Sobi opened her eyes slowly when she heard a voice, one she had never heard before. Her head snapping to its location before pulling herself closer to the bars. It was clear she didn't trust him, not that she had any reason not to. However people were cruel and Sobi had recently learned about liars. That Seneschal guy was a liar, he didn't know where Sankishin was. Looking away from the man a moment as she stood up to dust herself off, she looked to the stranger with a smile.

"Hiya, yea... I just can't find the person I am looking for. A man named Sankishin. Have you seen him? He had green hair, yellow eyes and wears lots of black. He healed me, I need to say thank you."

The girl asked but it was clear she didn't expect the man to have an answer. After all, everyone besides that Seneschal guy said he didn't exist... She was doubtful she would ever find him.

"I doubt ya know him... No one else seems to know him."

Sobi stated looking out over the forest, her eyes half lidding as blackness creeped along the edges of her eyes. A darkness was growing within the girl now. But for now she was still very much alive and kind now. Smiling happily, Sobi waited to hear the man's answer.

Sobi's sad smile remained as the man explained he had not seen her savior which only made her wonder if she was crazy. Her eyes lowered down to the ground as she listened to his words and could only nod in reply. She had been tasked with going out into the world, learning about it and living. She didn't understand what that meant exactly, she was to mentally immature to understand such a concept. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about never seeing him again. Then the man asked why she sought him so fervently. 

How could she explain to him the years of endless torture at the hands of a machine, harvested for a decade for your very soul. It was not something one could just admit to. It was far to insane. Instead she simply lied.

"I was really really sick. Someone was doing bad things to me and he stopped them. He looked really scary with his teeth and black eyes stuff... But he held me so tightly, cried with me and then set me free..."

Sobi's tears were present as she remembered the past and the emotions of her release sprang to her mind. Her smile was genuine as she recalled her moments with Sankishin, how he had gently guided her to freedom and then simply... disappeared.

"I was locked away a long time, every one forgot about me. I don't know how he knew where I was... I was all alone in the dark, tubes everywhere."

Sobi's voice trailed off as she lowered her gaze, but quickly jumped to her feet before posing proudly.

"He told me to go out, learn and live.... Whatever that means! I plan to do just that, and when we meet again, I'll tell him all about my adventures! He will regret he didn't stay with me!"

Sobi confidently smiled but the unmistakable doubt was there, her eye did not reflect her braveo completely. Though she eventually let the air out of her chest and deflated slightly emotionally.

"He is just... very hard to find. I have been to east city and to west city... I've almost crossed the whole world!"

Sobi said waving her arms above her head as if it would emphasize her point and make it sound like a bigger deal. To her it WAS a big deal... she was hiking and walking everywhere. In the last few months, she had almost crossed the globe at least one time in terms of raw distance.

"Its almost... like he completely vanished. His trail goes cold with no where else  to go after north city... He was seen south but no one saw him leave there... Its like he just... pops up and then disappears."

Sobi stated, unaware of how true her statement was. She had only seen her savior in passing, she had no idea who or what he even was... But she didn't care. When he held her like a father and cried for her sorrow... She knew he was a good person deep inside. Even if the outside was all scary and mushy and stuff.

"Also my name is Sobi! Sobi Udon! Nice to meetcha! I was told to meet all kinds of people, and to tell sankishin about it! Do you want to be friends?!"

Sobi asked as she became star struck by the idea, her first real friend in her life... But maybe this person didn't want to be her friend... If they knew what the machine had done to her, maybe they would think she was a freak? A sudden fear paralyzed sobi as she began to think maybe Sankishin had left her cuz she was broken... No no that couldn't be it. He saved her! She believed in him!

Sobi almost leaped with joy at having her first ever friend, her Pinafore dress bouncing with her as she let her happiness radiate through her. But quickly regained control of herself before taking his hand and shaking it firmly. She listened as Callion spoke, respectfully doing as her parents taught her, listen closely. He then said something she was confused by, her thoughts. Did he read her mind? That was so cool! Sobi's eyes reflected her joy at this revelation.

"Did you just read my mind! Thats so freaking cool!"

Sobi said under her breath while listening to the man speak. Callion had a kindness in him, one Sobi could see... Or perhaps he was just good at hiding his evil like that Seneschal guy. He didn't stink like Seneschal, so maybe he wasn't so bad? His words of encouragement gave her the warm feelings inside and she was glad to have met him. She was glad he didn't see her as a freak, and it was showing as the bird girl let out a strange little chirp of happiness at his words.

"Thank you. All the things I've seen..."

Sobi thought about it a moment before looking off into the distance, eye shining as thought of the glimmering giant lakes of the south, of the beautiful ice and of the lush forests.

"I have seen so much, so many things that I didn't think would be so pretty. Sankishin probably already saw all this stuff, but... I saw a ton of ice up north, whole islands of it! Than to the south..."

Sobi would point to the south then, knowing her directions despite having no compass or gps. Her exploring was tempering her directional sense, a small skill but one she was learning quickly.

"There is whole big bunches of lakes that go for ages, so far you can't see the other side! There is tons of fish inside them too!"

Sobi thought about it more, pointing then to the west.

"There is a giant tower to the west, its beautiful and I wish I could climb it. I tried but my arms and legs were to weak. I fell into a tree and hurt my leg for a bit. That wasn't fun."

Sobi then looked to the east, recounting all her journeys as she went.

"There is tons of hills and mountains to the east... with weird forests of wood that I don't know the name off. I couldn't break it... made for a good bat to keep the wolves at bay."

Sobi then thought about the whole of the journey so far.

"The world is so pretty, it has all kinds of people in it, some are good and some bad. Its been weird exploring and meeting new people trying to find Sankishin. Like he told me to, I've been learning stuff and reading stories. Most of the books I've read aren't really important books, just stuff you find laying around libraries. I don't understand most of it."

Sobi had seen much of the world, but her journey was to mature, to grow as a person... She didn't realize this naturally, only seeing it as an objective to complete. Even as the beauty of the world passed by her eyes, she was only seeing part of it all. In time maybe she would see more.

"You like to train and stuff?"

Sobi had met martial artists in her journey, but she couldn't use ki. Not like others could. Her soul did not allow the flow of ki and control of it. Her soul being so watery thin that a small breeze might blow it away should it be exposed to the world to long. Such was the fragile truth of sobi, despite her journey so far the girl was indeed dying. 

"Thats neat, I tried to use that martial artists stuff, but I couldn't make it happen. They said I was sick. I'll get better though."

Sobi brushed her condition away as quickly as possible, enjoying the conversations more... light hearted side.

"I love food too! Though I can't eat as much as other people I do enjoy it. I enjoyed the weird foods of the villages I've visited, and its been a blast seeing the animals and nature. I love this place, I mean all of it."

Sobi said throwing her hands out to wave as she bounced up and down to emphasize she meant the world.

"I am not a fish person though, the south islands really liked fish... guess because it was hard to find animals that aren't fish. heh!"

Sobi was pleased with the conversation, happy to forget her troubles and discuss the interest mutual between them. She couldn't wait to till Sankishin all about her friend.

Sobi could not contain her laughter as he spoke of the diversity of life, and she saw this as well. Though understanding eluded her, she saw the prettiness upon the surface. She did love this world, but only knew how to love it upon a surface level. She was glad to be here, and found love for Sankishin welling up in her heart. If he hadn't saved her, she wouldn't be able to do all of this now. Even Callion seemed interested in her stories. If Callion liked them... then maybe... maybe he would too.

"I know we will, but I am glad there is a place for fish if we wanted to go there for it."

Another surface level look, but one that would fit for now. She heard the words diversity but to know what it meant truly escaped her for now. 

"Its nice to have a choice when it comes to food."

Sobi stated as a final note to that little part of the conversation, then Callion asked her to walk with him. To which she nodded, happy and enthusiastic to travel.

"I ain't strong... not yet. When I am strong enough, I think sankishin will be proud of me."

Sobi stated walking alongside the tall man, he was comforting like an older brother. She felt at ease, able to let her guard down if but a little bit. She had met some truly awful men, but Seneschal kept her from harm when big bad people come to do nasty things to her. 

"I would like to learn to defend myself... The seneschal guy tasked with watching over me, he wont teach me. He shows up to beat up the bad guys and then poofs into trees or something. He is really creepy too. I'd like to not have to rely on anyone else to defend myself."

Sobi stated looking at the ground, thinking of the very tall wolf man who protected her a few times from animals, but mostly Sobi had learned to run and hide. She doubted she could learn how to fire ki blasts or hurt anyone really bad, but she didn't want to be helpless either.

"Yes, I'd like that a whole big lot. Thanks Callion!"

Sobi stated her thanks as a cheer. She was grateful for the company and now he was offering to train her? He was turning out to be a really nice guy after all. She wondered if Sanishin was this nice to everyone too. 

"I wonder if Sankishin can use ki like those martial artists do... He injected me with something to make me better, so I don't think he used any magic or energy beams like you do."

She referenced energy attacks as the over arching generalization of techniques, after all the girl was not aware they had proper names. She had avoided most people cuz seneschal told her too. Said many bad people live in the world, she had to stay away from them. But if she could beat them up! She could look in cities better for Sankishin! HA!

Sobi felt a tang of pride at perceiving herself as outsmarting her guardians. Yea, if she could protect herself, she would have awesome stories of her fighting bad guys. Her imagination running wild as she found herself imagining all sorts of scenarios where she saved Sankishin. The truth was far more... realistic but her delusion still surfaced as fantasies of getting strong enough to fight like that big city fight a while back. She wanted to learn to fly and stuff as well. She found herself unable to resist the flood of questions pour from her excited mind.

"Do you think I can learn to fly, and shoot lasers from my hands too!?"

Sobi was staring wide eyed up at Callion, clearly having gotten ideas above her station and health. But the excitement built was an understandable reaction.

Sobi's energy was still present even as she walked eagerly by his side, a skip in her step as her immaturity surfaced. A trait she could not help, she was a young woman with no outside experience after ten. Sure she was physically older, and some attributes of her personality were indeed adult like, her enthusiasm was a testament to the mental fortitude she possessed. Her cracked skin told the story that she was sick, even as the wind danced along her face to frame her features by the blonde locks of hair that was in contrast to her deep blue eye.

She wasn't surprised lasers and flying would be tough, so she was not dampened in spirit by the man saying it may be possible but he did leave room for failure. Sobi caught that in his words as he continued to speak. She would do it, in her mind it was a certainty. No room for failure was there, but unfortunately... life is not so kind. She would learn soon the foolishness of certainty with no proof, but for now the man was teaching. When asked about feeling anything, Sobi simply placed a hand to her chest and considering this before shaking her head no. She had never felt that after the needles...

Her eyes went wide a moment in shocking memory but quickly calmed down. It was but a flash, they were less frequent now thankfully. Looking to Callion she shook her head no once more.

"Not recently..."

She didn't know if that was a bad thing, but when she was little she felt it. But now... now when she closed her eyes to look for the ball as instructed, she saw only the faintest of lights. The ball was translucent and see through, barely present as it were. She couldn't see it clearly unfortunately, and eventually reopened them to continue listening.  Her thoughts going inwards, she had done that many times... The light was always so dim for her, but she always thought it was cuz her eyes were getting use to the dark of the old lab.

She then took Callions hand as she tried to picture the ball within. She focused super hard, and this time she could see it very clearly. It was tiny, super tiny. And it was still translucent. Barely there, it reminded her of a single fire fly at night dancing by itself. 

"Mines really small."

Sobi stated before holding out her other hand, attempting to do as he said. At first nothing happened, and so the girl lowered her arm before repeating the same motion as if it would make it come out by repeating the motion. She was doing the right feeling, but it was like air blowing from a blowtorch. Nothing of an energy source that could be used to fuel ki based attacks. She wasn't doing it wrong, actually she was doing to remarkably well. The machine having pried open her ki suppressing attribute of her soul, she was actually unleashing the "glow" by all accounts but it was as if nothing was there to give it a glow. 

She felt the glow, only to open her eyes to see nothing... at first she was surprised but in her child like mind she thought she had simply lost concentration. So she repeated this, several times actually. She wasn't doing the technique perfectly, that is impossible for the girl... But rather she was open to ki release unlike any other being most likely, like someone had broken open the door to her soul and ki making her functionally unable to actually control ki. Her soul had broken, it was shattered by all accounts and mangled. The machine had been very through in its attempt to harvest her.

After several more attempts, the flesh began to show signs of breaking down. Her palms cracking as her flesh began to break down in its attempts to pass empty ki through it, but instead was like someone tensing their body up repeatedly using muscles they did not normally use. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she tried to keep forcing it. Where was the glow? Why didn't she see a glow?

"Am I... Am I doing it wrong?"

Sobi asked, looking up to Callion, unable to understand why she FELT ki passing through her, but nothing was actually passing through. Her soul was barely able to sustain her being let alone channel anything remotely from it. She didn't notice the cracks in her skin, it wasn't painful. But it was clear it was dangerous for someone with such a weak affinity of life force to continue this foolish act. Yet the girl kept trying, determined to get the lesson right. Her journey across the world had been just keep going, keep at it till you succeed... How could one understand that determination was not a key factor here, when that was all they had to continue?

Sobi felt like a leaf upon the wind in this moment, her emotions crashing her against the hard surfaces of reality with the intent to teach her a lesson she didn't understand. The world was a cruel place, sobi had learned this but to suddenly have hope spring before her eyes then watch it wither like a flower. That wasn't fair, why wasn't Callion being fair? Those thats did enter her mind, but she knew it wasn't his fault. She wanted to keep trying, and maybe if he encouraged her she might be able to do it. She felt a little resentment in that moment as she was told to quit. Yet he then explained to her that her body might not be ready. So that gave her hope the problem wasn't somewhere deeper, but unfortunately for them both it was. Far deeper than any genetics could ever fix, far deeper than what Kamae the gene splicing mad scientist could do.

Sobi's soul was shredded, there was no coming back from that. Not from traditional methods, this was damage to the very essence of WHO she was. The force that gave her life, the consciousness being that was the SOUL of the individual had been damaged. While the girl didn't understand this, and by extension Callion, the tragedy that was to come upon learning that knowledge was only growing as her hope grew. Callion continued on to then say they should explore training her body, to which the young bird girl chirped happily. She felt bad for her moment of blaming Callion earlier, and that did weight on her slightly.

Yet Callion went further to try to help her sense ki, the girl closing her eyes as she listened to his instructions. Thankfully THIS was something she could do. The girl's eyes, she felt a tiny spark, not something at first. Then it disappeared, her senses were a little clouded by thoughts yet just as she was getting frustrated she would take a moment to compose herself. Taking a deep breath, she let it out in a little long drawn out chirp. Surprisingly or perhaps not so much so they began to gather around in the tree tops. Her senses reached out, Seeing out further then her closed eyes would allow. Soon she felt a tiny spark above her, then another, and another. She felt excitement build in her chest. Sure she was still sad she couldn't make things glow but this was pretty neato burrito in her books!

She felt it like a continuing chain of linking lines. Each leading to a new point as her senses did a three sixy degree scan of her surroundings with its new ability to see. 

"Whoa.... Feel? See? I can Sense something nearby in the Trees."

She wasn't super good at it, actually she could barely sense the birds but she could and it was a start. It also looked pretty to the girl who then looked up to see the little sparrow looking down at her in return. Its friends all curious about this sing song they keep hearing from her excited chirps from earlier.