Pierce Tondry
Jan 17th, 2003, 09:37:12 PM
All stories, all tales of lives, have both a beginning and an ending.
Sometimes, those two points are so firmly fixed, so pressed into place by the circumstances of living, that they can be read as an open book. Other times, destiny lies so heavily on the shoulders of a being that, try as they might, they will be bound to travel from start to finish on a specific course dictated by their breeding, even as the exact course traveled can change in an instant.
And then, there are those Prophesied Lessers who must sail their way into the winds of destiny on the shoulders of the drudging masses. What they are is exactly what they choose to be.
This is the story of one of those who was born a man, and who will always be a man even as the paths of the future turn him into something more.
This is the beginning.
######
Helenias was looking at him with the funny expression she always got when she was trying to figure out someone else's brain. As if accidentally picking up on people's intents wasn't bad enough, as if Pierce was not about to go back into a hotzone of conflict, here he was about to have his brain picked.
Maybe, it was just as well, though. The previous few months had been a long journey that Pierce hadn't told anyone about. Maybe it was time.
Maybe.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
"You know, Calan has already been under fire for several months," Pierce replied, still struggling on a decision.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Oriadin asked.
Helenias held out a hand to forestall the question. "That's just his roundabout way of getting on to a subject. Whatever he's actually going to say, it'll come from that."
Pierce had to admit, she was right about that. Maybe it was a sign.
Maybe. Unconsciously, Pierce half-grinned at the irony.
"The two of you sure seem to know each other fairly well."
"We're alike in a lot of ways," Pierce replied, dropping the look. "Similar kinds of people tend to connect like that."
He looked back to Helenias only to see the 'probing' expression on her face intensified. "Alright, out with it. Whatever you're going to say, just say it. Enough beating around the billabong."
With a sigh, Pierce made his decision. "I've been on Calan during the recent hostilities. I don't think anybody in the upper echelons of the Cizerack government will know about it, but it is a potential liability."
"But that's not the real reason you've gone quiet all of a sudden," Helenias replied.
"It's a place to start," Pierce said. "I don't know what's up, but my gut's telling me something is."
"Tell us how you ended up on Calan. Maybe it has to do with that."
She'd left him an opening, deliberately. "How I ended up on Calan is a story in and of itself. Do you remember how I left a couple of months ago, all sudden-like? Decided I was walking too thin a line and had to figure some things out?"
The Jedi Master's eyes widened fractionally, as though she'd come to a conclusion. "Yes," she said, picking the pike back up. "You don't mind if I practice some more, do you?"
"Go ahead," Pierce shrugged. "Anyways, I was just leaving that meeting we had at the shooting range when I thought of something."
"Or maybe I should say, I remembered something."
Sometimes, those two points are so firmly fixed, so pressed into place by the circumstances of living, that they can be read as an open book. Other times, destiny lies so heavily on the shoulders of a being that, try as they might, they will be bound to travel from start to finish on a specific course dictated by their breeding, even as the exact course traveled can change in an instant.
And then, there are those Prophesied Lessers who must sail their way into the winds of destiny on the shoulders of the drudging masses. What they are is exactly what they choose to be.
This is the story of one of those who was born a man, and who will always be a man even as the paths of the future turn him into something more.
This is the beginning.
######
Helenias was looking at him with the funny expression she always got when she was trying to figure out someone else's brain. As if accidentally picking up on people's intents wasn't bad enough, as if Pierce was not about to go back into a hotzone of conflict, here he was about to have his brain picked.
Maybe, it was just as well, though. The previous few months had been a long journey that Pierce hadn't told anyone about. Maybe it was time.
Maybe.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
"You know, Calan has already been under fire for several months," Pierce replied, still struggling on a decision.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Oriadin asked.
Helenias held out a hand to forestall the question. "That's just his roundabout way of getting on to a subject. Whatever he's actually going to say, it'll come from that."
Pierce had to admit, she was right about that. Maybe it was a sign.
Maybe. Unconsciously, Pierce half-grinned at the irony.
"The two of you sure seem to know each other fairly well."
"We're alike in a lot of ways," Pierce replied, dropping the look. "Similar kinds of people tend to connect like that."
He looked back to Helenias only to see the 'probing' expression on her face intensified. "Alright, out with it. Whatever you're going to say, just say it. Enough beating around the billabong."
With a sigh, Pierce made his decision. "I've been on Calan during the recent hostilities. I don't think anybody in the upper echelons of the Cizerack government will know about it, but it is a potential liability."
"But that's not the real reason you've gone quiet all of a sudden," Helenias replied.
"It's a place to start," Pierce said. "I don't know what's up, but my gut's telling me something is."
"Tell us how you ended up on Calan. Maybe it has to do with that."
She'd left him an opening, deliberately. "How I ended up on Calan is a story in and of itself. Do you remember how I left a couple of months ago, all sudden-like? Decided I was walking too thin a line and had to figure some things out?"
The Jedi Master's eyes widened fractionally, as though she'd come to a conclusion. "Yes," she said, picking the pike back up. "You don't mind if I practice some more, do you?"
"Go ahead," Pierce shrugged. "Anyways, I was just leaving that meeting we had at the shooting range when I thought of something."
"Or maybe I should say, I remembered something."