Dev The Story of the Trees

[Jonyna Si]

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"You can stay in my place if you want." Jonyna smiled. "You're gonna have to get used to climbing though. My place is...well, 4 branches down. About 4 stories, if you don't mind that. Other than that, I could hold you up at Si tech head quarters, but that's no where near as comfy."

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

Chi let her hand drop, Jonyna had ignored it for a second time and Chi decided to let it go. Perhaps her people didn't share that cultural norm. She was also hesitant to take her up on the offer to stay at her place. There was the climbing, plus the the Boutique was her home and naturally where she was the most comfortable. But it wasn't like she couldn't return when she liked, so she nodded in acceptance and returned the Cathar's smile. "I'd like that. I'm sure it'll be a great opportunity to learn about your culture."
Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

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"Rad. I can put your ship up in a custom hanger if you want, set you up with your own mechanic, the works. How long do you think you'll stay?"

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

That caused her pause, Chi hadn't really considered how long her stay would be. "I have no real plans, until business calls me away I suppose. Not that I'd outstay my welcome." She looked back up the trunk to the illuminated landing platform holding the Boutique. "Let me go pack a bag and pick up some friction boots and gloves. We can park her wherever you think will be out of the way." She had considered just having Ji-Ji take it up into orbit, but having the ship remain would mean putting docking fees into the hands of the locals. Keeping the ship close would mean it was also easy to visit and work. "Actually, would you like a tour? My work may interest you."
Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

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"Of course! I'd love to see your ship." Jonyna smiled, following along. "Lead the way."

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

Heading back up the ladders she'd just come down, Chi realized that this stay was going to be rather good for her health in a way she wasn't sure she'd like. Che's Boutique gleamed under the docking lights, the light frigate's hull shimmering under the rain running across its surface. "Vanir Technologies laid her hull a little over ten years ago, though I picked her up at auction for basically the opening bid before laying in my own modifications." Chi began to explain as they stepped under the protective overhang of the Boutique's hull towards the descending personal ramp. "You can't see it, but most of her heavy weaponry was swapped out for defensive armament. I don't need a warship." She added lightly before showing Jonyna into the warmth of the illuminated interior.
Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

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"Certainly newer than my ship. Mine's gettin' close to a thousand at this point." Jonyna chuckled as she followed her up the ramp, having lunged up the branch to follow, looking to the ship. "Does your have a pool though? Mine does."

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

That brought a mirthful laugh from her. "I thought I was being fancy with a jet-bath, but look at you!" They emerged into a reception area with a pair of lifts but Chi lead the way back forward through a large blast door into the converted cargo room. "So that puts you before the Clone Wars then?" Lining the bulkheads before them were the large prototypers, duplicators, and other fabricators that Chi used to construct the things she needed. Along the ceiling were armatures and bins holding raw material stocks and elements waiting to be used. Workbenches either side of the door were scattered with projects in various staged of completion and holographic diagrams or schematics spread about. If she cared to look, Jonyna would see a complex droid body marked with notations, a pdw-type blaster, and even diagrams for an entire other ship among less-complete works. But it was clear that what Chi was most proud of were the completed items lining the center isle of the bay, almost dividing it in two. "I haven't managed to find buyers for everything yet, but truth be told, some of it I'd be sad to see go."
Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

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The first thing that caught Jonyna's eye was the replicators. The idea of just...making more City Wood put her off a bit. "Just after actually." It could be heard in the tone of her voice. She was a bit unsure now about this. "The Reaper was laid down...16 BBY? I think? That was ages ago now, even for me. I've only been kicking around for a year now, and it feels like ten."

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

Chi almost asked if someone had misplaced her stasis pod, but held back out of not wanting to be insensitive. "Sounds rough, but it explains why you care so much for your people here. They're all you have left of what you knew." Sensing the shift of mood, she lead her companion back out of the converted cargo bay and into one of the lifts to the living deck. Greeting them was a comfortable seating area and a droid emerging from the galley pushing a serving trolley. "Roasted grape and brie crostini topped with honey drizzle and sea salt served with Gatalenta tea, Madams Chuchi and SI." Ji-Ji's smooth voice announced over hidden speakers.
Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

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"To a cathar, everyone on your home-tree, anyone of your tribe, is considered a brother and a sister, regardless of how far they are from home." Jonyna nodded, "I might be 930, but that hasn't changed. Then again...I see everyone that way. If you're in trouble, Jonyna is here to help. And Sylvar help you if you are that trouble."

Jonyna couldn't help but blink at the big words thrown at her. Roasted Grapes? Honey? It looked to be some sort of bread thing...

She picked one up, sloppily shoving it into her mouth and chomping down.

"...not bad." She said with a mouth full. Clearly her manners were elswhere.

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

Chi was somewhat more delicate at eating the crostini than Jonyna, using her hand holding one to hide her mouth when she bit through the delicious treat before finishing and reaching for a cup of tea and saucer. "Yes, Ji-ji is quite the cook." She agreed with a smile as she accepted the compliment. Her Cathar companion's absence of table manners didn't bother her any, as a long-term diplomat she had grown used to a variety of table customs and didn't place her expectations on others. "You've told me of the home-tree, but Sylvar?" She asked before taking a sip of the exquisite hot tea.
Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

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Munch, crunch.

"Sylvar is the most famous jedi of Cathar-kind. The one who slay Kel Droma, the one who scarred Kuun. That's what the tree is named after all. Ran Dom Kuun. Scar of Kuun. How much you know 'bout history?"

Munch, Crunch.

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

"Quite a bit I should think," Chi confided over the rim of her cup. Jonyna was enjoying her hospitality and that was enjoyable to her. "But there's so much of it, Galactic, National, Planetary, down to individuals. And lately I've spent much of my time 'in the black' where news broadcasts don't make a very cohesive picture." She knew of the Sith's recent wave of attacks using a virus that created 'undead,' but these ancient names were new to her. She suspected them of being from secret histories or having been suppressed at some point. "Did she defeat, scar, him here? Where the tree is planted?"
Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

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"Oh, I dunno." Jonyna shrugged, finishing off the treat. "I trained under her ghost for a bit, never asked her. Ran Dom Kuun's story is older than even me. The tree was supposedly planted shortly after the Mandos were defeated, as a way to restart our culture. But we don't usually write stuff down, it's all stories from one elder to another."

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

Thinking back, Chi remembered her own family's storied history. Many people assumed it started with a senator nearly none-hundred years ago during the clone wars. Fact was her clan had records going back much further. Riyo had simply been the first to step out into the galactic stage. Now there were few places you couldn't find a Chuchi or related family somewhere in government or working in an official's office. The Mandalorians had suffered several great defeats, but Chi had the feeling that her companion meant the first one, thousands and thousands of years ago. How much Cathar history had been lost to time between now and then?

That train of thought could have occupied her for awhile, but something Jonyna said stuck with her. "Her ghost? Is that some sort of Jedi thing?" She sat forward and set her tea cup aside, eyes burning with curiosity. It seemed unlikely that this was some superstition or ritual.
Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

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"Oh, yeah." Jonyna nodded, pulling her lightsaber Lucy off her belt. "When a jedi dies, we become one with the force. Stronger jedi, they can stick around as a ghost. A manifestation of the Force, to help guide the newer generations beyond our years. Sylvar did that for me, after I found her tomb. My mom took over that duty too. Her ghost lives within the crystal of my saber."

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

Jonyna's mother was a ghost in her lightsaber... Either her host was truly around the bend or there was more to the Force than most people thought. Still she wasn't sure how to respond to that so she deflected. "Do you think you'll become a ghost?" Asking about plans after death was probably a better line of questioning than dead family. Mentally she made a note to call her own parents later and check in
Jonyna Si

 

[Jonyna Si]

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"Probably." Jonyna shrugged. It was all so casual to her. "I'd like to think I could help those beyond my years. What about you? What do you think your legacy is gonna be?"

Maybe that was a heavy question, but it was one that Jonyna had been thinking a lot about since she came out of the ice. She already had a mural on her home-tree. a family reminder of her accomplishments.

Tag: Chi Chuchi

 

[Chi Chuchi]

"Family." She replied almost immediately before reclining back into her chair almost regretfully. "That is if I can ever find a nice lad I can tolerate long enough to settle down with." There had been one, but their relationship had barely begun before he'd been pulled away by the demands of his own company. She'd finished out the contract and left Dantooine much to the chagrin of her mother who had hoped to see him that Life Day during the family celebrations. "Maybe some excellent tech and an occasionally exceptional invention will be my legacy. Could you imagine? A thousand years from now some collector trying to get one of my pieces?" Chi smiled a little. "Otherwise I think my legacy is rather well established. Multiple terms as the Representative of Rendili to the Republic cut short by the Sith invasion and its capture. Ancient history now." She'd continued to serve the planet's interests in the Senate for nearly a year after that. But once it was made clear the Republic would not be retaking the planet, she'd had to leave. After she'd dodged the deathmark on her head for head for awhile and gone home to advise in local politics before setting out on her current journey.
Jonyna Si