Cherry Vanilla and Rum Raisin
Title: Sentencing
Author: d353r7r47
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,500
Challenges: Cherry Vanilla #9 (My Reflection); Rum Raisin #15 (Stranger)
Summary: Jhera is given her sentence based on her test results.
A/N: feel free to comment!
Jhera sat in her cell staring at the number on her wrist, thinking about how her Tribe would react when they didn't show up at home again. The man in the cell across the hall had started yelling about the war again and it was getting harder to ignore him.
She was frustrated and even though they'd only been in jail for a couple of days, she could start to feel power building up in her veins. It always built up faster when she had heightened emotions and she would need an outlet for it soon. The only problem was that letting the excess magic out here would make their situation much worse, but at the same time, waiting too long would make it harder for her body to handle later. She closed her eyes and tried to figure out a way that she could release it discreetly.
After nearly an hour, her planning was disrupted as six officers stood outside her cell door.
"Stand up slowly and put your hands behind your head!" Jhera stared at him for a second before complying.
Once her hands were up, three of the officers charged into the cell. Two of them grabbed her arms and forced them behind her back while the third put handcuffs on her.
She was paraded down the hall to the room she and Gharak had been interviewed in the day before. Two officers were in front of her, two were holding her, and the remaining two brought up the rear. The ones in front and behind her all carried semi-automatic weapons that they held ready in case she tried to make a break for it.
Inside the room sat Warden Sebright and the woman who had done the physical and magical tests the day before. They had a file on the table in front of them with her name on it.
Jhera was forced into, and hand cuffed to, the empty chair on the other side of the table. The Warden opened the file and pushed it in front of her without breaking eye contact with her.
"What do you think this is?"
"I wouldn't know," Jhera replied without looking away.
The Warden pushed the open file closer. "Look at it."
"It's the results for the magical tests you put me though."
"That is correct. Now, what do you think we found in these results?"
"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I think you know what we found. Of course, this means you lied to me yesterday. Lying was not a good idea."
She laughed and looked at him incredulously. "What did you expect? Did you really think that I would tell you everything just because you asked? I didn't think that it was any of your business and I still don't."
"Do you have any idea what happens when we come across someone who uses blood magic? You should be scared of what we could do to you girl."
"See, that's where you've got it wrong," she said with a smirk. "I am completely aware of what happens when you catch someone like me. And I'm still not scared of you."
"And this is where you have it wrong. We have never caught someone like you before; we never even thought it was possible for someone like you to exist." Jhera raised her eyes without saying anything, waiting for him to continue. "Do you even understand how powerful you are? How powerful you could be?"
Jhera stared at him and he motioned to the woman to explain.
"You see, the machine that we used to test you compares the results of a single test against those it has found in the past. Over time, it's been able to make a graph that shows the typical range of elemental magic that a person has and it has also made a similar graph for blood magic.
"For elemental magic, the range is between these two points for your age. You fall toward the upper end of this range, which means that while you are very strong with elemental magic, you are not abnormally so.
"Your blood magic results, on the other hand, are a different story. Understandably, the standard range for this kind of magic is considerably lower than that for elemental magic since people outside of the Tribes do not put it into practice. I was able to reformulate the initial data to include only those people we have caught from the Tribes. The range for this graph was slightly higher. When I compared your results to this new graph, you far exceeded the highest point in this range.
"I realize that you are from the Southern Tribe, so I decided to try a base set of data that just included data we've obtained from other members of your Tribe. Even doing that, your results were still way above the typical range."
Jhera closed her eyes and sighed. "What do you want from me?"
"You yourself said that you know that our normal sentence for someone we catch that uses blood magic is death. In your case however, you are far too powerful for us to put to death. So instead, we are going to send you to The Academy to strengthen your elemental magic."
"So in other words, you want to use me...Train me as what, a weapon?"
"You could put it that way."
"And if I refuse?"
"Well, you will be having a nice long life in jail, likely in solitary confinement."
"Will Gharak be coming with me?"
"No, his magic is not nearly as strong as yours."
"I'm not going to leave him here alone, even if that means being locked away forever," she glared at the Warden.
"If we let him go with you, you will do what we ask you to?"
"Yes."
Warden Sebright called to one of the officers to bring Gharak there.
~~~~~~~~~~
Gharak entered the room to see Jhera chained to a chair opposite the Warden and the woman he had met the day before. Jhera looked up at her friend and gave him a small, sad smile as he was forced into the chair next to her.
"The Academy's school year starts in a little over a week and you will be going there this year. While you are there, neither of you will be allowed to use blood magic and you will also be bound to the school when we arrive there. You will stay in your cells until the time comes to leave for the school. You will both be receiving school uniforms in a few days, which you will be measured for now." With this, the Warden left the room, leaving the woman behind to take their measurements.
Once he had left, Gharak turned to Jhera and asked what was happening. She explained the situation and apologized for bringing him into this, without talking to him first.
"Its fine Jhera, I'd much rather go to some school than stay in a cell for the rest of my life."
~~~~~~~~~~
Four days later, Jhera was brought to a room to try on the school uniforms to make sure they fit well.
She looked at herself in the large mirror in the room, while the seamstress pulled and poked at the clothes to see if any alterations would have to be made.
The uniform consisted of a jacket, shirt, tie, and pants. The pants were plain and beige, the shirt was white, and the tie was red and striped with two different textures. The jacket was a deep wine red. The clothes fit her perfectly, but she couldn't recognize herself.
Her tanned skin and black hair were the same, as were her pale green eyes. She pulled up the cuffs of the jacket a little to see the lighter words running down her arms. When she saw the number on her wrist, she sighed and looked up, taking in her whole appearance once again.
She wasn't used to clothes like this. In the desert, they generally wore looser clothes in muted tans and browns. She didn't particularly like the way the material of the uniform clung to her or how it constricted her movements.
She noticed how tired she looked, how drained. The power that had been growing over the past few days was getting harder for her to physically handle, but they would only be in the jail for a few more days. She'd find a way to release it after they were brought to the school.
This new turn in her life, the number, and the clothes together made Jhera question who she was. She no longer knew this person she saw staring back at her in the mirror.
After trying on the other uniform sets and a few other pieces of clothing that been prepared for her, she was brought back to her cell to wait out the last few days before being carted off to The Academy.
Author: d353r7r47
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,500
Challenges: Cherry Vanilla #9 (My Reflection); Rum Raisin #15 (Stranger)
Summary: Jhera is given her sentence based on her test results.
A/N: feel free to comment!
Jhera sat in her cell staring at the number on her wrist, thinking about how her Tribe would react when they didn't show up at home again. The man in the cell across the hall had started yelling about the war again and it was getting harder to ignore him.
She was frustrated and even though they'd only been in jail for a couple of days, she could start to feel power building up in her veins. It always built up faster when she had heightened emotions and she would need an outlet for it soon. The only problem was that letting the excess magic out here would make their situation much worse, but at the same time, waiting too long would make it harder for her body to handle later. She closed her eyes and tried to figure out a way that she could release it discreetly.
After nearly an hour, her planning was disrupted as six officers stood outside her cell door.
"Stand up slowly and put your hands behind your head!" Jhera stared at him for a second before complying.
Once her hands were up, three of the officers charged into the cell. Two of them grabbed her arms and forced them behind her back while the third put handcuffs on her.
She was paraded down the hall to the room she and Gharak had been interviewed in the day before. Two officers were in front of her, two were holding her, and the remaining two brought up the rear. The ones in front and behind her all carried semi-automatic weapons that they held ready in case she tried to make a break for it.
Inside the room sat Warden Sebright and the woman who had done the physical and magical tests the day before. They had a file on the table in front of them with her name on it.
Jhera was forced into, and hand cuffed to, the empty chair on the other side of the table. The Warden opened the file and pushed it in front of her without breaking eye contact with her.
"What do you think this is?"
"I wouldn't know," Jhera replied without looking away.
The Warden pushed the open file closer. "Look at it."
"It's the results for the magical tests you put me though."
"That is correct. Now, what do you think we found in these results?"
"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I think you know what we found. Of course, this means you lied to me yesterday. Lying was not a good idea."
She laughed and looked at him incredulously. "What did you expect? Did you really think that I would tell you everything just because you asked? I didn't think that it was any of your business and I still don't."
"Do you have any idea what happens when we come across someone who uses blood magic? You should be scared of what we could do to you girl."
"See, that's where you've got it wrong," she said with a smirk. "I am completely aware of what happens when you catch someone like me. And I'm still not scared of you."
"And this is where you have it wrong. We have never caught someone like you before; we never even thought it was possible for someone like you to exist." Jhera raised her eyes without saying anything, waiting for him to continue. "Do you even understand how powerful you are? How powerful you could be?"
Jhera stared at him and he motioned to the woman to explain.
"You see, the machine that we used to test you compares the results of a single test against those it has found in the past. Over time, it's been able to make a graph that shows the typical range of elemental magic that a person has and it has also made a similar graph for blood magic.
"For elemental magic, the range is between these two points for your age. You fall toward the upper end of this range, which means that while you are very strong with elemental magic, you are not abnormally so.
"Your blood magic results, on the other hand, are a different story. Understandably, the standard range for this kind of magic is considerably lower than that for elemental magic since people outside of the Tribes do not put it into practice. I was able to reformulate the initial data to include only those people we have caught from the Tribes. The range for this graph was slightly higher. When I compared your results to this new graph, you far exceeded the highest point in this range.
"I realize that you are from the Southern Tribe, so I decided to try a base set of data that just included data we've obtained from other members of your Tribe. Even doing that, your results were still way above the typical range."
Jhera closed her eyes and sighed. "What do you want from me?"
"You yourself said that you know that our normal sentence for someone we catch that uses blood magic is death. In your case however, you are far too powerful for us to put to death. So instead, we are going to send you to The Academy to strengthen your elemental magic."
"So in other words, you want to use me...Train me as what, a weapon?"
"You could put it that way."
"And if I refuse?"
"Well, you will be having a nice long life in jail, likely in solitary confinement."
"Will Gharak be coming with me?"
"No, his magic is not nearly as strong as yours."
"I'm not going to leave him here alone, even if that means being locked away forever," she glared at the Warden.
"If we let him go with you, you will do what we ask you to?"
"Yes."
Warden Sebright called to one of the officers to bring Gharak there.
~~~~~~~~~~
Gharak entered the room to see Jhera chained to a chair opposite the Warden and the woman he had met the day before. Jhera looked up at her friend and gave him a small, sad smile as he was forced into the chair next to her.
"The Academy's school year starts in a little over a week and you will be going there this year. While you are there, neither of you will be allowed to use blood magic and you will also be bound to the school when we arrive there. You will stay in your cells until the time comes to leave for the school. You will both be receiving school uniforms in a few days, which you will be measured for now." With this, the Warden left the room, leaving the woman behind to take their measurements.
Once he had left, Gharak turned to Jhera and asked what was happening. She explained the situation and apologized for bringing him into this, without talking to him first.
"Its fine Jhera, I'd much rather go to some school than stay in a cell for the rest of my life."
~~~~~~~~~~
Four days later, Jhera was brought to a room to try on the school uniforms to make sure they fit well.
She looked at herself in the large mirror in the room, while the seamstress pulled and poked at the clothes to see if any alterations would have to be made.
The uniform consisted of a jacket, shirt, tie, and pants. The pants were plain and beige, the shirt was white, and the tie was red and striped with two different textures. The jacket was a deep wine red. The clothes fit her perfectly, but she couldn't recognize herself.
Her tanned skin and black hair were the same, as were her pale green eyes. She pulled up the cuffs of the jacket a little to see the lighter words running down her arms. When she saw the number on her wrist, she sighed and looked up, taking in her whole appearance once again.
She wasn't used to clothes like this. In the desert, they generally wore looser clothes in muted tans and browns. She didn't particularly like the way the material of the uniform clung to her or how it constricted her movements.
She noticed how tired she looked, how drained. The power that had been growing over the past few days was getting harder for her to physically handle, but they would only be in the jail for a few more days. She'd find a way to release it after they were brought to the school.
This new turn in her life, the number, and the clothes together made Jhera question who she was. She no longer knew this person she saw staring back at her in the mirror.
After trying on the other uniform sets and a few other pieces of clothing that been prepared for her, she was brought back to her cell to wait out the last few days before being carted off to The Academy.