What a Strange Re-Meet [Seraphina Shel'tah]

[Roshki Belawiiks]

Location: Baran Do Temple, Dorin

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Surely someone knows Double Kay!" I complained to Maxi. "He grew up here, for Sith's sake!"

Fuming, I readjusted my breather mask, then checked to make sure that Maxi's was on properly yet as well. My Blarth didn't like his mask (courtesy of the Order's credits, though they didn't actually know), and I couldn't blame him. But, with zero amounts of oxygen in the atmosphere, there was little I could do.

I saw yet another Kel Dor, and ran over to her, with Maxi on my heels. "You there!" Stopping in front of the alien, I asked, "Do you know a Kian Karr? Or perhaps you've seen him around?" I held up a holographic picture of him, but she just shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't recognize him."

My shoulders sagged slightly, and my voice took on a more pleasing tone. "Are you sure? I need to find him!"

But she simply shook her head again, and walked off.

Throwing my hands up in the air like I no longer cared (which was the furthest thing from the truth), I collapsed on one of the steps, holding Maxi close. I could start to feel myself begin spiralling towards despair. I'd been here for three days, trying to scrounge up clues as to where my Master -- my real Master, not [member="Barrien Siegfried"] -- was at. I thought Dorin would be a good place to start, seeing as how he grew up here. But either Karr was easily forgotten, everyone who knew him was dead, or they didn't want to talk to me, an outsider.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to push down the negative feelings. Master Manto's warnings, of me falling to the Dark side because of this, were fresh in my mind. I had to keep a positive mindset, if only to prove him wrong. "Where are you, Master?" I mumbled. "Why haven't you contacted me yet?"

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

When Seraphina had left the Jedi Order and the Council, she'd left the only means to contact her with the members of the council. It was for the better then, of that she was certain. Word had spread, however, of a certain Kel-Dor Jedi Master having gone missing since her departure. A good friend of hers, a former mentor, and one she'd spent a great deal of time with after having become a Jedi Knight, and more so upon her appointment to master. Kian...Where have you gone?

She looked down at the small holocron she still had that belonged to the man. A piece of data that contained all of his family's heritage linked to Kian, and the Jedi Order. Varus and her had saved it from destruction when the Sith had attempted to purge Dorin years before. They had come in force, seeking to destroy any and all evidence of the Jedi on Dorin. They'd partially succeeded, but some things had been salvaged. Today, she sought to return the holocron to the Baran Do, where it rightfully belonged.

As she drew nearer toward the temple she noticed a familiar looking Togruta sulking on the steps just outside. She searched her memory for a name. It had been years since she'd seen Roshki. Finally putting the name to the face she hurried over to the girl. "Roshki?! Roshki Belawiiks! Is that you!?"

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"]

 

[Roshki Belawiiks]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

My head whipped up so quickly I thought I'd get whiplash. A decidedly pink Twi'lek hurried over to me, causing a little memory to niggle at me. I stood up, uncertain. "Who...?"

Then it hit me. We'd only spoken once, a long time ago, but it was hard to every truly forget a Twi'lek like this one.

"Holy hell!" I exclaimed in disbelief. "Seraphina!" I'd heard stories of her, later in my life, about all the stuff she'd done. And yet, my brain had failed to connect those with this girl -- now woman, like myself -- who'd swapped snicker-worthy comments about two idiots who'd decided to jump off a cliff at the Temple.

My excitement was rubbing off onto Maxi, who'd started whining at my inability to introduce him to a potential new admirer. I swore up and down one of these days he was gonna have a fan club. "Yup, it's me, the one and only. I hope." I made an attempt at a half smile. "Can't be too sure these days, with all these clones and whatnot running around." Probably just stories this time, but...meh.

Maxi continued to whine at my feet, nudging my leg before waddling up to Seraphina. As he painted happily, I quickly introduced him. "Oh, and, uh, this is Maximillius. But I just usually call him Maxi. He's a sweetheart...when he's not drooling on stuff or stealing boots, that is." After giving him a pat on the rump, I returned my attentions to the other Jedi (Or I assumed she was still....there certainly was no puky aura of sulfur, brimstone, and general skulkiness that Dark Siders liked to waft around). "So....ever figure out who those idiots were? The ones who took a swan dive off the Ossus Temple?"

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera smiled as she confirmed that it was in fact Roshki. "It's great to see you again!" She looked to the Blarth and nodded, "And it's nice to meet you too, Maxi." She laughed, the galaxy had an odd way of bringing people together. After all, what were the chances that she would show up on Dorin, right at the steps of the Baran Do temple at the exact same time as the Togruta she had met so long ago? The Force worked in such strange ways.

"You know, I never did? I'd actually forgotten about that little adventure. They ran off before I ever found them. Not sure what that was about still."

She thought it prudent to ask why she was here, of all places. It wasn't a typical site for a Jedi to be, unless of course they were a Kel-Dor, which she most certainly wasn't.

"What brings you way out here, anyway?"

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"]

 

[Roshki Belawiiks]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

My good humour sort of sagged a little at Sera's question. Actually, more than a little; it was certainly enough to catch Maxi's attention, who craned his head around and grabbed at my robe with the nubbins on his tail.

Squeezing the end of his tail lightly, I just kinda shrugged. "Well, I'm looking for Double K-- I mean, Kian Karr. He's been gone for a while, and the Council couldn't figure out where he was hiding, so...I decided to lend a hand, you know? Figure out what the feth is going on and all." My mouth twisted slightly. "But he doesn't seem to be here."

Suddenly, a little thought occurred to me. It was weird for someone who wasn't a Kel Dor to be here, especially if they were a Force User. And this byzantine Twi'lek didn't seem like the type to go site seeing on a world that would just as soon kill you on entry.

Trying to act nonchalant, primarily to keep my hopes from lifting needlessly, I asked, "You? What's attracted you to this place?" I refrained from cringing. Even in my voice, one could tell I wasn't as casual as I'd hoped to appear. But could you blame me? It had to mean something if Sera was here too, right?

Right?

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Twi'lek wiggled her nose a bit. She'd heard that Kian had disappeared after she left the Jedi Order. That brought her a great deal of sadness as well. The Kel-Dor had been both mentor and friend to her over the years. "Kian was your master, no?" She slid the pack she had been carrying from her shoulder, setting it down lightly on the ground before her.

Kneeling down, Sera pulled from within a small holocron with markings of the Kel-Dor race. "I found this here, a while back, when the Sith attacked the enclave. I managed to salvage it before they got to destroying the Jedi artifacts inside. It belonged to Kian's family. It's a record of his bloodline, though I understand his wife and child were killed long ago. He never much talked about them."

She extended her hands, the holocron resting within her cupped palms. "Maybe you would like to return it to the Baran Do temple, where it belongs? I had intended to bring it back to give to him, but given his disappearance, perhaps it would be appropriate for his student to return it."

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"]

 

[Roshki Belawiiks]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

I took the holocron from her, gingerly holding it in my own palms. "He said they both died in childbirth, I think," I told her, swallowing hard. All sorts of emotions were beginning to bubble up, and it took all of my strength to push them down.

But one kept fighting; selfishness. Selfishness in that I didn't want to turn this little device over to some strangers. Selfishness in that I wanted to keep it. On the surface, it would be because I'd use it to track Karr, but deep down...deep down I knew it was really because I wanted something of his, just in case...

No! That, that was wrong thinking. The old me would have kept it out of sentiment, but I was trying to do better. Still trying to do better.

Always trying to do better.

But was I ready for this? Why not? All I had to do was walk in, drop it off with whoever and go. Easy peasy, and I might even get some more information. So what was I afraid of?

I'm not afraid of anything!

If only that were true.

I looked up at the Twi'lek. "Sure...but will you come with me? Not that I'm nervous or anything," I added quickly, forgetting that she might be able to sense my emotions. "But I've spent long enough on this dratted planet all by myself." Maxi snuffled, and I smirked. "Well, not really, but big, fat Blarths don't make for good conversations, you know? Besides, these Kel Dor might be more open to you than they are to me."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Seraphina could feel the sadness and sense of loss in Roshki. It was all in the eyes. The Togruta needn't say but a word. The Twi'lek could feel it, just as she'd felt it before. Kian had been a good friend of hers, just as Kana and Corvus had been. It seemed everyone from her past had been stripped away from her leaving her with only the memories of her past.

An opportunity to help Roshki mend her own past and push forward would be met with a smile from the Twi'lek. "Certainly. I'd be happy to join you. The last time I was here they were all quite friendly and welcoming. I'm sure this will be no different. I bet they'll be happy to have Kian's history returned to its' proper place as well."

It wasn't like they were getting him back, wherever he'd gone, but it shined a bit of hope that he might someday return.

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"]

 

[Roshki Belawiiks]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

A half crooked grin popped up on my face for a few seconds before disappearing. "Like I said, these folks will probably like you more than they like me."

A bit of a side tangent, here. Most folks didn't like me because I made it a habit of mine to push their every button. It never bothered me whether they loved me or hated me, though. I didn't care what they felt about me, so long as they didn't keep me from doing what I needed to do. UnJedi-like? Probably. But it wasn't exactly in my agenda to be like all of these other lame-o Jedi. The real world was the real world, and I couldn't afford to behave any different.

Speaking of which...

I stood up, holding tight to the holocron. Deep down I knew and accepted that it would be wrong to keep it for myself, but that selfishness from earlier kept whispering in my ear. Murmuring about how giving it to the Baran Do would forfeit any sort of clues at my disposal. How, as Karr's Padawan, I had a right to keep it, out of his memory.

But Karr-- No, not that. I quickly changed the thought. --Wouldn't have planted clues in something that had little chance of survival.

Snapping my fingers at Maxi, I then gestured at Sera to follow. "Guess we better get going, huh?"

My eyes shifted between watching where I was going and keeping an eye on Maxi. The Blarth had never really been on a leash, as far as I could recall, because he stayed close to me when we were somewhere. Well, most of the time -- hence why I was watching him.

"So what've you been up to? I heard you're a Master now, eh?"

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera smiled as she followed Roshki towards the entrance of the Baran Do temple. It had been a long time to say the least, since the last time the two had seen one another. Many battles had separated the two, followed by many more missions and differing objectives within the Jedi Order. It was hard to keep in touch with so many of the people who had been close to her that it seemed like decades had passed since the last time she had even seen her old master, Kana.

"I am indeed!" She said with exuberance. "Though don't be fooled. It's not all it's cracked up to be. All it means is that they send you out on your own to dangerous places with nobody to accompany you and talk to. I'd rather spend my life a Padawan if it meant I could have someone at my side through thick and thin."

It was true, there was little glory in being a Jedi Master. The best part about it was that you only answered the council, but even then, sometimes answering to them, or their call, was a headache in itself. Even her brief time spent as a council member was more politics than anything. Finding ways to appease the Republic while maintaining the values of the Order was a difficult, and sometimes daunting task.

"How have you been, aside from looking for Kian?"

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"]