The stars twinkled carelessly above, once so much closer than they now were. Somewhere up there her twin, her cousin, and her lifemate were returning to lives of flying vehicles and energy-everything. A more civilised place, to most minds. She missed being able to go out there, and had hopes, great hopes, that one day - someday - reaching out to touch those stars would once more be attainable. It may be longer in coming than she might like, she'd heard her parents' country was stopping (had stopped?) their manned space-flight programs. She wasn't entirely sure if it was a forever thing or a move in a different direction of technology for it, the idea of it ending was too depressing for her to want to follow up on. Perhaps she should ask someone. However, in her opinion, that had SACUL written all over it. Tight-fisted, brown-nosing bastards.
The rosined bow drew long, solemn notes from the strings of her silverwood viola. Nothing in particular, but perched there on the small bit of roofing above her quarters' window, Sylvana let it wander along the scale, aimlessly meandering between keys, never staying on the same tune for very long. Normally, she would be perched in 'her' tree, but with security on some alert, it was just asking to make someone nervous.
She felt nervous enough for all of them. Or did she?
Rising, falling, skittering along the surface only to drift through The Nothing. Sound faded on the cool night breeze as she silently pondered whether it would be satisfying enough to let loose a silent scream, or better to go back into her room and grab a pillow to muffle the real thing. Everyone HAD gone home, or to bed, hours ago.
Or so she thought.
"It's like some kind of Mendellian mashup," observed a voice from below her. "One part Hamlet, one part ER, three parts Fiddler on the Roof." Josh Nolan stepped out on the balcony of his quarters and leaned on the railing, grinning up at her. "Or four, if you're Jewish now."
"'If I were a rich man'!" she sang. "You remember my tree thing?"
"Hard not to, considering."
"Right. Duh. Though - Not A Wookiee, here, but I'd like to put in a complaint about how difficult it is to repay a life-debt when the repayee disappears for an octade."
Josh dropped his head for a moment and shook it. "I'd nearly forgotten what you do to words," he muttered, then said more loudly, "Maybe you should go to the ombudsman."
"Hmmph. I shouldn't have to. You're the one who ran away. How long would it have been if there wasn't a crisis, hm?"
Crispy's face fell. "Longer," he admitted. "I shouldn't be here."
"'Have to' being the unspoken words." Sylvana said with a huffed sigh. "I was just about ready to get used to the civilian thing again, too."
"Why didn't you skip planet when they were shutting things down? You have the contacts."
"Family. My sister spawned, my younger little brother's having fun passing as a mundane, nobody ever knows for sure when my older little brother's going to show up to say 'Guten-tag', and the Court Physician retired shortly after TG was disbanded, so I got a Real Job." She leaned to better peer at Josh over her knees. "Besides. Dude. I'm living in a kriffing castle, here."
"Castle's a plus."
"See? I knew it made sense."
"You aren't making much, yourself. Less than usual. Also, you're less bubbly than you were earlier."
Sylvana stuck her tongue out at him.
"Oh. Very mature."
She rolled her eyes and tilted her chin to gaze up at the greater galaxy. "I've been thinking tonight. It's awfully convenient-" she stopped.
A few minutes passed. Then, "Tha...t?"
"We've been declawed only a couple of years before we're needed again, and all hell threatens to break loose. My conspiracy theory button's begging to be pushed. There's got to be something else going on here."
"Probably," Crispy agreed. "There usually is. Just don't focus so much on the hidden that you ignore what's in front of you."
"So we multitask. If it gets even this handful of us back together...."
"It's worth it?" he finished, when she didn't.
"That's just it - I'm not sure it is. I know it isn't. I keep seeing that massacre.... I should be torn up about them, but I'm not. I just feel numb, and angry, and vengeful."
"Good. Keep hold of that. Use it as fuel. But don't let it control you."
"Jedi-boy would tell me to 'Breathe Out The Darkside' -- prob'ly in a less cheezy way, but the sentiment remains. I say 'Arg'."
Sylvana clasped both pieces of her instrument in one hand before hopping down onto the rail of her balcony, then to the floor of it to put her viola away. "I'm heading down to the kitchens for some food - wanna join me?"
"No, I'd better turn in - try to get accustomed to the timezone."
"Okay. See you tomorrow, Josh - sleep sweet."
"Good night, Syl."
-
Half an hour later had her sat backward on an office chair in the corner of the Bat Cave, a half-eaten turkey sandwich on the table behind her, and a bottle of half-drunk beer set by her foot. She frowned at the viewport, watching a hammerhead swim by. "How the hell are we supposed to pull this off?" she asked it. "Even if we do manage to get our hot little hands back on our stuff...."
She fought to stay awake, the briefing running over and over in her mind as she compared aspects of the video to the dream she'd had - hating that she'd started Dreaming again, and hadn't realised it in time to try and decipher anything useful.
Felt guilty.
Kirret found her there the next morning - and Sylvana said she couldn't sleep, so she'd gone down to think amongst old familiarity. She didn't mention the dreams she'd had of Rumplestiltskin riding into Gondor on the back of an aurochs to name the local ysalimir. There was no way that was relevant - but she had an idea it could mean something good... if it was.