It is Memory Precious and Pure (complete)

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[SIZE=12pt]She did not feel alone she did not feel abandoned and she did not feel that she was missing something during all the time that she spent with Coren in that room.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Was that what they had been brought there to do, was something more to come from this union later? Or was it now?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]They were quietly still holding on to one another.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The runes for the time had been forgotten. But.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]What had brought them there did not forget there were now five runes left on the table. Five to represent what the force when there were no sides no distinction other than what one would bring. Their insecurities, their courage, their knowledge, their ability to feel, and lastly but importantly the ability to come together as one.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Wren smiled at Coren, she did not know what to say at a moment like this. He was almost a stranger but yet she knew his thoughts knew his fears just as he knew hers.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She would never tell a soul what she learned about him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Are you cold?” She whispered.[/SIZE]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]​

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Being that close. That was something he hadn’t felt in a long time. A real long time. That whole joining of beings? It wasn’t foreign, but it wasn’t exactly second nature for the Dark Sider. Coren Starchaser traveled the void between worlds, he was an explorer and he was looking for answers. There wasn’t a part of him that didn’t enjoy this. Being open was rare for him, but letting it happen? He was fine with it.

Coren knew that it was bound to happen. Part of him knew something would occur when he first met Wren. Was that the Force? Destiny? Fate? She felt so… similar to him. Familiar.

It was an intimate moment and it just felt right. Had this happened before? Was there a way? Coren had been in cryo, but who knew, maybe he lost time, but he knew what happened between the most recent carbonite release and now. It was… tricky.

“Cold… no. You?” He looked at the blonde and smiled. There was a feeling of calm around him.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[SIZE=12pt]Wren just smiled and tried to breathe normally, she looked at Coren’s fingers were long and graceful, reminding her more of an artist she once knew. His body reminded her of a trained athlete the diving had to help with that, he knew exactly what to do. She contemplated for a moment that he knew exactly what to do in everything he did.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]His expressions, the way his eyes looked at her, and then his memories what she could feel and had been privy to.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]“I’m not cold, I feel drained everything we just did took a lot of energy from us.” The longer she stared into his eyes the darker they seem to be. She felt a bit strange but yet calm it was odd.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=12pt]“I’m sorry about your wife you miss her a great deal.” Wren’s voice was soft and gentle, compassion for the man who held her flowed from her. She tilted her head looking at the images that had passed between them, “You slept a long time, and things changed. “[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She closed her eyes and watched as if puzzle pieces began to fall then she opened them, “But you’re not alone Coren. You have friends, and” she hesitated, “now you have me” she smiled, “I’ll be the girl who gets you in trouble, and I’ll be the one you can talk to when you want to, maybe we will both in time find the rest of our memories.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She remained silent for a few moments. She could feel a strange energy that seemed to radiate from Coren it made her calmer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]For a moment the runes were forgotten though they were now in place on the board they need only press them into the lock position.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“How long did you sleep?”[/SIZE]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]​

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He nodded at her. “That was something else, huh?” Coren knew that he was capable of pulling drains and making gains in the Force. But that? That was a meld he hadn’t felt since the time he got married to Kelly. That was an odd memory that happened. “I…” He started and shook his head. When Wren brought up the situation he nodded again. “She was there when I woke up, we both seemed to have been hit by the same thing.” Some Drain Knowledge or wipe-mind?

“Its strange, when you have feelings for someone, but no reason to them. Its… disconcerting.” Was that the ten credit word of the day? Most likely. “Yeah… I did.” Time keeping on the Dawn Treader adjusted to the worlds they were around, but at least her captain kept the time. And when Coren and Kelly came out of the Unknown Regions? Yeah, what even woke them up?

He’d have to find answers to that.

“So, you’re trouble, huh?” He grinned, looking around the place they were locked in. “I’d never have guessed.” He laughed and put an arm around her. Simple, but fun. He could stand a bit of trouble. Probably would be good for him.

“Time’s been fun for me. My friends, the ones on my home-ship, they say its somewhere between 15 and 20. Based on the age of my apparent kids, I’d say it can’t be more than eighteen years.” He shook his head. “Too long, but when your mind acts up? Hardly know its gone.”

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[SIZE=12pt]“The mind is such a complex thing I’ve learned. I feel like I know a lot, I feel like it’s just right there waiting for the right button to be pushed. I can use what I think I know, but knowing how I got it, who helped me get, where my family is, all that is blank” She sighed softly, “I envy that you have knowledge of your family Coren, family is important.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Wren had an image in her mind she didn’t know if it was hers or if it was Coren’s. A palace on a large rock high above the waters inside a tapestry. Art it seemed touched Wren’s heart in ways she could never explain, and music made her soul sing, so what did the palace represent.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]It was then a memory blossomed and the realization of what it was stunned Wren. Her voice seemed to have dried up her father had died and it had shredded some part of her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Did Coren see that? Was that there before? Did he see her name, did he know her real name?[/SIZE]


[SIZE=12pt]“Trouble, yes I am. I.” She thought on this carefully, “like adventure, I tend to drag people with me. I’m usually in the thick of it, pushing runes, sensing pockets of….” The word escaped her what was the word. “and usually falling into them.” She wondered did she have other things that were treasure from the adventures. “So. You have been warned Coren Starchaser” She laughed slightly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“You have children. I. Knew that.” In her mind she could see a girl and a boy. She couldn’t figure out the emotions, love, yes, but complicated. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=12pt]There was a term she was unfamiliar with, “[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]What is home ship? Do I have that right?[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]” They were still on the floor sharing the warmth between them. [/SIZE]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]​

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Really, it was the luck of the Force, the wilds of the way it worked that he even knew who he was. He could’ve woken up, probably would’ve stolen a ship and restarted. It was what he knew, and it was that sort of style of working, you did what you understood, intimately and without needing to actually know it. “It’s a bit of luck. Still not really clear on the circumstances of waking up from cryo but… I was around people who knew me. And they had holos and a datacron… A holocron I created…” He let that thought got.

It meant he was home. Amongst the working of a combat ready starship. That bit did feel right.

As for the building overlooking the sea? He didn’t see that. There was a Starchaser estate, his father’s brother. It was on the Golden Beaches of Corellia. Or had been. He knew that the nephew, Marek, and he hoped his own children, had taken a lot of the stuff out of there during their travels.

“I can’t see that as a bad thing.” He smiled at Wren. “Adventures, finding where you are in the galaxy, that’s all very important. And I can’t say this.” He looked around, indicating where they were. “Is a bad thing.”

The kids. Right, that. “Its tricky with them. But they live on the Dawn Treader. Home ship… whatever I want to call it. Yeah, its one in the same. A ship I served on back during some Imperial time, kind of went rogue. Living in the Levantine Sanctum nowadays.” Safe, really.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

Dawn Treader that was a great name she thought, she looked around, "True could be worse, but this" she looked at the room, and then back at him, "no this isn't bad" She smiled.

"Coren did you go into cryo willingly? I'm confused on that. My head is swimming with your memories and words associated with them. I'm sorry it's intrusive I'm sure you weren't expecting to have everything exposed to a stranger." Course at the moment she didn't feel like a stranger she felt like she had known him for years she had felt some ups and downs, strong emotions, mixed with her own that she had to wade through.

"Coren, did you see any of my memories, or get..well hints of things?" She asked with a hopeful tone. She had been talking a lot perhaps too much, perhaps not enough. She did look at Coren though trying to see if she could read his emotions now as easily as she had before. His face didn't betray any emotions, or thoughts he seemed quite calm about everything.

They shared quiet thoughts it seemed, but why did she have a memory of doing this before. That still bewildered her.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The one thing he, nor his writer, remembered was where the name came from. It was one of those things… a group deal. When he was existing in a time scale that included writers who he lost contact with. His wing-mates, his ship-mates, they were here as background noise and story elements and Coren Starchaser needed them. They helped keep him on the straight and narrow. It was nice. It was welcome.

“Yeah, at least the company is nice.” He offered her a wink before approaching her next question.

Oh, that was… A roundabout story, really. Coren had joined the Imperial service, graduated from a training platform as an officer and was put in Warbird Wing, Peregrine Squadron, Flight two, position 3. That was what… he was 19? (The world was going nineteen) One of those programs where he trained to be a pilot, not really an officer. That was fine, the rest? He learned on his own. But from there, he was noticed by the Dark Jedi Order, this group that worked for the ‘emperor,’ who was really a warlord. “Not intrusive. Helps to say it, makes it… I don’t know, real? Anyway, Warbird Wing, the wing on the Dawn Treader, we worked as a strike group. We made sure the galaxy was balanced even if it became Imperial centric in our ideals… Think Imperial Knights?” From Fel. Yeah, those.

“Anyway, I was chasing down an old teacher of mine. Then it all kind of went… to when I woke up? Don’t really know the fine points.” Except he kind of did.

Its not your time yet, Starchaser. What did that even mean?

“Hints? I don’t know. There was a lot of… feelings. Warmth, happiness…Water and rocks?” Why was the writer thinking Greece?

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

"Sounds right I think. I feel warm. Happy. At times as if I did not really start living or being until I woke up after the rapture. I." She paused thinking about how she felt.

She looked at Coren she knew so much about him she would trust him now. "When I woke up I felt empty and alone. I could still feel the echoes of Akalas voice as she mourned and lamented love. I felt her desperation. It wasn't until later when my mind cleared from the confusion that I realized I understood her because at times I felt like her. I believe the power of her emotions overwhelmed me and took my memories because some of them were so painful." Her eyes looked to Coren.

"You understand great pain Coren. You understand loss. Do you think maybe you're meant to help me with that ?" Two different people. Two different lives joined by history, similar paths, and an underlying need to feel connected

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He’d heard different stories around the HoloNet of what was happening. Sure, he didn’t put much faith in the hokey religions, but the way the Force worked? That could be a mystical form of science, really. What was that called… He knew there was a word. Didn’t matter right now anyway. There were tactics that could be employed by the Force and science. And well... ones that your own mind and aura could release.

“Emotions and pain aren’t an easy thing to deal with. Physical pain, that’s like a flash memory. But the emotional trauma… that sticks around.” And clearly that was the third ellipsis. The writer should learn to use dashes.

“I mean, it isn’t the most bizarre thing I’ve heard in my life.” And that was saying something. “Clearly we were here by destiny, or fate. The Force and its living, wild aspect, for sure.” He finished up with a nod. His answer was yes.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[SIZE=12pt]Yes. She nodded, good she thought. I’m tired of being alone right now anyhow. Pain comes in different forms and affects people differently. Wren felt pain on a deep level as if the pain had permeated her bones aching from the inside out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Emotional trauma. She nodded again, “when it’s emotional it seems the tiniest action or word can set you off to remembering. I.” she tried to let emotions slip away try not to have them run rampant over her, “sometimes feel like running from them, the memories, the trauma”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She leaned forward and put her forehead to his, “I wish I could understand more, maybe I’m trying to hard.” Her words stayed soft, almost whispering.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=12pt]They couldn’t stay here forever, well they could but there were other adventures to have. “Should we look at the runes?”[/SIZE]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He was the type of man who went through phases. Either he needed to be around someone all the time, or he was fine in the blackness of space. Hell, given the right mind set, he’d be all for one of those crazy Jorus Merrill trips that would be reminiscent of the ancient Outbound Flight project. Finding a new galaxy? Now that could be a treat. Imagine that trip…. It’d possibly one-way but still!

“Yeah, I know that feeling. I dunno, it might be why I chose to work with the Fringe and then the Levantines. They’re always on the go, working with the fleets, it just feels like home to me? It feels comforting, the black.” He looked around. Really, it was a way to let him clear his mind. “Sometimes I do my best thinking when I’m not thinking.” Because that clearly made sense.

The runes! Right. That’d probably get them a whole lot of answers, wouldn’t it? “Yeah, we should try to figure out just what’s going on here.” And soon.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[SIZE=12pt]They should while they might like to stay where they were entangled within one another asking questions, well she was asking questions Coren answered and shared.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]They stood up since the only thing that had happened was the deep connection between them within the force there was only the moment to gather their strength back. They looked upon the table now, Wren could see that the five runes had singled themselves out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]With great caution she reached over and gently pressed each one into the place that sat upon. A small click was heard each time, each time she held her breath and waited but by the fifth click nothing had happened.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]What a relief she thought[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She looked at Coren and then began to look around what was next? Water did not come crashing in, no other doors opened up, and no flash of light…nothing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Then she felt it that vibration that seemed to resonate from within herself, and then the soft voice.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]You have passed claim the prize[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Before them a door slid open, from within a box rose up. Within the box lay two D’vouran amulets easy to identify from the craftsmanship Wren dared not reach for them. A tiny device within a crystal, extremely rare from what she could remember but how could there be two?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Was the test all along for two? For them both? For anyone who came this? No wonder the entrance was on the floor of the ocean.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Coren, do you see that?” She wanted to be sure she wasn’t hallucinating.[/SIZE]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Coren found other ways to get to know someone. It was all about looking like you belonged, and that meant picking up cues from the other person about themselves. That was what he taught at his Levantine Academy, how to blend in when you were in some space you didn’t know. It was a work of art, really. And being tangled up in her? That was fine by him, but being here? They needed out. Maybe he’d be able to convince her, a woman with her skills would be very useful, after all, to come to the Levantine Sanctum.

When they got to their feet, he looked over at the runes, the table had changed a bit, the organization changed and the ones that were needed were obvious. He let Wren lead over there, as she was the one who seemed to have the deeper connection to these items. He could hear the clicks as she pressed each into place. He was pulling the Force around both of them, and was waiting.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. The room to lift from the ocean? He wasn’t quite sure, they’d still have to get to the surface, after all. How were they going to get out of here? The pressure of the room would change too… Lots to consider.

When the voice hit him, he looked around, he was a trained combat pilot, reaction times didn’t go away.

He nodded when she spoke.

“What’d we just stumble on?” He looked at her, waiting for her to approach them before following.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[SIZE=12pt]Wren was thinking to herself how could this be she looked around she knew how rare these were and to find two at the bottom of the ocean. Oh. They were hard to find the portal was at the bottom of the ocean, in a place that who but history buffs and adventurers would look at, and touch.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]This was like when the Arbanthan made puzzles. They were master thought solving puzzlers, and then there was the Mystery of the Lodi, the prism had to be opened only on Solibus IV.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Wren looked at Coren, “I’m hoping that these are a gift and not a trap, I heard a voice in my head say it a prize” She looked at her burned fingers, a prize that was painful at times.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Then she touched Coren again, a prize where they learned more about one another than they did about the room.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=12pt]She hoped that something else would happen once they removed the amulets from their resting place.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=12pt]“This may have been a test Coren, set up by someone that wanted those worthy to have those” She pointed over to the amulets. “There have been other instances around the galaxy of puzzles to be solved, the runes were a puzzle” But still how they separated out was a bit beyond her understanding.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]But the force was living could it maneuver runes?[/SIZE]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

There were some mysteries to this universe that he’d never understand. And the way the Force worked, the way the Unifying Force overtook the Living was one of those things that he never understood. He was starting to understand just what had happened here. These items, they were rare, they were something…ancient. But… how’d they get here? This temple, this room, had to be even older.

Was it a vault? Were there more like these around the galaxy?

He didn’t suspect they could find them by looking. It’d be mystical happenstance vaults. “A prize, huh?”

They were protective, that much he was able to understand.

He looked at them. “Don’t suspect we’ll get pulled from this room if we collect the prize, do you?”

He wasn't a boy scout, but he did believe in being prepared, and thinking the next step out. Sure, they had these Lodi talismans, but they were still stuck in some room... possibly under water. He had no idea where they were. He couldn't get a lead on where they were among the stars. It was... tricky.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[SIZE=12pt]Considering how easy it had been to get in. Yes easy, push a button and find yourself in. Would it be that easy to get out? Or would the moment they picked up the amulets drown them, throw them back into the ocean? Or..what?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Wren had never been in a situation like this, she had been trapped in caves, above ground never under water. So.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“I don’t know really, it could. It could also set a reaction that has us running through these halls trying to get back to where we came in, or nothing and we get to walk back…but even still..given those options, do we push another object to get out?” Would they recognize the object, or a path out?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Wren eyed the prize had they earned them, or was there more?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“What do you want to do Coren?” They had to agree as getting out could kill them.[/SIZE]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

That’d not be very good if they picked up the amulets and water came rushing in. For whatever reason, the Force? Writer intuition? Coren didn’t feel that would happen. It wouldn’t be plausible. This temple was older than the items put in it, so someone had gotten in and out, maybe with whatever was in it beforehand. What could that have been? Holocron?

Force scroll?

That was something he was going to need to chase down.

But if they got flooded by water? The way air worked, and how deep they were down, they’d probably be able to make it to the surface without exploding their lungs, but it’d be a race against losing your air. And being a spacer? Air was the one thing he kept in higher regards than anything else.

“I mean, these are shields, right?” He said, looking at the amulets. “I feel like… they’re probably not sabotaged. Anyone coming in would grab any reward, and…” He looked around. “They got out, whatever was kept in this chamber before the amulets were given, aren’t here…”

He was a risk taker.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[SIZE=12pt]Wren looked at the amulets, “yes they are shields” oh..was he thinking. “Are you thinking that the shields will protect us to where we can get to the surface?” Oh she got that familiar feeling running up and down her spine. Was that a danger sense? Or just her own excitement gearing her up.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Wren paused it was plausible and one of those amulets once protected an entire planet so…it could protect them.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She was a bit concerned, being a scientist part of her would want to test these ‘prizes’ but the other part of her couldn’t help but wonder how cool it would be to float in a bubble up to the surface. Would remind her of being in a submersible, right?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She drew a breath.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Well, if you’re thinking what I think you are, I’m game to try it” She was a daredevil.[/SIZE]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He wasn’t sure. Shields were shields, some protected like ray shields, from the physical attacks of the galaxy, others were energy shields. These? Even if they were ray shields, it’d be a scream to the surface, air expands and all that. He looked at her and shrugged. “I’d sure hope they would.”

He grinned at her. “Let’s take the risk. Between the pair of us, I reckon we can get ourselves up to the surface. And clear of this… crazy place.” If it really came to that. What was the worst that could happen? They’d summon an alternate galaxy to cross with this one?

Coren could play those odds.

[member="Serena Bouie"]