open crystal | Healing is difficult;

[provenforce]

FORM: crystal
SENDER: Rey
RECIPIENT: Everyone
WHAT: A wild Rey (re)appears
WHEN: whenever now is
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: naw.

[Rey has been relatively absent. Some might have seen glimpses of her here and there, but by and large, she's been keeping to herself since the move to Kirkwall. A little before that, even.]

I'm sorry to have to announce this this way, but... I don't know of any other way to do it. [She pauses, more because she doesn't want to say what she has to say than anything else.]

Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is no longer in Thedas. He hasn't been for some time, it's just... taken me a while to confirm it. [And process it and figure out how exactly she's supposed to tell other people.] I'm sorry if you knew him and would have preferred to hear this news in person I... really don't know who many of his friends were by sight.

Comments

[youwonscience]

I'm so sorry to hear that. We weren't close, but he was one of the first people to make sure I was oriented in Skyhold. And he was always kind to me.

[She certainly doesn't sound put out not to be told in person; on the contrary, her tone is all sympathy.]

[provenforce]

He was kind. They'll have to find someone else to be the Rifter liaison, I suppose.

[youwonscience]

Yeah, I guess they will.

Were you close? [She's sensitive to an indication she's overstepped, but her first instinct is compassion.]

[provenforce]

He was my teacher. [What it boils down to, though Obi-Wan had become so much more to her. Han Solo had died, she didn't know who her true father was; but Obi-Wan was as close to that as anyone.]

[youwonscience]

That can be pretty damn close, sometimes. [Not always, but those aren't teachers you take the trouble to share about the way Rey's had. She's had several friends, rifters, vanish; it was only Delphine she got on the crystals about, though.]

You may not want to be spending a lot of time around strangers at the moment, but if you need someone to keep you company while you drink or whatever ... I know what it's like to have someone leave you behind this particular way.

[provenforce]

It's... alright. I'm used to losing people. Thank you for the offer.

[youwonscience]

No problem. It's a standing one, if you change your mind later. I'm Cosima.

[provenforce]

Maybe not for... wallowing in self-pity, but it's probably good to make friends. Another time.

My name's Rey.

[youwonscience]

Good to meet you, Rey. Friends are good too. I'll be around whenever you're ready.

[gatheringstorm]

...I was wondering, but it's good to know for sure. Thanks, for that.

Do you have his mabari? What was her name, Padawan?

[provenforce]

I have her. She's been following me, I think she's trying to keep an eye on me.

[gatheringstorm]

Good girl. I'll keep some extra treats on hand for when I see her.

[provenforce]

I haven't got a clue what I'm supposed to do with her. I don't have any experience with animals of any kind.

[gatheringstorm]

Mabari are pretty active and social animals; they love the attention. You can't go wrong with a daily round of playtime, let her stretch her legs a bit. I've never owned one, though, so you'd do better asking some of the mabari-owners around. We have plenty of those, at least.

[provenforce]

Yeah okay, I can do play.

[She sighs, she really didn't want the responsibility of a dog, she can barely keep herself alive some days.]

I'll... ask around, I guess. Maybe read up on the breed a little, I know they're supposed to be very smart.

[gatheringstorm]

Oh, they are. I swear they're smarter than some people, able to follow complex commands and whatnot. There's a reason Fereldans rely on them so much in battle.

[bookish_lioness]

I'm sorry. I've met him a few times. He was nice.

If I may ask, how did you confirm that he was gone? It's just that a friend of mine has been missing, and I haven't exactly had any definitive proof of where he might be....

[provenforce]

I... guess you could say that I don't know for sure. It's possible that he's been taken somewhere far away, but... I could feel him. He was better at it than I, but those sensitive to the Force and with the ability to manipulate it, they create a sort of... current. We could sense that in one-another.

I can't feel him anymore.

[And boy, that makes her feel lonely.]

[bookish_lioness]

[Hermione finds herself wishing that the wizarding community had something similar, but all she has is a handful of spells that may not even be working properly in the first place, even if her magic's been getting better. But she's had to tell herself that her magic is just off, because otherwise, it would mean Harry really is gone, and while Rey seems to have accepted Obi-Wan's disappearance....

But no one can really accept the disappearance of someone they'd cared for, so now is the time to focus on Rey. She can mourn for Harry later, if she ever brings herself to properly accept that he's gone.]

He may still be out there. Just... far. The Inquisition is always sending people on missions to all parts of the world. And even if that's not the case... you'll see him again.

[provenforce]

[She knows Hermione is trying to help, but that platitude just makes things all the worse.]

I won't, though. He's long since dead, in my reality. If he's gone from here, he's gone.

[bookish_lioness]

Oh.

[She had meant it as more than a platitude, given that it hadn't occurred to her that people from the same world but different timelines would be so close here. She doesn't know why it hadn't, and feels rather awful now, but she isn't going to leave until she has a chance to rectify her remark.]

But he may not be gone from here. And even if he is... at least you got to spend time with him that you wouldn't have, in your world. I'm sorry, I know it's a small comfort, but I hope it's a comfort all the same.

[provenforce]

No, you're right. And I am grateful that I got to know him.

I always knew he'd leave, eventually. There are things that couldn't have happened in my time without him back where he belonged.

[bookish_lioness]

[Hermione doesn't believe that bit about certain things not happening without him having gone back is necessarily true. Time is a strange sort of thing, after all, and since she doesn't believe in fate, she has to wonder whether his experiences here will change the outcome of his life there. But she doesn't say any of that, since it likely isn't going to help matters with Rey any.]

If there's anything you need, Rey - even if it's just a friendly ear - I'm on my way to Kirkwall, if that's where you are.

[provenforce]

I only just arrived here myself. [She'd been holding out hope that Obi-Wan would show back up, so she'd delayed leaving for a while.]

I'll... I'll see you soon, then. It'll be nice to see a friendly face.

[bookish_lioness]

[They're pretty much in the same boat. Maybe even literally, depending on when they each arrived in Kirkwall.]

We can find someplace in Kirkwall to have lunch. My treat. Unless you'd rather stay close to the Inquisition. There have been some mixed reactions to Kirkwall itself, so I can understand either decision.

[provenforce]

I've been in worse places than Kirkwall. I don't mind venturing out into the streets.

[bookish_lioness]

All right; we can meet on the docks at your earliest convenience, and find someplace in Lowtown to catch up. Just let me know when works best for you, and I'll make myself available.

[crowncitizen]

Oh, wow. Um, I'm sorry your friend is gone, and I hope this doesn't rub salt in the wound or anything, but... I'm new here, and I didn't even know people could leave Thedas. That's possible?

[provenforce]

It's happened before. There were many more Rifters at one point. I don't think anyone is really sure how it happens, it just. Does.

[crowncitizen]

So Rifters just disappear? Poof, they're gone?

[provenforce]

I don't really know if it's "poof" but yes.

[crowncitizen]

Huh. No one told me about that. I figured we were all stuck here for good. [That comforts him quite a bit. Maybe he'll be able to go home after all.]

[provenforce]

Some of us could be. There's no real way of knowing.

[crowncitizen]

Right. [A pause.] Um, anyway, I'm sorry about your friend.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Oof--that...that sucks. I mean, I didn't talk to him as much as I could've, didn't always agree with him when I did, but he was good to the Rifters. I...wish I knew where they went when they leave. If they just...fuckin' fall up into a rift or what. It's happened before. [He thinks of Ruby more often than he'd admit, for one.]

[provenforce]

I would assume. He's from a time before mine, and there are... stories, of the things he's done. Long after the time he was from while he was here. He must have gone home.

[motherfucking_ghost]

So it's not like he's...dead or...anything like that. Timeline shenanigans. He's got to go back to where he was so he can actually do the things you remember him doing.

That's a nice thought, anyway. Good for him.

[provenforce]

He'll die eventually. He died before I was born. I only knew him from the stories, before I came here.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Oh, shit, so you got to, like...meet a legend before he went back to fulfill his duty or preserve the timeline or whatever? That's awesome.

[provenforce]

[...really, church.]

Um yeah, I suppose it is.

[motherfucking_ghost]

I mean, yeah, no, yeah, it sucks to lose him. He was good to Rifters. Tried to be all diplomatic. But before here, you only knew him as a story, a-a historical figure! You got to meet him. And you get to remember what he was like.

[provenforce]

It's sort of a hollow accomplishment. Right now I wish I hadn't. It would be less... complicated.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Yeah, but that's life, right? Just a bunch of complications, one after the other. Anyone tells you otherwise, they're trying to sell you something. When the pain starts to leave, you'll be grateful you had the chance.