[Open] Come away little light

[talentedscavenger]

who: Rey and OTA
what: Rey coming to the conclusion she would be here for sometime and CR building.
when: 9/16--9/20
where: Around town
warnings: None, will be updated as needed.

In the beginning, Rey was dead set on finding a way home. She wanted--no, needed to find a way back home. There were things she had to do. She had to find Luke, she had to give him his lightsaber and...hopefully, he would train her. Given her connection to the Force, she would need to be trained. There would come a time when she would face Kylo Ren again, and she had to be prepared, but now that she was stuck in this place. What would she do?

It had been a week or two since she came via portal to this place. A place that made no sense to her and one she wasn't willing to trust. Some viewed it as a second chance, a new home for themselves. While that was fine for them, she couldn't stay, but she couldn't leave either. Was this part of the Force? Obi-Wan said she had to learn to trust in it. The Force could be confusing, but there had to a be a reason behind it, right? Rey was contemplating that idea, letting it circle around in her head as she left the Communal Hall. If she was meant to be here, then maybe it was time for her to start looking for work?

She went into the city, her eyes flickering down to her phone every now and then. There were times when she was searching through it and the posts on the network, looking for answers..none came. If she was going to find work...what would she do? Jim had suggested she join the Perimeter Guard, but could she? She didn't exactly trust how things were being run here...but what other choice did she have?

Rey wasn't paying too much attention to where she was going until she stopped realizing she was at the park. She took a seat on a park bench and mentally ran through her options and what she would need to do to live in this new place.

Comments

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco comes to this park most days to eat his lunch - left to his own devices, he would probably stay in the workshop all day living off candy and barely seeing the sun. Fortunately, his devices aren't entirely his own, these days, and Eddie has been pestering him to do stuff like go outside from time to time, eat vegetables, all that responsible adult nonsense that Cisco hasn't entirely mastered, yet.

So he is there, alternating between carrot sticks (which had just happened to turn up in his bag, somehow) and gummy bears, watching the people who pass by. He notices Rey, primarily because he hasn't seen her around before, and she looks distracted and aimless. Most people here are either taking a stroll in a pre-determined route, or playing fetch with their dogs, or some other deliberate course of action. But she just wanders in, looking lost, and then sits down on a park bench not that far away from him, looking... well. Looking pretty unhappy.

He vacillates for a moment or two between minding his own business and offering help, and settles on the latter. Cisco packs away the rest of his food and strolls over to the bench, asking as he approaches: ]

Can I sit?

[ Cisco perches at the far end of the bench without waiting for a reply, and just cuts right to the chase. ]

Listen, I hope it's cool to ask, but, are you, like... okay? You looked kinda lost.

[talentedscavenger]

[Rey was lost, unsure of what to do. No solid plans were forming in her head. Every time she thought of something, five more questions or possibilities came up. What was jarring was the fact that Poe told her she had been here before. Not too long though, according to him. Would she be taken back then? Was it a matter of time?

Around and around her mind went, not realizing someone was coming closer until they spoke. Rey blinked. She was going to tell him he could and now he was sitting on the far end of the bench. His question caught her off guard.]

Yes, I'm fine. [Her voice wavered there, not sounding the tiniest bit convincing. Okay, she wasn't fine. She was..lost as he put it. She moved her metal staff from her shoulder to rest against the bench. It looked old, and it was. A piece of home that she may or may not see again.]

Still adjusting to this place, and it didn't hit me during orientation, but it is now.

[Like a bantha. How silly was she before? All that gumption to get a ship and fly back, and now...her options were very, very limited. She would have to figure out something soon.]

[franciscoramon]

[ If she had left it at I'm fine, Cisco would have gotten up and wandered away, no matter how unconvincing it sounded. For a moment he thought that might be what was going to happen, but then the girl spoke up again, and he start nodding a little. Cisco twists around on the bench, sitting cross-legged and tapping his fingers against his shoes in thought. ]

Sounds like you're pretty new. How long you been here?

[ It had been a while since Cisco arrived, but he remembers it, and how disorienting it had been, even for him, and he had come in with at least a passable knowledge of multiverse theory and a certain familiarity with weird shit just sort of happening nonstop. ]

I'm Cisco, by the way.

[talentedscavenger]

A few weeks? The date on the..[She had to think of the name for a moment.] phone says as much. [The star system calendar here was different, but she made sure to track her days. She may not have a wall to mark on, but she can still count. Maybe she can find a writing pad...and continue her tradition of writing down her days.

A few days where she used the network to write to people and even met a few in person. A few days to gather information and she was no where near leaving. A ship that was in pieces, but she wouldn't take it from Jim and Poe. She wouldn't dare. If anything, she would have to build a ship from scratch, and to do that she would need money...and food.

She turned to face him a little more.]

Rey. [And had they spoken on the network? She didn't think so...] How long have you been here?

[franciscoramon]

[ Her moment of hesitation in naming the phone is a pretty clear indication that she is from a time or a place that is very different from his home. Which is good to know; he makes a mental note to avoid pop culture references, if possible, and not assume she is familiar with certain technologies. ]

Good to meet you, Rey. I've been here half a year, ish.

[ It's kind of weird to think about that. In some ways, it feels much shorter than that - when he thinks about the place itself, and how much he still doesn't know about this moon, and the portal, and the rest of it. But when he considers the people he's met here, the friendships he's made... six months seems like barely any time at all. Cisco smiles softly at the thought.

He pulls out that rather rumpled paper bag he'd used for his lunch, hauls out the half-eaten bag of gummy bears and sets it on the bench between them, indicating that she's welcome to take some. He plucks a green one from the bag and pops it into his mouth, chewing as he thinks about what to say next. Eventually, he settles on: ]

Yeah, I was pretty freaked out for about the first month or so, then I started to chill out a little more. You from Earth?

[ It's one of the first questions he asks new people, here. Which is pretty wild, when he stops to think about it. ]

[talentedscavenger]

Nice to meet you too.

[Given the circumstances, it was nice to meet anyone that wasn't trying to do anything evil, dangerous, or harmful. Thus far, it was....interesting to be in a place where there wasn't a war, and there was more life to it. No sand, no hot sun bearing down, and a bed. Though, it was a bit too soft for her likening. There were nights when she contemplated sleeping on the floor for comfort.

She watched Cisco take out a brown bag. For a moment she thought he was reaching for a weapon, but he didn't seem threatening. He looked like he was trying to help her, which was nice. It wasn't often help was given on Jakku, not without a price. Her eyes peered down to the bag he set between them, knitting her eyebrows together.

What were those colorful pebbles? She didn't think he was offering to her, not when she had nothing to give in return.]

Earth? No, I'm from Jakku--a desert planet. [Or junkyard as a lot of people like to call it. A wasteland, but things still grew there. Albeit, rarely, but some plants managed to survive...she did.

So he was a different planet and had been here for a few months...]

This is very different from where I'm from, and staying here longer than I thought..it's jarring. [She'll need a job, and there were so many other things to figure out on a big, grander scale.]

Does it get easier?

[franciscoramon]

Wow, seriously? Yeah, just a little different.

[ Cisco looks around them, at the vibrant greenery of the park, and at the tops of the trees sticking up between the buildings all through the city, and the forest beyond. This place is lush, and a bit humid, and just about as far from a desert as it's possible to get. ]

Never heard of Jakku from anybody else I met here.

[ Which doesn't necessarily mean that she is alone, here. Cisco's hardly met everyone, and besides, not everyone comes from a universe as planet-bound as he does. ]

So have they got, like... interplanetary travel? 'Cause we definitely didn't where I was from. So the whole... living on a moon, meeting aliens and whatever, totally blew my mind.

[ When she asks if it gets easier, he considers carefully before he gives his answer. He doesn't want to give false hope, or trivialize this girl's obvious distress at her situation. At the same time, he has to be honest. So he shrugs, and says: ]

It did, for me. At first I missed home a lot. My friends, my job, my city. But I adjusted. Got used to the way this place works. Started meeting new people from all over the multiverse, trying new things.

[ Cisco's smile is gentle, encouraging, and he gestures to the bag of gummy bears, taking another two himself and saying: ]

Do they have gummy bears, on Jakku? 'Cause if not, you should definitely try one. They're food. Well, candy, but still. My point is, that's the best thing about this place. Getting to try stuff from places you never woulda been able to go, and meet people you wouldn't have been able to meet.

[talentedscavenger]

[Rey nodded her head, a small smile playing along her lips. Yes, this planet was different, vastly different than Jakku. However, Takodana had such a lust forest. So much green that she never thought was possible. She didn't think so much green could exist in the whole galaxy. It was peaceful, tranquil even.]

Not many people go to Jakku. [A junkyard planet where people very rarely left. Not unless they were traders, criminals, or thieves. Those who had a ship could leave. Whereas those without one couldn't, stuck working for Unkar Plutt day, after day. Cisco's question briefs takes Rey's mind off her own troubles. Talking about something familiar was calming, in a way, even if it was about Jakku.]

Yes, you can travel between planets if you have a ship. You can make the jump to light speed and go from star system to the next.

[In a few hours one could go from one world to the next, learn new things, or evade the First Order. A little of both in Rey's case. Learning about the Resistance, about Luke Skywalker, and evading the First Order in one go.

She stayed quiet, taking in Cisco's words. There were pros and cons to being here, but her drive to leave was there. She needed to leave to find Luke Skywalker. It was starting to feel like she had been ripped out of where she was supposed to be, and dropped in a new place. Similar to when she was first left on Jakku. It was beyond her control, but instead of waiting for something to happen, she wanted to make it happen herself. It was frustrating, but she would have to make it work. What other choice does she have?]

Gummy bears? [By her tone and skepticism, it's clear such a thing isn't on Jakku.] No, we don't have anything like that. We get portions for the parts we bring in, I was a scavenger. [Working all day in the hot sun, looking for parts and cleaning them, only to have her fate be determined by someone else.

She looks at the gummy bears and reaches to take only one.] Thank you. [it's a rarity that someone was willing to share their food, and even having one gummy bear..] It's...chewy, but very sweet. It's...nice. Do they all taste the same?[Very chewy, but not tough? Sweet and maybe a bit tangy? This probably sounds so odd to someone who's used to such sweets.]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco only just barely manages to hold in a joke about no one much wanting to go to Missouri, either. He came over because he wanted to help, not confuse Rey even further. Based on the tech she's describing, and the matter-of-fact way she's talking about it (like light speed travel is just ordinary, accepted, everyday), Cisco amends his earlier assumption - she clearly has not heard of a phone because technology has advanced so far past them. That's... a bit daunting, and a lot exciting. ]

That is so awesome. Seriously, on my planet we've barely made it to our moon, and that's only about 240,000 miles.

[ He watches, encouraging smile still in place, as she takes a piece of the candy and chews on it. Her expression stays fairly neutral, and her praise is somewhat faint, but it's hard to say if she is pretending to enjoy them some to be polite, or if she is just a restrained sort of person. ]

The different colors are different flavors. They're all sweet, though.

[ He doesn't want her thinking she is going to come across one that is savory or whatever, which would be pretty weird. But something she had said before she tried the candy has just sunk in, and Cisco asks: ]

Parts? Parts of what? Machines?

[ It seems the logical answer to him, but he realizes that he's biased to think that because he's an engineer and thinks about machines automatically in a lot of situations. ]

Did they assign you a job here?

[angelic_archer]

There were other places that he could train, but sometimes he felt confined within the walls of the apartment and even the training areas of the perimeter guard. He missed private areas of Central Park that Shadowhunters and Downworlders used that the Mundanes around them had no idea existed. Usually he'd trained with Jace or Izzy but sometimes he'd moved through practice drills or meditated with the almost otherworldly quiet surrounding him.

Alec didn't know if there were areas like that in Quarantine, but the park was a quiet place away from his family and responsibilities. Today, his training stalled when he noticed someone sitting on a bench nearby, looking lost or maybe confused. Sliding his stele out of his pocket, moving behind a tree before deactivating his glamour. Then he moved over to the bench, hoping to look non-threatening. "Are you okay?'

[talentedscavenger]

Rey was starting to sense something was nearby. She didn't immediately look for it, no. It was just brushing up against her senses and for a brief moment she thought shew as sensing someone else. Someone that was part of the First Order and had no business being her (but then again, neither did she). Thankfully, she was wrong. There was someone talking to her that showed up out of nowhere.

"I'm fine..?" she blinked, confused for a moment. Was it that obvious she wasn't? She was usually better at hiding her emotions.

"Just thinking...that's all." Thinking and pondering, and trying not to let her mind go around and around in one big loop.

[angelic_archer]

He made a thoughtful sound, one that wasn't meant to deny her words, just acknowledge them. She didn't seem fine, but he knew that pushing someone for the truth usually ended with being yelled at, or when he was around Jace, possibly getting punched.

Looking around, he watched the leaves of a nearby tree rustle softly in the breeze. "It's a good place to think. It's why I come here to train." The glamour was meant to hide his weapons so that the Mundanes around him didn't panic over a 'maniac with a sword' in the park. "It reminds me of one of my favorite places back home."

[talentedscavenger]

Rey knitted her eyebrows together. Was he the one she was sensing? She hadn't seen anyone here a moment ago, but maybe he came by when she wasn't paying attention. There were a lot of things on her mind, so she was trying to get everything together but it continued to go around and around in a circle.

"I didn't see anyone when I came here..." He was trying to be helpful, that was the vibe she was getting, but had she missed something. Maybe she was being paranoid. Maybe--no, he most likely entered the park when she was distracted.

"There's nothing like this where I'm from. A few plants, but nothing that really thrives...it's nice." All the greenery. A chance to get away from a few things and simply think.

"Did I interrupt your training?"

[angelic_archer]

Most Mundanes wouldn't have noticed that Alec hadn't been visible while he'd been training. Most people would assume they'd been too busy to pay attention or found some other excuse for not noticing someone who said they were nearby. "I'm used to not being noticed." The words held a note of self-depreciation and acceptance. Alec had spent years being used to others not paying attention to him so it was an easy suggestion for why she might not have seen him.

"Where I'm from is huge city, but we have parks there. Most people seem to completely ignore them even when they're in the middle of them." Alec had always liked their training sessions outdoors.... when he wasn't worried about the Seeelie interrupting. "It is. This one is quieter than the ones back home."

Shaking his head, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Not really. It was more of an excuse to get out of the house than a serious training session."

[talentedscavenger]

"Neither am I," she replied softly, taking in the tones of his voice.

"I'm no one." She adds, still finding that to be the case. She wasn't anyone important. Granted, she had Luke's lightsaber, but she wasn't all that important in the scheme of things. Luke Skywalker was the important one. He needed to set things right, or at least she believed that to be the case prior to coming here. Now...she had to figure things out all over again.

"How could people ignore something so nice?" A rhetorical question because seeing this much green was calming and proof that life could exist anywhere. Either way, it was nice to have someone to talk to, to get her mind off of her own worries.

"Know the feeling. I'm not used to living in ....that.." she gestured towards the communal housing. "And, I needed to get out, to do something."

[angelic_archer]

Alec understood being the one that no one noticed, always being in the shadow of someone brighter, but he couldn't understand being 'no one'. Even when he was the ignored child and sibling, he was still a Lightwood. His family still cared. "It's not possible to be no one. Not if someone cares about you."

As soon as he spoke the worlds, Alec realized he might have overstepped. She might not have family or friends here or back home. He probably should apologize but he'd wait to see if he'd accidentally hurt her first.

"People get used to things they're around all the time. It's not right, but we all do it from time to time." Thinking of a few of his encounters in New York, there might be another reason. "There might be another reason. Back home, people might attack you if you pay more attention to the trees than who's around you." Even someone who looked 'like a ninja' got mugged occasionally.

Giving her a sympathetic look when he realized she was in the communal housing that his family had recently left, he considered what options might be available to her. "There's other places to live. We moved out but I don't know what terms our landlord would set for someone else. There's other places too, depending on what you want."

[talentedscavenger]

Rey was ready to say something, but she didn't. It was almost a knee-jerk reaction to say no-one cared. Her family did, or at least she thought they did. Finn, she knew cared. Along with BB-8, Chewie, and Han... She missed them. She missed all of them, and she was hoping Finn was okay. There was a slow nod of her head.

"It was an idea I had for a very long time. Hard habit to break." A gentle reminder wasn't so bad. Though, it was hard to think about someone caring about her on this island. She barely knew anyone, and trusting someone....that took time.

"Is it common to just have people suddenly attack you? Or others?" Rey was trying to create a mental picture of the world he came from, but it seemed odd that people would randomly attack one another for paying attention more to nature than another person.

As for her living situation...she had to let out a small chuckle, shaking her head.

"It's..." how could she put it? "Where I was living before, was small, but it was private, but doubtful I'll find anything like it here. It was an old war vessel." Because she tried explaining what an AT-AT was to Jim, and she still needed to find a drawing or make a drawing of it.

[ragnarsson]

Ivar was in the park, surrounded by his three Pokemon. It had been a while since he'd been able to get them out for exercise, so he was taking the time that his daughter Winter was with a caretaker to let them stretch their legs. Two looked almost normal, like horses, aside from the fact that one had a mane and tail on fire, while the other zebra-like one had a mane and tail that occasionally glowed with electricity. The third looked more bizarre, rather like what a silver tree stump might look like if it suddenly came to life.

It was this one, a little Phantump named Sprig, who came floating over to where Rey was. He looked up at her with blue eyes and gently nudged her with his little black arms. "Phantump? Phan?" He asked in a questioning tone, looking around her like he was searching for something.

"Sprig! Get back here!" Ivar came rolling up in his wheelchair. Sprig immediately tried to hide behind the park bench. He turned to the woman. "I'm sorry if the little nuisance was annoying you. He seems to think anyone will feed him if he acts cute enough."

[talentedscavenger]

Rey had been lost in her thoughts, figuring things out in her mind when something or someone approached her. She blinked once then twice. Odd, a cute little creature that was trying to speak a language she didn't understand. A new species? Was this common in Riverview? The creature provided her with a good distraction, reminding her of the other creatures she's come to face with....

Still a bit strange, but not deadly.

"Well, hello," she began to say, only to see someone come up in a wheelchair. Rey blinked once more, looking at the creature and then at the new person.

"No, he wasn't annoying at all. I don't have any food though..." her gaze went from this new person to the creature who was hiding behind that bench. "Sorry." She should have food on her, just in case..

"Is he your friend?" That would be the best way to put it. She didn't know if it was a pet, or someone of a different species.

[ragnarsson]

"Sort of. He's more like a pet." He fixed the little Pokemon with a stare. "Come on. Get over here." Sprig seemed to hesitate for a moment before he came out from behind the bench, coming up to Ivar, and nuzzling himself against his legs in an ingratiating manner. It seemed to work a little, for the intense look in Ivar's eyes dimmed down. Curious eyes they were too, the sclera as well as the irises a pale blue.

He turned the Pokemon back around towards Rey. "Now, introduce yourself properly to the lady. With manners this time."

Sprig floated back up, holding out one of the wispy little black blobs that served him for arms for Rey to shake. "Phantump," he said in the almost-solemn way of someone saying their name to a new acquaintance.

[talentedscavenger]

It wasn't the stranger's eyes that caught Rey's attention, but how he treated his little friend. He wasn't upset at the little scamp, nor was he willing to berate or reign him in by force. Everyone that Rey has come across seemed to be kind, willing to help. The complete opposite of Jakku, really. She didn't say anything, preferring to observe the interaction up the small creature introduced itself to her.

It was adorable, almost as adorable as BB-8. She reached out with her own hand, shaking its little arm.

"Rey," she greeted in response, a slight smile on her face. She wasn't upset by the interruption. After the handshake she pulled her hand back to look at the owner of Phantump.

"And who are you?"

[ragnarsson]

"Phan, Phantump!" Sprig said happily, his light blue pupil-less eyes crinkling up. He floated next to Rey and sat down on the park bench. He'd decided she was a new friend, even if she didn't have any food.

"Ivar Ragnarsson." The R's of his name rollef off easily in his Norwegian accent. "Sometimes called Ivar The Boneless." The wheelchair gave an obvious indication of just why he'd acquired that particular nickname. "Sprig and those other two over there belong to me." He pointed over to a nearby grassy area, where there was two large horse Pokemon grazing. One was a male Ponyta, nearly fully grown now, and the smaller one was a female Blitzle.

[talentedscavenger]

Well, Rey was expecting the crea--Phantump to go back to its owner rather than simply sit next to her. Not that she was bothered by it. It was nice to have company, especially when she continued to lose herself in her thoughts, trying to figure out what her next move should be.

There was a nod of her head, acknowledging Ivar's name. Her gaze stayed on him, not on his wheelchair. She saw it, and him when he came up to her after Phantump came up to her. Her gaze did wander to the other creature, or pets, in the grassy area. They seemed to be doing well for themselves.

"Are they from your home world?" she asked, finding it would be rude to assume they would be.

[ragnarsson]

"No. They're called Pokemon and they came through from another world with one of the people that came through the portal. They're all outside in the forest. I found Skinfaxi first." He pointed to the Ponyta. Really, who wouldn't want a horse on fire? It was just the coolest thing, especially for a sixteen year old Viking.

"Then Hrimfaxi came next. Sprig belonged to my girlfriend--" There was a brief moment where his throat tightened up and a flicker of pain crossed his face. "--but she left, so I got landed with him too." Three Pokemon plus a new baby meant Ivar had his hands full giving them all equal attention.

[talentedscavenger]

"Pokemon?" Rey repeated, testing the word out on her tongue. So they were pets then. Beasts who had a language of their own, and who could only say their names it looked like. Her eyes trailed to the creature with the firey mane, and the other beast.

She saw the pain in Ivar's eyes, it was the same pain she saw in Leia's eyes and Chewie's demeanor when they lost Han.

"I'm sorry that she's not here.." his girlfriend, lover. Rey hoped they would be able to see each other again, but considering she was still learning the ropes of this place, who knew.

"They're very lucky to have you. I can't say someone would be willing to look after another's pet after they're gone from my world."