A Little Slice of Chaos

[Ashlyna Talmount]

(This thread is for Jedi Covenant members.)
Location: Ord Mantell

Ashlyna stared up at the ceiling of her room, still wide awake. It was getting a little late into the morning now, and she was debating about whether or not to get a move on with the day. Ayasha had only recently moved them into these living arrangements, and she wasn't too familiar with her fellow padawans, save for Torin; and even then, she couldn't say she knew him. The former pirate mulled it over, but she came to the conclusion she would try and get to know her fellow padawans at some point; why not make it today and get it over with? She glanced over at the small bench she had set by the right wall, which still held most of her tools and clothing; she didn't feel like rearranging all her belongings again either. Raising up from her bed and putting on her clothes, that's exactly what she planned to do. She wasn't sure what to expect really as she would open her bedroom door and close it behind her. It did feel a tad odd being the only woman living in a building full of men, but not in a negative capacity; just felt unusual, but she'd get over it in time. At least it couldn't have been any worse than her past living arrangements; feth, she was living in an air vent before this after all. Nothing could have been as bad as that.

@Lost Hero @ZtheInquisitor @Lloyd Gross
(Feel free to jump in, or not to, totally up to you guys.)

 

[Naala Re]

The window was open... and Naala was hungry.

Ord Mantell wasn't the most friendly place in the galaxy, and coming there wasn't the best idea so far. At least for Naala it wasn't.
She had come there in search of answers per the instruction of the elders, but had found none. She was beginning to think the elders had no clue as to what they were talking about.

The city itself was disgusting... Naala had found the people to be beyond rude and everything seemed very expensive. In fact, the small amount of credits she had when she first arrived, were all but gone, used up on her trying to eat and find places to stay. Merely trying to survive was a costly endeavor.

Work was scarce too. She found that she could either wash dishes in a gross diner for scraps, which her pride didn't allow her to do, or she could be pimped out to the low lifes who frequented the more seedy areas of the city, which Naala certainly didn't want either.

The last few days she had spent her time sleeping under bridges and trying to find something to eat that wasn't from the trash... things weren't looking too good for the young Echani.

It was on a particularly cold morning that she happened upon an open window. The warm air from the house's heater beckoned her, as well as the sight of a kitchen. In the kitchen stood a refrigerator and the possibility of actual food being inside.
So against her better judgement, she climbed through the window and made her way to the fridge.
Her heart skipped a beat when she found it was full, and she began filling her pockets as quickly as she could. She also hungrily stuffed her mouth with some left over meat...

She felt bad about stealing, but her stomach wouldn't allow her to just ignore the window... She had to do what she had to do.

​

@Algarus @Mithias @Lost Hero @ZtheInquisitor @Wolf @Lloyd Gross

 

[Otus Wycolm]

Otus was a naturally early riser, so he was already awake at this hour. He took advantage and took Shiny for a walk. Joan pet vulptez was having trouble adjusting and was refusing to use the potty training pads he had ser out for them. It was his hope that perhaps nature’s call would be stronger as it got closer, so he let Shiny explore a small chunk of the mountainside in an effort to get them to do their business. He was still unsure if it was a boy or a girl. He didn’t have a proper leash, so he just counted on the fact that he could catch up to a puppy if it for some reason decided to bolt. So Otus leaned on a rock, making pebbles float to entertain himself until Shiny finally did their duty. “Good boy, girl, thing.” He gave Shiny a pat on their head and started walking back. He made sure to pick up the jingly fox thing before entering the shared building they’d been set up in, just in case Shiny felt like causing trouble.

Otus was looking forward to breakfast, so he dropped off Shiny and went towards the kitchen area. He passed Ashlyna in the halls, though he couldn’t quite remember her name so he just said “Morning, Miss Neighbor.” He kept going, entering the kitchen with haste. He was slightly taken aback at the site he found. It was appalling the manera of some people. He didn’t recognize this padawan, but he still wasn’t familiar with everyone so he saw it as natural to introduce himself. “Morning neighbor. I don’t think we’ve met yet, I’m Otus. One of the other learnin’ types here. I wish you’d have waited a bit, I was planning on cooking breakfast for all of us. But it seems you have a mighty large appetizin’ goin on, so how bout this? Just stick around for a bit, and we can chat while I make a proper meal.” He gestured to one of the chairs strewn about “Please take a seat.” He started to warm the cooking apparatus available, getting the station prepped. Poking his head out into the hallway from the kitchen he said in a raised voice “Making breakfast, any special requests?”

@Algarus @ZtheInquisitor @Lloyd Gross @Axym

 

[Naala Re]

Naala froze. Someone was awake, and worse than that... in the kitchen with her. She slowly stood up, shut the door to the fridge and with a large piece of meat hanging out of her mouth, scanned the room for the exit.
The man was now at the stove, near the sink and close to the window she had come through... So leaving that way would be a bit more difficult.

And what the heck was he doing anyway? A burglar was in his kitchen and he was acting like it was normal? And to top it all off, he actually introduced himself to her and asked her to sit down. She was just about to bolt out of the room and see if she could find the exit, but he mentioned making breakfast for her... The thought of a free hot meal was more than enough to keep her there... for now.

She moved slowly and carefully toward the chair keeping the man called Otus in front of her. As she was still gnawing on the piece of meat, she sat down.
On the counter opposite of her, Naala spotted a large knife used for cutting food. If she moved fast enough, she figured she could probably grab it for protection if she needed to...

@Algarus @ZtheInquisitor @Lloyd Gross @Lost Hero

 

[Ashlyna Talmount]

Ashlyna blinked as one of the older padawans (Otis perhaps?) walked by her, and was taken aback for a moment by the awkward greeting. "Erm, morning." She replied back after a moment of hesitation. How did Ayasha manage to remember all of their names? Let alone keep track of four students. Her master certainly was a glutton for punishment it seemed. At least she wasn't the only one awake in the house at the moment, so perhaps some idle conversation would be beneficial here. So, with nothing else to do, she would follow behind the...much larger padawan. She was only a few steps behind him, but heard him start introducing himself to someone else in the kitchen, then saw a white haired human woman sit down at the table, clutching a hunk of meat in her hands. Curious, Ashlyna was almost certain she hadn't seen this woman before. Did Ayasha get another padawan? Or perhaps this was Vu'thari's?

Ashlyna stepped up a little closer and introduced herself to resident of the kitchen. "Otus, right? I'm Ashlyna. Nice to meet you, please let me know if you need help in the kitchen. I'm not the best chief, but..well...I wouldn't mind learning." She would smile at him, then lean back and looked at the stranger sitting at the table. "Hello there, I don't think we've met. I'm Ashlyna, I'm guessing Tycho let you in?" The former pirate asked, still keeping her pleasant smile. It was more of a test, because this girl didn't seem to be in the right place, not to mention her clothing seemed to be worse for wear, and the way she was clutching that food, the look in her eyes...it reminded her of herself. Ashlyna would reach out briefly and try to glimpse the woman's emotions.

There would not be anger or suspicion in Ashlyna's eyes, rather sympathy. Based on how the woman answered, the padawan would follow with some words. "There's no need to be defensive. We're all friends here." Ashlyna would sit across from the woman, provided it did not cause her distress. Ashlyna knew all too well what it was like living off the streets. Kicking the poor woman out was out of the question, but she wasn't sure if Ayasha and Master Vu would like the idea of a vagrant sharing the home with them.
@ZtheInquisitor @Lloyd Gross @Lost Hero @Axym

 

[Otus Wycolm]

Otus got to work with a smile on his face, happy to have some helping hand did need be. Back on the space station he lived in he was the helping hand. Because of this he had figured that he’d be doing all the work. But as he had sensed, Ayasha kept good company, even her intruders didn’t seem too bad. “Much obliged, Miss Ashlyna. Not a terribly large kitchen so I think I can manage breakfast on my own. Maybe for now you can set the table, and get some extra plates if any of them bedheads decide to wake up and smell the goods.” Since he didn’t have any special requests yet he got to work on a stereotypical breakfast. Definitely not the healthiest meal, a lot of carbs and not a ton of nutrients, but it was made with love and care and it would taste pretty good considering the supplies on hand. He hoped to expand the kitchen someday and have a larger budget for meals. But the final product was a bread and fruit jam combo with a little bit of assorted sweeteners sprinkled throughout.

“Order up!” He proclaimed, turning around to join them at the table, balancing three plates on one arm. He set down the first in front of Ashlyna “One for Miss Ashlyna here.” Then he pivoted and placed the second plate in front of the newcomer. “My apologies I don’t believe I caught your name, little missy.” The bread like substance was soft and looked golden with streaks of different colored grain across it. Atop it the jam cascaded down the side like a fruity waterfall, some of it seeping into the base, turning the golden color to one of purples and reds. And on top of all that there were several powdery sweetenings that were sprinkled on the food and the plate surrounding it. He was quite proud of what he’d made with admittedly fewer supplies Han what he was used to. He pulled up a chair with the their plate set in front of himself and dug in. Despite the allure of eating everything in a span of a few seconds, he forced himself to eat slow, keeping a more conversational pace.

“So... how ‘bout that Force, huh? It’s a weird thing I tell ya. Now here’s this thing that so many people want, yet the majority of people who have it never utilize it in their lifetime. I mean look at me, I’m just starting to get in touch with that side of me. Old dogs can learn new tricks, eh?” He joked nudging Ashlyna with his elbow like old men do. “What about you, when do you figure it out? Wake up one day and go “Hey, that’s weird, I’m moving stuff with my mind.” You ever have that moment?”

@ZtheInquisitor @Lloyd Gross @Algarus @Axym

 

[Naala Re]

Tycho? Naala thought. It was a name she was not familiar with... was this a test.. or an actual person. Either way she would expose herself of being a burglar and be in a lot of trouble.

Was honesty the best policy here, or was grabbing the knife and making a run for the exit a viable option?
She felt like she was between a rock and a hard place.

Then the Otus fellow asked for her name. He was being quite friendly for no apparent reason and it seems like he was a force user by the way he talked. Could it be that she had finally found what she had been looking for all this time?

She chewed the rest of the meat in her mouth and swallowed. The decision was to see where this would lead to... even if it meant being turned over to the authorities. At least there she would have a bed and a hot meal.

“My name is Naala.” Her accent was a bit heavy but still understandable. “I came here from my home planet of Eshan. I lost all my credits and I was hungry... and your window was open.”
As she spoke she unloaded her stuffed pockets of all the food from the fridge.
“I’m sorry. I knew better, and I was raised better... I’m so sorry.”
Her silver eyes filled up with tears and she began to cry.


@Algarus @Lost Hero @ZtheInquisitor @Lloyd Gross

 

[Ashlyna Talmount]

"Oh, well thank you for breakfast Otus!" Ashlyna said, as she inspected the freshly served plate and began to eat. The former pirate shook her head at Otus' question, more out of amusement than annoyance, though her eyes darted back to the stranger at the table for a moment. "It wasn't that simple, Otus. I was just....good at finding stuff, knowing where things were. Never learned how to do the little things you're talking about until after I got some lessons. Though, every force sensitive is different. Though, I am curious about our new friend here and how she learned her stuff." Ashlyna would reply, nodding towards the Echani woman, before taking up a bite of food; and was pleasantly surprised that it was good, very good actually. Though, Ashlyna was a little surprised that the stranger was so forth coming with the truth, but she did appreciate it. Naala would find no judgement here, as all Ashlyna had to offer the woman was sympathy; she related to much to that plight, as distant memories of being a starving orphan came to mind. If she had a soft spot, this was definitely one of them. "Hey, don't worry about it." The woman said, aiming to sound sincere. "You can't blame yourself for just trying to survive." Ashlyna would grab a small napkin and hand it to Naala, then look to Otus for any kind of support. "Listen, maybe we can help you out. At the very least we can do is get you a meal." She said, in an attempt to comfort the woman. She wasn't entirely sure how Ayasha would take all of this, but she was certain her master wouldn't have liked to hear her padawans kicked a poor starving woman out of their house; and frankly if there were to be consequences Ashlyna would be more than willing to take them for this situation. There were far worst things one could do than just stealing some food. Yea, it wasn't right, but desperate times call for desperate measures, Ashlyna certainly understood that. "Like Otus said, I'm Ashlyna. Is there anything we can do to help?"

@Lost Hero @ZtheInquisitor @Axym @Lloyd Gross

 

[Otus Wycolm]

“You’re very welcome, little lady.” He said to Ashlyna. He listened to what she had to say, albeit with divided attention as he was hungry and trying to remedy it at the moment. “So... your specialty is finding things? Well goshdarnit I could’ve used you on the space station more than a few times, I can’t tell ya how many times I lost the remote when I was alone. I have a feeling we’ll get along nicely.” Now the white haired woman spoke up, swapping his focus to the obviously distraught woman. He had seen his fair share of beggars back at his old home, usually they were unfortunate travelers left without the credits to keep going and this stranded on the station. Some of them were stuck there longer than Otus had lived there, and that had been the majority of his life. He was no stranger to such individuals, and though he could rarely help them long term, he always tried to make sure they felt welcome. Which so far, it seemed he had accomplished such as she felt safe and comfortable enough to tell the truth of her visit. He had no knowledge of Eshan or its people, but he was assuming that was the accent he was hearing. As she unloaded her pockets he liked over what she managed to grab and said “So that’s where the Gizer Salt went, I was looking everywhere for that.”

Surprisingly, Ashlyna seemed very hospitable towards the thief, something Otus wouldn’t have guessed as a quality of hers, not by first impression anyway. As she spoke, he subtly grabbed the newfound Gizer Salt and ground some onto the three plates. Now the dish was really done. When Ashlyna turned to Otus for support, he simply nodded and arched his eyebrows as if to say keep going. She seemed to have the situation handled for the time being. He liked Ashlyna’s offer, though he wa sunsure if she meant letting this Naala woman finish breakfast or if she had just invited the intruder to lunch. He didn’t mind either, but he wasn’t going to babysit the trespasser all morning if the latter was the case. After Ashlyna asked if there was something they could help with, Otus got up saying “I think I have an idea.” He went around the table to where Naala was sitting. Then, he opened is arms, extending them farther than necessary in exaggeration and said “Naala, would you like a hug?”

@ZtheInquisitor @Axym @Lloyd Gross @Algarus

 

[Naala Re]

Naala wiped the tears from her cheeks and at the "offer" from Otus politely shook her head. "No thank you. I'm ok."

She then remembered what the man was talking about when he had first come into the kitchen. "You said you are force users? Then maybe you can help me." She took a deep breath and then continued. "You see, I'm a force user as well. I was sent here by the elders of Echan to search out the Jedi and see if they would train me." She was taking quite a risk in telling these two complete strangers the truth about why she was there, but she felt she could trust them. And possibly they could help, or steer her in the right direction.
She looked at Ashlyna and gave a slight smile. "I've been trained a little bit already but I need way more than what the elders can offer." She felt she was on the right track so she pressed the subject a bit more. "And I know how to fight. If you have a spare bed, maybe I could help out around here? Earn my keep?"
She was hoping they said "yes", or she would be back on the streets and that was somewhere she didn't want to be.

@ZtheInquisitor @Lloyd Gross @Lost Hero @Algarus