Private Crossing Paths

[Aida Aquila]

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The woods of Serenity’s Glade were quiet.

But that did not mean the trees had nothing to say. Aida Aquila knew this quite well, and she listened to the hushed silence with an open ear. It was like words being held behind closed lips. A shadow formed in her mind and her icy eyes shifted towards the distance -- someone was coming.

However, she did not alert the Jedi guardians, not yet.

Her slender hand paused, the wooden spoon clutched gently in her palm stopped just before being lowered into the steaming pot of soup. Their evening meal was one of the Sephi's specialties, honed over the years, yet different each time she made it. One of the young Knights perched on a log noticed the Master’s faraway look. “Master Aquila, is there something wrong?”

“Oh,” she said, offering an aloof smile. “Do not be alarmed-- but I believe we shall have a visitor. Here, stir this for me, please.”

Handing the Knight the spoon, Aida rose gracefully and began to walk. Bare feet traveled silently, and the light hem of her white robes swept against the forest floor. The Sephi woman had only recently made the Glade her home -- and the home of many that traveled and studied the ways of the light-- it was concealed quite well here within the heart of the woods. Even one looking for it might pass it by.

However, there were aspects that could not be hidden so easily. Aida made no effort to dim her light-sided presence. But she would protect this place; this place of light and healing.

With the main camp behind her, she stood in a peaceful clearing by the tree line. Closing her eyes, she reached out with the force. Anyone nearby would feel a definite change -- a static spark -- in the air around them. As Aida’s lips moved wordlessly, a voice would ring out through the force: “Traveler, why have you come to this place?”

If the answer came through the force, she would know. Likewise, if it came by a voice -- she would hear.

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

C O N S T E R N A T I O N​

Wearing: ~ x ~​

Tag: Aida Aquila​

Damsy hadn't stopped moving since Gamorr.​

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Certainly, she hadn't lay down to rest. The shifter half of her didn't have to - for its mind rested in rotation instead of at once - but she hadn't pushed her body to such extreme since her first time leaving home. The coattails of something had been dangling in front of her face ever since. Hitching rides with strangers were stumbling steps on a path she could only faintly feel rather than see. ​

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It was truly as if someone had turned off a light she had gotten all too used to seeing by. Even her natural affinity for navigating deep in the Kaminoan panthalassa couldn't help her through this. Likewise, nor did accustom to the abyssal pressure. Her ears began to ring. And her eyes dried. And she felt her pulse over her forehead. What could exert more pressure than hundreds of meters of stormy water? She had days ago begun to dread the answer.​

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The Force had finally found her en masse. Perhaps she had been pulling on it, taking only one or two pieces or powers - the practices of tapas and cryokinesis - as she saw fit, for too long, and the entire thing had come on like a dreadful tsunami.​

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She had been all intention to pass over the unassuming forest planet that she now found herself on, but landing upon her skin gave the woman pause. All the way, from there to here, the personality that had taken over Damsy's true form whispered, hissed, growled in her head. Always threats, reverse affirmations, abuses, but every breeze through these leaves reduced the predatory siren within to a confused tadpole trying to dig her way out of her host stomach. The experience was as unpleasant as it sounded, but instead of driving Damsy to her knees in a pool of vomit, she swam steadily on upon her two feet.​

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Until suddenly there was more. She stopped. The stomachache Syreni had caused morphed and garnered intensity similar to what Ala Quin had stirred in her when this all began. Another wave of it: a sithspawn's aversion to the Light. After it came the words of an unseen woman.​

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Damsy didn't know how to respond but with her voice. "I-" She stepped back, physically bracing for the uproar Syreni rose whenever Damsy went against her wishes. And Damsy was as certain she didn't want her to be here as instinct told her where the saberjowl's soft point along its body was. But nothing came. "It's quiet here. She's not angry." Syreni was always angry, if she could be heard or not. "O-or less. Less angry.​

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"Please let me stay for a while. I need her out of my head."​

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She sounded more like the mother of a colicky baby than a sithspawn with a split personality.​

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[Aida Aquila]

Aida canted her head to the side slightly, listening. The voice that answered hesitated, but the words came. They spoke of anger. As she sensed the visitor in the force, she did not find any malice – fear, perhaps, but no desire to harm this place or its inhabitants. The trees around them seemed to breathe a great sigh of relief.

Stepping out from her place, she allowed the other woman to see her. The blonde Sephi stood framed between the trees, emanating a strong presence that gave off warmth. Piercing blue eyes found Damsy Callat , and the faint hint of a smile did, too.

The Jedi Master surrounded herself with the light for a reason – she was not fond of the dark. However, even if there was something of a taint around this other woman, she would not turn away a plea for solace. And, there was something very different about this visitor.

“You may stay with us,” Aida answered with a nod. “This is a place of peace and rest and healing; we tolerate no violence.” She would have given this warning to anyone, light or dark, that entered the Glade. “My name is Aida Aquila,” she said. “Come with me...” the Sephi punctuated her words with a questioning glance and a definite pause for the visitor to fill in her name.

“Tell me,” she continued after a moment. “Are you hungry?”

 

[Damsy Callat]

C O N S T E R N A T I O N​

Tag: Aida Aquila​

She dare not admit it aloud, but she was sick of fighting anyway.

She gave the Jedi master a sincere nod instead, and then she did open her mouth. Her name danced off her tongue and sizzled in the air, where it melted into the elvish woman's Light. "...Damsy," the sithspawn offered in the way of her own introduction before picking up her heavy legs and trudging after Aida. "It's Damsy." The strides weren't getting any easier as her momentum built, but what was getting stronger was the pulse of bright light illuminating the forest in her mind's eye. Perhaps closer was a more apt adjective. Each strand of autonomous sunlight seeped into her soul. Syreni wanted to swim from them and Damsy herself run, but she was more afraid of the squaloid than she could ever be of the Light.

"I am," she added.

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[Aida Aquila]

“Damsy,” Aida repeated and gave a small nod. “Well met, then, Damsy.”

And the Sephi added an enigmatic smile as she glanced sidelong at her new companion. The tranquil woods seemed to sprawl on and on, but eventually, there would be a glimpse of a settlement. Jedi guards peered across the distance at the stranger entering their home with Aida, but a simple glance from the Sephi seemed to be enough to keep them at bay.

Ahead, there was also a campfire with a circle of stumps for sitting. The lone Jedi at the fire bowed as they approached, but was quick to step to the edges of the clearing – to watch from afar. Aida motioned for Damsy to sit by the fire and motioned towards a pot of clear water, a ladle, and a stack of small wooden cups that sat next to it. Meanwhile, she took up two clay bowls and scooped two servings of the hearty stew. It was nourishing, yes, but there was something more to Aida's cooking. Her soup was in harmony with the force – no matter the ingredients – it tasted different to everyone, depending on their own balance. For Aida, it was always savory with a hint of sweetness. For some, that found themselves out of balance, the taste was awful.

“Here,” Aida said, setting a bowl and spoon down on a stump next to Damsy, so she could eat at her leisure. “Eat, and we shall find you a suitable quarters for your stay.”

There were dwellings both on the ground and high in the trees.

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy situated herself around the fire far away from the water vessel. She didn't have any salt on her to counteract her freshwater allergy. Still, she smiled, but the grin was weary and grim. Of an individual who didn't really want to be where she was. But her blood had already congealed in her legs where she sat, effectively restricting her physical escape like holobinders might.

Not having much else to do, she took up the soup bowl and utensil. Maybe eating would afford her some small bit of energy? She blew gently on a spoonful of the Master's recipe before bringing it to her mouth. Her face immediately, impulsively, screwed up, but she managed to finish chewing the bite and politely swallow.

Out of balance all right - if anyone in this galaxy was, it would be her.

As Aida spoke about living arrangements, Damsy glanced up into the trees around her. She noticed the two choices. "I...should probably be away from your people," she suggested, remembering the recent horrors of Gamorr and the further history of Dagobah. Storm clouds dark and heavy with unspent rain pulled across her aura as she thought on them. Both were equally troubling, traumatic.

Aida Aquila