The Princess and the crow

[Felicity Mason]

Felicity rather liked this little made up title of hers. 'Princess of Winds'. Daddy kinda gave it to her first. The idea, at least. It was what all of moms Handmaidens called her, and what some of her fellow students knew her as. It sounded... exotic.

Much as she loved Naboo, really, Dis was where she spent most of her summer vacation time. Mom was way too busy to deal with her right now. Now that she was a bit older, she understood. Besides, she would be heading back in a few days.

Mom wanted her to come and study under one of her handmaidens during her free time. A way to practice for when she grew up and ran for office. It made sense. No point in wasting her vacation on, well, nothing at all. She would rather be studying if she could.

In her room in one of the towers, the young teenager stuffed clothing and shoes into her travel bag. She looked around, studying her book shelf for a moment. She probably had enough books back in her bed room on Naboo, but she was almost sure that she'd outgrown most of her clothing. Just a few months, and already most of her old dresses came up past her ankle. When did she grow? She didn't remember growing.

The girl wiped her forehead on the back of her hand and stopped packing. She could finish this later. Right now, she'd rather do... anything else. Exploring was fun, but nobody liked her going outside during a wind storm, and right now she could hear the winds whipping against her window.
Alright. Something else then. Books? Read them all. Dance? She didn't have anyone to dance with. Painting? But she just wasn't feeling inspired to paint at all!

Sit around sighing and complaining out loud about boredom?
Clear winner.

Felicity went down the stair case to the ground floor, went into the sitting room, and plopped down on the nearest comfortable-looking thing she could find. Somehow, she managed to sit in the most comfortable-looking thing she could find in a way that was decidedly quite uncomfortable, nearly upside down with her head dangling off the side of the cushion. Her long blond curls brushed along the carpet, while her exposed feet, complete with crisp white stockings and no shoes, kicked back and forth in a steady rhythm.

She watched Celeste wander past. She sighed, letting all her teen frustrations show. Celeste glanced inside the room, squinted her big blue eyes at her sister, but kept walking. She sighed louder. The little girl did not come back to see what was bothering her sister. She knew better.
Felicity sighed again louder than ever, tapping her fingers on the arm rest.

"Bored," she grumbled, "Boooored."

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

"That's it?" he asked, squinting at the small display of the planet they were approaching. Immeria. Some forsaken rock in a forgotten part of the galaxy. Had absolutely nothing of use to anyone. The only reason it even had a name was becuase of the wind storms, which were somewhat of interest. Apart form that, the planet was a wasteland. Boring. He had expected his uncle to be somewhere much more...exotic. Exciting. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't been sleeping well for the past few days, thinking of what he would say to his uncle when they met. What could he say? Eh, he'd think of something. He always did. "So...found anything?"

"One structure. A fort of some kind. Sound like what you're looking for?" the pilot said, sending him a sideways glance.

Owain nodded. "Yes. Land near it."

"Land? We ain't landing boy."

The youth blinked and looked at the pilot. "Then how are you getting me down there?"

That day, Owain Barnabus learned why orbital drop pods were amongst the least favourite forms of deployment practised by the soldiers of the galaxy.

-

Kicking off the metal door of the pod, feeling somewhat queasy, the young man stumbled out of the one man drop pod. He fought down the urge to vomit, taking deep breaths as he glared at the sky, as if he could see the ship that had launched him. Oh he was going to find that man and he was going to MAKE. HIM. PAY. Eventually. Striaghtening up, Owain looked about, noticing the castle in the distance. A bit beyond that was a storm front. Great. A planet of poor weather, poor scenery and a complete lack of interesting flora or fauna. He began to walk, making sure to smooth out the creases in the clothing beneath the armour he wore. All this dust was going to ruin his grnad entrance at this rate. And he had spent all of yesterday polishing his equipment too.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Groan, sigh, complain. She was already getting bored of doing that. When was someone else going to pass by and ask what was wrong? Didn't they care at all that she was suffering? Some family!

The girl sighed so loud, that it was almost a yell. A cry for attention. She just needed someone to talk to. She wished dad was around. He always had a story for her. Or Uncle Zaiden. Uncle Z always brought her exotic gifts when he visited and had something new to talk about. Usually politics, usually dated information, but always interesting. Or even Mom. Mom would have something new to teach her. She promised that before the next election, she would start teaching her to heal. Felicity was excited for that. Healing like mom. It would certainly give her a wider range of career options.

"Celeste," she called, "Celeeeste! Come in here."

The little girl walked in, looking irritated with her older sister.

"Felicity! What!?"

"...Can you hand me that book over there?"

"What? No! Get it yourself! Lazy!"

"But Celeeeeste," she whined, trying to sound as unattractively bratty as humanly possible, "My arms aren't long enough."

"Then get up! I'm not your slave."

The girl shook her thick black curls, making a face as she stormed out of the room. Felicity stuck her tongue out at the girl as she left. Sisters. What else could be expected? Felicity reached up, watching the book on the shelf quiver slightly as she pulled at it. Just a little, then it fell flat on the floor off the shelf. Felicity made a very unattractive face, flipped feet over head, straightened up, straightened her dress, then walked across the room to pick up the book with her own hands.

She just wasn't very good at this whole 'Force' thing yet. She tried to practice, but she just had no real reason to. She was already fourteen. Most 'gifted' kids her age already had at least the basics down! She was supposed to be smarter than the other kids. Why did she have such trouble with it? Even Celeste was better than her!

Unfair.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

The storm hit, nearly bowling him off his feet. Of all the places his uncle had to choose to settle down on. Tatooine would have been better. Vjun. Naboo. Somehwere with SOME sort of civilization. But no, he had to live on a planet as inhospitable as Dagobah. He was sure there was a good reason. Living amongst harsh elements to keep his skills sharp or something like that most likely. Luckily, he made sure to walk on in one direction, avoiding getting lost by keeping his pace steady, even as visibility dropped to zero. Unfortunately, that meant he only realized he had reached the walls of the castle when he walked into them. Suppressing a yelp and rubbing his face, making sure nothing was broken, he began to follow the wall, his eyes squinted so hard against the wind they were almost shut. It took him several minutes to find the gate, and he banged his guantleted fist against it thrice, hoping someone was home.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Felicity thought she heard something. No? The wind? Okay then.
But then she heard it again. And then again. Was somebody... at the door? Was somebody actually at their front gate? Just knocking on it? She didn't think they were expecting anybody. And how weird. Nobody warned her about an invading army here either. No monsters out to get her and her sisters. No kidnappers sneaking through holes in the walls to ransom off the daughters of a Queen.
No. Whatever, or whoever it was, was just... knocking. Polite.

"Uncle B! I think we have company!"

She yelled as loud as she could, which was considerably so. Was Uncle Barny sleeping somewhere? It wasn't like him to just let someone this close with no warning. Things were really slipping around here.
She'd answer it herself, but, nobody really seemed to want her answering doors anymore. After the last time someone tried to kill mom, well, she wasn't taking chances that they might try to get to her through them.

She did, of course, sneak around the corner to see who it was. Maybe Uncle Z forgot that he was supposed to call ahead? Probably Uncle Z. But still, there was some nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Like she was going to meet someone...
Irritating.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Elliot Barnabus was not a man given to trust, so he had had various defences online and ready to activate as the contact approached Dis. But the fact he approached somewhat openly, and bothered to knock, proved him worthy of the benefit of the doubt. Plus, Keter would have been anoyed if he had just disintegrated someone without solid cause. So he made his way down from his security office towards the great gates of Dis. The courtyard was exposed to the winds, so he had to riase a hand before his face to avoid any dust being blown into his eyes. The old Sith Commando reached the gates and hauled them open. "Yes?" he shouted into the wind, only to look down at...himself? From forty years ago? What the hell?

-

Owain stared as the door was opened. He blinked and stared some more.The man was exactly what he had imagined. An older, rugged version fo himself. The resemblence was somewhat terrifying on some level. "Uhm...Elliot Barnabus?"

"Yes...?" the man replied, looking down at him incredulously.

"Ah good...I mean, I'm your nephew." Smooth, he thought, suppressing a grimace. He really should have thought of something to say beforehand.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Felicity wasn't one for snooping... in that she wasn't one for actually calling the act of spying 'snooping'. She watched as Barnabus went to greet the visitor, but from where she was, she couldn't see who he was. Or hear very well either. Still, it was pretty clear from the way the visitor had not been immediately let in, that it was not someone she knew.

She looked down at herself. Crinkled dress, no shoes on her feet, dirt on her stockings. And her curls were already messed up. Not exactly how Mother would want her to greet a visitor.
But! Mother wasn't here, and Felicity was nosy. She walked ahead, closer. Celeste came up behind her.

"Fe! What are you doing?" she hissed, "It's not nice to spy..."

"Celeste..." she whispered, still moving ahead, "Shut up."

The girl ran a hand over her hair, trying desperately to smooth her curls back into place.

"Uncle Barny?" she asked gently, stepping out into the open, doing everything she could to look the perfect image of a Lady, "Is everything alright?"

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Elliot glanced at Felicity, Keter's daughter. Keter...a man who had pretty much taken him in as family after he had nothing left. He smiled. "Everything's fine," he said to her, letitng his gaze drift back to the youth in front of him. Nephew? Actual nephew? Sure, he'd heard his sister had gotten married when he had still been in the army...but he never knew she started a family. "You got proof?" he asked, somewhat harshly. THis all reeked too much of coincidence for his liking.

The young man, his mirror image seperated by decades, seemed annoyed. "My blood not good enough? We can test that can't we? Got any proof you're actually Elliot Barnabus?" he countered. The older male nodded - that was actually quite reasonable. And he knew the boy had come alone.

"Well, mind providing a sample?" he asked.

The youth eyed him warily before pulling off a gauntlet, and biting down on his thumb until it bled. Elliot pulled out a small datapad and let him press his bloody thumb against it. Blood type and analysis wasn't a stnadard feature in most devices, but Barnabus made sure each of his had the funcitonality - it tneded to help in first aid situations. He let the machine do it's work, cross referencing the genetic markers in the blood sample against Dis' medical library.

"What are you doing out here anyway, Felicity?" the old man sighed, glancing at the girl again. "Shouldn't you be inside?"

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The wind was getting annoying. She'd only planned to step outside for a second, just long enough to listen. If her hair wasn't ruined already, then it would be by now. She still couldn't see who he was talking to, but at least she could hear what was going on now, hard as that was over the wind.

"What are you doing out here anyway, Felicity? Shouldn't you be inside?"

"Should be," she answered, stepping back, away from the wind for the moment, "But, well, you know."

Fine, fine. She would go back inside. Wait. Be boring. She pouted, little Celeste coming up a little ways away, hands on her hips.

"I told you so, Fe."

"Celeste, again, shut up."

She turned on her heel, walking back to where she had come from. She needed to change for company. It was what mom would have wanted her to do. And if this was actually Uncle B's nephew, like, blood nephew, well, that made it all the more important.

"Your hairs a mess-"
"Shut up!"
"And your dress-"
"Shut-"
And your stockings."
"Celeste, I swear-!"

Felicity turned the corner, then the two girls burst out laughing. Despite the way they both argued, they couldn't help it. They were close. Close enough that arguments could be shrugged away in a second.

"I'll fix your hair in the back, Fe," the little girl offered, "Let's go upstairs."
"Fine, fine. But you should wash your hands."

Celeste glanced at her fingers, blackened by the charcoal she used for sketching. She shrugged, thought about just wiping it on her dress, but stopped herself. She didn't want to have to change too.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Elliot watched the girls run off, bickering as always before a beep from the datapad brought his attention back to the matter at hand. He scanned the results and swore, running a hand through his hair. "Oh great."

"What?" asked the young man.

"Seems we are related," the old man replied, looking the boy over once more before shaking his head. "Well...I suppose you should come in," he said, stepping back to let the child of his sister in. "Got a name?"

"Owain," he replied, walking past his uncle, looking at the giant castle. It was certianly impressive. "You've done well for yourself I see..."

"A little bit," shrugged Elliot, closing the gate. "Got a nice job, settled down. Can't complain. So...how's your mother doing?"

That made Owain wince ever so slightly. No, he wouldn't show weakness. Not in front of him. He turned on his heel to face the man his mother had thought dead for decades and looked him in the eye. "She's dead. They said it was stress in the end."

Elliot stood there in silence for a moment before hanging his head, letting the sorrow take him. "I'm...sorry Owain."

Owain nodded but said nothing.

"So that's why you came?"

Another nod.

"...alright. Come on. Let's get you settled in for now. Then we can figure out what to do with you," Elliot sighed heavily, heading towards what they referred to as the guest quarters. Keter would understand. He hoped.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The girls sat on Felicity's bed. While Celeste brushed out her older sisters blond hair, trying to once again tame her curls, Felicity changed her stockings. She'd already changed her dress. Something a little nicer. Mother might approve. Or she might not. It was impossible to tell sometimes what she thought was appropriate dress for certain occasions. Mom was picky. Felicity was not.

"...And done."

Felicity reached back, touching her hair. Celeste was like mom. She could do this sort of thing so easily. Felicity had to work towards it. Being a 'Lady' was hard work.

"Great. Did you want me to do yours now?"

Celeste made a face at first, but politely declined. Felicity knew why. She was afraid she would mess it up. That was fair, she supposed. Felicity couldn't even get mad about it.

"Right then. Come on."

Walking out of her bed room, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was so... awkward. The skirt of her dress was just starting to get too short. She could see her bony ankles poking out from under the lace. She had too many freckles on her nose. Her hair was too thick. Her eyes were still too big for her face. Her body was just starting to develop into womanhood, strange, almost foreign.

She hadn't 'grown into herself' yet, as Mother put it. She promised Felicity that when she did grow into herself, she would be absolutely stunning. But even now, she could look at Celeste and know for a fact that she was going to be the prettier of the two. It made her cheeks burn every time she thought about it.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Owain followed his uncle through the castle, looking about at the expensive furnishings and culture adorning the walls. It was all so...high class. not exactly what he had expected. Then again, all he knew of his uncle were a few old war stories his mother had told him. He perosnally knew nothing of the man.

"RIght here we are," the old man said, tapping on a door. "Small room, but I doubt you need much space. You hungry?"

Owain nodded. Remain quiet, remain polite. He did not want to screw this up. His last living relative was not someone he could afford to have as an enemy.

Elliot stroked his beard before nodding. "I'll go get soemthing ready. When you wanna come eat, just follow the blue line," he siad, indicating a selection of lines painted onto the ceiling to help guests find their way around.

The youth glanced at it and nooded agian. "Thanks."

"No problem," the man said, and left.

Owain watched him go before entering the small room. It was quite spartan, but that was alright. He didn't exactly have a lot of possessions. He threw his duffel bag onto the foot of the bed before sitting on it, letitng out a sigh. This was all so...awkward. What the heck was he supposed to do now? Make polite conversation? Probably. There was a gap of many years between them. Maybe swapping stories would be good?

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Felicity and Celeste made their way down, only to find their guest... missing? Who was he anyway? Celeste suggested splitting up. Felicity could not have agreed with that plan more. She was nosy, alright. More so than she was raised to be. And Celeste, for all she claimed to be otherwise, was just as much of a little snoop as her older sister.

So Celeste went to search the sitting room, while Felicity went to what she at least thought was the most logical place for a guest to go. The kitchens. There were certain places Felicity avoided. This was never one of them. Even though she was absolutely, completely, one hundred percent forbidden from touching any of the cooking equipment, well, she liked to at least pop in to sneak a snack here and there. She was a growing girl! She was allowed a midnight snack... and a mid morning snack, and a post lunchtime snack, and a... The point was, she liked to eat.

She was hoping that if she couldn't find their mystery guest, she could at least find something to snack on... But on her way to the kitchens, she found Uncle B instead

"Hi. I was just..." she paused, trying to find the right excuse, "Snooping."

She blushed from the tips of her ears to the tip of her nose. Not what she meant to say. Well, at least she was honest.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Elliot Barnabus was far from an extravagant cook - serving in the military taught one how to prepare basic enough meals to survive on, not the kind of meals royalty was used to. His lips quirked into a momentary smile. Royalty, heh. They were a royal household now. He shook his head. How Keter had pulled that one off never failed to surprise him. The old soldier knew he had done the right thing in following the man all those years ago, following him into the black void. Oh the adventures he had had...a good life all told. His hands moved through the motions of preparing a light lunch for himself and his...nephew. That certainly had been unexpected, though looking back he really shouldn't have been surprised. He had gone with Keter nearly twenty years ago after all, and never did think to contact his extended family. ANd now he was apparently all the boy had left. The man sighed as he tossed some salad leaves, rinsing them thoroughly. This was going to be hard...having ANOTHER teenager to watch out for. Maybe he could have Slevin look after Felicity now...

The soft words of the girl in questioon drew his attention to the door, and he laughed slightly. "Same as always. You know, your mother wouldn't approve," he said, raising an eyebrow.

-

Owain sat on the bed, words tumbling through his mind as he tried to find the right ones to say. What was he doing here? Trying to contact family. Alright, good, done. What now? Uhm...learn more about them? Not bad, something to work with. After that? Eh.......hadn't thought that far ahead. Become part of Uncle Elliot's family and see what his options were? Owian winced at that thought. He was somewhat adrift now, having fulfilled the objective his mother had set for him. He was so....free. It was a new experience for him. He blinked. Free. He was free. Free from want, free to do whatever. A small smile formed on his face. Oh, this could be quite fun actually...

Well, he had delayed enough. Time for that...urgh...family meal with his uncle. This was going to be awkward, he just knew.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

A laugh. Maybe he thought she was joking. Well, at the very least he wasn't mad.

Would mother approve of her snooping?

"Probably not," she replied with a shrug, casually walking around the kitchen, looking for something to eat, "But she's not here, is she? And she doesn't approve of almost anything. Not my fault."

What to eat? She snatched up a bit of bread and leaned against the counter, casually ripping bits off of it an stuffing them into her mouth.

"So? Nephew, huh?" she said with a mouth half full of bread, "Bet you're pretty excited. Guess I gatta stop calling you 'Uncle B' now. I mean, now that you have a blood relative here."


[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Elliot sighed. "I...guess so," he replied. "It's all just so...unexpected." Wait, why was he talking to her about this? Eh whatever, she'd have to learn to deal with such situations as she got older anyway. "And I'm always going to be your uncle Princess, so don't think you can get away with ignoring me now just becuase a blood relation has shown up. There's more to family than blood," he pointed out, giving her a sharp look as his nephew walked into the kitchen.

"Ah...uncle," the youth said, the word still clearly foreign on his lips, nodding his head at him. "And...milady?" he ventured, choosing to go the polite route for now. He focused on his uncle. "I didn't know you remarried."

"I didn't," the older Barnabus said, finishing up the food. "I was sorta adopted into a family, and well, uncle seemed like the best thing for the little ones to call me."

Ah, so he wasn't related to anyone here. Good, that made things simpler. Owain grinned, though it felt osmewhat hollow. "Good for you uncle," he said, walking over to the table and sitting down. "So, who's the girl?"

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The girl smiled, finished off the last of her little snack, and opened her mouth to say something. Unfortunately, the guest found his way to them before she could say anything

Felicity watched the exchange, frozen on the spot. Her face was getting redder the more they spoke. Her eyes were locked on this... Nephew of Uncle B's. Something about him. She just couldn't look away. Why? What was this feeling? Why did she feel so warm? He was so....

"So, who's the girl?"

...Disgusting.
She couldn't help it. The way he just sat down, made himself at home infuriated her. And that face. Something about his face. Just the way his... face moved. It made her want to hit him.

"The... Girl?" she looked to Uncle B with a face that almost demanded that he put his Nephew in his place. She really, really, hated that.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Elliot caught the stare Felicity gave his nephew, the way it morphed form embarassment to disgust. He held back a chuckle at the sight. That was right, this would be the first boy aorund her age she would have run into since a long time. Maybe this could prove...amusing. Still..."Owain, respect please. I don't know how you were raised, but I expect some measure of good behaviour from you, alright? The master of the house will ot be as forgiving as me," he explained, putting down a pair of plates on the table and istting opposite his nephew. "And the young woman here is Felicity Mason, daughter of the family that owns this place, so watch your mouth," he added with a brief glare which was undermined by the way his lips kept triyng to quirk into a smile. Oh he remembered being that young.

-

Off to a flying start. Owain sighed and nodded. "Fine, fine, I'm sorry," he said, and put the girl out of his mind. Sure she was easy on the eyes, but look far too sheltered and naive. Besides, it wasn't as if he had interacted with a lot of civilians during training. At least his uncle would understand where he was coming from. "So what have you been doing all these years?"

"Babysitting her mostly," his uncle replied with a quick grin at the girl. Felicity was her name. Weird name. Pretentious.

"Doesn't sound like you..."

"It paid well," the older man said, leaning back in his chair to prove his point. A roof over his head, people not trying to kill him all the time. Owain could understand that sort of life. After retirement of course.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Good. Uncle B put him in his place. The little Princess smiled back at Elliot and sat down, making a point to not even look at the boy. Uncle B could get away with this. But this new boy, well, she wasn't going to let him get away with anything.

"So where are you from, Mister...? What was your name again?"

Her voice was laced with ice and carefully calculated indifference. She did her very best to make it clear that the only reason she was even asking was because it was expected. Even so, Mother would have been very displeased with her behavior and the tone of her voice. Thankfully, she wasn't here. Felicity could get away with a lot more without mom hovering over her.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Owain shot the girl a look, not clearly communicating how insignificant she was in this family reunion. "I am Owain Barnabus, of Korriban. Sorry, I wasn't aware you could sit in on a family matter," he replied, with a polite smile of his own. Elliot caught the interplay between the two and quickly fille dhis mouth with food to avoid bursting into laughter. Oh this was going to be very amusing indeed. "And what of you, Felicity?" Owain asked. "You from this sad little rock of a world? Didn't think there were any natives here."

[member="Felicity Mason"]