To come full circle (open)

[SashaKovalev]

He hadnt brought any weapons to surrender at the door. He’d been to Yog’s several times before, though it had been years ago since he’d last visited, and he knew that every time, he would be asked to turn them over. And so he’d left them on his ship, having little concern that there would be any sort of problem. It wasn’t all that often that followers of the darkside bothered to enter what was well known as a jedi establishment. But Alexander Millard, known to most as simply ‘Sasha’, had decided to take a trip back for personal reasons.

When last he’d visited, he had been but an apprentice with the Sith Order. His life had taken several twists and turns in that time, and he now found himself a follower of the jedi – the dark jedi.

He’d been rather busy with this training and with classes at the Balmorran University and when a trip to visit his fiancée had dragged him quite out of the way, he’d decided to make a stop on his return home. And that stop had brought him here to Yog’s.

There was nothing sinister about him as he stepped down into the room, but there was perhaps an air about him that might have suggested a tendency to lean towards the dark side of the force.

He stepped up to the bar where he noticed an empty stool between two other patrons.

“Is this seat taken?” He asked either, or both. Whoever, really, paid enough attention to answer.

[Locke]

"No, tisn't."

Locke looked through blearly brown eyes at Sasha and yawned slightly, his hair sticking straight up showing that he had been sleeping at the counter. Leaning his head on a hand and giving Sasha what could pass as an indifferent look, gestured to the empty stool.

"Enjoy."

[SashaKovalev]

He might have given the one who offered the seat the once over, sizing him up in a first impression sort of way. Sasha knew better than to ever rely on simply on looks or first impressions alone, but there was something inherently human in this and not something he could resist.

“Thanks….” He replied, pulling off his jacket and setting it on the stool and then taking a seat. He rubbed his forehead for a moment as if in thought and then turned to the barkeep to order a drink.

His neighbor, the one with the hair standing a bit straight, still seemed to be just waking up, and as Sasha was a social sort of kid, he couldn’t help but offer a small grin.

“Rough night?” He asked, making simple conversation.

[Locke]

"Hrm, not rough, jes boring."

Locke yawned once again, and rubbed his head bringing his hair back to a normal-ish state. Blinking his eyes he gives Sasha a once over.

"Name's Locke, at least everyone 'round here calls me that, what's yers?"

[SashaKovalev]

He might have paused for a moment. Not because he didn’t want to give his name, but because he’d spent the first 20 years of his life going by one name, and on Balmorra, he went by another – by the name he’d been given at birth.

“Sasha.” He finally replied to Locke, a moment later nodding in answer to the barkeep’s question of opening a tab. As he opened his wallet and handed a credit card over, he turned back to speak with the one who claimed the night thus far had been boring.

“Boring?” He inquired.

“Is there something in particular you were hoping would happen?”

[Shandri La]

She had been sitting up at the bar when Sasha asked if the stool next to her was taken. Before she had a chance to answer, the person on the other side of the empty stool answered for her. She was dressed as always in her simple white dress, white shoes, gold belt, gold necklace, and her hair for a change was loose, falling down around her shoulders.

Sipping her juice she turns her head to listen to Sasha and Locke talk. Her not wanting to interrupt, she just sits there listening to the conversation.

[SashaKovalev]

While he waited for an answer, he turned back to the bar where the barkeep had served his drink. It was then that he noticed a woman in white seemingly watching him – and the man to his right.

“Im sorry – this seat wasn’t taken was it?” He asked, making a motion to move to his feet as he asked this question of the woman in white.

He might have been a former knight of the Sith and now dark jedi, but he had learned his manners and was more than capable of using them when he felt like it.

[Shandri La]

"No Sir, that seat wasn't taken so please, continue to sit."

Shandri says politely.

"I hope that I haven't disturbed you in your conversation?"

Shandri questions lightly.

[Locke]

"Nope, ya haven't."

Locke leaned forward to look at Shandri and smiled, a sorta boyish grin that showed his age.

"Now this is what I wanted to happen, to have a pretty girl speak to me, none of them back at the ole orphanage."

[Shandri La]

A slight blush creeps to the 17 year olds cheek as she turns her head to take a sip of her juice again. That in itself is slightly odd seeing as how this is a bar and all. Then she turns back to look at Sasha and Locke, a slight smile dances across her face and none of the worries of her past, or her job seem to be present.

"Well, if I do happen to spot a pretty girl, I'll point her out to you, though I'm not one to tell if a girls pretty or not seeing as how I'm not into that."

Shandri says in a soft voice.

[SashaKovalev]

He shuddered involuntarily at being called ‘sir’. He was still a young enough kid that such a word was, in his mind, reserved for those who were older than him. Like his uncle, Grand Admiral Taylor Millard. Yep, that was the kind of person such a word was reserved for.

“Sasha is fine.” He stated rather hastily, balking at any sort of formalities.

He’d been about to answer her that, no, she hadn’t disturbed anything when Locke spoke up. The dark jedi took this moment to raise his pint of beer to his lips and take a healthy slug.

Sasha couldn’t help but grin at the girl’s next statement – that she wasn’t into telling whether other girls were pretty or not. In fact, it even made him chuckle slightly, and he turned back to her with a teasing grin, his violet eyes sparkling a bit in amusement.

“You cant tell me you don’t even notice….”

He’d hung around women enough to know that they did indeed notice other pretty girls – and that this sometimes resulted – ok, most of the time, resulted in catty comments.

[Shandri La]

"As you wish Lord Sasha.

And yes I can tell you that I don't notice if there is a pretty girl around or not. I can tell you if there's a threat of any kind around because of my training."

Shandri tucks a strand of hair behind one of her ears as she takes another sip of her juice.

[SashaKovalev]

Lord?! His eyes had to have widened a bit in surprise, only to narrow with her next statement. Ah…her training. It didn’t take much to feel the vibes that came from her. And instantly, the anger within him surfaced, a simple reaction to a jedi born of his experience in the Sith order. An inherent hatred of most jedi.

It was a reflex he was working to correct – for as a dark jedi now, he realized that the ways of the Sith were often foolish and over reactive.

And so his tone was relaxed, though might have carried an edge to it as he spoke.

“And what can you tell me right now?” He asked, his oddly colored eyes almost piercing. Though he did not have the blue eyes of most Millards, he had somehow inherited the eeriness of his gaze seeming to stare right through someone.

“About what you…sense?”

[Shandri La]

"Right now I'm not sensing anything because I'm not wanting to. Though I can tell you that a for a moment, you got angry about something by the way your eyes went Lord Sasha."

Shandri shifts her position slightly as her thoughts momentarily go back to where she's actually supposed to be right now, and what she's supposed to have, before she forces her thoughts back to the present and the conversation that she is in, though she does wonder why Sasha thinks why she may be able to sense things.

"Lord Sasha, I am curious about something. What made you ask what I'm sensing?"

[SashaKovalev]

Ah, his eyes. Always, it was his eyes that gave him away. Not only with anger, but concern as well.

He looked away, somewhat frustrated with this fact and released a small sigh.

Her question brought his gaze back to her. The fact that she was calling him Lord was both irritating and....empowering.

"You mentioned your....training." He replied, tapping an idle finger on his glass of ale.

"It seems to me that would be a basic first lesson - learning to use all of your senses to get a feel for a...threat."

He mentioned nothing of the force. This was a sense that was to be used as a tool - not a crutch. Basic senses were to come first - this, his master Wargrave had drilled into him. And he believed in it entirely - now that he understood the use of this.

[Shandri La]

A pleasent laugh sounds from her.

"I use my eyes to spot any threats that come at me when I am doing my job. When I was only 13, I took on the heriditary(sp?) job in my family. With that I got my training, Lord Sasha. I do not use any extra senses when I am doing my job because I do not have any need for it."

Shandri smiles happily, truly enjoying herself right now since she has put all worries out of her mind for now.

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha listened to her speak, wondering a bit at the slight accent on her basic. Everyone had it – a hint at where they came from in this great wide galaxy.

"And what is this job that you inherited from your family?” He asked as he turned toward her a bit more, the man on the other side of him seemingly having lost information in the conversation.

[Shandri La]

Shrugging her shoulders slightly she smiles.

"Oh just this and that. Mainly protecting somebody. But they're asleep right now so I have nothing to worry about."

Shandri has gotten used to being away from her safe home, and in a hostile galaxy. She's learned that it isn't always the best idea to tell ppl what her job actually is, but she can't bring herself to lie completely about it either so she settles for a partial lie, praying that Sasha doesn't pick up on it.

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha was seasoned enough to know he couldn’t trust 70% of what strangers he met in a bar told him. And while he didn’t assume that she was lying, he did figure there was probably more to her story than she was letting on.

But this wasn’t a concern of his. For the moment, there was no threat to him, and that was really all that he cared about.

“Ah, a guardian. How…noble.”

A small smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. He wasn’t always antagonistic, but when people left themselves open enough, calling him ‘Lord’ and such, it was difficult to resist.

“And what happens when you sleeping subjects wake, guardian?

[Shandri La]

"Then Lord Sasha, if I'm away from them, they call me and I go to them. If they don't wake, I just have to make sure I'm there when I'm needed."

Shandri shifts her position when Sasha calls her a Guardian, since that is a bit to close to what she is for her likeing.

"And I'm more of a body guard then a guardian. If I was a guardian, I'd have to also take care of them instead of just protect them."

[SashaKovalev]

It was faint, but there was a hint of discomfort about her, a reaction, he suspected from his response, though he wasnt sure exactly what about it had her on edge.

She had corrected him, making a distinction between body guard and guardian. Though to him they were essentially the same thing.

"So you dont take care of them, you're just at their beckon call?" He raised an eyebrow over his odd violet eye.

"You enjoy this?"

[Shandri La]

A slight frown creases her face for a moment, not liking the way that Sasha has said she does her job. But he doesn't know exactly what her job is.

"Yes, I am at their beckon call. And no, I don't enjoy it. I want to be able to be free to do what I want to do. Be with who I want to be with. Sheesh, if I even want to be in a serious relationship with somebody, I have to get permission. I don't like it, but there is nothing that I can do about it. The only way to free me from my job is for me to be dead. I am never going to be able to be what I want to be and that sucks big time. But I don't want to be dead, but I want to be free to do my own thing."

Shandri just explodes for a moment, venting some of her frustration onto Sasha. After a quick moment though, she's regained control over herself by taking a couple of deep breaths.

"I'm sorry Lord Sasha, I didn't have the right to explode like that on you. You did nothing wrong, and again, I apologize Lord Sasha for my behavior."

Shandri lowers her head for a moment before lifting it again to look at Sasha.

[SashaKovalev]

The only visible sign that he might have been slightly offended was the way his fingers had folded into a fist. But this was instinct more than having taken offense. Instead, he found humor in her outburst, though he refrained from a smile of any sort.

No, he wouldn’t let her see this.

He wasn’t sure exactly what her position as a….body guard…..was, but he was well aware that he was within jedi territory and that she was, potentially, a jedi. Or a jedi in training. Then again, perhaps she was not. Afterall, he had come her as a dark jedi, and before as a Sith.
And her words seemed to indicate more that she was in some form of indentured servancy. This intrigued him.

“Apologies aren’t necessary.” He replied, raising his glass to his lips and taking a slow drink of the ale.

“You seem dissatisfied with your life.” He commented, his violet eyes gazing at her dispassionately.

“You truly think theres nothing you can do about the cards you’ve been dealt?” He asked, referring to her suggestion that there was nothing that could be done. He had grown up with a single mother – and had worked hard to get where he was. In his mind, you took the cards you were dealt in life and reshuffled them to get what you wanted. Eventually, if you set your mind to it, you’d get the hand you were looking for.

[Shandri La]

"I am dissatisfied with my life. And all I can do is try to do things that I want to, but still play the game with the rules that have been laid out for me.

If a situation presents itself that I can take advantage of, I will unless I know that I will get caught quickly. Truth be told, I'm not even supposed to be here right now.

I used to have the hand that I wanted, but then the cards shifted to ones that I didn't want. I will not be able to do anything about it."

Shandri takes a deep breath before continuing to speak.

"I do what I can, but my life won't get better, at least not for a long time. It's going to get way worse before it will even consider getting better."

Shandri is almost implying that she knows that something will happen to her in the future before she gets a chance to work out a solution.

[SashaKovalev]

He was silent for a good bit of time after she spoke, considering what she had told him. Less and less, she seemed like a jedi to him, and his attitude faded a bit.

“Its hard to understand why you think there’s nothing that can be done .” He finally stated.

“Its your life. Why are you letting someone else tell you how to live it?” He asked, his violet eyes displaying a bit of the passion with which he lived his own life.

[Shandri La]

"I don't think there is nothing I can do, I Know there is nothing I can do.

Truthfully, if I compare my life to that of a regular persons, I'd have to say that I'm a slave. I'm not allowed to get to decide what I do with my life. My employer gets to decide that. I see everybody leading happy lives, doing what they want, while I'm stuck doing what I'm told to do.

It's not fun, and sooner or later, my trips here will be found out, I'll be charged with treason and then killed. And if for some reason that doesn't happen, then when I am no longer able to perform my job properly, then I shall be killed. It's as simple as that."

Shandri takes a sip of her juice, obviously not happy with her life that she is speaking of.

[SashaKovalev]

“How is visiting a bar an act of treason?” He asked, ignoring the rest of what she’d told him – for the moment.

She was telling him things in bits and pieces, and he was working to make the odd puzzle fit together.

But being tried for treason for sitting in a bar…it didn’t fit with the picture. At least, not the picture he’d created.

He nodded to the bar keep as he waited for her answer. A few moments later the man took his empty pint glass and refilled it. This would be the last drink Sasha had tonight. Not that he was concerned about conflict, but he’d learned his lesson a few weeks ago in a bar brawl where he’d been a little too intoxicated and he was taking it easy for the time being.

(ooc: Im sorry this took so long - school is killing me right now. :( )

[Shandri La]

OOC: That's ok. RL comes first, and I understand about school killing you.

IC:
"I'll be charged with Treason because I'm leaving my post. I'm supposed to stay with the person that I am to protect, and my leaving them leaves them vulnerable for somebody to come and kill and/or kidnap them. That is how I would be charged with Treason."

Shandri takes another sip of her juice.

"That and the fact that I'm not allowed to enter a bar unless I'm with the person that I am to protect."

[SashaKovalev]

He released a quiet sigh.

"So are you going to be cryptic about this all night or are you going to tell me a bit more about this job of yours?" He asked, bein somewhat blunt.

"From the sounds of it you've got the responsibility of watching over the High Queen of some overly royal and feudalistic society...."

He raised an eyebrow, staring at her evenly with his odd violet eyes.

"And who's going to come after you, anyway? The royal army?"

[Shandri La]

She has to fight her first instinct to tell Sasha that she Is the royal army, but that would take more explaining then what she wants to do. Truth be told, she is her homeworld's army.

"I'm sorry Lord Sasha, but I'm not meaning to be cryptic. As far as I know, I've said all there is to tell about my job. And no, I don't have the responcibilty of watching over a High Queen, but the royal and feudalistic society bit is kinda accurate."

Shandri lowers her head so she's looking at the bar top, uncomfortable with Sasha staring intently at her.

"The King will send ppl after me if he finds out that I'm here. The royal army is only for cermonial purposes. They wouldn't know how to attack me even if they wanted to.

I protect a person of great importance to my King. If he finds out that I'm slacking from my duty, he will have me killed."

[SashaKovalev]

He accepted this explanation, feeling that it had been the most honest and forthright of all that she’d said so far to him.

“Look, stop calling me Lord, alright?” This was more of an order of sorts than a suggestion. He wasn’t a Lord yet. Being a Lord meant being a master of the sith, meant being more than an apprentice as a dark jedi. Meant…..more than he was. And he didn’t care for false pretenses.

“If this”, he pointed towards her juice, “Is slacking off on your job, you might as well really go for it.”

He grinned now, the first actual meaningful grin since he’d arrived.

“I mean, if you’re gonna go down, go down for having done something more than drink a glass of juice in the tamest tavern in the galaxy….” He added with a wink that suggested he might be teasing her.

“And for the record, youre the first bodyguard Ive met who is preoccupied with their own death. Why are you slacking off if you’re so afraid of them coming after you, anyway?”

[Shandri La]

"I'm sorry Lord Sasha. I've grown up calling everybody who is of a higher rank then me, either Lord or Lady, depending on their gender. And unless you can prove to me that you are of a same rank then me, then I have to continue to call you Lord."

A slight smile appears on her face at the comment of the tamest tavern in the galaxy.

"The reason it seems that I'm preoccupied with my own death is that I want to chose when I have a child and with whom. I do not want that chosen for me. If I killed doing my job, then I'm killed doing my job. I don't want to be sentenced to death because I took some time to get a glass of juice in a bar."

Shandri looks up at Sasha again, something about him though is telling her not tell the whole truth to him about her job. It is a feeling that she trusts though.

[SashaKovalev]

He'd given an aggravted sigh at being called Lord once again, but shrugged it off. So be it. He wasnt going to argue with her about who was more insignificant when it came down to their role in the galaxy.

And....He had understood her up until she'd mentioned wanting to choose when and who she had a child with.

His violet eyes narrowed and he gave her an odd look.

"Are you saying death would cut that choice short, or are you saying your....employer....makes that choice for you?"

[Shandri La]

"I am saying both. If I were to be sentenced to death, the decision would be made for me. If I find a boy I like, I first have to get permission to get into a relationship with him if it's to be more then just friends. And I have to again get permission to have a child.

My comment ealier about my being close to a slave is very accurate. I literally need permission to do anything other then breath."

[SashaKovalev]

He shook his head.

“I don’t know how you deal with it.” He replied, making very clear his distaste for authority. He followed the wishes of his master – but that was because those wishes were also adopted by him. He wanted to learn as much as his master was willing to teach.

“I think I’d take off and run the risk of death as opposed to sticking around for the life sentence you’ve been given. I mean, whats the risk when all you’ve got to lose is a life of slavery anyway?”

He shrugged.

“Then again, Im not in your shoes. Maybe I wouldn’t if I was really faced with the decision…” He added, the intense expression in his eyes fading a bit.

“Is that the only thing holding you back? Being scared they’ll come after you?”

[Shandri La]

"Lord Sasha, In my hands rests the fate of an entire ppl. I may not like my life, I may not like my job, but if I were to do what I wanted, which is to lead my life the way I wish to, then my ppl would be doomed for eternity. The rules I follow, have been followed for generations, traced back along the female line of my family. The eldest daughter of of the Mother is the next Guardian.

If I were to break off of what has been so for many generations, then I would be breaking the law of my ppl. And then I shall lose every bit of freedom in which I have.

I have no wish for this life. I have every wish for the life that I was to have before my older twin sister was killed. My Mother was going to send me to the Jedi to be trained in their ways. That is all I have ever wanted. But I can't be a Jedi. It is forever forbidden to me to be one.

If it weren't for the fact that the fate of an entire ppl rest in my hands, I would just leave and do what I wish.

I am not being held back because of a fear that they will come after me. I'm being held back because the fate of an entire planet rests in my hands."

Shandri takes a deep breath to steady herself.

"All I want is to be in charge of my own life again. I wasn't supposed to get this job. My sister was, but she's dead.

I was a thirteen year old girl when this job was thrust upon me. I had dreams of what I wanted to be. I had hopes for my future. But all of them were dashed when I heard of my Mother's and my sister's death.

I was torn from my free life and thrust into a life where I am no more then a slave. I was not even allowed to attend my Mother's and my sister's funeral.

I just want to be free again. I don't want this life. I want a life of my choosing and nothing else. I want to be free to go where I want to, to do what I want to, to have a child with who I want to.

I don't want this stuff decided for me."

[SashaKovalev]

He took a drink from the pint glass that rested on the bar top. This was certainly a heavy discussion. Not one he’d expected to have with a random stranger, but nonetheless, he understood her need to express her frustration.

The darkhearted Sith side of him wanted to tell her to say to heck with the planet of people. They’d get by without her. Let chaos and destruction reign. The more responsible calculating dark jedi side of him understood her concern for her people. And the loyalty that ran through his veins understood this even more. He would die to defend his family. His fiancée. His friends. And to some degree, this was the life of servitude she suffered. Her own good for the good of others.

“My only advice is to stop complaining about it.” He finally responded.

“If you don’t want that life, don’t live it. You do have that choice. But if your decision is to stay and stick it out, you have no one to blame but yourself. Its your decision.”

The slightest hint of a semi evil expression tugged at his lips.

"Why did you wish to become a jedi?" He asked, changing the subject.

[Shandri La]

"The choice I do have is either live the life that is decided for me, or not live a life at all."

Shandri takes a deep breath as she goes to answer Sasha's question

"I wish to become a Jedi because I can do more to help others that way."

[SashaKovalev]

He snorted at her remark regarding the life she could live. He was stubborn and refused to see it any other way. Fate played a role in deciding life, but ultimately, it was his belief that he also had an influence over his destiny. And this, he believed was true of everyone. And he wasn’t going to feel sorry for someone who didn’t step in to take control. His life hadnt exactly been easy. Fate had, at times, been cruel. But he had found a way around the obstacles, and stood now a stronger man because of them.

“And just who are these others you wish to help?” He inquired.

“Would you help those who don’t help themselves?” This was a slight jab at her frame of mind that there was nothing she could do about her fate in life.

Absently, he reached to the chain around his neck and adjusted it, the talisman the hung on the end of it slipping beneath his shirt and beyond sight.

[Shandri La]

"I would help those that need help, even if they don't help themselves. Sometimes those ppl just don't know how to help themselves, or they have things that are preventing it."

Shandri looks at Sasha, thinking that if he only knew how much she was doing to help herself now, he wouldn't think that she's just meekly excepting her life.

"Sometimes all it takes is a person to show someone what they can do and they are able to help themselves from there."

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha nodded.

“Yeah, I know.” He replied. And this was all too true. He had been shown the way and laid his own foundations long ago. And with a lot of motivation and drive, it was entirely possible for someone to help themselves to succeed.

“So is this what you do for fun? Flirt with death?” He quipped, changing the subject a bit.

A slight grin spead over his face, softening his features and making him look perhaps the age of the youth that he was – just over twenty years of age.

"Or is there something else that interests you?"

[Shandri La]

The 17 year old takes a sip of her juice again, a slight smile appearing on her face.

"Well, sometimes yeah, I do like to flirt with death. Gives me a break from the boring routine of life. I also like to take strolls through parks and I like to see wildlife."

Shandri lifts her hand for a moment before lowering it again.

"You know something Lord Sasha, you look nicer when you smile."

[SashaKovalev]

You know something Lord Sasha, you look nicer when you smile.

She had completely disarmed him with this observation-statement of hers. His cheeks flushed a shade of red and his gaze left her to stare down into the pint glass of ale for a minute.

“Well Im not very nice. Don’t let it fool you.” He replied. This was not entirely true. Though he could be tempermental and downright coldhearted when he needed or wanted to be, in typical situations, without provocation, or without a bad mood altering his behavior, he could be friendly.

And those who knew him well knew him to be a loyal friend.

“So…you’re a nature girl, huh?” He asked, referring to the fact that she’d told him she liked to stroll through parks and see wildlife.

“Is that what its like where you’re from? Full of parks and wildlife?”

[Shandri La]

"Both yes and no Lord Sasha. There is a lot of wildlife on my homeworld, but you never see it. As for parks, the upperclass end of town has all of those."

Shandri sighs for a moment as she lets her thoughts wander to her home. A very beautiful planet to be truthful, a wonderful place to live.

[SashaKovalev]

His teeth clenched for a brief moment, as if he was biting his tongue to refrain from lashing out at her. He wanted to - he wanted to so very badly for calling him Lord over and over and over. It made it difficult to forget what he was and just relax.

"Look, stop calling me that." Was his first response.

"And if it has to be, its an order. Cut it out, ok?" He was clearly a bit agitated by the fact that she'd continued to do it despite his repeated requests for her to stop.

He sighed and looked back to his ale before he turned his violet eyed gaze on her again.

"So whats this homeworld of yours called?" He finally asked.

[Shandri La]

"As you wish Lor.....as you wish Sir."

Shandri thinks for a moment when Sasha asks for the name of her homeworld.

"I would rather not say the name of my homeworld since there is a bit of trouble back there right now. It's nothing against you, but there may be somebody here who may wish to take advantage of the chaos that is back there right now."


OOC: Sorry for the late reply.