The Hazards of Sheep

[Serian Loria]

He had to think about how long for the passage of time felt strange, he knew time passed, he just didn’t feel it. “Almost a year since I was awakened. I noticed the dissonance about a few days after, I missed an appointment and I normally do not. I had other things slip when it came to time as well, small things, but I noted them. I have meditated, I recovered from the strange memory loss, but this feeling of falling out of time has stayed rather persistently.”

When she mentioned his injuries he laughed “No, this happened recently, one of the Reviver’s priestesses found me at deaths door and brought me to her for healing. That is how I ended up here and in service to the Crusade. I will be some weeks yet on the mend, while all the broken bones are fully mended, they are still stiff and tender. I am not however without a means to fight, so I am unconcerned with how long it will take.”



[member="Crystal"]

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal considered other possibilities to reconnect him with the galaxy. It seemed as though he didn’t have many emotional ties to this time, as most of his emotions were based on the past. It would be a shock to any life form to be in stasis and wake up in a completely different time and place. He had managed to piece his memory back together, which was a great start. But what was missing was the drive. The awareness. The goals.

“Well, that must be a relief. I cannot imagine being in that condition permanently. Since you have awakened, have you thought about what you want out of life? What goals you want to achieve? I think a sense of purpose would ground you again.” Crystal said. Not that she had a particular goal at present.

 

[Serian Loria]

He blinked, could it be that simple? “I haven’t thought about it…”

What he was doing now was largely due to familiarity and interest than any real goals. Its what he knew best, it made sense that he’d go where he had experience, even if he had no real aspirations within that familiar sphere. He was in many ways a creature of habit, but even more so now since he wasn’t familiar at all with what lay around him.
[member="Crystal"]

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal smiled. “Then perhaps that is what you should meditate on. Your path, and where it will lead you. And then you can forge it with a passion you’ve probably long since forgotten.” She could attest to that herself, given the way she’d spent the last four hundred years. Not that she had any regrets, or that she didn’t enjoy teaching her descendants, but she hadn’t had a student with a real spark in her life time. Sure, the children had the spark, but then they grew up into men and women with desires that did not require her nurturing.

“I have found that here with the Crusade.” Sure, she was doing the same thing as she had done with the children, but with adults who had experienced their share of hardship and pain, and it made them passionate about learning, even if they required a more hands on approach than the children had.

 

[Serian Loria]

He looked past her feeling unsettled, the last time he had found anything of the sort had been before his stasis. The resulting end had been what the catalyst to his leaving the Sith. He’d spent his grief finding and exacting revenge, but now? “The only times I’ve felt a semblance of awareness to the present was when I had an apprentice, but I lost all of them. I suspect that they were killed in the upheaval within my former faction, but I have no proof. In everything else since I arrived the Force willed, I merely followed. I have no strong ties with anyone and those few students I had...I never had much time to properly bond with them.”


[member="Crystal"]

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal smiled. “Well then. Perhaps you’d like to work with one of my apprentices.” She had three at present. “Many come to the Temple not even realizing that they have the gift of their God’s powers.” She smirked then. That always amused her.

After a pause, she shrugged. “Give yourself some time to explore the possibilities here and I am sure that something will come to you.”

 

[Serian Loria]

He shrugged “I’m not in any hurry, nor in any condition right now to feel up for training. I need to find a home for myself, move from my current residence and fully transition here. The quarters I was given within the temple aren’t adequate for what I wish for myself, but I don’t need anything all that large since staying in the temple is temporary. I will want to keep what I have for when I am here, but I want something of my own.”

Between everything that was going on he hadn’t gotten any of that started, he would have to soon.

[member="Crystal"]

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal nodded. “I understand.” While she might have been that way previously, given that she’d spent the majority of her life in palaces, Crystal was surprisingly not materialistic. She stayed at the Temple, simply for convenience. Yes, she had more money than she knew what to do with, but she rarely spent it. She didn’t need things. The things she didn’t have with her, were in her ship which pretty much remained parked at the spaceport.

“Would you like to go looking for somewhere suitable now? I have no prior engagements.”

 

[Serian Loria]

He shook his head with a regretful sigh “I don’t think I am able to do all the walking and moving around that is required. I’ve been toying with the idea of buying some land along the beach and just building something instead of dealing with something already done. I am just not sure if I can even do that, my current position might not be allowed.”

He knew what he wanted, but he just physically could not do when he needed to look for it. He could, if he were to bend his pride and be helped say in a wheeled chair or something, but he just couldn’t do it. The very thought of having to take such actions was repelling.


[member="Crystal"]

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal smiled. “That is an excellent idea. Start fresh with a place of your very own. That will be an excellent goal. Perhaps you should invest in a speeder bike while you’re recovering too.” She offered, not trying to be condescending, but helpful.

“Besides, you can shop without moving these days. All you need is a datapad. In your line of work, I’m sure you’ve got one somewhere.”

 

[Serian Loria]

He shook his head “I would rather choose the things myself than trust anothers hands. This way I am not waiting on others and...honestly it just gives me something to do.”He then smirked slightly “As for the speeder, that is what servants and apprentices are for, otherwise I walk.”

[member="Crystal"]

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal shrugged her shoulders. “As you wish. So what do you want to do then?” As much as she enjoyed relaxing in the outdoors, the Sith Princess was not one to sit idle for very long. And since he wasn’t particularly mobile at the moment, she wasn’t sure what to suggest.

 

[Serian Loria]

It was that curious point in a conversation where it could either end on that awkward note or continue on and he didn’t feel like ending it on such an odd point. “Its been almost a full day since I last ate and it seems to have slipped my mind till now. As much as I would like to simply ignore it and rest more, I don’t suppose you’d know someplace that has good food? That is if you don’t have anything pressing, but it would be good to have conversation and I’ll buy.”

It wasn’t said in such a way to flirt, it wouldn’t be appropriate, but a casual offer for a meal to talk more was innocent enough. However he would understand if she chose to decline.

[member="Crystal"]

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal grinned. She did like to eat. “Food. Excellent. Let’s go.”

She stood from her seated position and offered Serian a hand to rise to his feet. There were quite a few places nearby. But the one she was thinking of would make almost anything that he could desire to eat. And that was her favourite place, as they had yet to make anything that she did not enjoy thoroughly.

 

[Serian Loria]

Carefully he stood up, using the cane, he didn’t need help though that could just be a touch of pride. He stood for a moment, the transition from down to up making his bones protest. Once he felt ready to move he just looked over at her, she’d have to lead the way.

[member="Crystal"]

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

The Princess did lead the way, at a leisurely pace. There was no reason to cause her new acquaintance any unnecessary pain and suffering. The two would enjoy a peaceful meal and witty banter. And so would begin a interesting companionship, friendship, relationship, or something to be determined at a later time and place. But one thing was certain, she’d be seeing more of Serian.