The beginning [Xcavius]

[trenzalor]

Cato set in his little chair at the table in his room anxiously as he waited. He had been told that today he was going to be assigned his first mentor and he was really nervous. He had been told that being mentored was really important, so he hoped that he wasn't going to be a disappointment to the mentor. For the past hour his palms had been sweating and his heart had been pounding as he wonders what it's going to be like. He'd imagined what it would be like a few times but now that it was actually happening he didn't know how to feel other than nervous. Even so, he does his best to repress his feelings and put on a brave face. He's going to try to do his best to impress the mentor and take the first step on his journey towards being a full fledged pilot. At the thought of being a pilot his eyes go all sparkly and full of hope. He'd only heard good things about the pilots and he longed to be one really badly he could taste it. Especially the prospect of being able to ride a dragon, the perfect life forms, just filled young Cato with determination. And that feeling is only amplified when he thinks about finally being able to meet his parents. But after a second he cuts that out to. He needs to remember to control himself and not do anything rash, or else they might have to send him to the bad place. Cato doesn't want to go to the bad place, so he keeps a neutral face and he keeps his mouth shut and he does what he's told, quivering ever so slightly.

Cato Benda, taken at birth from the Benda family for having psychic energy off of the charts at birth. The files on this kid were extensive and numerous. They'd run tests on him ever since he'd gotten to the ATC as a new born so that they could try and figure out how he managed to have so much power. His personality profile however was probably the strangest since it was lacking in some details. It said that Cato was mostly silent but he hopes to one day meet his parents. Cato also has trouble controlling his emotions and can sometimes explode if pushed too far. Either Cato is good at hiding his personality or he just doesn't have one with how sparse the notes are. The only other note is that Cato has a strange aptitude for combat, and if left to his own devices shows a strange fascination for it. A possible red flag but it hasn't progressed to a point where the researchers have been worried yet. However that was secondary to the reason he had been taken away in the first place: his psychic powers. ever since he could talk Cato had shown great aptitude with telekinesis and energy channeling, as well as a couple other powers he had picked up like sensing and astral projection. That was another note that was really strange. Cato was able to learn psychic powers that he wasn't born with, and at a rapid pace at that. He took to the powers like a fish to water so that's what they'd been focusing on as far as his education for the past few years. However that left most other areas of Cato lacking. His muscles, stamina, mathematics, and basically everything other than psychic studies were all lacking. He always only managed to pass the bare minimum of anything he was tasked to do. There was one more note of his powers in there as well. It said that Cato has trouble regulating his output. Unless he explodes he's only willing to output variations of a small amount of power relative to his measured total. Whoever these scientists turned Cato into, he's quite the enigma and will stay that way until Rikeryn walks into his room and meets him for the first time.

[Xcavius]

The multiple train and shuttle rides to the ATC were beyond a nuisance for Rikeryn today. Lower castes seeing the Royal in his decorated uniform stopped no one from attempting to acquire signatures, acknowledgements, or whatever else the public demanded of him whenever he stepped outside his home. Being a Pilot has its merits and all but it does eventually get tiresome after all these years. Yet still a tiny piece of it is always appreciated.

Lets see here...
Cato Benda...

This would be a first, normally Rikeryn would only be requested for a small mentoring jobs. Mostly as a specialist for pyrokinetics but this one was unique. According to documentation it states that this candidate, outside of the basic qualifications, has no real psionic specialty.

A general psionic? And they want me to mentor him? Something doesnt seem right... what else we got...
age:13
gender:male
species: human
Ethnicity: Native Aedolan
Height:5'...

Rikeryn kept skimming through the documentation on this kid, still not understanding why he was assigned to him.

I'd hope this is a short-term deal. I dont imagine I can't do much for this kid. Hmmm...

Now arriving at the Advanced Training Complex.

Rikeryn stepped outside of the shuttle to be greeted with the all-too familiar structure of the ATC. Stepping inside the immediate smell of top-of-the-line cleaning products mixed with a gentle lemon breeze coaxed the inside of Rikeryns nose all too well.

Ahh, brings back the good times.

A couple of floors and some backtracking to rooms that he couldve sworn were there before. Finally making it to the room, he opens the door and is greeted with the typical scene. Anxiety-ridden, sweaty hands, a slight quiver to his form what he presumed to be Cato.

Be mindful of this one, Rikeryn. Hes been quite the talk between everyone lately.

Albeit he was used to it at this point, Riven's voice still as rash and brutish as ever, still shakes him to the core every time.

Appreciate a warning before you just click in like that. Thanks.

"Greetings candidate, I can imagine you already know why im here so lets cut to the chase. I don't know why I was assigned to you, nor how, but you're stuck with me until further notice. I have your documentation here on your history, medical records, everything. Yet theres something I can't put my finger to. Whats the deal with your psionics? I normally am assigned to Pilots that have the potential to be a pyro. What's your deal?"


 

[trenzalor]

Sitting in the middle of a sterile white padded room in a white chair at a white desk with another chair for Rikeryn if he wants to sit in Cato Benda. He's a smaller looking kid with ruffled brown hair. He's wearing the standard candidate uniform with it done up properly. Immediately upon entering the room, Rikeryn would be able to tell that something is up with the kid. His body is positively oozing pure psychic energy from every single part. He's just radiating pure energy even a newly minted pilot at this distance could feel how much energy is emanating from the young boy. at the same time, Cato looks up at Rikeryn when he feels him come into the room. Cato starts looking him over with a deeply inquisitive eye. After a moment his fidgeting slows down as he keeps looking Rikeryn over as if he were a puzzle that Cato was trying to solve. Though getting even that much out of his expression is pretty hard. His face is emotionally blank and only minor twitches make it through. Cato's never seen anyone like Rikeryn before so to suddenly see someone so strange, it's a bit surprising for Cato. When Rikeryn finally talks to him Cato snaps out of his inquisitive gaze and looks Rikeryn directly into the eyes while he's talking. "U, G-greetings. It's nice to meet you sir. My name is Cato Benda." His voice is exceptionally monotone, yet a little bit shaky, betraying that he's still a little bit nervous. He does his best to keeps looking Rikeryn in the eyes even though Rikeryn kind of freaks him out a little bit. "As for why you were assigned, to me, I don't know why it was you in particular, but I'm sure that there was a good reason. Anyway, the scientists said That when I meet you I need to do some kind of demonstration and an explanation. I'm not sure how this is supposed to go so I guess I'll try the explanation first." Cato clears his throat a little bit as he does his best to remember what the scientists told him about hos his powers actually work. "The scientists told me that on top of my large amount of psychic energy, I have the ability to learn other psychic powers faster than what I'm told in the normal rate. If you wish for me to be able to demonstrate, then please show me your pyrokinesis and then I'll be able to show you what I mean. As for what I can do currently, I'm able to use telekinesis, I can sense energy in a large radius, I can astral project, and I can channel energy. I can take energy from things and move them into other things. The scientists told me that this power was of note because if I channel a lot of energy into a psychic then it will give them a large power boost and also help them heal a little bit." Cato wishes he knew what Rikeryn was planning to do next. He had told him everything that he could remember of what the scientists told him, so now all he can do is wait for Rikeryn to either show him his pyrokinesis so that he can show what he can do, accept what he's told him, or leave and come back with a different decision later. That last option is a bit worrying for Cato since it might mean that the person who was supposed to be his mentor doesn't like him.

[Xcavius]

This is kid is a fucking power trip... he's...

Rikeryn paused for a moment.

"Gather your necessities, we're heading to a private training room."

Rikeryn watched as this nervous wreck of a candidate gathered his things. It almost reminded him of someone else but no one in particular came to mind. Ah well...

The two of them casually made their way down the corridor to the elevator. A familiar tune hit Rikeryn's ears and he resisted the urge to hum. Once the elevator doors opened a vast white corridor opened up in front of them. As the two passed through Rikeryn spotted other candidates doing some standard run of the mill training. Some were alone, some were with mentors, and some were training with other candidates, typical.

After a somewhat short walk Riker managed to find an open room. Scanned his chip to register and made sure the candidate followed the same instructions. All for protocol.

"Belongings in the corner over there. I'll be setting up the simulation for basic training to start and we'll increase difficulty as needed."

Rikeryn paused and remembered a detail from Cato had said earlier.

...

With the last press of a button, the room shifted and changed. A myriad of holographic images moved the scenery around them. On the outside it just looked like their still in the same bland white room, but the inside had manifested into a large scale plains biome with some mountains that were just starting to form. 

"Observe. Then reciprocate as you say you can."

Rikeryn's uniform had changed as well, he now wore a skin-tight body suit at the base of his body that became adorned with a black set of armor that resembled dragon scales. The armor itself consisted of a breastplate that looked surprisingly thin and porous. The legs, back and biceps all followed suit up with blue accents to match all the way through. Although his forearms and head were uncovered, his back plate still kept the holes for his wings, err wing rather.

"Been a bit since I've worn thi-..."

He stopped himself before shedding anymore unnecessary information.

Rikeryn proceeded to walk out towards the field and started to visually glow. He focused a bit, took a deep breath. Then spewed a massive blue cone of flame from his mouth. But unlike typical flame this one seemed...tame. The normal fierce and unpredictable nature of the fire ceased to exist within his presence. The flames seemingly danced around him. Although the calm blue ballet was immediately contrasted by the bright orange emanating from the holes in his armor.

"This is pyromancy."

The flames around his body had grown an even brighter orange and had pulsated around his body.

"This is pyro-kinesis."

The ballet had ceased, then swirled into a tiny pure-white ball of energy in his hand. He took many a step away from Cato, almost looked as if he was an entire city block away. He stopped and turned back to Cato.

Via telepathy: Show me what you got candidate.

To Cato's eyes only a small sparkle appeared from where Rikeryn was standing. Then it started getting warmer, warmer, hot, hot, burning, burning and without even a second to think a gargantuan flash of yellow fire came before him.   

[trenzalor]

Cato's waits anxiously for Rikeryn's response. He hopes that Rikeryn doesn't think that he's trying to brag or anything like that. He just said everything that the scientists told him to say so everything should be good, hopefully. When Rikeryn tells Cato to gather his necessities Cato nods and he grabs a bag from under the table. All her puts in it is a single book and a pencil. Cato smiles a small bit as he packs. This will be his first time going out of the scientific wing and he's really excited to see what will happen. He wonders what the rest of the building looks like. When the reach the elevator And Cato hears the tune it takes him a second but he starts to hum along to it while it lasts. He has a small happy little smile on his face the whole time. This is so exciting for him. when the elevator opens up and Cato sees all of the other candidates, he shrivels up a little bit. He's never seen so many strangers before and he's especially not used to this many of them, especially so many near his own age. However he soldiers forwards behind Rikeryn, occasionally glancing at the other candidates around him and wondering if any of them are like him, not knowing who their parents are. Once Rikeryn finds them a free room Cato looks around the room and wonders how it works as a training room since it seems to be empty. Cato puts his bag in the corner of the room when told to and then he swiftly returns to Rikeryn, ready for the training to begin. Cato is awed when he sees the world change around him change into plane. the sight of all of it is amazing for Cato. And seeing the mountains in the distance just sweetens the deal. "Woah, this place is amazing. I've never seen anything like this before. It's so pretty." When Rikeryn tells Cato to observe him Cato snaps out of his awe and focuses his eyes on Rikeryn like he said to. His eyes scan every inch of Rikeryn and he watches the way that the energy flows through his body and the area around him as he starts to use his power. Every push and pull, every pinch and release. No part of Rikeryn's energy goes unnoticed. When he starts to control the fire directly Cato's attention spreads to the fire as he watches how the energy moves the fire along its path according to Rikeryn's will. When Rikeryn condenses the fire into a white hot ball of energy Cato gives a small nod, starting to wrap everything up in his head with a neat little bow. Cato stays where he is as Rikeryn walks away from him and Cato wonders what he has in mind. Upon seeing the gigantic wave of fire heading straight for him, Cato is a little bit surprised, but as he watches it move towards him, Everything clicks and his calms down. His energy starts to build up as he prepares to deal with the wave of fire. When the wave of fire gets close to him, Cato waves his hand towards the fire and suddenly he wrenches control of the fire away from Rikeryn and causes the entire wall to vanish in a second. His hair blows in an invisible wind and his hand is surrounded by a condensed psychic aura. "Alright. Here goes nothing. I hope this isn't too much." Suddenly a titanic torrent of blue flames bursts from Cato's hand towards his right. He doesn't fire it at Rikeryn since he doesn't want to hurt him. The flames wrap themselves into a ball of bright blue fire above Cato's head about the size of a two story house. "Is this good sir, or would you like me to do more?"