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Thread: Duel of the Fates: Familiarities and Stranger Things - Velusia

  1. #1
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    Vs Force Duel of the Fates: Familiarities and Stranger Things - Velusia

    Sometime in the near future...

    ***

    It wasn't often that most citizens of the Galactic Empire would visit such a place as Velusia, for any reason. The vast oceans surrounded what was mostly volcanic islands, and the terrain was plagued by groundquakes and volcanic activity, making the water the only relatively safe and decent place to inhabit, other than some relatively inactive or extinct volcanic islands, such as the capital, Mount Hollow. Aside from those that made their lives and homes on this world, there were various mining corporations that operated here, digging up the ore within the planet's structure, where originally, the Nexcore Mining Corporation operated under the guise of oceanic exploration missions to hide the existence of the ore and keep the potential profits for itself. Unfortunately for them, the cover was blown and in the end, they lost their monopoly on profits.

    Mount Hollow, aside from being the capital, also housed the world's only spaceport. This was the in and out place. You arrived here, you departed here. And it was here that Ilias Nytrau had arrived. Sufficiently out of the way, and yet close - too close - to his once-home, this planet was. He had suffered a banishment, an exile he knew was coming. Once upon a time, a valued and known member of the old Order, he had been living a somewhat-lie these many years. The Purge had left him fortunate, a little. He'd survived it and managed to continue his work under the guise of a skilled doctor, all thanks to a genetic abnormality that his mixed breeding created. Had he looked even remotely similar, he may not have had a chance. But it would have taken more than looks to hide who and what he was now. That day had told him much, but he was still unsure. Was he truly to seek out others, join their cause? Or would he continue on his lonesome, having left it all behind, abandoned the vindictive Empire, to live life with himself and whatever few others he would choose to take with him - running until he outran or could run no more? Perhaps the wisdom of his long-dead master would prove useful - on Velusia, he hoped to garner some note of it.

    Yuma's grave was here. The old man had escaped the Jedi Purge to come to this place, only to die in the largest concert of groundquakes and volcanic eruptions that year. It mattered little, really. Though Yuma Orys hid it very well, his long-suffered illness could not be kept from his own student. He would have passed in short order, natural disasters or not. And even though Ilias found things that were bothersome about the elder man, and even though the teachings of the Jedi dowplayed emotions, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret, a smidge of fond sadness at the man who had very much been like a father to him. Nearly sixty years had been much kinder to the doctor-healer than it had been to Yuma, and a difference in genetics was all it took. Things like this made being a man of medicine ultimately frustrating, but peace, peace...Ilias showed only that, from many layers below his surface.

    Yuma's grave was located on another since-extinct volcano island clear on the other side of the sphere. The local Aquar inhabitants of Velusia held memory of the Master Jedi well. They believed Yuma's soul went peacefully, and that the peace was great enough to shut up that very volcano forever. Such thoughts made the 'old man' (by human standards) smile. The grave, as Ilias approached it, was marked only by a symbol - recognizable only to those who knew it - and within a foot of the marker, the tall man knelt down on one knee and reached out to touch the marker, running the tips of fingers over the symbol engraved in it.

    "I have been found out, master. I seek cause to support why I should abandon the work I have poured my life into these many years, to return to the life I had before. I am as strong a man of the ways as I ever was...nay, stronger, but my path is fogged."

    He closed his eyes, his hand resting on the marker stone.

    "I seek guidance from the Force, and I ask that you intercede on my behalf, master."

    It would look strange to most that he would be talking to a stone marker, but for those of the teachings - those of the Jedi - the spirits of those strong with the Force often could be found as guideposts for the Path. The act was almost religious, and in accordance with that similarity, the seeking Jedi looked for a sign.

    Which could be anything, really.
    Last edited by Ilias Nytrau; Jan 19th, 2009 at 04:31:56 PM. Reason: A small thing was bothering me. So I fixed it. So there.

  2. #2
    Nya Halcyon
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    "I've got a job for you," he'd said.
    "A proper bounty-hunting job," he'd said.

    And she'd felt really happy at hearing that. Not that the murky world of industrial espionage didn't have its thrills, but for every thrill there were about a thousand hours of careful planning necessary, and it just wasn't her thing. Hunting a being, in comparison, was simple. It didn't require any deep involvement. None of that beating around the bush nonsense. Swift mercy - in one way or another.

    She'd been more than jumping at the chance to take this job. As Caran had known she would. Smart man. Maybe a little too smart. Something about this felt.... wrong.

    Nya had no idea where he'd got the information from that the bounty was hiding on Velusia. But it had been his suggestion that she'd go there, and he had been correct: the bounty was right here, in her sight. She'd tagged him once he'd set foot at Mount Hollow spaceport, and followed him across the open ocean to this piece of rock dominated by a nasty-looking volcano. It was supposed to be inactive, but something about it nagged at her senses like an itch she couldn't scratch.

    It wasn't the only thing nagging at her. There was something else going on, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it, either. It mystified her to the point of wanting to get up and walk away from it all.

    To a bountyhunter, such a mystery wasn't worth losing sleep over. But life wasn't simple like that. She couldn't just be simple like that. Her senses rarely failed her. Except that sometimes, they did. And everytime they had, it had been trouble.

    Nya adjusted the night-vision settings of her rifle's telescope by a notch to allow for the rising darkness. The image in her view immediately got clearer.

    The bounty was still doing what he'd done a moment ago: kneeling on the ground, with his hand on a stone in front of him. The distance was too great to discern the finer details, but that was puzzling enough by itself. What was he doing?

    For the hundredth time since landing on Velusia she wished she'd had more info about the man. The little bit that Caran had given her told her that she had a Dr. Jefsran Ollisen a.k.a. Ilias Nytrau in her sight: a man escaped from Coruscant for crimes against the Empire, dangerous enough to warrant a bounty of five hundred thousand credits. That was meager info, but she hadn't cared as long as she'd not had him in her sights; but ever since that one bit of useful info that had led her straight to him, she'd cursed her shortsightedness. And the holonet was not available - the receiver on her ship was broken, like so many things of hers.

    She was lying prone on a stone outcropping about a klick away from the bounty's current position, well hidden from his view by the dense foliage - even if he'd had the eyes of a hawk-bat and seen this far, he still wouldn't have been able to see her. Her rifle was under her, just the stock straightened up so she could keep him in her view. She wasn't going to shoot him from this distance - although she was a good shot, it would be too risky, and he wasn't worth anything dead.

    It wasn't of any use to plan a hunt beforehand: circumstances always could change. In true fashion she hadn't wasted a thought on it either - until now. Perhaps she could hit him with a tranquilizer projectile. Cut matters short.

    But suddenly.... a touch on her shoulder, a light touch of a hand full of warmth and comfort and love... yes, love... understanding. And... grateful-ness. Yet also the threat underneath her body: the abyss of dark, glowing red earth about to open up and swallow her with a fiery maw. What will be yours, if you hurt mine.

    Then, as abruptly as it had come, it was gone again, and she lay there groping for light in the darkness. Where had it gone?
    Last edited by Nya Halcyon; Dec 16th, 2008 at 05:16:25 PM.

  3. #3
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    That peace.

    A familiar peace and warmth, he felt it exuding from the stone, the marker, through his hand and up his arm, gripping and holding him. The feeling was strong, nostalgic, floating memories to the surface that brought his other knee down into the rough dirt. He reached his other hand to the stone marker and dropped his head more, in silent grief and fond remembrance. Yuma Orys had been a firm yet loving teacher, the best to fill the inexhaustibly curious mind of the child, tame the irrational anger of the young adult, and usher in the fine man and strong Jedi Knight - warrior and healer - that Ilias Nytrau had become so many years before, and would show himself to be again. Since that time, he had suffered loss and grief and living amongst lies, trying not to abandon himself. Only a few years before that task had become more difficult, with the final and permanent loss of the one woman he had loved. The doctor became a sterner, more driving master to his staff, and was harder on himself for his inaction to the fact of her death. Every year on the same day he grieved it alone, away from prying eyes, far away from the evening colours of Coruscant's sky that seemed identical to that day each time. Each time he convinced himself he was at peace with it, each year proved him wrong time and time again. He would not be at peace until he was able to let it go, but there had been no-one who would understand. Any one person around him would have looked into it, and his cover would be blown.

    Well, now it was. The time would have come eventually. Here he was, on an unstable world with his unsettled soul, lost and seeking guidance. The soul of his master must have remained for this purpose, as it was now offering warming reassurance and kind strength, temporary peace. And a warning, that came to him like a sound - not to his ears, but to his mind.

    The shot of caution alighted on his senses like a razor blade to an already festering wound. Something, someone was here, watching him. He was sure there was a bounty out on him, but he didn't expect such expedience in being discovered. Ilias raised his head, removed his hands from the stone marker and stood, turning and looking about only with his eyes, feeling about cautiously with his senses. His eyes gave him nothing (his night-vision was superb for even a half-human), but the Force...

    ... the Force knew and spoke. His hands went swiftly around to his back, as if to fold there. In reality, from his belt, he called a steely onyx cylinder to that right hand, keeping it close to his person, showing nothing. He expanded the search of his senses, bending his knees slightly, and frowning deep. The watcher, to be sure, was armed with a weapon of distance - a rifle, perhaps, he pondered secretly to himself - the alarm of his senses assured him much, and the presence many yards off was doing his or her best not to be seen or heard.

    It told him one thing: This... hunter or whatever fashion of occupation the being held, knew not of what he truly was or what he was capable of.

    This was an advantage.

  4. #4
    Nya Halcyon
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    A moment after that first question, there came a second, more important one: What had it been?

    She noticed her hand on the rifle was trembling, and carefully put it down. The Verpine was old and not one of the sturdiest weapons around, and dropping it onto the rock wouldn't be a good idea. What had happened had rattled her more thoroughly than she liked.

    Her helmet was lying next to her on the rock. Without its 360° display and the sensors she felt blind, but scanned her immediate vicinity as thoroughly as she could for any sign of movement. But the only thing she could see around her was a few thorny bushes and a dead tree, and no one could hide behind those.

    There was also the fact that she'd felt a touch on her shoulder - still felt it now, it tingled - and if anyone had been there he would have had to disappear on the spot in order not to be seen by her.

    Some kind of invisible lifeform then? A ghost?

    Coldness ran down her back. She shivered underneath the armor.

    The tingle she still felt on her shoulder - it touched something inside her; that part. The part that she wanted to keep hidden most thoroughly, that she refused to acknowledge. It was undeniable here, though.

    The Force.

    'Osik!', she groaned inside her head. 'That just shabla well figures. Leave it to me to annoy some force ghost, in the middle of talyc nowhere!"

    Then it occurred to her that it could actually be the man he was hunting. After all - wasn't he the only other lifeform out there besides her? But that would mean he was a Jedi - 'no shabla dar'jetii would manage that!' - and that was opening a whole new can of gihaal. But on the other hand.... it had felt ancient, and somehow part of this land... could it really be the man she was hunting? Or was it something else entirely, some other force entity?

    She took up the rifle again, peered through its telescope. The man had moved, was standing and turning about. Then she saw him reach behind - her heartbeat began to hammer in her ears - and pull forth a black something.

    And all of a sudden it didn't matter anymore who had been threatening her. For, as surely as she knew these things, she knew that the cylinder was a lightsaber's hilt, and the fluidity of the man's motions spoke volumes to one who was no stranger to a Jedi's training.

    "Oh shab! SHAB! This is noooot good," she hissed, but stayed where she was. There was no point running from it - she'd just have to rethink her options.

    She'd never taken down another Force user before - not like this, anyway.

  5. #5
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    He did not turn the hilt on. It sat, like an extension of himself in his hand, unlit. In the darkness, he could make out a great deal, but if any animal or sentient being wished to conceal itself from his eyes, it would not be difficult. Only the light of the moons and stars shone down upon the uninhabited islet, and it was enough to make weak shadows. All was quiet enough, a faint breeze toying with the stubborn grasses that had adapted to survive through many a quake over hundreds and thousands of years. He could not depend on his physical senses in this situation, that much was becoming apparent.

    The Force was his ally. He would depend on it, truly, once again. Now.

    The defenses came down within, the masking of himself faded as he opened himself fully to the ebb and flow of the Force - the all-knowing, all-seeing, bottomless basin of connectivity was something akin to dipping in a hot bath with a feeling of ecstasy. It had been far too long since the Jedi of seemingly boundless ability opened himself so fully to its endless reach. Seconds passed, the conduit proffered himself for the access. The awareness came.

    He narrowed his eyes and peered at the empty-looking vegetation. Despite his apparent advantage, he did not lower his guard one bit. The Force told him what his eyes could not: that there was someone there - someone... familiar? No, that wasn't quite the word. Whoever it was, the likelihood of their visit being on friendly terms was slim to nil. It only meant one thing to him now: They were here for his head.

    And they would not succeed.

    "This game is not working to your advantage, hunter. Show yourself, or I shall be forced to weed you out against your will."

    The Beast within stirred. The Jedi returned. The decision was made, guidance or no.
    Last edited by Ilias Nytrau; Jan 19th, 2009 at 05:36:31 PM.

  6. #6
    Nya Halcyon
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    Her eyes could see his lips moving but there was no need to read them - she could sense his intentions, and feel his words. It wasn't the same sensation as before - wasn't a proper voice talking to her like it had what seemed only moments before; the Force didn't usually work like that. It couldn't transfer something that was spoken word for word into her mind; it could only give her a sense of its intentions. Which sometimes worked just as well, or even better.

    She really didn't like this situation. There was no telling how skilled this man was, or whether he was using the Force for good. She got no true sense of evil coming from him, but there was the animosity of a natural opponent. What did it hide?

    And her own skills were a bit rusty. And she lacked her weapon. She'd left it behind with ... with Darven, when she'd thought she'd killed him.

    She was not powerless, however. The Jedi's skills were only ever an extra set of skills to her. There was many a Mando who had bested a Jedi, judging by the tales told around the campfires, and so should she be able to do the same.

    She didn't lack courage, either. Or determination.

    It was a question of ethics, rather.

    After a long long silence, after weighing the words spoken to her by whatever had chosen to do so, she pulled herself up from the ground, and snatched the rifle up, too. Unscrewing the periscope attachment, she took care to make her movements slow and even, without menace. She was certain he could see her now.

    Once done, she stood motionless for a moment longer. And then she talked back at him, knowing that he would feel something about her thoughts and herself along with her intentions.

    "Yes, I have been sent to hunt you. But now that we both know what we both are, we should talk."

    The next move would be his again.

  7. #7
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    Talk.

    That gave him pause, the hilt not leaving his hand, his stance only visibly relaxing. He was always on his guard now, within, ever since the day he made his decision. He had known the hunters would come after him and it was only a matter of when – and that ‘when’ was now. But still, something nagged at him about her that made him careful; not so much careful in the way of danger, but careful in the way of... preserving something. Ilias straightened himself and returned the hilt to its place with no aid from the Force to do so.

    "Yes. Talk..." He drew off, rubbing a hand on his trousers, his eyes never leaving her, his senses on the vicinity. There was an odd familiarity to her, a sense he had been encountered with on other occasions... but she herself was no one he had no memory of. "...but about what, I wonder?"

    She was clearly on as much of a guard as he. That much he gathered from her, the feeling on her words. He took one step, two, becoming marginally closer to her, grasping wrist with hand behind his back, and then he stopped. A realization came to him: The Force. That was what it was. She too was possessing of its whims and uses. Narrowing his eyes, which were largely unhindered by the conditions as hers would be thanks to the unknown contributor to his genetics, Ilias scrutinized her features, picking out that which touched the centers of nostalgia in his mind.

    "Most hunters would have shot first, asked the questions later, or have forgone them altogether." He spoke, loud enough for her to hear across the distance separating them. He cocked his head a titch to the side, as if to examine her like a predatory bird on its slow moving prey. His non-grasping hand idly fingered around the rim on the hilt from which the beam of a lightsaber would emit. “Perhaps your heritage of the Force gives you pause. It is unlike a Jedi, very much not the thing of a Jedi at all, to be a hunter.”
    Last edited by Ilias Nytrau; Apr 2nd, 2009 at 08:55:45 PM.

  8. #8
    Aree Ankarta
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    That was interesting - he was at least a klick away, yet she could hear him quite well. Word for word. Some kind of projection skill she had never heard of?

    There was a time for action, and there was a time for talk. She could do little from this far now that he knew she was there, and her curiosity was getting the better of her. Her senses told her she should meet this man before deciding on his future. So she was willing to go to him -

    We meet. Halfway.

    - the Verpine was no use up close. It would have to be left behind since it would only hinder her - she had other means of defeating him once she was in his vicinity, even without her saber.

    The rifle was put back into its case, and hidden underneath a thorny bush, a camo-net covering it by the time she was done with it. It was the only thorned bush, which should make it easy to find.

    Once done with it, she made her way to the outcropping on which she'd lain hidden, measured the drop - and simply jumped down. There was no one there to witness it other than the Jedi, so it was safe. And inspite of not wanting to call on the Force too much, this was basic, very basic.

    She needed to use the time before meeting him in order to prepare - which would mean opening herself fully to the Force, if she still wanted to stay true to her previous intentions. Her skills as a warrior left nothing to be desired, but she needed an extra edge.

    Or maybe not. Was she wrong for wanting to call on it? She needed to be detached and cool about it, and not use it. Things could go horribly wrong if she gave in to it. She should not. Darven had been enough. She'd brought enough misery on him and her by her actions, and only because of the Force.

    Thus she marched forward, towards the Jedi, all the while uncertain of how to handle this.

  9. #9
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    He watched her come as within his mind, he tried to place with whom her features made familiarity. Like a child can have her father's eyes and her mother's lips, the vast catalogue of faces and names in his mind would have at least one match. It was that much of which he was certain.

    Child, he mused within, who are you and what is stopping you from trying to end me where I stand from a safe distance?

    It was no matter. She was coming to him, as was agreed upon. She had the Force, as he did have and still had, but even in his presence, was reluctant to make much use of it. Another curiosity. He knew for a fact that there were no agents of the Empire, here. To him, the kind of Imperials that would come after him tended to have a very particular scent in the Force.

    Keep coming, child. There are things to be learned, here.

  10. #10
    Aree Ankarta
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    With every step that she took, the uncertainty faded a little bit more.

    She was no Jedi - had never been one, never been raised to become one inspite of her training. In fact, there hadn't been a day during her time honing her Force skills that she hadn't learned to question and mistrust them. When that part of her education was over, she wouldn't ever have even considered wanting to become a Jedi - not that Bardan hadn't asked her. He wouldn't have stopped her - would have continued her training in more specific ways, actually, if she had expressed a wish for it; but she had been content having mastered this "special skill" she shared with the Jedi. For that's all it truly was, to her. A skill set that her clan brothers and sisters lacked, for the most part. And therefore, it was ogir'olar - irrelevant. Except on special occasions.

    Such as this one.

    It was odd that a part of her seemed to want to respond to the occasion with something ... more. She couldn't put words to the strangeness of it all, it simply perturbed her, and that seemed to be the source of her uncertainty.

    'What do I truly know about this man? I wasn't told he was a Force user. What else is wrong?'

    That was another matter entirely, but not one she needed to deal with right now. There would be another unpleasant discussion between her "boss" and her at the end of this, however, about unreliable intel.

    'Foolish, maybe. I've no way of knowing what he truly is. A Jedi? Or simply one trained in their skills, like me?'

    Whatever he was, she got no sense of ill-will towards her, just waryness and a certain amount of curiosity. And once she'd established that, she let go of her force "conscience" again. There was no danger for now.

    Ten metres from his position, she stopped. And simply looked at him, taking in all that the view through the telescope lense hadn't showed her. But if there was anything unusual about him, she couldn't see it. That much the description of him on the wanted file had gotten right, at least. But the other thing... that small detail that had been left out....

    "Are you Jedi, then?"

  11. #11
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    "Do you doubt that I am, child?" He was fully aware that she might find the usage of the term on her a wee bit patronizing, but that was not his intent. It was habit, especially when he was quite solidly certain that to whomever he spoke was his junior. He was, after all, twice as old as he looked. "In days such as these, no number of lightsabers in any one being's ownership could speak to whether someone had any affinity with the Force at all. Just because I might act like a Jedi, walk like one, talk like one and be adorned as one says nothing. There are ways to tell if a man is telling the truth, if you know of such ways. The Force is quite vast in the retinue of skills it imparts to its children."

    He did not look smug. He looked as if this were merely idle conversation and that he was taking a small joy or amusement in it. More like a titch of avid interest. As he looked at her, then, it came to him. She knew who it was he saw in this bounty hunter. Two persons, in fact. He looked on her most curiously, one hand poised thoughtfully on his chin.

    "I knew your mother and father, child. I know who you are... or, rather, who you should have been, if not for certain major and minor events that shaped the galaxy as it is now."

  12. #12
    Aree Ankarta
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    He had to be bluffing - this had to be some kind of lie he thought he might get her with, which might fool her into complacency.

    But she could tell he wasn't.

    For it was true what he said - there were ways to tell if someone was telling the truth. She didn't even need to make an effort to find out - she simply knew. It wasn't even her using the Force - for all that she could try to ignore it, it was still a part of what she was, and that part was with her constantly; just as she simply felt when there was danger, she could also feel the truth of something. And yet - it didn't always work.

    It hadn't worked with Caran. Or Dar.

    But lately she'd come to wonder if there wasn't something else to it: some other aspect - something like throwing her only a glimpse of the truth, or a slightly altered aspect of it, until she was ready for it. Perhaps it was her own flaws that got in the way of it.

    Be that as it may - somehting had stalled her, kept her from taking out this man when she had the chance; whether it had been her subconscious telling her something was amiss or not, she didn't know.

    The thing was - she was curious. If he really did know something, and it wasn't a bluff - then she wanted to find out what it was he knew. She could feel his continued curiosity about her, and her own grew to mirror that. For a moment she toyed with it, imagined what she might do if she didn't give in to it, but it was a foregone conclusion. She had to ask.

    "Who am I then, in your opinion?"

  13. #13
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    He nodded, satisfied that she was following his train of thought and dropped his hand from his chin, returning it to join the other behind his back. She spoke of opinions. He spoke of facts.

    "You are the offspring of Fionn Halcyon and Berit Selkie." Again, he nodded. Yes, that was most definitely it. "I see it in your eyes, your nose and lips, the curve of your jaw and slenderness of your neck, among other features. And you simply... feel of a familiarity that is similar to that of your parents."

    What he did not say, was that she smelled vaguely of them, too. Some things, perhaps, are far strange to be admitting to. He was, for all intents and purposes, fully human. His mouth set in a thin line, his eyes closed. Things stretched to be awakened in his subconscious and with a deep breath, an effort of will, he resisted, subduing it. Again, his eyes slid open, settling on her.

    "You would have been Jedi, child. There is no mistaking it."

  14. #14
    Aree Ankarta
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    "No."

    The answer came at once, even though he'd not asked her any question. But there had been an assumption made, and that had compelled her to deny it at once.

    She had little left of her parents; a face, a smile, a word whispered into her ear, a smell - small things that came back to her at random instances, like bittersweet deja vu. Perhaps the most compelling memory of her father was a face full of anguish staring down at her, from high above - so high, had he really been that tall? - his voice, his choked-up, bleeding voice telling her he would keep her safe from "them". "Them" had been the Jedi - the Jedi who would turn her into her mother and let her be killed just like her. She didn't remember how she had reacted to this, how her 2-year-old self had grasped what he had been trying to say, but the memory of him had stayed. The memory of him not wanting her to be a Jedi.

    For a moment she stared back into this man's eyes - and couldn't keep the stare. For he was right.

    For she had a vague memory of playing with a floating sphere in a room full of other children doing the same. Of her father weaving in and out of her life, always with a young woman trailing behind - his padawan, she now knew.

    "Maybe."

    Her own voice sounded impossibly soft to her ears. Unlike herself. Her thoughts were in enemy territory now. And unable to tear themselves away....

    "What were you to them?"

  15. #15
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    I'm a doctor, not a Jedi, Jim! What you're asking for is impossible! Oh, wait, I am a Jedi.

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    Ilias Nytrau's Avatar
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    What was he to them? There were some things, some that one could not put words to, but one that had a word, a word that could be very strong. He had watched her outright deny his words, then consider them and change her mind enough to inquire further. He understood that she may not have the strongest memories of those two people who gave her life, but enough was there, enough of a thin, silvery thread of destiny and fate to make her see that, perhaps, there was enough worth to his words.

    "Friend." There was undeniable truth in the word. Ilias Nytrau so strongly believed it himself, knew it so very much to be true. The verity of it could grip souls in its striking, alluring, warming embrace. "A true friend, daughter of Halcyon."

    His soft blue eyes searched her face, watched her composure and posture. Though the conversation had given pause to her hunt, he remained aware. Not holding the appearance of tensity and split-second readiness for any eventuality - for in reality, it was not necessary. If she were to act, he would be ready.

    "Do you know a true friend? Do you have grasp of this concept? I assure you I do not take and give friendship lightly. Not then, not now, not ever. My speech is as good given as sworn word. When I say 'friend', I do most solemnly mean what it is I say."

  16. #16
    Aree Ankarta
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    His line of questioning was peculiar. What did he think she was? Some sort of freak? Someone who had no concept of life? The way he talked to her was almost as if he was addressing a child.

    Annoyance stirred in her chest. But she quelled it.

    "What is your name?"

    Maybe she would remember it - something - anything...

    It was an odd idea, that. It had never been a particular wish, nor had she spent time thinking about them. Not for a long time. Yet suddenly it seemed such an acute wish to remember something out of a forgotten past.

  17. #17
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    Ilias Nytrau's Avatar
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    He blinked.

    All things told, the Empire didn't actually have the faintest idea who he was, so one could suppose that she in fact didn't know his name, but...

    "Did the bounty contract not tell you?" He paused. "Unless, of course, you do mean my proper name."

    Ilias mulled this over a bit. She was staring at him as if he were completely lacking in intellect. Or was that a look of confusion? Either or.

    "Well, it would only be fair. But I cannot guarantee that you will believe me, if there is any correlating memory in your mind." He smiled, thinly. "I am Ilias Nytrau."

  18. #18
    Aree Ankarta
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    The name he gave her was the same as one of the two listed in his file. It could have been as false as the other, yet - hearing it out of his own mouth confirmed it to her: there was no deceit hidden behind his words.

    It failed to sound familiar. It hadn't sparked any memory when she'd read it, either.

    "I believe you. Even if have no memory of you, or your name."

    It occurred to her that might have only claimed familiarity with her parents in order to gain her trust and convince her to let him go; but he would hardly have been able to pinpoint her origins if he hadn't known her parents closely.

    The thought was disturbing for another reason: what exactly should she do about him? Not that she couldn't have taken him down, even now, but - then what? Turn him over to the Inquisitoriate? And risk being put on the wanted list herself? Let Caran deal with the matter?

    Caran....

    Was it possible he knew that this Ilias Nytrau was a Jedi?

    "This might sound a little strange, but - do they have you listed as an FU?"

  19. #19
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    He shook his head, closing his eyes in that moment and opening them as soon as the moment was over, settling them on her face again. He could see a lot of things going through her mind, behind those eyes and none of them happy things.

    "Not to my knowledge and if they have, they are either grasping at straws or have incredible deductive reasoning." He frowned. "And there is the distinct possibility that I may have slipped up somewhere or someone in their ranks has outwitted me in some way."

    He chewed on that thought for a good minute, breathing in and out and feeling quite at home in the dark, here, as he did in the light of day.

    "Of course, it has occurred to me as rather odd that you would come after me so shortchanged on knowledge." His lips turned, not so much in a smile, but a fragile expression of peace and discontent. "It could have proven rather unfortunate for you if I were any other man."

  20. #20
    Aree Ankarta
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    "If you had been someone else, I would not be standing here now."

    The silent implication in his words was something that she couldn't just leave well alone. It was apparent he thought she wasn't much of a threat. So when she spoke again, her voice was icy steel.

    "If you had been any other man you would've been sitting in a cage back in my ship for the last 5 hours, on the way back to Imperial Center."

    And before he could muster any response to that, she added,

    "... and you might still end up there, Jedi!"

    She almost spat out that last bit, like a thing foul and disgusting.

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