Amelia Solo (babysolo) wrote in parabolical, @ 2008-08-06 00:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | amelia solo, closed, jacen solo, log |
WHO: Amelia and Jacen Solo
WHAT: A bit of bonding.
WHEN: 9PM
WHERE: Random city streets
RATING: PG(ish)
STATUS: COMPLETE; logged and posted in its entirety
For the most part, since her unexpected arrival in this strange world, Amelia had been spending most of her time holed up inside of the penthouse where she'd first arrived. She didn't speak to much of anyone outside of Anakin and Padmé, and occasionally Tenel Ka via the message boards. She had been contacted by Alema Rar, but had since ceased communication with her when advised to do so.
Yes, it was hard to believe, but at long last the galaxy had managed to produce a Solo/Skywalker female who didn't feel the need to automatically jump in over her head at the first opportunity. Of course, most of that common sense that seemed to be lacking in a good bulk of her relatives was also due, Amelia rather thought, to the amount of time she'd spent with her Uncle Luke over the years. Master Skywalker had worked closely with her to teach her how to keep a level head in most situations and, in a place as strange as Los Angeles, she was putting every single one of those techniques to good use.
That didn't mean, though, that she didn't get bored. There was only so much she could do in a confined area like the penthouse, really, and eventually it reached a point where she simply couldn't take staring at the same walls anymore.
So, she decided to go out.
It all went well for a while, too. Amelia was able to take in a few sights, even get an ice cream cone (one of the few things from the first time she'd been here, as a small girl, that she'd remembered but always assumed she'd imagined), and had generally been enjoying the warm weather and the sound of the ocean in the distance. That, however, all changed as the sun officially set below the horizon and twilight gave way to darkness.
The feeling that she was being watched was a strong one as she made her way up the sidewalk that would eventually lead back to the penthouse. Her lightsaber hung at her hip, a constant reminder that she was able to defend herself. A reminder that became a reality when she was a scant four blocks or so away from her destination.
"And just where do you think you're going, pretty girl?" a low voice that practically oozed with malice questioned as a creature stepped in front of her, blocking her path. His forehead was crinkled, his eyes were yellow, and his fangs were gleaming in the streetlight overhead. This, she realized with a start, was one of the vampires that she'd been hearing so much about over the message boards.
"Home," she replied with narrowed eyes, her feet sliding into a casual, yet battle ready, stance. "And you'd be wise to let me pass."
The vampire stared at her for a second before tossing his head back and laughing. Loudly. "Oh really?" he questioned as he looked back to her. In less than a blink of an eye he was standing directly in front of her, one hand gripping her black hair in a painful grasp. Yanking her head back, exposing her neck, he hissed, "And just what will you do if I don't?"
Biting back the gasp of pain that tried to cross her lips, Amelia answered with a grimacing smirk, "This." And she ignited her lightsaber mere inches from his chest. The initial run-through was enough to make him release her and she leapt backwards, away from him, while bringing her weapon up and around at an angle.
She hit her mark and his head slid neatly from his body, already turning to dust before it'd even hit the ground. Gingerly touching the sore spot on her scalp with her free hand, she glared down at the pile of dust. "You should have just let me pass," she stated flatly.
Then her gaze snapped up as she realized that she still wasn't alone. Her eyes widened ever so slightly at the sight of the dozen or so vampires that were slowly coming out of the nearby shadows, before her features settled into the infamous Solo smirk. "Well," she drawled slowly as she lightly twirled her lightsaber and listened to the soft buzzing sound it made. "Who wants to be next? I don't have all night, you know."
And as a handful charged her at once and the fight began, Amelia realized that this was exactly the sort of thing she needed to unwind. It was just a pity that there were so few of them, really. Maybe if she was lucky, a few more would hear the battle and decide to investigate. Then her focus was on the battle itself, her body a veritable blur as she moved smoothly and with deadly precision through the group and ever closer to the mouth of the alley they all seemed to be coming from.
Jacen really had not been having a pleasant time in LA lately. The pleasant idyll of being a father had ended with the abrupt growth spurt his daughter had had from child to teenager. Throw in Tenel Ka, who had tried to kill him, popping up, with Jaina here also rather panting at the idea of his premature end, the various appearances and disappearances of various of his kinsfolk, and it was a wonder he still retained something resembling a sense of sanity.
Resembling a sense of sanity being used loosely, of course.
That was why he was outside, at night, in the great urban outdoors, filled with decaying buildings, dark corners, shadowy vermin of the four and two footed variety, and demons and monsters, of course. What major city was ever complete without demons and monsters running around?
Quite a few, actually, but I have yet to encounter a single evening where the beasts are not out and about. Speaking of which....
Jacen paused as he saw a massed pack of the two-legged type of vermin. Vampires, as Willow had called them. All things considered, though, he preferred these vampires to Anzati. With a negligent gesture of his hand, Jacen unleashed a wave of Force lightning, catching a dozen of the beasts unprepared, and began the slow, painful process of frying them all.
I have been reduced to a Jedi exterminator.
Amelia was really starting to enjoy herself as the battle raged. The alley, she'd discovered, was the main way to get into the current building where the vampires were holding up. Their lair, of sorts, she imagined, and the one place on this rock that she should avoid while also wanting nothing more than to get inside. She was making progress, too. Slowly, but surely, she was gaining ground.
She wasn't getting through the battle unscathed, though. She had a few scratches across her throat where one vampire had tried to choke her, and a small bruise forming across her left forearm from blocking a punch aimed at her face. Mostly, however, it was the dust that made her look worse for the wear. Dust was everywhere, thickening the air, covering her head and shoulders, yet there was a smirk on her face that proved beyond a doubt that she was most definitely having a grand old time at this particular slaughter.
Dropping down into a crouch as a particularly large, bulky vampire swung at her, she sliced his legs off at the ankles then removed his head as she surged back to her feet. Walking through the dust that he left behind she slammed her palm into the chest of another one that was charging at her and, using the Force, sent him reeling into the side of the building along with a few of the others who were too close to get out of his way.
It was as she turned away from that assault that Amelia realized she was surrounded. Four vampires, working together, were closing in with smirks on their distorted features to rival her own. She drew back her lightsaber, prepared to take them all out in one swing if necessary, when they all four froze in place. The crackle of lightning caused her to go still too, her eyes widening as two of the vampires closing in screeched in agony and the other two quickly darted for the entrance to their hideout. It was once they were gone that she had a firsthand view of the lightning that was slowly spreading through the alley and realized it wasn't just lightning at all.
Oh kriff! Was her only thought as the Force lightning zoomed ever closer. She was somewhat adept at deflecting Force lightning, but not on such a massive scale and not without an opponent to face. She needed to get out of there, and fast. Especially since she had no idea who was responsible and wasn't about to reach out with the Force and find out at the moment either.
Glancing around, upward, Amelia finally found her escape route. Deactivating her lightsaber, she quickly clipped it to her belt then took off at a run toward the building itself. Force jumping into the air, she leapt against the brick wall and for a few heartbeats ran all but parallel with the ground before once more Force jumping into the air and grabbing ahold of a fire escape ladder a good thirty feet or so above the alley itself. Climbing quickly up it, she perched on the fire escape and peered down, over the railing, at the massacre taking place below. She paid little attention to the vampires, though, but was instead looking for the person responsible for the lightning while sending her senses outwards in the hopes of detecting whoever it might be so she would know who was there with her... and whether fleeing would be the smartest option available instead of sticking around to face what might be her certain doom.
Jacen had faced vampires before, and it showed. He did not pretend to be interested in them as he slaughtered them in wave after wave of Force Lightning. The more cunning beasts attempted to outflank him and attack from behind, but a Force Wave was enough to throw them far away from him, and a few Force Crushes later, the pluckier vampires were reduced to paste.
His dedicated Force assault was a dangerously draining display, but it got the job done. The enemies began to flee into their apparent hideout, in the belief that there would be safe to lure him inside the building, rather than fighting him outside. The obvious flaw with that plan was that Jacen had the Force, the vampires did not.
Jacen looked at the building, half-closing his eyes, reaching out with the Force, feeling the stresses on the structure. It wouldn't take much to make it collapse in on itself like a house of sabacc cards...
It didn't take her long to spot the person responsible for the massive display of power. It did, however, take her a good few seconds to snap out of her shock when she did spot the person. In fact, for almost a full minute or so after her gray eyes landed upon Jacen, all she could do was stare in abject horror and, if she were truly honest with herself, no small amount of awe as well.
Then she realized he was about to bring down the building itself, and Amelia knew she had to act. Not only was she too close for comfort for that sort of thing, but there were other people around as well. Maybe not in this alley, or even on the streets nearby, but there were people in the surrounding buildings. Families. Businessmen. Innocents that didn't deserve to die just so a bunch of vampires could meet their doom in such a fashion.
However, there wasn't much Amelia could do from her perch on the fire escape. Not right away, at least. So she decided it was time to leave the safety of the platform and re-join the fray.
Although not until she'd made her presence known, first.
Focusing on Jacen, she let everything else fade into the background. Drawing the Force around her, she narrowed her eyes, raised her arm in front of her with her palm facing outwards, and pushed forward with her mind. It wouldn't be enough to hurt him - that wasn't even her intention - but just enough to shove him back a few steps. Almost instantly after that she leapt from the fire escape, did a flip in mid-air, and landed smoothly in front of him but far enough out of reach of his lightsaber. Her own was already in her hand, reignited, and held at her side in case she might need it against the vampires who were still living.
As for Jacen, her look was unreadable as she gazed up at him and asked quite calmly, "Do you think it'd be possible to find some other way to kill these things? I'm not fond of the idea of endangering all of the people who live on this block. It seems to negate the purpose of stopping the vampires in the first place."
She wasn't going to comment on the Force lightning specifically. She had to come to terms with what she'd just witnessed before trying to speak to him about it. But at the moment she most clearly was not happy at the sight, and was likely going to be doing quite a bit of meditation after this was all said and done, just to see if it was possible for her to ever be alright with it.
Jacen was only a little startled when he was shoved back a foot or two. With so many stray Jedi wandering the streets of Los Angeles, it was only a matter of time before one or two of them would bump into him during a patrol and take umbrage with his own brand of danger reduction management.
The surprise, when it leapt from three stories and landed before him, was who that wandering Jedi was. His daughter.
Her lightsaber was at hand, ignited, and it was obvious she had been brawling with the beasts before. But it hurt that his only child was prepared to use her weapon against him and to look upon him not as her father, but as some dangerous stranger who might have to be put down. She didn't stand a chance against him, true, and there were many ways he could disarm and defeat her without hurting her, but that didn't make it any easier on him.
Listening to his daughter's cool rebuke, Jacen felt his heart sink a little bit. Using the Force, he felt around the area, and sensing the various lifeforms around. While personally, he did not see the fuss, as he could produce a strong enough shield to contain any stray debris while crushing to death all the vampires, he supposed he should accede to his daughter's wishes. Assuming she came up with a better plan.
"What do you have in mind, then? Knocking politely on the door and asking them to come out and be slaughtered?"
Amelia's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at his question, although there was a hint of amusement present too. Apparently all of the times she'd sounded 'just like Jacen' over the years hadn't been an exaggeration. She'd clearly gotten her sarcastic abilities from more than just her grandparents.
Still, no matter how much she might discover they had in common, one thing she knew for certain was that she could not and would not allow him to make this building collapse. Not when there was a chance he couldn't keep everyone nearby safe, and not when it wasn't going to be guaranteed to even kill the vampires. She assumed it would, but Padmé had been very clear when explaining that these creatures couldn't be destroyed by typical means. Decapitation, wood piercing their heart, and fire were the three main ways to stop them. Everything else at her disposal was subject to debate.
Then I'll use what is at my disposal, she decided, although before she could state as much out loud - or form any real plan - she was turning toward a pair of vampires who was attempting to sneak up on them from the side. "Do you mind?" she questioned archly, smoothly decapitating one and sending the other slamming into the side of the building, "we're talking."
Before she killed the second one, though, Amelia finally decided on a course of action.
"Actually," she stated, keeping the vampire pinned in place with the Force while glancing toward Jacen, "I say we let them do all of the work." Then she pulled out a pack of matches she'd gotten earlier that evening at a restaurant she'd eaten at and struck one. Stalking to the vampire, she calmly set him on fire. As his eyes widened and a scream began to burst past his lips, Amelia snatched him up by the front of his shirt and spun with him, sending him flying through one of the windows on the second floor of the building.
Not bothering to wait for the cataclysmic effect to take hold, Amelia moved to the fire hydrant near the mouth of the alley. One swipe of her lightsaber and a large spray of water began to cover the doorway of the building and the alley itself, wetting enough of the nearby buildings to keep them from catching fire. She felt the splatters of liquid fall upon her skin, washing away the dust that covered her, as she waited for the vampires to take the bait.
It didn't take very long, either. Having introduced fire into a group of beings who were highly flammable, the creatures wasted little time in seeking out the nearest source of water to dispel the flames. Since she'd provided that for them as well, the moment they began pouring out of the building and into the alley in search of relief, she was ready.
In retrospect, picking them off once they had managed to but out the fire that covered their bodies, was almost too easy. And yet even as she smoothly killed the creatures with the Force, and her lightsaber, alike, her attention continued to slide toward Jacen. Silent observation from a young woman who had once looked upon the man with all of the wide-eyed innocence of a child yet who had spent most of her life since trying to make up for the damage he'd wrought when he'd fallen so very far.
Jacen felt his eyebrows rise in surprise when his daughter set the vampire on fire. It really didn't do to have a pyromaniac in the family. All sorts of things tended to go badly whenever pyromaniacs were given free reign. Namely, buildings catching fire.
Jacen was soon pleasantly surprised when his daughter went on to douse the neighboring buildings with water. It was a good preventative measure, and it went a long way to reassuring him that she was not an aspiring pyromaniac who wanted to watch the vampire-infested building burn to the ground.
He was considerably less pleasantly surprised when the flammable vampires proceeded to pour out of the building in a fiery display of panic and fear. It completely defeated the purpose of a neat, manageable battle when they were screaming in panic and setting nearby garbage and paper on fire.
Jacen did not feel like getting his meticulously cared for clothing singed by stray vampires, so he did what any good Jedi would do. Well, not any good Jedi, as they would probably gasp and protest vehemently, but that was a minor detail. Using the Force, Jacen began to lift up vampires in droves, twisting their heads off in minimal flickers of power, moving on to the next lot before they had the chance to notice what was happening to their fellows. And before they could get near his daughter, a minor detail she would be quick to pick up on.
"You know, this would have been easier if you had actually knocked."
Amelia was once again enjoying herself... until they suddenly stopped getting near her. Her attention immediately snapped to Jacen and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Since you clearly have this covered, I think I'll do just that," she replied flatly. Turning, she headed back around the alley and, moving quickly, to the front door of the building.
Some of the vampires were starting to make their way out front, apparently deciding heading toward the water source wasn't as wise as just getting away. Amelia made quick work of them, though, and began fighting her way inside.
The smoke was thicker, but it wasn't so bad. Besides which, she wasn't taking a stroll through the building. She was fighting viciously with some bloodthirsty monsters and making them head toward the rear of the building and out into the alley - where Jacen was waiting to kill those who didn't die at her hand.
Brat.
So typical of a Solo clan member. Reckless disregard of danger, insistence on getting into trouble, and all the other frustrating clan habits. How in the world was he supposed to keep this headstrong daughter reasonable safe and out of trouble? Not easily.
How frustrating. With casual dismissal, Jacen began to walk forward, easily crushing any vampires that got sloppy or got too close. He really should have a long discussion with his daughter about the principle of sitting tight. A discussion that would go in one ear and out the other, but the principle was that he tried.
Jacen extended his Force senses, keeping track of the fleeing vampires and his wayward daughter. When he located her familiar yet not presence, he sent sharp disapproval to her through the Force, with the unspoken command of "get back out here!"
Amelia felt the disapproval but was hardly concerned with it. Yes, he was her father, at least in the biological sense, but it wasn't as though he had any real clue what she was like. He didn't know her capabilities, didn't know very much about her at all really. And, besides that, she'd received her fair share of disapproving looks, gestures, speeches, and whatever else could be tossed her way by both Han and Leia over the years. So this wasn't anything new... and certainly not something she intended to heed.
Not yet, at least. She was far too busy having a grand old time killing vampires. Granted the smoke was a little thick, so seeing was somewhat of an issue, as was breathing. However, Amelia was close enough to the exit that she could get out before she collapsed, if it came to that. Which, she told herself as she flattened a few vampires against the wall courtesy of a large table, it wouldn't come to that.
And she kept up her merry battle for a few minutes longer until there wasn't a single vampire left inside the building. Brushing some of the dust from her shoulders, she then made her way outside and cast a glance toward Jacen. Her expression wasn't smug - Amelia didn't do smug very well, truth be told - but it was much more aloof than not.
"Did you need something?" she questioned coolly. "Because you seemed like you needed me out here for some reason, yet you obviously have things under control..." She glanced around then shrugged, looking back to him with an unreadable expression on her face.
"This is going marvelously well," Jacen replied in a similarly cool tone, his face hard disapproval.
"In fact, if you were anything resembling a good Jedi, you would know better than to flout orders given by a Master, or simply go looking for danger when danger was quite happy coming to you."
He paused, his face still stern, still disapproving, still angry. "Or have you decided you're simply too good to listen to me because I happen to be dead in the point in time you come from? If this is the type of Jedi being trained in your time, it's a wonder being a Jedi means much, if at all."
Had he stopped at the comment about danger coming looking for her, Amelia would have been properly chagrined and apologized like she did whenever she received similar speeches from most every other Jedi Master she'd known. She knew she had a tendency to get a bit reckless at times and yes, it was a flaw of hers and something she worked hard at fixing (when she chose to, that is). But Jacen didn't stop there. No, he felt the need to continue. And not only did he cross a line in her mind with what he said, he jumped over it a few times, and spit on it for good measure.
Her eyes narrowed, her lips pressed into a thin line as she glared at him for a second and struggled in vain to control her temper. Amelia was a good Jedi. She was just at both ends of the same spectrum. Reckless, yet prone to nearly debilitating indecision. Calm and collected, but with a temper that was downright explosive at times. She was a walking contradiction in a lot of ways and, while quite well trained as a Jedi as well as a stellar diplomat when the situation warranted it, she was ultimately a Solo at heart. Which meant she had a certain disregard for the rules... and a real issue with people who didn't know her telling her what to do.
Still, for all of that, Amelia remained silent for a long moment after he'd finished speaking. Then, she did something that would probably raise a few eyebrows to anyone unfortunate enough to witness what was about to unfold in the alley.
She laughed.
It was a bitter sound. Harsh, cold, and dry. It wasn't filled with humor, and it wasn't meant to carry any sense of kindness with it. Then she finally spoke, and her voice held a dangerous undertone to it which, as anyone who knew her could attest, was the only warning she'd offer that someone was about to get her full-fledged fury if they kept pressing the buttons they were pressing.
"I'm sorry," she replied, although there wasn't so much as a drop of remorse to be found, "but are you actually trying to tell me what a Jedi does? You, of all people?" She looked him up and down then shook her head. "I always knew you had a few traits that I would never agree with if we ever had the chance to speak again, but I never knew hypocrisy to be one of them."
Her lightsaber was returned to her belt as she spoke and, once it was in place, Amelia added, "Of course, I guess there's a lot about you I never knew. A pity I'll never get the chance to find out any of it, Master Solo." And with a snort of derision she stepped around him and began making her way out of the alley.
No one could say she had not been given a chance to correct herself. Jacen was many things, but he was not particularly fond of giving the same lesson twice. With a minimal exertion in the Force, he lifted his wayward daughter into the air and merely held her in place. Nothing else.
He kept her there as he considered what he should say to her. It was less than a half a minute of silence before he said, "I do not recall giving you permission to go, young one. In fact, I do recall I was reprimanding your behavior."
With a flicker of his fingers, he swung his daughter about, meeting her gaze with a cool look. "In case you're forgetting, Allana, half of that blood in your veins is mine."
Then he snorted, a slight hint of amusement tugging at his mouth. "The attitude, however, is purely Han and Jaina Solo. And even, perhaps, a bit of me."
That was it. Nobody could claim she hadn't tried to do the right thing and get away before saying, or doing, something she might come to regret. Yet clearly Jacen refused to let that be an option and instead decided to levitate her so he could lecture her on proper behavior. Or something. Honestly, Amelia was only half-listening to what he was saying and most of that was garbled with the roaring in her ears as her temper finally peaked.
She did hear one thing, though. One simple word that made the very blood he was discussing run cold. Allana. He'd called her Allana.
"Allana is dead," she replied in a flat tone as she glared openly at him, her look an icy one. "My name is Amelia, and I don't have to stand around and have advice forced upon me by a future Sith Lord! Now put me down. I have nothing more to say to you."
Jacen kept his temper in check. His control of the Force far exceeded Allana's, for one thing. So no matter how much of a temper tantrum she threw, which might include bring buildings and low-flying aircraft on his head, he could expect to be able to meet it and even deflect it back. Not only that, he sensed that his strength was, for the moment, greater than hers.
But if this was the kind of Jedi Knight on the verge of being knighted Luke was producing, he could only assume things had gone downhill after his demise. Personally, he still didn't believe that what he did could be half as bad as his family kept inputting, but for the moment, he certainly wasn't a Dark Lord of the Sith. He would show his daughter that, too.
Opening himself to the Force, he allowed his presence to fill the area, becoming a beacon in the night. Reaching out, he touched his daughter's mind, conclusively demonstrating that he was not a Dark Lord of the Sith.
If Amelia was angry before, she was downright livid by the time Jacen got around to touching her mind. She flinched back, both physically and mentally, before drawing in a large breath. Then she began screaming as loudly as she possibly could. The buildings surrounding the alley began to quiver and shake as her shriek continued, a few of the windows exploding and glass raining down much like new fallen snow.
She only stopped long enough to draw in another breath before unleashing another loud shriek to rival the first one she'd produced. By the time she'd run out of breath with this one, the reason for her having done so in the first place was finally there.
More vampires - at least as many as the first round they had just faced - began making their way out of various buildings and down the street, toward the duo. Her gaze followed them for a moment before flickering to Jacen, her expression an unreadable one as she stated, yet again, "Put. Me. Down."
As much as Jacen would have liked to continue this oh so pleasant chat, he had had just about enough of the teenager with a chip on her shoulder the size of the galaxy. She was being a stubborn brat, and simply wasn't going to listen to reason any time soon. With a negligent movement of his hand, he sent her flying far off, far from the field of battle. He had no doubt she would be leaping back as soon as she was on her feet again, but he was in no mood to deal with her.
When he judged Allana to be far enough away, he released her from his Force grip, hoping she would land on her bottom hard enough to get some humility knocked into her. With a single movement of his hand, he lifted up a dozen nearby vampires. When he squeezed his hand, a dozen vampires became a dozen wrung out rags soaked in blood.
Jacen moved with total unconcern, butchering with the Force as he made a graceful exit from the area, vampires scattering in all directions. There were sure to be other places in need of monster removal, and for now, this area was done. It was a great pity that as easy as it was to fight enemies intent on doing harm, it was not as easy to reach out to his daughter and get her to understand she was her father, and that he loved her.
By the time morning came around, Amelia would have calmed enough to admit that all things considered, this meeting with Jacen had gone better than most would have expected it to go. However at the moment, having just narrowly avoided landing on her rear when she was unceremoniously dropped to the ground after being flung a good distance away, all she could think about was how much she wished she could actually despise him.
It would be an easy emotion for her to feel, but it was also one that she refused to allow herself. The way of the Jedi was serenity, not hatred.
Turning on her heel, she didn't even consider going back to where he was. She instead made her way toward the penthouse, the tears that blurred her vision only serving to frustrate her even more. She wanted to be glad he was dead in her time, wanted to be grateful that she'd never have to deal with him again once she made it back home. However instead, all she could think about was how the one chance she'd had to actually get to know him - to possibly come to terms with one of the most difficult and confusing issues in her life - had just gone up in flames.
Truly, there was no serenity to be found for her at the moment, the way of the Jedi be damned. Only anger that she was struggling to control and a strong desire to never speak to Jacen Solo ever again mixed with heartache at the knowledge that her desire might very well become a reality.