Anachronistic and Impulsive

[Bryna Belargic]

Arms folded over her chest, Bryna glared at the shuttle on the hill (http://sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?57012-Knowledge-is-Power). When she looked around, no one else was paying the ship any attention. With a heavy sigh, she re-folded her arms, tighter this time, and forced herself to look at something other than the distant shadow of Salem Ave's ship. Nearby, a group of Jedi sat in a circle, eyes closed and minds open as they meditated on the Force. Off to the east, a pick-up gravball game was coming to an end. To the north, light spilled out of the open door to a garage, where someone was tinkering with an old speeder. Everyone getting on with their lives, unaware of Bryna watching them, and unaware of the shadow close at hand.

[Ndonsa]

"You are troubled," came a voice right behind Bryna. Ndonsa stood there with her spear in her hand, as if she had always been standing there.

[Bryna Belargic]

A spark of panic flew up Bryna's spine and she turned sharply towards the voice, startled.

What her eyes landed on went someway to calming the flutter in her chest.

"M-Ndonsa." She exhaled a deep breath. "How.. are you so quiet?"

[Ndonsa]

She had scared the other Jedi, like an avian in a bush. "Apologies," Ndonsa said, her pink eyes looking down. "I will try to be louder." She did not wonder how the woman knew her name - there was only one Kufu on the whole planet, and the other padawans often talked about her.

Ndonsa turned and looked at the hill that the other was avoiding. She was not-looking at it as hard as she could. "What is there?" she asked, pointing with the tip of her long spear.

[Bryna Belargic]

Her eyes followed the point of the spear.

"Someone that shouldn't be here. A politician," Bryna said, looking with an expectant lift of her eyebrows at the Kufu.

[Ndonsa]

Poll-i-ticks. Master Anbira had done his best to explain the concept to the Kufu, and her lip curled with distaste. A polly-tishan preferred to sit and talk, than to go and do. Why talk in circles when you could be getting things done? "The Alliance sends someone to try to keep the Jedi as part of their tribe? To renew the pact?"

[Bryna Belargic]

"Not likely."

In the mid-distance, a figure moved away from the landing pad and down towards the Jedi camp. Bryna's eyes followed his progress, even as she went on speaking to Ndonsa.

"I don't know why he's here. The ship just landed, unannounced."

[Ndonsa]

"I will ask him," Ndonsa said, leaning her spear on her shoulder and taking a few steps toward the man. If she ran she would quickly catch him, and find his purpose. Then all would be clear.

[Bryna Belargic]

"Hey!"

Bryna lurched forward a step, reaching out for the Kufu but grasping only air.

"No, that's - not a good idea. He -" she fumbled for the right words. "- wouldn't tell you, anyway. Politicians are like that. They lie."

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa stopped, and nodded. This was wisdom. She watched the polly-tishan disappear between the buildings, moving past the dorms and out of sight. The Kufu turned slightly toward the hill where the shuttle sat. "Do pilots lie?"

She looked at the human female, and added, "I do not know your name."

[Bryna Belargic]

"Oh, sorry - I'm Bryna." There it was again, that hard to shake habit of assuming that everyone she knew or knew of, also knew her. Ndonsa wasn't a Jedi she'd had a lot of encounters with in the far off, potential future, but the Kufu was well-known in the Order. Her mind started to wander off into wondering what had come of Master Ndonsa, but Bryna shut the meandering thought down before it went somewhere unpleasant. Focus.

Canting her head to one side, Bryna considered the pilots she knew - had known. Might know? Focus.

"Pilots... embellish? Well, maybe that's just 'fighter pilots."

[Ndonsa]

Fighter pilots? She narrowed her pink eyes at the shadow of the shuttle. Would she need to battle the pilot to get information from them? "Embellish," Ndonsa said slowly. It meant to stretch the truth.

"One begins with a seed of truth, however," she said. "Do you want to know why the polly-tishan is here, Bryna?"

[Bryna Belargic]

Reaching out the Force, Bryna stretched the boundaries of her senses out across the settlement. Was she wrong to be worried about Salem Ave? Was he destined to become the man she knew him as (http://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?16449-Years-From-Now&p=229442&viewfull=1#post229442), or was Master Navaria right to think that her future was only one possible future? Pulling in a deep breath as she tried to quiet her mind, Bryna searched the Force for any hint of the darkness that she suspected festered inside of the future leader of the Galactic Empire.

Seconds passed. With a sigh, she pulled her senses inward. She could feel nothing.

"I do," she said, looking back to Ndonsa. "Will you help me find out?"

[Ndonsa]

"Yes," the Kufu said simply. She thumped the butt of her spear in the dirt for emphasis. "I will speak to the pilot." She hesitated, remembering how Bryna had stopped her before. "If you think it is wise?"

[Bryna Belargic]

The spear striking the ground was like a full stop to the discussion. Bryna nodded enthusiastically along with Ndonsa as she spoke.

"You can talk to them, and I'll... have a look on board his ship! Just. to make sure there's nothing.. weird.. on there."

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa nodded in agreement, even though she was not sure what weird meant. Not good, from the way Bryna said it. Strange, perhaps? There was nothing more to be said, and they set off up the hill, Bryna hanging back and walking wide while Ndonsa took a straight and obvious route to where she could sense the pilot was standing.

There were no lights here, a dark spot in which dark deeds could hide. "Why are you not by the landing pad," she said loudly as she drew even with the shuttle. "This is unauthorized!" Ndonsa used Knight Loki's mannerisms, standing tall and looking like she belonged here while the pilot did not. Bryna was nowhere to be seen.

[Bryna Belargic]

The pilot inhaled and the tip of her cigarra flared brighter, illuminating her features in a red-orange glow. She was tall and human-looking, wearing a nondescript body-glove and with her long dark hair in a tight ponytail. She lifted an eyebrow at Ndonsa.

"Pardone, I don't speak Basic," she said, in accented yet perfectly adequate Basic, her expression dead-pan.

Meanwhile, Bryna moved up the hill at a brisk, yet what she hoped was quiet, pace. She crouched low, near enough to smell the fragrant smoke rising from the pilots lips and recognise her lazy, lilting accent. Her father was Hapan, after all, From her position in the shadow of the ship, she eyed the hull. There were no signs of the Alliance starbird on the craft's exterior. If Salem Ave had come to Ossus in an official capacity, he wasn't advertising the fact.

[Ndonsa]

The Kufu frowned at the embellishing pilot. "You are speaking it right now." She puffed out her chest, her many necklaces clacking together as they shifted, and said, "Why are you here, and not there?" Ndonsa pointed toward the landing pad with her spear.

[Bryna Belargic]

Bryna edged closer toward the shuttle, placing each step with care to avoid stepping on anything particular crunchy.

Cigarra dangling precariously from her lips, the pilot crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against her ship's hull. "Is there some difference?"

[Ndonsa]

"Yes." Ndonsa studied the woman curiously. She had no authority to press the issue further, and did not want to disappoint Master Anbira by getting into trouble with the Alliance pollytishan. "Where are you from?"

[Bryna Belargic]

The landing ramp was down. Bryna chewed at the inside of her lip as she looked at it, wondering what the consequences might be if she was caught on board an Alliance politicians ship. Could they be worse than the consequences of allowing Salem Ave to pursue his political career, unhindered? Frowning, she crept onward, hugging the hull of the ship and scooting onto the ramp as the pilot continued to focus on Ndonsa.

The pilot smiled as she pulled another long drag from the cigarra, then lifted the slim cylinder away from her lips. "I'm 'apan. What are you?"

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa flicked her tail. "I am Kufu. From Nehantish." She stood tall, proud. "I am Jedi."

[Bryna Belargic]

The pilot lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Everyone 'ere is a Jedi, no?”

Looking away from Ndonsa, her gaze wandered over the horizon. Her eyes narrowed and her expression wrinkled into something that wasn't quite a wince, but bordered upon mild discomfort.

“Jedi, you are banned from my 'ome. Because,” she drew out the last syllable, casting about for the right words, “Lately, you tried to kill our Queen.”

Halfway up the shuttle ramp, Bryna stopped.

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa's ears ticked forward, and her tail stilled. She knew nothing of Apans, or queens, but she knew the Jedi. Still, she had a strange feeling in her stomach at the female's words. Something... wrong. The Kufu wanted to throw the bones, to divine what the pilot was talking about, but it would have to wait. "That does not sound like something a Jedi would do," she said at last. "But I do not know all who claim the name Jedi."

[Bryna Belargic]

“Evidement,” the pilot agreed: clearly. Her sharp eyes still wandering about the dark landscape, movement registered with the Hapan woman. She took one last pull from the cigarra, the tip flaring bright as she enjoyed the last of the leaf, then dropped it to the ground. With the toe of one boot, she ground the light out of the ash.

“My employer comes,” she said, exhaling a smoky sigh.

Swearing inside the confines of her skull, Bryna scooted back down the ramp. As she edged down the plank, she snatched a few longing glances at the interior of the shuttle. Inside, it looked awful. Awfully normal, that is. No Sith battle-garb or rack of lightsabers stood waiting for the Minister's return. Only the comfortable confines of a diplomatic vessel.

[Salem Ave]

Salem's voice - cool and steady - carried a short way up the darkened slope, as he came into view of the shuttle: “Nico, make ready to depart.”

The pilot (Nico, it seemed) straightened the cuffs and collar of her flight jacket. She offered no bonnui to the Jedi as she turned and moved back toward the ship.

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa stood still as the pilot left, then put her spear on her shoulder and turned to go. She recognized the man walking toward her - he had visited Ossus before. "Good evening," she said politely as she closed the distance with him, as Anbira urged her to be polite. The Kufu fingered the necklace made of teeth that she wore, rubbing her thumb over a particularly smooth one. It was a source of magic, but one she had learned not to tap into in her time with the Jedi.

It was familiar, and her gift from the former shaman of her tribe, marking her as a person of great power and wisdom. Away from her tribe, it meant nothing to anyone.

[Salem Ave]

The Minister's steps slowed at the sound of an unexpected voice speaking in reply As an Arkanian, he had sharper night vision than most near-Humans and recognised the shape of Ndonsa almost immediately. The two of them had met (http://sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?55372-For-Auld-Lang-Syne) briefly. On that occasion, Salem had been meeting with Serena Laran too, although under... better circumstances.

"Padawan," he said, by way of a greeting. His attention drifted to the shuttle for a moment, watching his pilot's back as she swaggered up the boarding ramp. His white eyes shifted imperceptibly back to Ndsonda.

"Is there something that I can help you with?"

[Bryna Belargic]

Bryna watched as the pilot paced into the shuttle, either not seeing or willfully ignoring Bryna's presence not far from the boarding ramp. She would have breathed a silent sigh of relief, if it hadn't been for the presence of Salem Ave. Edging around the back of the ship, in the hopes that she wouldn't be noticed, Bryna pulled her senses inward. Part of her wanted to reach out, to see what she could sense of Ave up close, but it felt like - like a child reaching out to touch a flame. He would feel her trying to get a bead on him, and then - what? She wasn't sure, so she kept her mind her thoughts still, letting the mantra of the Jedi Code circle around and over her anxieties. He wouldn't do anything to Ndosna, would he? Not here, out in the open...

[Ndonsa]

"I was curious," Ndonsa said, standing with her back straight and her tail waving gently. She did not consider herself to be less than this polly-tishan, who she recognized as a male who had come to Ossus before, searching for old friends. "Star ships do not usually land here." Her ears twisted inquisitively. "Were you visiting your friends?"

Just as quickly her ears drooped, and she stepped back, making sure she was not in his path. "It is not my business," Ndonsa said.

[Bryna Belargic]

“You have a good-looking shuttle,” said Bryna, pacing out from the shadow of the ship as casually as she could. There was a stiffness in her limbs, she knew it, but Bryna needed to keep the better part of her focus on keeping her thoughts locked up tight.

“It's Hapan, isn't it?” she went on, looking over the hull, to keep herself from staring at the Arkanian. “I didn't know the Consortium had business with the Jedi.”

[Salem Ave]

“You are correct. I was visiting friends, as you say,” Salem said, already moving further towards the shuttle's boarding ramp as Ndonsa shied away from him. He paused, however, as another Jedi made themselves known.

“You have a good eye for starships,” he acknowledged the girl with a small nod. “This shuttle is Hapan-made and was a gift from the Chume, though I am not here on her behalf,” he added, looking up at the craft. The engine's were already humming to life at Nico's command.

[Ndonsa]

"Enjoy safe travels," Ndonsa said, continuing to back away to a safe distance from the shuttle's engines. She looked at Bryna, but the other padawan seemed... tight. Had she found her 'weird' onboard the shuttle? The Kufu rested her spear against her shoulder, watching the politician walk into his ship.