Private Rokanan's World

[Eloise Dinn]

The journey to Nacria was relatively uneventful, aside from one incident in particular which was worthy of note. The small party of travelers made their way through the desert, traveling by night and stopping to rest during the day so as to avoid the heat. They made camp and slept in tents which could be easily assembled and disassembled.

“We should sleep in the same tent,” Eloise told Amani on the first night. She didn’t give a reason, but there was something in her expression and tone which suggested it was more of a plea than a request.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

“We should sleep in the same tent,”

Amani had just finished putting aside many of her things, turning approvingly to the campsite, when Eloise made her request. She blinked, processing it for a moment, and studying the girl's words. It came as a surprise, especially given Eloise's general attitude. But the tone of her voice seemed to indicate more than just a juvenile plea for the proximity of a guardian figure. Probably.

"...Okay," Amani agreed, setting aside her bag. She looked around to see if anyone else was near, or paying attention, "Is there a reason for this?"

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

"Is there a reason for this?"

Green eyes flicked toward Rokanan, who was speaking to one of the other Zaathri in their whistling language. The light of the rising sun glinted on the ring he wore against his chest. His eyestalks caught her staring and he turned to face her, but she looked away.

“Yes,” Eloise replied, a bit of red color spread across her face betraying the shame at the root of her reluctance.

She was not ready to explain these things to Amani, though she expected her master would ask questions. Press the issue. Demand answers. That was Amani's way. So she gave a short, curt elaboration: "There is someone in the camp who I used to be close to. I know that they will probably want to come into my tent. I... can't have that happen." Not that she didn't want it or couldn't prevent it, but because she didn't trust herself not to give in. So far she had managed to keep from reverting back to her old ways, but it was wise not to push her endurance any further than necessary. "If you're in my tent, they shouldn't disturb us."

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

The tinge of shame did not go unnoticed by Amani. She raised a thick brow, subduing a would-be smile from encroaching on her lips. Was this… a crush? In a sea of unfamiliar things, the teenage bashfulness was painfully familiar. Eloise's explanation only made her master more confident in that assumption. Still, her expression remained largely stoic, and after a pregnant pause, Amani simply replied, "…Alright."

If there was only one thing she could assess about Eloise, it was that she hated exposing her personal business. Not in and of itself a suspicious pet peeve, but it had cause its share of head butting between master and apprentice already. So Amani let it be. If it was as she already expected, it wasn't really her business anyways. The mirialan spun around disinterestedly, sloughing off her Jedi tunic to just the undershirt. She yawned, then glanced back for just a moment, "There's no… danger involved here, is there?" One never knew with things as complicated as, well, whatever this was. Especially when there was some good old fashioned spurning added to the drama.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

The smirk the Mirialan was trying so desperately to hide went unnoticed by Eloise, who just wanted the matter settled and over with. Amani agreed to share her tent, then proceeded to start undressing in front of her. Eloise quickly turned away. Well, it was a small price to pay in exchange for avoiding temptation.

"There's no… danger involved here, is there?"

“Not physical danger,” Eloise muttered. The danger is in whether or not I can stay away.

She had difficulty resting, her thoughts racing. The ride was long and tiring; eventually exhaustion would win her over, right? She lay with her eyes closed in the dimness of the tent, listening to the familiar noises of the desert, and eventually began to drift off.

Hooves clopped just outside, jolting her back to awareness, but they went away as swiftly as they arrived. She turned over in her bedding, chasing the ever-elusive slumber she wished would come sooner…

---

A great bonfire had been built in the middle of the war camp for the annual harvest celebration. She had spent the evening watching the natives dance and leap around the blaze, their alien bodies cast in orange flame and black shadows. But now the festivities had wound down. Nearly everyone was asleep in their tents, their bellies full and blood warm.

Eloise crept out alone, approaching the dying embers. There she waited for the sound of hooves, clutching a ring in her hand. She had slaved over it for days under the watchful eye of her father, the master blacksmith and alchemist. Into it she had poured all her fledgling power, using a similar creation of her mother’s as inspiration and guide. Only with it could she have Rokanan. Her father didn’t quite approve, she suspected, but he could never deny her anything she wanted badly enough.

Out of the darkness came Rokanan, his fur fluctuating between nervous shades. When he saw her the colors stilled and deepened to a soft blue. <Damara,> he began. <My goddess—>

She held up the ring, silencing his devotionals. His eyes widened. They had spoken of what it would do, and what it would mean, but some part of him hadn't quite believed it until now. Though he was wise enough not to reveal his doubts, Eloise could sense them. "Give me your hand," she said.

He stretched out a trembling arm. She grasped his hand and gently slid the ring onto his finger. Part of the imbuement would allow it to adjust to fit him, and him alone. That had been Daddy's idea.

The change was instantaneous. One moment he was a Zaathri, four-legged, four-eyed, with a bladed tail. Then he was Human. Unused to being on two legs, he collapsed in the dust. Eloise crouched down instinctively, only to hesitate, her cheeks flush with heat. She hadn't thought to take his nakedness into account. Pulling her cloak from her shoulders, she wrapped it around him and helped him to his feet.

Rokanan stared down at his feet, running his hands over his altered form. <I look like you,> he said. <Am I... like you?>

Am I a god, too? was what he was really asking. Rokanan was born Force Sensitive; it was why he was given to her when they were children, so that he could devote his life and power to serving her. But his ambitions of godhood left her uneasy. Their relationship was built on him worshiping her, after all—wouldn't making them equals destroy that? "So long as you wear the ring, this body is yours," Eloise said, dodging the question. "And we can be married." She had elected to ignore the thornier aspects of all this, just as her father had helped her make the ring in his forge without confrontation. She would do the same thing now. The only thing that matters is our love, she had reasoned. Love conquers all.

She stroked his cheek, then leaned forward to kiss his newly formed lips...

While Eloise dozed fitfully, the tent flap was opened. The figure that crept soundlessly inside had hidden his presence in the Force. Upon realizing that Eloise wasn't the only person in the tent, the figure froze.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani's brow furrowed, but she said nothing more. The padawan's explanation was vague, but she trusted Eloise enough to drop it. They soon readied themselves for bed, and Amani drifted to sleep much easier than her student.

Dreams of her absent husband and children brought pleasant (if wistful) emotion to the passing night. The discomfort of sleeping on the desert faded, and when a certain figure crept into their tank, Amani did not immediately wake. There was no threat echoing through the Force, a warning of disturbance little more than a flicker behind the curtain of her dreams.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

When Amani didn’t stir, the figure approached Eloise. She rolled over on her back, her eyelids twitching in deep, troubled sleep. Still dreaming of that night in the war camp.

The intruder was Rokanan, of course. Guised in the form of a fair young god thanks to the ring she had given him, he wore only a loose tunic, padding with bare feet across the rug. Kneeling by Eloise’s side, he reached under his tunic to retrieve a dagger. He held it aloft as if to plunge the blade downward into her breast, but hesitated. The moment he would have struck her came and went, and the mad determination in his eyes was replaced by silent, paralyzing grief.

His arm lowered, the dagger slipping from his fingers. She was still fast asleep as he leaned over her. Though the touch of his lips to hers was gentle, it was enough to wake her.

Eyes opening wide, she sat up and pushed him off her with sudden violence. Dismay crossed her features as she recognized his face, before her gaze hardened with anger. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, paying no heed to the volume of her voice or her sleeping master. “How dare you enter my tent without permission!”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

The near-moment that Eloise's voice pitched, Amani spun over and sat up, a hand on the saber lying next to her. Someone had entered their tent after all. That Zaathri from before, Rokanan. Eloise was flush with anger, her master simply watching with a stern, steely expression.

"What's going on here?" Sneaking into their tent wasn't exactly a great look for Rokanan no matter how you spin it. If he was lucky, embarrassment was the only thing that would come out of this confrontation.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Rokanan said nothing. He moved to a kneeling position, his empty hands on his thighs, his expression hard.

Eloise’s gaze flicked toward the dagger laying at her side, then to Rokanan. “Is this yours?” she demanded, seizing the blade and holding it up. “What were you going to do?”

At last, there was a flicker of emotion from him, a furrowing of the bow and lowering of the head. He spoke—out loud, not in her head. At some point while she was gone, he must’ve learned how to speak the language of the Pantheon. That would make him the first Zaathri to utter Basic. His accent was strange, unique, melodic and lilting like his native tongue.

“You’ve told Potiphar and his men you were not a deity. That makes you a false god, and false gods must be destroyed.” He looked up at Eloise, and the look in his eyes made her draw back due to its intensity. “But I don’t care if you’re not really divine. You are my Damara, my goddess. I will worship and serve you always.”

The blood drained from Eloise’s face, leaving her cheeks cold and clammy. “You can’t,” she said, trying to be angry and stern, but faltering in the attempt. “I’m not Damara, and I’m not yours. I came here to rescue Marcus. Once he’s safe I’ll go away again and never come back.”

“Take me with you.”

“No.” She hated how strained her voice was becoming, how hard it felt to breathe. “This is your world. You’d be lost in mine. I don’t belong here, but you do.”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani immediately became more tense when she spotted the dagger. This was no longer just a midnight teenage excursion, it was a danger. Unlike what Eloise had anticipated. Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her weapon, half-expecting the Zaathri to try again. But he could only confess his love for Eloise, in spite of her false idolatry.

"This relationship is built on lies, Rokanan," Amani sighed, "For both of your sakes, you would do well to let go." She said no more, however, unless prompted. These two needed to be able to sort out this issue themselves. But either way, Amani wasn't letting her student be alone with a man who just contemplated stabbing her with a knife.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Rokanan shot a glare at Amani. No doubt he was wondering if she was in any way responsible for this change in Eloise. But blaming the mysterious green-skinned stranger was too easy, and he knew Eloise too well. She didn’t let people influence her into making decisions.

She drew his attention when she opted to move closer to him, leaning in. He went very still, not sure whether she meant to embrace him or plunge the dagger through his heart. She did neither.

“Give me the ring, Rokanan,” she ordered, holding out her empty hand. “You can’t be a god any more than I can. We all must be what we are.”

He hesitated. She waited. He looked down at the band of engraved gold, then slowly slid it off his finger. In an instant he was transformed, his shape changing from human to Zaathri in the blink of an eye. He dropped the ring into Eloise’s hand.

She gazed achingly at the trinket at the center of her palm before closing her fist. Her expression hardened, steel shielding her from the pain. “Now go back to your post.”

Rokanan’s fur had darkened to a near-black as he exited the tent. Eloise uncurled her fingers to look at the ring once more before stuffing it into her pocket. She tossed the dagger aside and laid back down on her bedding, turning her back on Amani.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani watched the exchange unfold her gaze occasionally casting downward out of a sense that she was intruding on something private (even though she wasn't the one sneaking into other people's tents at night). It culminated in Rokanan relinquishing his magic ring at Eloise's request, suddenly turning back to his original, Zaathri form. Then just like that, she sent him on his way.

Amani stared at Eloise, who turned her back to her and returned to sleep. Then, she looked to the tent flap, and never quite went back to sleep. Not while knowing that one of their entourage had a potential to stab her apprentice in the back for her false deification.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

The next morning they set out again, reaching Nacria just after noon—though it was hard to tell the time of day with the sky looking so cloudy. A gleaming coastal city carved from white rock, the citizens were far more laid back and welcoming toward outsiders—a consequence of the great wealth enjoyed by the prospering populace, which thrived on trade. For the visiting sister of their patron deity, they threw a party on the spot.

Eloise rode Rokanan through the streets, but there was a stiffness between them which had not been as pronounced before last night. The people whistled and cheered and tossed flowers and fronds in their path as they passed by, yet Eloise seemed unmoved by the festivities. She was appropriately distant and aloof for a goddess, they all thought.

At last, they reached the marble Temple of the Sea Goddess, Thalassa, where Eloise’s sister Altrea made her home. The attendants told them that she had gone down to the shore. “Then we will go down to meet her,” Eloise said, turning to Amani. “Alone,” she added, glancing toward Rokanan and the rest of their traveling companions.

“Are you ready?”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani walked alongside Eloise and Rokanan during the celebratory procession. She had been involved in large Alliance celebrations before, as well as Alderaanian ones. But it was a different feel, seeing the sheer reverence with which this populace treated them. Not just as heroes or leaders, but as actual deities. Even if this particular reverence wasn't exactly directed at her, the contrast registered all the same.

They soon reached the Temple devoted to Eloise's sister, but she wasn't here. Eloise demanded that she and Amani alone go to visit her, casting a glance at Rokanan. Amani tried to ignore the awkward tension that had grown between them, "Ready when you are." She followed along, waiting until they were out of earshot to ask, "Anything I should expect when we meet your sister?"

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

With Amani’s consent, Eloise started down the path from the cliffs to the beach. The coastline stretched like a white ribbon down before them, dividing the land from the sea. It was beautiful when the sky was clear, but with the storm brewing it looked dreary, even malevolent.

"Anything I should expect when we meet your sister?"

“Well, she’s eight,” Eloise replied with a shrug. “Small, skinny, red hair and freckles. Blue eyes like Daddy. She and I used to be really close…”

Eloise used the Force to enhance her leap from one rocky outcropping to the next. “I’d say she’s the most talented with the Force out of the quads—yeah so, Caspian, Julian, Persephone and her are quadruplets, if I didn’t mention it earlier. I got to catch them as they were born, one by one. My mother has a durasteel coochie.

“Anyway, Altrea genuinely believes she is Thalassa, the sea goddess. If you say otherwise, she’ll throw a tantrum, but then she’s a bit of a drama queen in general. She’s also, in a much more literal sense, a sea monster. It’s… kind of hard to explain.”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

“Well, she’s eight,”

"Oh." Amani wasn't sure why she was surprised, given how the rest of the Dinn family seemed to operate, "What happened?" She asked, following Eloise along the rocks with a show of acrobatics.

"My mother has a durasteel coochie."

Amani reacted, but said nothing in favor of letting the comment pass. Not that what came after was exceptionally normal. Altrea was, according to Eloise, a literal sea monster. Hard to explain, she said, "That seems to be a common thing with your family."

"So just uh, don't say anything about the whole not-being-a-god thing, then?"

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Her question gave Eloise pause. At this point in their journey, Amani had seen more of Eloise’s personal life and past than anyone else in the galaxy. There seemed to be little benefit to not telling her the truth, lest she just make assumptions. Better to control the narrative than let her believe whatever she wanted about her apprentice’s family and upbringing.

“She moved here, for starters,” Eloise explained. “Became a full-time patron goddess. And then when all the chit went down with me deciding to leave, she wasn’t especially sympathetic.”

"That seems to be a common thing with your family."

Again, Eloise relented. “Nacria used to be terrorized by a sea monster. The people fed it sacrifices to keep it from attacking the city. When my parents arrived here they killed the sea monster, and my mother ate its heart. The essence of the monster was then absorbed by Altrea while she was in the womb. At least, that is what my parents told me.”

They had reached the bottom of the cliffs. Various figures could be seen standing on the sand in almost military formation, both Zaathri and Shaal. A smaller form stood wiggling her toes in the wet sand as the waves slapped at her knees. Sporting a mane of long red hair, Altrea Dinn wore a plain white dress, its simplicity a sharp contrast to the dozens of pearls of varying size and coloration which decorated her hair and limbs.

Suddenly she turned away from the churning sea and toward the unexpected pair of visitors. She grinned and ran over like a colt racing across a meadow. "Louise!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her big sister. "You're back!"

"Yeah," Eloise's response was unusually subdued. Meanwhile, the onlookers along the shore turned to gawk at them as the waves continued to climb higher.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

"I'll… take your word for it, I guess." Was all Amani said after hearing that story. The Dinns got up to some pretty weird stuff; This wasn't the first seemingly unbelievable story Eloise told her, and it probably wouldn't be the last, "Do you believe them?" She asked curiously after a long pause.

They eventually reached the shore, where a red-haired Altrea was standing in the sand. She was quick to spot and embrace her sister, while an entourage of what Amani assumed to be guards of some sort stood in formation. She stood awkwardly behind Eloise, once again not really finding it her place to initiate conversation in the midst of this family reunion.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

"Do you believe them?"

Eloise tensed up, then shrugged. “I have no reason not to. The Nacrians who were there say it's true, and Altrea is… definitely not normal.”

That much was apparent as the girl ran up to greet her big sister. In the Force, she was like the sea: vast in power, but turbulent and mercurial. There was a foreign influence at play, but unlike any of the others in her family. If her sickly brother Caspian labored under the burden of a curse, Altrea had been raised to staggering heights by a boon—but with its immense benefits came a greater risk of losing control.

“I missed you so much!” Altrea squealed. Opening one cerulean eye, she peered at the Mirialan. “Who’s that?”

“Uh, this is Amani—” Eloise started to introduce them, but Altrea already seemed to have lost interest.

“How long are you staying? Why are you dressed like that?”

“We can’t stay long. I don’t know if anyone told you yet, but Marcus is missing and—”

“Are you hungry? I’m starving.” Altrea bounced on the balls of her bare feet, then turned back toward her entourage to ask for food. Looking back gave her a glimpse of the writhing sea, however, and she was suddenly reminded of why she was there in the first place. “Oh!”

Eloise’s attempt at explaining the situation broke off as her sister ran back to the water. Altrea stopped in the middle of the rising tide and raised her arms to the sky. At once, there was a surge of power like a bolt of lightning. The clouds parted, letting a shaft of warm sunlight through.

“Look, Damara!” Altrea shouted, her radiant hair falling still as it was no longer whipped by salty winds. “My sister has turned the tides!”

This was all part of the family game, attributing coincidences of timing and happenstance to the power of their deified siblings. The sun was setting over the ocean, and the nighttime moon was indeed visible in the rapidly clearing sky. Their devotees cheered and sang hymns to both goddesses, Thalassa and Damara. Eloise rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, looking away from them until Altrea finally returned.

“Okay, uh… What were we talking about again?”

“We need a ship,” Eloise said. “Right now. To save Marcus from a mysterious winged goddess who kidnapped him.”

“Sure! I can let you use my galleon.” Altrea tapped her chin. “But since it’s my ship, I get to go with you.”

“No.”

“Yes,” Altrea countered, her gaze turning cold and her smile a touch cruel. There was the leviathan, the sea monster in her.

“Gods,” Eloise muttered with a shake of her head, before turning to Amani. “I know how to sail, but not as well as her. We might as well.”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani raised a hand in greeting, but Altrea moved on before she had a chance to even say hello. Despite her resonant power, the girl definitely acted her age, moving from one distraction to the next with blistering speed. Amani just flattened her smile, crossed her hands behind her back, and waited patiently for Eloise to get the situation across to Altrea. The little goddess interrupted to make a display of power, attributing it to divine strength. Then she finally offered to loan them her ship, but only if she could come along. Amani sighed quietly to herself.

“I know how to sail, but not as well as her. We might as well.”

"If that's what it takes," She resigned, "Could you convince her to stay on the ship when we get there?"

Eloise Dinn​