Meeting the Neighbors

Meeting the Neighbors
Date of Scene:	20 January 2025
Location:	Tenoo - Outer Rim
Synopsis:	Navi and Cayde have an unnerving encounter with some residents from Kublop Springs.
Cast of Characters:	Cayde Alexis, Navi, 159

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Cayde Alexis has posed:
    As the small gathered crowd of colonists slowly dissipates and Xera Graf shuts herself back in her penthouse, Cayde sighs and stares at the ground. As much the woman seemed to have lost it, she hadn't been wrong about -everything-. Perhaps he shouldn't have come here...

Navi has posed:
Navi looks around at the slowly dissipating crowd, then at Cayde, and shakes her head. "So what happened with that droid?" she asks, indicating the nonfunctional droid Cayde had apparently been working on before she'd arrived.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The droid appears to be online, but isn't moving or responding. But hey, it's on. That's something, right? Cayde glances over at it when she asks about it, then back at her. He attempts to show her what happened, which appears to consist of him trying to clandestinely leave the infirmary and the droid spotting him. It had been damaged when he tried to stop it from alerting the other medical staff. He hadn't wanted to cause any real damage but unfortunately that didn't quite pan out the way he'd hoped.

Navi has posed:
Navi lets Cayde touch her mind, letting the images he sends to her play out. She shakes her head as it finishes. <Cayde... do you know how much trouble you could avoid if you decided to just stay put when someone tells you to stay put?> she asks wearily.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde deflates at this, staring at the ground again. But as the epidemic set in, the infirmary had become too crowded. And he isn't good with crowds...

    [Sorry...] he signs. [My fault...I know]

Navi has posed:
<Your fault, and also not your fault. Believe me, I know,> Navi replies, still telepathically. <Were you in the infirmary because you were sick?> she asks. <Or was it something else? Either way, we're going to have to fast-track training you in how to shield yourself from everyone else's thoughts.>

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    <No...I'm fine> Cayde insists. Although whether that's really true or not may be questionable.

    But what did she mean, it was his fault, but also not his fault? <It is because of me>

Navi has posed:
<I hope you're telling me the truth about that. We've got enough sick people in this dumb idea pretending to be a town. If you're still sick, you need to be in quarantine,> Navi observes. <I know you can't handle crowds; that's not your fault. It's just all the more reason we need to get you trained so you can block out other people's thoughts. I know Master Windu and Anne have been wanting to do that.>

Athena (159) has posed:
As Cayde and Navi are talking, Yvon, the Ugnaught navigator Navi had met back on Coruscant, is approaching a bit cautiously. "Hey... are you guys okay?" He says timidly.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Well...Navi will be able to tell that he at least -thinks- it's true himself. <I'm not sick> he insists again.

    <I am training...I needed to train> Which was another reason why he'd wanted to leave the infirmary. He goes back over to the partially repaired droid, and starts working on it again.

    When Yvon approaches, he nods in response to the question.

Navi has posed:
"We're okay," Navi replies to Yvon, echoing Cayde's nod. "What's on your mind?" she asks, as gently as she can. It's been A Day (tm) already, and it's not even lunchtime yet.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Oh, uh, well... some of the traders and folks from Kublop Springs came over to uh, give us a warm welcome, I guess. Maybe it could help take your mind off of things a bit?" He taps the tips of his forefingers together a bit anxiously, his gaze flicking from Navi to Cayde.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Unfortunately, the droid still doesn't seem to be responding. Cayde sighs dejectedly, shaking his head. He still hadn't quite fully figured this slicing stuff out just yet.

    Kublop Springs...hm. Maybe he could go back there. But...no. This was what the Council wanted for him and Ann. Giving up this early wouldn't be a good look. [That is nice] he signs, when Yvon lets them know that there is some kind of welcome party going on.

Navi has posed:
"Count me in. The worst thing that can happen is that it /doesn't/ take my mind off things, right?" Navi says, with a wry smile. "Cayde, do you want to come?" she asks the Padawan.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Oh," Yvon says, noticing Cayde looking dejected over the droid. "Uh, don't worry about that. I'll see if one of the engineers can fix that once they're freed up. Don't worry about it," he says reassuringly.

He then gestures for Navi and Cayde to follow him towards the center of the colony site, where the three of them will notice a small group of people they've never seen before have gathered.

Navi will suddenly sense a very familiar, strong presence in the Force as she nears the group there...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde seems a little reluctant to leave the droid be, but he nods and follows Yvon anyway. Hopefully the repair wouldn't be too expensive...

Navi has posed:
Navi glances back at the droid, then at Cayde. "You've done everything you can, Cayde. Let's let the pros handle it," she suggests, moving to follow Yvon toward the knot of newcomers.

And then suddenly she senses that familiar /presence/ in the Force, and is at once relieved and troubled...

She looks around for just whoever might be the source of this sensation, wondering if she'll even recognize him.

Athena (159) has posed:
There. The pretty Tholothian man with an unforgettably burning indigo gaze and caf colored skin. He's with several others she'll recognize - a pretty Twi'lek and a crested Hoopaloo. All three of them Nihil, but they look ... innocent, and their demeanor friendly and inviting as they smile and shake hands with the colonists from the Tenoo Initiative.

Amarik looks as she had seen him the night of the raid on the Temple of the Kyber - wearing the traditional garb of the Disciples of the Whill. His gaze rests on her for a moment, then he looks away. The others also flick a glance at Navi, they recognize her, but keep their expressions impassive and look away before Navi can really say or do anything.

As for Cayde, he'll recognize the Tholothian man from Jedha.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    One of the people from Kublop Springs looks very familiar. Oh, right...hadn't that Tholothian been on Jedha after the incident at the Temple of Kyber? Now what he doing out here? Cayde glances at Navi, and glances back at the man. <You know him>

Navi has posed:
<I know him. I owe him a great debt, and yet I also wish I had never met him. And I've encountered the other two with him, but I don't precisely recall where I met that Twi'lek woman... the Hoopaloo I remember from the Temple of the Kyber. I wonder if that's who Peeka meant when she said there were masked pirates on-world here,> Navi observes telepathically, approaching the would-be party crowd.

Athena (159) has posed:
While she is answering Cayde's question, a shadow suddenly falls on Navi. If the Sephi girl looks up, she'll find herself face to face with a towering Shani woman. She unhinges her jaw and smiles wide, baring all her teeth.

"Why, hello there," she says, her yellow eyes glittering.

Navi will likely have heard the stories - Shani were notorious for swallowing people they didn't like whole. And it might suddenly dawn on her, that horrible night she'd spent on the Nihil ship and witnessed the killing of a Shistavanen, that -she- had been the one to pull him away into the darkness and gnaw his bones clean.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    <What do you owe him> Cayde asks, recalling that this man had been trying to grab Navi back on Jedha. But he hadn't seen or recalled what had become of him afterward.

Navi has posed:
<He helped me recover the remains of my late Master's...> Navi looks up into those glittering eyes... <...lightsaber...> she finishes, her thought trailing off in sudden apprehension. She's heard some stories about Shani, all right.

"Hello," she replies, with a hint of a smile. "Nice to meet you," she says, as if she hasn't heard those stories.

Athena (159) has posed:
The Shani woman chuckles, but it's an unpleasant sound. "You're quite the talk of the town, did you know," she rasps, "I heard," she says, "that the Graf missus finds you a pretty, gullible, little thing." She extends a pointed nail and pokes it underneath Navi's chin. "Is it... true?"

Meanwhile, the Tholothian man is studying Cayde with furrowed brows, his expression pensive - though he's also clearly keeping an eye on the Shani woman speaking to Navi.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    <...Your master?> A lightsaber? Now wait, since when did Navi have a master and a lightsaber? Had she been with the Order before? <You were once a Jedi>

    He meets the Tholothian's gaze, finding something oddly familiar about him. No, not just from Jedha, but something even deeper. However he can't quite put a finger on it. Had he seen the man before that? Or perhaps, felt his presence? His attention seems to be fixated on the Shani woman. Perhaps he's wary of her, and probably for good reason.

Navi has posed:
"Well, it's not like she told me so," Navi replies, tilting her head back as that long nail touches the tender skin under her chin, "but it's probably true. Then again, she probably considers a lot of people gullible. She has that sort of air about her. But I'd no idea I was so interesting to the populace at large. What other sort of things have you heard about me?"

<A Padawan. It's a long, sad story,> she replies to Cayde. <It's why I didn't want to come back to the Outer Rim; that's where my Master was killed.>

Athena (159) has posed:
Indeed. He'll find a piece of his childhood embedded deep in the man's mind, but its trace and Cayde won't be able to make out much detail about it other than a keen sense of chaos and regret. The young padawan will also find that the Tholothian man is acutely aware of his presence in his mind, for he too, is Force sensitive.

"Well," the Shani woman says with a smirk. "That if you don't play your cards right, you might be playing with the lives of innocents." She cackles unpleasantly, leaning close to Navi, close enough for the Sephi girl to smell the rancid odor of raw meat on her breath. "But those weren't my words." The nail starts to dig a little deeper, and hurt a bit as well.

The Tholothian man suddenly gets up, and approaches Navi and the Shani woman. He doesn't say anything, but his piercing gaze says it all. The Shani woman backs off, smirking and looking pleased with herself.

Amarik's gaze flicks over Navi, his expression unreadable. "Are you alright?" he asks.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde frowns pensively, trying to pull on that thread, but the details are muddled. Truthfully, he doesn't remember much of any specifics about his childhood before he was adopted by the Order.

    But that Shani woman is unnerving, so he finds himself attempting to enter her mind now instead and ascertain her motives.

Navi has posed:
"Forgive me if I don't understand what... you mean..?" Navi says softly as that nail digs deeper, forcing her chin higher. "Whose words were they?" Xera Graf's? She couldn't see Amarik saying such things...

Speaking of, he is quick to come to her rescue. "Thank you... I'm not sure what she was driving at there. It's good to see you. I wasn't sure I would see you alive again."

Athena (159) has posed:
The Shani woman, of course, doesn't answer Navi's question, but she does cast a backwards glance at Amarik and Navi, smirking.

"She's a psychic," he says to Navi, as if that were somehow an explanation for everything. "Or tries to be."

When she thanks him and says that it's good to see him again, he instinctively reaches for her hand, and the barest of a smile will flicker across his expression. Navi might find it peculiar and reassuring, she'd not seen him smile, not once, until now. But even more reassuring is a new sense that despite everything that had happened between them and aside from their connection in the Force, he cared about her. He was relieved she was okay too, and alive. The feeling in the Force is palpable, and might make her spine tingle. <How are you>

Cayde will find that the Shani woman had been conducting some kind of experiment, with Navi, to see how the Tholothian man might react. She doesn't mean any harm -- yet. For the moment, she's just observing, filing information away for later use. It was what all of them were doing...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    So they were spying. But what for? It can't be up to any good, that's for sure, and one didn't need the Force to get that figured out.

    Just as the Tholothian reaches for Navi's hand, Cayde tries to grab her arm and tug her away. <Let's go> he projects, and there is a palpable sense of unease coming from him. <I don't trust them>

Navi has posed:
"A strange sort of psychic," Navi obsrves softly. "Just who /did/ say those words about me she was so eager to say to me?" she asks. "Was it Xera Graf?" That would make sense, even if she does hope it's untrue. It's difficult to imagine the woman founding a colony just to destroy it, colonists and all.

Then again, nothing about this whole initiative felt right to her. "I'm glad you're alive and safe. I wasn't sure you were alive after our last encounter... I worried that you'd been killed."

That's all she gets out before she's suddenly taken in tow and dragged away by Cayde. "Hey!" she cries. "Where are you taking me?" That sense of unease, however, quiets her instantly.

Athena (159) has posed:
When she says she's glad he's alive and safe, his brows furrow, and Navi will feel a pit of dread form in her stomach. It's Amarik -- he's alive, but he's definitely not safe. None of them really were, but the marauders weren't the main reason why. <I'll tell you everything> he says. <if you come find me later> He lets Cayde drag her away, but the young Sephi girl will sense palpable sadness emanating off of him as he turns to go.

Navi has posed:
<I will,> Navi replies to Amarik. <Please be safe...> The apprehension and sadness of the Tholothian man is almost overwhelming to her.