Ask Coruscant Rise Up

[Emilia Vuth]

"Most people slow me down," Emilia answered with a shrug, not giving any hint if it was a joke or not.

She caught back up with Tiberius and walked by his side. The lights of the park continued to catch her eyes, though she did briefly look at Tiberius before they got to the line up.

"Yeah. So... what's a funnel cake?" she asked, looking back away because for some reason, to her, it felt embarrassing not to know. To be honest, she wanted to tell herself this was a "intel gathering" for whenever she might find herself in a fair for a mission, but deep down she knew the real reason she was here, and she was starting to feel herself relax.

She wasn't minding Tiberius' company either. Despite his bragging. However, she'd need to beat him at something in order to get her honor back. Maybe there were games in the fun house she could win. It was a fun house, after all, it probably had games. Right?

When they got to the front of the line, Emilia tossed over enough credits for funnel cakes, instructing him to pick whatever kind for her. The alien handed her over a heart-shape funnel cake with strawberries and whipped cream on top, "Here you're little lady," the employee of the stand said, turning after and waiting for Tiberius to select what he wanted.

Emilia took the cake, and, blinked at it at couple times. "It's..." she paused a moment as she tipped her head slightly. "It's.... kind of cute."

@logn2665

 

[Tiberius Fenric]

“It’s basically fried dough.” Tiberius said in answer to Emilia’s question. They were next in line. Emilia ordered herself a funnel cake, followed by Tiberius. The alien behind the counter disappeared briefly and returned to their funnel cakes. Tiberius’ cake was a little less elaborate than Emilia’s. The alien making the snacks seemed to put extra effort into making the sephi’s heart shaped. Tiberius’ cake on the other hand was a plain circle with powdered sugar on top. The knight stared almost jealously at the fancy funnel cake that Emilia held in her hands. “It is kinda cute.” Tiberius agreed. He pulled off a chuck of his cake and popped it into his mouth. “But it’s even more delicious.” He said with his mouth half full.

He swallowed and took another bite of the fried treat. “So, how do you like it?” Tiberius asked regarding how Emilia was enjoying the funnel cake. He looked over to see her reaction to the first bite. For all he knew she could hate it.

Tiberius took another bite and began walking towards the Fun House. As they approached Tiberius saw a twi’lek crossing a bridge in the fun house. There was a hiss as air shot up from the floor and the twi’lek’s lekkus were blown upwards. The knight had just finished his funnel cake and disposed of the plate it had been served on. There was no line for this attraction. “C’mon, let go.” Tiberius said to Emilia as he climbed the stairs to enter the attraction. Upon entering the fun house Tiberius was greeted by several mirrors that would distort one’s reflection to make them look “silly.” The knight stood in front of one of the mirrors. The reflection of his torso was wider than normal and his head was elongated. “Hey look, I’m master Incad.” The jedi spoke to Emilia forgetting or a moment that she wouldn’t know the jedi master that he was referring too. Oops.

Moving on through the attraction Tiberius went to round a corner but found that the ground beneath him began to move. He had stepped onto a turn table. He was caught off balance and fell back onto his butt. He was now sitting on the ground spinning in circles. He picked himself up and regained his balance.

Tiberius moved on to the next area in the fun house. The section was filled with what looked like multicolored punching bags hanging from the ceiling. It was difficulty to see through them and one had to push the bags out of the way to traverse this section. Tiberius thought it might be fun to try and scare Emilia. He hurried on ahead, moving the punching bags out of his way and hid behind one of the bags at the end of the section. When he heard Emilia coming he jumped out at her “BOO!” It was hard to know if she’d fall for the jump scare or just give him her characteristic stoic look. It was worth a shot though, right?

Beyond the punching bags hanging from the ceiling there were stairs that led to the second level. The thing was though that the stairs were split in two and each side was only big enough for one foot. In addition one side would move up while the other side moved down. Eventually Tiberius was able to traverse the stairs and make it to the second level.

Here on the second level he was met by the bridge that he had seen the twi’lek walk across earlier. He began walking across himself, holding onto the handrail as he went. Then he heard it. The hiss of air shooting up from below. It blew the back of his robes up and also his hair. He made it to the other side and turned to see if Emilia was following him.

Over on the other side Tiberius found a slide that led to the exit. He turned back to Emilia “Shall we?” he asked as he mounted the slide and pushed himself down. The slide twisted and turned as Tiberius slithered down to the bottom. He got up and waited for Emilia to join him. “What do you want to do next?” he asked

Tag: @Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Emilia took a bite of the funnel cake, once again blinking a few times. It was actually good. Maybe if she ate healthier it wouldn't be so tasty but Emilia wasn't always the best when it came to eating. She was often busy, though she took care of her grooming almost religiously. A controlled, outer appearance was very important to her.

"It's sugary," she answered. The vague, not exactly an answer answer was a habit of hers. Even sometimes when there was no reason not to give a straight answer. By now Tiberius was probably picking up on that, although she had been fairly straight forward with him since the start of the day.

She was able to finish her funnel cake before they made it to the fun house. Emilia was in awe of how... strange it looked as they entered. One of the mirrors made her look out of shape, and she wasn't exactly thrilled with looking at it. So far she wasn't a fan of the fun house. Tiberius' voice drew her focus away from one of the mirrors when he said something about a master Incad. She just stared at the man's reflected and simply made a mental note.

The small sephi followed after Tiberius, so far unimpressed and confused about the whole experience. When the ground started to move Emilia just about fell, though she was almost always on high alert so she braced herself in time not to go stumbling down. But, by the time she made it to the next room, Tiberius seemed to be missing or ahead.

He'd left her? Emilia frowned slightly, weaving through the punching bags until... something from her side suddenly started to move rapidly towards her. Her body and mind instantly switched into her default mode: FIGHT. Flight Mode was not in her nature.

Emilia turned on her heels with the swiftness all her training provided her, swinging her right arm with her hand balled into a tight fist. Her movement was spurred on by adrenaline and the aid of Force Speed that she called upon out of instinct. Therefor, if Tiberius didn't stop it, Emilia's fist would land right into his stomach while he shouted "BOO".

The impact hurt her hand a little bit - punching someone always did. She flinched slightly, and right after that realized who exactly she had swung at. "Tiberius!" Emilia let out surprised gasp, this time there was worry and concern in her voice and eyes. "Kriff! I'm sorry! Are you okay?" she asked. It was uncharacteristic of her to react so strongly but, she instantly felt guilt for hitting him.

@logn2665

 

[Tiberius Fenric]

Tiberius almost instantly regretted his decision to try and scare Emilia. Oh, his plan work. Emilia was scared, but the human jedi quickly found that the soft hand of the sephi that he had held in his own hand earlier wasn’t all that soft after all. The small first was currently planted in his gut. The knight doubled over clenching his stomach with both of his hands. The wind had been knocked out of him and he was gasping for breath.

Emilia seemed to be genuinely concerned about what had just happened and it sounded like there might be a tinge of guilt in her voice. “It’s fine.” Tiberius was able to wheeze once he got his lungs re-inflated. He put up a hand and gave her a thumbs up while he was still doubled over. “This went much differently in my mind.” Tiberius said as he stood himself upright again. He remembered being a kid on Dantooine and scaring his brother when they were younger. The look on his brother’s face always gave Tiberius a laugh. However, he quickly learned that this was not going to be true with Emilia.

Tiberius took a deep breath in and out, enjoying being able to breathe again. He hoped that there wasn’t any internal bleeding and continued on through the rest of the fun house. After going down the slide to exit the attraction Tiberius asked he companion, “What’s next?” He surveyed the landscape before them. There was bumper cars off to their left, and a small roller coaster to their right call “The Krazy Krayt Dragon,” a name that didn’t exactly bring back fond memories. Directly in front of them was the Midway where they could find all sorts of games.

Tag: @Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Tiberius' thumbs up soothed Emilia's guilt a little bit. The wheezing not so much, but he was Jedi after all, he'd survive. He made his way out of the rest of the "fun" house and so did Emilia. The slide wasn't bad and at the end of the fun house a few other rides came into view.

Of course, the ride where people were slamming into one another with cars caught her attention the most. "That," Emilia said, pointing towards the bumper cars. She'd make sure to get into a car beside Tiberius in order to bump into him as many times as possible. That was probably how the game was won. Despite punching Tiberius in the gut, she still felt she needed to win a game against him at least once today.

She made her way to the ride without waiting to see if Tiberius would follow.

---------------- Later ----------------​

A lot of establishments were open 247 on coruscant. So while the night had darkened greatly, the park was still in full swing. Emilia had had enough for the night, though she'd briefly wandered off from Tiberius before meeting back up with him outside the fair. She walked along side of him, deciding to take a shortcut through a park.

Though, she stopped a moment, noticing how quiet and empty the park was. It was further away from all the noises of speeders, people chattering and the neon lights dotted through the planet. She looked up at the starry sky, then without saying anything, she walked swiftly to a swing and took a seat to keep staring up at the sky.

Music​

"Can we stay here awhile to enjoy the quiet?" she asked Tiberius, though she didn't look at him at first. Not until she remembered something, "Oh..."

The small sephi reached into one of her belt pouches and pulled out a small bag of assorted sweets. She held the bag up in the palm of her hand towards the other knight, "For punching you," was all she said. It was an apology gift, of sorts. She knew they'd had tons of sweets already today but Emilia wasn't exactly a natural gift-giver and this was something she'd spotted on her way to meet back up with Tiberius.

@logn2665

 

[Tiberius Fenric]

After exiting the fun house Emilia led the pair to the bumper cars. Tiberius noticed that Emilia got intot he car closest to the knight and for the next several minutes Tiberius proceeded to get whiplash from the sephi ramming into his car. Tiberius wasn’t sure how much more physical punishment he could take after all that. The two went on to enjoy the fair together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music​

Darkness had overspread the sky, but unless you looked up at the sunless sky you wouldn’t know it with all the light pollution. Towards the end of their adventures at the fair Emilia had slipped away from Tiberius, but they had agreed to meet back up outside the gates. This is where Tiberius found himself. Standing and waiting for the white haired girl.

“There you are.” Tiberius said as the sephi came into view. “I was starting to think you had abandoned me.” He was mostly joking, but he had a feeling that it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities. The two walked side by side. The lights and music of the fair faded as they got farther away from the festivities. Emilia decided to take them on a short cut through a park. Perhaps one she was familiar with? She spent more time on this planet than Tiberius did so it was a good possibility that she had been here before.

Tiberius continued on a couple paces before noticing that the sephi had stopped to stare up at the sky. He turned to look at her and when he saw what she was doing he followed suit. The sky here was oddly free from the light pollution that was common on the ecumeopolis. The stars shined bright here. Tiberius brought his gaze back down to the ground but found that the sephi was no longer standing in front of him where he had left her.

Tiberius looked around to find that the woman had taken up residence on one of the swings where she continued to look up at the stars. The knight walked over to the swing next to Emilia and took a seat, swinging ever so slightly. Emilia requested to stay here a while. “Sure.” Tiberius nodded. It was a peaceful place and it wasn’t like they were in a big rush.

Tiberius started to look up at the stars as well, but his attention shifted towards the sephi with her little exclamation. Tiberius looked and she pulled out a bad of sweets and briefly explained what they were for. Tiberius reached out and received the gift into the palm of his hand. “Thank you!” He said with a smile. “I don’t think you caused too much damage so I think I’ll live.” He gave her a quick playful wink. He eyed the bag of sweets. The sephi must have picked up on his sweet tooth while they were at the fair, or it was just luck. Emilia didn’t seem like the gift giving type, but it made Tiberius happy that she had made the effort.

“I have something for you too.” Tiberius said as he placed the bag of sweets gently into his pocket. He now reached under his robe and pulled out the stuffed bantha that he had won earlier. He had tucked it into his belt so he wouldn’t have to carry it around the whole time they were at the fair. “Here.” He stated extending his hands holding the small bantha. “I want you to have this.”

Tag: @Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

She was glad he agreed to stay, and she watched Tiberius smile while he accepted her gift. The same stoic look as always remained on her face in return however. She was studying his reaction. He seemed genuinely happy to accept the gift. His smile reached his eyes, so it wasn't a fake smile. Well, that was the best assumption she had. Analyzing body language was more of an art than it was a science and more importantly it required emotional intelligence, but it had helped her correctly call out bluffs before.

His genuine happiness, well, she was more happy than she thought she'd be that he was. It was odd to care about another person this much, to her. Oh, she cared about people but rarely had it been on a personal level.

Though she didn't show it, of course, and gave him a little side look when he made his joke. She hoped he didn't have any lasting damage otherwise she'd feel worse! She didn't approve of the joke at all. Maybe she'd have to have him checked out later, or even use some healing.

Her thoughts were interrupted when he said he had something for her. Emilia tipped her head slightly to the side when he did. Still, she remained quiet until he pulled out the bantha stuffy. "Oh," she answered at first, accepting the gift. The small sephi brought the stuffy in front of her and stared at it.

"It's... it's cute," she said. This was the second time today she'd found something cute. Maybe she liked cute things... "Thanks," Emilia said finally, raising one of her hands and tugging at one of the bantha's little ears. She smiled, a little bit. Today she probably expressed more on the outside than she had in months. It felt odd to let go a little bit, but for some reason she felt safe enough in front of Tiberius.

"Tiberius, do you enjoy being Jedi?" she asked, perhaps out of the blue, at least to him. "Because I do. No matter what I may have missed out on as a child. I believe I am who I am suppose to be. I believe I am where I'm suppose to be, and I'm happy," she said, looking back up at Tiberius. She tipped her head ever so slightly again and this time didn't try to hide her faint smile.

@logn2665

 

[Tiberius Fenric]

Tiberius watched as Emilia accepted his gift. It appeared that the sephi enjoyed the gift as we evidenced by her smile. Emilia didn’t show much emotion so Tiberius assumed it was a genuine smile. She thanked him for the gift and he nodded in response, grateful that she liked the gift.

Tiberius directed his gaze up at the sky again. He recalled a memory of when he was a child and lived on Dantooine. Sometimes he and his brother would lay in the grass at night and look up at the stars. They had never left their home planet before and they would fantasize about what life might be like on other planet. If only Tiberius brother could see him now.

Tiberius thoughts were brought back to the present by the words of the sephi. She asked him if he enjoyed being a jedi. He furrowed his brow a little confused. The question was a little out of the blue and he wasn’t sure what the purpose of asking the question was. Emilia went on to explain that she enjoyed being a jedi.

Tiberius contemplated the question for a moment. Did he enjoy being a jedi? He had a limited life experience prior to joining the jedi. What kind of life would he had if he wasn’t a jedi? He listened to Emilia’s reasoning. They had both been part of the order for the same amount of time, but she had had even less life experience outside of being a jedi than Tiberius did. Would she feel the same if she had had time to experience a “real” childhood.

Tiberius brought his gaze back down and turned his head to look at Emilia. He found her bright purple eyes staring back at him, which he wasn’t expecting. “Yeah, I suppose I do.” He answered. “Although I don’t have much experience otherwise.” He wondered where this conversation was going, or if the sephi was just curious. "Why do you ask?" he followed up with.

Tag: @Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Tiberius didn't seem as happy to be Jedi, but, his answer was good enough for her. He asked why she asked. Emilia stared up at the stars at first to think a little more before answering.

"Curiosity, mostly," the small sephi answered, "But I have also been thinking about my Jedi status for awhile now."

A creeping, cold wind rocked Emilia's swing back and fourth slightly while the stars reflected in her eyes. "I've been a Jedi for most of my life, and technically part of the Order, but not really. You know that. So obviously, I don't need to be part of the Order to be Jedi."

Emilia took a moment to gather her thoughts, though her head was starting to get that ache from having a tight bun (tied back hair) for so long. Digging her feet into the ground to stop herself from swinging, Emilia plopped the bantha on her lap between her thighs to hold it, then reached back to begin undoing her bun. She spoke, almost casually, as she did, "I'm thinking of officially leaving the Order."

Her long, wavy white locks of hair fell over her shoulders, giving her a little relief from the bun. There was lots of reasons, at least in her mind, to leave the Order. The Jedi Order's reputation wouldn't follow her around, and what she did wouldn't risk further staining the Order's reputation either. It wasn't even a major change, not even close to it, not in her mind. It was just making something unofficial, official.

@logn2665

 

[Tiberius Fenric]

Emilia explained that it was mostly curiosity that lead her to her inquiry, but she then began to elaborate on her own thoughts. Tiberius kicked lightly off the ground to cause himself to swing a little more as he listened to the sephi. Like Emilia he too looked up at the stars. He nodded along with her words. She was making sense so far.

There was a moment of pause as Emilia began to undo her hair, and then she spoke again stating that she was leaving the order. Tiberius stopped and looked over just in time to see the white hair cascade down and cover her shoulders. Her hair now framing her face.

Tiberius was a little confused at this revelation and his brow crinkled for a moment before returning to normal. He contemplated her words for a moment, analyzing them as he began to swing gently again. His initial response was a flat, “Okay.” He was still processing what she was saying. To be honest, Emilia leaving the order wouldn’t mean a whole lot of change for either Emilia or the order. She had a point, too, you didn’t have to be part of the order to do jedi-like things. It was also safe to say, though, that Emilia’s tactics weren’t always jedi-like.

“Well,” Tiberius had a little more inflection in his voice this time. “I assume you’re going to keep doing the same things you’ve always done.” He paused for a moment still thinking of her words. He reached out with his hand and placed it on Emilia’s shoulder. His arm was just long enough the span the gap between them. “If you ever need anything I’m always happy to help.” He looked at Emilia and smiled. It was a real smile, and he had meant what he said. He had started to grow attached to the small, white haired sephi, and was more than willing to stand by her side.

“So, what are you going to call yourself?” Tiberius asked as he started to swing a little faster. “The lone white wolf?”

Tag: @Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Emilia nodded. "I will not stop my pursuit of justice." She was glad he understood. Above all else, Emilia cared about bringing justice to the galaxy. She, herself, was much less important. If she died, if her reputation was stained, or anything else was brought down on her, none of that mattered to her. Well, in a way, it would of course. She was sephi, she had feelings, but she knew deep down in her heart that it shouldn't matter much to her. The lives of many mattered more than the life of one. And she was the one.

The small Jedi took her new teddy from her thighs and held it, suddenly feeling Tiberius' hand on her shoulder. Emilia looked over, a little surprised, but smiled slightly. "Thank you. I haven't thought of a name yet, but I will." That wasn't entirely true, she already had a code name, but she wasn't sure if that was what he was asking. Plus, it was better to keep him in the dark for as long as possible and not tell him it. That was how the game worked, and how to keep the people around her safe.

She wouldn't abuse his help either, or risk him more than needed. If push came to shove, Emilia would throw her life before his. Despite her very strong desire to be a lone wolf, she knew that having help made things easier. Sometimes, at least. And Tiberius was that sometimes.

"We should find a hotel," Emilia said after a short while. The view of the night sky was wonderous, but it wouldn't last much longer, likely.

The small sephi stood, moving in front of Tiberius and offering her hand to help him up. Her other hand had the bantha stuffy so she couldn't offer both hands. Once or if he stood up, Emilia would continue towards their speeders. Being on speeders would make it much easier to search for a new, nicer hotel to stay in.

------------ The Next Morning ------------​

Everything she owned was in the new hotel room because she'd had contacts deliver her items. The new hotel room was much more fancy and comfortable, and paid for by imperial funds... er, by Emilia, of course. Because those funds were hers now. Not legally, but they were still hers.

The small sephi was feeling much better this morning, pretty much ready to make her way to Dantoonie. She existed the bathroom after another shower, a towel wrapped around her mid torso, leaving her mostly covered. Only the top of her pale breasts, and her legs, were exposed. Her hair was still wet, of course, and she was running another smaller towel through it while she walked.

Her purple eyes turned to Tiberius. "Did you want to order us something to eat for breakfast?" she asked.

@logn2665

 

[Tiberius Fenric]

Tiberius sat in his swing and listened to Emilia. He hadn’t know the sephi too long, but it was clear that she was determined. She had goals and she knew how to achieve them. She had shown that she was willing to die for what she believed in. All admirable traits.

There was a brief pause in conversation and Tiberius went back to looking up at the stars. He started to reflect on his own life. What had he done with it? He had always just kind of let life happen to him. He always went with the flow. Maybe that’s how he ended up sitting here in a park next to Emilia. Perhaps it was time for a change though. Maybe it was time for Tiberius to learn something from the sephi and accomplish some goals in his life.

The silence was broken by the sephi’s soft voice and Tiberius was brought out of his pensive state. Emilia said that they should find a hotel. She was right, it was getting late. Tiberius watched as the sephi got to her feet and offered her hand to Tiberius. Tiberius stared for a moment at the outstretched hand before extending his own and placing it in Emilia’s. The hand that had not so long ago been used for violence against the jedi was now being used to help him.

Tiberius got to his feet and the pair walked back to their speeders where they drove off and found a place to stay for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The next morning Tiberius laid in his bed watching the holoprojector as Emilia took a shower. This hotel room was much nicer than the grimy no tell motel that Tiberius had been staying in on the lower levels. Emilia had paid for the room. He didn’t know where she got her credits, but he didn’t ask questions.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the sephi walk out of the bathroom. When Emilia started to speak Tiberius turned to look at her and he couldn’t help but stare. He was speechless. He had not seen this much of the sephi before. Tiberius blinked a few times rapidly as he brought himself back to his senses. He wiped his nose thinking that he might have felt a nose bleed coming on. “Uh, yes, breakfast. I’m on it.” He said fumbling over himself. He reached over and called room service. Shortly after, breakfast was brought up to them.

After breakfast, it was time to pack up. Emilia had made a quick recovery from her encounter with the cultist and it was time for the pair to continue on to Dantooine. Emilia hadn’t shared all of the details with Tiberius and he wondered exactly what they would be doing on a sith controlled planet, but he had agreed to go regardless of what lay ahead of them. Later that day Tiberius, presumably with Emilia, would board a rented ship that would take him back to his homeworld for the first time in several years.

Tag: @Lilith