Faction A Festivas For The Rest Of Us (THR)

[Kayla Ordo-Shan]

Location: Theed
Tags: Aiden Porte , Open

The bright colors of flowing banners and delicate flower garlands fluttered in the gentle Naboo breeze, weaving through the narrow streets of Theed like a living tapestry. Kayla Shan-Ordo navigated the crowd with practiced ease, eyes sharp but calm beneath the light shade of her hood. She perhaps looked a bit out of sorts. The breast plate and leather jerkin she wore declared her as some sort of hired gun. Compared to the others about her, she stuck out rather badly. It wasn’t her fault though, she didn’t know what the hell this place got up to on a day to day basis. She just wanted a caf and a day out in the sun.

About her as she walked, children laughed, chasing each other around intricately carved fountains. Musicians played lilting melodies on wooden flutes and stringed instruments. The festival, whose purpose Kayla was entirely unsure of, served to distract her from the malancholy of her most recent affairs.

Kayla let herself be caught for a moment by the rhythms of drums and song, the warm energy washing over her like a ray of sunlight across a body of water; the surface was brightened but the depths remained dark. She slipped, touching that forbidden power that at times tempted her in moments of serenity such as this. She had mistakeningly tapped into the Force.

In doing so, she made a costly error. Just beneath the surface of the laughter and music, something shifted, and closed in around her. A faint pulse in the air, like the heartbeat of the world itself. She had let herself grow too lax, too open to the world about her. Now, came the consequences of her lack of discipline. She immediately cut the ties, trying to drown out her standing in the Force with that of life around her.

She felt it first as a soft tug, a whisper in the back of her mind growing louder with each passing moment. The voices were distant yet intimate, ancient and steady; her ancestors reaching through the Force, their presence like a thread woven into her very soul.

Amid the festival's revelry, Kayla's gaze drifted skyward, past the bright banners and sunlit rooftops. The voices called, patient and insistent, droning on and being lost as they rambled over one another.

The popular option for her, as it had been for some time, was to ignore them; to stay grounded in the here and now. Perhaps the crowd and the scenery and the music would aid in that. But another part, buried deep beneath years of hardship and silence, stirred awake.

A curse of her lineage. The very curse that had driven her mother to her end, with her father being dragged along in tow.

They were trying to find her. To call her back to her ‘destiny’ as a Shan. To ‘remind’ her of what she was meant to do.

Which was to sacrifice herself for some traditions she didn’t even subscribe to anymore.

With the situation being what it was, she came to a conclusion. She was going to do her best to keep as far away from her ‘ancestorial advisors’ as possible.

They eventually would just leave her alone if she ignored them hard enough…..she’d just have to wait them out.

How ever long that took.

 

[Aiden Porte]

"Don't wander off too far!" Aiden shouted, above the slight festive commotion that the crowd offered. Aiden was picked by the Council to take some of the younglings about the festival today. Truth be told, they really didn't need chaperones, but Aiden being who he was. He pretty much volunteered for the task. The group waved back at him before they disappeared into the crowd. Aiden looked over to his fathers Astro droid, Gala giggling lightly at the small series of beeps and whistles that came forth and she was soon to be off.

"Would you be the great droid that you are, and keep a tab on them?" Aiden asked, as he wasn't going to lie. Today was more jam packed then he expected. It really wasn't anything to be concerned about, just civilians spending time with their families and children running around laughing and being kids.

A small string of confetti filled the air around them, as more cheers and laughter could be heard. It reminded him of the Carnival and his ventures with Isla, Philip and the rest of the gang.

Rascals they were....good ones though.

The Jedi Knight came to a slow stop as he felt a small ripple through the force. It wasn't a cold or anything of that sort. Aiden glanced around for a moment, the force directing him to the north, as he moved through the crowd. Gently and lightly guiding himself through without causing a fuss or disrupting anyone's own happiness.

There was someone clad in what looked to be in an armor of sorts, he didn't sense anything dark of that nature. Yet there was indeed something there, something else that was calling to him to investigate.

The Jedi moved forward, as he moved within a good respectable talking distance.

"Are you okay my friend?" The Jedi Knight spoke with a small smile, extending his hand towards her. "Aiden Porte, Jedi Knight of the Republic."

Kayla Ordo-Shan

 

[Kayla Ordo-Shan]

Location: Theed
Tags: Aiden Porte , Open

When the voice reached her, she blinked and refocused, catching the figure of the man who'd drawn near. His presence carried no threat, only steady calm. Which concerned Kayla, is it told her some part of her was still dialed into the Force. Her body reacted before her mind did, shoulders squaring slightly, weight shifting as if preparing to move away.

She looked skittish, and indeed in this moment, she was.

Her eyes flicked from his offered hand to his face, trying to fight the tension that was building behind her eyes. "I've been better," She said evenly, her voice low enough that the sounds about them might have drowned it out. A faint wryness curved her mouth as if to soften the sharpness. She needed to appear normal, then people would leave her alone.

Least that was usually how it worked…

"Festivals aren't usually where strangers ask if I'm okay."

She hesitated, then brushed a strand of dark hair from her face. Something about his presence grounded her, drew her back from the ancestral murmurs pressing at the edge of her awareness.

"Kayla," she added after a beat, though she didn't reach for his hand. She was fighting the shake of her voice, her gaze unfocused, which only became more evident as she fumbled over her words. "Just Kayla. And yes…I'm fine. Mostly. Most days I’m fine, yes."

Her gaze slid northward again, toward the direction of the pull she'd felt. "But you feel it too, didn't you?"

She asked, trying not to sound too freaked out, but obviously she was failing at that. Also, asking a random force user if they could feel things, things that were more than likely only attuned to her?

Great way to put yourself as an insane person. Mentally, she kicked herself for her mistake, but was trying to pull back from her alarmed and freaking out mood into something more….dismissive. However, she could not shake the tension that built within her body; she looked like she was desperately trying to ignore house fire breaking out right before her eyes.