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_ Chapter 11- Dragon's Dance _

<UEF-A 'Tiamat' -B-Deck Room 18> June 5, 2085

Canith became aware slowly, and painfully. It felt as if his entire back was locked up, and his head . . . his head felt like he had headbutted a rather sharp ax. The migraine he was suffering was by far the worst he had ever experienced.

:Canith? Oh, good. You are finally conscious. I was beginning to worry about you.: The 'voice' belonged to Aura, but was being transferred through the uplink, so as to not make his headache worse.

Canith spoke aloud, as his headache also was causing him issues using the uplink. "I really need to stop and check the numbers next time, don't I?"

:More like that was an unplanned variable to a rather complex construct. You are always pushing the horizon where technology is concerned, but this time you slipped up. You do recall the first iteration you had of the Aura system, do you not?:

He chuckled at this, which caused a flare of agony from his head. "Yeah, I remember that. Not stripped down enough, and blew out all the buffers from both sides. It looked like a bomb had went off in the server room too. I believe I swore at that point to always double check the numbers, did I not?"

:You did last night. And I triple checked them. The power feedback was due to resonance frequencies between the four crystals amplifying the power output in unpredictable ways. In this case, the 'Bow' construct was not resonating at the same frequency as the 'string', and cause the launch to feed the excess energy back into said constructs, causing an overload and detonating them. The overall effect greatly lessened the predicted strength, and also cause, unexpectedly I might add, the actual 'arrow' to pierce the target, instead of stopping at that point. That last is likely due to the 'arrow' being slightly phased from reality, the target not being fully actualized, or a combination of both. In any case, I took precautions, but it caused a bit of an uproar. My apologies. :

At this moment, he heard a beep across the room. Immediately following it, the door slid open and an individual entered the room. As the door closed, he heard an audible tisking sound. "It's no wonder you are still in bed with that much strain. You definitely don't do things in halves, do you?"

Canith didn't recognize the voice, even though he had met just about everyone on the ship, at least in passing, so far. Then, he recalled the clip he had received back when he had originally hacked and scanned the ship. "You must be the ever elusive Snow then, I take it?" He was rewarded by a chuckle from the arctic wolf.

"My, you are rather perceptive. I believe you have not seen me, judging from your surface thoughts, and . . . really, a clip from the time the captain had me suppress Shawn? That's rather impressive, even for such a good memory as yours. "

"Thank you. Why the room visit now though? Did I really mess up that bad?" Canith felt bad about the mess up, but he didn't feel like it warranted being told off again.

"Not precisely. Mess up you did, but threw quick actions of your AI, and a bit of fancy footwork with the captain, not in any actual trouble. However, I am concerned for you. With as much Psi-based strain as I'm sensing, you should probably not do that again. In fact, you should probably tone most of it down. No one's wanted to inflate your ego, but I feel it will actually cause the opposite with you. You have developed frighteningly strong telepathy and telekinesis so far. Both are rather common, but not to the degree you are showing. Desmond told me about the imprinting trick you did with the crystals, and I think that you actually used both of them to reach deeper into the crystals then most can come close to managing."

Canith was stunned at this. To feel like he was stronger then average, way stronger in fact, filled him at first with satisfaction at 'cracking the code' as it was, but he quickly mellowed out when it then occurred to him that it also could have been his base genetics, chance, or any other number of things as well. Snow picked up on this, and only smiled slightly. (All according to plan.) He thought to himself.

"So If I'm that much stronger, you are going to want me to keep a wrap on the extent, right?"

"Yes," Snow acknowledged, before adding, "In fact, if you are not opposed to it, we might set up some limiters or seals for your upper limits. It would only limit you short term, but the opposing pressure would help it grow as well. Or at least, strengthen those mental muscles. The alternative is that you continue to run full throttle, and end up burning yourself out- If you are lucky on that, the abilities themselves will be the only thing affected, otherwise it could cause lasting damage to your psyche."

Canith wasted no time in agreeing, and together they worked on getting his budding abilities in check, him sitting up in bed with his back to the headboard, Snow sitting beside him with his fingertips on Canith's temples. As they were working, Canith recalled the conversation him and Sylvie had about his instability, and asked Snow, "Hey, I had a bad spell a couple days back, and I had heard that the only one that has had similar symptoms has been you- did you ever figure out the reason for it?"

Snow gave Canith a sharp look. "That information was classified. Who told you about that?"

Canith responded without thinking. "I think it was Sylvie, but she didn't treat it like it was classified or anything- only that she recalled you having the same issue, and that she would ask you to tell me about it."

Snow relaxed a bit. "Ah, so she only mentioned that we shared a similar kind of 'episode', but not what it was?"

"Correct."

Snow weighed his options, and figured it was as good a time as any. "It means you are developing another ability, one that is rather rare. However, you will need to learn to manifest the lesser variants of it before you can actually make use of it. And before you ask, this 'ability' is completely unlike the the ones you have read about. It's so dangerous, it's highly classified, even among anthros. Nine out of ten will not even know what you are talking about, while the last will lie about knowing about it either because they know or have it. Although it's more likely they only have hear rumors on it."

Canith's interest was perked at this. "Anything can be dangerous, as I recently demonstrated. What makes this so dangerous?"

Snow gave a rather sinister sounding chuckle. "Easy. Because someone with the fully manifested version of this ability can appear and sound like anyone or anything they want."

"What?" Canith said excitedly. He didn't need to check with Aura to know that Snow just validated his final theory on abilities.

"Remember, I'm partially in your head at the moment, and I saw that flickering though. I won't ask you to tell me how you deduced it, but yes, shape shifting is a very rare ability that some Anthro's can develop. It usually can be arranged into 3 categories. The first is easiest. Small changes. Think of it like changing your eye color, or the natural color of your hair. It's by far the most common, and you have probably seen several people with it."

"Tyco, down in the galley." Canith recalled the spiral tattoo's in the rabbit's fur, thinking that with fur, it wouldn't change the color unless he dyed it.

"Exactly. They are rather fond of the patterning they set up too." Snow gazed into the distance for a moment, lost in thought, then continued. "That is called level 1 shifting. Level 2 is much different. Level 1 is about small changes, where Level 2 is about major changes. Traditionally, certain genetic archetypes have a tendency to manifest this- human morphs surprisingly fall into this category, as they can, albeit temporarily, hide their angelic or demonic features, looking 'almost' like pure human. A DNA test can easily prove that they are modified, but outwardly they look normal. Some other examples are western based dragons, gryphons, and dolphins. They can take more feral forms if they develop this ability."

Canith was rather confused. "You say this ability is dangerous, and then tell me about one that can do small changes and one that does large changes, but you also mentioned that it was dangerous due to looking and sounding like someone else. Is that where the third level comes into play?"

Snow smiled gently at this. "Yes, and it's the least talked about. In fact, there are at most 8 anthros on this ship now that officially know about it. E deck and the captain, and now you. The reason for me to tell you is that the 'episode' you experienced is your body doing the first shift, and that only happens if you are what we call a l3s, or level 3 shifter. The reason Sylvie only recalled me experiencing it is that I'm the only other l3s on board. It's extremely rare that it shows up."

"Huh, so level 3 is, I'm guessing here, where you can make genetic level changes yourself, or at least the genetic flexibility to do that?"

"Yes, and in some cases it's required to maintain genetic stability. Oftentimes, a maintained change will stabilize you to the point that you could almost pass for someone who doesn't have shifting at all. In fact, I believe that you probably are one of them. So I would like you to think of one thing you would change if you could, because you can, and we will quickly work on that. It's part instinctive, part learned. Once you get the knack for it, you should have no problem maintaining it, as it will be baked into your DNA until you decide to change it."

Canith thought back over his time on board, and then had his memory snap to waking up beside Will. "Fur. Maybe a light coating instead of scales. That big enough of a change?"

"Perfect, if I don't miss my guess. So, here is how we do this. Close your eyes, and dig deep. Feel your scales, how they ripple and flex." Snow's tone took on an almost hypnotic quality, allowing Canith to blindly follow his directions without actually thinking about it.

"Now, think of how the fur would feel, as you would rub it dry, as clothes rub against it, as a lover would stroke it. Internalize that feeling, let it fill you. Tap that core of your being, and let it feel those feeling too." As he followed these words and feelings, he felt that core within him, warm and malleable. He knew, as Snow said, instinctively, that it would help him change in any way he wanted. For now, following Snow's voice, he though of all those things and more. The feel of the wind blowing the individual hairs, their texture under his fingers. As he did, his body began to grow warmer. Not like the heat that Will had given off, but like someone had raised the temperature in the room a couple degrees. Then he felt it.

"Very good. Pretty easy, right?" Snow's voice lost the tone it had held, and Canith opened his eyes to his scaled body being lightly furred in a similar color to his scales.

"Yes, but it's a bit sad- It was so easy to just rinse off various liquids and such with scales, now it's going to stick in the fur." He had a playful tone to his voice, taking the acidity out of it.

"That may be so, but you can actually cheat a bit there- if some gets too stuck, just flash back and forth- the fur will fall out, so don't do it often, and if you feel lethargic, don't do it. This takes a lot of energy to pull off. In a week or two I'll see about scheduling you some lessons with me, as I have a theory that you have one or two more tricks to pull. In the meantime, take it easy- between the psi- strain and the physical strain we just put on your body you will be a couple days recovering. Once that clears up practice with your kinetics, lightly of course. Treat it like weight lifting. In fact, if your concentration is good enough, do both at the same time. Lift one set with your arms, one with your tail, and one with your mind. That way everything gets worked out at the same time. But go slow."

Canith went to nod, but let loose a large yawn instead. "Get some more sleep, then something to eat. Afterwards, light duty. In a day or two, add in the weights."

Snow nodded sagely. "And thus the pupil actually listens. And once you are better, A visit with me. By that point we can work on some other things together." He got up then, and headed for the door, stopping when he got to it and turned for a moment. "You know, the captain doesn't make a habit of kicking people off of the ship. Normally, if someone wants to leave we let them, after blocking their ability to talk about what they learned on this ship. Shawn was an extreme case, and rather unique- he was causing divisions in the ship, while being just useful enough that it would be a pain to look for a replacement. Your timing was perfect to fix the problem and introduce new blood into the crew. I, and most all the crew, have enjoyed you coming on board. I look forward to working with you in the future." With this he gave a short bow, and took himself out the door as Canith gave into exhaustion and passed back out, with a little mental touch from Snow.

Snow walked down the hall, processing both what he had picked up from Canith and what he had learned. The accident had been just that- not him being too reckless, but just a miscalculation. He had heard the whole thing in his mind after Canith had woken up. The limiters he had put in place were rather interesting things- part his own making, part Canith's. They would work like a mental pair of worn weights, preventing him from showing exorbitant power with his telekinesis, and keeping his telepathy in check.

What he had not told Canith was that there was a limit to the limiters, so to speak. If he tried to flex his abilities while under stress, like in combat, those limiters would hold . . . for a time. But if he had adrenaline in his system, they would break. Not that the chemical would have a direct effect on his abilities, but that was a form of key. That way, if he needed it, truly needed it, his abilities would be available to him.

He also thought of their discussion of the various levels of shifting. He hadn't mentioned it, but one thing he had learned over the years of manipulating genetics through abilities was the knack to decipher trends and likely outcomes. In Canith, he suspected that as level 2, he would end up with a feral western dragon base, but would probably keep something of the anthro form. The mane? Maybe the tail floof? He didn't know, but he knew that as level 3 Canith would be able to pass as pure human if he needed to. That gift was rare, even among the small circle of level 3 shifters that Snow knew. Only one or two could pull that trick off, and usually it was of their original form.

Putting those thoughts aside, he hopped on the lift to E deck, and his office, while briefing Desmond that the limiters were in place and Canith had been looked in on.

June 6, 2085

The next day found Canith feeling a bit better physically, so he decided that a bit of time at the gym was in order. Remembering his discussion from the previous night, though, he made sure to only do the normal strength training, and not start on the mental aspects. However, the mention of working his tail out, and not in the sexual manner that some might have put it in, got him thinking.

:Hey Aura,: He started, as he was doing is initial stretching, :I didn't think about this before, but most all martial arts forms don't actually utilize tails in them, and are designed for plantigrade legs, right?:

:Affirmative, as all the styles you have been exposed to have been created either by humans or with humans in mind. Just because you have not run across one, doesn't mean it does not exist. I will begin scanning the databases for potential leads.:

He paled a bit at this, and quickly stopped Aura. :No need. I can just alter or modify one of our known styles in the meantime.: He went back to warming up, intending to do just that.

Several minutes later had him on a mat in a side room practicing various forms and styles, sometimes combining one or more to try to get it to work, but not getting good results. Some of the best uses for his tail was as either a follow up for a kick, or to feint the kick and use the momentum for the tail. It worked, but only just. It still didn't feel quite as natural as the forms did.

Going slowly, he tried his most current experiment. Traditional fighting stance. Left punch. Right punch. (Easy stuff) He sped up a bit, weaving in knee kicks, elbows, and blocks. (Now to try the changes.) Next, the side kick. His leg extended out, came around, then landed. His tail, however, had built up some momentum, and instead of stopping quite so neatly pulled him further around. He compensated, throwing another kick with is other leg, but the combination of momentum, digigrade leg structure, and swapping his primary balance to his other leg cause him to completely loose his balance, sending him crashing to the ground. Again.

"Dammit. Too slow and there is no force, too fast and the momentum gets away from me, or cause my tail to ache from the impact with the mat. There has to be something I am missing." He righted himself but sat on the mat, panting a bit from the workout and frustration.

"You know, " came a voice from the entrance, "Part of the problem is that most of those kicks don't account for a tail to give them too much momentum, thus the kick itself causes the issue." Form followed voice, and Sky came strolling around the corner, hands in the pockets of his jumpsuit.

"So what's the solution to it then? Just not kick?" Canith was being partly sarcastic, but also serious. Kicks with as much muscle as he had in his legs now would be absolutely devastating.

"Actually, the solution is much simpler. Think of the tail as independent, and use the tail itself to break momentum. He demonstrated, going into a kick, and Canith saw the building momentum. Instead of being overcome with it, however, he rotated a bit with it, then came forward with a punch, and right behind the punch was the tail, tip curled back, creating another 'fist' out of it. That posed another problem, which was solved in the next moment by an ax kick, with the tail coming up and supplying additional weight and strength to the descending leg. This continued for a minute or two, of Sky practically dancing through multiple moves and stances, either augmenting strikes with his tail or outright using the tail as an independent entity to strike out. It was impressive, effective, and (most importantly) was designed with someone with a tail in mind.

Sky wound down quickly, and ended with a traditional bow. "Wow, that was great. I recognized several different styles in there, but some moves were completely different. Does that style have a name?

A grin met his question. "It does, actually. It's called Dragon's Dance, and it was created specifically with eastern dragon anthros in mind. I believe it was one of the original ones that was obsessed with martial arts after the change, and got together with multiple masters from different styles. After working on it for almost two years, this style is what they came up with. Even better, they also came up with several advanced moves the translate well to wings, but as you don't have them right now," at this, Sky gave Canith a slow wink, "We can skip them for now. If you like, I can teach you what I know. After all, a style not taught is a style forgotten to time. And as most anthros have no interest in martial forms, what with all the psychic powers being thrown around, and the use of k-blades, sometimes the forms are forgotten.

"I for one know the value of them. After all, why else have weapons as part of almost every discipline back on Earth? It's fine being able to fight unarmed, but if said moves translate into weapon work, then you have yet another advantage."

"Too right you are. Now, do you have any other questions before we begin?." Sky asked as he walked across the mat to stand before Canith.

"Actually, I kind of do. It was simmering in the back of my mind for a while now, but Is there anything that actually keeps K-blade users from using their telekinesis to fight with their blades at a distance. To be precise, to use their k-blades without being in contact with them."

"Ah, Mist must have not mentioned that, then. Okay, let's see if I can recall this correctly." He sat down for a minute, thinking. "After a K-blade crystal is tuned to a particular individual it's harder for others to use. However, there are some exceptions to this. As tuning indicates, there are resonate frequencies that they operate on. If another user has a similar enough frequency, they can directly interfere with each other's blades. The second way would be to target the frequency itself, and essentially overwrite the frequency itself. This, obviously, is much harder, as active use has a tendency to 'lock in' the frequency, making it harder to change. The last, though, Mist usually said was pure speculation. Rare individuals with high levels of telekinesis could theoretically alter their own frequency, essentially making them compatible with anyone else's frequency."

The last, Canith though, was probably more due to S1 targeted shifting, or maybe even S3, then due to telekinesis. "So how does that factor in to contact?"

"I may have overshot the question with that. Simply put, contact makes it harder for other's to take control of you kinetic blade, either due to wresting it away from you, or from overwriting it."

Canith nodded. "So it all comes down to contact with the crystals themselves, right?"

"Yes." Sky said, then added, "Of course, the actual main reason though is that most don't have a high enough threshold with telekinesis to make a stable connection at a distance. Most I have seen just use it to amp their own movements, supplementing muscle with mental power."

Canith felt this was not efficient, but kept the comment to himself. Let others boost their strength or speed with their telekinesis- he would use it in a more innovative way. "Okay, That's it for my questions. Let's get to training."

Later, as Canith laid in bed after showering and eating, he ran through the new knowledge he had acquired on the k-blades. He had already demonstrated that ranged weapons were possible, but more complex then the crystals could do without oversight, but melee weapons held with telekinesis . . . this had potential. As the crystal would still be in contact with him, he didn't need to worry about the resonance effects as much, and if the opponent did try for the blades . . . well, with no crystal, they would not have a 'grasp' on it for him to loose control of. And if he didn't have to be in contact with them . . . he drifted off to sleep, not completing that thought. Aura, however, had been monitoring him much more lately, and started writing a bit of code to place into the neural uplink, to coincide with a limiter release. They nicknamed this new code the 'Kaiser Protocol'. Aura knew that as he was, Canith would be able, at most, to control 3 blades simultaneously. This protocol would allow his consciousness to tap into the ship's database, amping his mental processing to roughly five times it's normal operating capabilities, but would only last a couple minutes. That much strain would cause the uplink damage if maintained for any longer, and brain damage to Canith as well without a filter like AURA.