Author Topic: Land of Training and Darkness [Liiioooon!!!] (Read 4701 times)

Nix · « **Reply #20 on:** March 09, 2017, 11:34:08 am »

"Sir..." Windsor started to protest but silenced himself. What was he about to say? That he couldn't? That it didn't work like that? It didn't, it wasn't like scanning something... he wasn't sure he could block out the rest of the room, but he also had not tried. And there for there was no point in protesting.

He opened his eyes looking down at the ground to try and reset his mapping. When he closed his eyes he tried to focus just on Banning, but the walls of the room were coming up too. His brain was sending out telepathic wavelengths in every direction that were bouncing off the walls and off of the Pilot and sending back information; shape, size, and energy. The first two were easy to see as outlines but the third translated to colors in his 'vision'. He could see that his mentor wasn't that far away, maybe about 10 feet? A bit farther? Size... it was harder to translate at a distance but he was big... He could still see the walls...

Windsor sighed and shook his head. "I'm not sure how to focus solely on you Pilot Lockhart... I thought I was but I still see the walls."

Lion · « **Reply #21 on:** March 09, 2017, 10:10:50 pm »

Banning could feel Windor's power, if only faintly, feeling that reverberation bouncing off of him like sound waves. Banning kept himself still and his breathing steady, projecting out a feeling of calm. Of focus and baded Windsor's lungs to breath in time with his.

"That's okay," he said across the distance. "You know how you stare at something for a long time, and the rest of everything else becomes blurred around it. Think of this just like that. Stare with your mind. Acknowledge the walls, know that they're there, but center your mental vision. Map the object of your attention. Breathe normally. In and out, Annsley. Easy-like, understand?"

Nix · « **Reply #22 on:** March 09, 2017, 11:11:00 pm »

Windsor could feel his breathing become more even, was that Pilot Lockhart's doing? He felt calmer. "Ok... just focus on you..."

Saying it was much easier than doing it but repeating in his mind, and breathing... it made it easier. Pilot Lockhart was staying calm for his sake. It was rather, reassuring. Windsor kept focusing, trying to stare at his mentor with his mind like he had been told. And then...

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Windsor wasn't sure he had ever cursed like that, certainly not in front of a Pilot, but for a second, for just a second, he could SEE Pilot Royal Lockhart, clear as day... and then his head started throbbing so badly he could barely stand. He winced and held his temples, squatting down so that his center of gravity was lower and he wouldn't fall over.

Lion · « **Reply #23 on:** March 10, 2017, 12:50:03 am »

At his exclamation, Banning darted forth. Bending down beside Windsor, he frowned and watched the younger Candidate grasp his skull. "Hey, hey! This is normal. Take a deep breath, Annsley. We're just getting started. You have to push through the pain, like you did with those punks."

Banning crossed the room to get the kid a cup of water and offered it to him. Sure he could extract the information with ease if he wanted to, but he'd rather have the Candidate tell him himself. "What did you see? Did it work?"

Nix · « **Reply #24 on:** March 10, 2017, 01:06:29 am »

Windsor nodded slightly but the pain in his face and head was so bad he wanted to just cut the whole thing off at the neck and be done with it. He blinked a bit unsure if the pain was worse with his eyes open or closed. Before he knew it Banning was next to him with a cup of water. He took it and blinked up at the blurry Pilot. "Thank you sir," The candidate said before taking a sip of the water, his hands shaking a bit despite his best efforts to be strong.

"...I saw you Pilot Royal Lockhart. Not your outline, or your energy but... you. Clearly. ...You have lavender eyes."

Lion · « **Reply #25 on:** March 10, 2017, 11:15:36 pm »

"Lavender eyes? You noticed my eyes," Banning muttered with a snort. He was amused by that, but he was more impressed by how much focus Windsor had managed to get in a single shot. Granted, he only did it briefly and his head was being split open by a headache currently.

"You did good, Annsley. That was thoroughly beyond my expectations." He didn't have any, but he wasn't going to tell his Candidate that. "All right, we'll try it again. But with something smaller. An object. Tell me whenever you're ready, okay. I'm going to set a table up on the end of the room. It'll be farther this time."

Nix · « **Reply #26 on:** March 10, 2017, 11:38:17 pm »

He finished his water and looked up at Banning, only 'seeing' his outline once again. He thought it was funny that he noticed it... "I barely remember seeing anything that clearly. Of course I noticed your eyes." He said quietly as he tried to stand again. He still felt dizzy but tried to steady himself and push through the pain.

"Thank you sir." He said when Banning praised him. He wasn't used to that either. It was a short lived feeling though when Banning mentioned mapping an object... and further away. "Pilot Royal Lockhart... I don't usually see smaller objects with my mapping at all. Usually furniture is ok but anything smaller than that is.. hit or miss."

Lion · « **Reply #27 on:** March 11, 2017, 12:11:00 am »

"Then it'll be hit or miss, Annsley," he commented, pulling a table across from the side wall, setting it down easily. There weren't many small things in these training rooms. But he just needed something simple, something small enough to be compact, but uncomplicated to make it doable. He took another cup, a simple white mug that had been left unattended and set it at the center of the black table.

"Okay Annsley. The object is approximately double the distance from you," Banning said aloud. "Reach out and map it's position, then however slow you can, hone in on the object at it's center. Take your time. Don't push too hard until you're ready. And focus like I told you earlier."

Nix · « **Reply #28 on:** March 11, 2017, 12:32:06 am »

Windsor nodded and closed his eyes again. Immediately he was seeing the walls again and Pilot Lockhart. It was much harder to try and shift his focus away from Banning now since he was giving off much more energy than the walls. Object, object. He was trying very hard though. It was harder. Much harder. Why was it much harder? He had never seen clearly before and he managed to do it. And he sometimes saw objects but he couldn't do that? This was pathetic.

He stood there, trying to force back his migraine and pain, trying to focus... how long was Pilot Lockhart going to give him before he hit him? How long before he got pissed. No. Don't think that. If he does he does. But Windsor was going to stand there and focus till that time came.

Lion · « **Reply #29 on:** March 11, 2017, 09:28:17 am »

"Well, now what do you think?" Banning projected to Hyperion. "Of my Candidate, I mean."

"I think you are wasting your time," Hyperion echoed in his head, voice deep and gravelly. The very sound had shook Banning to his core when he first met Hyperion, seeing it now had been a test. "If Annsley had any potential, his previous mentor would still be with him, would he not? They should do away with fodder like him. His sight will go. Then he is back to square one. And thus a waste of time. Which you mortals have so little of.".

Each word was muttered slowly and with irritated emphasis. Banning somehow could swallow each word though. Not right away. "And where would you be if you'd have given up on me, Hyperion?"

Hyperion laughed haughtily. "With another Pilot not currently making a fool of himself. But I will let you have your little hobbies, Banning. We will fly again soon."

Banning sealed off any further conversation, feeling now instead into Annsley's mind. " You're experiencing a great deal of pain. Use it. This is your own body trying to back you into a corner. Use that pain to make yourself angry Annsley. Use it and map the object, reach out further. In a battle, there will be no opportunities for second guesses. You do it, or you die."

Nix · « **Reply #30 on:** March 11, 2017, 07:09:29 pm »

Windsor really hadn't been making any progress seeing the object and was a little surprised when he heard the Pilot in his head. He shouldn't have been, but it was always a bit startling when someone entered your mind uninvited. "Yes sir." Was all he said in return but... Angry? At what? At who?

At pathetic stage 3 candidates who had to gang up on him to feel superior? At his genetics for both causing his degenerative eyesight and making him a psychic? At his parents for having children and not caring for them? At the things he had to do to survive and provide for his siblings? At every adult that had failed him or taken advantage of him? Angry that he was being set up to fail? Anger had been long locked behind a wall within Windsor, along with all his emotions. Feeling anything was a dangerous downward spiral that led to destruction and he held on to that notion for so long. How was he supposed to just tap into that now without it all crashing down?

He took a deep breath, not realizing he had been holding it, but realizing he hadn't been focusing. In battle there will be no time for second guesses. I don't want to die.. He thought.

He concentrated on seeing the object. Anger... why did he have to hurt? Why did he have to have a wall? What had he done to deserve it? What had he done to deserve the catch 22 he had been dealt? The questions were chipping away at his wall as he channeled the energy and his thoughts on mapping the object... maybe 30 ft in front of him? He could see the table fairly well defined now. What was there on top of it?

Windsor had no idea if the Pilot was still in his head, nor did he realize how loud his thought process had been.

Lion · « **Reply #31 on:** March 12, 2017, 12:00:12 am »

He was listening to his thoughts, and even as Banning focused on what was going on in his mind, he did not interfere further as Annsley pushed outward.

He could only know what he would tell him. And tearing his mind apart wasn't any way to give the man the strength he needed.

Banning said nothing and stood back, watching Annsley still, remaining silent and out of the way. He could only hope he was strong enough to reach out to the final few inches.

Nix · « **Reply #32 on:** March 12, 2017, 12:22:04 am »

Windsor gritted his teeth. His eyes hurt. His head hurt. His face hurt. For what? So he could stand here and train to be something he would never be because they would not fix him? He WANTED to be able to see. And not for them. Not to pass and graduate. He wanted to see his little brothers and sister. He wanted to see their smiling faces. He wanted to make sure they were ok. That they were cared for and safe and never had to worry about going hungry or getting hurt. If he became a Pilot the government would fix his eyes... but more importantly if he became a Pilot he could provide for his siblings. More than anything he was sick and tired of people writing him off! He had never once given up and he wasn't going to quit now so everyone who thought the could just walk over him- everyone who thought he would be TRIM'd out of this stage...

He saw it. A mug. White. Standard 10-12 ounce capacity; he saw it. He was focusing all he had on it- and it shattered.

He opened his eyes and stared down at the blurry ground, panting and shaking. His hands were trembling, when had he started digging his nails into his palms again? They were bleeding.

Lion · « **Reply #33 on:** March 12, 2017, 12:32:06 am »

The moment the cup shattered made Banning jump. He jerked his whole body and stared at Windsor, watching the kid pant and his hands were bleeding. "Shit," was all he muttered as he ran toward him and crouched again.

"Annsley, talk to me. What's happening, pal? How are you feeling?" Banning said. He maneuvered around him to pull a chair out and scooted it underneath him for the Candidate to fall into.. "You did it. And I want to know how."

Nix · « **Reply #34 on:** March 12, 2017, 12:48:17 am »

Windsor wanted to lash out at Banning as the Pilot approached him- and he wasn't even sure why. His face felt wet. Was he bleeding there too? No. They were tears. Great. He was crying like some pathetic weak little child. He was well aware of the chair under him now but he didn't want to sit. He simultaneously felt the need to pace and like he was going to pass out and as a result he stood where he was, balling his hands into fists again and letting his nails dig deeper.

Pilot Lockhart was talking to him still, but he didn't want to open his mouth. He felt like he was going to scream if he did. Windsor grit his teeth and closed his eyes. He 'looked' in the direction of the table and the cup. He could see every shard of it now. It was imbued in a dark red, smoldering energy now. Was that him? Was that energy his?

He sat down finally, still trembling and forcing himself to breathe. "I focused on the mug..." Was all he could get out. His throat felt tight.

Lion · « **Reply #35 on:** March 14, 2017, 05:46:51 pm »

Banning just let the Candidate cool off. Pushing him further would break the poor bastard that he'd have to drag his ass back to the infirmary for something worse than a broken nose. So instead he just sat next to Windsor and carefully cleaned up the mess with his powers, tossing the broken mug into a garbage receptacle and shoving the table aside.

Banning was quiet, and drank a cup of water as he watched the far wall of the training room, feeling Hyperion's laughter from the other side.

"What do you do when people laugh at you?" he asked gently after several long minutes had passed.

Nix · « **Reply #36 on:** March 15, 2017, 02:02:57 pm »

He sat there, just trying to breath and relax and calm down again, trying to plug up the wall and scared of the energy he was giving off. He 'watched' as his mentor psychically cleaned up his mess. He broke something he was only trying to see.

Windsor sat there with his eyes closed, lost in a haze of spiraling and circling thoughts until Banning spoke again. His throat felt tight. "...I ignore them. I go about what I was doing... there is no point in engaging them for it. It doesn't change anything." He said simply but what would have seemed so matter of fact to him a few minutes ago suddenly had him riddled with doubts. Did he really ever ignore it? Or did he just not react?

Lion · « **Reply #37 on:** March 15, 2017, 11:00:57 pm »

"Fair enough," Banning murmured as he sipped his water until the last droplet splattered across the landscape of his tongue.

"You ignore them. But how are you feeling inside? Just empty?" Banning glanced up at his Candidate. Windsor seemed like a smart kid. So he couldn't fathom why he put up with such nonsense from other people. Even for someone used to taking it as he did, there had to be a limit break. But the point was learning how to control it.

Nix · « **Reply #38 on:** March 16, 2017, 12:57:10 am »

"I suppose I just ignore them too. They get in the way and there are more important things to be concerned with. Feelings just lead to self pity right?" He asked as he shakily got to his feet again. It felt like everything was spinning but he wanted to get himself some water and just sitting there made him feel pathetic.

He stood by the cooler, trying not to be obvious about steadying himself on it. As the anger continued to ebb the sadness was creeping in. It was like waves of the two hitting against his mind. He missed his younger siblings and he was worried about them. He had to keep working hard for them. But what if he couldn't do it?

Lion · « **Reply #39 on:** March 16, 2017, 04:27:44 pm »

"Don't think that," Banning muttered, standing now and looking at Windsor rather sternly. There wasn't any anger in his stance, but talking to him like this made him want to slap the Candidate.

"I mean it, Annsley. Self-doubt is going to be what makes you fail before your eyesight does. You have to start changing how you feel, how you react to your feelings however. Understand, Candidate?"