Awoken: COMPLETED

Prologue

"They'll see that they need us, Lark. They always do."

A young woman sat on the railing of a wooden balcony, her multicoloured hair blowing freely around her face in the slight wind. It had once been dark brown, and it was still dark brown, but it was also dashes of blue and pink and purple. It was just one of the many things about Lark that had changed in the past few years; from her calloused hands, to the scars up her arms. She was not the girl she had once been, scared of a power she possessed that she did not understand, an outcast of the humans that had recognized she was different.

She sat watching the sunrise, focusing intently on the light, something that the girl who was watching Lark knew she did when she was trying not to cry. Lark was the leader, after all, and she would try not to show weakness in the face of such loss. Lark sat dangerously close to the edge of the balcony: if Lark were human, one would have been worried that she might fall, but Lark was a windweaver - although it was not her greatest strength. No falls could harm her - defying gravity was just one of the gifts she possessed.

"Serenity, this time was different. You know it was." Lark said, her voice containing obvious regret. "Rachel was so close - the closest she's been in months to being within our grasp. If I could have captured her, the war would have been over." Lark spun a ball of water in her palm, lost in thought.

It was unfair, Serenity thought, that Lark has all the powers I could only dream of having. My years of training and effort, and she comes in and takes what is mine. She pushed her bitterness aside, however. Now is not the time for these petty grudges. Not in the face of such a tragedy. Serenity sat down on the wooden railing next to Lark, barely noticing as splinters pierced their way into her skin. She may have been only sixteen, but the war had been raging for nearly two years. One could not fight in the frontlines of a war without becoming immune to pain, to a certain extent.

"It wasn't your fault," Serenity said, putting her hand on Lark's shoulder. "The five of us, we're a team. We win and lose together." Serenity hesitated, feeling a little bit awkward. She and Lark had never been the closest of friends. She knew she wasn't what Lark needed, even Aiden could understand Lark better. But it was still dark out, with only a glimmer of light on the horizon. It would be a while before the others woke.

"I'm worried that the war will escalate," Lark confessed, looking at her. Her eyes were filled with sorrow and regret. She blames herself. She always does, Serenity thought.

"We are not the sole force that keeps the world from chaos. The military and the Academy will do everything in their power." Serenity said, though the words were less reassuring then she would have liked. Faith was what her foster parents had always preached, faith in the government, and she would not let her faith fail her now.

"I hate that the council is doing this, splitting us up. One failure doesn't warrant this." Lark sounded almost confused, not angry like Serenity had anticipated.

"It is not like they said the team will never return. They are just putting us on different paths for now." Serenity said, praying that Lark wouldn't ask where she was assigned to go.

"Yes, I know. Mia will go home to Aluria, to try and use her family's influence to convince them to bring the team back together." Lark said.

Serenity bit her lip. She could not help but feel a little sorry for Mia, who was venturing back into the world of politics she hated so much. "And I spoke to Aiden last night," she said. "He got his assignment yesterday; he'll be sent seeking in rural Argentina."

Lark was silent for a moment, lost in thought. She opened her mouth, poised to ask Serenity a question, but Serenity intervened quickly, trying to avoid discussing her assignment for as long as possible. "And what of you? Where are you going? You never said."