Danger Room

[Amy Myers]

"I wouldn't mind. If you want to watch me struggle." she laughs awkwardly. "I dunno how interesting it is, though. It's just a lot of me trying to shoot targets or overshoot gates on the flight track." she cringes ever so slightly. She's gotten better than that, really, but being watched does always make her self-conscious and she'll feel better about it if she sets expectations low, just in case. Naku already seems way too impressed or intimidated by what she can do.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Ooh! Can I watch too? It's been a while since I've been around someone training or even trained myself. It's... a nice taste of what home was like," Thrax added, his wistfulness thinly veiled behind enthusiasm. "I'd suggest a race but, while I might have better fine control, I've got nothing on your speed in the air."

[Naku Futomi]

Any hesitancy Naku had in accepting Amy's offer vanished as Thrax jubilantly agreed to watch too. More relaxed, for his feelings regarding the woman grew more complicated as he thought on them, he gave a grin to the Hyena man. "Actually, a race sounds fun. Pretty sure you both may one up me, but testing my legs wouldn't be so bad. I'm useless in the sky though: can't fly!"

He laughed a bit more before his uncertainty regarding Amy kicked in. Did she know he liked her? Was she against such feelings? Was now really the time to invest in such emotions? How could he be her friend without pushing any barriers?

The laugh faded, but the one beside him never did. Thrax was always boldly himself from what Naku could tell. All he could do was be boldly himself. A good page to take from his book.

A gentle smile came back to Naku's features as he looked to Amy once more. "A race can wait though. We'll be here to cheer you on if you want to keep training. Won't get in the way once," he stated.

[Amy Myers]

"Right. Uh. I dunno, I probably just look clumsy to you." she starts. For some reason the idea of Naku watching her is less... what, embarrassing? Because he doesn't also fly and shoot energy? It shouldn't bother her that she's the one with the badly managed strength while the hyena-alien towering over her has graceful control but for some reason it does. "I mean you're probably used to, like, a whole warrior-monk civilization kinda deal, right? I just... try not to overshoot things." she laughs awkwardly.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Well, yeah, I have had more training," he admitted, "But it's just that. I'm not especially talented with my abilities, I've just been taught well. And, okay, maybe my culture is more into training our gifts than yours is but that's only because we've already gone through the growing pains that yours is very much still in the middle of. What I'm trying to say is not to worry about it; you're still new relatively new to it and you've got more to do with your time than I did at the monastery. Initiates like I was pretty much do nothing else but learn how to use our powers effectively, be that through practice or studying how our powers work."

[Naku Futomi]

"How old are you anyways, Thrax? How does it even compare to Earth years?" He wondered, curious all of a sudden.

[Amy Myers]

"I mean, even if he's a hundred years old I feel like he's acting more like..." Don't say teenager! "...someone our age anyway." Amy jokes.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax laughed. "Oh, I am around your ages. I did that math when I signed up for classes. Well, okay, I just put both of our planets' data into my computer and it did the work. I'm about twenty in your years. And I would have left home a little over four years ago."

[Naku Futomi]

"You were 16 when you left out? What made you-..." he trailed off, unsure if he should ask, least it bring up a sore topic. Naku turned to face Amy. "I asked mainly to see id he could offer tips to you, tried and true. Guess he could even without checking his age. Either way, i'll be here cheering you on as you train," he said with a low thumbs up.

[Amy Myers]

"Oh there's plenty of people around here who are younger and better at this than me. My ego can take getting advice from someone without them being secretly a wizened mentor." she tries to chuckle. "I just... feel like I must not be doing a good job listening or I'd be better at this by now."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

The hyena-like alien felt a surge of relief when Naku backed off of directly asking about his reasons for leaving home. Other than Minamida and Mooncalf, nobody here knew what he had been through and he hoped to keep it that way as long as possible. His new friend would likely try to comfort him and he didn't think he could handle that.

"Yeah, I never want to be anyone's wizened mentor," he said, laughing. "That would require maturity, and that's one thing I just don't have."

[Amy Myers]

"Wizened or not, how do your people control the wind and lightning? I've tried as much human advice as I could, maybe this'll work." Not that she'd get her hopes up, but it didn't hurt to try.

[Naku Futomi]

Naku gave a half smile at her chuckle. Humble. A nice feature of her. At Thrax' mention of maturity he let out an abrupt laugh. Loud as it was short, Naku hadn't expected it. He was glad his friend was as he was, even if that was immature by most standards. Maybe he wasn't that so much as young at heart.

Amy asked a good question, and Naku listened for the answer. There was little he could do besides watch and occasionally gawk at the two people he hoped would stand the test of time in his life. Not that he wanted to, but his mind started going down memory lane of those who were supposed to previously.

With that, Naku fell silent, looking between the two as they spoke. Curious, but not fully there.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"It's less my people and more me. I mean, all our powered people have some flavor of storminess at some level but it isn't always as literal and direct as mine," Thrax clarified.

Thinking over her question, he tried to figure out how to describe how he did it. "Okay, so we believe in this thing we call the Eternal Storm: an endless roiling storm outside of reality as we know it where the powers of the Stormborn all originate—and possibly our souls but that's a very different conversation. Also, it has been brought to my attention that there's a strong possibility your powers come from the same place as ours. I was taught that the first step to truly understanding my powers was to open myself up to the Storm and let it flow through me. In less spiritual terms, that means to not be afraid of the power bestowed on you by whenever it is you believe in, to get out of your own head and accept that things are as they are meant to be. Only then will it do what you want."

[Amy Myers]

Amy listens and nods along, although she gets increasingly nervous towards the end. Sure, she'd been told to not be afraid of her power before but even with the meditation she'd less focused on emptying her head so much as more of a mindfulness-based deal of being aware of her anxieties. Don't fight the rapids, okay sure, but just let herself float?

"Not gonna lie, that sounds a lot religious, which, that's fine, I'm not, like... It's cool." she rambles, stalling for time to try and think. Same as with pushing her flight to it's limit, she was worried - no, outright scared - that she'd lose herself to the point of forgetting how to come back. Or that she'd want to come back to begin with. But she was getting sick of the rudder jerking in her hand and Thrax... well he didn't seem like he had it together at all as far as discipline and restraint are concerned and yet he managed to wield something as erratic as lightning with almost casual ease. So who the hell was she to question that?

"Alright, okay. I'll give it a try. The room's got safety features and stuff for a reason, right?" she smiles nervously. She does, however, back away a couple steps. And then a couple more until she's a good 15 feet away from her new friends.

She presses the palms of her hands together in front of herself and closes her eyes. Naku can feel the surge of energy even from this distance and how it spikes out of Amy's chi wrapped around it, trying to force it this way or that, the bright light jittering and jerking at the tension as before. And then with a heavy exhale from Amy she let's go. Amy immediately lights up like flare, her chi not dissolving away but letting the light suffuse through it like it does her body. And unlike what she fretted about, does not immediately burst into an uncontrollable spigot of devastating beams. She does, however, slowly lift off the ground, the light shining from within her first making her skin and eyes glow before suddenly bursting into a wreath of flickering tatters. Or perhaps brilliantly white flames licking at the air.

"What the fuck is happening!?" she asks somewhere between confused and startled. "It's never done this!"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax laughed joyously. "This is what happens when you don't fight it! Remember, the power is you as much as the source your body is channeling. It's as natural to control it at it is to move your fingers. You don't have to think very hard to do that, do you? I mean, okay sure, you can't blow a hole through anything just by moving a finger but that's only a matter of scale. Or, perhaps a better example would be making a fist; you can cause harm easily but you can still choose whether or not you do because your fist is an extension of your will. Like your fist, the source has no will of its own; treating it like it does can only cause problems."

[Amy Myers]

"How can I be..." she shakes her head. It's working so the last thing she should do is try to overthink or undermine herself. "I can. It's me, not just something coming out. Okay. Okay." she tries telling herself and it seems to be working. The licking flames recede a little bit as she moves her arms to look at her hands and then vanish entirely as she let's her power--no. As she takes flight proper, arms spread out a little at her sides. From flying parallel to the ground she arcs upwards, smoothly and without the zipping in straight-lines only jerkiness.

Laughter reaches her ears past the rush of air and she realizes it's her own, her hands carving two trails of light through the air like a quickly fading after-image.

[Naku Futomi]

Naku hadn't really been listening as Thrax spoke of storms. Even Amy's response by that point was missed because he was lost in the past. Guilt gripped him as he replayed his past. The months before transferring were brutal. Then of course, there was everything with Emily...

After a few feet of her departing, Naku's eyes trailed to Amy. Unworthiness was a cruel emotion. One he felt, even being close to Thrax now in this moment. His focus started to waver, even as she extended her arms. It wasn't until she lit up that he snapped to. "What the... That new??" he wondered to himself, certainly not used to seeing Amy's power much before. This time it all felt different. It was as if there was more of herself. More control, even?

Her exclamations told him all he needed to know. Thrax's boisterous laugh quelled the concern raising within himself. He still couldn't take his eyes off Amy as he listened. It was just so... her. He couldn't hear what she said to herself. All he could do was stand by and watch as eventually she took flight. Watching her move, there was a tight grip on his heart before all the weight he felt before washed away with her laughter. Everything he felt before faded as her music reached his ears.

Soon Naku was grinning. "Yeeeeeaahh WOOOOOO!! You GOT this!" He shouted along, never mind not knowing exactly what she got. She was happy, Thrax was well, and that was all that really mattered right now.

[Amy Myers]

Amy flies a couple more loops and circuits around the room, cheered on by Naku and Thrax. It felt incredible. Not just the control and the feeling of gliding smoothly through the air but having her friends, new as they might, being this excited on her behalf. It's enough to make her the tiniest bit bold. Pointing a single finger at one of the concrete blocks she just... pictures herself extending past the tip of her finger and a single thin beam of light fires into the stone. But unlike before where it was blindingly bright and punched through the block it just fires relatively harmlessly. There is a faint curl of smoke forming where the beam is hitting the stone and a hint of the orange glow of super-heated rock is beginning to show through the white light of the beam.

And then Amy suddenly feels like something gives way. Not the stone she's firing at but something at the fringes of her senses. The thin beam flares, then disappears in an instant as Amy tilts in the air like someone leaning back in their chair suddenly finds themselves past the tipping point. And in that same way she jerks but can't seem to find her balance again, falling out of the air, the glow that had been suffusing her gone.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

The big guy whooped enthusiastically as Amy struck her target with laser precision. He was skilled with his powers but lightning was never going to that precise. Honestly, he was a little bit jealous of her ability to hit a specific spot. But his happiness for his new friend dissolved into fear when she suddenly plummeted.

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed, launching himself into the air. He managed to catch her before she hit the ground and floated back down with her in his muscular arms. "Are you okay?"

[Naku Futomi]

Naku ran over to them, waiting near where Thrax had them land. He tried to get a sense of her, reaching a hand towards her arm to get a better sense of where she was energy and emotion wise.

"Think you just over extended yourself. Too much, too soon. Certainly something you'll get better at with time," he said, still grateful that she seemed to be okay for the most part. Of course, as he spoke such words, he still stayed mindful of anything else that might be out of balance with her. If any pain was felt, he'd get a sense of that also. "You did great up there. Glad Thrax got you," he said with a nod to the taller man.

[Amy Myers]

"Th-thanks." she manages, disoriented and still abuzz with the jolt of adrenaline. But more than that, there's the distant echos of a whole jumble of emotions still rolling through her, right along the hum of her power that, despite looking like it guttered out, is still burning bright, even if it's not actively being channeled. Brighter than it had been before. It's hard to put words to the feeling of it, but it feels fuller somehow, like it had been missing something before or had been distorted. No longer just glaring bright but radiating a heat that feels right.

"I feel weird. Like... like... I don't know. I try putting my finger on it but all I keep picturing is a campfire? If that makes any sense at all?" she says, not making any immediate movements to be set down again. She doesn't fully trust her legs to keep her upright right this moment and certainly not her power. Thrax in comparison feels a lot more sturdy.

There is, however, an undercurrent to the energy flowing through Amy that Naku might be able to pick up on after a moment, like hot water from a spigot falling into a tub of cold water and pooling.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax eased her to her feet but kept a grip to help her stay upright. "It makes sense to me, at least. You were very much on fire in all the best ways. You just overdid it a little. It should be easier next time now that you know how to control it."

He smirked. "Just, yanno, add a soft floor to your sim in case you nose dive again."

[Amy Myers]

"H-heh, yeah, for sure." she says, patting Thrax's hand to indicate he can let go. "And it wasn't just fire. There was more to it. Kind of... like summer camp? If you got anything like that where you're from. Camping and woods and that kind of stuff. It reminded me of that because of the fire and a cave and... finger-painting? We did a lot of arts and crafts kinda stuff at mine but it wasn't for kids that young. It's just a vibe, I guess? Summer warmth and friends and not many people around telling you what to do, making stuff out of pinecones. That's what it felt like."

As Amy is calming down from the adrenaline spike and tries to sort out her thoughts, the boulder she sniped is showing a still faintly glowing imprint in the stone down to - if anyone were to check that closely - Amy's finger-print, seared into the rock. The room dutifully considers the target as hit and let's the hard-light rock disappear, but floating in the air for just a couple of seconds is a shimmer, almost like a heat distortion, in the exact same fingerprint relief.

[Naku Futomi]

"Not a bad idea," he commended to the adding a softer floor. Though Thrax absolutely had her, he stayed close enough to make sure she didn't fall without getting all up in her grill.There was a lot he was feeling, but it was hard to sort out whose was whose at this proximity, especially when his focus was on Amy.

"Doesn't seem like a bad feeling to have, the campfire. If that's something you can hone, it may be easier to control. Perhaps the fire gets brighter and higher, but not out of control. Just shines like a beacon, letting others find comfort.... least that's one way of looking at it," he added quickly. Now he was nervous, not meaning to take over her explanation.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"My experience involves fewer crafts, more wilderness survival training, but yeah, I follow. It feels like fire not as a thing that consumes but as a thing that illuminates the bonds between people, be it through food, music, or dancing under its glow." He got rather poetic as he thought about all the fellow initiates he could never see again. The alien really hoped that Naku didn't see right through his carefree veneer at that moment, because he knew that if called on it he would fail to withhold his tears. More than just being embarrassed by dumping his trauma on his new friends, he'd be stealing the moment from Amy and he didn't want to do that.

[Amy Myers]

"Something like that, yeah." she says, swaying a little bit and grabbing on to Naku's shoulder to steady herself with an apologetic but thankful smile. "I think it just dredged my memories of camp up, but maybe it'll work in reverse."

This is still a huge positive even if she can't shake the feeling of having pushed through into something... something... Just something. Maybe it was just the same kind of experience that led Thrax' people to think of powers as an endless storm? She certainly lacks any way to describe what she felt without getting poetic like that.

"Hey, uhm, weird but maybe related question. Could you tell if my... chi or whatever did anything strange?" she asks Naku, who would have been able to tell the energies coursing through Amy flaring brightly just before she fell. "I think I... kind of felt what you mean with your storm?" she adds, looking at Thrax. "I don't think it was a storm but it felt... big?"

[Naku Futomi]

The second her hand touched his shoulder, Naku froze. The moment his eyes caught her smile, his heart exploded.

Least, that's what it felt like doing. Given how fast it was beating, seemed like it soon would. It was a good thing Thrax caught her. At this rate, Naku would've passed out from being in more contact with her body. Which was close to him, right now, cause she was leaning on him.

He managed to breathe when she asked the question to him. Pointedly at him, he realized blinking and looking away were options. he wasn't strange, staring at the most gorgeous girl on campus, not at all.

"Well, it did, actually," he began, looking away and letting her do what was needed to him in order to make sure she was okay. "While you were flying, it just looked like your energy was more one with your power. More in control. Right before falling though? After doing your laser finger move, there was a build up of it. Like a surge. Somehow you tapped into your chi more than before. Then it just... overloaded, or something," he explained, calming down and being more in tune with his specialty than a just a pretty girl.

Freshly focused, he was able to look at her again. "Do you remember thinking of anything, or feeling anything before you fell?" He asked, waiting for an answer as well as admiring her eyes. For now, that took the back seat to his very important questions.

[Amy Myers]

"I was excited, relieved that things worked so well. And then it was like... like a wall I was pushing against gave way all of a sudden. Metaphorically or something. And I felt like I was falling into this... huge thing?" she rambles, a little nervous about not making sense. Or because of how Naku is looking at her. Or both.

"Like a mountain or an abyss or just... something enormous. Or like a gigantic storm. This is gonna sound stupid but for a moment I thought I'd just died and was staring at the gates of heaven or something. Just... big. Make-you-feel-like-an-ant big."

[Naku Futomi]

The more she spoke, the more focused Naku became. His brow knitted in concentration as he wondered."It's possible that..." he paused, wondering if he even had a right to voice a half formed thought.

Without thinking of it, he placed a hand on Amy's back to make sure she was stable before looking to Thrax. "Actually, what are your thoughts on this? I only have a theory," he said, deferring to the Hyena man's wisdom.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax stroked his chin as he thought about it. He didn't know how to talk about such things without bringing spirituality into it, so he didn't try. "I think it's just that. You felt the enormity of the source that flows into this reality through us. I can understand how it could feel like some kind of heaven because my people largely believe it's where our souls come from and return . But unlike a place reserved for the good, it isn't a reward or a punishment; it just is. Of course, I believe we just conflated our afterlife with the concept so that's not really relevant here."

"What I'm trying to get at is, while it's easy to feel overwhelmed by it, it helps to remember that it doesn't desire anything more from you than a storm, or an ocean, or a mountain does. It isn't trying to swallow you and, barring breaking the walls separating our reality from it, it couldn't if it wanted to. And though it can be tempestuous, you are ultimately in control of what flows through you."

[Amy Myers]

"Hmm. Okay." she says, not entirely convinced but trying to be. "I can see that. It just feels overwhelming but it isn't?"

[Naku Futomi]

Naku gave a not. "Sounds like at least. Rather than use Christianityas a reference... Id lean on Daoism. Could go into that a long while, but its more about.... being," he tried, bringing a hand to the back of his neck, looking to the ceiling. He also didn't know how to word it without getting too into aspects people didn't like.

He let out a light sigh and focused back on Thrax as it was easier to focus on than the attractive female, "To summarize, we have the makings of greatness in us. We are of the world, the world of the universe, the universeof the great unknown. Everything that is great. We have access to. That it?" he wondered of Thrax before chancing a glance to her.

He dared a look to Amy. "My theory is that wall was protection from accessing 'too much.' But that can be trained. Theres a lot too it, and even little to it, its just... a theroy," he ended by dropping his hand.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax barked a laugh. "I mean, that's not too far off. And the wall is like a dam, and the self is the system controlling the flow. Or in the case of physical mutations, the body itself does. We don't get as many of those or even as many powered people as you but the principle holds."

Storm, ask her out already. You're so obvious, Naku.

[Amy Myers]

"That does all sound like it makes sense." she nods contemplatively. "Maybe you can tell me about that Daoism thing some time?"

[Naku Futomi]

Naku was into Thrax's response, nodding as the other verified and made corrections. "Yeah, that-" He didn't tread on Amy's words, though that she took the words out of his mouth wasn't lost to him.

It lead to him looking, nearly to a specific place but she turned to him and caught him almost looking and it made him stiff as a board. Wait, Daoism? Had he actually spoke about that? Was his hand actually touching her right now?! He moved it, but it went down some, not away.

Body listen to me! Or don't!

"Yeah, I- I can! There's a book I have you can borrow, too, if you wanted. You can read it, near-... I mean..." Why was this difficult? It shouldn't be. He was being very uncool now. It took a moment of wishing his power worked on himself emotionally to get a clearer head. "... I'd be more than happy to talk with you about it. It's less doctrine that's dictated and more something you get a sense of yourself. Helps to bounce off others though," he said, slowly refocusing on intimate topic more than beautiful girl.

"Much like your storm," he began, turning his attention on Thrax. His roommate was always a source of comfort. Least, he was proving himself to be. "I'd like to go over it with you too, or ... well, draw more parallels with the Storm," he said with a bit of a smile, oblivious to the mental message sent before.

He did remember his hand eventually. After gathering some nerve, he looked to Amy once more. "Are you... alright now? More stable?" he wondered. He wanted to make sure before pulling away from her.

[Amy Myers]

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm okay now. I expected tired, but this was more... whoa, which way is up or down again?" she tries to make at least a little light of it. Not entirely sure what to make of Naku kinda-sorta inviting Thrax along she looks at the alien and then kind of blanches. How'd he even know to interpret any kind of subtle face she makes. Sure, the obvious expressions are similar enough but for all she knows any kind of quiet plea or indication is made by ear flicks or heckle twitches. So she ends up just staring at Thrax for a moment before deciding to just hope for the best. She does take a half step to stop being quite so much in Naku's space, putting a hand on his shoulder as... thanks? Reassurance she can stand on her own? A show of lingering? She's not even entirely sure herself

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

While he may have missed Amy's subtle plea, Thrax hadn't missed the way Naku gazed longingly at her when she wasn't looking. Far be it from him to get in the way of suitemate's potential romance. The alien wasn't big on the less physical aspects of dating but he didn't fault others for wanting romantic attachments.

He gave Naku a wink. "Maybe another time. I've got to start going through my stuff to pick out what I can take to my room that isn't too alien. I'm done trying to hide but I'm not looking to broadcast it either."

[Naku Futomi]

Meanwhile, Naku just innocently believed they were all coming up with separate plans later on. he missed the plea from Amy, so focused on their tall companion. At least he made it clear.

"Makes sense. And yeah, not right now. We have plenty of time, we're suitemates," he said with a grin, glad to at least not have that idea shot down. He turned to Amy, now wondering when she was thinking if Thrax though it would happen so fast.

"Did you... want to do it now, or wait?" He asked, ignorant of any other way it could be taken. "I figured you'd want to wait a while after training, but I... what works for you?" he asked, realizing there was a possibility of spending more time with her that day! Excitement and panic fought within his body, and it had nothing to do with his abilities.