Log:Realignment
Evening time is settling in on Arisnar, the arid world settling in with cool air and a strong breeze that was sure to chap lips without the proper protection. Aryn could be found along the shoreline staring out to the horizon. If any had a notion or insight to the force to /feel/ her, they might discover that her thoughts were in a dark place; painful and disorganized. This was common for someone who was emotional, someone like Aryn, who had always struggled with the weight of grief.
She was not dressed as nobly as she normally would be, this time she only wore the common tunic of a desert dweller, with a light colored poncho that concealed her torso from view. Aryn's narrow arms circled her legs, hugging them close, allowing her bare feet to point out toward the lounging waves that struck the shoreline and stretched out.
Rey had done as Rey does, and built herself a speeder bike in her off time here on Arisnar with spare parts inside of the Ship Center. A turbine-like engine with a seat atop it and space enough for two riders. Handle grips and a running bar on either side for one's feet. A headlamp is mounted on the front of its spike-like nose cone and it shines in the distance to the south as she comes closer and closer to where Aryn is.
Eventually the high pitched whine of the speederbike's engine deliver Rey to the area about fifty feet behind Aryn and the bike deactivated, the rider dismounting moments later. She lifts a pair of goggles up to her forehead and starts to walk toward Aryn, pulling gloves off of her hands as her loose clothing whips in the wind around her body beneath.
"Hey." Rey comes to say, a smile upon her lips as she looks upon her friend, not needing the Force to see there's a lot going on within Aryn. "Whats up?" Rey asks then, glancing out toward the ocean.
The approach of the speeder wasn't heard until it had arrived. It looked to be an impressive creation, and Aryn presumed this was something Rey found pride in. Of course, Aryn had no knowledge of Rey building it, but operating it seemed like something Rey might enjoy. She was a daring pilot! Anyrate, Rey's approach has Aryn opening up a bit to look up at her. She stretches her legs ahead, revealing that Aryn's arm was in a sling.
She stays seated upright and turns her gaze toward the ocean, sighing. "I just returned from a mission in Gaavros system-- a place in the outer rim, like a.. small farming planet." The wind catches Aryn's blonde, carrying it out of her face and wildly about. "It was successful to a point. But, I had to perform surgery on a small child who had been injured in a conflict there. I had to make a choice. Save him but reveal my influence over the force.. or allow him to die to maintain my safety." She sniffles again, the wind burning her aching eyes (which had been crying well before now). "He died."
Rey moves to sit down beside Aryn, she spies the arm wrap and it makes her eyes narrow a bit as she stares upon it and Aryn's injured arm. Some of Rey's hair is loose and the strands are dancing about her forehead and the sides of her face, she reaches up to pull them out of her vision before she flickers her eyes up to look at Aryn's face and listen to her explain.
A peaceful expression remains on Rey after she hears the details and she comes to just look back out onto the water. "Meditating should help." She says, "Which I imagine I just interrupted." She glances back to Aryn to give her a slight grin. "You made the right decision." She tells the other then. "Whether you can feel that to be true or not. You did everything you could, I am sure of that. I've learned enough about you over these past months to know you'd never do anything but... everything you could."
A quick smile is shown then, albeit a light one as she raises her knees and places her forearms atop them.
At the mention of interrupting, Aryn laughs. It's more about herself than Rey. "Meditating? Oh no. I've been pathetic all afternoon. Sitting out here crying. It's embarrassing, really." She wipes her eyes with the sleeve of her good arm and follows Rey's lead. The sudden shift sees bright blonde falling over the young noble's face, but just as quick as it fell, the wind carries it wildly back again.
It's to her knees she goes, and she orients her feet back so that her small toes rest easily in the sand.
A moment is taken to free her bad arm from her sling. This reveals a wrapped wrist that, judging from Aryn's reaction to it being touched, is still tender. She positioned both arms over her thighs though, then took a deep breath of the cool evening air.
"You're grieving." Rey replies then after she watches Aryn reposition herself and dab at the tears on her eyes. "Thats no reason to declare yourself pathetic. You simply need time to... recover." Another light smile is shown then to the other woman and Rey just gently shakes her head side to side. "These..." She takes a breath after saying that and tries to come at her words differently than she'd started there. "Experiences that we're having. The things that we're going through, such as this death you've faced now, and the... various hardships that I've faced since leaving my homeworld?"
She looks back to Aryn then. "These are the things that are forging us into stronger people. They're like... hammer strikes on hot metal, they appear violent and harsh, as though they're harming the metal. But in fact, when its all said and done what they've actually done is crafted that metal into a sharp edged sword." She leans her head forward then so that she can rest the side of her forehead against her forearms, but her eyes remain over on Aryn.
"We're the hot metal in this instance." She says then, lightly laughing at herself. "I'm not making any sense... I've been up since very early this morning."
"You're too kind to me." Aryn says back softly. Only just realizing Rey had complimented her moments before. She listens better this time, turning her gaze back outward while she settles back on her haunches. "No, you're making sense. I understand your metaphor. Though, even metal requires cooling when the striking's done. I may not be your sharpest sword for a long time. But I will always try to be a trusty one.. like a handy knife." Aryn pulls out a small knife. It was an intricate thing, with a black ivory handle and the white outline of her family's sigil etched into the dark blade. "My brother gave me this when I was young. Said he had it made for me specifically. He said I'd need it to scare all the boys away; I was too pretty." She laughs at that notion, and the idea of stabbing someone because they liked her.
She looks over at Rey and makes a very exaggerated playful motion with it. "All these times you've been nice to me. Makes me wonder if you think I'm pretty too. Careful Rey." Stab, stab stab. She smiles a pretty smile.
About halfway through Aryn's response, Rey lifts her head up from her forearms again and she watches with a slight grin, watching the knife make an appearance she admires the shine on its well crafted blade and then flicks her eyes over to Aryn's as she hears the rest of what the blond says.
A moment later and Rey is letting her stare glide back out to the waters of the ocean. The sun sets in that direction, so it always makes for a beautiful picture-esque horizon. Rey especially likes it when there are storms out over the waters.
"I've met a lot of pretty people since leaving Jakku. Its rather shocking how many good looking people there are in the galaxy, come to think of it." She glances back to Aryn then. "Finn, Poe..." She glances back to the Academy. "Chewbacca." She looks back to Aryn and lets her grin grow a lot larger there as she makes that little quip.
She then lets the smile fade and she shakes her head. "You're one of the prettiest, there's no lie there. But admittedly, my opinion on the physical appearance of others really has no bearing on... anything, that I know of. I mean... I've seen Kylo Ren without a shirt on, and it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Never mind the fact that it was the chest of a homicidal maniac."
She just gently shakes her head then. "There's so much to be done, I don't have time to think about such things, really. Momentary thoughts will always strike our minds like that though. but, yes, please don't stab me." She states with another sly grin to Aryn.
"You should've stabbed him." Aryn quips playfully and adjusts again, shifting her legs ahead once more and sitting closer to Rey. The moment she realized that Rey thought she was pretty, the prettiest, well.. her heart skipped a beat. She could've stabbed herself to see if she was dreaming, but that wouldn't have helped anyone.
"I'm sorry, I realize I shouldn't have said that." She couldn't contain her giggling. The knife is slid away carefully and she draws her legs up too. "There's always time, Rey. It's a shifting tide, sometimes, but it's there. You can't allow yourself to be swept up in it all the time. It moves ahead even if we don't want it to. You have to take your moments when you have them. There are no opportunities to go back, and.. you're only young and pretty once."
There's a brief silence and Aryn stares ahead. "I've thought about you often. Everytime I turn the ship on, jump into hyperspace, have a conversation, save someone, or even buy a new outfit; it's all because of you. You saved me."
"I had my opportunities to." Rey replies to the 'should've stabbed him' part. "I tried to take some of them too." She shows a ghost of a smile then. "But as you say, there's always time. Maybe I'll get another chance to do so yet..." She shows the hints of a grin then before she has a bit more of an even stare on Aryn's visage. Her lips part for a moment of thought, though they're straight and motionless as her eyes flick this way and that while she gathers her thoughts for a second or so.
"We're here to save people, Aryn." She says then, brown eyes upon Aryn's. "You were in need of help. I would've done all I could do to provide it, just as you had for that person that you're grieving the loss of now out here tonight. Thats why this... 'Force' related journey we're on is so important. You and I both wish to save people, and it is a powerful tool to make that an easier possibility."
She glances northward toward the school, there are lights on in the building visible from where they are, quite a few people reside in it these days. She looks back to Aryn though. "I'm glad you're here though. I'm glad you've stuck it out this far. I know how daunting it is, and how the more you seem to learn of it all the harder the challenges seem to get. Each and every day. I wouldn't fault you if you had to leave it all behind." As others had. Punt, Ax, Jax, Nomi...
"I'm not leaving you." Aryn says softly. "I'm not leaving the school, the Order, or the war. All of this is my life now. Tough is what I signed up for. It's why I nearly broke my bloody wrist punching Yuun." She holds her bad arm up and laughs. "Where ever the journey goes, I am there. Maybe one day, we'll be Jedi Knights together. Like the old tales, working miracles and being protectors of the weak, guardians of peace and justice!" She glances over and smiles. "It might take me a little while though, so.." Aryn begins to rise back up, the sand that's collected on her clothing is carefully brushed away so it doesn't hit Rey in the process. When she's up, the sling is positioned over her torso once more and she feeds her arm into it. A good hand is offered to Rey then to hoist her up.
"You have a noble heart, Rey, and you're the nicest person I know. Thank you for visiting me out here. I will try to meditate tonight..."
The talk of the possibilities of their combined futures is enough to make Rey smile in a way that is just soft and warm, as though Aryn had touched on a vision of a hopeful future that Rey had actually seen for them. After a moment of enjoying that thought, the young human girl just simply nods her head once, a dip of her chin down in affirmation of Aryn's words there. "I really hope so." Is all Rey has to say on that subject and its said with complete truth, a desire for that future is deeply rooted in her now. Restoring a thousand generation old Order, dedicated to helping people who NEED help. 'You didn't fail Kylo. Kylo failed you. I won't.' Thats what Rey had told Luke, and she'd known it impacted inside him. That for a brief spark he'd believed her.
She also knew he was still watching them... and she means to uphold that promise. With the others here along with her.
When Aryn stands, Rey sits up a little straighter but remains seated on the beach. She looks up to the other and just smiles more openly to her. "Thank you, Aryn." She says in a calm tone of her Core Worlds accented voice. "Let me know if you need any help. I'm here to make sure you stay safe and happy. You're a good friend."
Her hand hooks to her belt and she nods. "You got it." Another parting look to the ocean and dark horizon, then Aryn is stepping off quietly to make the walk back. She had a lot to think about. Eventually, the Helix interceptor Rey had loaned to the young Jedi healer was rising up from the praxeum, and blasting off into the night sky, its engines bright white and easy to trace through the evening until finally it flashed far up in space, disappearing into hyperspace!
