Private Not By Chance

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Burning leaves tumbled around them as Avalore waved the branch.

"I did tell you to find allies - but no alliance involves unconditional trust. Always plan as if your allies might prove weak, false, or unavailable. At the critical moment, the best ally is the one..." Ashin gave the flaming branch a significant look. "...who has already made their contribution."

 

[Avalore]

Avalore did not follow, her expression said as much. The woman spoke in riddles and Avalore... well. Avalore had an education befitting the simple nature of her village.

She kept her confusion to herself, unwilling to push the stranger into walking away a second time.

She gave the burning branch another look, the situation remaining. If she wanted things to improve, she needed to act. She had told the woman she wasn't scared, but that had been a lie. There was one thing she was afraid of more than repercussions, and that was being trapped. Her gut fluttered, a glance tossed over her shoulder to the door in the distance.

“Wait here,” she croaked, not questioning herself as she folded to the strangers guidance and stalked back towards the inn.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Impatience reared up, but Ashin held her tongue. As Avalore stalked off with the burning branch, Ashin replaced the mask of Anger and leaned against the tree, arms folded.

The proprietor and his son came outside as Avalore approached. They were shouting; Ashin didn't quite pick up the nuance, or care. Neither was armed, but they didn't need to be to pose a physical threat to Avalore. The father made a grab for the branch, aiming to rip it out of the girl's hands.

 

[Avalore]

She was suppose to separate them. That was the woman's advice. At least she thought it was, she didn't even know her name. Her mind went blank as the father's anger washed over her. He was the very reason those that did care, didn't act. A village bully, he controlled all the alcohol imports for the village. He knew exactly what she was doing with a flaming stick, even if she hadn't made the decision yet herself.

They had put her through so much hell.

He reached for the branch. She jerked back, embers falling to the ground and burning his feet. The world dissolved into her panicked breaths, his hand lashing out again to wrap around her arm.

No.

She let out a scream of protest, the stick he had paralyzed in front of him erupting in a blaze that swallowed it whole. Burns flashed across his torso, sending him jerking wildly back. Avalore yanked back as the father fell.

Witch, came the screams.

And a witch she was.

The witch was left to face off her tormentor, the flames in her hands creating a formidable opponent in what was once an easy picking. Avalore did not see herself this way, but it did not stop her anger as she bared down Andre. "Why. Why can't you just leave me alone!" The fire flared in warning. He took a step back. She matched it with her own.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

The public house's proprietor would carry the scars of Avalore 's fire for the rest of his life. Surprised and pleased, Ashin smiled under her mask.

<Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk: through committed passion, I gain inner strength. Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan: through inner strength, I gain power. Midwanjontû châtsatul nu asha: through power, I gain victory. Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak: through victory, my chains are broken. Wonoksh Qyâsik nun: the Force shall free me to do as I will.>

 

[Avalore]

The boy's cruel retorts did not come. His confidence remained shattered as his father groaned in pain on the ground between them. For once, he looked frightened.

Her chest swelled, urging her to take another step forward. "You're a coward! You're scum."

Through committed passion, I gain inner strength.

He stumbled over himself, his heel hitting the step of the building. "R-right words coming from a witch."

"You made me this way!" She screeched, her fury exploding in her chest.

Through inner strength, I gain power.

The stick exploded in flames, burning her hand before it fell to the ground. She gasp, but it was nothing compared to the indignation she felt from his words. She didn't need a stick for him to fear her anymore, it was written across his face.

"I'm going to tell them," he threatened, his voice hitting a wobble. "If you don't stop right now-"

Through power, I gain victory.

"No you won't!" She lunged for him. He scrambled back onto the stoop, banging into the door frame as she tried to grab tight.

Through victory, my chains are broken.

"Witch, let me-" He kicked her back, sending her tumbling end over down the stairs.

She landed in a heap, pain lancing up her spine. Through tears, their eyes connected. He stumbled back in fear, sliding into taver's door. "Hel-" went the muffled cry.

She grabbed the branch and tossed it, the branch landing on the thatchet roof over the porch. It went up like a match stick.

The Force shall free me to do as I will.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

In a tight-knit community like this, folks scrambled to support each other. For an influential man's roof on fire, anyway. Less so for a bullied kid who was, presumably, always someone else's responsibility. Whether Avalore had parents anywhere nearby was an open question but largely irrelevant. If they weren't around to help, to protect, they didn't matter. Or maybe the girl was on her own.

<It's done. Maybe they'll save the building, maybe not. Get your control back and come along. My ship's in the forest northwest of here.>

 

[Avalore]

A chill grew over her skin, the panicked noises of the father the first bit of stimuli to rouse her. He cried out in shock. Or maybe it was grief. No one understood the situration yet. Those that came forward did so in chaotic waves, scattering for different tasks. Avalore was left to pick herself up, her arms shaking as she rose to her feet and stare at the fire that built.

She hadn't meant to do that.

Had she?

Andre's face pressed into the window, screaming something to a murky figure behind him. Instinct took over. Avalore turned on her heels and ran, her legs pumping her down the street. She scattered into the woman's side, the opposite of calm as she glanced wildly behind them.

"They-they- they're gonna lynch me for that."

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"Very possibly. But here's the future I see. Father and son and structure and girl survive with a few enduring scars. You and I step into a starfaring vessel and hop a few light-years away. You never come back here unless and until you want to. Maybe you come back and buy the town, level it, apologize, turn it into a palace or a city or forget about it entirely. That's a good long way down the road, of course. The point is that the road is what you make of it." Ashin glanced past Avalore at the busy townsfolk and the burning public house. "...but perhaps, for the moment, we should hurry."

 

[Avalore]

And just like that the choice was made.

Not to say she would have chosen any differently. The girl ran from the only corner of the world she had ever known, very little love loss to the decision as she took the woman's suggestion and picked up her pace.

Witch, came the faint assertion, dots connecting in the distance. Avalore winced, ducking into the swampy jungle. Within moments, its thick presence silenced out all the rest.

"I didn't mean to," she repeated, as if repenting. She made a noise of distress as she glanced back, the thick trees blending in together. "I-" no excuse came, the truth sitting heavily on her tongue.

"I just got angry." She expected the same response from the woman as she would from the others, reason not yet settling in. Ashin had encouraged it, after all. Like with all things, Avalore had risen to the challenge.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"Split your fear and guilt in half. Discard the part that depends on what they'll think of you, what they feel. As for the other half -- what you did, is it proportional to what they did? Is it fair? I'd submit that it is. Be strong enough to forget everything else."

Through the trees, her ship came into view: a large, oblong Sith Empire shuttle at least thirty years old. The hatch hissed open, the ramp came down, and Ashin went inside.

"And yes, it really can be as simple as that."

Avalore

 

[Avalore]

She blinked sharply, shooting the masked woman a look as she self-consciously rubbed at her temple. Was she reading all her thoughts? She swallowed hard, her hands tightening on her pack straps as she- she gasped, her attention drawn to the burns on her hand. Her lips grew stiff, holding back emotion as she looked at the injury she had caused. With fire.

Fire that the woman had magically made.

And then she made it bigger.

The concept of being in like company slowly descended upon Avalore, though what that meant she was not sure. She fell into a silence, following the woman into the ship. She had never been on one before, but even that did not earn her awe. Not in this moment.

"What is your name?" She finally asked, reserved.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Avalore

"I've had quite a few of them. Still do, I suppose. I was born Ashin Varanin."

Before Avalore was born she'd ruled a quarter of the galaxy twice, made herself a myth and a boogeyman on ten thousand worlds. For all the things she knew about Avalore, she didn't know whether the girl knew her name or any portion of the things she'd done. Dark Lord of the Sith, Grand Admiral of the Lords of the Fringe, betrayer, kingmaker, failure-

She put faded memory aside, focused in the here and now, and forced a smile under the mask.

 

[Avalore]

Avalore took in the name, no recognition to it be glimpsed as she nodded and looked around. The place felt so... futuristic. A room of metal-- the degree of tech. Ashin must be rich.

Avalore hadn't lived a desolate life, but her older sister had only been able to bring in so much income washing and mending clothing in the village. She was only 25 and already her sister's hands were as cracked and weathered as piece of bark. Avalore felt nothing for the distance she had put between them.

Nothing.

"Thank you," she finally murmured, flexing her bunt hand as she too focused on the here and now. "For... intervening. No one else would have done that."

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Avalore
She took off the mask and placed it on a faceless black bust in a cabinet. The bust also wore a corroded Sith talisman, a necklace. Her fingers trailed over it fondly.

"Just remember, I'm not particularly altruistic. If you become strong, you'll be a useful..." A sharp-edged grin as she shut the cabinet. "...ally. But you're welcome."

Apart from a handful of astromechs and other service droids, they had the shuttle to themselves. Ashin settled into the pilot's seat and began running an abbreviated preflight.

"There's a medpack under the copilot chair. You'll find painkillers and something for your burn."

 

[Avalore]

"Just remember, I'm not particularly altruistic. If you become strong, you'll be a useful..." A sharp-edged grin as she shut the cabinet. "...ally. But you're welcome."

Avalore's attention cut up to the woman, moving in that slow yet intentional way she sometimes showed. The honesty was... strange. The warning put an edge to the trust Ashin had earned. Avalore knew better than to lean on people, but in that short bit of time the child had already harbored a bit of dependency toward the adult that had saved her.

It might have been practical kindness, but it would be a lie to say she didn't want more. The warning stung. Like everything else, she bit it back and followed her to the pilot seats.

Guess she'd have to remain useful then.


Avalore settled in besides the woman, silent as she took in new setting. After a moment she reached down, pulling out the med kit and opening it at her own pace. If Ashin expected a bather of questions and interest, she would be disappointed. Avalore kept everything in-- the questions, the thrill, the guilt, the fear. The turmoil all coiled through her as she sought to make sense of it on her own.

She got no where with it, of course. Ashin was left with a glowering teen sitting silently at her side.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

A blaster bolt spanged off the viewport. Eyes wide, Ashin laughed and eased the shuttle off the ground. The trees fell away, leaving the planet as a patchwork of forest and krill farms. She'd already forgotten the place by the time they made orbit.

"I can sense your turmoil," she said absently. "Any Force user could, at this range. You're feeling things very strongly - and that's understandable; it's a critical moment for you and you haven't learned discipline yet. Consider the difference between a wildfire and a furnace. The latter is hotter, more powerful, but more contained. Pull your presence in, find control. You'll get the hang of it in time."

Avalore

 

[Avalore]

She startled, eyes wide and nostrils flaring as the blaster bolt rebounded off of the glass. The med kit clatter uncared for on the ground, her body tense and poised as she watched them pull up out of the trees. It was only then that her attention left the outside world, her tense features looking up to Ashin. Her nostrils continued to flare as she took stock of the womans... unaffected nature.

Perhaps Ashin was use to being shot at. The fact that someone had tried to hit her was enough to keep Avalore tense. Most people live their lives without ever staring down the barrel of a gun.

Ashen's words washed over her, coaxing her to sit back... try to breath... pull herself in, whatever that meant. A lot had changed in a heart beat. A lot of things felt wrong but also very right.

Her breath came out in a scattered exhale, the teen self-regulating though what might have dissolved others into panic.

"I'm like you then," she stated, searching for that sense of identity as they left the atmo of Sorgan.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"Heh. Yes, in some ways. Fear is one of them. I spent, oh, decades a slave to my fear in one way or another, lashing out when something disturbed my balance, my sense of security, my territory. I feared to lose what I had. That fear controlled me. It took me many sacrifices to move on. I don't know whether leaving everything you know feels like a sacrifice just yet, or only a release - but you'll feel it in time, and you'll start to understand the prices you'll pay for strength.

"Tell me about yourself, Avalore . All I know is your name and your heart. What do you enjoy? What skills appeal to you?"

 

[Avalore]

"I'm not afraid," she asserted, her palms clammy and clenched tight. The pain in her hand drew her back to the wound, taunting her. It had been a direct result of her fear. Not that she'd admit it.

She reached down, leaving the woman to her unanswered question as she picked everything up. One by one. Her actions were meticulous, forcing Ashin to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

She sat back up, hair sticking to her forehead as she puffed and scrambled the objects to make them all fit a bit better.

"I like making things. Crafting and weaving and stuff," she mumbled, picking at tubes to find the right medicine. "I'm not afraid of them," she asserted again, bringing it right back around to the matter that tugged at her heart. But that was not true, of course, she had only stood up to them to please Ashin.

"And I'm glad to be gone. Good riddance." She turned to the side and hacked a wad at the disappearing planet. It stuck to the window. Yeah, that was probably why the men at home didn't spit inside.