Shall we dance? (Mia)

[Anonymous]

A candidate's profile lay atop a vaulting horse. The girl's picture clipped to the top. The girl had long hair and reminded the Pilot in the room of Cousin Eta, a character from a horror performance he had once been in. Either the photo had not been updated or he would have to teach her about personal hygiene. He'd control her combing her own hair if he had to.

Zeidorzha sprung from a board, spun and landed in a perfect 'T' formation. Eliciting a "d'awwww" from his dragon, Neihemiah. She prodded him gently so that he almost tipped to the floor. Luckily, he was used to her playful antics by now and managed to make it look like an elaborate bow.

Surely you have better things to do than test my patients?
No, my Princess. I find your strange dancing far more entertaining than going into standby. I am also waiting for your new candidate to arrive. She was trying to put him off form. She knew her pet names for him irked him to no end.

Zeidorzha walked to the edge of the five metre square mat and began another routine, this one was fast paced and could be taken for a martial arts formation. He picked up speed, throwing his body into the air and contorting in perfect harmony with imagined music. Inside his mind, the metallic dragon watched and hummed along to the music.

Is she late yet, my love?
I'm not counting, he replied. He was relying on Vyomini's perception of time to tell him that. If she thought she was late, he would berate her even if she was early, just to make sure she understood the need for punctuality. It was a thing so many Pilots lost once they graduated.

Who do you think she'll obey? Me or you? Neihemiah asked as the pilot finished his last stance.
I hope she obeys me. It's going to be hard to practice anything if she wears a dress, he replied. Why did you ask her to wear pretty clothes? She's going to think I'm a pervert.
The dragon hummed happily in his mind.

[Anonymous]

During the time Vyomini had been at the ATC, she had learnt something. She had learnt that it paid to always be ready at least half an hour before you needed to be. And with a roommate like Demya this was particularly important. She could talk a lot and had been ranting about a pilot named Mara recently. But still, she was a good friend and Vyomini wasn’t sure if she would have survived this long without her.

     So here she was, heading towards here destination with exactly eighteen minutes before 1500, on a walk that only took seven minutes. Hopefully pilots didn’t get angry at you for being early…A lot of the pilots seemed rather odd and she didn’t doubt there would be one that would punish you for being early.

     But she had started using her extra time to work on her studies, she wasn’t the brightest of the candidates, and she hadn’t really had a proper education. When she first became a candidate, she had the maths and science knowledge of a nine year old. Not really surprising since that’s how old she was when TRIM finally caught her.

     Her lack of academic ability; was further supported by her poor physical condition and that in a fight she was next to useless if she didn’t have her magic. So it didn’t help her nerves at meeting her new mentor that she had to meet them in the sparring gymnasium. She really hoped she wouldn’t have to fight him but why else would he ask to meet her there. In the back of her mind a little voice kept telling her she was going to die that day. She had to keep reminding herself that pilots wouldn’t kill their charges.

     Zeidorzha Backofen didn’t have any other candidates so she hadn’t really been able to find anything out about him. The comment from someone called ‘Neihemiah’ in the email she had received from him though had thrown her. She suspected it was his dragon but obviously considering some of the strange personalities she had encountered in the ATC so far, she couldn’t be sure. But she had followed its advice somewhat. She took appropriate to mean something she could fight in, so she had chosen a pair of fairly lose-fitting white trousers and a white and pink t shirt, then for the cute part she had decided to wear her pink bunny hoodie, all three things Dyerlich had bought for her. Devi always said she looked cute in the bunny hoodie so hopefully it would do.

     For some reason though, whenever she wore it she kind of missed Dyerlich. He had carved his name into, a lasting reminder of him, but there were times when he had been nice. Maybe she’d be lucky and make it through the meeting with her new mentor without another scar…

     After a few minutes of walking she finally reached the sparring gymnasium. Before entering she checked her watch, 1650, she had taken a minute more than estimated but she was ten minutes early. She took a deep breath then entered.

     Inside was only one person who she assumed must be Pilot Backofen. She did a sweep of his mind but as expected found it closed.

     “Erm, Pilot Backofen?”

[Anonymous]

The reason Zeidorzha had chosen this room was so that it would take the least amount of time out of his day. They could see him when it most suited him and at the moment, that was during lunch hours and while dancing. He couldn't very well talk with her and eat so he had chosen to do it during his time in the gymnasium. At the very least he could take her for a dance.

You do that and I'll tell all the pilots that your my Princess.
Jealousy? From you Neihemiah? he asked before blocking her out of his mind. If she really wanted to she could get back in easily but she would get the picture.

Zeidorzha sensed the girl arriving and dove into her mind while still moving about the mat. He learnt about her passing abilities, lower than average education and her poor physical levels. He had read the same from her file but it was better to get her opinion of herself from her mind. How candidates thought of themselves often dictated how well they'd turn out much more than their starting abilities.

As she entered he locked the door behind her and guided her to her file, all without physically acknowledging her presence. She was early in her own mind: good. Ten minutes early to be exact. It gave her enough time to read her file before their first lesson.

It looks like I won Zei Zei, she's absolutely scrumptious. You're sleeping with me tonight!
It was a bet? When was I informed of this.
She poked him telepathically, messing up his stance and causing him to stumble. Her laughter echoed through his mind, and possibly the young candidate's.
I claim toying with her first.

Walking over to Vyomini, he pulled off his sweaty shirt and picked up a towel to rub his face and neck. 'Vyomini Sema, you have just passed your first test under my training: punctuality. Please read your profile while I get cleaned up. Neihemiah will take care of you.'

[Anonymous]

After she entered, Vyomini felt a slight psychic presence guiding her towards the vaulting horse. Obviously it was the pilot’s doing, but so far he hadn’t even acknowledged she was there. She however didn’t take her eyes off him in case he asked her to do something with gesture instead of speaking.

     And she was surprised when he stumbled and when she heard female laughter echoing in her mind. The pilot in front of her was clearly male, even if he did look a little feminine, so the voice probably belonged to his dragon, who she assumed from the email was called ‘Neihemiah’.

     Then Pilot Backofen spoke and told her she had passed her ‘first test’, punctuality. So he wasn’t one of the mean pilots…well not one of the meanest anyway. When he told her to read her file, she did so without hesitation. She already knew from the first candidate she had seen when she came to the ATC, that you do not disobey a direct order from a pilot.

     On the top of her file was a photo of her, a pretty outdated photo. Her hair was so long you couldn’t even see where it ended, and she was incredibly skinny. Obviously she had realised long hair wasn’t practical so had decided to cut for that reason and as a symbolic gesture. And after a couple of months of regular meals she had started to fill out a bit. She was still rather small though, and short.

     The information inside the profile itself mentioned her poor academic ability, which in truth was not as bad as she had thought it was, and her less than satisfactory physical condition. Her psychic abilities however were pretty strong, something she knew already. But obviously they were nothing compared to the pilots, or even the later stage candidates.

[Anonymous]

Hello Cutey. You're looking much better than the yetti you were when you first came. I was actually hoping you'd still be a pathetic specimen. I didn't want my boyfriend over there getting any ideas, came a strong psychic voice. It was slightly threatening and very displeased. Vyomini was the first female candidate Neihamiah had allowed Zeidorzha to choose and she was very grumpy that the candidate actually looked nice. Neihemiah's voice became threatening, if you so much as look at him I'm going to make him very displeased with you. Do you know what will happen then? He'll rifle through every memory of you being at TRIM and find the most uncomfortable one for you to live again, m'kay?

With that she left and turned her attention back to her Zei Zei. I think you chose a dud, she's an absolute coward and has the strength of an eight-year-old.! I don't like her, she whined, mentally playing with Zeidorzha's face.

Neihemiah, stop toying with me. I refuse to play your games right now. If you were any more transparent I'd be able to see through every one of your blocks. It was you who told her to wear something cute, I have no interest in her so whatever you did to her was completely unnecessary, thought in an irritated tone. The metallic dragon had probably already rambled on about how he was going to make Vyomini sleep with him. That's what she'd done with his other candidates, though they were all boys.

Zeidorzha towelled himself off and pulled his official uniform on, dusting off his shoulders to remove invisible creases. When he was sure he was dressed to a standard befitting his rank he went back into the sparring gym and stood at an intimidating closeness to the young Vyomini. He looked down at her as though she was nothing but a mere afterthought, a short break in his training routine.

'Now that you know what your previous mentor thought of you, it is time for you to show me how well you have advanced. You have finished reading your file, have you not?' he asked.

[Anonymous]

Vyomini was shocked when she suddenly the same female voice she had heard before echoed in her mind. It shocked her as the only time a dragon had spoken to her, they had been standing in front of her. What made it worse was that this dragon did not sound happy and was telling her that her mentor would torture her with memories of TRIM. The mere mention of the word turned her blood to ice, as if one of her own spells had backfired on her.

     Suddenly she started feeling exactly as she had when she first came to the ATC and met Dyerlich; confused, out of her depth, terrified and certain that she was going to die very soon. She thought about saying something to the dragon but she daren’t, the slightest thing might make it angry. Her mentor had left to get cleaned up, leaving her alone in the gym and she felt just that, alone. But clearly she wasn’t, Nehemiah was probably listening to her every thought…And her mentor probably was too.

     A few moments later he returned and stood unusually close to her before asking if she had read her file.

     “Y-yes,” she stammered.

     She was still not very good at speaking to people and a dragon scrutinising everything she said and everything she thought was a sobering prospect.

[Anonymous]

Whatever Neihemiah said to her worked, Zeidorzha thought. The girl looked like she was about to start crying or something. Zeidorzha dove into her mind without caring to hide his presence. He searched out to try and find what exactly the dragon had said but all portals were blocked by a more powerful mind than his. Only Neihemiah and Vyomini would know what had happened while he was away. All he could do was guess from what she'd threatened his previous candidates with.To Vyomini he sent, 'despite what Neihemiah may have said, I have no intention of assaulting you.'

He lightened his presence in her mind and stepped away from her. He would sense her conscious thought without all the noise of memories and lower thoughts. 'You are a Pilot candidate now, grow a spine,' he warned. Neihemiah might have been right about her being a coward but he would fix that before she started third stage.

'Go out to the center of the mats and remove your jacket. I am interested in your mage abilities. Show me,' he ordered. He felt around for the part of her mind that controlled her abilities, looking to see if her mage and psychic abilities were connected and how they moved when they were active.