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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3626694" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 485: A Long DayThe day just didn’t seem to want to end.    As Marix had been making her way to where the Mrrakesh was being interrogated, a Jendari stopped her and mentioned that Venda had been provided a ship to leave. Marix had simply nodded at that and continued on. She made it about five steps before feeling a strong gaze aimed at the back of her head. There was no need to turn around to see that the Jendari hadn’t moved and was simply watching her.    Fine.    Annoyance was building again, but Marix pushed that away and turned around to follow the Jendari. He was undoubtedly going to lead her to the hangar where she’d be expected to say something important to some Jedi woman she barely knew, or cared about. In fact, she didn’t really know anything about the woman beyond the fact that she was female, human, and a Jedi. Venda could fight, but not exceptionably well. She seemed to be the type that observed everything around her before actually acting.    Of course, Marix was thankful for the assistance in protecting Saaran. Fighting a Mrrakesh was definitely a task to be commended. For Marix it seemed almost routine now, but she knew she was unique in that. As a human who had no idea what the Mrrakesh were capable of, coming out alive was amazing enough. To survive with a couple of broken bones that were easily healed and a few bruises was even more amazing. That didn’t mean Marix had to like Venda. Something about the woman just bothered Marix.    She had a feeling it was the whole Jedi thing. Marix really didn’t want to see Tobias again and have him acting like a haughty little bastard. That was harsh. And Venda wasn’t like that...not really. But still. Something about the whole ‘We know the one true path to enlightenment through the Force, and if you don’t follow it you’re evil’ thing really ate away at Marix. Mainly because she didn’t follow it and wasn’t evil. Or at least, not the kind of evil that the Jedi were talking about. The entire idea that there was only one understanding of the Force was beyond her, as she’d seen a great many in her time and very few of their practitioners were the evil darksiders that the Jedi seemed to swear they were.    She sighed.    This was usually the point where Jyren would explain to her that she was being narrowminded. Or something else horribly insulting that he wouldn’t realize he’d said until she was glaring a hole into his skull. Though, in a way, she found herself doing the exact same thing internally, something about that was just horribly depressing. There was an obvious answer to why that was, but Marix chose to ignore it for the moment. It would only make things worse. And, currently, the last thing she needed was an endless bad day getting worse.    When Marix and the Jendari reached the hangar, she saw a transport ship that looked to be almost as old as she was. Probably older. But if the Jendari were giving it to Venda, then it was more than the flying piece of ancient junk than it looked to be. They wouldn’t send anyone off without being sure they’re make it. In fact, Marix suspected the Jendari wouldn’t be beyond simply taking Venda all the way to Yavin IV themselves if it came down to it.    The blonde-haired Jedi stepped around the ship. She looked to be inspecting it, or at least looking it over casually. For a short moment, Marix thought she was looking at Jen. The two women looked very similar, and having both the same colour hair and the same preferred style with their hair didn’t help. But Venda was a bit shorter than Marix remembered Jen being, and this Jedi woman had somewhat more angular features. Still, the resemblance was not lost on Marix at all.    She didn’t believe in coincidence.    “Come to see me off?” Venda asked in a tone that was far too happy for the day’s events.    “Apparently,” Marix mumbled under her breath as she nodded. She then raised her voice as she stepped closer to the human, “Thank you for protecting my son.”    The damned woman actually shrugged, “No need to thank me. I’m just glad the little ones made it out alright.”    Physically, at least. Marix could feel through the Force that Andrea was still scared...Saaran hadn’t been as close to the fighting, but he seemed to be picking up on the feeling from his sister well enough. At least they had the ability to forget everything when presented with toys. They just played happily. Maybe that was what toys were for...    “The Jendari say this thing’s ready to fly...guess I better go,” Venda started to turn and head for the boarding ramp that was extended from the side of the ship. But she stopped. Marix saw the woman’s shoulders rise and fall in a deep breath, then Venda turned around and said more quietly, “May I ask you something?”    You just did.    Marix hated that question. But she didn’t show this at all, and instead allowed herself to at least pretend to be curious, “What is it?”    Venda looked down a moment, obviously trying to figure out how to say whatever it is she wanted to ask. She then looked up to meet Marix’s gaze, “What did the Jendari give you as a gift?”    What kind of question was that?!    But while a part of her mind was confused by the origin of that odd question, the rest of her was running through her memories at lightspeed. The Jendari had given her many, many gifts through her life. Its what they did.  But that was a specific question and there was one time when the Jendari pulled her aside and actually gave her...    “I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to...” Venda trailed off, and Marix suddenly realized that she was looking worried.    Marix then realized that the memory had brought up a very open reaction in her, having broken through the usual icy exterior she presented. As quickly as she could, Marix composed herself and stood up straight again. Her voice betrayed a hint of the surprise, though, “It was a sabaac card. From one of those special decks the crazy idiots in spaceports use to steal money from tourists by telling their fortune.”    “Oh...” the answer seemed to confuse Vend a as much as the original question had surprised Marix. Venda stood there awkwardly for a moment, then sighed and managed a shrug, “Guess I better get out of here before I wear out my welcome. Thank you again, and if you ever need anything...feel free to track me down.”    Marix watched the human turn around again and this time she made it to the boarding ramp before it was Marix that stopped her by saying, “I would like you to do something for me.”    Again, Venda stopped. She had gotten up the boarding ramp enough that only her lower half was visible, and so she had to duck down to actually be seen. When she just gave Marix a questioning look, Marix went on, “Make sure Tobias doesn’t get himself killed out there.”    It was Marix’s way of saying ‘Keep an eye on my son.’    Venda seemed to pick up on the real meaning, smiled warmly, and said, “Of course.”    And then she disappeared up the ramp, which soon retracted. Moments later, the Loki-sized transport was lifting up off the deckplates and flying away.    But Marix barely noticed it. Her mind had latched onto that question from before. She hadn’t thought about the sabaac card in years. She still had it, tucked away in a small box that the Jendari gave it to her in. The short explanation Marix had given Venda was so short, in fact, that it wasn’t any surprise that Venda had been confused.    When Marix was still Shadow, traveling with the old smuggler Max, they had made their way to Bespin. One of the floating cities held a few ‘old friends’ of Max’s, and while he was catching up with them(or rather, getting shot at and running to find her and leave), one of those con artist’s she’d mentioned to Venda had found her. Shadow had been fascinated by the old woman, who had, without actually asking for any money, decided to tell her future. Something about the woman made Shadow just sit there and let her do whatever it was she was doing.    She had a deck of sabaac cards, custom made, apparently, as none of the cards were anything she recognized from the normal decks. The old woman had done her thing, and told Shadow very generic things that could have meant anything to anyone. When she finished, Shadow politely nodded, stood up, and started to leave...but the old woman stopped her.    Holding the deck in her hands, the old woman extended it face down towards Shadow and told her to pick a card. Shadow had asked her why, as the old woman had already ‘told her future.’    “You didn’t believe my reading of it,” the little old human had said with a grin on her wrinkled face, “You’re smart. So you read it yourself...take a card.”    Now Shadow was interested. She reached towards roughly the center of the deck, let her fingers trail over a few of the thick cards before finding one that, for whatever reason, was to her liking, and withdrew it. Looking at the card, Shadow saw an image of two humanoid figures tightly embracing one another. The subtext of the card read ‘The Lovers.’    Shadow had rolled her eyes and handed the card back to the old woman, saying, “I liked your telling better.”    And then she’d left, never giving it a second thought.    That is, until many years later when she and Jyren were on the Capital world. It was the celebration for the two of them before the planet was invaded...before she was captured...before her parents were killed. It was a wonderful night that she could clearly remember all these years afterwards. There had been piles of gifts, most of which were useless trinkets that usually appeared at such celebrations.    But the Jendari had pulled her aside. They handed her a small, wooden box and asked her to open it there. When she opened it, she saw the same card looking back up at her. It couldn’t have been the same one...but it looked old enough to be. It looked exactly the same as she remembered it. She’d gone wide-eyed and stared first at the card, then at the Jendari, who simply smiled and said nothing else.    Somehow, they’d known. She was literally on the other side of the galaxy and they knew. Where she had passed it off years ago, the Jendari knew it and remembered it. Not only that, but they seemed to see a significance in it. One that suddenly grabbed her when she saw the card in that box...and it made sense. But she couldn’t believe it. It was another mystery built up around the Jendari for her, but one that she could never bring herself to ask them about for some reason.    Marix let out a long, deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. Of all the days, this wasn’t the one she needed to be reminded of that. Finally, she focused her thoughts on the present again, pushing away the lingering ones brought up by the memory, and headed back towards where the Mrrakesh captive was supposed to be.    She noted, immediately, that there were no Jendari in sight on the hangar anymore.</blockquote>

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