The Resurgence

[Onrai]

[member="Maja Vern"]

Zahat'n'ira

Vitor pondered away at his situation, sighing, hand running over the smooth stubble that had grown up over his face. he had aged, not in physical condition, but in spirit. His children still lived with him, unable to live elsewhere on the planet due to the fears of the natives over their strange powers. Such had slowed down his purveying of archaeological artifacts throughout the galaxy - he couldn't leave for one second without worrying that his children would be lynched as abominations of the Force.

Hopefully, something would soon change.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Her knowledge of the planet was limited but she'd been having dreams. Dreams filled with images that by themselves meant nothing, but over the course of ten days, she'd been able to cross-reference them enough to provide herself with coordinates to Zahat'n'ira.

One sun and no moon narrowed the search. Images of the terrain helped - grasslands, forests and oceans. But it was the curious mixture of animals that allowed her to pin-point the planet. Banthas, camels, chitliks, sheep, llamas, pigs and humanoids natives no taller than one metre. And hairy.

But the man that was now emerging in her visions was a mystery. She had no specific coordinates for him and simply had to trust the Force would guide her. So she left her ship in orbit and set off on her fighter to reach the planet's surface. She had a feeling where she should go...and only time would tell her if she was right.

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

A presence. It was distinctly unfamiliar, yet it was as though he had previously felt it before. A dream, or a dream within a dream. Vitor looked up in the sky, watching something travel across the atmosphere like a shooting star. Perhaps it was someone's starship, or perhaps it was merely a bright meteor burning up in space. Whatever it was, it felt as though it was calling to him, wanting him to say something.

"Here I am."

[member="Maja Vern"]

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja regularly allowed the Force to guide her now. It wasn't a controlled action - she wasn't yet proficient to demand it show her the way, or what to do. Rather she was a stick in a stream - allowing the current to take her where it willed. But unlike the lifeless piece of tree that was simply passive, she was letting the stream know what she wanted and trusted it to take her there.

And so as she headed towards the planet's surface, she felt something or someone call to her. No words, no images, just a sensation. So she followed her instincts and set a course for where she was sure she'd find answers.

But then she'd been wrong before.

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Maja Vern"]

The ship changed its direction. Whoever the pilot was, they were able to sense him, and he knew that he was the one they were certainly looking for. A smile crossed his face - it had been years since he had experienced any sort of friendly interaction with anyone that wasn't his kids - the native Zahat having been more than violent towards him in the past. No, perhaps this was a chance to, to...

To start again.

 

[Darth Zilti]

As she headed to where the Force was guiding her, she noticed an obvious landing spot and as she closed in she both saw and sensed a presence. It was a man - which was a plus - and she sensed the Force.

But it was the Light-side she sensed. Not that it particularly bothered her. She was unable to mask her own presence, so either they'd chat or he'd try to kill her and she'd have to deal with that. Either way, it was company and she'd seen precious little of that lately.

So she set the fighter down and hopped out of the bird.

"Well hello," she called across to the figure. "And what are you doing here?" The concept that she was the visitor and he was the resident was either lost on her, or she was ignoring the fact.

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"I live here." He smiled, though the tone of the woman's voice was of an admittedly arrogant spin, like she was the one being visited. Still, he would show her courtesy - she was the one he felt he had been led to. "Vitor Imperieuse. Former Padawan of the Jedi Order and expert archaeologist." Both true - though he chose to elaborate little on his time as a Jedi. She seemed a particularly intriguing individual as he pondered over her rationale for being here. Or rather, how the Force had brought them together.

"If I might inquire... Who are you, and what are you here for?"

[member="Maja Vern"]

 

[Darth Zilti]

“Well hi Vitor,” she said, her voice still upbeat and inquisitive. “Living here is a good enough reason in my book. So, you find old things eh? Me too, or rather I tell people where to look. I tend not to get my hands dirty unless I have to.”

“And I am Maja. And the reason I’m here is hard to explain unless you understand the Force, but I suspect you do. My gift is Farseeing. I can use it to find things, as I said, and sometimes it tells me to do something or go somewhere. And this time it brought me here. Precisely why, I have no idea. Perhaps to meet you? Maybe to help you find something? Hard to tell.” She shrugged.

She then looked around. “Funny kind of planet Vitor, why live here?”

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Maja Vern"]

"I have nowhere else to go, truthfully." He sighed. "Family keeps me here." He chose not to elaborate on the fact that his former wives' graves were buried a half mile away, or that his children freely roamed in their own homes now as hermits in the woods, feared for the power they possessed. "However, a job is a job. If you have work for me, I would be more than willing to hear about it - though not out here. Would you be interested in coming into my home so I may fix you a quick drink, Maja?"

He was the courteous sort, after all.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja shrugged. "A drink sounds good, yes."

"My speciality is in finding things. I guess you'd describe it as Farseeing. It's in my blood apparently. I regularly get images of things that are important to me - it's why I came here after all. But also I can focus on people or objects if they need to be found."

"Say you wanted to find a holocron. You tell me as much as you can about it. I research what's available in terms of information, check the Invisible Market just in case and then take it from there. Maybe I'll see a planet the first night. When I wake up, I write down what sort of planet. Maybe the next night I see some moons. I write down sizes, how many, that sort of thing. Sooner or later the details point to just one place. Then I research that place. Likelihood is the next night my vision might be more local, a landmark, a face...you get the idea. It can take a few nights or a few weeks, but I've never missed yet."

"Bounty hunters use me. Of course, people move around a lot. But buried treasure? That tends to stay put." She smiled again. "So what sort of a drink did you have in mind?"

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Maja Vern"]

"A fruity wine. My son makes it in his spare time." He opened the door, revealing a rather standard cabin made of logs, hanging lanterns providing adequate light above. "If your skills regarding the farsight of archaeological wonders are as legitimate as you imply... perhaps we might be able to begin a very good relationship - business-wise, of course." He poured a pair of glasses with a pale drink, almost blood-colored, yet with bubbles inside it.

"To a new business relationship."

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja had never tasted fruity wine – but she was up for the experience. She was more of a beer girl.

The home was…well homely. No doubt it appealed to many to to Maja it represented roots – stability and a permanent base. She lived out of her ship, calling that home. She loved to be in space and found the concept of planet-dwelling odd at the very least.

But a lucrative partnership? She could drink to that. So she took the glass that looked like wine but had bubbles in it.

“To a most fruitful business relationship.”

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Maja Vern"]

The first sip of the sweet wine was made, and already he could feel its potent effects. His eyes dilated, blurring a bit as he shook his head and sat down. "So, um..." He gave another shake, eliminating the fuzzy feeling for the time being. "Tell me a bit more about yourself, Maja... Where are you from?" He scratched behind his ear. "And what's with the face tattoo, if I might inquire..."

It seemed... surprising. Almost familiar, but he could never tell.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja found the wine sweet and the bubbles seemed to make it hit her blood-stream much quicker.

Of course she was delighted that her host chose her favourite subject to discuss – herself!

“I am a Vahla. I’ve been a space nomad since birth but only found out about my Force Abilities later in life. And that’s when I found out my birthright, a sister and when I suspect I went off the rails.”

“But I’m settled now. I have a Master and I’m learning all I can about the Force and in particular magic.” She used the word on purpose, keen to elicit a response.

“And this,” she waved her hand at the tattoo on her face. “It was the result of some Dark-sided magic. It happened on Kashyyyk. Why and what it means I have no idea yet." But given the person that did it was the one that revealed her real name, she wasn’t unduly bothered. Intrigued? Yes, but not concerned.

“So what’s your story?”

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"Oh... well, I grew up on some unimportant planet, became a Jedi, got possessed by a Sith spirit, nearly killed my friends, got frozen away, got married, got remarried after my wife died, and became a widower once more." He sighed. "I have terrible luck. That's why I became an archaeologist. You wouldn't believe how good my luck got when booby traps activated well before I reached them." The bad luck of the tombs clashed with his own, balancing one another out. At least that was what he thought.

He was too drunk to remember, anyways.

[member="Maja Vern"]

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja listened. It was not a typical tale and the matter of fact way it was described was almost comical. And she suspected he was drunk. Or she was – or maybe they both were?

“Was the Sith spirit anyone famous?” It sounded a perfectly sensible question in her head. It seemed reasonable question when she said it, but reflecting a few moments later? It was probably just plain old dumb.

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"I... I don't know." He struggled. "So far as I know, he babbled on about being emperor of a thousand worlds or something. No idea." He leaned forward a bit, the alcohol bearing on his mind heavily as he looked back up at the woman with a smile. "You know, you're pretty cute... You remind me of... Of Lilith." A tear came to the corner of his eye as he leaned forward, bringing his hands to his face as he started to cry.

"She was so great..."

[member="Maja Vern"]

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja was not the nurturing kind. She'd never had children or been around them. Her two eldest nieces had grown up before she even knew about them and her youngest niece and nephew she'd kept away from - she felt it best.

And so someone crying was a new experience. On the freighters she'd crewed for the most of her early life, tears were a luxury they could ill afford. Nobody cared if you were upset, let alone sad. It was why she'd initially struggled to connect to the Dark-side, she was a stranger to emotions.

But now a man was openly weeping in front of her and so she felt she needed to do something..anything. She she sat alongside him and put her arm around him. "Who was Lilith?" she asked. Again, with the gift of hindsight, not the best question perhaps, but it was out before her brain could engage.

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"She was my first love." He sighed, wiping another tear away from the corner of his eye. "I missed her greatly... She died during the birth of my first son. She was a Dark Jedi, a sorceress... We just wanted to start a normal family, but it seems that corruption always seems to mutate through some mean or another." He sighed. "My eldest daughter, Lilin, drains life constantly. My son Vindi kills every single piece of electronics he touches. As for my other son... He has a very special diet thanks to his mother."

He knew not about the last in his merry menagerie.

[member="Maja Vern"]

 

[Darth Zilti]

OK...this conversation was getting somewhat deep and very quickly. But to lighten the tone wasn't precisely going to work either. It was no time for party music or a good joke.

"So..." In truth she didn't know where to go next. Finally she had engaged her brain and dismissed each and every though that came to mind. "Well..." She thought on.

"Lilith sounded wonderful. But I guess you remarried?" The words came out tentatively. But it was better than silence...marginally.

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]