Deeper Conversations

[Ran Aohki]

Varonat
Tropis-on-Varonat


One would have thought that after such a long time she would have already returned to Endor, at least to pay a little visit. It was not that she did not miss her home-world, her family or friends. The reason why she had not yet found herself aboard a shuttle back home was that her eyes had still so much to see. Whenever the idea crossed her mind of going back, something else crossed her path and it lured her in, keeping her away for longer than she had originally intended. Ran had come to the conclusion that everything, every place had its particular wonder, the details that made it unique and that the young woman meticulously tried to find, so that each new location would burn a specific memory in her mind.

But today, particularly, the guilt for not returning sooner to her people knotted a tight lace in her heart. Varonat was, in many ways, similar to Endor. The small space-port of Tropis-on-Varonat, the people who seemed to know each other, the small market and the tall trees. If she closed her eyes and allowed her imagination to turn the tropical vegetation into a less humid one, the bridges built from tree to tree by the Ewoks... Ran could have led herself to believe she was home. A soft glint of warm remembrance lighted her green eyes for a moment, she cherished her memories deeply but she had also learnt to not dwell too much in day-dreams.

Her pace was calm and graceful as she made her way through the colorful market of the small city. Tents, blankets and tables with cloths created the scenario for the makeshift sale posts as the vendors loudly advertised their merchandise. Given the warmer, humid climate of Varonat Ran had opted to wear a simple, thin kimono-dress of a light, creamy color that contrasted with the darker shade of brown of the obi around her waist. It was breathable and comfortable, keeping the heat at bay. The only thing that contrasted with the peaceful, calm appearance of the young woman was the pair of twin blades that rested inside their sheaths, strapped to the lower back of the woman by the very same obi that defined the waist of the kimono. She would have usually carried the swords on her back, cross-shaped but she believed that this would have called even more unwanted attention seeing as how in that way, they would have also been visible from the front.

The green eyes of the mute suddenly stopped at one of the sale posts table. Delicately displayed on a white piece of cloth were a set of herbs and seeds, native to the jungles of Varonat. An old lady sat behind in a chair behind the table, under the shadow provided by the tent as her small, wrinkled eyes examined Ran. "Where you looking for anything in particular, little one?"​ the woman asked, eliciting a warm smile from Ran at the endearing nickname by which the lady had addressed her. However, the only answer she could give was pointing at the thin, long scar marring the skin of her throat. The scar had not been the reason she had lost her voice, but it had served its purpose well to make people take notice of her condition.

The lady looked at Ran in confusion for a few seconds, squinting her eyes to better see what the girl was pointing at. To the amazement of the Endorian, the lady immediately responded by lifting her soft hands, filled with the traces of age and moving them in a succession of signs she could easily understand. The lady knew sign language and Ran was glad to know this interaction would be far easier than most were. Ran replied with her own succession of signs, which ended by softly hovering her index finger over a neatly tied bundle of green herbs with small, light-yellow flowers. The lady nodded and carefully placed the bundle inside a small bag made of simple white cloth. After buying them, Ran gave an appreciative nod with her head as her good-bye and softly started walking again. The market was not a crowded place, but with such a small amount of people living here that was to be expected.

[member="Zul Grimm"]

 

[Soundwave]

Location | Tropis-On-Varonat
Objective | Standby
Company | [member="Ran Aohki"]

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The lush world of Varonat was unspoiled as was its port city of Tropis-On-Varonat; so at peace and filled with such positive vibes. None would have ever suspected a dark presence to be in such a place, especially given its non-existent history of posing a problem to the First Order, yet here a Disciple of Ren was, hidden amongst the people in plain sight...Watching, waiting, searching for any signs of rebellion or trouble that may be stirred up. The enigmatic Zul remained hidden from line of sight, keeping to the shadows of the trees. He had briefly sensed something through the Force; neither that of a Jedi or a Sith, but somewhere in between. Curious, but something worth taking caution for as he masked his own presence. Whether he was sensed about the same time he had found another gifted in the Force or not, anyone within proximity would notice that presence vanished from the realm of perception.

Zul would move from above, just beneath the canopy of trees as he watched the scattered people moving about their usual business. Zul had no reason to suspect that anything suspicious was occurring and under normal circumstances would have left to move on to the next planet. However, the new presence he had sensed had given him interest enough to investigate and deal with, forcefully or peacefully. He moved in silence, invisible to plain sight as he continued to approach closer to the presence he had sensed, his robes trailing behind him. He would find himself in an alley between buildings as he peeked his head from the corner in the direction that the Force guided him.

There stood a young woman, no older than perhaps her early to mid-twenties, interacting with an older woman who was signing to the younger woman. Zul would tilt his head, his face veiled in shadows as he watched them sign to one another before the younger woman departed with a small bundle of herbs. He moved like a shadow as he trailed after her from an elevated position, waiting for her to be secluded from the locals before reaching out to her. " You do not have the presence of a Sith...And I was unaware of a Jedi being bold enough to enter the First Order's influence...So...What are you, young one? " It would be made abundantly clear that this was no voice calling to her from any direction around her, but rather in her mind as he reached out through telepathy. He was still nowhere to be seen and nowhere to be felt as his voice seemed to echo from everywhere.

 

[Ran Aohki]

The soft, humid breeze played around her person, softly waving the looser ends of her sleeves and the hems of her dress, dancing through the very long strands of her hair that, free from any constriction, fell some inches past the end of her back. She felt a tranquility that no many places gave her, relishing in the calm and undeniably happy atmosphere of the small jungle village. Suddenly, she felt an incredibly soft ripple in the Force that made her turn her eyes into a specific direction. Yet as soon as it came, it had vanished and in front of her green eyes stood nothing but an empty space. She remained mostly still for a moment as her feet moved with somewhat slow, cautious steps. Until she came to the realization that whatever it had been that had alerted her, it was best to keep moving normally in case her wariness was uncalled for and she managed to make it to her destination without any complications.

Yet as always, the Force once more proved to her its warnings were never uncalled for and that she had done well in remaining ready for a possible predicament. But she would have been lying if she said she had expected for it to present itself in this manner, a voice in her head. Immediately her pace stopped, no longer did people surround her now that she was outside of the market and in a less inhabited part of the village. She did not fling her eyes from here to there trying to find the one who had intercepted her, she could not feel the person's presence and that meant it was being cloaked from her perception. Ran felt the coldness of unease travel up her spine. She was in Sith territory. The young woman had always known there was a risk of an encounter like this, but up to now it had mostly evaded her. Ran took a deep, slow breath as she fought her initial reaction of shutting off her mind to the stranger and taking a defensive approach. She sought her inner calmness, and following the traces in her mind answered, "Just a traveler, nothing more" her words resonated calmly in the head of the man.

Ran felt unnerved by the fact she was being approached by a dark-sider she could not see, she'd always felt so vulnerable around them. Every single thing that had gone awry in her life seemed to slither its way back to them in one way or the other. Ran had fought so hard to forgive and forget, but the deep fear that had been instilled in her heart -she knew- was not something that would abandon her anytime soon. So all she could do was make sure the calming presence of the Force stayed by her side, tempering her mind from the monsters of her past so that she assessed the situation with as much control as was possible. She closed her eyes for a moment and pushed her mind to expand around her, the technique had been taught to her by one of her old Masters. She could feel how a map with presences was drawn in her mind. Yet she was not looking for force-sensitives, she was looking for the voice in her head. And finding its location, Ran opened her eyes and turned slightly to her right, lifting her green gaze to the silhouette of a man clad in black.

[member="Zul Grimm"]

 

[Soundwave]

Location | Tropis-on-Varonat
Objective | Investigate
Company | [member="Ran Aohki"]

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A shimmer in the air would be barely seen off to the young woman's left side, a tall, dark, robed figure emerging from seemingly thin air. Oddly enough, this figure exuded no presence whatsoever. His hands would be held behind his back as the gentle breeze caused his robes to lightly shuffle in the wind. His face was obscured by a dark veil that hid his features and any hope of identifying the man. He would remain silent as he took a single step forward towards the young woman, observing her features. He would slowly begin to walk around her, his steps making no noise, nor leaving any footprints on the grass that they stood on, almost as if he was nothing more but a phantasm

Intriguing. His suspicions were confirmed when the young woman responded to him through telepathy. Her words echoed in his mind with a calm and peaceful tone. There was no fear when she spoke, yet her aura seemed to send a different message. Was she trying to block him out perhaps by seeking refuge in peace? He would walk clockwise till he was directly in front of her, about fifteen feet away from her before turning to face her directly. Once more his voice began to echo out through her mind, a grim voice that contrasted her own, " A woman who speaks not just in hands...But the mind as well... "

He began to slowly step forward, approaching closer and closer to the young woman, the doppelganger vanishing as she instead looked to the right, directly at where he had cloaked himself. The fact that she was able to discern where he truly was past all his efforts to remain invisible caught him slightly off guard, a rare occurrence for him. He would remove his hands from behind his back as he began to slowly move parallel to her, " A simple traveler would not be able to see me the way you do...You must be something extraordinary... State your business here... A Jedi would not move so freely within territory ruled by the First Order. "

The young woman had seemed to have done more than pique Zul's interest. It was rare for one so young to be able to see the way a Miralukan might, yet she was not blind. He had to learn the extent of what she was capable of and whether or not she posed a credible threat that had to be acted upon or a possible asset to be brought to the attention of his superiors. He would pause ten feet away from her, not making any hostile gestures and lowering his veil to reveal his presence. A dark aura could be sensed, but not necessarily one that was cold.

 

[Ran Aohki]

The cold grip of anticipation crawled about her with unease, she knew it very well. It was fear. She felt it increase as the man started circling around her, assessing her as if measuring whether to strike her down or not. And she made no effort to hide it from her face, her green eyes displaying the discomfort she was experiencing. The man had no tangible presence, yet there was something about him...Something she had avoided most of her life, that set every nerve on her body on end as though she was instinctively expecting the worst to happen and getting prepared to act upon the darkest possible of outcomes. Effectively, she drew on the Force to keep her temperance, but the signature impregnated on her own presence was not necessarily dark or light.

It should have been, it should be able to shimmer with the most blinding of brightness, but she believed that humanity -at its very core- did not allow for extremes. Ran was not perfect, far from it, and the flaws in her mind and soul...She did not ban them from her, rather embrace them and let them flow as they may, as she was doing right now with her fear. Chose not to feed her anger with them, but had learnt to empower her temperance. The ordeal of her life had always been trying to make peace with her darkness, for as painful as it had been the truth did not mutate: it had been the greatest source of her suffering, just as it had been the decisive turning point in her life. Through darkness she was thrown into the path of the light, and she had realized there could not be one without the other. So now, physically confronted with one who embodied the power that had terrified her to no end, Ran was trying -even in her failure- to not be scared.

She softly, almost tentatively lifted her green eyes to the real cloaked figure of the man. A small flash of remembrance flashed through her mind, and she told herself to not be deluded by her nightmares. This was not the same man from her past, she hoped some day the association would be naught but a forgotten memory. Her lips, slightly parted, were bringing soft streams of air onto her lungs. The words of the man, the thoughts him him remained in her own mind for a few seconds, as if she were thinking what to answer. The stranger was right. Most would have not consider her ordinary, but the young woman had not been lying or trying to hide the nature of her being. There was just nothing she deemed to be special about her, the Force was in everything. She was just a canal for it. "I've come to visit a world I had yet to know, my presence on Varonat holds no other purpose." Her soft voice now shone with the measure of her timidness in its tones as her eyes fell back to the floor, not holding the gaze of the stranger for long.

[member="Zul Grimm"]