Private #NewFriends #NewAdventures

[Artemis Lu]

Artemis giggled.

Her fingers tapped furiously against the screen of her datapad as she updated the Atrisian pop music fan group she secretly managed. Every now and then she aimed a watchful glance over her shoulder, even though she didn’t need to hide her love of BTS, a boy band here. Well, she wouldn’t have been surprised if Master Yi Fang could somehow sense it from afar—he was probably sitting somewhere on Atrisia, shaking his head in a disapproving way. In fact, she could almost hear his voice:

“Hiyaaah, put that data-thing away!”

Artemis tensed, muscles already anticipating the hand-standing meditation she’d have to do in order to demonstrate focus. Then, she glanced up, having almost forgotten where she was: Kashyyyk, home of the Silver Jedi.

Artemis had been sent out on her own, but that didn’t really mean being alone. She’d arrived at the Silver Rest a few days ago, and it was pleasant to be around so many Jedi. So much light! She could see the wisdom in her master’s choice to send her here first. And part of her wondered if it was because he wanted to make sure someone was keeping her in check.

Sighhhhh.

After stashing her datapad, she looked around the courtyard. There were people crossing the empty stretch of space, moving to or from the temple, enjoying the nearby garden, or hustling to the training grounds. There were new faces here today—well, they were all new to her—from the NJO. Apparently, she’d come to the Silvers just in time to meet other Padawans here on an exchange, a swap. Artemis surveyed the Jedi nearby, and singled out the one with the most interesting aura, a young woman.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Artemis. Are you with the Silvers or the Alliance? I probably ought to know, but I’m new here—shoot, were there name tags?—anyway, I’m pleased to meet you…”

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

There was no question Damsy had an interesting aura. Among so many others shining bright, uninterrupted light, her ray sputtered and dimmed like a torch she had forgotten needed new batteries.

At least no Darkness seeped out of its inner workings.

That would be a problem she had so far been able to keep a lid on by way of self-taught Bury Presence. She had learned it in a way from experiencing the effects of the signature dampening amulet she had once worn. A little mindfulness, a lot patience, and she could imitate the effects without needing to wear anything. Thus, replacing the jewelry was unnecessary.

And that, indeed, would be quite interesting to learn.

Maybe that mysterious pull was just the curious lighting, or lack thereof; maybe it was the promise of a story behind it; or maybe the dark side seduced whether pronounced or not. Maybe it was even more dangerous tacked tightly away.

Enough to pull Damsy out of a daydream unrelated to her condition, another padawan, who actually looked like someone who ought be a padawan rather than a knight—though in terms of skill rather than officiality, Damsy was a Knight—approached. The ensuing greeting was just about spitfire, and scatter balled at that. "Oh-oh, uh, A-alliance." The undercover Shifter shoved the words out of her own mouth in bits and pieces. Then she managed to nod at the name tag sidebar. "Were, but they spelled my name wrong." So there was no way she was wearing hers.

Damnsei, it had read. Who the hell told them she spelled it like that? Ashla help Dagon Kaze if it had been him. All of those sounds were wrong. "I'm Damsy," she added, momentarily considering spelling out the letters before realizing how dumb that would be. And though she probably would never see this kid again, she didn't want to purposefully make a bad impression.

She put a hand against her forehead to shade her eyes and looked about. "Do you have any idea what I'm supposed to do? I'm kinda lost." In a lot more ways than she meant.



**
Artemis Lu

 

[Artemis Lu]

Artemis took in the other woman’s appearance. Now that she was up close, she could see that Damsy was probably older than she was, not that she looked old—she didn’t. But there was an attitude of maturity about her, something her master always said she herself sorely lacked. And there was something else, she couldn’t quite put her finger on… annoyance, maybe? Her words came out like she wasn’t exactly thrilled, but Artemis didn’t want to be hasty to judge.

“Damsy,” Artemis repeated the name, and her eyes shifted skyward for a moment as she committed it to memory. Well, she was happy that she wasn’t the only one sans name tag. At least she’d found her Alliance counterpart on the first try. Her brows arched slightly when her new acquaintance asked about what they were supposed to do.

“Oh, hmm,” she blinked. She’d spaced out a bit during the instructions. But she’d gleaned enough to piece it together. “The group is going on a tour of the grounds. Or…” she looked around. “Maybe they already left. And they said something about pairing up, one Silver and one Alliance, to get to know each other.”

There were probably awkward ice breaker games planned.

Artemis canted her head to the side and looked at Damsy. “D’ya want to try to catch up with the others? Or just walk around ourselves?

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy chewed at her lip, thinking over the options.

Well, if this Artemis didn't even go here, then they ought try to catch up with the others for each other's benefit. But for Damsy's alone, she was quieter in small groups. She had managed to keep Syreni on a leash at the Temple, for the most part, but here? All bets were off at the Rest.

That had been the main reason she had not wanted to participate in this train abroad thing. The other was a general hesitance to travel; she had seen more than enough places during her military careers and the time between them spent drifting. Sue a thirty-so-year-old for wanting to finally settle down, in terms of place not purpose, why don't you?

"I'm sure we can fig're it out," she answered, grinning. "Or at least make our best guesses. It'll be like an adventure, yeah?"



**
Artemis Lu

 

[Artemis Lu]

Artemis arched her brows as Damsy turned thoughtful. And she gave a nod of agreement when Damsy said they could find their way. “Sure,” she said and turned her gaze around the campus area. “Adventure.” A grin formed on Artemis’ face.

Nearby, there were sprawling gardens and perhaps a monument of some kind, stone shapes that she could make out if she squinted. Her eyes followed the path that wound through the garden and on towards the open training grounds.

“That way?” Artemis indicated with a nod.

Once they’d set off, Artemis glanced sidelong at her new GA companion. Was this woman truly a padawan? Well, she supposed that question was answered by the fact that she was here for the swap. And she reminded herself that everyone started their journey at different times, some young and some not. Whatever the case was with Damsy, Artemis had one question: did she like BTS? Of course, she kept this to herself for now… and chose to focus on the obligatory getting-to-know-you type topics.

“So, where are you from?” she asked. “Have you been with the GA for very long?”

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

"Kamino," was the answer that, for a moment, shocked Damsy. Of course, honesty was always the best policy, just sometimes not the smartest based on circumstance. There were plenty of those she found herself in that made it dangerous, for her, to let the NJO know every little—and not so little—detail about her and her past. Namely, the Confederate military service and alchemized by a Sith Lord parts. Still, it felt cathartic to cast illumination on her true homeworld.

And, like an addict going back to spice, she found herself unable to stop sharing:

"And no. Only for about a year, but I feel like I've learned half a lifetime's worth." She blinked up at the sky. That revelation shocked her too. She hadn't said that aloud. Before she could get any deeper, she glanced down to Artemis. "And you? SJO, I take it."



**
Artemis Lu

 

[Artemis Lu]

Artemis' thoughts flooded with waves, Kamino. Wasn't that an ocean planet? She'd never been there, but imagined a world built on top of the water. But she didn't let her mind get carried away constructing this image and gave a nod.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “Well, yeah, as of yesterday – I've only just arrived. I'm from Atrisia, been studying there at a monastery with my Master. But it's time for me to branch out. I'm actually really glad to be working with others, being that it's my first time on my own.” Artemis said, breathing the words out into a soft sigh.

She'd wanted independence, but now that she had it... she didn't know what to do with herself (save for keeping herself entertained on her datapad). Not that she'd admit this to anyone, least of all her master himself. But truth was, he kept her focused when her mind got scattered – which was fairly often.

“A year's still a long time,” she said with a smile. “I can't even picture how I'll spend a whole year.” Would she be traveling a lot or would she be doing a bulk of her training here at the temple? “I'm not sure what to expect, working with a big force order – you know?” Artemis glanced sidelong at Damsy, wondering if indeed she really did know. “What's it been like with the GA so far?”

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy did indeed know, but in a way she was sure Artemis didn't. The young Atrisian didn't smell, or else feel, like a Sithspawn. A non-Spawn couldn't possibly understand how much anxiety spending each and every one of her days with people who would strike her down without a second thought as soon as the gig was up caused an alchemized girl. Damsy didn't hold it against her, though. She didn't know who, what, she was, just as she had designed it and kept it for so long. A long con of sorts, she supposed. Plus, she wouldn't wish alchemy on her worst enemy; the initial process was physically painful, yes, and then a life of misunderstanding and misery followed after.

But, what was that? Atrisian?

There weren't many points in her life on which Damsy could look back and think, Ahhh, there I did good. It wasn't that she had done bad at every turn—on the contrary, most of what she had done for the Confederacy and was doing now, as far as she was concerned, was overall beneficial—but she rarely took personal credit for such altruism. Chalk it up to being a leader of a squad and then clan for so long, mixed with all too little self esteem.

The Blackwing outbreak on Atrisia though? Even her worst self-deprecating habits couldn't negate the fact that she had saved much of the population an end of rotten-flesh and crazed cannibalism. Perhaps because it was one of her accomplishments she could truly be proud of she only on occasion thought back on it. Now was one of them. It sent a swell of pride though her, then a pang of guilt that was almost overpowering. There had been so much pain and death in the streets of Xam'Chi and beyond before she had been identified as immune.

An antidote had come of her altered RNA not a moment too soon, but also already many, many too late. After the first few rounds had been disseminated, and a number of formerly-infected grew curious as they grew healthy, a vague story as to the vaccine's creation was carefully formulated by the government. Still, it was enough to satisfy the local public, as well as the Confederate public at large. However, both the government and military—plus one technically-civilian nurse practitioner named Prennis Keeoli who had somehow shimmied her way onto a blockaded world—knew the truth: that a Sithspawn had been the true source of antiviral. No one in their right mind, even in Confederate space that theoretically boasted Force neutrality, would voluntarily be stabbed if they did, though, so the powers that be kept that piece of charged information to themselves.

The vaccine was perfectly safe despite to-be-expected side effects, none of which were growing a tail or sprouting gills.

"Atrisia," Damsy mused, not really hearing the apprentice's questions. "I heard there was a bad outbreak there years ago."

Her eyes were somewhere between present and past.



**
Artemis Lu

 

[Artemis Lu]

Artemis didn't bat an eye when her light-hearted question about life in the GA went unanswered. And instead, Damsy mentioned something that had plagued her world before: Blackwing. She opened her mouth to ask, how did you know? But realized that such things were usually featured prominently on galactic news outlets; this was no exception, of course.

“That's right,” she said with a small nod. And her thoughts traveled back in time.

High atop the mountains, word of the virus took longer to reach those living and training at the monastery. As the sun began to dip behind them, a monk returned with news from the rural town below. Sickness. Many deaths, and something that seemed far more sinister: infected were feasting on flesh. Artemis had been ordered to remain at the temple while her master and the monks would descend to the town and return with any survivors. While they were gone, Artemis was to prepare the main chamber to receive them.

And in the coming darkness, she sought comfort on the screen of her datapad... but didn't find it.

It wasn't just the mountain town – but much of their world that had been infected. The images made her stomach turn. She placed frantic holo-calls home, but her family didn't answer. The next hours and days were a blur.

“My master helped rescue villagers from the town at the foot of the mountain – we lived at the top, at a monastery – I didn't see much, except for the aftermath.” Artemis said. “By the time medical crews arrived, the town had been hit pretty hard. But they'd brought a vaccine with them.” She gave her left arm a quick pat, where she'd received her dose. “Fortunately, my family was safe, but they'd had to quarantine in the city.” Artemis blinked.

“Pretty scary,” she said, which was an understatement.

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

"Sounds it," was Damsy's only verbal response as she nodded solemnly. She could imagine, but not remember. It was possible to recall how she had gotten trapped along the canal surrounding Xiaolang Palace only through the story Typhan had to tell of it. The exact events of how Damsy had been infected were lost to her, to everyone, though she was confident she must have gotten bitten somewhere in the march from the CDC quarantine zone to the river.

What she did remember though was the ensuing terror afterwards not primarily of the sickness surrounding her but the new sensations under her skin. They started out as a faint tingle, almost pleasant but surely not when they had kindled into full fire. The Force had not been kind, refusing to give her time to acclimate to a new sense and instead making up for lost time. That was, she should have been Sensitive all of her life, not just the last few years of it.

"Glad to hear about your family." A pang of guilt weighed on her heart, encouraging her to ask the next question. "Are you close to them?"



**
Artemis Lu