Dog Days: Exercises of the Mind.
I sat in a clearing within Whitetail Woods. Spike and Sweetie sat off to the side, while Eros stood in front of me. Doing so allowed her to look me in the eyes. I was a little creeped out by it, but figured it was necessary.
"Are you ready to do this?" Eros shivered a little. Leo and the weather team were starting to blow a chilly northern wind to prepare for winter, but the trees blocked the worst of it.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I replied. "What do we need to do?"
"That all depends." Eros tilted her head. "What do you need most right now? And what have you figured out for yourself?"
I looked up in thought. "I can make a mindscape to meditate and focus myself in, but I can't make it very quickly or in distracting environs. Which leads me into what I need. I need to be able to go about my day without seeing all the imprints everywhere and how to interpret the ripples that keep bouncing off my fucking TAIL!!" I snapped, whipping my head around to stare at the offending appendage.
A white arm pulled my head back to look at Eros again. "Okay. It'll take some work for the ripples, as each species of... Pokemon?" She shook her head. "You're world has strange naming conventions..."
"Well, what do you call everything that's not human on your world, then?"
Eros paused, turning away to give things some thought. Eventually, she shrugged and turned back to me. "Pokemon it is. Much better than trainers calling us their 'pocket monsters', at least. Point is, we each interpret the ripples differently."
"It's weird..." Spike's voice drifted over to us, causing us to look over at our audience. "I know that they're talking, but nothing is being said."
Sweetie shrugged. "You get used to it."
Slowly, Eros and I turned to look at each other again. We kept our faces as flat as when we first looked over, but we were both laughing over a private mental link.
"I completely forgot they were there!" I admitted as we got our laughter under control. "But, anyways. What can we start working on?"
Eros sucked at the inside of her cheek. "Well, let's see your mindscape. How well defined it is will help me figure out what you need to do."
Nodding, I pulled the meditation balls Luke gave me a few days ago out from my saddle bags. Pity he had to leave right away for home. At least he got something for- <<OW!>> I glared at Eros, as she pulled her hand away from my forehead gem.
"You were getting distracted." Eros raised an eyebrow. "And those are for psychic exercise, not focus. You should be doing that through this." She tapped my gem again.
I gave her a flat look as I levitated my balls into the air. It took some mental effort to do, and they weren't floating steadily, but doing this cut off the ripples from reaching me. With a mental push, I started floating them around me. "Give me a second to make my mindscape, then you can come over." With a deep breath, I began to count. Soon enough, the pond was built and sustained.
I felt a vibration that gently rattled my bamboo, and knew that it was the mindscape equivalent of a knock. With a wave of my tail, I parted the section of bamboo my path started from. I turned to see what brief glimpse of Eros' mindscape I could spy through our connection. There was no transition between our mindscapes. My thicket ended abruptly against what appeared to be Sweetie's room. The colors were oversaturated, and what little furniture I could see was larger than what I knew it to be. I watched Eros step from carpeted flooring to grassy ground to avoid prying further over into her mindscape.
It was only polite, after all.
"So, this is your Sanctuary?" Eros asked as she looked around.
I tilted my head at her. "What do you mean by that? Three."
White hand met white forehead. "Right, you're still new to this." Eros grumbled. With a centering sigh, she turned back to me. "A Sanctuary is the place one feels most mentally safe. It is where the core of one's "self" is protected. Only the most powerful of psychics can even hope to crack into a Sanctuary. Otherwise, we can only come in when invited. This is what makes complete mind control impossible."
"What about non-psychics? One."
"They have one as well, they just never know that they are using it." Eros gestured out at the pond and foot bridge. "Nor are they ever this detailed."
I nodded. "So, there is more to my mindscape beyond just this? Four. What if I was to jump into, say, Spike's mind? With his permission, of course. Two."
Eros leveled a flat stare at me. "Okay, what's with the counting?"
"It's how I learned to make this." I shrugged. "Three."
"Oh." Eros looked a little paler than usual. "Don't stop then." She awkwardly coughed. "A-anyways, to answer your question. What would likely happen would be that he would let you into his mindscape, but subconsciously keep you out of his Sanctuary. The same thing usually happens between psychics."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Then, how do you know that this is a Sanctuary, not just a part of my mindscape?"
"That." Eros pointed to the stone. "I can't read it. If I was in your general mindscape, you would be subconsciously scanning my subconscious to translate everything for me, just as we are doing to be able to talk right now. However, because what is in your Sanctuary is deeply important to you, you'll never do that while there." The Ralts then chuckled. "Besides, learning how to find one's own Sanctuary is easy to do. Leaving it for one's greater mindscape is much harder to do. I wouldn't be surprised if you've never left this pond at all."
I shook my head. "So, do you have enough to figure out where I'm at with all this? Three."
"Yup." Eros nodded. "Just give me a second to..." She reached behind her and launched a white orb behind her back into her ... Sanctuary. "... create a tether back to my own head. There." She smiled at me. "So, what we're going to do is sit here and chat for as long as you can hold this. My tether will pull me back to my own mind when this inevitably collapses."
"What do you want to talk about? Two."
"Well, first, what I think you should do for training." Eros sat down beside me. "Then we'll talk about your pack's plans for Equis. Zann and Leo have told me some of what's up with you, but they still seemed to be holding something back, and I already know that you're not normal. I'd like the truth about all of this."
"Sure. Three." I shrugged. "I'll tell you whatever I can. Four."
We spent I don't know how long talking and setting up a training regime. I could feel myself straining to hold the mindscape together as I was trying to tell Eros about our past lives, I wanted to avoid telling her that we used to be human, though. She seemed to have deeply rooted issues with the species.
"... So, yes. We weren't originally Eievuis, but rather forced into these forms during our transition here." I was saying. "We find that we prefer these forms over our old ones, and would rather stay here if we were given the option to return to our home world."
Eros nodded with a thoughtful look on her face. "That would certainly explain some things about you. Like how you just don't act like Eievuis."
"How do you mean?"
"Well-" Eros was suddenly pulled away from me, rocketing back to her Sanctuary. My own was rapidly crumbling around me. Once the wave of destruction reached me, I too vanished into a world of pain.
I blinked and found myself staring up at the forest canopy. The sun, which was previously overhead, was now sinking towards the horizon. I felt pressure on my back as I was lifted up into a sitting position. With a wary blink, more of the clearing came into focus. Eros was holding her hand out to me, her eyes glowing the tell tale red of psychic use. Sweetie and Spike were just rushing over to us, Spike pulling a cloth from his hammerspace.
I blinked in confusion, lifting a paw up to my snout. I felt my paw grow wet and pulled it away from my face, noting the blood once again staining it's fur. <<When did...?>>
Spike tilted my head forward and held the cloth against my snout. I heard the distinct sound of teleportation as Sweetie and Eros vanished from sight.
"How are you feeling, Yomega?" Spike asked me.
<<How long...?>> I dazedly stared through the drake.
"Use your telepathy." Spike patiently stated.
I just gave him a slow blink. <<My wha...?>> I could feel my brain trying to jump start its higher functions, but I just couldn't focus past the lingering migraine.
Spike gave me a worried smile. "You know, think at me?"
My eyes finally properly focused onto my drake's face as his words kinda sunk in. "Thought printer go 'vrrrrr'?"
Another crack of air heralded the return of Eros, Sweetie and Conner. The little Eevee was giving me a thunderous look.
<<Do you have any idea what you just pulled me away from?!>> He stormed up to me.
I felt a ripple bounce off my whiskers. <<Sexy fun times with Luna?>> I asked dazedly.
Stars burst throughout my vision. Blinking, I noted that I was now looking off to my right and had a new stinging feeling coming from my left cheek. <<I am not Abes!>> Conner screeched at me. <<Fluttershy and I were just about to catch the train out of town! Now, we're going to miss it, and most likely the start of the migration, because of you!>>
I blinked owlishly at Conner. <<I'm sorry?>>
"If you are going to blame someone," Eros interrupted, "blame me. I needed to know his limits for his mental training, and so asked him to hold his mindscape for as long as he could. While headaches are common from doing so, very rarely do they get this bad. As in, very low probability. Just give him a heal, and he can start thinking clearly again."
Conner turned his glare onto Eros, then sighed. He practically threw a ball of healing energy at me, giving me very rough treatment while his Heal Pulse went to work. <<I'm still very upset about this.>> He growled, giving me a disapproving glare. <<I would've expected you to be more safety conscious than Leo, Pendrake.>>
I winced, my mental faculties finally returning properly. <<I know, and I'm sorry.>>
Conner huffed as Eros placed a hand on him and teleported away.
"C'mon." Spike helped me stand up. "Let's get back to town." Sweetie paused long enough to collect my balls before following us from the clearing.
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Yomega's Balls
10353884
i know right? anyways i like the chapter my self. now all we need is someone there as a ditto
Oh dear. That phrasing made me chuckle.
Is it wrong that I picture Yomega getting knocked back on his ass by Conner's heal pulse ball?
Migration .... Fluttershy ... Train ...
Discord is coming? Also, what exactly was he counting? I understand he was counting something but not sure what was he counting
10354273
Not the breezies, just a butterfly migration. And the counting is a mental thing to help him focus, I think. Like counting to four as you breathe in and again as you breathe out. It’s a meditation.
Said it before and I’ll say it again:
OH COME ON!
10354297
Thank you for explaining that to me :)
I don't get it. Are these "Dog Days" chapters not a part of the main story?
10354340
Normal chapters are from Leo’s perspective or third person, Bonus chapters are non-canon, Dog days are canon chapters but are from the perspective of other characters, generally one of the pack.
10354510
I wouldn't necessarily say that they're non-canon. But rather that they are side stories meant to build upon the primary story.
This was a awesomely chill and fun chapter I'm happy Yomega is getting help with his powers. I still hope Leo evolves into ice eevee.
"Wait! Pokemon means-"
Four.
Welcome. To my yesterday.
10358994
Yomega doesn't stop counting, even when he's just listening.
About their eggs...
How do you get eggs to hatch in the games?
I am waiting for one of them to have that 'we are idiots' moment. And then a nice little parade of them carrying the eggs, going back and forth on the longest bit of straight clear road in the area.
10387861
10387861
Which one are you talking about