Chasing dreams (Open)

[Brooke Waters]

It was kind of funny, it was kind of sad the dreams in which she’s dying… Token barely knew Char-Li, but the comfort from him? The thoughts directed at her? She was feeling a bit better. It wasn’t that she was explicitly nervous about the trial ahead. It seemed pretty simple, and if something came after her? She had enough tricks up her sleeve with the Force to handle them. Not that many but a few. Add to that her thalassophile nature.

She smiled as he asked if she was ready and nodded. “Yeah, I think so.” She bit her lip and stepped into the boat. She loved the water. But this was going to be a bit different. Stepping into the boat, the Witches looked over at Char-Li and nodded.

“You’re permitted your armor, but no extra weapons.” They clearly knew that the Mando Armor was part of the being. As for Token? She was, well, she had the Force. And that was about it. She was sitting down as the boat paddled out. It wasn’t a long trip, but she was watching the way the shoreline was, things dropped, they had to be at nearly 20 meters depth where they were. “Witch first, then you will have your go, Mando.”

Token looked at Char-Li and gave him a quick smile. Standing up she tied her mass of blonde hair into a messy bun to keep it from going… well everywhere. She pulled her tanktop up quickly and looked at the witches for confirmation. Token basically lived in a swim suit, so, it never really bothered her. With the affirmative nod, she dove in.

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

Char-Li followed Token rather carefully and entered the boat, causing it to rock a bit but never the less, it settled. He nodded at the leader's commands and took off his katana, carbine, and side-arm and set it down on the boat's floor before wrapping them in his cloak, revealing more of his armor. He sat down then looked up at Token, "Just remember, keep calm and look for air bubbles," he advised, not really helped, "And if you find yourself running out of air, let some from your lungs."

This was general knowledge, nothing too major, but every little bit would help. He took his helmet off and blinked the sun from his eyes before observing the water. It was all great, better than the swamps on Dagobah, nothing there could be seen. The second you touch water, everything crawls to you. Char-Li hated it because of the amount of wildlife and having to push through it wasn't something he liked to do.

He seemed anxious and almost wanted to do this, despite most people who would under take something like this for someone they just met.

[member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

As they were heading out to the site, she was watching as the Mando Char-Li removed his weapons. She idly wondered how that felt for him. She knew that she had weapons, in some other when and where, and that it bothered her to lose them. Her whole life was in her shuttle, and most things that were important were in a bag, and she hated the thought of losing that. She couldn’t think of losing her belongings. Not that it was major, but there were knick-knacks from home, and from Sindy, and from her travels. She was okay being in the water while Char-Li was able to keep an eye on things. It gave her a bit of comfort.

The water was also not bad. It was sunny and the world lacked pollution. It was clean here. She smiled when he gave her a tip. “I’ll be fine.” She nodded, her hair already fixed up.

When she hit the water, she dove down for a moment before surfacing again. Running her hand through her hair and retying her ponytail, she looked at the witches, all very unenthused. She gave Char-Li a smile and a thumbs up, a few bracelets and her waterproof chrono on her wrist. Nodding she took a few breathes, to saturate her lungs before holding her breath and diving down. A few kicks and she could see the cave. Pulling the Force inwards, she was working on slowing her need for oxygen. It wouldn’t do well for her to get down there…

But there were a few caves… right, with air pockets. Three? She could do that. Swimming to the first, she took a deep breath. Looking around she nodded, moss. Plants made oxygen from carbon dioxide. Good! The cave was empty. What was the challenge here?

Making sure that she pushed herself? Getting to the end, she found the cave with the rocks, several glowing, warm rocks. Was that the Force? It’d be interesting to see what Char-Li noticed of them. She grabbed on that called to her, a dark purple color and smiled, holding it in her hand. That was when things changed. She could feel a small shift in the cave and something was coming out of the water. Biting her lip, she turned to it. What was it? Some sort of aquatic rancor?

She took a step back as it came at her, she almost tripped over the rocks. She knew that this would decide which path she took. It just had that feeling. She reached her arm forward, extending her Force aura. She could feel the purpose of the creature, it wanted her. It wanted her in the worst of ways. With that, she knew she couldn’t control the beast. She shook her head, calling the Force back to her. She could feel it vibrating within her before she looked. Throwing her hand forward, she sent a shockwave of vibrating sonic energy at the beast, knocking it back and into a wall before she ran, diving into the water.

The mix of adrenaline and super saturation from breathing didn’t allow her to stop her swim, but when she surfaced, her lungs were burning. Coming from the water. She held the rock up as the Witches tossed her a rope. Climbing into the boat she looked at Char-Li, still struggling for air, but getting close.

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

Char-Li immediately helped Token into the boat, relaxing when he saw that his friend had survived. He eyed the rock before settling Token on the boat. He almost instinctively drew his blaster to aim toward the water but he knew it'd just look silly, since he didn't have his weapons. Blast, he felt rather empty without his weapons.

"You okay?"

If there was something in the water, Char-Li wouldn't really be able to see it until he used his helmet. Should he? No, he'll just use his eyes and move since Token didn't have anything. He knew how to swim and sort of feel his way through the water. This was all due to a diving expedition somewhere in the outer-rim, not too sure as to specifically where. There's some things you can prepare for and other things you can't.

"My turn, tell me if I beat you time, okay?" He asked with a joke before jumping into the water with his feet together. He used the time to exhale, empty his lungs completely before inhaling. His armor helped with the sinking portion, as he wasn't entirely buoyant. He swam toward the cave, using one of his wrist lights to ignite the way to. Air pockets, he could hope that Token used these. He swam up, taking up the air pockets before diving once more and searching for the rocks that was almost no-where in the bare cave. He saw the purple glow from the rocks and immediately took on up, all before something seemed to have grabbed his leg.

Blast. That's no good

He pulled his leg to his chest, causing him to come up to the beast's hand. He felt himself dragged out the cave, still gripping the rock however; which was a surprise even to him. He used one of his hands to activate the wrist blade before cutting himself free, causing him to tumble a bit. He gripped the rock even tighter as he knew the beast would come back, so he began to kick harshly toward the surface, breaking through with a gasp of relief as he felt air come into his lungs.

He came up to the boat and took up the rope before coming over and into the bow, laying flat as he held the rock close to his body.

[member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

Nodding, she was catching her breath. She was fine, a bit winded but definitely fine. It was a bit exciting, wasn’t it? She looked over at the two witches that were also on the boat. They were smiling this time. That was a new trick. Maybe it was because she had the rock? That could do it. A good thing. She smiled at Char-Li as he finished preparing. “You’re on!” She laughed as he dove into the water. She had her wrist chrono still, so at least there was that. She could still tell the time.

She worked on catching her breath and recentering herself. She didn’t have a doubt that Char-Li would return fine, he was a tough guy, half the reason she didn’t fight him. And he had that armor. She always envied the Mandolorians of their armor, and the Obsidian Order… Maybe she’d talk to her cousin about getting armor built for her. That would be nice, help whatever nation she decided was going to be her home. She even had a design for it.

She slowly got up when the witches noticed Char-Li coming back. Standing out of their way, she let them toss the rope out before taking a seat near the bow. As the warrior got himself into the boat, she smiled and checked her time. “I think you might’ve beat me!”

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

"I was--" He hacked up a bit of water before brushing his hair from his face, "I was a few seconds off, there's a thing in the water that almost snatched me all the way under." It wasn't an everyday thing that a Mandalorian or anyone in Char-Li's spectrum that could catch him off guard like that, let alone come near to killing him. He took the stone from his pouch, holding it against the sun, "But I managed to snag one of these."

The rock was beautiful, if he was a opportunistic sadist, he would've gotten two and hid one, but he wasn't greedy or into anything too monetary. He'd rather take up knowledge, a long lasting lesson of something specific in his life that's rather relevant to what's happening now.

"I think these would be great in jewelry, well, not the stones, they seem to have more worth in another use than meaningless jewelry; but the color and such would be great. It'd suit you actually." This was a way of Char-Li semi-flirtatiously complimenting Token. Char-Li never flirts often and he only does so with someone he can trust. It means a lot coming from a man like him.

[member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

She smiled at him and nodded. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. Her long blonde hair was soaked with the salt water and she tried to run her hand through it, get it off her face, but it really was a knotty mess right now. Her fingers caught on a snag and her brown eyes looked up and over at her hand, shaking her head. Token did manage to get her hands through the snag, but… well, it was less than pleasant. “I think there was something waiting, for the trial…” She nodded, looking at him with a smile.

She noticed he had one of the rocks and was still wondering if the purple was an illusion or if they really were that pretty. Hers was tucked safely aside, wrapped in her shirt that she took off before diving in the water. Yeah, if Token didn’t need to wear clothes, she wasn’t going to be wearing clothes. Her mind never even went to selling the stones, just figuring they were more trinkets for the Clan.

The blonde couldn’t help but blush at his next statement. The trick, or coincidental bit of it was, that her parents had given her a ring with an amethyst in it when she turned sixteen. She typically wore that every day, it was safe in her footlocker aboard her ship, as special pieces didn’t get worn when she was doing something that she had no idea what it was going to entail, like greeting witches. “Maybe it will!” She smiled, taking a second to look at the witches. “I think we’re ready.” And they’d start to bring them to shore again.

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

Char-Li nodded softly before sitting up and looking over at the water, curling his feet up to his chest plate, since his body was practically shelled in the armor. He liked the way the water moved and looked whenever he was traveling and always took the time to admire its beauty before slipping over to work. This was going to be fun, hopefully once the trail is complete, he could paint this tribe's symbol as a part of his tribute onto his armor. Of course he had the Mandalorian symbol, Grand Army of the Republic (A bit faded but still visible), and a few other odds and ends that were left and added.

"You have family in the system or are you a wanderer?" It was a legitimate question too, not that it really mattered, but he was truly curious. He always asked people about themselves and never truly forgets a person.

He has no family, no one to call when he's in a pickle. He was the loner type at times, no companion or otherwise. There was something about having another body to take care of that seemed rather foreign to him. Then again, he didn't have much experience with people. So when he goes out of his way to spark conversation other than business, no matter the topic, it means he's grown an attachment of some sort. It wasn't rare nor common, at least lately it isn't.

[member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

The ocean was that one environment where Token always felt at home. Rumor was that her family, the Starchasers on her maternal side, and the Waters on her paternal side both used to be explorers, not only adventurers in space, but were some of the first families to launch sailing vessels on Corellia’s seas. That meant that as much as she loved space, it was the sea that were her first love, or at least, it could be viewed as such. And even Dathomir had seas, and they were… feral. That was interesting, and terrifying, just how like… crazy they could be. She smiled as she looked at Char-Li.

“Nope, no one nearby. Just a wanderer. Working odd jobs here and there, making my way around the galaxy.” Sort of. It wasn’t that far from the truth, was it?

Not far enough where she was afraid to state it. She had Marek and the rest of the Starchaser clan if she needed them, but with her immediate family gone and her brother lost at the breaking of Corellia, she had to find her own way around the galaxy. “I’ve been kind of just… looking for myself.” Hence why she was here. She ran her hands over the smooth rock and nodded.

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

Char-Li nodded, he knew the feeling all too well, seeing as his entire life after the last part of his 'normal' life was his 'father'. He too didn't have any sort of family of any sort, in reality it's just a small problem in a big galaxy. Family meant responsibility and obligations if he were to become more involved.

"Then for the future: Force cuyir ti gar. Jii bal venucuyot." May the force be with you. For now and the future. "Anything planned after this?" He asked, scratching his chin before sliding his helmet onto his head.

Of course, there was a lot he'd say in Mando'a, if no one understood it, he'd tell them what it meant when he sees they're ready, never going to see them again, or in death. But now, in his gut, there was a strange feeling. No it's not entirely physical, but something was wrong. He's somewhat entrusting of everything now, the Witches, Token, all of it; that's weird for Char-Li.

[member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

When her home life had been good, it was very good. But with the way the galaxy was changing? It was hard to believe. What she really knew in life was gone, destroyed, converted. She hadn’t made a pilgrimage home yet, but she would. She had to. It was her homeworld, after all. Why would she not swing back by Corellia? See if she could do anything to help anyone. But that was… she would go when she had time. She was already taking time off to come here…

She smiled when he spoke in his Mando language. That was a nice thing to say, and hopefully the Force would be with her. She watched as the Witches pulled the boat towards the shore, slowly, but surely. “After this? I’m not sure. I do have to get back to my job, flying vanguard for cruise liners…” Bright Star was a good company.

“How about you?” She looked off toward the beach almost expectantly.

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

"Drift off into the galaxy, probably find some where to settle down and be old in when the time comes. Other than that, drift and take up odd jobs, probably find another force wielder like yourself and probably see whether or not they'd kill me."

Char-Li's life wasn't really the most high-octane at times, it's revolving around either waiting or running, both of which he's rather good at doing. There wasn't much to it either, aside from the running where he's come accustomed to the whole hidding and such. But with that, Char-Li kind of wanted something more for his life, whatever it was, he was still waiting for it. For now he was just another bounty hunter with a Fett face and a two letter-by-four number clone.

He felt outcasted. Alone.

Loneliness sucked too. That's the only thing that forced Char-Li to bounty hunting, just so he could find something to do other than wait.

"But with all the force training, I'd thought you'd go to become a jedi?"

[member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

She bit her lip and looked at him. The blonde tilted her head and her straggly (Thanks, salt water) hair fell to the side in a… well matte. Not some awesome blonde waterfall. She was going to need a shower. And conditioner. She always did when she out of the ocean. Growing old was one thing, but hunting people that might try to kill him? That was something else. She didn’t figure how that would be a smart idea. Shaking her head, she looked at him.
“Why go hunting troubles?” Granted, this is from the girl who made a point to come out to the world of Dathomir to learn from a clan of Witches.

“The Jedi are a bit… intense? So are the Sith, I’ve stopped around the galaxy trying to find my place. And right now? Learning from the witches seems like a good place to continue. Maybe it’s where I’ll find what I’m after, maybe its not…” She shrugged and looked to him. The blonde just wanted to find a place to fit, and she knew that she always could make it work in the space lanes.

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

Char-Li shrugged, "I'm not really built for anything else, Token."

The truth was is he'd never try to live anything other than killing because kill is all he knew and he was great at it. But he couldn't help but think about what life would be like, waking up to the smell of a house, a woman, and hearing children instead of smelling blaster burn, oil, and barrels of fuel. But it didn't really matter or did it? Char-Li didn't really know what to think or how to feel with the entire situation, seeing as finding anyone would be unlikely considering that no one shared his background or anything.

"Maybe you should be some sort of lightsaber guard. I think with your force powers it'd do you just fine."

Lightsabers weren't something Char-Li enjoyed being around, which is why he keeps a Cortosis katana around incase some maniac with one comes to try and chop his face and head and body and legs off; not necessarily in that order. There wasn't much Char-Li didn't prepare for, other than fixed marriages, ewoks, and the occasional drunken woman who hits on him just for a one-night stand.

[member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

See? That was really sad for her! Who would be able to live with being created? It was like being a droid, but… you could think. You had thoughts, dreams, goals, aspirations… You had to chase your heart, and that was definitely something that Token did. She always had goals. And right now? They were learning all that she could about the galaxy around her! And she was started to do it. Really, she’d been doing it for like… a while. It was really sad that others just had existed for a purpose and not one of their own choosing.

Finding someone to match you was important, but it wasn’t the only thing. Look at her and SIndy, however she and the technomancer were… They were very different but they had their thing, and it was important. And it wasn’t that they had all that many similarities in life, but it worked.

“I don’t know about a lightsaber. I mean, my family is a Force family and they have them… but I don’t think its really… me?” She shrugged a bit as they came up to land, she looked at Char-Li and offered to allow him to step off the boat first. She was all wet and skin drying with the salt water. A mess.

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

Char-Li shook his hand and gestured for the opposite, her to go first. He never truly had any sort of flirtation-ship or anything of the sort, not even close to having a friendship that's lasted for more than a term of a mission. He wasn't really one to make too many friends, but it didn't matter too much. Char-Li was a mere wanderer at this point.

"Well, then maybe something that can compliment your force powers. Like a small carbine or a high-output blaster."

[member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

Token made friends. She made a lot of friends. Most situations were basic, and people came in and out of her life, and consequently other, more specific parts, but they were always still friendly. She was the type to sometimes manipulate people, but if they were going to help her out based purely on her looks? Then that was their fault! She could sleep fine with that knowledge. But Char-Li… he didn’t kill her and really, she wondered if his being here helped her or not.

With the Witches, with everything.

She slowly got from the boat and nodded. “Maybe!”

And that was when the witches came over. They saw they both had a stone and nodded. The leader spoke. “Come with me.” And indicated a tent.

Field trip?

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

Char-Li saw the witch and quickly jumped down, midway to holstering his blasters in their respective spots. He locked them in their holsters, meaning that he felt that there was immediately threat around or nearby. That may be true, but that didn't mean that the Mando'a warrior was completely unarmed. It just meant that he didn't want to seem like he was still completely armed.

"And this is where the fun begins," he muttered under his breath.

Something big was about to happen, he could feel it, not because of the force or any mystical voodoo like that. No, it was intuition; intuition that he had developed for more than he can count right now.

Was he really going to go through all of this? It would've been easier to just blast the girl when he had the chance, take her hostage, or just hack the ship himself. Well, if he didn't dictate by his own moral code, he might've, but it wasn't like him. He helped her for his personal gain, if he made friends with her, that's a plus, but in reality it was to get off the planet. If she needed wanted his accompaniment he'd gladly repay her for taking him off the planet, but otherwise, he'd go on his merrier way. There wasn't much to the life other than wander around.

He could feel something screaming in the back of his head however, oh that's right; a familiar voice.

"When you're in the galaxy, I need you to remember, if anything, this: Never trust a stranger, but rely on the help of those you know. Strangers are just people you've yet to meet, so meet them."

Father's last words. Ouch.

[member="Token Waters"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

Token wasn’t sure what was going on. She knew that there probably had to be an end in sight. She was going to have to report to the rest of the galaxy shortly, but until then? She still had some time, and wanted to get in with the training of her Witch skills, if that was what was going to happen. Or like… deal with the situation that was going to arise.

The petite blonde followed the Witches and looked back at Char-Li. She gave him a smile and a shrug, she really had no idea what was going on. It wasn’t like it could go that bad. It was a nice area, it wasn’t like she was at a deserted waystation in some desert waiting for a hero. The Force on this world was so hard to read. It was so… alive. So wild!

As for trusting people? Token did. Only so far that they were useful. When they started to not become useful, well, the girl was a siren-in-training, she’d handle it her way. With noise. And her voice. One way or the other, right?

“We were watching you, the seers here, as you both completed this trial. Its relatively simple, but we want to see if you have the makings of what would make you useful to our Clan. What is it you are looking to learn from the Blue Coral Divers?” She looked first to Char-Li, then to Token.

[member="Char-Li Luzerei"]

 

[Teh_Asian]

Char-Li looked at the leader witch rather surprised. What did he want to learn from the Blue Coral Divers? Actually, believe it or not, a lot. He really loved the whole thing about superstitions that come from the tribes he's visited before. He liked learning about the cultures, about the way of life and how to incorporate that into his life now. There wasn't too much about it, but even though this may be a rather generic answer, he's full through with this response.

"I intend on learning anything and everything you teach me. I intend on learning your cultures, mannerisms, and the rituals you perform."

Was it true? Yes. 100% Yes.

[member="Token Waters"]