Strange Places - Three

As they were all sitting there, Jayce scratching Drash to the amazement of Sherri and Chiseraei, the sounds of heavy boots could be heard coming close to the area they were located. Looking over, Sherri and Chiseraei could see Ten Security personnel in heavy armor: palatium plate mail covering the body, a special type of metal resistant to physical and most magic and psychic attacks, with extra covering at vital areas, thick shoulder protectors, armor plating along the upper arms and forearms, linked by neural fibers, gauntlets with plugs that looked like they connected to some form of weapon. The waist was protected by a belt of sorts, the same type of fibers running between it up and down, running to the chest armor, and to the armor on the legs. The plating on the legs covered loosely around the sides , front, and back, a special covering around the knees, and more around the calves, and to the feet. They each wore a special Helm that was also connected by the fibers, which allowed them to move in the armor as easily as if it was their own skin. One could tell these were Elite Warriors, which makes sense if someone had seen Drash come down and reported it, a Dracoenix a'lighting was not something to be taken lightly, and even these Ten might just barely be enough.....if there was a true threat....but...

"Is something the matter?" Jayce asked confusedly as he noticed the security personnel looking at him and Drash, more like openly staring at the dracoenix leisurely lazing on Jayce, eyes closed, as he scratched under its chin.

The leader of the team took off their helmet, revealing an older Feralyn woman, a scar down the right side of her face, an injury she refused to have healed, her good eye red, shoulder length green/grey hair, her species appeared to be tiger, at least, that is what Jayce thought when he saw her. She had seen many battlefields, and fought against more than one dracoenix, but this was the first time that she, correction; that ANYONE had seen a Dracoenix acting in such a manner outside of with their own kind....

After a couple moments of just observing, she turned back to the other security members.

"Stand down, and back to your posts, Stat!" She said, then pressed a button on her belt, after which, the excess armor removed itself from her, along with the palatium armor, leaving her in her security uniform: standard black pants, a grey shirt, and white uniform jacket, rapier at her side, black boots completing the outfit. "Well, I'll be damned.....I never thought I'd see the day when someone would tame a dracoenix..."

"Actually Captain Kuresh," Sherri said hesitantly "Jayce hasn't tamed it.....According to him, they've bonded...."

"They've what?!" She said in shock, looking at Jayce and Drash once again "I have never heard of such a thing.....but then again....he IS an otherworlder....and I can't ignore what is before my very eye..."

Facing him properly, "Since this is our first time meeting, allow me to introduce myself: Feristan Kuresh, Captain of the Elite Guard." She said presenting her left hand

"Greetings Captain," Jayce said, taking her offered hand "Jayce Reshta'Son, and this one is Drash." he said to the dracoenix lazing on top him. Looking at Drash, She realized that, if not for her own personal experience with dracoenix in the past, it would be hard to reconcile this lounging lizard with the brutes that her force was usually called on to face down, or the one that caused the scar on her face. One hand came up to her face, lightly tracing the scar. "He's still young, much younger then the one that did that to you," Jayce said, which caused her to harden up as she looked at him.

"What did you say?" She said, changing to a combat stance, hand on her rapier's handle "Who told you...Are you some foreign powers Psi-Ops Officer?!"

'He is not Captain,' Chiseraei said coming to stand by Jayce 'He is a newly awakened Empath, which is how he managed to Bond with a Dracoenix, an unheard of event even We, a Psi-Ops Trainee, have never heard of any member of Psi-Ops accomplishing. You saw this one, touched your scar, and the emotional memory attached to it was so strong that he couldn't help but feel it, an unfortunate accident, but that is all. We wish him to receive training to learn control his Gift, to protect himself from such things happening again in the future.'

Taking a few deep breaths, Feristan relaxed her posture, grounding out the excess tension. What Chiseraei said matched with what his file said, and she realized that the appearance of the dracoenix and the bizarreness of the situation had rattled her more then she should have let it. A few extra deep breaths with closed eyes and she looked back at Jayce. "My apologies, it seems I lost my head for a moment. That was not very professional of me. My most humble apologies." She said and bowed in apology

"It's okay," Jayce said, having convinced Drash to move off of him so he could get up "so please, you don't have to bow like that. I'm sorry for just blurting that out, as Chi said, this is all new to me, and I have no idea how I am supposed to control it....anyways, I'm sorry." offering out his hand as he waited for her to stand from bowing

"You are an interesting one, Jayce Reshta'Son." Feristan said as she took his hand "Apology accepted. As head of the security detail watching over you and Sherri while you are here, I will make sure my people, and the regular security is aware of....Drash, so that there aren't any possible incidents. I would also suggest not taking any unsupervised walks around the Hospice Grounds with...him...as there are those here that are survivors of, and/or have lost family members to, other dracoenix."

"I understand," Jayce said with a serious expression "the last thing I would want to do is cause a trauma response in someone, even accidentally. If I go for a walk-about, I will do so without him."

"That would be advisable," Feristan said, noting his response and resolve "though I would suggest finding somewhere else for...Drash...to stay. There are not many who will feel comfortable having to work around a dracoenix. Even a small one like him has been known to cause much damage, and you are not well enough known yet to offset people's fears."

Drash crawled up to Jayce, nudging up against his hand, and while Jayce's hand scratched his head, stretched it's body out, including his wings, then looked up at him.

"Doesn't look like that will be a problem," Jayce said matter-of-factly

"Why's that?" Feristan asked curiously, having watch the interaction between the two

"Drash is gonna take his leave." Jayce said, bending down to rub and scratch his new found companion "He was in the middle of looking for food, then heading to his den to eat. It's likely we won't see each other for a few days. Until then, I asked him to avoid places with lots of people for you."

"Thanks." She replied "But how will he find you? You will be out of here in two days, and the Academy by the Capital is about half a days travel from here."

"The same way He and I just communicated," Jayce said "we have a bond now, so there should be no issue in finding each other. It's weird, because it's not like we are bound in the same way Sherri and I are, that is deeper, and connects to the very core of our beings," Sherri nodded in assertion to his words, though the tips of her ears were slightly red, after all, it was one thing being bound to a typical summons, but another entirely to be bound to another being of similar standing.... "this is more like...familial connection, or maybe, since this world has magic and such, like having a Familiar?"

"Ah!" Feristan responded "I understand. There is quite the difference between a Tamed beast, a Summoned beast, and a Familiar. I have heard of certain people being able to create Familiaral Links between themselves and certain beast/spirits that have been considered untameable, un-summonable during my time in the Elites; typically, they are of high rank, but you have the occasionally Gifted one who ends up with one. My second in fact....but that is a story for another time. I am glad to hear that we have a peaceful resolution."

With that, Jayce gave one last scratch along the back of both of Drash's ear flaps, then Drash gave one long stretch, stretched his wings, took a quick sprint forward before flinging himself into the air while letting out a long drawn out cry, one which you could hear merriment in, for having found a kindred soul. After a couple circling flights around them, Drash flew off to the West, careful to avoid any settlements on his way to the nearby forest to hunt for dinner. Jayce watched with closed eyes at first, which made Feristan confused, more so when she saw tears form on his face along with a smile, then he opened his eyes, wiped the tears away, and turned back to them.

"Well," He said with a grin "that was exciting!"

Chiseraei laughed out loud at this 'Did you enjoy the sensation of flying Jayce?'

"Absolutely!" Jayce said "Even more since Drash knew I was wi....th hi...."

Jayce then found himself collapsing to the ground, his energy suddenly depleted. Feristan was closest, so she caught him right before he could hit. There was something off though: his heartbeat was up, his body was sweating profusely, and she could tell that he had no strength to put into his muscles.

'We should have expected something like this,' Chiseraei said, coming over to Feristan, and checking him over 'Captain Kuresh, please take him to the room, Sherri, call the Psi-Doc please.'

"Do you know what this is?" Sherri asked, holding her head, having felt some rebound

'If it is what We think it is,' Chiseraei said 'there is nothing to worry about, but We would prefer to err on the side of caution, as we still know very little of how his body will stand up to our World as an OtherWorlder.'

Taking all of that in, Sherri did exactly as Chiseraei ordered and called one of the Psi-docs to the room to check, as well as the specialist assigned to them. Feristan put him on one of the med bed which switched on at once and started to show his stats. Chiseraei took a quick look at the ones they knew to look for and nodded to themselves. The specialist and Psi-doc came in shortly after and looked over the stats while examining him as well. Half an hour went by while they examined him, along with a couple nurses, and he was hooked up to an IV, and was looking a bit better when Chiseraei and Sherri were allowed in to see him.

"So," Sherri said looking at Jayce, then at the specialist, and seeing a certain bracelet on his left arm "what happened, and why is there a psi-dampener on him?"

"You didn't tell her?" The specialist looked at Chiseraei

'We figured it would be best if all parties involved were told at the same time,' Chiseraei said just as Feristan came back in 'please, go on.'

"Okay...." the Specialist said "Captain Kuresh and Chiseraei probably already have an understanding of what happened, but what we have here is someone with little to no control over his Gift. This may sound difficult to understand for a Magi, but realize that an Empath takes in a variety emotions from those around them, while a skilled empath can pick and choose, though they may have some challenges when there are certain stimuli; imagine that someone only recently Awakened, and untrained, is thrust into a particularly strong emotional response situation, such as a dracoenix coming down in the middle of a Hospice?! Even fully trained, unless one is completely focused....well....the backlash is tremendous. He got overloaded, thus causing the rest of his systems to shut down."

"Seems that as long as I was focused on Drash," Jayce said, laying back on the bed "I was protected, somewhat, I mean, I did feel the Captain's stuff, but otherwise, just some background noise. Once he left, and I separated from flying....it all hit me at once and....well..."

"Thus, until he leaves here," the specialist continued "and begins his training, he needs that, for his own health, if nothing else."

"So isn't that spiffy!" Jayce said lightly, looking at the bracelet then at everyone else, some of them looking at him incredulously "I mean, I get that it was worrisome for you, and it was a bit of a headache for me, well, not so much of a headache as a feeling of total and complete lack of strength throughout my body, like fainting, but even more so. Fine, I get it, it sounds nuts. Honestly, everything I am living right now, if somebody had told me I would be laying in some kind of special kind of med bed surround by anthro people, I'd say 'I do that every night in my dreams, wakey-wakey time buddy!', or maybe in a gaming scenario, but never in reality. Now I got knocked down by some kind of special 'Gift' I have, well slap me silly and call me 'Spanky'! Yeah, I'm kinda thrilled by it, because it is a new and unexpected experience!"

"Pfffft!" Feristan spit out in laughter, doubling over, tears coming out, Chiseraei also laughing "Well damn! You just keep proving yourself to be more and more interesting, Jayce Reshta'Son! I've made up my mind. For now, I need to go. It will likely be a few days before we all see each other again. Take care of each other until then." she said with a delighted smile, sharing an arm grasp with Jayce, Sherri, and Chiseraei, then leaving.

'Interesting,' Chiseraei said

"What?" Jayce asked curiously

'Oh, nothing,' Chiseraei replied dismissively 'on the plus side, all that item does is dampen your abilities, not shut them down, so if you'd like, while you are still hear, We can give you some intro lessons on protecting your mind, the basic of basics for those who enter any Psi- based program.'

"I would appreciate that very much," Jayce said bowing to Them "because any training is better than none. Honestly, I don't want to go through that again, and I would like to have the barest minimum of an understanding of how to protect myself from all of the emotions constantly flooding this Hospice."

'You can feel that?' Chiseraei asked, then chided Themselves 'Silly Us, of course you can.' turning to the Specialist 'Is it possible to turn on a Psi-Curtain for this room, as well as move the time table of returning to the Academy by a day? It would be preferable as the rooms there are all designed to help dampen and/or Block Psi and/or Magi- abilities, depending on what the Occupant needs.'

"You really are an odd one Jayce." Sherri said as the Specialist left the room, and while watching him play with the bracelet "I can tell how calm you are just through our link, in fact, it seems I am the one more out of sorts about all of this then you, which feels odd in this situation, "Jayce just smiled "I honestly just don't get why you aren't angrier. I lost my Gift, something I spent all my time working on strengthening, building my magical ability up so that I could one day become a great Summoner! I wanted to travel the world, Summoning Creatures while learning to master the Gift, becoming well known, helping others, reaching across the world, having such grand adventures....and it turns out that it was a one-shot Gift....and it's gone, along with my dreams...and they knew....and didn't tell me....and now I don't know what to do...." with each word, Sherri, who was sitting down on Jayce's bed, wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled herself closer and closer, breaking down and crying. Not sure what to do, Jayce simply put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Jayce said, finding a tissue wiping Sherri's cheeks, feeling like it was all he could do "I know this is not what you were expecting, heck, it sure wasn't what I was, but this doesn't mean you have to toss your dreams away."

'He has a point Sherri.' Chiseraei added

"What do you mean?" Sherri asked, looking up, her face looking for reassurance

"Well," Jayce said, a little flushed being that close to her 'why does she have to be so cute?' Chiseraei giggled slightly in his head only "we can still travel the world together, going on those adventures you wanted to go on, together. You may not have that Gift, but you are one hella strong Magi-User, we've got Chi, our Shifting Telepath, and you got me, with my Empathy, ability to speak to anyone, and Drash, the Dracoenix, what's to stop us from traveling the World?"

"As for my loss," Jayce continued as Sherri stared at him in fascination "I said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm okay. I carry the memories of my Family in here," points to his head "and in here," points to his heart "and though I know they won't remember me, that actually makes it easier, because that means there is nobody worrying about where I am, and I AM fine with that. I know that can be difficult for most folks to understand, and some might think it means I am simply tossing them away, but that is not true, I am just being a realist. They are fine, I am here and fine, and I get to check out a whole new world as well as exploring new things within myself. Massive win!"

"Not only that," He said, before she could interject "I also have a New Family, Right Here. Or Okapo, or however it's pronounced." Chiseraei gave him a smile "So, show me around this world, teach me the things I need to learn to better fit in, well, as much as I can, seeing as I am an OBVIOUS OtherWorlder, and we can find a way to modify your dream in such a way as to still come true, even if it looks a bit different then what you had planned it to look like. That's what Family does for each other: builds each other up, and supports each others dreams, wishes, and hopes, that's what I was always taught growing up! It's not just your Dream Sherri, it's Our dream!" Jayce said slightly dramatically, having inadvertently gotten worked up. Chiseraei was amused, while Sherri on the other hand was moved by his words. Jayce tended to do his best by throwing himself wholeheartedly into anything he said he was going to do, something he had always done growing up, which had helped his parents out on many occasions, and also helped his friends in the past when motivation was lacking. Chiseraei was impressed at how well he was able to turn Sherri around, but not only that, Chiseraei was not blind to Sherri's feelings, and it was obvious that his latest speech had touched her deep inside, especially in the way Sherri hung on his words and just looked at him. Chiseraei filed that look away for future reference.

'A-hem' Chiseraei mentally cleared her throat, which caused Sherri to come to her senses, realizing that she had been staring at Jayce like he was some kind of Idol, and looked down, pulling back some as she did, while Jayce realized that he had gotten a bit carried away himself, and felt a bit sheepish 'As Jayce said Sherri, He is fine with things as they are, and Together We All can make this Dream become truth, even though it is not as you had envisioned it. Together, You, Jayce, and We will travel, we will meet others who may join us, increasing the numbers traveling together. This Okapo is Blessed by Kyran, there are not many that can say that, so We can only see great things ahead. Add on Reshta Blessing your Summoned one, makes us twice Blessed.'

"I-I, fine..." Sherri said, her shoulders loosening up "I will do my best to see it your way, Chise, Jayce, it's just..."

"You're angry." Jayce stated

'That makes sense,' Chiseraei said, nodding their head as well 'especially if the High Magi and High Summoner did know that your Gift was a One-Shot and never told you, it is completely understandable.'

Sherri looked at both of them, but mainly at Jayce with a look of shock.

"How did you know?" She asked him "I mean, I can understand Chise knowing, and, okay, maybe the bond between us could let you know, or your empathy..."

"I know how I would feel in your place," Jayce said matter-of-factly "if the people I had trusted had kept something secret like that, that would be like my parents finding out I had some kind of rare illness, but not telling me about it until after it started affecting me. This was about you, and they denied you the truth, so you have every right to be angry. Don't need to be an Empath to get that, just a compassionate person."

'This one's a keeper Sherri," Chiseraei said only to Sherri, which caused her to blush, which made Jayce give a questioning look, having no clue what just happened "Are you ok Sherri? You look a little flushed." He moved forward a little to see about checking her temp, but she backed away quickly, falling off the bed in the process.

"I'm fine!" She said to Jayce, picking herself up, scowling at Chiseraei who was giggling at her "Just feeling a little light headed is all! I'm gonna move over for the time being..."

'We think that's enough excitement for one day," Chiseraei said as Sherri was about to sit in a chair next to Jayce's bed 'for now, We would like to spend some time going over the basics of mental shielding now that the Psi-curtain is up. If you could move over to the other bed Sherri, We need to have Jayce's full concentration and focus for this. If you could do some meditation exercises, it would be appreciated.'

Sherri knew what her friend needed, so she went over to her bed, and got into a meditative sitting position, and sent her mind into a trancelike state while Chiseraei and Jayce began His first Psi-Ops training lesson.