Private A Convergence Of Misplaced Dreams

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Nobody had even given him a guestimation? That honestly surprised her. Wasn't that usually a doctor's whole schtick? Three more weeks, good sir, and all will be well!. None of that? Sheesh. Just what had he been through?

All the same she couldn't dwell on it too long. Apparently foodstuffs weren't all he was concerned with, which just left her all the more confused. What else could they need? Well beyond the walking stick he'd mentioned of course. Surely everything he could require would be on the ship in some capacity, right?

Then again, who knew. She didn't even know the world they were headed to, not a single thing about it outside of what he'd said. Maybe they needed respirators, envirosuits, a specific kind of supply. Maybe he was one of those Jedi who relied on more mundane items, like a Sentinel or something.

Or maybe... Auraya just didn't know what was needed for ventures such as these. Yeah that was probably it.

"Huh"

That was the only response she gave, as she pondered it all. Still stuck in her head, but this time not with thoughts of self loathing. Progress, baby.

"I haven't heard of them before" she replied when he questioned whether she knew what they were. Then he went off on a tangent about conduit worms, and her expression became a little bit more befuddled. "I mean, I've heard of conduit worms but I've never seen them no... They sound frightful." She swallowed, and tried to neutralize her expression without much luck.

"Why... Is that what they're like?"

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

Davron's face was split by his first true grin since he was thawed by Auteme.

"Not at all!" he replied, and chuckled a bit. "No, no. Kyaddaks are massive. Multiple heads, tons of eyes, arthropods, and their limbs are like giant saw-blades just constantly smacking into the crystal trees all over the place." One of the more active dangers to run into when in certain places. Dantooine, of course, had Kinrath, M'haeli had its own wild animals...other planets like Ilum and Ossus had more to offer by way of environmental dangers rather than active fauna.

"Oh, and did I mention they're Force-sensitive?"

Davron cocked his head to one side, one hand tapping down at his hip. He'd never carried a lightsaber there, but he had grown more than familiar with a blaster. "You see what I mean about supplies, Padawan? I'd rather not be tracked by a pack with no recourse for dealing with them."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

"Oh"

Auraya's skin flushed more red than it ever had before, all other instances of it paling by comparison. How had he managed to rope her in like that? It was so unexpected that she couldn't help but laugh, not even a nervous laugh either. It eclipsed the embarrassment all together, and was only halted when he further explained the beasts in question.

"Oh..."

His description was horrifying. She just stood and stared at him like he'd grown multiple heads himself. Could such a creature truly exist? Her hand drifted briefly to the lightsaber at her waist, and she grimaced. Fat load of good a training hilt was going to do. And it wasn't as though she could hold her own in the Force.

Now she really was regretting not keeping a blaster on hand like Khefiir had suggested.

"Yeah, I definitely see what you mean" she replied, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "Are they uh, commonplace..? I don't think I'm even remotely the kind of person you want at your side if you're going to be coming face to face with them, Master Feln... Maybe you'd rather find some other Jedi."

No saber, no real Force talents, no blaster. What was she even good for anyway?

Well at least she could make decent company...

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

Davron turned to face her.

Mostly.

His face was set in a look of slight disapproval. "Are you about done with that?" he asked. It was a bit pointed, but he wasn't trying be rude about it. Just direct. "Auraya, you've been a whirlwind of anxiety and self-loathing since you walked into that hospital room. And, as you already noticed just earlier, I might be blind, but I can still pick up on things around me." He paused.

"Unless they're droids, I suppose," he admitted, before continuing:

"Regardless, they sent you here, an apprentice, with no instructions beyond delivering my ship, no quick way to get back short of my good will, and you felt the need to correct me and call yourself an initiate. I can piece together what that means, and in case you can't tell, I'm not having it." While he physically seemed to remain as calm as before, there was a fervor to his voice that had been lacking earlier, when he'd just been making observations and cracking jokes to try and get her to relax.

No, this, this was something he cared about.

"Now, Padawan Auraya, I am blind, I'm still regaining feeling in my hands and feet, and I need a guide to come along with me. You're the Jedi I've got handy, so you're the one that's going to be working with me. It will be easier for both of us—"

His grin came back a bit.

"—and for dealing with the kyaddaks if you accept that, and start looking forwards. You can't go back in time, believe me, so don't keep dwelling so much on whatever has happened in the past, whatever failures you've had, that's led you to where you are right now. Just focus on how you're going to keep moving."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

When he turned toward her and stuck her with that disapproving look, Auraya braced herself for the worst. It always happened eventually, they'd get tired of her, or realize her lack of worth, or something along those lines, and then she'd be right back where she started.

But what she expected him to say and what he did say were vastly different ends of the spectrum; she shrunk in on herself all the same, unsure what to make of it all, eyes staring at a spot on his face that wasn't quite his unseeing eyes. She didn't try to butt in or dispute what he said, she took it all in and by the time that he was done she didn't know whether she felt all the more deflated or emboldened by his words.

A little bit of both? Was that even possible?

"Okay..." That was the first word out of her mouth, and frankly it was largely underwhelming given all that he had said. Okay? That was the best you had, Auraya? But that okay was a difficult word to form for one such as she, to let go of the reins and the worry and just go with the flow. She was the Jedi he had on hand? Well, then she better make it worth it. If nothing else, she could act as his eyes right?

Hopefully no repeat of him tripping over the droid would happen.

"Okay, Master Feln. I will do my best to get out of my head."

Was that something she believed she could do? Maybe not immediately, but with time... Well, he'd already proven more than capable of gleaning her emotions. It didn't seem as though he'd be letting her off the hook that easily.

"Seriously, though... How do we deal with the kyaddaks..?"

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

"Well, they generally avoid other Force-sensitive creatures. Emphasis on generally." He shrugged. "If they don't avoid us, then hopefully by the time we get there I've recovered enough that I can fend them off with a blaster and the skills I have. You as well, if you're a good shot." Ultimately, he didn't seem too worried about them. Little did Auraya know that was because he'd witnessed worse, more frightening creatures on other planets.

Kyaddaks? Positively mundane.

"Now, Padawan: the rest of the ship?" Even with the present conversation, he hadn't forgotten how he wanted her to lead him around the rest of the vessel, including the lower deck. "...Wait, does this have stairs down there, or just access hatches and ladders?"

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Just as quickly as their conversation had turned personal, they were back on track to talks of strange creatures on equally as strange crystalline worlds. Avoidant of Force Sensitives? "You could've led with that" she mumbled, though some humour broke through her previously sullen state, and a smile even formed upon her lips. "I uh... I'm not the best shot, but I know how to shoot?" Was that enough to be of use? Well, either way it's all she had.

That and a not-so-useful lightsaber.

Go Raya!

Then he was asking for that previously promised tour. Well, Auraya hadn't even seen her own bunk yet but she supposed that was fine. It wasn't as though she was in any rush to settle, they had some time drifting through space before they reached their destination.

"Alright," she offered her arm toward him once more. Then faltered when he asked about the lower levels. "Uh... Pretty sure it's a hatch," she stated, frowning ever so slightly as she spoke. "Maybe we'll save the lower levels until later?"

She wasn't exactly sure what was down there herself, she'd mostly sat in the cockpit on her journey over here.

Either way, she began their tour in the main corridor, cockpit and his room already having been shown she next opened up the rest of the crew doors - including the one which would be her own room - and then led him down toward the refreshers, explaining as she went.

Pretty soon though she realized that the lower deck held some mighty important rooms.

"Chit" she whispered under her breath, "I think the galley and the crew lounge are downstairs..." Welp, she hoped he didn't mind eating bland rations for the foreseeable future, because Auraya did not know how to cook...

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

Davron followed along, listening quietly as she described each of the rooms to him, and doing his best to put them in his memory. By now, the ship had likely left atmosphere entirely, although he doubted they were far enough out of the gravity well for any droid to be willing to jump to hyperspace just yet. Until he felt the slight lurch as the ship phase-shifted into another dimension, accelerating far, far beyond the speed of light as soon as it was freed from the constraints of normal physics.

He turned his head slightly, his face scrunched in an expression of powerful concentration.

Nine hundred years on ice had kept him alive into the modern day, but it had done quite a number on much of his body, and many things were still healing, still trying to come back online; his sense of balance was one of those. Even the pseudomotion of the ship blasting into hyperspace, that slight not-quite-forward shift and the shudder of the metal as the hyperdrive started to vibrate was enough to leave him nauseous for a moment.

And of course, they'd have to go down a hatch. "Well, no matter," he replied, relaxing his face once he was sure he wouldn't need to actually use the refresher. "I'm sure we'll both be careful to make sure I don't slip and fall down an open hatch, given that you know I'll actually be intending to interact with the scenery this time." As opposed to him simply letting go of her and moving to thank the droid.

"Just, ah, guide my hand to the ladder, will you? I don't want to have to try and blindly reach for it. I feel like that's likely to end with me getting hurt."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

The lurching of the ship decidedly did not agree with him.

Auraya watched as his expression scrunched up, and for a moment she was afraid he might hurl or something. She'd even taken half a step toward the refresher in order to open the door. Thankfully he steeled himself, and after a little while he was able to talk and move again. She held her breath, waiting a second longer, before finally letting it out in a soft sigh.

Phew.

He poked fun at her about the whole droid fiasco, but for one Raya didn't let it get to her. How was she supposed to know he was going to hurtle headlong into the droid? She took a few steps toward the hatch, then turned back to face him.

"Uh, alright... I can do that."

Reaching out she gently took his wrist, and carefully guided him toward the hatch and the ladder which would lead him down to the lower deck. Easy, Raya... She put herself as much between him and the hole in the floor as she could, then brought his hands over to the ladder itself.

"Mind your feet, uh, a little more to your left..."

Force, this was nerve-wracking. Was this how surgeons felt? Life or death held in their hands?

Yep, most definitely not for her.

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

Luckily Davron wasn't entirely lacking in either sense or feeling; with a hand on the ladder itself, he felt a fair bit more confident sliding one foot forward until he found the lip of the hatch. It was recessed into one side of the hallway, but that meant he at least wouldn't have to worry about accidentally stepping into it if he was using the walls to guide himself along at any point. That was a bit of a comfort.

Of course, the sheer act of having to step out over an empty void and find the rungs of the ladder with his feet was mildly terrifying. Fairly reminiscent of when the fact that nobody knew how long he'd be operating without sight fully hit him; he'd been expecting only some days, but he'd also only been expecting to be frozen for a month at most, not nearly nine hundred years.

It had been at least a week with no sign of his vision returning.

"Well, here goes nothing," he said, stepping out towards the ladder. Left foot, good; right foot followed, and he started climbing down. It wasn't bad at all. Just large enough to fit a Wookiee, not too far to have to step over, now it was just down and down...how tall were ship halls? How much solid space between them on a double decked vessel? Hopefully he wouldn't have to—

Oh, right, short. Only about eleven feet total he had to climb before his feet found floor again. He quickly stepped off to one side, to allow Auraya the space to get down as well. "Well, what's next, Padawan? You said the galley and lounge are down here?"

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

She'd have been lying if she tried to claim she wasn't nervous about the whole thing. Blind man scaling down a ladder? Yeah no that sounded more like something out of a slapstick skit than anything else. And yet even so she watched as he slowly made his way down all the same, rung by rung, until his feet touched the ground below.

Auraya blinked. Okay... Smooth enough so far. She exhaled the breath she'd unknowingly been holding, and then followed him down once he'd cleared the landing zone.

Her boots came upon the metal ground with a thump, and therein she found herself glancing around, trying to make sense of the space. After all, she'd never actually been down here before. Come to think of it, beyond the refresher she hadn't actually explored the upper level either. Maybe she should have. Was it expected that she had? Either way, she was a simple girl. Do the task at hand, yup. That's what she did.

No faff.

Hey, finally something she was good at!

His words drew her from her thoughts, and she smiled. "Well they weren't up top," she remarked, of the communal spaces, going so far as to shrug even though he couldn't see her do so, "I figured if not upstairs they'd be down here right?" She swallowed. "Unless there's neither, in which case... Well..." She was about to say hope you like the taste of ration packs but honestly, she couldn't cook. It'd be ration packs either way.

A few steps forward without him had her glancing around the space. "Yeah, phew, I see the galley up ahead. Here," she held out her arm for him once more, and then began to lead him through the hallway. Pointed out a couple of things of note as she went, areas that she didn't necessarily know the purpose of. She wasn't known for being ship-savvy after all.

Then they were in the communal area. A lounge to one side, the galley and a dining space to the other. Nothing insane, but it got the job done. More than enough room for just the two of them at the very least.

"Want me to check the supplies?" she inquired, the thought coming to her all at once. She had no idea when the food stocks had last been resupplied after all. And, well, Feln wasn't in the position to check.

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

"That would be a wonderful idea, yes."

Unsurprisingly, she'd gotten down the ladder faster than he did. Unsurprisingly as well, he had no clue what they actually had on the ship. No doubt it'd been sent with some proper supplies, her assumption that he had no way to check was accurate.

Accurate but for one thing; as Auraya wandered off to check the cabinets first, before she might move to the actual cargo storage and see what supplies were back there, Davron felt along until he came to the refrigerator. It had been a while since he last ate, and he was ready for a snack. Hopefully, hopefully, he might find some fruit in there.

Pop open the refrigerator. Hand in, start feeling around. A jug of something, probably milk. Some eggs, a tub of something or another...Aha.

He drew back his hand, feeling the oblong shape he'd managed to acquire. The skin didn't seem too hard to eat, if anything, it was all fairly soft. He couldn't tell, but it was somewhat mottled in appearance, with green skin that shifted to red as it tapered. But, most importantly, was the taste. Bravely, he raised it to his mouth and bit in.

"Oh, shuura!" He quickly raised a hand to wipe away some of the juice that threatened to fall past his chin. "Auraya, you were really missing out if you didn't come looking down here."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Huzzah! Some way to be helpful. Auraya beamed a grin at that, and without a word she began to make her way between the various cupboards in the galley, and then to the larger stores - some sort of pantry, as well as a cold storage unit - to get a general idea of what they were working with. All in all, she discovered, it wasn't actually all that bad. Recently restocked if she had to hazard a guess. A decent amount of shelf-stable goods, some frozen options, as well as whatever currently lay within the refrigerator.

From the sounds of it, something tasty.

She stuck her head back through into the main space, and watched as he bit into the fruit again. Well she presumed it was a fruit, because what sort of maniac ate a vegetable like that?

"I sort of just hid upstairs" she confessed after a moment, turning to finish up her assessment of the stores. "Looks like there's a good amount of provisions, shouldn't really need to stock up on much unless you want fresh. I uh... I really don't know how to cook, though, so it might be a waste."

The scent of the fruit's juices had her stomach grumbling, and after a little while longer she exited the storage room and waltzed up to the fridge. Part of her worried she was being too bold and brazen, but given how long the journey had been already the fact that she hadn't eaten a single thing was perplexing. Even for her.

So she opened the fridge, glanced over what was on offer, and took a couple of different smaller pieces of fruit for herself. Raya leaned against the counters then, and let out a small sigh.

Finally, finally, she was beginning to relax.

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

"Oh, cooking is simple. I can do i—"

He paused. "Well, that might prove difficult, actually. I can walk you through it. It's one of those skills they don't teach at the temple when they really should." Although, he didn't know if that was the truth in the modern day, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was. Always eating what the temple provided, never actually getting any cooking experience unless you were selected to be one of the ones making the food for the day, and it was always simple and bland and boring. Nutritious and filling, certainly, but he'd never realized what true food was until they sent him off with the exploration corps.

"Actually, now might be a good time to start that. Start rattling off some specifics at me—meat, vegetables, herbs and spices, that sort of stuff. I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something out of what we have, rather than wasting time running through a list of ingredients where we'd end up missing half of them."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Were she a bolder girl, she might have teased him for his momentary lapse in realization. Mentally she did, deep down she wished she'd vocalized it too, but instead she settled for the barest hint of a smirk. She bit into one of the pieces of fruit and made a small murmur of delight at its tart sweetness, then listened as he explained that he'd talk her through how to do it.

"Um..." She pondered it, worried for a moment that she'd only go and mess it up. That gnawing little demon in her mind was loud today, but she shook her head to dismiss the intrusive thoughts and exhaled. Quietened her mind. "Okay. I can give it a try, Master Feln." Could she promise there'd be an edible meal at the end of it? No, no she could not, but that didn't mean she wouldn't give it her all.

She felt a little excited by the prospect... Then he suggested that they start immediately.

"Now?" she squeaked, colour fading fast from her cheeks. He wanted her to try and cook now?? She thought she'd at least have a little time to do some research, watch some holovids, something... But nope. Breathe, Auraya, breathe...

Ingredients. Right now he was just asking for a general list of ingredients... She moved back to the store rooms, and began to list off a series of different foodstuffs that were present. Some of them she didn't even really recognize herself, particularly where the spices were concerned, so she might have butchered a word or two.

Still, the girl tried.

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

As she started rattling off some of the things they had available to work with, relatively fresh, Davron rather contentedly continued to eat his shuura. He knew he'd have to pick something simple and easy to get her started with—both for the sake of having something palatable when dinner came around, and to try and build up some further confidence so that she didn't squeak with such surprise the next time he saw fit to give her some new task. That did cut out some of the options he'd been considering—too many ingredients, too many spices. Some of which he wasn't even sure they had.

Something to set and just sort of forget about. Meat, potatoes...

"Alright, I've got it!" he interjected, cutting off whatever mispronounced herb she was in the middle of figuring out how to say. "I need you to set half a pound of the nerf shoulder you mentioned and a quarter pound of that roba back bacon to thaw. Then dig out around twelve small potatoes and a pair of decently sized onions, and whatever pot you can find that looks large enough to hold all of those." He pursed his lips, thinking for a moment.

"Also, find me some proper flour to work with, and some sodium bicarbonate. Hopefully we have buttermilk in this fridge, but I'm not bothering with some polystarch portion bread. I hate that stuff."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

She found herself partway through the spices when Davron exclaimed and cut her search short. Sticking her head out of the doorway, she glanced over him while he rattled off a few different instructions for her to work on. One blink, two blink, she tried to set it all to memory, turned to begin grabbing the relevant items then faltered and returned her gaze to him.

"Uh..." Leaning back from the doorway itself, she glanced toward the cold storage and frowned. "To... thaw?"

After no doubt getting more detailed instructions on that process, she set about gathering up the items as well as the pot and brought them all out to the galley. It was a lot. She carried them all in the aforementioned pot, and set them on the countertop before looking back to Davron.

Potatoes, onions, pot.... Oh, feth, she'd forgotten the meats! Her mind reeled, and then she remembered the other things, too. Flour, bicarb. She scurried off to get the rest. "You're making bread?" she asked, with a raised brow, as she carefully set the packages of meat into the dry sink and then searched the immediate stores for the flour and the like. The last thing she needed was to lug the larger totes of them out from the pantry, surely there had to be some smaller containers on hand.

Right?

"Didn't know people made their own bread..."

Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

Surprised at the thought of thawing meat or making his own bread. Even a simple quick bread. Yes, it was definitely long past time to get her started learning something other than the constant classes that any Jedi temple or enclave taught. "Here, let me just..." He went to the sink where she'd set the frozen meats, stopping by one of the cupboards and feeling around to grab another pot or bowl that would be large enough to keep the meat fully submerged. "If you don't plan ahead and set your frozen meat in the fridge a whole day before you plan to use it so it can thaw most safely, set it up under the tap so that it's submerged in cold water. Up to a pound of meat takes about an hour to thaw, that way. But it has to be in a leak-proof package."

Of course, he was a bit lazier than most. Rather than fill the pot with water, keeping the meat submerged, and having to remember to change it out in about thirty minutes, he'd just leave the tap running lightly over it so that the water was constantly overflowing and changing. Ships like this had fairly powerful and efficient water recyclers, so he didn't feel particularly like he was wasting it. "You could also use a nanowave cooker, scanoven, or most other such appliances to thaw it, a lot of them have a special setting for such, but you have to use it immediately afterwards, and can't re-freeze it without cooking it. Generally you still shouldn't refreeze from thawing it without cooking anyways, but...y'know. Sometimes you get lazy or forgetful, and so long as it hasn't gotten warm enough for bacteria to start growing it's good."

Now, for the bread. He doubted they had any whole grain flour, or even dedicated bread flour, so regular all-purpose would have to do; buttermilk if they had it, or hopefully he'd be able to get her to mix up a quick substitute. Sodium Bicarbonate, some salt...

"Alright, set the oven to preheat to two hundred and thirty degrees, and measure me out three and a half cups of flour into a mixing bowl, and about three-quarters of a teaspoon each of salt and sodium bicarbonate into it. This'll be a quick bread, nothing fancy, and it should be out of the oven and cooling by the time the meats are thawed. It'll give us time to wash, peel, and cut the vegetables while it's cooking, too."

Auraya Irath-Ur

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

She watched intently as he explained and set the meat into a bowl before turning on the cold water tap to let it flow over the frozen packages of meat. As expected, an in-depth explanation that went further than just her immediate need to understand. Though she didn't know when she'd ever cook again, she couldn't help but be grateful for the crash course all the same.​

​

"What if it's more than a pound?" she asked, as she headed toward the oven and glanced over the various dials and buttons on display. Preheat... Preheat... Force, she really didn't want to have to ask him how to do that. There was a little light beside the word 'preheated' but there was no attached switch or anything for that.​

​

Auraya frowned. Then she noticed a dial which had a bunch of numbers on it, that seemed to allude to what he meant. Chewing on the inside of her lip, and not at all confident with what she was about to do, she turned it until it showed 230 on the monitor. That preheated light did not turn on, but another one above it did to state that the oven was active.​

​

Okay, maybe that was right?​

​

Next she fished out a mixing bowl, or at least some larger-than-standard bowl, from the cupboards, and fumbled around in search of some cups. The issue she found was that each of them were of varying sizes, and she couldn't figure out which exactly he wanted her to use.​

​

"Uh... There's a bunch of different cups," she admitted, raising a hand to rub the back of her neck awkwardly, "The glass ones are larger than the ceramics... There's some smaller metal ones too." She rummaged around in the dish cupboard, then frowned and looked back at Davron. "Which one am I meant to use?"​

​

He'd also mentioned spoons. She opened the drawer and found again a couple of different sizes. "And which spoon's which?" Frankly this whole thing was mighty confusing.​

​

Auraya couldn't help but wonder how long it'd be before Davron regretted offering to show her how to cook. She hoped he wouldn't, though, because frankly she was truly excited to learn...​

​

Davron Feln ​

 

[Davron Feln]

It was times like this that it was lucky for everybody Davron had the patience of a saint, certainly when faced with somebody who otherwise seemed destined to the same path he used to walk. "Measuring cups, dear," he explained. "Measuring spoons, as well. They should be with the rest of the food preparation utensils, not the eating and drinkware. They'll have numbers on them so you know what size they are. Two cups, one cup, a half, a third, a quarter..."

And, of course, there'd be the potatoes to deal with. "Might find a peeler while you're in there as well, but you'll certainly at least need a knife. Just try not to sacrifice too much of each potato when peeling them if you have to do it with a knife."

Auraya Irath-Ur