[LE7] Easy Rider

[Phroth Lissken]

The speeder bike hummed as it rode over the terrain. Phroth's hands on the controls as his eyes were focused on the terrain ahead. The scanner goggles kept his vision clear, highlighting the path ahead in the evening darkness. The stars above illuminating the world below.

He was surprised when he received the request. Still, he agreed to meet.

[Meiyokashi]

With a shift he felt her lean forward to tap a little more forward on his arm, directing him toward a nearby cliff that promised a view. Once she got his acknowledgement leaning back into her spot on the speeder. Watching the sky as they raced through the environment, there was a danger in the act and in this place that was present in every sharp wind they came across but it was manageable enough to keep a good pace without endangering the riders.

[Phroth Lissken]

The thrusters growled as the bike turned, forcing the pair to lean into the movement, as Phroth followed directions. The accelerator punched to hurry them closer to their destination.

The wind whipped past them, his cloak billowing slightly, thougy that was subdued by the passenger behind him. The Joben came up to the cliff, and lowered as he killed the engine.

[Meiyokashi]

Settling into the silence of the surrounding area there was the briefest moment where it was only the sound of her shifting away from him, fixing her hair. Slowly, first a trickle and then a river of sound flowed as the insects, reptiles, and other wildlife started to become active again. Sounds of distant and near creatures created the backdrop to the moment. Dried bushes and plants all around, some alive and others not. Off to their right a great expanse off from the top of a high cliff that gave a beautiful view in the darkened skies.

[Perception vs Hard, Boost and a Setback]

[Phroth Lissken]

LE7 - Easy Rider - Cunning 3, Perception 0, Hard, +1eB situational modifier, +1eS situational modifier: 3eA+1eB+3eD+1eS 1 success, 2 threat


Though the ambient sound was distracting, losing details and focus, Phroth was at least aware of his immediate surroundings. He let the sensation of life bathe over him.

[Meiyokashi]

As she moved off the speeder there was the slight apprehension, hesitation in the way she moved which indicated some level of pain she was trying to conceal. Noticing him noticing this, however, she gives a brief smile, "I haven't been on one of these in a long time, I forgot how it strains the body. Though, I do guess that this is something you grow accustomed to in time."

[Phroth Lissken]

"Yeah. Maintaining balance on the bike for awhile, it takes time to adjust." Concern was in his features, while he stepped closer, pulling the goggles off of his head, to enjoy nature as it was intender.

"I could have rented a truck or something, if I'd known." He chuckled, then looked back out over the cliff. "I'll ride slower when we head back." A glance over his shoulder back to her.

[Meiyokashi]

"A surprise for a surprise," she smiles, walking forward and joining by his side to look out from over the cliff. Looking out over the view she scans along, looking for anything she found interesting.

"The ride out was fine. Besides, life is far more exciting when it happens by surprise, you agree, don't you?"

[Phroth Lissken]

"It is a spice of life." He looked back to her, and then followed her gaze out towards the cliffs, taking in the beautiful view. He didn't say anything as they looked out to the horizon. Instead, he focused on the moment, just being.

"How'd you find this place?"

[Meiyokashi]

"I saw it as we were riding. Had no intention of coming.. here, but.." she took a risky step or two forward, nearly on the edge of the cliff as a wind brushes past them from the height, curls dancing with it. Reaching her hand out over the cliff, looking off the ends of the tips of her fingers as she does, "I knew we would find something out here worthwhile. Sun barely setting.. the night sky already over the city and most of the badlands.. it is a beautiful time of day," she smiles.

[Phroth Lissken]

"Everything seems so quiet, from this place. No concerns, no cares in the world." Phroth was quiet as he replied, meeting her at the edge. His arms folded across his chest, bright eyes expressive with awe and wonder.

"A feeling, just going where the moment takes you. I know that well. Just trusting in..." he trailed off, nodding. "Where you're supposed to be."

[Meiyokashi]

"Yet.. all around us is a lurking danger. A viper hidden amongst the grass, or a beast of great size waiting to pounce and kill. Yet, here we are. No worry, teetering on the very edge of life and death without concern," she says, taking that half-step forward as she looks directly down and can see how far the cliff goes. Survivable, if you had time to react, but you wouldn't like how it felt on the bottom and there'd be no telling if you could even walk.

For a normal being, at least.

"Relaxed in knowing that.. should it come to it, we are the hunters and have nothing to fear," she looks back to him, enjoying the rush of air from below.

[Phroth Lissken]

"No." He shook his head, stepping with her. "We're not surrounded by danger. We aren't concerned... I'm not concerned... because." He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes, feeling the world around them. The quiet of the Badlands.

"All is, as the Force wills it."

[Meiyokashi]

As he spoke the words she smiled, closing her eyes and opening her arms to feel the way the wind moves over the top of the cliff. Focusing on that feeling, and how gravity took her to root near the edge but also promised something if she'd just step over. It was something that would perhaps frighten those with weaker wills but she relished in that.

With careful steps she opens her eyes and walks along the edge, back currently to Phroth, "An interesting belief to hold.. one I've thought about a lot."

[Phroth Lissken]

He was not a smart man. But he could put two and two together. His smile slowly moved to something softer. He opened his eyes, looking to Allura, even as she faced away from him.

"Interesting, yes. And true. When you listen to the Living Force. To not shut out emotion, but to know that one can love, can feel. Can actually help people." He couldn't hide the sadness that slightly hit in his voice.

"What are your thoughts, Allura? Tell me."

[Meiyokashi]

Allura's words took on a distinctly sorrowful tone as she continued her slow, careful pacing away, just near the edge. "That if all is as the Force wills it, as has been said from one to another for so long.. then the Force has much it would need to answer for." A rock, disturbed by a footfall, falls and crashes against the sloped ground all the way down.

"Though.." she looks down, then over her shoulder, "I am glad that you seem to have seen past some of the lies of the Council. You're impressive, Phroth, always were," she looks ahead again, and continues her walk.

[Phroth Lissken]

"It..." he moved, following her, hearing an all too familiar tone. "The Order lost its way. Who knows but..." he shook his head. "We weren't supposed to be soldiers. And we weren't an arm of the Republic... we were supposed to do good, and help whoever needed help."

He followed out where she looked. "I don't know about that. I'm just me, Allura."

[Meiyokashi]

"No.. no I think we're all more than just who we are. We have to be, the world needs definition beyond just a name," she steps twice onto solid ground and turns around. Looking to him with that same look of the night they met all too recently, "False promises told to children to get them to fall in line."

She steps forward, "What helps one- hurts another. It's the natural order of the galaxy, hunter, and prey. You were born a hunter Phroth, it ran in your veins I recall hearing about you at the academy. I could feel it in you when I touched your palm. How you struggled against your nature, how they forced you to struggle, how painful it was, and how they made you feel like a failure. But you must know.. you can see it right? Once the order fell you became a hunter again. This time for bounties, sure," she shook her head, brushing away that thought, "but a hunter nonetheless."

"We're the same like that," she looks to him, offering an understanding smile. "You and I found our truth when the order fell. You simply.. you're struggling with it again, more than I have," she steps back toward him, halfway back but more than a few steps away, and extends a hand, "It's okay to give into it. I'll help you."

[Phroth Lissken]

He looked to her, looked down to her offered hand. Then down to his own. His early training was... difficult. He was all brute force and instinct to hunt. But...

"You are wrong, Allura." He shook his head, resigning himself to the path. "I became a Survivor, a hunter, not because the Order fell but because of the Empire. They hurt you. I've heard of what Inquisitor training does, how painful that is." The Karkarodon looked tall, standing in the moonlight.

"The Galaxy, the Force, it isn't a zero sum game. That isn't what balance is, that isn't what defines us. You. Me. We aren't just lizard brain instinct. We've both been hurt, betrayed. Lost, because of Order 66, because of the Empire. You don't have to live in pain. Let go of your anger, let go of your rage. Honor your pain, honor the emotions that course through your veins, don't hide them away. But don't be a slave, Allura. Not to them, not to the Empire. Not to the one they call Darth Vader." Hope burned brightly in his heart, joining his words as he looked to the woman.

His thoughts went to Master Kem. "I never felt like a failure. Still don't. As long as I am here, I will do what I can to help those seeking aid, to protect those who need it. The order is gone..."

He breathed out slowly, at peace with the universe, come what may. "But I'm still standing. I never had my trials. I had a war. But I know..." slowly reaching in to his cloak, he withdrew the jewelry, his padawan 'braid'. "I trust in the Force."

[Allura]

Allura's eyes linger on him, and then shift, her smile deepening into a mournful frown, "Prey relies on instinct in order to survive, and it is exactly that instinct which allows us to hunt them. You believe it is the fault of the Empire for what I am- but it is the Empire who has accepted me, embraced what I was underneath the lies of the Jedi. Others- they live in rage, pain, and agony but I accept who I am, I am a hunter," she retracts her hand, letting both come together and linking behind her at her back as she looks to him.

"We were both made lesser versions of ourselves by the Order who feared us, wished to control us, and used us in their war. We were meant for so much more... I see it, and some day you will see it too," she pulls her hands back to her sides, the curved hilt of her lightsaber on display.

"I am no slave. I am exactly who and where I want to be. You're yet misguided but.. I will help you to understand Phroth, I promise you," and with that solemn vow she adopted a stance, the curved blade held out to her side and pointed downward, hand behind her back, the red crimson of her blade igniting and lighting up the area around them.

[Roll Cool for Initiative]