A Quiet Place

[Alastair Valkyrion]

Alastair sat cross legged on a massive stump near his delapidated manor, meditating and centering himself in the dark side. His large phrik sword rested accross his lap, his left hand on the hilt and his right hand on the blade. He knew that being right handed that position made it so that he would take slightly longer to get into a position of readiness, but being a sorcerer he knew that he could handle himself.

He loved it out here, he had since he was a child. And this stump was worn smooth on the top from decades of his sitting on it like this. Something about the creaking of the trees in the breeze and the smell of the earth calmed him.

Not that he was ever not calm really, but here, with the dark side flowing through every fiber of his being, he was at peace.

An odd thing for a Sith to be.

@Lost Hero

 

[Rookie Iwonam]

Rookie continued to roam the forests anxiously. It was nice scenery to trek through sure, but every forest seemed to pale in comparison to the shadowlands of Kashyyyk where she grew up. This forest didn’t seem nearly as dangerous and dark. She was disappointed, because she continued to sense some form of presence of the dark side near her. She had been hoping to find some form of nostalgia here, or at the very least find something interesting. After all, the force had never steered her wrong before. She was getting frustrated, so she naturally started to hit things. As her anger rose and she broke the silence of the forest around her, she seemed to ironically feel a sense of clarity. A more linear path than she had previously felt as she traversed the wilds. With renewed curiosity, she resumed her trail.

After traveling for another half hour or so, she saw it. What she saw was an opportunity and a half. Complete with a derelict building as the backdrop, she saw what seemed to be a sith sitting still with a weapon in hand. It was the perfect photo-op. She got to a higher tree branch with ease to get a better angle. Using her macro binoculars she zoomed in and framed the shot. Beautiful. With that, she took the picture. But, in the relative quiet of nature, with nothing but the chatter between the leaves and the wind to occupy the air, the loud *click* of her camera broke the peace. She realized her mistake much too late to do anything about it and winced at the sound.

@One For Sorrow

 

[Alastair Valkyrion]

Alastair -being attuned to his surroundings- felt like he was being watched, he had just chalked it up to some sort of animal however.

Until the click.

His eyes shot open and he leapt up to his feet, spinning his sword around so that the hilt was in his right hand. His left arm was brought up in front of him, crossing his torso so that he could rest the flat of the blade on the forearm. With his blade pointed on an angle to the left in front of him he turned towards where the sound had come from, scanning the trees and keeping his left shoulder forward so that he had a smaller cross section.

"Who goes there?" he called out, knowing that the click was mechanical rather than a twig breaking. "Show yourself, this is your only warning." he spoke with a normal volume, but used the force to amplify his words to ensure that whoever it was could hear him.

@Lost Hero hero

 

[Rookie Iwonam]

Rookie considered fleeing right then and there for a moment, but she heard the man call for her. Here was to hoping that their apparent mutual use of the Force counted for something and that she wouldn’t be attacked on sight. She didn’t want to find out if he was faster than she. Had it been her forest, she’d have full confidence in knowing the terrain and using it to her advantage to avoid conflict. Unfortunately this wasn’t home turf, in fact it seemed to be his to some extent. Instead, she dropped down from the tree and approached slowly with her hands clearly visible above her head. She made no effort to hide her belongings however, with the macrobinoculars still hanging around her neck and her lightsaber swaying in place at her hip. She spoke in a raised tone so he could hear her from this distance, but in the moment of subtle panic forgot to speak in basic.

“ahsc whooao rawh wowhwoscro. ah ohrac warcraohwh aooo aoacahc akanraoawo rhro aoacwo wwoorcoawo. ahao ohrac rqhuahaowo aoacwo hoahwooh, coorcrcro ahww ah caorarcaoanwowa rooohu, shhucao ohrawhaowowa aooo oaraakaohurcwo aoacwo coawowhwo”

@One For Sorrow

 

[Alastair Valkyrion]

Alastair raised an eyebrow as a Sith Pureblood dropped from the trees and approached with her hands above her head, she was dressed oddly for one of her species, and he could see the source of the mechanical click was a pair of macrobinoculars. He could see plainly that she was armed as well, but she was obviously not an attacker.

Then she started....roaring....at him. He was so confused for a moment that he lowered his blade slightly. "I'm...sorry? Did you concuss yourself on a tree or are you speaking Shyriwook at me?" he asked, still somewhat in shock.

@Lost Hero

 

[Rookie Iwonam]

Rookie noticed he had no idea what she was saying, and figured out why pretty quickly. Why didn’t more people speak her language? In her mind it sounded so much better and was infinitely simpler grammar wise. He was understandably confused so she forced herself to reset so to speak. Her voice was still low and growly for a woman, but she did make the effort to speak in basic.

“Rookie. Buddy. Basic not good looking. Eye sith to image. Click click. Bad. Leading dark force, Rookie here. Good image. No dying, please. Buddy.”

To say her basic was rough was an understatement, but she was trying really hard. As she spoke she seemed to be trying to mime the words as well, pointing to herself, at the sith, and at her camera when appropriate.

@One For Sorrow

 

[Alastair Valkyrion]

As the newcommer spoke, Alastair lowered his sword and stood so he simply faced her. However he kept his sword in his hand just in case this was a very strange ruse.

He had to think through the broken statements for a moment and put it all together in his head, the gestures helped a little bit in this task.

A Pure Blooded Sith in the Old Empire who spoke Shyriiwook better than she spoke Galactic Basic was a sight he would likely not see again.

Interesting.

"Rookie, is it? An interesting name to be sure." he spoke slowly now, making sure that she understood him."I am Alastair Valkyrion, and nobody needs to die here today." he wasn't sure if her saying "buddy" had been in reference to him or in saying they were on the same side, so he decided not to touch on it for now. "I assume you serve the same Empire as I do. Though in the future, letting me know that you are around would be in your best interest." he chuckled a little at that. "Now then, Rookie, Something tells me you have an interesting life story. You can put ypur hands down now, and don't worry how long it takes. I have all the time in the world."

She would likely think his sudden line of questioning odd, but she was an enigma, and Alastair had a thirst for knowledge and information like no other.

@Lost Hero

 

[Rookie Iwonam]

Rookie relaxed a little after seeing him lower his weapon. She felt the tension in her muscles release and she lowered her arms out of the air. She nodded, picking up her name through all the chatter. Her old master had given her an easier nickname by Basic standards as a first step to learning the language. But it was hard to learn with a dead teacher. There were still a lot of words that went over her head but she felt like she was getting the just of what the man was saying. His name sounded just as strange as most of the words he spoke, so it got lost in the shuffle. She did find his talking odd, not exactly sure what he wanted from her. She did get a little closer so she was at a more conversational and not standoffish distance. Coming further into the clearing she felt naked, any area where the canopy was not above her she had learned to avoid like the plague. She sniffed the air for any whiff of non-force related predators. For now at least, it seemed they were alone.

“Yes to Empire. Greeting sith boy. No bad thoughting, good? Speaking shyriiwook much. House for you? I is of Kashyyyk. Not eyeing as much house as that. Rookie past master’s nickname. I Wrookwurra. Rookie smaller. A lot of time in one world?”

@One For Sorrow

 

[Alastair Valkyrion]

Alastair had a lot of trouble understanding Rookie, part of him wanted to offer to teach her how to properly speak Galactic basic, but they had just met.

"I can't say I ever tried to speak much Shyriiwook. It hurts my throat." he chuckled "Yes, my home is near here, it's a little run down but I'm working on that. Rookie is much easier. And I have spent the majority of my life on this world." Alastair was worried that he was still using words too difficult for Rookie, but he really did have trouble speaking plainly.

@Lost Hero

 

[Rookie Iwonam]

Rookie rolled her eyes in frustration. They were making little progress and when nothing was being done that was when her impatience got the best of her. Always. So in a huff she closed the distance between them rapidly, taking the macro binoculars off her neck. Conversation was being had, but she didn’t think the proper emotions were being conveyed. So she scrolled through the various images she had collected and settled on one specific one. The picture she showed the strange man was of Kashyyyk. It was a haunting image of two Wookiees dragging the corpse of a third through the dense overgrowth of the shadowlands. As she showed this image she said “Home.”

Then she showed another image, thisnof her old master, the one who taught her of the dark side of the force and whom she killed after he went to wiping out her entire clan. “Teach.” The pictures were all shaky, none framed properly and poorly lit, but they all conveyed emotion. And her perspective. Finally, in stark contrast to the first row images, the third she showed seemed to be by a professional. Stripped straight form the holonet. The image was of a battlefield with a headline about the war. “Finding.”

@One For Sorrow

 

[Alastair Valkyrion]

Alastair tightened his grip on his sword momentarily as Rookie stomped over to him, but relaxed when he realized she was trying to aid in their communication.

He was.starting to get it. Her hime was Kashyyk. He assumed the man in the second picture was her old master.

The last bit he didn't quite understand.

"Let's start again." Alastair said slowly, stepping back and sheathing his sword. He brought his hand up and pointed to himself. "Alastair." he then gestured towards his manor "My home."

He pointed then to the image from the war still displayed on Rookie's famera. "Finding what?"

He hoped this time he had been simple enough.

@Lost Hero

 

[Rookie Iwonam]

Rookie couldn’t believe how hard such simple conversation was. She would have to invest in a translator one of these days because she obviously couldn’t rely on justbpictures. Maybe the problem was she didn’t have enough pictures. That would take care of itself in time though. She mumbled a curse in shyriiwook under her breath, though the Wookiee tongue was never quite compatible with subtlety. But she followed along. With no sense of personal boundaries, when Alastair pointed to himself to introduce himself more clearly, she followed his lead. She poked his chest with a single finger “Alastarr.” She glanced in the direction Alastair pointed, following the gesture to the site of the manor. “Big home.” She struggled to find a way to explain further what the last picture meant. In her head it was pretty self explanatory. She took a deep breath, trying to relax her throat, maybe it would help her speak more clearly.

“Finding. Eyeing. Rookie finding war. War birth dying strength. Click click. Alastarr finding war?”

@One For Sorrow

 

[Alastair Valkyrion]

Alastair smiled slightly, finally they seemed to be getting somewhere.

"It is falling apart." he chuckled. "Big, but needs fixing."

He listened to her explanation of the last picture, starting to understand. "You want to take pictures of war?" he asked, hoping he was right. And then, patting his sword hilt fondly, "Yes, I find war."

@Lost Hero

 

[Rookie Iwonam]

Rookie started nodding vigorously, excited that he was starting to understand. She figured he was a man of war, what with all the brooding and posing with a weapon. That wasn’t exactly the mark of a pacifist. At the very least her pictures were good for something, maybe this wouldn’t be a major waste of time She was very eager after he said that he found war. So eager in fact, she grabbed him by the fabric around his neck with both hands and said in his face “Alastarr find me to war?”

@One For Sorrow

 

[Alastair Valkyrion]

Alastair was a little surprised by the sudden grabbing of his collar, not something he was used to people doing. He backed up just a touch so that Rookie was not directly in his face and thought for a moment.

"Find you to war? Maybe." he didn't want just anyone tagging along with him when he fought, some folks could easily get in the way. "Do you fight?" he asked with a nod towards the girls lightsaber.

 

[Rookie Iwonam]

Rookie laughed in his face at the question. “Fight!” She let go, and walked away. In her mind there was a very simple solution to this. So she walked back into the denser forested area. Once she was several meters away, she I clipped her lightsaber and ignited it. Watching he crimson blade dance before her eyes, even though there was no immediate danger, her body started to hum with adrenaline regardless. Then she got to work. She started chopping wildly at the nearest tree, sending chunks flying in every direction. It was not pretty, nor was it very effective. There was a lot of wasted energy and movement, every arc too wide and open and every cut too imprecise. But what she lacked in finesse she made up for in ferocity. She continuously hacked away at the defenseless tree, making use of her legs as well, kicking and punching debris and branches out of the way.

Having worked up a sweat and simultaneously submitting her ballot for worst lumberjack ever, she made her way back. “Fight.” In her mind it was a very impressive display and was sure she had proved herself. In the moment of pride she forgot to extinguish the weapon in her hand which now hung in idle rage in her hand.

@One For Sorrow

 

[Alastair Valkyrion]

Okay. So Rookie could swing a saber. Alastair had to give her points for tenacity. But she could definitely use some refinement.

"Not bad." he said with a grin, looking at the still lit lightsaber.

Then a thought occurred to him. "I can teach you. Basic and fighting." he paused as another thought came to him, he didn't want to use too many words, so he used the force to make a small falled branch float up to chest height "Force?" he asked simply. Hoping that Rookie would understand his question.

@Lost Hero

 

[Rookie Iwonam]

Rookie took the compliment in stride, holding her chin-up a little higher at the praise in a “Tell me something I don’t know” kind of way. She thought she got the list of the second thing he said, but it all felt a little too unspecific. She did get fighting out of it. Maybe he wanted to fight, was that it? If so, she felt she’d have the advantage. She was sure her lightsaber could cut through any sword. She took a glance back at her handiwork with the tree, which was starting to smolder. No big deal. She watched the branch levitate between them, and smiled at the sight. She mimicked the motion shakily bringing up a loose rock to the same height and said as an answer to the question “Strength.”
@One For Sorrow