Earning your keep (Ariel Kendryck)

[Jhony]

The captain of the Happy Child, Jhonathan Rasputin Peris, has never in his life let a stowaway ride on his ship for free. The fare has always been paid, whether it be through cash or through labor. Ariel Kendryck, though she be his son's Padawan, is no different. Jhony has a job for her to do. If she does it well enough, he may let her off easy...but its not likely.

"Kendryck, report to the bridge," he says into the commlink. The Captain's voice booms through the ship's speakers, and Jhony puts his feet up to wait.

[Ariel Kendryck]

A slow sigh passed through Ariels lips as she swung her legs off of the cot she was sleeping in, and stood up. Pushing the book she had been reading down into the hammock bed she wandered out into the narrow corridor that led its way to the bridge of the ship and within minutes was walking into the moderately large command area, where Jhony was stood.

“You rang?”

[Jhony]

"Sit down...somewhere..." Jhony says with a gesture. There are no free chairs, but there's a small hand rail in front of his captain's chair if she wants it. "What work experience do you have, Kendryck?"

[Ariel Kendryck]

Finding a seat, she dropped down into it and shrugged up at Jhony.

“I worked in my uncles shop stacking shelves and helping fixing ship parts sometimes.”

[Jhony]

"Can you do inventory, or operate cargolifts?"

There are no shelves to be stacked, and their staff of mechanics has no openings. He'll find a skill that he can put to use. He's good at that.

[Ariel Kendryck]

“There’s a first time for everything?” ^_^;

[Jhony]

May could teach her...but then, that's even more time spent where Ariel's not training as a Jedi and not working to pay off her fare.

"Can you cook?"

[Ariel Kendryck]

Ariel wasn’t a master chef, but she could rustle up some good quick meals.

“Sure.”

[Jhony]

"What can you cook?"

Even a basic knowledge of meals could be useful. The galley always seems to be short on staff, or just slow in general. Makes for lots of hungry crew members and passengers. A little help there would be an excellent thing to have.

[Ariel Kendryck]

“Pasta, potatoes… I can do a good Sunday roast,” she beamed with pride.

[Jhony]

"You'll be working in the galley then, every day at lunch and dinner. You'll do your Jedi training between those hours."

Jhony stands and walks out of the bridge, gesturing for Ariel to follow him.

"C'mon, Kendryck. I gotta talk to you somemore."

[Ariel Kendryck]

She hopped up to her feet and followed, swinging her arms at her side. Though not particularly cheery, she was trying her best to keep her spirits high in the boring times on the ships.

“Mmk… what about?”

[Jhony]

"Zeke. Has he told you anything about his current state? May managed to get something out of him about a girl, and he told me that he failed at something, though we can't seem to figure out what he failed at concerning a girl. May thinks a girl dumped him, but I know he's made of tougher stuff than that."

[Ariel Kendryck]

“He… said it was his fault that someone died.” :\

[Jhony]

Jhony becomes suddenly somber, putting all the pieces in place within a span of seconds, but unable to comment on what he's found out. So...that's what happened.

"He feels like he did it again..." mutters the Captain. "Like that whole nightmare happened over..."

[Ariel Kendryck]

“… I didn’t really ask much else about it. I figured he’d didn’t want to talk about it.”

Ariel shrugged. There wasn’t much else she could have said or done.

[Jhony]

Jhony sighs.

"Kendryck...has May already told you this story? The one about what happened to the three of us four years ago?"

[Ariel Kendryck]

“I… don’t think so?” :huh

[Jhony]

"Then she hasn't. You'd remember if she had...it's not something easily forgotten."

He draws a deep breath before beginning.

"Four years ago, this ship was attacked by a band of space pirates. They raided through the cargo hold, and took the crewmen there by surprise. Zeke was there, and fought them as they tried to enter, but he couldn't hold them back. he took to protecting the crew as best he could, but many died right there in front of him, despite his best efforts. The last we saw of him that day was a bunch of them overpowering him and shoving him into an airtight cargo box."

[Ariel Kendryck]

“Ouch.”

Ariel fumbled absently with the cuffs of her shirt, as she looked down at the floor.

“He has had a tough life, huh…” :(

[Jhony]

"It gets worse. They threw him out into space and left him adrift there to die. Fate smiled upon him, but it was a hard smile. He was rescued by a band of brigands who found him lying in the bottom of the box with a blank stare and set him to work. Whenever he mentioned our philosophy of happiness, or anything concerning the Happy Child and its crew, he was denied food and drink for the day."

[Ariel Kendryck]

“That’s terrible… and to think he’s still become a good person. That’s kind of … reassuring, in an odd way.”

[Jhony]

"Thing of it is, Zeke is also terribly bull-headed and stubborn. He's always determined to be the best, and has a terrible aversion to loss and inferiority. If someone has him beat, it just makes him that much more determined to defy them. Every time they denied him food, it strengthened his resolve to be a good person despite their taunting, and when they said he'd be worth nothing, it made him that much more determined to be something above them. Its in this way that he recovered from his first depression over the loss of the Happy Child."

[Ariel Kendryck]

Uncomfortably looking down at her feet once more, Ariel sighed quietly.

:\

“… What times of the day do you need me to cook?”

[Jhony]

"I told you; lunch and dinner. Surely you've already adjusted to the galley's hours? 10-12 for lunch and 6-8 for dinner?"

[Ariel Kendryck]

“That long? How many people am I cooking for? Am I working alone?” :(

[Jhony]

Jhony laughs quietly at her worry.

"You won't be working alone. Not even my son, with his incredible Force Speed, could multitask the entire kitchen. There are usually five or six cooks working at once, though lately it seems they're a bit slow on serving. I think you'll do quite well."

[Ariel Kendryck]

“Argh… that could be worse. I mean I’m going to be like such a fifth wheel if all the cooks already know each other!”

She pouted like a small child.

[Jhony]

"You worry too much. You will be one of their group the moment you set foot in that kitchen. You will see. They don't discriminate for or against anyone."

[Ariel Kendryck]

“If you say so… soooo what do I get to do for the rest of the day? … Where’s Zeke?” :D

[Jhony]

"Funny should mention that," Jhony says, punching a coded lock and gesturing for Ariel to precede him through the lock's door. "He asked that I help him in your Force lesson for today. After you m'lady." Jhony tips his hat with a charming smile.

[Ariel Kendryck]

^_^;

Walking through the door first, she glances back over her shoulder.

“What’re we doin?”

[Jhony]

"I dunno what," Jhony admits, following her into the crew's lounge. "I expect he'll tell us. My, but he's done some rearrangment."

All of the furniture has been assembled into a circular arena. In the middle, Zeke is lying face up, staring blankly at the white ceiling.

"Well...let's not keep him waiting."

[Ariel Kendryck]

Clambering through the furniture towards Zeke, Ariel hops down by him and nudges him in the side with her toes.

“Wake up.” :mneh

[Zeke]

Zeke curls his body so that he's balancing on his shoulderblades, then with an upward kick and flex of his body is on his feet.

"You need to defend yourself. Dad'll help."

On the Happy Child there are no lightsabers, so Zeke has rigged up something almost as good. He extends the hilt of a cardboard sword to Ariel.

"First I'll teach you defense."

[Ariel Kendryck]

Accepting the sword with a quirk of an eyebrow, she gave it a few testing swishes in the air before shifting into the pose of a swashbuckler, lunging at the air.

:D

[Zeke]

Zeke blinks stupidly at the display before shaking his head to clear it. He hands the other sword to Jhony, then Zeke positions Ariel.

"Both hands," he mutters, stepping behind her and positioning her hands on the saber. "Keep the hilt low, tip of the blade at eye level." Gently he nudges her knees and slips his feet under hers, creating a stable fighting stance. "Knees bent and feet apart."

He steps back and looks to Jhony.

"Dad's got a fast attack...he's good for defense drills. He's going to attack you, and when he does, he'll call it. 'Right arm' and 'left leg' and 'stomach' and so on...just turn his blade away with yours."

[Ariel Kendryck]

Glancing back over her shoulder at Zeke as he shifts her about into the right stance, she smiles slightly, then looking towards Jhony. She rolls her shoulders, tilts her head from side to side then nods.

“Let’s go.”

[Jhony]

Jhony instantly snaps his arm out in a swift strike.

"Right arm."

[Ariel Kendryck]

Fumbling at first, Ariel manages to get the flimsy sword in front of Jhony’s attack just before its about to hit her arm.

[Jhony]

The makeshift practice weapon slides back to Jhony's side, and after a moment's pause, Jhony declares his next target.

"Head."

[Ariel Kendryck]

Holding the hilt of the sword tightly in two hands, Ariel jerks the blade up so that it is broadside in front of her face – narrowly missing smacking herself in the nose in her enthusiasm.

[Jhony]

This time Jhony doesn't return to the start position. He lets his weapon bounce off of hers and immediately goes low.

"Left leg."

[Ariel Kendryck]

Again she moved backwards, a little high-pitched squeal tickling the back of her throat as she swing the sword down to smack away Jhony’s blade.

[Zeke]

"Faster Dad. You're not doing your best."

[Jhony]

"I'm tryin'. She's got youth and the Force on her side."

The blade makes a curve this time, rather than going straight for the target.

"Neck."

[Ariel Kendryck]

Up and down, up and down. It was like swatting flies. Ariel was a bit more forceful this time though, getting into the spirit as she took a step back and cleaved the sword up to defend.

[Jhony]

Zeke has gone silent by now, grinning slightly at his Padawan and shooting a mischievous look at his Dad. Time to stop calling them out. The false sword zings back after bouncing away from her neck, circling back to strike again on the opposite side.

[Ariel Kendryck]

She was getting into the act now, moving quite naturally instead of the jagged strokes from earlier on. Still, however, the lack of call shook her a little, and she was a little slow at reacting – but parried none the less.

“Hey, I’m catching on…”

[Jhony]

Jhony makes a stab straight from his position to her stomach, falling into his old rhythm of endless strikes.

"When Zeke was younger this aggravated him to no end," says the father nostalgically. "He did eventually find a way around it. Can you?"

[Ariel Kendryck]

Falling into time quite comfortable and moving with Jhony, always keeping on her toes, Ariel bit her tongue while concentration.

I can try, she thought. Narrowing her eyes a bit she began to move a bit more, shifting her footing as Jhony’s blade drew away. Eventually she built up enough courage to lunge out at him during the recoil of one swipe.

[Jhony]

The parry is hesitant; almost too late. He strikes out again, going slightly wild and aiming, oddly enough, at her weapon.

[Ariel Kendryck]

Thinking that the next swing would be at her body, Ariel had brought the sword up broadside in an attempt to cover most of her upper body. Suddenly having it struck by Jhony was a shock, but she pushed out against him none the less, aiming to follow through and hit his torso.

[Jhony]

Jhony takes a graze as he shifts to avoid it, grinning slightly at her.

"Figured it out? Zeke could never beat me because he focused too hard on defending himself, and was worried that if he tried an attack I'd get him. You risked it, and as you can see, my defense isn't near as good as my offense."

[Zeke]

"Okay, thaaat's enough..." Zeke says from the side. "Dad, we gotta go to GJO. I need to pick some stuff up. Go get the bridge on it."