Befriend and Betray (Closed)

[Anonymous]

When a dark look flashed across Nika’s face, Latona thought only one thing, “He knows.”

     But he managed to regain his composure. So her little act had become a game between her and Nika. Whose façade would fall first?

     She prided herself on being the best female gamer she knew and she was not going to lose to her candidate, the selfish spoilt brat that he was.

     He was shaky but still managed to keep his polite demeanour and even thanked her for saving him though he undoubtedly knew she had something to do with his fall.

     “That’s good,” she said sighing in relief, “Do you want to go back up to talk to some of the other dragons or would you rather stay on the ground.”

     If he was gutsy or stubborn enough to go back up there, he would have another unfortunate ‘accident’ and this time she would break his nose.

     This choice was actually part of the game; hopefully he’d be smart enough to make the right one. She didn’t want to be beaten, but she was at an advantage and it would not be sporting to keep the rules from him, instead she would subtly give him them and he would have to be smart enough to realise what they were.

     In fact making his training into a game of wits between the two might be interesting, and good training. He would never beat her but she would like him to get close.

     So what was the score so far? She had impressed him with the dragons and her wings so 2 points to her, as well as one for pushing him off the pen. He earned one for realising she was not as sweet as she seemed and for managing to keep up his façade. Latona 3, Nika 2. Hmm, already close but there was still three years to go.

     Meanwhile back with the next choice, if he chose to go up there again, she would gain a point and then another if she successfully dropped him and broke his nose. If he said no then he would gain one, making them equal in the scoring but certainly not in power.

[Anonymous]

"I don't think Tenebrous likes me very much." Nika gave a small shrug, his expression a little sad, "And I would probably only upset him again if I went back up." He glanced around at the other dragons, "Maybe I can meet more of them another day. If that is alright."

Nika honestly didn't care one way or the other about Latona pretending to be sweet and nice or not. He didn't have much interest in authority figures. Though it might prove to be interesting, too see how long she would keep it up.

For Nika it wasn't really an option of not keeping his facade up. He always had, it was second nature to him. And part of him liked it, liked living the lie, pretending he was normal. So he just smiled again at his mentor, "Maybe we can finish the rest of the tour?"

[Anonymous]

“There aren’t many people Tenebrous does like; I certainly haven’t met one yet.”

     Damn, she was hoping to push him off again…oh well. But what to see next? The hangar, or maybe the Artificial Environment Generator, that was pretty cool. He didn’t seem the type to like machines so she’d take him to the hangar. And if couldn’t at least feign interest, then he would lose a point. This was going to be a fun, how many points would they have by the end of the three years? It would probably run into the hundreds unless Nika managed to lose some.

     “Okay, let’s go the hangar next. You can see the ships you’ll be trained to fly.”

     She found it quite interesting, she quite liked machines. Not enough to make it her whole life, not that she could anyway, but machines were interesting.

     She exited the small door and began heading down the corridor. If Nika knew what was good for him he’d follow.

     “It isn’t too far from here,” she said cheerfully.

     She headed down the corridor and through some double doors into a more metallic looking corridor. At the end of that corrdor was a large metal door which folded up. Inside the hangar was huge; it had to be to hold all the different craft. They weren’t as impressive or pretty as the dragons but they had their own charm.

[Anonymous]

Nika nodded, happily smiling up at Latona, the earlier fear gone. And the anger had receded, locked away for now. He was practically skipping to keep up with his mentor, "Well, maybe he can at least not want to push me off the edge. And the other dragon didn't seem so bad. I liked him. He let me scratch him."

He glanced over his shoulder, wanting one last glimpse of the dragons before he left. He enjoyed being around them. Maybe he sensed that they were like him, "The hanger? That sounds like fun!" Another bright smile, "When do I get to start training on piloting those?"

Nika liked machines well enough. He found them interesting and he liked to interact with them. And the few times he had driven a vehicle he had had far to much fun. And getting to pilot the large air crafts the Training Center had was rather thrilling.

As they entered the room, he gazed carefully around, taking it all in. He might not think much of Latona, but at least she was showing him interesting things. Dragons and crafts that one day he would get to fly with.

[Anonymous]

He was actually interested; maybe he wasn’t as much of a girly pretty boy as she thought. He wasn’t feigning though, so no points for him.

     “It’ll be a little while before you get to fly this, in a year or so maybe, it depends how long you take learning the first part.”

     She pointed to a nearby ship, “That’s the type you’ll probably train in first.”

     It was a small ship and a slightly older model. It was only really designed to fly above the earth, not go into space. But still it was cool looking. Obviously built for speed, it was streamlined with a slightly pointed end. Its wings stuck out horizontally from its body and on top the ship’s main body as a clear blue dome that covered the cockpit.

     “It isn’t the greatest of ships but it’s easy to fly.”

[Anonymous]

The boy didn't seem that much more then some pretty femme boy. His blue eyes seemed almost empty as he watched Latona, listening to her carefully. To be around his mind was a little strange for a physic. As it just seemed to be missing parts.

And for now, Nika was actually interested. How long he would stay interested was another matter though. "Ah. Well, hopefully I will be a quick learn then. I haven't driven many things, so we'll have to see."

He gave Latona another smile, "How does it reflect on you how fast or slow I get through the program?"

His attention shifted to the other ship, the older model, "It looks fast. I like the fast ones." He couldn't wait to get to try one out, to find out how fast it would go.

[Anonymous]

So Nika was asking how him failing or passing and how fast would reflect on her. No doubt so if he did fail or was slow passing he could blame her and console himself with the fact she’d be laughed at by the other pilots. Which she would be, however she was going to pretend she didn’t hear his question.

     “Some of the other ships are much faster; they have to be to get of the atmosphere.”

      Should she take him for a ride in it? He might get bored after a few minutes and she hadn’t flown one of those in a while, they were more for training purposes. Besides Tenebrous got jealous whenever she flew a ship and complained about humans replacing dragons with machines. Like they would let that happen.

     Maybe she could take him to the AEG. Sometimes she liked to go in their and train, sort of like a virtual video game. Or she could show him the dojo and see what kind of a fighter he was…and how easily she could crush him. That might not be a bad idea; she could assert her power and let him know she could break him so he’d better behave…No…maybe another day when she wasn’t being nice Latona. So the AEG it was!

     “Let’s go to the Artificial Environment Generator next. Like the name says it creates realistic environments. It’s pretty cool.”

[Anonymous]

She ignored his question. Interesting. Nika would take that to assume that it would reflect badly on her. Not that Nika would want to do things poorly just to reflect badly on Latona. That held little interest for him. But it was worth storing that thought away for another day.

"Ah, yes. Space flight. That I really want to try. But I probably wont get to do that until I'm a pilot, right?" Nika gave a small sigh, then brightened, "But I am sure that you'll be a wonderful teacher for the rest of the crafts."

He did perk up slightly at the mention of the AEG, "Is that like a video game? I like video games." He beamed up at her, looking quite excited, "That sounds like fun! Let's go!"

[Anonymous]

“It is kind of like a video game yeah, I like to do my training there. Even when you’re a pilot you still have to practice and the main areas used for that are the dojo and the AEG depending the pilot’s personal tastes. I use both areas. If you want me any time but can’t find me I’ll probably be in one those two areas.”

     Hopefully he wouldn’t take advantage of that and come and annoy her. She got the feeling he wanted to spend as little time with her as possible though.

     She turned and started leading Nika out of the hangar, “And yeah space travel isn’t until you’re a pilot. Space isn’t really that interesting after you’ve seen a couple of times; it’s just a big black, star speckled expanse with a few giant rocks here and there.”

     Space was king of boring, the first time she saw it she had found it beautiful now she just saw it for what it actually was a big blackish spotty thing with the odd planet dotted about.

     She walked down the corridor toward the AEG which was a little bit out of the way but eventually they reached it.

     “I know it looks boring now,” she explained as she stepped inside, “But trust me it is pretty cool.”

     Currently it just looked like a big grey room with nothing in it except a small computer terminal.

     “You tell the computer whatever type of environment you want and what you want in it and a realistic projection is produced. It even imitates the tastes, smells, temperature, humidity and textures of the environment.”

     It was very handy; she liked to create environments with lots of monsters in, just like World of Warlocks.

     “If you have a dragon of course, you don’t need to use the computer, they’ll program it for you. Unfortunately my dragon isn’t nice enough to do that but you’re in luck because it means I’m not lazy and actually know how to work the thing.”

[Anonymous]

The boy carefully followed, taking everything in. He wanted to learn about his new environment. He didn't actually mind being here, it was a much more interesting place then his home had been. And there was getting to mess with his mentor. That was proving rather amusing. Nika liked games.

He nodded as she spoke, listening as he memorized the route to the AEG, "That is good to know! When I am lonely, I shall look for you there. What is the dojo like? What kind of fighting will we learn there?" Nika also liked fighting. He got to hurt people and it was allowed. Though sometimes it was hard to make sure he didn't go to far. "Will we get to fight monsters and stuff? In the AEG thing."

Though Latona's comments about space made the boys smile fade a bit. He actually looked rather crushed, "You don't think space is that interesting? But it is so.....beautiful in all the pictures. I can't even imagine what it must look like when you are really there. All those stars and planets around you..."

But once they entered the AEG he perked up a bit more, though the sight of the flat gray walls didn't inspire much confidence, "What kind of enviroment do we get to play in?"

[Anonymous]

“You learn a few different fighting styles but most of the pilots settle on one or two. Mine is…well you’ll find out sometime soon, but not today.”

     Telling him would be a foolish idea, he’d know what to expect then and if she were to say wrestling which it basically was, he’d probably realise what sort of woman she was; the violent kind who loved to break bones and cause physical rather than mental harm. And she had a good reason not to try and break their spirit and mind too badly, she had seen what the training had done to others, Wulf and Alei were good examples.

     “And yes you can fight monsters in the AEG, that’s how I train. I don’t really advise it unless you’re with someone experienced or until you’re a pilot. As for space, well that’s my opinion; some of the other pilots might have a different one.”

     She went over the computer in the AEG, “You can have any environment you want, just tell me what you’d like.”

     After typing in her username ‘Pilot Cardinal Latona Eisurin’ and password ‘latona_la_angel’ she clicked on the favourites icon on the menu and scrolled down to one of her preferred environments. Over the time she’d been a pilot she kept changing it and modifying it so by now it was quite challenging, it was virtually impossible to kill Nika with it though. And she probably wouldn’t scare him either; he was actually being good and not stuck up and disrespectful.

     On clicking ok, the room suddenly changed and became a huge green meadow sprawled across the room making it look huge. It looked very realistic but barely like anything that existed on earth. In the distance a forest could be seen as well as a river. What really made it great though were the monsters wandering around. Some looked like the mutant animals you found outside the city borders, some looked like trolls and some looked like bears and other large and dangerous animals.

     “This is one of my favourite environments, but the AEG can create virtually anything.”

[Anonymous]

"Well, I shall look forward to the day I get to see you fight then." The boy grinned up at her. He seemed to smile a lot, his mouth almost always pulled into that Cheshire cat grin, "I haven't had the chance to spar in quite some time." Then he tilted his head his expression curious, "Will you be teaching me to fight as well? So I will learn your style or will someone else be teaching me?"

The fact that his mentor had wings made Nika think he would probably not be learning to fight from her. She would want to fight in a very different way then he would. Nika was fond of quick, brutal forms of fighting that let him use his small size and fast reflexes effectively.

"I don't know how to work this," The boy gestured to the walls around him, "So I can only use it with a pilot. So I don't think I have to worry about fighting monsters alone." Though he did watch her as she worked at the computer, curious as to what was going to happen.

When the room changed the boy gasped, his pale eyes going wide with surprise. He wasn't really used to natural environments, having lived in the domed city his entire life. He blinked in the bright 'sun' and gazed around, mouth hanging open, "It....it is....beautiful."

[Anonymous]

[OOC Really, inexcusably short *begs for forgiveness* Fell free to describe the monsters, I said mutant animals so make them up ^^]

“I might teach you my fighting style some day but to start off with someone else will teach you, you don’t have wings so it’ll be difficult for me to.”

     His reaction at the artificial environment was interesting, but most people found it amazing, because it was.

    “Yeah, it is, isn’t it? Some of the pilots have different tastes but this is one of my favourites. So want to fight some monsters?”

[Anonymous]

"Just...barehanded?" Nika cocked his head, watching some of the beasts. They didn't look like things he wanted to be touching. And while he was an alright fighter, he would have much rather had something between him and them.

"I don't think I can hurt the armored ones. I'm sorry. I can just try and get the ones that look like I can hurt them." There was one that was off to the left that looked hopeful. It wasn't too massive, maybe only 6 or 7 feet tall. It was long limbed and moved with a strange rolling grace. Chunks of its fur and flesh and slid away to reveal the muscle under, and in a few places, it's skeleton.

Nika had mostly picked that one because it seemed to have noticed them and was moving closer.

[Anonymous]

“You…do know I was kidding right?” Latona asked.

     He was unarmed and didn’t have any telekinesis of course she wasn’t expecting him to fight them. She could however.

        There was a monster heading towards which wasn’t very big; she could probably take it down without resorting to her psychic abilities. Nika would get a taste of her fighting style but well…she wasn’t wasting psychic powers on it, it wasn’t worth it.

     Walking towards it briskly she took in its height and strength, a fair bit taller than her but small in comparison to the other monsters. First she dropped into a fighting stance then in a flash she flew behind it and pushed it to the ground by kicking off its back. Once it was on the ground she flew up before shooting down going an elbow drop onto its back. It roared in pain and got to its feet just in time for Latona to ram her shoulder into its abdomen and throw it over her shoulder. The monster narrowly missed Nika on its way back to ground but disappeared the moment it hit.

    Normally, a human woman should not have been able to pick a monster like that up but she had wings so clearly wasn’t human. She was a lot stronger than even the male pilots.

     She turned to Nika smiling, “Okay, so you got a bit of a show today but trust me I’m better than that usually.”

[OOC Hooray for wrestling! Lol and Tomboyness!]

[Anonymous]

Nike had watched Latona very carefully, watching how she moved, how her weight shifted. He wanted to learn as much about it as he could. It would probably come in handy later.

She was very strong and fast, though it made Nika curious about her bones. Were they hallow like a birds? She had to be rather delicate, or he wings couldn't support her weight. But she had been able to lift him as well. There must be some trick to them. It would be interesting to learn that trick.

When the monster vanished, Nika clapped his hands, smiling that picture perfect smile of his, "Ah! That was very impressive! Fast and effective!"

[Anonymous]

“Thanks,” Latona said brightly as she pushed her hair back into place, “It would have been faster to use my psychic abilities but it would have been a waste. That one was weak in comparison to some of the others.”

     She flexed her wings slightly, and then continued, “So want to see another environment or do you want to do see the dojo now?”

     Nika probably wondered how she could fly and be so strong. It was simple, the bones in her body were just like human bones but the bones in her wings and the bones connecting them to her back were full of a kind of magic as the medics of the ATC had discovered when they’d been broken on her first day. Needless to say she was really lucky she was a psychic, else she’d have ended up a TRIM.

[Anonymous]

Nika tilted his head to the side, his gaze shifting to the spot the monster had vanished from, "You can use your physic powers to kill something?" That interested the boy quite a bit and he couldn't fully conceal that from his expression, "Can you teach me how to?"

Nika glanced around the room and at the monsters, "I think I would like to come back here and see more places when I can....interact with it more." Then his smile was back, "But the dojo would be very fun. Do you know who I will be teaching me to fight?"

Maybe his mentor would be quite useful. She could teach him new and interesting ways to hurt people. Though he wondered what she would think of his ability. But he would keep that to himself unless she asked. It was always nice to have a few surprises.

((OOC: Ah! >.< So short! I'm sorry!))

[Anonymous]

[OOC That's okay ^^ mine are short a lot of the time o.O]

“Yeah, you can use telekinesis to slam them into things, or to pick them apart atom by atom…” Latona said surprisingly cheerfully, “Or if you’re more of the telepathic type you can cause severe mental stress and cause a complete brain meltdown. Of course that won’t work on pilots, but on normal humans and animals it will.”

     Doing that however required a sound knowledge of the human brain and how it worked, and picking something apart atom by atom was certainly not the fastest way to kill someone, it required immense concentration. Alei had always seemed very good at that though, for some reason he found it really easy to visualise and actually do it very quickly.

     “And yes, I will teach you how to kill thing with your powers eventually. As for who will teach you how to fight…whoever volunteers I guess or whoever I can bribe to do it.”

     She could think of a few people who might, given the right incentive, maybe Fala might…

     “Anyway, let’s head to the dojo.”

     She went over and shut the computer off before exiting the room. The dojo was a bit of trek from there really. Maybe she should have planned the route in advance…

     “So Nika…What’s your specialist psychic area? Do you have one yet?” she asked, “Mine’s telekinesis but I can do the other things too. Except the whole sensing emotions and memories from objects, that’s for hippies.”

[OOC Heheh, never let Latona meet Devi, it will not end well o.O]

[Anonymous]

((I can just see it now XD As Devi wont like Latona making fun of her power and she doesn't tend to back down well))

Nika's eyes widened slightly as Latona spoke and his small pink tongue darted over his lips before he could stop himself. That sounded like so much fun. Nika then quickly smiled again, trying to repress the excitement, "That would be interesting to learn. I hope I can master my powers that well some day."

Nika was a little sad as the images faded back into the plain gray walls. He had liked the wide open spaces and the strange monsters. He would have to come back her e more often to play, "I hope that you can find a teacher soon. I could use the work out. I am getting rusty here."

He paused for a moment at her question before quickly recovering the distance as he trailed after Latona, "My physic area?" Darn, so early to have to reveal what he could do. But there was no point in lying about it, she would find out eventually and he would just get in trouble for not telling her. "I can control blood."