initiation story - Misguided Impressions

"Odd." Leroy said to himself.  Valka shifted her weight under him, as if the massive Tokota was agreeing with her master.  A few meters in front of the pair about 20 harp seals lounged on the ice, basking in the weak sunlight.  Only one colony was located on sanctuary grounds, so Leroy had rushed out excitedly when the reported location of a new one had reached his ears.  However there was something very wrong with this colony.  "Plenty of adult females, no pups and it's breeding season." Leroy said to the dicta-phone.  "They appear to have broken away from original colony despite rise in-" Leroy's stomach gave a sickening lurch.  He turned Valka sharply and began galloping along the coastline, hoping against hope his realization wouldn't be true.

Valka trotted through the landscape, her breath creating bursts of steam in the frozen air.  Here the pack ice had been affected by the movements of the ocean, forming sweeping hills and small cliffs with the rolling tide.  They were close to the edge now, dangerous territory for an animal as big as Valka.  Leroy gritted his teeth.  Time was of the essence but he was not going to risk her life to save mere minutes.   They had just rounded the base of a cliff when Valka stopped and began growling.  Leroy scanned the small plain before him for the threat.  There was an odd shape on the far side of the valley, contrasting sharply with the fresh white of the snow around it.  Leroy squinted at the irregularity, then urged Valka a few strides closer to it.  Slowly the strange object came into focus, details exposing themselves under Leroy's keen eyes.  He recoiled.  A seal carcass was sprawled on the plain, skin brutally torn from its body.  Flaps of sinew flopped wetly in the wind as the puddles of blood turned into blackened ice.  A dark looking figure crouched over the gruesome display, back turned towards him, brightly coloured clothes dancing in the breeze.  Leroy straightened himself on Valka.  This person's behavior was highly suspicious and needed to be addressed immediately.

"Identify yourself." Leroy's voice boomed around the valley. A small drift of snow fell to the ground behind him.  Two shapes pricked up either side of the stranger's head and they silently rose from their crouch.  Leroy blinked.  "What are you doing out here kid?" He called out, dismounting Valka and walking toward the tiny figure. They can't be more than 10 years old, but they would need to answer for their actions, kid or not.

stars danced in Leroy's eyes as his lungs tried desperately to refill with air.  He shook his head, struggling to make sense of what happened.  One second he's walking towards the kid, the next he's lying 10 meters away in a small snowdrift perpendicular to his course. Whatever happened in between had been to fast for him to process.  A thought formed in Leroy's head, but the shifter was too dazed to register it.  A roar tore through the valley.  Leroy lifted himself a little, head swimming and ears ringing, to watch Valka charge at the little girl standing where he was seconds earlier.  He closed his eyes and waited for the crunch that told him the fight was over. Silence. A small whimper.  Leroy opened his eyes.  Valka, the massive dire Tokota, had been half lifted into the air, her front paws desperately trying to reach the snow a few centimeters below.  The child had achieved this with the use of a single finger under her chin.  That's impossible. Valka's twice her height!  How is she being lifted like that?!  Leroy blinked as a wave of thoughts erupted in his head, the noise replacing the ringing in his ears.  Most of these he dismissed, but there was one that kept pestering him, warning him that something was not right.  

"Needle, bring the pup."

The soft voice cut through the wind like a knife.  Leroy, mildly surprised at the deepness of the girl’s voice, sat up a little more.  So the she can fly he thought, watching the poacher hovering opposite Valka.  The snow beneath the Tokota's feet began to move and Leroy watched in amazement and a young puppy emerged, white as snow it came from, carrying an infant seal in it's mouth.  Leroy watched the girl land. Valka, now fully levitated, floated helplessly beside her as she walked back to the carcass.  He ran his hand over the snow behind him.  It was soft and warm to touch.  Leroy, still dazed, wondered why something felt off.  What was so wrong with it?  this drift had probably saved his life.  considering how fast he was flying he would have been a bug on a windshield if he had hit anything... Wait the snow is WARM?!

Ji gently lowered the wolf bear thing onto the ice, shooing Needle out from under it's feet.  "my apologies, little one," she said to the massive creature.  Ji studied it for a moment.   She was a female, her grey fur shot through with streaks of black and white on her mane, face, and tail.  She looked similar in build to Eclipse, the oldest of her white Tokotas, but this one was much larger, a difference too great for them to be of the same kind. Maybe she had a mutation for gigantism? Her long elf-like ears pricked up in time with the approaching sounds. Ji turned to watch Eclipse gently nudge the bipedal thing towards her. This one was rather strange as well.  It had dark skin and darker hair, bright red ears poking through the locks and its eyes as yellow as hers.  furthermore the shape of the ears and eyes suggested some kind of link with a canine creature.  It somewhat reminded her of a lifeform that populated a planet North cre- NO! Don't think of that!  Ji fixed her attention on the carcass instead.  She was some kind of aquatic mammalian creature, killed by several blows to the head and flayed where she fell.  Ji could feel the frightened soul still trapped in the corpse, reliving her murder again and again.  I'll help you, Little one Ji thought solemnly. She closed her eyes, clasped her hands and began to pray.  Her ears twitched.  Needle and Eclipse were sitting upright either side of her, heads bowed.  The pup was fast asleep, exhausted from his earlier ordeals.  Even the massive wolf-bear thing knew to keep her thoughts still, but this bipedal... male is shifting around, thoughts scattering like petals in the breeze.  what's more, he was trying to say things, continually interrupting her preparations to send the soul onto her next life.  Can he not understand what the others could?  would she have to speak aloud to him, like she did to Needle when she was naughty? Her divine abilities gave her enough knowledge to understand a basic language like his in minutes, but speaking it was another matter entirely. Ji tried again, focusing her mental signal on the male.  It was no use.  She'd have to tell him.  She opened her eyes and looked directly at him  

"You too." she said curtly.  The sounds felt strange in her mouth.  

"What?" a puzzled reply

"Pray"

"Pray?"

Ji's ears twitched again.  Was this planet so primitive that they had not developed religion yet?

"The soul is trapped in the body. Prayer is fastest to release her.  Close the eyes. Still the thoughts"  

Instead of quieting down like Ji had planned, the male's thoughts became a hive of activity.  He spoke again.

"Is skinning them part it?"

"Skin-ning?"

"Taking the skin off the flesh."

"No."

"Then-"

"They were like when found."  Ji's temper was rising fast.

"There's more than one?"

Ji's ears flicked in annoyance.  She gestured to the drift behind her.  The male climbed to the top.  His body stiffened slightly and Ji winced as a wave of anger pulsed out from him.

"Poachers." he said, his voice a growl.

"A waste of much young life yes." Ji said, confused at the new word. "Shame on they who kill not for food, leaving the soul trapped and pup without mother."  The patterns proved harder than anticipated to say correctly.  Ji silently cursed at how backwards this language was.  The male spoke again.

"You didn't kill these did you. So why did you attack me?"

"You were to step on Needle! Not attacking you. Gentle push."

"That's a gentle-"

Ji's temper snapped.  She would not be distracted by this idle chit chat while the soul endured hell.

"Pray or LEAVE!"

Eclipse cantered through the icy landscape with Ji on her back, cradling Needle and Pup, using only the fur to support herself.  Eclipse had her ears flicked back and eyes narrowed, her growling complaints something only Ji could hear. She didn't blame her mount.  Her ears were also flat with irritation, for next to her was the male, his massive mount easily keeping pace with Eclipse.  She didn't mind the massive creature(unlike Eclipse), but the male was being very noisy, saying things and thoughts buzzing like an irritated hive.  if only he would stay as quiet as he was when they were praying.  Ji, bored of looking at her surroundings, decided to listen to what the noisy bipedal had to say.  after a few moments her ears raised as her irritation surrendered to curiosity.  the male was talking to Valka, his mount Ji guessed.  She opened her ears to the creature's thoughts.  Ji's curiosity intensified.  the two seemed to be able to understand each other!  How odd Ji thought, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"What's the deal with big one."

<Angry>

"I can see that. Know why?"
<No, she won't talk>

"She cannot talk," Ji chimed in  "Eclipse is mute."

The surprised murmur of their thoughts was strangely satisfying.

"You have animal communion too?" the male exclaimed

"No."

"Then how-"

"Your turn."

"Huh?"

"You want knowledge? Trade for."

the male thought about it, scratching his chin.  Ji imitated him, head tilted slightly.

"You got a name?"

Ji began to protest, but the male pulled Valka to a stop.  Eclipse stopped too, fur bristling, watching Valka like a hawk.

"I don't do deals with nameless people." the male said bluntly "So you got a name, or am I calling you pipsqueak from now on?"

"...Ji."

"Not so hard now was it? Nice to meet ya Ji.  The name's Leroy.  Roy for short."

"n-nice to meet you, Roy for short."

The male called Leroy shook his head and urged his Valka into a canter, Ji following suit.

"Ah...Nevermind. So what do you want to know Ji?"

"What are you?" Ji's question was directed at Leroy's mount.

<i'm a Tokota>

Ji shook her head. "Too different."

"You've never seen a dire breed before? Valka here’s 50%." He patted Valka's mane affectionately.  "Your turn.  How can you understand her? Is it animal communion?"

"I cannot in the way you do.  I read the mind, not the mind speak."

<She can speak into my head>

"That is command only. Order is not conversation." Ji scooped up the pup who was sliding off Eclipse's back.  She held him up to Leroy. "What is he?"

"That's a seal pup.  Only a day or so old, you can tell by the colour of his coat. He's probably a Harp seal, those bodies you found is what’s left of a colony of em"

"Then he cannot survive without a mother." Ji lowered her head in thought. "The slaying of the mother is unnatural.  Will raise him, but cannot give back.  {[Needle will be happy]}." The last part she spoke softly to the sleeping Tokota puppy in her native tongue. Leroy's thoughts became slightly puzzled and a fraction softer.

"You'd make a good ranger.  I'll show you how to mix formula for him." He paused. "So how long have you been on this planet?"

Ji looked sharply at the Leroy.

"You're certainly not from here Ji.” he said blandly.  “You have some pretty strange abilities and your ‘gentle push’ feels like terminal velocity.  Plus I'm completely stumped on your accent.  We get a lot of visitors in these parts, but you're on a different level entirely."

"I..." Ji paused, trying to find correct words for her statement. "I woke in this... snow 32 rotations ago.  If were here before, cannot say." She absently patted Needle.  This pup was the first sight this new world had given her. They had been together ever since and she would do everything in her power to keep it that way.  She had already been careless twice around this Leroy.  She couldn't risk him finding out what she really was or she could be forcibly separated from her Tokotas.  She couldn't imagine coping without them here, they were the only things stopping her from falling into complete despair.

"what is poacher?" Ji suddenly broke the silence, desperate to distract herself from the gloomy direction her thoughts had taken.

"A poacher is someone who steals animals that aren't theirs.  Sometimes they take live animals, but mostly they kill em then take the most valuable parts to sell" Leroy paused again "That reminds me. Can we stop for a sec Ji? I gotta make a call."

Ji had no idea what Leroy meant by a 'call' but gently patted Eclipse’s neck and she slowed to a halt.  Leroy stopped Valka a short distance ahead and pulled out a funny looking box before dismounting. Ji set Needle and the Pup down in the snow and followed suit.  Uninterested in what Leroy was doing she cast her gaze into the deep blue sky.  The light from the brief day was slowly draining from it, allowing the weak light of the stars to shine through.  Ji narrowed her eyes. Four light years away, 260,000,000 light years away, now a red dwarf, and this one is a planet in the solar system bouncing light off it’s thick atmosphere.  Ji cast her gaze further away from the planet.  The stars became streaks of light, colours changing slowly as she looked further into the cosmos.  Some ended in darkness and worse where the star once stood. Others were so new their light had not reached this place yet.  Millions of planets, asteroids, and debris weaved between the stars and through her vision. Ji focused on a planet near the edge of the (surprisingly) small universe.  It had just produced sentient life and Ji watched the tiny creatures race around on it’s surface.  Suddenly Ji realised that she was searching for traces of Him unconsciously.  She forced her thoughts away from Him with all her might and focused on scanning the outer reaches of her new home.  She noticed a weakness in the fabric of reality and looked more closely at it.  As she did, she felt her eyes adjusting and suddenly she saw another universe, the edges mere kilometers away from touching.  Ji blinked in surprise.  She had never possessed the ability to see beyond the universe she was in, so why could she now? had other things changed in the period between her death and waking up here? What even is this place?  Somewhere Gods go after they die? Then why is it so-

“beautiful isn’t it”

Ji would have jumped at Leroy’s voice had she not been trained to conceal her reactions.  She turned to him, feeling an instant of dizziness as her eyes re-adjusted.  She took a mental note of the new hole in her defence and made plans to remove it.

“I must have been on the phone longer than I thought,” he said squinting at the sky “but high detail reports of poaching incidents are required for the army t-”

For the second time that day Leroy, dazed and confused , blinked the stars out of his eyes.  A few remained in his vision this time, twinkling weakly in the fading light.  He sat up, head spinning slightly, completely confused as to what had happened.  He appeared to be in some kind of bowl structure, almost perfectly circular, shadows moving in the walls around him.  he heard a  faint cracking noise and realised with a start he was on very thin ice. The realisation of what had happened slowly dawned on his mind.  His stomach lurched again as he looked around wildly for the others.  He let out an audible sigh of relief when he spotted Valka at the top of the crater, Needle and the seal pup beside her.  Valka was holding Ji like a young puppy, possibly some kind of revenge for earlier that day.  Thank goodness they were not caught in the blast, they would have been killed… Hold on, why wasn't he dead? He was the target of a hit so strong it vaporised a huge amount of ice in an instant.  The sheer force of the hit alone should have been enough to turn him into paste.  The ice cracked again and Leroy felt the ground rise underneath him.  With a start he realised he was sprawled on top of Eclipse.  Once again, despite her unjustified anger at Valka, Eclipse had saved his life.  The white Tokota, not bothered by Leroy, stood up and began to climb out of the crater.  She also seemed to have come out of the blow unscathed.  With a slight bump Eclipse cleared the rim of the crater and Leroy dismounted her.  Furiously he turned to face the culprit.  His rage dissipated in an instant when he saw her face.  He had seen this kind of expression a handful of times in his life.  He forced himself not to turn away from Ji.  He shuddered.  Her entire body was trembling like a rabbit caught by a fox, the dark skin of her face beaded in sweat and twisted in agony.  It was her eyes that were hardest to look at.  They were amber like his, staring past him at something only she could see, wide with the horror of whatever memory she was being subjected to.  Leroy couldn't help but wonder as to what could make this insanely strong alien so terrified.  He knew what Ji was going through all too well, and also knew that he could not be of any help to her.  He also knew that it was far too dangerous to leave her alone like this.  He sighed, picked up his phone, and dialled the tribe.

“Goodness gracious, she's almost as expressive as you!” Sheldon exclaimed as way of a greeting.  The trio were sitting in a small cabin overlooking the tribe.  Ji and Eclipse had refused to go into the base, something Leroy was secretly thankful for.  

“Very funny Sheldon.” He said darkly. He shot a quick look at Ji.  She Had her usual stone faced expression on, all traces of the horror he had seen earlier wiped away.  The only part of her that seemed to move were her ears, flicking and swivelling to the slightest of sounds.

“So you went out to confirm a new colony and found her instead eh? It's a pity about the poaching, but the seals will bounce back in due time.” Sheldon said as stoked the fire. He turned to Ji, “You however, well that's a different story entirely.  Minds are awfully fragile things, and time alone may not be able to salve your wounds.”  He scratched Needles head affectionately. “You're lucky that I am here Leroy, there isn't another trained psychologist for miles.”  

Leroy was indeed lucky to have Sheldon.  There were few people he trusted, and even fewer with a person as dangerous as Ji.  Sheldon didn't talk about his old job, but he was very, very good from what Leroy heard.  If Sheldon couldn't help her then he doubted anyone could.  He was going to owe Sheldon big time for this.

“However, before I can help you Ji I need to figure out what's going on in that head of yours and to do this we're  going to need to talk one on one.”

“But-”

“I'm well aware of what Ji is capable of Leroy.  That's why we need to make a safe environment where she can feel relaxed and at ease.  Having two people in the room is only going to stress her more.”  Sheldon put up his hand to silence Leroy's further protests “I'll have Valka stand guard outside, but that's as far as I'll go.  I know how much of a stubborn old goat you are, but I will not budge on this one.  I'm not having this turned into an interrogation. Out!”

Leroy paced impatiently on the veranda, munching on pocky.  Sheldon had been in the cabin for 18 hours, and 2 hours ago had told him to wait here until he returned.  He wondered what had gone on in that little cabin.  Valka, if she had had heard anything, wouldn't say a word, sworn to secrecy by Sheldon.  Leroy silently cursed at doctor-patient confidentiality.  He heard snow crunching and turned to see Sheldon trudging up through the snow carrying the seal pup, Needle at his heels.  

“Sorry I took so long!” He huffed “This little guy needed a feed.”

“Isn't Ji supposed to look after him?”

Sheldon’s smile faded.  “Yes, but she's a little incapacitated right now.  Come in, let's talk over coffee.”

Leroy followed Sheldon into the cabin.  The fire was still burning merrily, a black kettle heating over it.  Eclipse sat on the bed in the corner, Ji snuggled next to her fast asleep.  Leroy blinked in surprise at the sight.

“Ji’s kind usually doesn't sleep, so with her permission I tranquilizer her.” Sheldon said mildly.  “It took a box and a half to knock her out, but I think she'll feel a little better once her body has had time to rest.  Because she is not of this world. I'm monitoring the effects to make sure she won't be hurt by it.”  Sheldon made the coffee and brought it to the small table. “Her mind on the other hand, that's one hell of a doozy there.  Ji’s been through hell and it's taken a huge toll on her mind.  From what I can gather her homeworld was at war, which she appeared to be fighting in before she came here.” Sheldon took a sip of his coffee.  “It's pretty normal for a soldier to have PTSD symptoms for a while after battle, what concerns me is the severity.  That coupled with Ji’s abilities makes her ticking bomb which could potentially cause catastrophic damage.  She cannot be allowed to roam free in this state.”

“So what are we going to do then?” Leroy said, pocky in his mouth “I doubt we can contain her.”

“That's where I need your help.  I will do my best to help her heal and adjust, but she needs constant supervision, but she shouldn't have contact with anyone else for the first 6 months at least.  I need you and Valka to supervise her and help her ease into life here. I’d prefer to do this myself but i need to keep the shop open.”

Leroy nursed his coffee, mulling the information over.

“Looks we have a new member then.” He said finally.

“Indeed.”

Sheldon stopped Leroy as he was about to leave.  

“There's one more thing.” He said.  “You mentioned surviving blows that should have been fatal twice.  While I was talking to Ji I learned that she has enhanced Eclipse to be able to withstand her lighter hits.  In all other aspects she is a normal Tokota.”

“I see.”

“The enhancement means that Ji knows something is wrong and that she is trying to change.  I need you to remember that when you get angry with her.  These things take an enormous amount of time to heal, so be in it for the long run. I'll give you reports of each session to help too”

“Thanks.  I owe you one.”

“Once this I all over, I think she'll be a great asset to the tribe.”

“Mm. She'd make a good ranger.”