Post by Khaosraptor on Nov 12, 2021 4:09:35 GMT
Eradian felt the consciousness brush against his own, warm, inviting, but alien all the same. The experience of melding with another's mind was something that one could never prepare for, though it was not as unpleasant as Eradian had imagined.
His thoughts mingled with the alien’s, what little memories the organism had were scrambled within Eradian’s, as flashes of his home on Ashex crossed his mind, pursued by his second half; his Shikari.
Taox had talked at length about Eradian’s Shikari, a beast of incredible speed and strength, unmatched, at least by Echotian standards. It had been grown with the sole purpose of melding with the crippled Echo, a second body to shape the universe while he remained at a safe distance.
The process had been slow. Orientation had taken several weeks, while the minds of both beings greeted one another on an open playing field. Eradian’s second half was, in many ways, a being that shared his appreciation for movement, and for setting lofty goals. They shared visions of war, of striding through a hail of shells as they tore their enemies from their path. It fascinated the young Echo, to see what more lay beyond the thin veil of his form. To see the boundaries of his own existence taken down if for only a moment.
He did not remember the injuries, try as he may. Taox had told him that his ship had been attacked by pirates, and that, in the ensuing battle he had been nearly bisected. It had only been a fluke that he had not met a more grizzly end, though Eradian had not immediately seen it that way. He was finished. Years of being one of the fastest Echotians this side of the Empire only to lose what marked him in a single unlucky cast of fate.
It had not been so, however, as Taox had taken an interest in Eradian's condition as well. He had been willing at the time, only taking a few weeks to accept the symbiotic creature as part of his whole, rather than as some addition. Bonding felt to Eradian like mastering a new weapon. Much as it must become an extension of yourself, so too did this creature become.
He remembered waking up for the first time within the body of his Shikari. Eyes adjusted nearly instantaneously to the darkened interior as his muscular limbs righted his prone form. Even as Eradian stood, the form of Taox never seemed to recoil, even as the Shikari dwarfed his superior. There had been an agreement struck, but even the idea of betrayal was squashed from his thoughts by his own subconscious. He could feel the power in his new legs, sense the dexterity of his new hands, feel the strength of his new form. His head tilted back as he bellowed an unearthly cry of rebirth. A smile crept across Taox's face.
He had become something beyond Echotian, leaving his mortal self behind. He had become a new breed of warrior, the next step in Echotian super-soldier. He had become a Shikari.
His thoughts mingled with the alien’s, what little memories the organism had were scrambled within Eradian’s, as flashes of his home on Ashex crossed his mind, pursued by his second half; his Shikari.
Taox had talked at length about Eradian’s Shikari, a beast of incredible speed and strength, unmatched, at least by Echotian standards. It had been grown with the sole purpose of melding with the crippled Echo, a second body to shape the universe while he remained at a safe distance.
The process had been slow. Orientation had taken several weeks, while the minds of both beings greeted one another on an open playing field. Eradian’s second half was, in many ways, a being that shared his appreciation for movement, and for setting lofty goals. They shared visions of war, of striding through a hail of shells as they tore their enemies from their path. It fascinated the young Echo, to see what more lay beyond the thin veil of his form. To see the boundaries of his own existence taken down if for only a moment.
He did not remember the injuries, try as he may. Taox had told him that his ship had been attacked by pirates, and that, in the ensuing battle he had been nearly bisected. It had only been a fluke that he had not met a more grizzly end, though Eradian had not immediately seen it that way. He was finished. Years of being one of the fastest Echotians this side of the Empire only to lose what marked him in a single unlucky cast of fate.
It had not been so, however, as Taox had taken an interest in Eradian's condition as well. He had been willing at the time, only taking a few weeks to accept the symbiotic creature as part of his whole, rather than as some addition. Bonding felt to Eradian like mastering a new weapon. Much as it must become an extension of yourself, so too did this creature become.
He remembered waking up for the first time within the body of his Shikari. Eyes adjusted nearly instantaneously to the darkened interior as his muscular limbs righted his prone form. Even as Eradian stood, the form of Taox never seemed to recoil, even as the Shikari dwarfed his superior. There had been an agreement struck, but even the idea of betrayal was squashed from his thoughts by his own subconscious. He could feel the power in his new legs, sense the dexterity of his new hands, feel the strength of his new form. His head tilted back as he bellowed an unearthly cry of rebirth. A smile crept across Taox's face.
He had become something beyond Echotian, leaving his mortal self behind. He had become a new breed of warrior, the next step in Echotian super-soldier. He had become a Shikari.