Prelude
The Caputiel Draven
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--- "Thalmess, I think you should see this."
--- "What is it?"
--- "Call a gathering and inform the Tellsier that we'll need everyone from the continental United States. I've found something that I think everyone should see."
"Very well."
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-------------------------------
--- Within the hour, Thalmess had spoken to the Tellsier through cell phones and found himself inside of a cave sitting on one of the several stone chairs that had been carved out a half-century ago. He sat there and waited as the tall, thin, and white-haired man in the center of the cave used his own mutant powers to call the others in, and one by one they suddenly appeared in their respective positions, eyes closed and slightly dizzy. No one spoke while the Tellsier worked and over the span of a quarter of an hour, twenty men and women were in attendance in the spherical cave that spanned about 25 yards in any direction. After that was all over, the Tellsier lied down in his own bed that was still in the circle, resting after expending a great deal of energy in his task as a Translocater.
--- Thalmess, being the head of the clan of mutants rose from his seat and inquired, "Now, what was it you wanted to inform us about, Christoll?"
--- Christoll stood up and spoke slowly and deliberately. "I have located a large concentration of mutants in a small sector of New York. There are easily more than a hundred, but most of which are youth rather than adults. Judging from the location of the mutants covering varying depth levels, it is probably a large mansion or museum or another building of the sort."
--- "The decision must now be made whether or not to investigate this concentration of mutants."
--- Christoll sat down along with Thalmess while another member, Asphen, rose to her feet. "I propose a joining to discover whether or not these mutants are friendly or not."
--- Everyone seemed to agree while she sat back down and then all eyes turned to the Tellsier who looked asleep, his breathing heavy and his muscles relaxed. Another member who was closest to him stood up to rouse the man. "Katch," she whispered. She saw the man stir and open his eyes.
--- "A joining, Littan?"
--- "Yes," she replied softly.
--- Katch stood up off of the bed slowly. He was tired, but he'd worked his talents through worse than what he was feeling then. Careful to watch his step, the man walked back down to the center of the cave while everyone else gathered around him. The twenty leaned in with one arm to touch his shoulders, neck, or arms. The other hand went onto the shoulder of the person in front of them.
--- Once the circle was complete the Draven combined their telepathic powers using the Tellsier as an anchor. Since his mind was different from theirs, the others brought his awareness along with theirs as they reached their sight towards the area that Christoll had told them of, using him as their guide. With the combined force of their abilities, it didn't take them long to find it. Then they all could sense the presence of a couple hundred mutants spread out over a limited area.
--- They found that most of them were sleeping except for a few adults and two children. The youth were with one of the adults when two adults walked together and two others seemed to be out by themselves: one on the surface of the structure or first floor and the other below ground, mind hard at work. It was quickly decided to look at the one mutant on the surface and try to have the Tellsier communicate with him.
--- Before they could do that, though, the person who was below the main floor started to use his abilities differently, startling the Draven. They realized quickly that the mutant was a telepath, and a tremendously strong one, more so than any they'd ever come in contact with.
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--- It was around eleven o'clock and almost everyone at Xavier's School for the Gifted, with the exception of the X-Men, Rogue, and another student who was working with Storm, were asleep. Storm was teaching a young Denaru how to manipulate the weather during the night while a curious and hardly sleepy Rogue looked upon. Cyclops sat in Professor Xavier's vast library trying to occupy his mind. Wolverine was tired, having returned to the school after a stressful day. He'd been trying to avoid attracting attention in a small city nearby while he went to talk to a family who was selling their small house. He felt that it might be good for him to have a place of his own where he could escape to incase he felt the need to be alone, but still in easy reach.
--- Professor Charles Xavier was down in the Cerebro in an attempt to see if any mutants had come into their powers. He wanted to make sure that no child would be persecuted in any way and would be given the chance to grow to their full potential. Though he was only able to see within a limited area, he was satisfied – he had to be – with knowing that at least some of their kind would be safe.
--- As he was scanning the area he suddenly sensed a presence somewhere in the school that he didn't recognize. It seemed faint to him and he guessed that without the amplification of his powers in the Cerebro he would not have been able to feel it at all. Cautiously, so as not to alarm the intruder, he reached out his awareness towards the unknown mutant.
--- "Who are you?" he asked as soon as he linked his mind with theirs. "What are you doing here?"
--- The intruder was clearly startled, but once Charles had made contact with him, he could no let go. He said nothing, but the professor was himself startled to discover that the man he was linked to was no telepath, but was, instead, brought along by a score of others for some reason or another. The others all seemed to be telepathic in a different sense then the one he linked to because they made no reaction, showing that unless he extended his power to include them all, they would be unable to hear him.
--- Then he realized that the other man was brought along sort of as a medium who could talk with Xavier. The fact that he wasn't a telepath made him feel better. He repeated his question but then added, "I have no reason to harm you."
--- "I am the Tellsier of the Caputiel Draven. I am called Katch." He said no more, not wanting to have too much known about the clan until they found out what kind of mutants they were communicating with.
--- "I am Professor Charles Xavier. I am the head of a school for Gifted youth." He thought about invading upon the man's mind for more information, but he decided to be polite instead. "Who are you with and what, may I ask, is your business here?"
--- Katch didn't want to answer that question without first consulting with the others. In order to do that, though, he would have to be allowed to talk to them physically. "Would you allow us to meet in person?" he asked.
--- Xavier was also cautious, not knowing whether or not the group was friendly. But considering the fact that he had a whole school full of mutants and quite a few who had or almost had a mastery on their powers, he decided it might be safe enough. He decided that he would gather together the X-Men and a few of the more advanced students just in case the worst case scenario unfolded.
--- "Very well," he replied.
--- "Can you show me an image of what the area looks like?"
--- That was an odd request but Charles figured that this Katch fellow needed to see what the grounds appeared to be in order to use his abilities, whatever they may have been. Taking no chances, he invaded Katch's mind solely to sense whether the motive was good or ill and was rewarded when he saw that they also meant no harm. Sequentially he sent out a mental image of the area outside directly behind the main building in the school. "Will that do?"
--- "Yes, thank you. Expect us in one hour."
--- "Very well." Xavier released Katch's mind and returned his awareness to his body sitting in his wheelchair inside of the gigantic round room. He turned his chair around and exited through the large doors that opened and closed automatically for him. Then he communicated to Cyclops to gather everyone for a meeting while he woke several students he felt would be good to have along.
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-------------------------------
--- Katch touched two of the Draven physically and they soon returned him to the cave. When they all returned to their bodies, they turned to him for a report of what he'd seen and heard. They knew that someone had gotten a hold on Katch's mind, but their limited perception left them deaf to the conversation.
--- "What did he say?"
--- "That was a short conversation."
--- "Are they good mutants?"
--- "That mutant was powerful!"
--- Katch ignored their questions and comments and spoke how he knew would least attract questions: quickly and in a very matter-of-fact manner. "Professor Charles Xavier has consented to allow us to meet with them in one hour. He didn't seem bad, though he was very cautious."
--- "Xavier?" Osprey said. "I've heard of him." The others focused on him silently. "I think he works with a Doctor Jean Grey who is a big supporter of mutant rights."
--- The others felt at ease when that was said. Now all they needed was for the Tellsier to get them to wherever this "Professor" was, which they knew would take the allotted hour. Since Katch would be sending them all at once, they would all have to sit in one spot for the entire amount of time so that Katch wasn't distracted or messed up.
--- Katch had to focus on the mental image that Xavier had sent him and slowly started to put his image inside of it, and then, one by one, the bodies of the Draven. It took him such a long time due to the fact that he had to maintain the image, locking it into his mind, before he would be able to execute the final step needed to send them all to the school. It wasn't easy because, as always, details continued to slip out of the image that he would have to replace. If he had been sending them one by one, it would have not taken such a long time because he would only have to visualize one person as a time instead of the whole group, but in that situation, they didn't want one person going there alone without knowing whether or not the intentions of the professor were good or not.
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-------------------------------
--- Xavier lightly touched the shoulder of one of the students who laid face down on his pillow, fast asleep. The student roused immediately, but was not startled. He knew the voice of his physics teacher and got up without making any more noise than was required. He, along with six other students saved their questions for later so that they didn't wake anyone else up. Once they were awake and dressed in their school uniforms, Xavier led them all out to where the X-Men now stood along with Rogue and a very tired Denaru.
--- "Where's Nightcrawler?" Storm asked.
--- "He was sleeping," Scott Summers replied. "He hadn't had any sleep for the past 24 hours and I thought it would be…advantageous to allow him to sleep." Then he turned to Xavier. "What's going on, professor?" He had his specialized glasses on, but had brought along his visor just in case of a conflict which he and everyone else undoubtedly wanted to avoid that late at night.
--- "A group of mutants will be coming here in about three quarters of an hour. The man I talked to, Katch, didn't want to tell me what he was doing. He seemed to feel better if we would speak in person. The others he was with are telepaths, but of a different sort. They don't have any mind-reading capabilities, and so seemed to bring Katch along to act as some sort of spokesperson."
--- "How many are there?" Storm asked.
--- "I'd say about twenty, but from what I sensed, their motives are good."
--- "How'd they find us?" inquired Rogue, her youthful voice teeming with curiosity.
--- "I don't know." He paused and looked at them all. "But I intend to find out."
The Caputiel Draven
----------------------
--- "Thalmess, I think you should see this."
--- "What is it?"
--- "Call a gathering and inform the Tellsier that we'll need everyone from the continental United States. I've found something that I think everyone should see."
"Very well."
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
--- Within the hour, Thalmess had spoken to the Tellsier through cell phones and found himself inside of a cave sitting on one of the several stone chairs that had been carved out a half-century ago. He sat there and waited as the tall, thin, and white-haired man in the center of the cave used his own mutant powers to call the others in, and one by one they suddenly appeared in their respective positions, eyes closed and slightly dizzy. No one spoke while the Tellsier worked and over the span of a quarter of an hour, twenty men and women were in attendance in the spherical cave that spanned about 25 yards in any direction. After that was all over, the Tellsier lied down in his own bed that was still in the circle, resting after expending a great deal of energy in his task as a Translocater.
--- Thalmess, being the head of the clan of mutants rose from his seat and inquired, "Now, what was it you wanted to inform us about, Christoll?"
--- Christoll stood up and spoke slowly and deliberately. "I have located a large concentration of mutants in a small sector of New York. There are easily more than a hundred, but most of which are youth rather than adults. Judging from the location of the mutants covering varying depth levels, it is probably a large mansion or museum or another building of the sort."
--- "The decision must now be made whether or not to investigate this concentration of mutants."
--- Christoll sat down along with Thalmess while another member, Asphen, rose to her feet. "I propose a joining to discover whether or not these mutants are friendly or not."
--- Everyone seemed to agree while she sat back down and then all eyes turned to the Tellsier who looked asleep, his breathing heavy and his muscles relaxed. Another member who was closest to him stood up to rouse the man. "Katch," she whispered. She saw the man stir and open his eyes.
--- "A joining, Littan?"
--- "Yes," she replied softly.
--- Katch stood up off of the bed slowly. He was tired, but he'd worked his talents through worse than what he was feeling then. Careful to watch his step, the man walked back down to the center of the cave while everyone else gathered around him. The twenty leaned in with one arm to touch his shoulders, neck, or arms. The other hand went onto the shoulder of the person in front of them.
--- Once the circle was complete the Draven combined their telepathic powers using the Tellsier as an anchor. Since his mind was different from theirs, the others brought his awareness along with theirs as they reached their sight towards the area that Christoll had told them of, using him as their guide. With the combined force of their abilities, it didn't take them long to find it. Then they all could sense the presence of a couple hundred mutants spread out over a limited area.
--- They found that most of them were sleeping except for a few adults and two children. The youth were with one of the adults when two adults walked together and two others seemed to be out by themselves: one on the surface of the structure or first floor and the other below ground, mind hard at work. It was quickly decided to look at the one mutant on the surface and try to have the Tellsier communicate with him.
--- Before they could do that, though, the person who was below the main floor started to use his abilities differently, startling the Draven. They realized quickly that the mutant was a telepath, and a tremendously strong one, more so than any they'd ever come in contact with.
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
--- It was around eleven o'clock and almost everyone at Xavier's School for the Gifted, with the exception of the X-Men, Rogue, and another student who was working with Storm, were asleep. Storm was teaching a young Denaru how to manipulate the weather during the night while a curious and hardly sleepy Rogue looked upon. Cyclops sat in Professor Xavier's vast library trying to occupy his mind. Wolverine was tired, having returned to the school after a stressful day. He'd been trying to avoid attracting attention in a small city nearby while he went to talk to a family who was selling their small house. He felt that it might be good for him to have a place of his own where he could escape to incase he felt the need to be alone, but still in easy reach.
--- Professor Charles Xavier was down in the Cerebro in an attempt to see if any mutants had come into their powers. He wanted to make sure that no child would be persecuted in any way and would be given the chance to grow to their full potential. Though he was only able to see within a limited area, he was satisfied – he had to be – with knowing that at least some of their kind would be safe.
--- As he was scanning the area he suddenly sensed a presence somewhere in the school that he didn't recognize. It seemed faint to him and he guessed that without the amplification of his powers in the Cerebro he would not have been able to feel it at all. Cautiously, so as not to alarm the intruder, he reached out his awareness towards the unknown mutant.
--- "Who are you?" he asked as soon as he linked his mind with theirs. "What are you doing here?"
--- The intruder was clearly startled, but once Charles had made contact with him, he could no let go. He said nothing, but the professor was himself startled to discover that the man he was linked to was no telepath, but was, instead, brought along by a score of others for some reason or another. The others all seemed to be telepathic in a different sense then the one he linked to because they made no reaction, showing that unless he extended his power to include them all, they would be unable to hear him.
--- Then he realized that the other man was brought along sort of as a medium who could talk with Xavier. The fact that he wasn't a telepath made him feel better. He repeated his question but then added, "I have no reason to harm you."
--- "I am the Tellsier of the Caputiel Draven. I am called Katch." He said no more, not wanting to have too much known about the clan until they found out what kind of mutants they were communicating with.
--- "I am Professor Charles Xavier. I am the head of a school for Gifted youth." He thought about invading upon the man's mind for more information, but he decided to be polite instead. "Who are you with and what, may I ask, is your business here?"
--- Katch didn't want to answer that question without first consulting with the others. In order to do that, though, he would have to be allowed to talk to them physically. "Would you allow us to meet in person?" he asked.
--- Xavier was also cautious, not knowing whether or not the group was friendly. But considering the fact that he had a whole school full of mutants and quite a few who had or almost had a mastery on their powers, he decided it might be safe enough. He decided that he would gather together the X-Men and a few of the more advanced students just in case the worst case scenario unfolded.
--- "Very well," he replied.
--- "Can you show me an image of what the area looks like?"
--- That was an odd request but Charles figured that this Katch fellow needed to see what the grounds appeared to be in order to use his abilities, whatever they may have been. Taking no chances, he invaded Katch's mind solely to sense whether the motive was good or ill and was rewarded when he saw that they also meant no harm. Sequentially he sent out a mental image of the area outside directly behind the main building in the school. "Will that do?"
--- "Yes, thank you. Expect us in one hour."
--- "Very well." Xavier released Katch's mind and returned his awareness to his body sitting in his wheelchair inside of the gigantic round room. He turned his chair around and exited through the large doors that opened and closed automatically for him. Then he communicated to Cyclops to gather everyone for a meeting while he woke several students he felt would be good to have along.
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
--- Katch touched two of the Draven physically and they soon returned him to the cave. When they all returned to their bodies, they turned to him for a report of what he'd seen and heard. They knew that someone had gotten a hold on Katch's mind, but their limited perception left them deaf to the conversation.
--- "What did he say?"
--- "That was a short conversation."
--- "Are they good mutants?"
--- "That mutant was powerful!"
--- Katch ignored their questions and comments and spoke how he knew would least attract questions: quickly and in a very matter-of-fact manner. "Professor Charles Xavier has consented to allow us to meet with them in one hour. He didn't seem bad, though he was very cautious."
--- "Xavier?" Osprey said. "I've heard of him." The others focused on him silently. "I think he works with a Doctor Jean Grey who is a big supporter of mutant rights."
--- The others felt at ease when that was said. Now all they needed was for the Tellsier to get them to wherever this "Professor" was, which they knew would take the allotted hour. Since Katch would be sending them all at once, they would all have to sit in one spot for the entire amount of time so that Katch wasn't distracted or messed up.
--- Katch had to focus on the mental image that Xavier had sent him and slowly started to put his image inside of it, and then, one by one, the bodies of the Draven. It took him such a long time due to the fact that he had to maintain the image, locking it into his mind, before he would be able to execute the final step needed to send them all to the school. It wasn't easy because, as always, details continued to slip out of the image that he would have to replace. If he had been sending them one by one, it would have not taken such a long time because he would only have to visualize one person as a time instead of the whole group, but in that situation, they didn't want one person going there alone without knowing whether or not the intentions of the professor were good or not.
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
--- Xavier lightly touched the shoulder of one of the students who laid face down on his pillow, fast asleep. The student roused immediately, but was not startled. He knew the voice of his physics teacher and got up without making any more noise than was required. He, along with six other students saved their questions for later so that they didn't wake anyone else up. Once they were awake and dressed in their school uniforms, Xavier led them all out to where the X-Men now stood along with Rogue and a very tired Denaru.
--- "Where's Nightcrawler?" Storm asked.
--- "He was sleeping," Scott Summers replied. "He hadn't had any sleep for the past 24 hours and I thought it would be…advantageous to allow him to sleep." Then he turned to Xavier. "What's going on, professor?" He had his specialized glasses on, but had brought along his visor just in case of a conflict which he and everyone else undoubtedly wanted to avoid that late at night.
--- "A group of mutants will be coming here in about three quarters of an hour. The man I talked to, Katch, didn't want to tell me what he was doing. He seemed to feel better if we would speak in person. The others he was with are telepaths, but of a different sort. They don't have any mind-reading capabilities, and so seemed to bring Katch along to act as some sort of spokesperson."
--- "How many are there?" Storm asked.
--- "I'd say about twenty, but from what I sensed, their motives are good."
--- "How'd they find us?" inquired Rogue, her youthful voice teeming with curiosity.
--- "I don't know." He paused and looked at them all. "But I intend to find out."