Private Vortex of Emotions

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Vortex.

"Buir, it's cold!"

Gwyn smiled as she watched her eleven year old squeak at the cold, white fluff she had collected in her hands. The winds were harsh on this planet, but they did not seem to care. Standing next to her, her nine year old adopted Chiss stared up at the snow flurries in awe. Gwyn grinned, holding her youngest's hand as the oldest kicked some snow dust into the air with a wide smile.

"Buir..."

Gwyn looked down to the youngest, still looking up at the sky.

"Do you think Csilla looked like this?"

Gwyn frowned. She lifted her free hand and pulled the girl into a hug. "You'll have to ask your father more about it, Mev'ika. He'll be back in about a week."

"When can I start going with him, to the Chiss?"

Gwyn sighed. She could not believe that both her children were so mature. Mevia wanted to help her father in saving her fellow Chiss, while Elise was already signed up to join the Novanian Shamans next year. Why? Why did they have to aspire for all these things, when a normal childhood was right in front of them?

Pfft! "HEY!"

Gwyn looked down to see that Mevia had some snow on her head. The Chiss scowled, not bothering to brush the mound of snow off her black hair, as she glared at the person responsible for her suffering. Standing a couple feet away, Elise snickered, "Got you!"

"No fair!" Mevia shouted as she bent down to scoop up snow herself, "You should have told me we're throwing this white cold powder at each other!"

"It's called 'snow', Mev."

"And you're called a cheater!"

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

As the two started chucking snowballs at each other, Gwyn laughed. Well, it seemed that they still had some childhood left to go... She was happy. The girls kicked and hurled snow at each other as Gwyn watched contently, leaning against the basilisk droid keeping watch over them The massive droid looked down at Gwyn, used to the commotion of the kids. A snowball flew into his hull, and he looked down at where he was hit as if indignant.

"These girls treating my poor Cab badly?" Gwyn mothered as she reached up and brushed it off. The basilisk purred.

The planet or Vortex was only a short ways away from Archais, where the kids were growing up. Gwyn had opted to take the girls here for some endurance training, but was also more than happy to let them play and be kids for a bit. Gwyn never had that luxury, so it brought her great joy to give her daughters the best childhood she could. She frowned a bit, watching as the snowball fight turned into an unarmed combat training session. They were growing up too fast...

She blinked though, as a Force Signature crept up on her. It was unfamiliar. She turned and gazed out into the flatlands of Vortex's winter. There was another soul? Way out here? She wondered... Her one hand drifted instinctually towards her blaster, just in case...

Tytos Saxon

 

[Tytos Saxon]

G U I D E
​

Tag: Gwyneira Vizsla

The current of the Manda shifted in directions that Tytos could rarely foresee. Many Force Users could boast of the power of precognition, to be able to sense the flow of time and anticipate actions before they would happen. But the Manda was not something that could easily be predicted. Volatile, sometimes downright indecipherable, it had guided Tytos down many a strange path across all his years of wandering. But sometimes that was the best way to find what he truly needed.

Though the Shaman had ventured to Kestri along with the rest of his Mandokarla and Clan Saxon kin, the great unknown of the galaxy at large still called to him often. There were vast troves of knowledge hidden away in corners across the stars, and Tytos hungered for them and the secrets they contained. While studying a star atlas he had come across the planet Vortex and its mysterious Cathedral of Winds, an ancient monument that resonated with tones when struck by the planet's winds. What mysteries could the edifice unlock? Tytos could only discover that by traveling there himself.

But upon arriving at the frozen world, reminding him all too well of Kestri, a premonition of the Manda had waylaid him. It was but a small ripple in a powerful current, but out of place from the natural flow had piqued his curiosity. Which had brought him to this Mandalorian mother and two young ones, her children if Tytos could hazard a guest. He had observed the young ones play-fighting, but suddenly the mother seemed to be alert to his presence. Was it possible she was force-sensitive? Electronics would be hard-pressed to sense Tytos through his concealments.

"You do not need to draw your blaster, my friend," Tytos announced calmly as he emerged from his concealment -- though there had been no natural shadow that hid him -- with his hands in the air, a sign of non-aggression. Slowly, he removed the beskar helmet from his head to reveal his face, bringing it down to rest couched in an arm against his side. "It is rarer these days to see any Mandalorian not in the Outer Rim, a sign of changing times indeed," the shaman chuckled. "I merely wished to greet you. What is your name, vod?"

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Another Mandalorian? Force Sensitive as well? With her sharp Force Sense, she could feel the Force was very strong in this man. She sensed no ill intentions in him, so she was able to trust him. Cabur'tomad made his way over to the girls to babysit as Gwyn began to speak.

"I'm Gwyneira Krayt."

She tilted her head. Her cybernetic eyes adjusted a bit and she asked, "What is your's?"

Before the conversation could continue, Elise ran up to the two with Mevia in tow. Elise looked up with her bright, red eyes and warmly spoke, "Hi! I'm Elise! It's a pleasure to meet you! Who are you, vod?"

Elise's observational skills were on point, as usual.

Mevia shyly spoke from behind, "Err, I'm Mevia. It's g-good to see another Mandalorian."

Gwyn chuckled and patted Mevia's head.

While Elise was remarkably similar in appearance to Gwyn, Mevia was a Chiss with hardly any similarities at all. Elise was energetic and confident. Mevia was more aloof and timid. Gwyn looked at both of them with equal love and affection.

Elise looked quite intrigued, watching him with an inquisitive look. Like Gwyn herself, Elise was Force Sensitive. Gwyn could not help but wonder if she could sense the Force in this newcomer as well.

Tytos Saxon

 

[Tytos Saxon]

G U I D E
​

Tag: Gwyneira Vizsla

"Gwyneria Krayt," the Shaman repeated. He knew the voracious Krayt clan well. "Well met. I am Tytos, of Clan Saxon." He flashed his pauldron from under his cloak which bore the signet of Clan Saxon, to prove that he was telling the truth in case she doubted his words. He was about to speak further when he was interrupted by the excited chatter of the two younglings as they rushed from their play to greet the stranger.

"Hi! I'm Elise! It's a pleasure to meet you! Who are you, vod?"

"Err, I'm Mevia. It's g-good to see another Mandalorian."

He smiled at the children, warm and friendly. Children -- especially Mandalorian children -- always delighted the old Shaman. "A friendly wanderer is all, adiik," he replied. Names would likely be lost on the younglings, especially when he'd already introduced himself to their mother. "How old are you two? You both are developing into fine warriors already." He took note of the different mix of species within the family. Adopted, perhaps? That was good; it was the way of the Manda Ha'rud to raise forlorn souls to a higher path. "Run along now, adiik, Manda bless you. I must speak with your mother, and your bes'uliik looks lonely," he nodded towards the droid-starfighter hybrid with a smile.

As he watched the children run off, an impression of the Force drifted to them, the stringent line of time blurring together for a moment. He felt the power of the Force powerfully from the near-human, while an impression of anger and darkness floated around the young Chiss. His smile faded slightly, a tinge of somberness in it and sadness in his eyes. "They have yet to learn sorrow," he murmured to himself, saddened by the short-lived joy he sensed in the thread of their lives. "But it is their birthright, as it is all of our peoples."

He turned back to Gwyneira, the sadness of prophecy dispelled as he refocused his mind on the present. "What troubles you, child? Mandalorians belong together, yet here you are alone. I sense great doubt and confusion, though these are not sins in it of itself. Here," he gestured to a snow-free boulder that had not been there before, "sit. Talk to me."

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

"Tytos Saxon?" Gwyn blinked in pleasant surprise, "The White Wolf? I heard about you."

She smirked, "Heh. I knew you were Force Sensitive!"

As the girls returned to playing with Cab, Gwyn frowned again. Not only was he Force Sensitive, but his Force Empathy proceeded him. Through her own Force Empathy, she felt an aura of calm wisdom. He was trustworthy. Gwyneira sighed, crossing her arms as she watches her kiddos.

"Well, I actually live on the neighboring planet of Archais, in imperial space. It's nice having Arkanians that don't think they're better than you." Her bitterness towards the Arkanians she grew up surrounded by was quite apparent in her tone before she continued, "I lived on Kestri several years back, but with how the Enclave just keeps decaying more and more..."

She frowned. Every trip she took to Kestri, Tor Valum looked more and more like a slum. It grieved her deeply, to see her home in such a state. But that was why she raised her daughters somewhere else. "I can't raise my daughters on an unstable, crumbling world. I would have more than happily kept them on Kestri and raised them in Tor Valum's former glory. But now..."

She shook her head, "All I've done, I've done so they can have it better than I did. I never had a childhood. They deserve to have one."

She looked down though, as she admitted, "But I'm also raising them away from their people. I wish I could have more interactions with our Mandalorians for these two. Yes, the Myrmidon Mandalorians are nearby where I live, and all Mandalorians are Vod, but these two don't know the Enclave. At least, in my mind, they're safe and sound. I'd rather them be at Archais than Kestri, but I miss what Kestri and the Enclave used to be..."

She watched as Elise climbed atop Cab's back and Mevia kept grumping about being unable to jump up like her. "I fear for their future..."

Tytos Saxon

 

[Tytos Saxon]

G U I D E
​

Tag: Gwyneira Vizsla

Tytos smiled at Krayt's recognition of him. The title of White Wolf was whispered among many Mandalorians, the fruits of his labors from decades of traveling the galaxy and happening along Mandalorian wanderers, assisting them with their needs, and then vanishing among the stars once more.

He listened sincerely to Gwyneira's story as she spoke. Living amongst Imperials was not preferable, though he could tell that she had done so to seek out her kin -- her other kin, the kin of her birth, not the Mando'ade. Though it was not what Tytos would consider best, it was understandable. When she finished speaking, he furrowed his brow as he thought about what he might say.

The Manda spoke.

His mind was clear, guided by inspiration from the spirits of his ancestors. Their ancestors. "The Enclave and Kestri are in a period of arasuum, yes," the shaman conceded, "but that is not their fate. Not yet. And the world remains one of the safest places for Mandalorians in the galaxy. You need not permanently reside there, but it would be good for the little ones to be around their people more. To learn their heritage, to train, and to grow stronger."

Tytos pursed his lips at the mention of the little ones. She had mentioned fear for their future, and he certainly had sensed darkness ahead, though he did not know whether she had sensed it ahead. Scrying into the future was an imprecise practice, prone to error, misinterpretation, and outcomes entirely changed by the myriad of little decisions and factors that occurred every second. Even the Manda could not obtain the future with clarity, only offering predictions and advice based on the thousands of generations of experience and knowledge they contained. "Fear can be good. It keeps a child from fire, protecting us from what would hurt us. But you must not let it debilitate you. The galaxy is a hostile place, and they will experience hardships as we all have. As much as we wish it could be another way, the only thing you can do is prepare them the best you can for their battles in the future so that they might rise to the occasion, instead of drowning in the deep."