First Reply What Am I Here To Accomplish

[Sian Sestoi]

Sian kept a close watch on him, her thumb resting on her belt buckle as he took a quick step back. She found his discussion about how to apologize to a droid uninteresting, but when he mentioned a name, her eyes narrowed in confusion. She couldn't understand how this boy had survived to have a conversation with another person, given his apparent lack of awareness of his environment.

"If it's a droid, a bottle of clean lubricant works better than an apology," Sian said, peeling off her heavy work gloves and tucking them beneath her belt. "And who's Lyra? another person you left behind while you went wandering into dark basements." She further added, as Starlin Dinn stared off into the distance, eyes scanning the wide plains around them that seemed to stretch for as far as the eye could see.

She could just imagine him walking through miles of exposed grass with a yellow kyber crystal, an ancient tailsman and no sense of direction. He would likely be taken out by the first villager armed with macrobinoculars. "You don't even know where you parked, do you?" Sian asked, stepping closer and folding her arms over her chest.
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[Starlin Dinn]

"Lubricant... Clear..." He was setting that to memory with a small nod of his head, but faltered when her tone turned accusatory and she asked after Lyra Ventor . The boy paled, then hastily shook his head.​

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"What? No. She's back at her home, she just helped me fix Pluto that's all... She's a mechanic. Taught me how to fly my ship after I was stranded. I figured... maybe she'd know what he'd like." His cheeks were burning, he looked equal parts flustered and embarrassed.​

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"I didn't leave anyone behind" he went on to add, eyes stinging slightly, "They all left me, for years, with my uncles, and everything was good, and then suddenly I wasn't where I was supposed to be, and I was in this horrid metal room, with that silly jellyship, and not with my darling Uncles, and the droid wouldn't speak to me, and I didn't know how to get back home, and I still don't really know how, but I'm trying, and I didn't mean to come here but the jellyship is broken and it does what it wants to do, and... and..."​

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His chest was rising and falling rapidly, and the moment he lost track of his train of thought and the reality of his frazzled words hit him the boy turned and hurried away, away from the Jedi, away from the Temple, back the way he knew he had come from previously.​

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"Stupid, stupid, stupid" he was cursing himself beneath his breath. At least, for Starlin that was cursing.​

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Sian Sestoi ​

 

[Sian Sestoi]

Sian stayed quiet while he spoke, her lips pressing together as Starlin Dinn rambled on about mechanics, uncles and getting stranded in metal rooms. She hadn't asked for his life story and listening to him spill such personal information made her develop a fresh headache.

When he finally ran out of breath and stormed off, muttering insults at himself with every hurried step, Sian just stood there watching his back. The boy was heading straight across the flat grassland, completely exposed against the open horizon, leaving a clear trail of bent grass and stomped mud behind him.

Part of her wanted to thank the Force for finally taking the loud, needy kid off her hands so she could get on with her own day in peace. She could turn around, head back down the path, and never see him again. It wasn't her problem if he got lost or stumbled into trouble on his way back to his ship.

She pulled her hand down over her face with a heavy sigh, her eyes tracking his small, frantic figure as he kept walking. She missed the underworld. Down in the dark, crowded lower levels of a city-world, nobody expected you to play guardian angel, and you could turn a blind eye to a fool without a second thought.

Out here, with her Jedi training urging her into action, she couldn't just let a kid carrying a rare crystal walk blindly into danger. Sian kicked a loose stone off the path, hitched her belt up, and set off after him at a steady, silent pace, keeping enough distance so he wouldn't think she was trying to start another conversation.
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[Starlin Dinn]

Why? Why had he let all of that come bursting out? Why couldn't he have just kept his big mouth shut?​

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He kicked a rock into the grass ahead of himself and huffed, trying to breathe through it. What would Uncle Theryn do? Bigger breaths, deeper breaths, slower breaths. Sensory work, yeah... he'd tell him to ground himself. What could he see? What could he hear? The only problem was, out here there weren't many things to see at all, fewer that he could name, and save for his stompy feet and the crunch of prairie grass there wasn't a whole lot for his ears either.​

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His footsteps were soon matched by another pair, and he lifted a hand to run through his hair. Fingers clenched at the roots, before he released it and sighed in frustration.​

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"I'm leaving, I'm leaving," he said, without turning to face her. "Like you wanted. I don't want any trouble."​

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More and more, Starlin was learning why his Uncle Darien Cordel kept to himself, hidden behind curtains to engage with the crowd of people who sought his attention and favour. Maybe he was as bad at this as Starlin was deep down.​

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Sian Sestoi ​

 

[Sian Sestoi]

Sian had intended to stay quiet and just tail him, keeping enough distance to watch for trouble ahead. But his sulky comment caught her at the end of her rope, snapping what little patience she had managed to hold onto since meeting him in the ruins.

"Shut up for five seconds and listen to me," Sian said, closing the gap between them. "You're walking across an open plain looking for a lost ship. If anyone out here spots what's in your pocket, I guarantee your droid will have to order a casket off the Holonet." She matched his pace, her hand resting near her belt while her eyes swept the tall grass to drive the point home.

"I'm escorting you to your ship, and that's final," Sian said, her voice becoming a growl as her fingers curled into a fist. "If you try to argue, or if you throw another tantrum, I will knock you into next rotation and drag you there by your ankles. Am I clear?" Without waiting for a response, she cut past him and took the lead.

Her boots sank into the waterlogged soil with every step, but her gaze stayed locked on the horizon, listening for the rustle of dry reeds or the distant whine of an engine. The kid needed to realize that out here, nobody gave you a second chance just because you were having a bad day.
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[Starlin Dinn]

Told, quite plainly, to shut up, Starlin was startled into silence. He had turned to face her at this point, eyes blown wild as she spoke low and threateningly, as she reached for that laser-sword and told him what-was-what. No sugar coating, no options, just this is how it is, and you'll live with it.​

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The boy swallowed down a rising lump in his throat, then nodded. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words would not come. In the end he just hurried to follow after her, eyes scanning the grasslands this way and that.​

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He wondered for a moment if this was another shadow assassin ruse, but her frustration was palpable and genuine. She would not be doing this if she did not think the threat was real, even he could recognize that, so he stuck his hands in his pockets, lowered his head slightly, and kept his eyes scanning left and right.​

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Starlin wouldn't speak until necessary, and when he did it was simply to point out: "That tree, over there," he mumbled, gesturing off to a very distinct tree just to the south west of them - somewhere to their right. "It... it's down the hill, just beyond that. In the trees. Pluto found a clearing."​

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Then it was back to quiet, back to hung head, back to please-don't-knock-me-out.​

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Sian Sestoi ​

 

[Sian Sestoi]

Sian glanced toward the crooked tree Starlin Dinn pointed out, her eyes narrowing as she adjusted their course to the right. The terrain sloped down toward a shallow ridge where a thick clump of trees broke up the flat grassland, making it a decent enough hiding spot for a small ship, even if finding it had clearly been pure luck on the boy's part.

She didn't miss the way he suddenly went quiet, keeping his head down and his hands jammed deep into his pockets as he fell into step behind her. Good. Silence meant he was actually paying attention for once, even if it took a threat to get through to him. "Alright," Sian said, keeping her voice low as they neared the top of the rise.

"We check the ridge first. If your ship is down there, you get inside, lock the hatch, and lift off immediately. You don't linger to check the wiring, and you don't go sightseeing." She slowed her pace as they reached the crest of the hill, crouching low in the damp grass to scan the treeline below before stepping into the open. The open field gave them zero cover, and she wasn't about to lead them straight down into the trees without making sure nobody was waiting at the bottom.​

 

[Starlin Dinn]

He had begun to veer off before the woman did, very much certain of that tree and its proximity to the jellyship. He knew enough about traversing flat-ish terrain to know that finding key landmarks within it was important. In the desert especially it was hard to differentiate one dune from another, so he had to get creative. Sometimes he left a trail, this time...​

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As he approached the tree, he reached up and pulled down the strip of fabric that was his neckerchief from a low lying branch. After securing it back into place around his throat, he followed her toward the rise proper and crouched down. ​

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He did not speak, but he gestured toward a specific break in the trees to show her the direction he intended for them to go.​

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At this point Starlin knew better than to rush off ahead, so he followed her lead.​

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Leviathan was indeed nestled within those trees, deep within the clearing; no doubt it wasn't the kind of ship she was expecting to find, so far everyone had commented on its oddities. He braced himself for some backhanded compliment or other judgmental comment... at this point, it was just becoming par for the course.​

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Sian Sestoi ​