In the weeks that turned to months following The Sleepover, their messages looked like this:
Hello Dear Miss Friend Remy, How are you to-day? Here is a leaf. [Attached terminally blurry picture.img] I found it with Severin. We believe it is a new species that has developed or reemerged perhaps following the climate disruption with the eruption some time ago. Here is what happened to-day… Are you well, are you happy and eating? Have you tried something new. Remember we are not experiments anymore. This is what I keep practicing. I think of you like this flower, which means constancy and longing. Alright. Blessed Night and good day.
-Your friend Rue Kendis and also Alk
There would be suchlike correspondence every day, generally more often in the midday, which was morning in Selen compared to Kiast’s noontime. On occasion, Remalia would reply politely, considering the practice an exercise in ensuring her fine motor control for typing did not entirely disintegrate, and also practice in socializing. If she maintained something of a correspondence with Rue, then she would have evidence of social interaction to present the next time Master Sulvir or more likely Esen attempted to engage her in some useless team building event.
But pressures continued to mount, and feelings persisted that could not be explained by indigestion, a failure of her body to adjust to a room’s ambient temperature, or any other number of excuses. Like the cane in her hand, they fell apart one by one, until she was left with one hollowing truth.
So came one of her rare replies:
Bad news. I think I have the ability to form emotional bonds with others. I miss people. Including yourself.
Despite the odd hour it would be in Dajorra, Rue’s reply was swift coming.
Dear Miss Friend Remy Whom I Also Miss I have found that this is not a terminal condition in and of itself but may only arise from secondary complications. Does it have to be bad news? Perhaps it could be medium news. I realize this discovery may cause you distress due to your purpose in Tant. However I wish you to know that I think you strong and kind enough to be possessed of both abilities. I must go for now but we will speak soon. Your Friend Rue Kendis
And that sentimental nonsense seemed to be that.
Or so the soldier thought, until the next reply she got was a blurry picture of the very planet she resided now on as seen from orbit.
Remy forgive the rude message but where do we go from here?
<@147021450706944000>
Remy straightened as she stood from her position on the floor at the center of one of many meditation rooms in the temple half of the Helm of Allusis as Rurr groaned in annoyance and began to rise as well.
“I understand that this is frustrating to you, but only through dedication and focus will you be able to find the Force. It is easier for children, but you will find it one day.”
Moving to her belongings on the side of the room, she found another message from Rue on her datapad. A concerning one. She only waited a minute before responding, knowing that given the timestamp, it had already been long since the image of Kiast was sent.
I fear there has been a misunderstanding. Land at Voraskel and find somewhere to wait, I will be a few hours.
She paused as she looked over to Rurr, who was now stretching his long limbs after being tangled in a meditation position for so long.
Actually, I will be bringing someone along. I think you will appreciate each other.
Tucking the tablet away, not waiting for an answer, she looked over at her huge apprentice and motioned to the doorway.
“Alright, change of plans. Grab whatever you need and be in hangar nineteen in fifteen minutes, we need to catch the next shuttle to Skybreach. A… friend of mine is on Kiast. Your weapons, you will not need them. Just bring some credits and a snack or something.”
She turned and exited, knowing Rurr would respond to something more concrete with much more aplomb right after such a long stretch of frustrated failure.
After Rurr finishes his routine of stretching his mood begins to lighten up despite his frustrations with the meditation. He looked forward to meeting another friend of his master and possibly even another Jedi, he always looks forward to meeting the heroes of his youth back on kashyyyk and especially on more peaceful terms.
“Rrrrrhhhr?… grrrawwww” (An outing with one of your friends? I’m surprised you’re not having me focus on training more while you’re out) Rurr calls out to Remalia and let’s out a small laugh at his teasing
He moves on to put away his belongings in his locker and dons his apprentice robes, packing away some credits and rations on the inside of his cloak. It does pay to be prepared and Master Remalia has a sixth sense to these things, perhaps it is the force that guides her so and soon it will guide him as well but not until he can properly clear his mind.
Remy stepped quickly along the stone floors of the temple living quarters, her boots soft soles squeaking quietly enough that the murmur of others going about their day drowned it all out. Her door hissed open and she unhooked her blaster and holster alike, using the Force to carry it across the room to its hook before pulling her Envoy bag into her hands the same way. Her saber she clipped at her belt, the weapon serving as a useful status symbol in this system. She was about to turn to leave when the cane caught her eye. It now sat on her desk, most of the time. One of very few decorations that she kept along. It was already going to be a difficult day, meeting this specific guest with these specific problems, and leaving the cane would not help that… no, lying about the situation would be worse, lives were at stake, despite how mundane of a choice it seemed. Remy pressed the pad near the door to shut and lock it, and moved towards the hangars downstairs.
It wasn’t that she really needed to lock her door, the people here at least pretended to be virtuous. Many pretended better than she did. But there was something about trusting that virtue that seemed foolish to her, so she locked her room usually anyway.
Rurr was waiting on the landing pad, apparently keeping the shuttle from taking off before she could embark.
“Get on!” She shouted with a wave, trying to be heard over the roar of engines, “no time to waste! We’re going to the palace!”
The trip across the system to Kiast was rather uneventful and smooth, thanks to the traffic between the two worlds. The toxic clouds of Kiast made a distant, undulating, colorful carpet far below the city that made up the palace of this system.
“Alright, Rurr, we will be heading to the botanical garden to the east, that is likely where he went,” Remy stood as the pneumatic hisses and pops of the shuttles landing gear sounded and the side door began to open.
A tinny voice rattled through the speakers of the cabin, but Remy paid no mind as she made her way outside quickly.
“We are looking for a tall man who is permanently hunched. One arm, tail, purple skin, unidentifiable species, likely with a juvenile mott. Keep your eyes open.”
Rurr blinks at the description Remalia gave him, how has he not heard of a member of the brotherhood like the one they’re set to meet? He focuses as they make their way out of the ship, there will be time enough for questions when they catch up to their friend.
Among the crowds Rurr and Remalia stick out like sore thumbs and Rurr can surmise from his master’s description their friend will as well and Rurr is thankful for this. He hasn’t done well moving in crowded areas thanks to his size and even more so because of his appearance, he silently hopes they get to the gardens soon without any mishap
Indeed when Remalia and Rurr would reach the gardens, they would not have to search very far to spy their query amongst the extensively plotted and manicured foliage. It was quickly apparent why: not only was Remy’s friend tall, colorful, and unique, he was shiny. Both the ambient daylight and the occasional lighting fixture for some of the plant species reflected off of his multihued hair, throwing sprays of reds, violets, and golds. He seemed utterly oblivious to their approach and most passersby, busily enraptured in scurrying to each display and furiously scribbling in a notebook after examining the flora from every possible angle. He even stuck his face close enough to lick the plants (though at least he didn’t).
All this while sort of holding a pygmy Mott between his legs, wobbling this way and that. Remalia knew from experience how much Alk liked to eat. Doubtless this balancing act was an attempt to keep the Mott from eating the expensive gardens while they were toured.
Seeing the bright flashing of colors a row over Remy knew her hunched had been right. Knowing both how absorbed Rue could get in botany and how easy he was to startle, she decided the best course of action would be to make their presence known as they approached. Her mind focused, water into water.
We have arrived.
It was more an image than words, but a simple thought conveyed enough to let him know Remy had arrived, and that she had brought a hulking friend.
Pointing out Rue to Rurr, they made their way around the isle to the pair, both extremely interested in the plants for very different reasons.
“Master Kendis, your presence here is a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.”
Water into water, the impression of the words flowed, savored as succor from root to tree. Rue went still where he was, and a beatific smile broke across his face, brilliant in its joy. He looked up and around, quickly spying both tall figures, though Rurr was significantly bulkier. Unlike perhaps some, Rue’s joy no less dimmed upon sight of the Wookiee. Rather, he bounced on the balls of his toes, tail flicking happily, until they were close enough to–
“Remy!” Rue’s arms were around her as the hybrid threw himself into his fellow former experiment, the hug warm and happy. “Remy, Remy!”
Her name seemed to have no purpose other than to convey joy at her presence, and something else, a warmth and affection she could not understand.
Remy was in the process of giving a politely shallow bow when she got startled by Rues energy. She knew that he was strangely affectionate to her, but she didn’t think he was this excited. As he bounced and vibrated, Remy gingerly wrapped her own hand around behind him, trying to return the gesture.
“I… eh… hello Rue. It has been a few months. How is Alk doing?”
The hybrid was purring almost too hard to speak at her returned hold as he rubbed their cheeks together before pulling back. “Alk is well, as you can se– Alk! No no! No eating that!”
He was forced to release Remalia in order to grab the Mott and wrestle the plant he was reaching for from his mouth. It was a one-sided battle, utterly decimating. Rue somehow ended up on the ground on the Mott’s other side, upside down, while Alk happily munched his leaf and trotted up to Remy, hindquarters wiggling. He nosed at her hand, clearly anticipating ✨ scratches. ✨
Rue, meanwhile, sighed and righted himself, tail swaying. He sprang back up and faced the pair, finally giving a hasty bow to the Wookiee with his friend.
“Greetings, Sir!” he continued in further Shiryyywook. “It is my honor to meet any friend of Remy’s. This– I am Rue, and this is Alk. Blessed Day to you.”
<@135184375586226177>
Rurr is surprised to hear another speaker of Shiryyywook among them but this is a welcome surprise for Rurr.
“Wyaaaaaa, Ruh ruh Ah wu aaa.” *(Hello, nice to meet you Master Rue its a pleasure to meet you for the first time and its a surprise to see you also speak my language, did you teach Master Remalia?“
Rurr chortles a bit and spreads his arms wide as to welcome an embrace while lumbering over to them
Seeing the gesture as welcoming a hug, Rue paused only long enough to try and brace for a jump as he took a running start to meet Rurr halfway. The spindly man threw himself up to embrace the Wookiee too, free in his affections. His feet dangled a bit, but Rurr wouldn’t notice much weight; he was featherlight.
“No, this one did not teach Remalia. It learned from my dearest friend Hunyi who is also Alk’s mother and also a Wookiee. It is fortunate its biology allows it to speak the language. Your language is beautiful. You sing not unlike the Ryn of my grandmother’s people do.”
It seemed Rue and Rurr were going to get along fine, which was convenient as far as Remy was concerned. It seemed bringing him here was a good idea after all.
“Rue, this is Rurr. Odan-Urr has decided to make him my apprentice for reasons I can only guess at. And Rurr, this is Rue. He is a… friend I made, back when I was with Arcona. He has also trained me in some applications of the Force, although most of that was likely unintentional.”
Remy moved over and reached out to stroke Alks mind with the Force and applied gentle pressure to his body, the combined effects more or less convincing him to stop trying to eat a nearby fern, at least until Rue returned.
“Grrr, rawr, grrr” (You’re a very interesting man, one of a kind I’d say!. How did you two manage to meet if I may ask of you?)
Rurr gently lowers Rue down back to the ground and lowers himself to a squat still maintaining a large size and outstretched his hand to Alk
“Hrrmmm, grrah” (What a curious creature, i don’t think ive seen a Mott up close before)
Alk found himself mystically dissuaded from further garden murder, enjoying reuniting with Remy instead as he slobbered her hand thoroughly and butted all up against her legs. When Rurr offered his paw, he received similar treatment, the little Mott seeming briefly confused by Rurr’s appearance – similar to Hunyi – but distinctly different smell. He rubbed his cheek on the apprentice’s hand nonetheless.
Rue was all smiles. “This one taught Remy more than the telepathy she requested? Then it is glad and hopes it was serviceable. It is grateful to help however it can.” Then to Rurr, “Indeed this one is the only specimen remaining with its exact genetic makeup, though there may yet still be others who share its genes…as for our meeting, this one attended the Flitz Hotel, which is an Envoy place, in order to thank them for their efforts with gifts of flowers. I met Miss Esen, who was very kind to me, and introduced me to Remy, who is also very kind and wonderful.” He beamed at the woman. “I am not surprised Odan-Urr saw fit to have you apprentice Rurr, Remy. You are knowledgeable, strong, noble, and kind. You would surely be a good friend to Rurr as you are to me and a good caretaker as you have shown to Alk.”
Remy nods in gratitude, “The Force gives lessons in more ways that any would expect. I came to you for telepathy, but left with ideas of peering through time and healing. Even Alk taught me to speak with creatures of distincly different minds, in a way. But…”
She looks at her hand, unsure of exactly what to do with herself. It was always simple before, her cane was something to rest on, to tap with. Now she had to consider even the way she stood still in the middle of a garden. It was like a badly written metaphor.
“I am less fit to be a master now than I ever was before. My convictions are shakey and my judgment is corrupted. There is much I do not approach teaching Rurr because my very foundations are beginning to crumble. Luckily, he needs training on even what the Younglings of old could do, so it will be a long while before my withered philosophy needs to come into question.”
Rurr pats the mott on its head gently to help alk feel more comfortable with his presence, after a few moments Rurr stands up to face his master.
“Rrraargh urrrgh” (I am certain that all great Jedi like before has faced moments of self doubt such as yours Master. In time you will pass on from this trial and your beliefs will strengthen in the end.)
He moves on to put a hand on her shoulder and gives her a nod as to reinforce his own belief in her
Rue’s countenance gentled somewhat from its beaming glow, the curl of his mouth and uplift of his brows something gentle and knowing. It was a look Remalia would not recognize, but one perhaps Rurr would know as patiently, lovingly paternal.
“Rurr speaks wisely, Remy. Consider rather that your previous foundations were too rigid to ever withstand any disruption, and their crumbling, perhaps, an inevitablilty, as the earth met with a quake. Now,” he thought of their previous philosophical conversations, and Remy’s particular dogmatism, “consider that the Force has seen fit to not only open your heart, mind, and perspective with this challenge in friendship and apprenticeship, in missing others and teaching, but that these changes would be necessary for you to be a Master and better master the Force. That you needed to be as the willow, able to bend with the wind, and not the ash, which would only snap altogether.”
“Wood makes terrible material for a sword,” she said, pacing down the plant boxes just out of reach, “and durasteel bends under no wind. I suppose that is the crux of the issue. I had thought Tants crimes against nature would at least have given advantages, but… I am still weak both in body and Force. And now I have weaknesses in the mind as well. Maybe I always did and I was too blind to see it…”
She stops, looking at, then caressing one flower among many. They looked plain, excepting their bright coloration. Anemone, the sign said.
“And what if I am still blind? What if every action, my mind itself is tainted by the Dark Side? The parasite hides among the reeds of emotions, covered by the muddied waters of passion. I can no longer act with conviction or surety that I am doing anything for the greater good. I need something… something to regain that clarity.”
She pulled away from the flowers as her hands began to shake.
“But enough about that, what caused you to jump across half the galaxy? You must have something important, you are far from a procrastinator.”
Rue was quiet as Remy spoke of her self doubts and worries, watching her hands shake over the anemone; a fitting flower, for such sentiments. Her question got a head tilt and classic “mrrw?” from the hybrid, tail tip flicking.
“You said that you missed people, so I came. Although, I assumed that people also meant…me. Perhaps this was a-an terribly arrogant and sinful assumption. This one apologizes deeply if so. B-but. Well. You, Remy. You are very important. I came as quickly as I could. We did.”
He gestured to Alk, and then up to himself; or rather, it seemed, to his hair, as it moved. Little furred forms were inside his massive mane of locks, burrowed in there or tucked behind his ears or flowers, scurrying over his scalp. Remalia had seen the black one, Serrulata, before; but not so many more tinier ones.
“I… You…” Remy, for the first time ever, seemed almost uncomfortable. Her words were strangled, like she was admitting to eating mud. Like she was admitting defeat.
“Yes… I have… Missed you… Rue… I did not expect this to be anything of importance to anyone… besides myself.”
She takes note of the things crawling through Rue’s hair, having sensed them a while ago, but decided that her friend, Remy was still finding it concerning to consider him as such, was cleanly enough that whatever was in there was there on purpose. They seemed to be voorpaks, mostly small ones, even for their diminutive species.
“I hope you did not perceive my message as a summons, you know you are not beholden to me.”
Rue, rather opposite Remy, had tears welling in his eyes and was biting small holes in his lower lip to stifle a smile that wanted to grow too happy, too proud. Stillness took his body a moment, a breadth, before like a darting feline he was hugging her again, rubbing his sole hand soothingly down her back.
“You are important to me, dearest magnolia,” he repeated, assuring, “I did not, no. In fact this one was rather nervous it would be doing something wrong in coming uninvited. But I wanted to see you. So I took the risk.”
Rurr shrugs from watching the sappy scene play out, as much as it touches his heart to see his usually so stoic master show some signs of vulnerability in front of those she considers her close friends, he felt a little awkward from just standing there quietly so he makes a coughing sound to grab their attention
“Wrrghh, harro? (So could I trouble for a little tour if you two are done yes?)
Remy turned to look in confusion at Rurr, just enough time passing to be notable. Finally, she realized he had coughed, and not complimented her blue sphere.
“Unfortunately I have not been to the palace. When I transfered to Odan-Urr, I moved to the Praxeum for a while, which is on a mountain range above the clouds, but after a few months I moved to the Helm of Allusis on Daleem.”
She moved to the nearest side of the greenhouse, which looked back into the city sized structure, “not that we cannot explore, I suppose. Although I doubt there will be anywhere with so much foliage.”
Peacefully allowing their moment to pass, Rue lingered as Remy walked off, gently brushing the leaves of a plant they were beside – whether or not there was a no touching sign somewhere he hadn’t noticed yet. Alk chased her though, trotting after.
“This one is perfectly happy exploring or remaining here. Whichever would make Sir Rurr and Miss Remy happiest. Although it does need to make a few additional introductions.”
Remy responded to a nudge from Alk with a hard, egg shaped vegetable called a Krilx Root, which she had grabbed just for this purpose. Alk dropped it to the floor, sniffed it, gave it a lick, then set to gnawing on it, with an occasional crack coming from the hard tuber-esque stalk.
“I presume you mean the creatures in your hair? I had sensed them, but figured they preferred to stay hidden. It must be heavy on your head and neck.”
“Yes!” chirped the hybrid, and lifted his hand to deftly coach one out. It was fluffy, black with a white spot on its face, and mismatched little eyes. The puffball had six little paws and two long ears. “This is Serrulata, or Lata. I have shown you him. Well, at some point he found another creature near our camp to procreate with, and now I must find adequate homes for all the infants, much like Ras did. I thought,” here he hesitated slightly, but heartened by her earlier confirmation, charged on, “that Remy would be less lonely with a pet! And you are trustworthy and responsible and kind enough. We would just see which one you felt closest to.” He looked to Rurr. “Of course you are also welcome to one! I am sure any apprentice of Remy’s would be just as trustworthy.”
He set Lata on the top of his head and the voorpak clung there like it was perfectly at home. The ordeal of extracting the baby voorpaks burrowed into him like a den was a little more finicky, but eventually Rue pried out a few more. They were very small, barely the size of his palm, legs hardly visible when they were 70% fluff and 30% ears. One was black and brown, one red and gold, and another black and white.
“The others do not want to come out. This is fine. It means neither of you are their people,” Rue commented, serenely cheerful. He held the babies near to his chest but beckoned both others closer with his tail. “Here, see?”
A… pet? Remy had not considered the option before. She had a droid for a while, but when it proved to be more of a trigger happy liability, she had sold it for a blaster. A blaster that she last saw when she was embedding it in the skull of a pirate. A pet, especially one so small would be… she wanted to think frivolous, but wasn’t that the whole reason she was here? That she wasn’t immune to these weaknesses?
She stepped forward, her arms behind her back and studied the three spheres Rue held against his chest. Two seemed active, the brown one all but leaping out of Rues arm to greet or explore, but the red one was still. It didn’t seem to have a focus, it was just calmly, fearlessly observing the area. The other two left the safety of Rues hair out of curiosity or excitement, but this one just wasn’t concerned with saftey. Cocking her head, Remy reached out a finger to try and get its attention. The voorpaks eyes locked onto Remys, and it moved for the first time, lunging forward to plunge its needle sharp teeth into her flesh.
Remy held up a hand to forestall Rue pulling back, the finger healing the tiny wounds in moments with assistance from the Force.
“I apologize, I am not too well acquainted with animals. I will not begrudge someone their weapons of defense.”
Not fearless then. Vigilant. Remy reached out again, this time with the Force, using the trick she had learned to speak with Alk and since perfected with the skraks that lived in the gardens of the temple of the Helm. She stared into the small creatures eyes, not holding its full attention. The eyes seemed to draw her in, grow larger, engulf her whole world, until they inverted, turning red but staring just as hard. She saw herself, now. She heard alien thoughts, simple and clipped, and she knew the creature could hear hers too, even if it- he couldn’t understand them.
Monster. Danger. Brothers and sisters near. Do not understand. Foolish. Protect. Grandfather not protect, I protect. Monster die, or brothers and sisters run. A souped up jetbike roared by outside of the greenhouse, More metal monster, more danger. I cannot run. I run, brothers and sisters die. Bite metal monster-
Not fearless at all. This one was downright paranoid, constantly worried that anything and everything was out to kill his family. Yet, despite being constantly consumed by fear, he was still. Not even shaking. A warrior, if still a childish one. She decided on a method of attack and began formulating a memory to pass along to him. A memory to show that she was something… similar. She brought together the memory of when she fought in the Battle of Brimstone. Armed with nothing but a training lightsaber, she had managed to defend Esen from a fully armed and enraged Dark Brotherhood Sith, albiet almost at the cost of her own life.
You defend. We defend. Family is safe.
She didn’t know whose thoughts those were. Maybe it was both of them.
Breaking off her link and letting the voorpak resume his normal thought patterns, she reached out to touch the creature a second time. This time, however, instead of allowing the touch, he leapt from Rues grip and scuttled up her arm and onto her head, shooting a look at his father as he used Remys bun as a chair back.
“Ehm… it seems this one is mimicing his father. This seems to be an improvement.”
Rue’s smile was brilliant as he beheld Remy and the voorpak’s interaction, picking up on hints of that internal exchange as one would the scent of fresh grasses on the breeze, but not actively listening. He laughed in pure delight at Remy’s joking comment.
“It seems so! He has chosen you. You will have to name him.”
The hybrid turned to Rurr, then, offering up the other two.
“Would you like to meet them?”
<@135184375586226177>
Rurr brightens up as he watches his master and the adorable creature interact and seeing the hybrid put up the two bundles of fur before him, a warmth passes through him, silently picks them up from Rue’s hands and cradles them in his large arms
“Rraaaargh! , mraow!” (They’re just so cute! Where have these creatures been hiding from me all this time.)
He proceeds to rub his face in their fur and let’s out a purring sound from his throat
“Urrrgh, hrghh” (They’re so fluffy too, and the texture of their fur is well maintained, you’ve must take good care of them)
“Hiding on Naboo, I imagine,” Remy mumbled as she tried to reach up to grab the ball sitting on her head. He was biting at her fingers each time she tried, but he was obviously not going for blood this time. Eventually, she gave up and let him have his seat. He gave a smug huff.
“As a matter of fact, motts are native Nabooian as well. Do you have a connection to the place?”
Rue was just busy smiling and giggling and radiating Happiness as his friends cuddled and bonded with the various voorpak kits. He shook his head to the question.
“This one does not know a Naboo. Is this a planet? A city?” He reached over to pet Alk while the mentioned Mott gnawed on his gifted snuffling chew root. “Hunyi found Alk and adopted him. The voorpaks come from a friend, Ras, whom I was introduced to through Brelon, if you recall him from the Flitz. Ras takes in and raises many animals of various species, rare and common, and has small adoption events when possible. She is very kind. We could meet her if you liked–” he paused, glancing at Remy and frowning. “Well, perhaps not. I do not think Remy would…like…her. But that is their origin.”
“Hm. A puppet of the Dark side I imagine? There are plenty of them in this Brotherhood. Even in Odan-Urr frustratingly.”
Remy moves a little closer to watch her student try and wrangle the excited juveniles as they take advantage of his full fur covering, and scuttle wildly.
“But Naboo is a world that has been incredibly important historically as a political and diplomatic center. It is also known for fecund grasslands and wetlands. Motts and voorpak are native there, is all. I would suggest it as a destination for you, as a place known for peace and beauty, despite being the birthplace of the Emperor.”
“Ras is not a puppet,” Rue snapped, though he quailed immediately after doing so. Still, he lifted his eyes to her and held them despite how his body caved in on itself. “Remy should not call people that. It is not kind. If I am more than an experiment, if I am a person, then they are people.”
He didn’t try to say we are, knowing Remy viewed herself as a weapon.
Remy did not appear to change physically, but the air around her almost seemed to get thicker, heavier.
“To weild the Dark is to serve the Dark. That power cannot be touched without corruption. That power cannot be used without whittling away at the life of the galaxy. One cannot hold the power of evil incarnate, but they can be deceived into thinking they can.”
A concerned look crossws Rurrs face as he senses the uneasiness from his master. Rurr is not as familiar to the force as the two before him but he knows the history surronding the empire and the sith that created it. He didnt have a good first impression on the dark side.
“Ruh gwyaaaag, Huuguughg? Muaarga” (I cannot disagree that the dark side is one that has much temptations to it, and that people have fallen to the worst parts of it in the past. But those would be examples of the extremes correct my Master? Jedi don’t deal in absolutes from what I can understand, and the history of our own brotherhood has shown that the there are those who haven’t fallen like the sith in the past. The force is meant to be balanced by both dark and light no?)
Rurr puts the two voorpaks on the ground near Rue and they run back to be their side, and Rurr takes his place by his teacher
“Raaaargh, hrrum” (I think it could do you well meeting this Ras, they seem kind like Rue here")
“I have met several who use the Dark Side, as you say, and also the Light. Whose path is balance, as Rurr so wisely suggests,” Rue agreed, thinking of the many faces he’d encountered. “Ras, Bril, Dolot, Keris–” he stuttered. “Well, many. As you say, in your Clan of Jedi as well. Your absolutes are straining, Remy. Remember the willow that bends.”
Remys earlier “relaxed” appearance, or at least as relaxed as she could be, was now gone entirely. She now stood at parade rest, a mirror of her past.
“The Dark corrupts, no matter how little or how sparsely you touch it. It is addictive, warping, weakens your body so you cannot stop. It draws power from pain, and specialises in giving pain to others. The Dark created the Sith empire, known for its brutality and sadism, which continues to this day, in an indirect way. The Dark drove the CIS, created the Empire, founded the First Order, and allowed all of their atrocities. Even this very Brotherhood has been and continues to be a symbol of tyranny and terror across the galaxy.”
Remys eyes glowed, giving the tall woman a rather ironically evil apperance. She stepped forward to speak to Rue quiet enough that Rurr would have a hard time hearing her.
“The Dark brought together the cult that created you. The Dark created the laboratories that created me. And if we had not both turned out horribly against its plans, we would both be tearing a bloody gash across the galaxy right now. You cannot argue that the Dark side has had anything but a catastrophically negative influence on the universe.”
Remy seemed almost to snap out of something, realising that she was basically looming over Rue now. At the very least he didn’t seem afraid of her this time… well, too afraid at least. She stepped back and turned to move toward the nearby glass wall of the greenhouse overlooking the roiling clouds, her back still ramrod straight.
“By its very nature the Dark is the most powerful in the hateful, the sadistic, and the overly ambitious. The people who are the least worthy of power and almost unilaterally use it for evil purposes. So, the Dark side is the enemy. If it is destroyed, all the Darths and Rens of the galaxy will be rendered as just more powerless monsters foaming at the mouth that have to satisfy themselves with random murders at the bottom of Coruscant. There is no balance. There is purity and corruption.”
Rue indeed shrank low from Remy, and for all her indomitable ire, stayed there crouching on the ground even after she moved away– Serrulata and the remaining voorpaks had fled deep into his hair, and even Alk had taken several steps back, his hindquarters curling inward, front feet spaced wide, head lowering and retreating as ears flicked.
For a long second, unless Rurr spoke up, there would be silence. Rue swallowed convulsively, trembling with a breath, then shook his head, just a small motion.
“You are not correct,” he spoke very quietly, less for secrecy than Remy had, and more because that was all the strength his smaller voice had. “Yes, the Dark has done awful things and been used for awful things. But as you say: it made me, and thereof it made all of my litluns. It made you. You have had a difficult life, Remalia. This one does not begrudge you how you respond, how you choose to be a weapon, that this is what you must do. But. But.” His voice trembled. He lifted his chin.
And glared through tears.
“Every moment of one hundred and thirty years of th– my life, has been suffering. Every second of my children’s existence has been suffering. Every one of them died in pain. But they also lived. They all lived, Remalia. You are alive. That is also joy. Purity. Magnificence. That mattered. Despise the Dark, if you must. Choose hatefulness as Tant and others have done. But it is not for nothing, and it has been wonderfully good too. My children lived and smiled, and yes, because of the Dark. So–”
He seemed to run out of words or courage, or not know what more to say. Instead the hybrid gave a croak, a half sob, and then rose back up and turned away.
“This one will walk the gardens.”
He walked in a random direction, and Alk, looking between Rurr and him, with a wary one at Remy, trotted after at speed, leaving the Master and apprentice to their moment.
Rurr looks down to his master, tilting his head at her and not with a face of disappointment or anger but one of intent. He looks at the voorpak on her head, studying the so little thing that scolds his Master in a very charming way and he looks at Remalia, her own face bearing the weight of what her words have wrought upon her.
Thinking to himself he wonders what to do next now that theyre alone and he can’t just let them both be on their own after that
She may be the master but I suppose I do have years on my belt…might as well put it to some use here.
“Gragghh, harro? Rrrrghh brfff” (The fact he still nests in your hair shows his determination to stay with you, so rest easy with that in your heart. But I have to admit my master, are you okay? I know the dark side is a tender subject and you have your own fears with its influence but I’m not sure it is wise to let it drive a wedge between you and your friend. Maybe you should apologize to him, try to mend this while its only a crack)
Remys face twitched slightly, a rare expression of emotion belying a truly powerful internal force.
“A tender subject? Fears? I simply state widely available public knowledge, Rurr. The Dark side is responsible for trillions of deaths and quadrillions more lives destroyed, and that is only of recorded history. It does not take meditation or philosophy to come to the conclusion that something that has overwhelmingly been used almost exclusively for evil for tens of thousands of years is evil by its very nature.”
The frustration was growing. It felt almost like the Rage she used to conjure for advantage in battle, which was a deeply unsettling thought. Why could she feel that way with Rue? Regardless, she forced it down, pushed it into its cage like she had always done, although she didn’t ever realize consciously that was what she was doing. Anger only destroys.
“I don’t know what I would even apologize for. My goal is to make a world where people aren’t born into suffering and death like Rue and his children were. If anything, he should want this more than I do.”
The voorpak on Remys head was still shifting, not pleased with what he could understand of Remys thoughts, but not apparently getting fed up enough to scamper off to chase his real family yet.
<@135184375586226177>
Rurr bows his head out of respect to his Master, closing his eyes in contemplation and to not look into her gaze. He thought of the evils that empire has wrought into the galaxy, the war they planned in the shadows of the great republic of his yesteryears, and of his own captivity in the empires mining facilities and more. All terrible things because of practioners of the dark side exerting their will over the galaxy and yet…that all led to him meeting Remalia and in turn Rue as well many others he will soon serve with, in house Hoth to balance the dark with their light.
“Rrrrraaah, grrrr, wrrrraaah. grrouwwl, harrrghg fruff” (“My Master, there is wisdom in what Rue has said himself in regards to his creation, despite the Dark’s hand in his creation, his and his children’s suffering, there was the Light that was brought forth through him. Many more got to live thanks to his intervention. I lived in chains because of the empire yes but it has led me to eventually meeting the brotherhood and finally to you My Master. That’s something I wouldn’t change now. Hate the Dark but not all of its users are the sith empire, I suppose its what they could call a different facet of practice. Rue would be able to explain it better than I can but you won’t be able to understand by just standing here, unmoving and unwilling to do so”)
He waves a large arm over to the small creature resting on Remy’s head and pats it on the head
“Grrrr Raarrrrgh” (Look to what rests upon your head and see what I mean by this, despite the misfortune the dark has brought to us, there is the gleaming light within it)
Remy pauses for a good few moments. On the surface it looked like she was considering, but in truth, she was simply not that fluent with Shyriiwook.
“You speak as if evil is a necessary ingredient of good. Do you think slavery is a necessity because people like you managed to use it for growth?”
She paused again, calming herself further, the light in her eyes burning back to its usual level.
“I apologize. I am aware your history is still sore. But the point still stands. Just because evil can fail and accidentally produce positive results doesn’t mean that things couldn’t be better. I want the same things that most do. I wish to stop war, punish evil, uphold peace, I just also acknowledge my end goals. I fight evil with the goal of eradicating evil. An impossible task, to be sure, but that is still the end goal. To claim anything less is to claim that eventually, at some point, you would become the slaver to ensure slavery continues.”
She folded her hands behind her back and moved to the windows again. There was too much. Frustration, fear, and worry were there, but there were so many unknown contaminates to her judgement swirling in her mind. It was so difficult to think with all this racket. It made her skin crawl to think she had always thought this way, felt this way, but never realised it. How many had suffered because of her feelings? How many had died because of them?
“Remy.”
The tone was gentle. Perhaps to her ears, meek, weak, sniveling. One that belonged to someone who ran away– who was an enemy– who should have wanted what she wanted–
“Remy. Remy, stop, you’re hurting yourself.”
A gentle touch brushed her hands behind her back where they had clenched to fists. A precise pinch at the nerves and carpals made each release.
“Remy. Remy, it’s alright. I know you are feeling very strongly right now, but I promise you, you are going to survive it. You can breathe. It’s okay. Breathe with me. Breathe, in and out, I’ve got you. One petal, two petal, three petal, four…”
Color was awash in front of her. Not the cityscape and skies outside the glass, but a dying sun. Rue swam into focus. His face was swollen from crying, but he stared at her calmly, peacefully. He smiled to her. For some reason her hand was now clenched around his, hard enough, surely, to crush it, break small bones.
But still that red-eyed smile.
Remy quickly loosened her grip, Rues unexpected return somehow taking her by surprise.
“I… what? Petals?”
It took her a second more to parse what Rue was attempting. Some sort of calming ritual? Was she really so far gone, that she needed more than self control to remain useful? She twisted her mind, focusing on the Force in the same way she often squeezed out pain to continue fighting, leaning on yet another crutch to keep her mind clear.
“Rue this is… I don’t understand how you can think any of this is beneficial. A single disagreement and my mind becomes so fogged I become useless for possibly minutes at a time. How do you find utility in that?”
The hybrid merely continued to look upon her with that strange watery gaze that other beings turned upon alleged “loved ones.” His brows did indent though, and his head tilted.
“Utility in what? Disagreeing? Having an opinion? Friendship?” he listed possibilities in an academic manner, as all of the above had been only recently introduced to him as topics, not unlike Remalia herself.
“It… doesn’t matter. There is no point in meditating on that which one cannot change.”
Remys eyes stayed fixed on the clouds below, but she didn’t let go of Rues hand yet.
“I suppose it is the nature of… personality that people do not agree, and that those disagreements can be irreconcilable. In terms of reasonable time scales, this argument is purely theoretical anyway.”
The voorpak on her head shifted, seeming to settle back down in his spot. That was… positive, hopefully. At least he was less likely to decide he didn’t like her now… wait, did that mean she cared?
“It seems my passenger has made a decision, more or less. I don’t think I could come up with a ‘good’ name, so I think I will call him Gift, because that is what he is.”
Finally, Remy turns to look at Rue, glancing over at Rurr making small, warbling giggles as the other small creature nibbled at his fur.
“Is that passable?”
“I think,” Rue sounded choked on emotion again, as he often did, and turned enough that he could wipe his eyes on each shoulder, since he was still holding her hand, “that it is far more than passable. It is good. You are good. And so are you, our dearest Gift.”
This last was directed to the newly-named voorpak grandchild with a quick snuffle of noses and the dropping of a kiss to his head. One to Remy’s forehead followed before he finally leaned backwards, tail tip swishing and Serrulata poking back out from behind one ear to chirp, as though bidding his son goodbye. Rurr, too, seemed to have found quite the bond. Rue’s eyes crinkled as he looked between both apprentice and master.
To be your friend, to know and love you, is a gift to me, Remalia. Thank you. Thank you for missing me too.
Rurr seeing the hybrid step back, not wanting to end the meeting without a sweet parting pulls his master under his large arm and clutches her close while also doing the same scooping Rue up to bring them all together in a warm embrace
“Muawa, Gaa moo. Wyaaaaa, Wyoorg” (Oh we mustn’t end things as if it is a goodbye, we will see each other soon enough again dear Rue, and im quite sure Master Remalia would be thankful for it. We should all go together for a warm meal before we depart, how’s that sound to you?)
Gift rises from Remys head and scuttles back over to Rue, vanishing into his hair for a few moments in the embrace. When he emerged, he clawed back to Remy, but climbed into her unused hood instead of her head.
I will… return. Get stronger… never fear.
“Rurr, do not worry, my next mission isn’t for two days. We have time.”
Not bothering to extricate herself, she directs a look to Rue, “it seems Gift does actually want to come with me. He’s pretending to be tough about it, but he is already missing his family. I believe he thinks we are leaving this moment.”
Rue was unaccustomed to being picked up, but he laughed and mewed in delight by the hug with Rurr and Remy squished together. The exchange with Gift too, was touching, and while the little voorpak was on him, he conveyed nothing but warmth and ardor and affirmation as the litlun nuzzled and bit at his scalp. Serrulata, too, rubbed cheeks and paws and cleaned at Gift’s ears. Rue Gift back and gave a fond lick of grooming as the voorpak climbed back and situated himself in Remy’s hood.
Love you love you always always.
“Do not worry, Gift or Rurr, this one would love to have the dinner with you and enjoy your company as long as it can. As long as I can. Perhaps you can show me where you live? Oh! Remy! I can visit the plants!”
He had sent her more each other week, and was excited to speak to them in person and not merely see holos.
“Many… plants,” Remy said with a slight, overwhelmed tilt, “I don’t not think there would be an issue, the Helm is off limits to civilians, but I doubt you would be considered such. It would have to be a short visit, preparations for another mission begins tomarrow.”
“I will treasure each moment, no matter how long,” Rue said simply, sincerely, and smiled at her again.
Rurr growls with joy and releases the two in his arms, straightening his clothes to look more respectable to them and bows.
“Huuguughghg gaaa,aaahnruh” (If preparations must be made then we shouldn’t tarry long but I agree with Rue, with whatever time we have left together, it will be a time to remember for many moons that im sure we all hold dear in our heart of hearts.)
Rurr bows to the two Masters and looks to Remy with a sheepish look
“Gaaa,wwgggh” (If i may ask of you my Master, i would like to tour as much of Kiast while I can before our dinner then, so I wish to take my leave for a few hours if that is okay with you)
Remy just nods, “I don’t see why we would need to separate, Rue has likely not seen much of Kiast himself, but if you wish to be alone, that is your right.”
Being released, she straightened her back and motioned to the door to Rue.
“There is much to the palace and time to see, if you would like. It may not be gardens but… shall we move on?”
“Of course,” Rue agreed easily. Beaming with happiness, he and the voorpaks, along with Remy and Rurr and their new gifts, proceeded on to their next adventure.