Work Text:
THE SENTINEL HANDBOOK AKA HOW TO HANDLE YOUR SENTINEL (Version 2.0.1)
By Blair Sandburg
Chapter 1: An Introduction
Here are terms a Guide needs to know:
Sentinel: A Sentinel is someone whose five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell) are far more advanced than anyone else’s. It has to be all five senses, someone with only 1-4 senses is not a Sentinel. They may however carry the Sentinel gene.
In ancient times each tribe or group and a Sentinel to protect them from anything the Sentinel might see as dangerous. The Sentinel was paired up with a Guide, which is you.
Guide: A Guide is someone who protects the Sentinel (even if they don’t see it that way). It’s a Guide’s job to make sure the Sentinel isn’t overwhelmed by their senses. If a Sentinel goes into a Zone Out (see below), the Guide must protect them until the Sentinel comes back to themselves.
Guides keep Sentinels grounded and in touch with the people they protect, as Sentinels are likely to not understand how non-Sentinels react to things. We fight for them and keep them safe while they fight for everyone else.
Zone Out: When the Sentinel focuses too much on one (or more) sense and ‘zones out’ of the real world.
Example: Jim once focused on an airplane flying overhead and never noticed a man rushing towards him.
In a Zone Out, nothing penetrates into their brain, except what they’ve focused on. A Guide must take precaution when their Sentinel is in a Zone Out. Bring them out of it slowly. Touch their arm and talk softly.
Once out of their trance, Sentinels are sensitive to the senses they neglected and may have a headache for some hours. Turn of the lights, shut the windows, and just talk softly. The Sentinel should be better in no time.
Spirit Animal: All Sentinels and Guides have spirit animals, usually complimentary. Mine is a grey wolf, while Jim has a black jaguar.
The animal that you have may or may not suit your area. Jim has the jaguar because he was lost in Peru when his senses kicked back in.
Pilots may have flying spirit animals, but they may also have a turtle. It all depends on the person you are. The animals represent us in someway.
Both Sentinels and Guides are recommended to meditate at the Center to find their spirit animal and then continue to meditate once a week to talk with it. It may prove to be useful.
Chapter 4: Bonding
Bonding is something that happens between a Sentinel and Guide pairing. It can be either romantic or not. However, since most (if not all) Sentinels and Guides are always around each other the bond is almost always romantic.
Sentinels don’t take well to sharing their Guide with anyone and they could never hurt their Guide by being with someone else. Guides can share, but don’t like to and they never like agitated their Sentinels, so it makes sense for the relationship to be romantic.
This can be a problem at times, especially if you have a Sentinel and Guide pair of the same sex, when before neither of who were interested in their own sex before. This happens with many pairings, however they can overcome it and become even stronger.
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Bonding can happen quickly (at a first meeting) or over time, but it always happens no matter how much one or both in the pair fight it.
Chapter 6: The End of this Handbook
Now that you’ve (hopefully) read this cover to cover (and not just skipped to the end, Mr. Stark), you know almost everything about being a Guide and working with a Sentinel.
I can’t tell you everything since your Sentinel will be worlds different from mine. Not all Sentinels are the same, no matter what anyone on TV tells you. Yes, they operate on the same principal (five senses working to save the world), but it’s their personalities and backgrounds that shape them.
To that end, the Sentinel and Guide Center (near you) requests that you come in for an appointment so that you may see all the different types of Sentinels and Guides.
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Also, remember to come by the Center nearest you for checkups and training. And untrained Guide is just as disastrous as an untrained Sentinel.
Thank you for reading and I hope you find your Sentinel soon.
Blair Sandburg, PhD and Guide Leader