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Leonard finds it irritating to be stared at by a blue-eyed horse. He’s already in a bad mood; the shaking of the cart as it drives over uneven dirt roads is making him nauseated on top of the headache he hasn’t been able to get rid of. And the horse, the Companion, keeps giving sidelong looks at him.
Leonard knows that Companions aren’t ordinary horses, that they have unworldly powers and are easily as smart as any human. Even if he hadn’t grown up knowing about Companions, he’d have been able to realize that this was no ordinary animal. It’s pure white from mane to tail, with silver hooves that sound like chiming bells. Its head is larger than a horse’s as well, to house a brain the size of a human’s, and Leonard can’t help but notice it has very intelligent eyes.
However, being some sort of unworldly creature doesn’t excuse it from needing some damned manners. The next time that gaze wanders over to him, he glares fiercely and the Companion jerks its head back to face the road. Leonard frowns at it for a while longer, but it keeps walking next to the cart almost meekly.
What Leonard can’t figure is why the Companion finds him interesting. It isn’t like he’s wearing the the green tunic that would identify him as a Healer. Frankly, with bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and several days growth of beard, he looks mostly like a vagrant-- not interesting at all.
For the first time the cart left the town of Ioa Springs, he looks at the Herald Trainee in the back of the cart with him. Leonard had warned the other fellow that he might throw up on him when the cart first started lurching on its way, there had been a mildly disturbed look in response, they exchanged names, and that had been the extent of their conversation. Now Leonard gives “Jim Kirk” a closer look.
What he looks is young, a regular fresh-faced farmboy. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a cheerful expression on his face-- it’s enough to make Leonard feel disgruntled and old. It’s also pretty obvious that the partnership between the kid and his Companion is new, his lack of uniform, the way he periodically reaches over the side of the cart to touch the Companion’s flank, like he can’t stand to be too far away. The dreamy look in his eyes was another thing that Leonard has come to associate with the newly-Chosen.
The House of Healing that had been Leonard’s home is right by one of the main trade roads. Over the years, he’s seen his fair share of Heralds and their Companions, and more than a few new recruits heading to the capital city for Herald training, like this kid clearly is. What’s odd is, as young as Jim seems to Leonard, he’s not nearly as young as most newly-Chosen are. Leonard would put his age to be somewhere around twenty.
“What?” the kid says, looking back at Leonard. “Is there something on my face?” He pats his face for comedic effect and grins at Leonard.
Leonard scowls. “Your Companion keeps staring at me,” he says.
Jim raises his eyebrows at him and leans back against a bail of hay. “You’re kind of touchy, aren’t you?”
Leonard crosses his arms and lets his scowl deepen. “Yeah, well, make it stop.” He gets an eyeroll as a response, but then the kid’s expression goes vague. He’s heard of this but never witnessed it himself -- many Heralds can communicate with their Companions without speaking a single word, talking directly mind to mind.
He thinks it’s creepy as hell.
Blinking a few times, the Trainee surfaces. “Uh. Right. Well, she says she’s sorry. It’s just that she’s never seen a Healer as powerful as you outside of the Healer’s Collegium.” This information makes him look at Leonard with a bit more interest then before.
Leonard stiffens. “She didn’t-- you didn’t--”
“Oh my god, how rude do you think we are? Of course she didn’t read your mind!” The Trainee looks offended at the very thought. “It’s just, partially it’s that you’re projecting but mostly it’s that your, uh... your shields are down.” This last is said quietly, with the same tones one might use to let someone know that they had left their trousers open at the groin.
“Shields?” Leonard says suspiciously.
“Yeah, shields. You know, mental barrier to keep everyone out of your head? You’re a Healer, Healers have empathic abilities, you have to put up shields so that you don’t feel the pain of everyone around you...” At Leonard’s silence, Jim trails off.
Leonard’s throat works, but no sound comes out. He closes his eyes against the rush of something so powerful he can’t quite describe it. It’s equally likely to be despair as relief. He opens his eyes.
“There’s a way to make it stop?” Leonard asks hoarsely.