Testing the Waters

[Cptdragon9]

Nine had found a clearing in the wood where she could soak up the sun.  Normally she wouldn’t be doing this at all; life on the ship had kept her mostly isolated in the tank, or in the mess hall in between sessions; both areas far away from any solar energy; but since the crash she found the warm rays welcoming.  Actually, she found the whole jungle welcoming as everything seemed to give off an energy that soothed her whole being.  At first the Colonel was concerned, but as color filled her pale frame with every session, he allowed her more leeway, even foregoing the collar.  He tried assigning her a guard but more often than not she would slip her escort before seeking out solace in the woods.

 

Now that she was warm and happy, she began to entertain the notion of mana.  Not that she was magical in any sense of the word, but the idea of manipulating mana had sounded like how she manipulated energy when propelling the great ship, or using energy to attack when she had been working in the field.  She sat up, overlooking the meadow where she’d been basking all afternoon, the notions still rattling around in her head as she finally settled her gaze on a modest tree standing apace from the forest proper.  She closed her eyes, letting her “inner mind” stretch out to reach the tree.  It was hard to explain to anyone, including Tim, as to how she could see the world without eyes.  Everything had a form of energy, some of it more in flux than others, living things more than inert rock; but it all had a timor to it.  The tree had more stable elements in the trunk, but there was still motion as she could feel it draw liquid and nutrients slowly from the soil; the leaves dancing not only with the movement from the slow breeze, but the sunlight being converted to food in the cells.  She inhaled, and with that, drew that energy from the tree.  She was trying to winnow it from the plant, to draw it slowly; but it came out faster, erratic.  She frowned, moving her hands a bit as she attempted to slow her roll, but that energy was intoxicating, even in small amounts.  Plus there was the fact that the sun itself was dancing on her skin, causing her to fluctuate from drawing to repelling, to attempt to keep things at an even keel.  It was more like rocking a boat.

 

She snapped her eyes open, cutting off the draw, nearly getting hit with a nauseous backlash for her effort.  The tree had withered, the leaves curled up, some dried out from her efforts.  Nine pouted, giving a low sigh.

 

 

                                  

[Solem'cleavu]

Well, that little attempt at energy manipulation seemed to get the attention of the lone dragon in the area that happened to be flying by.  Circling around once before landing near the tree with a roar out towards the girl.  This dragon, with scales of a shimmering sapphire blue, light webbing between the talons on all four of her feet and the presence of several small fins along her spine revealing this one to be a water dragon.  More specifically this water dragon was Major Kaisanu as Nine should be able to recognize her even in her natural form from their previous trip to Vashtalia. 

 

Clearly ready to fight at first however that soon switched to a minor state of confusion as soon as she noticed who it was she was looking at.  Taking a more relaxed stance as she started to study the tree that she had ended up curling herself around as if to protect it.  This went on for several minutes before she looked over at Nine and spoke up.   As is the nature of her kind when in their natural form her voice once again seemed to echo both audibly and in the girl's head.  "Well well wasn't expecting to see you here in this situation young Nine.  Judging by the cries of the spirits I figured I'd have to come down here and teach some insolent little whelp a lesson.  However it does seem like you attempted to stop once you realized what was going on so perhaps no action will be needed.  However just trying to draw energy from random things was rather rude to the little ones so it seems that they would like an apology."

 

 

[Cptdragon9]

Nine pursed her lips, somewhere between contemplation and a pout.  She hadn't sensed anything sentient in the wood but then again she was on a strange planet, dealing with a strange sensation, and was still trying to sus things out.  "I'm sorry," she replied, not sure if the apology was supposed to be for the dragon or for the tree.  She assumed the later but wasn't sure how a plant, if sentient, would understand her words.  Surely there were places in the forest that had never heard the human voice, much less understand it.  "I could try to give it back," she offered.  Nine was feeling pretty good, but she was afraid she would do more damage, possible implode the tree, if she attempted to shove all that energy back into it.  She staggered to her feet, still a bit nauseous and dizzy from her efforts, but it that was what the situation called for she would try to fix it....

 

 

                                                                          

[Solem'cleavu]

Kaisanu merely shook her head at the offer.  "There will be no need for that young Nine.  The spirits will repair the damage to the tree in due time and I will remain here for the time being to supply the required energy as per our ancient pact.  In fact this may be a good little lesson for you, feel free to have a seat right over here."

 

The dragon pointing to a spot on the ground in front of her indicating where Nine should sit before she continued.  "The spirits reside in the flow of mana of this world and as such reside in anything and everything within this world.  For those that can somehow perceive them they may appear as faint little balls of colorful fluff floating about.  I imagine you are somehow able to perceive them as well however it would seem that your perception of them is not by sight but by feeling.  That odd little feeling you have when in the presence of this natural energy is actually caused by the spirits that dwell within it.  The herbs that you were provided when you were at the castle, when dried and crushed, had the effect of temporarily driving most of them away from you which would be why you felt somewhat better after receiving those herbs.  Perfect for those who end up acquiring a rather high sensitivity to the spirits' presence."

 

Now these spirits act as gatekeepers for the energy they reside in and control access to it.  Thus the need for spell incantations as you are effectively asking to borrow the power to use as you see fit.  These incantations can be spoken aloud or by thought it doesn't really matter the method used, it can even be in the form of written runes etched into a weapon or other item.  Nor does it really matter what words you use for your incantations.  It is all the same to the spirits they will receive your intent and grant you access to the energy so that one may cast their magic.  We dragons on the other hand act as the enforcers and bodyguards for these spirits under the guise of protecting the mana energy flow which given the highly intimate nature between this energy and the spirits pretty much amounts to the same thing.  Thus the reason I am here after you tried your hand at siphoning this energy entirely bypassing the will of the spirits.  Granted I just happened to be in the area on my way to Stren but even if I wasn't one of us dragons would have shown up soon enough if you had kept at it and there would be no guarantee that said dragon would not attack first and ask questions later."

[Cptdragon9]

Nine plunked herself down on the spot indicated, perhaps used to being ordered about and being a good little grunt obeyed.  Besides she was still a little heady and sitting was probably a good idea anyway.  As the dragon began to explain how they saw the mana, she didn’t want to correct her.  She saw it in all measures; sound was how she readily felt energy, but she had noticed the fuzzy glowing colors in the jungle.  All kinds of color, almost as if on an acid trip if she paused long enough to note every iota.  She hadn’t realized that the herbs in the draught given to her when they first arrived had the ability to quell her attunement to the mana and energy.  She didn’t need it now; well she was able to bear it more now, and actually embraced it at this point.  Still could be overwhelming at times, but she was able to ride those waves out now.

 

What was new to her was the idea that there were spirits that controlled the energy.  She hadn’t felt anything sentient… well not like normal sentient life.  Things had an ebb and flow, like breathing, but when she had tapped in, she hadn’t sensed any spirit telling her ‘no’ or trying to stop her.  Of course if the dragons were the guardians, she wouldn’t have known that she’d done anything wrong until she’d been attacked.  As to whether she would be able to go toe to toe with a dragon?  In her current condition she’d might be able to put up a little fight, but probably wouldn’t be able to hold her own for long.  Which is why there were more than one deployed in the field when she was working on securing planets for colonization.  With Tim as the anchor she would have been a force to contend with.

 

She had to shake her head, pushing those thoughts aside.  Nine didn’t want to fight anyone; she wanted to learn more about this world and was willing to listen to the lecture, though she did have a wry face at the last comment from Major Kaisanu.

 

 

                                                                               

[Solem'cleavu]

Kaisanu had studied Nine's expression as she listened to the lecture, noticing one point of her lecture that the girl seemed to not quite understand.  "Perhaps I should explain a bit further but keep in mind that although the spirits are called the 'gatekeepers' of the mana flow they do not prevent anyone from drawing upon it.  They are simply called that since without them magic cannot be performed, not easily anyway.
 

Think of them as an interface you would use to interact with the energy.  It is the spirits that are responsible for interpreting the mental image you create for your magic and actualizing it into a spell.  As such it is also the spirits that are responsible for the flow of mana throughout a spell's 'life'.  Everything from spell actualization all the way through spell completion and recycling the energy used for a spell back into the main flow after completion is all done by the spirits."

[Cptdragon9]

"Kinda like a computer terminal," the mutant replied.  "You type in a command or code, and it performs the task for you; reroute energy, open a bay door, change direction of a ship.  It even determines how much energy would be needed to complete the command, drawing it from the engines.  I could feel things like that when I was in the tank."  It was state matter- of - factly.

 

                                                                

[Solem'cleavu]

"Hmm, not quite sure of your terminology but how you describe it that would seem to be an apt comparison.  Now all that being said let me get right down to the entire reason I'm down here speaking to you to begin with.  Simply put you were drawing too much energy too quickly to sustain the spirits' lives in this area.  The spirits are beings born spontaneously from the flow of mana, as such they require it to survive.  Even if the strength at which you were drawing the energy into yourself was not intentional they still perceived it as a threat to their well being and thus I am here and truthfully if you didn't try to stop of your own volition I would have had to do anything I could to stop you myself."

 

It was then that Kaisanu had simply removed herself from around the tree even as she assumed her humanoid form and sat down cross-legged across from Nine.  "This is what we dragons mean when we say that we are tasked to protect the flow of mana of this world.  More specifically we are tasked to protect it against malicious attempts to interrupt it.  Fortunately there have been few that were suicidal enough to attempt to do so.  If I remember correctly the last one was just a few hundred years ago.  His lab was an impressive structure too, must have taken most of his life for the construction to complete.  I don't quite remember what it was he was was trying to experimenting with but the spirits were highly agitated about it.  I think this mage was trying to capture some to experiment on.  Something that every self-respecting mage would know as a quick way to get the dragons pissed off at you.  Either way next thing anyone know that place was reduced to rubble with only the charred bones of the mage, along with anyone else who was assisting him, left behind."

 

Kaisanu's face did take on a bit of a wistful look though as she thought back on it.  "He had pretty impressive defenses set up too indicating that he must have had a relatively powerful backer.  Oh right now I remember it was a government project that some small nation or another was working on.  Now that I think about it that nation no longer exists either.  That was certainly a fun time though taking out that mage and the nation that backed his research.  Still wish I knew what the hell was going through their heads though."

 

 

[Cptdragon9]

Nine looked sorry now.  "I didn't mean to hurt your spirits.  I can imagine being afraid, weakened if somebody took my power and energy.  Even now..." she looked to her hands.  "I sometimes wish I were back in the tank.  It was comfortable.  I could feel...everything."  She looked up to the dragon turned human.  "I feel it here too, I just don't feel a part of it.  I want to, but clearly I need to temper myself."  She gave a sigh.  "I won't do that again."  She gave a bit of a snort.  "Besides I don't thing the Guard would last as long in a fistfight with the dragons.  We don't have the firepower being cut off from our old world."  Again a wry smile.  "Don't tell the Colonel I said that.  He might be cross with me, though I don't think I'm saying anything that's a great secret or anything,"

 

 

                                                                    

[Solem'cleavu]

"I'm pretty sure your Colonel is well aware of that fact Nine but I'd agree that he would probably rather not have that fact pointed out, 'rubbing salt in the wound' and all that."  Kaisanu shrugged a bit at that but then continued.  "As for the issue of the spirits you seem repentant so we'll just leave things at that.  That being said I still think you would benefit in attending Philip's lectures on magic every so often.  Hell you could probably just ask him about it and he should be able to give you some additional pointers on manipulating the energy in such a way that won't get you in trouble in the future."

[Cptdragon9]

Nine seemed to stare for a bit.  "You want me... to learn magic?  Do you think that's... safe?"  The idea of being able to tap into the plethora of power she felt all around her made her giddy, but she knew how destructive that could be.  Still to be able to do some of the things the dragons could... it would be neat.....  Of course she would have to ask the Colonel, and she doubted he would let her, and she pouted at the thought....

 

                                                                 

[Solem'cleavu]

With that Kaisanu shrugged.  "Only if you want to however even if you do not learn magic itself such lessons in the manipulation of this energy should still be of benefit to you.  Once you learn how to properly manipulate the energy safety shouldn't be an issue and it may very well prevent you from nearly getting yourself into trouble like earlier.  Hell if it's just minor lessons in mana manipulation any one of us could probably teach you but we would need to get permission from your superiors of course."

[Cptdragon9]

"Of course," she echoed, looking back over the field, sitting quietly for a minute before reply.  "I'd like that," she intoned, her brain already trying to figure out how to ask the Colonel for permission.

[Solem'cleavu]

Kaisanu had simply nodded at Nine's response.  "Very good.  It would probably be a good idea for one of us to be around as well when you do ask your higher ups in case they have further questions.  Although all that being said I figure all you really need to learn is how to control your rate of intake.  Starting with us dragons there are plenty in this world that naturally absorb the arcane energy surrounding them for consumption or storage within their own bodies.  Mages learn this ability as well during their basic studies in mana manipulation.  

 

"Additionally not all usage of this energy requires the spirits.  For example the so-called 'breath attacks' of our kind are nothing more than a focused non-spell based attack using mana energy.  On the inhalation step we intake a mass of this energy, then we internally adjust the elemental attributes of this energy, then expel in order to complete the attack.  Of course, simply drawing in the energy naturally and storing it doesn't affect the spirits much either generally.  It's only when there's a fast, sudden withdrawal of this energy that becomes an issue in this respect as the spirits won't be able to keep up with the flow.  This is especially problematic in areas where the flow is relatively weak to begin with."

[Cptdragon9]

"mmmmmmmm," Nine replied going over what she felt before, wondering how she would need to adjust herself in order to draw on something 'naturally'.  It all felt natural to her.  Running the engines on the Clandestine was probably the most even-keeled thing she'd ever done.  Before, when she was in the field, it was all power spikes and mass destruction.  Here, on the planet, it was like a combination of calm and chaos.  Smooth ripples.  Ebbs and flows.

 

She finally stood up, wobbling a bit before regaining her balance then commenced on dusting herself off before turning to look her babysitter over.  "Can we go now?  Or do you need to talk to your people first?"

 

 

[Solem'cleavu]

((Well kinda forgot about this one))

 

Kaisanu had stood up at that point simply nodding in response to Nine’s question.  “We can go now since we’re in the area anyway.  I can just talk to my leadership about it later.  Lead the way.”

[Cptdragon9]

“Very well,” she smiled, spinning on her heel.  “Disaway,” and she began to head back towards the bivouac.  She seemed almost giddy, as if her exposure to the world around her was like a drug.  It was the best she’d felt in days.

 

Most of the fort knew that Nine was on her way with company because by the time the duo reached the gates, there was an escort and the Colonel himself there to greet them.  “Major Kaisanu.  I see you’ve found my missing asset… again.  Has Nine been causing trouble again?”

[Solem'cleavu]

Kaisanu's brow furrowed slightly at the mention of the word "asset" before her expression returned to normal although such a quick change would be nearly imperceptible unless one were paying extremely close attention.  However she did decide to just let that one go.  After all it wasn't her place to tell people how they should refer to one of their own so in the end she just shook her head in response to the Colonel's question.  "Well not any that was of any consequence in the end at any rate.  We do have a bit of a request to make of you though.  Although to be fair it's more of a request from young Nine here and more of a simple recommendation from me.  Do you have any time available to set aside so we can discuss a couple things?"

[Cptdragon9]

The Colonel gestured for the dragon to enter the segmented building.  “I’ve got a few minutes now.  Besides if Nine has something on her mind, I definitely want to hear about it.” 

 

The fearless leader led the way, with Nine and Kaisanu followed by two guardsman.  People in the narrow hallway made way, everyone saluting the Colonel as he strode by with his guests, until they reached the conference room.  It was clear that the room was commonly used as the Colonel had to grab several stacks of paper off the table and plunk them on one of the unused chairs, gesturing again for the duo to sit in empty ones as he likewise sat across from them.

 

He now gestured with his hands widened out.  “So, what’s on your minds?”

[Solem'cleavu]

Kaisanu taking a seat for herself before she just got right down to business.  "Simply put I would like to recommend that Nine here gets some form of training in mana manipulation.  In light of how I found her to begin with it is my opinion that this would be a favorable course of action going forward. 

 

To explain further I found her in the midst of an attempt to draw in energy from her surroundings.  The rate and power of such withdrawal however running the risk of driving the local spirits away from the area entirely if not erasing their very existence so I had to step in and mitigate.  However, with a little bit of training in how to manipulate the mana around her I believe it would be safe enough for her to do so in the future.  That being said I will need to stress that the risk was ultimately an accident and I do not feel that she was intending to draw out as much energy as she did, especially not at the rate and force she was drawing it out at.  She is still lucky that it was I that encountered her and not some other dragon that didn't know her though, things most likely would not have ended as favorably."

[Cptdragon9]

 

 

The Colonel’s smile started off as jovial, but as Kaisanu continued on with her report, the smile faded more and more, until it was clearly in a worried frown.  He tapped a few keys on the tablet that he seemed to carry everywhere.  But the time she finished; two men walked into the room.  At the Colonel’s nod of his head, they flanked Nine, each putting a firm hand on each of her arms.

 

 

Nine had been smiling the whole time right up to when the hands were clamped down on her.  She flinched for a moment, eyes looking back at her superior, whom only gave a soft sigh.  Her head then hung down and she rose from her chair, letting the men escort her out of the room without a fuss.

 

 

The Colonel now turned to Kaisanu.  “My greatest apologies.  It was wrong of me to allow her to wander unescorted in your world.  That will be rectified from this point forward.  We will keep her collared, sedated, and contained for the duration of our stay as we do not want to endanger our relationship between our peoples.  She is a very dangerous creature.  I should have known better.”  He pouted.  “I will have her tankmate recalled and collared as well.”

[Cptdragon9]

He smiled, tossing her a meat pie, knowing how she enjoyed the pastries and knew she’d be awfully cranky otherwise.  “Yeah.  I think we can make it to mid-day until the clouds open up.”

 

Almost to the minute the skies opened up and the caravan halted to cover the sides of the carts.  Tim seemed content enough just to pull the hood of his cape up and over the thick raven locks of hair, the drazai’s soft hooves dancing in the growing mud puzzles.  They were fortunate that the terrain had slowly changed from sandy desert to more grassy loam, enough so that the carts and wide-toed pack animals didn’t sink into the trail.

Tim himself was happy enough to lead the parade, inhaling strong and sharply, clearly enjoying the moisture, even though it only lasted an hour before it faded away to chilled crosswinds.  Again, the desert folk, used to changing temperatures, bundled against the breeze as they continued on the trek.

 

Their intrepid leader called a halt close to sunset and the caravan quickly set up camp.  Four warriors had been sent out to hunt for dinner, coming back with two long legged gazelle -looking creatures, carrying 6 legs like most of the pack animals they used.  Soon the Rex and his beloved were nestled next to a campfire, waited on hand and foot.  Tim was doing calculations in his head.  “We should be firmly in the foothills tomorrow night.  By then we might see signs of our neighborly friends.  I might have you do aerial recon.“

 

 

[Solem'cleavu]

((decided to redo this post))

 

They seriously were going to do this right in front of her?  It was at that point that the look in Kaisanu gave an exasperated sigh.  "Ok, so Colonel you seriously are going to pull that crap right in front of me?  For crying out loud you could have least humored the idea and waited until I was gone before doing so.  Now you just kind of look like an ass that refuses to listen to what he's being told and focuses only on the worst-case scenario because of it."

 

Yes she drew in enough power to cause the spirits some amount of alarm and it was still correct that had she continued there was some very real risk to the spirits around her.  However perhaps I am at fault for not explaining further that she herself realized that she was drawing in too much too fast and put a stop to it all on her own before I even showed up.  All she really needs is a little bit of guidance in manipulating the mana energy around her to prevent this from happening again and what do you do?  Haul her away stating that you are going to keep her collared and contained like some kind of rabid dog?  I think you are overreacting a bit to what can basically be likened to a small child wetting her bed by accident as far as us dragons are concerned.  Ultimately no real harm has been done and both the spirits and myself have forgiven her as she was quite sorry about it."

 

Kaisanu stood up at that point as if she was just tired of sitting down already.  "I am in complete understanding that we do not have any say in how you wish to punish your own people Colonel however let me ask this.  Exactly how pray tell do you intend on even keeping her contained through the duration of your stay here when you don't even know how long that will be?  It could be years, even decades before you find a way home even with the help of ourselves and other nations and Nine may very well have died of old age by then in which case you would no doubt be stuck here anyway since you are practically banking on her being able to assist with this.  On top of that do you even have enough supplies to do so?  Quite frankly taking me up on my offer here is a much better alternative than keeping her locked up for what may very well be the rest of her natural life and it'll save you in supplies to boot.

 

Unless of course there is a specific reason you are opting for the route you took instead of at least considering what I have said so far."

[Cptdragon9]

 

The Colonel paused, giving a small hand sign so that the escorts also paused, with Nine dangling between them.  “Lady Kaisanu,” he began cautiously.  “If memory serves me, Lord Kel had cautioned us that there would be dire consequences should anything happen to the balance of mana in your world.  Clearly Nine is capable of causing such an event and I cannot afford to lose her, assuming she would need to be destroyed to avoid any further damage. To contain her would be my only other option.”

 

 

The Guardsman was clearly deliberating what is options should be before proceeding.  “However, if you wish to take on this task of training Nine, I would be interested; provided we can draw up a proper contract.  I would need assurances that we would not be held liable should she do any damages while under your tutelage. Also I would need guarantees that she would be returned to us without permanent injury to her body or talent, or that we would be compensated for any loss.”  The two guardsmen holding the mutant seemed a bit nervous; even Nine herself looked mixed with emotion but holding herself in check.  The Colonel held his hand aloft again, and the guardsman planted Nine back down in her chair and everybody seemed to relax a couple of notches.  A quick wave of his hand and the two escorts left the room.

 

 

Nine seemed pretty shook up, quivering a bit in her seat, but the Colonel seemed more collected.  “Now, how would you suggest we proceed?” 

[Solem'cleavu]

At that Kaisanu had quirked a brow and then just shook her head giving another exasperated sigh.  "Damnit Lord Kel...  Ok look Colonel.  Count this as dealing with red dragons 101.  While what Lord Kelinium has stated is technically true also keep in mind that this is also mostly for intentional and malicious actions to throw out the balance.  Nine's actions wouldn't fall under this category especially since she seemed genuinely repentant once she found out what it was she nearly did.  Also keep in mind that the Red Dragon clans are not, let us just say, the most calm among the dragons as a whole with the Solem'cleavu line being by far the most bloodthirsty of the lot.  As such ask any red dragon about any consequences to such actions and they will always go worst-case scenario on you.

 

All that being said that attribute actually helps in matters as it helps serve as a major deterrent against such malicious actions.  Plus it helps that the reds do tend to go a bit overboard.  For all the misunderstandings this tends to cause however they are also a loyal lot.  However we seem to be getting a bit off topic.  As to how to proceed on this I'll let Lord Clawrift know you desire a meeting.  Any contract that needs to be written up to teach young Nine here mana manipulation he can help with."