Luke Skywalker | June Catchall

[faithfulson]

🧙 WHO: Luke and open to others.
⚔️️ WHAT: Quests, and a few other things.
🕒 WHEN: Through June
🗺️ WHERE: Various
⚠️ WARNINGS: Possible violence and Skywalker Stupidity (tm).

1.) Rain
It had been a long time now since Luke was just a desert brat that had never seen water fall from the sky, yet it never failed to fascinate him. The first day of steady rain, he can be found outside walking around in it, no umbrella or anything to protect him from the elements -- he's just enjoying the feel of the water splashing down on his head and soaking through his clothes.

The following days, he can often be found in whatever eateries that sell hot chocolate, curled up as best as he can with a steaming mug, his attention focused on the rain steadily coming down outside.

2.) Pride
Luke was a pretty frugal person; he only really bought a rare few things, preferring to hunt or barter for food, and he really did not need much more than that. Today was one of those rare times where he actually needed to make a purchase though: his cloak had torn on his last excursion into the Brocéliande, and he needed to fix it.

The shopkeeper had handed off an additional recipe when he made his purchase, however, and Luke ended up staring at it for a good few seconds, an eyebrow slowly rising.

"...what do you mean, 'I look like I need this'?"

3.) Practice
Luke was absolutely abysmal with his new powers, and he was very well aware of it.

So far, he'd only managed a vague conversation with his communicator, and something like a bantha grunt of a psychic blast -- definitely a far cry from what he used to be able to do. He hadn't exactly wanted to divorce himself of how the Force worked -- not after everything he went through to get to where he was -- but his cognation was close enough to those powers that it was throwing his focus off. It wasn't something he thought anyone could help him with, either; he couldn't expect others to know or even understand his situation. This was something he was going to have to figure out on his own.

Though trying to do so by using his father's lightsaber to work on touch-based cognition was probably not helping him.

He had settled on a place outside of town, not near the forest, but close enough that he was certain someone would need to be deliberately coming that way in order to spot him. Luke had himself braced up against a tree, sitting in a meditative pose, with the lightsaber lying in the grass before him. His breathing was ragged from the effort he was putting into this, feeling a little lightheaded from the last attempt and needing to take the time to calm his rapidly pounding heart. That time around he had definitely gotten something -- screams, for certain, but everything was such a haze he wasn't sure who's voice it was. That wasn't the worst of it, though: every attempt he made with it had brought a very familiar feeling of cold with it, like his father's presence was still lingering on the weapon. The sensation felt like a gut punch every time, and this time he leaned away from the weapon rather than hover over it until he was ready to go again, his head thumping back against the tree.

4.) Task: Trowmies got my Homies
Luke had absolutely no idea what a "trow" was supposed to be. If he was honest, after speaking with the person that put up the task, he wasn't entirely sure if the man was completely in his right mind -- the smell of alcohol practically permeated the air around him before he even opened his mouth.

Still, people were missing, and he wasn't about to turn a blind eye to that, even if it did sound like craziness. So he waited until the nighttime, pulling the hood of his cloak up and doing his best to keep to the shadows as he traced the path the man had vaguely described.

5.) Task: Overgrowth
A yowl ripped through the air, followed by a wet th-whack, before Luke suddenly went flying out of the tentacle afflicted house, landing roughly in the dirt and skidding a few feet before he finally rolled to a stop. He let himself lay there for a moment, like he wasn't entirely sure if he was dead or not, before he finally attempted to move, every bone in his body screaming in protest.

Luke thought he could try and calm the creature down -- he had no doubt it was hungry, being stuck in a swimming pool, but he also thought it would be scared, seeing as it had so little space and seemingly no way out of it. That definitely proved not to be the case, seeing as it was more than happy to grab him and try and drag him into its mouth, before the half panicked swipe from his lightsaber had it throwing him instead.

A grunt escaped from him as he staggered back up to his feet, testing his weight on his feet and rolling his shoulders, making absolutely sure nothing was broken. He turned his gaze back to the house once he was satisfied, letting out a faint sigh.

"Okay. Plan B, I guess."

6.) Wildcard
[[ Feel free to throw a prompt at me if you have one; I'm 100% open to any one of the other tasks from this month, as well as just about anything else. Feel free to give me a poke on this journal or at SkylaDoragono. ]]

Comments

Practice

[admiralchiss]

Normally Thrawn liked staying in his room for solitude, but sometimes he needed to get away from his housemates for a while and find somewhere that he could truly be alone with his thoughts. Seeing Luke Skywalker was a surprise. Thrawn wondered what the Jedi had been up to lately, and he was nothing if not a curious fellow.

He approached the young man, eying the lightsaber in his hands. Thrawn recognized the weapon all too well.

"Do you require medical attention?" Luke had bonked his head on a tree, after all.

[faithfulson]

Luke really missed being able to sense when people were coming up on him, especially when it came to a certain Imperial Grand Admiral. He just about jumped out of his skin at his sudden voice -- too caught up in trying to recover to have heard him approach -- quickly making an effort to stash away his father's lightsaber, though he had a feeling it was a little late for that. Great; there was no doubt in his mind that a Grand Admiral would be able to recognize it, considering it never left Vader's hip unless he was using it.

"No, I'm fine," he managed, his voice strained, partly worried just how much trouble he was about to end up in. "Just trying to practice."

[admiralchiss]

"Yes, you looked deep in concentration," Thrawn peered down at Luke, before kneeling down so they were at eye level. "You have cognitive magic, don't you? You were trying to get a reading off of that weapon." He gathered that based on Luke's expressions as he held the lightsaber and the way he'd reacted before Thrawn had interrupted him. The lack of elemental, dark, or other obvious magic also clued Thrawn in.

[faithfulson]

Luke let out an awkward noise, a faint pink coming to his face at how easily Thrawn called him out. He looked away, his grip tightening the lightsaber, wondering if he should do something, though he shook off the thought quickly. Even without the Dark Side to worry about, he couldn't bring himself to hurt someone, just because he was worried about what they could do. Instead, he let out a faint breath, reluctantly turning back toward him.

"I... need to practice," he replied. "I've been having difficulty getting the hang of the powers I was given. I thought working with something I knew what to expect would help."

[admiralchiss]

Thrawn watched Luke carefully, noting the way his face heated up and that continued wariness towards the Grand Admiral. Of course, that feeling was understandable, since in their home universe they would be enemies, even if they'd never met before now and those ranks meant little in their current situation. But, that Luke was willing to be civil and open up to Thrawn was promising, and said much about his character.

"I may be able to help. I do not possess the same magic as you, but it may be beneficial if you have someone to help you practice with."

[faithfulson]

Luke almost said no; rank and sides may not have mattered, but he had no idea what to expect from this man. Aliens just were not in Imperial ranks, so the fact this person had risen all the way to Grand Admiral meant he was likely dangerous, and not being able to sense his intent made it all the more worse. He let out a breath after a moment, deflating slightly; he needed to get used to believing in his own instincts for once, not wishing for something else.

"I'm not sure how you can help with this, but you're welcome to try," he offered, motioning for him to take a seat if he wanted.

[admiralchiss]

Thrawn sat down across from Luke on the grass, posture as stiff as ever, that commanding presence never leaving him. "Perhaps we may start with these," Thrawn's fingers went to his wrists and he removed the cuff links from his suit's sleeves. He held them out to Luke.

The cuff links were bought from a local artisan, someone who had started their craft when they were young and had turned it into a business, who had led a rather ordinary life. Thrawn had worn the cuff links while out and about, such as his trips to art museums or the library. Luke wasn't likely to see or sense anything hostile or frightening from them.

[faithfulson]

Luke held the cuff links gently, privately appreciative of how pretty they were. He took a deep breath after a moment, closing his eyes as he tried to focus. It felt like forever before a vague image came to his mind, swirls of indistinct color in what might have been frames. His face scrunched up, trying to focus enough to get the image to clear, only to completely lose it instead.

A frustrated noise escaped from him as he opened his eyes, running a hand over his face.

"Well, I saw something, but it was blurry," he offered.

[suiseinosenshi]

Ami was wandering around, enjoying the break from school and still getting used to the whole place. Her studies into her new magical abilities seemed to be going well. Her desire to be a doctor had really helped her in getting a better understanding of her healing magic - thank goodness that she'd read and re-read her mother's medical books. It helped that Usagi also had healing magic here and had been able to give her some pointers.

She noticed someone sitting against a tree and slowed to a stop, studying him with a medical eye. He didn't look so great, and his breathing was off. Maybe he was getting sick?

She made her way over to the young man, touching him gently on the shoulder so as not to startle him.

"Um...excuse me, but...are you okay? Do you need help?"

[faithfulson]

Luke started slightly at the touch, during a surprised look up to the young woman. He hadn't exactly been trying to hide out here, but he hadn't really expected someone to stop either. Maybe he should have; he didn't interact enough with others around here to know what to expect.

Either way, he managed a faint smile, though it still probably looked a little pained.

"No, I'm fine," he assured her. "Just... trying to practice my powers."

He shrugged sheepishly.

"It's... not going that well."

[suiseinosenshi]

Ami "eep'ed" when he started and stepped back, a slight blush creeping across her face.

"Are...are you sure? You might be pushing yourself too hard," she said tentatively. "Are you drinking enough?"

Rummaging through her bag, she offered him a bottle of water.

"You look like you're losing a lot. And don't worry, I have another bottle on me."

[faithfulson]

Luke stared, his mouth working slightly, trying to assure her that really, he was fine, only to end up falling short as she offered him water. The farmboy in him kicked in immediately, unable to turn down the offer, though his brain finally shifted into gear once he had the bottle in hand.

"I'm fine, really," he assured her. "I'm just... using something I know to practice trying to see memories tied to an object. They're not happy memories though, so it's been difficult."

[suiseinosenshi]

Ami nodded in understanding and sympathy. She'd had her fair share of unhappy memories, and she could see how dragging them up as part of a training regime would take an emotional toll. It was bad enough that all her doubts and fears were dredged up and used against her by various enemies of the Silver Moon Kingdom.

"Are there any other memories you could use? Happier ones associated with the object? Or...maybe a different object would be better?" she asked.

She wished she could help out more, but she wasn't familiar enough with the magical abilities of this place.

[faithfulson]

"Only my own possessions, and I don't think it will work very well with those," he replied, shaking his head, before looking down at the lightsaber beside him. A faint sight finally escaped from him, before he decided he had enough forcing trauma on himself for the day, and shoved the weapon back into its hiding place in his boot.

"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude about it," he continued after a moment, turning a faint smile up to her. "I'm Luke, by the way."

[suiseinosenshi]

Ami belatedly realised she hadn't introduced herself, and mentally kicked herself for being so rude.

"I'm Ami Mizuno, it's nice to meet you."

She clocks her head to the side, thinking about his problem.

"Does it have to be one of your possessions? Would it work with someone else's? It might be easier to see if you're not emotionally attached?"

It could really go either way.

[faithfulson]

"Oh, I..."

He let out a breath, setting his father's lightsaber on his lap so she could see.

"This belonged to my father," he explained. "I was using this to practice because I knew what to expect, how he felt, the things he did, but... it's a lot."

A sheepish smile came to his face, before he let out a breath, slipping the weapon back into its hiding place in his boot.

"I know it doesn't have to be something I know or I own, but I thought it would be good practice to start with."

dreamwalking shenanigans;

[roppou]

Hitoya is sitting in his office. The clock on the far wall reads five minutes to eight. In the morning he presumes. He's sure it's his office or at least the best representation a dream can make of it because the details are all right from the order of the legal books stacked up on the shelves behind him to the way his chair squeaks when he leans back too far and even the fine layer dust that has accumulated on the bottles of gin and rum he keeps around in the mini bar fore the benefit of his client's tastes and never his own preference.

What he would like to know is where exactly this office is given that the view outside the window no longer overlooks the busy streets of downtown Nagoya. Hardly any light filters in through the window at all, just the endless expanse of star set against the velvety black of deep space. There's a planet hanging silent, if somewhat ominously, in the foreground that doesn't bear any resemblance to Earth except perhaps that the shape is round.

This was supposed to be a simple exercise. Slip into a dream and right back out without being noticed. Without even touching anything. He had two jobs and he can't even manage to will himself awake to finish the 'get out' one.

Eight AM is usually the time reserved for his meetings to start so for now he waits. For what he's not exactly sure. Someone to come through the door? A call? Explosions? He'll take what he can get at this point.

Yesssss

[faithfulson]

Luke knew exactly where he was... sort of.

It wasn't unusual for him to dream, though his dreams weren't... peaceful in the slightest. His nightmares were so bad that some days he just didn't sleep, and when he learned that dream walking was supposed to be part of his new skill set, he made it a determined point to never figure out how it was supposed to work. No one deserved to be drawn into his nightmares; no one else deserved to be put through the same things he went through.

Tonight's nightmare was the Death Star, which was a pretty common occurrence, so much so that he could immediately tell something was off. For one, his father wasn't present, and the stormtroopers milling around were... wearing business suits? It was the strangest thing to see, the mix of professional wear with the skull-like helmets, but they ignored him as he stood at the entry ramp of his father's shuttle, like he wasn't even there. Luke frowned to himself, hesitantly moving away from the shuttle, briefly glancing back at the moon of Endor hanging outside the shielded entrance before finally crossing the expanse of the familiar docking bay. The corridors of the Death Star were the same layout he had walked through in real life, but cold Imperial grey was mixed with a fine carpet and wood edging, throwing him completely off.

In terms of dreams, this was definitely the weirdest one he had been in.

His feet finally brought him to a door before he found himself stopping, senses that he knew he didn't have anymore forcing him to pause. This was where he was supposed to be at the moment, not the elevator that would inevitably lead up to the Emperor's throne, but here. But what was here, and why was it important?

He wasn't going to get any answers just standing around outside of it, so he let out a faint huff and knocked, before pressing the release for the door. It swung open, revealing an office that was entirely out of place on the Imperial battlestation, along with a person behind a desk he didn't recognize. He stood there for a moment, frowning, trying to figure out if this person was an Imperial or not, before settling on not; he looked too out of place, along with the rest of the office.

"Who are you?" he finally managed, a faint frown coming to his face.

Wildcard: Crossing Paths

[patchricide]

"There must be more to it..."

Honestly, Allura isn't a regular visitor to the library. It's not that she isn't curious about the information contained within — but the process itself is a chore, and therefore a deterrent. Altean technology had spoiled her that way, retrieving whatever information she needed from her ship's digital archives.

But she's had a bad case of chronic frustration with her magic. How many situations have come up now that her magic seemed useless to stop? Worse, her siphoning has proven itself to be a liability more than once.

During the fight with Darin, though, she learned how to use the siphoning to supplement her strength, and touched on dreamwalking for the first time. It's made her start wondering if there's still more that her magic can do that she hasn't learned.

So, that's what she's researching today... even if it takes one book at a time.

[faithfulson]

Luke was a regular at the library before the fight with Darin, trying to figure out why it was such a fight for him to get even the simplest of his abilities to work. After the fight, and the realization of how he was blocking himself, he was there frequently just to understand what he could do.

Today, he was already in the dreamwalking section when Allura arrived, so absorbed in what he was looking for that he didn't immediately notice anyone else there. Another person with the same powers accidentally walked into his own dreams recently, and considering how bad his nightmares got, he didn't even want the chance of that happening again. Unfortunately, the book he was looking for was all the way at the top of the bookcase, and he couldn't figure out where the ladder was, so... naturally, he had to do things the hard way.

By the time Allura made it to the dreamwalking section, Luke was already halfway up the bookcase, struggling to reach up as far as he could to try and get that book, his balance wavering precariously.

"I miss datapads so much..." he muttered, biting his lip as he tried to push himself up further.

[patchricide]

It's a sight that makes her heart feel like it's seizing up in her chest. Memories return to her of the Libryrinth, where she had ample opportunity to discover that a library's bookshelf is not the most stable of structures — and she had walked around on top of the shelves, not clinging to the front of it putting a load of extra weight on one side. And if it did fall, the whole library might follow as one shelf pushed another over like dominoes.

The slightest wobble catches her eye, and she decides it's time to intervene without asking. "Hold on, let me lend you some help!" Specifically, she's going to see if she can reach his legs, to better support him from below — and in the process, hold the entire piece of shelving up as well.

If he's beyond her reach, plan B is to just brace the bookshelf itself with all her strength and weight, and hope he's capable of getting himself down without falling.

[faithfulson]

The sudden voice startled him, and he jumped, accidentally letting go of the shelf. A yelp escaped from him, and he pitched backward, arms pinwheeling, before gravity decided to work. He tumbled toward the ground back first, somehow managing to keep himself from yelling and interrupting anyone else that may be in the library.

[patchricide]

"I've got you!" At this point, being quiet is the least of Allura's concerns. If someone comes over and shushes her, then she'll accept her scolding. Better that than turning a blind eye to danger.

Instead, when she sees him starting to fall, she moves to catch him with arms outstretched. Which might seem like a good way to get knocked over, but she's still quite strong despite her small frame. And no offense to Luke, but he seems to have a lighter build too, at least compared to some of the other men she's met.

[faithfulson]

Maybe surprisingly, he was a little heavier than he looked, but she was still able to catch him easily enough, though he still let out a squeak when he was grabbed. Luke's eyes remained squeezed shut for a moment, like he still expected to hit the ground, before he finally cracked an eye open, spying Allura before a slow, sheepish smile came to his face.

"Um... my hero?" he replied, a bit of pink coming to his face.

[patchricide]

Allura has a similar expression. "Erm... well, it was the least I could do, since it was my fault you fell." Ironic, perhaps, since her intent had been to prevent him from losing his balance.

She lowers one arm, helping to set him upright rather than drop him roughly. "What were you looking for up there, anyway? It must have been important, if you were willing to scale the whole wall to get to it." And she turns her head up, back towards the spot that he fell from, to see if she can even read the titles from down here.