Private How Do You Do Fellow Kid | Colette

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"Huh."

They reached up and rubbed their frontmost horn. Prior to being taken by Xeykard, they'd been pampered as well as a Sith acolyte could be; for the first time in months they realized they hadn't been properly cleaning up as of late.

"No one's ever told me that before," they said.

"Oh, and, I'm nonbinary. Sometimes I feel like one or the other, but usually neither, so -- just use they/them." They paused a moment. "That's not a species thing. Just a me thing."

Aryrene stared at Colette for a while. "You're weird. Want to be friends?"

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

The concept didn't quite stick with Colette. Her brows furrowed for a moment as she pondered it, but it didn't take long before those furry little things rose back up again accompanied by the ever present smile on her lips.

"Of course I do!" The kid smiled even more at the friend request. "And I'm sorry if I insulted you with the man-thing."

"I… Don't think I really understand what you mean, but I do know better than to tell a person to go against what makes them happy. If you know what I mean?" She nodded, somewhat clinging on to the last few remnants of the confidence she had gained from going all 'serious mode'. "And, just to be clear…"

Of course, natural curiosity begged questions such as 'what were you born as?' and the likes, but given how confused Colette already was by this concept of 'neither' she elected not to ask it. There were better things to get right about it first.

"If I were to talk about you to someone I would say something like 'I talked to Aryrene, they are a friend of mine', or 'I asked them about their lightsaber'?"

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"All good. And yeppers, that's right." Aryrene paused a moment and tapped their chin. "When do they give you those, by the way? Lightsabers, I mean. I threw my old one away. It was pretty gross. The crystal too. And like... red is kinda my colour, but not really, you know?"

 

[Colette]

“Fairly early.” Colette said and looked down at the one hanging from her belt. “Forced into a lower frequency though, so that we don’t accidentally cut our hands and limbs off by mistake.”

“You know, I never really thought about that.” Colette opened the chamber to the crystal housed in her blade for a moment before she closed it. “This one is blue. Though it was built by one of the sabermasters for us padawans. My blade looks and handles just like a whole handful of dozen other blades.”

“Why did you throw your lightsaber away, though? Did it not suit you, or?”

Aryrene

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"Um... Sith stuff," they said. "It felt gross to hold. I'm not very good with them, either."

They rubbed their chin. "Do they teach you saber stuff before Force stuff?"

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

“No,” Colette shook her head. “It depends on what you are the most comfortable with.”

“I’m from… Well, they called it a ‘hunter’ culture. So given my experience with weaponry they thought it would ground me a bit better in the Order.”

“What about you? I get the feeling that you are better with the force, from what you’re saying.”

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"Yeah. Uh- I guess I came from the opposite? I was born to a witch coven," they said. "I know a bit about lightsaber stuff, but that mostly came from... my old master. He was kind of an nerf herder.

"I can do spells and stuff though. Well- actually, I don't know. I haven't cast anything in a while. I don't even know if it's possible to do with the light side."

 

[Colette]

Aryrene
Why was it that nerf herder always seemed to be a bad thing? Nerf herders were an integral part of any functioning society!

“Spells?” Colette asked and raised her brow in curiosity. “Is that a dark thing?”

“Some would argue that using the force is witchcraft too.”

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"Um... not sure. Sometimes. A lot of the stuff I've learned is icky, but- it's like the Force and spirits generally. There's a lot you can draw from. So... I guess it is all witchcraft? Some people just skip the steps."

They scratched their cheek. "Did you learn anything about the Force on your homeworld?"

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

“No,” Colette shook her head and frowned. “We didn’t really know that it was a thing. It was legends, mostly, but none of it seemed possible to us.”

She chuckled at that. “Just imagine the look on everyone’s faces if they saw what the Jedi can do.”

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"Huh." They tried to imagine it -- being completely unaware of such a fundamental force- Force- in the galaxy. It just seemed... strange?

"So did the Jedi steal you from your home when they found you? Seems like there was a power disparity." Maybe not. Colette seemed too relaxed to be a recent kidnapping victim. "I don't know. Just seems like Force orders are into that kind of thing. If they let my family raise me, I would've been a full witch by now, probably."

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

Kidnapping? Dear gods, no! Colette’s brow rose for her hairline for a moment before she shook her head.

“I was asked if I wanted to come here and I decided to take the shot once I had the blessings of my tribe.” Colette said and shuffled in her seat. “But, you didn’t have the chance to choose?”

“Was it the Sith that took you away, or… ?”

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"Yeah. Well- my parents were part of the Empire. I didn't get to spend much time on Dathomir, but we did have a little enclave near the Sith worlds. Then they took me to become an acolyte."

They shrugged. "I mean, they told us that the Jedi did the same thing, like -- take kids. But all the Jedi I've ever seen were, like, older than me, and not really more powerful. Mostly. So, I don't know."