Sometimes I just don’t get it…

I spent the week of healing with my new hand relatively low key, spending a lot of time curled up in Master Vel’s house resting.  He had told me to go back there, and he had said that he would be back, and even promised flowers… but three days went by and no word from him, nothing.  It was a little disturbing, I have to admit I was beginning to think he’d changed his mind and was actually regretting coming back to his house if I were there.

On the fourth day I received a comm message- he wanted me to meet him, we were going on a mission to Byss.  I can’t say no to something that sounds that exciting, so I suited up and took a shuttle to the meeting place.  Once I got there we proceeded to Byss.  We looked around a bit, there was a small hitch in the plan when we encountered the shields, but we got around them easily enough.   It was actually really quiet, I’d expected more from the Infamous Sith Planet.

There was a taxi speeder that we picked up, and I had to tease him just a bit because it was having problems running.  He admitted that perhaps Byss wasn’t the best place to take me for a date, after I mentioned that I wasn’t keen on getting dropped into the lava. We both had a good laugh about that… once it was clear I wasn’t going into the lava streams below.

We made it back to the Amaranth, and used the private time to relax and talk.  He throws me off because he’s quite formal, then relaxed, in turns, so I’m never quite sure what to expect.  I felt quite at home though, leaned against him, talking openly.   I’d almost forgiven him for leaving me alone for three days, which he only explained away by “meditation.”  I’m still not sure about that… I had my hand cut off and he forgot about me because he was meditating? I have to admit I was… and am, still rather hurt about it.

I thought it would be a good idea to take a non-stressful trip, so I decided that flower picking on Zenoma Sekot would be a nice time.  I invited Zack along, and was quite pleased when he agreed to go, even though I’m fairly sure he thought it was a waste of time.  I disagreed- I was promised flowers, I’d get them one way or another. 

We landed on Zenoma Sekot, and he let me lead the way.  He stopped though, once we arrived at a small silver tree.  It had a plaque at its base.  He explained to me that it’d been there for as long as he could remember… and he related to me, sort of, a bit of his past.  He talked a little about the Peacekeepers… and their actions.  I wanted to hear more, but I’m afraid of pushing him too much.   We wandered a bit after that, and I managed to lighten his mood, I think, by putting a flower into his hair.  I know it made me smile.  He took me to their library after i was done collecting flowers, and it was absolutely beautiful down there.  We stayed a little longer before he decided it was time to go.   We returned to Ruusan, one vase of flowers richer.  I don’t think he realizes it, but I’m still wondering why the disappearing act for those three days…

Mikori and I in Christophsis

I took Sir Roger’s Padawan Mikori to the planet of Christophsis.  I was hoping to gather more information about the crystals that Master Vel and i had found before.   We got there, and decided our best plan of attack would be to start at the top and work our way down.  We were on one of the top walkways when we saw two people below us, a Chiss and a Twi’lek.  I had a fairly bad feeling about them, so I had Mikori stay while I went to feel them out.  When I got down to them they were immediately aggressive.  I tried to back away from them but it was useless, and sabers were drawn.  They quickly overpowered me.  Mikori’s voice came through my com, but I told him to stay away, not wanting him in danger as well.  He told me he was speaking to one of them, one I hadn’t seen before, but I couldn’t get away from the two .  Once I was defeated in combat they threw me over the walkway.  If I had been in decent shape before that, I wasn’t aftewards.  As I hit the hard flooring I felt the electric pain and heard the crunch of breaking bones.  It was a lot harder to breathe after that.  I closed my eyes, trying to push the pain away and use the force to slow the bleeding I could feel inside.  I drifted in and out of consciousness, when I opened up my eyes again the three  strangers were down there, and so was Mikori, and they were fighting.  I wanted Mikori out of there, but he wasn’t leaving me.   He tried to convince them that he’d join them if they’d leave me be.  They weren’t having it,  and the Twi’lek cut my hand off at the command of the other one, one they called Rehn.  The pain that went through me as I lost my hand was unlike any I’d ever felt until then.  I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe… and then it faded, pulsing and throbbing painfully, but not as blindingly so as before.

I remember seeing Master Jehn, and the padawans Mark and Blade, and then I was in the medlab on Ruusan.  Lady Sabra healed my leg, my ribs, the bleeding, and started cloning or whatever it was that she did for my new hand, which got reattached a day later.  Now I’ve been told not to spar for a week, and to be careful about my grip, since this new hand is much stronger than my old one.

I feel badly though… in this adventure… well, yes, I got injured and yes I had to deal with it, but I also felt so bad because.. well Master Vel met me at the medlab.  He held me down, and held my hand, while Sabra healed me up.  He was what kept me from yelling, and he’s what kept me calm.  Feeling him with me made everything better.   When we got sent home, he made me come to his house,  and he was actually somewhat angry at himself for not being there to help me.  To lose his hand instead, for me, as he put it.   When he dropped me at the medlab to get my new hand he hugged me.  I didn’t want to leave his arms, I have to admit.  I went back to his house once I got it attatched,  to rest.  I haven’t seen him since… he’s been really busy.  I miss his face.

Bounty Trouble, continued…

I bounced around my house all day in an effort to keep my promise to rest and heal.  Finally I was just going too stir crazy and wandered out to go do a little work on my fighter.  I got out there, was looking to make sure I really hadn’t hit anything (I hadn’t!), and suddenly there was a too-familiar voice behind me.  It was that damned bounty hunter from Onderon.  I reached for my saber, an automatic movement, just to feel the comfort of it whether I had to use it or not.  My mind went through a hundred curses and oaths as my hand closed on empty air.  The one time I travel outside of my house without my saber! 

Master Ana and Aeon had seen the mandalorian come up and joined us, keeping a watch to make sure nothing untoward happened.  I knew I wasn’t going to be the best fighter on the best of days, but the soreness of my torso had me really worried about this fight.  He wanted the same thing as before, except more.  He wanted me dead… or the name of my pilot.  That wasn’t going to happen, and I let him know that. 

Aeon and Master Ana tried to help me, she slipped me an extra saber she had, and when the bounty hunter shot at me they both tried to disarm him… well, unhand him… they tried to cut off his hands.  He shot at me, and I actually managed to deflect both shots.  I’m rather hoping Master Vel doesn’t notice the blaster burn on his ship’s hull.  Otherwise I have a feeling I’m on painting duty when I heal up.

He kept demanding to know who my pilot was,  tried to taunt me, telling me how he was going to peel this pilot’s skin from his face before killing him if I didn’t tell him without a fight.  It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, restraining myself from just flying at him in a rage when he spoke about Master Vel like that.  In my head I could hear his voice, warning me about letting my emotions control me, and that helped keep me calm.  I didn’t want him changing his mind simply because at the first push I lost it.

We went back and forth, my heart racing as the standoff continued.  I was just bound and determined he not find out about Master Vel.. better he only know the one of us, and the one who’s not a council member all the better.  Not to mention all my personal reasons for not wanting him to find out.   It came down to a simple trade- my death, or me telling him who my pilot was.  Simple enough, right?

It gets a bit blurry, now, But he ended up drawing once more and running.  We went after him, but he escaped.  Master Ana and I were discussing it afterwards and another Mandalorian appeared.. this one a short female.  Who… well, she petted Master Ana.  Then she offered to pet me.  I refused, but then allowed it once Master Ana encouraged it.  It did feel rather nice, I have to admit, to have one Mandalorian not trying to kill me.  We told this one about what had happened, and I discovered the bounty hunter had told Master Ana his name.  Kom’rk.  The female reacted sort of strangely, she knew him, and said that she’d speak to him about it. 

In the middle of this comes Master Vel.  I desperately hoped he wouldn’t discover what was going on, but of course it all ended up coming out.   First the female said the bounty hunter was just looking for single women, to which Master Vel took up for me and said i wasn’t.  I have to admit I got a little flustered at that, not because it’s untrue, because it’s very true, but because it’s the first time something’s been said about it since our talk.  Then it came out that he was actually a bounty hunter wanting to kill me… well, us.  And of course he was angry at me, that somehow it was all my fault.  I can’t seem to stay out of trouble.  He seemed less upset at the fact that he had a threat to be tortured and killed than that I’d gotten into trouble once more.  I really .. really.. REALLY have to try to keep out of trouble a bit more.  I don’t mean it to happen though. Honest.

The Trouble with Sith

After my talk with Master Vel I have to admit I was loathe to have anything ruin my wonderful mood.  I met with both my Padawans, did some lessons with them and basically just let the new knowledge and the remembered feel of his arms around me, sink in. 

I was napping when the comm call came in- a Hopeful had been abducted and taken to Byss, and Master Ana was calling for a rescue team to assemble.  I called Wolf and we went to meet the others at the Academy.  Soon after, the plan was hatched and we departed for the sulphur laden planet.

It didn’t go well, i have to say… We flew down to the surface, and the Dark Lords of the Sith were waiting for us.  They ended up picking us off like flies, it seemed like, and with little to no effort.  I’d never seen the one that I fought before, but he had quite definite skill.  The sniper in the tower closeby worked in their favor as well.  I found myself laying on the ground, saber wounds, what felt like broken ribs, and wasn’t quite sure what had happened.  Poor Wolf had fallen and broken both legs, with the insult being added to injury when his prosthetic arm got destroyed.  The sniper in the tower closeby worked in their favor as well.  We made our escape, and I found my way into the medlab.  Lady Lily and Lady Sable were severely hurt, and Wolf with his broken legs needed immediate assistance and I didn’t want to distract from their care so I just leaned against the wall to wait until there was someone able to help me through the pain of the burns and other wounds I’d suffered.  I felt bad for Master Seven and Arsen, being so inundated with the wounded so I tried to be quiet.  Finally they got to me and I was put into a bed.  Master Seven banadaged my wounds and healed me.  She wasn’t able to completely, she was so drained herself.  I also gave as much energy as I could back to Arsen when he came over to me.  It slowed my healing, but a little bit of natural healing wasn’t going to damage me, and there were still others who needed much more help than I did.

Master Seven released me from the medlab on the condition that I not do anything or go anywhere for a few days, to heal and rest up.  I did promise, although I can’t be held responsible for emergencies…

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Training with Master Vel, 2

**log to come.. rough draft**

Master Vel and I went back into the arena to continue my saber training.  I had a few misgivings, our last spar had shown me exactly how much I didn’t know.  I’d been practicing since then, with my padawan Wolf, and mentally going over moves and possibilities in my head.  I felt a bit better prepared, but still more worried about my abilities.

Before we started he showed me the hilts of the sabers that he had decided to use for our spar.  They were called tonfas, and quite frankly, were huge.  Knowing how I did against one of his sabers, the prospect of being against two was a bit daunting.  Still, it was more of a challenge than a worry.  I’d rather fight against them and learn than to be intimidated by them being wielded by someone who wants to kill me.  Which, most of the time, I don’t think Master Vel wants to do.

He pulled his sabers out, and I activated mine, unable to help the small smile that always crosses my lips when I grip the hilt.  I became more focused as he came toward me, jumping and coming at me from above.  Without thought I dropped to one knee, bracing myself for the blow and hoping to push him to one side and off balance.  The predicted happened, with him striking, and me trying and mostly defending. 

he came at me again, this time with tonfas flying, he went into a spin as he came towards me.  Realizing I couldn’t defend myself from his onslaught I pushed outwards with the Force, hoping to push him off balance and keep him from me.  Amazingly, it worked. 

Master Vel complimented me on that maneuver, which surprised me.  He said he was glad to see that I recognized that sometimes I had to use other methods than straight out blocking or attacking, especially if I didn’t know how to go against a certain weapon.

After that he pulled out his lightwhip.   I think it’s safe to say things went down hill from there.  That thing is near impossible to defend against.  I admit, I lost my temper and yelled when Master Vel tried to hit my face with the thing.  I spun and took the hit on my shoulder, which, while still painful, wasn’t my face. 

He came at me again, jumping.. and I wasn’t able to block or sidestep, I got a massive metal covered fist into my face.  As his guard covered fist hit my nose stars exploded behind my eyes and the world swam, I felt as though I was drowning in pain.

He got me to the medlab and apologized for breaking my nose.  I’m not sure if he felt guilty or was just more horrified at what a terrible fighter I am.  I’m getting better though, and to be honest, he’s one of the best I’ve seen, so he must be having some good effect, and I really hope he’ll keep teaching me, despite everything.

 

Tree Hugging Grease monkey?

I’ve decided to do a bit of research about my bike.  And ship.  And a couple other ships.  I figure if I’m going to keep wrecking them, I should be able to fix them as well.  Plus being able to fix them might give me a chance to avoid Master Vel knowing about each and every crash.   And who knows, maybe the motivation to avoid a lengthy repair might turn me into a better pilot.  I have to admit I’d like be able to gloat after a perfect landing.  On the landing pad.  In one piece.

I’ve collected quite a few datapads and holobooks and bits and pieces and parts and pictures to study to figure out exactly what goes where and why.  I can usually get by on repairs, but I certainly don’t know the names of anything, so it usually comes out something like this, “I need to put the loopy thing by the hoodjiwhatsit, then tighten the thingy over up that way.”  Which, as can be imagined, doesn’t inspire confidence.  So, let the studying begin.

I’m also planning another trip to Zenoma Sekot, to study their green house.  My mind has been wandering back to their studies of plants and nature since the diplomatic mission that I had been part of.  I’d like to learn more, I was rather fascinated at the thought of how useful so many of the plants could be, how people could live so entwined and enhanced by the environment arond them and not simply shaping it to their will.  Imagine how that would increase their link to the Force?  At least, I feel like it would be an incredible improvement.  Perhaps we can start a greenhouse on Ruusan near the garden, and start using the plants as alternatives to some of our artificial solutions to things.  Another reason for piles of information in my house.   If I get anymore interests I’ll have to move out!

Padawans

I’ve been giving my Padawans a lot of thought lately.  They make life interesting, and I’m very glad to have taken both of them on.

Wolf is my first pad, and he’s done so well.  He’s come very far, and I think I’ve actually loosened him up a little bit.  We have fun.  He does his lessons, he asks great questions, and he doesn’t give me (too much) grief about my flying.  I can easily ignore the ground kissing when we land.  So far his only big mistake has been to compare me to Master Vel, saying that I reminded him of the big hairball.  That reminds me, I need to arrange a nice punishment for that…

Brenna is… completely opposite of Wolf.  She’s very high spirited, a bit goofy yet, she’s at the beginning of her journey.  I’m looking forward to working with her to help shape her into a Jedi Knight.   If I don’t turn her into rancor jerky first…

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Don Gaton

I didn’t have a chance to go into detail about this before… but my Master has gotten married!  And to Master Gaton, no less!!  I thought i had detected something there for quite some time, but never dreamed this would happen. 

I got a summons from Master with only the message, “come quick, wear something nice!”  So I rummaged through my belongings to find some old finery (Jedi days don’t really require silks and satins), got dressed and hurried to the Council Masters’ Chamber.

Master Kali and Master were there, arranging flowers, moving candles, and bustling around hurriedly.  I got directed to start moving chairs, so I arranged it as I was told to.  I quickly gathered what was going on, and my heart jumped in my chest.  I was so excited!!

Lady Eds went with Master Brihan to finish getting ready.  Shortly after she disappeared, Master Gaton arrived.  He looked quite dashing in his pure white attire, the perfect complement to Lady Eds.  Finally it was time.  We all took our seats and waited breathlessly as the bride to be arrived.

It was beautiful.. an intimate scene in the chamber, Master Kaliwillow married my Master to Master Gaton.  It was small, and beautiful.  I have to admit I got tears in my eyes watching it, knowing that the dance they had been doing for so long culminated in this.

So now my Master is Lady Eds Gaton, and she’s quite glowing about it.  I can only wish the both of them the best happiness in the world.  May the Force be with them both, always.

Trip to Ossus

Wolf had homework requiring research on the Sith.  He was unable to find what he needed on Ruusan, so I decided that a trip to Ossus was in order, despite the orders to stay resting that I got after being discharged from the hospital after my issues on Onderon.

I decided to invite Master Vel along with us, so that he could be our pilot, and perhaps act as bodyguard since I’m still not quite healed.  I just invited him as pilot though, didn’t think there was a need to explain the bodyguard part, as I didn’t think he’d agree to it all if I told him about the house arrest part.  He agreed to go, and soon we were off.

While Master Vel was adjusting some things on his ship on the base high above Ossus, I decided that Wolf and I would go down on my hoverbike.  I realize that probably wasn’t the best idea… Something happened with my bike, the throttle started acting wonky, and down we went.  From the feel of it, I managed to re-injure.. something.. inside when I hit the ground, and Wolf got some bumps and bruises, too, so I did my best to heal the both of us until Master Vel got to us.  I was a little chagrined, I have to admit, to have shown off my flying abilities in such a stellar form.  Wolf and Master Vel were both amused… as usual. 

I was a little disoriented from having expended so much energy healing and um.. well falling, so I kept stumbling and I wasn’t as sharp as I should’ve been.  Master Vel started picking at me, actually giving me a slight push towards the side of the bridge.  I was so irritated I have to admit i pushed back.  And down he went, into the river below.  To be fair, I went with him- he’s too big for me to not have put some effort into pushing, and I was still fuzzyheaded.  Wolf jumped, I think to make sure Master Vel and I didn’t kill each other.  He succeeded in that, but by this time I was angrier than I’d been in a long time.  Master Vel just kept picking at me, finding as much as he could wrong, and it just getting my temper up worse and worse, so I just kept throwing back comments.  It ended with both our sabers drawn and him threatening to lop off my head.  Well.. ok, lop off any parts, really, but assured me that the healers could reattatch whatever it was that I’d be losing.  Wolf got well out of lopping range, I can only imagine what he must’ve been thinking.  Master Vel got tired of egging me on, I think, because with a simple gesture, I felt a burst from the force and the wind sailing past me as I flew off the roof.  After I cursed him twelve different ways, I landed on a small ledge.  I climbed back up, defeated and grumbling.  We went back to Ruusan, then, so Wolf could continue his homework, and so perhaps Master Vel and I wouldn’t kill each other.

I couldn’t help but think in confusion about our prior talk, and then about my Master and her circumstances, and how different it all ways.  Right now I can only hope that his meditations aren’t telling him that the proper path for him is for me to die.  And I must remember to stay away from bridges.