Private Hymn for the Missing

[Zenitha Chuma]

(Thread Soundtrack: "Hymn for the Missing" by Red)

Laughter and smiles.

That was what she remembered most of Tioli Center. In amidst the quiet of worn-down beings, who no longer hosted gawkers of blooming flowers or entrants in parasail races but trudged meanlessly each morning toward the mining facility on the edge of town, finding an oasis of laughter and smiles was a special miracle in and of itself. It was a place like that which kept her hope alive, and it was a place like Tioli Center that kept its community alive.

It wasn't always by much. A few times, Zenie had come along with a speedertruck full of Z-Runners and food they'd packed for the center, only to find their last meal was served a week before. And once she had visited to find Haavi orchestrating the distribution of solar-powered air purifiers, so that younglings and the oldest of the indentured workers could get some sleep in the smog-filled air, only to find him hunched over one in a long line of malfunctioning machines the next time. The good-natured Togruta was a hard man to wear down, though, he always had time for Zenie, and a story or two. As the locals told it: what Haavi has, Haavi gives.

"Oh. My. Stars!" Zenie couldn't help her reaction from spilling out even before the speedertruck set down. She was the first on the ground, ignoring Montin's appeal to caution, the girl's undone jacket streaming behind her as she dashed toward the vacant building. Her fingers clutched the edges of a synthwood sign, staring over its vulgar proclamation into the darkness of the building beyond. When she found her voice again, it was not in the way the teen heiress expected, a lamentative shriek that found its target in Montin's firm, quick hand on her shoulder, dragging her meters back from the facility. "What are you doing?"

"Protecting my assets," came the clipped tone of the former hotelier, they swiveled Zenie back toward the speeder truck before hunching down to her level. The braided, blonde girl glanced down when their finger touched her sternum, wistful eyes tracing it back up the arm and shoulder to its owner. "You need to stay out here, there's no telling the likes of vagrants or vibroaxe murderers are lurking in there now."

"You don't really believe it's been taken over by vibroaxe murderers," she pointed out, candid objection rising from Zenie's youthful expression as she grasped Montin's finger to pry it off her chest. Out of all of them, she figured, Montin was the one who shouldn't treat her like any other youngling. The enby had long rivaled her late father, and had commented on one occasion while alone with the teen heiress that they could trust Zenie as far as they could throw her.

Admittedly, that was a lot easier than it would have been with her father.

"No," Montin sighed, and pulled back their hand. Running in through their close-cropped hair, Zenie could see the advanced calculations already running through their head. Montin's brain worked at least five steps ahead of her own, but even they knew when the teen heiress had a point to make. "But I don't believe Haavi's in there waiting to greet you, either."

Slowly, Zenie glanced over the enby's shoulder at the building again, and then back towards the speeder truck. The other Z-Runners who had come along were milling around idly, sparing awkward glances over at Zenie and Montin from time to time. The girl felt the edges of her mouth pull back and down, gathering her roaming emotions back inside herself. Her chin fell toward her chest, and she allowed a quiet shake of her braids at her organization's Head of Logistics.

"No, he's not." Zenie admitted, and the great crushing weight —that had threatened her since the moment she'd laid eyes on the place— fell weightless against her. She blinked as it passed through her, tipping her eyes back up to Montin, a growing clarity in her eyes now. "Will you go check it out? See what's still in there?"

Montin nodded. They were always going to, Zenie just had to restore their working relationship. She needed to be the one to guide, not the one needing guidance right now. The young teen watched them go, then turned to her Z-Runners. The trio of teens and a young adult hovered haphazardly near the speeder truck, as if itching to get away from the place. Not willing to scoff, Zenie let the sole of her shoe scuff a rock in the neglected landscaping as she passed, clapping her hands when she finally reached the rest of them.

"What are we waiting for? If we can't use the building this time, we'll set up right here!" Zenie faked a smile, hoping it would inspire the others. More importantly, hoping it would inspire herself. The girl could use some hope right now, a light in the darkness that was encroaching on her soul. In so much darkness around them in a city once full of light, the Take It Or Leave It Center —Haavi's crass sense of humor at work again— had been a beacon for her aspiring soul.

"Come on, come on, come on," Zenie goaded her volunteers. The older ones always had such a huge problem taking her seriously, and today that was getting to her more than most. The Belazuran girl pulled open the back of the speeder truck, unwilling to accept their failure any more than her own today. Haavi's absence might not be her fault, but in the moment his absence felt raw and demanding. She wanted to just curl up into a ball and cry for someone to fix it. That was what every other being in this city was an expert at doing.

Today, she had to be their someone.

She managed to get their food set up, stacked on top of boxes of ingredients they couldn't serve uncooked this time, before Montin returned. The news wasn't good, nor was it much of news for her. Zenie tried not to let it show, but it was hard to avoid seeing her own feelings reflected back in the faces of beings she was serving. They came, in a trickle at first, and more as time went on. At last, the teen heiress felt the smile belonged on her face, knowing just how many lives they were touching today.

"You're a good deal too young to be worrying about us, dear." The words were a surprise from the middle-aged woman who stepped up to Zenie's station in line. The woman chuckled, as if caught in the splash of her own joke. "You should be out playing or enjoying yourself with your friends."

"I am with my friends!" Zenie announced with a bashful giggle, nodding toward the other Z-Runners, only one of which granted her a sheepish look back. The teen heiress took it in stride, offering a better courtesy to the woman, "Maybe we could be friends, too. I'm Zenie."

"Take care of yourself, Zenie. Before Vysh-Kolluri do to you what they did to that place behind yous."

Zenie couldn't help but look back toward the defunct community center, a reignited fire in her eyes. She had to find out what had happened here, Haavi's spirit of hospitality deserved that much. The teen gazed at each of the crowd in turn as they reached her station, examining each with a renewed sense of purpose.

Maybe someone else would be helpful today.

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

Spoiler

"Well, what are you going to do then?" That was the question that her best friend had asked when Stellaris, Danielle, Frenzy, whichever she was going to go by, had asked when she resigned from the Alliance. The trick was, Stellaris was one of those who were lost. She was born into the Galactic Alliance of Sullust.

Her parents served during the Endgame situation, and she was a student of the Jedi Order.

And when that all went belly up? She found herself among the refugees in the Outer Rim Coalition. She learned about Fringe groups of the Force, but she also learned how to become a pilot. It was what she was. In her blood. Both her parents were fighter pilots serving aboard the Vanguard the ship that was to be the jewel of the Sullust Alliance's fleet.

But then that land fell, and she found herself on the Rim. Until she made it home. And joined the Alliance at Coruscant, Alliance Redux, she jokingly called it. But the life of a pilot? That wasn't for her. Neither was that of a Jedi.

"I honestly don't know. I have been out on the podrace circuit, and that's been fun, giving me some white knuckle time, y'know, like being on the stick." Stellaris smiled as she sat at the table aboard The Pick-Up. Her Astromech R9 was twittering around but she had found herself a few different ports she was stopping at. She replaced the chopsticks into the bowl, a simple noodle and stock concoction, as she looked back at the camera droid to her friend, a Selonian back on Corellia.

"I won't be far. But I can't sit with my parents being gone, thinking they'd want me a soldier like them…"

"No, probably not. But don't you want to make your mark? Somewhere good? Besides racing?" The white and black Selonian said, with a grin.

"I do, its why I think this next gig would make them proud, hopefully a few others." As Stellaris spoke, Mack, the R9, was twittering that a call was coming in. "Listen, Li, I gotta run. I'll be in touch, maybe same time in a few days?" She offered a smile.

"Of course, Dani. Take care of yourself." And the Selonian signed off.

Through a grapevine or two, and some messages on a few networks she got herself a part of when she was in the Outer Rim, Stellaris found the world Belazura. The world wasn't far from her homeworld, and that made it kind of perfect. The world had undergone a lot of problems in the recent years, but she was hearing tale of an Heir Apparent taking her time to do what she could to help claim her birthright and help the world.

The blonde had stepped out of the Pick Up and made her way towards the community center. It wasn't a far walk from her… probably illegal park job, but the droid was keeping an eye on the ship. Even as he travelled with her. She bore no real weapons, save the slingshot tucked into her messenger bag, and nearly a dozen synthcrystals she picked up from some back market on Denon. Things she could imbue with a little bit of the Force.

The world Belazura was at one time a beautiful world. She wore what appeared to most to be a bit of a handspun dress, with a nerfhide jacket over the top, and a scarf around her neck, to serve both to filter the air, and to provide a little bit of sun protection. The dress was more for an illusion than anything else. It was functional, or at least she knew how to function in it, but it was intended to give her an image of not a threat. The nerfhide jacket was more for style. Her droid was right by her side as she could hear the commotion. Something wasn't right, but she'd only been doing a few recon runs. It wasn't like she was a real Underground member, nor a Jedi. But she was… hoping to do some good.

Smiling as she saw the little blonde, she had an inkling as to who that was, the Heiress herself, who seemed to be the heart of this little group. "Need any help?" Stellaris asked, really ready to jump in however. The Force gave her a few views into a person, but it was much more an alter skillset that she found herself with.

Kal Zenitha Chuma

 

[Zenitha Chuma]

Tioli Center had been a place of relief and happiness for the community around it. The arrival of the Mining Guild had turned the stressful tourism service into grueling mining hours, stealing the last few chances for the town’s citizens to enjoy the people and landscapes around them. Beautiful, green hills had rotted to grey, barren mounds. The shared camaraderie had turned to spiteful competition, neighbors turning on neighbors to climb on top of the other for a chance at one more morsel. The blonde teenager could barely keep her composer standing in front of the place, the last place where real community could survive.

At the Take It Or Leave It Center, everything was provided freely to whoever came. Those beings who came from the mines as monsters, became fellow sapients again in line. Zenie had shared conversations with those in line, they laughed with her and told stories of better days like she remembered. Sometimes she witnessed a fight, those were something that Haavi —or even others in their community— were quick to address. Haavi would urge them to walk away, sometimes for the whole day if the fight resulted in injuries. Nothing couldn’t be solved by a long walk in the fresh air, according to the optimistic Togruta.

Zenie didn’t know how he stayed so upbeat, knowing that his center only stayed friendly while supplies lasted.

Their own were starting to run low when the newcomer approached. Zenie blinked in surprise for a moment, not expecting anyone else to have more than foreboding words for her today. The woman was at least a head taller, dressed in clothing that would have been out of place before things changed on Belazura. Her appearance set her apart from the locals regardless, some of whom appeared in their dust-covered jumpsuit, a few who had even attempted to rub at the bruise-like stains the dust left on their skin or don a change of easy clothing. She wore none of the haggard looks, or the carefully-masked greed the teen heiress had spied on one earlier —Montin had to kick him from the line the third time he tried.

“Oh! I think so...” Zenie said to the droid at the woman’s feet, forgetting to look up at her face for a moment. Nobody with a droid that nice was hurting for food, she figured. The teen heiress spared a glance over at Montin, who was busy helping a woman juggle the tray of items that her fussing youngling wouldn’t let her carry. A smile lit up her hazel eyes when Zenie turned back to the woman, more confidence in her voice now. “Yeah, of course you can!”

Zenie stepped to the side of her station, leaving enough room for the woman to join her side of the serving line. She pointed into the box of purification tablets, packaged in groups of three, that Zenie had been handing out with her box of fruit. “The water here got really nasty, so we’re giving two packages of these out to everyone today.” The girl scrunched her face, turning her grimace from others waiting in line, “No one wants to walk around with polluted water in their tummy.”

“I’m Zenie—Zenitha Chuma,” she told the woman, shaking her braids momentarily at the need to correct herself. The words of her current guardian rattled in her brain, Only perfect practice makes perfect. She distracted herself, looking back to the next being in line and offering them a tepid smile as if her words were meant for them. Her conversation with them was more perfunctory, which was a relief to the teen heiress, and even that was big step up from those who didn’t want to talk at all! Zenie spied more glances at the new woman than she would one of her Z-Runners, nodding at how much was given out before engaging in their conversation once more.

“It looks easy, but your help is still really appreciated." Zenie told her newfound ally. She breathed a little easier with another being on her side, with whatever had happened to Haavi and the community center she found strength now in number. "What’s your name?”

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

The Podrace and Space Race circuits had people going far and wide to see the galaxy. Some of it was lovely, high end locales like Canto Bight, or Corellia, all the glitz and glam just far enough away from less extravagant locales on the world. But as an up-and-coming racer, Stellaris found herself staying off the beaten path. The worlds she had seen, the part of the world that wasn't advertised to everyone. Some worlds were hurting, with the corporate class subjugating the workers. But there were some that had a grassroots approach, where they looked out for one another and helped each other.

Belazura was a bit different. There seemed to be some really strong settlements, ones that were trying to help the world heal, help society become a working society for the people, but then there were the others. The ones draining the world, taking what they could and really giving nothing back. Knowing that once it was all gone from here, they could and would find another place.

But Belazura had parts of the world that were still beautiful and there were the group ZINO. They had the right goals. At least as far as Dani could see.

As she approached the younger blonde, she noticed the girl was looking at Mack and not her. Droids were cool, but on some worlds, there were droids much better suited for actual working. Just with Mack, she had updated him to be more than just her mechanic and navigator, but to be an observer and, if needed, hacker. She pointed to the droid. "Mack, key an eye out." It was a clear and obvious order but Mack would go into a bit of an investigator subroutine, logging faces and reviewing them against local government records and warrants.

Smiling as she was offered a chance to help, she lifted her messenger bag and scarf, placing them in what seemed to be a logical location for them, but kept the jacket on for now. "Polluted water?" She muttered. "No, no one should have to!" She started to grab a few bottles of water. "Government isn't doing anything to fix the water problem?" Asking while getting two packages out and placing them into another box of foodstuffs.

While her life started a bit more militaristic than she had hoped, it appeared to be taking a turn where she could help people now. "This is something that needs to be done, if there is a problem, while its getting fixed an' all." Offering a smile as she was handing out the boxes and water tablets. Dani was offering a compliment here and there when it seemed like someone was having a low day, not anything she gleamed from the Force, just by being a person. Especially for the kids.

They didn't deserve to be inheriting this issue.

"Me? I'm Danielle Stellaris, but you can call me Dani!" A wide, easy smile came.

That was the first time she didn't offer her call sign in… way too long.

Zenitha Chuma Kal

 

[Zenitha Chuma]

"I hope we become good friends, Dani!" The teen's youthful energy blossomed into an exuberance that had been greatly lacking so far today. Zenitha Chuma didn't get many chances to just be herself, especially the self that was just a kid, but Dani's addition to their forces today left her feeling comfortable to let loose for the moment. "What do you do?"

Zenie wore that grin for the others in line, and she could nearly forget about the trials of the forsaken building behind her for a bit. The lines on the faces before her, the dirt soaked through layers of skin, the eyes sunken deeper into faces, none of them would let her forget completely. The teen heiress greeted them as best she could, trying to offer encouraging words or compliments from her more limited experience, the adult woman beside her was far more effective at it. That alone kept the Belazuran girl going through the parade of unwashed faces.

"Oh no!" Zenie gaped at her hands when she pulled up the last Jogan fruit from her box. The line still held a dozen beings or so, it was more than she had expected to come —Montin would probably have the exact tally by the end of it. The breath caught in her throat as the Belazuran girl glanced quickly to Dani's water tablets and then to the other side for the rest of her Z-Runners. She could breathe a bit easier knowing they had ample supplies for the line itself, but these had been meant to resupply the Tioli Center for a week.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

"That's alright, child, I can handle a day without fruit." The gaunt woman who stood in front of Zenie looked like she had already spent several days without already. Her box of supplies was more meager still, but she just laughed and put up a hand to push the teen's away. Zenie managed a wan smile at the woman, growing and broadening when the next pair of adults shook their heads at her offer, always leaving the fruit for the next being in line.

Even without Haavi and the Tioli Center, something had kept the strength of their community going. These were the folks that Zenie was most desperate to reach, the ones that ZINO's Executive Committee discussed as the pinnacle of outreach. Beings whose bodies may have been broken by the corporate machines on Belazura, but with the spirit of Old Belazura intact. The teen heiress felt her heart warm at the discovery, a reassurance that her efforts weren't all fruitless.

"Please take this one!" Zenie used both her hands to press the Jogan fruit into the palm of the older girl in front of her. Thamee had shown up at the Tioli Center before, where the last time they got to talking Zenie learned of her disabled mother and three younger siblings. If they weren't working enough to get by, which was anytime Thamee's mother couldn't, the younglings were either begging or stealing for food. Zenie couldn't imagine growing up learning how to take a meal from someone else's pocket. She would much rather just give Thamee the food for her family. "I know you need more, is the stove in your place still working?"

The teen heiress lifted the empty box to show off the pair of stacked boxes beneath, filled with the goods and ingredients that were intended for the center's kitchen. It was like that for the rest of their makeshift line, a simple overture built on top of everything they couldn't do today. She hoped that Thamee's hadn't been one of the defective units, and Zenie's shoulders slumped when the older girl shook her head. Just a few years earlier, the two might have been peers or even friends.

Now Zenie just had to nod and watch Thamee walk through the rest of the line, gathering up supplies that wouldn't be enough to keep her family of five fed and healthy.

"We shouldn't have run out this fast," the girl grumbled, aiming a short kick at the boxes in front of her. It sent the empty box teetering towards the far edge, before she caught it. That box could make a storage shelf, or insulation for a house, or even fuel for one of the scrap-built cooking units she'd seen use anything to generate heat —just not very cleanly or efficient. Zenie's eyes gazed up beside her at Dani, trying to avoid the misery she felt with each passerby that walked past her empty-handed. "Most of this was for cooking, but half the housing units here don't have a stove, and even the portable ones we handed out don't all work."

She shook her braids, looking away for the moment the teen heiress was afraid she might cry. A breath regained some level of composure, enough for Zenie to turn her attention back around to the center behind them. A tap on Dani's shoulder prompted her to turn, and Zenie held out her arm toward the vacant building. "That building was the whole centerpiece of this community, Dani. I don't have a clue what Vysh-Kolluri did, but all of the sudden the center's closed and Haavi's gone," she gestured glumly back to the last stragglers in line, "and everyone they helped is going to hurt for it."

Zenie let out a heavy sigh, the weight of this town's crisis was only the smallest scale of her entire mission. "And with the wrong government in power here, nobody that can do something really cares."

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

This was something she hadn't been thinking would ever come across her path. She was a combatant, in the past. If she was going to be doing anything to help change a world, she fully assumed she'd be tossing firebombs into crowds of corpos and fighting empires hellbent on enslaving worlds. She had done the latter from the comfort of her X-Wing, for a bit, but now she had other plans. And being here on Belazura, helping an Heir of the world hand out water tablets? That was maybe just what the blonde needed.

"I'd like that too! And what do I do?" She let out a little sigh as she placed another bag on the table, smiling over at the person who was going to be taking it, tablets, fruit, and other foodstuffs. It was all good here. "I travel around, doing odd jobs, when I'm not podracing." She didn't have to hide what she did now. And it wasn't like she was on some Alliance shitlist, but if they called for the right job, she'd go back.

For a short term.

As she heard the younger girl gasped, the freelancer looked over. Fruit was low… Maybe she could help with some supply line issues, at least a little. She did have her ship. It would put traveling to good use that way. But what Dani saw next was a bit of a shock. People kept pushing off the fruit. Maybe there were good beings in the world.

Seeing a warzone and seeing this were two different things. The fact that Dani was going to non-combat scenarios must mean that things were healing in her brain. "No stoves? I have a ship… we could set it up for some community kitchens at times. I can't promise its an always present thing…" She knew the stories of Olys Corellisi captains who would return home to port for weeks after an extended trip, and share the wealth, as it were. At least the literal fruits of the labors.

"You're doing something. That's a start. And I can do some things… Focus on what the building represented, and what Haavi's message was all about." She was speaking in a calm voice, but it was speech that all together felt foreign to her way of thinking, but yet… a part of her.

She really needed to track down the non-human half of her lineage.

Zenitha Chuma Kal

 

[Zenitha Chuma]

Her head rose from slouched shoulders, perking up at the wisdom of the blonde woman. It was easy to see that Dani was trying to make her feel better, and part of Zenie resisted that. She didn't want to simply feel better, how could she when her planet's problems persisted around her?

A better part of her responded first.

"Yeah, you're right," the young heiress remarked, her eyes making contact with Dani's own. A sobering breath infected her lungs, drawing in the strength to square her shoulders and build her mood back up. "Haavi was all about bringing people together. He tried to help everyone he could, no matter what the problem, it was never too big for him."

She could use some of Haavi's spirit about now. Zenie glanced toward the stragglers from the line they'd served, walking away with too few of some supplies and plenty more of others. A wan smile warmed her face as she spied her Z-Runners trying to hand out more than what was fair to the last few, ensuring that nothing went to waste. They had it well in hand, and had long before Zenie expressed interest in coming along. The teen heiress knew she wasn't useless to the cause, but at the moment she wanted desperately to be doing more than just being a bystander.

In truth, she was more of a bystander to most of what ZINO did regularly.

"There's no race here now, right? You're on Belazura to freelance?" Zenie suddenly asked of Dani, turning to the self-proclaimed podracer. She rankled at being supervised or pitching in where she was utterly replaceable. ZINO's the whole campaign was for her ends and Belazura's, and the teen heiress couldn't just be a bystander to it. "So can you help me? It can even be a job or something, I'll pay you."

Zenie wasn't certain if she actually had the funds to pay Dani for real, but she wasn't about to go ask Montin for it. The logistics head had their fingers on the purse strings, and a history of speaking out against the teen's family. Ms. Sun and Tanja had both reassured her that Montin was an asset to their cause, though they didn't remember as much of the cruel rhetoric that Zenie did. She had to be careful with Montin, that was for certain.

"I just need to be the one to find Haavi, and Montin would insist on doing it themselves." Zenie didn't have illusions that the former hotelier would have any other plans for the Togruta community leader than she did. Montin had never been anything but cooperative and grateful for Haavi's role here, Zenie wasn't so paranoid as to think Montin was out to hurt the man. She simply wanted to be doing something that the day's guardian would probably disapprove of.

"Now I just need something to tell them. They'd never let me out of their sight for anything so serious." Her face hinted at how much those limitations irked her, just for a moment before returning to an expression of earnest appeal for Dani's help.

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

Wisdom would never be something anyone would accidentally accuse Dani of. Her call sign was Frenzy for a reason. She was a brawler in her past life, just as apt to get into a fight at a bar with a pilot in a different unit as she was to have a relaxed day. She was trained by military parents, sent to the Jedi, washed out, found herself in the Matukai, made her way into the Starfighter Academy, served, washed out and then got to this point in her life. Maybe it was time to attempt at being wise. Belazura was a world that could use help.

And its probably not a problem she can punch.

Providing some direction to the younger being, Dani was trying to keep calm, and exude the same. Normally, yes, she'd be the first in a speeder running down the person she deemed responsible and doling out some of her own justice. "See? Maybe that's all that's needed, someone to help pick up that torch, as it were?"

Her ship wasn't far off, and it had nearly all her gear, aside from the stuff she kept on Corellia, at her flat there. The flat she was hardly ever using. But it was nice to keep something at home. Looking back to Zenie, Dani tipped her head. "No, no race here. Just… figured I'd check out this world as I've never been here. It's a world I've never been to, and while I could sleep in space, there is something about have a world under you, and a sun above you." Traveling on the circuit wasn't always moving from A to B as fast as you could, between races, there was a lot of downtime.

"I've got time, and I can see that this world needs it… I'll definitely help you!" Her voice was energetic and hopeful. There was even a point in her own mind where she'd be helping herself by doing this. Maybe it would help clear her mind from what her past was. She may forever be a warrior, but she didn't need to broadcast it. She had momentos of her old lives, maybe she could turn that past into something good.

"Tell Montin? What are they?" Or what do they do, was probably more appropriate. "I've got an airspeeder on my ship, just need to know where to go."

Zenitha Chuma Kal

 

[Zenitha Chuma]

Zenie nodded at the racer woman, bright eyes following the words of someone who regularly catapulted herself to the stars —and dared them to blink. The young heiress might have her feet firmly on the ground of her homeworld, she still couldn't help to look skyward at times and wonder if there was anything better out there.

Judging Belazura at this point, there surely was.

"This planet is beautiful!" Zenie blurted out, childish wonder omitting sense for a moment. Growing up, the teen had never wanted for much of anything, much less for something better. Beauty was all around her, even in the spires and gorgeous designs in the cities all around the world of her childhood. Tourism had kept Belazura's eyes wide on the state of their world, and keeping it that way had always been part of her father's guiding mantra. "It was, I mean."

It still could be, part of her said inside, more softly than she wanted. The voice struggled each time Zenie found another setback to that plan. Finding the Tioli Center closed was one thing, but the loss of Haavi made the girl's heart resonate with community. They felt today what she had for a couple years now, a dearth of guidance and stewardship that Haavi had been for them like her father had been for Zenie.

"It will be again," Zenie told herself firmly, catching sight then of Dani's eyes and her hopeful tone. She smiled, a bit bashful to find herself in her own world. Her mentors all insisted on her mindfulness, particularly Luminous Sun, with her galactic-sized mind for the art of stagecraft. The teen heiress found her eyes averting the woman's gaze, settling on Montin instead. "Oh, they're just Montin."

That wasn't a good enough explanation for anybody, much less Montin. The teen heiress glanced around, watching the Z-Runners starting to pack up, generously offering help to others when finished. Zenie curled her hand to Dani, asking her to follow while she explained better. "They're looking out for me today, and keeping this whole operation running smoothly, a sort of half-chaperone-half-leader person. Montin is in charge of Logistics for the campaign, so they're all about shaking the right hands, making calls to people, keeping track of assets..."

Zenie stopped to look back at Dani, offering herself for the woman's brief inspection. Then the teen heiress took a step toward her, speaking in a low voice, "Can I tell you a secret? I'm kind of the biggest asset."

Her lips pulled back as the young heiress shrugged her shoulders, still feeling far too intimidated by that label —and what it stood for. Her inheritance had been far from the rosy sums and office anyone might have expected for the daughter of Kjell Chuma. By any measure, Zenitha Chuma was heir to a dead world, only living and working to change the new Belazura back to something it might never be again. If she didn't have people like Montin around, the enormity of that daunting task might have left her far too discouraged to press forward.

As she stepped up to Montin with Dani by her side, Zenie felt more than emboldened by now. "Montin, this is Danielle Stellaris. She's a pilot —a racer— and offered to pitch in today. You should have seen her, she's a complete natural, Montin! Can I go see her podracer? It's on her ship, I've never seen a real one up close."

It wasn't really a lie from the emboldened teen. Zenie truly did want to see a real podracer up close. Anything she might see, or hear, after that was just making use of a good opportunity. Montin would have approved if they knew the full extent of her exaggerated truth.

The enby glanced up and down the racer woman, sizing up Dani barely any different than they might a floorplan or gaggle of hotel guests. A steely look accompanied the hand thrust toward the woman, clipped words greeting the newcomer from ZINO's highest ranking representative on site today. "Montin Kesyk Pelles the Second, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Stellaris. Can I ask what inspired your outpouring of compassion today? It's an unusual trait to find in a pilot, particularly one of such daring stature in the racing circuit."

Montin let her hand go after the firm, tight handshake between the two adults, nodding once more appreciably at Dani now. "I saw your performance on Ossus, you held your own for most of the race, despite facing opponents with obvious advantages. Sadly, the last race we hosted on Belazura was several years ago, there are very few opportunities here for such rewarding ventures these days."

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

Maybe it was very unfair to judge this world, a world she'd been to all of… well, if she was checking her chrono, a few hours. Still, Dani knew better than to just a book by its cover. She had dated fighter pilots in the past, after all. There was a part of Dani that knew she could see beyond what was, to what could be, and what had been. The blonde smiled. "I never meant to imply it isn't. Every world… really, is something beautiful in its own right." This wasn't even something she was taught, just something she was… growing into?

"What was it that caused… everything?" She was meaning more what was on Zenie's mind. She just didn't want to pin that all to her, because, well, it was heartbreaking seeing your world in a light different than what you grew up with. Dani remembered the Golden Beaches of Corellia, and the skyline of Tyrena. There are some that miss these gems and just see the Santhe Shipyards and the way Coronet can take people in, ride them hard, and put them away wet.

"Ah, management." Was what Dani could say to Zenie regarding Montin. She'd been there, a pilot, an operative, there were the people who wanted what was going on, then there were those who lead what was going on. Eyes going a little wider as she brought up being an asset. This teen? Still, Dani was going to let it play out. "That's a story you're going to have to tell me."

As they were heading to Montin and Dani was introduced, the blonde offered a wide smile, hoping she could come across as genuine, especially with Zenie mentioned the pod. That was nice, but she had a few other racing vehicles in the Pick Up. Tossing a look to Montin after they greeted her, she tipped her head. "I don't catch your meaning… I saw Zenie having to deal with what appeared to be the locals authorities and figured I'd help represent what good can come out of people." She offered a smile and the shake.

"Ossus, yeah, that was an interesting race. I'm supposed to head to Teyr in a few weeks, but life on the circuit is not always the most straightforward thing. So I'm here. Belazura could be a great world, especially with the right rule set in place…" She meant something to protect the world and hopefully, by then, recovering ecosystem.

Zenitha Chuma

 

[Zenitha Chuma]

Zenie's eyes made a plaintive appeal to the management enby, as Dani had aptly put them. Montin was used to being in charge while ZINO itself was loosely structured; they served on an executive committee charged with guidance more than leadership. That was plainly not on display today, with Montin taking a hands-on approach to their visit. They oversaw the packing, coordinated the Z-Runners, set up the order of their handout line....and now the teen was just hoping Montin wouldn't want to be in charge of Zenie's personal mission as well.

"My apologies, Ms. Stellaris, I meant no offense. It's quite rare to find a truly altruistic spirit in the galaxy these days, much less on Belazura," Montin offered the woman graciously, returning the smile in a warmer tone now. Zenie found herself letting out a soft breath of relief, catching the flick of Montin's eyes her way before they turned back to Dani. "Young Zenitha, here, seems fairly enamored by your free spirited lifestyle. She doesn't get much chance to just be a youngling lately."

Zenie blushed when Montin turned toward her, feeling too-well sized up in their calculating gaze. The teen heiress thought better of her request now, finding herself staring down the dead-end avenue of being forever a youngling in Montin's eyes, and all because she had shown a little excitement over a podracer. It wasn't fair that she should be punished for not being as well-traveled as the ex-hotelier, Zenie didn't run a huge business or have the money to just travel offworld whenever she pleased.

Most of her money was tied up in legal proceedings and frozen bank accounts for that matter, leaving Zenie with whatever Ms. Sun and ZINO let her spend.

"Zenitha," Montin said, their glassy eyes looking through the girl. Zenie looked up as Montin laid a hand on her shoulder, her boldness tempered now by the weight of expectation. She held her chin up, waiting for the verdict to come down, so her face reflected genuine delight when the Logistics head told her, "I think you've earned a little fun today."

The giddy light in Zenie's eyes faded when Montin turned to beckon one of the Z-Runners over to them. The young heiress looked to the Wroonian woman with skeptical uncertainty until Montin announced their decision. "Parenna, would you take Zenitha with Ms. Stellaris here to look at her podracer?"

"Montin!" The girl chided sharply before Parenna had a chance to acknowledge the arrangement. She drew herself up, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice from Montin's treatment. Zenie presented herself as a professional, the young woman she had been groomed to be, not the little girl that Montin seemed to see. "I can do this on my own, Montin. I'm not a youngling anymore, I don't need a chaperone."

"No, of course not," Montin acknowledged, and for a moment Zenie wondered if she had convinced them so easily. Then she remembered how good her father's former opponent had been in the political sphere, always finding the upper hand despite the well-formed arguments against them. Her bitterness deepened as the young heiress realized this situation was no different. "You're a big girl now, and that means you're a bigger target. Remember what we talked about? Parenna's going with you, for my sake—no, for all our sakes, Zenitha."

Zenie nodded, resigned to her fate. If she opened her mouth again, the teen was afraid she might mention something about Vysh-Kolluri, and then Montin definitely wouldn't let Zenie out of their sight. She tossed an acquiescent smile at Parenna, who seemed far more enamored by the opportunity than even Zenie had been for the podracer. Her stomach panged with jealousy, it seemed like everyone around her got to do what they wanted.

The teen heiress offered a longing gaze toward Dani, and rolled her eyes in the direction of Montin and Parenna. She knew the woman had questions about everything that was happening, but the teen's first concern was seeing to her own obstacles today. It hurt to be locked into the box that Montin and ZINO, and most of all Luminous Sun, had built for her. Zenie could only see and interact in those brief moments when she was allowed, and right now she was not being allowed. She might have known that Montin just wanted to look out for her, but in this moment Zenie didn't much care for Montin's desires.

"Alright, you want to lead the way? I guess we're three now." Zenie glanced back to see Montin's approving nod at their departing trio. The teen heiress held her chin up, determined to make do with what she had. She was exactly what Montin thought she was, a bigger target. If Vysh-Kolluri cared about small town leaders like Haavi, she thought they might jump at the chance for a bigger fish.

It wasn't the smartest plan, but at least it was the start of a plan.

"Don't worry," Zenie said, walking close to Dani while Parenna had already launched into a long story about the time she wound up on a speeder bound for a concert instead of the clinic. She lowered her voice enough so the Wroonian woman couldn't hear them, slinking her arm around the racer woman's just enough to pull herself up to ear level. "She's like this all the time. I think we can lose her at your ship."

Zenie had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling at the deception, eager for the moment when she and Dani could finally figure out this mystery.

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

The nice thing about being her, and the worst thing about being her, was that Dani didn't really have a unit any longer. Sure, she had extended family, and she had her people on the circuit, but she wasn't the type to really settle in one place for too long. She was always bouncing from here to there now, looking to see who she could assist, and doing her best to accomplish that goal. Her ship Pick Up could carry her pod, and her racing starfighter, as well as provide enough living area for herself.

She used to have a pet. Maybe she should get another. Dog maybe? Probably something of the canine variety.

"It is a shame, how the world takes that from some, isn't it?" Dani had a few ideas as to what Zenie was going through, but not ones she could really empathize with, but sympathize, sure. "And a free spirit style isn't all its cracked up to be." She was saying this more to Zenie. "Hard to find a place to call home when you really need that."

There was something to be said for Montin watching out for Zenie, but Dani could tell, maybe it was that other half of her, but there was something else here from the enby. Not exactly bad, just… intense. She shrugged it off. "I could watch Zenie…" Though she was a stranger… Maybe it was better for an escort. But what Montin said when assigning the shadow, it helped confirm Dani's suspicion.

Trying to give her best reassuring smile, the blonde nodded. "Yeah, its not far, just parked on the outskirts. A bit cheaper." She offered a dry laugh.

During the walk, Dani was smiling as she watched Zenie and her expressions from the Wroonian. As she got closer. "I'm sure we can. I'm pretty fast, and have a few little tricks, if you want me to…" She was, of course, speaking of the Force and her funky little relationship with it.

Zenitha Chuma Kal

 

[Zenitha Chuma]

The more that Zenie heard from the racer woman, the more she liked her. Out here in the field, Montin was cold and stern. And whenever they talked to her, Zenie had the distinct impression that Montin didn't see the teen as much more than just a spoiled youngling to mind. To talk to Dani was to feel like a whole being somehow, more than just the spectacle of being an heiress, and far more than a youngling.

Zenie thought she had a lot more to offer than just her age and heritage!

"Oh right, the outskirts," Zenie nodded along as the blonde woman pointed them the right way. Parenna was still blathering about something, following along a pace behind them, which gave the teen heiress a chance to watch as the town buildings thinned out, giving way to rows of new, cheap housing only meant to last as long as the current ore vein in the mines. Dani hadn't been kidding about how far out she parked. "I guess you have to save credits if you're not racing here, huh? Or do those odd jobs you talked about."

Like hers. It went unspoken to keep Parenna out of the loop. The young heiress simply closed her mouth and bounced her eyebrows at Dani, looking up at the racer to make sure the woman understood her meaning. "If I wasn't working with ZINO—" she said it like one word, Zee-No, "—all the time, that's likely what I would doing, too. Not the racing part, of course, I don't know how to fly starships. The odd jobs part."

Zenie found herself walking quickly as she spoke, imagination pulling her forward on its leash. The Belazuran girl turned as she realized it, walking backwards to keep Dani in her view. "Hmm, then again, if I was doing all those odd jobs, I'd likely learn a lot of skills. Like flying a starship, or repairing different kinds of machines, or asking someone a question in a way they can't refuse me."

The young heiress shook her braids, feeling the wind catch them and toss one in front of her face. She let out a giggle before pulling it away, tucking it behind her neck again. From time to time Zenie glanced back to stay sure-footed on the uneven road, but most of her focus was on the woman in front of her. Her lips pursed, burgeoning with questions as she tried to sort out the best one to ask the interesting newcomer. She canted her head from side to side, thoughts bouncing around before Zenie settled on her choice. "What's the oddest thing you've done for credits?"

"The oddest thing?" Zenie hadn't expected to hear Parenna's voice pipe up, assuming she was still deep in the throes of her story. To the dismay of the teen heiress, the Wroonian caught wind of her question, and decided to answer thinking it was for her. "That's probably the time that I let this Aqualish smell my..."

Zenie's eyes grew wide and her feet came to a standstill. Dani quickly caught up, and as the woman was about to pass, the mortified young heiress used the chance to turn back around and follow in lockstep with her. "Does one of your tricks involve getting her to shut up?" Zenie pleaded in a low voice, begging to be free of the explicit prattling of the Z-Runner. Her eyes turned down toward the road, watching the haphazard rocks and patterns in the dust to give her mind another task to focus on, keeping it off of Parenna's tale. And off of whatever wisdom gave Montin the impression that the Wroonian Z-Runner was mature enough to be her babysitter. "We just have to get to the ship."

"...oh, he had a ship, too. I thought he was just boasting about it, a lot of those spacer guys brag about having their own ship just to show off and then it turns out that they're third mate or something lame. But no, he had a real ship of his own, he even wanted me to come along for a lot more credits, but I said no. I'm too much of a down-to-earth kind of girl for that life, don't you think?"

The young heiress clamped hands over her ears, trying desperately to shut out the noise. Glancing up, she spied the tell-tale shape of something other-worldly on the horizon, a far different shape than the houses that begun to dissipate now. Preoccupied by the motormouth beside them, Zenie had no idea they were already to the outskirts. There was no mistaking the curvature of the starship, however, and it prompted the eager teen to drop her hands enough to point it out. "Oh my stars, there it is!"

Zenie began to rush ahead again, slowing only a little to let Dani catch up. "You have a smaller racer, right?" The big ship loomed in her vision, drawing the girl's eyes wide. Its curves certainly looked like they could be graceful in space, but it was the size of three houses alone. She couldn't believe something that big would be nimble enough for the cutthroat competition that a race was supposed to produce. "That can't possibly be fast enough."

Even if she had never seen one, the teen heiress was fairly confident. The whale of a starship growing in front of them was the picture of a lumbering, confounded mess if it ever joined a starship race. Which was not too different from how Zenie was coming to view Parenna's role in their little trio.

Zenie hoped that Dani was as genuine as the Aqualish in Parenna's unfortunate story.

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

Branded as a number of things, the least of which she hated was racer. She was a good pilot, and she could get moving properly. Dani was proud of her family, the parts she knew and the parts she didn't. They served in the Alliance when it called Sullust its home, and she followed on that. She tried to be a Jedi, and that didn't work, but it was all part of her, and how she got to be here, doing what she was doing.

"Well, also, I don't like taking up space that someone else needs. I did too much of that when I was in the service." Being a fighter pilot, the thing of it was, that everything was a fight for space. She'd heard something in one of her mother's books, to be water. And that was exactly what she was going to do, go the path of least resistance.

"Odd jobs help so many people. Sometimes they're not what you want to be doing, but they keep fuel where it needs to be, and food where that needs to be." After a few years of being in the service, it helped being one's own boss, making one's own direction. "And you do learn a lot." Looking at the ship as it was coming into view. "Just stick close to me, ok?" She whispered.

This was another trick she knew she could do, but it was something she'd been practicing hard at. Surely she could bend the light around her and Zenie. "No, this isn't the racer. Just my home-away-from-home. Carries my pod, swoop, and a fighter. While somehow still fitting a standard quarters for me and another two." Gallofree made some special ships, good at moving the galaxy, as it were.

Looking down to Zenie, Dani held up a finger to her mouth, then pointed out another freighter, a similarly large Corellian Engineering Corps model. "Yeah, she can make it fast, probably beat your guy's ship…" Hoping their escort would take the bait, and grinned. When Parenna continued, she ran her hand in a semi-dismissive gesture but she knew it was what she needed for her and Zenie to fade as she slowly took a few steps away from Parenna.


Zenitha Chuma Kal

 

[Zenitha Chuma]

Zenie nodded, little motions that didn't disturb her braids so much. Her wide eyes absorbed the wisdom of the racer woman, taking a step toward Dani to follow instructions, and waited for the woman's tricks to appear. She had little idea of what to expect, the few bits she knew about spacers and their ability to get things done seemed to hint at their charisma. Or a penchant for bribery, one that she didn't imagine Montin would approve of when Parenna returned without Zenie in tow.

The young heiress decided not to suggest that option to Dani. She watched instead, listening as the racer woman launched into an explanation. It seemed to answer Zenie's questions at first, answers that made plenty of sense to the young teen. She wasn't finding any trickery there yet, and her eyes turned up towards the woman's face. Zenie couldn't hide her open confusion until Dani put a finger to her lips. Then the young heiress found a confident smile emerging once more, satisfaction playing out over her face now.

It only deepened when she watched Parenna disregard them as Zenie walked with Dani away from the Z-Runner, magically entranced by the other starship somehow.

"How did you do that?!" Zenie asked, trying to keep her voice low. She couldn't mask her bold wonder, though, and her face lit up in the direction of the racer woman. Tingles raced through her entire body as the Belazuran girl glanced over at Parenna's fading form, not even seeing a glance back from the annoying Z-Runner. Zenie didn't dare test it by calling out, a widening grin plastering itself on her face instead. "Parenna's really, really into that other ship. She's in a trance, or something."

A giggle arose from the teen heiress, putting a spring in her step as she followed Dani the rest of the way to her real ship. Zenie made one more glance back at the Z-Runner behind them, still obsessed with the ship that didn't belong to the racer woman. She felt bad about just leaving Parenna there, but the Wroonian woman was going to put a dent in their plans. It was better if Parenna stayed behind, Zenie just couldn't help but wonder if it was fair to trick her like this.

"She'll be okay, right?" Consternation rose over the young teen, rooting her to the spot. Parenna herself wasn't interested in answering the question, so Zenie glanced back at Dani, already a dozen adult-sized strides ahead of her. The racer woman's footprints spoke volumes over her lack of worry, reassurance enough to answer Zenie's question. Dani had shown nothing but compassion to the young heiress today, if the racer woman wasn't worried then neither should she, Zenie decided. "Yeah, she'll be okay."

The sound of a ship's bay opening drew Zenie's attention, and step by hurried step she caught up to Dani with a resolute expression on her face. As she entered the Home-Away-From-Home, the young teen found a delight she hadn't felt in a long time. The woman's ship was filled with other craft, crates and storage things, but most of all to Zenie's glistening hazel eyes, a podracer. She rushed, hands forward as if to salvation, toward the vehicle that put the racer in the racer woman. "Is this what helped you in the Ossus race?"

Even half-assembled, the craft was remarkable to the sight. Zenie stopped just short of touching the podracer, folding her hands behind her back to keep with practiced restraint, admiring with her eyes at a nose-width distance. The teen heiress was drawn to the crisp, sharp angles of the chassis, imbued with a lavender hue. A grin dominated Zenie's face, unable to keep herself from circling the vehicle, far more modern-looking than any podracer she had seen holo-images of, until she was nearly returned to Dani.

"I can see why," Zenie declared, turning her grin toward the racer woman. She tore her hands from their self-restraint, holding them in front of her as if she gripped the controls herself as she pantomimed her words. "Imagine us showing up to Vysh-Kolluri's front doors in your podracer, and busting them right open! They'd be too shocked to do anything."

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

Dani had a number of tricks up her sleeve, and not the least of those was her skills with the Force. A bit of an inborn skill now. Her Jedi training seemed to fade the longer she was away from the Order, but there was something else there that just made her feel like she was doing it all by a response, by feeling her way through and not any real practice. She didn't know all of her parentage, and more of that was brought up when she was in the Jedi Order, but this other skill, with vanishing, and making things pop up that weren't there? It helped.

Seeing Parenna focus on the other ship, and looking down at Zenie, the blonde smiled. "Don't run into too many Force users out here, do you? It's a little of one trick and another. Right now, if she looked at us? She'd not be able to really see us." Dani hadn't mastered completely disappearing, but fading, becoming, dim, part of the background? That she could do.

As they approached the Pick Up, she looked back to Parenna. "She'll be fine, once she realizes it, she'll come looking. Probably not going to put me in the good graces of your boss though." She offered a shrug. Dani was trying to be better than she used to be. There were still folks who rubbed her the wrong way though.

"The Pod on Ossus was a loaner from Saotome Foundry. This one… this one is the one I'm building. Used to fly A-Wings for the Alliance back in the day." Back in the day being a few months back. "So I know my way around an engine or two." Smiling at the heiress she nodded. "I get around on a swoop nowadays, makes for quick moves through cities, and well, it also can help me get the jump on people. When I need to." So far and few between now.

"You pilot at all?"

Zenitha Chuma Kal

 

[Zenitha Chuma]

When Zenie shook her head this time, her braids went flying, the hallmark of a child in wonder. The more Dani explained about her trick, the more enamored the young heiress became. She knew of the Force the way any youngling knew about it, from legends on the lips of grown-ups and from characters featured in holo-stories. The larger-than-life heroes demanded by wishful thoughts and built up in newscasts.

Zenie had never thought of their powers including small, sleight-of-vision tricks like these.

"Oh...no," Zenie's eyes gazed in wonder at the thought of it, a Force User coming to Belazura! The neighboring Concord was lucky to have the Silver Jedi to work miracles on their worlds, the teen heiress heard their denizens never wanted for anything. She knew the Galactic Alliance had its own corps of Jedi, but the New Jedi Order was busy fighting monsters and armies of the dark who made war on worlds even more innocent than Belazura. Under the thumb of the Corporate Authorities, the only miracles Belazura could see would come from her own grit and strength in numbers.

"You must be a powerful Force User if you can do that," Zenie offered hopefully. She laid her hands in front of her, clasped now after letting them far too lose in childish antics before. She could almost hear the low 'tut-tut' of Ms. Sun's disapproving tone in her ears. They felt warm as the woman mentioned Montin in the same withering tone as earlier, and for the first time the teen heiress wondered if she was going to be in trouble after all of this.

They would understand when she figured out what happened to Haavi. They had to.

Zenie was set on that first goal for today, and the more she heard Dani talk about her flying vehicles, the more the young teen felt a growing urgency inside her. Her eyes found the swoop inside the woman's makeshift garage, making the barest sound of recognition when a question lingered in the air for too long. "Oh, I'm sorry. I got caught up thinking about next steps."

That was Tanja's words in her head, next steps. The Head of Strategy for ZINO loved to drill that process into every plan she made for Zenie's campaign. The teen heiress scoffed at herself, turning to look at Dani again. In front of her was a woman expressing interest and asking questions about her, Zenie owed Dani more than just a wandering mind. "I haven't had time to learn how to pilot. Yet. I'm hoping to someday, but everyone expects me to learn how to lead."

"I want that, too, of course. Right now, Belazura has to come first." The teen heiress nodded her head, more to herself than to the racer woman. Pointing to the swoop, her mind offered the next steps it had been devising for the last minutes. "Will that hold both of us? I remember Haavi talking about a farming commune that supplied the Tioli Center, we could start there?"

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

Dani thought it was great that this child she had nearby was looking to expand her own life. She knew that being pigeon-holed was perhaps one of the worst things. When she was among the Jedi, that put her into a box. She was naturally gifted with the Force, something in her bloodline assured that, but focusing on that mission? There were better ways to be helpful than the Jedi mission statement. The military worked for a bit, but something was calling to her, from the deep of the galaxy.

And she was finding that being a wanderer, and making her money by not harming others, and placing her energy in helping fixed a lot. Fixed her mindset, and her desire to do things. As Zenie was talking about her being poweful, Dani gave a half hearted wave and shook her head. "I wouldn't go that far. Its just always been a part of me." It was something that she really had a gift for, over anything else. She could make illusions, but her power of suggestion? Aside from men folk and some women, were all mundane.

The kid though, head in the clouds. "Next steps?" Dani queried, tipping her head to the side, her blonde hair falling that way. Sounded like this kid had a lot on her plate. Helping the local area was one thing, going against the corporations that are holding the power? That seemed like something else. "Well, you can do a few things at once…" She smirked.

"As for holding us both? Yes. I'll drive though, until we can get a place set up so I can have you take it without the risk of hurting yourself… or others." Surveying Zenie, she moved to get a jacket and helmet for the girl. "Do you have a destination?"

Zenitha Chuma Kal

 

[Zenitha Chuma]

Wide, hazel eyes persisted in their awe of the blonde woman, this Jane-of-all-Trades who had stepped up spontaneously to offer help. It surprised the young heiress to find someone downplaying their own talents in a place like this, and it surprised her most of all to have run across Dani herself. Not too long ago Zenie had expected to finish up the unexpectedly abbreviated aid line, help the other Z-Runners pack up what they couldn't distribute, and fly off back to ZINO where another community would be stricken from a very short list.

Instead the Belazuran girl found herself on the hunt for answers about Haavi and the end of the Tioli Center.

"Oh, of course," the teen heiress remarked, more than familiar with juggling multiple tasks at a time. Her clasped hands bounced occasionally against her body, certain that Tanja would have agreed with Dani on that front. Surrounded by such talented people with Tanja's laser-focused guidance, sometimes it was almost overwhelming for Zenie to keep up. Go with Montin, show her face to the communities, speak well with those she met, be on her best behavior, act like a leader, act interested in what others say or do. "Sometimes it just seems like there's just so much to do at once."

Zenie's head was so stuffed full of directions, she nearly missed when Dani asked for them herself. By then, the Belazuran girl was trying her best to remember where the commune was located, somewhere on the outskirts of town. Over the bridge and past the turn-off to the mine's maintenance road, she recalled taking note of that much. It felt like a strange detail to her, how fast the town had taken to orienting themselves by way of the mine, that Zenie's memory had written the detail down in her mind. Now it stuck out to her, right alongside the racer woman's promise to teach Zenie to drive.

That promise bid her to quiet agreement, a bobbing nod that tossed her braids as eagerly as Zenie felt, her throat softly humming with agreement. It kicked up an octave when Dani presented her with a jacket and helmet, which the young heiress put on as quickly as she could. Zenie felt a measure of maturity that came with the trust being so freely granted to her, easily winning her appeal as she climbed onto the speeder, fully attired and ready to go. "I think I remember how to get to that farming commune now."

She couldn't tell if it was memory or Dani's efforts that made the Belazuran girl feel more confident now. "Did you see the way to the mine, out of town? It's close to there, straight instead of turning."

Zenie didn't even take a second glance toward her zoned-out chaperone as the speeder left Parenna behind.

Dani Stellaris Kal​

 

[Dani Stellaris]

The galaxy was a harsh place, and Dani had helped a government assist in that. She knew that she was better than that, her parents never really gave her anything and she knew the challenges of having to be the up-and-comer on ones own. The Jedi gave her a backing of being more helpful and the blonde ran with it. Helping out here seemed like it wasn't going to negatively impact her, and would instead help someone much more than anything else.

And with what she had as a set of abilities, she could help Zenie here with the rest of her goals.

Finding the one known as Haavi, for starters. "And that happens. But one of the things I learned around your age was to prioritize. Some things can wait, some things shouldn't wait, and some things you just don't want to do but need to. It's a challenge but you'll get there." Did she know Zenie was this huge heir? It didn't matter.

"I remember seeing it. I'll get us close, and when you start seeing it, let me know." The blonde saw it from the low orbit before she landed and was fairly decent with her turns in direction. "So you were raised here, right? Not a chance to travel around it on your own?" A bit of unsupervised wandering was important, if Dani was to be asked about that. The swoop bringing them further from the local settlement.

Zenitha Chuma Kal