deercountry | it was the silence underneath the stars

[Earning favour. Padmé may have thought twice about it had she heard his thoughts. It wasn't that she had never called to a friend to ask for help, but it wasn't an expectation that they help. In turn, if Padmé saw someone needing help, she would help, with no need for recompense. It was something that her parents had instilled within her since she was young.

She wasn't certain what his answer would be, slightly wary as he squatted down, yet the bottle was offered. Padmé was mindful, only squirting a small amount into her mouth to swish it around, before spitting it out. Even then, she took just a small amount before handing it back to him. It was enough to ease her throat as she cleared it.]

Thank you.

[Everything hurt. Even if there was nothing actively trying to harm her, she had still needed to wiggle and crawl through openings. In that sense, her small frame had offered some assistance, although it may have also made her bolder in some of her routes. But she looked to the mushrooms that he was likely asking after. That dull constant throbbing. Some had been removed, and yet others... Well, they had been more than a little troublesome with how they seemed to have grown.]

It isn't pleasant, but at the moment, I prefer to get out, and then address the other issues.

[She didn't seem too harmed so far, but he wasn't about to offer full medical treatment either. He was mostly curious of her familiar face, and he openly stared at it as he tried to determine differences that went beyond hair style. Facial features were definitely the same.

They could be twins! Those were extremely rare on his planet, and he hadn't seen too many on other planets either. Maybe he was a touch too curious for his own good.]

We can travel together for awhile, if you care to.

[The sooner they left the catacombs, the sooner she could remove the other filth that covered her from falling into the mushroom pit. And this way, he could potentially ask questions about her. Or just loom because he wasn't good at asking questions. Either worked in his favour.

He took back his water bottle and rose to his feet, gesturing at the path to take. Hopefully there wouldn't be too many small confined places to crawl through. He hadn't done well with any of those given his size.]

Where do you... come from?

[It hadn't crossed her mind to ask for it from him, but rather to get out and seek aid in the city itself, whichever was closer. If anything, she wanted not to tread a line too far, lest she pass over whatever boundary he had set. That was the feeling that Padmé got from him. Not that it stopped her own gaze from slipping back at his offer, brow furrowing slightly, yet she wouldn't mind that.

Padmé fought the urge to scratch along her arm as she nodded, taking more steps forward. Out of this place, she hoped. Each step one step closer...]

Naboo, originally. It's a planet.

[One aspect he thought would go in his favour was that he was big and thus if they ran into anything that happened to be a fight, he would be the likely target. So, he could play protector - not a role he had often other than Maul - which might convince her to travel with them.

He watched her start to walk and made no effort to assist her. She seemed stable enough, so he eased into a walk and took the lead. Then stopped and turned back to look at her. She was from the same galaxy as he was?

Naboo. The planet where his brother had been cut in half.]

Close to the Outer Rim, yes. I'm from Dathomir. [Obviously. Now he was more curious of her.]

[It was a focus to put one foot in front of the other. She wasn't a trained warrior, even if she might have been trained in defence since she was younger. There had yet to be a day where Padmé had regretted that they had decided to add that into her studies, as it had come in helpful. One might expect a senator to lead a rather quiet life, but Padmé broke that mould.

Still, her eyes shifted from the form that moved ahead of her, to the sides, glancing now and then behind her, just in case. She'd never had any extraordinary senses like Anakin, but she also wasn't a fool. She wouldn't trust that she was truly free until her head hit her pillow. And the others... Was Sabé suffering down here too? Anakin? Obi-Wan? She would only hope not.]

I have heard of your planet, although I cannot claim to be overly familiar with it.

[One of many planets to come under attack during the war, according to reports that she had read.]

[He took up his walk again, shortening his stride so that he didn't completely outpace her as they moved along. Even if he got ahead, he would stop and wait for her to catch up, tilting his head as he listened for signs of danger or looked around for the same things.]

As you shouldn't. Dathomir kept its own place and committed little to the war.

[He knew that their seclusion kept them safe as well as the Nightsisters who would challenge and kill intruders. Well, that was until Dooku's army had come and all by wiped them out.]

What is it you do on your planet? Are you part of the Clone Wars?

[He likely would have done so quite easily, given not only her shorter stature but the fact that Padmé was not at her best either. She kept that stiff upper lip, so to speak, only wincing now and again as she walked. The pain in her body has been constant since her arrival anyway, or at least she had noted it when sharing embraces with others.]

I currently serve as it's senator.

[A small flicker of her gaze toward him. She knew that not many were fond of politicians. Padmé herself wasn't always fond of them either. Thankfully she had found those that were of the same mindset as she.]

The effects of the war are far reaching.

Senator of the Republic then...

[He made a noise of faint approval in his throat. He expected and experienced plenty of women in positions of power, and it seemed to him that they often did a far better job than their male counterparts. It wasn't anything he found unusual.]

You seem far from your comfy Senate life down here.

[Count Dooku was the closest and highest ranked politician that he had actually had a conversation with, so his views on politics were dismissive. That had never been his purpose, and he didn't have the mental training to be sharp tongued and quick minded.]

That's not unusual. The galaxy and the planets within seem to cycle through war.

Yes.

[It was stated with a slight hint of reserve. Given the conflict currently going on in their galaxy, she knew that some emotions could run high. It wasn't something that Padmé had wanted, and had tried to keep from happening. It appeared from what she had now been told, there were few thing that could have stopped it.]

Had I wanted a comfy life, I would have remained on Naboo.

[Perhaps settled down with someone and bore children, not gotten involved with politics. From the invasion of Naboo to the war currently traversing across their galaxy, she may have had a blessed life, but she had never squandered it. Aiding others had always been a priority to her, even from a young age.]

It shouldn't be a cycle though, or it should be one that is broken.

[If he had existed under Darth Tyranus' thumb longer than he had, he might muster more emotion-fueled dislike of the Senators. He hadn't gotten that far, and the only head of state that he killed had technically been accidental. He had been punished greatly for that error, but it had also signaled the end of his Apprenticeship.

He understood very little of the political element of the Clone Wars beyond the basic planets involved, the sides and the stakes involved. It was a war of attrition where every side was being played by Darth Sidious. If anything, she was more of a curiousity now than even before.]

You're a long way from the Clone Wars here, and you won't have a comfy life here either. Those don't exist in Trench. Suffering builds strength.

[He shrugged his shoulders, not good at debating and certainly not about any sort of morality topics. His planet was inhospitable as possible, and it bred hard species hellbent on survival. War was just part of that.]

Why?

[She did know of suffering. She might not have felt the touch of the Trade Federation as closely as some of her friends who still bore the mark, with pride, upon their face, but she had known what it had cost her planet. It had shifted her approach in her queenship, trying to reach out to once more make those allies with planets nearby instead of remaining isolated.]

It has never been about ease of comfort.

[Although there was no denying that there had been many comforts afforded to her. Yet she had had her own trials. Had friends die who had followed her. Had seen pain and suffering from a young age when all she could do was watch life after life pass when the sun turned on its own people and no other planet was found to provide whatever it was that theirs had.

There was a slight narrowing of her eyes, although more in an attempt to gather what he was asking.]

Why what? Why shouldn't it be a cycle?

[He watched her from the corner of his eye as they walked and the hallway was starting to narrow. The stone brushed his shoulder as he moved along it, using that as a guide so he could keep track of her.]

Good. It won't do anyone any good if a leader doesn't have steel in their spine for more than the plush carpets I was one told about.

[He assumed the political ring was similar but also very different to the politics of the Nightbrother village or even watching Tyranus in action. There were moves made for reasons he didn't even care to understand. Nightbrothers could be manipulative, but often they were rather forward with each other for the sake of their own survival.]

Why work so hard to break it? Combat of all sorts weeds out the weak. Sentient species find and attack each other on many different battlefields.

[With a more diminutive stature, Padmé was able to move a bit easier, although her gaze did still dart back and forth. It felt like she had been done here for an eternity, even if she knew it hadn't been that long. It gnawed at her, and while she might not claim to be claustrophobic, even she was feeling antsy at her tenure in this place.]

You'd be surprised at the lack of steel in the senate.

[There were those that would stand up for injustice, but there was the other side as well. Those who sold their allegiance to the highest bidder, who had no quarrel with selling out who they were representing. Padmé tried to never be like that, but it was a fact of the job. Would that they could root out such falsehoods...

Her eyes did shift back to him though, limping after him.]

You can find struggle without having to be involved in a war, without attack or physical injury.

[It was probably to his benefit that he was traveling with a human who was small and slight as she was. There would be plenty of places in the cave system he wouldn't be able to easily navigate given his size, so it was to his benefit to keep her alive. Was this altruism? Too bad K wasn't around to ask. He'd just call it altruism and be done with it.]

I doubt I would. I expect they die easily and with much whimpering.

[From what limited time he spent listening to his Master discuss the basics of politics of the galaxy and a crash course on the war-time politics, it seemed that many politicians could be bought, pushed or threatened into submission. It was too bad that Toydaria had gone so poorly; he expected he would have learned a significant amount if the King hadn't been killed. By him. Oh well.]

Life is struggle. If you are too weak to endure, you deserve to die. It's the same everywhere maybe.

[More like they would throw others in front of them and run away from any fighting. It would be an injustice to say that all were like that, as they weren't, but Padmé also knew the flip side. There was nothing straightforward about politics and she had learned to navigate those waters, sometimes the hard way, but navigate none the less.

Her eyes narrowed.]

We'll agree to disagree then. Life may be a struggle, but that doesn't mean that one needs to step on others. A little help can go a long way, and you never know what that little help may mean in the future.

[Ah. Agree to disagree was something he knew well enough! Usually such matters were resolved with one’s fists on Dathomir, but there had been verbal separation as well when the matter was a difference of pure opinion that wasn’t harmful to working together. He didn’t think he’d ever have a situation where a human wanted to agree to disagree.

He also wasn’t going to punch her. There was no point to that after she had suffered from mushrooms and now they traveled together.]

Is that… ah ultruesism? [He meant altruism, but he butchered speaking a foreign word to him. He’d only learned it a few hours ago!]

[She'd prefer no fists, if given a say in the matter. Padmé wasn't exactly built for fighting, and she knew that. Petite and tiny, she could hold her own in some situations, but she wasn't foolish enough to think that she was a fighter by any means. She found herself scratching at the base of one of the mushrooms as she gave a small huff, although not from how he has said the word.]

Perhaps, a little, although I, myself, cannot claim to be completely unselfish.

it was the silence underneath the stars

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holy crap I can't read... >>

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