I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more (Zaren Bouqi & Lady Exedō)

[Brumhilda deWinter]

He asked if she needed something as they approached the speeder. Her first instinct was to deny it and said she needed nothing, but that would have been a complete and utter useless lie.

Brumhilda nodded meekly. "I'm hungry," she whispered, "and thirsty."

Even if it hadn't been a long time since she'd had either of them, now that she was coming off from her panic and shock, the fears and pains and hungers were settling in. And fatigue. Force. Suddenly she really wanted to sleep. But she didn't want to wake up a few centuries from now.

[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

 

[Zion Krayt]

"In that case, I'll get you something to eat as soon as possible." When he walked to the speeder, taking an untouched water container, he handed it to her and sat upon the speeder again. "Come, the sooner we get to the Temple, the sooner you'll get to eat." He said it in a way trying to convince her to come along. "I'm not here to hurt you, you need help and I'm giving it to you. It's in the oaths to become a Jedi Knight." He said in a manner that was practically saying 'I am a Jedi, stop wasting time.'

"I promise you'll wake up."

Now that's not something you say at this time.
Too early?
Yup.

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]

 

[Brumhilda deWinter]

Brumhilda narrowed her eyes at the water container, and then at the Jedi. She did not enjoy being talked to like that. But she was tired, and hungry, and the water tasted so good right now. She emptied it entirely within a moment, handing the empty thing back.

Was she supposed to get on the speeder with him now? She'd always hated speeders.

And...

Wake up?

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she murmured as she sat behind him, her body trembling.

[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

 

[Zion Krayt]

He kept his mouth shut instead of making an actual retort and turned on the speeder. If there really was something coming, their best hope was to move elsewhere. Elsewhere being the confines of the Jedi Temple and then they were off. The repulsors pushed them to great speeds as they travelled smoothly to the temple.

In the distance was the familiar form of the temple rising up. Once they had arrived, he disembarked and offered her his hand again. He was genuinely concerned for her, but he'd make sure that she recovered properly within the Jedi Temple. It was the better option out of laying on the ground miles away from safety.

"Are you okay?" Was the question while he guided her up the steps.

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]

 

[Brumhilda deWinter]

Force. She hated being in the back of a speeder. The speed, the height, everything about it send bad shivers down her spine, and her trembling had started before she even got on it. Her arms had wrapped around [member="Zaren Bouqi"] , holding on for dear life as he navigated them through the planet, her eyes shut tightly.

It might have taken several minutes or it might have taken several hours, it made no different to the girl - it felt like an eternity.

She did not even know they were done until he spoke, and she opened a single eye, peeking. Only then did she take his hand, still shaking, as her eyes took in the sight of the temple. One Jedi temple was much like the other to her, a source for suffering. Even among the Jedi she had never found her peace, though the hell she'd endured with them was indefinitely better than what awaited her with the Sith. Being neither here nor there was never a choice she was permitted to take.

"No," she whispered, and shook her head, "but it doesn't matter."

 

[Zion Krayt]

"It matters." He argued, and he turned back around to look at her as they climbed the steps. "Tell me what you remember." He requested softly. He didn't want to anger her, but it wasn't a situation that he found himself in everyday. If it was, perhaps he wouldn't have been cut out for being a Jedi Knight.

But he was one, so he would do his best in such a situation.

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]

 

[Brumhilda deWinter]

No, it didn't matter. She'd never really felt okay by Jedi temples, but there was no point in trying to explain that. Whatever her life had been, assuming everything said so far was true, it was gone.

"I came here to gather medical supplies," she said quietly, "I'm... I was, a medic, and recently reassigned from Firrerre to..."

She fell silent again. She knew she was pulled off of Firrerre. She'd spent years there, in subhuman conditions, trying to help the locals after the Jedi had fled the planet following the Sith destruction there. She had seen it as a calling, helping those who were screwed over by the Jedi without actually becoming a bloody thirsty villain. But she couldn't remember where she'd been supposed to go to next.

"We were supposed to leave this morning," Brumhilda continued, "I went to sleep. Dante was in my arms. And then... This morning."

[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

 

[Zion Krayt]

"You're a Firrerreoan?" He wasn't able to pronounce the name of the people who lived upon the planet, but he wasn't really sure. "Where were you going to take him?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Then they passed through the threshold of the Jedi Temple and were moving down a corridor heading towards the medical bay.

"I'm sorry." He said. He didn't know what to say, it was the only thing he could think of.

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]

 

[Brumhilda deWinter]

"No," Brumhilda said, her arms, so used to holding an 18 months old child in her arms, empty now, hugging only herself, "I... I've lived in a lot of places. When the Sith brought the Jedi to the brink of extinction, Firrerre was the only planet willing to take them in and give them shelter, as a united group. They were instructed in the clan tribes' culture, accepted as a new clan, and were part of the every day life.

A few yeas later, when the Sith decided they were tired of waiting for the Jedi to come out, they attacked the planet. Almost everything was destroyed. The Jedi that survived simple left and did not return to the planet even after they officially reformed. Ossus was the new home planet. I joined the Alliance at the time and reminded them of the debt that was owed to Firrerre, so they sent me.

I was mostly alone at first, just me and Dante, taking care of the natives. But medical supplies were dwindling, and we were getting less and less packages. When Ossus was glassed, even that trickle ended."

It felt strange, recalling those times.

"I have lived... A long life, even before.... Before now, before this morning," Brumhilda said. It mattered very little that she appeared to be in her early twenties; she knew she had been around for at least a few decades, kept alive and in tact by the Force and the magic doings of her mother. But there was no reason to mention any of that. "I've seen the Jedi break their word and fail those who put their trust in them time and time again."

[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

 

[Zion Krayt]

Whilst she spoke the Jedi Knight said nothing. He had no words for what she spoke of. And what she spoke of were harsh words directed at the Order that he called home. The Jedi Order. The place that he had grown up, where his family had basically been intertwined with since their surname had been birthed. She spoke of the Jedi using a planet for survival, and when the time had come that they didn't need them anymore, they had left them behind.

That simply didn't sound like the Jedi that he knew, now did it? If she was a more... Traditional Jedi of the Order he was certain that he'd protect the Order and cut her words off as soon as he could. However, what she spoke of wasn't the Order that Zaren Bouqi had grown up in. No, this was an Order roughly 1900 years before his time. He held no allegiance for this Jedi Order, and he had no words to say to deny what she spoke of.

Jedi Orders changed every few centuries he had learned recently. At this point he understood that the Jedi Order of his time may have been changed several times before his time. He knew for a fact that there had been many Jedi Padawans, but when the Sith continually raided, that number soon began to dwindle until the more light-hearted couldn't take it anymore and left as soon as they could, or the less skilled were cut down underneath the sheer power of the Sith Lords. Which ever it was, it left few people with a similar age to the young Padawan. He had grown up fast when he had been young, he had taken a larger responsibility, he had taught lessons with the permission of Knights and Masters, showed light to many Jedi Instructors about the Code in some instances, but those days were long gone.

"I understand what you speak of. The Jedi Order of this time would do no such thing, not with our current Grandmaster. No, she cares. Perhaps too much, but cares nonetheless."

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]

 

[Brumhilda deWinter]

How many times had she heard such words before? Promised, of change to come, of things that would be better. How many times had she been promised that responsibilities would be taken, that no more lives should be taken without need on their account, and that they would their dues after wars were finished and survivors were in need?

"I have heard such words before," she said at last, "true while spoken, full in their meaning and intent. But power corrupts, and the Jedi are not resistant to corruption. Perhaps even more vulnerable to it than they would like to admit."

Her stomach gave off the sound of hunger, reminding her it had been... Well, almost two millennia since she'd eaten last. "Shall we go in?" she said with resignation.

[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

 

[Zion Krayt]

"I cannot find any words to deny you." He said almost sadly, but he continued to lead her through the temple with a soft, guiding hand. He tried to give her reassurance, but he would remove it if she required it of him. Still, he had no idea what to do to make her feel better, was he supposed to say that her son had lived a good long life? That he had fixed the Jedi Order? Or maybe even that he was some form of Hero in the past that the supposed Gulag Plague erased memory of?

Not one idea at all.

"Certainly." He replied softly, and he changed their direction the mess hall that they were passing at that moment and they entered.

"Are you going to tell me your name?"

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]

 

[Brumhilda deWinter]

Brumhilda paused in her steps and turned to face [member="Zaren Bouqi"] with a look of confusion on her face. Yes, she had to remind herself. It had been... Years. No one alive today, assuming this wasn't a very elaborate prank, knew who she was.

The girl froze.

Freedom.

She could walk around the galaxy and no one would know her face was not her own. That she was not the miniature version of the former Dark Lady of the Sith. That she belonged to her mother. No more attacks and fearful looks. She was...

She was free.

"Brumhilda," she said. her voice shook and her body trembled as she did so, but for the first time that day, there was a smile on her face, "Brumhilda deWinter."


[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

 

[Zion Krayt]

Naturally, he didn't recognize the name. It wasn't familiar to him from the future, nor was it one that he remembered from his past. No, completely void of any memories on that part and he smiled when she had finally given her name. At a point he had thought he felt something suspicious, but he didn't mention it and continued anyway.

"You have a nice name." What else was he supposed to say? Thanks for telling me your name? At this point though, he wasn't really certain how to proceed once he had found them a good table to eat at. "Do you plan on staying as a Jedi?"

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]

 

[Brumhilda deWinter]

Staying as a Jedi?

Brumhilda gulped, the smile vanishing from her face. That was not something she'd truly considered. Even before the.. before this, She hadn't truly counted as a Jedi to anyone, not even to herself. She knew some abilities that were generally considered to be Lightside, but between that and being a Jedi...

"I don't know," she finally admitted, "I was never much good at it."

[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

 

[Zion Krayt]

Listening to her, he wondered as to how the rest of the conversation would proceed. Food was brought to the table by a serving droid, and Zaren waited for a few moments before actually responding to her.

"I could help you be 'better' at being a Jedi, but overall the decision is yours."

There wasn't much he could truly do to help her be a better Jedi. He could tell her what to do, how to act, but it would be up to her on how she acted and reacted.

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]

 

[Brumhilda deWinter]

She didn't answer at first. Help had been offered to her in the past as well. She recalled it all too well; how they had promised her training, only to vanish, how they had promised her loyalty, only to betray her in the back. Jedi had murdered and gone corrupt and no one bat an eyelash, but when she spoke against the nomination of a potential grandmaster, she had been the first in the order's history to be locked up in a cell.

There were no happy memories she had from her time with the Jedi, save for the few months she had worked with the children. Not training, not teaching, just looking after them while their parents busied themselves with other things. And then had that moment come, when one of her Mandalorian friends came to the ward, and told her that he knew who her parents were, and that they were brother and sister, and for the who knows how many times, her world was shattered.

The stigma had been unavoidable. Eyes and ears, everywhere. Always. There was no way to escape any of it.

"What does the Galaxy look like today?" she finally asked with a tiny voice, still not touching the food.

[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

 

[Zion Krayt]

It took her a while to answer at first, but when she did, he sighed in response.

The Galaxy was looking horrible. Super powers in the Galaxy rose and fell, joining stronger factions or just turning their backs on the galaxy and hiding in the shadows waiting for their chance to return. "It is a galaxy torn by war. Jedi are needed more than ever now."

How many Jedi had fallen to the Dark Side? How many had been slayed by those of the One Sith? An order thought destroyed long ago.

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]

 

[Brumhilda deWinter]

All she had to give him in response to that was a sad little smile. It was a sentence uttered so many times by the people who needed to follow it the most. The same people, who never did.

"So nothing has truly changed, then," she sighed.

At last, her hand reached out shyly, taking a glass that had been filled with milk. Milk had always been her favourite beverage.

"Perhaps if people, individuals, focused more on doing good than they did on giving themselves the proper title, the galaxy could begin to heal itself," she said, her voice just above a whimper, shivering in terror. The last time she had suggested that, she'd been threatened with being accused of treason. What would happen now?

[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

 

[Zion Krayt]

"That's quite easy to say. Everyone is capable of 'helping,' but when ever someone does something, they always justify it as 'good.' Are you going to be the one to decide if they're right or wrong?" He leaned over the table and placed his hands upon it.

Zaren always tried to engage in conversations such as these. Things that engaged the mind to think, but sometimes people didn't enjoy thinking and they just stayed in whatever world they were in with their own beliefs. As stupid as he felt that was, he respected that as much as he could.

[member="Brumhilda deWinter"]