Private A Convergence Of Misplaced Dreams

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

A lot of time had passed since Auraya was brought to Coruscant, and the realization that she was close to running out of options had first dawned upon her. She'd been swiftly handed off to a Jedi Knight, pushed into various lessons, and for a time things seemed to be improving. But then Zaavik disappeared. Everything changed from that moment on, and once more she found herself without guidance, without encouragement, with only herself to truly rely upon.​

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Suffice to say, it did not end well.​

​

There were whispered talks of what exactly to do with her, did they send her away to one of the corps? Did they help lay a small foundation for an existence away from the Jedi entirely? Maybe they should see about sending her toward the Silvers, surely they could find a use for her in all of their infinite patience. The girl had shrank in on herself, she had for the first time begun to lose faith in not just the Order but in the Force itself. Had it forsaken her? Sure seemed like it.​

​

So when the request was made that she oversee the transfer of a ship into Jedi hands she felt more than a little dubious. The girl couldn't actually pilot a ship, nobody had ever gotten around to teaching her how, but they'd provided her with a droid who could do precisely that. It only left her more confused. If they had a droid for the job, why didn't they just send the droid? Was this a test? Were they hoping she'd maybe just fly the coop and never return? Or were they gaging her abilities outside of the Force?​

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Either way she was in no position to really deny them. She gathered up a set of clothes, her training saber which had never been replaced by the true thing, and a cloak in case it was cold out there, then soon enough she was departing from Coruscant and traveling toward Epoch.​

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Though it wasn't necessarily far, it was a frustrating journey all the same. With nothing to actively do the girl felt as though she was being driven insane. Her future hung in the balance, and as had always been the case since the day she was born she had little to no say in where she might end up.​

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After a short while she took to sitting in the center of the cockpit. As she'd started to do these past few months, she levitated the training saber into the air before her and for the remainder of the journey she focused on breaking apart and rebuilding the lightsaber. It was something she had meant to do with Zaavik, that was construct the real thing this way, and though it hadn't happened that did not stop her from practicing all the same. It had become one of the few things she was even remotely good at... Oh, what use that would bring.​

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The droid beeped as they came out of hyperspace, and the world drifted below. After it checked for the relevant coordinates, the droid brought them down toward Odessa, the planetary Capital, and once docked she finally found her feet again. Lightsaber clipped to her belt, robe thrown around her shoulders. "Wait here," she instructed it, before disembarking. In her hand she held a holodevice which provided her with an impression of what the Jedi in question looked like. Nobody she recognized, though she hadn't recognized his name either.​

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No matter. It did not take her very long to find him either way.​

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"Master Feln?" she addressed him, though truth be told she was not inherently sure of his position within the Jedi. They hadn't given her much beyond the holoimage and a name to go by. "I come bearing your ship."​

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Davron Feln ​

 

[Davron Feln]

How many days had it been since Auteme had thawed him? At least a week, he thought. It was hard to keep track. Sure, you'd think getting constantly shuttled back and forth between lodging and hospital for tests and checkups and current-galactic-vaccinations and the like would give him something to latch onto, but it didn't. The best he could really figure out was when it felt like there was sunlight and warmth on his skin or when it seemed like night. But cloud cover could tear that one apart.

He'd tried listening to audio recordings of the holobooks they gave him to get caught up on galactic history. It didn't help much. The narrator was terrible, it just made him sleepy, but he was trying to keep from sleeping constantly. Hopefully, eventually, his sight would come back. He was already up and walking again, at least, which was a good sign. Feeding himself, rather than relying on the doctors to feed him instead. Meals weren't exactly helpful because they'd just bring him food when he was hungry.

By the Force, he hated being unable to see. At least he could reach out well enough to move around. Maybe that would be how he'd have to get by, in the future? He wasn't the only one to be stuck in carbonite so long in recent galactic history, apparently, but there weren't enough subjects to have any clear ideas on results, prognosis, timelines of recovery, or any of that.

No, just, day-in, day-out, trying not to go insane, trying to figure out what he was going to do in this new galaxy.

They'd even believed him when he claimed to be a Jedi Knight. There were just no records left. At least it commanded him some respect that he didn't have back in the Clone Wars. Sure, sure, being in the service corps meant he was still a Jedi, just not a Jedi Knight. Nobody cared if you weren't on the main track, most of the time, not once they knew. Out in the Exploration Corps was better, people there actually relied on him, he still had to fight and learn and work like any actual Knight would. Getting reassigned to the Medical Corps was...

Well, at least the clones liked him.

Until they didn't.

"Davron Feln?" came a voice; one he recognized, one of the nurses that was watching over him. "You have a visitor. Another Jedi."

Oh, wonderful. Another one of these New Jedi come to gawk at a relic of the past who can't even live independently anymore.

"Send her in, of course," he said with as much grace as he could muster. He turned his chair away from the desk they'd given him, setting down the small wire puzzle they'd given him. He could sense whoever it was that came to see him easily. It was like a walking knot of worry and loneliness coming into the room. Anxious. Sensitive, but not sharpened through the guidance that she needed. Quite a few of these New Jedi seemed to be that way. Lacking in training, making up for it in experience and pain, but this one seemed...different. Younger.

A suspicion that was confirmed when she spoke, although the words she had left him far more confused than speculative. He'd expected questions about the old order, what it was like running from Palpatine, not...

"My what?"

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

She had not been expecting a hospital room.​

​

One would have thought that would have been mentioned in her briefing, but no. No it had not. She'd had to ask around here or there before being directed to the right place, and even then she was halted at the front desk and bade to wait. Welp, what was one more instruction?​

​

She'd found a seat, sat, and soon enough a nurse returned to lead her through to a closed off room. The Jedi inside was clearly recovering from something, though what exactly she couldn't rightly tell. He seemed well enough, at least through her inexperienced eyes. Certainly he was sat up at a desk, not lay in bed. Maybe that was an ill conceived notion she had of the sick, though. Truth be told, she very much did understand that one could be sick without being bedridden, it did not have to show on the surface.​

​

All the same, she bowed toward him before she spoke. Then in the aftermath of her words she discovered him to be... Confused? Dumbfounded even.​

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"Um..." Had she found the wrong Jedi? Chit... Auraya swallowed, already feeling her heart rate rising rapidly. She wanted to shrink, or turn on her heels and flee. Oh Force, why had they sent her of all people? Instead she whetted her lips, and then took one step into the room proper.​

​

"Your ship, Master Feln, the uh... Mudskipper?" That had been its name, right? Why did her brain have to try and fail her at all the most important points in time? It was like it was purposely conspiring against her. Another swallow, and she set her hands together at her back and fumbled with the holoprojector disc. It was him, alright, had nobody bothered to tell him the ship was being dropped off?​

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Davron Feln ​

 

[Davron Feln]

Davron squinted at the girl.

It was pointless, he couldn't see, but he did it all the same, about ten degrees off to the left from her actual face.

He furrowed his brow.

"The Mudskipper?"

That had been the name of Pokva Monn's ship. Had Pok really left him the ship? It had been almost nine hundred years. The ship should've been destroyed.

Of course, he hadn't been destroyed, he'd been found inside of it. Maybe it wasn't in that bad of shape after all? Or maybe someone had rebuilt it?

Sithspit, and I can't even see it to know for sure.

He realized he'd been sat there silent for far too long for a normal conversation. "Right, uh, yes. The Mudskipper. Sorry, it's just, I've been feeling like a Selkath off Manaan lately. Hard to get used to everything." Fewer truer words had he ever spoken in his life. He was just a bit thrown-off by the girl in front of him. A youth, certainly. Young adult? Just a teenager? He wasn't sure. Definitely untrained, or at least, under-trained. Probably a...

"Could you lead me to it, Padawan?" he asked, pushing a bit of authority and assurance into his voice. It certainly felt strange being called Master Feln, but if he was going to have them believing he was a Knight, he'd have to get used to it and act the part. "I can't see, and other than the royal palace, I haven't even been through any of the city. I'd rather not find myself lost."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Okay, so there was recognition there. Just further confusion as to why she'd brought it to him, she guessed. What was wrong with these people? Why didn't they communicate better. It hurt her head to even think about it. But then who was she to second guess her superiors? All things for a reason, and all that.​

​

Once upon a time she'd truly believed in that mantra. These days, though..?​

​

"There's no apologies necessary, I wish you a swift recovery." What he was recovering from was soon enough explained, at least in some capacity, because before she could turn to leave he informed her of his blinded state and asked for her assistance. That wasn't what got under her skin though, that wasn't what made her pause. "Uh... Initiate," the girl mumbled in correction, though in truth she was too afraid to speak too loudly of it. The reality was a little too delicate right now, it all felt so fresh. But she couldn't permit incorrect titles to be used, not where she was concerned at least.​

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She brushed right on past it though. Took a few more steps toward him, and bowed her head once more.​

​

"Of course, Master Feln." She paused, then glanced around the room as though just remembering where they were. "Are you free to roam, or do you require the nurses approval for a stroll?" She managed a smile that wasn't even wholly insincere, just a little lacking. Thankfully he couldn't see as much; maybe that was for the best. "She's not too far. Mudskipper I mean..."​

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Davron Feln ​

 

[Davron Feln]

Did he hear her right?

"Initiate? Nonsense. You have to be a Padawan." Where she had mumbled the correction, he spoke firmly, in a tone that wouldn't accept any disagreement.

Like the actual Knights and Masters would when he was bemoaning his state, first when he was waiting for Master Arkann to return, and then later after they all learned that Arkann had died and he was being reassigned. Besides, there was no way she was that young, to be just an initiate. Unless they were taking older learners now, but...at least in the past, when they Jedi had done that, they didn't really call them initiate. Just apprentice.

Initiate was for the younglings.

No. Definitely a Padawan, no matter what someone else had told her. As for whether he could leave...

"I haven't been given any orders to remain in place, and evidently my status as a Knight has already spread far and wide. I can come and go as I please."

Conviction, surety. The hallmarks of a Jedi Knight. Lying through his teeth, not so much, but he was stuck with it now. Beyond that...he had to get some fresh air, at least, and not just in the gardens where he was still constantly under observation. "Besides, I need to inspect my ship and make sure it's in a good state. Please, lead the way, apprentice...?" He paused, waiting somewhat expectantly for her name. Not that he had anything much to gather up, anyways; other than the wire puzzle and the holobooks with their audio versions, he didn't have any possessions to his name. Even the clothing he'd been found in had been disposed of, and he'd been given something more modern and comfortable.

He was very thankful he wasn't given a hospital gown.

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Her fidgeting only worsened when he corrected her, leaving no room for arguing. She did not know what to make of that, in truth, on the one hand it was uplifting to hear herself referred to as such again, as though she wasn't quite so much the hopeless case she'd come to view herself as, but on the other? Well... Could she be a Padawan without a Master? There was no braid to signify it, no beads, no one there to guide her.​

​

It was a hollow title then. But one she would not press any further on. Auraya did not see fit to respond.​

​

Instead she listened and nodded. Okay, so he could leave. Maybe she ought to let a nurse know all the same, or at the very least leave a note in case they didn't cross paths on the way out the door. Yeah. She glanced around for some sort of flimsiplast and a pen, and upon finding precisely that she scrawled a hastily written note in aurebesh, GBS. She wasn't particularly worldly, if this planet had its own language then she knew it not. She'd only found her way here because of the droid.​

​

What had she done? Nothing.​

​

"Of course," When he began to gather up his few belongings, she reached out to take them from him. It wasn't that he couldn't handle the burden, that was a stupid notion given how little he actually had, she simply thought it might be best if he kept his hands free. Less of a chance at accidentally bumping into something or someone that way.​

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Not that Auraya wasn't planning to properly guide him of course.​

​

"Have you no jacket?" she inquired, before spying one hung on the back of the door. She stepped over to it, lifted it from the hook, and then brought it back to him. If he wanted it, it was there, if not well... What was one more thing to carry. She let him know as much.​

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"Okay, come on; your ship awaits." Offering out an arm, and provided he took it, she'd lead him out from the room and the hospital itself and into the streets beyond. Though not before she answered his lingering question, of course. "Auraya," came her reply. Just Auraya, no false title.​

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Davron Feln ​

 

[Davron Feln]

Before he could really say anything the holobooks were taken from his hands, although the puzzle remained. He wouldn't part with that easily, not when it was one of the only things keeping his mind actually occupied. Still, despite the quick heat of resentment starting to arise at being treated like an invalid, he pushed it down; "Thank you," he replied, and he took the jacket as well once it was offered, throwing it back over one shoulder.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

Perhaps the hardest of all the tenets of the code to follow. Still, he didn't have long to think on it before he felt an elbow bump into his arm, and it didn't take him much effort to piece together what it was about. A small grin came on his face that time, rather than getting annoyed at it. As much as he could sense the anxiety and doubt in her, this girl still seemed innocently genuine in her efforts. "Thank you again, Auraya," he said, now that he knew her name, and placed his hand lightly on her upper arm. "I certainly appreciate it."

Of course, he appreciated being outside without observers breathing down his neck more. It seemed to be a sunny day, judging by how quickly warm he felt.

No, cooler—

—ah, warmer again. Clouds. And the noises of life all around, people going about their daily tasks.

Was it perhaps...

"Early afternoon, I'm guessing?" Everything seemed a bit too relaxed to be the morning, as everybody was just getting started with work, or for later on when they'd be leaving and heading home. Perhaps it was shortly after lunch. "Ah, if you would, could you tell me what the ship...well, what it looks like?"

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Thanks.​

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Two lots of thanks.​

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Auraya felt her ears burning a little, and she tried to keep the colour from entering her cheeks too. "It's uh, no problem at all," she assured him, as she checked the room one last time to make sure they weren't forgetting anything important and then led him out.​

​

The day was still young, the sun was out, though partially blocked by clouds, and the streets were fairly quiet insofar as a city went. ​

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"Yeah, midday-ish," she informed him, peering upward to the sky with squinty eyes in order to get a better gage on the time. Midday worked. Now came the task of retracing her steps back toward the hangar she'd parked his ship in. Not too difficult she hoped, at least her memory wasn't failing her.​

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As they walked, he asked her for a description of the ship. That was a weird request, since this was his ship wasn't it? Had he forgotten? Maybe he was trying to validate the fact that it was in fact his vessel..? Or maybe he was hoping to make sure it was still in good condition.​

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"Um... It's a freighter," she began, trying her best to visualize the ship so that she could describe it. "Very... Unique looking. Almost like a, uh," Force, how did she describe it? Throwing caution to the wind she decided to just spit out the first thing that came to mind, "Well, honestly, it looks like a big-mouthed fish with a huge dorsal fin..."​

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The blush she'd fought to keep down came upon her in full force then. Damnit, Auraya, a fish? Really..?​

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She fell quiet. Worked on retracing her steps back to the hangar... Soon enough, they'd be upon it; stood before the ship she glanced over it and shook her head.​

​

Feth. It really did look like a big finned fish, didn't it?​

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Davron Feln ​

 

[Davron Feln]

Davron's brow furrowed in confusion again.

Pokva's ship, looking like a big fish? Tall fins? When last he'd been awake to see it, the bounty hunter had been flying a GX1. Had the ship truly been so damaged, then? Just salvaged and rebuilt, or used for the basis for some sort of prototype, or...

His stomach sank at the thought.

Maybe it was a prototype, and by sheer virtue of being found on whatever space junk they were copying and updating systems from for the new thing, he'd been chosen as the test pilot. "Interesting," he replied noncommittally. "Fishy, but interesting." Leaving the joke hanging, he continued along, as silent as Auraya was content to be, and tried to sharpen his focus.

Things were still addled, still indistinct, after having been unfrozen. Certainly, as much as he could make his legs and arms work, it was almost constant pins and needles throughout. His hands were still clumsy, which was why he was working with the puzzle, and if it weren't for Auraya's careful guidance he'd likely have stumbled and tumbled to the ground multiple times over the walk. Hearing, smell, and taste had all returned quickly, even if his eyes were still useless for the moment—but even trying to focus through the Force was like trying to listen to a conversation from under water.

Not impossible, just...difficult. Very difficult, even with the lessons he'd received through the years.

Even so, he still had to make the attempt.

Davron breathed out slowly, trying to feel the ebb and flow around him. The living beings were bright, and easy to sense, even relatively easy to try and sharpen into distinct...

Images? No, that's not quite right, but...

He could at least gain some sense of proper spatial awareness, without having to try and rely on sound alone. But try as he might, the ship, the pavement, the sky above them...he couldn't manage any of it for the moment. With a sigh, he released the breath he'd been unintentionally holding, trying to will the disappointment away with the air. "Soon, I hope," he muttered to himself. "That or my eyes."

Of course, he did still have somebody else waiting on him. "Are we at the docking ramp?" he asked, turning back towards Auraya specifically. No point in asking if they'd made it to the hangar, he could hear how the echoes around them had changed and grown, different from buildings along a city block; no, this was some semi-enclosed space. "I hope you can forgive me, but this is the farthest I've been from that room you found me in. I'd rather not try to find it myself and trip over a power cable or anything like that."

That would just be embarassing. Moreso than relying on the Padawan like a sightless old man. Which...he supposed he was, technically. "Oh! I should ask, were you given any other instructions beyond finding me and delivering the ship? Meeting with Auteme, perhaps?" She was the only other Jedi he knew to still be on the world, currently. "It would be terribly improper of me to keep you chained to my side so long if they had other plans for you, after all."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Auraya could not help but wonder if they were certain that this was his ship. It was his face, his name, he matched what she'd been given, but he seemed to have little actual connection to the vessel. At least, the confusion which overtook his expression hinted at as much. Did it rightly matter to her? Maybe they meant oh we're assigning this ship to this Jedi please give it to him. Why did it have to be his already?

It didn't.

So she thought no more about it.

While they made their way toward the hangar, Auraya took notice of the random words the man was muttering. She probably shouldn't have, she should have just ignored it or feigned ignorance, but it was difficult to do when their surroundings were fairly quiet, and the two of them certainly weren't holding a conversation. It was a little confusing to her, trying to figure out why someone would choose to talk to themselves aloud, but maybe he had things to process.

She feigned interest in the ground as they walked.

Once inside the hangar, he turned to her and spoke and that made her jump somewhat. She tore her gaze back up from the ground, met his unseeing eyes with her own, and then nodded slightly.

"More of less, yes. Just a few more steps 'til we're there, Master Feln." His explanation made sense, and she just offered him a fairly sheepish smile in response. "It's no bother, I don't mind helping you. I promise." What else was she going to do? Stand by and watch him fumble or something? Nah, that wasn't Auraya.

His question however had her faltering.

"Uh... I...."

Did she have any other instructions? Meet with Auteme? No. "Just... Just to deliver the ship." In fact that thought had a very real, vulnerable frown attached to it. What was she supposed to do now..? This was the ship she'd used to get here, and she'd done that. But where did that leave her? She removed one hand from Feln, the other preoccupied holding the holobooks, and fishes out a handful of credit chits from her pockets.

Yeah, that didn't bode well either, did it?

Auraya whetted her lips, and tried to wrestle with the rising panic which had gripped her core. How was she going to get back to Coruscant?

A soft exhale. Okay, so not as soft as she'd been hoping for. She put on her best brave face, and pretended all was well. She'd figure it out later, right? Call the Order, see what options she had. In the meantime...

She reached out and took his arm again. "Come on, let's get you settled..."

Davron Feln​

 

[Davron Feln]

There was that anxiety, welling to the surface of the girl again. No other instructions, seemingly no master she was working with, the nonsensical insistence on being called an initiate instead of a Padawan earlier; he was starting to have some sneaking suspicions about what was actually going on with her in the context of the wider Jedi Order.

No, the New Jedi Order. There were the others, the Silver Jedi Order, that he'd heard of. Perhaps he might have to pay them a visit at some point.

But he didn't have long to dwell on it before she started them walking forwards again with a gentle tug, leading him up into the ship. He could sense someone or something else in the cockpit; he focused in a bit, his brow furrowing again, as he noticed that it was simply the eddies of energy swirling around the being, nothing actually passing through them. A pilot droid, most likely.

His ears attuned to the change of space rapidly. Even just the sound of their heels striking the ground was enough to help him get a handle on the general size and shape of the main hold, and the voids where halls led elsewhere. It was not a particularly large vessel, compared to the original Mudskipper, but that suited him just as well for the moment. A blind Jedi didn't have much use for a lot of space. "Ah, the cockpit, perhaps?" he asked, and started tugging Auraya in that general direction.

He mainly wanted to speak with their pilot droid. Once they were in, he released Auraya's arm. "Pilot, thank you for conveying my shi—AH!"

The pilot droid was evidently quite a bit smaller than he expected, as he tripped over one foot. He managed to catch himself on the pilot's chair, thankfully, rather than crashing into the control panel. "Okay, about the size of an R2 unit, I guess?" The droid beeped something at him. It was clearly droidspeak, but a dialect about nine-hundred years newer than he'd been slowly figuring out. He nodded, acting as though he understood, while he noticed the quality of the seat covering.

"Genuine, high quality nerf leather? Interesting."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Master Feln wasn't the kind of person to needlessly fill the silence with endless chatter, and Auraya found herself grateful for that. It allowed her time with her thoughts to process everything, to come up with a plan of sorts. She could multitask in moments like these, without real distraction. Just her brain running, while her body was set to autopilot.

Yeah.

What's the worst that could happen?

Well, as she would soon find out, not paying attention to their surroundings. That's what. Because even though the Jedi willingly took his hand from her, and even though he willingly took his first steps into the cockpit free of her support, he was probably still expecting her to say something along the lines of 'Watch out, droid!' when he stepped too close to the pilot droid.

Only, she hadn't.

Nope.

And in response he tripped over the damned thing.

"Chit," she cried out, before covering her mouth with her one free hand. Had she said that? Oh, Force, that wasn't good. She wasn't supposed to be running her mouth or cursing. Then again, who was it going to reflect poorly on? Herself? No Master, remember... Either way she blushed. Then she rushed forward; one hand set atop the droid, as though rubbing it better from where Feln had bumped into it, the other set down the holobooks in the captain's seat.

"Are you okay, Master Feln?" she asked, wishing in truth that she could just fold in on herself like a deflated piece of origami crumpled out of existence. "I'm sorry, I should have warned you...."

Rather than be grumpy though he instead chose to remark on the quality of the leather. That had her pulling a confused face, and she looked at him with a raised brow. Then shook her head.

None of her business. None of her business... No judgement. Nope.

Davron Feln​

 

[Davron Feln]

"Please, please, it's no great matter." Davron waved off Auraya's worries, still thinking over the seat. Evidently, whoever had constructed this vessel hadn't wasted any expense on making it comfortable. And hopefully not on picking a good droid to fly it, as well. "Droid, what is your designation?" he asked, lifting his hand from the seat and straining to listen. M3-A7/M8 was as far as he got before it just devolved into an incomprehensible string of numbers and characters. M-series, then, he supposed? He'd never heard of such a thing.

"Alright. Emthree, what's the fastest route to get us on the Corellian Run from here?" Luckily, some things were preserved in the newer iteration of droidspeak, planet names being one of them. From Epoch, to Kalist VI, then Ebaq, and on to Corellia. And from there..."Wait, did you just say easy to navigate? Isn't Epoch in the Deep Core?" He thought that was what Auteme or one of the others had told him before, and the Deep Core was one of the worst navigational tangles in the entire galaxy. The droid beeped out an affirmative.

It sounded smug.

Davron bit his lip, thinking for a moment. No doubt Auteme or any of the other Jedi that knew about his presence on the planet, let alone the medical staff that had been overseeing his recuperation, would be rather displeased to learn of his sudden disappearance. But all the same, he had a ship, he had a Jedi Padawan on hand who seemed to have been left to flounder, and he had a pilot droid to get them around.

Just as importantly as all of that, he wanted off of Epoch. He could still sense the taint that they'd told him came from the previous senator, not far away at all from where his residence had been. The thought that he'd only narrowly escaped being delivered to some Palpatine-wannabe was horrifying enough that he might never set foot on the planet again if he had the choice. "Plot the course and take us off, then. I need to stretch my legs back out in this galaxy. It has been...far too long."

He already had them believing he was a Jedi Knight. Hopefully they would also accept his prerogative to make some of his own choices, then, especially given the much freer organizational scheme this New Jedi Order seemed to be built around. Even if the hospital might be displeased that he hadn't properly checked out. "Padawan, if you could lead me to the captain's quarters, then the first mate's will be yours." Undoubtedly, they were just behind the cockpit, but he hadn't truly explored the vessel beyond tripping over the droid pilot.

And, of course, the first mate's quarters were going to be Auraya's anyways, he wasn't mean enough to make her take a common bunk when she was the only other one aboard the vessel. "As well, once we're situated, if you could show me the rest of the ship..." And he stomped his foot down, the sound resounding with a bit more of a hollow thump than the sharp clack that would be expected of his heel against solid durasteel. "Including the lower deck, I would appreciate it."

Two decks. So that was how they managed to put a decent amount of space on such an otherwise-small vessel...he had thought the boarding ramp seemed rather steep. Now he just had to hope she wouldn't object to leaving, although given that he could feel the droid pilot already had the ship lifting into the air, there weren't many other options...and she did say that she had no other plans or assignments.

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Yeah, no, he really didn't mind did he?

Baffling, but at least it saved Auraya from another lecture so that was something. She stood awkwardly there while he spoke with the droid, half of the conversation entirely foreign to the girl who'd never learned droid speak. As such it took her a while to fully process what was happening, and by that point the droid was already charting a course and the ship had begun its take off sequence.

She glanced from viewing port to droid to Jedi, and then blinked slowly.

"Wait, I'm going with you?"

She was going with him? That made sense, she supposed, where else was she going to go? But still not knowing made a squirmy worm of her stomach. Where were they going, exactly? What was the plan? Would he take her back to Coruscant or..?

Her mouth opened to ask them, but before she could he'd given her a couple of commands and who was she to not follow through? She shelved her questions for now, still utterly bewildered, and reached out to offer him her arm again.

"Yes, Master Feln. The Captain's quarters are just beside the Cockpit. Here, I'll take you there."

She picked up the holobooks from the seat she'd deposited them on and then stepped up to him once more. Soon enough she was leading him down the hall and then she paused. Reached out to open a door on the right. It was the bigger of the cabins, comfortable. She led him inside, set the holobooks down on a desk. Awkwardly hovered for a moment.

"Um... Are we heading back to Coruscant, then?" She couldn't help herself, she had to ask.

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

Of course, she was surprised. He had expected as much to be the case, as he hadn't clued her in to what he was planning at all. "Well, of course," he replied blandly when she expressed that surprise. "You said yourself, you had no other plans or instruction. Just to deliver the ship. And I heard those credits you pulled out of your pocket." He smiled, pleased with himself and the choice he'd just made. "Or the lack of them, rather." Their first stop would be getting to Corellia, he could recquisition some much needed supplies, and after that...

He followed along quietly, thinking to himself as Auraya led him to his quarters. It was somewhat larger than the hospital room he'd been staying in, though not by much; however, it still had its own private refresher and shower, and space to properly store what few belongings he did have. His free hand found the back of a chair, something to steady himself on for the moment as the ship lurched and sped on to the upper levels of the atmosphere. Evidently the nerves and systems of his inner ear weren't quite back to optimal either, as his balance still seemed to suffer somewhat.

The wire puzzle remained in his free hand as it had the entire time, though by now he'd started lightly twirling it around, the pieces of metal lightly clinking against each other every few moments. "To Coruscant?" he repeated, feigning thought over the concept for a moment. If anything, he was simply having too much fun, and was hoping that the girl would catch on soon enough. "Oh, eventually, yes. But not first." No, first he had something else he had to pursue.

A test of himself that would prove, at least in one regard, that he was worthy of the title that he'd been forbidden from pursuing nearly a millennia before. "Tell me, Auraya, have you ever seen crystalline forests, sparkling in the sunset? The wind whistling through trees—" he emphasized the questionable descriptor, "—the sound nearly as sharp as the branches threatening to cut you? The carefully grown and hollowed towers of Chaleydonia's skyrises glowing warm in the morning sunrise?"

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Well, feth.

He'd well and truly called her bluff hadn't he? Auraya's mouth dropped when he made mention of the credits, and then a few unintelligible words fell from her lips as she tried to deny what he'd heard. It wasn't true, she was fine, she had somewhere to be, something to do...

Nope.

In the end all that really was left was a heavy sigh. "Your hearing is impeccable." Was that a pout? Auraya couldn't recall the last time she'd pouted, and yet here it was. She was glad the Jedi couldn't see her.

She was more than quiet as she led him to his cabin, her mind racing a mile a minute as she considered the strange fate she'd been led to. It was okay though, just a quick hop back to Coruscant and then... What? Back to training with the Initiates? Another task, perhaps? Something so simple even she couldn't fail?

When the ship lurched she reached out to try and steady herself too. Grabbed the edge of the desk most likely. Then she turned to face Davron and almost choked when he gave his response to her question.

Not straight to Coruscant?

"Wait, we're not going right back to Coruscant? But..." Her breathing became a little rapid then. Auraya's life had always felt a little out of control but even this was taking it to an extreme.

He was talking again though and that gave her an opportunity to try and quieten her anxious mind. He spoke of crystal forests and trees which sang when the wind whistled through them, asking if she was familiar with any of it. The girl shook her head.

"I've never heard of anything like it" she replied sincerely. Boy was he painting a picture, though. It was almost mesmerizing. Did wonders for blowing away her concerns.

"Is... Is that where you're wanting to go? Chaleydonia?" Little did she know that wasn't even the name of the planet. Auraya wondered what was on Chaleydonia which meant that they'd be taking a detour. Maybe it was just the trees themselves he wanted to see?

But it didn't make any sense as to why she'd be going there too. Why not just drop her off at the Temple on Coruscant? She was just dead weight anyway.

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

"There are scant few benefits offered to the blind, and hearing is one of them," he replied drily to Auraya's pouting comment.

While she hadn't caught on to the bit of fun he was having at her expense—not yet, anyways—Davron was at least glad that her mind was so quickly turned to thoughts of the location he was describing. Still, the anxiety was present as soon as she stopped talking and started thinking to herself again. He did frown, then.

She was profoundly stubborn when it came to feeling worried and sorry for herself. She kept returning right back to that, whenever he stopped speaking long enough. "Chaleydonia? Oh, perhaps, although I've never been one for cities much," he replied, still not giving away too much information about the planet. "It's what's outside of the city that I intend to visit. But for that, of course, we'll need to make a stop at Corellia or somewhere else civilized on our way rimward. We'll need supplies, I should get myself some sort of staff at least..."

He paused. His face was studiously blank, though his voice dropped to a worried-sounding whisper.

"Oh, and how can I forget? We'll absolutely need a way to deal with kyaddaks."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Okay, now he really had her attention.

There was some level of mystery behind his words that she couldn't quite get past. Corellia was a place of fondness and strife for the girl, it was there she had dipped her toes into the art of mist-weaving, but she'd also witnessed the death of a weaver and that had been a truly harrowing experience for one so young and constantly fraught with worry. She'd also learned how to wield a blaster there.

Not that she had such on her person now. What would Khefiir make of that, she wondered? It had been an invaluable lesson, of course, but Auraya didn't even have a lightsaber yet. Carrying a blaster alongside a training lightsaber seemed a little weird. Truth be told, carrying a training lightsaber was weird in and of itself.

But at least it gave the illusion of... Something. The mere sight of such weapons could act as a deterrent, no? That's what she'd always been told at least.

"Have they said how long you'll be without your vision?" she inquired, at the mention of him needing a staff of sorts. Truth be told she didn't mind acting as his eyes, at least then she'd have some sort of a use in life, but she could fully understand the desire to have some freedom. To be his own person again.

"I think the ship was just resupplied," she stated, tilting her head to one side, "Not that I'm opposed to stopping at Corellia..." Okay so maybe she wasn't a huge fan of bustling hubs of activity either, but Coruscant had helped to numb her from her initial shock. And, frankly, better Corellia than Coruscant.

The whispered words had her attention fixed upon him. "What's a Kyaddak?" she whispered in return. Sounded spooky, at least in the way he'd said it. Surely Auraya wasn't expected to know the name of every single lifeform in the Galaxy, right?

Hopefully Kyaddak weren't common all over. She didn't want to look like all the more a fool than she already did.

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

"I don't think anybody has any clue how long it'll take, honestly," he replied, shrugging. As annoying as it could be, there wasn't much reason for him to dwell on his blindness beyond the necessary precautions he had to take to engage with the galaxy at large. "Just resupplied is good, but foodstuffs and fuel aren't all I'm thinking about." Tools, weaponry if necessary, some sort of small landspeeder or the like to keep within the cargo hold for when such was necessary, raw materials, there were multiple things he'd need.

Especially if...

"Oh, you don't know what a Kyaddak is?" he asked, feigning incredulity. "Tell me, Padawan, have you ever seen a conduit worm on Coruscant? Long, impossibly long, tendrils stretching for kilometers, consuming batteries and capacitors and swiches and incorporating them as new organs in their bodies, disrupting power lines left and right?"

Auraya Irath-Ur