Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Private Who ya gonna call?

Xuko wasn't quite sure what to make of the planet called Naboo. He couldn't imagine a more stark difference when compared to the only other planet he remembered, Dathomir. Naboo was serene, idyllic, peaceful, green, and populated with things that didn't want to kill him.

That also made it somewhat boring, in the Zabrak's opinion.

Having eventually gotten kicked out of the healing ward at the Jedi temple in Naboo for being underfoot, Xuko walked around a well-maintained public park, reflecting on the ways in which his life had changed since relocating here with the help of Pari and Master Hama.

The stab wound he'd received had healed, leaving only a faint scar. Pari's considerable skill as a healer could've avoided even that outcome, but Xuko had noticed that scars were not uncommon on his body; and found a strange sense of pride in knowing the story behind even one of them. He'd regained the weight and health he'd lost while trying to fend for himself in the barren wastelands of Dathomir, and the energy weapon that hung on his belt- a lightsaber, he reminded himself- had at least granted him inclusion into the Jedi Order on Naboo.

The memories of his life before waking up on Dathomir, though, had not returned, leaving the Zabrak with more questions than answers. His weapon marked him as a Jedi, there was no record of him working with the Order on Naboo. His dreams were fragmented; consisting of jumbled scenes from a life that he didn't know, further distorted by his subconscious.

And for some reason, there was a bluish spectral man near the edge of a fountain ahead of him. Xuko's pace slowed as he assessed the stranger; powerfully built, dressed in similar robes to the ones Xuko wore. His posture was one of quiet confidence and strength, not unlike the wisest of the Jedi Xuko had engaged with since coming to Naboo. The whole effect was slightly disorienting for Xuko, who simultaneously categorized the man as a level 14/10 on the Danger Scale, yet didn't feel threatened in the least. This man, Xuko finally decided, was dangerous only to his enemies.

But the most curious thing about the man was that nobody else seemed to notice him. Bystanders walked by as if he wasn't even there, occasionally pausing to admire the fountain (which took the form of a Gungan shooting water out of its mouth while seemingly tripping backwards) and at one point even walking right through the man. After staring for a few more seconds to ensure it wasn't a trick of the light or another of the street performers that frequented public parks like this one, Xuko finally decided to approach.

"Who are you?" the Zabrak asked, ignoring sideways glances from a pair of nearby walkers as he seemingly addressed the fountain. One gestured to the plaque near the fountain, which read 'Jar Jar Binks'. Xuko ignored them. "And why am I the only one who can see you?"

Caltin Vanagor Caltin Vanagor
 
He stood, so others might rise. R.I.P.
VVVDHjr.png
I have places to be!
HE’S ON … NABOO
I’M ON WHEREVER



Finally, Jax Thio Jax Thio was moving. He has it in him, but sometimes… okay most of the time needs an ethereal kick in the posterior. Then again, don’t we all sometimes? That was good though because Caltin could finally make a visit to Chrysa, to check in on her when
"Who are you?"... "And why am I the only one who can see you?"

Someone else saw him? Really?

Connel just looked outward and upward, shimmering hands in the air in frustration. I know you have a sense of humor, but come on!”

A moment later, the big ghost of a man finally eyed the young Dathomiri Zabrak. ... someone who doesn’t know who I am… that’s a first… in awhile… Still looking around, annoyed as he was wondering why he was still here, he finally looked back at the depressed kid.

I’m apparently still here because the Force likes to play games with me right now… so since I’m here why don’t you tell me what your issue is.

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TAGS Xuko Pagoi Xuko Pagoi
[Text in Brackets is spoken on Comm-link] ~Like this is through the Force~​
 
Xuko frowned as the man's voice sounded familiar... but try as he might, the fog that clouded his memories prevented him from making a connection. Although his guard was up initially, Xuko sensed that there was a difference between this man and the spectral witches he'd met on Dathomir. For one, this ghost hadn't tried to kill him (yet). Second, rather than demanding that he do something, this man had actually asked him a question. And finally, if the man's utterance to the stars was to be believed, both of them were struggling to make sense of things in their own way. Xuko wasn't certain how much he trusted the Force to have had a hand in this meeting, but decided that there was no sense in being dishonest.

"You are not the only one to be the victim of another's game" the Iridonian replied. "My memories of my life before a couple weeks ago have been stolen. Not knowing my past, I do not know what to do with my future." That was the crux of it, or at least as much as Xuko would admit in the moment.

Curiosity nagged at the Zabrak, though. "Why do you say that the Force is playing games with you?"

Caltin Vanagor Caltin Vanagor
 
He stood, so others might rise. R.I.P.
VVVDHjr.png
I have places to be!
HE’S ON … NABOO
I’M ON WHEREVER



Oh great! Attitude! He clearly did not like the kid snapping back at him, but if he had memory issues, Caltin could understand. There was a time when his mind was wiped, it was painfully frustrating to say the least. That was him at the level of Master. You don’t remember anything at all? Or personal memories

Sizing the kid up, he wondered. Caltin went to enter his mind, nothing deep or invasive but his surface thoughts that would betray one anyway. Are you able to make it to Naboo? Their Order has healers who could potentially help restore your mind. Looking off, he kept pondering.

It was just a phrase. The Force has me here for a reason, you as well. If you cannot make it to Naboo on your own, are you able to contact Lady Chrysothemis Atreides Vanagor? She runs an outreach who could help you. … and is his widow.

pHjD5Dp.png

TAGS Xuko Pagoi Xuko Pagoi
[Text in Brackets is spoken on Comm-link] ~Like this is through the Force~​
 
As Caltin brushed against Xuko's surface thoughts, the prevailing takeaway would be that the Zabrak was... confused.

Xuko blinked twice and glanced quickly around the park, as if to remind his eyes of their surroundings. "We are on Naboo currently" Xuko observed, now wondering if the Force was indeed playing a joke on the two of them. A Zabrak with no memories and a very lost ghost walked into a cantina...

"I have been to the healers at the Jedi temple here" Xuko explained, "but they say they cannot restore what has been taken." A tinge of bitterness colored his voice; not at the healers, but at the one who had done this to him. Or maybe bitterness at himself.

"And no. I do not remember anything." He pushed down the name that threatened to float to his surface thoughts. "Nothing useful." He'd been through similar lines of questioning at the hands of the healers at the temple, and thus decided to change the subject.

"What about you? I am assuming that you are dead, unless you are another form of witch?"

Caltin Vanagor Caltin Vanagor
 
He stood, so others might rise. R.I.P.
VVVDHjr.png
I have places to be!
HE’S ON … NABOO
I’M ON WHEREVER



Sigh Kid. When you become one with the Force, you’re everywhere and nowhere at the same time. You say “We’re on Naboo”, I just see a Dathomiri Zabrak in front of me. Someone took his memories? Why?

Are you able to make it to Naboo? Their Order has healers who could potentially help restore your mind. Looking off, he kept pondering.

I meant, have your personal memories, or general memories been taken? Did you have to learn what and where Naboo is? Did you have to learn what and who you are? Or did you lose memories of growing up?. That is what he meant.

pHjD5Dp.png

TAGS Xuko Pagoi Xuko Pagoi
[Text in Brackets is spoken on Comm-link] ~Like this is through the Force~​
 
That explained a lot. "So you can only see me, and not my surroundings." Xuko thought he understood a little better, now. "The healers at the Jedi temple on Naboo cannot help me." That question was easy to answer. What followed was a little more difficult to describe; not just what had been stolen, but how it had impacted him in the aftermath.

"I have a general sense of who I am, but not why I am this way." He knew, for example, when something felt right or wrong, but not always why he felt the way he did. Similarly, there were areas in which he acted on instinct, but he didn't remember learning those lessons. "I appear to have lost the details of my life before a couple of weeks ago. People, places, names, and experiences... they are all missing. I have not had to re-learn everything, but I do not remember any details. We could have met before and I would not know your face. It is like trying to look back through fog."

To the casual observer, Xuko realized that it probably looked as if he was having a conversation with the fountain. Internally, he shrugged. The pile of credit chits in the bottom of the fountain spoke to far greater superstition than talking to an inanimate object.

"I am told that people often look to the past in order to determine their future. And having no past, I am unsure what that means for me."

Caltin Vanagor Caltin Vanagor
 
He stood, so others might rise. R.I.P.
VVVDHjr.png
I have places to be!
HE’S ON … NABOO
I’M ON WHEREVER



Okay. He was played. They can’t help you… interesting…. More like “won’t”, or gave up on him.

Are you certain that they were “taken” or you simply are dealing with amnesia? It was possible to know the difference. It would also lend more credence to why the “healers” bailed.

If they were “taken”, you have two choices to me. You can spend your life obsessing over getting them back and lose a piece of yourself doing so. Or you can live your life. Not forgetting what happened, but not letting it define and control you. As simple as that.

pHjD5Dp.png

TAGS Xuko Pagoi Xuko Pagoi
[Text in Brackets is spoken on Comm-link] ~Like this is through the Force~[/CENT
ER]
 
"Stolen" Xuko responded, evenly. The witch had told him as much, and the healers had confirmed that it was not amnesia. Xuko's build was that of a fighter, and the scars he bore confirmed as much- even if he didn't remember how he received any of them- so he didn't waste time wondering how this had occurred; he simply accepted it as fact and moved on.

So why did the seemingly simple choice ahead of him- to search for his past or to move on- feel so difficult?

Xuko frowned to himself as he considered that question for a few moments before once again turning his attention back to the ghost.

"Were you ever in a similar situation where you had to choose between your future and your past?"

Caltin Vanagor Caltin Vanagor
 
He stood, so others might rise. R.I.P.
VVVDHjr.png
I have places to be!
HE’S ON … NABOO
I’M ON WHEREVER



Okay so, the kid was now being defensive about what happened to him. I think that the healers have not tried hard enough to help you. He sighed. Especially when the kid seemed to blow off his advice.

Look, I’m just giving you my opinion. You can think about and accept it, or you can ignore it, your choice. Throwing his hands up, he just eyed the kid. Not being judgmental, he didn’t need that now, but Caltin wasn’t going to take it, especially when the kid asked for proof.

Yes. I did. I am obsessed about getting my memories back for about six months. Then I decided “Kark it” and moved on… it was then that things started to happen and they started to come back. Would that work for you? Maybe, maybe not. I wasn’t going to give you false hope. … until forced to.

Hopefully the kid will take the reverse psychology.

pHjD5Dp.png

TAGS Xuko Pagoi Xuko Pagoi
[Text in Brackets is spoken on Comm-link] ~Like this is through the Force~​
 
Xuko felt a rising tide of annoyance well up in him as he recognized the subtle signs of an adult jumping to conclusions about him. The slight shift in the posture, the gaze that lingered just a second too long before flicking away as they thought about what they could say next to make themselves feel as if they'd done all they could for him...

Xuko realized that before he could make a decision about his future or his past, he had to make a decision about this moment; how to respond to this Force ghost.

One option was to release what he was feeling right now- frustration, resentment, and an overall sense of not feeling seen- which, while cathartic, would only play into the ghost's expectations for him.

A second option was to try to explain himself further.

A third option was to walk away and hope that the 'everywhere and nowhere' line from earlier was what humans called a "figure of speech" . Xuko wasn't certain that he could put up with having an invisible friend that only he could see.

In the end, Xuko ended up choosing option 1.5, coloring his response with a word in his native language. "Na'ta'zut!" With visible effort, he exhaled his frustration before speaking further, his tone more calm. "I ask you questions about your life because experience is what separates opinion from advice. I merely wish to know which it is you offer before deciding how to proceed with your suggestions."

Xuko assumed as relaxed of a stance as he could muster in the moment before continuing his line of questioning. "Can you tell me more about how and you lost your memories?"

Caltin Vanagor Caltin Vanagor
 
He stood, so others might rise. R.I.P.
VVVDHjr.png
I have places to be!
HE’S ON … NABOO
I’M ON WHEREVER



Okay so, the kid has an attitude. He’s so worried about being misrepresented that he is doing it to others? Okay. Kid, if you were paying attention, you would have heard what I had just said to you. I answered your question. If it’s not enough for you, I feel bad for you, but that is on you, not me. The big ghost did not like how the kid was acting, but it is not like he was in any control over it.

Stop being so obsessed with doing things your way that if someone gives you an answer you don’t like you blow it off. There was no movement now.

Whatever happened to you, happened to you. There’s nothing you can do to change that. If you can get your memories back, which I hope you do, GREAT. If not you have to learn to live with it. If you’re not enough without this, you’ll never be enough with it. The kid was in a bad spot, sure, but what was he expecting Caltin to do? Magically give them back.

I don’t know when I lost them. I don’t know how I lost them. I don’t even know if I have them all back. I moved on because I had to.

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TAGS Xuko Pagoi Xuko Pagoi
[Text in Brackets is spoken on Comm-link] ~Like this is through the Force~​
 
Xuko ground his teeth in frustration, managing to avoid a particularly-rude phrase in Iridonian escaping his lips. He wasn't quite certain how he and this ghost had gotten on such different wavelengths, but it was doing neither of them any good. Xuko hadn't blown off the ghost's suggestion; he was still very much considering it. He recognized that there were nuggets of wisdom being shared, but all he felt was frustration; and the ghost's replies were doing little to change that. The Zabrak stared off into the distance, counting down from ten and then doing so again before finally turning back to the ghost.

"We are not communicating well" he said, flatly, after the ghost finished speaking. "I do not know exactly where we went awry, but I wish to try again since the Force still has you here for some reason." Xuko did not want to be stuck with this particular angel on his shoulder for the rest of his days. This man could've been one of the greatest mentors and teachers in the galaxy, but the two of them seemed to mix like oil and water. Nonetheless, Xuko forged on.

"So, to recap: My memories have been stolen. You have also had your memories taken at some point, and you do not remember how. Your advice is to move on. Meanwhile, I am curious if there is anything else about your experience that I can learn from." There had been more to the conversation, but Xuko wasn't about to debate intent or semantics with this ghost. Boiling the conversation down to its core points helped him shift his focus away from his feelings about the things the ghost had assumed about him.

The Zabrak fixed the ghost with an even gaze, his face stony. "Is there anything that I missed in my recap, or any further advice you have for me, given that you seem to have experienced a similar challenge?"

Caltin Vanagor Caltin Vanagor
 
He stood, so others might rise. R.I.P.
VVVDHjr.png
I have places to be!
HE’S ON … NABOO
I’M ON WHEREVER



Okay … Kid,I heard you. I heard everything you were saying and I have answered you to the best of my ability. The big ghost did not like how the kid was acting, but it is not like he was in any control over it.

I can’t magically wave my hand and give you what you want if the answers are not there. It was then that while still annoyed, he tried a different approach.

Whatever happened to me happened over 800 years ago. There is nothing I could tell you that you don’t already know. You know that your memories were taken from you, if you need that closure, that resolution… He sighed.

You could try finding out who took them. Or at least why. He wondered how many times he would have to explain this.

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TAGS Xuko Pagoi Xuko Pagoi
[Text in Brackets is spoken on Comm-link] ~Like this is through the Force~​
 

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