Private My Little Runaway

[Casaline Andilet]

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Location: Naboo
Objective: Runaway
Tags: Onrai


Casi had been missing for three whole days, ever since the discussion to take her mom off life support. She knew the Jedi would eventually come looking for her and her best idea was to get off the planet, but that was a bit difficult with no money. Her clothes were already dirty and her stomach was rumbling, but still she was not ready to go back. She couldn't watch them kill her mother. The world just wasn't fair. She crossed the street and kept walking, aware that some people across it were staring at her, but trying to ignore them. Where was she even going? She knew Naboo well enough, having grown up here, but she needed a plan, and food, soon.

For now she was just wandering.

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[Onrai]

Typically, there was little reason for Vanessa Vantai to be on Naboo. The last thing she desired to do was to risk a negative impact of her shard on the mind of the Zeltron Jedi, Lossa Aureus . Fingers were crossed as she considered a course of action - she sensed despair, worry, and a wavering lack of hope as she eyed the street urchin, the dirty-clothed girl wandering through the streets past a cafe. Yes - she recognized her. It was one of the Padawans she had conflicted with during the battles with the Alliance, one who had been in concert with two others that had sought to escape an Imperial trap. A sense of empathy struck the being, and she gave a whistle to Cas, a hand motioning for the young girl to join her as she sat at a cafeteria table. Her presence seemed perhaps a tad off, but the true nature of the chthonic being wrapped in the skein of humanoid flesh remained hidden.

"Are you hungry?"

Casaline Andilet

 

[Casaline Andilet]

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Tags: Onrai

"Are you hungry?"

Casaline turned to see a human sitting there talking to her. Her stomach grumbled but she wasn't sure what to do. Something seemed off about this person, but they also somehow seemed familiar? Little did Casi know that this was the same shadow being she had seen during a previous mission with other padawans.

"Umm... I don't have any money...."

She took a step closer. It was a weird feeling.

"have.... Have we met before?"

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[Onrai]

Casaline Andilet

“It’s alright.” She said, motioning to the other seat at the small round table. She had been enjoying a plate of hors d'oeuvres, a mix of small tarts and the like. With her eyes, she turned to offer the young woman one or more of them. "Let me get you a water." She flagged down one of the staff, asking for another cup of water, which soon arrived to her table. In response to the young woman's second question, she raised an eyebrow - the girl did seem somewhat familiar. Within her mind, a moment of realization struck - this was one of the Padawans she had encountered some months back! What was she doing here, filthy and abandoned? That said, while she had met Onrai, she had never met Vanessa Vantai, so perhaps there was another route to go here.

"If we have, it wouldn't have been here - I don't usually take trips to Naboo. Vanessa Vantai, nice to meet you. Please, sit down." She motioned again to the empty stool and the water.

"Are you alright? You look like you've been through a lot."

 

[Casaline Andilet]

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Location: Naboo Cafe
Objective: Chat
Tags: Onrai

Casi hesitated for a second but then pure hunger set in. She perched herself softly on the edge of the small plastic seat and tentative ate one of the small custard looking tarts. It was sweet and delicious. She watched the woman as she chewed slowly. When the water came though Casi could not fake her thirst. She drank the glass so fast the waiter had to fill it up again before even leaving the table. Casi frowned as she realized you get thirsty before you get fully hungry. Good to know.

“Umm yea. I’m okay. I just ….”

She bit her lip again, thinking. She probably shouldn’t just tell people she ran away. They might force her to go back.

“I umm I ran away but I don’t want to go back. So I’m trying to get off the planet so they don’t find me.”

She wasn’t sure why that slipped out. It was partially exhaustion and hunger and just trauma from hearing them talk about taking her mom off life support.

She drank another bit of water. “Thank you.”

​

 

[Onrai]

Vanessa frowned - to see a Padawan in the state she was in touched feelings inside her that she hadn't felt in quite a while. Empathy was the foremost thing that came to the front as she listened, eating the rest of her own tartlet and drinking a sip of her water casually. "If you're wanting to get off the planet, I can help you with that. We can go to another world where you'll be safe and you won't have to worry about anything. Promise." Ord Mantell was a paradise world now, after all. It wouldn't be that long of a journey after all.

She put down the credits for her food, waiting for Cas to finish up the rest of the little tarts before standing up, the simple robes making it an easy move. "We can head to my ship now if you'd like." She said, as the droid brought them both disposable cups full of ice water.

"I never did get your name, by the way."

Casaline Andilet

 

[Casaline Andilet]

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Tags: Onrai

Casi bit her lip and stared at the woman. Her entire life she had been taught not to talk to strangers and to especially not get into a vehicle with a stranger. It was no wonder the girl was hesitant given how many child predators there were out there, or so her mother always said. But she felt something in the back of her mind and looked over her shoulder and saw two robed Jedi walking across the street. They did not look her way but vanished into a local game center, clearly looking for a young person who might like to hang out at such places.

"Uh... yes... lets go now... please.... that would be ... nice..."

She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up over her face and glanced over her shoulder one more time.

"It's Casi. It's nice to meet you Miss Vantai..."

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[Onrai]

Casaline Andilet

"Nice to meet you too."

The two soon enough would enter Vanessa's shuttle, taking off from the surface of Naboo. Exiting orbit, the ship would enter hyperspace as Vanessa relaxed in the pilot seat, observing the whorls of hypermatter as they traveled through the void. Opening up a panel in the ship, she took out some eternity crackers and ate one, offering another to Casi. All the while she pondered what exactly the next course of action would be - she had a Jedi Padawan who had run away from the order on board her ship. She had no intention of taking her to the Sith and forcing her to undergo the horrors of training as an acolyte - perhaps there were better solutions.

"We'll be going to the world of Ord Mantell from here." She said. "You'll be safe, and hopefully we can figure out what you can do from that point onwards." Vanessa gave a soft, sympathetic smile, curious to see if Casi's mood softened in light of having escaped the planet.

 

[Casaline Andilet]

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Tags: Onrai

Casi was beyond thrilled when she saw Naboo flying away in the distance. A small part of her felt a twinge to run back to her mothers bedside, but she knew she shouldn't. She doubted the Jedi would take her mother off life support while they were looking for her. As far as Casi was concerned if she stayed lost her mother might never be taken off. Or at least that was what she was thinking at the moment.

She took the cracker offered to her and ate it, thinking about things as hyperspace flew around her.

"I think I need to get a job. That seems like something you do when you run away and start over doesn't it?"

She figured adults must know all about this type of stuff.

"What is your job anyway?"

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[Onrai]

"Get a job? That's doable."

Vanessa finished eating the cracker in question. "I'm the planetary governor of Ord Mantell." She said, deciding to be forthcoming. "So I can find something for you to do. If nothing else, you could always pray to Onrai. I hear she answers those who pray to her." A twinkle in her eye indicated the woman's ostensible belief in the deity she named - considering she was Onrai, she was certainly obligated to mention it. The shuttle continued on its way through hyperspace, the two growing ever closer to the nascent paradise world.

Casaline Andilet

 

[Casaline Andilet]

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Tags: Onrai


"What does a planetary governor do?"

She finished her cracker just as Vanessa mentioned praying. Casi shook her head. "I don't know about that. The Jedi tried to shove religion down my throat too. Besides... when we die.... we probably just... just... " Her lip quivered when she thought about her mother dying and she shook her head.

"I just don't know if I'm the praying type."

She stared out the view port as if there was anything to see, and tried not to think about her mom. Then something occurred to her.

"Wait Ord Mantell? Doesn't the Dark Empire control that? Will we be safe? The Jedi are at war with them I think."

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[Onrai]

"Well, I govern the planet."

Vanessa laughed. She couldn't help it - it was a simple question after all. "The Jedi have such bizarre beliefs that have sometimes changed over time. Some of them worship the Force. Some of them worshipped the Goddess once upon a time - another name for Onrai, Via, or whatever else she might be called. There are gods who answer prayers and gods who don't - Onrai certainly does, or else most of the people on my planet wouldn't worship her." Insofar as the last quip, she put a hand on Casi's shoulder. "We don't. It depends on the circumstance, but those who pray to Onrai go to her. They don't just dissolve into the ether. Take it from someone who's died before and come back."

The awareness came to Casi - the realization that Ord Mantell was a world under the control of the Dark Empire. "Well, if I'm the planetary governor of the planet, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep you safe and make sure no one does anything harmful to you." Another small chuckle struck the woman as she ate another cracker. "I have a background in dealing with existential threats."

Casaline Andilet

 

[Casaline Andilet]

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Tags: Onrai


Casi felt foolish. Of course they would be safe if she was the governor. DUHHH! She sat back in her chair and relaxed a little while Vanessa explained more about deities. The religion didn't really interest Casi but there was something that did catch her attention.

"Wait... you've died before? Like.... you know what happens... if someone... if they....."

She was still sitting back in her chair and suddenly started fidgeting with her long sleeved sweater. It was dirty and had holes in it but Casi didn't mind. She actually liked to slip her fingers through the holes near the cuffs.

"Do people really become one with the Force when they die? Thats what the Jedi said... would happen if.... well if they... if they ended someone."

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[Onrai]

"I do." She said. "Of course it's not like I really wanted to die, so I did what I could to come back, but yes, I've died before and transferred my essence into a new body. Except for the first time - I did have help." The memories of Velok assisting her came to mind - especially the destruction of her temporary body at the hand of a particularly brutal blade. "After death a Force Sensitive can either become one with the Force, or retain their individual nature as a ghost, either Light or Dark Sided."

She looked back at the whorls of hyperspace outside their windows. "The Jedi didn't teach you that much about how to use the Force, did they?" She said. "Just a Padawan, right? There's a lot to learn about the Force - and even more to learn about its opposite." She finished, letting the suggestion of what she was implying sink in.

Casaline Andilet

 

[Casaline Andilet]

Tags: Onrai


Casi listened about how Vanessa had died and transferred her essence into a new body. She wasn't sure how to think about that. It seemed unnatural, and scary, but could it save her mom?

"What about non-Force sensitives? Do they become one with the Force too?"

The last statement made her frown in confusion. "What is the opposite of the Force? Death?"

 

[Onrai]

“In theory, yes.” She said. “The souls of non-force users can follow the same principles. It’s just that they don’t stick around the same way.” At least, typically they couldn’t. From her recollection there were ways for them to come back from the dead, often through ritual, or through the use of creatures, or something similar, but none of those were necessarily applicable here. “Why are you curious?”

To the second question, she smiled softly. “Just as there is antimatter as the antithesis to matter, so too is there the Anti-Force in antithesis to the Force. An energy field that surrounds, penetrates, and binds together a whole other dimension filled with the cast off creations of fallen gods. The Anti-Force is powerful - far more so than the Dark Side. And it may be some of our only hope against the true evils that lurk at the farthest reaches of reality.”

Casaline Andilet

 

[Casaline Andilet]

Tags: Onrai

Casi felt like her head was spinning. How did the Jedi and others learn all this stuff? Didn’t anybody want to just live a simple quiet life somewhere? Talking of Gods and death and it was all just so much.

Then Vanessa asked why she was curious and the little girl stiffened. She wasn’t sure if she should say she was on the run and that her life was falling to pieces.

“I know someone who’s sick. They say it might be her time to die.”

She shrugged as if it was no big deal but clearly it was testing the girl up.

“What is the real evil? Like the Sith?”

 

[Onrai]

Vanessa frowned in response to Casi's comment that she knew someone who was mortally ill. "It might be possible to help her." She said, thinking over possible solutions - first she would have to find who Casi's mother was, then figure out a solution - a cortical stimulator, or a brain transplant, or even a proper usage of essence transfer. Maybe even the 'divine' effects of Onrai herself going to heal her from her ailments. Whatever it was, there was certainly a solution the ethereal and powerful being could provide her.

"The Sith? The Sith aren't the real evil in the galaxy, not even close." She said. "But how about this - how about I show you a secret that very few people know about?" From within the folds of her robes, Vanessa pulled out a shiny polished stone, ovular in shape, that was half the color of citrine and half the color of amethyst. Very faintly, within its crystalline core, seemed to glow a soft light.

Casaline Andilet

 

[Casaline Andilet]

Tags: Onrai


Casi was a thirteen year old girl so of course when an older woman offered to show her a secret the girl was all for it. Vanessa pulled out a glowing stone and Casi let out a gasp.

“Oh it’s beautiful! What is it?”

She reached out a hand to touch it.

 

[Onrai]

The stone glowed brighter in response to her touch. "This is the Sunstar-Shadowstone, once an ancient relic of the Ewoks on Endor. It was originally destroyed and believed lost to defeat an ancient monstrosity known as Griagh, a hideous creature older than the Republic itself." She said, looking down at it. Taking the stone away, she held it up and it glowed brighter as a wrinkle, a distortion began to form in the fabric of reality within the shuttle. "When used by the right person, however, in its reintegrated state, it has the power to tear between boundaries." Soon enough the distortion was torn asunder, the essence of another dimension trickling in from beyond the boundaries of the rift.

"The shuttle's on autopilot. How about we go exploring?"

Casaline Andilet