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 Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 3:09 pm
Jiri lay on the rim of the fountain, staring at the sky. Her vision was blurry from staring at the sun, and she felt pleasantly warm. It was very, very close to being home again.
It was odd, she thought. Her mother had warned her that there would be people who would not like her because of her species, and yet...
She had not met any of the sort yet.
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 3:27 pm
Aiden strolled through the courtyard, slowly making her way through the throngs of foliage that snaked along the stone path. She was not particularly fond of the constant buzz and chirping of the native organism or the small branches that grabbed at her pants as she walked by. The variety and sheer "organic" nature of the Courtyard contrasted heavily with the sleek and organized atmosphere of the merchant cruiser she had been raised on.
And yet, one could only count the stones on the dorm room walls so many times before they reluctantly pursue other areas of exploration. Today's choice, was the courtyard, or more specifically the fountain located at its center. As Aiden finally arrived at the perimeter of the fountain area, she pushed back some overgrown vines to reveal the large fountain. Her steps faltered slightly as she noticed a fellow student laying on the rim of the fountain.
Aiden mentally reminded herself that this would be a good opportunity to work on some social interactions... an area she had been reluctant to pursue here at the temple thus far. Although she could not see the student's face nor recognize their person, Aiden forced herself to approach anyways. As she made her way closer to the fountain, she began entertaining the varying possibilities of how to begin a normal conversation.
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 4:30 pm
A shadow fell across Jiri's face and she squinted up at the newly arrived other student. Her eyes were too sun-shot to be able to make anything out, though, and she blinked a few times before sitting up. The colors of the courtyard looked oversaturated, the bright bits to yellow and the shadows too dark and the blues too vivid. Her retinas burned, she rubbed her eyes, and her vision sharpened.
"Hello," she said in what she felt was a perfectly friendly tone to the other youngling. "Isn't it a nice day?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:19 pm
Aiden's thoughts were abruptly interrupted when the student sat up and greeted her. The Nagai child's facial features tightened visibly as she felt a slight chill race down her spite despite the warm air. She had heard of such a creature that had some how weasled her way into the Jedi Temple. She took a half step backwards, unsure of what to say or how to excuse herself from the situation.
She stared at the young Yuuzhan Vong female, her violet eyes absorbing the physically repulsive nature of her species. Her corpse-like skin was stretched over flatten facial features that were only exagerated by the harsh sunlight.
"Isn't it a nice day?"
"It was." Aiden said in a forced tone. A cold knot twisted her stomach as considered the nature and history of the species that stood in front of her.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:43 am
If Jiri had noticed the other girl's stare or expression, she was trying not to acknowledge it. Truth be told, she was a little busy herself trying to figure out if the newcomer was one of the myriad variants of the Galaxy's prevailing human theme, or something else entirely. Did she get much sun? For all she had experienced growing up, being that pale was unhealthy, but then again, Alt was the color of fresh snow all over...
"No, it's still a nice day," said Jiri, eyesacks puffing a bit. "Unless you know something about the weather that I don't."
She looked up at the sky, but there wasn't a cloud in site.
Maybe she was purposely ignoring the animosity.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:38 am
Aiden pressed her lips together tightly, as if willing her body not to respond to the creature. And yet, she couldn't just say nothing.
"Well... I suppose the weather is a remarkable improvement to where you come from."
Though the comment was not said with malice, it was certainly indicative of her true prejudice. She was suddenly struck with the notion that she should probably work to regulate her obvious distate. She worried for a moment what it would take for the Yuuzhan Vong female to snap and attack her without warning. She swallowed hard, wandering if it was even possible to evade such an attack.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:56 am
"No one's lived in a worldship for a few hundred years," said Jiri, quite possibly missing Aiden's meaning entirely. She was still getting a hang of Basic, after all, and things like sarcasm and irony were way over her head. Mother had warned her that was a common misconception, anyway, and wasn't the best thing to do make sure people knew that there were a lot of lies floating around?
"I'm from Zonama Sekot," she said carefully, pronouncing each syllable perfectly, rather than in the quickened way some people got to doing. "It's a planet, and it's much nicer than here."
Or at least in her opinion it was.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:52 pm
Aiden unconsciously began chewing on her lower lip as the Vong female continued to make conversation. In fact, she was convinced that this creature's friendly attempts were merely a ploy to catch her off guard. Perhaps this Jiri Yim was just waiting for her to turn to leave so that she could surprise her from behind.... or release some foreign Vong parasite on her. With a slight shiver, Aiden shook her head to clear such thoughts.
Instead, she looked forward, skeptically. "Then why in the galaxy would you leave your kind to come here-- and seek to become a student of the Force no less?" Aiden asked as her eyebrows arched. She crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for the reply.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:12 pm
Jiri, who did not personally have eyebrows to arch nor knew anyone who had eyebrows to arch particularly well, did not understand the gesture but interpreted it to be one of curiosity based on context.
"It is a great honor to be selected for Jeedai training," she stated proudly. "I was tested in the same manner as any other prospective student."
Mother had warned her about this. It was not usual, traditional, nor ordinarily possible for Yuuzhan Vong to train as Jeedai. But Jiri was not an ordinary Yuuzhan Vong. She had been born for this.
Jiri noticed the girl's features harden for a moment as a shiver passed over them. Oh. Perhaps it had been animosity... But she would remain friendly. She couldn't go and have a schoolyard fight here, after all. This was the courtyard at the temple, not the med center.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:30 pm
The girl's response only served to solidify Aiden's current prejudices. By evading the question regarding her motive for attending the temple, the Vong child had encouraged Aiden to fill in the gaps. Aiden's eyes narrowed as she considered all the possible motives befitting such an individual as Jiri Yim. Perhaps she was sent here to kill them all in their sleep? Or rather as some sort of spy? And besides... it was common knowledge that the Yuuzhan Vong existed outside of the force. It was this oddity that nearly allowed them to take over the galaxy. How could the Masters have been so blind as to allow such a creature into the Jedi Temple?
"Is that so..." Aiden said with a renewed sense of scepticism. "I was under the impression that the Vong were not force sensitive. I've read some archives. I actually know a great deal about your kind."
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:41 pm
"Yuuzhan Vong," corrected Jiri, subconciously acknowledging the insult and brushing it off as ignorance before the girl stated she had studied them. So then it settled to be reasoned she knew better and was purposely being insulting.
As for the argument, that was perfectly valid. Jiri knew it better than anyone. She chewed her lip for a moment, sharpening her mind and trying to come up with an adequate answer.
She couldn't.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:58 pm
Aiden waited expectantly for an answer. In fact, she did not even acknowledge the girl's correction of the term "Vong." Instead, her gaze grew even more intense. When the Yuuzhan Vong female failed to answer, a slow smirk appeared on Aiden's face. Aiden simply uncrossed her arms and placed them on her hips as she maintained her gaze.
If the Masters had conducted even a partial interview they could have realized what a scam this creature was. As this realization settled in her mind, Aiden's confidence and boldness began to swell.
"Well?" Aiden prompted once more, unwilling to let the Vong female off the hook that easy.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:15 pm
Jiri, by now fully aware that this girl was being purposely infuriating, balled her hands into fists and dug her nails into her palms.
"My parents are shapers, exiled for heresy," she stated firmly, looking for anything that could shut this girl up and wipe that nasty smirk off her face.
"Their heresy was me."
She stared defiantly at the other girl. So there! She wasn't going to let this weakling infidel make her feel any less worthy of being here.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:33 pm
Aiden half-heartedly attempted to stifle the feeling of satisfaction that passed over her. The creature standing in front of her had finally dropped the friendly charade to reveal her true nature.
Yet this response left Aiden's mind buzzing with additional questions. Exiled for heresy? Aiden was in reality quite ignorant of the principals of such a species and therefore didn't really understand what constitutes heresy. Yet she found the fact the Jiri was merely an exile to be quite encouraging, for an exile could not also be a spy, no? And a mere girl could not orchestrate any type of Galactic take-over without the backing of her government.
Unless this response was but another charade to throw Aiden off. Aiden frowned as her satisfaction was replaced by a familiar distrust and wariness.
"Heresy, huh?" Aiden finally responded, eager to investigate the matter further. "It still seems a bit sketchy if you ask me... Did the Temple Masters simply take pity on you because you're an outlaw fleeing from your own kind? Are you even actually a student here?" Aiden's reluctant curiousity quickly turned into a suspicious interrogation.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:43 pm
"No one took any pity on me," spat Jiri, her honor finally breached. "I'm a student here because I'm just as capable as any other student here. You on the other hand," she trailed off.
"Obviously they didn't spend enough time interviewing you because it's clear to me you have all the emotional capacity of a brenzlit." She congratulated herself mentally for the burn, but then realized that unless you knew that a brenzlit was a particularly cowardly and light-sensitive species of animal, it wasn't much of an insult.
Her green eyes flashed slyly. "Or did they take pity on you because you haven't got a heart?"
Sure, the tizowyrm had helped her get the wording right, but she was pretty proud of that one...
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