Leap of faith

[dun_moch]

WHO: Count Dooku and Yuichiro Hyakuya
WHERE: Deserted beach, Heropa
WHEN: Nighttime, backdated to the first week of December
WHAT: Dooku has offered to teach Yuu completely legitimate lessons with no hidden agenda
WARNINGS: Should be none

[The place Dooku has invited Yuu to meet at looks more than a little foreboding. There's no light to be seen beyond the moon, the stars, and the signal lamp Dooku has planted in the sand.

It could be worse: ordinarily he likes to do things like this in an abandoned building in Maurtia Falls. But now it's simply too cold to keep using that haunt, hence tonight's session being relocated to a lightless beach in Florida, silent except for the roar of waves pounding in from the ocean. Here, at least, it is warm.

Dooku stands under the lamp, wearing his full suit, boots and cape. He will call out when he sees Yuu approaching:]

Greetings, Yuichiro. Thank you for coming.

Comments

[dejerate]

[Yuu still isn't quite sure what to make of this. What to really expect from meeting Dooku in person. Still, he figures it can't hurt to do this at least once to see what to make of it. What the other has in mind to teach him.

Whether or not he informed Mika, he makes his way to the beach easily enough, the chillier weather compensated with wearing his dark green and black cloak that billows in the wind as he walks and hones in on the lamp. He's quick to make a beeline in that direction, figuring that must be the one who arranged to meet him unless there were anyone else around the beach at this hour.

Yuichiro gives a wave as he approaches.]

Hey. Yeah, I found you alright, with the lamp at least. So what'd you want to start with, exactly?

[dun_moch]

[Dooku's own cape billows behind him in the same wind, brown appearing black in the night. If nothing else, the similarities between his and Yuu's manner of dress are promising. He has met so few other imPorts who appreciate the value of a good cloak.]

I think it's best if we begin by defining our goals for this practice. Only by understanding what you seek can I help you achieve it.

[The Count's deep, booming voice swells in the night air, easily heard over the sound of the surf.]

There is much that my techniques could teach you. Greater discipline, perhaps, or a calmer mind... or clear insight into your feelings. So tell me: what is it that you want to learn?

[dejerate]

Defining goals. Yeah, I guess that makes sense to start with. To know what to work on.

[He gives a nod of agreement at that. It seems a fair enough place to start from before progressing from there once they know what they want. What they both want out of this and what Dooku needs to know to keep going in planning to teach Yuu whatever they want to work on.]

A calmer mind....maybe. Even though I guess people would say I need to be more disciplined too.

[Having a calmer mind might help more with dealing with Ashuramaru. With his seraph gene though. So it's an idea, possibly.]

[dun_moch]

I'm sure they would.

[There's a dry note in Dooku's voice. Probably the result of his first impression of Yuu being 'that kid who wanted to storm Cape Canaveral because one person got Ported out']

Very well, then. Those will be our goals. Seat yourself beneath the lamp, and we will begin.

[He motions toward the appropriate patch of sand.]

[dejerate]

[Yeah, that particular first impression and 'meeting' of sorts probably doesn't help matters. Still, as almost sheepish as Yuu might appear briefly, there is a nod as he does as instructed, sitting down with his legs crossed, cloak half covering the ground and his knees as he does so, watching the light of the lamp for a moment before looking back to Dooku.]

Okay. So how does this work then? How do we start?

[dun_moch]

[Dooku begins to pace once Yuu is seated, walking in a circle around him as he speaks, at a distance just barely at the edge of the lamp's light- half-shrouded in shadows.]

Close your eyes, and look within yourself. Concentrate. Think of nothing else but your own self. And then tell me: how are you feeling?

[dejerate]

[Initially, he turns his head, glancing and watching as Dooku paces around him. But there's an exhale as the other tells him to close his eyes, as he obeys. Thinking of nothing else but himself is something of an ask, he thinks.

To not think of Mika, or the general situation with his friends back home. Of Ferid and Crowley. None of that. Just himself. How does he feel? Disregarding all that.]

How I'm feeling....I guess that's a harder question than I thought. If it's just me. Not how I feel about others or the situation in general. Here or back home.

[dun_moch]

[Dooku smiles to himself thinly as he continues to walk around where Yuu is sitting. Heroic types always focus so much on their friends... it truly is absurd. Yet useful. His voice drifts toward Yuu's ears as though carried by the wind.]

If you find other people within yourself, then that is something to accept. We are seeking to discover what it is you really want. Perhaps that does involve others, or the situation that confronts you. Allow yourself to feel without doubt... Tell me what it is you desire in your heart.

[dejerate]

I want....I want to help Mika. To help him be human again.

[First and foremost. More than he wants to figure about the seraph experiment and how to potentially look into dealing with that here. He wants to stay here with Mika, together. Safer than things were back home. Away from the threat of the vampires and military both after them -- after Yuu specifically.]

[dun_moch]

Mika... The friend the Porter took from you. He is greatly important to you, isn't he?

[Wow Dooku, your awe-inspiring Dark Side powers are granting you such keen insight into what Yuu has explicitly said more than once.]

The Porter has been known to alter the bodies of imPorts. What if it could be the path toward making Mika human?

[dejerate]

Of course he is. He was....he was the first who needed me. Family.

[Honestly, when it comes to Family, to Mika, Yuu is the least subtle. Which is both good in it usually being obvious in him being so blunt about how he feels and also bad because it's also evidently very obvious and thus easy to take advantage of if people are so inclined.]

But you think the Porter could help? Turn him back to being a human again? Even if he's a full vampire? I've been asking, thinking maybe one of the healers or something.

[dun_moch]

[The Count nods, and steps closer to where Yuu is sitting.]

Perhaps. There are many abilities among the imPorts. One of them might hold the power you seek.

But if not, the Porter grants powers. Imagine this: what if you could ask it to provide you with the ability to make Mika a human being?

[dejerate]

Y-you think we could get it to let us choose our powers? If I could....

[Well, it would mean not needing to ask or rely on others to help him keep his promise to Mika. That does make it tempting, even if he still isn't sure how to go about it. He's been told that the Porter that brought them here is guarded and all. It wouldn't be easy to get to it, let alone figure out how it worked to make it be under their control, to do this as Yuu wants.]

[dun_moch]

If you could...

[Dooku echoes the words as though they had been spoken into a cavern.]

Concentrate within yourself. Admit your desires, free from restrictions on all possibility. What would you do if this was indeed possible?

[dejerate]

I'd help Mika. Use a power to turn him back to being human again. Otherwise....otherwise I'm not sure. Maybe some sort of healing? I saw Jesse months ago, and I liked that he could use that to help people.

[Yuu isn't sure how Dooku's voice is echoing, out in the open like this, but he's still trying to focus, to concentrate and listen, to answer as quickly and instinctively as he can.]

[dun_moch]

[Dooku's voice pretty much always sounds like it's coming from the bottom of a rain barrel. It's a Christopher Lee thing. And how interesting that Yuu mentions one of his closest allies...]

Jesse Pinkman? He is a very strong healer indeed. And a trustworthy member of our community. You could learn much from him, I think.

[He waves a hand.]

But no matter. We know now what you want. Now we must determine how badly you want it. Tell me this: what would you do in order to achieve your goals?

[dejerate]

Yeah, that's the one. I keep meaning to ask if he might be able to come see Mika, he said he'd be willing to at least try help. We're not sure whether it'd work but....

[He figures, given the 'healing' the worst that would happen is nothing. But he does give a nod, making note of Dooku's praise of the other.]

What would I do? Well, I wouldn't want anyone else getting hurt or anything. This is...this is something I need to set right, for Mika.

[dun_moch]

You would not harm another? Even for the sake of Mika?

[Dooku sounds disappointed. Because he is disappointed.]

You seemed ready to fight for his sake when the Porter took him from you.

[dejerate]

Well. I mean, I'm not scared of killing. I've done it before, being in the military. But...that's different. That's vampires. How would we know this would require me having to hurt anyone else?

[Sure, the obvious is to just run in and incapacitate the guards at the Porter, but that doesn't mean that's how they need to go about it. Yuu isn't much a strategist, but he is trying to maintain a cooler, calmer head now he has Mika back.]

[dun_moch]

Great changes are rarely brought about without any conflict, my young friend. And gaining what you desire could require very great changes indeed.

[The Count eases back into the 'maddeningly vague and cryptic old master' routine which is second nature to anyone who spent as long in the Jedi Order as he did. If Yuu's going to be resistant, Dooku isn't going to come out and say he's talking about physically fighting the government...]

[dejerate]

Maybe it would require changes. I don't even know if it's possible, to help Mika. But I want to try.

[Yuu isn't against fighting, but his friends have been trying to drill into him to be more cautious. Less reckless and think more before he just springs into action without always knowing the situation.]

I don't know how far Mika would want to go for it. I know I'd take on anything myself but this isn't something I'd be able to do alone. Like I said, politics and all that, that's for the superiors, not lower soldiers like me to get involved in. And everyone was saying the Porter is guarded and all so it wouldn't be easy to get to it even if we knew how it worked. How to make it give us powers we want, or how to make it send back people who want to go back home.

[dun_moch]

I see.

[Passion, but little initiative. A promising combination, in Dooku's experience. Even here, he considers himself a 'lower soldier...']

Your superiors are not here, are they? Without them, you will have to make your own decisions on what path to take... and which allies you trust to aid you in your goals.

[dejerate]

Well, that bastard Guren was here. I know he was because I saw him over the phones. But he was still avoiding me so I never did get to talk to him.

[And that evidently still frustrates and worries Yuu both at once. Though, it's more the politics Yuu has no interest in. There's plenty of initiative there, amid the recklessness of his actions on the battlefield in his desire to keep his comrades safe, his actions in the moment. He frowns, biting his lip before he responds.]

I can choose for myself. You and Jesse, at least. And Kagami, he offered something to help. But that'd probably be more of a last resort.