ataraxion | video | & possible action

[ Quin's video broadcast comes from the deepest, darkest depths of the jungle levels of the Oxygen Garden, somewhere in the damp, lush lee of a tree so thickly overgrown with intertwining ropes of vines that it's a wonder it's still standing at all. The comms device itself is settled firmly in to a particularly dense clump of verdant greenery and angled just wide enough to capture Quin, cross-legged and grim-faced, and a sharp speck of a crystal sitting on the loam just in front of him.

He's been here for hours - maybe thirty or so, all of them long and hard-spent. Thinking, meditating, fasting, slipping in to the occasional dream - strange and foreign and full of memories that are definitely not his own. Now, awake and with a clear mind, Quin knows that it is finally time to send out this particular message. He picks the crystal up in one battered, bandaged hand and holds it aloft between his finger and thumb so it can catch a single fragile beam of artificial light that has somehow managed to work its way through the canopy above. ]

This belonged to the golem, Shale. A creature of stone but no less full of light. Her body still lies in the depths of this ship but I know that her comrades still remain with us on board. I've seen your faces in her memories, but I don't know your names.

[ His fingers curl around the nature crystal thoughtfully and he draws it closer to his chest as he explains, ]

I need this crystal. It was no accident that I came across it when I did. But I want your blessings, all of you who came from her world. Those who fought with her, those who knew her. [ A pause. ] Talk to me here, or find me in the oxygen gardens. I will help her memory live on if you will all allow it.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Have you eaten?

[He knows too well how Jedi can ignore their own bodies needs when they are focused on something so wholly. It is what Padawans do for their Masters, or what one does for a friend]

[ Ah. Obi-Wan. Quin knows what you're trying to do. He shakes his head tersely. ]

I will, in time.

Have you slept?

You can see memories?

[ Excuse her while she locks up EVERYTHING SHE HAS EVER TOUCHED. ]

Still holding onto it, huh?

[ The answer is no - even if Quinlan's silence hadn't been so incriminating it still would have been obvious. He takes a breath, draws on the Force for patience against the flare of defensiveness that threatens to spill over, and simply replies instead: ]

I don't need to. Not yet. [ A beat. ] You know how this works, Obi-Wan.

I do know how this works. Better than anyone else you know, I suspect.

[Here or back home, he thinks, except maybe for Aayla.]

They may not respond to you.

[ There's a long pause as Quinlan takes a breath before replying, considering each word carefully. ]

From objects, yes.

[ a wry smile, and Quinlan's fingers clench a little tighter around the crystal. ]

Like I said - finding it was no accident.

[ Not a lot of people come in this deep to the oxygen gardens. Jaye loves it here, wandering around as human or animal, her hound sometimes at her side and sometimes off chasing butterflies. (She's pointed out that, as an invisible hellhound, he's sort of cheating. Howly doesn't seem to particularly care.) He's gone now, getting into some sort of trouble probably, but Jaye's dashing through the trees, chittering happily to herself.

It's been a while since she's been a squirrel. Probably because there's a pteranodon and now hawks to watch out for -- but oh well. It's not a huge problem just yet. Jumping from branch to branch, she ends up hearing a bit of Quinlan's post and stills, heading face-first down her tree and hopping onto one of the gnarled roots and tilting her head at him. ]

Then I will not use it. [ He's gruff, immediately on the defensive. Quinlan's had his moments - where his treatment of the dead has been called in to question. He won't be that person again, not now that he's finally beginning to see the light. ]

[He considers that a moment.]

If they don't, we can find something else.

[ Carolyn takes her own breath, steadying herself. ]

How does that work?

Can I ask what you're planning on doing with it?

What do you need it for?

[ he knows faces - faces from Shale's memories, those fragile little imprints left on the crystal he now holds - but names and crew numbers are simply beyond him. His reply is carefully worded, tapped out on to his comms device with a frown. ]

A component for a weapon. But more than that.

[ because to call a Jedi's lightsaber just 'a weapon' was a gross understatement. ]

[ The animals of the oxygen garden - both the imported migrants from the vast spectrum of worlds that seem to end up on the Tranquility and the native insects that had always lived amongst the trees - were all welcome to come and go as they pleased whilst Quinlan occupied his little bit of their space. And they did, with great gusto - Quinlan doesn't flinch if they wander a little too close at times. It was all part of the deep draw of the oxygen garden - the endless cycle of life, the harmonies and melodies of natural symbiosis.

In the silence after the video message Quinlan slips back in to deep thought - a warm, bottomless well of the Force, interwoven in to the life of the jungle and drawn in close around him. The little squirrel's approach doesn't break his concentration but merely sets of a little ripple, querying and tentative on the edges of his peripheral senses.

He lifts a hand and extends one curled finger (scarred, with a torn nail) towards the squirrel in a half-hearted attempt to beckon it closer. ]

You can. [ He rolls the crystal thoughtfully in his palm then reaches for the deactivated lightsaber he had tucked away in the recesses of the tree roots he sat between. ] I need a new focusing element for my weapon. You've seen it before, haven't you?

You would make a weapon of it? And what would you intend to do with such a weapon on this vessel?

[ He wants to be annoyed, but in reality Shale was something of a living weapon. He supposes she would not even by upset by the idea herself. ]

It's a talent, inherited by some of my people. [ The Kiffar - not the Jedi. As rare as it was to find a Jedi with close relations with their homeworlds, Quinlan's heritage had proved to be as much a blessing as a curse. ] It works via touch - and a little concentration. Psychometry, they call it.

[ Quinlan nods silently, eyes impassive but cast downwards. Of course, the reality of the situation was that finding another viable crystal on board the Tranquility was something that might take months - maybe even years. ]

Creating my own synthetic crystal is an option. But a final one.

The weapon exists already. It requires a crystal to focus both the blade and the mind of the one who wields it. The current crystal

[ -- is making me go to the Dark Side!! ]

needs to be replaced.

[ and the rest of the reply is neatly ignored for now. ]

[ Yeah never ever ever ever letting Quinlan in her room ever. ]

But how does it work? Objects don't have memories.

[ There's a nod. Yes, he's seen it, and what it can do. ] It uses a crystal, huh? To... make the blade?

[ She's curious about this man. He looks half-wild, hair long and in dreadlocks, with scars and tears. For now, however, he also looks peaceful. It's almost like Coyote, Trickster who remains the most patient person Jaye has ever known, and she moves a little closer without thinking about it, without thinking about any possible danger.

(Of course, even if she did think about it, it's still likely that she'd dismiss it. She still hasn't learned, Klaus a distant memory until something or someone reminds her of him, of what he did.)

Tilting her head at him again, Jaye decides that sitting this far down isn't conducive and hops up onto Quinlan's knee, chittering a little at him. Yes, hi, hello, she's here. Now what? ]

Page 1 of 10

video | & possible action

no subject

no subject

no subject

video;

video;

no subject

no subject

video;

video;

action;

no subject

no subject

video;

video;

Text;

Text;

action;

video;

Text;

video;

no subject

Text;

video;

video;

action;