#nr.15

[nessjo]

♡ Nr.15

(These are not my pictures, i found them on pinterest and across the internet, the credits belong to the original owners)

Packing Gown Coruscant

Padmé wore a structured dress with a beaded center panel while packing for her involuntary trip to Naboo to escape the ongoing threats against her life. She would be accompanied by Anakin Skywalker.

(Via Wookieepedia)

Padmé's Masterlist

[human-encounters-diary]

Day 15

We are set to arrive on Fendaar in two cycles. As we are currently stuck on the SIIR Noxos, I have concluded that the passages of time that I am free of duties would be best spent continuing to observe the human. The human, on the other hand, seemed to have different plans in that matter, as it took me an unusually long amount of time to locate her.

As I eventually found her, she seemed to be working on one of the control panels in the main control room, so I may excuse her absence with duties she had to attend to. As she saw me, although, she seemed rather…excited (this is obviously mere speculation, as the study of the Terran so far has provided far too little evidence to prove such theories)?

As she rolled out from under the control board and sighted me, her face once again split into a wide opening revealing her horrifying amount of teeth.

"Hey! Dude!", she said, raising to her full height and stepping towards me, still baring her teeth, although I did not recoil, as I did not want to seem impolite. She raised her arms, each pointing into a different direction, away from their connection to the human's body.

"Human Quinn. How are you?"

"Me? I‘m fine, the whole 'wandering around in space' thing just made me throw up, I honestly don‘t know why they insisted on keeping me there for two whole days."

The ends of her fingers, studded with claw-like (rather short and rounded instead of sharp, perhaps they were not meant to function as claws at all, or perhaps the beings on Terra were far different from what I knew, and therefore a shape like this was far more useful to hunt) protuberances, scraped over the back of the connection between her head and her upper body. If I interpreted her facial expression correctly, she seemed to be thinking.

"Maybe I got a light concussion too, I’m not entirely sure. But it's improbable, because I’m fine now."

I decided to focus on one piece of information at a time. "Well, this "throwing up" can certainly not be a healthy nor normal process, otherwise, it would not seem so violently painful and involuntary, would it?"

"Well it‘s not…unnatural, it‘s just something that can happen. And about health, it‘s not unhealthy, it usually helps us to get rid of stuff that is bad for our bodies!", she eludicated, moving one of her arms in a rather random manner.

"The scientists have concluded that this fluid is highly acidic. If this 'stuff' is so harmful to you, wouldn‘t it just dissolve in this fluid before being able to cause any further harm?"

Quinn seemed to think about that. 

"Well, just because it gets dissolved, doesn‘t mean it‘s gone, you know? It's still in our bodies, and we have to get rid of it somehow. And if it needs to be fast, we throw up. Honestly, I‘d definitely explain this further to you, but Biology‘s never really been my strongest subject, ya know what I mean?"

I did not, in fact, know what she meant, but I decided against questioning her further.

After a pause the Terran spoke up again: "So, this planet we're landing on..." "Fendaar.", I clarified. "Right. So, this planet that we‘re going to, it‘s a desert, right?" "That is correct." "So, is it a sand, an ice or, I guess you could also count rock desert? 'Cuz on my planet, we‘ve got all of those types."

"Fendaar‘s ecosystem is mostly made up out of sandlike landscapes with rather scarce vegetation and biodiversity. Most of the planets in system 36-54 have rather extreme temperature ranges, and Fendaar is no exception.", I eludicated.

"Alright, cool.", she spoke, rolling back under the underside of the control panel she had been working on previously. She seemed to be sitting, or rather lying, on a piece of metal with four small wheels attached to it, allowing her to move it around.

"Your planet.", I initiated. 

"Yeah?", she responded, while continuing her work on the wiring.

"Am I assuming correctly that your planet has a far bigger biodiversity?"

"Oh, yeah.", there was a small spring in her voice, as if she had let out air in the middle of speaking. "Big biodiversity. We‘ve got deserts and rainforests, coral reefs and permafrost - although perhaps not for that long anymore - mountain ranges and all that stuff."

"Interesting.", I supplied, for lack of a better response. If Terra had such differences in temperature and landscapes, it was a logical conclusion that the humans had evolved to survive under such circumstances.

"Yeah."

It was unusually quiet for some time. That was, until Quinn rolled out from the underside of the control panels.

"Alright, I‘m done." She took a deep breath before opening her mouth once again. Then, all of a sudden, the muscles of her face started contracting as if she was plagued by an invisible pain. Her eyes squeezed shut and she let out horrifying noise, holding an arm angled in front of her nose and mouth. The noise itself was not particularly loud or long, but I recoiled either way, as a measure of safety. I could not be certain if this gesture was meant to harm me, after all.

Quinn‘s arm sank down again as her other hand rubbed at her nose. She huffed, a sound far less threatening than the one she had produced a moment ago. One of the hair patches above her visual organs raised itself, prompting the question to arise if human hair was controlled by muscles or if it had a mind of its own, although this was a question that could be further investigated later. One of the corners of her mouth raised, revealing the seemingly sharpest teeth in her mouth.

"I guess dust is an inter-galactic thing, huh?"

I did not respond. Her face muscles contracted, causing the skin above her visual organs to crease.

"Hey, you okay? You‘re looking a little spooked over there."

"Human, I do not wish to cause you discomfort, but, if I may ask, what was the purpose of the noise you just uttered?"

She did not respond for a moment, blinking with both of her eyes as she stared at me. It was quite unsettling, considering her previous explanation, that most humans preferred not being stared at. 

"I…sneezed?" The creases in the skin above her eyes deepened.

My front pliers uttered another rattling sound. "What is this 'sneezing'? What purpose does it serve?" I admit, I was quite curious. Terrans seemed much more complex than I had previously assumed.

She paused, seemingly to think of an answer. "Well, it‘s like…if something is bothering us at or in out nose, like dust, for example, it‘s kind of the natural response to that. To keep things out of our bodies that don‘t belong there."

"Human bodies seem to require a lot of defense mechanisms.", I commented.

She raised and lowered the connection of her arms to her upper body, baring her teeth once again while raising herself to her full height, using one of her arms as support.

"Y’know, it’s surprisingly hard to explain something you’re so used to to someone who’s never heard of it. I guess I still have to work on the whole 'awareness that I‘m around aliens' thing. S‘ kind of surreal."

She patted off her clothing, as if to remove non-existent filth once again. I had noticed the past few cycles that most of her clothing seemed to consist of several, usually differently-coloured, pieces of fabric. 

Her clothes usually covered her body from the connection between her arms and torso to the connection between her legs and, presumably, her feet. Her feet were usually also covered, although I could not determine the purpose it was supposed to serve in the environment we are currently in, although the theory that the conditions on Earth are vastly different compared to the ones on the SIIR Noxos is gaining more probability, based on the Terran's narrations.

The human seemed to evaluate a question she wanted to ask (this is, of course, a mere speculation based on previous observations: her face muscles were contracted to form a crease over her visual organs, which could so far most likely be interpreted as confusion, thoughtfulness or discomfort; her head was both slightly raised and tilted to one side at the same time, a gesture that was most likely supposed to convey an ongoing thought process).

Although, before she could utter a noise, V-7 informed us of a request from the Vitrichl to gather for a matter of importance.

The purpose of his summoning was to divide the crew into several smaller groups that were to be assigned with different tasks to fulfill once we sucessfully landed on Fendaar.

I was grouped with the Terran, which was unsurprising, as well as Tkzt, a member of the species that is widely known across the galaxies as Ctzas (it is to note that the Ctzas have not evolved any form of written language and communicate exclusively through clicking and chittering sounds. The written forms of, for example, names of this species, are written by other species to produce approximately the same sound as the Ctzas make when recited verbally).

Tkzt, as a member of the unit controlling supply chains and keeping a list of the stock of the SIIR Noxos, would make a helpful addition in our task of seeking out the nearest settlement in order to stock up on supplies.

After all matters of importance were settled, the crew dissipated, continuing their respective tasks. The Terran was ordered to stay and to assist the Vitrichl in another matter, which is the reason I did not cross paths with the human again for the rest of this cycle.

Despite this, I am positive that accompanying the human on an foreign planet will give me a further insight into the species' mannerisms and interaction manners with foreign species, which will prove to be helpful further on in studying the human.

[irathgo]

Camp Fire

The birds chirped and winds blew softly through the trees.  Nova slowly climbed over a fallen log before jamming his hands back into his pockets.  They’ve been tracking through the forest for five days now.  

He was tired, annoyed and hot.  And not in the mood for a week long trip in the forest.  

“Hey Nova, slow down would you” Gale said.

Nova glanced over his shoulder at his brothers, but did not slow down.  He just clenched one hand into a fist, the other refusing to move without sending bolts of pain up his arm and into his shoulder.  

They should have been, no, he should have been move careful.  He broke at least four bones in the hand, sprained the wrist and got a hole stabbed through it.  Gale took care of it wound, but they needed a proper doctor to look at it, but there was no way they would leave this place before the week was over.   

That just means that he had to hold on for two more days.

“Dammit, Nova” Max snapped from behind “It’s not a race you know” 

Nova stopped and turned to the other two, giving them a flat look.  “I just want to get to the camp and get this over this” he said.

Gale studied his brother for a moment.  “How’s your hand feeling?” 

“Like I tried to punch through a wall and then a tiger bit me” Nova growled, turned and started walking again.  

“That was not our fault and you know that” Gale said unsympathetic.

Nova flipped his brother off, not turning around.  He could hear the other two grumbling behind him, but ignored it.  If they were anyone else, he would have left them behind.  

They might be right.  He was jumpy and grumpy and not good company at all.  Although his brothers should be use to it by now.  

***

Nova groaned as he sat down in front of the fire.  Max got the fire going, without using his power.  This was a trip for their father to make sure that they did not come to relay to much on their power. 

It was annoying, but a good thing for them to do.  So he could understand Lucas’ point in doing this.  

Gale sat down next to him and held out his hand.  “Let me see what’s going on with your hand” he said “And don’t tell he that it’s nothing, because you cannot use that hand for shit”

Nova tilted his head slightly to look at his brother before slowly pulling his hand from his pocket and placed it in Gale palm, flinching.  

He swore when Gale started examining the hand.  

“You should have let me take a look at this earlier” Gale said as he took off the bloody bandage.  

“My hand is fine” Nova said, not looking down at the limb.  

“Then make a fist with is” Gale said.

Nova growled under his breath, but he could not bring himself to move his hand.  The broken bones hurt way to much.  

“You get my point” Gale said when Nova just looked away.  

“Shut up”

“My pleasure”

“Gale” Max said as he walked into the camp with three rabbits over his shoulder “I caught dinner”

Nova looked over at him.  “I’m not skinning those” he said.  Max snorted and looked over at Gale.

“Would you smack him for me?” he asked, taking a seat in front of the fire. 

“Smack him yourself” Gale said “While I’m not here to make sure he doesn’t kill you for being annoying”

Nova let out a low growl, but didn’t say anything.  

After a few more minutes Gale finished bandaging Nova’s hand again and by that time Max already finished skinning the rabbits and had them spiked over the fire.  

“Food will be ready in an hour or so” Max said. 

Nova nodded and sat back, closing his eyes for a moment.  “Thanks Gale” he said. 

Silence fell over the brothers.  

“Sorry for snapping at you” Nova said and tilted his head to look at Gale.  

Gale shrugged.  “You’re a pain in the ass, Nov, but don’t worry about it” he said “We’re all slightly stresses”

“And we’re used to you acting like a asshole” Max said and ducked to the side as Nova flung a pebble at him.  

A smile pulled on his lips and he just shook his head.  “You morons are the reason I act like an ass” he said “So don’t go putting all the blame on me now.  You are just as bad as me”

Gale leaned back and laughed.  “Damn” he said “I think you might be in a good mood today, despite that hand of yours”

“The hand was not my fault”

“Neither was it ours”

“You people are despicable”

“We learned from the best you know”

Nova shook his head.  “Lucas should have been here” he said “He’s hiding something from us”

“I know” Gale said “I’ve noticed it as well”

“What are you two talking about?” Max asked as he took one of the rabbits from the fire and handed it to Gale.  

“Dad’s been hiding something from us” Nova said as he stared at the fire “I have a feeling what it is about, but I can’t be sure”

“Are you sure about that?” Max asked and looked from Nova to Gale.  

Gale nodded.  “He’s right” he said “The missions he’s been sending our way lately, has been” he hesitated for moment “Sending us as far away from home as he can”

“It’s almost he’s trying to throw someone of out trail” Nova muttered.

“You think it’s Merico?” Max asked as he handed Nova his rabbit.

Nova took it with his good hand.  “I hope not, but it’s” he shook his head “I don’t know.  I really hope that it’s not the problem.  We’ll know if Lucas goes underground in the next few weeks”

Gale sighed as he started eating.  “Let’s just get this week over with before we start worrying about that”

“A nice camp fire” Nova muttered.  

“Cheer up, bro” Max said “You’ve got food and a place to sleep, don’t complain to much”

“TO bad that you’re talking cannot take away the throbbing in my hand” Nova said with a smile.

[irathgo]

Twisted Fate - Into the Unknown

Rai growled under his breath, when the other lightning user just stopped moving.  

“What are you doing?” he snapped and walking over to Curio “You cannot just stop in the middle of the street”

“If I knew it was a street, I wouldn’t have” Curio muttered “So what’s your point?”

Rai pulled a face, grabbed Curio’s arm and pulled him forward.  “You are so damn annoying, you know that right?”

“Don’t care”

“Shut up” Rai snapped “I don’t need you commenting on everything I say”

“Then don’t say stupid things”

“Screw you, Lightning boy” Rai growled under his breath and heard Curio snort.  

The two walked in silence after that.  Curio stumbled over the uneven ground, struggling to keep up with Rai’s pace.  

“Look, this place is not really a good area” Rai said after a while “Things are going to get messy if you let anyone here know who you really are, because some of the people here really don’t like Lightning Speed”

For a moment he glanced at Curio, suppressing a shudder.  Those sightless eyes were going to haunt his memories for a very long time.  The cuts and bruises looked even worse now than before.  He couldn’t believe that Vero did this to the young man.

“Why did you allowed him to do it?” Rai asked, stopping Curio from going any further.

“You think I allowed this to happen?” Curio snapped and winched as the headache that never really went away, flared up again.  He took a deep breath and shook his head.  “He caught me of guard” he said “I was already tired, exhausted from running and fighting, so it did not take much for him take me by surprise” 

Rai glanced at him for a moment before sighing and shook his head.  “You should have been more careful, man” he said “Like hell, you know what things are like out here and you just walked around, running on fumes?”

Curio did not say anything, just pressed his hand against his chest.  

“Come on it’s up the stairs now” he said.

They moved slowly up the stairs, Curio stumbling a few times.  By the time they reached the second floor, Curio was exhausted, trembling slightly.

Rai took the young lightning user’s wrist and placed his hand on the railing.  “Stay here” he said “And don’t antagonise anyone, keep your mouth shut”

Curio nodded slightly.  

***’

Curio pressed the heal of his hand against his forehead.  The pain in his head was getting worse.  He felt sick.  The few hours of sleep he managed to get was filled with nightmares and violence and pain.  

He heard a door open, jumping slightly and turned his head towards the sound.  

It messed with his head.  The darkness.  On the one side, his senses was hyper focused and on the other side, he struggled to focused on anything.  Every single sound made him jump, his nerves on fire.  

A hand on his shoulder caused him to jump and draw on his power.

“Easy there, Kid” Rai’s voice said.  

Curio could feel the tension in his shoulders lessening slightly.  “What happened?” he asked.  

“Come with me” Rai said and slightly pulled on Curio’s arm.  

For a moment Curio stumbled slightly before finding his feet again.  “You healer friend?” he asked.

“Yeah” Rai’s voice said “Careful, there’s a step”

The moment Curio took the step, he froze.  It felt as if he couldn’t breath and he almost crumbled.  If it weren’t for Rai’s hand on his arm, he would have fell.  

“Jessy!” Rai’s voice snapped “Stop that!”

Curio gasped as he was finally able to breath again.  

“Do you know who that is?” a woman’s voice snapped as Rai helped Curio back onto his feet.

“Of cause I do.  He’s the one you need to help”

“I’m not helping him!  That’s the bloody Lightning Speed”

“I know”

“And you still brought him here?”

“Yes, he’s not as bad as they say” Rai said “And he helped me out a few times, I owe him”

“Well I don’t”

“But you owe me”

There was silence for a moment.  “You don’t have to help me” Curio said his voice going cold “You don’t owe me anything, so I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t want to help”

“Is it just me, or is he kind of weird?” the woman’s voice whispered.

“He’s weird” Rai said “Now help him”

The woman sighed.  “Fine, put him there” she said.

“Come on” Rai said and Curio felt him being pulled into another direction.  

He stumbled a few times before, Rai took his wrist again and placed his hand on a something that felt like a chair, a dentist’s chair.  

“Sit down and keep your mouth shut, kid” the woman’s voice said.  

Carefully, Curio sat down and lay back.  He felt sick again, his head turning.  

“Step back, Rai” the woman said “I’ll take a look at him”

Curio flinched as cold hands touched him, his breathing hitched and his body went ridged.  

“Take it easy, Kid” the woman said.

Curio felt a tingling going through his body and he groaned, clenching his jaw shut.  

“What the hell happened to you, Kid?” the woman asked.  

Closing his eyes, Curio turned his head away.  

“Don’t ask” Rai said “Just fix him so that I can kick him out of my house”

“He’s staying in your house?”

“Shut up and get to work”

Silence filled the air.  

“What is it?” Rai asked and Curio went still.  

“Alright” the woman said and Curio felt her turning towards him “If I try and heal you, it is going to hurt”

Curio swallowed before he just gave in.  “Just do it” he said “It doesn’t matter”

“What’s wrong with him?” the woman’s voice asked “Is he alright in the head?  Maybe hit on the head a few times to many?”

“Could be” Rai’s voice said “Now get started”

“Better tie his hands and feet.  I don’t want him attacking me while I’m working”

Curio jumped when he felt something being tied around wrists and then his legs.  “Sorry about this, Kid” Rai said.

“Alright...” Curio muttered and just let himself drift.  

He could feel the woman’s hands on his chest and suddenly everything went cold.  The cold spread from his chest and shot up into his head.  

***

Rai just watched as Curio squirmed on the chair, his hands gripping and releasing the armrests.  His eyes were shut tightly, jaw clenched.  After a few minutes he just went white.

In front of his eyes he could see the cuts and bruises slowly started healing.  

Curio let out a gasp before he screamed, eyes snapping open as he started thrashing around.  

Rai just stared at Curio’s face.  His blue eyes slowly turned back to their original colour.  Blood tears started dripping down his cheeks.  

“Oh crap” Rai hissed as he saw the slight sparks forming around Curio’s hands “Jessy, be careful.  He is losing his control”

Curio started gasping for breath as he stopped screaming, his body starting to seize.  Jessy jumped back, her eyes going wide.  

“What is he?” she asked.  

Rai just shook his head.  “I don’t know...” he whispered, unsure of what to make of the young man on the chair “I just know that he’s bloody powerful”

“I can see that” she said “I’ve never felt power like his and he’s not even awake”

“Oh this is nothing...” Rai whispered, eyes wide “This is just the beginning, like level one of his power.  Can’t you do something about this?”

“Him seizing?  No, that is his power looking for an outlet and if I touch him, he’ll kill me in an instant”

The moment the seizing stopped, Rai’s eyes widened and he shot forward, tackling Jessy to the ground, his own power surrounding them.  

Electricity exploded around them before everything went quiet.  

Slowly Rai got up.  He looked around in the room, eyes wide.  

“Wow” he whispered “He must have crazy control.  Nothing got damaged”

Jessy allowed Rai to pull her to her feet.  “You better hope nothing’s damaged” she growled.  

Rai walked over to the chair.  Curio just lay limply on the chair, bloody tears dripping down his cheeks.  There was blue patterns on his arms and around his eyes.  As Rai watched, they slowly disappeared and after a moment Curio’s eyes flickered open.  

“What’s happened?” he muttered, eyes flickering around as if searching for something.  

Slowly Rai and Jessy made their way towards him.  

“Can you see anything?” Rai asked.

“How are you feeling?” Jessy asked, both leaning over him.

Curio blinked a few times.  It took him a moment before his eyes focused on Rai before jumping to Jessy.  

“I’m fine...” he said slowly, his voice hoarse “It’s a bit blurry, but better than nothing...”

[athenamgh]

#XV

Vereesa: What’s our exit strategy?

Sylvanas: Our what?

Vereesa: Oh my god, we’re all going to die.

[eingang-custombikes]

Get the Light

[everblazingflowers-blog]

ADINA VUILARD

[demons-daleks-and-anderson]

one last breath- well she was holding up two fingers, maybe that's why the budget doesn't suffice sometimes

Andi Knoll, the austrian commentator