Ask Ezra Ciristrial

[Cirilla Shan]

Clone Wars Memorial, Pantoran City​

MUSIC​

Ciri hung back at the back of the group, staring at a portrait of some Jedi standing in a heroic pose. She could sense the girl besides her getting agitated, she wanted to move on, catch up with the others. Ciri continued to seem look at the portrait, wondering if Jedi in the past really took time to pose like that in the middle of a battle, of if the artist had gone a little too far with his artistic liberties.

"Master Lurch's moved on, we should catch up." Lenore looked around, seemingly scared of the very walls around them, before leaning in to whisper at her. "What if there's snatchers about? They say they eat Jedi!"

Ciri stared at the taller, much beefier girl for a moment, wondering how someone who was supposed to be at the top her class could be so dumb. Said everything about the Jedi's education plan. Returning her gaze to the portrait, she continued observing. "There are no Jedi snatchers on Pantora, would they bring a field trip here if there was even the slightest risk in us being here? Besides, I'm short and skinny, going by weight alone you'd make a better meal." She didn't turn to see how the girl responded, and continued staring at the portrait, but Lenore did humph away and Ciri had to bite down on a smile that tried to pull at the corners of her lips.

The truth was she didn't particularly care about this picture, she just couldn't bring herself to walk around after the other padawans as Lurch mumbled on about Jedi bravery and how the Galaxy still admired them. This trip was supposed to cheer up the padawans after Yavin, be educational and motivational. Right now she felt neither educated, nor motivated. But then her stomach grumbled in protest, asserting that it disagreed. Food, that did motivate her. So she let out a sigh and turned to follow the group, Lurch had their food coupons after all. She wanted those coupons.

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra wasn’t even looking where he was going. He was chewing his gum and rapidly texting on his nalphone. Today was field trip day with his private school classmates. Of course, they had passes to every corner of the museum and priority seating and food access. He didn’t care about any of this, walking right past artifacts from Clone Wars era and prior. His parents would have gushed about all of this and likely spent an entire day just in one room alone debating history with one another. Ezra found it all to be tedious and pointless.

He was adorned in his crisp private school attire, an expensive chrono on his wrist. His hair was styled, his shoes were polished and he smelled fantastic. Ezra kept walking until he bumped into someone, his nalphone flying out of his hands. He looked up to glare at the culprit - a diminutive girl that was in his way for no reason.

“Watch it,” He stated icily before walking over to pick up the nalphone. He glanced around after that, suddenly not spotting his fancy tour group. Crap.

@Wit

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri was used to people bumping into her, some at the temple did it intentionally, but for many it was a genuine mistake. She was small, it was something she just had to make her peace with. But those who bumped into her also had to make their peace with whatever reaction came about from their action, be it intentional or unintentional.

So as someone bumped into her just as she was about to go look for her classmates and get those food coupons, she turned around with a sense of excitement at the opportunity to get creative with whoever it was. Maybe this trip wouldn't be as dull as she had imagined it would be. What she hadn't expected was to find herself face to face with someone's chest, her eyes at a level with an elaborate emblem on a very fancy and obviously expensive suit. She watched in silence as he picked up his phone, also expensive by the looks of it. Her stomach grumbled once more, suggesting ideas, and her mind was made up.

She followed after him to where he had moved to pick up his phone, and stood silently besides him as he looked around, observing him. If he turned around he would find her right there, and even if he didn't turn her way on his own, she would draw his attention by speaking up.

"Your group, I can help find them." She assumed that he, like her, was on a class trip. And like her, he was also looking for his study group. If that wasn't the case then she would have to reassess her plans to exact revenge on him by making him buy her lunch. "I can show you where they went, if you give me your meal pass." As if on cue, her stomach grumbled once more, but she continued looking at him with a plain look on her face, acting as if she had heard nothing.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra stared at the girl blankly. He considered her words, piercing silver eyes drilling into hers. He blew a small bubble with his gum, let it pop, and he walked right past her. Unfortunately, he was no closer to finding his group. As he thought more about it, however, he began to realize this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He had free reign all around the museum and he didn’t have to listen to Mrs. Albrecht ramble about some other banthashit he didn’t care about.

Casting a glance over his shoulder, he began to make his way towards a restricted section. With his pass, he could likely sneak in. Apparently there were some ‘Force imbued’ artifacts there. Whatever the hell that meant.

Before he could cross the distance, a few teen girls popped up in front of him.

“Um hi,” One of them said in between giggles, “Are you like.. Ezra Thorne? Cuz you look just like him.”

“Oh my gosh you’re so much cuter in person!”

“You look juuust like President Thorne.”

Ezra sighed and attempted to walk past them and found himself suddenly swarmed. All he wanted was to escape into that restricted section…

@Wit

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Normally people were a little weird with her, but just ignoring her altogether, that was new even for her. She stared after him, the reaction only motivating her further to get what she wanted. This was a challenge now, and despite herself she found another smile attempting to tug at her lips. And as she saw him get swarmed by a gaggle of coked up barbies she actually let the smile show on her face.

She walked up to one of the girls, and grabbed the phone right out of her hand. That got her attention, and she snapped around to bore Ciri with eyes bearing murderous intent. Separate them from their phone and primal instincts took over. She had learned that when dealing with one of the more persistent bullies back on Yavin.

"You should take a picture, to prove you met Ezra Thorne. I can take one of all of you." That stopped her short, and even caught the attention of some of the others. She pointed to the side, near a well lit section of the gallery. "There, with the Zeltron's bust in the background." A few of them started moving, not all, but enough that suddenly the path seemed more clear. She didn't waste a second, as she tossed the phone the other way, and turned to Ezra.

"This way!" She didn't wait and started running towards the restricted section. There was a barricade of some sort in between, leading to the next corridor and the restricted section that lay beyond. But they needed a card of some sort to swing the bars open, so she just rolled under it, not waiting to see how he managed. He was tall, he could jump.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra watched it all play out - at first wondering why the midget girl was following him around. However, once he saw the rest of the trick reveal itself, he found himself mildly impressed. He didn’t wait around as soon as the phone was tossed, bolting right after her. He jumped over the barricade with surprising ease, running down the stairs that led to the empty section.

He finally slowed down after he was sure nobody was following. There were rows upon rows of objects down here. The Force pulsed strongly, but to Ezra it was simply a strange feeling. He walked quietly through the hall, rubbing his forehead from the oppressive nature of the entire floor. He couldn’t understand it and to him it felt like a sudden headache.

“All this so you can get a free lunch?” He asked the girl aloud, trying to ignore his headache. People like her were vultures. Just looking for handouts. What a disgrace. Of course, his face was set stoic, his demeanor calm and aloof to betray none of his thoughts.

Ezra stopped in front of what appeared to be an ancient lightsaber hilt. It still hummed with an energy he couldn’t explain. All he knew was that he was drawn to it, stepping closer till his face was almost touching the glass panel.

@Wit

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri stopped as she reached the bottom of the staircase, the artifacts beyond tickled at the edge of her conscience, but neither was her control over the refined enough to catch it for what it was, nor her stomach full enough to let her focus on that. She followed, and noticed Ezra rub his head. So it wasn't just her, not unless he was also susceptible to hunger induced migraines.

"Yes." The simple response was all he got to his question as she followed him through the hall, letting her eyes linger around them, curiosity having a hold on her. She didn't care what he thought, she was hungry, he owned her, and he was rich enough to not be particularly put out by it. In her mind it was simple, explaining that to him would not be.

So she followed and stepped up to the display he had stopped before, dark eyes staring at the lightsaber hilt. What was it with boys and swords? They were just sticks that could kill, sometimes they'd glow. Big deal. "Do you want to..." She stopped mid sentence as a pang of pain flashed across her head, and she bent over with her head in her hands.

It passed as soon as it had come, the pain vanishing the moment she looked away and broke eye contact with the hilt, thought at the time she did not make that connection. All she knew was that her head no longer felt like it was about to split, and she straightened up again, looking up to give a deadpan look to Ezra.

"Do you have any food on you? I get migraines when I'm hungry." Even as she said it she wondered, she was just as hungry as she had been a moment ago, so why wasn't her head hurting anymore?

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra hardly paid attention to the girl as he drew closer to that saber. His gaze flicked over to the placard, reading the name Plo Koon. The name sounded familiar and he vaguely began to recall it in one of his history classes about the Clone Wars. Before he could remember, the girl began to ask a question and he recoiled a bit from her. She was bent over in pain and it briefly made him wonder if she was suffering what he was.

And then she asked about food again.

“The hell is your problem, freak?” He asked with a bite to his speech, reaching into his pocket. He tossed his food pass at her, taking a few steps backwards as if she were a rabid animal. Who just followed someone around asking them for food? Why was a hobo allowed in the museum? He had no intention of turning his back to her, so he glared at her from a distance, crossing his arms. He wanted to see if she would simply leave and walk away.

“Panhandling is illegal within a 100 feet of this building,” He said icily, completely making that rule up on the spot. But he said it with such conviction that he simply came across like someone well versed with rules.

@Wit

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri accepted the food pass, ignoring the comment about being a freak. Wasn't the first time someone had called her that, at least this time it was a complete stranger. When you grew up with your would be friends calling you worse, over time such words started to lose their sting. Besides, the Jedi had mellowed some of her harsher tendencies, which included a compulsive need to get back at anyone who tried to cross her. Revenge was not the Jedi way. How they didn't understand that cutting someone's hair off for pushing her into the Yavin lake did not count as revenge had escaped her at the time.

"Your group went to the southern wing," she replied, ignoring his panhandling comment as well, she had promised him directions in return for the coupon after all, "the born with a silver spoon up the ass exhibit." Didn't mean she couldn't get a retort in as well.

She did mean to leave, but she kept getting drawn to the lightsaber, so she stepped forward to the display again and placed a hand against the glass. The headache returned, but it wasn't as bad this time, and she actually started thinking it wasn't the lack of food after all. Brows furrowing in a slight frown, she was thinking about heading back up and asking Lurch about it, when there was a sudden sound from the other side of the room as someone opened a door. It caught her by surprise, and as she turned to look at the sound and the display just gave way under her hand. Whatever feeling had been drawing them in, had other agents in play, and a screw that held the display tight to the floor had come lose. It toppled over under her touch, crashing to the ground and spraying glass everywhere.

That caught the attention of whoever had just arrived, and as footsteps started moving towards them, Ciri looked at the lightsaber lying on the ground, and then looked up at Ezra. She did not want detention, and he seemed like someone who was used to daddy buying him out of trouble, so she made a snap decision. She moved past the part-Sephi, and started walking towards the door leading deeper into the restricted section, away from the museum employees.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

“And I got silver eyes to match too,” He replied proudly as he pointed to himself. He was perfectly comfortable being rich. He was better than others, and he knew poor people always hated him for it. That sounded like a them problem, so their insults rolled off his shoulders. That was when his sensitive ears picked up someone else arriving. His gaze flicked over just for a moment and in that time the girl managed to send the lightsaber flying as the glass shattered.

Ezra took several steps back as the other person began to make their way down. As the girl began to run, his eyes narrowed slightly. With his gaze trained forward, he casually stuck out his foot. The gesture would cause her to catapult forward and land on the ground. He wasn’t going to let her pin this on him. He remained standing, his arms crossed.

When the employee arrived, he immediately changed his posture to looking distressed, “She broke the display. She even stole my lunch pass from me,” He complained, pointing to the girl.

The guard looked at his 6’3 frame, looked to the small girl, back to him, to the girl, and then back to him, “...Right,” The man said, “Give him his pass back, young lady, you’re both in trouble.”

Ezra had a smug look on his face before he suddenly looked at the guard, “Excuse me, what do you mean both? I’m being punished for reporting an incident?”

“Thank you for notifying us, but you’re not supposed to be down here either,” The guard answered dryly.

“Sir, do you know who I am?”

—​

None of it mattered, as minutes later, Ezra and Ciri were both kicked out of the museum and left standing by the back entrance. He glared daggers at the building, his entire day ruined. He was furiously texting his parents about this. He typed up a long message to Emryc. Within seconds, there was a ‘read’ timestamp, followed by complete silence. The several messages before that all had the same result.

Ezra sighed to himself before he started walking along the strip. He knew he would be in trouble because of this and there was no way his parents would take his side.

@Wit

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri went crashing to the floor as Ezra stuck out his leg. She was too focused on wanting to get away, so when the floor came up to greet her she barely managed to put a hand in the way to keep herself from giving it a kiss. But as she fell her lightsaber, kept tucked inside her robes, rolled out, and for a moment there would be two blades on the ground. Whether or not Ezra noticed this, thankfully the guards did not, and Ciri was quick to reach out and pick up the blade and shove it back inside her coat to keep the guard from spotting it. But in her hurry she didn't notice that she left her own blade behind, and scooped up the other blade instead.

Busy as she was in covering her slip up, she had no time to defend herself as Ezra tried to pin everything on her, and could only count herself lucky as the two of them were tossed out. What irritated her most was that she was still hungry. Once outside, she wondered what to do next. As Ezra pulled out his phone and began typing away, she stared at the museum and plopped down on the stairs. She was hungry, she had a major headache kicking in, and none of it her own fault. The only consolation, if it was much of one, was that she wasn't the only one who had been tossed out. As she sat and waited on the steps, she looked at the tall figure of the Sephi, and started imagining ways she could make him suffer if given the opportunity. She had never dealt with someone that rich, spoilt, and seemingly aware off and at ease with that fact. Almost made her feel bad about a missed opportunity.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra stared at his nalphone. He had gotten several responses from his dad, and none from Pops. Of course, that was expected. Pops never had a second to spare for his kids or even give a shit. He sighed and put his phone away, staring off at nothing. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at the girl that plopped down on the steps. Of course, he could call up a plethora of contacts to get out of here, but it was kind of nice to be alone.

“Why’re you walking around with no money anyway?” He asked icily as he looked at the girl, “Did you show up just hoping someone would give you a pass?”

He didn’t bother waiting for an answer before he started walking. Ezra continued chewing his gum, striding leisurely in no particular direction. However, his body language was relaxed enough to where he didn’t mind if she came with.

@Wit

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri sat looking even more glum than usual, trying to focus like she had been taught, but unable to do so. Her head hurt, and she was hungry, and sitting there was not helping any with that. So when Ezra spoke up she responded out of the simple need to distract herself. "Our chaperon had all our food coupons, and like you I got separated from my group."

Speaking helped, it was a distraction, so when he started walking she got up and fell in step besides him. Anything to dull that headache. Almost jogging to keep up with his significantly longer stride, she seemed content to just walk, but her head continued to throb, so she began walking. "Sorry for stealing your hall-pass," she spoke as they walked, attempting humor in her own way, "I have to rob people twice my size on a regular basis or I risk letting my skills get rusty. Why were you trying to get into the restricted section, besides getting away from fans. Of your father?" She had heard the name, was pretty easy to make the connection after that.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra said nothing as she explained herself. He also didn’t react to her commentary about robbing people. He did what he had to do to get himself out of trouble, but he would never apologize for it. He didn’t exactly understand the point of apologizing - he rarely thought he did anything wrong and he certainly never felt the need to say sorry. He paused briefly when she mentioned his father. For a moment, it almost looked as if he would say something, but he held back.

His little stroll took him towards a bistro with some outdoor seating. Despite what his Galaxy Gram implied, he actually liked being alone quite a bit. Ezra took a seat, picking this place because it had droid servers. He looked through the datapad and selected his meal, nodding for the girl to do the same.

Ezra took out his Nalphone and went right back to texting in silence as if she weren’t even there. He stayed like that for a few minutes before his gaze finally flicked up.

“There was something weird about the lower levels,” He said, “Like I was supposed to go there. No idea why. You cracking that display open didn’t help.”

His eyes flicked down to his Nalphone again, “I’m tolerating you only because your trick to steal Plo Koon’s lightsaber was…admirable,” He said dryly without looking up.

@Wit

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri didn't press when he didn't say anything, she had inadvertently been nosy in her attempt to keep conversation flowing, and he was perfectly within his rights to ignore her question. She would not have picked the place he did for getting food, she did have some credits on her but not enough to afford places like this, at least not on a regular basis. But, if they were already there then she wasn't going to bother finding another spot. She really needed some food, she'd just have to be more careful with her funds for the rest of the month till her next allowance showed up.

She didn't try to hide her surprise when he mentioned the lightsaber, she hadn't meant to do that, and that showed clearly on her face. She put her hand into her coat, and immediately knew that the blade within wasn't hers.

"The blade," she asked, "was that what drew you?" She looked around, and once sure that no one was looking, she drew out the blade and placed it on the table so that it was visible to the two of them but hidden from anyone else behind menus and glasses. As she pulled back her hand, she felt the throbbing in her head subside.

"Curious." She said softly as she stared at the blade, then looking up at Ezra to gauge his reaction, dots starting to connect in her head.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

As soon as the blade was placed between them, he felt that hum again. The headache was back, but he visibly didn’t divulge anything. His gaze remained on the hilt, intently staring as if boring holes through it. His ears twitched slightly when she spoke, asking if the blade caused it. Ezra felt as if he had been backed into a corner and he despised that feeling. His jaw tightened and he bristled, looking away.

“What’s curious?” He asked after she spoke again, his tone slightly on edge. Ezra despised when things happened that he couldn’t explain. He hated when objects moved of their own accord whenever his temper flared. He attempted to emulate his father’s calm mannerisms and even adopted some of his meditation habits. None of it made the 'incidents' stop.

“What do you plan on doing with that?” He asked as his gaze flicked back to the saber, “You’re a fugitive now.”

@Wit

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri didn't miss the slight twitch to his ears in response to his question, but she didn't push the matter when he looked away. Instead she answered his question. "My head was hurting, it stopped the moment I took the blade out and put it away. That," she nodded towards the blade, doing her best to not directly look at it, "was causing it." She didn't specify what she meant by it, her headaches, his curiosity regarding the restricted section, but he would catch her intent.

"I don't know." She was sure there would be hell to pay when news reached Brighthome, stealing a ancient relic from a museum on one of the few worlds still friendly with the Jedi? Being a fugitive was likely the least of her worries. Unless she tried to slip back into the museum and return it. "I could try and return it." She took a deep breath, braced herself, and reached for the blade, calling on the Force as she did so to fend of the headache. But nothing happened, instead the blade suddenly spun of its own accord, coming to a stop pointing in a north-easterly direction. Her jaws tightened, worry evident on her expression, and she looked up to him.

"They say Kyber crystals have a mind of their own, a sort of conscience. I think it this one has directions for me," reached for the blade, and this time it didn't spin out of reach, so she quickly slipped it back into her coat and stood up, "and I think for you as well. If you want to see where it leads?"

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

By now, their food had arrived. Since it was droid operated, payment was made right away. He didn’t even bother looking at her to pay, flashing a black card for the droid to take. She would likely recognize it as a card for the ultra wealthy. Of course it had Emryc’s signature on the back of it. Ezra pocketed the card again and began eating his salad.

“What crystals?” He asked, brows furrowing a bit. While courses on Coruscant mentioned Jedi and Sith, there was no delving into the intricacies of how they operated beyond the well known wars. Ezra took a sip of his water between bites, staring at her blankly for a moment. He looked at the blade, watching as it abruptly spun. The color left his face and he sat there slackjawed. He largely ignored what she said, his gaze fixed on the blade.

“Are you one of those?” He asked barely above a whisper, his gaze flicking up, “You made it move, didn’t you?” Ezra’s eyes began to narrow. His heart was thundering against his chest. His family would not be thrilled if they knew he was even speaking to a Force user.

“I’m not going anywhere unless you eat,” He said as he jutted his chin towards her food, “I will call the cops on you if you complain about being hungry one more time.”

@Wit

 

[Cirilla Shan]

Ciri was torn between wanting to stay and eat, and head out and see here the lightsaber would lead them, uncharacteristically excited by the prospect of solving a mystery. Who knew, maybe they'd even end up going tomb hunting. In that very excitement she had forgotten about the food, and her stomach growled to remind her that if they walked away now she would most definitely complain about being hungry pretty soon. Jaw tightening slightly at the irritation she felt at him making a correct assumption about her, annoyed that she had been that easy to read, she stood there for a few moments, before ultimately giving in and returning to her seat.

Stabbing at her food, she began eating, taking a few bites before finally beginning to answer some of his questions. "If by one of those you mean a Jedi, then yes, I am one." She looked up from her food to gauge his reaction, it was always fascinating to see someone react to that revelation. "My name is Cirilla, Ciri. I am a Jedi padawan. A trainee."

She took a sip of water before returning her attention to her food, not speaking again till she quickly finished the rest of her meal.
"Every lightsaber," she began as she was patting her mouth clean with a napkin after finishing her meal, "has a crystal at its core. A crystal that is alive. It reacts to the Force, to those who wield the blade. I did not make it spin, but it sensed that I had the Force, and it reacted. The same way it called to you in the museum, the same way it gave me a headache. It's the Force, it doesn't always make sense."

Having shared that information, she waited, expecting questions. Having dropped a lot of information on in him those few short sentences, she decided it made sense to give him time to process it all. Some might call it being considerate, she considered it an efficient use of her time. No point in barging on if he wasn't done with what she had already shared, she would likely just have to repeat herself.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra grimaced a bit when she admitted she was a Jedi. He had been raised his entire life in space that largely kept its distance from the Jedi or Sith. While their stance was ‘neutral’, there was no denying how many citizens actively despised Force users and considered them unnatural. He shared those beliefs, even though things happened that he couldn’t explain.

“I guess you live up to your reputation,” He said dryly, “Breaking laws and leaving destruction in your wake,” If padawans messing up was news in other parts of the galaxy, it was especially blown up in ISC space to push more media around the failures of Force users.

“Yeah well nothing called to me,” Ezra said quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly. He finished up his meal and chugged down his drink. He noticed she didn’t even say thank you after he paid for her meal. Typical of what he would expect from an uncivilized Jedi. They thought they were gods because they could make a rock float.

He wasn’t ready to admit anything. He wasn’t ready to explore anything. Deeply troubled, Ezra quickly got up and walked off. He needed to get away from that hilt and whatever it was doing. He tried to tell himself repeatedly that the girl was just crazy. He tried to tell himself that she simply moved the blade and was trying to manipulate his mind. All of that was easier than facing the disturbing truth.

@Wit