I Took The Road

[Lina Renning]

Ossus​

​

She was alive.

Lina didn't know how long she'd been unconscious but she woke up an eternity sooner than she'd expected. In those last few seconds, she’d been sure they would be her last few seconds. But she was breathing. But her heart thudded tiredly against her chest as it rose and fell gently. Somehow, miraculously, she was alive.

Not well, though. Lina was miles and miles from well.

Obscenities escaped between the sound of ragged breathing as she tried to sit upright. She failed. A sigh, and she lay down flat, staring at the sky through hazy visage. She was crisscrossed with injuries and quite certain that at least one would need urgent care, but right now she didn't want to think about her wound, didn't want to think. If she thought she would remember how she had wound up so mangled, and she didn't want to remember Skai. Remember failing.

Only a few minutes had passed before she slowly, achingly rose, and it seemed like shorter still. Getting up was all sorts of struggle, but Lina was determined not to lie waiting in the hopes of a rescuer. It would be dangerous. And it would be weak.

__________​

​

She woke up again, several hours later.

Her brain hurt, and she wasn't certain when she awoke if she had fallen asleep at all. She would have gotten up to look for answers, but her limbs had turned to lead and she was remembering now that one leg was broken; so her eyes sought out the woman entering the gleaming white room.

“...”

Sound. Where was sound? She was tired, so tired.

The doctor prompted her. “How are you feeling?”

Now Lina remembered how words worked, and she found some of her own beneath croaky breaths.
“Am I going to die?”

A chuckle. Lina supposed that was good. Seriousness would have meant yes. “You're not going to die. You’ll just feel like hell for a few weeks, and then you'll be fine.”

Lina smiled, a small thing that just couldn't find her eyes. Hell. She certainly felt like hell.

“What's your name?”

“Emily.”

She nodded, and a part of her looked relieved. Lina didn't want to not know the name of the woman saving her. “The - the Sith -”

“They cleared out of Ossus eventually,” the doctor named Emily confirmed, and Lina's relief increased. "But not before they’d done a good bit of damage. I was surprised there was anything left of you to save, to tell you the truth.”

Lina sighed, heavy and exhausted.

“Me too.”

__________​

Emily had made it very clear that rushing the healing process had the potential to go all sorts of wrong. Take it slowly, she’d said. Try meditating.

Lina had not tried meditating.

The training room was scattered with shields and bows and training sabers of every variety. A handful of training droids were lined up against one wall, but those would come later.

She curled her fingers into a fist and aimed for a punching bag. She flinched. The bag did not. She tried again. Again. Again. Still taking more damage than her target.
So different technique. Hand flexed, then shifted and clenched again and struck higher. It didn't help. She changed her footing, and spun as she threw her punch. The aftermath of a broken rib chastised her.

Lina sighed with frustration. With hopelessness. The feeling was growing familiar.

__________​

​

Kashyyyk​

​

The meadows were peaceful, the sort Lina had loved to retreat to on a regular basis during the days when she'd had the time for it. Months ago and not many, but it felt like centuries since she had watched the sun set from a grassy clearing, resting against a tree trunk. But this one was perfect. Filled with plants, with creatures she'd never seen before, lit by a sky painted a blue that looked like white.

It was a good place to go to not think.

Lina had done a lot of thinking in the weeks since Ossus. When one was in a hospital bed surrounded by doctors insisting to relax, to rest, that she would be fine, thinking came naturally and by necessity, nearly an escape. Her mind felt heavy with defeat. She had stayed on her feet from the moment her leg permitted, trying to stay busy. To make herself useful. She refused to rest more than she had to.

And she still wasn't resting. She was exploring, she was searching, she was studying. Never resting. She had elected to take her agenda of usefulness away from Ossus, however. She couldn't help but link it to hopelessness.

But the plan today was to distract from that, so Lina brushed through the meadows and moved onwards.

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

Kashyyyk was amongst a few planets Maiev had always been the most fascinated with, or rather to be specific; the Wookiees that lived across the planet. It primarily came from the fact she saw similarities between the tribal cultures. Reminding her of the clans of Dathomir. Although it quickly became apparent just how very different they were.

Despite that though, Maiev had made friends in several of the clans, the towering Wookiees were very amused at how enthusiastic a younger Maiev was about their culture, society and in general anything she could learn. Kalax had guided her to learning more about the galaxy not long after the eighteen year old had finally departed from her home planet.

Now she was back, for a completely different reason.

Typically she relied on suppliers to procure the more rarer items she need for her alchemy, but with the recent skirmishes and battles that had erupted in Silver Space, said suppliers had decided to tuck their tails and not replenish their stock.

It wasn't even like Kashyyyk was anywhere near the planets that had been hit.

Maiev sighed as she looked around the forest. She had Iggy land the ship down in one of the meadows behind them, leaving it close by should their search for Mysess blossom prove successful. For today's trip the witch had opted to stick to her usual black/dark green robes. After all, she fully intended to not go running through any forests or jungles.

"Alright buddy, all set up. Let's see if any of the planet is here." With an affirmative beep, a Agni-class Probe hovered away deeper into the forest.

<I swear you've talked more to that floating orb than me lately.>

Can you blame me? I've been talking with you roughly twenty-two years. I think it's time we see other people.

Kalax let out an amused snort.

<It's a floating scrap of metal.>

Would you prefer I go and visit Elpsis?

Maiev grinned slightly, hearing the absolute silence that followed.

[member="Lina Renning"]​

 

[Lina Renning]

Beep.

Lina had managed to slip away into the quiet white noise of nature, to tune into the sounds of wind and weather and birds. The high-pitched mechanical beep cut through her reverie and she whirled around to lay eyes on a probe droid floating goodnaturedly through the forest.

She hadn't altogether ignored the fact that the forest was vast enough to hold others within it aside from herself, but she had managed to forget that fact as she bathed in solitude. This was a peaceful sort of quiet; layers enough of sound to separate it from that unnatural stillness that always seemed to mean something would happen, but no words. No people.

It wasn't that Lina didn't like people. There were several whose company she enjoyed a good deal, a few whose presences were easy to integrate with comfort. And nobody who knew her would ever think to say that Lina Renning did not care about people. But most people made her skittish. All people made her wary, at least in the start.

These last few weeks, she had surrounded herself with people less out of desire and more out of a need to not be alone too long at a time.
Out of fear, at first.
Then because it was hard to stay occupied in solitude.

But she had appreciated a few moments of peaceful, wordless quiet.

Lina wasn't as upset as she would've been to realise someone would surely be nearby. Instead she was the quietly happy sort of curious. Instead her gaze tracked the floating metal creature as its owner caught up, and she managed a smile.

"Can I ask what you need a probe for in the middle of the forest?"

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

Maiev moved with a soft grace, boots crunching against the dirt as she trekked through the forest. Her probe droid was already on its merrily way, beeping and bobbing along the path, sometimes diverting from the set course and zipping over bushes and into the treeline.

<That droid has the personality of a child, attention always getting pulled away by something shiny. Reminds me of when you were younger.>

She rolled her eyes. It was fine, I wasn't that bad.

<You didn't see me pulling out my non-existent hair.>

The witch pressed on, watching as the probe came flying back into sight before zipping down the path in some strange form of excitement. Maiev chuckled, shaking her head as she continued her more slower walk.

Beep.

That gave Maiev a reason to pause, recognizing the sound as something else entirely.

Found someone.

She kicked up her pace a few notches, making quick work of the remaining distance until she finally caught up with the droid. It was presently 'staring' at Lina, its single optic angled inwards and to the side in some form of a curious look for the machine.

"Oh, hello there." Maiev spoke quietly, eyes lingering on the younger woman she had found. Grey hair and blue eyes, her presence in the Force a bubble of light amongst the greenery that surrounded them.

<A Silver perhaps?> It would make sense, but there was no reason to limit the possibility of the girl being something else.

"Um yes, I'm searching for something in particular. The probe is very handy for scanning around much quicker."

<Primarily because you have the crappiest eyesight when it comes to finding specific plants.>

Maiev had to refrain from physically rolling her eyes.

[member="Lina Renning"]​

 

[Lina Renning]

Blue gaze landed on the witch, and for a moment she carefully observed. Tall, dark hair, grey eyes that seemed ancient. And if senses hadn't betrayed her, much stronger than Lina. Powerful in a strange sense of the word - not like a Jedi, and not like a Sith. Other.

"Hi," she added in response, shyly.

The other woman spoke again, accent a foreign that she couldn't place. Searching. Some part of her mind was piecing together that this woman was a stranger to the Silvers, and that part of her mind was faintly wary. Lina didn't have the experience to detect malicious intent when it was hidden away, but she couldn't muster more than a trace of caution. The witch was not harmless by a long shot. But she wasn't causing harm. For her, that was enough.

Lina blinked herself back to the present and focused her gaze on the brunette.

"Oh." She had paused for a moment, only to gather her thoughts, but the words that followed were her same quiet brand of friendly. "What are you looking for? I might be able to help."

Because regardless of how strange or dangerous the situation could be, Lina truly did like to help.

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

While Maiev was conversing with the stranger, Kalax was using the time to examine her further, reaching out through Maiev's senses to get a better idea of who this other woman was. What became quickly apparent was how the Light flowed around her, but also how 'fresh' it seemed to be. It was at least the perspective of the spirit, one who had been around long enough to recognize how deeply the Force moved.

Taking her host; Maiev as an example. Someone who had been steeped in both Light and Dark for years now.

A Silver with silver hair, how quaint.

<Oh I have an idea, you should perform some dark magic, see if that spooks her.>

"Kalax..."

<Maybe zap her with some lightning.>

"Seriously. Sometimes I wonder whose meant to be the ancient spirit here."

Maiev snapped back to reality when she heard Lina's offer to help. The witch smiled and gave her a small nod.

"I'd appreciate the help. I'm looking for some Mysess Blossom. It's fairly rare on Kashyyyk to find." She approached Lina with some caution, noting the wariness the younger woman seemed to have. Whether it was specifically because of her, or something else she was unsure. "I'm Maiev."

[member="Lina Renning"]​

 

[Lina Renning]

"Lina," she offered, and she smiled. "Nice to meet you."

Mysess blossom. The name rang a bell - Lina was far from a herbalist, but she had spent time enough within nature to be able to put names to a handful of lesser known plants - but she couldn't immediately think what it looked like, much less what it did.

Regardless, she started to move through the trees again, light on her feet. However rare, the forest would surely hold some of the plant. Even if it didn't, she appreciated some goal in her exploration, appreciated somebody at her side as she did, even if it was a somebody she didn't know she could trust. Maiev was too friendly to let Lina's caution cement itself within her mind, but she had learned in no uncertain terms not to trust the dark side.

Lina couldn't pinpoint where and to what extent the dark side resided within her companion. It felt healthy to be on her guard until she'd made up her mind in that regard.

She pushed aside a branch and kept on going, turning back to face the witch. "Mysess blossom - those are the little yellow ones, right? What do they do?"

​

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

"It's nice to meet you, Lina." The witch had always found it fairly easy to meet new people, it was admittedly derived from the never having many she could call friend, or in general be friendly with at a young age. All she had was the clan, the ones who had cast her mother to death, only to do a complete one-eighty when it came to her, worshipping the very ground she walked on.

Even having Kalax wasn't really enough to fill that void. It just wasn't the same, there was no physical contact when speaking to a spirit.

And that was saying nothing about how strange it was to have a completely different person inhabiting the same body.

Saying that though, Maiev wasn't naive. She always took meeting new people with a grain of salt, and with caution on how she proceeded. It was easy to smile and greet, but it was what followed after that, that would enlighten the witch on whether this was someone she could make a friend.

There was always the chance of tricks and traps, suspicion always on the mind to some extent. Which was frequently because Kalax was always suspicious of everyone.

The probe droid looked at Maiev, bobbing its optic up and down inquiring with several boops and beeps. Maiev chuckled, and nodded. It was enough of an answer for the droid to go zipping off ahead of the two women.

"That's right," she nodded. "They generally have yellow petals, but can have red and pink too." Maiev followed alongside Lina, though kept some measure of distance between them. "The Mysess is used to create tonics and medicines specifically for curing illnesses. There was supposedly a time many years ago where the Wookiee's Great Tree required it to help heal."

[member="Lina Renning"]​

 

[Lina Renning]

Curing illnesses, Maiev said.
The witch wanted this flower to heal.
She couldn't help but smile. Perhaps she could drop her guard, just a little.

Lina couldn't claim that she was immune to deception. She was easy to trick, too easy to manipulate. But lately she was more keenly aware of the possibility that there were people who did not mean well. There were people she couldn't and shouldn't trust.

And then there were people she ought to avoid at all costs, but Maiev didn't seem to fall into that category.

Normally she would have trusted the Silver's sphere of influence to remain well-protected from anyone who could be dangerous. For the first months she'd resided within their space she'd trusted just that. It was one thing she hadn't had to worry about. Then out of nowhere the Sith had stormed Ossus, taken whatever they could, cut down whatever stopped them. Some cruel coincidence had made Lina one of those obstacles - and she was still recovering.

Now she didn't trust her safety so much.

"I see," was her quiet reply.
Then her mind grew tired of this uncertainty and decided there was one way to sort out how cautious she ought to be.

"So - you're not with the Silvers, are you?"

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

Once long ago, Maiev would've tripped over her feet when someone suddenly asked about her, mainly because they had quickly grown suspicious about her. Nowadays it wasn't much of a surprise, to a point both spirit and witch had made a game of it.

<Aaand there it is.>

Damn, this one didn't take too long.

<They keep getting shorter, fairly certain this has been the quickest to date.>

Seems so...fine. You've got another point.

Maiev turned her head to look at Lina for a moment, not saying anything before returning her attention to the path ahead of them.

"No I'm not a Silver. What gave it away?" She chuckled lightly. Dressed in what mostly looked black, alone; except for the probe, just wandering through the forests of Kashyyyk. And primarily giving off a sense of both dark and light in her wake. "But I am actually here to pick some flowers." Taking the presumption that the question to follow would be 'why?'

"Typically I get my supply of Mysess from suppliers I know, but they decided they didn't want to 'risk their necks' with the recent battles that have been happening in Silver Space."

[member="Lina Renning"]​

 

[Lina Renning]

"Would you like a list?"

Almost against her will, Lina grinned.

Somehow, she was less suspicious of the witch than she would have been if Maiev had tried to say that yes, she was part of the Silver Jedi Order, of course she was, why wouldn't she be? Lina knew she wouldn't have believed her. A maybe-darksider with honesty was surely more trustworthy than a maybe-darksider without.

And Maiev was quick, too. She was onto Lina's next question before it could so much as form on her lips. Her suppliers were afraid to go near Kashyyyk after Ossus. It didn't escape her that it meant Maiev wasn't.

"Smart of them," she said, words wavering and uncertain. Her mind had left Kashyyyk to crash down on Ossus. The remains of the ship. The Jedi who'd died trying to bring her to safety. The Sith who had cut her down before Lina could learn her name. If only - no. She had thought about Skai enough. Worried about Skai enough. She could think of other things now.

"You could be visiting often," she added thoughtfully. "That is - I don't know that the battles will stop soon."

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

<Oh, I like her. Can we keep her?>

Kalax...

<What, it's a perfectly innocent question.>

So says the spirit who not a couple minutes ago wanted me to scare her.

<And I still do. Doesn't mean I can't like her.>

The witch rolled her eyes, letting out a small laugh to distance herself from the chatter that was going on in her mind.

"And what does that say about me?" Maiev smirked slightly. She was here, in the midst of the supposed conflict that was happening with the Silvers just to pick up some plants for her alchemy needs. Then again Kashyyyk was a fair distance from Ossus, but at the same time someone had attacked a planet a fair ways into their territory.

She glanced over at Lina, noticing the young woman seemed suddenly distant. Maiev looked at her closely; curious. For a moment the witch wondered what had caused it, until she connected the dots with their recent conversation.

"So, I take it you're a Silver then?"

[member="Lina Renning"]​

 

[Lina Renning]

"My guess is that you really like plants," Lina smiled.

The attack on Ossus and everything surrounding it had been fairly widely heard of, and she highly doubted it had instilled a desire to visit the Silver Jedi Order in any number of people. But Lina stayed within their sphere anyway when she wasn't with the Galactic Alliance or visiting Madeline, because however unsafe the Order felt she'd feel infinitely more endangered without one. Perhaps the Silvers' defenses were easily breached; an unheld planet's defenses were not closed off to anyone against Jedi.

If she went far enough in one direction, there were always territory that was fortified. The Mando'ade was a no. The Galactic Empire was a no. The Sith Empire was a no and a look of horror.
So, she stayed where she was.

"You got me," she replied evenly. Because for better or worse - Lina could never make up her mind which it was - she was a Silver. And for better or worse, she never tried to hide it. For one thing, masking her presence was above her skillset. But for another, she managed to find some pride in being a Jedi.

"Joined up a few months ago. Been mostly hanging around with them since."

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

Maiev laughed lightly. Lina wasn't really wrong in saying that, the witch did really like her plants. She could spend several days straight surrounded by them, whether it was tending, cultivating or testing them to see how they react when mixed with secondary ingredients.

She raised an eyebrow when Lina revealed her so far short time amongst the Silver Jedi. And yet there was already something lingering there, that had shaken the younger woman. Doubts over one's safety perhaps?

It would explain the immediate wariness; beyond it being common sense. Ossus had just recently got hit by the First Order after all.

Could it be that Lina had been on the planet when it happened?

<Ah! She's a little fresh Jedi then. I wonder if they've already shoved the stick up her ar->

Kalax!

The witch sighed, times like these she was glad the spirit wasn't able to just speak outloud without permission. But putting that aside, she looked over at Lina with questions in mind.

"And what has it been like, being part of their Order I mean?" It was genuine question, as Maiev was always ever curious to learn about the various groups whether large or small that were littered around the galaxy. There was knowledge to be gleamed from both experience and the inexperience.

[member="Lina Renning"]​

 

[Lina Renning]

She thought on that question for a moment or two.

Lina'd had her fair share of experiences within her few months as part of the Order. Opportunities to train had been limited, though it was less because there were none and more because she occupied her time instead with whatever humanitarian work the Silvers had to offer. But she'd done all sorts, had all sorts of experiences. Plenty were good.
Some were bad.

"It's . . . well, it's never boring," she started. "There's always work to be done - I try to stay busy, help as much as I can. Mostly relief, medical aid, the works. The Order does a lot of humanitarian aid, especially considering . . . well, everything that happens around this side of the galaxy." She was faintly aware of talking more than she was used to. She was less aware still that she'd never had a conversation about her part in the Order before.

"It's great, usually."

Lina paused. "Sometimes less great."

Funny, she realised. The less great occurrences had been . . . extremely not-great, but all the same she'd never considered it to be a fault of the Silvers. Never considered going somewhere else to try and get away.

"But I like being here. I couldn't imagine leaving."

​

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

The witch nodded, a smile on her face upon hearing the boring comment. Never has a truer phrase been spoke, for better or worse. And Maiev had seen her fair share of it too, both from an outside perspective and being right in the middle of it.

More often than not it involved fighting in some shape or form. But then that seemed to the the constant cycle the galaxy was thrown into.

"That's good, it's always best to find a group that you can find some measure of kinship in. One that agrees with your own ideals." But that was Maiev's view, someone who had been her own thing for years now. Never particularly finding a group to stick with.

Although that wasn't entirely true, now that she thought about it.

There had been the Vigil, that had unfortunately fell through before it could rise from its beginnings. It was a damn shame, but Maiev had made sure to keep in contact with as many of the others involved as possible.

"So Lina, what brings you to Kashyyyk?"

[member="Lina Renning"]​

 

[Lina Renning]

Ideals.

Lina didn't think all that often about her ideals. She did good. She wanted peace. That was as far as it went. She rarely thought about the intricacies of her own beliefs, but somehow she was quite certain a great many within the Order didn't share them.

She had seen Jedi who put their survival above that of others, and she had seen Jedi who would sacrifice themselves if they thought it would save a single life. She had heard of Jedi who would kill to keep death away from those who didn't deserve it. Lina didn't know which she was. Truthfully, she would prefer never to be in a situation where she had to find out.

But that was an entirely different discussion, and one that Lina didn't particularly feel like having right now. Maybe not ever, if she could help it, but fortune was rarely so kind.

"Change of scenery, mostly. I've spent the last few weeks on Ossus. Took off once I got the chance, and I hadn't been to Kashyyyk before but I'd heard it's nice."
Keeping her tone casual was more effort than she'd have liked, but she managed it somehow all the same.

​

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

She watched closely, mainly from the corner of her eye as the two continued walking. Her words seemed to have had an effect and lingered in Lina's mind for a time longer. It was always interesting to watch as the gears in someone's head turned in thought.

<And they always have the funniest expressions.>

Although this time it seemed Lina was simply contemplating.

Maiev's probe came zipping in view ahead of them, only to dive in the opposite direction and disappearing into the foliage there. The witch rolled her eyes and sighed quietly, the droid was always excitable when let out to explore and scan.

Hopefully they'd still be able to find some of the blossom.

She quirked an eyebrow at the talk of 'change of scenery', but that shifted into a slight frown when she mentioned where she had come from.

"You were on Ossus when it was attacked, weren't you?"

[member="Lina Renning"]​

 

[Lina Renning]

Her eyes seemed to smile as they watched the probe droid fly excitedly through the trees. Gunmetal blue, filled with mirth for just a few moments.

Then she heard words from beside her. Lina turned to look directly at Maiev.

"I-" she swallowed. "Yes."
She blinked, and eyes became sombre again, earnest and serious. Thinking of Ossus had that effect.

She'd been told over and over that it wasn't her fault, what had happened when the Sith had arrived. It wasn't her fault that her ship crashed. Asteroids were unpredictable, and flying could go wrong for even the most experienced pilots. It wasn't her fault that a pair of Jedi had been there patching her up when they'd struck - when she'd struck. They were doing their job; they would've done the same for everyone. It wasn't her fault that she had lost against the Dathomiri. Emily had wavered on that one but she'd made it very clear that it wasn't her fault.

Lina hadn't heard a word of it.

Everything that had happened could have not happened. And she could have stopped it from happening as much as Skai, or the nameless Jedi, or the fething asteroid that had smashed her ship to pieces.

She hadn't.

[member="Maiev"]​

 

[Maiev]

Maiev's attention was fully on Lina from that moment on, watching for how she reacted. Eyes shifting to a serious expression as the young Silver fell back into contemplation.

Even Kalax was remaining silent, equally as inquisitive as spirit and witch looked on. It had been apparent to both that Lina's wariness went deeper than just general caution, or even being on Ossus when it had been attacked.

<She ended up in the fighting.>

Or Lina witnessed it before her eyes. She's young, I'd be surprised if she had much experience with combat.

<No. It's that or she tried. Either way, look at her hands.> And Maiev did just that, he eyes flickering from Lina's face down to where she could see a slight tremble where Kalax had indicated. <I remember the expression you had when you first fought in a battle, the first time you killed.>

The witch returned to the young woman's face, and looked deeper.

Guilt. Self-doubt.

Neither were what Maiev had experienced during her first time on the battlefield.

She saw someone die.

<And saw the flash of death before her own eyes.>

Maiev chewed on her lips slightly, thinking. There were a few ways to proceed from here, but what mattered was how the young Silver would respond.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you on Ossus?"

[member="Lina Renning"]​