Breaking the silence|Sensatiamens, Sensatia

[Kender Bard]

"That was a pleasant memory," Mikasi answered with a small smile and now he began to study the pictures intently, looking for something that seemed wrong or off; signs of the mind trying to hide memories or repress them. Sometimes these things were obvious and sometimes they were not. Either way, there was almost always a mark. He just had to find it. "Are the unpleasant memories in picture form as well?"

[Northen Light36]

Flame nodded slowly. "Yes..." she murmured. "But I don't like look at them much so we put them away." She looked towards the next room, which, while not dark or dim, didn't seem as brightly lit as Flame's 'bedroom' was. "Do you want to see?" She looked and sounded somewhat reluctant, but she was clearly willing to do what Mikasi asked, unless it involved explaining Secret.

The pictures here all seemed to indicate, roughly, the types of memories they showed - a stick figure drawing of a family for family memories, a present for birthdays, a horse and scout for riding lessons and trips with her friends and a drawing of Secret for time spent with the cat. There was nothing that indicated a sad or unpleasant memory.

[Kender Bard]

Mikasi rubbed his chin and continued to keep a sharp eye out for something out of place. "Show me... a memory of being frightened," he prompted.

[Northen Light36]

Flame grimaced, but stepped into the next 'room', heading deeper into her mindscape to where her less comfortable memories were held. Reluctantly she glanced around, then picked up a carving of a rearing horse and touched a drawing on the wall nearby. Just like before, the picture grew in size and transformed into the memory.

She was with a group of other Fira children, the group having slipped away from chores and the watchful eyes of the adults to get into mischief. Most of the group were older boys, three or four years older then the seven-year-old Flame, and adult eyes would judge their smiles as more taunting then friendly. "Well, there you go. Show us how you ride him," one of the boys told Flame, pointing out Volcano - the meanest, wildest horse the clan had, who very few of the adults could even manage to control.

Flame swallowed hard, looking up at the huge stallion with wide eyes. When she'd been boasting about being able to ride him the other night, she hadn't expected anyone to risk her mother's wrath and challenge Flame to live up to her bragging. Now she couldn't back out without revealing she'd lied. "I don't want to get you all in trouble," she protested weakly.

"No one's around," another boy sneered. "Go on, just get on him and ride him to the fence. That's not nearly as hard as riding him for a sunmark, surely."

"Or you can just admit you're a cowardly liar," a girl mocked.

"I am not!" Flame snapped and, made bold (and stupid) by pride and anger, teleported the short distance onto the horse's back. She'd barely touched his back when she found herself clinging desperately to his mane to keep from being thrown and trampled as Volcano reared, bucked, pig-rooted and tossed his head wildly to try and remove this object that had so abruptly landed on him. Over her own screams of fear, she heard Ann cry out her name and caught a glimpse of the Fire leader vaulting the fence to run to the rescue. Then she lost her grip and went flying."

The memory ended with the abruptness of having been knocked out and Flame set the carving back in it's place. "Mummy and Ann were so mad at me when I woke up," she murmured. "So was Daddy when he found out."

Not far from the table where the carving sat, nearly hidden in the shadows, was another door that looked to be not only blocked off by objects but also locked and barred. Flame's eyes drifted past it as if it wasn't there as she glanced around the room and asked, "Do you want to see something else?"

[Kender Bard]

There it was. Mikasi felt a surge of triumph at the sight.

But these things could never be solved in one day. It was just as damaging to try. "No," he said. "I think that's enough for now."

He withdrew from her mind. ~You did well today, Flame~ he praised. ~Tomorrow we'll start the real work. I can't promise it won't be unpleasant but we'll take it a step at a time. There's no rush to fix you, no matter what anyone ever says.~

[Northen Light36]

Flame smiled, pleased at both the praise and the fact that the session hadn't been nearly as uncomfortable as she'd expected, though her smile faded a little when Mikasi said there was no rush to fix her. Clearly she disagreed with that statement.