The Mouse and the Model

[Evelynn]

The long lush grasses of Dantooine bristled in the breeze.

It was straight out of a classic landscape painting if not for one thing, the young woman sitting in the middle of it all. If you slapped a half-arsed quote about boys right on top of it you could share it on a social network and watch it go viral.

Of course, Evelynn Dorn was not thinking about boys.

The girl had been awaiting the return of her mother for months now. The stay at home daughter and her gallivanting mum, how was that for role reversal? She wasn't coming back. A high-pitched whine concurred with that very thought, Chomp the Kath Hound skulked around in the background adding to the already morose atmosphere.

Her mother was dead, and deep down inside she knew it.

“You can't come to the market, Chomp,” she said softly to the great beast, pushing thoughts of her mum to the back of her mind. Another whine was the response. “The farmers think you've been at their livestock again.” Without even sparing a glance at the tame beast she could feel his guilt, he had been misbehaving much more than usual since the absence of mother., after all he was hers, not Evelynn's.

Standing up and brushing herself off she took a moment to enjoy the breeze kissing her skin like a silken massage. It was a beautiful day, a pity it was punctuated by such tragedy. No longer did her eyes search the skies for her shuttle to come. When all hope is lost what else is left? Grocery shopping, of course. Life stops for no man and they still needed to eat.

“Behave yourself,” the timid girl said, almost managing to sound stern. Then it was off to get supplies from the local market, such an exciting rural life to lead.

 

[Cedric Dorn]

Soliael wandered through the streets of Dantooine with a smile on his face, for once he wore no ceremonial clothes, no armor, no mask, nothing. He was himself here, something that he rarely got to be now a days. Of course being here on Dantooine was dangerous for him, his force aura was quite powerful and if there were any Jedi around...well they would find him like a moth found a light. He smiled slightly still, he didn't care.

Everyone needed a vacation now and then and this was his. He had been to Dantooine once before with his Mother and Grandmother. They had explored the crystal caves here and found them quite unreceptive to the three darksiders. The crystals had been almost...alive, and at the time the strange structures had fascinated Soliael.

Now of course he couldn't care less. He did not use lightsabers and it was unlikely that he ever would. He found the weapons to be cumbersome and slightly annoying, though he knew how much others of his kind liked them. Slowly he flexed the phrik gauntlets on his hand, he was ready should he have to fight a force user. Of course he wasn't here to fight today, but instead explore.

 

[Evelynn]

If Disney Princess rules applied, Evelynn Dorn would have suddenly morphed into Belle from Beauty and the Beast which would have lead us into the quaint village song known as 'Bonjour' because there most likely was a baker with his tray like always, the same old bread and rolls to sell but the bookshop was most likely out of the question, for the area she travelled through was more like a farmer's market.


The young woman browsed through the mouth-watering selection of fresh produce on display. You didn't have to worry about the price of organic fruit and vegetables here, there was no big businesses, which left the prices as fair as the quality.

You might ask, how a young girl is to afford her daily shop? Or maybe not, who am I to predict what you're thinking.

Evelynn was vastly unaware of her mother's occupation, she would not speak of it and they agreed that it would not be the source of any conversation but it obviously paid. For she had been left moderately wealthy, with enough credits to ensure that both the girl and Chomp would live comfortably until the end of their days.

She browsed along the various stalls, head lost in the clouds and not at all thinking about what was on tonight's menu. This life was lonely, a girl and her Kath Hound might have made for a pretty poem but it got boring very quickly. To quote Belle in all her wisdom:

There must be more than this provincial life.

 

[Cedric Dorn]

Soliael wandered through the market with his pale orange eyes sweeping over everything in sight. There was still a smile on his face, though perhaps people were beginning to think he was crazy because of it. He continued on through the market, looking at the people around him. Every once in a while black specs floated across his eyes. What they were or their purpose was impossible to tell. Suddenly the Sith Lord turned a corner, and then a blip appeared within the force.

The False god turned on his heel, his eyes popping open in slight shock. He had not expected to sense a Force Signature here, not one so powerful anyway. His eyes began to dart from person to person, trying to track whoever it was.

He had no clue as to who this person was. He sensed neither light nor dark, what he could tell however was that the force signature was raw. Whoever this was they were untrained and likely didn't even know they were force sensitive, but they were strong. With wide open eyes Soliael tracked the force signature, until his pupils landed on a girl halfway across the Market from him.

She was small, blonde, and completely unfamiliar to him. He frowned slightly, but immediately began to walk towards her. Of course he intended to meet her, he had to.

As he walked over towards her something caught his eye however. Out of the corner of his eye Soliael saw something come towards him. His head snapped to the side just in time to see a speeder fly directly towards the girl. Soliael dashed forward letting loose a wave of the force in front of him.

The force would move the girl out of the way of the crashing speeder...hopefully.

 

[Evelynn]

The shopping trip was in need of some action, excitement and/or drama. Buying potatoes just didn't provide the thrills that the audience were needing. Of course I punctuated the last post with this statement already, so you knew that. Even my train of thought was derailing. Although, that being said, did you know potatoes, cabbages and radishes also exist in the Star Wars universe? If it weren't on the subject of vegetables then it would have been considered a fun fact.


A strange feeling of home washed over her as she pondered the chee-chee berries. It was how things felt when her mother was home but not quite, there was something off-kilter about it. Lost in thought about the slight shudder of a feeling Evelyn didn't even hear the speeder.

It happened too fast to notice.

Fruit and vegetables littered the ground instead of blood and body parts and yet the young woman was left feeling puzzled. Something pushed her, something that she couldn't see. Her life had been saved and she had nothing to thank.

People started to crowd around the crashed speeder, checking to see if the driver was alright as Evelynn just sat there, a feeling of foolishness waving over her. How could she have lost all awareness like that, she should have heard it coming instead of standing there in a daydream about mysterious feelings.

She stood up, her face scarlet with embarrassment. She took a quick glance around, nobody had noticed. The driver of the wild speeder was seriously injured so a silly little girl's near brush with death was on nobody's mind.

So with her head down she scurried away into the gathering crowd.

 

[Cedric Dorn]

Soliael watched the speeder crash with a trained eye. Luckily his force push had worked and the girl had been pressed out of the way of the falling speeder. He watched the girl fly away, and then subsequently get up and look around like a skittish squirrel. The Sith Lord stared at her, intending to call out to her, but then like the aforementioned squirrel the girl promptly turned around and began to run away.

He frowned slightly in annoyance, he would have to follow her. Luckily for whoever was involved the Speeder had not killed too many people, perhaps one or two with a few others injured seriously. He could have stuck around and tried to help, but quite honestly these things happened every day and he didn't care enough. Instead Soliael began his chase of the blonde haired girl.

In an instant he bounded after her using his families trademark force speed. He became almost a blur as he chased after her, bounding over the crashed speeder and past the gathering crowd.

Soliael would catch up to her in no time...in theory.

 

[Evelynn]

Don't fret, squirrel girl wasn't sprinting away like an Olympic champion, merely walking a brisk pace, putting at least a small bit of distance between herself and the crash.

The more distance she put between her and the accident the less flustered she became and the less flustered she became the more the girl realised that the feeling that distracted her before had not left, no, it was stronger now. It was more noticeable now and the more she dwelt upon it the faster she moved. It wasn't her mother, that fact she was sure of but it was familiar, a feeling that left a lump in her throat.

Her pulse raced.

She stopped.

Once again so caught up in strange dilemmas Evelynn had been oblivious to the world around her. She had been followed, or rather chased which made it even more ridiculous that she hadn't noticed. Was he dangerous? Here? Surely not. Why here? Was he going to arrest her for the accident? There was panic in her eyes. Perhaps he was the source of the feeling.

Peeking over her shoulder to confirm she wasn't in fact crazy, she saw him, it was him, he was the feeling! Immediately the skittish girl looked away again, keeping her back to the stranger and ready to flee.

“W-who are you?”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael moved like a flash of lightning, a trait that he had inherited form his father. Before the girl could even finish her sentence Soliael was standing directly in front of her. The effort had put him slightly out of breath, though he tried to hide his almost desperate need for air. His chest rose and fell steadily as he looked down at the girl, still trying to identify who she actually was.

“I could ask the same to you.” Soliael said in the most non-threatening way he could possibly imagine. His voice took on an almost soothing tone, something that seemed nearly impossible from the orange eyed Sith. He also tried to smile warmly, although it appeared almost comical. “Though since you asked first. My name is Soliael.”

That was all he was going to give her for now. A name that meant nothing to almost anyone. Perhaps half a dozen people in the galaxy knew his name, and half that knew his true name. It was the way of things with his kind, names took on a near sacred level in their society. He smiled at the girl, obviously expecting her name in return.

 

[Evelynn]

Man, same font colour as her dead mum. Look at you, standing over there Mr. No Sensitivity. Do you have no consideration for feelings? Obviously you're the destroyer of the feels. The conqueror of sentiment. The Genghis Khan of emotion. You monster, you're going to both Hell and Chaos. Your body shall be split in two and one half sent to one underworld and with the other going to...well the other.

Fortunately Evelynn Dorn cannot tell what colour in which you speak. Lucky devil.

“I'm Evelynn,” she responded, avoiding all contact. Was she afraid, embarrassed, maybe just a touch shy? It was more than likely a combination of all three. If you knew the girl's lineage then you would definitely be left wondering where she got it from. Karin Dorn had been a podium seeking smug snake in life, her daughter a mouse and you really don't hear too many stories about those species getting along. Although...

Do you remember that one where the snake and the mouse go on a fabulous adventure, where they conquer all obstacles and social barriers and at the end they scurry and slither (respectively) off into the sunset?

No, you don't remember. BECAUSE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN.

“I'm s-sorry,” the young woman continued with her head bowed, “was there something you wanted with me?”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael stood and stared at the girl, his orange eyes shinning a bit too brightly here within the sunny days of the Dantooine. This world was interestingly enough quite boring. It had once been home to a Jedi Enclave thousands upon thousands of years ago but had long since been abandoned by the light. By all accounts Dantooine was an incredibly boring world, which begged the question why was such a powerful force user here on this world?

It made no sense to Soliael. Of course there was always random force users who tended to crop up, but this was different. There was something strange about this girl, something that he...liked. It was an odd affinity, and one that he didn't necessarily appreciate.

“Yes. You ran away from that crash awful fast.” He sounded almost...innocent as he spoke, a smile on his face.

What he was getting at was impossible to say, though if a strange man followed me down the street and asked why I was running away so fast I would think he was insinuating I caused said crash.

 

[Evelynn]

What was he suggesting? That she caused the crash? At the very notion the girl's cheeks went back into their usual scarlet state, she was just a girl, how exactly was she going around causing speeder crashes? With magic?!

Oh yes.

Karin had truly sheltered her child, not even informing her about the Force and the mysteries that surround it. It was the safest way. The children of Sith are never known to be kind to their parents. I think I've already done a paragraph about this but it's been a long time now so let's just refresh our memories. Life of Sith bad. Ordinary rural life good. The universe keeps spinning and the daughter of a powerful sorceress remains completely unaware that her lineage was spiked with so much potential.

At least she got a Kath Hound out of the deal.

Finally she addressed who she was speaking to with her eyes, chestnut in colour, soulful in nature and about the least intimidating thing on the entire planet. “I was almost killed,” she spoke, tones still soft, “it was frightening, so I ran. Is that so strange?”

She wanted to say more; she wanted to ask him:

Why do you feel like home?

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael looked at the girl for a few minutes, trying to discern whether or not she was lying. Truthfully he was surprised that he hadn't caused the accident, after all he was the Sith here not her. After a few seconds he concluded that the woman was not at fault, and that she had in fact been just scared, and odd thing for a girl who had such powerful potential.

“Perhaps.” Soliael said as he scrunched down slightly, looking her in the eyes. “You don't know do you?”

He asked as he realized she was the picture of true innocence and virtue, she had no idea what kind of power she had beneath the surface. How very intriguing.

 

[Evelynn]

When you don't know the answer to the question, 'you don't know do you', it sounds inexplicitly daft, is mildly annoying and also fills the soul with curiosity.

What don't I know?

Even for the most patient of souls this was completely infuriating. Mr. Mystery turns up, right after an almost life threatening crash, playing this polite asker of all questions. Who was he? Maybe he had something to do with the speeder accident. The great tamperer of breaks, the stalker who is far too quizzical for his own good. Why is this Soliael getting all these grand titles in this narrative? I have no idea. Next paragraph.

The sounded of four padded feet decided to crash the party. Chomp, of course. He always knew, whether she'd fallen and scraped her knee or nearly been decimated by a hurtling speeder he would come. It was as if there was a kind of mystical bond between them. The love between pet and owner. The Kath Hound's ragged breathe punctuated the atmosphere as the beast trotted to Evelyn's side. Teeth were bared but there were no signs of growls, he was aggressive but it was the calmest aggression ever seen.

Crouching down to eye level of her faithful beast, she planted a kiss on his snout. You always know when I need help. Thank you. With the appropriate amount of affection delivered to the hound, she stood once more, giving her attention back to the Questionmaster.

“What don't I know?”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“The force, it runs through you...” Soliael paused for a few seconds as he closed his eyes and stretched out his senses. He delved into her mind, finding out her strength within the force and just how far it went. It took him only a few seconds and then his eyes snapped open again. “Almost as powerfully as it does through me.”

He smirked slightly, that may not have been true but it was hard to tell. Soliaels own aura in the force was so steeped in the darkside that comparing it to anyone else was difficult, mostly because it seemed to eat away at anything trying to gauge his strength. He smirked at her as if he already knew everything about her. “You do know what the force is?”

The question came to him all of a sudden, as if it had not occurred to him before.

 

[Evelynn]

Some children dream of being given their letter from Hogwarts, others long to be told that the flows flows through them and nobody, I repeat nobody wants to be given the One Ring because that looks like a horrific adventure with many-a-blister, no decent meals and creepy wizards. The link between these three of course, were midget races that nobody likes. Bloody Jawas.

Unfortunately Evelynn was unaware of all three of the options above. She was clueless.

With that revelation, the redness fast returned to her cheeks. If you hadn't guessed already (and there shouldn't be any guessing given that I've already explicitly told you), no, Evelyn had no idea what the force was. Perhaps sensing her embarrassment, Chomp gave her hand a lick. He probably didn't know what the Force was either.

“No, I'm afraid I have no idea,” she said in hushed tones, “but I would...”

A hesitation. The young woman had no idea what she'd be getting into, he was not an ordinary man, this was not an ordinary feeling and by far this was no ordinary day.

“...I would very much like to know.”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael smiled at her curiosity, at the display of greed for knowledge. It was something he appreciated, and as he felt her want of knowledge he knew that he now had a new apprentice. Perhaps Evelynn didn't yet realize it herself, but Soliael did.She would become strong, and he would guide her there. For a few seconds he simply kept on smiling, then he noticed the small Kath Hound next her. He stared at the creature, and then smiled at it when it looked at him with a curious glare. “In due time.”

“Do you have a fondness for animals?” Soliael asked with a smile as he began to walk. Evelynn began to walk alongside him as he spoke “Because if you do, I know someone you should meet.

~~

A few hours later Soliael stood on the bridge of his HARC, a ship he had dubbed The Freya. It had been a gift from his Grandmother, Silencia. Upon his leave of Onderon the last time Soliael had been in need of a ship. Ever one to spoil him Silencia had provided such a thing almost instantly, even before Soliael could ask for it. The ship had been filled to the brim with equipment from his Mother, and the ship since then had been used by Soliael as a pseudo home.

For the next few weeks it would be the same for Evelynn. This would be where he would teach her the basics. He would tell her of the force, how it functioned, and everything else she wanted to learn. Soliael was more than willing to teach, and so far Soliael had found the girl very agreeable. She was curious, something that Soliael found absolutely delightful. They had only spoken for an hour or so, but in that time she had asked more questions than any of his...subjects.

He expected that the next few weeks would be incredibly interesting.

With that train of thought stowed away Soliael turned around and headed off the bridge. Quickly he maneuvered his way through the ships halls, eventually finding his way to Evelynn's quarters. Once there he knocked on the door thrice, a smile on his face.

 

[Evelynn]

Decision time.

Here was a girl who defined the word sheltered. Never been in space before, never even been to all the settlements on Dantooine and there she was, about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Is this what her mother had been hiding from her? The Force? Why would she condemn her daughter to a life of apple pies and windowsill when a journey of knowledge lay in front of her? It didn't occur to the young woman in that moment that it was also a life of great danger and eventual tragedy, for she had been filled with wonder and was blind of all consequence.

Her mother wasn't coming home, and Evelynn wasn't going to stew in blissful ignorance any longer.

Decision made.

---​

She sat cross-legged on the bed in her quarters, this was a ship, they were in space. The first of many new experiences she was going to have to tick off a gargantuan list, the very thought brought a small smile to her face. Chomp on the other hand was not enjoying it so much, maybe he was aware of the frailty of life, after all being put inside a metal box hurtling through space at goodness knows what speed might not be the most reassuring thought. Perhaps the rumble of machinery below his paws felt unnatural to the beast.

Or maybe Chomp was just a silly creature that was adjusting to unfamiliar territory.

“Well I couldn't leave you there, could I?”

A whine.

She sighed and scratched that special spot behind his tusk, it only served to pacify him slightly. The young woman could sense his worry. She's not coming back. The moment between woman and beast was interrupted by a trio of knocks.

“Be a brave boy,” she whispered to Chomp before addressing He Who Knocks, “please do come in!”

After all, there was so much to learn.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

The door to the room split open with a resounding woooosh and Soliael stepped inside with a smirk on his face. He was quite pleased about this new situation. He had finally found a apprentice, one with potential. She was hardly Sith, but that didn't matter to him. Soliael's ultimate goal was the preservation of knowledge, and just because Evelynn would be unable to learn some of his...harsher skills didn't mean she was useless. Just the opposite, she would be something else, something unlike him.

“I see you've settled in.” Soliael said looking over the room. The quarters were small, though larger than the crew compartments. This ship only had a small crew of about fifty people, and even that was quite large. One only really needed two or three to actually operate the ship, with the rest being maintenance staff and the like.

This allowed many of the crew quarters to be eliminated, especially since most people on board this ship were the devout of Neth, Soliaels god persona. Soliael noticed the shaky of the Kath Hound, and frowned slightly. The creature clearly did not like being on board a starship, but then that was to be expected. “We'll be in hyperspace for a while. So I thought we would begin your training.”

 

[Evelynn]

At that exact second there were about seven hundred questions roaming in the mind, they varied from the completely unimportant and inane to questions about the galaxy itself, she knew the planets but reading about something can never substitute the experience unless of course you're speaking about maths, nobody should experience maths, that's just cruel.

Don't do maths and drive, kids.

Don't get me wrong, this girl was greener than Kermit on the world's largest roller-coaster but she had been educated, Karin Dorn would never leave her child completely stupid. It was simply a specific curriculum. Basic, maths, geography, geology, modern studies, an extremely doctored version of history, religion was also avoided but you know the drill. The standard education fare, the young woman knew the vital things, just not the things that pertained to her hidden talents.

The mention of training lit the girl's brown eyes up. Enthusiasm incarnate.

“Oh gosh, yes,” she said getting off the bed, head nodding eagerly, “but where do we even begin? There must be so much to learn!”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“There is.” Soliael said quietly as he wandered over to her bed and sat down. When one was a god, it was difficult to get time to relax, he decided that when he was training Evelynn it would be his time to relax. After all she would be doing most of the work. Pleased with that solution Soliael smiled to himself, as though he had just found a new hobby.

The first thing they would be doing was visiting his mother. Soliael had found it quite easy to tell that Evelynn had an affinity towards beasts, the Kath hound Chomp had made that quite clear. Whether she would follow in the paths of a beast tamer was still a little bit unclear, after all not everyone’s force talents lay with what they loved. Still, if anyone in this galaxy could tell Evelynn's fate regarding the taming of creatures, it would be Quietus.

His mother was perhaps the greatest beast tamer in the galaxy. She had tamed everything from Mynocks to Drexl, she would be able to tell if Evelynn had the right stuff.

“The force Is unending. We could talk about it for days on end and not even come close to scratching the surface. But to some it up, most people have certain talents within the force. My own fall for something called Sith Magic, others fall towards enhancing self, and even others fall into...” He smirked slightly as he paused and looked at Chomp “Animal Friendship.”
It was a far more kind way to say beast taming. “I'm willing to bet you fall towards the latter, which is why were visiting someone special. In the meantime, I'll begin with the basics. What the force is, how you get to it, what you can do with it. It will take time, but I promise you will learn it all.”

Soliael had yet to mention that on board this vessel Evelynn had the archive of his entire family. Vast expanses of knowledge gathered by dozens of people, all at her fingertips. One could get lost in the material for centuries...as Soliael had done in his childhood.