Private Mahsa, are you Okay? You, OK? You Okay, Mahsa?

[Drifter]

​

Kalee's Shadow
Hyperspace
Mahsa

"You'll get a sense of them. They don't feel ... right. 'Course, they may mess with your head, making you see and think things are real even when they aren't. In those times, you want to focus on what feels right through the Force: discern truth from lie. Focus enough and you'll be able to figure out what's real and what isn't."

He explained, only to pause as suddenly Mahsa began to cry.

"Ahh.... you okay? Hey, hey... it wasn't supposed to make you cry," Drifter began, a bit lost and confused. The opposite sex, regardless of their age, were just confounding.

At least Mahsa clarified that the crystal at least felt warm and comforting.

"Oh, well good. You can put that in a lightsaber and it should keep that sensation. Helps you focus on the Lightside of the Force and keep you calm. Also can cut through cortosis." he'll explain that later.

"Anyways... I'll show you how to imbue this knife with the Force and attach this Kasha meditation crystal to it. If you keep practicing with things, you'll get better at it."

Once Mahsa was feeling better, he'd get started to explain the steps, the focus, and meditation that would take to imbue items with the Force. It would take time, be exhausting starting out, but with enough practise, Mahsa would be able to imbue larger and more complex items into it. The end result would be a small hunting knife that would be able to provide a calming, clarifying effect for Mahsa's mind and allow her additional protection of which will mimic the focus and cool calming aura to enhance thought shield. It would apply Mahsa's mental defenses but by no means create an unbreakable shell. A strong mentalist can penetrate even this knife's additional mental defenses but at least it was a start.

 

[Mahsa]

Kalee’s Shadow
Hyperspace

---

She hadn’t meant to cry, and the confused look she gave Drifter at first showed as much. It wasn’t until the man pointed it out that Mahsa finally noticed the wet paths against her cheeks, before the girl hastily wiped them from her face as bright citrine and pumpkin shades shimmered through her hair.

"S-Sorry…!" She felt silly now, the apologetic word that came so naturally for the girl tumbling out as Mahsa realized she was probably making Drifter uncomfortable with all of her childish crying. It took a moment for the awkwardness to fade, aided by the warmth radiated by the crystal carefully held in her hand… before her eyes almost seemed to glitter as Drifter mentioned she could keep it.

"R-Really…?" She felt as if it was too much, and part of her knew the right thing should’ve been to decline it… but the words that tumbled out of her mouth betrayed the girl as she held the crystal close to her chest. Turned out that the knife too, and the slowly growing pile of gifts given to her by him reminded Mahsa of the time she’d first met her master.

It was a reminder that, like the twinkly stars in a night sky, light could always be found even in the darkest of places.

The seriousness that crossed her face as she listened attentively to every step showed how determined Mahsa was to pay back Drifter’s kindness and, despite all of her self doubt and the reserved nature of the child, she was more than eager to learn. She asked question after question to clarify whatever doubts she had as he shared his techniques, and while her tapping of the Force was crude and efficient it was undeniable that the girl had a natural affinity for the light.

"It w-worked…?" She was utterly exhausted by the end of it, white strands of hair plastered against her forehead and the side of her face before the Kazelrrian wiped the accumulated sweat away from her skin. Golden eyes looked towards Drifted with a mix of worry and hopefulness, before a bright and wide smile broke on her lips as the man confirmed the meditation crystal had been successfully imbued into the dagger.

That elated feeling would be the last thing Mahsa remembered before the world had gone dark again, fatigue finally kicking in as it forced her young body and mind to rest.

---

Drifter ​

 

[Drifter]

​

Kalee's Shadow
Hyperspace
Mahsa

The girl was tired and sweaty, with dark circles under her eyes, but there was a distinct strength to the teenager that made Drifter give her a slow grin of pride. He took the dagger she had sweated and poured over, imbuing it with the Force and inspecting it. It was unrefined, but the latticework was neat. If she kept practicing the skill, she could become a solid imbuer of the Force on various objects. Maybe she will make her own trinkets one day.

"Not bad, kid. Not bad," he told her with a flash of that little boy smile, handing her the knife pommel first for her to grab. The blade would glow a soft blue due to the imbuement, but it would provide that calming and clarifying resonance that should allow Mahsa to not only protect her thoughts but also her emotions and her state of being, allowing the Light side of the Force to be enhanced within her while pushing back on the Darkside of the Force.

He hoped it would do her plenty of good out there in the wild.

"Keep on practicing and you'll be able to refine your skills. You can mix and match things to how you like if you research the properties of different crystals, materials, and ores," he explained, standing up only to give a slight groan as he gave a big stretch. The con of imbuing is that it could exhaust the body, and he was already sore from having to do the massive amount of imbuement and majick on Coruscant to neutralize the blood trail corruption mark.

"Alright. Let's see if we can get you back to the Jedi. Alex should have found some places right now. How about you go on and get a sonic and some rest. I'll drop you off and get you somewhere safe."

Alex had found a place, and there was mention of an enclave at Jakku. A little out of the way, but the world be an interesting pit stop. Maybe he could even stock up on some fresh meat and take a gander a bit.

He intended to provide Mahsa with his comm in case she needed it -- never mind the blood trail mark at the hilt of that dagger. Made things a little easier if he ever wanted to track down the teenager. Blame his conscious and white-knighting desire to make sure the kid was fine.

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Jakku Enclave
Jakku

It was a massive, arid desert world. Not the sort he'd figure Jedi would be keen on pitching their tent. Then again, with how things were going, returning to the format of keeping their enclaves under the radar. It reminded him of what the Masters at the Jedi Academy did with the various Houses. Nostalgia hit him for a moment.

Completely attired in his usual black leather and songsteel armor again, the polarized helm turned towards Mahsa, the mirrored surface of the visor reflecting the young teenager. He'd given her a box of extra materials he had if she wanted to try the creation of a trinket or two. He had plenty around anyways. It included a few small crystals, a few branches of Ankarres Wood, and even an Amberite.

Off in the distance, he could make a brownrobe coming over their way. Should be one of the Jakku Jedi Masters he'd spoken to regarding the situation with Mahsa.

[ Alright kid, the Jedi here said they'll be able to get in contact with your Master and have her pick you up. YOu'll be staying here with them in the meantime. Take advantage, might learn a thing or two on how to survive a place like this...] he said, his citrine eyes narrowing at the dustdevils and endless shimmering sand dunes and craggies.

He turned towards her.

[ Do me a favor, try to keep your nose out of trouble until you are ready enough to take on what you can. Otherwise, I gave you my comm if you need it. Can't promise I'll be there right away... might be half way across the galaxy, but hey, never know if you just need someone to vent. ]

 

[Mahsa]

Jakku Enclave
Jakku

---

The proud smile he’d given her would be one that the young teen would remember for as long as she lived, her hand carefully gripping the pommel of the dagger as Drifter presented it to her. "I w-will…!" She’d done her best to commit the teachings he shared with her to heart, and the weight of the weapon in her hands served as a reminder that perhaps she could achieve good things if she tried hard enough.

She was none the wiser about the little extra addition Drifter had added though.

─── ⋆ ⁺ ∘ ₊ ⊹ ☽ ⋆ ◯ ⋆ ☾ ⊹ ₊ ∘ ⁺ ⋆ ───​

She had slept for a good amount of hours after her work on the dagger, but for the most part Mahsa’s free time had been spent learning from Drifter when she wasn’t doing her best to pull her weight around Kalee’s Shadow. With signal reestablished the padawan had finally managed to contact her master, letting the Echani know she was currently headed for the Jakku Enclave, before the older woman had suggested for Mahsa to give Ayhan a call too.

The Kazelrrian had been hesitant about it at first, a small part of her fearful that he wouldn’t even pick up in the first place, but the hopeful desire to hear his voice and let him know she was safe and well eventually won as she tapped on his contact.

What had followed had been a string of questions at her that ranged from ”Where the fuck are you?” and ”Are you okay?”, to a shouted ”Who the fuck is Drifter???” followed by some additional words before the line finally went dead. Through nervous stammerings she’d done her best to answer them all, before a small "I think they’re on their w-way…?" was given to her current guardian.

Gathering her belongings hadn’t taken long, she’d come pretty empty handed into his ship after all, after she’d cleaned up the space that served as her room during her time with Drifter. When she had hesitantly asked him if she could keep the hair clips, something that had taken quite the bit of effort from the girl given all the things Drifter had already gifted her, he’d surprised her by also making sure she’d taken the clothes he’d lent her too.

A myriad of amber and citrine hues rippled through her hair as they waited for the Jedi that would lead her into the enclave, the Kazelrrian currently sporting the typical padawan robes she was familiar with as she stood besides Drifter.

"I w-will…!" Her gaze was met with her own nervous stare reflected back on his polarized helmet as she turned to Drifter, though she nodded in confirmation to his words. His contact had been added to the tiny list of names in her comm, and in turn Mahsa had also shared her own with the hunter.

"D-Drifter." She was hesitant to call out, but aware that their time—short as it’d been—was finally drawing to its end. "T-Thank you, and Alex too, for e-everything…!"

Her fingers nervously played with the hem of her sleeves as she spoke, a habit she defaulted to when nervous that he’d undoubtedly had noticed by now. She would miss them, even if the girl couldn’t find it in herself to voice it out loud, instead settling for a simpler statement as she gave him a small but earnest smile. "S-Stay safe out there, too."

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Drifter ​