Breaking the Ice

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

"You are welcome," Unna responded with a friendly tone and smile. If Todd were to look at Unna, it would probably be the first time she ever saw the icy Iktotchi smile and it was a surprisingly warm smile. Ashla would know what a rare occurance this was up until recently. "And it would please us very much if you would come out into the room...if you are ready." Unna felt relief after using her empathic abilities to detect a change in Todd's emotions. The fear-stricken Kel-Dor was beginning to feel sympathy and affection, shadowed by embarrassment, but in the shadows of those emotions shined a feeble glimmer of hope. Unna hoped that now would be a good time to coax her from the locker.

"Todd, Ashla was actually my first friend as a small child. We were separated by the war, but were reunited later on in childhood. It's another thing we seem to have in common. Of all that we have lost in life, we were both fortunate enough to find a friend like Ashla in these dark times. I know you say feelings are pointless in this game of survival. They have certainly seemed that way to me. I felt that way all of the time, up until recently. Feelings, if not allowed to get carried away, have given me something worth fighting for. I used to keep to myself and seldomly speak to anyone, aside from Ashla and Auro. Then I was forced out of my comfort zone and actually had to make some tough calls aboard this ship while the rest of you were away at the temple on Olivan. I saw firsthand exactly how feelings of camaraderie and loyalty could inspire confidence in a crew. It literally saved the lives of everyone on this ship. It was then that I realized that the way I was living aboard this ship was not in the best interest of myself, or anybody."

"The path the three of us are currently on, along with Auro, Duncan, and Jayden, is one that most of us will not survive if we continue to exist out of sync as we have been. If we as a group can function as one, like the crew did when this ship made what should have been an impossible escape, then the future I saw can not come to pass. It will be negative emotions that ignite the fire that most of us will parish in. All that will we left of us is you and Auro...and I know you wouldn't want that with the way things currently stand!"

[Gar]

Todd grimaces at the mention of Auro. "You're right about that...I can't decide whats worse--the death of us all or being stuck with--" she bites her tongue and settles with the pronoun instead, "--him...That is certainly a nightmare I would wish to avoid..." her words carry a heavy sense of resentment. She shakily steps out of the locker and rises to her feet, hugging her data pad to her chest like a child clings to a a favorite blanket for comfort, her fingers fidgeting over the grooves. The Kel Dor tentatively crosses the room to sit a fair distance between the two friends.

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

"With the direction we were headed before this conversation, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to be stuck with him, or me for that matter. Neither Auro or myself would have wanted to be stuck with you either. We haven't worked well together since the beginning and that is because we were on opposing sides of the conflict on Olivan. Stresses were high and we had different priorities. You trying to convince us to carry out your agenda while we had our own was frustrating. At the same time, it must have been frustrating for you to fight so passionately to accomplish what you had set out, only to be met with our resistance. None of us were pleasant that day."

"What is different now is that you are here with us and a time will come when we will need to work together as a team in the future. We will need depend on each other, but what will happen is more division...."

"I should stop saying that it will happen. I now have faith that because we are communicating well now that my vision will not come to pass. I feel that we are sowing a new future as we speak."

Now that Todd was out of the closet and seated, Unna walked over to her own locker and took out a package of fine cookies. She held the package so that Todd and Ashla could see. "These cookies aren't easy to come by off of Coruscant. I try to save them for special occasions. What better time to open them than the tea party that will save our group?" Unna was smiling.

"When the time comes where the events of the vision would have come to pass, I will let you know. You will know why I felt it was so important to share my cookies."

[Gar]

Todd stares at the cookies pensively. One of her hands reaches up to her mask, but then pauses there, and drops back into her lap. She looks between the two, then back at the cookies. "Heh, Cookie..." she jokes to herself absently, falling into silence again before continuing: "A question has been repeating itself in my mind, uninvited..." she says quietly, "And although I don't remember Auro asking me this, the question reverberates in his exact voice... it is, 'Why are you here?'" She sets her datapad on the floor, her posture slumping slightly. "'Why are you here?' has been echoing in my mind...I don't remember when it started... but it is beginning to sink in."

The Kel Dor sighs and looks up at Ashla. "A very reliable source has informed me that Ferija's life will be claimed by an assassin named Shark; the one responsible for killing my sister will finally meet her end. And yet, knowing this does not give me satisfaction..." her expression grows dark, "I wanted to see the life drain from her face as she took her last breath. I wanted to be sure that she died painfully..." she shakes her head, "But I can't say that that is being robbed of me, because we all know very well that although I have the will, I do not have even an ounce of the ability to get my vengeance, to break her flesh with my own hands..." Todd then looks to Unna, her voice lowering to almost a whisper, "My sister's executioner will soon be deceased...'Why am I here?' It was only by chance that we met, when that building exploded in front of us...and since then I've been doing odd jobs here and there, thinking I could make a difference with--" she glances down at her datapad--"with my opinions, with my technology..." she laughs to herself, "I really thought that I could ensure my sister did not die in vain...but Olivan fell anyway. The man called Graffe used my family and my planet as a ladder of corpses to gain the advantage..."

Tod laughs again, an unsettling sound, her tone dripping with self-loathing as she continues, "I thought I could I could help end the darkness with my reasoning, with my skillset, with my silly--" she pokes at her datapad--"my silly little toys. I suppose I was subconsciously defending myself against the truth.." Todd takes in a deep breath, then slowly exhales, "But when that Force User forced his will upon my mind, it also forced me to come face to face with the truth..." a small giggle briefly escapes her throat, "The truth being: I don't belong here. I never did. I'm powerless against the Force. I wanted so badly to believe that I wasn't in over my head. But the world is rotten and there is nothing I can do to alter the course. So I'll just have to wait and hope that the people that actually do have the power will make things better someday.!" another laugh, louder this time, "Problem is--" she kicks her datapad away, causing it to slide across the floor and crash into a wall, "--problem is, I've never liked waiting around. And I'm certainly an idiot if I think I can ever live in a world where the Jedi will leave myself and other civilians alone. Your civil war is destined to rage on for all eternity, claiming lives from both sides, including those who have no side, who only wanted--" Todd brings both of her hands up to her mask, unlocking the contraption, revealing the bottom part of her face for the first time to them, including a rueful smile, "--who only wanted to exist in peace." The mask falls into her lap. She reaches one hand out and gingerly takes a cookie, bringing it to her mouth to eat.

"Mmm," Todd nods approvingly as she chews and compliments all too cheerfully, "what a heavenly taste."

[Ashla Marr]

Ashla was bringing out her tea sets and setting up the pot. Getting some fresh water and putting on the little stove top. She was listening to them speaking. When Todd sounded off. She stopped what she was doing and turned listening to Todd. It seemed almost like her mind was shattering before her. She wondered what had happened to triggered it. Maybe what had happened to her with the mind effect had finally set in. " Todd? " she managed to get out in a hush voice. Worried about her dear friend. Who wasn't looking to well, something was going on inside her mind. Something went wrong for the worst. As she listened to Todd explained the events that had happened. Watching her shattering her own data pad. " todd? Please... " tears form in her eyes " what's going on? You can live in this world, you have friends that will be there for you " though it seemed like words wasn't getting to her friend. Her eyes filled with horror " Todd what are you doing?! " watching her friend taking off the lower half of her mask. " Todd please stop..." she felt her body shacking as she stood there frozen in horror. Watching as her friend took a bite of the cookie. " Todd... put back on your mask..." she said as she felt the tears streaming down her face. She tried to move her body but it felt like she was stuck. ' move.... save her.... do something! ' her brain screamed at her. " Todd..." slowly finally taking a step. Though she knew she would be to late.

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

As Unna observed that Todd was not putting her mask back on after taking a bite of the cookie, Unna immediately ran over to Todd, dropping the remaining cookies onto the floor. Unna took the mask and put it back on Todd's face and screamed, "Ashla! Call the medics!"

[Ashla Marr]

Ashla snapped out of her stat. Now wasn't the time to have an emotional brake down. She however fumbles a little getting out her common and called down to the med bay. " this is Ashla, we need medics to be sent to our quarters stat! " rushing over and kneeling down once she was done calling for the medics. She cup Todd's head. " why..." she whisper shaking. Feeling emotions agian getting to her it was hard for her to put them aside. She always had in the past and everything that has happened. She just couldn't do it at the moment wanting to mourn the lost of her friend.

[Gar]

Todd's chest was convulsing slightly as her body reflexively tried to gulp for breath. In spite of this the Kel Dor grinned mirthfully up at Unna, chuckling lightheartedly between gasps, "Don't--spoil--the--par--ty--now--with--hyst--erics--" she patted Unna's arm gently with one hand, her other hand clenched in a fist against the ground, "try--the--tea--" a gushing sound came from the mask with each breath, like the sound of air passing between spaces. The mask was being pressed to her face but something wasn't right. Todd's eyes wandered and settled on Ashla, gazing up at her with fondness as the anatomical struggle slowed down. "Let...me...have...this..." she whispered weakly. Her body was gradually relaxing, her eyelids drooping.