MurderVictim
Vyce
Boadicea
Hos
AlteredTundra
GenkaiStunrods and Literature
Collab between @Piercing Light and @SoleAccord
Yavin IV
The Jedi Temple
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A series of sharp, high-pitched whistles and shrills escaped the rocking droid beside Alara. Before she could turn and try to calm her companion, the little astromech droid bolted forward as fast as its three leg-wheels could carry it.
“Zee, wait!” Alara called out, but it was too late. The stun rod equipped to one of R6-D6’s arms released a small electric arc between its tiny pincers, then darted towards Lahana’s left knee in frustration.
His master caught up behind it and brought her small arms around its frame, just in case he tried pursuing after the initial strike. “Calm down!” she pleaded, fighting against Zee’s motor.
Lahana flinched as the droid rolled towards her. What was it doing? Was it malfunctioning, did it think she was a threat somehow? She felt a jolt to her leg, a zap that felt a little too familiar. She clenched her teeth and jumped back. She reached out her hand towards her blaster which was sitting next to her lightsabers. She stopped herself from pulling it towards herself as she realized Alara was holding the droid back. "W-what is that thing's problem!?" She yelled with shaky words, her eyes glancing back to the weapons sitting on a table.
She went for the blaster, not her lightsaber. Why?
R6-Z6 released a triumphant whistle and loosed a few sparks of electricity from its stun rod in a threatening display. Its dome-head rotated towards its stationary brother, with a single dark eye focusing on its broken joint. It stopped itself from accelerating forward and focused its eye on Alara, chirping with annoyance.
“I’ll tell her, I’ll tell her!” Alara promised. Only after she said so did the fiery astromech withdraw its stun rod; its ‘face’ returned to Lahana, watching for her next move with calculated precision. One wrong step and it would come after her again.
Standing up again, Alara glanced at the broken joint of Lahana’s training droid and gestured to it with a weak jerk of her wrist. “That set him off,” she explained. “Zee has a lot of pride in being a droid, but not everyone respects them like I do. When he saw you break that droid’s arm, he got upset.” She frowned. “To be fair, you were really going hard at it. I could hear its joints straining from the doorway.”
Her attention moved to Lahana’s leg, examining the small black mark created by Zee’s attack. “Is there any bacta we can rub on that, or will you be okay?”
Lahana looked down at her leg, she raised it and bent her knee a few times. "It's fine..." She mumbled, before looking to Alara's droid. She glanced back to the training machine. "I don't get it, but I'll have someone repair it." The droid didn't have an advanced AI core, it was built simply to move it's hands. She doubted it even had the ability to care that it's arm was broken. But then again, droids weren't exactly her specialty.
Lahana ruffled her hair, letting part of it fall to cover the scarred side of her face. "Did you, uhm, need something?"
“There, you see?” Alara mumbled to Zee, lightly nudging him with her fingers. “She probably didn’t mean it, and they’ll be fixed good as new.”
Zee let out a low groan, its dome looking from Lahana to the training droid’s broken joint. He didn’t believe Lahana would keep her word, but he chose to believe in Alara's request as it would be much nicer than the one he'd give. One more moan left him before he returned to her side.
“Zee’s a tough little guy, but he’s also pretty sensitive,” she explained quietly to Lahana, pressing the palms of her hands together. Whether Lahana understood his feelings or not wouldn’t matter, she only needed to take greater care of her training droids in the future.
In all the excitement she nearly forgot why she wanted to come. “Oh!” She jumped a little, her smile returning. “I was wondering, could you show me to your library? You’re the first person I’ve come across since entering your temple; I didn’t want to bother the guards outside to find someone for me, but the hallways are so long and winding, and so many of your rooms are empty! You guys really need to ask for furniture donations or something!”
Zee rotated his dome head around towards the exit, then rotated his body around with it. He wheeled himself out of there, an impatient whistle loosed from his vocabulator.
Alara glanced back at Zee before motioning towards the doorway. “If it’s not too much trouble, that is. I really tried to find it on my own, I did. Oh, I did find the bathrooms though—three times. I might’ve gone in a circle.”
"The library... right." She could count on one hand the number of times she'd been there. If she were ever curious about something she simply asked her master about it. Still, she was certain she knew where it was. "I need to uh, take a shower first." She had worked up a sweat from her workout, as evidenced by her soaked shirt and disheveled hair. She was thankful that she'd worn something with long sleeves, she didn't need Alara or anyone else seeing her scars. She let out an awkward laugh. "Ha, I got lost a few times when I first got here too."
She walked past Alara, making sure to give her droid a wide breadth as she grabbed her robe. It didn't take long for her to shower and return, now donning her Jedi robe. she motioned for Alara to follow her as she exited the room.
"So... What sort of thing are you looking for anyway? History or something?"
“Anything.” Alara shrugged, still with a smile plastered on her face when Lahana returned. She spent the few minutes during Lahana’s absence talking to Zee about no longer charging at Jedi Padawans—especially those that accidentally hit a droid too hard. Zee—as before—promised nothing. “I’ve never gone into a library or a database knowing quite what I’m after. One minute I’m studying flora and fauna found on Felucia, and the next I’m learning more about Rodian Theater. But, lately, I’ve really been interested in the Wookiee homeworld and their people; I actually wanted to go out there someday!”
After today, she doubted she would get to walk in Kashyyyk’s Shadowlands anytime soon. Wedge needed every talented pilot he could get, and that went double for the New Republic as a whole. Skilled pilots were in demand now more than ever after the losses sustained at Endor.
“I’ve fallen asleep reading more times than I could even begin to count,” she said. “What sort of things do you like reading about? Do you know any languages? What sort of teaching curriculum do you have here?”
"Um..." Lahana narrowed her eyes and averted her gaze from Alara. Why was she asking so many questions, and why was she so excited? Was reading really that fun for her, or maybe it was learning that was enjoyable? "I don't really read much anymore." Lahana grumbled and fiddled with her braid. "The children are given a pretty normal education... at least I think it's normal, it was hard for me." Her mouth quivered, how many languages did she know? "Just Basic. I use a translator for everything else." A bold faced lie, she knew one other language. But it was the tongue of the men that had enslaved her. She hadn't spoken a word of it in years.
They soon reached the entrance to the library. In spite of whatever permission she had, the stuck up receptionist motioned to voice a complaint. Lahana glared in their direction, and they promptly sat down.
“Oh,” Alara mumbled with genuine astonishment; she couldn’t fathom not enjoying a good book from time to time, but as a Jedi it would be understandable that martial training took precedence. As for Lahana’s remarks regarding the curriculum and needing a translator, it was Zee who whistled in a sarcastic fashion only Alara could understand.
“Be nice.” Zee rotated his dome head back and forth—that was a no. Alara smiled at Lahana. “Zee says, ‘Do you beat up your translators, too?’. He might take longer than I thought.” She mouthed the word ‘sensitive’ to her Jedi companion and snickered, then quickly straightened up once she heard Zee’s head rotate in their direction.
Arriving at the temple library, Alara wasn’t blessed by the sight of rows upon rows of holobooks and flimsiplast texts that she imagined. What she instead saw were half-empty shelves across a single floor; rows were filled with a combination of holobooks and paper texts, however the amount of available shelf space far exceeded the space that was filled. It was far from the library she dreamed about seeing someday, yet her eyes still lit up with the possibility of learning something new. The Jedi; their martial practices, their dogma and philosophy, and even the history predating the Empire was almost at her fingertips.
Alara didn’t catch the receptionist’s move to complain. As swiftly and silently as her feet could carry her, she briskly moved for the nearest bookshelf and moved to examine the spines and columns. The biggest challenge was deciding what to dive into first.
“This is so awesome!” she whispered excitedly as Zee pulled up beside her. “Lahana? Lahana, where are the books about combat disciplines?”
Lahana looked down at the droid and tapped at a small device in her left ear. "Only if it ticks me off." She said. She'd forgotten to turn her translator on, it gave off annoying feedback when she used it so she tended to leave it alone.
Alara was enthused by the sight of the library in spite of it's less than impressive selection. Lahana had a similar reaction to seeing the kitchen, so she could relate in a way. "Combat forms..." Lahana mumbled to herself as she tried to remember where the texts were kept. "This way." She knew where those were at least, Kale had her study some forms to cover her shortcomings in handling a lightsaber. "Here's a copy about the history of Shii-Cho. Apparently it's the first form developed for lightsaber combat." She said, motioning to a shelf. "The original text is held somewhere else, it's too fragile to be used constantly." She recited what she was told about the document, she'd never seen it herself. It wasn't as if she'd tried to see it anyhow, after all what would be the point? It's just a dusty old scroll.
Alara willed herself to leave her current selection of books behind and follow after Lahana, a curious Zee keeping pace behind them. Offering a shy wave of the hand to a Rodian who looked up from his own book to see them passing by, she followed her companion around another corner and stood in front of the shelf she gestured to. There, seated among a few other holobooks, sat the one containing information about Shii-Cho.
“The first ever?” Alara asked. “Or the first known?” She took the holobook from its shelf and motioned for a vacant table nearby. She set the book down and explored its contents, swiping her finger up and down, left and right, and maximizing imagery and displays of the form’s motion in action. “Do you use this form?”
Lahana watched as Alara went through the text. Looking at her now, she didn't appear anything like a soldier. Her eyes weren't tired, her voice was soft and filled with passion. "It's known as the first form developed for lightsabers... And yes, I can use it. It's standard for Padawans to learn it." She answered, her tone passive as a thought festered in her mind. "Hey Alara, how many people have you killed?"
Alara bit her tongue; if there were any attempts at creating lightsaber forms before Shii-Cho, it likely wasn’t unearthed from possible ancient Jedi sites and archives. Her interest in a little mystery solving grew with each flick of her fingertips across the holobook’s screen. She was on the verge of asking Lahana what else she knew about lightsaber forms, as well as what kind of work went into creating her own lightsabers, until she asked a question of her own.
Her fingers ceased all taps and swipes, a chill coursing through her body. The thought of war—of killing—wasn’t something she dwelled on. Yes, she’d taken lives before, but never had she thought to keep count of those she was responsible for felling.
“…Ah,” Alara started, smiling weakly. She couldn’t look Lahana in the eye. “I… I-I don’t…” She shook her head and slumped her shoulders, forcing a laugh without breaking the atmosphere of the library. “I-I don’t know, Lahana.”
She resumed scanning the data beneath her, her fingers noticeably slower than before.
Lahana was still for a moment. The question had clearly bothered Alara, but she wasn't sure how to respond. Her suspicions were justified however, Alara was likely the type of person that had a strong aversion to killing. In other words, she wasn't a natural killer like herself. "Me either." Lahana responded, though their reasons were far different. Lahana had simply killed so many people that counting would be impossible.
"Um. Sorry. You just seem so... Normal. I would never guess you were a soldier." She said what she was thinking, maybe that would be right? "I know just looking through those texts won't be enough, so if you want I can show you the forms myself."
“Actually,” Alara countered, “could you talk to me about the places you’ve been, instead?”
The topic of martial skills and disciplines may have given Lahana the wrong idea. Maybe now wasn’t the best time to take her up on the offer of a demonstration. Battles didn’t excite her, not like they did Kyrin; the chance of saving lives, however, was something she would always be enthusiastic about. She wondered if Lahana felt the same kind of relief from saving friends, or even total strangers, but that may be another step backwards in their discussion.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Kashyyyk and Naboo, but I’m afraid if I used any downtime to go and explore, I wouldn’t be there to help my friends.” She powered down the holobook and placed it under her left arm, finally looking up at Lahana. “I heard back before the Empire that Jedi used to go all over the place for peacekeeping missions. What about you?”
"Oh." Lahana was prepared to give a demonstration, but she could answer this at least. "I've been to those places, though I wasn't on Kashyyyk long." She folded her arms and tilted her head in thought. "My homeworld was pretty terrible, the rain was like acid, so what plants did grow were ugly, and buildings were all made of coarse stone. Kashyyyk on the other hand is nothing but big trees. I liked it there. The air was clean, and the wookiees taught me a bit about how to hunt wild animals. Naboo was uh."
Lahana averted her gaze, as if she didn't want to say any more. "What's the word... garish? Maybe the buildings and stuff look nice to other people, but everything is just so bright... I guess I'm just too used to things being grey and dull."
Acid rainfall? ‘Vjun?’, Alara thought, but kept her lips still and allowed Lahana to continue. It was a relief to hear that the Wookiee people were growing welcoming of outsiders—at least the ones that mattered. She knew precious little about Kashyyyk during the Clone Wars, only that they welcomed aid from the Galactic Republic against the Separatist army. The Empire changed a great many things for them; knowing that they were trying to move past their rightful prejudice against humans warmed her heart.
And as for Naboo…
“But isn’t that a good thing?” she asked. “Not having everything be so bleak, I mean. Corulag had a lot of industry, but they kept a few parks around in Curamelle to give it some life… until the Empire needed to make room for more factories. My parents tried fighting to preserve them; there wasn’t enough support, and Corulag was heavily pro-Empire, so they tore them all down.”
Glancing over her shoulders, both left and right, Alara nodded towards another set of shelves. She turned and walked towards a section dedicated to the Jedi’s history; it, too, was largely barren. “I’ll stick to Shii-Cho and return it within the week. I didn’t exactly tell Wedge I’d be taking some for a while, but I hoped Master Skywalker wouldn’t mind. Do you think he’d be against me borrowing a few books and taking them back to base?”
"I guess. My time on different planets isn't usually for fun. Maybe I can change that... later." Lahana could speak much about what happened in the wars, when it came to history she only knew what was relevant for the present. Kale told her learning about the past could make her more wise, but she wasn't sure why. Something about learning from mistakes?
"uhm..." Lahana honestly didn't speak to Luke very often, and when she did she tended to forget to refer to him in a 'respectful' manner. It felt odd, considering he wasn't that much older than she was. "I don't exactly see him reading the texts all that often, I don't think he'd mind."
“He’s probably just busy,” Alara said, running her finger along several holobook spines; one titled “The Jedi Code” caught her eye. She promptly removed it and tucked it beneath her arm beside “The Fundamentals of Shii-Cho”. “I’m only going to take a couple, don’t worry,” she turned to face Lahana. “If I wasn’t a Rogue, I might not have gotten the chance to come here to begin with.”
She paused; her eyes narrowed in thought. “Say, what do you know about Luke? What’s he like when you see him?”
"Busy?" Lahana wasn't that familiar with Luke personally. Kale was the one that taught her what she knew. "I've heard about what he did, people say he's a hero. To me he just seems like a guy trying his best to put the Jedi Order back to it's former... glory? He seems to have himself put together at least."
“You’re someone trying their best, too,” Alara pointed out. “I don’t know who you were before you came here, but I think you made the right choice. The Jedi are honorable people… at least that’s what my parents told me. They fought for peace and justice. My parents didn’t believe what the Emperor said all those years ago, and neither do I.”
The attempt on the former Chancellor’s life must’ve been a fabrication. The Jedi had thousands of years to try and seize power for themselves, and they never took it. If anyone knew the truth about what happened, it wasn’t yet publicized information. Maybe Luke was waiting for more students and more masters before letting the knowledge become public.
“But, anyway, before he was a Jedi or Rogue Leader, he was just someone trying to do right. Like us.”
Zee came around the corner and let out a whistle of warning. “Really? Already?” Alara asked, looking from her little friend to her new, bigger one. “Sorry; I told the guy who gave me a ride I wouldn’t take too long and it’s already been close to half an hour. I should probably go.”
"S-sure, bye." Lahana gave a stilted wave to see Alara off, the young woman's words left lingering in her mind. The right choice? She didn't even believe she had one at the time. Luke was a hero, but what did she want to be? Simply surviving was always good enough for her. Surviving... Living... Why was she even alive? Lahana clenched her teeth. It was too quiet here and she didn't want to be left with her thoughts.
“Thanks again, for putting up with me.” Alara bowed her head in thanks and maneuvered past her, clutching the two books closely against her bosom. “I’ll bring them back soon. I promise.”
Zee quickly moved between the two women and ejected a thin arm from one of his sockets, pointing it directly at Lahana, then angling it towards his single, black “eye”. He would be watching her. And should anything else happen to his fellow droids aiding in her training, well…
He flashed his stun rod, then quickly returned it inside his body. “Zee, come on!” Alara whispered from afar, easily picked up by his audio receptors. The astromech unique gave Lahana one last, lingering look before rotating his body and following Alara out of the library.
"You aren't a bother..." Lahana said, though her voice was too quiet to hear. She watched as Alara and her droid left, her eyes squinted at Zee's movements. Was that droid... threatening her? She let out a puff of air as a slight smile creased her face.
A smile? When was the last time she genuinely smiled? Suddenly she didn't mind being left with her thoughts so much.
