Private Deep Black Sea: Longjump

[Loxa Visl]

Though not the first time Loxa had taken a trip beyond the known galaxy, it was certainly one of the longest. As a creature of the stars for the last thirty odd years, her star-legs adjusted better than some. As a lead Survival Tech, she'd spent the last few hours making her way about the lengths of the massive ship, pausing here and there to help others who were not so well prepared for such a journey.

The black tailring found Tilon Quill first, snaking its way along the ceiling, claws clacking and scraping across sheet metal. Beady golden eyes blinked down from the tangle of shadows that crossed around support beams. Loxa was not far behind her pet.

"Young Quill," she said in recognition of the colorful man, and approached calmly, one palm smoothly following the handrail until it met one of his and moved to cover it. A rough but warm gesture.

"It is much," Loxa placed her other hand carefully at the center of his back should Tilon not flinch away, "to go far from home. Think not of there," a level energy began to reverberate slowly, back and forth through his being between her hands, like the smooth and rhythmic waves of a serene beach at low tide, "think of here. What can A Man hear, what can A Man smell."

She leaned in, "Feel breath of lung. In," Loxa inhaled slowly, the energy she exuded followed, "out." Exhaled slowly.

 

[Tilon Quill]

The analyst in Tilon tried putting words to what Loxa Visl did and got shushed as counterproductive. The more Tilon matched his breathing to hers, the more deeply he was aware of the resonance between her hands on his hand and his back, the more he internalized and responded to the grounding, clarifying influence of...whatever that technique might be.

No, not anything as shallow as technique. An intent. She brought him steadiness and made him a partner in that effort, and did it all as a matter of course. He'd known more than a few Jedi Masters. This wasn't how they would or could have calmed him.

"Who are you?" he said, looking away from the galaxy, from the sight that was no longer pulling him under.

 

[Loxa Visl]

His breath steadied beneath her palm at his back and she felt the grip of his hand beneath her own loosen just so. The cling of desperation abated and Loxa smiled easily, helping him along with a few more slow breaths, a few more slow waves until he finally let go of his spiral and looked at her.

There, that was better. She withdrew her hands like a parent carefully releasing a child on their first ride without training wheels, hoping they'd find their own balance through the continued momentum of effort. The Witch no longer wore her sunglasses, now feeling secure enough to tuck them over the hem of her shirt collar. Her easy expression persisted under the weight of what felt like a heavy question.

Ah, but she'd never introduced herself. Had his father not recalled her name? Not that it mattered much. She was no one of consequence.

"This One is Loxa Visl," Loxa answered simply, "Eldari sa Dat'omir." An Elder Witch of Dathomir. That was all.

 

[Tilon Quill]

"No, I caught your name before, I mean..."

He stumbled over what he was trying to ask and whether it was a good idea. Because he'd known a couple Witches of Dathomir, and their relationship to the Force had as much in common with Loxa's simple, elegant approach as a flying fish had with a firaxa. Dathomiri elder she might be, but that wasn't all she was. Not by a fucking mile.

But she'd helped him, and he wasn't about to repay that by sticking his nose where it didn't belong. She'd said Dathomiri; he'd operate on that basis. He wouldn't push.

"Thank you for helping me get my balance," he said at last, shifting into a slower and more deliberate register. He'd made the mistake of excited rambling earlier, and she hadn't understood; she'd withdrawn a little, if he'd understood that moment right. He gestured at the faraway galaxy in the panoramic window. "I didn't think it would affect me so much."

 

[Loxa Visl]

Slow and clear words found silent but strong appreciation. Loxa listened intently, nodded in response to his thanks after a moment, then took a few moments more to think on how to respond to his last. Turning to face the expanse of windows and the dim canvas of stars far beyond, she leaned her elbows against the rail and considered their destination. The literal, the spiritual, the figurative.

It was terrifying but exciting.

"Yes," she said, gesturing to their home galaxy, "many have...big fear. It is right. Here is different. Strange. This One feel the heartbeat of here and is ... quiet."

She had concerns about it. The quiet she could feel, but she could not discern if it was the quiet of a sleeping system, or the quiet of one laying in wait.

 

[Tilon Quill]

This One feel the heartbeat of here and is ... quiet."

The Force did feel different here, he realized: so little life for so, so far around. The few hundred or few thousand aboard — he couldn't remember the crew compliment — were hardly a biosphere.

"Until I was twelve, I lived in a Sith academy. A very loud place. The people who rescued me took me to quiet places. Hoth, Jakku, Pagodon." He laughed under his breath, thinking of lost opportunities. Lives, relationships, that could have been. "I missed the noise. But whenever I visit the big Jedi temples, it's like I'm right back with the Sith. I can't take the noise. I like the quiet now. I can learn to like this quiet."

It was his imagination, of course — the Longjumper's Mark was at sublight just now — but that small galaxy seemed to get smaller the longer he looked.

 

[Kairon Rees]

Two voices drifted up the corridor. The first of them was familiar.

"You'll see stress fractures like that on any ship, trust me."

"That's the issue Kairon, I don't."

"If you had the readings on those structures from before we launched..."

"But we don't, so we have to assume they are now."

The second voice was clipped and professional. It was also impatient. Around the Cromer came Dejjick Karn. Bridge crew and known to be a former imperial officer. Not that anyone confirmed such things. Behind him marched Kairon, glowering at his back.

"Or...we could assume anyone who's ever looked at a ship bigger than a frigate with a micron scanners knows that you get..."

"Go and have the science team investigate please," Dejjick ordered, accelerating to put Kairon in his wake.