Post by Marshall on Feb 27, 2019 9:40:49 GMT -5
(Summary: As they travel closer to Um-Shara Yaim Ava and Solomon take a moment to talk among themselves.)
Medren was down for the count in the corner of the room they had taken up occupation in. The boy slept soundly beneath a thermal blanket which meant it would be easier to talk. Solomon did one last check on him before approaching Ava. Their comms were in order, all working the way they should, which meant shouting was no longer something they needed to do. It also meant that Sol's hood was back on, the quiet hiss of his respirator preceding the question, "Are you holding up alright?"
She was sitting in a corner, knees pulled to her chest with a data pad resting on top. Her head was down, looking over the information. Unlike Solomon, her helmet was off.
It seemed blurred vision was their largest combatant within the Red as far as physical signs went. It was worst when she was outside. But here, in this small little compound they had created, it wasn't so bad.
Her head looked up, brown hair spilling across her cheek as her shoulders shrugged.
"As well as can be expected. We’re on course for Um-Shara Yaim."
It wasn't long before he was joining her on the floor, lowering himself so he could sit with his legs stretched out, "Its several days away yet, but yeah. We'll get there soon." His respirator filled the pause he gave with quiet hisses as he contemplated his next question. When he was ready, he asked "What do you make of Medren?"
Several days.
A blink stretched into an eternity.
Ava looked over at him with curious eyes. "I don't know him well enough to make anything of him, honestly. He's quiet but it's hard to judge if that's from his own nature or by your request."
There was a response, and it was kept low and reigned in to just the smallest of thoughtful noises, "You don't agree with how I'm handling him?"
"I don't know what to think of it." She answered. "What do you think about how you're dealing with him?"
"I think I'm being fair enough. He snuck away from his father in the middle of running evacuees just to follow a feeling he had. If he does that with us, he's on his own -- putting himself in danger, and us since we don't know what's out there. He doesn't seem to have a mind for consequences, and he's still very young."
"Have you talked to him about it?" Ava asked. "I mean... since discovering him on the Wayfinder?"
"I've tried," He gave a small nod, "But I don't know if he's heard me. I don't know if I'm just not using the right words, or if he's too headstrong to understand."
"Okay." she breathed and felt her shoulders roll. "How about we do a practice run?" There, she smiled a little. "Say to me what it is you want to say to him."
A crooked half-smile was sent her way, "It’s nothing I haven't said to him before: I expect him to do what we tell him to do without complaint. That is the only real restriction I've placed on him -- well, that and him being weaponless."
"You're the one who said you weren't sure if you were using the right words." She shrugged.
Her face went serious.
"I think that's a hard thing to ask a person no matter what the circumstance. Not the weapon... but to simply do what's asked without any complaint."
"True enough for just about anybody, I guess. But he was raised Mandal before Jeryndi returned. The support of the family unit is paramount in Mandalorian culture and there isn't much room left for complaining in that. It weakens the structure of the unit if someone doesn't do what is both expected and needed of them."
Her head tilted. "But isn't there a difference between support of the family unit and blind obedience?"
Sol shook his head, "You're thinking about it in adult terms, Ava. Medren is a kid. His job -is- obedience."
"How is it any different?" She asked. "He's still a person with thoughts and emotions."
"Alright," He gave a small breath in the way of hissing through his suit's respirators, "Would it matter if he were standing in a burning house and didn't want to leave because he wanted to stay with all of his stuff? No, right? Why? Because he'd be in danger. Its no different here, only in that the burning house is a whole planet and there aren't any visible flames."
"He's your nephew, Solomon. You're the one most responsible for him." Her eyes went back to the data pad.
"If you feel like you're doing what's best for him, then my opinion has no weight on the matter. It's not me they'll come to if something happens to him."
"I don't know if I'm doing what's best for him, Ava. I know I'm doing what I can under the circumstances, but I don't know if its best. And I know they'll come to me if something should happen to him, and I think that's why I need to hear your opinion. You're the only one here that I have to talk to, the only one I can come to right now. The only way I can evaluate what I'm doing with Medren is by asking for other opinions. I don't want to repeat Hapes, or Korriban. I don't want to lose someone under my care again."
"And I gave you my opinion." She replied as her hand swiped over one page on the pad to look over something else before looking up at him.
He was quiet for a moment, looking at nothing in particular, before saying, "Thanks for the chat. I'll take first watch; you should get some sleep." And then he was pushing himself up. If Ava didn't stop him, he'd head for the table he had been working at before, where his tools still sat out.
Ava sighed loudly. The data pad was blackened but she did not get up to pursue him.
"Medren believes that he is old enough to make his own choices." She said. "Whether or not that is true doesn't really matter at this point. My suggestion is for you to figure out a way to communicate and work with him that keeps his best interest at hand without alienating him."
Sol had begun cleaning one of the various tools that had been laying there as Ava began speaking. He stopped, set the thing down and reached up to adjust his ear piece without removing his hood, and then did the same with the vocal modulator against his throat. Ava's loud sigh had been right in his ear, and was loud enough to sound like she was shouting the sound directly at him from that close range. It left his ear ringing a bit. "It is definitely not my intention to alienate him. I just want to protect the boy."
“But you are alienating him.” She replied. “You can’t possibly tell me that you don’t see the faces he makes.”
"No kid in the history of kids has enjoyed being told what to do," he replied, "Are his faces those of a child being alienated, or those of a child who is throwing a tantrum because he isn't getting his way? I don't know. But given that he's here, in a place he shouldn't be, I'm willing to bet he hasn't been told 'No.' too often in his life and he isn't used to hearing it. I can work on finding out what is what with him, though, and I am willing to do that."
"So do that." She said. "And see where you go from there."
"Alright," he looked her way from where he sat while adjusting the modulator again, using his hand to keep it where he needed it as he spoke, "Thanks, Ava."
"I know you don't want him here." She said. "And I understand why. But have you asked him why he's here?"
"He said he felt like he needed to come, but couldn't explain why. He told me he didn't tell Jeryndi because he doesn't think Jer would understand the need, or the feeling that he was getting."
Ava's head tilted to the side just a little.
"What do you think about that?"
"It’s possible. The kid -is- sensitive," he said with a small shrug from where he sat, "And Jeryndi -is- a new figure in the boy's life. Maybe Medren just doesn't know yet how far he can trust his father. This is all guesswork for me, and I'm basing it on the fact that Med and his sister didn't even know who their father was outside of the Akir clan until just recently. Hell, they didn't even know who -I- was until just a few months ago, and I trained here close to them."
"Sounds like it's something for you to dig deeper into." She suggested.
"Is it my place to? He barely knows me, and has very little reason to trust me like that. Not to mention his father might not want it."
"I've always believed that the Force is constantly at work. It moves and shifts with the course of life in ways that... I never could fully comprehend." Ava breathed quietly.
"I wonder if you being here... with Medren... is a branch of that waiting to be explored. Not by me." She looked up at him. "But by you."
"You mean -- teach the kid?" He was still looking her way, but was now squinting her direction. Slowly and carefully he turned where he sat and straightened himself up.
"Maybe something simpler than that." Ava said. "Maybe start with just being there and see where it goes from there."
"Yeah, okay," from where she sat she'd see him relax back against the chair he occupied, "That sounds a lot easier."
"Yeah. Baby steps." Ava agreed with a small smile.
He nodded his hooded head, looked toward where Medren was sleeping to make sure the boy hadn't stirred. Content that things in that direction were still quiet, Sol said, "Thank you, Ava, but one more thing before I let you get back to your reading. You asked me," he looked back her way and adjusted the modulator he wore, causing him to cut out for a moment, "About the Wayfinder -- if its like the Witchdoctor. Do you still want to know?"
"I would." She replied. "I was trying to figure out why the 'ghost' reacted to the ship walls."
"That I don't know for sure. It might be something in the materials that were used in creating the Wayfinder, or the coding of the holo, or a combination of both. But regardless of that, yes. The Wayfinder is the Witchdoctor's little sister. It was a gift from Sadhric at the end of my exile."
"Does it operate the same as the Witchdoctor?" She asked curiously.
"I haven't found many differences so far."
"I wonder if they're connected to the same technology; the holo and the Wayfinder." Ava replied as her shoulders rolled.
" 'The same technology'? If that holo -did- come from Tlin, then the answer is 'yes, they are.' But we don't know for sure if it was actually from him."
"Or if it was one of his."
"No." She agreed. "But it is a working theory." A gloved hand reached up to tuck hair away from her face. "When do you want to head out again?" As this was spoken, Ava looked over at the sleeping pre-teen.
"When day breaks," he had followed her gaze toward where Medren slept and then was turning back to his tools, "I'd rather not travel at night if we don't have to."
"I think that's a good idea." She spoke quietly. "How are you holding up now that we're moving?"
"I want to get there as fast as we can. Traveling like this isn't easy for me, but I think I'm doing okay with things right now. I'd be doing a lot better if I just knew one way or the other if he was alright, if the people who had been with him there are alright."
"Back during the Buffton’s War I used to receive premonitions… visions provided through the Force. They were what helped kept us ahead of Vikas at times. It saved my life once or twice – along with a few others. I haven’t had one since its conclusion.” Ava said.
“Sometimes I catch myself wondering why; especially now. I know the Force isn’t some ‘magic tell-all’. Contrary to what most would believe, you can’t just meditate and suddenly receive all the answers. It doesn’t work that way. But…” She smiled sadly and released a long, soft breath. “It’d be nice right now if it were that simple.”
"You haven't had one since? And no," he gave a gentle quiet laugh in understanding, "It doesn't work that way. Your's seem to be more direct than mine, but deciphering them is a tricky thing all the same. It would be nice," he agreed, "If it were that simple though."
“They were… very direct.” Ava mused over the memories. “I don’t know what the cause of them were but I remind myself that if I am meant to have them again… then they will come. And that I should actively avoid trying to force one. That, too, is not how it works.” Again, her eyes rubbed as her head leaned back against the wall that supported her.
“There’s much discontent in him.” Ava nodded to Medren where he slept. “I can see that even if I wasn’t sensitive.”
"He's gone through a lot recently," Sol said, "So its understandable. He's got a father he never knew, an extended family he never knew, and was removed from the only life he'd ever known since being a baby. I imagine he's feeling quite out of control right now."
“I have hope that you can help him turn it around.” Came her reply. “The circumstances might be different but, in some ways, I believe you can relate to how he’s feeling.”
"Yeah, I can. It’s easy to see myself in him. It makes it harder to accept that he's here. This isn't a situation for someone like that, let alone a child. I'll do what I can with him, but we'll see how it goes."
That light smile returned. "Baby steps." She said.
Medren was down for the count in the corner of the room they had taken up occupation in. The boy slept soundly beneath a thermal blanket which meant it would be easier to talk. Solomon did one last check on him before approaching Ava. Their comms were in order, all working the way they should, which meant shouting was no longer something they needed to do. It also meant that Sol's hood was back on, the quiet hiss of his respirator preceding the question, "Are you holding up alright?"
She was sitting in a corner, knees pulled to her chest with a data pad resting on top. Her head was down, looking over the information. Unlike Solomon, her helmet was off.
It seemed blurred vision was their largest combatant within the Red as far as physical signs went. It was worst when she was outside. But here, in this small little compound they had created, it wasn't so bad.
Her head looked up, brown hair spilling across her cheek as her shoulders shrugged.
"As well as can be expected. We’re on course for Um-Shara Yaim."
It wasn't long before he was joining her on the floor, lowering himself so he could sit with his legs stretched out, "Its several days away yet, but yeah. We'll get there soon." His respirator filled the pause he gave with quiet hisses as he contemplated his next question. When he was ready, he asked "What do you make of Medren?"
Several days.
A blink stretched into an eternity.
Ava looked over at him with curious eyes. "I don't know him well enough to make anything of him, honestly. He's quiet but it's hard to judge if that's from his own nature or by your request."
There was a response, and it was kept low and reigned in to just the smallest of thoughtful noises, "You don't agree with how I'm handling him?"
"I don't know what to think of it." She answered. "What do you think about how you're dealing with him?"
"I think I'm being fair enough. He snuck away from his father in the middle of running evacuees just to follow a feeling he had. If he does that with us, he's on his own -- putting himself in danger, and us since we don't know what's out there. He doesn't seem to have a mind for consequences, and he's still very young."
"Have you talked to him about it?" Ava asked. "I mean... since discovering him on the Wayfinder?"
"I've tried," He gave a small nod, "But I don't know if he's heard me. I don't know if I'm just not using the right words, or if he's too headstrong to understand."
"Okay." she breathed and felt her shoulders roll. "How about we do a practice run?" There, she smiled a little. "Say to me what it is you want to say to him."
A crooked half-smile was sent her way, "It’s nothing I haven't said to him before: I expect him to do what we tell him to do without complaint. That is the only real restriction I've placed on him -- well, that and him being weaponless."
"You're the one who said you weren't sure if you were using the right words." She shrugged.
Her face went serious.
"I think that's a hard thing to ask a person no matter what the circumstance. Not the weapon... but to simply do what's asked without any complaint."
"True enough for just about anybody, I guess. But he was raised Mandal before Jeryndi returned. The support of the family unit is paramount in Mandalorian culture and there isn't much room left for complaining in that. It weakens the structure of the unit if someone doesn't do what is both expected and needed of them."
Her head tilted. "But isn't there a difference between support of the family unit and blind obedience?"
Sol shook his head, "You're thinking about it in adult terms, Ava. Medren is a kid. His job -is- obedience."
"How is it any different?" She asked. "He's still a person with thoughts and emotions."
"Alright," He gave a small breath in the way of hissing through his suit's respirators, "Would it matter if he were standing in a burning house and didn't want to leave because he wanted to stay with all of his stuff? No, right? Why? Because he'd be in danger. Its no different here, only in that the burning house is a whole planet and there aren't any visible flames."
"He's your nephew, Solomon. You're the one most responsible for him." Her eyes went back to the data pad.
"If you feel like you're doing what's best for him, then my opinion has no weight on the matter. It's not me they'll come to if something happens to him."
"I don't know if I'm doing what's best for him, Ava. I know I'm doing what I can under the circumstances, but I don't know if its best. And I know they'll come to me if something should happen to him, and I think that's why I need to hear your opinion. You're the only one here that I have to talk to, the only one I can come to right now. The only way I can evaluate what I'm doing with Medren is by asking for other opinions. I don't want to repeat Hapes, or Korriban. I don't want to lose someone under my care again."
"And I gave you my opinion." She replied as her hand swiped over one page on the pad to look over something else before looking up at him.
He was quiet for a moment, looking at nothing in particular, before saying, "Thanks for the chat. I'll take first watch; you should get some sleep." And then he was pushing himself up. If Ava didn't stop him, he'd head for the table he had been working at before, where his tools still sat out.
Ava sighed loudly. The data pad was blackened but she did not get up to pursue him.
"Medren believes that he is old enough to make his own choices." She said. "Whether or not that is true doesn't really matter at this point. My suggestion is for you to figure out a way to communicate and work with him that keeps his best interest at hand without alienating him."
Sol had begun cleaning one of the various tools that had been laying there as Ava began speaking. He stopped, set the thing down and reached up to adjust his ear piece without removing his hood, and then did the same with the vocal modulator against his throat. Ava's loud sigh had been right in his ear, and was loud enough to sound like she was shouting the sound directly at him from that close range. It left his ear ringing a bit. "It is definitely not my intention to alienate him. I just want to protect the boy."
“But you are alienating him.” She replied. “You can’t possibly tell me that you don’t see the faces he makes.”
"No kid in the history of kids has enjoyed being told what to do," he replied, "Are his faces those of a child being alienated, or those of a child who is throwing a tantrum because he isn't getting his way? I don't know. But given that he's here, in a place he shouldn't be, I'm willing to bet he hasn't been told 'No.' too often in his life and he isn't used to hearing it. I can work on finding out what is what with him, though, and I am willing to do that."
"So do that." She said. "And see where you go from there."
"Alright," he looked her way from where he sat while adjusting the modulator again, using his hand to keep it where he needed it as he spoke, "Thanks, Ava."
"I know you don't want him here." She said. "And I understand why. But have you asked him why he's here?"
"He said he felt like he needed to come, but couldn't explain why. He told me he didn't tell Jeryndi because he doesn't think Jer would understand the need, or the feeling that he was getting."
Ava's head tilted to the side just a little.
"What do you think about that?"
"It’s possible. The kid -is- sensitive," he said with a small shrug from where he sat, "And Jeryndi -is- a new figure in the boy's life. Maybe Medren just doesn't know yet how far he can trust his father. This is all guesswork for me, and I'm basing it on the fact that Med and his sister didn't even know who their father was outside of the Akir clan until just recently. Hell, they didn't even know who -I- was until just a few months ago, and I trained here close to them."
"Sounds like it's something for you to dig deeper into." She suggested.
"Is it my place to? He barely knows me, and has very little reason to trust me like that. Not to mention his father might not want it."
"I've always believed that the Force is constantly at work. It moves and shifts with the course of life in ways that... I never could fully comprehend." Ava breathed quietly.
"I wonder if you being here... with Medren... is a branch of that waiting to be explored. Not by me." She looked up at him. "But by you."
"You mean -- teach the kid?" He was still looking her way, but was now squinting her direction. Slowly and carefully he turned where he sat and straightened himself up.
"Maybe something simpler than that." Ava said. "Maybe start with just being there and see where it goes from there."
"Yeah, okay," from where she sat she'd see him relax back against the chair he occupied, "That sounds a lot easier."
"Yeah. Baby steps." Ava agreed with a small smile.
He nodded his hooded head, looked toward where Medren was sleeping to make sure the boy hadn't stirred. Content that things in that direction were still quiet, Sol said, "Thank you, Ava, but one more thing before I let you get back to your reading. You asked me," he looked back her way and adjusted the modulator he wore, causing him to cut out for a moment, "About the Wayfinder -- if its like the Witchdoctor. Do you still want to know?"
"I would." She replied. "I was trying to figure out why the 'ghost' reacted to the ship walls."
"That I don't know for sure. It might be something in the materials that were used in creating the Wayfinder, or the coding of the holo, or a combination of both. But regardless of that, yes. The Wayfinder is the Witchdoctor's little sister. It was a gift from Sadhric at the end of my exile."
"Does it operate the same as the Witchdoctor?" She asked curiously.
"I haven't found many differences so far."
"I wonder if they're connected to the same technology; the holo and the Wayfinder." Ava replied as her shoulders rolled.
" 'The same technology'? If that holo -did- come from Tlin, then the answer is 'yes, they are.' But we don't know for sure if it was actually from him."
"Or if it was one of his."
"No." She agreed. "But it is a working theory." A gloved hand reached up to tuck hair away from her face. "When do you want to head out again?" As this was spoken, Ava looked over at the sleeping pre-teen.
"When day breaks," he had followed her gaze toward where Medren slept and then was turning back to his tools, "I'd rather not travel at night if we don't have to."
"I think that's a good idea." She spoke quietly. "How are you holding up now that we're moving?"
"I want to get there as fast as we can. Traveling like this isn't easy for me, but I think I'm doing okay with things right now. I'd be doing a lot better if I just knew one way or the other if he was alright, if the people who had been with him there are alright."
"Back during the Buffton’s War I used to receive premonitions… visions provided through the Force. They were what helped kept us ahead of Vikas at times. It saved my life once or twice – along with a few others. I haven’t had one since its conclusion.” Ava said.
“Sometimes I catch myself wondering why; especially now. I know the Force isn’t some ‘magic tell-all’. Contrary to what most would believe, you can’t just meditate and suddenly receive all the answers. It doesn’t work that way. But…” She smiled sadly and released a long, soft breath. “It’d be nice right now if it were that simple.”
"You haven't had one since? And no," he gave a gentle quiet laugh in understanding, "It doesn't work that way. Your's seem to be more direct than mine, but deciphering them is a tricky thing all the same. It would be nice," he agreed, "If it were that simple though."
“They were… very direct.” Ava mused over the memories. “I don’t know what the cause of them were but I remind myself that if I am meant to have them again… then they will come. And that I should actively avoid trying to force one. That, too, is not how it works.” Again, her eyes rubbed as her head leaned back against the wall that supported her.
“There’s much discontent in him.” Ava nodded to Medren where he slept. “I can see that even if I wasn’t sensitive.”
"He's gone through a lot recently," Sol said, "So its understandable. He's got a father he never knew, an extended family he never knew, and was removed from the only life he'd ever known since being a baby. I imagine he's feeling quite out of control right now."
“I have hope that you can help him turn it around.” Came her reply. “The circumstances might be different but, in some ways, I believe you can relate to how he’s feeling.”
"Yeah, I can. It’s easy to see myself in him. It makes it harder to accept that he's here. This isn't a situation for someone like that, let alone a child. I'll do what I can with him, but we'll see how it goes."
That light smile returned. "Baby steps." She said.