New in town...(Open)

[River Kincaid]

River Kincaid lit a cigarette as he walked into Yog's Bar and Grill. The guards posted at the door gave him a glance over, he held up his arms to show he had no weapons.

They allowed him to pass and he looked around. The place was rather busy as he walked up to the bar and ordered a Falycin ale. He received a few stares as he waited for the bartender to return with his order.

Granted, he could've gotten some Jedi attire, but he was more comfortable in black pants and his dark leather vest that he just had cleaned and the shiny metal studs that protruded from it polished.

River had walked around the city that day searching for more clothing that fit his Falycin style, it was basic wear from there.

After receiving his ale, he strode over to a table and took a seat to gaze upon the others that were about. River was glad that one of the nursemaids in the 'nursery' had offered to watch over his children for the evening to allow him some much needed time.

He took a long drag on his cigarette and then a drink of his ale.

[Dyrdre Lo]

Those same guards were soon glaring at Dyrdre as she tried to enter the bar and grill. The bars she was used to practically required guns as opposed to forbade them. Still, she handed over her blaster without question.

She sauntered in and looked around. All kinds of people of all different races ate and drank their fill. Conversation buzzed pleasantly in the room. Her eyes drifted from table to table, noticing at one point a man sitting alone with a cigarette and a drink.

Having no interest in sitting at the bar and not being able to find anyone else alone, she decided to at least introduce herself. She walked up quietly so that she was standing slightly behind the man. "All by yourself?" she asked him casually.

[River Kincaid]

River didn't turn as he flicked some ash from his cigarette and placed his ale down. "Not anymore, so it seems." He gestured for her to sit, even though he hadn't seen her yet. Any company was better than no company.

[Dyrdre Lo]

Dyrdre followed his gesture and eased into the seat opposite his. She assumed he didn't mind her being there since he hadn't ignored her. "Are you new here," she asked, "or have you been around a while?"

[River Kincaid]

Taking another drag, he nodded towards her. "I just arrived a day or so ago." His strong Falycin accent began to bleed through his Basic. "Just settled into the Jedi Order. How 'bout yourself?"

[Dyrdre Lo]

"Just about the same," Dyrdre answered him, smiling a little. She felt a little bit more comfortable talking to someone about as new as herself. "I finally found this place after quite a few days of travel... You think a place as important as this would be easier to find."

She motioned a serving droid over and asked for a brandy. "I came here because I didn't have anything left - no family, no home... I've finally become a true loner. So now I find myself in the one place I shouldn't expect to be alone." She leaned back a little, relaxing into her conversation.

[River Kincaid]

"That's true enough," River admitted as he took another drink. He wanted nothing more than to vanish into thin air before he had arrived, but his kids helped him to keep his mind on the task at hand. River was to become a Jedi, just as his father before him and his Grandfather, before him.

"It took me and my family days to get here as well." He took a drag. "So, where ya from?"

[Dyrdre Lo]

"Gendlo," she said quietly. "A little planet tucked away in the corner of nowhere. No one else around, really, so it's hard to escape from the people you know. There really wasn't much of a way to get away from the planet, since there were only a few ships there, and those were used for business. I ended up landing one, though, and after a few bumps and scratches, here I am."

Her drink came, and she took a sip, thankful for a little bit of respite after her travels. "Sure didn't get this much action back home... How about you? Where's home for you?"

(OOC: I'm fleeing the country tomorrow for vacation and won't be back until Sunday... Just to warn you. :) )

[River Kincaid]

"Falycin," River answered as he flicked some more ash. "It's a small out of the way system in the inner core. Lived near the great clan territories, just outside the cities. Had been part of one of those clans long time ago." He finished off his ale and signaled for another.


OOC: Thanks for the warning...:)

[Dyrdre Lo]

"Clans, huh?" she mused. "Not too familiar with those."

True enough, she supposed. There weren't enough people that she knew to break up into groups. Everyone needed everyone else. The only opposing "groups" to worry about were the predators.

Dyrdre thought back to one of River's previous comments. "You said you had family with you. Who's in your family?"

OOC: Sorry about the wait! :)

[River Kincaid]

River took another drag on his cigarette. "Just three of us actually. I have a son, Ry-Obi, who's eight and a daughter, Hunter, who is four."

[Dyrdre Lo]

Dyrdre was impressed. River didn't seem all that old to her.

"So you're that kind of a family man," she said, smiling. In her heart, she didn't want to ask the question of where the mother was. She had bad luck with asking such questions.

"I'm sure they're wonderful kids," Dyrdre recovered, "with a father like you." She lifted her glass to him at that remark and took another sip.

[River Kincaid]

"Yes, they are." River admitted, but he knew that it wasn't only by his doing. Angelina....had been a wonderful mother as well as a wife.

He winced slightly as the thought struck him and quickly dismissed it, taking another large drink. He wondered if things were ever going to be back to 'normal' so to say.

No.... Things would never be 'normal' again, not without his Angelina. He once again dismissed the thought and looked at the woman across from him. "So, how long have you been here, Dyrdre?"

[Dyrdre Lo]

"Only a couple of days," she sighed. She had noticed his troubled look and figured she really must have hit a soft spot. Expressions often gave the answers to unspoken questions. "I met up with a Knight named Xazor, and she told me to sign up for classes. So I've been waiting for those to start since I got here. Not much else to do, really."

Dyrdre's eyes lost their focus as her stare drifted off into space. "It seems weird," she said aimlessly, "just picking up my life and starting it all over again. It feels like the person I was when I left home has been slowly slipping away..."

She caught herself before falling any further into her thoughts. "Ah, sorry," she said, refocusing her attention. "It just feels odd, you know?"

[River Kincaid]

River chuckled slightly. "Yes, I know all about 'odd' feelings. And it seems that we have something else in commom, Master Xazor. I, too met with her after first meeting with Dasquain Belargic, she issued my family's entrance into the Temple. She is now my Master, but I'll still be taking the entrance courses just for some extra study. I thought it would be good and Xazor said that I could, if I wanted."

He finished off his ale and signalled for another. "Would you like anything else to drink, Dyrdre?" He offered, it was good to talk to someone again.

[Dyrdre Lo]

She looked down at her empty glass and shrugged. "I guess another one couldn't hurt," she said, smiling. If everyone was this open, Dyrdre felt sure she would adjust quickly to the Order.

"I didn't know she was your master," she said. "She seemed a little cold at first, but our conversation helped me feel better. Partly because I was able to finally talk to someone about my problems who hadn't heard them all the time.

"I'm kinda glad I'm taking the classes," she continued. "I think it'll be good to see how other people react as well as work myself. Which group are you in?" she asked.

[River Kincaid]

River raised his hand and signaled for a server droid. One rolled over and River ordered. "A brandy for the 'las and I'll have another Falycin Ale."

The droid took off momentarily.

He smiled at Dyrdre, "Master Xazor, is the greatest master I know. Trust me, she helped me a lot in the first few days I was here as well. We all have problems I think and it's good to have someone to share them with, especially a master. But, I am taking the classes as well, I thought it would be very beneficial. So, did Xazor. I'm in the last group. D, I think."

[Dyrdre Lo]

"Delta?" Dyrdre pulled out her datapad and looked down. "Guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other, then," she told him. "Same group for me."

Already knowing someone in her class made her feel much less nervous about starting them. "I wonder who'll be our instructor?" she said. "I would guess that Xazor might be busy."

[River Kincaid]

"I'm not really sure," he said as the server droid came up with their drinks. River gave Dyrdre hers, took his own and gave the droid some credits. As it rolled off, River smashed what was left of his cigarette into the ashtry in front of him. "The classes should be interesting and I'm glad to know at least one person whom I'll be working with." He smiled gratefully as he took a drink.

[Dyrdre Lo]

"Same here," Dyrdre said, returning the smile. For some reason, this drink tasted better than a lot of the ones she had had in the past few months. She supposed they were more pleasant when with a friend.

Dyrdre coughed a little as she almost choked on her drink in surprise. Did this mean she thought of River as a friend?

She covered her mouth with her hand as her coughing calmed. "Sorry," she said raspily, "must have swallowed wrong."

Soon, her breathing was normal, and she could talk again. "Uh, so, are you much of a bar-hopper?" she asked quickly. She wanted to get past her awkward moment and simply talk again.

[River Kincaid]

"Not really." He shrugged. "When I find a place that seems right, I usually like to stay and get a good feel for it. This place seems pretty decent." He reached into his vest and pulled out another cigarette. Lighting it, he asked. "Are you the bar-hopping type?"

[Dyrdre Lo]

Dyrdre stretched a little. "Used to be," she said. "Since I left home, it'd be the same pattern: I'd wander for a while, find a place to refuel, and find the nearest bar. You meet some pretty interesting people hanging around in bars."

She picked up her glass. "Normally I don't let guys buy me drinks," she told him, smiling. "Some of them can be pretty creepy. But since you don't seem like the creepy type..." She winked and drank another sip.

"I guess those days are done, though. Now that I've found this place, I can settle down again."

[River Kincaid]

River never thought of himself as being 'creepy' and obviously Dyrdre didn't either.

He found a bit of humor in her comment and chuckled lightly. "There is nothing wrong with settling down. In a bar or anywhere else for that matter." He smiled.

"I normally don't hang around in bars, back home there was only one bar. All the others were much too far away, unless you wanted to walk for a day."

"But, unfortunately those days have changed and I think I could get very used to this particular bar."

[Dyrdre Lo]

"I think you've found a pretty good bar to get used to," she said as she looked around at the patrons. Everything seemed relatively peaceful here. Well, it should have been, considering no one had any weapons. But it even felt like this was the kind of place where grudges were forgotten and acquaintances grew stronger.

"I've never seen one with a nicer environment in all of my travels," she informed him. "Some, they practically give you a knife at the door just in case someone finds you unpleasant. It's nice to find a place much more docile.

"Then again," she thought aloud, "that's kind of how this whole place feels. Sort of removed from everyday troubles. Everything is wrapped in the tranquility of peaceful people seeking good things. Almost like an overly happy fairy tale."

Dyrdre laughed at her own words. "Then again, nothing's as good as 'happily ever after,' huh?" she said to River lightly.

[River Kincaid]

Wasn't that the truth... River thought lightly, but his expression didn't change. He wasn't here to dwell, he needed to learn to get past his past.

"Life is never an easy road, Dyrdre and it seems one is constantly on the move. Sometimes you believe that your on a high road, but then your in a pit trying to claw your way out. And when you're just about to give up and let it swallow you, the hand of a stranger pulls you out." He chuckled again slightly as he took another drag on his cigarette.

He blew out the smoke and his face ashened somewhat. "I don't know if I believe in 'happily ever after' anymore." His thoughts lingered on Hunter, the child whom he wondered would he ever hear her sweet voice again. The child that had locked herself into a silent prison. The very child that watched her mother be slain. These thoughts haunted him as he sighed deeply and took another drink.

[Dyrdre Lo]

"In a way, I never have," Dyrdre said, "but that's because I never believed in anything ending to the point that the future is simple. Happiness is so redundant; life never is. Being happy forever seems kind of like death in that you wouldn't have much to live for other than the next day.

"Nothing against being happy, of course," she finished. "I just feel that you can't appreciate happiness without feeling sadness or pain."

Fortunately, though, life seemed fairly pleasant at the moment. She decided she'd rather it stay that way for a while longer.

[River Kincaid]

"Tell me about it. I've experienced more sadness and pain over the past few days than in my entire life...." Did he just say that?

"I mean...uh....erm. It seems like it." He quickly covered it by a long drag on his cigarette.

[Dyrdre Lo]

Dyrdre showed a brief look of concern before declaring, "Well, then you deserve an extra dose of happiness! Let's see, what'll it be? A song? Ooh, I know, a joke! Hrm... I know! Okay, two Jedis walk into a bar... wait, is that really appropriate?"

She looked across the table to see River looking quizzically at her. "Heh, sorry about that," she said. "Sometimes, the alcohol, you know..." But it wasn't really the drinks. He had just seemed so pained that she was desperate to at least give him something to smile about. Hopefully, her excuse was a good enough cover her mild desperation.

"Gosh, I wish I could remember a good joke," she continued. "Hrm, maybe a Jedi, a smuggler, and a Wookie walk into a bar... No, that can't be good..."

[River Kincaid]

His last comment was lost as he laughed. "You're quite the comical one, Dyrdre." He really was enjoying her company.

[Dyrdre Lo]

Dyrdre laughed. "Personally, I am of the distinct opinion that if you can't change a bad situation, make fun of it. I don't do this all the time," she said, "because there are definitely some times where the last thing you need is a laugh. But, when you're scared out of your skin or have nothing to distract you from your troubles, a little wit comes in handy."

She quieted a bit as she told him, "When my sisters used to heal wounded men, I would sit by them sometimes and try to make them feel better in my own way, since I never learned to become a healer. Some of them lost limbs. Some lost their sight. Those were the hardest to deal with. It's difficult to comfort someone who has lost something physically important. The depression can be overwhelming. My sisters said that my 'healing' sometimes worked better than theirs."

Her thoughts suddenly caught up with her words, and she blushed. "Ah, sorry!" she said quickly. Then she smiled a little. "I talk a lot, don't I?"

[River Kincaid]

He smiled sheepishly, "you have a natural talant, young lady. Don't ever lose that, for you know just what to say and when to say it. I, myself am not always good with words, but I've become much better here lately. I've just recently...lost my wife and now becoming the main person in my children's lives has become my main responsibility, that and coming here of course." He quit talking, hoping that he hadn't said too much. It pained him to talk of Angelina, but he knew deep down, he'd have to at one time or another.

[Dyrdre Lo]

Dyrdre uncrossed her legs and sat up straight with her head bowed slightly. "Now there's the worst kind of loss," she said sympathetically. She had been right about her earlier supposition, but it surprised her a little that River had actually said what happened.

"She must have been wonderful," Dyrdre said sympathetically, "considering how much you miss her." She hesitated a moment before asking, "Am I prying too much if I ask what happened?"

[River Kincaid]

River had said too much, he sighed deeply. "Please forgive me, if I can't talk about it." He reverted his eyes back to his drink, taking a small sip.

[Dyrdre Lo]

"You are most forgiven," she assured him, realizing instantly that she had pressed too much.

An uneasy silence settled into the conversation, and Dyrdre was trying to find a way out of it. "So, uh... how about those... trees?" she asked after glancing around quite a bit and settling on the view outside of one of the windows. "I never realized how different trees could be from place to place!" Her forced cheer didn't feel like it created a successful non sequitir, but she could hope.

[River Kincaid]

River shrugged with a slight grin, "I'm from a somewhat forest world and the trees here are nothing like them there. I'm a hunter and have been doing such since I was a child. Now, I've begun to train my own son, but the over all wilderness areas of Coruscant is by far...more dangerous."

[Dyrdre Lo]

"A hunter, huh?" The profession made her slightly uneasy. Especially after seeing so much fighting and killing around her... "I can't relate much to that," she admitted. "I came from a fairly mountainous area. Spots of trees here and there, enough to support us in the cold seasons. As long as we tended to them, of course."

Dyrdre stopped to take another sip of her drink. "It sounds kind of funny farming trees," she continued, "just as one might handle any other crop. But we had to do whatever we could to survive.

"Since I've never really been in a forest before, what makes them especially dangerous?" she asked curiously.

[River Kincaid]

"Falycin has many predator's near the Forester's. One can't live on the forest floor's because of them. So, the Forest clans have made their homes in the tree canopy's. The Night Dweller's are the worst enemy to the Forest clans." He told her and took another drink.

[Dyrdre Lo]

Dyrdre thought she had seen a lot of frightening times during her life in the civil war, but this toppped any of them. The young woman couldn't help but shiver.

"That sounds terrible," she said shakily. "Why even live in such a dangerous place? Did you have any other place to go?"

[River Kincaid]

The Padawan shook his head. "That's just where the Forrestor clan resides, there is not any other place for their clan to go. They basically own the forrests on the system. And even though it is dangerous, the Forrestor's would never move, it is their place." His voice drifted a bit. "A place that I once called home as well."

[Dyrdre Lo]

For a moment, at the sound of River's words, Dyrdre felt a pang of guilt at the thought of her village left behind. Perhaps it was wrong of her to leave her home so easily - and to leave the elder, her last remaining friend, in such danger...

She was quiet for a while. Her thoughts of her easily abandoned past absorbed her attention. Tears suddenly sprang to her eyes as she felt an unfamiliar sense of... homesickness. She sprang up suddenly, startling River and even a couple of surrounding patrons.

"Sorry- I... uh... must get a little fresh air," she mumbled. Dyrdre walked quickly out of the bar, ignoring the guards at the door who tried to offer her blaster to her. She knew she wouldn't be gone long.

Once outside, she took in a couple of gulps of the pleasant, though foreign, outdoor air. She pushed the tears back as far as she could. She promised him that she would never look back once she left Gendlo, and she swore to herself that she would keep that promise. Crying would only hurt her at this point.

Her composure returned, and she reentered the bar. River was sitting exactly where she had left him, and she took her seat once more. "I'm really sorry," she said. "It just felt a little stuffy, and I..." Her voice trailed off as she stopped trying to make excuses for her sudden behavior.

[River Kincaid]

River nodded empathically. "I understand, you need not explain anymore. Life can be very rough on a person, there are times in which one should talk and other times when one should listen. I can do both, that is if you'd like to share. If not, then we can move on, if that is what you'd rather do." His voice was full of concern.

[Dyrdre Lo]

Dyrdre felt awful about her troubling behavior. "The truth is," she said quietly, "I've lost someone very dear to me. Actually, he told me to forget about him and move on with my life, but it's been hard for me to accept that."

She folded her arms close to her body. "I guess that's the simple truth," she sighed. "I was suddenly alone in my family, then I was abandoned by the last person who would offer me comfort."

She looked up at River's troubled face. "I'm sorry to depress you," Dyrdre apologized. "I don't deal well with my own troubles, I suppose."

[River Kincaid]

River shook his head. "No apologies necessary. We all deal with our troubles in different ways. But, what matters is that 'we' deal with them."

[Dyrdre Lo]

(OOC: Sorry for the wait; I had an involuntary hiatus. ^^)

"I suppose you're right," Dyrdre said quietly. She realized that the more she talked about herself, the more she discovered about how she really felt.

She put on a cheerful face as she looked up from her thoughts. "Have you ever thought about giving up Jedi training and going for a career in psychology?" she joked. "I can just see you in a room with a couch... Or maybe you should just stick to bars."

[River Kincaid]

OOC: No problem...:D

He laughed openly. "I'll have to remember that, perhaps put a cup out on the table, donations for advice." He liked Dyrdre, she was a very interesting woman.

After his momentary laugh was over he looked at her quite seriously. "You can talk to me anytime you need. I'll listen and help if I can."