revivalproject | 03 ≋ Magic water!

Entry tags:

03 ≋ Magic water!

WHO: Katara and you!
WHERE: The beach, the square
WHAT: Catching fish with magic water, having a fish fry
WHEN: The day after the glownies (firefly-horses) create a path to the ocean.
WARNINGS: None I can think of!

--∿≈≋🌘≋≈∽--

Look, it's not like Katara hasn't enjoyed tending to the greenhouse. Being able to help provide for everyone has been extremely motivating and rewarding to boot, but at the end of the day she's a Water Tribe girl through and through. The minute a path appears that leads down to the ocean, she's there, swimming in the chilly water, bending the ocean around her to make ice and waves and streams.

The idea for a communal dinner comes to her when she catches a fish in a floating sphere of water. Back home, nobody in the Tribe ever ate alone, and the same was true of her friends when they traveled together. It would be good for morale, wouldn't it? A big, hearty meal that everyone can share together.

It only takes her a moment to make a big icy tub on the beach and fill it with ocean water. Soon, half a dozen colorful fish are swimming around in the shallow water, and Katara wades back out into the surf to catch another. Join her if you like!

--∿≈≋🌕≋≈∽--

It took a little bit of doing, but everything is ready. The fish are all cooking away on a griddle made from a piece of scrap metal set over stones and placed over an open fire. She's recruited a little help in gathering fruits and vegetables from the greenhouse, and those are either stewing together or have been converted into little dumplings which are frying right alongside the fish.

It took a little bit of innovation, but there should be enough for everyone to have a serving, and as much as she always complained about being the 'mother' of her little group of friends, there's something affirming about being able to that now for her new friends.

Whether it's leaves from the greenhouse or actual bowls, there's going to be some kind of arrangement so people aren’t just eating with their hands. It’s an effort, but one she’s happy to make.

--∿≈≋🌒≋≈∽--

Network Video:

[ Katara's happy face pops up on the screen. Like before, she's in front of the fountain. No art this time, though. ]

I've cooked dinner for everyone who wants to come and eat. There are vegetarian options, too. Come down to the square and eat with me. I caught twenty big fish so there's enough for everybody.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[After helping Katara prep everything and get it set up, he sat down and waited for the rest of his group to arrive. He told Thrawn, Altair, and Poe to meet him at the square for the dinner. He thought it would be a good way to mingle and get to know others instead of just prepping a meal by themselves. He would gladly do so another time. He was more interested in meeting people on better terms then being forced to on a ship you couldn't escape.

[Poe looks a little less well than when they had first spoken, a dark bruise on his cheek and a bit of limp to his stride, but he still offers a smile and a wave of greeting.]

Eli, right?

[He offers a hand to shake now that they're meeting properly in person.]

[Eli looked up upon hearing his name. It took him a few seconds to figure out who the other was. He had to be the new pilot that arrived, but he looked more roughed up then when he saw him on the video.]

Yes, sir. You must be Poe? Are you okay? Do you need any medical assistance?

[Poe attempted to shrug it off.]

Mm? Oh, this? No, I'm fine. Barely remember it's even there.

[Eli raised an eyebrow at the statement. Yeah, right like he believed that response.]

Want to try and tell me another story?

[People really won't let this go that easily, will they? Poe sighed.]

I may have gotten into a small disagreement with someone from home. It's settled now. Mostly.

Small disagreement? Do I even want to know?....probably not. Just as long as things are settled I'm okay with it. The important thing is being able to work together here.

....So fish or just the fruit and vegetables?

[Eli stated offering to change the subject. He felt that Poe probably didn't want another lecture.]

[Being able to work together. Poe nodded, though his gaze lingered a moment on Eli's uniform before he did. He still wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea, but he didn't want to start a fight with EVERYONE from his world the first night he arrived.]

...Bit of everything's probably good. Could use some protein.

....I apologize if my uniform seems to make you uncomfortable sir. But it is who I am.

[Eli stated after he served, Poe his plate. He did notice Poe eying the uniform with dismay.]

[Poe attempted to shrug it off, nodding quickly.]

I get that. It's uh...just a little weird. Sorry. My parents were part of the Rebellion.

[Not everyone that served the Empire was...necessarily bad, and this Eli seemed nice enough, but it didn't make it any less uncomfortable.]

I served the Empire before it became corrupted. When I enrolled in the Academy it said to be a reputable job and a way to see the world and do some good. I didn't want to follow in my parent's shipping buisness. That meant I would still be home and unable to see the world. I had also hoped to do some good for my family name.

I was just learning of a group of Rebels starting to cause trouble when my Grand Admiral sent me to serve his people. He knew I was not comfortable with how things were going among the Empire and what they were doing. In hindsight, I would have only stayed with the Empire for him alone.

[Eli softly explained. He then made a notion toward his uniform at the various things that weren't Empire. The Chiss Ascendancy patch, the belts, the collar decoration and a few other pieces.]

If you take a closer look at the uniform you'll see it's been modified to adapt to the Chiss Ascendancy. They were going to give me a new uniform, but I didn't want to part with this. So I had it modified.

[Poe listened closely, and relief was plain on his features, some of the tension seeming to leave his shoulders. It was a complicated time, he knew that, understood as best he could for never having experienced it himself. Poe had been born during the tail end of the war, he never experience the true height of the Empire for himself.]

That's some pretty passionate loyalty. [He noted with a bit of a teasing grin. He seemed far more comfortable now then he had.] I know it was...a rough time for everyone. I'm just...I'm glad you weren't personally involved in trying to kill my friends and family. You seem too nice to hate on principle.

Sadly it doesn't take much to corrupt a system. My Grand Admiral always believed had the Empire been ran by someone else, it could have been better. He had always hoped he could change the ways of the leaders. But I honestly believe that it won't work with how set they are in their ways.

The Imperial were rather prejudice toward Aliens and to people outside the Core Worlds. I was considered a laughing joke for coming from Wild Space. They thought I would never mount to anything. They thought by pairing me up with the Grand Admiral it was a joke and a punishment.

I dealt with it simply because I wanted to help people and make a difference and to prove them wrong.

[Eli continued to explain. While there was a lot more he only tried to give a little of went on just enough so he would understand. He noted that Poe seemed to relax and was more comfortable with his presence after the explanation.]

[Poe obviously knew how it all worked out, and his being there really said about all that needed to be said, but Poe nodded faintly. He wondered if Eli and his Grand Admiral had survived the war, if they were still around in his time. He knew plenty of veteran Rebels, given where he'd grown up.]

That kind of prejudice is still pretty hard to shake. [He wouldn't straight up tell him the Empire fell, but that prejudice lives on? No surprise there.]

How far back are you from, anyways? If you were just starting to hear about the Rebels?

It is. I try not to let it get to me. To be honest it bothers me more when they take it out on him or other people. Sadly it's always going to be around. All I care about is who you are.

[Eli frowned and he clenched his jaw at Poe's question. He wasn't so sure if it was a good subject to bring up...but considering Poe was sitting before him said things went well on their end. He stopped eating as he explained the time frame, his appetite quickly disappearing.]

We just learned about the Project Star Dust. You guys may know it more as the Death Star...it caused quite a stir among the Empire when the project was revealed. Believe it or not many opposed of the idea including my Grand Admiral. He didn't believe in the waste of lives it presented and in the way of military tactics it wasn't good. He had proposed another idea that was pushed down in favor for it.

[Poe blinked, and he suddenly became very interested in his plate as he tried to work out how to keep from revealing too much. That was...considerably early in things. The phrase Death Star definitely meant something to him though, you could see in the way his shoulders stiffened.]

I've heard of it...yeah. I probably shouldn't say too much about what comes after that.

No need to. I think I can put it together.

[After a while at poking at his food, he pushed it away, unable to eat.]

...

[Right, this was awkward. Poe frowned a moment, before he offered a playful sort of half grin.]

Hey, from what I've gathered about this place we're not going to remember any of this when we go home. So it's only short term existential dread, right? That's something.

--

I suppose that's one way to look at it. It still doesn't help with the conflict I'm dealing with over the news. I won't ask for a lot of details, but I do want to know one thing...

How were my people treated after the war ended and they had lost? Were they all treated as war criminals or given a fair chance that your side claimed to represent. While I know there were many that were extreme loyalist to the cause there were many like me that it was just a job. A job that happened to be on he wrong side of the war at the time. And with the way the Empire works it's not so easy to simply pick up your bags and leave.

[He dropped the grin. Not the right tactic for Eli. Fair. Poe considered a moment. He'd been young enough that some of it escaped him, but he knew enough.]

A lot of them kept fighting. Some of them fled to the Unknown Regions. But...a lot of people built new lives for themselves. Not many people will cop up to that part of their past, but I know a few people...

[Honestly, it wasn't something he'd given a lot of thought to before now, and thinking about it made him feel...conflicted.]

[Hesitantly, Eli took his rank badge off his uniform and holding it he studied it.]

I had been so proud when I finally earned this promotion. I had been an Ensign for so many years, longer then what protocol should have allowed. It was one of their many ways to try and hurt us. This badge had meant a lot to me. My Grand Admiral found a way to finally get them to recognize me as someone worthy. I got this promotion when he became Grand Admiral.

It hurts to know that my people have become the bad guys. I'm sorry, Dameron that it got to that point. I also didn't mean for this to become philosophical either. Maybe next time will be a happier meeting. I need to go and clear my head.

[Clutching his rank badge, Eli got up and left the table.]

[Well, that cut right through Poe, flinching with a pang of conflicted guilt, and he pushed to try and follow after him.]

Hey- woah, I didn't mean to- you...you seem like a good guy. I don't want you to think otherwise. Whatever side you might have been on, you were trying to do what was right, what you had to. I get that.

[Eli didn't turn back to face Poe, but kept walking as he responded back.]

But you say that now because you heard MY story. Where before you had been reluctant because of what my uniform represented. Can you say that about everyone else?

Edited 2019-12-04 20:58 (UTC)

[Poe's steps slowed a beat, and he frowned.]

I don't-...look I try, okay? I wanna believe in people. But yes. I saw the uniform and I let it inform my opinion of what kind of person you were. When you're at war you stop seeing the other side as the same as you.

You've done what everyone else does. They judged a book by it's cover. They saw that I was from Wild Space and thought I was incapable of my job and to be laughed it. You saw my uniform and saw it as a symbol of hate.

[Eli then turned and strode over back to Poe. Not saying anything else he placed the rank badge into his hands and proceed to walked away.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

03 ≋ Magic water!

[Square]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject