Private There Is Always the First Step

[Dispara]

Location: Archenwood City, Arbra
Tags: Vanir Eris

The shuttled landed with a jarring thud, the flaxen haired witch at the controls huffing at her never-quite-smooth landings. Learning to pilot a star craft was certainly out of necessity, and not desire. Dispara had, in fact, been a bit distracted by the nature of the city she had just flown over. It was a far cry from both the grimy metropolitan hives of some cities and the gleaming towers of others. It was...green.

The perspective she was granted as she followed the flight path to the port revealed a large city that didn't sit in the landscape around it. It was as if the buildings rose from it, not plopped down on top of it. It was pleasant and inviting. Which gave her a small measure of ease, given the nature of her visit.

The Jarvashquiine shaman needed mentored. She had potential, she was told. She had a good handle on many of her magicks, mostly drawn from the Dark. But Dispara was backwards, a bit crude and socially inept, not to mention undisciplined and mischievous. She might have been a diamond, but to fit into the crown of the Solanaceae and the Obsidian Knights, she would need the dirt brushed away and some corners knocked off of her.

Enter Vanir Eris.

Dispara didn't know what to think of the appointment of her mentor by the Nightmother. Eris was no mere Knight or Witch, he was a Viceroy of an entire planet. Either it was an indication of their faith in her potential, or a lack of faith in her ability to learn at the hands of someone lesser. Either way, she had thrown her lot in with the Confederacy and the orders that served it. And she was intent to receive what was promised for her service...revelation and deeper knowledge. By this came power.

Cycling down the Mu-class craft, Dispara paused for a moment, looking out of the cockpit. She took a deep breath. She had no teacher since Shalterria. Dispara wondered how this Vanir would compare to the shaman mother. The newcomer was admittedly nervous, but she sure as hell was not going to show it.

Dispara exited the shuttle. She wore her more familiar shaman robes, garments of course fabric, fur and elements of fiber armor. A crude disc of ivory hung around her neck by a leather thong, the image of a black snake etched into its surface. Dispara had packed the initiate robes given her at the Academy, intending to change into them before she met the Viceroy. She did not wear her sword, but her small blaster was strapped to her hip and the ever-present primitive knife hidden upon her.

At the foot of her landing ramp, the young witch paused as a docking officer approached. She provided her credentials on a datasheet rolled up within her robes. The thin translucent film flickered as it was presented to the man.

 

[Vanir Eris]

The man looked over the film and sighed rubbing the back of his neck. “Miss… I don’t know why they sent you here, but Lord Eris doesn’t reside in Archenwood city. The northern and smallest of the Sisters is where his residence is, but come with me. He should at least know you are here.”

He led the way to the communications building and a few moments later the Holo-call connected and she would see Vanir for the first time. Albeit imperfectly. “Kaegan, something the matter?”
The Captain shifted with unconscious pride, it wasn’t every day one’s Lord knew their name after all, but this was simply the Lopara’s way. “Aye sir, seems a young woman was sent here looking for you. The dispatch orders say she is a student?”

Vanir’s attention shifted to Dispara and even if he was a projection, that focus was no less intense. “I had wondered why you hadn’t arrived yet, seems clerical error is at fault. Miss Dispara, please allow one of my people to ferry you to my residence. My private landing pad I am afraid is currently being occupied by my latest set of deliveries and I will admit to forgetting you would be arriving to clear the way. Forgive me?”

The sheepish embarrassment he gave her in that smile may or may not endear him given the nature of the miscommunication. He wasn’t some stern and foreboding teacher, in fact, this was going to be the first time he had taught anyone in a capacity like this. The passing of a bit of knowledge, sure, but a whole apprenticeship? And naturally there was no telling how this mistake will set the stage.

Dispara

 

[Dispara]

Location: Archenwood City, Arbra
Tags: Vanir Eris

Great...did she screw something up? Dispara looked at the man. He explained she was at the wrong place, hiscomment on the sisters and geographical location lost on the initiate unfamiliar with Arbra. All she knew is it was not a good start to her meeting with her new mentor, who also happened to be the Viceroy of the planet. With a humorless grunt she followed the man into a building just off the landing pad, where a direct line to the Viceroy was made, the holo-image the first glance at her mentor.

She had hoped to be able to change into Solanaceae robes before meeting Vanir, to make a good impression, but that wasn't going to happen. She smoothed out her shaman garments and waited for the call to go through.

He was younger than she imagined, no older than she, the shaman suspected. Not a bad looking man either, for a Viceroy, with a sharp, sobering gaze. Vanir Eris was diplomatically polite, though the small, sheepish smile he offered as he confessed his forgetfulness seemed sincere. Looked like he hoped some charm would smooth things over. Still, Dispara was a little irked that she had been forgotten. She didn't take kindly to the idea of being someone's afterthought.

Her pale blue gaze met the Viceroy's directly. "Forgiven." She stated flatly. "I will make it there as soon as possible...uh" Dispsara didn't know how to address Vanir, and it was glaringly obvious. It seemed too soon to call him Master, a title she chafed at using until she actually got to meet him. She finally, awkwardly muttered... "Viceroy."

 

[Vanir Eris]

When the call ended Vanir hung his head. I saw that look at my poking fun at myself, I suspect I put my foot in it.

It wasn’t that he had forgotten intentionally. Because he didn’t live where the main supply line was, he couldn’t just hop to a grocer and go. True, he could take a speeder or his ship, but frankly he was usually too busy for that. So when his supplies were all delivered at his doorstep the day before, he forgot that the following day would gift a different kind of delivery. And now the woman likely thinks I am scatterbrained!

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. Further explanation would not fix this, in fact, might make it worse.

----

At the other end of the terminal the Captain called in an officer and gave him orders to show the lady to Lord Eris’ home. The ride only took twenty minutes or so and it wouldn’t be till they were right over the location that she would see where she was to stay. The landing pad was literally piled with crates, a small space looked recently cleared to allow for her ride to land to deposit her.

The building looked like it had been grown from the land itself. Plants and garden dominated most things and the building itself consisted of living space and something else, though hard to say at first glance. All of it looking like a natural part of the landscape. She would see lots and lots of windows, many that were open to allow the ocean breeze to drift in. What she would see of the interior could have been some modern condo fit with all the fixings and trimmings.

The décor was spartan, but tasteful, except that she would also note more plants on the inside too. Vanir was clearly a man who welcomed nature as part of his home as well as within it. As the speeder left she would notice something curious. A flower seemed to move upon the air, more flowers seemed to join the first and something silvery started to drape and be moved around by said flowers. The more she watched, the more she may note that these flowers were not flowers, but spiders.

And if she scanned her surroundings, she would pick out far far more of them going about their business. Strangely, when a butterfly got caught, one of the flower spiders moved and gently plucked it free so it could drift where it wanted to go, but another carefully wrapped something. What she didn’t know was these spiders didn’t trap the beneficial things, just the creatures that would not be welcome.

She would see her new teacher stride up. He was a lot taller in person standing at a lean and lithe six foot eight. Silent as a cat too, he rounded the corner hidden by a tall stack of supplies and then seemed to just be there. He was dressed comfortably, though barefoot, greeting her with a smile. “Between work and getting this delivered all at once yesterday, I’m looking forward to an extra pair of hands. Well, providing you decide you wish to stay here, I can assign you a residence in Archenwood city if you prefer. I do do a lot of travel, mainly for my experiments, but also my duties to the Confederacy. So, having you close in case I must leave in a hurry means I can take you with me, should you desire. And don't call me Lord or Master, just Vanir or any other title, please. I am 'master' of nothing and my titles given because of governing this planet are just fluff.”

He then turned his body a little, he didn’t gesture with his arm or anything to follow, but it was in essence what he was doing. After all, they had the arduous task of getting things sorted between them before the decision to make the arrangement permanent.

Dispara