Survival With A Pyne

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

He stared at her for a moment in a mixture of horror and awe. Cenric had met nobility before, more than once with Cedric in fact, but he had never met royalty. He wasn't really entirely clear on the difference between the two really, really there wasn't much...but he knew that etiquette mattered.

"Right sorry, your Majesty." He stammered, cursed, and then corrected himself. "My Lady."

Was that the correct title?

Cenric really wasn't sure about that, and he was getting another one of those pits in his stomach. No wonder she had been acting weird! It made sense now sort of, though he couldn't really conceive as to why anyone would try to pose as not royalty. That didn't make much sense to him. He frowned, looking at her then glancing at the glass that he had accidentally thrown onto the floor. "Sorry."

He said as he scooped it up and then quickly bowed to her.

The young padawan really had no idea what to do.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The look she gave to him, the way her lips pulled to one side, her nostrils flaring, brows angling, and eyes partially closing told a thousand words, only a few of which she chose to vocalize.

"What the kark are you doing? Stop that!"

Your majesty? My lady? Is he......BOWING?!

"What is wrong with you? Hours ago you looked at me with disdain like some filthy smuggler and now you're twisting your tongue over titles I don't even use. Cut it out. My name's Mariya. Use it."

Her sister was the queen of Naboo, not her. She was a noble, sure, but not to him. Her title really meant nothing to some Jedi from Lorrd, nor was she asking for him to use it. In fact, she specifically chose to avoid it, notably because anyone knowing who and what she was brought nothing but attention and trouble to her. It was better to be a nobody, like he suspected originally. It kept her family out of trouble and out of harms way in case her jobs ever took a turn for the worse.

"Or don't, but don't call me princess or lady or majesty. Save that garbage for my sister if you want someone to drool over."

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenric stood there awkwardly for a few moments, scratching the back of his head and deciding whether or not he should actually do what she asked. It would be rude not to, but from what he remembered it also would have been rude to do so. There were rules for this sort of thing, what to call a Queen, what to call a Princess, how you were supposed to act around them. There was a book for it somewhere, more than one book he was pretty sure in fact.

Still, his eyes drifted towards the blaster she had placed on the table. Cenric doubted that she would shoot him, but...he didn't want to risk it. After a moment more he fidgeted slightly, and then slid himself down into the seat opposite her. "I.."

He began, looking at her sideways.

"Wasn't drooling." That was really the only part of her statement that he could contest. A small part of him did find this somewhat exciting though. She was the first Princess that he'd ever met, and although Mariya was nothing like the stories he'd heard as a kid it was still a unique moment.

One he was sure to remember.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"Well I don't know what you'd call..." She waived her hands towards him, "That." She shook her head and flared her bright eyes. "But don't do that ever again please. It's embarrassing for one, and I intentionally hide what I am for a number of reasons, chief among them because it's dangerous for everyone involved the more people know about me. So just keep it to yourself please."

The last thing she needed was to put anyone in her family in any more danger than whatever they were in now, especially with the trouble in the Alliance.

"Afford my sister whatever graces you want, she's the queen. I'm just a fighter pilot with a fancy unwarranted and unwanted title."

Mariya wasn't the ballroom lady type, that was for sure. She was never one for prancing about a room and looking regal for an audience. She preferred a solid pair of boots and a blaster to a dress and jewelry. The only person who ever saw anything close to that side of her was Jamie, and only because of how close they'd become over the past few years. But those occasions were in fact rare enough on their own, more so now that she was Queen.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

"Okay." Cenric agreed quietly.

In his head though he still wasn't entirely sure. He wasn't going to tell Mariya's secret to anyone, that was obvious, but it still seemed odd to him that she wouldn't want to take advantage of it. In his mind a Princess of Naboo could likely do a whole lot more good than a simple Smuggler, but maybe his read on the situation was wrong. He frowned for a moment, gently playing with the empty glass in his right hand as he considered what she had said.

Slowly, somewhat unsurreptitiously Cenric reached across the table and grabbed the bottle of Emerald Wine. He didn't like the stuff, not one bit, but he figured instead of embarrassing himself further it would be better to have another drink.

He glanced up at Mariya for a moment, then poured himself another glass before taking a rather large gulp. The lack of food over the last day or so meant the alcohol was taking effect sooner than expected, and he felt some of the tension ooze out of himself. Of course, his inhibitions also drained away, so when he looked at Mariya it was rather obvious that he was attempting to read her a bit more closely. The Padawan wasn't quite staring or leering, but he did look longer than usual.

The Padawan just wasn't sure how to feel about her.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Mariya gave Cenric a sideways stare as he quickly drank down half a glass of wine more. Sure, it wasn't the strongest stuff in the galaxy, but unless he was hiding bars of food in his pockets, he hadn't eaten in almost a day, and he was downing an awful lot of alcohol. Perhaps fortunately for both of them he wasn't actually needed to perform any function on the ship, otherwise she would be a lot more concerned than she was at the moment.
"Do you umm, want something to eat? We don't have gourmet meals on board, but I've got pre-packed meals."

One thing she was not? A cook. Those packaged meals were nasty, but after a while you sort of forget what you're eating and just accept it as food when out in space.

Fine dining was a station somewhere where anyone else in the galaxy made the food for you, or back home on Naboo when the real chefs, or her sister made her food. The girl could do a great number of things with her hands, from breaking into locks, piloting a ship, aiming a blaster, but boy if she stood in front of a stove watch out, there would be smoke and fire for sure!

"Unless your plan is to black out through this trip to avoid talking to me, that is."

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

The latter idea was somewhat tempting admittedly. The alcohol helped a bit, but he still felt uncomfortable.

It was only made worse by the fact that he now knee she was a princess. Like everything else he'd done wasn't enough. A part of him just wanted to crawl into bed and stay there for the next week or so until they arrived on Naboo. At least then he wouldn't have to try to stumble his way through these damned conversations without making a fool of himself. Something he'd utterly failed at so far.

”No.” He answered finally.

The trouble of it was he also didn't want Mariya to think he didn't like her. She had helped him after all, and even though he'd been rather ungrateful he was still on her debt. Without her he likely would be on one of those Imperial prison barges by now begging to be killed. A thought that sent chills down his spine.

The Padawan put down his glass. ”I think food is probably a good idea.”

As long as it didn't lead to more awkwardness.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Pushing her chair back a bit to slide her way out Mariya made her way over towards what looked to be a rectangular storage locker situated on the ground beside the counter. Pressing her hand against the palm terminal the device unlocked and the small doors parted ways, allowing a small rise of frost from within. Inside the brunette pulled out two packages the size of a courier's datapad, and roughly as thick as a fist. The packages were set into the small nanowave-stove with a timer set for three minutes. Mariya then hopped up onto the countertop beside the stove and looked over to Cenric, still sitting rather awkwardly.

"If Naboo is safe, you can take this ship to wherever it is you need to find your master. R7 can pilot it and bring it back to me."

She assumed he wasn't looking to stick around, especially in light of the new information.

"Besides, this ship is no good for fighting in, so I won't need it for a bit."

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

There was a quiet lull in the conversation as Cenric thought about just what he was going to do. It was likely that Cedric would already either be looking for him or assume he was dead. Either way the Padawan wasn't all that hot about returning and telling his Master about the colossal failure he had turned out to be. "Thanks."

He said finally.

What the hell was someone supposed to do in a situation like this? Absolutely everything had gone to shit, and even after they'd escaped things hadn't exactly gotten a whole lot better. The Alliance was under attack, Lorrd and Naboo with it. There was no telling if either his or Mariya's family was safe. His fingers drummed against the top of the table for a moment, his lips thinning as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Finally he looked up at Mariya.

"What a karked up day." It was almost comical that he said it out loud, but he felt the need to.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Mariya didn't say anything, but she did nod in agreement.

There wasn't anything more to add to the statement. It was true enough all on its own. As she sat waiting for the meals to heat she ran her hands through the long brown waves of hair. Something like that had to have been in the works for quite some time. Based on the readouts and the reports it was very well orchestrated, crippling the Alliance in rapid succession over a plethora of worlds. And like that, with the snap of a finger, it was all gone. An entire coalition of worlds bound together by mutual pact, thrown to the pages of a history book and latched closed.

A darkness would envelope the galaxy, the Sith would continue to spread. Just how far she had no idea, but the future seemed bleak from her viewpoint.

What the Sith did not swallow, the First Order would move on. Perhaps the Outer Rim Coalition, or the Confederacy would stand to oppose them, perhaps even together as allies, but the stars of hope were beginning to fade in the galaxy. She could only hope that they wouldn't all fade away.

In the midst of her thoughts the timer chimed, letting her know that the food was done. It pulled Mariya from her daze with a start, and the girl hopped down to retrieve the food with the help of some heat resistant mitts. She then pulled away the packaging to reveal two small bowls within, the contents of which looked like some kind of stew, though she preferred not to read the labels. "Food is done." It didn't smell great, but it certainly wasn't the worst thing she'd ever had.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

The silence was oddly the least awkward span of time that Cenric and Mariya had spent together, if you ruled out when they were fighting the Sith. He frowned for a moment as he thought of that, watching the princess move the bowls of food to the table with an almost emptiness to his eyes.

"I've never killed anyone before today." The Padawan sounded as though he wasn't quite sure how to feel about what he had done. Running someone through with a lightsaber was at the very least a quick death, and the man had been a Sith, but it still felt odd. Thinking about it now made his skin prickle slightly, and he couldn't help but feel slightly ill. Oddly enough as Mariya placed the food in front of him he felt almost better, the air filling with what was for him, a pleasant aroma.

Funny, what food could do.

He thought back to those men that Mariya had executed. They hadn't been Sith, though as close as a regular person could come. He wondered how many people she had killed, she'd done it callously enough. His lips thinned for a moment and then he looked around for an eating utensil. "Spoons?"

Cenric half stood to fetch the utensils, not wanting her to do all the work.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"Oh, right." She said, pointing towards a small drawer beside the nanowave. "There."

As if it were any sort of surprise to her that he hadn't killed anyone before. The look on his face and the reaction he had when she had killed the first two agents was abysmal, the look a child might have if they had just watched a small animal get hit by a landspeeder. It was pitiful, but more so, dangerous. Hesitation like that would get you killed sooner or later, and Mariya always shot first. It was a simple fact, especially dealing with other people that wouldn't hesitate to kill you.

"I know you haven't. I could see it in your eyes, the way you reacted when I killed those two, and the way you reacted to that Sith. Not a good habit to have, if you ask me, trying to spare the lives of your enemies."

She took the spoon as Cenric retrieved and passed it to her before sitting down himself.

"I know you Jedi are supposed to be morally superior to us and all, but that code you elect to follow is your weakness, no matter the number of ways you fancy to spin it. It will get you killed. This is a risky game that I play, but I do what I can to eliminate the risks I don't have to take. If that means killing someone before they do the same to you, then so be it. I want to live another day."

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

He paused for a second. "What about your sister?"

It was sort of a low blow to bring her into this, but it was really the only example that he could think of. He knew that there were other Jedi in the Order that didn't kill, a choice that made fighting more difficult. Mariya was right of course in the danger of it, but it was possible. Master Talith, Voidstalker, a few others that he knew of. Cenric wasn't entirely sure about Jamie Pyne, but he was hoping she followed the same code he did. At least a version of it.

"Not Killing is..." He frowned. "Life is supposed to be sacred."

That was the best way of putting it. "Honestly, I don't know about the rest of the Jedi Code. Emotion...passion...I'm not exactly good as suppressing that."

As was more than obvious from the exchange that they had earlier on the ship. The Jedi Code was about inducing serenity, coming closer to the force through calm. Cenric had never actually been able to achieve that calm. During fights he was a complete mess, during meditation he was an utter ruin. The only time he felt any measure of calm was when he was about to fall asleep.

To him it was nearly an impossible task.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"She's foolish like you. Won't kill anyone, no matter what it costs her. It's why she found herself in the hospital the last time that Sith attacked her and I." It was brutally honest. Mariya wasn't shy about being forward and direct. Jamie had tried to explain the same drivel that Cenric was spouting off now, that life is sacred, but it all went in one ear and out the other. "Life isn't sacred to those who choose to gamble with it. If someone pulls a weapon on me, my life is more sacred than theirs. End of story. I'm walking out over their body if I have to."

Why did all of these Jedi proclaim that all life is sacred when they have waged war against the Sith for longer than history books reach?

It was hypocritical.

"I don't understand any of that Jedi code. My code is pretty simple: Kill the people who try to kill you before they succeed."

It really was the easiest code to follow. Looking down she stirred the bowl for a moment, lifted the spoon and blew lightly to prevent burning her mouth, and then took a bite.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

"I'm sure there's a lot of people that agree with you." Cenric said quietly, wondering what his father's thoughts were on the subject.

The stories he'd been told as a child had never been about killing and death, always about the more heroic aspects. He knew that most of them had been embellished, told to entertain the mind of a child, but practically he also knew his father had to have killed people. That was what soldiers did, Cenric had seen it more than once. The Padawan wasn't entirely sure what that meant. Killing people didn't make you a bad person, he couldn'ty claim that.

Otherwise his father would be...Cenric didn't finish the thought.

"You know." He said quietly, pushing the stew around with his spoon. "I'm starting to not understand it either."

He'd thought he did once, but the day was calling many things into question for him. "I used to think I did. When I was at the Temple all of this looked easy, but now...now I'm not so sure. It's not like I've been exactly good at following the code anyway. There's really only one or two rules I haven't broken yet."

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The brunette shrugged. "Rules are there to be followed until they don't make sense. Then they need to be broken. A bad law is a stupid law." Mariya wasn't the type to intentionally break the law, or cause trouble for anyone in particular. But if doing the right thing stood behind a silly law, or something that made no sense, or for instance a Sith agent, then she would do what needed to be done without the shame of guilt on her conscience.

She wasn't a hero, or a Jedi, or a soldier covered in medals. She did what she had to because others wouldn't.

It really was that simple. And she was good at it.

"Maybe I'm wrong, maybe not. Maybe the Jedi follow an antiquated code, maybe not." Her shoulders rose and fell again. "All I know is I act first, always. Instinct is rarely wrong."

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

"Until it is." Cenric said as he picked up the first spoonful of stew. At this point he needed to eat something, the alcohol was making him woozy and the lack of food over the last day or so had gotten him to the point where even this was looking delicious. Of course once it touched his tongue there was some slight disagreement, but he knew that the stew was probably the best meal he was going to get for at least the next few days.

There wasn't really any 'winning' this particular argument, especially when Cenric didn't even know what side he was standing on. He knew that he believed in the Jedi's goals, he knew that he supported the Rebel Alliance, but he also knew that down the road he could likely never truly follow the Jedi Code. Not after what happened today.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I suppose I'll find out for myself."

Or had he already? Perhaps he would have to talk to his Master about it. Cedric was just about the only one he could now, at least if his worst fears came true and the New Jedi Order fell apart. For now however, he wanted to push those thoughts away. At least until they reached Naboo.

"So." He began, looking around the galley and taking another bite. "What do you do when you're not...smuggling."

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The girl set down the spoon, lifting her eyes up to Cenric. "Read. Study. Explore. Train." She said, rattling off the small list rather quickly. "I like to explore places others don't dare go. Deep underwater caves, ancient ruins, lost planets, uncharted regions, that sort of thing." In some ways Mariya could be considered an adrenaline junky. She lived for danger, excitement, and the unknown. It was part of what drew her to the stars beyond Naboo, and subsequently into smuggling dangerous materials for rebel operatives.

"But back home I'm an officer of a small fighter squadron."

The girl pulled her shirt down a bit from the shoulder on her right side, revealing a small tattooed trio of numbers reading 588.

"Jamie doesn't know I got that. She'd probably kill me if she did."

She smiled, letting go of the fabric before returning to eating.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

His eyes popped for a second and Cenric pointedly looked at the ceiling as Mariya began to pull down her shirt, only glancing up briefly to check that nothing had...fallen out of place. He saw the Tattoo, and then some of the red drained from his face. "Sounds...fun."

Cenric managed to stutter out, though he was sort of surprised to hear she was an officer in the military. He knew that Naboo had it's own defense force, but who would have figured a Princess had joined it. Sure she didn't like to be called that, but wasn't she in the line of succession or something? Or was that not how Naboo royalty worked. Cenric had absolutely no idea and he wasn't about to ask, she'd seemed rather off-putting when that whole royalty thing came up before.

He thought for a moment, and then attempted to continue with the ordinary conversation.

"Boyfriend?" The question came without any real thought.

Back home that had been a rather big deal for most people his age. Before he'd left for the Temple most of his friends had always been focused on the romantic side of things, but then again what Teenager wasn't? That was something he never really understood about Jedi. They preached against attachments but then threw a bunch teenagers together to train.

Made no sense really.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Her eyes nearly crossed when Cenric asked if she had a boyfriend.

"Excuse me?" She asked, still wondering if she heard him correctly. "Do you see what I do from day to day? Does that look conducive to any kind of relationship?"

What lunatic in their right mind would want to date somebody like her? A fighter pilot with a trigger finger and an itch for smuggling incredibly dangerous substances across even more dangerous territory to even more dangerous planets to bands of rebels fighting unlikely wars? Even Mariya knew she was crazy for doing what she did, but at least by herself, or with her Twi'lek partner, there was no chance of intimacy getting in the way of what had to get done. And more importantly, nobody to stab her in the back later.

"No." She said, putting her face down towards the bowl to eat. "No boyfriend. Not for me. I fly solo."

[member="Cenric Marus"]