paixaorpg | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Character(s): Shoaneb Culu, OPEN
Content: Shoaneb arrives in a place she hadn't been expecting.
Setting: Niflheim
Time: Week 15, late morning
Warnings: None

Shoaneb breathed in.

The fact that she still had lungs to do that with came as quite a shock to her. She reached up an amazingly intact hand to feel her face. The wrappings over her eye sockets were still there, and her gloves too. But how...?

She sat up, and although she could feel its weight at her hip she checked anyway. Her lightsaber.

She frowned, and the fact that she could do so made her frown more. She had just died, of that Shoaneb was certain. She, Dace, and Qrrrl--that disturbance in the Force, the energy of malevolence and raw power, a star's core ripped from its nest and set off like a bomb. So how could she be alive now? Alive, alone, in... a place that she had certainly never been before.

Impossible, she would have thought. But very little was impossible through the Force.

She reached out with her senses... there was no trace of Dace or Qrrrl. Then were they still dead as well? Or were they simply in a different part of this place? Everything was so alien to her senses, there was no way of knowing. Shoaneb searched for her center, pulling herself away from the mass of blur and indistinctness that surrounded her whenever she landed on a new planet. She focused her Force Sight in the area immediately surrounding her, starting at a ten-foot radius and spreading out slowly. The sun of this planet felt warm on her face, helping to reaffirm the fact that she was indeed living.

Stepping forward, she joined the small group of people moving towards a gate. Shoaneb raised an eyebrow under her wrappings at the way they seemed to glow in her vision, but that seemed to be all there was to them. The attendant at the booth gave her basic information, which was more than Shoaneb had been hoping for, but ushered her through quickly so he could get to the next person.

"Paixao," Shoaneb said under her breath. She moved away from the gate at a walk and then stopped when she was clear, turning her attention to the writing device she had been handed. Under the circumstances, learning about her new surroundings seemed the best thing to do.

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It had been a strange and disappointed week for Megara. Having been transported this place had actually been the least of her issues. In fact, she'd almost embraced this new circumstance when she found out Hades was here as well. That just sucked the optimism right out of her. It was hard to look for the silver lining when you were an eternal servant to the biggest egomaniac to be a god of death.

So she'd taken to wandering the city, never really staying in one place for too long. It was what she was used to, after all. But the city was no open world to lose herself in. Eventually she'd run out of places to hide...not that Hades couldn't find her immediately anyway.

Now she was watching one of the gates out of idle boredom and some vague hope that a chance to leave would present itself. When she saw a strangely dressed woman work her way through the crowd, Megara's interest was piqued. Other than her dress, the woman didn't seem particularly special, but Meg was bored and, though she wouldn't admit it to anyone, least of all herself, she was lonely.

"Hey," she called, the barest smile on her features. "You alright?"

Shoaneb turned, having just finished making an entry onto the network that she had discovered through the device. The young woman she "saw" through her Force Sight showed no hostile intentions, so she did not reach for her lightsaber. She seemed to be Human as well, that or a near-Human species that Shoaneb couldn't distinguish.

"It looks like I am," she answered. Well against her expectations, but Shoaneb decided not to elaborate on that point. She had a clearer view of the city now, but she could sense no Jedi nearby. In that case, it would do well to be cautious, though the woman seemed to have no hostile intentions at present, nor was she armed.

"I've just arrived on this planet. Do you think you could tell me a little about it?"

"Sure," Meg replied dryly, crossing her arms. "This is Paixao and it's a big empty city of nothing." She glanced at a native that walked by, sighing. "The people are nothing, the plants are nothing and the ocean surrounding us is nothing. I'm not even sure you could call this a planet." Raising a delicately shaped eyebrow, she looked back at the woman. "What's your name? I'm Megara."

Well. That shed light on some things, but it wasn't the sort of explanation that Shoaneb had been hoping for. "An illuminating description," she said, raising her eyebrows beneath her wrappings. Still, the description of people as nothing did seem a bit fitting, considering the oddly undimensional nature of the ones that Shoaneb had encountered so far. For that matter, she could sense no life from the grass and trees. Was it all artificial?

"My name is Shoaneb Culu," she said. "I'm a Jedi Knight. You aren't a native of this place, are you?" She wasn't sure how much weight being a Jedi Knight would carry, but she hoped it could get her in contact with whatever local authorities there were here.

Meg laughed without humor, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. "I'm no native...I actually have a will. So, Shoaneb Culu...what's a Jedi Knight? Can't say I've ever heard of one." As she spoke, she watched the woman carefully. Despite being blindfolded, she seemed fully aware of the details around her, as if she could see. An oracle of some kind, maybe? No, this woman was clearly some kind of warrior. After spending enough time with the type, Meg could pick up on the strong sense of self, the confidence in one's own skill, the complete faith that nothing could stop them or kill them.

They were always so shocked by their inevitable defeats. She wondered if this "Jedi Knight" was any wiser.

The woman's odd way of answering questions only brought up more. Were the odd native people of Paixao enslaved, somehow? Or were they artificially created? She could perceive now the huge domes that cut off the city from the open sky, and wondered with a sick feeling whether she had stepped right into another trap.

And Megara's question made that pit of uncertainty deeper. There was no lie in her that Shoaneb could sense, no deception or joke. But how could she not know of the Jedi? What part of the Galaxy was this? "The Jedi are an order committed to upholding peace and justice throughout the Galaxy," she said, the simple answer that she remembered hearing as a child. She forced herself to keep calm, resisting the beginnings of panic. She needed to gather information; becoming frantic would not help her with that. "How were you brought to Paixao?"

"Galaxy?" Megara echoed, shifting her weight so one curvaceous hip jutted out. "That's a pretty big area to enforce peace. Looks like you'll be getting a vacation...though I'm sure you'll want to protect and serve here, too. Heroes always do." She turned and headed back to the bench she'd been sitting on before she approached Shoaneb, not far from where she was standing.

"I was brought here the same way you were, probably. Most of us just...find ourselves here. Though from what I understand, you're more likely to come here if someone from your own world is already here." She sat gracefully, crossing her long legs and letting the heavy fall of her auburn ponytail fall between her shoulders.

Shoaneb remained on her feet--it was going to take a while for her to get used to having feet--and watched the woman with a neutral facial expression. Inside, however, that was far from true. None of this seemed--well, possible. But then, what was impossible through the Force? Thinking about what was to be expected was pointless when it was at work. "We aren't heroes," she said. Shoaneb had certainly never thought of herself in such a way. When Jedi did, that was often a first step down the path to darkness. "But it's true that I'll do what I can in this place."

It would have been nice to get a little more warning about this, however. And what Megara said about how people were brought to this place was slightly hopeful, at least in the second aspect. Perhaps Dace and Qrrrl had made it out as well and she simply couldn't sense their presence yet. "Do you know who the authorities are here? I think I must speak to them."

Well, it was refreshing to see this sort of humility, though Meg doubted how sincere it actually was. She almost felt sorry for the woman, clearly out of her element and trying so valiantly not to let the chaos of her situation overwhelm her. She sighed, putting aside any urges to tease her a little more.

"Sorry...I don't think there are any. I haven't seen any, anyway, and I know for a fact we could use some." She smiled genuinely, small though it was, and added, "But you'll probably find some like-minded people here. It's not all bad."

Shoaneb nodded thoughtfully. Odd--although Megara had said there were no local authorities, the city seemed quite calm. She wondered what manner of place this was, her innate curiosity building despite how strange and unnerving the experience of well... being brought back to life was. "It could certainly be worse," she said, as much agreement as she could bring herself to.

She sat down on the bench as well after a moment, wondering if her surging thoughts would be calmer if she had been dropped into a battle. "This place seems very artificial," she said after a moment. "It probably won't be hard to find the people who are more 'real.'" Whether or not they would be allies remained to be seen.

"Oh, there's plenty of reality going around," Megara scoffed, gazing ahead. "This place is fake, sure, but there's no shortage of people like you and me...and not all of them are looking out for the greater good." Before she could stop herself, a dark, bitter edge overtook her voice as she shut her eyes. "In fact, there are a few who would definitely hurt you anyway they could, just to see you squirm." She slowly opened her eyes and sat forward, hugging herself close.

"So just keep an eye out...uh..." She trailed off, giving Shoaneb a sheepish look, acutely aware of the woman's blindfold.

Ah... Shoaneb took note of Megara's bitter tone. It seemed as though elements of the Dark Side would be at work here as well. "I take it that you know some of these people," she said, hoping that the other woman would tell her more. She would need knowledge just as much as her lightsaber if she was to defend herself and others here.

The corner of Shoaneb's mouth quirked up as Megara trailed off. "I'll be sure to do that," she said, a touch of amusement in her voice. It didn't bother her, and it was a less awkward expression than 'keep your Force Sight' up, or something.

Uh-oh. She'd just about revealed a little too much. "I know the way people work," Megara side stepped, glancing away. "No one is as noble as they pretend to be. And I've heard some nasty things about some of the people here. You probably will too."

She stood up from the bench, adjusting the flowing folds of her chiton. "Anyway, you should probably go find yourself a place to set up camp. You're home away from home." Turning slightly, one hand on her hip, she smiled at Shoaneb. "Don't worry about money, by the way. They'll accept anything here. They really love the fake leaves and flowers, though. That should get you someplace comfortable."

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