The Power to Change

[Ava Solborne]

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Meadows of the Sunflower Moon​

Unknown planet​

11:24​

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Dominator sat on the meadow. The planet was so beautiful. There were only meadows. Well, there were a few cities too, but mostly meadows. This one he was at the moment, was called Meadows of the Sunflower Moon. No one knew, why. The sun shined and gentle clouds. The scene was very beautiful. And of course, on the planet, there were butterflies. They flew all around the meadow with their little almost transparent yellow and red wings. Only five minutes had passed, but it felt like there was no time. The meadow took all the time and its beauty hypnotized Dominator. Flowers... There were thousands of flowers in the meadow. Yellow, white, even blue and red ones. Though, mostly yellow and white ones. They covered the whole meadow and the few empty spots were little, tiny. Dominator held a flower and looked at the sky. It was all so beautiful.

 

[Emmara Lee]

Nothing made Emmara feel further from home than the flowers. Tatooine was a world of sand and scorching sun, a punishing world that ensured only the strong survived. She was used to the heat, the desert, the scattered settlements filled with people with no discernable moral compass. It couldn't be home any more, not to her, but this world was - wrong. Gentle breezes caressed her hair; the grass was soft and uncertain beneath her feet, and everywhere there were flowers. Every now and then she would stop and examine them, suspicious of their bright colours and varying scents.

The ship she had been working on had broken irreperably, no longer able to keep a steady engine temperature, and the annoyed captain had informed her they no longer had need for her services. It wasn't a big loss; the ship was squalid and the crew crass and boorish. Emmara had taken her wages, snarled at the captain in Tusken until he had given in and returned the week's credits that were missing, and stormed off. It was only when she was away from the meagre spaceport and tiny, picturesque town that she had realised she had nowhere to go.

The sweetness of the air was alien to her, so different to the bustling cities or murky undergrounds that she had visited before that something was guiding her along, drawing her ever further into the endless meadows. Small insects fluttered around her and she waved them away. "Pesky things," she muttered. They were growing in number, and Emmara could see that the grassy stretch ahead of her was filled with these insects. No, this could never be her new home, but there would be at least a week before the next transport passed through and so she had time to kill with exploring.

Her sharp eyes flickered across the meadow and she spotted the outline of a person sitting at the far end, remarkably serene. Her instincts usually guided her well, and as she set eyes on him she knew this was what had been drawing her out. Would he be able to help her get off planet? Maybe, maybe not - it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?

Emmara hesitated, not sure whether to approach or not. It seemed wrong, somehow, to disturb the tranquility around him, and she stood quietly at the edge of the meadow, occasionally waving a hand to ward off the endless insects.

 

[Ava Solborne]

Dominator looked at the sun and smiled. He had already seen the sun many times, but it still felt so good, friendly. On Umbara, the sun was never seen. There was an infinite darkness. But this planet... Even at night, the sun didn't set. It was just at the horizon and when the morning came, it raised again. It was very mystical, but yet so beautiful. But then Dominator turned around and saw a person in the other end of the meadow. Oh, maybe he should walk closer to her? But still, maybe the person had to do her own stuff.

"COME!" A sudden voice screamed in Dominator's head. He thought, that the voices were already gone, but he was completely wrong. They just had to come back. Nothing could cure Dominator anymore and so he had to let the voices talk in hiss head. But at the recent time, no voices were heard. Well, until now.

 

[Emmara Lee]

Well, there was no doubting that he had seen her. Emmara's eyes could make out a single figure in a sandstorm; she easily saw the other person turn and look at her. There was no threat that she could read, although she was having some trouble with interpreting danger since leaving home. The universe was full of threats that she had barely even imagined. A hunch told her this would be okay, though, and so she trudged through the meadow, eyes narrowed as she glared at the fluttering critters that pestered her.

She approached cautiously, one hand at the sharp knife tucked into her waistband just in case. The silhouette grew clearer until she was standing next to him, studying him warily. He was not human but humanoid, she hadn't travelled enough to know what species he was. He was very pale; white hair, pale skin, offset by the dark robes he wore. He was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

"Hello," she greeted, surprising herself. The only time she usually talked to the humans was to get work. Then again, she reasoned, he most likely wasn't a human. "Who are you?" Her tone, and her question, were rude and abrupt but that was simply who she was.

 

[Ava Solborne]

Dominator looked at the woman and said very calmly: "Hello! I am a person. A person like you." Everything, what happened now was extremely strange. Dominator's emotions changed so quickly, that he seemed angry now. "I am Equa Dominator! An Umbaran and yes, I am a Jedi!" He shouted. Then he turned around and started to cry. It was a surprise for Dominator too. What made him lose his mind like this? What was wrong with him again? Did the thing, what happened before... Did it make Dominator act so strange?

 

[Emmara Lee]

The man - Umbaran, she corrected - practically shouted his name at her. Emmara took two steps backwards, debating whether to run away from him, for clearly he was a lunatic to be shouting so much. Even she knew that normal people had volume control. Unless, and she hesitated to entertain the thought, there was something wrong? He was crying, after all.

"Equa Dominator," she said slowly, tasting the odd name on her lips. "I see. An Umbaran. Good for you." She frowned at him. Being Umbaran must explain the ethereal colouring, and she made a mental note to look up Umbarans as soon as she found somewhere, anywhere, with decent information. It was obvious from her expression that she had never seen an Umbaran before, and she didn't even know what a Jedi was. Ah well; at least she was familiar with the concept of an introduction.

"I am Emmara," she said, feeling awkward for interrupting him in case she had set him off. The calm had left him, replaced by anger and sadness, wild emotions. "I guess I didn't mean to upset you, Mister Umbaran Jedi. I was just wondering why someone would be sitting in this infernal place all by themselves."

 

[Ava Solborne]

"I am so sorry..." Dominator said. His voice sounded guilty. He didn't turn back to the woman. He didn't want to see her face. He was afraid. Afraid, that the woman hates him, though she didn't talk like a person, who was angry. "I shouldn't have shouted. I am feeling so bad." He became calmer. Though in his minds, he was sad, angry, guilty. It was something, what was even stronger than the voice. And the voice was gone. Nothing... Before, there was a very quiet whisper, so quiet, that he didn't understand anything. But now... Nothing. His mind, his head was clear. Everything was fine now.

 

[Emmara Lee]

Anger. It was an emotion Emmara knew well. Anger at the people who tore through her life and destroyed her family. Anger at the way they had forced her into what they thought was civilisation. Anger at how helpless she was to do anything. The key with anger, she had learned, was not to let it control you. It seemed that Dominator knew this too, for he turned away from her and she could almost feel him calming down. His control was impressive.

"Everyone needs to shout sometimes," Emmara shrugged. "I shout a lot." It was her default noise level, not that he was to know that. Shouting to make yourself heard; to get what you wanted; to express the extreme rage she felt when facing stupidity. Sometimes she wished she had the self-control that Dominator had just displayed, the ability to let go of the anger and keep control. She moved her hand away from her knife. Something told her she wouldn't need it here, against this Umbaran.

"You don't need to feel bad about it," she added, having picked up on the conflicting emotions in his voice. "I can shout back, if you'd like, but you to seem a bit better now. Maybe you just needed to get it out of your system."

 

[Ava Solborne]

Dominator breathed, now being almost calm. The whole situation might lead him to the Darkness... And Dominator didn't like it. Since his craziness was gone, he wanted to be a true Jedi now. He wanted to have his master, his lightsaber... But well, now his emotions were the ones, who invited him to the Darkness. And it was even more powerful. But he has to control everything. Since the woman said, that everyone needs to shout sometimes, he smiled a little and turned back to the woman. Now Dominator was normal again, hopefully.

"But... I didn't hear your name?" Dominator said and smiled. Now he was very happy. Of course. That was a better emotion than anger. He stood up and looked at the woman's hair. It was similar to Kaleeya's hair, the tone... But the hairstyle was not very Kaleeya-ish.

 

[Emmara Lee]

"But... I didn't hear your name?"

Emmara rolled her eyes. "Missed it while you were shouting, Mister Jedi?" she snapped, then took a deep breath. No, he had been distraught, and she had been rude, and this wouldn't help. In her mind she could see her foster mother - arms folded, foot tapping, about to try and punish her for causing trouble. The urge to disobey even this mental image was great, but Dominator had done nothing to deserve her ire. He wasn't a human and he wasn't from Tatooine; there was no reason she should dislike him.

"I am Emmara," she said, her tone daring him to comment on her previous attitude. She was making an effort and this was more than most people got. "Emmara Lee. I am a human, I guess, and I do have an attitude problem at times. I am... sorry for being rude." There. It was easier to be polite with alien races because there was no resentment, no prior betrayal that marred her thoughts. It wouldn't hurt to make an ally or two at times. Perhaps this Umbaran, with his unique serenity and excellent self-control, would be a worthwhile one to have.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," she said formally. Emmara allowed herself a small smile because for once, she actually meant it.

 

[Ava Solborne]

Dominator smiled and nodded. He stood up and bowed then. He still hadn't forgot manners. "That's nothing. My complete lack of manners at the moment deserved being rude." He said. He felt so bad because of shouting at a person he didn't even know yet. "What are you doing on the planet?" He asked then. The planet was just so beautiful with its glory. A rainy period was coming and it meant, that new kinds of flowers will grow.

 

[Emmara Lee]

"Waiting to get off it," Emmara answered bitterly. How Dominator could seem so happy on this world was beyond her. Everything about it was wrong, from the smells to the wind to the flowers and oh, the endless butterflies. She couldn't wait to leave - to find a world with big cities, or a desert world like her home planet. It seemed that she had picked the worst possible planet to be stranded on.

"I hate this planet," she said, turning away from Dominator and swatting at the insects. "It smells funny, it looks funny, and it doesn't feel right. Once the next ship comes in I am leaving, one way or another." Either by getting a job, stowing away or, if it came down to it, paying. Getting from the Outer Rim in to somewhere more central was long and arduous if you didn't want to spend anything doing it. Emmara kicked at the grass moodily and then decided to change the subject. She was already being more verbose than usual; it was time to ease off a bit.

"So," she asked, frowning up at the sky. "You're an Umbaran. That's not a human, is it?" She wanted to find out more about his race. "And what is a Jedi, anyway?"

 

[Ava Solborne]

Dominator squatted and took a flower. A yellow one. Then he stood up again and looked at it. At the same time, he listened to Emmara. He was completely surprised. The woman had said, that she doesn't like the planet. How could he even think so? Dominator thought, though he didn't say anything about it. Everybody can have their own opinions. Dominator like nature, though it was easier to live in a huge city, where everything you want is nearby. This... planet was strange and maybe even protected, because there were only three cities on he planet and they all were tiny. Actually, they were towns, almost villages. There was an interesting life, though all food had to be hunted by himself. There were markets, but not currency on the planet. Okay, there was a money system in a city called Moonside Lake. They had Lunars and Solars, but everything was very expensive.

"Yes, I am Umbaran. Umbarans are almost humans... We look the same, but our skin is pale... White. And there are only a few living Umbarans with hair. Others are bald." Dominator described their species. Yes, they were like humans, but he didn't want to say, that they had special abilities. Especially he didn't want to say, that Umbarans can read minds. Though Dominator had never used the ability. No... No. One time he used it. But it was a small try. Not anything too powerful.

 

[Emmara Lee]

Dominator seemed surprised by her attitude towards the planet. How could she possibly explain why? It was impossible to describe the vastness of the desert, the comfort of the Tusken garb, the feel of riding into the wind atop a Bantha. The closeness of the tribe, the feeling of contentedness brought by the high suns and hard work. Life hadn't been the same since her tribe was destroyed; the peace that Emmara had known had shattered and the pieces were too small, too fragile for her to pick them up and put them back together. Leaving Tatooine had been the only option. Her dreams there were now dust; her hopes, her family, her friends all gone. Only the betrayers who had ripped her from the only world she had ever known were left, and they were not worthy of her time.

"This world is too green," she said suddenly, acknowleding Dominator's description of Umbarans with a nod and silent thanks. Now she would know to keep an eye out for them on her travels, to identify them as possible friends or allies. "There are too many flowers here." She looked across the meadow. "I don't understand how people can find peace when the world is so busy. The insects fly everywhere, the wind keeps the grass in motion, the flowers are growing and spreading. At least in a city you understand why everything is moving - people have things to do. On this planet there is nothing to do but there are too many distractions to find peace of mind." This was the longest she had ever spoken of her own thoughts and feelings and she felt vulnerable for it. Emmara crouched down opposite Dominator. She also plucked a flower, but instead of admiring it she slowly dismantled it, picking the petals off and letting them be carried away by the breeze.