Wait, I'm the adult?

[Vorhi Alestrani]

[member="Felicity Mason"]


Vorhi had been summoned to Naboo once again. This time, no lives ere on the line, but Feena had pretty much demanded he train her daughter in the studies of the force. He didn't know how he felt about taking on such a young pupil, but hey, he warned Feena in advance not to trust him. And yet, here he was. Sitting on a small rock in small field, a good mile or two out of town.


Yeah, that'd do nicely. Not clever, but nicely. He didn't need a deep, convoluted serene temple to train someone. He dusted off his pants and smiled. A simple grey tunic and brown pants, with some equally simple grey boots. And of course, the hat. That'd do as well. Again, simple and basic. After all, he hardly knew squat about this kid.

Well, except that she likely had the combined stubborness of Feena Mason and Keter. Crap. He was gonna die. Ah, well. He had agreed to this, and the monastery's only real backer was making this request as a friend. Screw it. He'd die with a smirk.

 

[Felicity Mason]

Mom wanted her to come out here. For... something. Training? One of her friends. He was probably just some politician here to tell her how to properly lie to people. So typical. But then, why would a politician be all the way out here?

"Little Princess," Percy whispered as they approached, "I will be standing by if anything happens."

"I really don't think you should bother, Perce, but thanks."

The guard shrugged in response and bowed. She knew he would be standing by anyway, no matter what she said. Moms orders were law in his eyes. If mom ordered him to keep watch, he wouldn't listen to someone like her. She didn't even have a rank on Naboo. She was just the daughter of the monarch.

"So. You're moms friend, right? Mister Ales-something?" she dipped into a perfect bow, just s she practiced, even if her words were less than lady-like.

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Vorhi smiled as the two approached. Ah, Percival, the nanny. He debated whether or not mind-tricking the bodyguard and caretaker was wise. No, if he didn't get away with it, Feena would likely shoot him. Keter would shoot him into space. He sighed and adjusted his hat in acknowledgement to both of them.


"I am Vorhi Alestrani, and there's no need for Mister. Mister is for married men and old folks puttering around in their garden. And business meetings. But business meeting are boring. Tell me, Felicity," he said with a chuckle as he made a waving gesture, "What has Feena told you about me? Or my purpose here?"


He grinned almost immaturely at the two of them. Percival didn't really know anything about Vorhi, save that Feena trusted him. Unless he'd been briefed more. This girl, on the other hand, seemed less curious and more irritable. He remembered being a teen-ager. He ran away from it all, joined a monastery, then a university. He'd gotten out, which had been his goal. And, well, it worked, kind of. Still, he knew it was hard. Young people had to figure out what the hell it was they wanted, and they were never good at that.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

This guy was weird. No, well, yes. Not weird in a negative way. Actually, she kinda liked the way he actually spoke to her like an adult. It was different than the way the rest of her instructors talked down to her, like she was just some stupid child who needed to be led through breathing. He was weird, but she liked his kind of weird.
Even so, it wasn't like her to warm up to anybody right away. The girl snorted, sticking her nose up in the air, trying her best to look down on everybody there.

"She told me you were a friend of hers. Someone important. Not sure I really believe that. She never mentioned your hat. Do you always dress like that?"

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

He considered her inquiry with due seriousness. Nobody ever asked him about his fashion sense. He smiled. "This hat, while fairly conspicuous, is well-adapted to a wide variety of weather. The first straw hat I had was on Bonduki, given to me by the Cerean sage Tozei the incorrigible, who could shatter a tree with two fingers," he said calmly.


"And my reason for being here is simple," he said calmly. "Your mother said you had some potential in the Force. I'm going to determine if that's true, and then I'm going to give you lessons about it, should you want any," he said with a nod. "My secondary objective, while substantially less powerful, is my own amusement. I've been buried in paperwork all week, and I feel like enjoying today. It's not often I get students who are actually honest."


"As for being somebody important. Not really," he said calmly. "Don't get me wrong, I used to be really damn important, but now I'm trying to keep a low profile. I'm just a master who occasionally visits his old co-workers. Feena included." He smirked. He couldn't help it. Young people put him in a better mood. And this one was a fire-starter. Fun.





[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The blond wanted to roll her eyes. He was a story teller like daddy. Talked too much. She was trying very hard not to like him. Trying. Failing. She crossed her arms. That actually annoyed her more.

"Well, it's an ugly hat," she commented, stubbornly keeping her chin up, "and mom told you wrong. She was probably talking about my little sister. She's the one with all the natural force talent. I can't so much as lift a feather. Not when I want to, anyway."

It was a bitter thing to admit, that her little baby sister, only six years old, had more force sense in her little toe than Felicity had in her entire being. Sure, one could argue that measuring it that way was stupid, and that she probably had secret talents of her own, and that everybody just had to be good at something. Sure, everybody was a special little snowflake. Everyone was unique. Everyone had something. Blah blah blah. She'd heard that nonsense from enough of her instructors to know that they were all liars.

"So, guess you wasted your time. I'll tell mom you tried. Don't worry. Maybe she'll send Celeste next time. At least one of her daughters should be worth something."

Oddly enough, there was no bitterness in her voice, no jealousy. She'd come to terms with this during the invasion, when she lost half her ear. She wasn't the child mom wanted her to be. She wasn't going to ever going to be able to follow in her mothers footsteps. Not really. And that was okay. No sense in cursing her fate. All she could do now was live her life how she wanted it. Maybe someday, mom might actually let her do that.

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Vorhi looked at his pupil with an almost whimsical smirk. She was fighting him verbally. Good. A battle of wits would do him well. "Fist off, the hat doesn't need to be pretty to keep the rain out," he said dryly. "And who said anything about lifting things? Do I look like a Jedi? The force," he said calmly, "works differently in different people. In Feena, it presents to her empathetic behavior and focuses on healing energy. In some," he said matter-of-factly, "it's shown in outward force. Telekinesis, lightning, or even yelling loudly enough to break things."



But he chuckled as we walked over, tapping the rock he'd been sitting on with a straw plucked from his hat. "Some of us are more subtle than that, though. Knowing things through weird intuition, seeing things before they happen, or even focusing our own bodies," he said as he stopped tapping, and then proceeding to slap the stone, shattering it thoroughly--but leaving a crude statue of a dancing, drunken reveler in layered robes behind. "There's a sculpture in the rock, can't help but wonder what's inside a person, after you break off the things that hold them back. So, if you're certain you're not worth my trouble, I suppose you can go. But if you really want to see what you're able to do, then maybe you should stick around, and see what this old fool with an ugly hat can teach you."


[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

For once, the girl was actually at a loss for words. The rock. The dancing figure. That came from a stupid rock? The metaphor wasn't lost on her. She knew what he meant. hesitantly, she closed the distance, reaching out to touch the jagged head of the statue with only one finger. She had never thought of the Force like that. The force was a tool, like a hammer or a hydrospanner. But this? The way he used it was like an paint brush, or a chisel. It was art. It was free. It could be so beautiful.

"...I suppose I could try," she said reluctantly, giving a little shrug, "I-I mean, I'm not gunna twist your arm, old man, but if you really want to... I don't have anything better to do now anyways."

Truth was, she was more driven to learn now than ever. Just one demonstration. Because, unlike all her other instructors, he showed her something new, something she never thought of. He showed her a different path.

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

He smirked as he saw a spark of energy come from the girl. A big spark. Good. Sparks meant things. He'd hoped the demonstration would be effective. Still, she was playing it cool. "I'm glad you're considering it. The thing is, I need to know about you. An introduction is in order. And not," he said calmly as he pointed at a rock nearby, gesturing for her to sit on it, "simply your name."

He sat on a nearby rock. He smiled. The main reason he picked this particular random field in the outskirts of Theed--it had a lot of rocks. He liked rocks. He nodded to the young lady. "Up until now, you've spent a lot of time getting told things. But I think the best way to learn about yourself is to say stuff. So, what have you got to say?"


[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

"Uh...."

The girl blanked. Completely blanked. Nobody had ever asked about her. Not anything more than her name. Once they knew her name, they seemed to have heard enough. That was all that was needed. She was Felicity Mason, daughter of the Queen. Nobody care for anything more than that.

"I'm Felicity Mason, Daughter of the Keter Mason, and the current Queen of Naboo," she began, "I was born on Imerria. I am fifteen years old. I study at the Royal Academy of Naboo."

...What else could she say?

"I'm horribly, terribly, monstrously bored at the Academy. I don't know what I want to do when I grow up. Right now, I have only one friend. His name is Owain. I survived the invasion by biting an assassins fingers off. She lost three fingers, I lost part of an ear. I won, she lost. That was the most exciting thing to happen to me. Sometimes I like to sneak out of the Palace at night, just to see if I can. I usually can. Sneaking back in, however, is hard. I usually get caught when I try to do that.
My favorite subject to study at the academy is biology, although I excel in most other subjects of study as well.. The boys at the Academy call me pretty. Sometimes they ask me out, sometimes they avoid me. I have a bad reputation at school. I have a boyfriend. I don't like him very much. I think he's boring.
I'm jealous of my sister. My big brother keeps leaving me. Dad is never around anymore. Mom doesn't have time for me. I think I'm finished talking."

She said it all in almost one breath. It was all personal. Her deepest thoughts. And she spilled it like it was nothing, like this had been building for years and it was only natural that it would all pour out eventually.

"Nobody's ever asked me to talk about me before," she explained after taking a moment to catch her breath.

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

(faction stuff kept me busy with the other alts, sorry for the delays)

[member="Felicity Mason"]

He gauged her statements. Both of them. Teh first was your typical noble introduction, a pile of well-shaped, excruciating elegant drivel. Like a tea-cakse, it was light, fluffy, pretty, and compeltely devoid of any meaningful substance. However, the dry, almost exhausted tone which she gave it in--that was significant. She knew it lacked substance. Then, she gave in to reality. She let loose from the restrained delivery.


Many things in the second phrase were interesting. The only person who she named in it was Owain--he mattered somehow. She acknowledged her discontent with her family. What youngling her age didn't have family discontent, though. She had a brother? News to him. The academy came up twice, neither time in a good context. First it was boring, then it was a place where she had a bad reputation. She fought on Naboo during the invasion--and if the scars were any indication, she wasn't exaggerating about what happened. She liked being sneaky, and seeing if she could do it. That gave him a point of reference.



He nodded. "Good. It's unfortunate no one's had the sense to ask you for honesty, or actually listen well enough to hear you. On this planet, though, I suppose courtly graces and propriety are to supercede something as seemingly trivial as how a person is genuinely thinking," he said with a shrug.


"Well, in fairness, it is my turn. My Name is Vorhi Alestrani. My parents aren't people anyone's heard of, and for their own safety, I prefer it that way. I studied at Milakine University, and published several theses on force traditions and people who developed ways to fight against and alongside them. I used to work for your mother. I am now a vigilante and archaeologist, and I like tea. I was engaged once, but she died, and I really haven't been looking for a love-life since then. Most of my students are exasperatingly single-minded. I decided teaching you might break up the tedium, that's working out well so far. Oh, and I like using rocks for training tools. Hence our current location."


"And for the record, few people actually do now what they want to do with their lives. They keep trying things until they find the thing they want. For me, it's hunting through ruins and drinking tea and getting into fist-fights with armed guards."

 

[Felicity Mason]

Felicity actually really liked this guy. He was funny. Understood her. Like some favorite Uncle. For the first time, someone actually listened to her angsty teenage nonsense. And they didn't make fun of her for it. She took a seat on one of the rocks with a smile.

"I like tea too," she offered, "And I've had my share of fist fights. I've never went hunting through ruins, but I like reading history books."

It was a start, right?

"What are you going to teach me?"

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Vorhi contemplate the answer to that question. Well, he could star off with a basic test. Gauge her proficiency. That'd help. He smiled, wlked over to his bag, and retrieved something. He held it in a closed fist. He smirked. It was a locket, a small good luck charm he'd picked up on a nearby merchant ship on the way over to this prim, proper, planet. He smiled.



"We'll start with a basic test. I have something in this hand. It's your job to determine what it is," he said calmly. No telling her how. She could grab the thing, swat it out of his hand, ask him questions about it, or just try and sense it with the force via meditation. The answer didn't matter--what mattered is how she arrived at it. He nodded. "Go on and try. Succes and failure aren't key are, but the journey is," he said with a sort of absent-minded happy nod.


[member="Felicity Mason"]


(OOC: Hope you had a great christmas and such)

 

[Felicity Mason]

He... he could not be serious. blue eyes narrowed as she stared at the mans hand. How was she supposed to do that? Punch him in the face and pry it out of his hands? She stepped forward, tilting her head this way and that. How? How? How!?

"...I don't understand. What sort of test is this?" she asked after a long moment, "How am I expected to see through your hand?"

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]