Going Camping, Part III

Posted on Tue Aug 29th, 2023 @ 12:42pm by First Lieutenant Bethany Harrison & General Dyami Bentley (Tribal : Bent Leaf)

Mission: HYDRA: Another Head Rises
Location: Shaman's Cabin
Timeline: Present Day

Dyami stirred the fire once more, seemingly deep in thought for a few moments, “Good, I think we should explore this after we strengthen his normal body and mind, after that we will coax his meta-form out to see how it reacts. He seems to be a very sharp young man, I would hate to lose him to some mindless meta-form.” Dyami turned to the young woman sitting near him. “Do you have any thoughts on his training?”

“I don’t know, to be honest. My training has been brutal since a young age, so I’m not exactly familiar with more moderate techniques,” Bethany answered, her own gaze returning to the fire. “I mean, I know how I helped Jon learn how to get used to his leg, but until I know how strong he actually is, I’m at a bit of a loss.”

The Indian man opened his dream bag and pulled out a plastic bag of marshmallows and two long green sticks. Affixing two marshmallows to one he held the bag along with the other stick out to Beth. “I have trained many people in my days in this world. I was the toughest on you during your training. But I only did it because I knew you could handle the pain. I do not wish to see him trained the same way. I think we should rely on his meta-form to take the harshest training when the time comes. I believe that you could take care of the first half and I will take over once we are satisfied he has learned enough to control himself in his other form.”

Taking the stick and bag, Bethany loaded hers with a couple of the squishy sugar things. She was well familiar with the weird things that Dyami could pull out of that bag, so it no longer phased her, though she wasn’t as fond of sugary sweets as he seemed to be. Still, fire-burned marshmallows weren’t so bad from time to time.

“I don’t want anyone to ever have to be trained like I was, if I’m honest,” she admitted quietly. “He’s been through a lot though, according to his records. That kid that beat him up almost killed him, but he isn’t one that seems to shy away from a challenge. And he’s got a target for his wrath, which never hurts for motivation. I just...I don’t know if I’m the right person to train him, Dyami. I know how to train terrorists well enough, I guess. But some kid that takes offense at everything I say? I don’t know what to do with that.”

“Someone once said, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, and he thinks you do not like him. And I think he can see that you do not want to train him. The reason I want you to train him is that you understand what he has been through, you can empathize with him, and be able to customize his training to help him to adapt.” Dyami pulled his marshmallow out of the fire, blew it off and ate it immediately. Popping another couple on the stick he chewed while watching the other two cook.

“Besides right now he has a bit of hero worship going on and is excited to be able to help. Training with you will mellow that feeling and make him more adept at controlling those emotions,” the Indian man said through a sticky mouth full of marshmallows.

“It’s not that I don’t like him, I just don’t know him. He’s a teenaged boy that I don’t really know, and you know my experiences with most men,” the young brawler said, shaking her head, as well as the stick with the flaming marshmallows on the end. She pulled the burned sugar shell off of them, ate them, then put the remains back in the fire. “I’m no hero, I wish he could see that. And my sister killed his parents, in a horrific way, right in front of him. He sees her every time I go pale. Yeah, the Preacher killed my mama in front of me, but I was able to put him down for it immediately. I just wish his parents had listened to their intuition, because Miss Syn would have died to protect them, and is probably the only person that Eva might actually fear.”

The Shaman nodded in agreement, after all his lover was one of the few people in the world that he would not want on his enemy list. They had sparred many times and he always had the feeling she was holding back, of course he was as well so it was yet to be seen who would win in a real fight. “The headmistress is certainly a force to be reckoned with. That aside, I think that both you and Mattias will grow and learn from you training him. And who knows maybe you will one day become friends. I know you do not trust men. But you have also learned that there are men in this world that can be trusted, even if it is something that takes you longer than others.”

“He’s a kid, Dyami,” Bethany said, looking over at him with a worried frown on her face. “How can I steal what little of his childhood that he has left? How can I put him through even a fraction of what I went through? I don’t even remember being allowed to be a kid at all, but he had the kind of parents that filled his life with love and encouragement. He doesn’t even fit the mold of the kids that the ranch normally takes in. I can teach those boys a rough lesson, because that’s what it takes sometimes. But Matty? He’s a sweet, sensitive kid. I don’t want to ruin that. I mean, I hate the hero worship, but I don't want him to actually hate me.”

“He is sixteen Beth. He is almost as old as you were when you started training with me. And it is his choice, Hydra has taken everything from him, the source of love and encouragement that he was given is gone, at the hands of someone we both want brought to justice. He wants the same thing and is willing to face his fears and fight for it. He needs a new source of good in his life. He has chosen to fight our battles with us. To have us teach him what is good and right. If you do not want him to kill then teach him another way. Teach him to be the hero that you think you are not." The Indian man was animated in his actions and words. Obviously having put a great deal of thought into the young man's future.

Bethany sighed and shook her head. She didn’t know how to make Dyami understand. “I do what has to be done, because it has to be done. How do I build that kid up into something that I’m not? How can I teach him not to be some kind of bloody savage, when I have no concern about being a bloody savage myself?”

“If you truly had no concern for what you have become then you should not have a problem with training someone to be the same as you.” Dyami said pointedly. “But if you do have a problem with it, you should be able to see an alternative way. Elsewise you would not know enough to have a problem with it. It is kind of like seeing one's own faults and knowing that you can be better. If only you had a choice, you did not have that choice. Instead give it to him.”

“I lost that battle with myself when I lost Jon. I am what I am,” Bethany said with a shrug, pulling the now burning stick out of the fire, the remnants of the marshmallows burnt well to cinders. Jon had been her sin-eater, taking the killshots before she could. He was the one reason that she hadn’t built up a huge body count, even if they didn’t exactly get away unbloodied by her. “But that doesn’t mean that I want to see someone like Matty stain his hands with blood.”

Dyami looked at the young woman, suddenly realizing his own marshmallows were ruined. “Damn-it!" he exclaimed, throwing the stick into the fire with a sigh. “Well maybe you need to be his sin eater.”

“I couldn’t stop him from wanton destruction when he was like that. Not without hurting him,” Bethany said, looking over at Dyami again. “He’s the one that crushed my ribs. Not the soldiers. He brought the stairwell down on me just...not thinking, then grabbed me so tightly that I almost stopped breathing. He has higher reasoning skills as Matty. As a giant, scary toddler...not so much.”

“I have been thinking about that, perhaps since it was his first time in his meta-forn he was dazed or hindered in some way, I think the next time he manifests this form it will be more cogent.” Dyami spoke as he produced another stick and a package of all beef hotdogs. Loading it with two and holding it to the flames.

“Maybe,” the young brawler responded noncommittally. “I’m hoping Matty’s brain and the giant body can get more in sync. He literally crackles with physical power, even his heat signature looks more like...lightning, than typical body heat. Uncontrolled? That’s potentially terrifying. He’s definitely one I’d try to take out from a distance if I had to.”

Dyami laughed. “Let us hope it does not come to that, which is why I think you would be best to train him. He already thinks of you as a big sister. You can be the person to carry him through this time in his life. I cannot think of a better person for the job. After all, you know the pitfalls and can direct his path.” Pausing for a moment he held out the bag of hotdogs. “Want some?”

“I don’t know, Dyami. It’s kind of hard to want to be a hypocrite to someone that trusts me,” Bethany said, her gaze returning to the fire after she waved away the hotdogs. “How do I justify turning an innocent into a combatant?”

“My fear is that Mattias stands at the precipice of good and evil. Either we make him into someone who fights for the greater good and protecting the innocent. Or his other side takes over and he becomes a force for chaos and unbridled destruction.” Pulling his hotdogs from the fire Dyami shrugged, “Right now it boils down to Hero or Villain, which path will he take.

“You know I tread a fine line, Father,” Bethany said, slipping into Tsalagi, her voice soft. The only thing that kept her from stepping over that line, was her utter horror at the idea of hurting an innocent. She would die to save an innocent, but she felt nothing at ending the existence of those that abused what limited power that they wielded. “How can I guide someone away from that path, when it is all that I know?”

The Shaman of the Nations spoke quietly in his native tongue. “That is the exact point I have been trying to make, my daughter. Your love and respect for the innocent is what I need you to teach him. Not just martial prowess, but your morals. The way that you think and act in unison with those morals is what he needs most right now.” Eating one of his hotdogs he continued. “If he does not learn that then he could cause more suffering in this world.

“When I was young and still learning what it meant to be a hero, I did not care if innocents were hurt in my battles with Hydra. I saw it as collateral damage. I shifted the blame to the bad guys. It was their fault that a building fell, or a bystander was shot.”

Dyami shook his head looking truly regretful. “But I came to realize that if I chose my battles more carefully, then I could reduce that risk. And I finally accepted the pain I had caused to many people. I have had to live with those deaths my whole life.

“Your love for the innocent, the pain you felt after the incident at the compound, those were key traits I was looking for in a protege. Someone who could help me in my fight against those who have no regard for human life, or dignity.” Dyami ate his other hotdog and put the bag away.

“I think he already knows that. I don’t know how to reinforce that, though, to be honest. I never wanted to hurt an innocent person, much less take out a bunch of kids. I don’t even remember it, but just the thought gives me nightmares,” Bethany admitted, heaving a heavy sigh. “How do you teach someone something that was just kind of, well, burned into you?”

“By example of course. Just be yourself, the same thing I have always asked of you.” Dyami smiled at Beth. Tossing his stick into the fire, he rose. “Well I need some rest, and so do you. Like I said, we have a long day tomorrow. Goodnight daughter.”

TBC

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Bethany Harrison
Fractall
Mutant Underground

General Dyami Bentley
Talon
Mutant Underground