Post by Lissa on Apr 11, 2021 13:50:19 GMT -5
Prrfbial.
He had watched building after building be erected in their build site. At first, it had been half-assed shacks to use as basic shelter. Then as more building materials came in, they started with larger buildings. The more people that helped, the faster they went up-- and everyone helped in some way or another. At first, they’d been basic buildings that everyone could take shelter in. Then slowly as more buildings were built, and it became more of a village, clans and families began to form into sections of town. When the evacuation of their world had begun, Kel’dan had given the merchants room for 30% of their wares to bring with them, the rest of the room on their ships went to evacuation… So they were not without in some aspects. They had livestock-- not a lot, but some. They had settled in a place that was resourceful-- it had flatlands for grazing of the livestock, able to build pens, and on the other side of the town, there was a wide and vast forest. They had used it to build part of the town-- using it for lumber and materials. Durasteel, duracrete had been donated by the Hapans to allow them to build the village. Now-- a town. With any luck, maybe, trade would resume soon.
Kel’dan’s home was his ship. He had opted to go without a domicile until other families had taken their own. His ship was comfortable… For him and 4 other people. His ship had been home ever since arriving on Prffbial. His ship had been home, even when Ja’eeth and his son, Ja’dan, had come. Currently, a home was under construction for them, but he continued to stay on the ship in the mean time.
His presence in the town had been demanded-- he hadn’t been able to return to Mando’a. He hadn’t been among the ones to return to his homeworld to salvage and survey the damage. He’d worked just as hard as anybody else to build the town. He participated in training, he participated in playing with the children. He’d done his part-- and it had been time-consuming, to negotiate with the people of Prrfbial. To allow them to settle, to allow them to continue to migrate, to settle on a peace agreement that they would not harm the one real settlement here.
People came and went. Officials, people looking for their family, people who wanted more from him than he was either willing to give or didn’t have the ability to give… It was hard to say whether he would keep his leadership here, but they were not out of this crisis… Not by a long shot. And until Sadhric was either confirmed dead or returned, he was in charge. That’s just how it was. He was doing what was best for his people-- in his opinion.
Right then, he was standing on the edge of town to take a minute to himself… He’d gotten a call-- one he hadn’t expected-- and was now waiting for them to arrive… Little did he know they were already here… And he felt them in the Force before he turned around to look at them.
Jeryndi, Med’ren, and Marian. Pronounced Jer-IN-dee, mead-ren, and Mare-ee-ehn. Two of them had been members of his family-- adopted from Ker’dan, then returned to their biological father… The Trander family of 3. Jeryndi looked healthy and well-rested. Clean-shaven and hair cut neat and short. His daughter was his look-alike, there was no mistaking the girl for who her biological father was… And the boy-- young man?-- Med’ren, well…. Med’ren had always looked like he’d had a run-in with a disgruntled brown crayon. He was brown everything. Curly brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, a mass of brown freckles over olive skin. He wasn’t ugly by any means… And Kel’dan noticed that the kid looked like he was finally relaxed. His body was losing its tension as he approached with his father and sister. He offered Kel’dan a smile and a friendly nod.
“Su’cuy gar,” Jeryndi said by way of greeting. It made Kel’dan smile.
“Su’cuy,” Kel’dan returned the greeting. He took in the appearance of his once-children, taking in their clothing. Practical, but showing no allegiances. Med’ren wore a blaster at his hip and-- Kel’dan’s eyes narrowed at the sight of it-- a practice saber on his belt. His expression must’ve been something to behold because Med’ren cleared his throat.
“Paka insists on it,” the boy told Kel’dan.
“I’m not training him as a Jedi,” Jeryndi said, feeling the need to elaborate… Because he saw the look on Kel’dan’s face. “But its a weapon and its a powerful one at that... I want him to know how to wield it and defend against it.” It was with an arched brow that he said it, waiting to see how Kel’dan took that.
Kel’dan’s expression shifted to a more neutral disposition. He nodded to Jeryndi. “You’re their father,” he said softly.
“No,” Med’ren said softly. “We have two fathers… We have Paka,” he said, gesturing to Jeryndi. And then to Kel’dan. “And our buir. If he’ll still have us.” To that, Kel’dan simply nodded.
Kel’dan met Jeryndi’s eyes and nodded. “What brings you here?” he asked.
Jeryndi nodded towards Med’ren. Then nodded his chin towards Kel’dan. “You. Your people… Med’ren wishes to continue his training, but I’m not going to let him stay here alone… We’ve seen what he does when left to his own devices,” he said, cocking a slight smile. What he meant by that was simple: Med’ren had snuck off to steal away into the Red aboard Solomon Tekal’s ship. Left to his own devices… Pfft.
To that, Kel’dan looked thoughtful. “It’ll be slow. But training is still ongoing… The priority right now is making a home for our people-- but training the next generation is still a priority, too.” To that, Med’ren looked a little excited. He held out a hand to Med’ren. “But before we do that, we have something to do.” He looked to Jeryndi, his expression serious and solemn. It sobered Med’ren instantly and shuffled the playful expression off of Jeryndi’s face. “I need you to do something for me, since you’re here.”
“What is it?” Jeryndi asked. “We’ve been through this-- I’m not training you.”
Kel’dan shook his head. “Help me find Sadhric.”
* * * * * * * * *
“I want to do this with you,” Med’ren had said to Jeryndi… Jeryndi had looked at Kel’dan, who’d nodded, too.
Great, Jeryndi had thought at the time. Sending two untrained Force Users on a seeking expedition and only me to guide them.
Now he sat silently, watching as Med’ren took Kel’dan through the motions-- meditation in motion. To calm the mind, to center it, to ground it, before undertaking a big thing like this… Med’ren had shown the steps to Kel’dan, who’d said it looked like a fighting form of some kind… In a way, it was. It was a simplified version of Shii-Cho, not as many steps and a little faster, to keep the attention span of the child in his care. Eventually, he’d teach him the real thing, but for now… This worked best. He was grateful, in that moment, to not have taught Med’ren the real thing because then Kel’dan would be learning Shii-Cho, too.
He watched them as they moved through the steps, sitting in silence. He wasn’t quite meditating, but he was focused on the task ahead… Finding Sadhric. He closed his eyes and focused on the mental image of the man that he knew… He pictured him there, in his mind’s eye. His hair, his face, his clothing. Always armed, always on guard. The man who always reminded him of a coiled snake, ready to strike… Yet, he’d always wanted to play the role of snake-charmer. But he’d learned his lesson-- he’d gotten bit more than once.
Before he knew it, his son and Kel’dan took a seat beside him on the smooth floor of this unoccupied, half-finished house. He held out a hand to each of them. “Relax your mind as much as you can… Conjure Sadhric in your mind… What you remember of him-- what he looks like… I will guide you, but don’t stray too far from me… When you’re ready, take my hand.”
He closed his eyes and focused on Sadhric again… He was pleasantly surprised to find that Med’ren took his hand first. How long had it taken? It felt like a long time before Kel’dan took his hand… But time had little to no meaning when doing explorations through the Force like this. It could take 5 minutes or 5 days.
Before setting them off on this journey, Jeryndi looked at them through his mind’s eye-- Kel’dan was nervous, but focused. Med’ren was… remarkably calm…. And very focused. It was both impressive and unexpected. In his mind’s eye, he conjured what they saw in their minds. Tapping into that, he could picture how they saw the missing Mechanic….
He was surprised to find that Kel’dan had great respect for the man. He pictured him exactly as he was, but somehow bigger and more intimidating than Jeryndi himself did. A dark and ominous presence, but still steady and reliable… Kel’dan’s connection to Sadhric was more emotional than metaphysical-- it was not a solid anchoring point to use as focusing to find the missing man.
To Med’ren, the man was bigger and taller and somehow more grandiose. A presence larger than life… To Jeryndi, it looked like admiration to a degree, but he wasn’t sure if that’s what the true feeling was behind it. Whatever it was, he noticed that Med’ren had a connection to Sadhric. It was like a thin thread that drifted away into nothing further inward into the Force. Thin, but strong. Reinforced by… something… That Jeryndi was unfamiliar with. How much exposure had Med’ren had to Sadhric to create such a bond? He didn’t know… But it was something he could use.
Physically, Jeryndi’s hand closed over his son’s hand a little tighter… He refocused on the connection that he, himself, had forged with Sadhric… The two of them had been through a lot together. Too much, really… And he couldn’t let himself focus on trauma or the will to trust in that man again. He’d forgiven, but not forgotten. And the last thing he needed in that moment was to rehash old pain… To let it seep through this connection he’d forged with his friend and his son… He clamped that down and focused on the thread that he knew was Sadhric’s in his mind’s eye.
With that connection done, he led them on the journey… He paid close attention to how the Force felt along the way. Did it feel sinister? No. Did it feel good and light? No. It was just the Force… And that was comforting to him. The closer they got, sailing through this journey, the more the sensation came that Sadhric was alive…. Med’ren’s connection to Sadhric echoed that, too. It was almost like Med’ren could sense his life force… And he followed his thread, he followed Med’ren’s thread, they went in the same direction. It was mindless landscape-- nothing and everything all blurred together. Passively, they could sense planets and big populations, and the vast emptiness of space. There was nothing to tell where they were, how far they’d gone, where it was leading them to…
But when they found him… It was nothing like what Jeryndi expected. There was no body to see, nothing to feel, no emotions… Just a vast and empty cold…. But his heartbeat was strong and steady. They found nothing to portray where he was, it was only darkness and cold… They could hear his heart beating… th-thump. Th-thump… And Jeryndi’s grip tightened on both of his passengers’ hands.
“Sadhric?” he called. Both physically and in through the Force. Looking for a response… There was none. It was only cold and dark. But that th-thump. Th-thump. Was very real…. Jeryndi didn’t want to linger in this place-- this kind of cold could seep into your soul, he thought… He tugged them back with him as he withdrew from this place and back towards themselves… He was grateful they did not linger and followed him back… A moment later, he opened his eyes and saw they were doing the same. His body ached from being in the same place for too long… He shrugged it off, releasing their hands and wringing his hands against each other… They were cold-- affected by that weird place… He blew his breath into them and looked at the other two.
“He’s alive… Now we just have to find him.”
* * * * * * * *
He had watched building after building be erected in their build site. At first, it had been half-assed shacks to use as basic shelter. Then as more building materials came in, they started with larger buildings. The more people that helped, the faster they went up-- and everyone helped in some way or another. At first, they’d been basic buildings that everyone could take shelter in. Then slowly as more buildings were built, and it became more of a village, clans and families began to form into sections of town. When the evacuation of their world had begun, Kel’dan had given the merchants room for 30% of their wares to bring with them, the rest of the room on their ships went to evacuation… So they were not without in some aspects. They had livestock-- not a lot, but some. They had settled in a place that was resourceful-- it had flatlands for grazing of the livestock, able to build pens, and on the other side of the town, there was a wide and vast forest. They had used it to build part of the town-- using it for lumber and materials. Durasteel, duracrete had been donated by the Hapans to allow them to build the village. Now-- a town. With any luck, maybe, trade would resume soon.
Kel’dan’s home was his ship. He had opted to go without a domicile until other families had taken their own. His ship was comfortable… For him and 4 other people. His ship had been home ever since arriving on Prffbial. His ship had been home, even when Ja’eeth and his son, Ja’dan, had come. Currently, a home was under construction for them, but he continued to stay on the ship in the mean time.
His presence in the town had been demanded-- he hadn’t been able to return to Mando’a. He hadn’t been among the ones to return to his homeworld to salvage and survey the damage. He’d worked just as hard as anybody else to build the town. He participated in training, he participated in playing with the children. He’d done his part-- and it had been time-consuming, to negotiate with the people of Prrfbial. To allow them to settle, to allow them to continue to migrate, to settle on a peace agreement that they would not harm the one real settlement here.
People came and went. Officials, people looking for their family, people who wanted more from him than he was either willing to give or didn’t have the ability to give… It was hard to say whether he would keep his leadership here, but they were not out of this crisis… Not by a long shot. And until Sadhric was either confirmed dead or returned, he was in charge. That’s just how it was. He was doing what was best for his people-- in his opinion.
Right then, he was standing on the edge of town to take a minute to himself… He’d gotten a call-- one he hadn’t expected-- and was now waiting for them to arrive… Little did he know they were already here… And he felt them in the Force before he turned around to look at them.
Jeryndi, Med’ren, and Marian. Pronounced Jer-IN-dee, mead-ren, and Mare-ee-ehn. Two of them had been members of his family-- adopted from Ker’dan, then returned to their biological father… The Trander family of 3. Jeryndi looked healthy and well-rested. Clean-shaven and hair cut neat and short. His daughter was his look-alike, there was no mistaking the girl for who her biological father was… And the boy-- young man?-- Med’ren, well…. Med’ren had always looked like he’d had a run-in with a disgruntled brown crayon. He was brown everything. Curly brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, a mass of brown freckles over olive skin. He wasn’t ugly by any means… And Kel’dan noticed that the kid looked like he was finally relaxed. His body was losing its tension as he approached with his father and sister. He offered Kel’dan a smile and a friendly nod.
“Su’cuy gar,” Jeryndi said by way of greeting. It made Kel’dan smile.
“Su’cuy,” Kel’dan returned the greeting. He took in the appearance of his once-children, taking in their clothing. Practical, but showing no allegiances. Med’ren wore a blaster at his hip and-- Kel’dan’s eyes narrowed at the sight of it-- a practice saber on his belt. His expression must’ve been something to behold because Med’ren cleared his throat.
“Paka insists on it,” the boy told Kel’dan.
“I’m not training him as a Jedi,” Jeryndi said, feeling the need to elaborate… Because he saw the look on Kel’dan’s face. “But its a weapon and its a powerful one at that... I want him to know how to wield it and defend against it.” It was with an arched brow that he said it, waiting to see how Kel’dan took that.
Kel’dan’s expression shifted to a more neutral disposition. He nodded to Jeryndi. “You’re their father,” he said softly.
“No,” Med’ren said softly. “We have two fathers… We have Paka,” he said, gesturing to Jeryndi. And then to Kel’dan. “And our buir. If he’ll still have us.” To that, Kel’dan simply nodded.
Kel’dan met Jeryndi’s eyes and nodded. “What brings you here?” he asked.
Jeryndi nodded towards Med’ren. Then nodded his chin towards Kel’dan. “You. Your people… Med’ren wishes to continue his training, but I’m not going to let him stay here alone… We’ve seen what he does when left to his own devices,” he said, cocking a slight smile. What he meant by that was simple: Med’ren had snuck off to steal away into the Red aboard Solomon Tekal’s ship. Left to his own devices… Pfft.
To that, Kel’dan looked thoughtful. “It’ll be slow. But training is still ongoing… The priority right now is making a home for our people-- but training the next generation is still a priority, too.” To that, Med’ren looked a little excited. He held out a hand to Med’ren. “But before we do that, we have something to do.” He looked to Jeryndi, his expression serious and solemn. It sobered Med’ren instantly and shuffled the playful expression off of Jeryndi’s face. “I need you to do something for me, since you’re here.”
“What is it?” Jeryndi asked. “We’ve been through this-- I’m not training you.”
Kel’dan shook his head. “Help me find Sadhric.”
* * * * * * * * *
“I want to do this with you,” Med’ren had said to Jeryndi… Jeryndi had looked at Kel’dan, who’d nodded, too.
Great, Jeryndi had thought at the time. Sending two untrained Force Users on a seeking expedition and only me to guide them.
Now he sat silently, watching as Med’ren took Kel’dan through the motions-- meditation in motion. To calm the mind, to center it, to ground it, before undertaking a big thing like this… Med’ren had shown the steps to Kel’dan, who’d said it looked like a fighting form of some kind… In a way, it was. It was a simplified version of Shii-Cho, not as many steps and a little faster, to keep the attention span of the child in his care. Eventually, he’d teach him the real thing, but for now… This worked best. He was grateful, in that moment, to not have taught Med’ren the real thing because then Kel’dan would be learning Shii-Cho, too.
He watched them as they moved through the steps, sitting in silence. He wasn’t quite meditating, but he was focused on the task ahead… Finding Sadhric. He closed his eyes and focused on the mental image of the man that he knew… He pictured him there, in his mind’s eye. His hair, his face, his clothing. Always armed, always on guard. The man who always reminded him of a coiled snake, ready to strike… Yet, he’d always wanted to play the role of snake-charmer. But he’d learned his lesson-- he’d gotten bit more than once.
Before he knew it, his son and Kel’dan took a seat beside him on the smooth floor of this unoccupied, half-finished house. He held out a hand to each of them. “Relax your mind as much as you can… Conjure Sadhric in your mind… What you remember of him-- what he looks like… I will guide you, but don’t stray too far from me… When you’re ready, take my hand.”
He closed his eyes and focused on Sadhric again… He was pleasantly surprised to find that Med’ren took his hand first. How long had it taken? It felt like a long time before Kel’dan took his hand… But time had little to no meaning when doing explorations through the Force like this. It could take 5 minutes or 5 days.
Before setting them off on this journey, Jeryndi looked at them through his mind’s eye-- Kel’dan was nervous, but focused. Med’ren was… remarkably calm…. And very focused. It was both impressive and unexpected. In his mind’s eye, he conjured what they saw in their minds. Tapping into that, he could picture how they saw the missing Mechanic….
He was surprised to find that Kel’dan had great respect for the man. He pictured him exactly as he was, but somehow bigger and more intimidating than Jeryndi himself did. A dark and ominous presence, but still steady and reliable… Kel’dan’s connection to Sadhric was more emotional than metaphysical-- it was not a solid anchoring point to use as focusing to find the missing man.
To Med’ren, the man was bigger and taller and somehow more grandiose. A presence larger than life… To Jeryndi, it looked like admiration to a degree, but he wasn’t sure if that’s what the true feeling was behind it. Whatever it was, he noticed that Med’ren had a connection to Sadhric. It was like a thin thread that drifted away into nothing further inward into the Force. Thin, but strong. Reinforced by… something… That Jeryndi was unfamiliar with. How much exposure had Med’ren had to Sadhric to create such a bond? He didn’t know… But it was something he could use.
Physically, Jeryndi’s hand closed over his son’s hand a little tighter… He refocused on the connection that he, himself, had forged with Sadhric… The two of them had been through a lot together. Too much, really… And he couldn’t let himself focus on trauma or the will to trust in that man again. He’d forgiven, but not forgotten. And the last thing he needed in that moment was to rehash old pain… To let it seep through this connection he’d forged with his friend and his son… He clamped that down and focused on the thread that he knew was Sadhric’s in his mind’s eye.
With that connection done, he led them on the journey… He paid close attention to how the Force felt along the way. Did it feel sinister? No. Did it feel good and light? No. It was just the Force… And that was comforting to him. The closer they got, sailing through this journey, the more the sensation came that Sadhric was alive…. Med’ren’s connection to Sadhric echoed that, too. It was almost like Med’ren could sense his life force… And he followed his thread, he followed Med’ren’s thread, they went in the same direction. It was mindless landscape-- nothing and everything all blurred together. Passively, they could sense planets and big populations, and the vast emptiness of space. There was nothing to tell where they were, how far they’d gone, where it was leading them to…
But when they found him… It was nothing like what Jeryndi expected. There was no body to see, nothing to feel, no emotions… Just a vast and empty cold…. But his heartbeat was strong and steady. They found nothing to portray where he was, it was only darkness and cold… They could hear his heart beating… th-thump. Th-thump… And Jeryndi’s grip tightened on both of his passengers’ hands.
“Sadhric?” he called. Both physically and in through the Force. Looking for a response… There was none. It was only cold and dark. But that th-thump. Th-thump. Was very real…. Jeryndi didn’t want to linger in this place-- this kind of cold could seep into your soul, he thought… He tugged them back with him as he withdrew from this place and back towards themselves… He was grateful they did not linger and followed him back… A moment later, he opened his eyes and saw they were doing the same. His body ached from being in the same place for too long… He shrugged it off, releasing their hands and wringing his hands against each other… They were cold-- affected by that weird place… He blew his breath into them and looked at the other two.
“He’s alive… Now we just have to find him.”
* * * * * * * *
