Snips and Snails

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taataani's time on The Wheel had almost adopted a routine of sorts. Thank Sanjaarra for Holonet, allowing her to keep business together even while on the lam on the edge of the galaxy, more or less. When one was the master of her domain, it was fairly easy to explain away a sudden extended sabbatical. Still, she could holoconference in with her daughters or other corporate lieutenants, just to make sure that business was still afloat. In fact, sometimes it helped to improve things to be out of the loop. Nobody wants to be the dolt to have things fall apart while the boss is away.

As part of her strange routine, she found herself in the sparring hold aboard Whaladon, finishing up a few correspondances via text as she watched the Jedi Padawans go through their exercises, katas, and so forth. She could hardly understand Jedi, but their constant training was certainly one of the better forms of entertainment in the convoy, other than the gossip of course.

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

Most padawans didn't have much free time to while away aboard the Whaladon. There were group sessions, meditations, katas, lessons with their masters...it was mind-boggling at times.

Kala, however, with her master absent to the Force only knew where, had plenty of free time. She'd spent some of it earlier in the day with a group of younglings who were delighted when she spent two hours telling them stories. Not as a lesson, but simply to enjoy. Clad in pale lavender leggings and a matching belted tank-top, she handed off her group to one of the Jedi for instruction and turned to find herself a place to sit.

It seemed a good place as any, the spot near Madam Meorrrei. Not too close to be impolite, but close enough to hear if the woman chose to speak to her. While she'd not been formally introduced, Kala still knew who she was. It wasn't exactly difficult to figure out who their Cizerack guest was.

Slender, silvery-blue fingers pulled her silver streaked curls up into a loose bun as she sat down, offering a polite nod before she opened to small box in her hands. She pulled out a seemingly jumbled length of beaded strands and in a few minutes had begun weaving them together. Gradually, a bracelet (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k5q2gQAaL9A/TSL1yS50V7I/AAAAAAAAAIE/-fWwldaHkBk/s1600/Oriental_beadwoven_tiger_eyes_bracelet.jpg) began to take shape, though how much she'd get done before someone decided she needed to be doing something else was up for debate.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taataani watched the young girl deftly craft the little bit of humble ad-hoc jewelry. It was one of those things you wore more for the story than for it's accessory value, or at least she imagined as much.

Of course, with the Jedi, one had to throw that kind of assumption out the window. What would otherwise be a tchotchke made by sweatshop kids and selling for a 500% markup in a store that marketed 'awareness' was probably something of real spiritual value.

Still, it would do no good to just stare. No time like an ice breaker.

"That lookss loveljy."

The Meorrrei matron set aside her datapad and watched her work in earnest.

"What ssorrt of brracelet jiss that?"

[Wyl Staedtler]

The best part about katas and sparring was that they weren't meditation, no matter what Daria said about the mind and body being one. As far as Wyl could discern, from his wealth of knowledge, executing a crossblow to someone's solar plexus could hardly be lumped into a category that included sitting still for hours trying to empty one's mind of all extemporaneous thought.

In other words, this was fun.


With the sort of fierce concentration most often seen in old silent warrior holovids, the scrawny, floppy-haired padawan moved through the progressive forms of the fifth kata, face etched in narrow-eyed intent as his footfalls took him across the thick mats that had been laid down on the grated flooring for just such practices. He was a slight boy, narrow in the hips and shoulders with wiry limbs that moved quickly but held the promise of hobbling awkwardness for later years, something in the line of his stance prophesying that he wouldn't be so short for much longer. Wyl's sparkling eyes and determined chin he'd gotten from his mother, but his hunger for movement and action was entirely his own.

He was just twisting around into the high-block, low extension seventh movement when his gaze - forever flicking about in earnest search for the next great wilderness - settled on an impressive figure. She was sitting next to Kala, who knew just about every space pirate tale and ghost story there was (and who didn't edit them, which automatically elevated her status to the upper realms of exceptionally wizard.)

His practice came to an abrupt halt, fascination too strong a force to contend with. Wyl wiped at his sweaty brow and sidled toward the two observers as casually as he knew how, aiming for the water canteen he'd left at the sidelines.

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

Concentrating on the pattern, Kala counted softly to herself in Chandrilan, the way she remembered her mother doing. How many beads to leave in each gentle loop, how many twists around the central fabric-wrapped wire...

"That lookss loveljy."

...

"What ssorrt of brracelet jiss that?"

...the young woman blinked and took a moment to finish the loop she was working on, securing it before looking up to the lovely woman. "Thank you...its a traditional Chandrilan design meant as a token of good luck." Kala smiled as she held up the half-finished bracelet for closer inspection.

"If you like it, I could make you one...I would just need to know which color beads you prefer. Or you can have this one..." Her bright lilac gaze was properly demure for a change, in an effort to be both polite and respectful.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"How much do jyou want forr jit?"

Taa pulled out a chit without thinking, pressing her thumb against it to authorize and ready to feed in an amount the girl would suggest, so long as it was reasonable of course.

Just then, an even younger Padawan approached them. Guided by a maternal empathy, Taa leaned to the side a bit, catching the nearby water canteen that she imagined the boy was headed to, and passed it to him.

"Thjirrsstjy, ljittle one?"

[Wyl Staedtler]

To his credit, Wyl tried to remember to have a sense of decorum. He really, really did. For about two seconds.

"Did you change?" the boy burst out, reaching for the canteen without taking his eyes off of Taataani. "Or do you always have a tail!?"

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

"Oh...no no. Nothing. Tradition dictates it should be offered freely, otherwise it won't hold its luck for long." Kala replied with a smile, neatly securing the ends and presenting Taataani with the finished bracelet.

Gently she shook her head as Wyl's words completely bypassed the filter he should have used on them. Ahh well...with any luck, Taataani wouldn't mind too much and Wyl would hopefully apologize. Arching a blonde brow, she waited and watched.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taa's aforementioned tail twitched - not due to Wyl's well-meaning yet absurd comment, but from Kala's.

"Nothjing? How long djid jit take jyou to make jit? And how much arre jyourr beadss?"

Taa was a bit bewildered at the spontaneous charity. One of the first lessons a child should learn when growing up was how free enterprise worked. She could feel a powerful and cogent argument against this sort of philanthropy building up in her, and she swallowed it down with a gracious smile, slipping the strange little article over her left hand.

"jI'll let jyou know about the luck parrt, then. Asss a ssatjissfjied cusstomerr, jI'll want to pajy jit forrwarrd, asss thejy ssajy."

With a smile, she turned her attention to the curious scamp, her tail draping over her lap.

"Do jI alwajyss? Well..."

How does one answer that sort of question with a straight face? Taa wore her amusement.

"...jI hope sso!"

[Wyl Staedtler]

Wyl exchanged a look with Kala, a bright-eyed, stretched look of such unparalleled enthusiasm that it was entirely possible the boy would have suffered a cardiac event had he not been young and healthy.

"Some creatures, like the Hrosma tiger, use their tales to maintain equilibrium during hunting maneuvers," Wyl informed the pair, taking a slurp from his canteen. The water was cool and refreshing and until it washed down his parched throat he hadn't realized how thirsty he actually was. "But others, like the Styanax who are native to, um, Tralus... they have a poisonous stinger at the end of their tails that they stab their prey with, rendering it completely immobile so they can move in for the kill with little difficulty!"

Smiling, he sat down on the bench beside Kala. "What does yours do?"

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

"That's all I ask." Kala beamed a bright smile at Taataani as she slipped the bracelet on and promised to pay it forward, a concept her mother haad also espoused on a regular basis. Just because you are comfortable and fortunate does not mean that everyone else is...always be kind and generous. It costs you little and gains you much in return...

She stopped the train of thought before it left the station again and picked up steam, liable as it was to run through every piece of advice she'd ever been given. Which was a considerable amount considering she was an orphan, and everyone on Glee Anselm had seen it as their solemn duty to tell her what to do.

Uhh, Kala? You're spacing out again, and its not even my fault this time.

I-wha? Oh...geez. What the hell is wrong with me today?

You want that list alphab-

Stuff it, or I'll have Rev exoricse you.

Mercifully, her brother's voice faded away until he was the barest presence at the back of her mind. She smiled broadly at Wyl and barely restrained herself from ruffling his hair as he spoke and sat beside her.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taa thought about Kala's words on philanthropy, and allowed the girl her brief euphoria. That very feeling, Taataani believed, invalidated the very notion of charity. Even a random act of kindness made the giver feel really good. Capitalist to her core, the Meorrrei matron knew there was always a trade-off.

Wyl's question jolted her out of her slightly smug world-weariness, and widened the amused smile on her lips.

"Hmm, well, wjith thjiss crreaturre..."

She lofted her tail up a bit, so the tufted end hung in front of her face. With a look of muted mischief, she swatted it at Wyl's nearest ankle. Not nearly enough to hurt, but probably enough for a surprise.

"...ussess herrss to sspank mjissbehavjing ljittle chjildrren."

[Wyl Staedtler]

If Kala hadn't been sitting where she were, Wyl very probably would have tumbled backward off the bench into an undignified heap. Thankfully, he managed to grab a hold of her arm and regain his balance, taking care to put a little space between himself and the weaving appendage that now seemed rather ominous.

There was a very good chance that the exotic woman was just kidding. Probably.

At least, Wyl reassured himself, he was a Jedi and not a child. Eyebrows hitching in dubious hesitation, the boy tendered an opinion while rearranging his knobbly limbs so that Kala's slim frame acted as a protective shield. "That's not much of an evolutionary advantage."

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

Thankfully, Wyl was too preoccupied with trying to not fall off of the bench to notice that Kala's lilac eyes were bright with barely suppressed mirth, and that her lower lip was firmly caught between her teeth to stifle what would have emerged as laughter. She rearranged her expression and took a deep breath, lifting a hand to ruffle his hair this time, the impulse completely unavoidable.

"Swatting children might not technically be an evolutionary advantage, Wyl, but I bet it aids in Madam Meorrei's balance and grace." Kala smiled softly, glancing over her shoulder at him. "My changing colors in't an evolutionary advantage either...but it does look kinda neat, remember?"

With a fond smile, she recalled the time not too long ago when she'd had charge of the younglings and they'd all spent the morning peppering her with questions about being part Nautolan. Kala had willingly dumped a bucket of water over her head and watched them all stare in delighted shock as her hair had turned completely silver, the marks running from the back of her neck to her ankles turned a darker blue outlined in lavender, and her silver-blue fingers darkened.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"Makjing chjildrren behave jiss mosst cerrtajinljy an advantage, and jI'm qujite good at jit."

She glanced sidelong at Wyl and Kala, and shook her head a little.

"But jI don't thjink jI'd have anjythjing to worrrjy overr wjith a pajirr ljike jyou. jI jimagjine the Jedji arre good at turrnjing out perrfect angels."

Realizing that introductions hadn't been seen to, she offered.

"jI'm Taataani, but mosst jusst call me Taa. And who arre jyou?"

[Wyl Staedtler]

Oh boy, was Tak ever going to be jealous. He was about to become honest-to-Endor friends with a... well, Taa had to be some kind of queen, in that getup.

Nudging Kala conspiratorially in the ribs, Wyl held out a small hand. "I'm Wyl. People call me Wyl."

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

Kala nudged Wyl back in response, grinning broadly at him and his reaction. Taa's words elicited a laugh and a rather sheepish expression to match it.

"My father used to say that I was born with mischief grasped firmly in both hands, and if he were here, I'm sure he'd tell you a story or two." She said brightly.

Following Wyl, Kala extended her own hand. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Kala'ndryl...but everyone calls me Kala."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"Sso, how do ssuch jyoung cubljingss ljike jyourrsselvess come to be Jedji?"

The curiosity of it all was insatiable, and Taataani leaned forward as she talked.

"Wass jit a decjissjion made bjy jyourr parrentss?"

[Wyl Staedtler]

That was a difficult question to answer with complete accuracy. He supposed that perhaps, yes, in some cases and in different times it were more true than at others. Indeed, the only reason he had ever met Daria was because of his mother's contacting the Rebellion and -

But that hadn't been her decision had it? Oh, she'd made the final call maybe but her hand had been forced and fate or circumstance had driven the situation to that point and made it a necessary surrender.

Wyl opted to shrug.

"I was very young," he explained, almost apologetic. "But I wanted to anyway. What about you, Kala?"

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

Kala frowned delicately and glanced down at her hands, now folded into her lap. How, indeed.

"My father was a Jedi Knight, raising my twin brother and I after our mother died. We lived on Glee Anselm, where my father was from, and where all of his family was. He was training us in the basics since we were both Force sensitive, but then we were discovered by a bounty hunter on a trip to Chandrila to visit my mother's family. My father and Rin both died, and then I was left to my own devices. Nobody really wanted a half-breed around. I traveled for a couple of years, going from place to place. Trying to figure out where I belonged. Several months ago, I ended up on Rhen Var, abandoned by some recently made friends. That's...where my master found me, having a bit of an argument with my father's lightsaber and a few Imperials."

Kala managed a bit of a wry smile, "Which is probably far more than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"Oh, the both of jyou!"

Such a hard life for such a young person! Taataani in an outpouring of sympathy drew up Kala and Wyl in a hug, holding them both close to her. It had been a silly question of her to even ask, and being a Jedi was certainly more than an after-school extracurricular. She had to remember that these people came from an existence far rougher than she knew.

"Jaara nee nai'the jyou'rre two of the brravesst ljittle oness jI've everr met."

[Wyl Staedtler]

A strangled squawk drifted up from between the two women, where Wyl had somehow slipped and where he was being unceremoniously squashed. With his arms pinned to his sides, the little Jedi had no easy way of hauling himself out from the sudden emphatic display of public affection. He was forced to wedge his shoulders in for leverage and, after a combination of determined wriggles and liberal use of his elbows, popped out and took a gasping breath.

After several seconds of recovery, he gave Taa a shaky smile that looked rather owlish beneath his mussed cap of hair.

"Well, that's just part of being a Jedi. You gotta be brave and composed in the face of untimely threats otherwise boom!" Wyl clapped his hands together, eyebrows peaking. "You're smoked."

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

Kala emitted a surprised squeaked at the sudden embrace, and she remained stunned for several moments. She did, however, eventually return the embrace, rather shyly at that. It had been a very long time indeed since she'd hugged her own mother, never mind a near stranger...but she was a strong maternal figure that she'd been sorely lacking.

Wyl's gymnastic extraction would have elicited a laugh as she pulled back, had one of his flying elbows not deprived her of most of her breath. She settled for an 'Ooof!' and a ruffle of Wyl's hair, trying to bring some semblance of neatness back to it.

"Wyl does make an excellent...if slightly theatrical point." Kala smiled brightly.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"Ssuch herrojicss at ssuch jyoung agess, jI've placed mjysself jin good companjy jif jI everr have a bjit too much dangerr jin mjy djiet."

Giving a bewildered sigh, she shrugged.

"Whjich, jI hope, jiss long passt forr ssomeone ljike me. The mosst dangerr jI'm bujilt to handle jiss whetherr orr not jI have to catch orr wrresstle mjy food. And even that, heh, jI'd rrather ljive on takeout orr rroom sserrvjice thesse dajyss."

As if to punctuate the thought, a gurgle grumbled at her midsection, which she unconsciously tried to muffle with a hand over her middle.

"Therre arren't anjy Jedji rruless about trreatjing jyoungljingss forr jice crream, arre therre?"

[Wyl Staedtler]

Taa knew the way to a young man's heart. The little apprentice turned asteroid-sized eyes at Kala as if to say, Can you believe our luck and shook his head.

"No, not at all. It's totally allowed. Completely allowed. In fact, I bet it's even recommended." The reassuring nod given was enthusiastic enough to rattle Wyl's brain. With a very gentlemanly unfolding wave, he offered one hand to Taa and the other to Kala to assist them off the bench. It was incredibly polite but there were ulterior motives behind the offer, of course.

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

"Oh absolutely recommended...very good of you to remember that, Wyl. And most generous of you to offer, Taataani." Kala replied brightly, almost as enthusiastic as Wyl over the unexpected thought of a treat.

She accepted Wyl's hand with a bow of her head as she rose, then let go and smiled. Whatever his motive for the sudden appearance of his chivalrous side, it was very well received...and something she'd be certain to compliment him on.

After the ice cream. Kala wasn't, after all, grown up enough to not adore ice cream.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"Well then jI cerrtajinljy wjill abjide bjy all rreccomendatjionss."

She gave a conspiratorial wink to both of them.

"No morre ssparrrjing forr todajy, no? Tell jyourr massterrss jI've rrequessted jyourr sserrvjicess forr a djiplomatjic mjisssjion."

[Wyl Staedtler]

Wyl offered an obedient nod. "Master Daria says that diplomacy is an important weapon in a Jedi's arsenal. It would be stupid not to take an opportunity to practice it. Irresponsible, even."

That was perhaps stretching the truth a little but only by the smallest margin. To refuse to accompany ladies - especially one so clearly important as Taataani and a fellow Jedi like Kala - would be unacceptably rude and an offense to the etiquette that was so often promoted to the young by older ones who always seemed to mourn the passing away of their generation's ideals.

A pioneering forger of adventure Wyl might have been but a cad? Never.

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

"As my Master is not currently on the convoy, my time is my own." Kala said with a smile, unwilling to mar the moment with just how much Ilias' continued absence tore at her.

Ice cream, after all, solved everything. Especially when smothered in obscene amounts of chocolate.