Post by Marshall on Apr 5, 2019 14:21:47 GMT -5
With preparations of tomorrow’s journey coming to an end, Ava slipped away from the masses to find Bries within Tal-Ruus. “Might I have a moment to talk to you?” She asked once she located the Mandalorian. “if it’s not an inconvenience.”
She found Breis crouched at the cave entrance, counting supplies. He'd just sent the Mandal called Y'gell down to the speeder to make sure they weren't double-counting rations, and had his hands full of Avaz packs that had once been Ava's stash. He looked up, twisting enough to see her face, and seemed surprised. "You're all so well-mannered," the big man teased, rising. "You'll fool me yet into thinking I'm really at some Hapan getaway."
Ava smiled at him. It was a bright action that seemed to lighten the eyes, though those little changes might have been difficult to tell with the envirosuits helmet. What wasn’t difficult to tell was how much taller and larger the man was compared to Ava’s small form. A detail she hadn’t realized until standing there with him. But of course this wasn’t anything new to the Jedi. She’d become long accustomed to being one of the smallest, if not the smallest, adult in the room.
“If it is… you should really check the approval rating before booking next time.” She replied in kind.
Breis Teimar grunted, the sound unmistakably a laugh. "What's your topic, Jetii?"
“How was it that you found Tal-Ruus?” She asked. “What was it like out in the Red before you found shelter here?”
"Ah." He nodded. Crouched again to get back to what he'd been doing, this time taking the tactic of grouping the ration packs and containers in fives so that he could hold a conversation without fearing he might lose count. "It... was...." He sighed, paused, and thought about how to truly answer her question instead of just describing the surface. "For me," he finally told her, "I honestly thought I might be dead. The thought was with me. In here." He reached up with a full hand to touch the side of his head. "In here." He did the same at his chest. Then he went back to counting.
"The last thing I had been doing was racing my riduur"--a half glance, with a swift translation: "--my wife--across the sparring diamond, and now I was alone. There had been sun; now there was no sun. There had been people; there was nothing. The air had been sweet and clean; now it choked and cooked."
Ava didn’t interrupt. But she did move closer, kneeling down to help take the rations he counted and place them back into their proper container as so that none would get lost in transition. Her eyes were softened but it wasn’t a look of pity or sorrow but understanding. Though it hadn’t been at the magnitude of losing an entire planet, Ava could relate to how he felt.
"What happened next?” She asked.
Breis watched her with the groupings, and once he was satisfied she was being orderly and careful, he went on. "Well," he sighed in a more conversational tone, "I wasn't dead. I hurt; I thirsted; I felt hunger. I couldn't tell sunrise from sunset, so I tried to walk toward the prevailing wind... which would have been north, in Um-Shara."
"... Not as simple as that now, but from what your companions have told me, it seems it still was northward, if the... impact, or whatever it was... happened north of the Yaim. I came upon others, eventually, in ones and twos. We found these ridges of rock, which had not existed anywhere near the Yaim. But I think we began to cluster near them because they gave some break from the wind, so I saw more and more stragglers over time. Recognized more than few. Their stories were like mine. We tried to find water--and did, because there are wrecked ships out there. Some of them floating in the air like these rocks you've seen. Came away with supplies. And that time... it felt like falling asleep was a death sentence. If you slept, you could become unwake-able. You became a sleeper, a dreamer. You lived, but you were not alive. So we dragged ourselves around and used stims from kit we found. We didn't make camp for days, even though we were dying on our feet."
The big man stilled again. Was silent again. The moment passed:
"Then we saw them. The invaders, their wakeks. Some of us died, we were so weak. So surprised. I don't even know how many. We had some weapons, and used them. Drove them off. Realized if we were going to live we needed to be what we are, get organized, shake ourselves awake. So we did. I assigned scouts, gave them extra water, sent them out, told them to follow the rock formations back to us, since we couldn't see far, knew I might never see any of them again. But word came back of a defensible shelter on one of the ridges--we called it Tal-Kebii'tra, and it became our camp. Every drop of water we found, every packet of food, every medkit, every survivor, every dreamer we found was taken there. That is our home now. This." He looked up and around, made a small gesture with his hand without moving his arm. "Tal Ruus. It's just a small camp. I came out here with volunteers to see who we might find. I come with the vision of my wife Daliyonn in my eyes.
I hope to see her again. But I rejoice at every person we find. For my vod. For the memories of the dead."
It was a story. One filled with struggle and fear and the unknown. But there was also hope. Ava could see, could -feel-, his hope.
"Your story is inspiring." She said. "What you and those who you've found have been through... with everything that you've seen and experienced..." Her head shook.
"They looked at us like we were crazy when we said that we were coming here. They said there wasn't anything left to find - no survivors. And yet..." Ava smiled at him. "You're here. And you've found others. And that you keep looking for more. Finding you and everyone here... there are no words to what that means to me. What that means for this planet and its people."
"As I told your companion, Solomon:" Breis raised his eyebrows and cracked a faint smile. "... I probably would have looked at you like you were crazy for coming into this, too. But this isn't a 'story' until we survive it. Until we are somehow outside of this, on the other side of this, perhaps gathered around a fire, with good food and good company, telling it." He shrugged again, but did not right away return to his count. Instead, he studied Ava. "We had to shout everything, then. Back when it started. The roar in the ears that was no roar; feeling deaf without being deaf. And even with stims, we started to notice our numbers dwindled. People would just... wander off. Be lost in the Red. They could have been thirty feet away, and I might never have found them. Been calling my name, and I might never have heard them. What you see now... This is so much better. There's actual light up there, now, sometimes." He indicated the sky with a glance and then smiled at her again, just a gentle acknowledgement, serene. "I am glad you see hope here. I am living at the edge of pain, and it's hard for me to feel much. Even loss... feels like it's over there somewhere." He waved a hand toward the edge of the rise. "I can see it, but not quite touch it. I know it's there."
It was still a ‘story’ for Ava.
Perhaps because she had not lived it but only heard the tale.
“It was like that for us. Not at first. If we were close enough we could communicate. Shouting at first. Then through the comm system only if we stayed in range. Eventually that wasn’t enough. When you found us... communication was impossible. The buzz was so loud and had been there for so long, I didn’t think it would ever end. Visibility was much like what you described. This is the first real glimpse of light since being within the Red.” She glanced up towards the sky.
There was a moment, a breath, where Ava hesitated. But then a decision was made.
“This might sound crazy but… I can feel others out there.” She nodded towards the Red and her brows knitted. “It’s hazy and blurred – like I’m trying to remember the details of a dream I can’t quite remember. But it’s very real.”
Breis was still. His nod when he gave it was slow, deliberate, and it came just once. "Are they...." He'd breathed the words; he commanded his voice to return as he continued. "... in pain?"
“No.” She spoke softly, though still making sure it would be audible. “I don’t feel pain or anything like it from them. I wish I had more… felt more… but it’s an awareness that they are there. I can feel them… and I can feel where I think, where I hope, I need to go.” Ava paused to look at him.
“I understand the need to live for the living but, no matter what happens tomorrow when we arrive, I’ll have to keep pressing onward.” She breathed. “I can’t turn away from what’s out there.”
That got an entirely different kind of smile from Breis. The big warrior's mouth twisted a little; he gave a little grunt of surprise. Surprised approval. "No matter what happens tomorrow," he told her in a low voice, "you will not be alone in not being eager to flee. I have people to find. If I can. Narion has his sons. Tavv'ari has her cousins. Renda has lost his little daughter, Lim. Everyone here at Tal Ruus, excepting Y'gell whom we found not long before the doc encountered you, is here by their own will to find who we can find. But we need supplies. Or we will die. Maybe we'll find a cache in the ship graveyard that can sustain us for a time, while the Hapans hunt for whatever they need to fix their dropship. If we don't... and you proceed... you may be going to your death."
“We had more supplies.” Ava offered. “But they were abandoned about three days ago when the speeder lost power.” Her head shook. “I would give anything to have a way for you to locate it – if just to help those here now.”
"Three days." He shook his head. "It's too far. We don't have fast enough travel. Even now, we are only a few hours from Tal-Keb following the ridge, and it feels like we're the only beings in creation. --But I thank you. I recall Medren saying as much." With a sigh, he gathered up the food, keeping the count in his head, offering some to Ava to put away in the crate nearest her, and then working to pack his own to capacity. "I have to ask you--a few things. Above, we have one of the invaders. Your companions described a strange incident in Keldabe in which they say they saw a creature of the very same type. I was told to ask you how that was possible."
Ava’s brows furrowed at this.
“You mean the 'ghost' warrior?" She questioned.
"Yes; that is what it was called once. Solomon told me it was a holographic projection, but they described it as if it moved freely about the ship. They said it attacked. How could a holo do such a thing? When I asked for clarification, Solomon showed me what a liar looks like."
“It did.” She confirmed. “But I don’t know how it was possible. It… was like watching moving static. His body flickered in and out as if there was a break in the signal. The ‘ghost’ spoke Mando’a – a language I still don’t really know so it’s hard for me to say if he could actually hear us… because I couldn’t understand what he said. But I know he could see us.”
“He did try to attack us.” She confirmed this as well. “He would have killed me, killed Medren and Solomon as well. But… he couldn’t touch us. Every time he attacked, I waited for a blow and nothing happened. It was like he was swiping at air. And that seemed to infuriate him even more. He tried over and over again until he became frustrated and abandoned that tactic. And then walked around the ship inspecting it.”
"How is this possible?" Breis asked her. "Solomon tried to tell me that the ship had working comms, but that I couldn't understand. I may not be able to understand, but he stood there and wriggled under the question. And I need to at least try to understand."
“I don’t know.” Her head shook. “I don’t know how any of it was possible. I don’t know how he got there… but it didn’t happen until after the Red passed over us.”
"Then why did they tell me to ask you? What special information do you have about what you saw?"
Her first answer that came to mind was so that they could have dodged the question themselves. It was an old pattern of Solomon’s that she recognized. Direct the questioner to someone else; that way, if the wrong information was released it wouldn’t be linked back to him.
Ava sighed a soft breath.
“I have seen something similar like that before…" She answered honestly. "but the creation of it was never revealed to me. I only saw the effects which was a much stabler version of what was in the Wayfinder.”
Breis had exactly one reason for asking: "Is it something we can use if one of us gets back to Keldabe?" He did not believe in ducking topics, himself. "I asked first before we got this message from Tal-Keb about the Hapans. But Solomon gave me a song and dance about Tlin sending the message to you on that ship, or the...." He frowned, frustrated with his lack of knowledge. "... thing picking up an accidental message from the invaders."
Ava’s eyes widened at that. She could feel her head shaking.
“If Solomon thinks it was Tlin trying to send me some sort of message…” She said, remembering the violence from the ‘ghost’ and it’s multiple attempts in trying to kill her and the others. “then he hasn’t told me about it.”
“I don’t know if it’s possible to use it.” She said. “Technology isn’t one of my strengths. To be honest, I’m lucky if I can get my ship to work correctly most days.”
Breis huffed a laugh through his nose, rocking slightly with it. That faded, and he lowered his voice again: "Distractions are luxuries. We have no room for them. I will make no trouble with Solomon, but I know who he is. What he is. I fought for Ker'dan for years. And if he returned, I would fight for him again. I do not think Solomon could reconcile such a thing, because I do not believe such as him can understand honor. To you I give my word that I mean no harm, that I lead here for the good of any who shelter with me, and that if I can I will see us out of here safely, with as many as we can save. Whatever it is between Solomon and Trander Tyrantkiller, I ask that you help me to keep it from spilling out amongst my company. I do not involve myself in their dispute; I lack the energy for it. It deserves nothing from me. But it is dangerous, and it is disrespectful to our dead, and to those who seek to live."
For some reason, Ava found comfort in Bries’ words.
“I believe you to be a man of honor, Breis.” She said. “And I believe you would keep your word. I know there is a history with the Jedi and the Mandals, especially given the aftermaths of the Buffton’s War… but it is not my history. I am here to help and work with you, and your people, however I can until the day comes were we should part ways and move on. Even if that is alone and towards death.”
He turned and very pointedly offered her his hand. He had big hands anyway, muscular and strong, and the gloves and layers he wore made them seem even moreso.
There was a second were Ava looked unsure, as if she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. And then, her hand stretched out to clasp his. Even with the gloves, they were small in his hand. Small in a way that almost didn’t belong. As if someone like herself shouldn’t be that delicate.
It was just a clasp. He didn't tighten his hand much. Agreement without challenge.
Ava held the grasp for as long as it was necessary to do so. And then, once the moment was filled with unspoken satisfaction, she’d release the grip.
“I do need to apologize for Solomon and Jeryndi.” She spoke. “There is a history between them that, for whatever reason, they cannot let go – no matter how often I remind them that this is not the time nor the place. The tension between them is like balancing a cup of water that’s on the brink of spilling. The slightest movement causes it to spill.”
"Why Trander is here... I understand that better. He says he hopes to find survivors; that some of my company now wear better protection thanks to gear he brought. I do not know the Force or the ways of the Jedi, but I believe Trander when he says he feels guided by them--even if he considers himself dar'jetii. I understand also his son, and I understand you, I think. The one I do not understand is Solomon. He is not one of us. Crazed from the dust or not, when he awoke among us I suspect we saw the shadows of his true thoughts: he cares little for us. Our well-being. It makes no sense to me, why he is here. What does he seek? If he did not believe he would find life at Um-Shara, why did he come?"
“At this point,” Ava said with an unspoken weight. “I don’t even know why Solomon is here.” Her head was shaking. “Perhaps it’s because he has to know what happened. If I had known he was to pack so little before we ventured out here… I would have added more supplies. Truth be told, we wouldn’t have made it as far as we have without Jeryndi. The arrival of him and his supplies was critical.”
Breis took that in and then pressed in close to his crate to hug its bulk to his chest so that he could turn and stack it atop Ava's now that both were full and sealed. "I have a task for you," Breis grunted before the weight transferred to the bottom crate and he sighed, rose to stand, and gazed down at her. "You are jetii. My verd are reliable, but they are tired. When we travel tomorrow, if you will ride a wakek and keep your eyes open for trouble--or for wanderers! Should we come near any!--that would be of great use. The one who attacked you when the patrol came upon you--I would like to think that he is dead, but he has returned before when we thought he must surely be lost. And as we grow closer to Tal-Kebii'tra... the bigger enemy we have sometimes seen near there, with their wakeks."
"I can." She nodded. "Could... you tell me more about the ones who attacked us? They're not like you, are they?"
It was a serious question, and Breis was direct. "No. Any who take the Resol'nare may be among us as kin, but I have not seen this species before. Your companions also noted how the armor resembles traditional beskar'gam--we see that, too. They said, as you said, that your enemy--the one from Solomon's ship--spoke our tongue. But that is not the tongue we have been hearing in our clashes with these flesh and blood ones. We think we recognize words among their speech, when they shout, when they snarl, but...." He shook his head. "... no. If they know Mando'a here, they do not use it near us. Wisely. --I will say: when I took up a bit of armor from one of them, I saw at once it was not beskar. It was crude, the metal strong but brittle. It looked hand-forged to me, and not by an expert armorer. At Tal-Keb, you will see some of their weapons, also. We armed ourselves with them when we had fewer of our own. They wield knives. Spears. Throwing weapons. If they have technology, it is not common among them. We have seen special spears, but that is all. They ride wakeks, not swoops. And as I said when you arrived: while mighty as warriors, they make childish mistakes in groups. They can fight, and are dangerous, but their tactics are inferior."
Thoughtfully, he added: "Medren said he thought our prisoner's gear reminded him of the stories of old. Of our ancient forebears. I can... see whereby he takes that impression. My own impression is that we face an enemy who wishes to be us. Who tries to mimic us, and fails. And if this catastrophe, with its dreamers and its floating mountains is the result of some technology, then I can't believe these fools created it."
"Medren translated the best he could for me during our experience with the 'ghost'." Ava spoke. "He called us 'soft skins', does that mean anything to you?"
Breis shook his head again. "What else did the ghost say?"
“What I heard was by a second-hand translation.” She stated. “But… he looked lost and wanted to know who ‘owned’ us and where he was.” There was a pause. “But mostly he insulted Medren and Solomon every time they spoke.”
"Guessing that your visitor was not their top diplomat, then," the big man chuckled. He heaved a sigh. "There's nothing I can do about him from here. Obviously. If it's a transmission, we need the equipment that can handle that. If we can get it. If Solomon is right... does that mean our best bet is gutting the Astrala?" Just thinking out loud, Breis kept right on going: "... It's the language. Yours can speak Mando'a. If the others can speak it, where did they get it? We can't understand what they're saying when they bother to say anything, here. The sounds are familiar, but it's not our language."
“I’d say not.” She replied in turn with the barest hint of a smile. “No. I don’t think that he was. More than anything, he seemed lost.”
Ava listened until he was finished before speaking again.
“I think the best thing we could do about the Astrala is wait and see what we find tomorrow. And then, we’ll go from there.”
"I know," Breis breathed. "That's all we've been doing. Waiting to see." He nodded. "I'm used to it."
"Eyes first." Ava mumbled quietly before her throat cleared.
"Where did the pods come from?" She asked almost abruptly. "I've never... what are they?"
The big man looked down to pop open a hard-shelled pouch at his belt. He stood there, a figure who managed to project raw physical strength even while bundled up in layers, and took a long second to tease something out with fingers made clumsy by gloves. It was one of the pods; he offered it over for her inspection, since there had been little enough time for that when she'd taken her first one.
It was ovoid, roughly three centimeters across at its longest point. It looked like a scabby fruit, with the remnants of some kind of fuzz. Hard to say whether or not it was wholly natural: the seam that ran around its outside might well have simply been part of its formation if it was a plant; if the pod itself was constructed, then it was glued or stuck together to seal those halves together, not stitched. When the Mandals had first offered Ava one, they had shown her where to squeeze its contents from: a slight pucker at the top that held the thick gel inside well enough most of the time, but which tore when squeezed.
"I've only seen them being carried by the invaders," Breis told her. "They carry them on bandoliers, mostly. Or belts. I've seen them carrying just one; the doc said he'd seen one carrying six. Every number in between. We wasted a lot early on, trying to wake unwakeable dreamers. We'll keep using them for that, because... there's no telling. But so far, we've only tried up to six. We simply don't have enough to keep using them on our sleepers when we don't know if they'll even work."
The pod was taken. She inspected the fruit-like item carefully as he spoke. Her gloved hand gingerly running along the fuzzy skin even though she couldn’t really feel it.
“After I took the first pod… the effects were… phenomenal. The ringing stopped. I felt better.” Her head shook. “They invaders had these on them….” She said this more aloud to herself than to Breis. Finally Ava looked at him.
“I don’t know if they are responsible for the Red… but it does look like they came prepared for it.”
"We agree," he told her. He pointed toward it. "Keep that one with you--do you have a case that can protect it from being crushed? If not, someone around here will. Or there will be something suitable in your speeder. We've been taking ours before our sleep shifts. Right before we bed down. At first, we started that because we were afraid of sleeping. That it might lead to us just not waking up. Now... it's not a bad way to keep track of how long it's been since we took our last dose of the wormspit."
"Thank you." Ava said. "And thank you for the resources you've spared to help us... especially Solomon. I'm not sure what would have happened if not for your help."
From the right of her hip, a metal case was detached from her utility belt. It clicked open with a muffled 'snap'. The pod was tucked safely into a small container, the lid clipped shut, and then placed back onto the belt.
Breis eyed the case and apparently approved of it. "As I told him," he said, "all who come here are under my protection. All automatically qualify for that. There is no room for judgment here. We're too close to not making it--any of us."
Ava watched him for a moment.
"I hope we find more out there like you, Breis." She breathed, looking away. "I think we're going to need more like you."
The man went still and said: "You will. At Tal-Keb. Among any others we find. Except that thief, whoever that is, you will see what it means to be Mando'ade."
" 'Mando'ade'?" She asked. "What does that mean?"
The question made him laugh, mystified, and he grinned at her. "Children of Mandalore. Its daughters. Its sons. Those who carry on its ways." He cocked his head pointedly, nodding in that lopsided way. "Even in defeat."
“Ah. I see.” Ava said with a smile. “I’ve always heard that… the Mandalores were like a brotherhood.”
"That is the weakest way of putting what we are."
"Could you tell me more, then?" She asked curiously.
Breis Teimar studied her. Then he said: "Tell me what you think of the people you know out there." He nodded--but it was an upward nod. "Tell me why your Order struggles like the last embers of a fire. Why it is ready always to be snuffed out, and only survives in lesser form because chance winds uncover one tiny, lost ember once in a while."
Quiet for a long moment, Ava looked at Breis and then breathed a soft breath.
"The Jedi fall short due to many things," she said. "But I believe the root cause, or maybe one of them, is because we teach to cling to standards long out dated - a code that usually only spoken but never upheld. We have those who 'say' they are Jedi only when the time is convenient."
The man heard her out. It was not the kind of listening where one might nod Yes or shake their head No. This was intent and still, and required none of those little indications that Breis had actually heard her. "We have a kind of code, too. At its heart is that we do what we say we will do. The word of any one of us has weight. It is as reliable as sunrise. The heart not only of individual honor, but of the honor of all of us. And because we are not perfect, we have ways amongst ourselves of challenging liars and deceivers, of aiding those who might break their promises not through intention but through weakness or lack of understanding, and we stay together. We will -be- together, even when far from each other. We go to war together, and in war there may be victory, or there may be defeat, and that is war. Here you see us in defeat, but we are unchanged. Tricked, we remain as one. Though we argue and debate, underneath we remain one. Through confusing times: one. Through false Mand'alors: one. Through occupation: one. And through this...." He looked up, around. The Red. "One. We will be one, we will protect one another, we will strengthen one another, and we will be the ones who keep their word, always, no matter what watered-down truths and fresh turmoil drowns the rest of the galaxy anew. Take our weapons, take our property--what do we care? Just things. Kill us? What do we care? We'll fight, and we know death waits. The family is always there. The clan protects the families. The Mand'alor looks out for the clans. We will never fall apart as your Order does. You will never see it happen."
Speechless for a moment, Ava could only admire Teimar's conviction. It was an unexpected surprise that filled the silence until she released an impressed breath. "Someday," she finally spoke, "I hope my Jedi Order will possess the same unity and integrity that you speak of."
"Hope is good," the man breathed. "Hope is useful. But in some things, it is not enough. Action is required." Then he smiled and a teasing, sly laugh lurked behind his eyes, ready but waiting. "Then again, you could always just join -us-."
She grinned at him as she felt her head began to shake. "The offer is quite kind," Ava spoke. "But as... disastrous," the word was breathed, "as it can be... it is where I belong."
Breis considered her and gave a loose nod and shrug as if to say So be it. He smiled at her, then laughed as if that was what it took to cap the thought. "I think... it is important to tell you that I was sure we would die here before you and your party arrived here. I don't believe," he went on quietly, "that I had admitted that to myself wholly, until seeing you and your speeder led in by the doc and our wakeks pierced it. The last thing I want is friction. Not now. Not when I do believe that we stand a chance."
“You saved my friend.” Ava said in soft turn. She thought back to the floating Dreamer. How Solomon bolted after the body and the Invader’s attack. “If you hadn’t spared your resources, I don’t know if he would have survived." She looked at him.
"We saved one another. We have a chance. I know the Force is a touchy subject for some, and I’m not asking you to change that if it’s something you don’t believe in, but… I feel it. In the people here. In this place and the Red. There’s something there and it’s much more than what it appears to be. At the end of this, we’re going to be okay.”
"Oh I believe in the Force," Breis told her after she'd spoken her piece. His gaze was steady, oblique but only by chance. "I don't automatically believe in the wisdom of those who claim to feel it, but I do believe that it exists. And you and your fellows repeat what our woken dreamers have said, about the others. That they can remember knowing they were out there somewhere." He whispered at the end, and swept a slow hand through the air. Out there. Somewhere. "This mark of yours... If it works, does it lead you to Tlin? Or to something else?"
“I don’t know where it will lead.” She answered in honesty. “But I know it leads somewhere. Somewhere important. Somewhere where there are others. I hope to find them. And I hope, that when I do, I’ll be able to help them.”
"You weren't the only one to mention Tlin to me," he told her with a knowing nod. "How is it that a Jetii and no less than two dar'jetii come to be here, now, if not because of him? We know him to be an associate of the Jedi. Impossible to miss, really."
“It’s not just about Tlin.” Ava said quietly. “He is an associate to the Jedi and an ally at times. But my arrival here is more than him.”
She licked her lips before speaking. “When the impact hit… it was a blow in the Force that I’d never felt before. There’s only one moment that mirrors it and even that pales in comparison now. I felt the loss of your people. The loss of life on your planet. But I didn’t feel death, if that makes any sense. There was still life here. And I thought… even if I only find one person… if I could only save just one person… then that life merits this journey. That one life was work the risk.”
The man stood still. A long moment passed. He glanced behind him, then across the space, across the upturned hips, shoulders, chests, of the Mandals who were catching sleep before their next watch or scout-and-search shift. Then, quietly, he asked: "If you... Have you the skill to locate an individual? Individuals? Our lost ones? Not a them, but as a her, or a him, in particular...?"
"I have not." Ava said.
There was silence and then.
"But... that doesn't mean I cannot try."
He nodded very slowly. "Thank you. Jetii."
She breathed in slowly and nodded. "It's your wife, isn't it? That you wish for me to find."
"Yes. Her." His smile came quick and tight. "All of them. All of them. But for myself: Daliyonn. My fastest gun. The foulest mouth. First into a fight. Last out of a cold stream. My strictest teacher. Mother of my ade. Heart of my heart."
"Not tonight." Ava said, feeling a smile creep on her face as she watched him speak about his wife before she sobered. "But... I will try."
She found Breis crouched at the cave entrance, counting supplies. He'd just sent the Mandal called Y'gell down to the speeder to make sure they weren't double-counting rations, and had his hands full of Avaz packs that had once been Ava's stash. He looked up, twisting enough to see her face, and seemed surprised. "You're all so well-mannered," the big man teased, rising. "You'll fool me yet into thinking I'm really at some Hapan getaway."
Ava smiled at him. It was a bright action that seemed to lighten the eyes, though those little changes might have been difficult to tell with the envirosuits helmet. What wasn’t difficult to tell was how much taller and larger the man was compared to Ava’s small form. A detail she hadn’t realized until standing there with him. But of course this wasn’t anything new to the Jedi. She’d become long accustomed to being one of the smallest, if not the smallest, adult in the room.
“If it is… you should really check the approval rating before booking next time.” She replied in kind.
Breis Teimar grunted, the sound unmistakably a laugh. "What's your topic, Jetii?"
“How was it that you found Tal-Ruus?” She asked. “What was it like out in the Red before you found shelter here?”
"Ah." He nodded. Crouched again to get back to what he'd been doing, this time taking the tactic of grouping the ration packs and containers in fives so that he could hold a conversation without fearing he might lose count. "It... was...." He sighed, paused, and thought about how to truly answer her question instead of just describing the surface. "For me," he finally told her, "I honestly thought I might be dead. The thought was with me. In here." He reached up with a full hand to touch the side of his head. "In here." He did the same at his chest. Then he went back to counting.
"The last thing I had been doing was racing my riduur"--a half glance, with a swift translation: "--my wife--across the sparring diamond, and now I was alone. There had been sun; now there was no sun. There had been people; there was nothing. The air had been sweet and clean; now it choked and cooked."
Ava didn’t interrupt. But she did move closer, kneeling down to help take the rations he counted and place them back into their proper container as so that none would get lost in transition. Her eyes were softened but it wasn’t a look of pity or sorrow but understanding. Though it hadn’t been at the magnitude of losing an entire planet, Ava could relate to how he felt.
"What happened next?” She asked.
Breis watched her with the groupings, and once he was satisfied she was being orderly and careful, he went on. "Well," he sighed in a more conversational tone, "I wasn't dead. I hurt; I thirsted; I felt hunger. I couldn't tell sunrise from sunset, so I tried to walk toward the prevailing wind... which would have been north, in Um-Shara."
"... Not as simple as that now, but from what your companions have told me, it seems it still was northward, if the... impact, or whatever it was... happened north of the Yaim. I came upon others, eventually, in ones and twos. We found these ridges of rock, which had not existed anywhere near the Yaim. But I think we began to cluster near them because they gave some break from the wind, so I saw more and more stragglers over time. Recognized more than few. Their stories were like mine. We tried to find water--and did, because there are wrecked ships out there. Some of them floating in the air like these rocks you've seen. Came away with supplies. And that time... it felt like falling asleep was a death sentence. If you slept, you could become unwake-able. You became a sleeper, a dreamer. You lived, but you were not alive. So we dragged ourselves around and used stims from kit we found. We didn't make camp for days, even though we were dying on our feet."
The big man stilled again. Was silent again. The moment passed:
"Then we saw them. The invaders, their wakeks. Some of us died, we were so weak. So surprised. I don't even know how many. We had some weapons, and used them. Drove them off. Realized if we were going to live we needed to be what we are, get organized, shake ourselves awake. So we did. I assigned scouts, gave them extra water, sent them out, told them to follow the rock formations back to us, since we couldn't see far, knew I might never see any of them again. But word came back of a defensible shelter on one of the ridges--we called it Tal-Kebii'tra, and it became our camp. Every drop of water we found, every packet of food, every medkit, every survivor, every dreamer we found was taken there. That is our home now. This." He looked up and around, made a small gesture with his hand without moving his arm. "Tal Ruus. It's just a small camp. I came out here with volunteers to see who we might find. I come with the vision of my wife Daliyonn in my eyes.
I hope to see her again. But I rejoice at every person we find. For my vod. For the memories of the dead."
It was a story. One filled with struggle and fear and the unknown. But there was also hope. Ava could see, could -feel-, his hope.
"Your story is inspiring." She said. "What you and those who you've found have been through... with everything that you've seen and experienced..." Her head shook.
"They looked at us like we were crazy when we said that we were coming here. They said there wasn't anything left to find - no survivors. And yet..." Ava smiled at him. "You're here. And you've found others. And that you keep looking for more. Finding you and everyone here... there are no words to what that means to me. What that means for this planet and its people."
"As I told your companion, Solomon:" Breis raised his eyebrows and cracked a faint smile. "... I probably would have looked at you like you were crazy for coming into this, too. But this isn't a 'story' until we survive it. Until we are somehow outside of this, on the other side of this, perhaps gathered around a fire, with good food and good company, telling it." He shrugged again, but did not right away return to his count. Instead, he studied Ava. "We had to shout everything, then. Back when it started. The roar in the ears that was no roar; feeling deaf without being deaf. And even with stims, we started to notice our numbers dwindled. People would just... wander off. Be lost in the Red. They could have been thirty feet away, and I might never have found them. Been calling my name, and I might never have heard them. What you see now... This is so much better. There's actual light up there, now, sometimes." He indicated the sky with a glance and then smiled at her again, just a gentle acknowledgement, serene. "I am glad you see hope here. I am living at the edge of pain, and it's hard for me to feel much. Even loss... feels like it's over there somewhere." He waved a hand toward the edge of the rise. "I can see it, but not quite touch it. I know it's there."
It was still a ‘story’ for Ava.
Perhaps because she had not lived it but only heard the tale.
“It was like that for us. Not at first. If we were close enough we could communicate. Shouting at first. Then through the comm system only if we stayed in range. Eventually that wasn’t enough. When you found us... communication was impossible. The buzz was so loud and had been there for so long, I didn’t think it would ever end. Visibility was much like what you described. This is the first real glimpse of light since being within the Red.” She glanced up towards the sky.
There was a moment, a breath, where Ava hesitated. But then a decision was made.
“This might sound crazy but… I can feel others out there.” She nodded towards the Red and her brows knitted. “It’s hazy and blurred – like I’m trying to remember the details of a dream I can’t quite remember. But it’s very real.”
Breis was still. His nod when he gave it was slow, deliberate, and it came just once. "Are they...." He'd breathed the words; he commanded his voice to return as he continued. "... in pain?"
“No.” She spoke softly, though still making sure it would be audible. “I don’t feel pain or anything like it from them. I wish I had more… felt more… but it’s an awareness that they are there. I can feel them… and I can feel where I think, where I hope, I need to go.” Ava paused to look at him.
“I understand the need to live for the living but, no matter what happens tomorrow when we arrive, I’ll have to keep pressing onward.” She breathed. “I can’t turn away from what’s out there.”
That got an entirely different kind of smile from Breis. The big warrior's mouth twisted a little; he gave a little grunt of surprise. Surprised approval. "No matter what happens tomorrow," he told her in a low voice, "you will not be alone in not being eager to flee. I have people to find. If I can. Narion has his sons. Tavv'ari has her cousins. Renda has lost his little daughter, Lim. Everyone here at Tal Ruus, excepting Y'gell whom we found not long before the doc encountered you, is here by their own will to find who we can find. But we need supplies. Or we will die. Maybe we'll find a cache in the ship graveyard that can sustain us for a time, while the Hapans hunt for whatever they need to fix their dropship. If we don't... and you proceed... you may be going to your death."
“We had more supplies.” Ava offered. “But they were abandoned about three days ago when the speeder lost power.” Her head shook. “I would give anything to have a way for you to locate it – if just to help those here now.”
"Three days." He shook his head. "It's too far. We don't have fast enough travel. Even now, we are only a few hours from Tal-Keb following the ridge, and it feels like we're the only beings in creation. --But I thank you. I recall Medren saying as much." With a sigh, he gathered up the food, keeping the count in his head, offering some to Ava to put away in the crate nearest her, and then working to pack his own to capacity. "I have to ask you--a few things. Above, we have one of the invaders. Your companions described a strange incident in Keldabe in which they say they saw a creature of the very same type. I was told to ask you how that was possible."
Ava’s brows furrowed at this.
“You mean the 'ghost' warrior?" She questioned.
"Yes; that is what it was called once. Solomon told me it was a holographic projection, but they described it as if it moved freely about the ship. They said it attacked. How could a holo do such a thing? When I asked for clarification, Solomon showed me what a liar looks like."
“It did.” She confirmed. “But I don’t know how it was possible. It… was like watching moving static. His body flickered in and out as if there was a break in the signal. The ‘ghost’ spoke Mando’a – a language I still don’t really know so it’s hard for me to say if he could actually hear us… because I couldn’t understand what he said. But I know he could see us.”
“He did try to attack us.” She confirmed this as well. “He would have killed me, killed Medren and Solomon as well. But… he couldn’t touch us. Every time he attacked, I waited for a blow and nothing happened. It was like he was swiping at air. And that seemed to infuriate him even more. He tried over and over again until he became frustrated and abandoned that tactic. And then walked around the ship inspecting it.”
"How is this possible?" Breis asked her. "Solomon tried to tell me that the ship had working comms, but that I couldn't understand. I may not be able to understand, but he stood there and wriggled under the question. And I need to at least try to understand."
“I don’t know.” Her head shook. “I don’t know how any of it was possible. I don’t know how he got there… but it didn’t happen until after the Red passed over us.”
"Then why did they tell me to ask you? What special information do you have about what you saw?"
Her first answer that came to mind was so that they could have dodged the question themselves. It was an old pattern of Solomon’s that she recognized. Direct the questioner to someone else; that way, if the wrong information was released it wouldn’t be linked back to him.
Ava sighed a soft breath.
“I have seen something similar like that before…" She answered honestly. "but the creation of it was never revealed to me. I only saw the effects which was a much stabler version of what was in the Wayfinder.”
Breis had exactly one reason for asking: "Is it something we can use if one of us gets back to Keldabe?" He did not believe in ducking topics, himself. "I asked first before we got this message from Tal-Keb about the Hapans. But Solomon gave me a song and dance about Tlin sending the message to you on that ship, or the...." He frowned, frustrated with his lack of knowledge. "... thing picking up an accidental message from the invaders."
Ava’s eyes widened at that. She could feel her head shaking.
“If Solomon thinks it was Tlin trying to send me some sort of message…” She said, remembering the violence from the ‘ghost’ and it’s multiple attempts in trying to kill her and the others. “then he hasn’t told me about it.”
“I don’t know if it’s possible to use it.” She said. “Technology isn’t one of my strengths. To be honest, I’m lucky if I can get my ship to work correctly most days.”
Breis huffed a laugh through his nose, rocking slightly with it. That faded, and he lowered his voice again: "Distractions are luxuries. We have no room for them. I will make no trouble with Solomon, but I know who he is. What he is. I fought for Ker'dan for years. And if he returned, I would fight for him again. I do not think Solomon could reconcile such a thing, because I do not believe such as him can understand honor. To you I give my word that I mean no harm, that I lead here for the good of any who shelter with me, and that if I can I will see us out of here safely, with as many as we can save. Whatever it is between Solomon and Trander Tyrantkiller, I ask that you help me to keep it from spilling out amongst my company. I do not involve myself in their dispute; I lack the energy for it. It deserves nothing from me. But it is dangerous, and it is disrespectful to our dead, and to those who seek to live."
For some reason, Ava found comfort in Bries’ words.
“I believe you to be a man of honor, Breis.” She said. “And I believe you would keep your word. I know there is a history with the Jedi and the Mandals, especially given the aftermaths of the Buffton’s War… but it is not my history. I am here to help and work with you, and your people, however I can until the day comes were we should part ways and move on. Even if that is alone and towards death.”
He turned and very pointedly offered her his hand. He had big hands anyway, muscular and strong, and the gloves and layers he wore made them seem even moreso.
There was a second were Ava looked unsure, as if she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. And then, her hand stretched out to clasp his. Even with the gloves, they were small in his hand. Small in a way that almost didn’t belong. As if someone like herself shouldn’t be that delicate.
It was just a clasp. He didn't tighten his hand much. Agreement without challenge.
Ava held the grasp for as long as it was necessary to do so. And then, once the moment was filled with unspoken satisfaction, she’d release the grip.
“I do need to apologize for Solomon and Jeryndi.” She spoke. “There is a history between them that, for whatever reason, they cannot let go – no matter how often I remind them that this is not the time nor the place. The tension between them is like balancing a cup of water that’s on the brink of spilling. The slightest movement causes it to spill.”
"Why Trander is here... I understand that better. He says he hopes to find survivors; that some of my company now wear better protection thanks to gear he brought. I do not know the Force or the ways of the Jedi, but I believe Trander when he says he feels guided by them--even if he considers himself dar'jetii. I understand also his son, and I understand you, I think. The one I do not understand is Solomon. He is not one of us. Crazed from the dust or not, when he awoke among us I suspect we saw the shadows of his true thoughts: he cares little for us. Our well-being. It makes no sense to me, why he is here. What does he seek? If he did not believe he would find life at Um-Shara, why did he come?"
“At this point,” Ava said with an unspoken weight. “I don’t even know why Solomon is here.” Her head was shaking. “Perhaps it’s because he has to know what happened. If I had known he was to pack so little before we ventured out here… I would have added more supplies. Truth be told, we wouldn’t have made it as far as we have without Jeryndi. The arrival of him and his supplies was critical.”
Breis took that in and then pressed in close to his crate to hug its bulk to his chest so that he could turn and stack it atop Ava's now that both were full and sealed. "I have a task for you," Breis grunted before the weight transferred to the bottom crate and he sighed, rose to stand, and gazed down at her. "You are jetii. My verd are reliable, but they are tired. When we travel tomorrow, if you will ride a wakek and keep your eyes open for trouble--or for wanderers! Should we come near any!--that would be of great use. The one who attacked you when the patrol came upon you--I would like to think that he is dead, but he has returned before when we thought he must surely be lost. And as we grow closer to Tal-Kebii'tra... the bigger enemy we have sometimes seen near there, with their wakeks."
"I can." She nodded. "Could... you tell me more about the ones who attacked us? They're not like you, are they?"
It was a serious question, and Breis was direct. "No. Any who take the Resol'nare may be among us as kin, but I have not seen this species before. Your companions also noted how the armor resembles traditional beskar'gam--we see that, too. They said, as you said, that your enemy--the one from Solomon's ship--spoke our tongue. But that is not the tongue we have been hearing in our clashes with these flesh and blood ones. We think we recognize words among their speech, when they shout, when they snarl, but...." He shook his head. "... no. If they know Mando'a here, they do not use it near us. Wisely. --I will say: when I took up a bit of armor from one of them, I saw at once it was not beskar. It was crude, the metal strong but brittle. It looked hand-forged to me, and not by an expert armorer. At Tal-Keb, you will see some of their weapons, also. We armed ourselves with them when we had fewer of our own. They wield knives. Spears. Throwing weapons. If they have technology, it is not common among them. We have seen special spears, but that is all. They ride wakeks, not swoops. And as I said when you arrived: while mighty as warriors, they make childish mistakes in groups. They can fight, and are dangerous, but their tactics are inferior."
Thoughtfully, he added: "Medren said he thought our prisoner's gear reminded him of the stories of old. Of our ancient forebears. I can... see whereby he takes that impression. My own impression is that we face an enemy who wishes to be us. Who tries to mimic us, and fails. And if this catastrophe, with its dreamers and its floating mountains is the result of some technology, then I can't believe these fools created it."
"Medren translated the best he could for me during our experience with the 'ghost'." Ava spoke. "He called us 'soft skins', does that mean anything to you?"
Breis shook his head again. "What else did the ghost say?"
“What I heard was by a second-hand translation.” She stated. “But… he looked lost and wanted to know who ‘owned’ us and where he was.” There was a pause. “But mostly he insulted Medren and Solomon every time they spoke.”
"Guessing that your visitor was not their top diplomat, then," the big man chuckled. He heaved a sigh. "There's nothing I can do about him from here. Obviously. If it's a transmission, we need the equipment that can handle that. If we can get it. If Solomon is right... does that mean our best bet is gutting the Astrala?" Just thinking out loud, Breis kept right on going: "... It's the language. Yours can speak Mando'a. If the others can speak it, where did they get it? We can't understand what they're saying when they bother to say anything, here. The sounds are familiar, but it's not our language."
“I’d say not.” She replied in turn with the barest hint of a smile. “No. I don’t think that he was. More than anything, he seemed lost.”
Ava listened until he was finished before speaking again.
“I think the best thing we could do about the Astrala is wait and see what we find tomorrow. And then, we’ll go from there.”
"I know," Breis breathed. "That's all we've been doing. Waiting to see." He nodded. "I'm used to it."
"Eyes first." Ava mumbled quietly before her throat cleared.
"Where did the pods come from?" She asked almost abruptly. "I've never... what are they?"
The big man looked down to pop open a hard-shelled pouch at his belt. He stood there, a figure who managed to project raw physical strength even while bundled up in layers, and took a long second to tease something out with fingers made clumsy by gloves. It was one of the pods; he offered it over for her inspection, since there had been little enough time for that when she'd taken her first one.
It was ovoid, roughly three centimeters across at its longest point. It looked like a scabby fruit, with the remnants of some kind of fuzz. Hard to say whether or not it was wholly natural: the seam that ran around its outside might well have simply been part of its formation if it was a plant; if the pod itself was constructed, then it was glued or stuck together to seal those halves together, not stitched. When the Mandals had first offered Ava one, they had shown her where to squeeze its contents from: a slight pucker at the top that held the thick gel inside well enough most of the time, but which tore when squeezed.
"I've only seen them being carried by the invaders," Breis told her. "They carry them on bandoliers, mostly. Or belts. I've seen them carrying just one; the doc said he'd seen one carrying six. Every number in between. We wasted a lot early on, trying to wake unwakeable dreamers. We'll keep using them for that, because... there's no telling. But so far, we've only tried up to six. We simply don't have enough to keep using them on our sleepers when we don't know if they'll even work."
The pod was taken. She inspected the fruit-like item carefully as he spoke. Her gloved hand gingerly running along the fuzzy skin even though she couldn’t really feel it.
“After I took the first pod… the effects were… phenomenal. The ringing stopped. I felt better.” Her head shook. “They invaders had these on them….” She said this more aloud to herself than to Breis. Finally Ava looked at him.
“I don’t know if they are responsible for the Red… but it does look like they came prepared for it.”
"We agree," he told her. He pointed toward it. "Keep that one with you--do you have a case that can protect it from being crushed? If not, someone around here will. Or there will be something suitable in your speeder. We've been taking ours before our sleep shifts. Right before we bed down. At first, we started that because we were afraid of sleeping. That it might lead to us just not waking up. Now... it's not a bad way to keep track of how long it's been since we took our last dose of the wormspit."
"Thank you." Ava said. "And thank you for the resources you've spared to help us... especially Solomon. I'm not sure what would have happened if not for your help."
From the right of her hip, a metal case was detached from her utility belt. It clicked open with a muffled 'snap'. The pod was tucked safely into a small container, the lid clipped shut, and then placed back onto the belt.
Breis eyed the case and apparently approved of it. "As I told him," he said, "all who come here are under my protection. All automatically qualify for that. There is no room for judgment here. We're too close to not making it--any of us."
Ava watched him for a moment.
"I hope we find more out there like you, Breis." She breathed, looking away. "I think we're going to need more like you."
The man went still and said: "You will. At Tal-Keb. Among any others we find. Except that thief, whoever that is, you will see what it means to be Mando'ade."
" 'Mando'ade'?" She asked. "What does that mean?"
The question made him laugh, mystified, and he grinned at her. "Children of Mandalore. Its daughters. Its sons. Those who carry on its ways." He cocked his head pointedly, nodding in that lopsided way. "Even in defeat."
“Ah. I see.” Ava said with a smile. “I’ve always heard that… the Mandalores were like a brotherhood.”
"That is the weakest way of putting what we are."
"Could you tell me more, then?" She asked curiously.
Breis Teimar studied her. Then he said: "Tell me what you think of the people you know out there." He nodded--but it was an upward nod. "Tell me why your Order struggles like the last embers of a fire. Why it is ready always to be snuffed out, and only survives in lesser form because chance winds uncover one tiny, lost ember once in a while."
Quiet for a long moment, Ava looked at Breis and then breathed a soft breath.
"The Jedi fall short due to many things," she said. "But I believe the root cause, or maybe one of them, is because we teach to cling to standards long out dated - a code that usually only spoken but never upheld. We have those who 'say' they are Jedi only when the time is convenient."
The man heard her out. It was not the kind of listening where one might nod Yes or shake their head No. This was intent and still, and required none of those little indications that Breis had actually heard her. "We have a kind of code, too. At its heart is that we do what we say we will do. The word of any one of us has weight. It is as reliable as sunrise. The heart not only of individual honor, but of the honor of all of us. And because we are not perfect, we have ways amongst ourselves of challenging liars and deceivers, of aiding those who might break their promises not through intention but through weakness or lack of understanding, and we stay together. We will -be- together, even when far from each other. We go to war together, and in war there may be victory, or there may be defeat, and that is war. Here you see us in defeat, but we are unchanged. Tricked, we remain as one. Though we argue and debate, underneath we remain one. Through confusing times: one. Through false Mand'alors: one. Through occupation: one. And through this...." He looked up, around. The Red. "One. We will be one, we will protect one another, we will strengthen one another, and we will be the ones who keep their word, always, no matter what watered-down truths and fresh turmoil drowns the rest of the galaxy anew. Take our weapons, take our property--what do we care? Just things. Kill us? What do we care? We'll fight, and we know death waits. The family is always there. The clan protects the families. The Mand'alor looks out for the clans. We will never fall apart as your Order does. You will never see it happen."
Speechless for a moment, Ava could only admire Teimar's conviction. It was an unexpected surprise that filled the silence until she released an impressed breath. "Someday," she finally spoke, "I hope my Jedi Order will possess the same unity and integrity that you speak of."
"Hope is good," the man breathed. "Hope is useful. But in some things, it is not enough. Action is required." Then he smiled and a teasing, sly laugh lurked behind his eyes, ready but waiting. "Then again, you could always just join -us-."
She grinned at him as she felt her head began to shake. "The offer is quite kind," Ava spoke. "But as... disastrous," the word was breathed, "as it can be... it is where I belong."
Breis considered her and gave a loose nod and shrug as if to say So be it. He smiled at her, then laughed as if that was what it took to cap the thought. "I think... it is important to tell you that I was sure we would die here before you and your party arrived here. I don't believe," he went on quietly, "that I had admitted that to myself wholly, until seeing you and your speeder led in by the doc and our wakeks pierced it. The last thing I want is friction. Not now. Not when I do believe that we stand a chance."
“You saved my friend.” Ava said in soft turn. She thought back to the floating Dreamer. How Solomon bolted after the body and the Invader’s attack. “If you hadn’t spared your resources, I don’t know if he would have survived." She looked at him.
"We saved one another. We have a chance. I know the Force is a touchy subject for some, and I’m not asking you to change that if it’s something you don’t believe in, but… I feel it. In the people here. In this place and the Red. There’s something there and it’s much more than what it appears to be. At the end of this, we’re going to be okay.”
"Oh I believe in the Force," Breis told her after she'd spoken her piece. His gaze was steady, oblique but only by chance. "I don't automatically believe in the wisdom of those who claim to feel it, but I do believe that it exists. And you and your fellows repeat what our woken dreamers have said, about the others. That they can remember knowing they were out there somewhere." He whispered at the end, and swept a slow hand through the air. Out there. Somewhere. "This mark of yours... If it works, does it lead you to Tlin? Or to something else?"
“I don’t know where it will lead.” She answered in honesty. “But I know it leads somewhere. Somewhere important. Somewhere where there are others. I hope to find them. And I hope, that when I do, I’ll be able to help them.”
"You weren't the only one to mention Tlin to me," he told her with a knowing nod. "How is it that a Jetii and no less than two dar'jetii come to be here, now, if not because of him? We know him to be an associate of the Jedi. Impossible to miss, really."
“It’s not just about Tlin.” Ava said quietly. “He is an associate to the Jedi and an ally at times. But my arrival here is more than him.”
She licked her lips before speaking. “When the impact hit… it was a blow in the Force that I’d never felt before. There’s only one moment that mirrors it and even that pales in comparison now. I felt the loss of your people. The loss of life on your planet. But I didn’t feel death, if that makes any sense. There was still life here. And I thought… even if I only find one person… if I could only save just one person… then that life merits this journey. That one life was work the risk.”
The man stood still. A long moment passed. He glanced behind him, then across the space, across the upturned hips, shoulders, chests, of the Mandals who were catching sleep before their next watch or scout-and-search shift. Then, quietly, he asked: "If you... Have you the skill to locate an individual? Individuals? Our lost ones? Not a them, but as a her, or a him, in particular...?"
"I have not." Ava said.
There was silence and then.
"But... that doesn't mean I cannot try."
He nodded very slowly. "Thank you. Jetii."
She breathed in slowly and nodded. "It's your wife, isn't it? That you wish for me to find."
"Yes. Her." His smile came quick and tight. "All of them. All of them. But for myself: Daliyonn. My fastest gun. The foulest mouth. First into a fight. Last out of a cold stream. My strictest teacher. Mother of my ade. Heart of my heart."
"Not tonight." Ava said, feeling a smile creep on her face as she watched him speak about his wife before she sobered. "But... I will try."