The Menagerie [SJO Dominion of Amar, Z-28]

[Charlie Nooran]

[SIZE=10pt]The forced smile faded slightly into something more genuine for the moment. This meant she could get a pet and name it whatever she wanted. Though her skill at naming things wasn’t the best so she would have to try her hardest to find the right name for whatever creature she decided to take in. Fuzzy Charlie found his way back onto the table, she was done with the animal mostly because she didn’t know what else to do with herself. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She had fallen like a fool again to the sweet words that Elizah spoke to her, it was a good thing Jyoti was there to break it up. The padawan looked at the Loth-Cat who had decided he was still tired from eating all the ice cream and curled up onto the table. Charlie poked at her empty cup and remained in silence. What was there to say? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] “I was listening.” Charlie had finally spoken. The spoon she had been using pushed the empty cup from side to side. “Why do you keep lying? Have you woven so many webs that you can’t figure out what the truth even is?” Charlie never made eye contact again with the girl as she kept her focus on the empty ice cream cup. [/SIZE]

[member="Samka Derith"] [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh had refilled the tubs of ice cream while Jyoti had been busy keeping Charlie from falling for that Sith's schemes again. He had been watching from the corner of his eye, listening. He was curious as to what Jyoti's intention with the girl was. She was dangerous to keep around Charlie, who seemed to be a daughter to Jyoti. She had possibly even adopted her as her daughter already at this point, considering their closeness. It wouldn't surprise him one bit. He watched this encounter while he was refilling the tubs, and soon enough Jason had a full one for himself again, to his absolute joy. As the child would busy himself with ice cream, Josh greeted Jyoti with a warm smile as the Echani would return to them.

When she would ask where [member="Scherezade deWinter"] had gone, though, he would shake his head. "I sincerely did try to convince her to come, but she's stubborn. I don't think she wants to be here after what happened" Josh would admit. "And I can't get her to eat anyway. She refuses to eat whatsoever. No matter what it is."

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Samka Derith]

Gone as soon as she'd appeared, Jyoti's motivation was clearly nothing more than to be a wedge between the two girls. Irritating woman. But it was as she'd expected, Jyoti was allowing their conversation to develop, stepping in when it became too dangerous.

It mattered little, the breakthrough wouldn't come immediately, in fact how relaxed Charlie was had come as a surprise even to Samka. This was just a temporary set back.

Even as Charlie avoided her gaze, she continued to smile apologetically. Not too simpering or overly sweet. It was just earnest.

"Charlie," her voice now hushed to be sure they wouldn't be overheard again, she leaned back in towards Charlie. "I can't trust anyone. I've known Jedi do terrible things to people like me. What would you expect from me? If you woke up in a prison cell in the Sith capital would you tell the first Sith Lord you saw everything about yourself? About your people?" The Ren shook her head. "I've barely settled into the idea that I'm not going to be executed. The last lot of Jedi I met certainly would have."

She sighed deeply before adding, "Give us time and we'll see. I can't tell you the full story yet, I just have to explain myself as best I can and hope you can piece it together." The bright smile never left her face.

[member="Charlie Nooran"]

 

[Finley Dawson]

Just as Finley had returned to the starport for the day, calls had gone out among the Silver Jedi that there was some kind of ice cream social going on soon.

Free ice cream? He couldn't resist, especially after a long day of sleuthing.

Inside the yacht, he found the yacht quite crowded, especially as he made his way closer to the dining area. It looked like no one could turn down a bowl of ice cream. Along the way, he'd greet people and shake hands, several friends or acquaintances on past missions. The Silver Order always tried to promote a family atmosphere among its members, and he certainly felt like he was part of some extended family, for better or worse.

Finally there, he rubbed his hands together excitedly as he saw the large spread of ice cream tubs, and condiments at the far end. He wasted little time getting in line and getting himself some scoops. Everything looked good, so he got a scoop of several different flavors in one bowl to determine the best out of the bunch: blueberry cheesecake, peppermint swirl, butter pecan, etc.

Loaded up, it was time to find a seat. As he looked around the room, his dark eyes were drawn to the familiar face of Charlie. Earlier that day, they had been time together investigating the missing phoenix eggs, but the older knight had let her return to her ship as he wrapped up his initial report with the zoo staff.

"Hey, Charlie!" He said with a flick of his spoon as he approached her booth. Right beside her was another girl, quite ghoulish in appearance with ashen skin and crimson eyes. She reminded him of one of those vampire holoflicks. If she was a vampire, then she certainly would be the first in the Silver Order, though perhaps the cutest.

He gave her a polite smile in acknowledgment, ignorant of her crimes and incarceration.

"Mind if I join you and your friend?"

[member="Samka Derith"] [member="Charlie Nooran"]

 

[Charlie Nooran]

[SIZE=10pt]Charlie did her best to not look at Elizah, the girl sounded sincere with her words, but she had sounded that way the entire time they had known each other. The emphasis on the word us made the small padawan’s chest tighten. At the start of all of this she had felt some weird kinship with the girl next to her, that was also a lie. Charlie tried to count all of them, all the lies that she could have been told. Maybe she should have listened to her Master and stayed away from the darksider. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Curiosity had gotten the better of her and now she was back to square one of her emotional roller coasters. Exhaling softly, Charlie shook her head. “I don’t know what to believe with you. At least you could start by giving me at least one truth Elizah – if that’s even your name.” Her head turned and looked at the pale girl and continued to frown. “There’s no us.” Before she could finish, her attention was drawn by a familiar voice. The padawan looked towards the direction and noticed the knight she had been working with earlier. She had wondered if she was going to see him again. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“Finley! Hi!” Charlie waved happily towards the boy, she did her best to hide the desire to cry under the smile. He wandered over and she saw him look at Elizah with a polite smile, then he asked. The mention of Elizah being called her friend felt as if someone was trying to smoother her with a pillow. She didn’t correct him, now wasn’t the time to continue this, so instead she scooted giving him some room to sit beside her. “You can. I’m so happy you came. Uh Elizah this is Finley – we worked together earlier today to find the Phoenix Eggs.” Allowing introductions to happen, Charlie put her attention on the boy. “Did everything work out? I’m sorry I left – I heard about ice cream and couldn’t wait much longer.” The girl bowed her head apologetically a few times as she tried to give him her cutest smile. [/SIZE]

[member="Samka Derith"] [member="Finley Dawson"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Josh explained why Scherezade hadn't joined them back on her ship. She nodded in understanding like she had wanted the Sith to be there, but in reality, she felt a great deal of relief that Scherezade had left them in peace for the moment. Still dealing with Yuroic's antics, she wasn't quite sure she could deal with another outburst with Scherezade.

She enjoyed a few bites of her ice cream before answering. "I guess I understand, still we need to keep an eye on her. When we talked about her the last time, I hadn't realized that she was that unstable. She looks like a walking corpse."

When Jyoti's eyes had met Scherezade's during their brief standoff, she had seen nothing but a broken woman, little like what she had imagined as Josh had described her in such loving detail. Past her initial anger dealing with Scherezade, she felt sadness in the face of witnessing her deterioration. That was no way to live.

"I don't know what's going on with her within the CIS, but it troubles me she's been allowed to get this bad. It might be best for you to bring her by the Rest. Would I be able to talk to her if she's still around?"

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Samka Derith]

“I don’t know what to believe with you. At least you could start by giving me at least one truth Elizah – if that’s even your name.”

A soft sigh came from the Ren's lips. "You already know it's not. Or at least you should." Charlie was still obviously deeply confused and rather hurt. Perhaps she'd realise that it was only a matter of her own survival soon enough. If that were the case one harmless little truth may be in order.

The conversation didn't have a chance to continue between the pair as a third figure joined them. She smiled as brightly as ever, bowing her head at the newcomer. "A pleasure," she said as Charlie introduced them.

"Phoenix eggs?" She frowned looking between the pair. "So there was actually a reason for this visit besides a botched adventure to a child's attraction?"

As Finley settled himself in, Sam briefly leaned over to the teenage girl beside her. "By the way," she whispered to Charlie. "I went to private school growing up. I hated it."

Just one harmless truth.

[member="Charlie Nooran"] | [member="Finley Dawson"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh got the feeling that Jyoti wasn't all that upset that the Sithling had decided not to show. He supposed he didn't blame her, between keeping Jason from her, and blowing up a porg, it really wasn't hard to see why Jyoti wouldn't be her biggest fan right now. Sure, she seemed to convey that she'd wanted to be there, yet... Josh felt like he wasn't so sure. And he felt like he knew Jyoti fairly well. Something about her expression, her motions. She seemed almost too nonchalant about the matter, perhaps.

Taking a few bites from his ice cream, the Master would nod his head as Jyoti would note that she had not expected her to be as she was. "I did try to warn you. Suppose I understated it though" He would admit as he would wipe the ice cream from his face, not knowing he had missed a bit on his nose.

"She's indicated that things are... Not going well with them" Josh would admit. "I won't go into detail so as to keep her privacy, but she has indicated they are not helping the situation."

Withholding her salaries so as to punish her out of disapproval, withholding her from becoming a Knight in her chosen Force creed simply out of personal dislike and ignoring her capabilities and her contributions to the faction.. There was plenty to discuss. But as he always did when it came to Scherezade, he only told what was necessary.

"To be honest with you, there's no way in hell I could get her to the Rest. If you wish to speak with her, I believe she is resting on my ship."

[member="Jyoti Nooran"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Finley Dawson]

"No need to apologize, no point in keeping you around for boring data entry. I may need you tomorrow, though. We have some leads."

Elizah gave him a polite greeting, and he nodded in turn. "I'm Finley."

At first thought, he considered sitting next to the cute pale girl, but she may not have taken too kindly to that, so he chose to sit at Charlie's side instead. Looking down at the table, he could see that the small Seoulian had gathered quite the helping on her bowl, nearly matching his. Quite the appetite on that Padawan.

The most interesting sight was the lothcat between them. It reminded him of some staff complaining about missing animals from the petting zoo. He had offered to look into it along with the stolen phoenix eggs. Missing was a porg and a...lothcat.

Elizah's mention of a 'botched adventure' made him even more suspicious.

"A few of us were there handling a case," he informed her. "Part of a larger investigation. Unfortunately, this world is a major hub for traffickers and poachers. So what were you talking about earlier? The petting zoo?"

[member="Samka Derith"] [member="Charlie Nooran"]

 

[Charlie Nooran]

[SIZE=10pt]Charlie felt relieved as Finley mentioned she didn’t need to be apologizing. Data entry was something super boring and didn’t require any extra hands slowing it down. She started back on her helping of ice cream and listened to the rest of what the boy had to say. Her ears perked up as he mentioned they had leads. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“Oh! That’s good. It felt like we were getting close. I’m all yours tomorrow. I want to see this through to the end.” Charlie gave the Jedi Knight a wide smile, his attention moved towards Elizah who was at her side. The whisper had lingered and Charlie felt as if it was the truth. It was a terrible realization that she didn’t even know the girl’s real name, but she wasn’t going to press for it now that Finley was here. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]That was a conversation for another day. Instead she sucked on the spoon after placing into her mouth, she focused her attention along with Finley’s on Elizah. “What happened?” [/SIZE]

[member="Finley Dawson"] [member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

"The petting zoo," Samka repeated.

The new boy seemed... suspicious of them. He was bright, friendly but she could already tell it hid a sharper mind. She may as well indulge his curiosity. It appeared Charlie was fond of him so it only made sense to befriend him as well to show Charlie just how well she could fit in.

"I went for a nice adventure," the Ren sighed wistfully. "It ended with the location closed thanks to the Silver Jedi's entourage." She resisted going further, not wanting to expose her full ideology just yet. It would likely leave a poor first impression on Finley not to mention Charlie's response, the poor girl likely so brainwashed by her Master.

"What is it you do, Finley?" Sam questioned, her head leaned forwards with a pleasant smile on her sweetened face to look engaged and genuinely interested in the newcomer. He could make another potential ally.

[member="Charlie Nooran"] | [member="Finley Dawson"]​

 

[Finley Dawson]

"I still have hope," he told Charlie with a nod. "If we don't find the eggs, at least we can track down the people responsible to ensure that there isn't a repeat of this crime."

He turned his attention on Elizah as Charlie also chimed in, curious about events earlier in the day.

Elizah's explanation was pretty vague, not really telling him anything about what happened. He took that as a sign that she didn't want to discuss it further and decided not to probe. He could always ask one of his colleagues about the incident later.

Now it was time for ice cream!

"I see...well it looks like it's all sorted out now, so no foul."

After his initial inquiry, it seemed that he now had the full attention of Elizah with those big ruby eyes and a sweet smile. For the young man, it was all quite enthralling, especially as she showed interest in his work. He was still suspicious of her, but she had earned a few points with him.

"I split my time between working as an archivist in the libraries managed by the Silver Order, and the Exploration Corps. There are a few other things I do as an investigator, like now with the zoo case, but my passion is with the Exploration Corps. How about yourself?"

It was truly an innocuous question, Finley just assuming the woman had a place in the SJO. He really hoped she did - he wouldn't mind seeing her around more often.

[member="Samka Derith"] [member="Charlie Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

As it turned out, Scherezade was having problems with the Confederacy, but Josh would not divulge any specifics. She nodded at first, but she definitely wasn't satisfied with his answer. The internal politics of the CIS was still very much a mystery to her, and that bothered her. After the betrayal of the Dominion, she was even warier of working with Sith in an alliance established by her predecessor.

"You know I'd like to know more, but this isn't the best venue for that," she replied, studying Jason for a minute. By now he had a nice thick ring of ice cream around his lips. She chuckled. "And you know that she would be happy at the Rest. The biggest hurdle with those types is getting them through the door."

She looked over at the booth with where Charlie and Elizah sat, now joined by a man she wasn't familiar with. "That one right there, 'Elizah' still gives me grief. I bet she would be surprised to discover that many of our members came from the ranks of the Sith."

The Silver's policy on Dark Siders was well known at this point, which was wait made her all the more suspicious of Elizah. What exactly was she hiding that she believed would get her in trouble?

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Charlie Nooran]

[SIZE=10pt]Charlie listened to Elizah’s explanation as to what happened with the petting zoo, or lack thereof. Seems she wasn’t in the mood and decided like Finley to not press the issue. She looked to say something to the boy but decided against it as him and Elizah seemed to be in discussion about what he did. Charlie had known some of this already, but she wanted to talk to him more. Her smile faded softly as she looked at the loth cat who was sleeping on the table. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She felt oddly out of place for a moment but remained quiet about it. She had spent the entire day with Finley, it was nice that Elizah was speaking to someone else besides her and Jyoti. A hand reached out and petted the small foot of the Loth-Cat that was named after her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Her awkward feeling was amplified as she was sitting between the two as they spoke in front of her. She didn’t have an excuse to get up just yet, but she would try and find one or find a way to inject herself into the conversation. For now, she would just force a smile and let the now sweetened faced Elizah speak to Finley. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][member="Samka Derith"] [member="Finley Dawson"] [/SIZE]

 

[Samka Derith]

Finley seemed to warm up to her quick.

"Ah I would love to see the libraries, I imagine the Rest has quite the collection," the Ren nodded. "I was actually needing to expand my collection at my place. I'd take a few recommendations but I expect they'd have to approved first," she glanced meaningfully past the pair she was sat with and towards Jyoti, briefly catching the Jedi Master looking back at her once more. She offered Jyoti a small wave with her fingers before returning her attention to her immediate company.

"I'm... a long story," Sam's smile altered into a more awkward half smile, one practised many a time to appear as cute as possible. There was no sense hiding it from Finley, instead she drew attention to the collar around her neck, tapping it with her nails on one hand. "I'm afraid this isn't a fashion statement. I'm not with the Silver Jedi by choice, I was caught misbehaving, let us say, but I am hoping to show I'm not the monster I hear them whisper about." She nudged Charlie with her elbow, just gently enough that it could have been an accident of repositioning.

"I hope that doesn't change what you think of me too much," her sheepish gaze went down to watch Charlie play with the tuckered out Lothcat. "I could use another friend around here, Finley."

[member="Charlie Nooran"] | [member="Finley Dawson"]​

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Thus far, I've given you all that I feel I am able to give. For anything further, you would have to ask her" Josh would answer truthfully. That was the best indication that he could give that while he might know at least a little more, it was not his place to reveal this knowledge. He had promised [member="Scherezade deWinter"] as much. Looking toward Jason and noting that his face was a mess of ice cream, the Jedi would laugh a bit and made a note to clean it up once he had gobbled down a bit more ice cream. No point in cleaning it up right now when it was just going to get all covered in ice cream again. If it started dripping, then he would, so the Jedi at least would keep an eye on the star-eyed child who was completely focused on devouring his ice cream.

"Not so fast, Jason, you're going to get brain freeze" Josh would lecture to the child, who stopped to stare at him as if he didn't understand what he meant. "It's..." Josh would pause a moment, trying to think of a way to make Jason understand. "Hmmm... It's where your head goes "ahhhh!" and then it gets all goopy and... Uhh... Bleh! You don't want your head to go bleh, do you?" Josh would ask Jason, who's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No!" Jason would cry out, and Josh would chuckle lightly. "Well, eat a bit slower. You got lots of ice cream, you should enjoy it anyway. And if you eat too quick, you might get a tummy ache too."

Josh turned back to Jyoti then, as she would talk about the girl she had brought along. "Most Sith don't seem to understand that they are not infallible, so it's understandable. Quite curious that we both now have darksiders in our company though" He remarked, smirking lightly. "Are you intending to adopt this one as well?" The Jedi would tease.

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"Fair enough," she replied with a nod. "But if she poses a risk to anyone again, then I trust you'll dispense with discretion."

It was only the fact that the Sith was part of the CIS that Jyoti had been so lenient in the face of the Zoo altercation. Someone unstable like that, who could eviscerate another being with only a mere thought, needed to be monitored and counseled.

"To be fair, you could say that about any group. She claims mistreatment by more extremist Jedi, which could explain her behavior. It doesn't justify her actions, of course, but I can empathize."

For a moment their eyes met, and Elizah gave her a small wave of acknowledgment. If it wasn't clear about Jyoti keeping an eye on her before, it was now.

"Adoption? As in a new student? I doubt it, but anything is possible."

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Understood, Master Nooran" Josh would respond with a curt nod. "I'll do what I can if there are anymore outbursts of the kind."

He knew that Scherezade had not done it on purpose. She had been trying to help diffuse a situation, but it seemed that the pressure got the best of her. She didn't seem the kind of person to want to harm animals intentionally, and he doubted she'd have come if she had ever intended to do so on purpose with so many people watching. But he agreed she did need to be watched. And watched carefully.

"I feel like the extremist Jedi is only a small part of it. Mainly her distrust in us" Josh would point out. "There is a hell of a lot more under the surface, I can assure you of that. Only time will tell if we'll be able to get to the actual bottom of it all. If she allows it should she tell me anything else of course, I will tell more. But it may be worth it to try and talk to her yourself. You do have a way with words" He spoke with a light smile, a light tease toward the end. "Maybe she'll fall for your charms and you'll be able to get everything you need that way."

When Jyoti asked if he meant taking a new student, he shook his head.

"With how you and Charlie are, it's almost like you've adopted her as your own. Are you intending to take a second? Maybe a third, a forth, a fifth?" He joked. "The Nooran family, composed of all the light and dark side kids that Jyoti finds. Has a ring to it."

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

She initially found it odd that he addressed her as 'Master Nooran', but then she took it as a sign that he was seriously acknowledging her.

"On her current trajectory, the question isn't if she has another, but when." She took another bite of ice cream, that minty chocolatey taste just as lavish as the last. "You already know exactly what to do if it happens. Be mindful of attachments clouding your judgment."

Her fear of Josh becoming closer to Scherezade was that he may, in fact, become an enabler of her self-destructive behavior. It seemed like everyone around her was either too lax or just apathetic to her condition or even worse, encouraged it for their own ends. However, she couldn't be too sure until she spoke with the woman herself.

As it turned out, Josh had meant literal adoption with his earlier question.

Oh dear.

"I suppose it seems like it, with how close we are. That's the beauty of only having a single apprentice. I'll leave the padawan collecting to you. On that note, how goes the Dragon School these days?"

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

It was an order. Not a request as a friend, it had been an order as the Master Of The Order, or that was how he had interpreted it. As such, he addressed her as such. By her formal title, to indicate it was a serious affirmative to her orders. He would continue to bite into his ice cream as Jyoti would continue to bring up Scherezade, noting that yes, he knew what to do -when- she did next have an outburst. Though the recommendation he be sure not to let his attachment to her cloud his judgement did catch his interest, he did at least understand the intent behind it.

The question then turned to Jyoti's Padawan adoption, and her question about the Dragon School.

"I don't know, Charlie Nooran has a ring to it as well" Josh joked lightly with a small smile. "As far as my school is concerned... I think I might be a bit too lenient, if I'm being honest with you. At the same time, some students have left on their own paths. I've pondered if they were simply not cut out for the Jedi, or if I have been too strict. I have been heavily reconsidering many of my methods as of late" He spoke honestly. "I'm trying to find the perfect balance. I just feel like I haven't found it yet."

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]