Chasing History (closed)

[Ayumi Na'Varro]

Ruusan

Memory. A fragile thing. Inaccurate at best, destructive at worst. Our minds remember what we want to remember, and forget what trauma one caused along the way. Justifying slavery as salvation and oppression as righteousness.

Ayumi had seen this all too often. From the age of four, she lost her father, Kirk. Death supposedly claiming him on Corino at the hands of her Uncle, Alen's Father. Recently, however, Ayumi discovered something interesting. Her father had been in contact with a clan of Dathomiri Witches, the Flying Shadows, just a year after his supposed death and shortly after that, the clan in question was utterly destroyed. Ayumi decided to find out what happened to this clan, but to do so, she had to find a survivor.

Doing a little digging in the holonet, Ayumi managed to trace one such survivor, and judging by what the holonet archives said about her, this girl was exactly who she needed. Her name was Suri Jaxx and interestingly, she had been saved by a Jedi four years ago, causing quite a ruckus in the process by defeating a Morgukai clan during her escape with this Jedi's help. Quite impressive in the Templar's eyes.

Ayumi had whom she needed for her quest...the question now, however, was how to locate her...

Looking back at the holonet archives, the Templar deduced that, since Suri had been saved by the Jedi, it was very likely that she was still with them, perhaps a Jedi herself. Doing a trace on the Jedi in question came up with something interesing too. The girl's saviour had been a Jedi Master named Satkia, and she was based at the Corellian Outpost. Assuming the girl followed this Satkia there, Ayumi now had her destination.

Back to Corellia, the place she too, once called home...now, however, it tended to be a place she avoided. She needed someone with her to ground her. A friend. Walking down the halls of the palace, Ayumi tapped on the door of Nadgkema a fellow Dark Jedi in the hopes of recruiting her help.

"Hey Nadgkema..? Can I...talk to you about something?" she asked from her side of the door. The Templar suddenly grew nervous. It had been the first time she'd shared history with another of her colleagues other than Alen and Shyahwyn and she wasn't sure if Nadgkema would want to hear anything of it at all.

[Nadgkema An'Telkis]

Nadgkema was making herself some tea. She had just refreshed upon her return from training on the moon close to Ruusan. She felt a presence she hadn't felt in a while. The arbiter recognized Ayumi's aura at once.

She felt nervousness pour out of the other woman's signature. Without hesitation, the brunette walked up to the door to open it. "Hello Ayumi, please come in." She smiled reassuringly and let her friend inside, concerned about her.

"I was just making myself some tea, would you like some?"

[Ayumi Na'Varro]

Ayumi smiled a little as Nadgkema let her in. Placing one foot in front of the other, she smiled at the wonderfully decorated quarters and seemed lost in it for a moment before her friend's voice snapped her back to reality about tea.

"Oh...that would be great thanks!" Ayumi said graciously, though she didn't sit down right away. "I um....I need help with something. It's pretty big and might take a while and may sound pretty stupid but...." Ayumi sighed and took in a breath. "I'm looking for a Dathomiri Witch from a destroyed clan."

[Nadgkema An'Telkis]

"And if it helps your mind, I can even supply home made sweets to nimble on." Nadgkema offered with a slightly playful smile, hoping it'd help her friend relax a little. She brought out another cup and placed everything on a tray, taking it to the low table near the armchairs.

She looked at Ayumi, still standing, when the Templar said why she was here. "That's quite the task you're set on." She remarked, not saying more for a moment. "I don't see why I couldn't help you. Do you have any trail to follow?"

[Ayumi Na'Varro]

Another sigh escaped her before the Templar finally dropped onto an armchair nearby, pulling her blonde hair back from her face, Ayumi nodded at the question in hand. "Yeah. I do...and I encountered a small problem." she said before laying it out for Nadgkema. "I know you probably wouldn't want the long winded version, but it's better explained if I give you the lowdown."

Taking in a breath, Ayumi took a sweet and drink offered and began her story. "I've been looking into what happened with my Dad, Kirk Na'Varro, for my brother's sake. As far as I knew, he died on my homeworld in the hands of my Uncle, but I uncovered information that he'd made contact with a Dathomiri Clan called the Flying Shadows. Several months later, that clan was utterly destroyed by mercenaries and all the survivors were taken into either slavery or put to death. I managed to trace one survivor, the daughter of the Clan Mother, Suri Jaxx, but her journey took me to Nar Shaddaa, where she was enslaved for ten...eleven years until a chance encounter with a Jedi named Satkia rescued her and shut down the Crime Lord that enslaved her."

Ayumi let it sink in for a moment before explaining where the problem lies. "I've every reason to believe that this girl is now a Jedi herself and located at the Corellian Outpost."

[Nadgkema An'Telkis]

Nadgkema was glad that Ayumi relaxed enough to sit down. "While it's only a small problem, this will be alright." She mused, before chuckling a little darkly to what her friend said about the long winded version. "I rarely found the short versions being enough to get a good picture, so please go ahead."

She sipped on her tea as Ayumi explained the story to her. She knew well enough how family histories could be complicated and full of sordid details and unexpected truths. "Ah, a Jedi... A few of them tried to get in my way when I sought closure for some of my own familial issues."

She pondered on what Ayumi had explained. "What do you plan to do once we find this Jedi? If she is on Corellia, spending discreet time in the area of the Jedi enclave they have there will likely allow us to find her outside of Jedi walls."

She looked at Ayumi. "I will accompany you, but I have no wish to set a foot on Jedi soil."

[Ayumi Na'Varro]

Ayumi pondered on Nadgkema's question for a moment before a slight grin pulled on her face. "I plan to take her home. To Dathomir...and before you say anything, I know we have to be extremely careful there." Ayumi replied. "Latest reports indicate that the Sith have near total control of the planet, but where this clan originated is isolated from most routes. If we're careful enough, we should be able to avoid riling up the Sith...well...as long as we can prevent Suri's own signature from lighting up like a Christmas Tree."

Ayumi pondered on this for a moment as she looked at her imbued pendant. "Hmm...would we be able to give her something that clouds her Force signature, like what we have? Should give us an advantage in hiding from the Sith should that be actively hunting."

[Nadgkema An'Telkis]

"What if she refuses to go home? The place we were born isn't necessarily where home becomes." Nadgkema didn't really see the point of taking this Witch back to Dathomir, especially if she was a Jedi. "What do we gain by doing this? Capturing a Jedi for information is one thing, but taking her to one of the Sith worlds seems weird to me, especially as traveling on Sith soil for all of this bafles me, Ayumi."

Nadgkema wasn't easily afraid, but she liked understanding why she would stick her neck out, and the more her friend was speaking, the less she understood the idea. "Understand that even if all of our Force signatures were masked, they would probably end being remarked one way or the other, depending on how many and how powerful the Sith present were."

She looked seriously to her fellow Dark Jedi. "Why do you really need to take this person to Dathomir?"

[Ayumi Na'Varro]

Ayumi knew this was a bad idea to ask for help, but she felt compelled to ask for it. "You gain little from this, but let me put this into perspective from my point of view. If what you believed your entire life about your family was a lie, you would want to seek out the truth no? Go to whatever lengths needed to find that truth even go so far as working with the 'enemy' - if you want to put it to that perspective - you'd do that right?" she said before sighing. "I know that for this girl, Dathomir would not be 'home' to her anymore, but she would still remember... and I'm counting on the belief that, she, like me would want closure on that part of her life."

As for the question of whether they really needed to take the Jedi girl to Dathomir, Ayumi looked at Nadgkema with the same serious look. "If she's willing to come, then yes. Because Suri was very young when all this happened, around five years old if I'm correct, so much of that time will have been lost to her or, because of her life as a slave, will have been repressed to save her mind from trauma. By taking her to Dathomir, its hoped that some of those memories will return by triggers. She may be able to find the location of her camp and then I can use the Force to see through time, look into its history and find out if what my hunch is telling me is true..."

And what to say to Suri if Ayumi's father was involved in all of this..? "If my Father has committed these crimes against Suri's family...the best I can hope for is forgiveness and apologize for all she's had to endure."

[Nadgkema An'Telkis]

"I can't really say. The last contact I had with my family was to kill them." Nadgkema replied a little dryly. "I understand what you mean though." She added with sincerity, her mind briefly drifting to someone else who had once been significant in her life.

She understood that it must be difficult for Ayumi to seek her assistance for this. The brunette wasn't the kind to easily open herself to others either, so she knew where her fellow Dark Jedi came from.

She didn't interrupt her while she explained things further. Only afterwards, did she speak. "I will accompany you to Corellia, find this girl and eventually go to Dathomir system with you. I will let you and this Suri go to Dathomiri ground alone."

[Ayumi Na'Varro]

Ayumi sighed, though whether it was one of relief or something else was another matter. She did pull a small smile, however as she said, "Thanks Nadgkema..." The Templar then stood up, her back turned and head looked down for a moment to confess something. "You know... my mother was once a Jedi. She left when she decided to marry my father but she still held them to high regard." Ayumi then looked at Nadgkema, smiling a little. "Not all Jedi are like the ones you encountered. I've had my share of encounters with them in the past and very few react with aggression. Wariness and curiosity perhaps, but not aggression."

Ayumi turned her body to face Nadgkema and asked, "When do you want to leave?"

[Nadgkema An'Telkis]

"If we don't help friends, we don't go very far and our idea of a greater good is a lie." Nadgkema replied with a smile to Ayumi. The noble had no problem killing and taking care of dark deeds herself, but if she liked people, she was willing to go lengths for them.

"There are worthy and unworthy people in all places." She added with a nod.

When asked when they could leave, she rose to her feet after finishing her cup of tea. "We may leave today. I have certain matters to attend to, but not before a little more than a week."

[Ayumi Na'Varro]

"As you say." Ayumi said, a small smile appearing, thankful that they could get the ball rolling. Their quest shouldn't take too long. A few days at most, maybe a week. She was eager to get this done, more to ease her own mind, if anything.

==A day later - Corellia==

Having verified the location of the Jedi Apprentice, Ayumi confirmed that Suri Jaxx was currently on Corellia. The fact that she was here made things a lot easier for her and her friend. With luck, Suri would be willing to follow or at least provide some information on what she remembered of the day her clan was destroyed. Looking to Nadgkema, Ayumi canted her head to one side and asked, "You sure you don't want to tag along?" She could guess at the answer, but Ayumi was kind enough to give Nadgkema an opportunity to tag along if she wanted to. On a personal level, she'd have liked her to come along, if only for support, but at the same time, she respected her friend's wishes. If she didn't want to come along, she'd accept it.

[Nadgkema An'Telkis]

Once they had reached Corellia, quite quickly thanks to the craft they had used to reach the Core system, Nadgkema still didn't know how far she would accompany her friend in her quest. Yet, she was a woman of her word and she did care for Ayumi.

Adjusting the black shawl over her head, to conceal most of her features, she had changed her mind by the time her fellow Dark Jedi asked her question. "I will come with you."

She briefly rested her hand over Ayumi's arm, giving it a supportive squeeze. "Let's go find Suri."

[Suri Jaxx]

The gardens of the Jedi Enclave were beautifully maintained and on this warm and sunny day, Suri Jaxx spent some time in an area of the enclave that had stunning views of the mountains. She loved this place, peaceful and serene with a mixture of colour and calm. She was blissfully unaware of the fact that her day was going to get far more complicated than she'd imagined.

As she looked around her, the Dathomiri Jedi noticed some members of the public nearby and chose to offer a small smile of acknowledgement but little more. The public were allowed to join the Jedi in this area of the enclave if they needed peace and solace and sometimes, people asked her questions about various things and offered the odd bit of help when needed. Satkia always said to help those in need. Dressed in her blue robes Suri paid little heed to the public, choosing instead to close her eyes and meditate on the Force. There was something odd she sensed in the Force, however, though she couldn't quite pick up on who, what or where it was coming from... it was just... there. Being in the grounds of the enclave, Suri wasn't overly concerned, but it had piqued her interest, even if she didn't show it in her posture.