Kael stared at the small stone hovering unsteadily in front of his face, sweat beading on his forehead. It was about the size of his fist, rough and grey, and it trembled in the air like a leaf in a strong wind. His concentration wavered for just a moment, and the stone dropped, hitting the forest floor with a dull thunk.
"Damn," he muttered, wiping his brow. Beside him, Vera watched with patient amusement radiating through their bond. She'd settled into a comfortable position, her massive form draped across a fallen log like the world's most intimidating housecat.
It had been about half an hour since they'd bonded, and Kael had spent most of that time experimenting with his newfound telekinesis. The ability was there, humming at the edge of his consciousness like a muscle he'd never known he had. Using it felt natural and alien at the same time—like trying to wiggle your ears when you'd never done it before, except the ears were actually parts of the universe around you.
"Okay, one more time," he said, focusing on the stone again.
This time, he approached it differently. Instead of just trying to lift it through sheer mental force, he imagined threads of invisible energy extending from his mind, wrapping around the stone, cradling it. The rock rose smoothly, much faster than his first attempts. It hung there, steady, responsive to his will.
Kael grinned and made it circle around his head. The movement was controlled, precise in a way his earlier attempts hadn't been. Not fast enough to be dangerous yet—if he threw it at someone, they'd probably just catch it and look at him funny—but it was progress. Definite, measurable progress.
He set the stone down gently and immediately felt the exhaustion hit him. Not physical tiredness, but a mental fatigue, like he'd been studying for hours straight. His enhanced psychic strength from Vera meant he could push further than most people probably could, but there were still limits.
Through their bond, he felt Vera's concern, followed by a gentle nudge of encouragement. The sensation was strange but comforting—emotions that weren't quite his own, but shared, understood on a level deeper than words.
"I'm fine," he assured her, reaching out to scratch behind her ear. She leaned into the touch, her purr vibrating through the ground. "Just getting used to having psychic powers. You know, normal Tuesday stuff."
Vera's response carried the distinct flavor of amusement. Even without speaking, Kael was starting to understand her moods, the nuances of their connection. She found his strangeness entertaining, but in an affectionate way.
The sun was starting to drift lower through the canopy, painting everything in shades of amber and gold. Kael's stomach chose that moment to remind him that seventeen-year-old bodies needed food, and he hadn't eaten since... well, since before dying, technically.
"We should find shelter," he said, standing and brushing dirt from his pants. "And food. Preferably before it gets dark. I'm guessing this forest has things that hunt at night, and I'd rather not meet them on an empty stomach."
Vera stood, stretching like a cat, each movement fluid and powerful. She was easily seven feet long from nose to tail, her crystalline patterns catching the fading light and throwing violet reflections across the trees. Even just standing there, she was magnificent.
She started walking, and Kael fell into step beside her, one hand resting lightly on her shoulder. Through their bond, he could sense her awareness of the forest—the way she tracked sounds and scents he couldn't perceive, her instinctive knowledge of which directions felt safer. It was like having a supernatural GPS combined with a security system.
As they walked, Kael kept practicing. He'd pick up stones or fallen branches with his mind, make them float alongside them, then set them down when the mental strain got to be too much. Each time, it got a little easier. The movements became smoother, more natural. He could lift objects faster and control them with better precision.
"It's like building muscle memory," he mused aloud, guiding a particularly smooth river stone through a lazy figure-eight pattern. "Except the muscle is my brain, which is a weird sentence to say out loud."
Vera's tail swished, her equivalent of a laugh.
They were maybe twenty minutes into their walk when Kael spotted something promising—a cluster of bushes heavy with dark purple berries. His interface helpfully flickered to life.
[Flora Detected: Moonveil Berries]
Status: Edible - Safe for human consumption
Note: Mild calming properties
"Oh, you beautiful, beautiful system," Kael breathed, hurrying over to the bushes. He plucked a berry and examined it—about the size of a grape, with a dusty coating on the skin. He popped it in his mouth cautiously.
The flavor exploded across his tongue, sweet and tart with a hint of something floral. It was delicious, and more importantly, his interface wasn't screaming poison warnings at him. Kael began picking berries in earnest, stuffing them in his pockets and eating a good handful as he went.
Vera watched his foraging with mild interest, though she didn't seem inclined to eat any herself. Through their bond, Kael caught an impression of her recent meal—something small and furry that she'd caught before her injuries. Vera was a carnivore, and apparently not hungry at the moment.
"Lucky you," Kael said through a mouthful of berries. "I'd kill for a burger right now. Or pizza. God, I miss pizza."
Vera's confusion rippled through their connection. She had no frame of reference for Earth food, which made explaining it pointless, but it still felt good to talk. The sound of his own voice was comforting in this strange forest.
They continued walking, and Kael continued practicing. He started getting creative with his telekinesis—lifting multiple small objects at once, discovering he could manage three or four stones before his concentration fractured. He tried throwing a stick with his mind, watching it sail through the air before clattering into a tree trunk. Not much force behind it yet, but he was definitely getting better.
The mental fatigue was cumulative. After another fifteen minutes of practice, his head started to ache, a dull throb behind his eyes that warned him he was pushing too hard. Reluctantly, Kael let his telekinesis rest, focusing instead on his surroundings and his connection with Vera.
The forest was beautiful in a way that Earth's woods had never quite managed. Everything felt more alive, more vibrant. The trees were impossibly tall, their bark covered in bioluminescent moss and fungi that were starting to glow brighter as daylight faded. Small creatures he couldn't quite see chittered in the underbrush, and occasionally he'd catch glimpses of something darting between trees—always too fast to identify, always just at the edge of his vision.
"This place is either magical or I'm still dying under that vending machine, and this is a really elaborate hallucination," Kael said conversationally. Vera bumped her head against his shoulder, nearly knocking him over. "Okay, okay, I believe it's real. No need to give me a concussion."
The bond between them was growing stronger with each passing hour. What had started as a gentle presence in his mind was becoming more defined, more nuanced. He could sense Vera's emotions with increasing clarity—her contentment at their companionship, her pride in her restored health, her amusement at his clumsy attempts to navigate an unfamiliar world. In return, she seemed to understand him with an intuition that defied explanation. When he felt uncertain, she radiated confidence. When he stumbled over a root, her concern washed over him before he'd even hit the ground.
It was the strangest, most wonderful thing Kael had ever experienced. He'd never been particularly social back on Earth—a few friends, nothing deep, nobody who really got him. But Vera understood him on a level that transcended language or culture or even species. Their bond was more than companionship; it was a connection in its purest form.
"You know what's weird?" Kael said, pushing through a curtain of hanging vines. "I've been in this world for like two hours, and I already feel more at home than I did in twenty-four years on Earth. That's either really sad or really great, and I'm not sure which."
Vera's response was simple: warmth and acceptance. To her, it didn't matter where he came from or what his old life had been. He was her tamer, her partner, and that was enough.
The sun was nearly gone now, the forest filling with deep shadows broken only by the gentle glow of the bioluminescent plants. Kael was starting to worry seriously about shelter when Vera suddenly went still, her ears swiveling forward. Through their bond, he felt her focus sharpen, followed by a pulse of—not quite excitement, but interest.
"What is it?" he whispered, his hand moving to rest on her shoulder.
She started forward, her movements silent despite her size, and Kael followed. They wove through the trees for another few minutes before the forest opened up slightly, revealing a rocky hillside that rose sharply from the forest floor.
And there, carved into the base of the hill, was a cave opening.
It was large—easily ten feet tall and twice as wide—with a mouth that yawned black in the gathering darkness. Vines and moss draped across the entrance like curtains, and the stone around it was weathered smooth by countless years of wind and rain. The opening was partially obscured by fallen rocks and vegetation, but it was definitely big enough for both of them to enter comfortably.
Kael approached cautiously, his newly developed telekinesis instinctively reaching out to see if he could sense anything inside. The ability wasn't really meant for that kind of detection, but combined with his enhanced awareness, he thought he could feel... emptiness. Space. Nothing obviously alive, at least not near the entrance.
Vera prowled forward, her nose working, ears alert. She circled the entrance once, twice, her crystalline patterns glowing brighter in the darkness, casting violet light across the stone. Finally, she looked back at Kael and sent a pulse of cautious approval. Not perfectly safe, but safer than staying in the open forest at night.
"A cave," Kael said, unable to keep the relief from his voice. "An actual, honest-to-god cave. I could kiss you, Vera."
Vera's amusement rippled through their bond, along with something that felt distinctly like please don't.
Kael laughed despite his exhaustion and hunger. He gathered a few sturdy branches from the ground with his mind—the movements were getting easier, more natural—and positioned them near the cave entrance. Not weapons, exactly, but better than nothing if something decided to investigate their shelter.
"Okay," he said, squaring his shoulders and looking at the dark opening. "We go in carefully. Stay alert. If there's something living in there, we back out slowly and find somewhere else. Agreed?"
Vera moved to his side, her powerful body coiled and ready, violet eyes scanning the darkness. Through their bond, Kael felt her readiness, her determination to protect him if needed. It was humbling and empowering at the same time.
Together, they stepped forward into the mouth of the cave, leaving the fading light of the forest behind. The darkness swallowed them, broken only by Vera's crystalline glow and the pounding of Kael's heart.
The cave waited, silent and deep, its secrets hidden in shadow.