Chupacabra campfire: early Monday morning

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Today was the first day of classes. Karal was quite pleased, because having nothing he needed to do felt rather odd.

Not, however, as odd as waking up to see the Valdemaran history he'd been reading nesting next to the bed. And clucking. And apparently quite determined to set on the balled up piece of paper it had found on the floor.

His inability to quite believe what he was seeing - and hearing - didn't seem to bother it.

Karal went into the common area to fetch a cup of tea and returned to find the book chicken had somehow incorporated his pillowcase into its nest. Which made it easy to scoop it up and carry it outside.

Settling it safely against a rock, he - after some fumbling - kindled a fire and sat down to watch it. "How in Vkandis' name are you making those noises? You're a book!"

[ooc: open!]

Comments

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Very relieved, Karal relaxed. "Thank goodness," he said. "I was hoping it wasn't just me." He considered the book thoughtfully. "Normal for where? I've never seen such a thing anywhere before this morning."

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Me neither," he said, rubbing his eyes just to make sure. "Normal for here. But neither of us know what normal is so that's a dumb question."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"No, no, it's absolutely a good question. It could be a perfectly normal occurrence in my world, and my surprise simply because it was here," he said earnestly. "I'm very glad it's not, though. Back there, books just stay books."

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Same as my world," he said. "We use holos more often though."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"A holo?" he asked. "Is that like a book?"

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it means hologram," he said. "It's a projected 3D image."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Ummm..." He frowned thoughtfully. "I know some Gifts allow their owners to project images into the minds of others, but I have a feeling that's not what you mean."

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

Laughing, he said, "No, that's not what I meant. A holo is like...it's hard to describe actually. It'd be like an image of me except I'm not really here. A projection of me is and I could be off somewhere else."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Oh! An illusion, you mean," he said, grinning because that was something he could understand. "We have those as well. Most mages can create them, though I think they need to be somewhere nearby."

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, sure," he said even though it really wasn't. "Holos are used for our recorded history and our entertainment."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"We just have books and parchments, writing and drawings, and plays, of course, and singing, for entertainment," he said, staring into space as he imagined the possibilities. "To see something that happened in the past, that would be amazing. So much less chance of being misled, of the truth being lost."

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"You don't keep a written history?"

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Yes, but as my country learned, written history can be lost over time. People rely on what they're told, without consulting the source material, a small change leads to a large change, and soon things are--" He stopped and shook his head. "Well, if history could be kept in such a way it could be seen, by everyone, maybe that wouldn't happen."

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I get it." Yeah, word of mouth did have a way of ending up wrong. "Holos are pretty good for recording history. Only thing is, sometimes they're destroyed and then we have nothing."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"So, both would be the wisest approach. Recordings and writings," he decided. "Do you mind if I ask what your world is like? Apart from out there in space somewhere."

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Tatooine's a desert planet," he said. "Very boring., I lived on a moisture farm. And yes, that's just as fun as it sounds. Coruscant, that's where I came from, is...huge. The New Republic just liberated it from Empire rule."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal nodded, smiling a little at moisture farm, but he sat up straight at the mention of the Empire. "Liberated from the Empire? Coruscant was under the rule of the Empire?"

It wasn't possible that it could be the same Empire, he knew that, but he had to be sure. "It wasn't the Eastern Empire, was it?"

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Imperial Empire. Imps."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Being relieved was foolish, but he was anyway. "Sorry, I, my world has an Empire, too," he explained. "What made you decide to leave the," he smiled, "fun of Tattoine?"

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Really? You have an Empire?" He blinked. He'd never thought someone else's galaxy would deal with an Empire. "And I joined Rogue Squadron."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"The Eastern Empire, it's currently threatening the countries of the Alliance. One of the reasons I was in Valdemar, not Karse, before I came here." Karal looked at Gavin for a bit before guessing, "The squadron has something to do with you flying through space?"

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like our Empire," Gavin said. "And yeah, it does. That's the overall name of the pilots I fly with."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal folded his hands over one knee and tried to put it together. A pilot was obviously someone who flew, and deliberately travelling to a place under the control of the Empire and joining a squadron, a description he'd only ever heard applied to the military..."Your Rogue Squadron is involved in fighting the Empire?"

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Yep," he said and stomped at the ground a little. "I've been with them for just under a year."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"That was an admirable thing to do, to go and fight to free a world not your own," he said, studying Gavin with mild concern. "It must have been difficult to leave."