✧ Fifth Rebellion ✧ Shift-ing Perceptions [Action/Video]

[borntorebel]

Action - Midmorning

[This new Luceti is, honestly, a much nicer cage than the one she remembers from before the time traveling experience, but it is still a cage. Growing up as the Crown Princess of Alderaan, Leia has known gilded cages a time or two.

And hated them.

Now that she is nearing twenty-five, her opinion has changed very little. Cages equate to a form of slavery in her mind. True, now that she's older, she's learned that one's role in life might not always be stuffy or confining. One's thought process going into the who thing does determine how it works out, after all.

But as she walks through the streets of this cage, it makes her thoughts turn back to other times. Times where she and Winter would run around the Royal Palace of Alderaan as little girls, visiting Neena, sneaking out of the palace complex to play with people her aunts would never have approved of. (Proof positive that she's always gone out of her way to associate with people of all kinds, no matter what.)

Her mind wanders a little, but her eyes still watch for any danger as she enters the forests of the enclosure. She is not, however, expecting to be caught up in one of the Natural Shifts that still take place. Instead of the woman many of the village will be used to seeing, there is a girl of ten, all long, brown hair, brown eyes and the largest scowl on her pretty face as she swims in the white dress and coat she'd been wearing before. The blaster she's had with her until now lies at her feet, ignored in the face of other issues.]

This isn't the school.

[Her voice is strong and severe, despite the high pitch and youth in it.]

I don't remember there being forests like this nearby. Hello? Is someone there? HELLO?


Video - Much Later

[Hello, Luceti, this is your tiny space princess and she is pissed.]

To those who've removed me from my school and home, know that your efforts are useless. My family will never give in to your demands and you will only be calling down the wrath of one of the Ancient Houses of Alderaan. We might be a planet of pacifists, but we will not cave to barbarism or petty kidnappers.

My suggestion is that you return me at once.

Comments

[borntorebel]

Oh. [She doesn't want to be disappointed, but she is. As much as she likes new and exciting things, she hates it when her parents worry. They are excellent parents.]

Some people here seem to already know me, or they think they do. I've never met them before now. And...I don't know where to sleep tonight.

[averybadfeeling]

"Well. The latter is a problem easily mended, as we've plenty of rooms and beds to spare here in the village. They're not quite an Alderaanian palace, but I suspect they'll suffice. The other..."

[He sighs.]

"I'm afraid it's a bit confusing. The simplest answer is that you've been here before, you just don't remember right now."

[borntorebel]

That's...ridiculous. I want to go home. Now.

[She won't cry, but she wants to desperately. She'd even take one of Celly, Tia and Rouge's lectures about proper decorum than be stuck here.]

Is there really no way back?

[averybadfeeling]

"It is a bit ridiculous, but I'm afraid it's the truth. And as I've said, there is no way to go home. Not yet."

[His voice is gentle and sympathetic. This is never easy, but especially for somebody like Leia. A politician's child in an empire full of danger on even the best day. He knows little of her childhood, but he can't imagine it was always comforting. Alderaanian aristocracy or no.]

"This world is... chaotic and unpredictable at times. It alters reality in strange ways. Losing memories is only one of the many possible changes it might inflict."

[borntorebel]

[She bites her lips and nods. Her father has told her that Obi-Wan Kenobi is an honorable man. Honorable men don't lie to little girls if they can help it, right? If he says there's no way home, then she must believe him. Otherwise, she will cry and she's not sure she'll be able to stop.

She listens to the rest of what he's saying and tries to process it while gathering her resolve.]

The world itself does these things? Is it...Is it some sort of malicious magic?

[averybadfeeling]

"In a manner of speaking. However, I did say you weren't in danger, and I meant that. The shifts rarely last long, typically a handful of days, and then they vanish as if they'd never been there at all. Nothing to be too concerned about"

[borntorebel]

Is there a way to avoid them?

[Not that she really thinks there is, but it doesn't hurt to ask, right? And if she asks questions, she won't have to think about how overwhelming this entire situation is.]

Are there warning signs? Ways to nullify the effects?

[averybadfeeling]

"Unfortunately... no. But they are relatively rare. And, as I said, typically benign. Just be careful and you'll be alright."

[He wonders, briefly, if the Malnosso- or whatever they're called now- still have those shift-nullifying devices available. Still, it's a bit late in her case.]

[borntorebel]

But if they're unavoidable and there are no warning signs, how does being careful help?

[The short answer is it doesn't, right? She's so confused by this conversation.]

[averybadfeeling]

"They cannot be avoided, true, but they can be dealt with. Being careful allows you to discover the effects sooner and manage them effectively. One could notice altered behavior in a friend or loved one, for example. Or be cautious enough to manage a physical change."

[borntorebel]

Oh, I guess that does makes some sense.

[She bites her lip in thought.]

General Kenobi, do you...do you know where I can find something to eat and maybe some clothes that fit? This dress I'm in is for someone a lot bigger than me.