Arguing with Myself (Status Pending)

[Dream Wolf]

Dream looked at her. "You can participate as you wish, I have no problem with letting you watch first. All I ask is that you help your fellow classmates who need it, and listen to those who have been learning longer than you. Its all I ask of all my students." He grinned. "That still feels weird to say, even though I've been teaching the class for a year and a half. Just seems weird for a fifteen year old to have students. Especially since some of them are older than me."

When she asked to see the Chaser Academy he nodded. "I can take you tomorrow after the class. It's not usually open to the public, because it can be a dangerous place. But I can pass you off as a potential Chaser. We'll fib a bit and say one of your parents had a power, but that you don't know what it was. Though Gifts aren't always genetic, someone who has family with a Gift is more likely to develop one. My mother had the Gift to Heal, but she used a power similar to one I have called Absorb, only instead of pulling energy into herself, like I do, she pushed energy into other people, and it reacted by instigating a heightened cellular activity which made wounds heal faster. But my mother could also boost the Gift's of others, by pushing energy into them making their powers increase for a short period. She also had the power to manipulate Cells, so she could make wounds heal a certain way. But she could also change her own skin to be hard as stone."

He looked at her. "We'll say you want to know what its like in the Academy just in case. And if we run into Candy, she can show you the Armory. I have to have a full Chaser with me when I go there. I gotta run though, to get that metal from the vault. Feel free to call me if you have any other questions."

He waited to see if she wanted anything else before he left.

[Deleted]

Kristina smiled when he said that she could participate any way she wished but only asked that she help her fellow classmates and listen to those who have been there so much longer than her. "I have an open mind... and I'll be sure to keep Nicholas in line as well. Garrett will have no problems either." Unless he has a hard time keeping up... She thought to herself choosing not to say that out loud. "I believe you, but it will be fine." She answered him back, sure to prove to be a fast leaner, something she didn't care to brag about. Then he answered her question about the Academy, she listened as he explained that it wasn't normally opened to the public and she wasn't all that sure if she would want to go even if she got a power but she wanted to know all the more about it anyway. Though when he said they could claim her parents had powers she shook her head. "No. My parents were as normal as they came..." She paused, "Though I have no idea about my grandparents. So it wouldn't be lying if I said they had powers because I don't know and for all I know they could have..." Her mother had shun her sister, claiming that she was dangerous just like their mother, which is why their father had murdered her and remarried.

He didn't have the heart to kill his own child though so he had sent her away to be locked up and never seen again. "My mother was always complaining about her sister.... and I think I heard that my grandfather had killed my grandmother because he saw her to be dangerous." She didn't have proof over these facts but it didn't mean it wasn't possible. Her mother had told her that her aunt got her powers at the age of eight though, so for her and her siblings to get powers she wouldn't even know when to expect it to start. Little did she know that her aunt could control electricity. She stayed quiet for the most part until he finished explaining his mother's powers. She nods her head when he said that if they ran into Candy she could show her the Armory. "Will do." She answered him back when he told her to call if she had any questions. She walked into the house and closed the door behind her, excited for the next day.

[Dream Wolf]

Dream did his errands for the evening and went back to the dorms to rest. He muddled through his courses the next day, bored with the teachers, who were teaching things he had learned as a child. When the classes ended for the day he decided to take a short cut out of the building and jumped from the third floor window to the awning over the entrance. His ability to control his blood helped with this by making his legs springy like a cats, plus his combat training helped him roll with it. He was at the Dojo in just ten minutes.

He was early, it was only 3:15, so he went into the teachers room to get a bottle of his favorite iced tea, specially made by Candy, who was the only one who remembered how his mother had made it. It was sweet, but not too much, and it was so cold it began to accumulate moisture on the bottle in the warm room.

He walked out to the Dojo proper to greet the students as they came. The first to arrive were the Amori twins. They were chronic in their pranks, their favorite of which was to dress as the other. Dream had figured them out on day one, since he could sense their different energies. Tobi was dressed as his sister again today. And Tami cut a fine figure in her jeans and tee shirt. Dream glared at them, but he wasn't actually mad at them.

"Just make sure you use the right showers, okay?" The twins were only a year younger than him, and Tami had an annoying tendency to hit on Dream, even though she wasn't actually interested in him. Today was no different. She grinned as she leaned against him, in a way that many would consider inappropriate.

"You're so mean Sensei! We just wanna have some fun." She was about to dance off but Dream caught her by the wrist. Now he was annoyed.

"Enough Tami. You're old enough to know better. Tobi, Keep an eye on your sister. And if you two can't keep it within reason, I'll start punishing you for this crap. I don't mind if you play jokes, but keep it clean. You have kids as young as five in this class. If you weren't so lenient with your practice you could be assistant teachers by now."

Tobi sighed. "Come on sis. Lets get changed." Tami followed her brother, pouting at having been told off. But the twins both knew that Dream was being more than fair.

[Deleted]

Kristina had woken up late this morning, 8:30 to be exact. Her brothers had waited for her to finish getting ready before they rushed for school, seeing as of currently she wasn't choosing to ditch class. Garrett never ditched but Nicholas did it way more than Kristina. They finished collecting their homework and headed home to get started before doing some stretches and running a mile before doing more stretches. It was 3:50 by the time they left home and rushed to the training with Dream or at least Kristina was rushing her two brothers. They got there at 3:55, Garrett being first in, Nicholas second and Kristina as last. They had missed the action that Dream had to put up with another set of twins. Kristina took her brother's backpacks that had the spare of clothes in them. All three were dressed in blue jeans, Kristina had on a long green sleeve shirt, Nicholas had on a red t-shirt and Garrett wore a long sleeve orange shirt. "Is everything already Dream?" She asked finally, setting the three bags in the corner of the room, sure there might have been a better spot for that but she wanted to keep an eye on the bags. She opened her bag and threw her wallet and her brothers in the backpack as well as all three phones, the only one not on silent was hers just in case her foster mother had to get a hold of them. "I left this ringer on, just in case our foster mother needed to get a hold of me."

She stats, unsure on if that was really appropriate or not. "I really doubt any of us would get a phone call but for emergency it seemed important to leave it on." No she couldn't let it go straight to voice message. "You just want the phone to stay on so that you can get very many phone calls." Nicholas stated, clearly joking. "That isn't the case..." Kristina corrected him. Once more her foster mother had been getting some strange phone calls as of lately and she hadn't bothered saying anything about it. "Yeah I know..." Nicholas sighed, clearly bored of joking already. Garrett hadn't said anything, he was clearly on edge. "Don't worry about them." Kristina smiled over at Dream, but if one paid close attention they would notice she seemed to be hiding something as well. "I've just been trying to comfort my foster mother since she has been so helpful for us the last two months." She stated, though there was more to the story than that. Her foster mother was worried over some relatives, the same one that had first taken them in when their house had burned down. "Just some strange phone calls, normally she handles it okay." She explained before heading her phone go off at 3:59. Class hasn't even started yet... "Excuse me." She rushed over to her backpack and opened it, grabbing her phone out she answered it.

Her face expression dropped as she listened to her mother whining over the phone. Nicholas and Garrett saw it. "What did she say?" Nicholas tried butting in, but it was about time class started. "One second mom." She took the phone away from her ear, "Nicholas stay in class with Garrett, I'll play catch up in a few minutes." She grabbed her backpack and walked outside, to avoid ruining the rest of class. The phone call lasted until class had ended. All she could do was force a smile to cross onto her lips when she had walked back in, not expecting Dream to still be in the room. Her brothers were likely taking a shower right about now and she had no plans on telling them what her foster mother had to say to them.

[Dream Wolf]

Dream taught the class, he helped Garret with foot placement but had no issues with Nicholas. When Kris had not come back by the middle part of the lesson he became worried. He dismissed the class at the usual time and went to check on Kris. He had felt her energy change and it was a change that signified a high level of stress.

"Kris. Come with me please." He didn't make it an option. He led her to the Peace Garden. "Tell me what is happening. I don't care if it's personal, I don't care if its serious. Tell me. If I am going to be your friend, its going to be all or nothing. I can sense your stress, and its heavy. What ever it is, I will not judge you, or your family, so speak with clearly and don't skimp on the details. I want to help you and I can't if you don't tell me everything."

[Deleted]

Kristina noticed Dream but instead of saying anything she had reminded quiet, her reason, because it was something she felt like she could work out by herself. Though he had called her by name and suggested her to come with him, or at least it sounded like a suggestion. She didn't need to be told twice, she followed after him and noticed they had gone to the Peace Garden. Dream spoke, she allowed her thoughts to go all over the place as she was trying to sort them out one by one. "Mom has been getting a lot of strange calls lately, but this one wasn't a strange phone call, it was the police back in my home town." She stated, "The lady who first took us three in was murdered." She paused, feeling the stress all on her shoulders. "We thought it was spam phone calls, but the lady who kept calling had really done it, she had kept her promise." She glanced over towards Dream. "She is coming for my mom next I just know it." She never felt such a closeness to her foster mother before, but that lady had done more for them than anybody else and she was upset and she was feeling her pain as well.

"The lady who kept calling us, she keeps threatening my mother because she wants us." The problem, I don't know her. She had paused, "She won't tell us who she is or why she wants us so badly." She glanced over at Dream, "I think she is one of my relatives though... from which side I can't be sure. But I can't let her get her hands on my brothers. But I can't risk my foster mother being harmed either. Is this Darkness... is it limited to just this city? That lady going out of her way to murder just to get us, maybe she has some Darkness in her...." She knew it was possible, Dream himself had claimed he had Darkness in him.

[Dream Wolf]

DReam closed his eyes. He felt the energy coming off Kris like waves of nausea. He step towards her and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Take it easy. We'll figure this out. Darkness exists everywhere, but only in this area does it take physical form. The darkness in the rest of the world is just human darkness, the evil that exists in all people. Everyone has it, and for different reasons it become stronger or weaker in different people."

He stepped back but stayed close. "We will handle this. I will contact all my friends. No one is getting you or your brothers, okay. I won't let them. The people of this city won't let them. And if they try." his eyes flashed green, his temper flaring at the thought. "They won't survive. I may be a Chaser, a defender of humans, but I won't let Darkness of any kind harm my friends." His eyes faded to a light blue once again. Fang was roaring in his head for blood, but Dream had him firmly locked away for the time being.

[Deleted]

Kristina listened as Dream told her to take it easy, explaining that Darkness exists everywhere but this was the only area it could take physical form. His arms wrapped around her felt comforting, but when he stepped back she remembered her brothers were likely changing out of their cloths into the other pair they had brought. "Thanks Dream." She didn't think her brothers could handle anymore of this, Nicholas more likely than Garrett, her younger brother somehow always pulled through but he might not be able to handle anymore. She noticed Dream's eyes change to green but she didn't say anything. It wasn't long before his eyes went blue again, her brothers have perfect timing to show up. "Kristina." Nicholas called out, "What was that phone call about earlier." She glanced away from him and they knew it wasn't good. "I'll tell you later." She answered him back, clearly not in the mood to speak anymore about it. "Oh yeah was I still going to see the Chaser Academy?"

She asked, changing the subject when she say Nicholas's face expression. "Oh hey Kristina, our stuff is in your bag still." He started, Kristina gave him the bag so that he could grab his and Garrett's phones and wallets before handing it back to her. "We will talk when you get home." Nicholas answered before encouraging Garrett to head home with them. "I'll tell him about the phone call later." Kristina stated when her brothers weren't in ear shot anymore. "I would have likely told Nicholas but Garrett kept being in ear shot. I don't want him to know." She sighed, before putting her backpack on her back again. She was wondering if Dream would still take her to see the Chaser Academy. I wonder if that lady is a relative of mine and if so... which of my parents is she related to...

[Dream Wolf]

Dream looked at her. She seemed to be handling it well. He nodded at her question about going to the Academy. "We will still go of course, I already filed the request so it would be a waste not to go through with it. But this conversation isn't over. I know I'm younger than you, but I have a lot of experience dealing with bad stuff. Candy knows even more and she was going to meet us there."

He stepped back again and looked her over, not in a way to convey interest but in a way to asses her energy. He couldn't see it, not fully, but he could pinpoint areas of constriction by checking a person. "You seem okay, though to be honest your energy is thick with fear. It's good that you can function feeling like that. Just keep in mind Fear is a general emotion, it encompasses many things. If you can keep it together while feeling fear and while confronting that fear, you'll make a great Chaser. Darkness takes the form of your fear, for me it usually appears as some kind of Centipede type thing. Or I see the death of my friends."

He turned to go. "Stay close, it gets dark early this time of year, and I can't keep you safe if you are too far away."

[Deleted]

Kristina smiled when Dream said they could go still but he had waited for her brothers go to continue with their previous conversation. When he stepped back she found herself looking at him, trying to figure out why he was looking her in the way he currently was but his comment seemed to answer that question. "I think everybody has fear, just a matter of not letting it bother them." She answered back, mostly to herself though. He explained how Darkness takes the form of ones fear. My parents coming back is a fear, losing my brothers is a fear, and now I have to deal with some lady that won't leave my brothers and myself alone... Dream started walking but his comment had pulled her from her thoughts. "Keep me safe?" She asked before teasing, "I thought we agreed you'd take me as your apprentice." She joked, but made sure to keep up with him. The last thing she wanted was him having to safe her, unless she of course needed it, but it wouldn't be because of some distance they put between them. "Wait for me..." She finally spoke, deciding to walk faster to avoid being ditched.

[Dream Wolf]

Dream slowed his walk slightly. "You are a good person, the world needs people like you. And even if I'm only a student Chaser its my sworn duty to protect people. And against the Darkness? You have very little chance. Besides, it makes me feel like a man to protect a damsel in distress." He looked back at her with a grin to show he was joking.

"As for being my apprentice? Maybe in a thousand years. Besides, if you get a power, you'll have to go to the academy for year one, and by then I will be half way through my first year or further. Not only that, but I think you would do better with Max's partner, she's got a lot more experience than me and would compliment a confident person like you. That's just my opinion of course."

He paused as he sensed a small group of pipsqueaks down an alley. "Stay close, and quiet." He puled his metal belt and formed it into a thin sword, he 'hyper carbonized' the metal to make it black so as to not reflect light.

One pipsqueak saw him anyway and chittered at its companions. There were three of them. Dream took a threatening step forward and the pips ran away shrieking. "Too early in the night. And they're headed right for a patrol. They won't last long." He turned t look at Kris. "I hope this is it for the night. Suns not even down yet. Come on we gotta hurry."

[Deleted]

Kristina listened as he spoke, for a minute wondering if he would get the idea she had been teasing him until he called her a damsel in distress. "Hey I only missed one class." She joked back, at the same time though, she had missed one class... what else was new. "How about the day after I get my power..." She teased back, unsure on if it would happen or not but the fact is they were playing 'if' right this moment anyway so she might as well have some fun while it lasted. "I don't know, I picture having somebody hard on me all the time... at least then I would get something done." She answered him back, his opinion was noted. When Dream paused she had stopped too, trying to look to see what he could see, him telling her to stay close made her want to crept behind him. Darkness wasn't exactly something she was fond of, he had told her to be quiet and that was when she remembered her dumb phone wasn't on silent. Oh please don't ring oh please don't ring... Dream had pulled something from his belt and next thing she knew he was holding a sword in his hand.

One pipsqueak had noticed them and next thing she knew it's companions noticed them. Dream had moved towards them and they ran away. She was about to say they were getting away when Dream explained it was to early in the night and the patrol would get them. When he looked at her she wasn't sure what all to say on the subject. "Yeah okay." She answered deciding to keep pace with him, not wanting to run into those things ever again.

[Dream Wolf]

Dream looked at her. "I know you're scared, but don't be. Like I said. No one will hurt you while I am around. Not unless they kill me first. And I don't die so easily. Trust me, the Darkness tried it, and that ended in my favor."

He led her to the Academy with no other problems and entered the front door waving at a teacher who was walking down the hall. The teacher frowned and ignored the wave, picking up his pace. Dream sighed. "They do that a lot. Come on, this way to the Assessment Room. It's where all incoming students go first, to have their power assessed, it helps them determine their level of skill with each power. It's specially insulated so that no 'stray bullets' get out into the school. I was assessed there myself. When I used my Forged in Blood, they were afraid of me, I turned a bowl of blood into a bowl of needles. My metal ability was already known, but my absorb...that terrified them. They told me to go all out with it and I did. I barely turned it down in time to keep them from passing out, and that was four years ago."

He opened the door to show an empty room with a strange white material on the walls and a table with a pair of chairs on one side and a circle in the floor on the other. "The circle was added after I used my absorb on full. It limits the amount of energy that can pass to through the barrier it creates."

[Deleted]

Kristina wasn't sure if she liked the idea of him noticing how scared she was, bad habit on her part for not making it harder to notice. "I know... just hard not to be." She explained, finding it easy to rely on Dream for support. She followed him to the Academy and walked inside behind him. She noticed the teacher frowned and ignored Dream all together, she was tempted to yell at the teacher for such an action but decided against it to avoid causing any problems. "Cool." She answered as she continued following after him. "They are scared of your absorb ability?" She asked, surprised that the teachers still acted that way to him. She took a peek inside the assessment room, noticing the circle on the ground she wandered towards it, just studying it closely. Interesting. "Have you created a bigger circle since that day?" She asked finally, clearly interested.

[Dream Wolf]

"Oh I didn't make the circle, they made it. My room in the dorms has one just like it. And yeah they are terrified of my Absorb. In theory I could absorb the life out of someone. I mean I completely absorbed a Razor, the second most powerful of the higher forms of Darkness. They are fast as lightning, and smarter than most people, and I killed one by absorbing its energy so completely it ceased to exist. So the theory is, I could do the same to a person. I would never do it to a person, not ever, but that doesn't make them feel better. Especially since if I fall unconscious with an injury severe enough, I absorb from everything nearby in order to accelerate my healing. That's why they didn't start my training until this year, even though I've been in the academy since I was eleven"

He led her to a room down the hall. "This is the Academic Assessment room. Here you would be tested for your intellectual level. We don't just learn to fight here, we also do regular school things as well. We even have a couple sports teams. I'm not allowed to play on them, incase I get hurt, but its fun to watch those idiots bash each other to pieces on the field." He gave a half grin, to show he was being light hearted, though he really didn't feel it.

"And down this way we have the training room. It's basically a gym for the students, but the weights get way heavier, and the treadmills move at speeds that would rip your flesh off if you touched them at the max setting. Of course it also has an infinity pool, so you can swim for hours on end." He went to open the door but it was locked. "Tats weird. its supposed to be open at all hours. Must be someone who doesn't want to be disturbed."

He was about to move on when a door a few feet away opened and a blonde woman came out wearing a knee length skirt and a white blouse.

"Dream? Oh You're here earlier than I thought. You must be Kristina, Hi, I'm Candy Green, its a pleasure to meet you." Candy smiled pleasantly and held out her hand, which she then turned into a tigers paw as a joke.