That's What You Get

[Eisa Swan]

"Now Tiala, remember once you've consumed the Orga root, you will be see and hear things that may seem off" The ashen haired woman spoke to the young girl, her emerald hued gaze warmly meeting the young lass' "Embrace what the Orga root and the path that your pilgrimage will take you, allow all the voices of the Force to speak out to you, learn from what it will impart upon you" she continued before giving the the girl a reassuring squeeze of her shoulder - using her non artificial hand, so to allow the Force to flow cleanly between the mother and child. The ashen haired woman's gaze shifted over towards the approaching Wookiee elder, who came to a stop and let out a series of barks and growls, letting the pair know it was time.

The warm smile intensified on her features as she nodded in acknowledgement to the Elder's words, before patting the young girl on her back, prompting her to step forward. "Will just be Tiala this time, Breylark" Eisa spoke out as she taken a step back, to clear a path for her daughter to follow behind the towering Wookiee over towards where those taking part in the pilgrimage were gathering - adorning the ceremonial red robes and being handed the earthy tasting Orga roots.

A sigh escaping the Jedi master's lips as she watched Tiala, mirror the steps that over thirty years ago, she had taken herself. It seemed strange, regarding the ceremony in the same way that the Five Jedi masters had done when the first of the new generation of force sensitive students had taken their first steps into the path of a Jedi. Part of her wondered what Leah had thought as she observed the then orange haired teen have her mind awaken to it's latent connection to the Force.

Pursing her lips in thought as the sight of her daughter disapeared with the others taking the pilgrimage into the shadows of the forest path. The Ashen haired Jedi, looked over the now starkly vacant clearing, the camp fire still crackling away as it continued to burn through the stacked logs. Her gaze settling on the woman who after nearly thirty years of being lost to the ages had returned out of the blue, Valerie. Part of her wondered just what had happened to her, given the last time she had seen her was at Hoth.

Reaching a hand out to the side the Jedi master summoned a couple of beer bottles from the near by cooler, before stepping over towards where Vee had settled down, secluding herself away from the rest of those who had remained around the fire. "You know, people will think that you had fallen to the Darkside sitting here all alone" Eisa spoke spoke out with a teasing grin, as she offered a bottle of the recently summoned beer. "Though it is good to see you Vee, thought we lost you when the Empire attacked Hoth" the Jedi master continued as she sat down beside the former rebel, and proceeded to remove the cap off of her bottle with her artificial hand. "I hope the 'verse hasn't been too hard where ever your Path had taken you?"

@Bran

 

[Valerie Tagge]

Sitting off to the side of the main group alone, Valerie was content in just taking in her surroundings. It seemed like few ended up recognising her at all which eased her anxious mind. It was a relief to know that not all from the alliance had fallen and that all hope had not been lost. She bit her own lip, of course who knows how many more there could have been had she stayed...

Her eyes drifted from face to face until they rested on two individuals. Two faces, one old and familiar and one familiar and new. Eisa Swan and what could only be her daughter. Even a short glance will reveal the keen resemblance between them and tapping into the force and experiencing the strong bond between them made the evidence undeniable. Looks like the flamebrain did well for herself, she thought with a tiny smile. Unfortunately Vee had not gotten around to baby-making, in fact she hadn't had so much as a partner in all the years she had been gone. She watched as Eisa's daughter donned the red robes and received the root and a sharp pang of nostalgia hit her. The itchiness of the fabric, the earthy taste of the root, it all came flooding back to her. "Imagine if Aurora saw you now." The voice inside her head jested, "Don't think she'd have chosen you twice." Valerie grimaced, "Neither would I..." She whispered under her breath.

Valerie's eyes widened slightly in surprise as she watched Eisa move in her direction, she quickly adjusted her goggles and shifted uncomfortably in her seat until she was in her most 'act natural' state. The grey-haired jedi opened up with a witty line concerning Valerie's alone...ness. She jokingly scoffed and retorted sarcastically, "Trust me munchkin, the dark side aint got nothin' on where I've been." Vee grabbed the beer from Eisa with a nod of her head, "I 'spose I shouldn't call you munchkin, hey Master Swan?" Her mouth elongated the word as if to emphasise how crazy it sounded. It was without question that she had earnt the title but to her, she was still that crazy girl with a wrench.

Eisa continued on about Hoth and the path that Valerie had taken, "Yeah its been a bit of a wild ride, although not very glorious." Quick flashes of her life in the outer rim sped across her mind, the things she had done to survive. "Don't suppose she would appreciate your company if she knew who you really are now, huh?" The voice chimed. Vee didn't react except with a sharp shake of her head. "But let's not talk about me," she replied with a weak smile, "Tell me how you've been." She nudged Eisa lightly with her real elbow, feeling the hard surface of the Jedi's cybernetic arm. "Tell me who it was exactly that extinguished that brain of yours and left you all ashy."

 

[Eisa Swan]

A broad grin crossed the masters features, as the prodigal rebel remarked whether she should stop calling her munchkin and address her as her earned title. Before a chuckle escaped her lips as she simply shook her head in response. "Munchkin I think still applies, might of gotten older and more experienced. But I sure as Kriff ain't gotten any taller over these years, still very much a short ass" Eisa commented before sipping away at her beer, listening to Valerie as she briefly summised her own path, before deflecting it back towards the Jedi Master to fill in the estranged rebel with what she had been doing over the past thirty something years. A curious thought crossing her mind as to how, Vee who as she remembered her was so out spoken about her exploits,. Had now became hesitant to tell, she was half expecting an hour long epic tale, like the ones she used to spin, recounting how the two teenage rebels set fire to a Wampa in the middle of a Snow storm on Hoth.

But she couldn't help but chuckle at the continued response, "I doubt any of our paths can be truly considered glorious" Eisa remarked dryly, giving the woman a knowing look "There's plenty of times the Path has wandered down a darkened route, but the important bit is that we're still here and have learned to better ourselves from our experiences, right? " The Jedi master chortled a little as she was prompted further to comment about whom or what was the reason why she had became ashy, as vee put it. "Fraid there's no elaborate reason for the hair unfortunately. Other than countless years of chemical treatments trashing my hair pigment" Eisa explained with a playful resigned shrug, before sighing lightly knowing all to well what Valerie had meant. "But that happened long before I met, my partner" the master continued, before leaning forward slightly, and swinging the bottle of beer back and forth like a pendulum briefly. The masters eyes narrowing slightly as she stared at the swirling beer for a moment before lifting the bottle up to her lips to take another swig from the beverage.

"Unfortunately, Kera is no longer with us." The Jedi master revealed, as she motioned the neck of her bottle to the circle of untouched whisky glasses from the earlier toast. "She was on patrol at Al'doleem when the mandalorians carried out a surprise attack on the patrol fleet, by the time Star Squadron received the order to make the jump from Endor, her Frigate was destroyed" Eisa continued, her lips curling inwards as she lightly bit on her lips, before taking a few deep breaths to reenter herself from recalling the sight she saw as she dropped out of hyperspace in the middle of the naval engagement.

The Masters gaze moving up away from the floor to meet Vee's own eyes, as a light smile was forced to curl at the edge of her lips. "Tiala, fortunately at the time was undergoing her youngling training with the Order" Eisa added, with a light sigh. Her expression warming as she turned her focus onto her and her late partner's daughter. "She's definitely got her personality from Kera though, far too reserved. Don't see her being the type to venture into a snow storm to fix a busted shield generator" Eisa added with a light chuckle, perhaps it was a good thing that Tiala didn't inherit some of the wilder traits from the Jedi Master

 

[Valerie Tagge]

There was a short palpable silence after Eisa had finished, Valerie twiddled her thumbs awkwardly as she tried to pull together some quirky response to lighten the mood. She wasn't much one for comforting but through instinct she reached out her hand and lightly placed it on the Jedi's shoulder for a brief moment. "Hey, I'm really sorry to hear that." She said accompanied by the warmest smile she could muster. The only person close to Vee that she had lost was her mother and she didn't even have the time to properly say goodbye. Since then she had completely cut herself off from any meaningful connections. Eisa carried on, talking about Tiala's reserved personality. "Well if not wanting to char grill a wampa in a brutal snowstorm is reserved then I have no idea what we are." A short giggle followed.

The memory of Hoth reminded her of the passion she held towards the cause. In her mind she believed herself fully committed to the Galactic alliance and that nothing would shake her resolve. She was naive. Valerie's happy expression faded. "Listen. Eisa..." Her tone was slightly more serious than it had been prior, "I just wan- no.. I need to tell you that I'm both happy and grateful that you're still around as well as the others." Her voice started to quiver, "You've all been through so much." Small droplets of tears began to well in Vee's eyes, "and I... well I..." She struggled to find the words through the lump in her throat. "... I should have been there." A tear fell silently down her cheek and onto her hand.

Valerie's cheeks flushed bright red, look at yourself Valerie, she thought to herself. "Yeah look at yourself." the voice inside taunted, "Not only did you abandoned these people when they needed you most but now you're throwing the water works for pity points." Valerie clenched a fist but once again attempted to ignore its teasing. She used her sleeve to wipe away the remnants of any tears and took a deep breath. "All I'm trying to say I guess, is that..." She twiddled her thumbs a little more, "I'm sorry."

@Topher

 

[Eisa Swan]

A soft smile crossed the Jedi Master's features, as Vee offered her condolences for the ashen haired woman's loss, Her hand moving up towards her shoulder to meet the brief gesture offered by the prodigal rebel. The soft smile broadening into a grin as Valerie remarked about Tiala's reserved personality, it seemed strange to think back to that mission on Hoth and laugh - the thought of two rather head strong teenage girls being sent out on a mission to Hoth by themselves with little supervision, made the Jedi master wonder just how it was that the pair even survived the planet, when the very instant they opened the boarding ramp they were greeted by the native predatory fauna.

The light chuckle, reminiscing of their long since past exploits faded as, the dark haired woman spoke out, her tone being far more serious than she could ever recall Valerie as having been. A concerned expression crossing the Ashen haired woman's features as she listened to Valerie, air her regret for not being with the Galactic alliance during the countless years that they had fought against the oppression of the Sith Empire. Eisa didn't need the Force to tell that her friend was hurting from the revelation. Valerie was harbouring all the markers of guilt and regret that to an extent she had once carried upon her own shoulders - admittedly those feelings were born from the conflict of doubt whether she was being true to the name of the Jedi, when from each battle field and mission the Jedi Master had walked away from had often been with blood soaked hands.

Quietly, the ashen haired woman listed to Valerie as she aired her regrets, her visible fidgeting giving away her inner turmoil and allowing it to come to the surface. Once Valerie had apologised, the Jedi Master's features softened, before she reached her remaining hand out to clasp around the agitated and fiddling hands of the the dark haired woman. "You don't need to apologise Vee" Eisa softly spoke out, as a warm smile crossed her features. "Your path, the Force had diverged from ours for a reason" the ashen haired master continued, giving Valerie's hand a gentle squeeze. "For what that reason is, I trust that the Force will someday, or already has made clear. We can only follow where the currents of the Force will take us. The Jedi masters that started so many of us within the Order on our Path, have long since disappeared into the depths of the 'Verse, we can only guess that the Force's will was for them to unite with the purpose of breathing life into the Order." She reasoned, with a light chuckle crossing her lips.

"To question or even make sense of the Will of the Force, is something that would challenge even the most wisest and sage of Jedi" Eisa resumed after a brief moment, waiting for the chuckle of analysing each and every aspect of the Force that made little sense. "Its best to simply not question the Force, but take stock in what matters the most" She added, as a warm smile crossed her features, Eisa's bright emerald hued eyes locking firm with Valerie's own chestnut tinted irises. "And What is most important now, is that you are alive and back with those who've... Missed you, The Force has brought you back for a reason, for what that reason is time will tell" The Jedi master continued with a light shrug before wrapping her arm around Valerie's shoulders, pulling her in close to comfort Valerie. "And if you choose to stay, I'll help you realise what the Force has in store for you" Eisa added, before she nestled her head against Valerie's