fandomhigh | Unconventional Tactics, Tuesday, Period 2

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unconventional tactics

Unconventional Tactics, Tuesday, Period 2

"Rookies!" Reno was looking pretty darn refreshed today as he walked into the classroom, yes. It was entirely possible that this had something to do with some time well-spent off the island, accomplishing not much of anything in particular, but doing it in good company. "Today, we're gonna talk a little about prevention of the big shit, yo. I know, I know, most of what hits the island is gonna hit it no matter what we do. We ain't gonna be able to stop every spaceship of honkin' aliens that flies into the atmosphere an' blows up the school, zoto."

He shrugged.

"Things like Vice-Principal Hades tryin' to turn the island into an extension of the underworld? How're we supposed to see that comin', right?" Except possibly for the fact that he was Hades and all, really! "But that don't mean that we should use that as an excuse to get stupid if somethin' is on its way that we can prevent, with a bit of thought or attention to detail, zoto. The island's last big zombie invasion could'a been avoided after that attack in the mall if only the teacher watchin' the portal the students came back through had stuck around a few minutes longer an' made damn sure that it went and closed all the way. Every telepath, psychic, and empath on the island spends a night tossin' and turnin' instead of sleepin' because they got a bad feeling? That's somethin' to pay attention to, yo. Fandom's given us warnings from time to time, and we still keep goin' on with our day like there ain't nothin' goin' on until we're in it up to our eyebrows, zoto."

And another shrug. By now, Reno was pacing lazily back and forth in front of the classroom.

"That don't just go for life here on the island, yo. You go home, you see hints of somethin' bigger, and you make a choice to either ignore it or help it along, you gotta live with the consequences. Fortunately, things here on Fandom usually turn out for the best. We ain't had many students die when the big shit hits. But it's happened. Bein' here don't mean some kinda automatic safeguard, just because the risk factor seems smaller at a glance. Dependin' on where you end up after you leave here, that risk factor may or may not get a whole shitload bigger. Danger is Danger, Rookies, no matter where you go."

A sigh, and he pulled a small green sphere from his pocket, and idly started tossing it back and forth from hand to hand. Anyone with any sense for the supernatural might recognize it as a channel for power, magical and ancient. Anyone without any sense for the supernatural would at least be able to tell that it was giving off a faint greenish glow between Reno's fingers. Thundaga Materia. Mostly there just to make certain that he still had people's attentions, yes.

"With the nature of the island bein' what it is, there are going to be things you run into that you won't necessarily recognize. Things that might look harmless that ain't, or things that look like a big friggin' deal that really are harmless. Today, the exercise is gonna be a simple one. Yes, again, zoto. We'll get into the more hands-on crap later on, as the semester progresses. Today, I want you to pair off. I got a list of hypotheticals for you to pick from, just to get you puttin' your brains to work, zoto. Pick one of 'em, and then talk about what you'd do if you were the one who tripped over it. Easy shit. Get to it."

[Open!]

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"How did you know what I was thinking?" Raven said, then shook her head and blushed. "Lady Ghanima then. If any of these situations involve a threat to the island, than it is our responsibility to inform an adult about what is going on, or to bring a potentially dangerous item to them."

"Raven, there are very few times when your first thought isn't 'inform' Professor Skywalker," Karla said, winking. "It wasn't very hard to guess. Besides, when I'm thinking of an adult to tell something to, he's usually my first choice, too."

Granted, her thoughts didn't often trend towards 'Tell an adult,' but when they did, he was high up on the list. Next to Lady Ghanima, actually. And 'Dite.

"But what if Professor Skywalker and Lady Ghanima were among the faculty members acting all bizarre? In fact, what if all the faculty members are?"

"I would use my gifts to see if I could determine if there was something affecting their behavior," Raven said. "If something were to act upon their emotions, I would surely sense it."

She paused, then added, "And you are still in trouble."

Meeeeeeeeeeean.

"C'mon, Raven! I called!" Karla ~~whined~~ protested with dignity. She'd get to the part where she's check with with Healing-Craft and Black Widow-Craft in a minute, but some things were more important than class. Like not being in trouble.

"You would be in more trouble if you had not left a message," Raven conceded. "But that does not change the fact that you went into a potentially very dangerous situation..." -- she couldn't say alone, and she couldn't say without adequate protection, because she knew Ben -- "...without your court healer."

She totally wasn't sulking.

And Karla really was protesting with dignity!

"But we were more of a strike team than anything else. In and out, quickly and in secret. There wasn't supposed to be any out-and-out fighting. And there wasn't!" she added quickly, just in case Raven had thought there had been. "We went in, met some friends of Morton's and I talked. I managed to convince them that I was alive, I was who I said I was, and that there was a reason to resist Hobart and his influence. I think I did a good job." There was a kind of quiet pride when she said that. "I took a handful of males and made them mine."

Quite literally in one case.

Raven didn't want to turn this into another curry incident.

"Made them yours?" she asked neutrally. God, Karla, wasn't Warren enough?

God, Raven!

"They came in half-suspicious about who I was and my motives," Karla said slowly. "But by the end of the afternoon, they really...believed in me. In me, in what I could do, in the promise of a future where they didn't have to meet in hunting lodges high up in the mountains. They accepted me as a Queen. Not just a Queen, even. Their Queen. I gave them hope, Raven."

Aaaand just when you thought it was safe... "I claimed one of them, too."

"...as a member of your court?" Raven said. "Or as...?" Or as a fluttering hand?

"As a gesture?"

Raven glanced around to make certain no one was listening in and leaned in to whisper, "For your Virgin Night?"

Karla instantly made a disgusted face. "Ew! Ew! No! I don't even know his name! Plus, he's a jackass. Neither Ben nor I like him."

Really, it was just Karla's luck that the first male she could remember claiming happened to be an ass.

"Claiming...it's kind of a biological thing? Something within him recognized something within me. If I'm lucky, it's how I will know most of the members of my First Circle. But this guy..." She frowned. "If he decides he doesn't want to serve, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."

Sighing, she added, "I'm still at a loss for my Virgin Night, honestly."

"It is biological, yet he can refuse?" Raven said. Karla's world was so weird. "If he is as unpleasant as you say, then perhaps it would be best if he did." She had a no jackass rule in place for Karla.

"You are in no rush for such a thing though, are you?" she went on. "You do not think Warren would be adequate?" She didn't mean it that way. Maybe.

"Blood males need to bond with females," Karla explained because her world made total sense ~~no really~~. "It's what keeps them on an even emotional keel. Without that bond, they become unbalanced. Not mentally, emotionally--quicker to anger, more prone to violence. Warlord Princes, already aggressive and temperamental, need that bond more than males of the other castes. Sometimes that bond develops slowly over time, but other times, it's more abrupt and immediate. A Queen and a male realize that she will hold his emotional tether best, and he is driven to yield to her. But, he can fight and even deny that bond. It hurts, but it can be done. Which is good, because if a male finds himself bound to a bad Queen, he is still capable of repudiating her and clinging to his honor."

There. That should clear everything right up!

"I'm not in a rush," she admitted, "but I am thinking about it. I don't think I wish to wait the additional four years that my people consider proper." After living in Fandom for a year, the idea of waiting until she was twenty--or even older!--was intolerable. "And, well, as much as I care for Warren, he doesn't have much experience in...that...way. I don't think he has any, actually." Someone was still unaware of the hotel tryst with Denise, yes. "A skilled lover knows how to reduce the pain or even remove it entirely. I can't take the risk that Warren could do that for me. I just can't."

"I could remove your pain," Raven said without thinking. Then she turned very very pink. "But I am not otherwise...qualified."

Well. Not unless she did some shopping at 'Dite's, but did that even count?

Proooobably not, no.

Well, not alone...

Karla looked up sharply at Raven for a moment, speculation in her eyes, and then quickly glanced back down. "I'm, umm, pretty sure there needs to be a male involved," she said. "'Dite thinks so, too. Since so much in Kaeleer is about gender and the bond between sexes."

Still, there was a small idea forming in the back of her mind...

"But, yeah, so, teachers. I would check them with my Healing Craft and Black Widow Craft to see if there was anything affecting them physically and mentally," Karla said abruptly. She was totally smooth, really.

Raven caught that glint in Karla's eyes but wasn't sure what to make of it, so she totally embraced the subject change. "I think between the two of us, we would have the power to remove most unnatural influences upon our teachers," she said. "And thus restore them to normal."

"And then we could tell them about the invasion of creepy wooden masks and wish-vendors?" Karla teased. She looked at some of the other things. "Well, when if comes to bad feelings and nightmares, I can usually tell if there's something lurking on the horizon or if it's just...I don't know, indigestion or something. It's part of being a Black Widow."

"Of course," Raven said, shaking her head with a smile. "I tell Professor Skywalker everything. Everything that is not truly personal, I mean."

she glanced at the list of scenarios. "I have some precognitive skill as well," she said. "But it is nothing I can truly control. But I can sense malevolence and ill intent, unless the person or creature is shielding themselves too powerfully."

"That's something you should work on with Professor Skywalker, if you aren't already," Karla said, nodding slowly. "I wonder if you can learn to get around shields and things like that. It'd be damn useful."

Say in a few years, when Karla gets dreadfully poisoned or something.

Raven nodded. "We work on a great many things," she said. ""Recently it has been controlling my temper. I do not like to lose control of it."

Which she would if Karla got dreadfully poisoned.

Karla thought that getting dreadfully poisoned was a perfectly rational reason for Raven to lose control of her temper.

"I don't think I've seen you lose it without serious supernatural interference," Karla said gently. "You're remembering that, aren't you?"

She likely would not disappoint then!

"I think that has always been the case," Raven agreed. "Though it was more because of the threat to those I care about."

"I'm supposed to be keeping myself out of danger until after the New Year," Karla offered. "So hopefully that'll give you a bit more time to practice?"

"Not if you continue to run off without me," Raven chided gently. bringing them full circle.

Re: Pair off and Discuss

glacial_queen - 2010-09-16 02:46 (UTC) - Expand

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