Azhani

The Eternal Vigilance came out of Hyperspace within Tython orbit. The large ship coasted and awaited its next command; a silent protector in a sea of possibility. ____________________ Still reeling from the sudden momentum, Azhani was stuck in her fuzzy ball, rocking back and forth. She couldn't see straight for a moment, but when she was done, she realized that the motion had stopped. The Cathar tried to center her mind and stretch out of her ball. It didn't take much effort, but the tension from before had bound up her muscles and they required proper stretching before she could use them effectively. When she looked around to gather her bearings, her eyes finally listening to her, she saw the green marble of Tython stretched out beneath her. It was beautiful, but it wasn't Cathar. She didn't even really know what it was. But it was land. It was a place that probably had people, animals, nature, meat, cars, technology, meat... and MEAT. After eating synthetic foods and trying to subsist on a Jedi's diet, Azhani wanted to go back to hunting. This was no way to live. She wanted to be on the ground and in control of her own destiny. Save the space ships to the spacers. When she could feel the blood flowing through her legs again, Azhani left the cockpit and ambled around for a little while to find a shuttle. It took her a few hours of searching to do it, no thanks to the people scattered around her, but she found the hangar bay and located a shuttle that fit her purposes. The people around her made space for her as she went by, not saying anything. But she ignored them. She was getting out of here whether they cared or not. She climbed inside the tiny hatch and although another wave of claustrophobia was fighting to the top of her mind, she tried to locate and steer her shuttle to the surface of the planet. Luckily, the shuttle had autopilot too or Azhani would never have reached the surface safely. _______________________________ Green grass, plentiful harvests, and animals grazing. Azhani was happy again, being on solid ground. The fact that she could have continued her Jedi training hadn't even crossed her mind. She wanted this and she was going to have it. The green soul of Tython gripped her muscles as she leaped from an earthy plateau. She saw the light of day looming on the horizon and the hope that it stood for. Today, would be the next step in an amazing future.

Silence... Azhani hated silence. She missed the whisper of the grass as it drifted back and forth in the warmer Cathar months, tickling the sensitive skin on her nose. She missed the groaning bark of trees as they leaned back and forth in the middle of harvest season. She missed the warm arid heat and cold frosty winters of Cathar. Her people may not have enjoyed her company, but she didn't enjoy it here. Whether it was the utter silence or the fact that almost no one on board talked to her. It was as if she was floating in a huge metal sarcophagus that was filled with lifeless spirits. It chilled her to the bone more than any winter wind could. She finished her exercises one day, and just like that, Poof. Everyone was gone. A skeleton crew remained to keep the ship floating and a handful of jedi hopefuls that milled about like automatons. It was a strange occurrence that Azhani could not describe. It was perplexing, and very disturbing. What was even worse however, was that they were drifting in deep space. She had no idea where they were or how she was going to get back to any semblance of normalcy. Months had gone by. She had raided the fridge every day and was beginning to wonder where exactly they got all of their food, and who was stocking it, because each day the food was restocked. The fridge and pantries were at full capacity every day, which Azhani was thankful for, but she almost stopped eating one day because the effect was so surreal. One day, after much musing and tired frustration, Azhani decided it was time to end this. She needed to find a way out; any way out. She didn't care. It was a thought clouded with morbid consequences, but Azhani was a little desperate. She had been an indistinguishable amount of time without contact with other beings. And she missed providing for herself. This 'utopia' was unsettling and did nothing to help her sleep. She was unraveling at the seams and she needed all the help she could get. Being a little too cowardly to take the darker route though, Azhani settled on being a little more pragmatic and looking for the cockpit. She had heard about ships and how they were controlled from the cockpit. She didn't know what it was, but she was bound to get somewhere if she just kept walking. She stopped occasionally to ask for directions of course, but the other 'people' ignored her and kept moving. It was blind luck that led her to some sort of control system. And then, the real problems started. WHAT DO ALL OF THESE BUTTONS DO!!!?? The Cathar panicked. She was in an even smaller room. Her heartbeat started to quicken. She couldn't think straight. She didn't know what to do. Everything spun. "I just want to go home... Take me home." Azhani said, curling up into an oversized ball of fur. The computer recognized the voice command and immediately set to work. Using the holocron's stored knowledge, the computer combed through several Jedi 'home' worlds and used the one at the very top. Without warning, the entire ship lurched into sudden motion. The windows in front of her turned into streaks of bright white and then the world around her drifted into bright blues.

Azhani sat still on the cold mat. It was dry, but cold under her. She could feel the pores of fabric as they rubbed against her fur; a cascade of small bumps brushing against an army of bristles. The thrumming sound of the air handler, loosely hanging from the wall, chimed in, providing its own tenor note to the chorus of sounds pooling in the Cathar’s mind. A cacophony of clicks preceded the machine as it pushed delicately against the wall. The walls themselves seemed to grow and shrink with every breath, and the sound of exterior life – glorious in other contexts – seemed to mill about in chaotic blunder. The world around the Cathar chanted in a loud symphony of distraction. Azhani did what she could to slip into a serene state of meditation, but everything warred against her. Her body was a string of slow waxing and waning notes that wrestled with the music of the world, creating a dysphoric sound for Azhani’s mind to process. Her whiskers played on the edge of her cheek. Her eyes fluttered under their lids and her body screamed against its passivity, like a rock yearning to move just one inch down the beaten trail. Her nose scrunched with irritation and she was about to open her eyes out of futile frustration, when a cool voice glossed over her troubled mind. The sounds of the world seemed to melt away, coalescing into one single beat. A beat that drummed slowly against Azhani’s ear, but had a pleasant, almost warming sensation to it. What do you feel? A small azure existence blossomed. Azhani couldn’t reason with it. The voice was icy, pure, and very mysterious. It was new. Azhani had never heard this voice before and it gave her pause. I feel… a heartbeat. What are you? Azhani was at a loss, but the question was not without reason.

((Holy late post batman!! I know I'm terrible. There you go.)) Azhani's face hardened a little at Aryian's harsh wisdom. The creases on her nose held a deep frustration that she held beneath a steely resolve. She didn't lash out, but she could feel conflict rising. Down in the pit of her stomach she could feel the truth of those words, as she did months ago when she stared helplessly at the destruction wrought from her inability to protect. She stared at the small faces of young cubs whimpering in the cold ash that fell from a burning sky, fed by raging amber fires. Azhani watched as all of the color in her life faded with one sharp strike to the back of her head. The life she knew; the life she cherished, was gone in an instant. Her regret, uncertainty, and fear clung to her mind with a string of corrupt, but ultimately listless sensations that Azhani feared would fester if she didn't attend to them. Her pale blue eyes shone with all of her concern and her nose creased in response to Aryian's practiced words, but her emotions never expressed themselves properly on her face. She seemed stoic and passive at times during her master's speech, but when she saw Aryian enjoying his food, she took the last bite of her own food and smiled faintly. "If you wish Aryian. I will clean up my dish and meet you in the meditation chamber." Azhani said silently. When Azhani deposited her dishes in the proper place, she followed lightly on the heels of her master. She kept her eyes open and made every endeavor to verify her location as they went, so she could find her way back later. Azhani said nothing, but nodded in the direction of various landmarks as they passed them. When they reached the training room, Azhani hesitated just before the threshold. The large ivory Cathar, flexed her knees and lowered herself into a deep bow. The movement seemed like a combat maneuver with how low she drifted toward the ground. Then, when she came to the bottom of her movement, she crossed her arms in a unique shape and rose back to her full height. When she finished, she nodded to her master and moved slowly into the room. She approached a place beside him and sat in a very similar fashion, but took care to make accommodations for her slight digitigrade feet. When she was comfortable, she mocked her master's position and emptied her mind. She was so focused on her task that she didn't really hear her master leave and instead remained in the meditation room.

((I'm terrible...)) Azhani swallowed hard. She didn't know how much this would effect her family, but she didn't even know where they were. Had they succeeded in losing the Dark Jedi Master and fleeing to other parts of Cathar? Had they survived the onslaught and were holing up somewhere near the capitol? Or were they gone? Then again, if she didn't know where they were, maybe that was for the best. If she pursued this path to its fullest and it meant threatening her family, she would have to wrestle with the consequences when they came. Strength, even in adversity... Her eyes were steely and her frame was calm even as she shoved even more meat into her mouth. She had to process what she was given, and in some way the meat comforted her addled mind, even if it took an effort to chew. When she finished chewing though, she stared intently back at Aryian and sighed a little before giving him a pleasant - slightly tensed - smile. "This reminds me of a tale that our people tell, and ven I say our people, I mean the people of my village." Azhani said. She cleared her throat of a small meaty chunk that plopped uncomfortably to the bottom of her mouth and swallowed it before continuing. "The older and viser members of our clan tell of a legendary Cathar that held the fate of the planet in her hands. A large insufferable beast that was easily thirty times the size of any normal Cathar, and impossibly strong, threatened the peace of the Cathar people. Atari Aketh, the leader of a small village that sat alone in the savannah, sought the monster alone. Her resolve was strong, but she had lost much to the incredible beast and she vowed ne'er return until the beast was slain. Years past since that moment; ten years, in fact. The villages that were ransacked by the monster cursed her name and the villages that weren't utterly destroyed, praised any and all effort she could muster. That decade is celebrated as, "the decade of the beast," among my people. The people of the capitol don't talk of it much, because it is a myth, but my clan is named after her. Because, after those ten years, the beast was finally slain. No one knows what actually happened. Some think that Aketh died at the same time as the monster. Some think that Aketh killed the monster successfully, but died soon after due to injuries sustained in the fight. The only thing that remains consistent from telling to telling is that neither Aketh nor the beast were seen again. Some of the Cathar villages in the wild even think that natural occurrences are due to the ongoing battle between the beast and Aketh." Azhani sat silently for a moment and stared at the remaining food on her plate. Her smile had faded, but what took its place wasn't fear, anger, hate, rage, pestilence, or regret. Her expression was calm with a hint of inspiration buried beneath her almost stark white fur. "I tell you that story Aryian because Aketh is my role model. As a small cub I looked up to the voman that saved the world. She protected her family at great cost and even vhen she lost her family, she still risked everything to do vhat was right. Strength, even in adversity, has alvays been my clan's motto and I embrace it with every part of my being." She took a light breath and looked back at Aryian with a smile. "I vant to protect. I vant to fight battles that no one else can and prevent evil from overtaking the galaxy. As cliche as that may sound."

The bounty of meaty comestibles piled on Azhani's plate could only be described as a 'messy skyscraper.' She took large portions of tender Kaduu meat and stacked it with the Nerf bratwurst to make a lopsided, leaning, tower of meat. It smelled good and by the time Azhani had made it to Aryian's table, her stomach was sufficiently noisy to reflect the level of demand that her gut was aiming at. She was actively salivating and when her furry butt hit the table's cold metal bench and she immediately began to dig in with barely any consequence. She did what she could to isolate her eating to just her area, but some pieces still spread out further than they should have. When Aryian asked his question, Azhani had a mouthful of meat. Deciding against the impractical and disrespectful way of talking with one's senior, Azhani finished chewing and swallowing before continuing the dialogue. When she was sure her food was not still lingering to the roof of her mouth, Azhani decided to answer his question. "I am not sure exactly. I want to fight to protect my parents and my clan, but I still don't know. I don't even know where my parents are anymore. Let alone the rest of my clan" She finished, solemnly. Azhani looked away for a moment, but couldn't shake the sad feeling that slithered up the back of her spine. "Why do you ask?"

Azhani rounded a corner and almost toppled into a familiar figure that stood almost a foot shorter and at least a foot or so thinner than the large white Cathar. She stopped with a practiced intensity, her weight held primarily on the balls of her feet, and looked down at the man with a warm smile. Hello master Darkvire, vhere have you been? That old bag of bones is still around here? I should find him and catch up a bit. Haven't seen him since...Borleais, was it? Anyhow...hi. He seemed a little flustered, or exasperated. Of course, Azhani had just been darting around a small room for the past hour and was a little tired as well. She was panting a little and her body was still pumping from the work out. She was so rife with endorphins that she couldn’t tell between the thundering beats of her heart who was more exhausted. What she could tell was that her fur was matted with exertion and that she probably smelled terrible. She was just about to comment on her no doubt ‘pungent’ aroma when her stomach growled viciously beneath the fur covering her abdomen. As if in answer to her obvious hunger, Aryian continued to answer her question from earlier. The question that Azhani presumably asked herself in what she assumed was the silence of the hall. I suppose I could go for some food myself. There's shenanigans afoot with evil guys and the Sith and all that, but if you don't have a healthy meal every now and then, you can't keep your strength up with all of it. Azhani couldn’t really keep up with all of what he said, but the mention of food sent her mind a whirl with images of meat and grain. She managed to keep standing, but the fatigue struck her like a metal baton to her knee caps and she decided that a meal was just what she needed to regain her strength. She nodded to the master and proceeded down the cold metal hall toward the Cafeteria. I think a meal sounds nice. Thank you. The smell of food led her further on and it wasn’t long before she caught the scent of beef wafting through the halls to greet her hypersensitive nose.

((Sorry about the wait - snow storm, work, lack of time... etc.)) The man from a little while ago came in to the security room and greeted Azhani warmly. She was still a little confused, but the composition of his facial expression and the tone of his voice helped comfort her a little. It was the warm paternal glance that her father used to give her when she was a cub. Not overtly loving, but protective and confident, which was kind of ironic considering she was a little bit taller than him and a bit bulkier. Then again, things in her life were a little out of the ordinary at the moment. She looked him up and down for a few moments then stood to her full height and flexed her legs. She paced around him, crossing her own arms over her chest and then nodded silently. "Masterr Darkvire vished for me to stay. I acknoledge and appreciate your offer, but Brutus suggests there may be more for me to do here. Thank you Master Travlion." She accidentally mispronounced his name, but didn't realize it right off the bat. She wasn't comfortable with all of the sounds in his name and ended up pushing his last name together into a vaguely fancy sounding name that was similar, but different. "I vill train and spar here until Darkvire returns. Thank you for your hospitality." Azhani said. Her face was kind, plain and curious at the same time. Her mouth was closed, but the lips that formed the curve under her leathery snout, curved into a light smile that didn't show any teeth. "My name is Azhani of clan Aketh. Thank you again." And with that, she left the Jedi's company and walked with Brutus to one of the other rooms. She asked him for a small tour and before long, was doing laps around the facility to verify and solidify the knowledge that she was getting in order to get used to her time spent - presumably static - in the space station. _______ _______ _______ (a few hours pass) _______ _______ _______ Her muscles flexed idly as she bounced on the balls of her digitigrade feet. She counted internally, mumbling numbers to herself and watching the opposite wall with bated breath. A few moments passed with a small ticking sound serving as the only audible cue to anyone that there was something else inside this spartan room. The sound was sharp, pointed, but very small. It echoed off of the walls in the large spacious chamber and came back to the Cathar's ear at only a slight delay every few seconds. After the fifth click, Azhani's feet kicked into motion and she began sprinting through the room at full speed. On her second step - when the leathery pad of her foot hit the soft matted floor - a machine popped out of the center of the ground and started to shoot out racquetballs everywhere. Each one hit the wall and bounced back and forth, threatening the Cathar as she darted about wildly trying to avoid them. She'd done this once or twice already, but each time she did it, she got a little bit better. Her biggest problem though, was her large body. It didn't take more than a few minutes before she was pelted with a sharp bite at her upper thigh, smacking against her body with a harsh thwap sound. She winced slightly, which caused another ball to graze her ear and yet another to pop violently at her arm before the machine stopped and popped back into the ground again. The Cathar stopped, holding her pained areas and panting slightly. She looked at the disc in the center of the room and made a disgruntled face. Regardless, she was about to start again when she saw a few panels on the sides of the room open up simultaneously. She was curious as to their function, but decided against further investigation. That was, until an army of mouse droids popped out of the walls and scurried about picking up the remaining balls. The droids were small and harmless, but their beeping was deafening. They all beeped in unison and after only a few seconds, Azhani was tired of hearing them. She said "shhhh," thinking that that was the only incentive they needed, but instead they seemed to get even louder. Getting irritated, a small spark gleamed in the Cathar's pale blue eyes. One mouse droid scurried right next to her right foot and she lunged out to get it, but missed it by an inch. She smiled widely, bearing her large white teeth and immediately set out to grab every mouse bot she could before they scurried back into their holes. It was some sort of cosmic coincidence. Some small voice in her head told her that this chase was something that she was meant to do. It wasn't really hunting, because hunting involved more sport, but even the attempted exertion was enough to give Azhani the impetus to try it again. And she was just about to summon more, when her stomach rumbled deeply with a large sustained bass note. "Time to go to the kitchen then..." Azhani mused, rubbing at her belly and leaving the controls alone. "I wonder where Brutus ran off to."

((Sorry for the delay IRL troubles... Ugh)) Azhani looked at Brutus and smiled softly, exposing little to no evidence of the sharp predatory teeth that lay beneath her furry lips. She replied after a beat, her voice as soft as her smile with very little of her accent sneaking into her speech. "No, it is a rrarre - albeit known - fur discoloration. The typical colorr of a Cathar ranges frrom gold to brrown. It was thought, in days of old, that the spirits of a white Cathar were especially strong, but with the rise of invention and science in the major cities, they found that it had to do with something inside. A genetic anomaly as that computer called it." Azhani didn't really have more to add to that. It seemed an effective answer with little left to the imagination. Something bothered her though. The mechanical hum of the room stood out in contrast to the organic sounds of heartbeats that played all around her, but even amongst the melodious chaos, the Cathar felt... Lost. She looked at Brutus, a hint of concern reflecting in her cold, pale, blue eyes. "Brutus, what do I do now? Do I just sit here and hope Aryian comes back?"

Azhani rounded a corner along with Brutus - the guardsman - into what she could only describe as the most technology she had ever seen in her entire life. She didn't know what the latest tech gadgets were, so it didn't really matter the level of security or surveillance they actually had. She was a little thrown off though and something about the tech based pulse of the station disturbed her. The audible hum of the space station around her was ever present here and it made her a little uncomfortable. She let her discomfort slide off though, as the pair worked their way through the open room. It was still there, nagging at her beneath her fur and in her ears, but she let it ride as she was escorted to a moderately sized machine. The technicians needed a moment to re-adjust the machine for her size, but it only took a few strokes on something Azhani assumed was a control pad of some kind. When she stepped onto the machine it lit up with fascinating blue lights. They whirred and buzzed in a melody of different noises that the Cathar swore she could hear, while the technicians could not. After a few moments, the lights died and a read out was projected on the screen. Racial Identification: Cathar Species type: Feline Humanoid Blood Type: CA-12+ Years of Age: 17 Height: 6’ 6.9321” - = caused by Cathar genetic defect 231 Width: 4' 2.234" Weight: 180.5 lbs Fur/Mane: White-Blonde (Mostly White) - = caused by Cathar genetic defect 332 Eye Color: Pale Sky blue Gender Identity /Sexual Identity: Female Feet: 1.5’ Long Paw-like feet with 1.5” long claws on each toe (1.45" Claws on each finger). Tail: 3.5’ long Nose: Black and leathery Name: Azhani Clan designation: Aketh Date of birth: (17 years ago) Mother's name: Azhiira Father's name: Cagani SIblings: 1 (Brother) 3 (Sisters) Status of family unit: Unknown Force Sensitive midi-chlorian count: 19525 per cell All of this information was accompanied by a life size holographic image of the Cathar on a large nearby screen. Azhani was a little astounded to see all of the information that this little computer could figure out about her. She considered asking it questions later, but decided against it when she started watching the man fiddling with the control panel again. The status of her family marked 'unknown' in the computer was a blessing, but also a terrible burden. She was no longer there to protect them and felt entirely responsible for their predicament. If only she had been stronger, she would have prevented this from happening; or tried harder anyway. She stepped down from the machine when it was finished and watched Brutus as he regaled about his time spent in the Jedi Order. The Cathar gave a silent response to his nostalgia for a moment, before she responded with her own question. "It's interresting zat you need all of dis technical eqvipment, I vas told zat ze Jedi vere ze spirritual guarrdians of the galaxy. Vhy is it zey need all of deeze tings?" She was thrown off of her guard, so her accent was a little thicker than she really wanted it to be, but she let the comment rest in the air between them until Brutus was ready to answer.

The man's joviality was a little refreshing. Everyone in the immediate vicinity seemed a tad too morose, dramatic or ill to give her much hope that she had made the right choice. It wasn't that she knew or didn't know why they felt that way; because she didn't. She just felt that, while there was a time for drama, it may or may not have been needed right now. This man was friendly and apologetic, two traits that Azhani felt were both odd and endearing for a guardsman to have, but his purpose was clear and she admitted her mistake with a slight nod as she fell in step behind him. She even reflected his smile when he looked up at her, although hers had considerably more shiny, sharp, teeth exposed than his did. "Name's Brutus, by the way. Guardsman second class. Used to serve with Master Darkfire, anyway. How, uh...how long've you known him?" Azhani took a moment to think, but realized that she actually couldn't recall how many days had passed since she met the Master. Space had a way of messing with her head. "My name is Azhani of Clan Aketh. I have not known him long. He found me out of sorrrts and I followed." The explanation had more bells and whistles than that, but Azhani wasn't really inclined to give everyone she met her entire life story. She could feel a bond forming with this individual and didn't want to squander it by giving things away too fast.

Azhani gave up trying to help the woman when the other man came over to help. Clearly he knew what he was doing; Azhani seemed to be nothing more than a furry prop. Excuse me miss, can I hold your hat? Thank you... *sigh* The Cathar thought she got some recognition from the older man as he went to the woman's side, but just when she noticed a faint glimmer in the Jedi's eye, a 'PSSSST!' sound bit her ear violently. To most, it was a harmless hiss of air, but to Azhani, even the ants that crawled on the ground were as giants. She could control the sensitivity of her ears most times, but some sounds were very prickly; one of those being, air hissing. Azhani looked around and saw a guard standing fifteen feet away, making the incessant sound with his lips like some sort of rigid snake with four more appendages than normal. When she begrudgingly turned her face to greet his, he beckoned her to him. It was a little odd, and she almost felt like he was beckoning the other two. She moved to the side, leaned her head to the left and to the right, and even got into a squat before she finally realized that the greeting was for her. She took a few steps forward and glared at the smaller man with livid blue eyes. "Please stop making that noise... It's giving me a headache."

Azhani stood at Aryian’s side silently. It wasn’t her place to make a commotion where it wasn't needed. She held a naturally composed – but restless – stance as the talking went on. She didn’t know what was going on; she didn’t even know where she was, but she thought it was interesting that no one noticed that she was there. She kept a mental timer in her head, wondering how long it would take for one of the Jedi to notice the almost seven foot, furry humanoid standing to the side of Aryian. Just as Azhani was about to speak up and break her silence, she felt inexplicably sick. Her mind was clouded a little and her vision went blurry. Her head pounded and she could feel her heartbeat. She didn't fall to the ground, but she grabbed at her head softly and massaged the top of her right brow with the leathery pad of her right paw. Wondering what just happened, Azhani looked around to see the others react in much the same fashion. The Cathar looked from the Jedi that fell to the ground to the one that plopped into a chair and was curious to what extent this instantaneous sickness pervaded the area around them. She walked toward the woman on the ground and offered her a paw to help her to her feet, but the woman on the ground seemed contented in her posture and didn't even see Azhani's outstretched paw. The Cathar held herself in that position for a moment before Aryian, treating Azhani like a cub, told her to stay put and ran off through the hall without saying anything else. That left her here, in a place she didn't know, with people she didn't know, exploring powers and potentials she never even really knew or understood she had. It was very frustrating, but Azhani didn't let it show. Her eyes slanted a little and her nose scrunched a few centimeters above its normal position, but she refused to let her disappointment show abundantly on her face and any evidence that hinted her discomfort faded quickly. She offered her paw to the seated woman again and held it there a little while, offering what little help she could, seeing as how she didn't really have anywhere else to go or anything else to do.

((Okay)) Azhani sat still for some time. She let the tranquility of the environment flow around her; she let the peace of thought in her mind settle before coming to a firm consensus. It wasn't that hard, considering her experience and her past. Uncertainty still kneaded at her a little in the cracks of her understanding, but she knew she couldn't waffle forever. She knew there was something strange inside of her. She often thought it was just her abnormal height or the weird genetic fur discoloration, but deeper still was a burning feeling that she could feel pulling her onward. Whenever she hunted, she boasted a stronger - more potent - array of senses than any of the other females of her pack. She often had difficulties overcoming her size, but she could find game even from miles off and consistently returned home with a bounty of fresh meat. It would be interesting to explore what kind of potential she had, and since she was already out of her comfort zone - so far from home - why stop now? She winced a little inside at the reminder of her home and the monster that had begun to destroy it in her vivid memory. She thought of using and manipulating that power against him, but even the thought of revenge made her cringe. After about ten minutes or so, Azhani looked Aryian straight in the eye and wore a contented smile. "I vould enjoy learrning. To see and know, if nothing else."

The Cathar did what she could to sit still, but her tail was still biding its time bobbing back and forth around the wall of the ship, poking and prodding at the cold metal shell that surrounded her. Her thoughts crammed mercilessly into her head and she tried to pry apart her anxiety, but it was ultimately Aryian's guidance that bade away the cloying nerves. It was misty at first, but when she consciously pushed past the haze of cloudy thought, she could make out a wide open field that stretched as far as her pale blue eyes could see. It was mesmerizing and beautiful, but before Azhani could run about in blissful glee, her mind interrupted her joy to tell her that some part of her was still in Aryian’s ship due to the persistent cold chill that ran down her spine. Regardless of her brain’s attempts at thwarting her excitement though, there was no denying that this illusion was more attractive than her immediate reality. She relaxed her illusory muscles and crouched down into a low battle-ready stance. Then, with all of the speed of a swoop bike and all the joy of a small child receiving a gift for the first time, the Cathar shot off into the wide green fields. It was mesmerizingly beautiful and if it hadn’t been for the summons of her new acquaintance, she would have likely stayed in her state of euphoric catharsis. A few minutes were all she needed to feel a lot better. Her muscles were surprisingly pleased with this outlet, even though it was false, and she felt ready to continue her conversation from before. Not skipping a beat, her new friend started to answer her question as the Cathar drew nearer. It all seemed a little far-fetched, to be honest. She was curious as to how it all actually worked. Aryian seemed true to his word though and much of what he said rang true in what Azhani had seen before, but why did he add in all of that other stuff? And would it really cost money? Azhani was unsure, and a little nervous, though it didn’t show on her face. “Pity, I don’t have any money.” Azhani said, straight faced. She didn’t know how much of what this man said was true, because he seemed to treat some of it like a joke. Azhani didn’t mind listening to someone with a practical sense of humor, but she couldn’t tell if he was just saying it to get a laugh, or if that was really what was going on here.