Cloudans, they are Earth's inhabitants instead of humans. They are similar to humans in every way behaviorally. They think, feel, and do the same things humans do in their lives. If you ever hear the term "Cloudan," just think of them as this world's humans.
The term "Cloudan" derives from the distant past, often assumed to be before recorded time where the first populations of Cloudan inhabited the planet. The term itself is believed that their ancestors correlated themselves similar to the clouds in the sky. Oddly enough, it stuck around to be a solidified term to call their species. Even though they have nothing in relation to clouds, the fact that Cloudans are snow white in body color, they have generally accepted the name.
The Cloudans have had a unique kind of history worldwide through their introduction to the alien race, the Umbra. The Cloudans connection to the Umbra have been said to be the richest period in all of history, where they as a race managed to make contact with an unfamiliar society of people that somehow managed to embrace their kind to the fullest. So much so that it was common for a Cloudan to have an Umbran companion. In the past, it was common for Cloudans to be BOUND to the Umbra, being bound to an Umbra meant that 1 Cloudan and 1 Umbra would be "forever unified as partners until death do them apart," meaning if the Cloudan died, so did the Umbra along with them as well and vice versa.
Cloudans have evolved like Humans, however what Cloudans have to differ is that they come in 2 general groups: those who are normal and those who have inherited special powers. These two groups is what would lead to their societies to adopt the terms "Common" for those who are normal, and "Gifted" for those who have been born with powers.
Due to the 2 groups of Cloudans, it has managed to make the Cloudans categorize their entire race depending on their physical capabilities. This would only result in the creation of the CCS, or Cloudan Categorical System.
How a Cloudan was categorized under this system comes in a variety of ways. The following categories will provide the required qualifications to how a Cloudan could be given their status from the list.
Commons
Common Cloudans are just your average Joe down the block. They have no notable physical improvements or capabilities to them. They have average strength, stamina, and overall just an average existence. This group of people are usually considered the ones who "need saving" from danger. There isn't much left to say about this group of Cloudans besides the fact they are just ... will a common category.
Advance
Advanced Cloudans are a category of people that possess physical advancements. What that means is that they possess some talent that goes above the typical expectation and standard of the Commons. This can be through a profession like sword fighting, gunslinging, sumo wrestling, boxing, and many more.
Bound
Bound Cloudans are a category of Cloudan that have been "bound" to an Umbra. "Binding" is a spiritual practice that has the essence of an Umbra become linked to the Cloudan's essence, signifying an undying promise of trust and faith between both participants. Cloudans can only bind with one Umbra at a time, as by surpassing that amount will result in the essences of any extra participating Umbra will result in the Cloudan's essence dissipating, causing him or her to die along with any Umbra already bound or participating in the extra binding.
Bound Cloudans used to be abundant in the distant past, approximately over 1,000 years. These Cloudans, however, have slowly started decreasing in numbers as their connection with the Umbrian race suddenly just stopped, their kind seemingly vanishing from the face of the Earth. It's said that archives of recorded information during that era is kept my the government around the world, however, there has been no confirmation to those rumors.
Gifted
Gifted Cloudans are the more interesting group of people in the entire planet. These Cloudans possess otherworldly powers that seemingly have no explanation as to how or why these Cloudans gain it. These powers can range from a seemingly useful tool for a domestic life like having the ability to hear what others are hearing or something more tame like being able to understand animals, to more destructive and more powerful ones such as manipulating the gravity around your body or creating nuclear fissures to make explosions. These powers are called "Gifts," hence their title as Gifted Cloudans.
Hybrid
Hybrid Cloudans are interesting, as they are a category of Cloudans that come with 2 variants, Advance-Bound & Gifted-Bound. Hybrids are Cloudans that aren't Commons that are bound to an Umbra, but since there are two other categories of Cloudans, that automatically creates 2 variants of these Hybrid Cloudans. Unlike the Bound type, Hybrids can be an Advance or a Gifted Cloudan that has bound to an Umbra. It's said that these types of Cloudans were rare, however, it's also been said that there have been no records of such an oddity.
Even though Cloudans have their special traits, over time it's been seen as an issue for the "weaker classes." This would lead to Gifted Cloudans to accumulate a bad view from the other classes, specifically the Common Cloudans. This concern initially started with the Bound Cloudans in the past, as they would possess greater strength than they were if they were apart from an Umbra. It's been generally accepted that the initial fear of stronger individuals through the Umbra is what sparked to the sudden disappearance of the Bound Cloudans, along with the Umbra as a whole.
As time went on, this fear would later on develop to be targeted to the Gifted, resulting in the '08 incident where Gifted Cloudans would radically be terminated from the world from all countries, except for few countries that urged to close their borders and protect their citizens. This would mark these few specific countries as safe havens for the Gifted Cloudans to migrate into so they could go to hiding and away from being traced by hostile forces. But even then, accessing these countries was a challenge on its own.
In modern Earth, Gifted are hated worldwide. Many have been killed, but just as many have gone to hiding without a trace or a clue as of where they hid. But they aren't alone in their fight, as there are certainly countless Cloudans of all categories and of all social statuses who despise this outcome for the Gifted Cloudans, either out of empathy or because they have family or friends who are a Gifted.