it was the silence underneath the stars

[democratically]

Who: Padmé + various
What: Catch-all event + various prompts
When: March
Where: Various locations
Content Warnings: Will update as needed.

PROMPT 1: JUNGLE LEVEL : OPEN

PROMPT 2: CATACOMBS LEVEL : OPEN

PROMPT 3: BLOOD DETOX : OPEN

Comments

[democratically]

[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?

[opress]

[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.

[democratically]

[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.

[opress]

[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.

[democratically]

[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.

[opress]

[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!]

[democratically]

[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.