Eye of the Tusken

[Madalena Antares]

Location: Eve, Scintilla​

Time: Dusk​

[member="A'Runda"]​

Once upon a time there was a Princess, and the Princess was in the wrong body, on the wrong world, in the wrong everything. But the Princess had loved the place she was at. Despite this, she had loved the planet she was the Princess of so much more, but she stayed where she was because of her sister, the other Princess, because they wanted to go home together. But they never went home. Instead, they went to another place, and it was only there that both of the Princesses were accepted and not just one, and both were loved, and both loved. It was not a happy ever after. It was a second chance at once upon a time.

Madalena opened her eyes as she let a deep breath release itself, and smiled. Looking up, the sky was colored in the most beautiful shades of pinks and purples, and even though she knew she was inside a gigantic metal sphere floating somewhere random in space, her mind kept insisting that what she was seeing was real, that such vivid colors were truth, and even the air she breathed felt true and fresh. Eve was a technological marvel and every day she spent on it made her love it even more.

But the time to sit back and enjoy the view was short and already spent.

It had been a handful of days since she'd recruited [member="A'Runda"] to the Agents of Chaos. She had gone to him knowing he would be a potential, but it was her conviction of the Agents' cause as well as her true care for all of those that had served under her, even within the Confederacy which she had abandoned, had not disappeared. When the researches of Scintilla had discovered the way to handle radiation poisoning, she immediately grabbed a bottle big enough for the Tusken to be able to heal with it even if he had not been interested in joining.

But he had been.

And not only that, the two had struck a bargain. He would become her acolyte, and she would train him with the Force. Under different circumstances, the training would have officially begun the moment they'd left Tatooine, but such things had not been possible due to the hectic life of every Agent of Chaos. They had traveled together to Zosha along with many others, and they had worked hard there to push the Empire of Rannon off of it.

But now… Now they had a few days, and she wanted to use them. To see what he knew, to show him what he could learn. She knew that beneath the layers of fabric hid a human, not a Tusken. Yet he behaved like him, claimed to be one of them. She supposed, it was a matter of adoption or something of the kind. But under the clothes and under the skin lay a heart.

A heart that would only swell and care more with time.

And as of their agreement, it was now her responsibility to make sure that heart would continue to beat strong, and beat because it knew what to do to continue beating.

And soon the time of their appointment would arrive.

She was ready.

Would he be as well?

 

[A'Runda]

In times past there was a boy, and that boy lived a very simple but still very hard life. Although he lived in a close, nomadic community that he cared for, it always seemed difficult for it to reciprocate that care to him, for he was the black sheep of the herd. However, this did little to discourage the boy, from a young age he understood his place, or he thought he did at least. Through what could be best described as a trial by fire the boy became a man, and soon that man became a spiritual burden for his people. They saw something in him that was reflected a painful legend. It would be determined that could no longer travel as they did. But from this the man was not upset. For he did not want for those closest to him to share his burden... and that was only the beginning.

A'Runda said something only to himself and under his breath as he traversed the many interconnecting paths that made up Eve. He was not the biggest fan of some of the monolithic that people could create that would dwarfed a mountain or fill a canyon. But he kept reminding himself why he was here. He wasn't simply putting up with the nerve racking feeling of being on a colossal structure in the void of space for himself. Nope, it was for someone who'd recently spiked in importance to him.

Thinking over his situation he found it a little funny in a sense. First he was bumming around Tattooine doing his own thing before he ran into Scherezade, while with her she made a offer for him to join the Confederacy, while possibly taking advantage of his complete lack of understanding when it came to slavery laws across the galaxy.

However, it seemed as though history was determined to repeat itself somewhat as later on, while at probably the lowest moment in his life her sister, Madalena came to Tattooine, this time specifically for him, while he was bumming around doing his own thing once more. Furthermore, just like last time, he would following along with a woman from the same family to another faction of sorts.

A'Runda almost felt as though he would be destined to always have some DeWinter or Antares throw a wrench in his plans just as he was getting settled once more at his home. Although he understood that it would need to happen for a third time if it were to be classified as a pattern of sorts.

However, The Tusken figured there were certainly worse ways for his life to be altered then for two sisters to drag him around if they believe he could be a vital asset of some kind. Even this time it was far more personal for him, since he'd pledged a Life Debut to Madalena, and she agreed to help mentor him. He felt a lot more confident this would be like the others in his life that promised him the same thing.

He closed in on the area Madalena prepared to meet with him, as he did he looked up through his goggles at the expansive pink and purple sky. He didn't care if it was manufactured or not, a sky was a sky, and it was lovely. Approaching the young woman he would give off a small wave.

"Aargh, or Hello I suppose, I do wish you had an easier time getting here then I did. I needed to ask several people for directions to this spot..." He explained with a slight chuckle at the end. His voice sounded much softer and far less raspy. Much like it used to be. Implying that the medical treatment she was able to offer him was doing its job, and doing it well.

Madalena Antares

 

[Madalena Antares]

A'Runda​

She could see him approach before he got there, a soft smile appearing on her face. There was something about the naivety of A'Runda that she found endearing in a way, and if the galaxy they both resided in was a slightly friendlier one, she would have tried to pack him off to a place where he could keep it. But the galaxy was not a friendly place, and it was not full of good people. It was full of people like her.

As he came to a stop, she waved. "You are new to this place," Madalena nodded, "I would not know my way around the Tatooine desert were it not for tech gadgets to help me locate myself and others with. I am certain that with time, you will come to know Eve and its places – it's much smaller than Tatooine."

Grinning, she took a few steps back.

"It has been many months since I have seen you fight," she continued, "I don't know what else you can do now, or how much you have advanced, save for what you showed me a few days ago."

And he had advanced. She could also feel the improvement on him, through the Force.

"But before you show me – tell me, apprentice. You are here, among other reasons, because here is where you will gather the tools and skills to help free Tatooine from those who would subdue it. What skills and abilities do you think you would personally need on this endeavor?"

 

[A'Runda]

A'Runda nodded along to what she said about being new to the place. There was no disputing that. Heck, even getting used to new urban centers on Tatooine felt like a daunting task to him. "I understand, and no offense this is a marvel of a structure... But I've always felt a little uneasy whenever I'm in space." He said looking up at the artificial sky for reassurance. He always had this lingering fear that if just one thing went wrong he could be stuck in the void of space with a sealed fate. Not to mention he was on a large ship yard in space when he got sick.

Looking back at her he nodded, "I guess that kind of makes two of us, I haven't been very combative at all for many moons. But as I've learned and hopefully you can reinforce this, there's a little more to skill then might makes right. Where I've fallen behind on swinging a gaffi stick I've made up for suddle...su...s-subtly in The Force." After having a hard time with his basic at the end he looked like he wanted to kick himself.

Then he listened to her speak about what he believed he needed in any future endeavors for bringing change to his home world. For a brief moment he sounded like he was going to reply but stopped himself. He knew it would be easy to say something like, "more guns" or "teach me how to devastate people with Force Lightning", but he knew possibly better then anyone that would be the wrong way to fix an issue like Tatooine. "Hmm..." A'Runda thought to himself before looking away from Madalena for a moment.

"Please don't take this the wrong way Madalena, you've always warranted the utmost respect from me, but I think you're mistaken." Looking back into her eyes through his red goggle he continued. "But Tatooine isn't and most likely won't be subdued, and it hasn't been for tens of thousands of generations. In fact from my understanding that's why it's the way it is, a long long time ago people tried to subdue it, and they couldn't. So they tried to destroy, and they couldn't." He tried explained to her, hoping she understood. "However, that doesn't mean it hasn't been exploited, because it has, and badly in the past. Many issues that face the planet aren't black and white, they're very...um... in between." He said, failing to use the word grey.

"So to answer your question, I personally believe the skill and knowledge of uh...um.. C-Civics will honestly do the most good for my home world." If he were to be honest he felt almost embarrassed saying that despite his honesty and passion in what he said. Not only because he feared that was the last thing she wanted to hear, but also how could someone like him go up with a straight face to arguably one of the deadliest woman in the galaxy and ask for a greater understanding of rights, duties and the utilization of planetary citizenship. He would feel a little nervous as he waited for how Madalena would respond.

Madalena Antares

 

[Madalena Antares]

A'Runda​

The only response Madalena had to A'Runda's request was a warm smile. She had seen the thoughts move with speed across the Tusken's face, and when he had not immediately named a weapon or a Force ability, she suspected he would turn it to another direction all together.

Keep everyone guessing, apprentice, she thought, but chose to not give voice to those words. Not now, anyway.

Civics, was the choice. But… What Civics were there for Tatooine? Tatooine was a lawless place, meant for those who did not abide by any other law than those directly above them set forward. Even their culture was questionable regarding whether or not it could even use that term there. Other than that there were the peasants and slaves, and…

"It's harder than it sounds," she sighed, "Tatooine has no main ruler. There is no one person sitting at the top. There is the current strongest boss of the moment, and even that can change based on geography."

Madalena sat herself down and mused on the thoughts of it. Going back to modernize the civilization beyond sticks and stones turning into blasters? That would not really work. Not in any short term kind of way.

"In Tatooine itself, it’s the strongest that rule. But, not necessarily the strongest fighter or the strongest shooter, but the person who has the power and commands more of these. This requires loyalty, inspiration, and being able to inject morale into people that have lost, usually several times over."

But then how to make A'Runda learn those things? Even without his file she would have guessed that he was young, and his experiences still green. He had seen a lot of things, certainly, but there was still some guidance and mentoring that had to occur before he would truly grow into his own.

"Come on," she motioned with her head towards the speeder, "I think I know how to teach you those things. You're going to command a squad."[/CENTER]