A Great Ring Of Pure & Endless Light - [[Rye||R]]

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

November 24th, 2014
Monday - 0500 hours

His arms wrapped around his slight frame tightly trying to keep the little bit of warmth he had in his coat from escaping into the chill morning air of the bay. It had been three days since he had ran into Rye during a standard rendezvous with an informant of theirs, unfortunately the man had been killed and the mission shot to hell with the addition of an assassin. Joshua had sent a messenger to Rye's room asking for the man to meet him down by the docks, and hopefully the other man wasn't too hard of a sleeper. "Sometimes i wonder if bringing him here was the right decision to make, he's bound to change no matter how hard he fights against it and the sole blame for that will lay with me."

His eyes glanced across the bay to the fleet of US naval vessels that circled their island indeffinitely, ever since they took the former prison back from the governments hands they have been there. There had been many attempts to infiltrate the base which had all been repelled easily by him and finally prevented with the addition of an energy shield. Levi had acquired a kid from Ohio that had control over technology and could invent the most outlandish things from your wildest imagination. "You take the righthand staircase and out the metal door, follow the small walkway until you get to the docks...i'll be at the end of the pier." he telepathically said to Rye once he felt the man's mind enter his normal range, to some it freaked them out to suddenly hear his voice in their minds yet to Joshua it was pretty entertaining.

As he waited for the man to arrive he had came to a decision of his own that would put his mind at ease, he would offer Rye and easy out that would put him outside the radar of the government and beyond the reach of this war. He would perform an information dump into the man's mind of every single bit of information they gathered on the government, the only stuff that he wouldn't share were the things critical to their mission. This was the turning point and if Rye would not take this chance then he would hold him to his word for as long as the other man lived, he would drill these lessons into Rye that his every thought would be centered on him. Some would call this an unhealthy relationship, yet it was the only way to ensure that Rye would reach full potential and he would finally break all the current limits on his powers.

[Rye Blackfoot]

Rye was putting on a new black v neck shirt when he felt Joshua enter his mind. He was starting to get used to the itch he felt whenever he was about to speak, like hissing feedback when someone would use a megaphone and were about to talk. He sat up and pulled his hair back in a ponytail and went to the mirror and looked at himself. He smiled, he liked his quaint little cabin on Alcatraz, he just wished he brought Father Edmund's violin, he left it in New York. He picked up his pack of Black and Milds and noticed there was only one left. He made a note to pick up a fresh pack next time he was on dry land. He went up the stairs and once outside he lit up his Black and Mild. The smoke creeped out of his nose as he blew from it. He walked as he got smug looks from the others on the boat. He did not show anyone what his power was and wasn't going to until he met Levi. He was the only one he needed to impress. When people asked he said he could turn his fingers into french fries or something else ridiculous. He saw Joshua and smiled he walked up to him and leaned against a rail. He noticed Joshua was cold and then noticed everyone else wearing heavy coats and there he was in a thin v-neck t-shirt.

He smiled at Joshua again, "And how are we today my friend?" he said cheerfully as smoke blew out of his mouth.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua smiled as he saw Rye approach his position and could tell that today was actually going to be a pretty good day, finally as the stood next to eachother his inner thoughts were interrupted by Rye's question. He waited a minute to repsond to the other man's inquiry wondering why french fries were so close to the other man's surface thoughts "Your mind is very confusing sometimes, but i guess that's why you accepted my offer to triain you and get you ready for when Levi requests an audience with you. I've mentioned you to him slightly and that i was in the processing of baking you, he's allowed me to train you with the understanding that i don't eat you when you're done." Joshua shrugged his shoulders letting the man know that he had no intentions of doing that, he did however watch Rye's face looking for any sign of apprehention of doubt within those eyes of his. He would call any training to an end before it began if the other was not fully committed to this endeavor and ship him back to the mainland, his heart however hoped more than anything Rye would choose to commit himself 100%. "I'm a little cold actually, but that's nothing new so i guess i should tell you i am doing fine. You on the other hand have a choice that you need to make, i will let you decide what path to take after i give you some information behind it all. I've never actually done this before, so if it begins to hurt i will teminate the link and just start to tell you the rest."

He had to strike without any given warning as to what he had planned, the mind even that of someone without any type of telepathic ability could form rudimentary mental shields protecting their thoughts. It was in the act of forcing his way through these shields that impeded the act of dumping a lot of information at one time, most of the time it would result in gaps and that was something he didnt want to take the time to fix. Joshua connected their minds and instantly began dumping the history behind Levi, his army, and the government. "I'll start by showing him the beginnings of Levi's cause with the opening of the former prison on Alcatraz, how the government contracted it to be built through the MacArthur corporation and the underhanded plans of Liam MacArthur to agree to the prison. He'll learn of that company's involvement in the tracking and experimentation of countless power users over the course of many years, how Liam went to the government and together began their witch hunt. Then the main cause of this 'army' and the steps we are already taking to ensure that power users everywhere would not remain second class citizens, and finally he will know my link to all three of those parties...well an edited version. Nothing too specific."

[Rye Blackfoot]

Rye was ready to hear...or rather see what Joshua had to show him. Whatever that was too gruesome. Just as long as his people were safe. He felt they needed a guardian in New York or the world, he would go to Africa, the north freaking pole, he just needed to know he could keep them safe. He looked at Joshua and told him, "I'm ready for you to show me what you need to. I stand by my word I want to help you. You're my family now, that isn't changing."

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

He had the answer that he wanted to hear and inwardly he let out a sigh of relief he had been holding since god knows when, there had been the doubt in his mind that Rye would refuse his entry into his mind and walk away. His reputation then would be dashed and his role as a leader would come into question, but now he had the golden opportunity to create something "Brace yourself!" Joshua closed his eyes quickly and rushed into Rye's mind and found the area where he could influence the other man's memories, outwardly his head tilted to the side as he began the process of dumping all the data he had of Levi's cause and the government. The onslaught of memories into Rye's mind would have left any other person begging for release from the pain, the process itself had to be done by someone of great control or they risked the health of the other. "You must tell me if there is any discomfort, i don't sense anything in your mind that would lead me to suspect that yet you're are quite good at hiding what you feel from me. We are looking at what happened at the prison 5 years ago, Levi lead his troops across the bay and up to the front steps of the facility. The telekinetics that we trained for this moment held most of the military in their grasp while Levi made the rest shoot eachother, with those preoccupied with false images i destroyed the steel doors of the prison allowing everyone else inside. We left no survivors save for the ones locked there for being different."

Even though Rye had not been there, it felt to him that he was right in the center of that battle and the smells of gunpowder mixed with blood could be sensed as if it were happening. He showed Rye the reunion of family members that had been seperated for many years and the joy that seemed contagious, the view shifted from that scene to another deep within the sub-basements of the prison where another prisoner was held. Joshua stood before a computer panel typing away a series of commands, the codes he had known from his days at the company still worked and within a few minutes the containment field flickered then died. Rye could see how Joshua entered past a doorway beyond the former field and stopped in front of a glass tube filled with liquid, the room was lined with electrical equipment along the walls and the air smelt sanitized.

The image stopped as Joshua placed his hand on the tube and it shattered, he pulled out of that series of memories to prepare Rye for the next part of his history lesson and the reason that the prison was built. How Liam MacArthur made his plans to take over this country and the role the government had in his goal, it would be hard for him to see these memories once again since he did play a role in the creation of the prison on Alcatraz.

[Rye Blackfoot]

Rye felt a sudden flash go off in his head and started to see images that were not there. He heard Joshua's voice, " I'll be fine." he grunted. He saw more and more moments that made him angry. Families who were separated. What if his brother had displayed powers? What if they had Peter and they were experimenting on him? His fist clenched as the memories started to stop flowing. He said to Joshua, "What else you got?" he now found even more of a drive to stay on Alcatraz.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua hesitated for a moment to show Rye the next series of memories since it showed some of his own past, it was something that made many people on the island avoid dealing with him or outright protest his stay here. It was until Levi laid down his law that those feelings of resentment were kept behind closed doors, and everyday from the point this former prison was taken he had to prove to every doubter why he was not executed. "You have to understand why this place used to be what it once was, it had intentionally been constructed in order to keep only the most violent of power users from causing havoc on the world. The government had taken their ideas to Liam MacArthur of MacArthur Enterprises and after hearing their sales pitch agreed to fund its construction, but there was a catch as there always is with things of this caliber. Secretly without the knowledge of the government, Liam used this facility to harvest those with powers he had use for and then transfer them to one of his company's many research facilities throughout the country." Joshua's explaination for the prison and the main reason why it had been taken over by Levi acted as a narration for the memories streaming from the telepath's mind into Rye's. From the other man's perspective he could see the officials from the government sell their idea in a large boardroom, if Rye knew anything about the politics of 5 years ago then he should have made out the faces of Senators Mather and Hood from Texas who championed all laws against power users. And just when the speakers speech ended the view shifted away from the government officials and onto Liam MacArthur.

The older man sat stoicly on his highbacked leather chair not letting any trace of emotion slip onto his face, his hands clasped in front of him on the long mahogany table rose to rest just under his chin before he spoke. "It seems to me gentlemen that you are in need of this facility very much and yet you do not have the support needed to fund it with taxpayer dollars, how would it look to your fellow Senator's constituents if they supported a bill to construct such a prison that they as citizens would have to pay for. So i give you this deal, my company will fund the entirety of this project with the strictest understanding that i have full control over it's daily function and there will be no government oversight. You get a place to store those of lesser station and you get to tell the voters they don't have to pay a single goddamned penny, what do you think Joshua?" The memory expanded to include everyone that sat at the company end of the table and focused mainly on the next person to speak, the unmistakable sight of Joshua in an Armani suit next to his Grandfather was shocking to most who saw this piece of information.

Joshua stood up from his own leather chair and walked around the table not meeting the eyes of the men from the government, as he approached the scale model of what the prison would look like he then turned on the spot. "Our company is the leading manufactuer of pharmaceuticals in the United States as well as the main source of gene therapy in the world, we have braved the firestorm of public outrage before and have emerged stronger than ever. I suggest you take my Grandfather's offer since no other company would have the capital, let alone the will to take such an endeavor. Besides, the less you two gentlemen have to do with this place once it's greenlighted the better...since next year is an election year." At that moment the plans to build the prison moved closer to becoming iron clad and the partnership of MacArthur Enterprises and the U.S. government was forged.

[Rye Blackfoot]

Rye felt another wave of images hit his head, they were so fast that his nose started to bleed a bit, he grunted. Knowing Joshua would soon notice, he shielded his pain from Joshua, "I'm fine," he murmmered, "please continue." He tasted the blood as he licked his lips. He saw more of Rays story unfold and he was curious to see what would happen next.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua pulled his powers back slighty when he picked up on the quickly subdued thoughts of pain in Rye's mind, it seemed that he had not remained impartial to the last series of memories sent to the other man. His fear of being rejected by his new 'student' was tangible to himself and knew that too much had been dumped into Rye's mind at once, now he would be more prepared for the last bit of information not letting his feelings rule his powers. "Sorry about the bloody nose, it seems that i am not quite used to showing my involvement with my Grandfather as i had thought i was. Five years seems to not have been enough time to do so..." he said softly to Rye while tucking strands of his long hair behind his ear, it was a nervous habit that he did in certain situations. Joshua swiftly went back to the task of moving onto the last series of memories that Rye would get from him, it would remind him deeply of a time that seemed like ages ago and hopefully not turn the kind man against him or Levi. "As you saw in the final part of that last memory, i worked at MacArthur Enterprises from the age of 17 until five years ago when we parted in a bad way. You see, my full name is Joshua David MacArthur and Liam is my grandfather...if blame should be dished out then some should be placed in my hands."

This time Joshua joined Rye in the vision of past events and willed their minds to come up with a tangable innerself that looked exactly like them, together they found themselves in a heavily wooded area looking at Joshua in the past making his way through the forest with 20 or so mercenaries. "Bravo team head round that location and come from behind, Alpha team and i will help you guys box him in. I want Mr. MacArthur's security detail to provide cover from our flank and protect your charge...there wont be enough time for us to react if the target makes a break and goes for him. As much as your grandfather has told me it would please him for you to die, he has explained you are more valuable to him alive than anything he may have now." said the man at the head of the Merc squad who had settled his steely gaze onto Joshua, the man went further on to explain that they were here to apprehend an escaped experiment gone wrong and to bring it back to the facility here in Maine. Their view shifted to a data pad that Joshua carried with him that detailed the thing they were looking for, the huge creature for that's what it could only be called stood at 7'11" and had blue-grey skin covered in areas with bone growth that extended to points like armor and weapon combined. The memory advanced rapidly to the fight with the experiment he had along with a faceless man, the powers displayed that day left the area of forest looking like some bombed out warzone and as the chopper came into view Joshua stopped the vision. "I was charged with rounding up any "rogue" power user on our radar along with the usual experiment that had managed to escape, i regret what i did now but you have to understand at the time that i was under the impression that through gene therapy we were working to make people's lives better. It's been proven that we're more immune to a whole host of diseases that regular humans can die from, i just didnt know the extent of my Grandfather's plans." He had one hell of a time to control his emotions just then and forced himself to block out any type of response, to Rye the only indication that all of this was affecting Joshua was the pain evident in his jade coloured eyes. Joshua shook his head letting go of a strong sigh as the vision melted away into the large and imposing image of a castle like structure built into the side of a mountain which loomed over them both.

Their 'astral' selves saw Joshua enter the castle to suddenly find themselves staring at the young telekinetic stand in front of a giant mahogany desk talking to Liam MacArthur, the room was cold not only in temperature but the feeling they got from being in there. They could hear the older man explain to Joshua how sorry he was for keeping the boy at arms length and that it was for the good, that it was a unfortunate but in his quest there were many things they cherished that would ultimately have to be sacrificed. Around them they could hear Joshua's inner voice sounding the alarm that somethig was going to happen, somehow his Grandfather had grown tired of him which meant he was to be sent to the Territoire Foncé in Montana. It was unfortunately incorrect, and with cobra like reflexes Liam plunged the syringe into Joshua's neck sending the boy into a coma like state.

A sound very much like the way wind rushes past your ear could be heard as Joshua pulled them out of the visions entirely and back to the reality on Alcatraz, his head was turned away from Rye as he stepped away from the other man to stand close to the edge of the pier. His hand reached up to his neck as if the syringe had just pierced his skin seconds ago, it was hard to relive those moments where he knew exactly where he stood with his Grandfather and became that sad boy all over again. He desperately wanted to run from all this now and seek comfort in Levi's arms, it was obvious to him that they both had pain the other seemed to take away and for that...for that he would kill everyoe on the planet to ensure it survived.

[Rye Blackfoot]

Rye felt Joshua's hand tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear. He didn't realize he was now crouched down on the floor. His head was on fire as the rest of the images played in his head. His mental well being was perfectly fine it was his physical body that was getting the damage. He saw the last images and he opened his eyes, they were blood shot and a small pool of blood was formed in front of him. he crawled to the edge of the railing and stuck his head off the boat and threw up into the sea.

After a few moments he stood up and wiped his mouth, "Sorry about that, I don't usually freak out like that." he apologized. He grunted and looked at Joshua, "Look I'm still gonna be here and from the looks of it I could use your help and it looks like you can use mine. I could be used for different things here I can be stealth or intimidation. I think I can really help your cause."

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

He could only look at Rye with a sense of confusion, he had really been counting on the man to get into his face and yell at him for doing what he did for his Grandfather's company. Now as he stood speechless his head titled as his lips turned up into a brilliant smile, "You know that everyone who has seen what i have done has turned their backs on me, but Levi's word prevents them from running me off. I know i have a lot to asnwer for and everyday i spend making up for my mistakes, yet i think that you and i shall have no problem getting along."

Joshua looked down at his pocket watch noticing that it was nearing lunch time and Rye would need to have all his strength if he was going to make it past the first lesson, he signaled for Rye to follow him where he lead the man to the cafeteria. "I'm going to head on to the gym i've set up specially for myself and those i'm training, i want you to eat enough to get your strength back up then visit the med clinic to get that seen. Join me once you're done and expect not to get done until midnight tonight." The telekinetic smiled at Rye walking off in the direction of his own gym, the facilities on Alcatraz were state of the art which gave them the edge they needed to stay ahead of the government and any other faction against them.

[Rye Blackfoot]

Rye smirked faintly and picked himself up. He grabbed the side of the bar to keep balance. Everyone was staring at his bleeding nose. He growled at them and stared at one that was laughing at him particularly too much. He walked his way to the nurses office and they checked his nose, there was no real damage. Just he had to wait awhile before he could mind meld again. He then started to walk to the cafeteria, his stomach was running on empty since he threw up his breakfast.

When he went to the cafeteria he got looks when all he got was fruits and vegetables. They must have thought he was homosexual or something because all of the buff men were eating pork and beef. It made Rye's stomach churn.

He took thirty minutes to eat when he felt his energy return to him. Just be sure he did a one arm hand stand in the cafeteria just to be sure. He also took the time to stretch out there and show off some of his acrobatic ability and agility that he noticed no other man had. He completed stretching without breaking a sweat. He then smiled and walked towards the gym.

He entered a giant gym that had different obstacles and what not for training purposes there was only one man in the room and it was Joshua, Rye walked up to the man and took off his shirt, boots, and socks. "Alright," he said as he started to put his hair in a ponytail, "let's do this." he smiled.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua had changed into some sweatpants and a black wife beater, two leather bracelets adourned either of his wrists while his feet stayed bare allowing him unrestricted movement upon the hardwood floors. He heard Rye approach him long before the man even got to the doors of the gym, and when the man announced his presence he span around on the spot slamming his palm into Rye's chest. His powers sent the guy into a wall causing no damage to either one "Don't get cocky, this is not going to be a goddamned walk in the park nor am i going to go easy on you no matter the feelings i may have for you. From this point on i am the teacher who is going to demand everything you can give and then some, if we're lucky this will only take a month of training to accomplish so hate me all you want but i will see this through." Joshua waved a hand letting Rye out of his telekinetic hold to walk over to the center of the gym and gestured for Rye to join him, they had much to cover with limited time in which to do it since he had set a goal time of a month.

Once Rye was in front of him, Joshua placed both of his palms down on Rye's chest letting the heat from beneath warm his slightly chill hands "In every person no matter if they're telepathic or not lies a rudementary series of mental walls that act like barriers into their thoughts, most never realize that they're even there and in truth they're so weak that an untrained telepath could easily crush them. Our first task is to break down your walls and build them anew from the ground up, so that way you and only you know how they're constructed making it harder for someone like me to find the door in." His jade eyes closed as he concentrated on Rye's mind forcing the weak shielding to collapse entirely, at the same time he set up a tentative barrier to stop the potentially destructive wave of thoughts from rushing out. With eyes closed he kept his right hand atop where Rye's heart would be and with his other hand placed the Rye's hand over his own heart, they had to be in sync for this next step to actually latch on. "Do you remember when i told you my powers were governed by emotions and that to let them go unchecked would result in disaster? At the same time those emotions are going to help us reinforce the shields we're going to create for you, the easiest emotions to work with are anger and happiness so as cliche as it sounds i need you to dredge up a memory that falls into one of those two. When you do that i am going to amplify the emotions and you will use everything you can to wield that raw power into a wall, it wont be an actual wall but something in your mind that kind of reflects what a wall would be." Joshua waited for Rye to start, his mind waiting to act when it felt the memory in question.

[Rye Blackfoot]

Rye had the wind knocked out of him when Joshua's hands met his chest. He suffered no real damage but coughed up air when he landed. He walked slowly to Joshua waiting for another attack. He did not relax and his shoulders remained tense. He felt Joshua's cold hands on his chest once more. He felt his mind melt and form. He felt like a bowl shattering and his thoughts were like liquid in plastic wrap.

Rye thought of the time he felt pure rage:

Rye was 14 when he met her. He was in the woods and he met an angry Grizzly Bear. He remained in human form and approached the Bear fearlessly. The Bear had sadness in her eyes. He started to hum giving the Bear ease. He reached out and touched the bear gaining it's form and characteristics. He remained in human form and nustled against the bear. As it soon was dark he had to leave after laying with the bear. He knew the bear wouldn't understand him but he promised he would be back the next day. That night he told father Edmund what had happened, the old priest just smiled and shook his head at the wonder of god's child. The next day Rye kept his word and the bear was glad to see him. He played and wrestled with the bear. After a few days he noticed that the bear had no children or another bear. She was alone, further examination during a wrestling match confirmed she had bullet wounds. Rye came to the conclusion that her family was shot and killed and she was a survivor. For four years he would go and see the Grizzly whom he affectionately called "Mama" he would go with her to the stream and she would catch salmon for them to eat, She treated him like a son and he treated her like a mother. When he was eighteen, after finishing his chores for the day Rye entered the woods looking for Mama, he could not find her. He used her scent that he knew to find her. He entered deep in the woods when he started to smell the blood. He followed to the sounds of men hooting and hollering and the image of mama bear in a bear trap with hunting guns pointed at her. When Rye came out of the trees close enough to be seen Mama Bear looked at him and looked like she smiled before she was shot by the hunters that bound her. Rye felt as though he was shot. He bellowed at the hunters as he ran towards the closest one his body quickly changing into that of a bear. He roared as he brought his claw to one of the hunters and smacked the gun out of his hand, the other two tried to play hero but were scared as Rye stood tall and mighty in front of them. Without there precious bear trap they were scared shitless. They ran as Rye then slowly transformed back into a boy screaming, "Stay away from my mother!" he felt water touch his head as it started to rain, his body making the water hiss with steam as it touched him. He knelt down next to Mama bear and nussled up against her like he used to. He sobbed uncontrolably and mangaged to cut his hands as he released the Bear from the trap.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua could feel the anger mixed with unrelenting pain roll off of Rye like waves in a storm and surprisingly enough these emotions were enough to slightly weaken his own control, it was a scary thought that something so person to the other man could pack such a punch. This was exactly what Joshua had been refering to when he asked Rye to dredge up a memory of anger, yet to experience it first hand like he had done had been foolish and now he had to push aside his embarassment in order to tame the beast. "Don't lose yourself in the memory Rye, it was in the past and to let it consume you would set you back for years. I understand your loss and it pains me that something like this had to happen to you, but her spirit lives on in you and if she could see you now then i am sure she'd feel some sense of pride. Fight it damnit!" His own war against the emotions within himself had always been a neverending struggle for dominance, though with Rye it felt as if the other man's anger pushed alongside his powers and not against it.

Joshua took the risk of invading an intense memory like the one Rye was stuck in to help him deal with the pain flooding his mind, the tentative walls he had placed on his own to stem the tide of memories that would have drove Rye insane were buckling and would fail soon. "You have to force all this raw emotion into something tangible and personal to you, i'm not here as a threat but you have to reign all this in before it kills you. Look, when i said you'd form all this emotion into a mental wall that really wasn't a wall i meant it. It can take any shape in your mind whether it be an actual wall or something that meant a lot to you, something that protected you in the past and would take up the charge to do so at the present. Like a mother..." It was up to Rye now, the blocks he would create from this exercise would be stronger than the ones he had up before he met Joshua yet still basic in it's design. The next step would be to strengthen it to the point where he would no longer have to consciously tell it to activate due to a telepathic attack, Rye would have to create more than one block operating on different emotions if he was to truly defend himself "Do it or i'm sending this memory to a place you'll never get it back."