The exact details on how this training session had been arranged weren't entirely clear to Locke. At some point either he had mentioned Fluffy or Sam had mentioned what he did. The point was that the two had reached the realization that there was a similarity in what they did and that the teen could use some training. Not because he was horrid at making the golems. Everyday he was improving, but Locke was aiming to be perfectly proficient. Sam was older, perhaps not by much, but he knew more about his powers then Locke did of his own. There was bound to be something that the Californian could learn from Sam. In any case it had to be better than that anatomy book. He probably studied it as much as any medical student and he had no interest in being a doctor.

Hearing that they would be going into the Danger Room to train did not exactly thrill Locke. The dance had only helped a little in banishing the negative associations he had to the Room. While he sat outside it and waited Locke had a desire to scrawl on it 1408 with one of those king sized Sharpies that you can smell the fumes from a mile away. Instead he fell into his patterned breathing and tried to focus his mind for the task ahead.

Walking down to the Danger Room he scratched his chin slightly trying to figure out the best way to help Locke, who like him had the ability to create and manipulate/will golems. Unlike him however his golems were made of stone and was as far as he knew far more heavier and stinger than his golems. It didn’t mean however Sam couldn’t teach him a thing or two it’s just Sam had to keep in mind that Locke couldn’t due some of the things he could do with his golems, what those things were he wasn’t sure yet but he was looking forward to finding out.

The metallic looking hallway was bland and revealed where Locke was, even a blind man would be able to spot him, then again the only blind man he knew was Luke and Luke could find a needle in a haystack from a mile away, but still it was easy to spot the young boy he met at the dance with Katrina.

”Locke!” Sam said with a cheery sound in his voice and a warm smile on his face, ”You excited?” Sam asked as he walked over with basketball shorts and a t-shirt. The cold metallic felt great on his bear feet.

Walking over to Locke and the main doors that opened with a whoosh Sam patted Locke on the back and then walked in. ”So, care to tell me exactly what you can do before we get started so I can get an idea on what we should work on.”

Locke lifted his head up from his knees. He was dressed as usual, multiple layers and thin soled hightops. This time he didn't have a potted plant to bring into the Danger Room, but he did have a water bottle. "I don't know if excited really is the word," Locke answered honestly. On the one hand he enjoyed exploring his powers and testing his limits. It was that whole becoming himself by loosing himself. "The last time I was in there and doing training I got pulled into a wall."

When he was pat on the back Locke's expression soured slightly. He wasn't fond of it, preferring a hand shake or maybe on occasion a fist bump if anything. The pat on the back seemed too.. personal and congratulatory, especially since they hadn't done anything yet. "I make those golem things. So far I've worked with dirt, sand, mud, gravel, concrete, marble, and rocks. Glass felt like it would work but..." He shrugged his shoulders. The glass had responded to him, but it was too different and the result too unpredictable for him to feel confident with. "I can tell where something is to work with, and where you're standing, but it's not perfect."

Sam blinked for a second and nodded his head when Locke said he was placed into a wall, surprisingly not to unheard of when it came to the mansionites and the danger room he went through a few walls but never got stuck in one. The danger room itself was its typical self large round and grey boring now yes but in moments Sam would change the scenery to something he deemed fit for Locke and himself, one where they both could train in.

Making mental note of all Locke was able to work with Sam waved his hand to the god room and instantly the scenery changed to a scene of the Rocky Mountains where he grew up as a kid. Sam had never really been called nostalgic but this did stir some memories he’d rather not remember. Pushing said memories of his childhood to the back of his mind he placed his feet in a nearby pile of snow and then wiggled his toes around and admired the beautiful scenery.

Boulders and jagged rocks covered the ground near to where they were standing the flat earth they were standing on had patches of snow nearby. Off a ways a stream flowed through the rocks that he had placed for Locke specifically to mold and control. The scene was perfect for him and Locke the reason he had designed the area like he did. ”Tell me Locke what do you feel?” Sam asked knowing that from what Locke told him he would be able to feel all he could work with. ”No walls for you to be stuck in this time.” there was however a cavern that was used as a mine shaft decades ago that Sam had put in for later use if the session called for a change of scenery.

”Should be a lot of materials for you to work with just like there is for me.” Sam lifted his hand when he stepped out of the pile of snow as his bare feet hit a patch of dirt and pine needles that were lying about. His hand rising higher and higher and a hand reached out of the snow as an arm followed. Within seconds a golem of ice exited from the pile and Sam smiled, ”Now let me see what you can do and what you’d like to work on.” Sam took a few steps back and gestured to Locke letting him take the floor as Sam’s golem mimicked Sam and took a few steps back.

As the room changed Locke let out a low whistle. Lovecraft had been an interesting program, but it didn't have this scenery. Had he not witnessed the change Locke would have believed that he was actually outside. It certainly looked real enough, and, closing his eyes, it felt real. "I don't know what half this is," Locke confessed, a little awed. The Danger Room had given him a virtual playground of different materials to work with. Some of the rocks had such energy inside of them, still remembering what had formed them. A grin split his face. Hell yeah! This was going to be good. "There's a hole," Locke started, paused, then corrected himself, "An empty space.. a tunnel or something?" Sam had wanted to know what he could feel. He didn't need to know that Locke felt like a kid who had been given a hundred dollar bill and sent into a candy store.

Sam made his golem, and Locke shivered, the cold waves bothering him even with the distance between the two of them. Now he also felt cold. That was going to be a major challenge for Locke to try to get over. Not only was the cold going to distract him, but if the ground was frozen it wasn't going to want to respond as quickly. Locke took a deep breath and began making his own golem. It was just slightly taller than him, and thanks to using a softer material, much more solid in the chest area. Fluffy's hands were massive things, two fingers, but no thumbs. Stray dirt tumbled as the mouth gap widened. Locke's eye glossed over.

It occurred to Locke that his earth sense was so much more sharp if he was looking at the world through the golem, and he got a better sense of what that tunnel he had felt was. The different rocks did not reveal their name, but he knew instantly what was going to work, and what was going to be stubborn with him. Sam and his golem did not have any height in Locke/Fluffy's eyes, simply contact with the ground, pressure points on the vibes that gave him sight.

Sam’s good eye remained fixed on Locke the entire time he seemed to be feeling around the scenery. A smile touched Sam’s expression when he nodded his head to Locke who seemed to just discover the mineshaft leading into the cavern. ”Yes, mineshaft I wanted to see what you were fully capable of and we will be going down there in a bit I just want to see what your capable of with your golem as of now.”

Sam watched Locke shiver and form his own golem taking in each detail of the golem he created the lines and groves that Locke had intentionally or unintentionally created something he did to his own work as well trying to better his new golem compared to the last.

The ice golem was about a few inches taller than Locke’s golem made of dirt which if he had to guess a bit more durable than his golem. ”Now you can create,” Sam said as he took a few steps forward till he was close enough to the golem to reach out in touch it, ”but how well is your reaction time with it?” Sam reached his hand out and instead of reaching forward for the golem Sam turned slightly and reached out trying to grab hold of Locke’s shirt.

Sure his eyes were glossed over but if he was as good as he said he was he would have been able to fell this coming. Adding a step forward to make it easier for Locke to feel Sam waited to see what he would do, all the while his ice golem remained stationary behind him waiting for orders.

A mineshaft? Very cool. Locke loved subways. It felt right to be surrounded on all sides by the earth. The mineshaft was going to be actual earth, not blocked off by cement and steel girders, with, hopefully, a healthy vein of some unknown mineral that he could have fun with. The usually stoic Locke felt unnaturally giddy. He wondered if he was getting to be hyper because of those stones that had the energy inside of them.

Locke remained still, though Fluffy turned towards the movement as Sam approached it. His attention was too much on keeping it from crumbling to pay attention on what was being said to him. The words were heard, but just barely. For the Californian it was just unnecessary information. What he was aware of was how Sam's weight shifted, away from Fluffy and towards himself. It was so sudden that Locke's instincts kicked in and Fluffy moved to defend him. The earth golem had a surprising speed given that it was made of dirt. Nobody thinks of dirt or stones as having any sort of speed to them, and the grainier the material, the easier it was to move. Fluffy had moved to defend Locke, but the teen didn't even flinch.

Surprise gripped him before he could grasp Locke, not a bad surprise more like a ‘Oh I was right!’ surprise from what he could tell Locke didn’t move but he couldn’t keep his eye focused on Locke and keep an eye out for his golem made of dirt. He only had one eye after all and seeing as he didn’t have his thermal sense activated he couldn’t have kept an eye on both and from what he could guess Locke’s golems wouldn’t show under Sam’s sixth sense, which could be a problem for Sam later down the line for a few future exercises he had planned for himself and Locke.

The dirt hand pushed at Sam and braced against his side managing to push him back but due to Sam’s reflexes he managed to jump back before any real damage could befall him, it was a good thing his eye picked up the golem moving. It was a surprise to Sam to see how fast it moved; then again it shouldn’t have surprised him, his golems could move quickly. Even considering that Locke’s golem was probably far more durable than his golems they moved far faster than he expected. ”Interesting…” Sam said as he took a few steps back making sure Locke’s golem didn’t chase him away if it wasn’t under his control.

”Can you still hear me Locke?” Sam asked curiously keeping his eye on the golem but lowering the temperature so he could see Locke off to the side a bit in perfect sight for his bad eye if he was able to still use it. Sam was waiting for a reaction from Locke because he did see Locke’s eyes glass over. ”Nice reaction time, now do you control them or do they move all on their own with their own agendas?” he was curious to see if Locke did have such control to send that golem after him within a seconds notice.

The problem with Sam’s golems was the amount of focus he needed to get them to move, even if they move with his thoughts it was still a lot to keep them under control and move on his own.

Sam had backed down, which puzzled Locke to say the least. He hadn't expected the approach and certainly not for Sam to back away so soon. Fluffy shouldn't be all that intimidating to a man who made golems as well, especially since the ice golem hadn't moved yet. It meant that Sam had been testing something. Did Locke pass the first test? Well, he was cold but not damaged in any way, so maybe? The earth golem tilted slightly. Because it had no neck to speak of when it tilted his head to the side the shoulders moved as well.

..hear me Locke?[/color]

Locke frowned in response. Couldn't Sam see he was concentrating? He sighed and slowly pulled his mind out of Fluffy. The earth golem collapsed in on itself until it was a mound of upturned dirt in front of Locke. After several seconds of blinking Locke was able to look at Sam clearly. "Sorry I didn't catch that. I kind of have to stick with the golem."

Locke didn’t move, other than the occasional inhale and exhale there was little to no movement that meant that either Locke was in a trance or the kid was good at sitting still. His eye still remained on the golem who shifted his body as if to look at Sam making sure that he wouldn’t make another pass at his maker. Sam smirked slightly and then noticed that when he picked up on movement from Locke the golem seemed to suffer.

”Well that answer’s a lot of questions then…” Sam said taking a few steps towards the pile of dirt that had once been the golem that had tried to force him back. Crouching down and picking up a handful Sam let the dirt fall back down to the pile as he examined the bits as if he was waiting for a secret to be revealed by the dirt. ”So I take it you can’t do much when your in your golem…” Sam nodded his head and then looked to his golem wondering what it would be like to be fully submerged in a different body.

”Why don’t you start off by telling me what your capable of, what your golem is capable of limitations and such, not all the secrets if you want to some to yourself…” Sam looked at his golem and then waved his hand in a motion to draw it closer and so the golem moved. ”For example, I can vary the shape and size of mind and from what I can tell the major difference between my golem and your is I can focus on other things and still control him.”

Then again this was only from what he saw from a few moments ago, for all he knew Locke was putting on an act and only making it seem like was incapable of things that Sam just mentioned. ”It is easier for me to understand what we should work on if I know what your already capable of.” Sam smiled and placed his hand onto the ice golem and then pressed it down forcing it to fall apart into little pieces of ice on the ground near Locke’s pile of dirt where once his golem stood.

It was frustrating to see Sam move his golem about so easily when Locke had to stay with it. Then again Sam was using a material that didn't slip and slide as much. Ice was much more solid than dirt. Unless of course someone were to heat it up, and Locke had nothing to do that with. Even if it felt great to be one with the dirt and the earth, Locke would appreciate a little bit of distancing from Fluffy. "I can talk, and I can move. There just wasn't any reason to."

Locke hadn't really tried doing any more than that while in control of Fluffy. There was always too much for him to be concerned about, such as Fluffy falling apart, the coldness of water, or guns being fired in the background. Part of why Locke wanted to do this was to see what else he could do. "Sounds like you just about summed it up. I don't have to be right next to Fluffy the whole time, and I don't know how far away I can be, 'cause I never tried that. I know I can do different sizes, and the shape is always different just because no dirt is ever the same. As for any secrets I have..." Locke pondered for a moment, trying to decide if there was anything, "I guess that there aren't any."

Nodding his head to what Locke had said about his abilities Sam had guessed right, ”You know…” Sam said sitting down near his pile of ice that was once his golem. ”There was a time when I couldn’t even make a golem, they are relatively new to me about two years ago I think it would have been near impossible for me to do it, I just lacked the control it always ended up like a puppet…” Sam reached his hand over the pile of ice and snow and a miniature ice golem formed but when Sam willed it to move it was stiff and rigid making it look more like a robot than something that could actually move around freely.

”I always had great control over ice but until I was aware I could make a golem, something that can actually move about I really focused on control.” Sam paused and stood up and focused on the nearby stream as the smaller puppet ice sculpture fell down and apart. Turning his body away from Locke and facing the stream Sam closed his ice and inhaled then exhaled lowering his level then slowly rising up with the water that quickly turned to ice forming three golems about his size.

The started out slowly but they quickly took shape and exited the stream and walked towards Sam and Locke, ”The more I make however the harder it is to focus on myself because even if they can move a bit on their own I still need to focus in them.” Once the golems got closer to Sam he turned his back to them and shrugged at Locke. ”Now a two part question of mine would be have you ever tried to put yourself in a golem before, and have you ever created anything other than golems?”

Sam waited for a second to let the question soak in as he willed the closest golem to him and stepped backwards into the golem. The ice opened up and welcomed Sam like an old friend as it encased his body in ice. It was his ice armor something he always created whenever he was in a fight that required a little extra protection and it was easy enough to control. Once he was in his ice armor he willed the next closest golem closer and reshaped forcing large chunks of ice to fall off until he had a large dual-headed axe. It was far too flashy to be used effectively it was just used for a visualization

"I doubt that there is a god, but if there is then they did alright making people," Locke said. Generally speaking he didn't like to bring up religion. Like politics, religion was one subject that everyone has an opinion on and it was hard to find a middle ground. "In just over a year I make mishapened things that just barely look human, and it supposedly took less then a day to make man." Locke didn't view his ability to form a golem as anything spectacular. Rather then feel proud that in a year he had managed to work with so many materials, and built up from a golem that was about five inches tall to one over five feet, he looked at the imperfections. Fluffy required too much attention and Locke wasn't able to get past his own height. He wanted to grow in his powers, but for now he was at a limit. It annoyed him.

The Californian was eager to get back to work. The golem he had made earlier was just a small taste of what was to come, and he was ravenous. Sam was giving him some sort of motivational speech, but Locke's mind wasn't focused on it at all. It was lost in trying to absorb everything around him, wondering how far down that mineshaft went, and just as scattered as the pile of dirt that had been his golem. He did watch however while Sam made multiple golems with interest.

Could I do that?[/i] he wondered. Making multiple golems at once had never occurred to him. Keeping one golem together could prove to be plenty of a challenge. Maybe with two different materials... something harder that wouldn't slide about as much and something softer. "Never tried to get inside of one. I mean it isn't much bigger then I and I usually just use dirt. It likes to form into a person, or at least a body part."

Smirking at Locke’s comment he added, ”Well they saw god is the only perfect one…” Sam shrugged, ”Who knows though, he could have had multiple attempts at creating humans they just said he succeeded on the first try.” Sam shrugged and then thought back to when he tried asking the man up stairs for advice, it didn’t turn out to well and since then Sam hadn’t been the most religious person. If there was an all-powerful being Sam figured he didn’t want to play favorites and was the type to sit back and let his creations make their mistakes and achievements.

Sam watched with interest as Locke contemplated his abilities with his golem, ”Well it is never to late to try right? Why don’t you try to create your golem again and once he is created control the dirt inside of him and hallow it out.” Stepping backward and out of his ice armor he had created he waved his hand downward like an artist clearing a canvas, ”Try it out, just remember to leave hole or two so you can breath… made that mistake once, wasn’t fun…” Sam said tying to make a joke as he sat down to watch his young student work.

Locke had hoped that he would learn something from this Danger Room session, and if Sam's suggestion worked then it would be worth the cold. Being inside the golem was a little frightening. He enjoyed the feeling of the earth wrapped around him, but Locke knew his limitations. The ice golem was a solid material, it wasn't as likely to collapse like a dirt one would. Either the golem would crush him if he couldn't keep it together, or it would fall off him like a pair of oversized pants.

He hesitated to try. Fluffy wasn't all that much bigger than himself. He might not even be able to fit inside of it. That might actually be a good thing. I know that dirt clings to me, and if it's not all that much larger, then there won't be as much dirt to have to worry about maintaining. [/i] With a slow intake of breath Locke made another golem. It was an easy enough task, but once it was there he hesitated. Sam had just carved out the inside of his and then climbed in there. He hadn't tried to take the dirt away before. Now as he thought about it, pushing dirt aside and trying to make a spot for him Locke realized it was pointless. Dirt was a solid, but not the same way that ice was. Fluffy was abandoned and Locke realized that if he was to do what Sam wanted, he'd have to improvise.

Sometimes at night Locke still had that terrifying nightmare memory of waking up in the hospital, unable to see anything or move. Each time he woke up right before the news of his father was told to him, but he knew that it was coming and was unable to change. Getting stuck in the wall was almost as frightening as that. As Locke stood at the epicenter of a golem's creation, the dirt building up over his body there was a fear that something horrible was about to happen. In essence he was burying himself alive above ground. Too afraid to keep going Locke stopped before the dirt got to his chin.