She was both young and inexperienced when she came to PSSP, and it was a good thing she arrived at all. Most of her instructors and certainly the dean of the school realized that without vitally needed training, and if she'd gone too much longer without contact from real heroes, she might have led herself into a life of misery.

The sunny skies had turned dark and stormy, when she was born. Since then, thankfully, she hadn't been able to really affect the weather much beyond a little tweak here and there. But it wasn't her weather abilities which worried her family. They were used to mutants in the house, her older brother was a skilled water-manipulator who hadn't needed a lot of training to become a local hero to the drought-ridden midwest town. But they were worried about her none the less.

So at the age of eight, much younger than many students at the Paragon Special Studies Program, Dinah Gerig was taken from her Amish family and put into a very queer world indeed.

***

She was known to have a power that could make you smile or cry within moments of meeting her. That was why her parents so readily allowed her to be taken away. While they had no fear - nor any misconceptions - about her powers, they realized that no one among them could train her to behave the way that someone who could resist her powers might. Since her family was indeed Amish, she knew nothing more than what had been offered her in her short life. She was extremely religious though not even an adult and couldn't be said to have been baptized the way that they associated with adulthood. That time would be far away indeed, if she came back to them.

They knew she might not. But... Then again she was a smart girl, she could make her way around the moral quagmire that was outside life. They just... Couldn't bear to be manipulated by the whim of an unruly child. A child gifted like her brother, by God, but... what use was the ability to make her parents obey? That was almost a direct blasphemy, she had to learn control.

She was placed physically in the 'sensitive' area of the PSSP - a location which was soundproofed and basically isolated from the rest of the noisome school. While they didn't have the capability of continuing her proper religious experience, they promised her parents that every opportunity they had, she would be home for services and prayer. But the isolation allowed her two things: one, she was uninvolved with the raucous music and daily life that the other students (almost all older than she) had, and the other was that she was not given the opportunity to manipulate too many others.

She was given a female caseworker, who was well-educated and a known psionic-blocker. Patty Ramirez soon got to know the girl behind the shy mask of power - and, she discovered one thing that others hadn't. Dinah could do far more than merely manipulate emotions. And, she had a dreadful allergy which caused some problems while she was at home: she was celiac, allergic to the gluten found in many products - wheat being the most available. And what was her farm responsible for farming?

Of course.

So the anguish which she projected as a child wasn't just because she was petulant or spoiled or even just ignorant. It was because she was in pain almost all the time. From merely eating! That was difficult to explain to her family, because they truly had no alternatives for her. She had to bring other foods home, which alienated her to an extent. But Dinah did love coming home, even briefly, and showing that she was indeed progressing in her control over her powers.

There was never a time when she doubted that she'd use these powers to help her people. Though it was a little awkward when, at the age of eleven, she was introduced to her first full class of normal (normal?!) students at PSSP. They had been briefed already about her background - and warned sternly that if they mocked her or asked too many unanswerable questions, they'd be reprimanded. So they kept to the basics, what colors did she like, what music did she listen to.

Black and grey, she had a fondness for shiny black. And music? That was against the way of things, to her. She was a plain-looking girl, which was in a way good for her. She would not get the attention that the very pretty girls got, nor that which the 'ugly' of the bunch might. Truth be told, she considered herself blessed to still look entirely Human, some of her classmates were quite odd looking. But she never once mentioned it, and certainly struck up friendships with nearly everyone. They soon knew they were all in the same boat: they were here to learn, and she was no exception.

Though - she was much stronger in several ways than her peers! She'd learned to take a single person's emotion and magnify it to a group - causing one group to nearly riot, while another she calmed instantly. She could recognize emotions too, just by standing within a few yards of a person. A group would give her only a moment's pause, and even a full auditorium hardly dampened her ability to sort out who was happy and who needed cheering.

Every day she prayed, every day she thanked her God for all the gifts that she'd been given, and promised that she would use them to help all of Humanity.

***

And one day, she discovered another power. She was out on the campus' back field, after a rousing game of field hockey - she wasn't great at it but had fun - and accidentally tripped. She fell into a little ditch, and had clearly broken a bone in her arm. Her training came easily - she did not suddenly lash out with  her mind like she might have years before. She did however send for help.

And it came in the form of two large guard dogs which were among those used to keep the campus safe. Their keeper followed after them, and helped Dinah back to the infirmary. But it was obvious that Dinah had a gift for animal control as well as human emotions - and this, they decided, would be an interesting way to test the waters.

Would her family go for it? Would she go for it? It took about a year, before Dinah was really ready to answer the call.

Weren't dragons supposed to be demonic? Well, they weren't evil - and it could be shown they were clearly intelligent. And even her parents realized that the off-world dragonries that she would be introduced to, had a goal similar to their own. To live in peace, and to make sure that everyone worked hard and did their best.

If their daughter came back to them alone, or with ... some odd creature... It would be for the best - they trusted her, and they trusted their faith. Dinah thanked them, prayed, and slept soundly the night before she was to be taken to a dragonry. Off the planet! Not even really in the same universe! Well, those things weren't all that important to Dinah. What was, was that she could use all of her abilities, and practice with them! She was pretty sure that with a dragon - or even a big dog - by her side, adults would take her seriously, and she wouldn't even have to use her mental powers!

Plus... a dragon, at a barn raising!? Now that would be a day to remember!

***

With wide eyes, Dinah let slip her emotional control and just had to share. For a brief moment, even those people below who couldn't ever be brave enough to sit on the shoulders of such a creature knew what it was like to fly. She wore riding pants, snug under her knee-length skirt, and laughed even though she knew it was immodest to allow it to flutter up like it did.

But she was flying! Sunlight followed them, even though she knew it was her doing, Dinah never quite was able to get that weather thing under any kind of control. But at least, this time it was elation, it was wonderful.

She and Clarduys lit down on the bare dirt plot between the large barn and the main house her parents lived in. Clar was larger than three horses put together, but Dinah claimed, more gentle than almost all of them on the farm!

Able now to move quickly through space and time, Dinah explained to her family that when she was finished with her studies and passed whatever exams necessary to graduate from Paragon's special school, she would return every week: they'd have fun with gathering crops, in the spring plowing and turning soil would be made much easier when they visited. Clarduys gave off a heavily accented greeting to her pair bond's family, her aunt was immediately taken by the soft, warm fur upon the drak-mutt's neck.

So while they were at home, everyone enjoyed the fruits of Dinah's work. Her brother congratulated her in his sedate way, and was the first to get in on their aunt's knitted goods: he would be out in the middle of nowhere often times during winter, the warm pale blue sweater kept him from needing any other synthetic materials to keep the weather out!

Dinah however, would take the drak back to the school, learning more about how to aim her emotion controls from above. It was somewhat more difficult, because of course at that height she could see and sense far more than usual - it was, as she put it, an excellent test of her will. She was open and frank about her worship, later fully returning to her family's Amish practice though with the changes made for her dragon. They would go where they were needed: other communities wrote in letters about such things. After all, her home wasn't the only Amish community who had mutant children.

Dinah spread the word that one could maintain faith and be part of the bigger world's community, at the same time. Humble and happy, pleased to be doing whatever work came to them, Dinah and Clarduys thrived.

Defensive Power: Weak Weather (wide area) defenses
---.5 normal power level
---This power is barely under control

Transport Power: High Animal Summoning (up to 2 mounts to ride or aid)
---3x normal power level

Weakness: Allergic to Substance (very common)

Name: Clarduys
Gender: Female
Species: Drak/Winter Mutt
Colour: Blue-Grey
Father: Ore Drak, Nycaridu
Mother: Crystal Grey Lantessama Winter Dragon, Axys
Size: Medium
Height@Shoulder: 11'
Abilities: Telepathy, Teleportation
Personality: helpful, kindly, energetic
Fun Facts: Their fur, when spun into wool and knitted, has exceptional insulation ratings. It can keep the wearer warm in up to -40 degree celsius weather. Their ankle and wrist cuffs are made out of this material from their mother: each cuff is actually a starter and example of different kinds of knitting and perling, should anyone want to reverse-engineer some fancy toques and sweaters!
Bond: Dinah

From: Nidus Corona