Even as Vanessa found herself standing atop the wide expanses of the Aerie, she frankly found it pretty hard to believe the situation she found herself in. The past few years of her Candidacy had flown by incredibly quickly, and the fact that she was now Stage 5 and about to be picked by a freaking Dragon felt almost like a dream. The last year (and her experience in Stage 4) in particular had seemed to go by almost suspiciously quickly, but she could think of at least a couple reasons why that might be. The first would be that she'd been working extra hard in every area of her studies since most of her friends had graduated- she couldn't stand being so far behind everyone else, not anymore. The second reason was something beyond her control, and also something she couldn't be one hundred percent sure about, but she suspected it to be the case nonetheless. It was a rare occurrence, but every once in a while, she could feel a sort of aura of negative emotion floating around the ATC. It was as if the Pilots were all uptight about something, but for whatever reason, they wouldn't say what it was.
Something had to be happening out there, something big, and she was convinced that it played some part in how she had moved up through the levels so quickly. It seemed that it was in the Dragons' best interest for her to graduate as soon as possible... if she was indeed going to graduate today.
If she did end up graduating, then of course she would go on to become a Pilot. The plan was for her to become a Pilot therapist, and that was a thought that filled her with hope- for as long as Vanessa could remember, she had always wanted to find a way to help other people with her gift of empathy, and working as a therapist would be a great way to achieve that goal. On the other hand, if she didn't graduate, then... well, she'd heard a few horror stories about what happened when a Dragon wasn't satisfied with someone, and the details were not pretty. This was a thought that filled her with dread, so overall, she really didn't have a clue what she should be feeling. It was an exciting moment, yes, but it was hard to recall a time where she'd ever felt more anxious then she did right now.
Regardless of what happened today, though, it was fairly safe to say that this would be her last day as a Candidate... for better or for worse. That meant that she wouldn't be around to help any of her friends left at the ATC anymore, or at least she wouldn't be able to do it as often, and that was sort of a worrying thought. She did have faith in them all to excel in the rest of their Candidacy and graduate just as her other friends had, but it was seemingly impossible for her to be rid of the small bit of doubt that remained in the back of her mind.
Right now, though, her first and foremost concern was making sure she didn't disappoint her Dragon and making it through the day in one piece. All of her other thoughts and concerns would have to wait until later.
The Aerie was surprisingly empty that day. There weren't very many Dragons around at all, and the ones that showed themselves seemed to be intentionally keeping a fair bit of distance away from her. Truth be told, she didn't actually have a clue which one was supposed to be hers. She'd simply been instructed to stand at this spot and wait for them to arrive, and she wasn't about to go and disobey a direct order- not from a Pilot, and especially not a Dragon.
Sure enough, one of the Dragons she spotted in the distance eventually stood up and started to slowly make his way over to her. As the beast approached, Vanessa could make out more and more details about his body, and soon she had a much clearer idea of what she was dealing with. She knew that every Dragon had at least some mechanical aspect to them, but this one took that element to the extreme. In fact, she couldn't point out any point of his body that wasn't some sort of metal plate or mechanical contraption. Surely he still had some biological parts- he was still a Dragon, after all- but wherever they were, they must have been completely buried underneath its metallic shell.
The Dragon continued to advance, closing the distance between itself and Vanessa until they were almost uncomfortably close before finally coming to a halt. He then simply stood there for a while, eyes that seemed like nothing more than glowing lights staring into hers, before suddenly blowing a small puff of smoke (or was it steam?) from his nostrils and sending its thoughts into her mind.
"Candidate Vanessa Corriveau. I don't think I need to explain to you why you're here, but perhaps I will, for the sake of formality. I have summoned you here because I think you are ready to become a Pilot. This will be your final examination. It is up to you to either prove me right and pass, or prove me wrong and fail. Pass, and you and I will become bonded- I will be your Dragon, and you, my Pilot. If you fail... then neither I, nor any of the other Dragons, will have any further use for you. Do I make myself clear?"
There wasn't much Vanessa could do but simply nod in response. She had figured those would be the stakes going in, and she didn't have have a good reason to disagree with the Dragon's terms, nor was she stupid enough to attempt it.
"Very well. I will begin by inspecting your body, then. You will not move or speak unless I tell you to."
With that, the huge beast began to slowly circle her body, his claws occasionally extending to lift up an arm or brush aside her hair. It made her incredibly uncomfortable and tense, admittedly, and part of her couldn't help but question why he felt the need to do this. Every Candidate had files containing all of their information, so if something was wrong with her body, surely the Dragon would have known by now. Considering she had passed all of her previous exams and finished her drills just as well as anyone else, there shouldn't have been anything wrong, either. So why did he insist on poking at her like this?
Eventually, the Dragon stopped circling and came to a stop behind her, laying back down on the ground and gently taking hold of each of her wings in his claws. Suddenly, his voice once again filled her thoughts.
"Now, these... these are interesting. It's not very often that you see a human with wings. Some Pilots end up getting them amputated, you know. They have a bad habit of getting in the way of things, and some of them don't even serve any purpose. A few of them are particularly sensitive. Yours, for example..."
Vanessa really didn't like what the Dragon was suggesting, nor did she like the way that he seemed to be tightening his grip. However, she didn't get to dwell on her thoughts for very long before they were overtaken by the sudden stabbing pain of his claws sinking themselves into her wings. To say it hurt like hell was putting it lightly, and it took every bit of willpower she could summon to stop herself from crying out or trying to move herself away. Doing so would mean disobeying the Dragon's orders, and as much as she wanted to get the hell away from him, she really didn't want to experience firsthand what it was like to fail the test.
"...I see. It seems that you indeed know your place, Candidate Corriveau. That's a good sign."
The Dragon finally removed his claws from her wings, providing her with a small amount of relief. They still hurt, of course, but it was a little better now that they weren't actively being dug into. It also helped somewhat that she was slowly being overcome by a strange feeling of exhaustion and numbness- she didn't know when it had started, but somehow it had made its way all over her body, pushing her to give in to sleep. She fought desperately against it, willing herself to stay awake, but it eventually became too much to bear and her consciousness slipped away from her.
By the time she came to, everything felt sore. Her body, especially her wings, and even her head was filled with a dull throbbing pain. It was a sickening feeling, and it wasn't about to get any better, because when she opened her eyes...
...She was high up. Really high up. She couldn't fathom how exactly she'd gotten all the way up her, but it was high enough that she knew a fall from this height would likely kill her. This time, she couldn't help but let out a cry and began to flail around in panic, but the sensation of the Dragon's claws abruptly jabbing into her chest quickly brought her back to reality. It wasn't enough to draw blood this time around, but it was enough to remind her of her situation and get her to stop squirming.
"Calm down, Candidate, unless you want me to put you to sleep again before I drop you. Make no mistake, this is still a part of your test. I figured it would be easier to get you up here while you were asleep, rather than while you were awake. It wouldn't do for you to struggle and accidentally slip out of my grip, now, would it?"
Of course it wouldn't, but she couldn't help but feel that the alternative wasn't much better.
"I'm going to give you a choice, Candidate. In a few moments, I am going to let go of you, and it will be up to you to decide what happens next. Whether you fight for your life with every ounce of energy you have or give in and accept your fate... that is your choice."
This wasn't happening. It had to be a dream, right? It was a nightmare, and in a few moments, she would wake up in her bed like nothing had happened. Or maybe he was going to drop her, but you always woke up before you hit the ground, right? That's what always happened in dreams, right?
That's what she wanted to believe, but no matter how much she willed herself to wake up, the world around her refused to shift into something more reasonable. She desperately wanted to believe that none of this was really happening, but reality was not so easily bent to her will...
And then the Dragon released his grip on her, and it seemed like time itself had suddenly slowed to a crawl.
This... this really was it, wasn't it? Vanessa had never learned how to use her wings to their full potential, whatever that might have been. It wasn't something that her instructors had particularly cared to go over, and she hadn't had nearly enough practice to learn how to do it on her own time. What little she knew shouldn't be enough to help her survive a fall from this height. And yet, she couldn't help but feel...
For everyone she helped, and everyone that she couldn't...
For those who believed in her now, and those who would rely on her in the future...
And for herself...
She couldn't die here. It was simply impossible. She refused to let that happen.
At that moment, it felt like every last bit of emotion she'd buried deep within herself during her Candidacy came surging to the surface. Anger and fear, yes, but there was also something else, something more powerful.
Determination.
It filled her with a burst of strength that even she herself didn't know she was capable of, and before she knew it, her wings were beating wildly in a desperate attempt to stay airborne. She didn't really know what she expected to achieve, nor did she care- the only thing she cared about was making sure she was still alive when she hit the ground. Sure enough, as she continued her descent and exerted every bit of energy she could summon, her speed was being cut down significantly. By the time she reached the ground, she was going slow enough that she was able to land on her feet and even stand up for a second before succumbing to exhaustion and collapsing to the ground.
The Dragon landed near her a moment later and immediately made his way back over to her. Vanessa started to pick herself off the ground in an attempt to stand at attention, but her efforts were halted as he placed a claw atop her head and lowered her back down to her knees.
"Relax. You don't have anything to worry about now. The test is finished, and I don't intend to hurt you again unless you give me a reason to."
It was kind of an unreasonable request to ask her to relax given the circumstances, but she wasn't about to argue with him about it.
"There's no need to look so down. In fact, you should be happy, as I have officially decided to make you my Pilot. Normally, this would be when I establish my psionic bond with you, but... well, to tell the truth, I already took care of that while you were asleep. We're already bonded- from now on, you are my Pilot, and I am your Dragon. I'm sure you're aware that I don't owe you an explanation for what just happened, but I do think you deserve one, so I'll give it to you anyways. Listen well."
"You may have guessed this by now, but this whole test didn't actually have much to do with your physical capabilities. I already knew everything I needed to know about that from your files. No, this was more of more of a test of will than anything else. The will to keep on pushing onwards, even when it hurts to do so. We can't afford to have Pilots who give up the moment they are faced with a challenge.
"The truth is, someone like you... you don't have it in you to take someone else's life. And perhaps that's fine- I don't have any plans for you to see combat. But that doesn't mean you aren't going to hurt. Some of the Pilots you'll be dealing with have felt pain beyond what many people could imagine- considering your abilities, you'll have to be able to deal with feeling at least a portion of that. So, I decided to show the worst of it to you right away. You’ll be better prepared now that you have a better idea of what you could be dealing with.
”I didn’t plan on letting you die from that fall, by the way. I was prepared to catch you if you weren’t able to slow yourself down, but you looked like you were handling the situation well enough, so I left you be. But I really don’t care whether or not you can actually fly with those things. What matters to me is that you at least put in the effort to try. I doubt your wings will come in much use in the future, but I will allow you to keep them if you want. Consider it your reward for passing the test.
”…That should be everything. You have a week to do as you wish before you begin your work as a Pilot. I suggest you use that time to recover and familiarize yourself with your new surroundings. We will keep in touch through our psionic bond, but if all goes well, we won’t be meeting in person again for the foreseeable future.”
With that, the metal-clad Dragon removed his claw from atop her head, turned around, and began wandering back into the expanses of the Aerie, leaving Vanessa alone with her thoughts. Considering how exhausted she was, it was impossible for her to process everything that had just happened to her, let alone the fact that she was now a Pilot. The only thing she could bring herself to think about was how incredibly tired she was. The sudden drowsy feeling from before combined with her burst of athleticism had left her completely drained of energy, and she soon collapsed back to the ground, slipping out of consciousness for the second time that day.
