won't teach me to actually fight. Instead they tell me to rely on the agility I've learned from my animals. The people with super agility are amazing but I've learned quite a bit from my animals.

We each make our own beds. Elise moves some bushes into a soft pile, Stu punched himself a comfy little hole, and I took our food to sleep in one of the trees. Daisy is sleeping with Elise since he can't climb trees and after Stu's little hole digging act she's been a little freaked out. The night is slightly cold but I've survived worse. I've slept on top of mountains, in rain forests, and my least favorite deserts. At the crack of dawn we're hiking again.

We must be getting close by now. It's been hours and we still haven't found them. Daisy is not the best tracker but she is pretty good and she's saying that we aren't far but there is something else heading for the group as well. "Well Thomas what is following them?" Stu is getting impatient with my inability to tell what it is "You are next to useless sometimes you know that right. Now, tell your mutt to hurry up."

He is so rude sometimes. She is actually a purebred boxer. Also she doesn't know what he's saying some animals speak different languages. She speaks Spanish and that's why I've learned Spanish, Dutch, Swiss, German, and an assortment of others. I mix them up sometimes but I'm doing pretty well. The school really undervalues me I can communicate with the locals of quite a few places and I'm agile and if all else fails I can always ask animals. Comparatively they would need two students to do that and they still couldn't talk to animals.

As the sun sets in the distance we finally find the people. It's a group of 12 French tourists. Well guess who speaks French because it's me. Elise pulls out a bulky satellite phone to call in an air lift out. Well of course things are going far to smoothly for my luck so who decides to show themselves a large Asian Black Bear. He seems to be angry about something. He keeps mumbling about a lost something I can't make out the last word. I think it starts with an M. I don't know what he's saying but he's transfixed on us.

The bear lowers his head and charges. I jump out of the way while Stu jumps in the way. Taking a devastating bite to the shoulder. The bear tries to charge the tourists but Elise wraps up his feet. I kneel down behind him and lightly touch his head. It seems to calm him and he returns to mumbling "stay away I've lost my mind."

I pat him lightly "what do you mean you are perfectly fine I'm here to talk to you and help you okay? Now tell me where has your mind gone?"

He lets out a ferocious scream and then starts to cry telling me a story about a young man who took over his body and he can't do anything but speak. I know who he's talking about. There was a student last year who ran away but he had the power to take over a body leaving only the mind to watch in horror at what he made the do. We call it a code 2015: body slave to hunt innocents or draw out our students. I take the phone from Elise "HELLO THIS IS THOMAS WE HAVE A CODE 2015 I REPEAT A CODE 2015"

The plane is there not long after and all of us are being questioned. i tell them exactly what the bear told me and we load him onto the plane. The school decided if I can convince him to stay I can keep him. It wasn't a hard sell. Three meals a day, medical attention, and best of all no being possessed. His name was Sēnlín (Sen-lean) which translates to Forest. I think I'll just call him Sen.