Private 'Neath A Golden Crown

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

It was her, the truest hero of that day. Colette's arms wrapped around Adelle completely, her grip as tight as she could muster without suffocating her new friend. Corazona meant too much to Colette to simply say thank you to Adelle for being there.

"Corazona and I have been through a lot together." She said before easing out of the hug. "She was an annoying little shit back when we first met, but so was I… Sort of. Two girls from two very different worlds, sharing one master in the Order."

A hand would, however, still rest on Adelle's shoulder

"We were both raised for service. Nobility for her, childcare for me. Both of us also broke free from those lives to make our own." Colette hoped that her pride for Corazona and herself shone through. They had both endured things done to them that nobody should have to endure, but they came out on top in the end. "Luciana is just one more step on that journey and I am so glad that Cora lets me be a part of it."

The hand lingered, Colette swallowed her words for a second before she grinned again.

"And you helped make that happen. Meaning that I was right," she continued. "You do belong on my list. You are a good person, and I will be there for you if you ever need my help."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

The hug conveyed more than Colette’s words did. Firm and fierce in a way that was usually reserved for family and close friends. The young Jedi talked about her relationship with Cora, how they’d met and grown together. A cool breeze rushed through the leaves in a wave, stirring strands of Adelle’s hair. Colette released her but kept a hand on one shoulder, as if to reassure herself that Adelle was in fact real.

She spoke of breaking free from expectations and roles that had been built for them due to their respective births. To an extent, Adelle could empathize. It was part of why she had flung herself body and soul into her old Order, after her recovery on Corellia: The right to choose her own path in life.

Adelle shrugged when Colette made her promise. “That’s a lot to promise someone you’ve met twice. I just… did my job. Someone needed help. As a Healer, as a doctor, how could I say no?”

“Is your rifle okay?” Adelle asked, nodding at the weapon on the ground. “You let it drop quite a bit.”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

"Hm? Oh." Colette hadn't even realized she'd tossed her gun. "Yeah, probably."

A hand was extended towards it to pull it into her grasp. She gave it a quick once over, checked the chamber, and then shrugged. It had seen far worse on accident. Came with having an owner who liked to explore vertically as much as horizontally.

"Job or not, I'd rather love you for what you have done than fear what you might do." Colette said as she looked back at Adelle. "You calmed me down after I confronted a woman who had nearly killed me. You helped my friend give birth."

A beat…

"And you agreed to come with me into a deep forest despite having only met me once." Her lips pulled to the side with a grin. "If we're talking fools, I don't think I'm the only one here."

"I'd even argue it was just a matter of fate before we met anyway."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

“‘Confronted a woman that—’” Adelle stopped abruptly, aghast at the revelation. Apparently the High Republic’s gala hadn’t been rough on just her that night. She looked further off into the forest, stunned brain stumbling over words. “I’m . . . glad I was able to help then.”

The fools comment earned a pointed look with raised eyebrows. No one had said anything about fools or people being foolish until that moment. Besides, if she was going to be called foolish, there were worse things she’d done that really earned that judgement.

“You say that like I haven’t met strangers in isolated places before,” she said. “I’m a Mandalorian and a mercenary. That kinda goes with the territory. And I’ll have you know, this doesn’t even rank on my list of questionable life decisions.”

It was Colette’s last sentence that actually got a look of genuine distaste.

“Fate. Ew,” Adelle said. “I’m Corellian. I make my own luck.”

Adelle walked forward slowly, fairly certain that their hunt had turned into just conversation. Another gust of wind blew through the trees, flapping her jacket.

“How is she, by the way? Cora,” Adelle asked. “I haven’t been able to reach out and see if she needs anything.”

Her injuries from Yaga Minor had only just healed, the scars shiny and pink. Next time she decided to hot drop for a med-evac, she was going to doublecheck for hostiles laying down covering fire. Especially if they were using beskar-piercing slugs.

And maybe not bring a building down on herself.

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

There was a shot of surprise, the bad kind, once Colette had spoken but one that didn't phase her too much. She had moved past simple talks and getting to know one another at this point. They were positively in the roots by now. The burning feeling in her throat was swallowed and in its place was uneasiness. Uneasiness subsided over time into indifference.

It did help that she grinned on the inside when the brunette made a point of calling herself a Corellian and shunned "fate." Colette suspected that if she had called it the 'Force' instead it was bound to have had another reaction. She used to doubt the power of words, but in cases like these it was all too evident.

She kept from saying that though, the conversation had already moved on.

"Cora is good." Colette said and glanced at the floor for a moment. "I mean, she doesn't look like she's doing good, but she is."

"Went to see her not too long after Lucy was born. She looked like she had gone through hell, but the way she moved and felt in the Force made her seem at peace. Not just acceptance. That good, happy kind of peace."

Maybe one day Colette would know what that felt like too. That was the dream at least.

"And she deserves it. I can't think of anyone more deserving of the peace she has fought for."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

Adelle smiled a little when Colette mentioned that Cora didn’t look like she was doing good. In her experience, no new mother did. Or at least, those that did had a lot of help. The first week or so usually lulled the first timers into a false sense of security, since the newborn would be mostly sleeping around the clock after their traumatic entry into the galaxy. After that?

She hoped Cora had a robust support network.

“I’m glad to hear that she seems to be doing fine,” Adelle said. “The post-partum period can be hard, on both parents but especially mothers. I’m sure she appreciated you being there.”

It would have been a natural follow-up to ask if Colette had ideas about future kids for herself but that was generally a sensitive topic for even close friends. And especially given how fraught Colette’s relationship with the idea of family was, that wasn’t a topic she was going to broach right now. Adelle let silence lapse, contemplating.

“What does it look like for you?” she asked after a moment. “The peace you fight for.”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

There was no doubt that Colette had felt appreciated when she got there. Cora had basically thrown herself in the refresher as if it was a matter of life and death. The child had cried, Colette had tried to calm it down and do some cleaning, it was just the way children worked. Hard to speak when you didn't know any words after all.

As for Colette's own peace it was a question she wasn't ready for, but something she had thought about a lot.

"I don't really know…" The shiver in her voice betrayed the aftereffects of her earlier crying. "My force sensitivity means, to me, that I need to live in service to others. I can't really think about myself, my peace is a lot more like a… It needs to be everyone's peace."

"But… I do know that my peace is on the road. I might not be on my homeplanet anymore, but I don't think I'll ever really be able to let the wandering end. There's too much to see, too many people to meet and learn from."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

When Colette confessed to not really having thought about it, Adelle nodded. It was a question rather large in scope and something she herself hadn’t really thought about at Colette’s age. She did press her lips together as her jaw tightened as Colette continued on, saying that her peace needed to be everyone’s peace. Adelle had seen what happened to those that made their peace reliant on the galaxy’s peace and it wasn’t good.

Sacrifice for the greater good.

It brought up uncomfortable memories.

She listened as Colette brought up her wanderlust, trying to release the instinctive clench and guardedness memories summoned. A philosophical debate was the last thing she wanted to get into.

“Learning from others is for sure a good thing,” she said. “Same as keeping an open mind. I would not be doing as well as I am if I hadn’t.”

If she hadn’t, she’d probably still be stuck on Taris ekeing out a living. And even as a Healer and doctor, it would have been difficult to make ends meet without working in a hospital.

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

"Open mind just kinda comes with it, I guess." Colette shrugged. "I wouldn't—"

The force tingled like a flea behind the ear. Something was on the approach and it was moving at a pace. The kid got quiet and instinctively reached a hand out to quiet down the talking. Came with having spent enough time with chatterboxes on trips like this.

A nearby bush rustled.

Colette swallowed her tongue for a moment and got down on her knee. She let a deep breath still the moment and provide her with focus to spot whatever was coming out to play.

And out stepped a creature. It had tiny hooves and horns. Its thin brown coat of fur shone in the sun like the aura of an angel, just barely obscuring the white spots near its hind legs. This was the part Colette hated about hunting, but the part she saw as a necessary evil nonetheless.

This creature had been on the run, it had earned its moment of peace. And yet it needed to die for the sake of not just the nearby village's sake but the sake of its clan too. It was alone, it was afraid, and it had put itself square in the crosshairs of another hunter. It started to lull itself into a false sense of security, and the irony was just so disgustingly morbid.

Colette licked her lip, the wetness parting her lips in a moment of contemplation. Life was precious to her and it always had been. The rifle that hung on her shoulder began to weigh in her hands as she slowly retrieved it.

She didn't raise it, she just held it over her knee and looked at it.

"It's… The thought of the misery I'll cause if I miss." She whispered to Adelle. "Chasing prey always feels worse than hunting predators."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

Adelle stopped the same time Colette did, sensing the need for stillness rather than the approach of their quarry. She knelt automatically as the brush rustled, taking a small amount of pleasure in the fact they had been quiet enough that something was still coming towards them. A small gallaze stepped out, gold beams of sunlight streaming through the canopy playing over its hide. Its sides heaved, as if it had just stopped running from predators, and it slowly walked into their range.

Out of the net and into the snare.

Colette hesitated and Adelle could see her emotions wavering, torn. The rifle hovered over her knee and the young Jedi seemed to stare through it.

“Do you want me to?” Adelle asked, offering an open hand to take the weight of the weapon. “I promise I won’t miss.”

It wouldn't be the first time she killed something beautiful.

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

"No." The whisper was short, solemn but honest.

If she allowed herself be so sensitive that she couldn't even kill a prancing deer, then what else would she let live? Colette had already stayed out of battle because of her principles, if she couldn't do this then was she really a protector or just a mere observer?

The rifle weighed the same as it always did. The stock against her shoulder was nothing new but the intent and message behind it was the same as always; a life taken out of necessity and not because of sport. The distinction allowed her to carry the weapon with at least some measure of pride even if the deed felt strangely dirty.

The crosshairs aligned. The kid let in a shallow breath to steady her nerves. Her finger slid against the metal of the trigger guard onto the trigger itself, and with a loud bang it was all over.

An echo of life was snuffed in the force like a lit candle pinched between her finger and thumb. The held breath released and Colette felt the weight of her action for a moment. Her head bobbed in quiet recognition of what she had done before she stood up again and gently approached their quarry.

The shot had shredded its vitals. The death was instant.

"Bagged one." Colette announced to her comms with a crackle and a pop before she put it back on her belt.

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

Adelle watched Colette’s face a moment longer after she said no, feeling a hidden struggle, but said nothing. She settled onto her knees, drew on the Force, and used the Art of the Small to protect Phantom’s ears. For a few precious moments, nothing happened aside from the Jedi’s quiet preparation. The gallaze stood still.

The report of the slugthrower burst through the air.

It was clean. It was instant.

But Adelle could see the weight that momentarily pressed in on Colette’s shoulders.

She released her focus on the air around Phantom’s head and stood, Art of the Small still keeping her presence as small as a non-Force user’s. Colette called in their kill and Adelle wondered if what followed would be like Skirata’s procedures: field dress the carcass and then bring it back to their origin point. Or would they carry it with them while they continued the hunt? Maybe there was a group behind them that would come collect it.

“Clean shot,” Adelle said quietly. It wasn’t quite approval: it seemed wrong for the moment. “Thank you. I can’t stand pain.”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

She put the rifle to the ground. The deed was done. A steady hand brushed over its fur in reverence for its sacrifice. It deserved better, but this was the indignity that fate had imposed on it.

A deep breath pulled through Colette's nose and a heavy exhale pushed from her lips.

"We could dress it here, but I don't think that'd be wise." She pulled a set of reinforced string from her bag and began wrapping it around the small creature's legs. "This creature died for us, the least we can do is pay our respects by putting all of it to good use."

Meat for the hungry, skins for the cold. The creature's size was a little too small, but it wasn't the only pelt they'd harvest today.

"Old way of my home." Colette shrugged and looked over at Adelle. "If you have to take a life, make sure their death means something."

"So," she nodded her head towards the deer. "We just took a life, now we're making it mean something."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

“Sounds a lot like my clan,” Adelle said, nodding when Colette mentioned using all of the animal. Granted, the Skiratas and Kyrimorut’s game wardens didn’t place an emphasis on respecting the creature’s life. It was more of a respect for the wildlife’s place in the ecosystem of Mandalore—what little came back with the wastelands.

Mandalore was no longer inhospitable but it wouldn’t be lush like this place for a while yet. That would require way more terraforming.

“Are we taking it back or continuing the hunt?” Adelle asked. “I’m not entirely familiar with how my clan does things, much less how you do them.”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Colette let out a soft chuckle. There was a moment when someone had to be honest with themself. As much as she would have enjoyed continuing the hunt it was fair to say that hadn't been the focus whatsoever for the last hour or so.

"I think we both know, neither of us are really all that interested in the hunt anymore." She smiled and gently tugged at the bindings to see if they stuck to the gallaze. "I've really enjoyed our talk. It's meant a lot to me."

Colette grunted as she lifted the creature off the ground and put it over one of her shoulders. The chosen shoulder slumped for a moment before she jerked it to get a better center of balance going.

"In all honesty, I didn't really know what to expect from today." Colette admitted as she began walking back the way they had come from. "I've never really asked people out before."

She bobbed her head from side to side.

"Not like that. It wouldn't be right to date someone when I could never put them above the code." She nodded as she continued. "That said, you looked amazing in the dress you had chosen that night."

"I'd have been an idiot if I hadn't at least tried to get to know you."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

“Good to know I’ve been decent company,” Adelle said with a small smirk. “I do try my best, in spite of myself.”

The admission of expectations asking someone out and then the quick clarification did earn raised eyebrows but Adelle made no comment. Colette had been nervous at the start but that could have easily been because she didn’t socialize with strangers much. The compliment though . . . It made her squirm internally but she swallowed back her protests about it. This was the second time Colette had complimented how she looked in the dress, and the fourth person from that ball that seemed to appreciate it.

“Thank you,” Adelle said as evenly as she could. “Generally what makes people look my way first are the scars and my eyes.”

She paused a moment, looking for something to change the subject. “You said you could never put anyone above the code. Does your order forbid relationships?”

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

There was a small tickle in the force: uneasiness. Colette's compliment had not landed or been interpreted in a way she didn't want it to. She looked away, tried to think of something better to say but found herself drawing blanks.

She shuffled the limp gallaze on her shoulder and took a deep breath. Luckily the conversation moved on and she decided to focus on that instead.

Did her order forbid relationships?

"Oh, no." She said plainly and shook her head. "It's a personal preference thing."

"I used to date a fellow Jedi. He was kind and loving, and wanted to be a healer. I respected him a lot. Still do."

The golden leaves and branches of the forest snapped beneath their boots as they walked. Colette gave a thoughtful frown before she continued.

"But eventually we noticed that our paths would split. He wanted to settle down some day and start a family. I want to roam until I topple over and die. We didn't want the same things or even find comfort in a— I don't know. A shared dream? So we ended it before we got hurt."

Their ideal lives looked very different. Colette had problems staying in one place for too long before her legs got antsy.

"It's like…" Colette looked to the trees above for a moment before she shook her head. "Family is a responsibility. A promise to always be there, and love unconditionally. But that's what I promise as a Jedi too. Except that's a promise to everyone. I can't say I'm acting for the good of everyone when a family means I would always put them before everyone else."

Colette sighed. "Sorry, I don't know how to explain what I mean."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

“No, I understand,” Adelle said. It was something that had come up in her own Order and everyone had different ways of approaching that dilemma. “Making a choice between two equal priorities is… difficult at best.”

The wind rustled the treetops once more, cooler air whipping the edges of her jacket. Phantom had settled down on her shoulders again, a familiar and grounding weight. After the fighting and chaotic diplomacy of Yaga Minor, it was nice to just be. She’d forgotten how good it felt to be outside without an express purpose.

“Thank you for inviting me out,” she said. “I haven’t gotten a chance to take things easy for a while now.”

Adelle still had to travel to Sundari on Mandalore and check on her basilisk, get it scheduled for repairs and maintenance. There was still work to be done but for now, she was going to appreciate the quiet stillness of the woods.

 

[Colette]

Adelle Bastiel

Colette gave Adelle an eager smile, her face lit up like a Life Day tree as she showed her understanding. A quiet moment passed between them. The winds carried the smell of autumn, earthy and strangely smokey. She let the silence speak for a moment before it was interrupted by Adelle’s thanks.

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Colette’s smile widened. “Thanks for bearing with my awkward attempts to compliment you.”

“You might have picked up on it, I’m not usually this forward. Part of growing up. I was raised to raise others, not so much myself.”

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Colette

The ‘forward’ comment in regards to compliments seemed almost at odds with Colette’s earlier assertion that this was not a date but Adelle let it go. Really the part that caught her attention was the statement that she’d been ‘raised to raise others.’ It hung in the air uneasily, Adelle desperately trying to find a perspective that didn’t mean Colette was never given a choice growing up.

“‘Raised to raise others,’” Adelle repeated slowly as they walked back the way they came. “I… I’ll be honest, I’m having a hard time finding a charitable way to view that. It sounds like someone else made that decision for you before you had a chance to even figure out what you wanted in life.”

It also sounded like it had happened while Colette was a child. Which only made it worse in Adelle’s mind. She knew parents pushed for their kids to do things, enrolled, taught, and imparted certain things. She herself would probably do the same, if kids ever became an option for her. But good parents generally let the child assert themselves and their identity as they got older and could voice their feelings. The bad ones, however.

They only reminded her of Krayt. And while she’d been an adult when it happened, he hadn’t stopped with just manipulation.

“Sorry,” she said, within a breath of her admission. “I’m— I have strong feelings about the freedom of choice. The right of a sentient being to choose their own path.”

Never again.