Gold Doesn't Always Shine [Thurion]

[Nikolas Faselli]

Tabaqui
[member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

What does one feel when living in complete darkness? Many people didn't know what it was like -- they imagined it would be complete nothingness, like the person couldn't even perform the simplest of tasks. It... was not like that at all. Ellya knew of that, and she was living a completely wonderful life with nothing to worry about. Blindness wasn't a curse, sometimes it was even a blessing.

She smiled, even though she'd never seen a single smile. She had never seen anybody being happy. Or laugh. What did teeth look like? Did they shine, like some said? What was a happy face like? The chances were she could never ever experience these things.

Relying on her droid, she had been living her life without seeing a single thing, and that was nothing like the Miralukan blindness was. No. It was dark, but it wasn't nothingness. She couldn't see, but she could rely on her instincts. She could... sense what was going on without actually sensing anything.

"Seeyeh, let's go!"

Seeyeh was Ellya's droid, the one she had spent her most days with. And now on Tabaqui, on a completely different planet she had never been to before, she couldn't even take a step without her companion.

Leaving the ship, she found herself in the capital city of the planet, and took a deep breath. It was a... nice new smell she could feel, one which felt fresh and comforting in a way. All she could hear was a whisper -- that was what she called the wind. It was cold, sinister, yet pure. When the girl opened her mouth, taste of air made its way into her mouth and landed on the tongue. It was soft.

"It's Tabaqui, isn't it?"

She smiled to the droid. And started walking away from the ship.

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

The once-glorious capital city of Tabaqui now lay in ruins, a husk of its former self and largely abandoned since the Gulag Plague. Few now call this place home. In an attempt to learn more about the lore of the planet he had settled on with his family, Thurion had set out to visit the abandoned capital. I was a long march through much unruly terrain, yet he finally laid eyes on civilisation in the form of towering buildings.

It wasn't until he walked its deserted streets that he picked up on the presence of another. "A native?" he asked himself aloud as he made his way towards the presence. Coming around the corner, he was met by the sight of a vast, open square. There wandered a lone figure amongst the emptiness alongside a droid companion, by the looks of it. Sensing no harm in the girl, Thurion chose to make himself known to her now rather than attempt to avoid her. He could do with some sentient interaction since his long walk through the woods.

"Pardon me!" he shouted her way from across the square. "Are you lost? Do you live here?"

[member="Ellya"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

The shout didn't scare the girl much. She had gained some kind of tolerance for them, having to live without being able to see when somebody's about to frighten or scare you and all of that. Judging by the voice, it had to belong to a male, to one who wasn't too dangerous. It was some kind of a mixture of softness and unexpected sharp tones in the man's timbre. Sounded interesting.

"Oh no, I'm not lost. But neither do I live here. I am a tourist."

She tried to pick up the smell of the person, but she couldn't. He seemed to be a bit too far away. But she did start marching towards him, hoping that she would gain at least some knowledge of the atmosphere around.

The droid beeped right next to her, telling the girl of every danger that awaited her -- lower ground, higher ground, a hole, a rock, etc. She was feeling safe that way, because she knew her companion would never abandon her, nor would he betray her or give false information. It was something the blind girl admired about technology. They were dependable.

"Ellya is my name."

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

"Oh! Well, that makes two of us, then", he replied as he walked towards her. Upon closer inspection he noticed she seemed quite outlandish. She was a tiny thing, and looked way too young to be out here all alone. Her droid companion not included, of course. Once within conversational distance, he introduced himself. "Pleased to meet you, Ellya. My name is Thurion." He held out his hand for a handshake, yet she didn't seem to react. Thinking nothing of it, he instead bowed his head as way of greeting.

"And hello to you, too", he spoke as he kneeled before the droid at her side, giving it a pat on the head. The two seemed inseparable given the way they never left each other's side. Thurion got back up and attempted to make eye-contact with the girl now known as 'Ellya'. It proved a fruitless endeavour. "My dear, forgive me for asking, but... Can you see me?"

[member="Ellya"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

How did the man know she was blind? Ellya was really surprised because of the one.. umm, Thurion, had found that out so soon. But after thinking about it for a moment, she understood it was rather obvious she was not able to see at all. Maybe on Via she didn't look to insecure or innocent, but on any other planet, she was the most awkward thing one could see. And all of that due to seeing only darkness.

"No, I can't."

The girl tried to smile. She had no idea of what emotion the man could have had. She heard him, smelled the fragrance of the man, which gave her a feeling of being in a castle somewhere, and kneeling before a king. She could feel what he was like by touching him (which she didn't), she could taste. But she had no idea of what the man looked like.

"I was born blind."

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Her answer didn't come to him as a shock, but rather confirmed his suspicions. The droid at her side was more than just a travelling companion; it served as her eyes and warned her of any potential dangers in the area, and even telegraphed her on where to step. "I am truly sorry to hear that. If it is a sensitive subject to you, then accept my apologies." Few had had as much experience in dealing with, in one way or another, disabled people. He'd grown up with a feral girl, he'd adopted and raised a mute girl. Now he was speaking to a blind girl. The Force moves in mysterious ways, indeed.

"I thought I heard the sound of ship engines earlier. That was you, I take it?" While he waited for her answer, Thurion examined the girl further. Her facial features, her stance, the way she spoke. He couldn't recall having encountered one of her species before.

[member="Ellya"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"That's okay."

She was born blind, just like nearly all of the Viatori species, so it didn't hurt her too much. A slight discomfort every time she spoke of that, yes, but not psychological damage. The species was used to hearing of how easy other species' lives where, and they were grown immune to all of that. Some not so strong ones were easily damaged by hearing other people don't have such disabilities. But at least there were other blind species in the galaxy.

"I guess that was me, unless there is anybody else somewhere over here."

She listened closely.

"Which I seriously doubt."

Another smile, which was followed up with her remembering she hadn't introduced her astromech.

"Oh, that little droid here is Seeyeh. She is basically my eyes. Tells me everything about what's around me. It's not too comfortable to live that way, but I've grown used to it."

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

"Hello there, Seeyeh", he greeted the droid once more, patting its head. "I must say, I can't remember having encountered one of your species before in my travels. Where do you hail from, [member="Ellya"]?" While awaiting her answer, Thurion looked around for a place to sit and found a bench carved out of stone with some vines having claimed it as their own. Removing them was easy enough, and once done he reached out to the girl. "Would you like to sit down, Ellya? My hand is right in front of you should you need assistance." Despite having just met her, his nature demanded that he look after her as well as possible.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Yeah, I'd like to sit down."

The girl took the man's hand - though it took her a while to actually grab it - and moved along with him towards the place to sit. She had no idea where they'd be going, but she trusted Thurion. He had some kind of an aura which made people feel secure around him. She could sense he was successful due to that.

"I'm coming from Via, which is a culturally advanced planet somewhere in the Outer Rim. It is the home of Viatori -- the species who were born blind."

She could feel how they were next to the seat and her instincts made her use her free hand to check its reliability via touching it and pressing some parts of it, just to see whether it would support her weight or not.

"Where are you from?"

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

"How interesting", he spoke in reponse to her telling him of her species and homeworld. "Another world to explore and experience. How exciting!" Making sure she was comfortable, he continued by answering her questions posed. "Depends on how you look at it. I was born on Pelagon, a tiny dot on the map even I would have trouble pointing out. My father is Valkyri and hails from planet Midvinter. My mother was from Alderaan, I recently discovered. She... died during childbirth." He paused to allow his words to sink in before continuing.

"From age seven I was raised by the Jedi Order on planets Tython and Coruscant. Then there was Teth, Laekia, Voss... But now my home is on Tabaqui, with my family." Warmth entered his heart and soul whenever speaking of his loved ones, prompting a smile on his face. "Sorry if you're having trouble keeping up. I'm afraid I've called many places 'home' over the years."

[member="Ellya"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Looks like we're both wanderers, whether we want it or not."

Ellya actually hoped the two's reasons for having been to so many places were different. She didn't want to have a home, so all she did was wandering around, trying to forget what had happened in her past. She imagined the man just had his reasons for moving to a new planet every once in a while, but at the same time, a part of her brain told her she was wrong. So she didn't know which version to trust.

"While I'm from Via, I have decided not to settle down on the planet again. Ever. Nor would I like to find a home on any other planet."

She thought for a moment to find the right words to describe how she felt.

"Having a home restricts me. I don't like that. Which is ironic, because we all know blind people would do the best if they stayed at their homes all the time."

She giggled a bit.

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

"If a certain blind woman had stayed at home, I wouldn't have had the pleasure of meeting her," he said, lightly nudging her with his elbow. It felt good knowing her blindness was not a disability, but rather a racial feature. Made it less of a touchy subject.

"I guess you could say that your ship is your home now? I know plenty of people who could say the same thing, feeling more at home with the roaring of engines than in a quiet place on the ground. I've had my share of calling a ship 'home', though I must say I much prefer groundside living quarters." He was referring to the Seren Heritage, his old ship on which he'd spent several years since receiving his knighthood before it was shot down by pirates and crashed on Midvinter, allowing him to meet his father for the first time.

"Are you hungry? I've got some food in my pack."

[member="Ellya"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"You don't have to spend your precious food on me. I don't know if you're rich or poor, but certainly I don't need you to give me something."

Being raised in a society -- and even more than that, in a family -- which didn't quite focus on being polite, Ellya was not familiar with all the good ways of saying she didn't want to eat. She could have definitely just said, "No, thank you!", but she seemed to like making things overly complicated.

She only hoped Thurion wouldn't ask the question one more time.

To avoid it, she quickly added, "Eh... So you are a member of the Levantine Sanctum?"

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"]