Befriend and Betray (Closed)

[Anonymous]

Latona tapped her foot irritably. They were late, as she expected. She just knew whatever candidate she got they would be a total idiot and have no respect for authority. It was her first one so obviously they would land her with a candidate who was less than pleasant.

     Still this wasn’t going to ruin her plan. Ever since she became a pilot she knew how she was going to treat whatever unfortunate mentee she got. Befriend and betray, that was her tactic. Make them think she was really friendly and sweet and then turn on them when they least expected it. She’d even sent them an email acting friendly and telling him not all pilots were cruel. Like that was true. She was so evil it was scary. She’d been treated badly when she was a candidate so it was only fair she got to be mean to them, she’d lost count of how many times her wings had been broken during her candidacy.

     Latona was going to be a sight for Nika. To some she probably looked like an angel, white hair, white wings, bright blue eyes and she was going to act like an angel for him…to begin with anyway. She had even made sure she sort of looked the part, white jeans and a nice floaty white top. But he would soon find out she was far from angelic…if anything she was a demon. Not the pure evil demons that stole people’s souls though…more like the ones who attached themselves to ships to play around with the mechanics…Gremlins that was it! She was more like a gremlin…No that wasn’t right either…Oh well.

     Latona laughed to herself; sounding not unlike a schoolgirl but underneath, the laugh was full of malice and foreboding.

     She fluttered her wings slightly and leant back against the wall. If he didn’t show up soon she’d have to go find him, that would be a pain…And if he took much longer she be too annoyed to act all sweet and innocent.

     Sighing she sat down on the floor, her feet were starting to hurt from standing around. Maybe she could hover and freak him out when he came eventually…Nah.

     “Must you torture your candidates?” said the growling voice of Tenebrous in her head.

     “Yes,” she replied cheerfully, “And you are such a hypocrite, you told me how your frightened one of Dyerlich’s unfortunate candidates and insulted another. You are as bad as me.”

     “I’m not their teacher,” he replied indignantly.

     “Precisely, I am, so butt out.”

     She shifted her position on the floor, why wouldn’t he hurry up! What kind of a name was Nika anyway, it sounded like a girl’s name.

[Anonymous]

Nika had gotten some stupid e-mail from his mentor, all sickly sweet and flowery. Lovely. He got some overly friendly twit to teach him. Maybe it was better then having someone as twisted as the two pilots from the other day, but Nika didn't really think so. At least they had interested Nika, their casual cruelty had been rather pretty.

Though all in all, Nika didn't really care. He was rather annoyed at having to be here. But maybe if his mentor was an idiot he could manipulate her to his advantage. Though he was much more interested in the other candidates. They were his new group of toys.

The teenage boy casually strolled down the hallway. He glanced down at his datapad, checking the map. He was still getting used to where everything was as all the hallways tended to look the same to him. All dull, all boring. And Nika hated being bored.

The pretty boy gave a flick if his head, tossing the hair out of his face. He had gotten his mothers good looks, her delicate features and pretty coloring. When he had been younger there had been lots of pictures of him and his mother as she gave the camera her perfect smile. As he had gotten older then attention faded. Now there were only a few pictures at events he attended with his family.

Though after the incident with the school and his getting recruited for the pilot program, there had been a small flurry of excitement. Nothing Nika wasn't used too. He had little interest in it all.

But he finally arrived and he gave his mentor a brilliant smile, "Hi! I am so sorry I am late. I got lost again. I can't seem to be able to find my way around these halls very well. You are Latona, correct? It is a pleasure to meet you. And I am so glad that I heard from you. It looks like I lucked out with the nice mentor."

[Anonymous]

Latona noted how casually he had been walking despite saying he got lost. He obviously wasn’t serious about being a pilot but few candidates were to start with. Most of them had been forced into it. Not her she had wanted to become a pilot.

     If she wasn’t acting she would have called him on his lateness and attitude and he’d have gotten a broken limb for his trouble. Still she was nicey nicey Latona today. She brushed across his mind and could tell that he was as bad as she was; he too was acting nice. She didn’t really have to read his mind, his manner gave it away.    

     In reality he was a spoiled selfish brat. Well that would have to beaten out of him. But not today, no the first week was going to be a grace period of sorts in which she would act nice. Unless he pushed her far enough, which was possible.

     “Yep, I’m Latona,” she said cheerfully, “Nice to meet you.”

     She didn’t know much about his history because frankly she didn’t care but those who’d been mentors before told her knowing it might come in handy. He was the son of some actress who had been famous a few years back. So him being spoilt and selfish was not really a surprise.

     “And yes indeed! You won the mentor lottery!” she laughed, “Like I said in my email, violence is too messy. And what good is hurting people for teaching anyway?”

     It was he most effective method there was but she wasn’t going to tell him that…yet anyway.

     “But we’re behind schedule! And the first thing on the agenda is a tour! You probably had one with Roman but you can meet my dragon on this one!”

     She’d just tell him Tenebrous liked to joke and that he was friendlier than he acted….And failing that she’d bribe the old grouch somehow.

[Anonymous]

The young pretty boy smiled again, nodding his head, "It looks that way. It is very nice to meet you." That was kind of a lie. Nika just didn't care one way or the other. Latona held no interest to him on any deep level. No one really did.

The boys mind was an empty, swirling blank. His shields were quite good for his level, though any trained pilot would be able to work around them. But there wasn't much in there. So much of the boy was a giant void of feelings. He just didn't connect to people, he didn't understand how too.

But he did perk up at the mention of meeting a dragon. That was exciting! And his perfect smile was very much real, so was his pleasure at the idea, "I haven't really had a tour yet. So that would be great if you showed me around. And I can really meet your dragon?"

[Anonymous]

Latona flapped her wings a couple of times and along with her telekinesis floated up onto her feet.

     “You haven’t had a tour yet? Oh well, the dragon pens shall be first, since you seem so excited by it.”

     He did seem strangely keen to meet the dragons despite his otherwise uncaring attitude. Maybe it was something to do with them being able to kill a human with one strike.

     She began walking the corridor, not bothering to see if Nika was following. If he wasn’t she’d just have to make him.

     “As you already know when you become a pilot you get a dragon. Like humans their personalities vary a bit, you might get a nice one, or you might get a nasty one or anything in between really.”

     Best not to mention what Tenebrous would be like, that would wait until Nika had made his own judgement. Latona still believed she would be better with Reise, Alei’s dragon; she was cool, lazy, but cool.

     “Dragons won’t be the only thing you’ll pilot though. You’ll be trained to fly the various crafts and vehicles first. Dragons come much later. Still it’s good to see what you might be flying one day.”

     Eventually they reached the entrance to the pens; there was a large door for the dragons and a smaller one for the humans. Latona never understood why both didn’t use the big door. It would make a lot more sense. Some of the dragons were a bit touchy about the pilots using the big door though and unfortunately Tenebrous was one of them. He was of the impression the dragons were better than the humans, that was probably true but it was just a door!

     She turned to Nika before entering and pointed to the big door, “For the dragons,” then to the small door, “For the pilots. It’s probably obvious but always make sure you go through the little door, some of the dragons are a bit picky about people using their’s.”

     Spinning on her toes she then entered the area itself. There were pens stacked like giant pigeon holes both vertically and horizontally. With the pilots returning from space a lot more of the pens were occupied these days. There were a few dragons in of various colours and with varying degrees of armour and machine parts. She noted Lartech was in her pen close to the ground and a little higher up was Arka. Tenebrous’ pen was on the fourth row up and getting there was no problem for Latona, getting Nika up could be a problem…she hadn’t thought of that…

     “Do you any telekinesis yet? Because my dragons Tenebrous is four rows up. I usually fly up there,” she explained, “But if not I can always carry you.”

     She suspected he’d be a typical and male and say something along the lines of ‘I’m not letting a girl carry me’ or he’d think it at the very least. Tenebrous never came down unless he had to, so calling him was out, he was above coming when she called, stupid old grouch.

[Anonymous]

The fact that she was flying was rather impressive. Nika had seen a few people with wings before, but they had always been vestigial and he had just assumed that was what Latona's were. Some cosmetic implant to look cool.

His eyes widened as he followed her, watching the wings, "Your wings move. That's amazing. Are they natural then?"

This was rather exciting. And quite fun. He was going to get to meet a dragon. Nika had never seen a dragon in the flesh before. And he couldn't wait. As the pilot explained about the doors, Nika nodded his head, "Always use the little door, yes." That would be a good note to make. Nika disliked rules, but he wasn't stupid about it and dragons were dangerous.

Entering the room the boys jaw dropped and he turned in circles, trying to take it all in. There were so many dragons here and they were massive. And so majestic. He gave a small shiver of delight at the knowledge that one day he would get to ride one. Because Nika had no doubt that he would become a pilot.

It took him a moment to realize that his mentor had spoken. He turned to face her slowly, trying to recall what she has said, "What? Oh, no. I've never had any telekinesis." His telepathy was rather rubbish as well. Nika's abilities were much...stranger.

He didn't really like the idea of having someone touch him and the thought flitted across his mind, but it had nothing to do with the pilots gender. But the boy glanced back up at the dragons and nodded, "If that is the only way, then I suppose I will have to get a ride."

[Anonymous]

“Yeah they’re natural. Fake ones would be inconvenient in this line of work. Real ones sometimes are too but at least I can fly with them,” she said cheerfully.

     To properly fly it took a lot of room and a good run up as well as some kind of updraft. However she had perfected using telekinesis to create updrafts and get herself off the ground, once she was up her wings did the work.

     She noted that Nika wasn’t stupid enough to ignore what she said about the doors but once they entered the pen area his concentration drifted, as her’s had when she first went there. Still he managed to register what she said.

     “Okay then.”

     In truth she was a little disappointed that he didn’t have telekinesis, that was her speciality. She slipped her arm around his waist, flapped her wings a couple of times and floated up. Then she flew toward Tenebrous’ pen. The old grouch looked like he was asleep, but she knew he wasn’t. He always complained whenever he sensed her nearby it woke him up.

     “Meet Tenebrous,” Latona said as she let go of Nika.

     He was quite a scary looking dragon and was one of the largest. His would have majestic and impressive looking if it weren’t for his helmet which just looked stupid. She was always threatening to steal it in his sleep. The flaw with that plan was he woke up whenever she approached and then banned her from the network for a week.

     Tenebrous opened one giant eye and glared at the pair.

     “So your student turned up then.”

     The large dragon’s voice was not the most pleasant, it was loud and booming and hard to hear yourself think over.

     “I almost feel sorry for you whelp, having such a poor excuse for a mentor as Latona. Expect to be at TRIM by the end of the year.”

     Latona laughed nervously, “Heheh, don’t joke Tenebrous. Don’t listen to him Nika I’ll make sure you pass!”

     Yeah, she’d make sure he passed because otherwise she might not be given another student. Tenebrous wasn’t ruining her plan however, he hadn’t told Nika she was deceiving him.

     “Are you actually not interfering for once?” Latona asked her partner.

     “Perhaps.

[Anonymous]

The young boy gave a shudder as Latona wrapped her arms around him. He wasn't found of people touching him, but it was worth it to get to see a dragon. And flying was a new experience for the teenager and he turned his head to look this way and that as the pilot flew them to the dragon. He was impressed that she could still fly while holding another person.

Though once landed, the boy took the dragon in with a wide-eyed amazement. He wasn't afraid of the huge dragon, he was almost never afraid of things. But he was fascinated, and seeing such a huge, impressive creature with such an odd looking helmet was rather amusing.

At the dragon's comment, the boy grinned, his smile wide and picture perfect, "Ah, that is alright. I am sure that she will be a good mentor. And I don't think I'll end up in TRIM." Nika was confident that he would pass. He was looking forward to being a pilot, having the freedom they had.

"Besides, if she was so incompetent I am sure a dragon would never have chosen her." Smile smile.

[Anonymous]

Latona couldn’t help thinking “He told you Tenebrous!”

     Maybe this kid wasn’t as bad as she had thought.

     She knew why Tenebrous had chosen her though; it was because she was one of the few who would stand up to him. Other pilots he had through the years had listened to him blindly, taken his criticism without a fight and made sure they never offended him. She hadn’t; she had criticised him back and didn’t care how many times he punished her, she would never become his mindless slave who daren’t breathe unless he said so. And she liked to think she’d earned his respect even if he would never tell her that.

     “You are not worthy of anyone’s respect Latona,”

     She laughed internally, “Really Tenebrous, prying into people’s thoughts is rude.”

     Tenebrous stood up then to his full height, probably to try and scare Nika. The boy didn’t seem frightened ofthe dragon at all, which Latona had to give him his due for. The large dragon hated to think people weren’t scare of him, particularly candidates.

     “I’d learn not to talk back to me if I were you boy, what if in next three years I decided to dispose of my current pilot? And made sure my next one was you. I could make your life a living hell.”

     That was a bit below the belt…she’d like to think Tenebrous wouldn’t kill her. He probably wouldn’t, he was just trying to scare both of them.

      Latona laughed nervously, the stupid dragon was a judgement on her and if she had an evil dragon chances were she was evil…well she was but she didn’t want Nika to know that.

     “Anyway,” she said turning round to look at the other dragons, “Since we have such a good view up here why not have a look at the other dragons. Some of them are a lot less grumpy.”

[Anonymous]

Nika took a step back from the dragon, though it was more so he could see him better then out of fear. The boy's emotions were badly mangled and he didn't always tend to have the smartest response to things.

At the comment, the slender boy just shrugged, that large smile still on his face, "Then it means that my mentor is dead and I have passed my candidacy. That doesn't seem so bad to me." He glanced out at the other dragons, then returned his attention back to Tenebrous, "Besides, what point in doing that would there be. I'm sure you could hurt me right now if you wanted too."

The candidate didn't enjoy getting punished, but it didn't hole a lot of fear for him. He would do his best to avoid it, but all in all he didn't really know how to be properly afraid of it all. There was just a deep, empty, silent hole where many of his emotions should have been.

Then he turned his smile onto Latona, "I would like to see the other dragons. Who is partnered with who?"

[Anonymous]

“Hey!” Latona said at Nika’s comment.

     How long had he known her? And he already wanted her dead, that wasn’t very nice. Still if he wasn’t her candidate she’d be tempted to push him over the edge right now. It was a wonder Tenebrous hadn’t yet. He just snorted indignantly and went back to being ‘asleep’.

     Shaking her head exasperatedly at her partner she then turned to Nika, “The gold dragon at the bottom is Lartech, she’s Dyerlich’s dragon. I think you’ve already met him. The green one one row down is Arka he’s Mara’s dragon and the orange one across from us is Reise, she’s partnered with Alei. You probably won’t see Mara and Alei much until you pass; Mara’s been a pilot 70 years or something and he still hasn’t been given a student. If you ever meet him you’ll see why. Alei is a bit…spacey…and weird. He has purple hair so I’m sure you’ll know him if you see him.”

     She then glanced around herself a bit more, she didn’t know all of the dragons there but there were some she knew, “The black and green one is Lantenac, they’re partnered with Satori, not really surprising considering she has a scorpion tail.”

     Just like the pilots, the dragons were a varied bunch and at times they could be just as immature and moronic as the pilots. Considering being a pilot meant you were the highest caste, it was strange that becoming one seemed to cause you to de-mature a few years to an almost teenage mentality.

[Anonymous]

Nika didn't really want Latona dead. He just didn't care if she was dead. And getting to become a pilot in the process was fine by him. But he smiled at her, "No offense to you or anything."

The boy moved closer to the edge, his bright eyes watching the other dragons intently. He liked the dragons, they interested him. He had never seen anything like them. And Nika liked things that interested him.

"They are pretty." He smiled back up at Latona, "I hope that I can get one. Is there really a pilot with a scorpion tail? That must be weird." His focus went back to the dragons, though he still directed his comments to the pilot, "The pilots all sound....weird. Are Dyerlich and Roman not the norm then?"

The way everyone had talked about pilots it had seemed they were all sadistic bastards. But maybe that wasn't true. And Nika wasn't sure how he felt about that.

[Anonymous]

Latona laughed, “Define ‘the norm’? All we pilots are different, there’s me and Seiteki and Victor who all have wings, Satori has a scorpion tail, Dyerlich’s a…something, Alei has purple hair, Mara is an immortal who can’t be killed and can control his own hair at will. Even the human pilots aren’t exactly what I’d call normal.”

     Nika might as well know the truth to be a pilot was to be strange and eccentric, sometimes physically but always mentally.

     “So yes, all the pilots are weird. Bet you can’t wait to join the club.”

     She then noticed just how close to the edge he was…the temptation to push him was almost overwhelming but if she did her plan would be ruined…Unless she ‘accidentally’ pushed him! It wasn’t as if she was going to let him die, she’d use her telekinesis to catch him just before he hit the ground…Hearing him scream might be funny, if he did scream that was. He didn’t seem to be able to register fear at all…

[OOC Just to warn you ZC next post he's going over the edge ^^]

[Anonymous]

Latona's right. None of the Pilots are... normal. A low growl registered a few feet away from Nika, and a formerly sleeping dragon opened one of his eyes lazily to look up at the Candidate. Pushing himself up, the tan-scaled dragon sat up, stretching out his metallic wings and scratching at the few shreds of flesh that hung on to the base of each. His muscular body was denser than some other dragons- he certainly lacked the grace of many of them- and his size was certainly something to marvel at.

The giant ruby compartment set into his chest was large enough to hold his Pilot within if she curled up, and his metal legs continued to creak with every movement. He felt stiff- it wasn't as if he needed an oil change or anything that primitive machinery would need, but the tops of his still flesh-covered thighs still felt as if they needed a good stretch or two.

If you make it through the program, you'll be a freak, as well. Jorinth's voice, though not overpoweringly loud like Tenebrous (he saw no need to make his audience deaf, after all), was extremely deep, and seemed to carry an almost mechanical whir behind it. His deep laughter shook his body, and he made sure to laugh both audibly and mentally.

My Pilot is Fala. I'm sure the others would prefer if you didn't refer to them as their Pilot's dragons, winged one. Some don't take well to it. Shaking his head and scratching lightly at the base of one of his two segmented horns, he lay down before the newest Candidate, spreading out his wings prone on the ground.

You, Candidate. I need a scratch. Between the shoulder blades, if you would.

[Anonymous]

Nika laughed at Latona's comment and nodded his head, "Yes. I would very much like to join the club. Besides, at this point my alternatives are death or TRIM. And I would not enjoy those much at all."

As the other dragon rose and stretched, Nika moved back the same way he had with Tenebrous, there was no fear, just a want to take the dragon all in. And the dragon was huge. Were they all this massive? The small boy felt rather dwarfed between the two huge dragons.

"I'll be a freak? Why? Because I'm a pilot? Or does something happen to you when you get accepted?" Nika was aware that he wasn't normal, though how abnormal he was was a bit skewed. He didn't really have a good base to base his definition of the word on. And getting sent to the training complex hadn't really improved that base any.

The boys eyes ten widened as the dragon lay its massive head next to him. He...got to touch the dragon? How exciting! The boy wasn't really tall enough to reach the back of the dragon with out crawling slightly on top of him. But he then happily began to scratch away, "You feel....interesting . Warmer then I expected."

[Anonymous]

(Ah, yes... for reference, Here's Jorinth. :3 Size relations in the picture are not accurate.)

Tell me, Candidate... how many Pilots have you seen here that can be vaguely seen as normal? Answering Nika's series of questions with just sarcastic one of his own, the relatively smooth-scaled dragon continued to recline, not even bothering to crane his head up to actually look at him. His metallic tail did move slightly, however, when those small, delicate human hands began to dexterously scratch that one area he'd been wanting to get at for some time.

Granted, it wasn't like a dog wagging its tail- he wouldn't stoop so low. Rather, the tip of his tail moved slightly, back and forth, almost like a cat's when it's feeling at ease. A deep, relieved sigh made its way from his throat, and he remained still, enjoying the scratch while it lasted.

You're not the first to tell me that. My little one said something similar to that, too. I do recall her whining about it, the one time she rode on my back. Said it felt warmer than a lizard should. An indignant huff made its way back at the memory. Fala hadn't always ridden in the chest cockpit- she'd at first tried to ride atop his back, as most Pilots did to their dragons. However, being a bipedal specimen, generally speaking, Jorinth's back had never been particularly suited for riding in that manner.

And she had called him a lizard. Damn that girl. At least with a week's lock out, she learned not to do it again.

After a few moments of this, he opened one eye lazily, looking up towards Nika, then back to his Pilot mentor.

Off, boy, and thank you- that will do. Your mentor's waiting for you. Thrumming without the normally grumpy huff that he traditionally took to humans, Jorinth wiggled his wing to signal that the ride was over, for now- he'd get more opportunities to meet with dragons later, if what Latona was doing now was any sort of indication. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if she used them as a reward system, with the way Nika was reacting!

Just like Fala's mentor had tried to do for him. Only he hadn't liked her, then. He generally had quite the inherent dislike for female Candidates- much too clingy and inquisitive.

...Latona. You ought to show him to Whiro, sometime. Ah, but his willingness to subject Candidates to rather unfortunate situations was still there, and still going strong. If he hadn't been so tired, maybe he would have picked on the kid some more...

But there was always next time.

[Anonymous]

Latona laughed when Jonrinth berated her for referring to the dragons as if they belonged to the pilot.

     “I know we’re the dragon’s bitches Jorinth, it’s just it easier to explain that way. And it annoys Mr Sunshine over there,” she said indicating Tenebrous.

     She then turned to Nika, “I’m not really sure if you become a freak when you become a pilot or it’s just that only the freaks manage to pass. I’d like to think I was normal before I became a pilot…but somehow I doubt it.”

     Ah she remembered orientation; she had been innocent then in comparison despite nearly dislocating Alei’s arms and having her own wings broken.

     She was a little surprised when Nika seemed happy to scratch the large dragon…maybe she could use seeing the dragons as a reward. Jorinth’s suggestion that she let him meet Whiro was interesting…

     Nika wasn’t quite so close to the edge now, a pity she couldn’t make pushing him over look like a accident…Unless…

     “Tenebrous…? Could you do me your annual favour?”

     “No…push him yourself. And you already used the annual favour when you begged me not to drop you into that acid lake.”

     She sighed internally, “Can I tell him you did though?”

     “…If you must.”

     Heheh, she wondered if he would scream on his way down. Maybe she’d set herself a challenge and try and get him as close to the ground as possible without killing him…She might even break his nose and ruin that pretty face of his…Nah, not yet. She was still going to push him though.

     Focusing she sent a pulse of energy at him, it was telekinesis basically and since Nika said he didn’t have any, he wouldn’t be able to stop it.

[Anonymous]

The boy had carefully slid off the dragon's back once it had had enough. That had been quite fun and the short candidate was smiling broadly, almost glowing at having gotten to touch the massive creature.

He turned to reply to Latona when he found himself hit with a powerful physic force. He twisted, trying to find something to grab onto but he was suddenly over the edge before he could locate anything.

At first he didn't scream. He just watched the ground rapidly approach. There wasn't fear yet, it was still taking him a moment to register what had just happened to him. Then he screamed, high-pitched and frightened. His body twisted in mid-air, trying to get into a better position to land. Not that it would do a lot considering how far up he had been.

He had sort of expected his life to be flashing before his eyes, but there wasn't really anything. Just the knowledge that it was going to hurt when he hit the ground and he really didn't want that.

[Anonymous]

Whoo-hoo! Victory, he screamed! So he wasn’t completely fearless after all. That was good, it meant he was human. And he’d be screaming a lot during his candidacy so he’d have to get used to it. It was funny watching him try and grab onto nothing. She had to suppress her laughter though.

     “Nika!”

     3…2…1…Then she caught him. She peered down over the edge looking worried but really she was just seeing how close he had come to death. Hmm…hard to tell. She jumped down and glided to the bottom.

     1cm! Latona shoots, Latona scores! She then let him drop to the ground, falling from 1cm was not going to kill him.

     “Are you okay?”

     “You are a sadistic bitch Latona.”

     “I think Tenebrous has something against you,” she explained, “He did that to me too when I first met him.”

     He had as the well the bastard. Today the dragon was not at fault but he was the type to do that to people.

[Anonymous]

Nika jerked on the floor, his heart pounding painfully against his chest. He hadn't liked that, not one bit. He lifted his head to glare at Latona then up at the dragon. There was a dark hatred there, flashing across his mind before he managed to control it.

He slowly sat up, breathing heavy, "I see." Nika closed his eyes, trying to stop the trembling. His body was still coming down off the adrenaline rush of almost dying, "I am fine. I think. Nothing broken."

Already the fear was fading from his mind. He just stopped caring about pain and fear once it had passed. He gave Latona a shaky smile, "Thank you for saving me. It wasn't a moment too soon."