Private Imagine, Dragons!

[Colette]

Braze

Yeah, right there, he was-

He… He was…. Gone.

Colette glanced back at the dragons, and then the spot where she had pointed, only to realize that by the time that she glanced back at them they were already practically in her face. She let out a small surprised shriek and stumbled backwards, fell onto her back and stared at the one that spoke for her.

"I am—" She felt a hint of anger rise in her chest. "No, we…"

She let in a deep breath and pushed to her feet so she could stand properly.

"Give me a moment." In a swift move she withdrew something from her belt and quickly threw it towards the tree that she could sense Braze hiding in. Given its size it might have been difficult to see what it was that she had thrown, but the eventual sound of a lightsaber igniting to slice the trunk at its base and cause the tree to collapse was unmistakable.

She pulled the saber back into her hand and put it on her belt again.

"My friend, was so scared of you he had to hide in a tree." She muttered and shook her head as she glanced back at the dragons. "Really, we're just… Really curious about you. Who you are, and what you can do."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

​

High up in the tree, Braze had been trying to stifle his giggles when the saber cut through the trunk. There was a shift in the weight, followed by a startled little gasp and a terrified shriek as the massive tree fell, the sound of snapping branches echoing through the forest. Braze hadn't expected this.

Luckily, he jumped a few moments before the section he was on hit the ground, saving himself from nasty injuries as he flipped off and tumbled in to a roll. He forgot how fragile he was without the use of the Force.

The dragons watched the scene unfold, their expressions that of amusement and curiosity. Wildfire, the fiery red dragon, snorted. "Your friend is quite dramatic."

Tempest, chuckled. "Indeed, and it seems he has a knack for acrobatics."

Mistral shook her head, a hint of a smile on her lips. "Enough teasing, you two." She turned to Colette with a more gentle expression. "Curiosity is welcome here, little one. But know that we dragons value respect and acts of bravery, some value fine works of arts whilst other value precious and rare gifts. We shall share our stories, but only if you prove yourselves worthy of our time. Show us your courage, your wisdom, and your respect, and we shall reveal our secrets. "

Braze, finally recovering from his unexpected fall, joined Colette's side, giving her a reassuring a wary glance. "You could have asked me to come down. " he squeaked in a sullen some what shaky tone.

 

[Colette]

Braze

"And what'd you learn from that?" Colette whispered with a weak grin to Braze and turned back to the dragons. "Of course, we understand."

The kid took a knee atop her rock and bowed her head in respect. She motioned for Braze to do the same.

"I apologize if I seem a bit… Hesitant." She explained. "Where I'm from, dragons are often seen as a threat. I wasn't expecting to be met with such, uh, pleasant company but it's a very, uhhh… Welcome discovery."

"Is there anything in particular you would want to hear about our, uh… Bravery and wisdom? Or do you have some sort of test?"

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

"You don't like jokes; You don't ask questions. You take action." Braze offered back in a hushed tone and awkwardly copied what she was doing trying to mimicked her.
Mistral's eyes gleamed with a hint of mischief as she spoke.

"Very well, little ones. To prove your worthiness, you must solve this riddle as your first test. Listen carefully:

'Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.

What am I?'

Wildfire, with a glint of challenge in her eyes, stepped forward. "To prove your worthiness," she began, "For your second feat you must complete a task that demonstrates your resourcefulness."

She glanced around the forest and then pointed to towering cliff. "At the top of that cliff lies a rare and delicate flower known as the Dragon's Folly. Fetch a blossom and bring it back. "
Tempest, his eyes narrowing with intent, "To prove your worthiness," he rumbled, "you must demonstrate your courage and resilience."

He raised a claw, summoning dark clouds overhead. "Stand in the middle of this storm I create. Endure its fury without moving or faltering. "

Braze looked at the dragons, then at Colette, and finally back at the dragons. "Do dragons find this stuff amusing? Are you all just bored and want to watch us struggle for kicks?"

Tempest nodded, the storm clouds swirling above him. "Prove yourselves worthy, and you will gain our respect and our knowledge.

 

[Colette]

Braze

That sounded like a very apt description of Colette, yes. Jokes cheapened the weight of your words, but she asked questions when she felt the need for it. As for action, well, that was just how she operated. She despised weighing the pros and cons for too long and not because she was impatient, but because… Well…

Okay, she was impatient, but it wasn't her fault that everyone had the inclination to speak and talk and ramble about things rather than just do them, and especially so when the solution was obvious.

Something that DIDN'T have an obvious solution however was this riddle. Colette blinked and began to recount what the dragon said. Something dead that didn't breathe, not thirsty and also cold?

She looked at Braze, because Colette sure as heck wasn't coming up with anything. A drunkard? No, they breathed. They could be cold, but generally not. Constant drinking would make them never thirsty, but… Mail never clinking? Was it a letter bomb? No, that didn't make sense either.

The kid sat down on her rear and meditated on the answer as the dragon's tempest washed over her and Braze. She could feel the way her hairs would stand all along her arms from the static, which was to say nothing of the hair on her head. But, she cared very little.

As the tempest died down she shook her head at Braze and did what he seemed to think she didn't do: ask for advice.

"What do you think?" She asked and shrugged. "The riddle. No clinking in mail?"

"We also have to get that flower."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

Braze listened intently to the riddle, repeating it in his mind as the small storm raged around them. The dragons watched with amusement, their expressions reflecting the anticipation of seeing how the duo would fare.

"Alive without breath, as cold as death; Never thirsty, ever drinking, all in mail never clinking," Braze murmured to himself. He glanced at Colette, noting her contemplative stance. "It sounds like something that's alive but doesn't breathe, cold, and drinks without being thirsty. 'Mail never clinking'... what could that mean?"

As the storm began to calm, Braze's eyes lit up with realization. "I think it's a fish, Colette," he said with a confident nod. "Fish are alive but don't breathe like we do, they live in water so they're always drinking, and their scales are like mail that doesn't clink."

He turned to the dragons, raising his voice to be heard. "The answer to the riddle is a fish."

Mistral nodded approvingly. "Well done. You have solved the first test."

Wildfire's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Now for the second task. You must fetch the Dragon's Folly from the top of that cliff."

Braze glanced at the towering cliff, the task seeming daunting but not impossible. He offered her a wry smile and held out a hand. " Wanna hold hands and go together~?"

 

[Colette]

Braze

Braze seemed to figure out the riddle, but it still made no sense to Colette. As he explained that the answer was fish, and the dragon confirmed that it was a fish, the girl mouthed a quiet "What the fuck?"

"That makes no sense. A fish has scales, not chainmail." She mumbled and then pushed to her feet and stretched her back to limber up for the climb. Braze jokingly offered his hand. Colette looked at it. Then back at Braze.

"No." She was blunt. "I don't like holding hands. It was actually one of the things me and Sh—" She exhaled a sigh and shook her head. "Never mind."

At the base of the cliff it all seemed just a little more steep than it did from afar. Colette looked at Braze and then the dragons.

"Wonder what that flower looks like." She said and chuckled. "Think they'd send us up the cliff to find something that doesn't exist?"

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

"Like scale mail? Since, you know, fish have scales," Braze asked, following closely behind her, ready to let her take the lead for climbing.

"They might send us on a wild goose chase," Braze offered simply.

"Hey, Collette, what do you have against hand-holding? Some people find a lot of comfort in just the physical touch, knowing someone else is there," Braze remarked. "Don't tell her, but Loomi really cheered me up when I couldn't feel her in the Force anymore, just by being close," he added lightly. "When I was little, my mom and dad would always hold my hand when we went places and walked around. Do they just not hold hands where you're from?"

 

[Colette]

Braze

Oh, scale mail. Nope. It was still total bullcrap, sir. Colette would have commented on it but Braze decided to make a big fuss about her reservedness over something so stupid as holding a hand as if she wasn't aware how incredibly stupid it was.

"My mother and father abandoned me in a cave when I was an infant." Colette hissed at Braze. "My parents doomed me to a life of being unloved, left outside of every clan I ever became a part of, including their stupid hand-holding, spit-exchanging mating rituals because of it."

There was a calm behind the anger, a measure of resignation as if this was how it would always be. Except that anger was betrayed by the clear anguish in her voice. Colette feared the hand as much as she desired it, but in the end only one of those things could win out over the other and it wasn't the latter.

"Hand holding is for people who deserve to be loved, and that's not me. That's what I was taught as a child."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

Braze hadn't anticipated the depth of Colette's pain. Her words cut through the air with raw honesty, making him pause. Seeing the anguish in her eyes, he realized her disdain for hand-holding was rooted in a lifetime of rejection and self-doubt.
Colette's bitterness was understandable. Braze could understand this; he too harbored resentment towards his parents for leaving him with the order.

"There are very few people who aren't deserving of love. And I don't think that's you; I think Everyone is deserving of love. Unless we're talking about some bastard war criminal or evil jerk. " Braze said softly. "I think you're deserving of love, Colette."
He hoped his words offered some comfort, even if just a little.

He pause to consider his next words briefly, " Besides... Love isn't something you should have to earn; it's something you embrace. It can't be forced or taken... it has to be given freely and embraced."

Braze and Colette began their ascent up the rocky path of the mountain, the journey as rugged and challenging . The path was narrow, with jagged rocks and loose gravel underfoot, making every treacherous step a test of balance and endurance.

Braze took the lead, the path growing steeper and more challenging. They reached a particularly daunting section—a sheer rock face that towered above them, higher than a Force jump could propel them without wearing them out.

Braze assessed the cliff, noting small ledges and outcroppings that might provide handholds. He turned to Colette and asked, " So... how much do you weigh?"

 

[Colette]

Braze

"I know, it 's just…" She sighed and let the rest go unsaid. "You're kind to say that, Braze. I give my love freely, but it's not easy to accept it from others sometimes."

The climb itself wasn't any real problem. Colette's pass-time since joining the order had been all about mobility, from simply running to climbing. She didn't enjoy the movies much or anything else that felt unproductive to her, and part of her duty as a force sensitive was to be the most that she could be in both mind and body.

That was to say, this climb was challenging, but not difficult.

"More than you." She said and put her hands on her hips as she tried to envision a good path up the cliff. "You aren't suggesting we—" Colette looked at Braze who seemed to confirm what she feared. Her attention set on the cliff again "Of course you are."

"That could be a really bad idea, you know."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

"It's hard to let someone in because it makes you vulnerable," Braze admitted, his voice carrying the weight of personal experience. "Trust is a luxury few can afford—especially those who've been hurt before. But if you find someone who can love you for being you, it's worth it."

He then shifted gears, a glimmer of determination in his eyes. "Nah, it's easy. You just gotta lace your hands together like this," he demonstrated, interlocking his fingers and raising his palms up. "And then you thrust up and back."

With a swift motion, he hoisted his hands up to his face. "But wait until I run up and put my foot there... I might not be able to fly like I used to, but I'm used to falling from the sky. When I'm up there, I'll help you up, okay?"

Braze paused, a hint of mischief creeping into his tone. "Otherwise, I don't see us returning with some silly flower or whatever they want."

 

[Colette]

Braze

It was a pretty common lift technique. It wasn't that Colette didn't understand it, it was that she wasn't sure it was such a good idea to throw someone against a rock and hope they found a grip. But, Braze seemed determined and rather than argue the point she just shrugged, hunched a little and got into position for him to run at her.

"It's about respecting their traditions." She remarked at Braze. "Even if we get tricked, that's their ways - and maybe we should have seen it coming. Not to mention, this is kinda fun. In spite of everything else."

Braze ran towards her and Colette thrusted him up at the ledge as shown. Once he reached down to give her a hand she would accept it and leverage the cliffside to pull herself up next to him. She stood up and put her hands on her hips to suck in a deep breath.

"Think these dragons can shapeshift?" She mused and looked over at Braze. "I think I heard someone talk about that game, uh…"

"Cr-... Hmm…" She hooked a finger to her chin to remember. "Crates!"

"That's it, Crates and Krayt Dragons. Dragons can apparently take on human shapes in that."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

"Uh... I don't think so," Braze replied, his tone uncertain. "There's a species here that can shapeshift... I think they can even turn into dragon-like beings." He paused, considering the thought. "But I'm pretty sure they're different. I've never met any of them."

Braze hesitated before continuing, his voice carrying a tinge of reflection. "I've never heard of such a game... I haven't played many games. My games usually involve combat drills and challenges."

As they ascended the last stretch of the climb, a patch of delicate flowers came into view, swaying in the gusting wind. Up here, the air was much windier, and Braze's hair was tousled by the relentless breeze.

"Maybe these are them?" he wondered aloud, eyeing the fragile flowers that clung to the rocky terrain, their petals fluttering like tiny, determined banners in the strong winds.

 

[Colette]

Braze

"I haven't played it either, I just passed a 'game store' once and was curious why they didn't sell deer meat." Colette joked, probably. "It seemed like a decent way to pass time. For people with time to pass."

She grunted as she pulled herself over the last of the climb and the flowers came into view. She looked at them and then Braze.

"Has to be." She said and gently reached out to touch the flower. "Strong, but still fragile. Grown to stand against the winds? Roots are thick. Most likely for the winds."

"No way a dragon could pick this without ruining it. You should grab only one and we'll be on our way back."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

Braze gave her an odd look, not understanding. She thought he meant game as in hunting. But he bent down and carefully dug one of the flowering plants out by the roots, trying his best not to damage them. Then, with a wry, somewhat goofy grin, he offered Colette the little flower, still clinging to its ball of dirt.

"Going down should be the easy part, right?" he asked, stretching with a veiled yawn as he covered his mouth. He didn't often get to run around in the wilds of nature, but it was fun when he did.

"After that, we get to get rained on, right?" Braze asked. "What's the Noble house like? You've been there right? They have like... a home some where?"

 

[Colette]

Braze

"Yep." Colette said and looked down the edge of the cliff. It wasn't too far, for a Jedi.

"I thought that was what the storm before was?" She then asked and shot Braze a confused look. "Or maybe it wasn't."

"Yeah, I've been to the Noble house. I mean, they adopted me." Colette shrugged. "Really, I was just asking if I could use their name because I had no last name, and they made a big thing out of it."

"It's very fully of life with the triplets, and the newest child."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

Braze listened curiously to Colette as they made their way back down, carefully trying to keep the flower safe if Colette didn't take it.

"That's a lot of kids... like, six?" he asked, half uncertain. "I don't really know much about Kahlil Noble, Valery Noble, or even Vera Noble. Vera kinda seems shy to me, I guess... Or maybe she just doesn't like talking all that much," Braze offered thoughtfully. "But it sure does seem like a lot of people know them. Almost like everyone I've met has met someone from the family," he added, a hint of wonder in his voice.

"Is it a good last name to have?" he then asked, his brow furrowing slightly as he thought about it. "I mean, do you like it? Like, are you proud of it?" Braze's tone was sincere, genuinely curious about Colette's feelings toward her family name.

 

[Colette]

Braze

"Right?" Colette asked at the rather obvious many-kids statement. "And Vera is not shy, trust me. Once she knows you she will stop at nothing to try and get under your skin and be a little menace."

"It's a good name, I guess? It's just a name, y'know? Something to identify yourself with. I don't think we should put that much weight on a name. It's just… A name, y'know?"

"Like, what's stopping you from just deciding to call yourself Braze Noble right now? Or Braze Skywalker, or Braze Palpatine?"

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Colette

Braze

"Right?" Colette asked at the rather obvious many-kids statement. "And Vera is not shy, trust me. Once she knows you she will stop at nothing to try and get under your skin and be a little menace."

"It's a good name, I guess? It's just a name, y'know? Something to identify yourself with. I don't think we should put that much weight on a name. It's just… A name, y'know?"

"Like, what's stopping you from just deciding to call yourself Braze Noble right now? Or Braze Skywalker, or Braze Palpatine?"

"To be honest, I think 'Noble' is kind of a tacky name. I wouldn't want to be named after something that's more often than often associated with people who have money and power but do a piss-poor job of helping out their neighbors. And besides, I don't want Aris Noble to punch me. I don't belong in the 'Noble' family—we're not familiar like that. I belong to a different group. Surnames are good for showing where you belong."

Braze paused, considering his thoughts. "I dunno… I guess I just see it differently. I think names are pretty important. I had a strange conversation with that odd guy, ya know? The chicken man? Matthew of Valendale . He said something about how names give you identity and definition, and the only person who can change what your name means is you. I suppose it was meant to be a lesson about how actions have consequences, or something like that. It made sense when he was saying it, but I wasn't really in the mood to listen."

He shook his head, then asked, "So, what made you ask to use their name? Was it just because you needed a last name, or was there more to it? Are you sure it wasn't because you wanted to belong in that group? I think it's very… human to want to belong somewhere and be accepted."

It would seem that Braze was a cynical little creature.