SW: The Legend of Nrin - To you in a thousand years

[Suryce]

Hello! It's been a while!

I wasn't really interested in the roleplay without the transmedia aspect so I haven't joined the current XCOM roleplay, but when I saw this section of this forum, and given the few people who seem interested in Star Wars stories, I thought I would share the fanfiction I have been working on for the last few months (and probably will for a while since I don't progress super fast).

The Legend of Nrin is the story of the strange fate of a Cathar Jedi apprentice in the Old Republic and how love will shape it. No extensive knowledge of Star Wars lore should really be needed to read this, as while I delve heavily into it, I explain everything important (like, what the heck is a Cathar) and add my own inventions to it anyway. On the other hand, if you do know your lore, there is a lot of things to catch on.

Also, I am writing this story in French first and originally I only intended to translate it in English once I felt it's truly revised and finished, so what you are going to read is a translation of a product that I consider unfinished and that can be changed later on. I am planning for five chapters, and so far I have only completed the first one. The first chapter is 6000+ words long and that's what I will work on translating in the following days before going back to the second chapter. The chapter are few but dense because they each represent a full section of the story but I will probably publish them here in parts since I will have to make several posts anyway if the good old characters' limit is still active, and I don't want to make you guys wait a long time between updates.

Anyway, that's enough talk. I will see you soon with the first part of the first chapter!

 

[Sarge]

I look forward to reading it.

 

[Dahlexpert]

Welcome back suryce

 

[Suryce]

And here is the first part. My translations skills aren't perfect, so don't hesitate to tell me if you see any mistake or clumsy grammar o/


Chapter 1: The Children of Cathar

Part 1


To you who I waited for a millennium, if you finally hear those words, then maybe can I believe that the Force is guiding our paths.

To you who finally found our tomb and our heritage, do you still have the patience to listen to the ramblings of an old woman?

To you who brought death in your steps to come here, are you still able to listen to my story?

Can you still hear the symbols beyond the crude shape of the words, and do your eyes still light up at the sight of your own emblem?

I have no desire to judge you, especially when my own shoes are stained with the blood of my people, but simply I hope that, like me, you still admire the beauty of the Galaxy.

Since my tale is the story of the most beautiful child of the Galaxy.

***​

Once upon a time there was Cathar, the native planet of the eponymous feline people, conquerors of the wild steppe and architects who carved their home in the giants of nature. Of the enormous trees overlooking the steppe, they made cities, and in celebration of their best hunts, they painted their walls of the exploits of their heroes. Their eyes turned upward and the flame of their heart inspired, the children of Cathar, the most gracious and fierce of the Galaxy, made of the climb of the city-trees their favorite game, which also worked as a trial of courage and a rite of passage to adulthood. Those who arrived at the summit, normally forbidden to them for reasons of security, were able to contemplate the never-ending stretch of the steppe and would grow the desire to go adventuring outside of the protective walls of the city-tree.

But sometimes, a child will see something different. The young Kite Nezu rather lifted his eyes towards the sky, as if he was looking for something up there, beyond the moon, beyond even the sun. He stayed there all day, until night came, and admired the stars. Years later, it's under the same starry sky that he celebrated his marriage with his business partner, at the top of his success as founder and president of an import society providing Cathar with many products and technologies from other worlds. It was the most beautiful day of his life, would he affirm until the day his daughter was born, a boisterous baby that everybody in the family already predicted as having inherited her mother's majestic beauty. She was named after the Reigning-Star, the brightest star of Cathar's night sky.

But to the sadness of her father, the little Reina showed little interest for the mercantile arts as she grew up, her eyes rather looking downward at the mysteries of the earth, like numerous of her people. During one of her own climbs of the city-tree, she looked down and held out her hand to another child who was having difficulties, and together they got to the summit for the first time. The summer sun was bright this day and they were almost drenched in their own sweat, but this didn't prevent them from congratulating each other in a loud and delighted mood.

When their excitement quieted, Reina finally took the time to take a good look at her comrade and to ask her name, but she almost didn't register the answer, “Nazrin”, as her breath was taken away by the sight of her blond and bright fur that made her plump silhouette shine under the sun. She looked like a pure and supernatural being that Reina had heard about from the pilots working for her father, but that she wouldn't have dared to name out loud for fear of ridicule. What she didn't know is that her own black mane with its messy locks was leaving as big of an impression on Nazrin, who was barely able to say her name without stuttering. Several seconds of silence floated between the two young girls, in admiration of each other, before their stares met, blushing and trying to contain their nervous laughs. On the summit, what they found wasn't the sky nor the earth, but their own bubble in which they could forget everything. Even their tiredness seemed to have vanished, as people found them dancing with each other and laughing without end to the sound of a romantic aubade that the powerful speakers of Reina's holocom were echoing down to the upper levels of the city-tree, attracting the passers-by who gathered to observe and admire them at a respectful distance. Few individuals could forget this dreamlike scene, and nobody was later surprised to learn that the two young girls had become inseparable, even though their hobbies were very different.

Nazrin had a pronounced taste for the luxury products of the Core Worlds, and with her enthusiasm, she convinced Reina's father to take her as his apprentice. Thus freed from the paternal pressure, Reina was able to move on without regret and to devote herself to her own passion for hunting. She became one of the comrades of Marne, a young boy with remarkable talent for tracking the Kiltiks, the giant insects made even more dangerous by their ability to hide underground and attack by surprise. But the pleasure of the hunt didn't last long for the boy as people quickly realized that his talent for detecting and feeling life was the proof of a strong affinity with the Force, and the Jedi Order was contacted. The private discussions between Marne's family and the Jedi emissary took a long time, but soon came the time to say goodbye to the boy as he left.

That said, Marne didn't reveal himself to be the most rigid of Jedi, and after his knighting, he came back several times on Cathar in order to revitalize himself among his kin and purify his emotions through a ritual blood hunt. His first return was a strange experience as he rediscovered the places of childhood, suddenly smaller than he remembered, and met again with his old friends who had become adults like him and, for some of them, had already started a family. In particular, he was unable to contain his surprise when Reina came to greet him with a baby in her arms and a ring on her finger.

“This is my daughter,” she told him, “Nrin.”

She added: “It's Nazrin who named her, she wanted something with ancient roots. It's our little princess!” She said with a warm laugh.

In the end, it is by coming home that Marne discovered how the Galaxy can be full of surprises.

End of part 1


I hope you liked it. In the next part, we move on to Nrin herself!

 

[Suryce]

And here is part 2! Just in time before AGDQ, phew! I wanted to post it sooner but Christmas and the New Year happened. By the way, if you want to comment on the story or send me corrections, you can post directly on this thread, doesn't have to be a pm, no worry.

Chapter 1, part 2​

The word “fierce” took on a new meaning in the vocabulary of the city-tree with the growth of Nrin and her introduction among the young. People had a hard time believing that this was the same child that her mothers called an “emotional tag-along”. When they looked at Nrin, they saw a true wild child who always seemed to be involved in disputes with other kids, and who took on the climbing of the city-tree at a younger age than anybody before her. It didn't take long for her to get to the summit either, and she went there again numerous times afterward, which brought her a reputation of being a show-off, in addition to the loner attitude that people attributed to her.

But what Nrin actually liked about the summit was its serenity. From the small mammals and insects that lived in the branches to the birds that fled in circle around the tree, this place was full of life without however assaulting her senses with the chaotic emotions of sentient beings. Here, she could forget her own inability to understand the world she lived in, the auto-destructing tendency of her people to hurt each other. Nrin didn't consider herself to be a nice person or someone who particularly had other people's interest at heart, and sometimes she even wondered if her life would be better if she were to live alone, far from any other sentient. She had great difficulties at turning her eyes away from the suffering or pain of others. When another child was loudly lectured in front of her, she felt like she was the one being shouted at. When a child hurt another with their claws, she could feel the sharp pain of the cut.

It wasn't a new phenomena. More than anyone else, her mothers were open-books for Nrin, but she felt much more overwhelmed by the tender feelings and good will of her parents than the few and short disputes that she could remember. But the individuals outside of her family were different. Some children hated each other, and some would hurt their comrades without even a good reason. Even adults didn't always had the best of intents and were easily prone to condescension toward the children. More than anything else, Nrin was disappointed by their frequent disinterest for the exact causes of the young's problems and the subtleties of their sensibilities, preferring to apply rules without thinking and shut the complains rather than solving their causes.

So Nrin isolated herself. She became a “problematic child”, as you like to call them in your civilized Republic. Outside of the warmth of her home, she skipped school and sought refuge at the summit of the city-tree, only to come back when night comes with her disheveled fur. When other children started to succeed in their own climb to the summit, she repelled and discouraged them from coming back. Even if it meant hurting herself in the process, she did everything she could to preserve what she considered to be her personal haven. But this arbitrary territorial occupation came to an end when Nrin was visited by an individual she couldn't repel for many reasons: her own mother, Reina.

There was no other feeling that Nrin could most easily share with others than their admiration for Reina. Her mother was tall and made large by her musculature, which corresponded closely to what Cathars considered to be the perfect body shape. Her beauty was enhanced even more by her black fur and the smooth features of her face, and while Nrin loved her intensely, she often felt small next to her. Literally speaking, Nrin was rather small and skinny for her age, and while the red color of her fur was also rare, it wasn't considered to be as “majestic” as her mother's color.

“It's been a while since I've been here!” Said Reina joyfully as she casually approached the alcove which served as a shelter for Nrin. “It's not very hot though, winter is not far away from now. You aren't too cold?”

A bit surprised by the everyday chatter when Nrin was expecting to be lectured, she answered with a vague “I'm okay”. Her mother seemed as joyful as usual, one more thing people valued her for, and which reminded Nrin of her bitter feelings.

“Can I sit here?” Asked Reina as she pointed at the shelter with one hand and ran the other along her hair to try to keep it in place, as the wind was blowing hard at the summit and was quickly ruffling her hair.

The alcove was narrow for two persons so Reina put her arm around Nrin's shoulders as she sat and pressed herself against her. “Your mother spends so much time doing your hair, it's too bad to ruin it like that.” She rearranged some of her daugther's locks, which were naturally wavy like Nazrin, and cleared them of the little pieces of bark and branches that got in her hair.

While in physical contact with her mother, Nrin could feel her emotions as if they were her own, a mix of love and worry, and she could even feel her physical sensations, from the still fast beatings of her heart because of the effort of the climb to the tiredness of her muscles. Another person may have imagined that Reina was indifferent, but Nrin was reading the truth from its very source, and she felt guilty for making her family worry and forcing her mother to come looking for her all the way up here. “I'm sorry...” she mumbled, her heart heavy with the weight of own feelings and those of the others. She wanted to explain, but she couldn't find the words. How could she present with words her ability to understand without communication, which was seemingly foreign to everybody but her?

Noticing how her daughter had a lot of troubles speaking up, Reina smiled to her tenderly and patted her head. “Come on, don't worry too much about it. If you have something to tell me, you can do it when you feel like it. On the other hand... I'm taking a day off tomorrow and we will go hunt together, for pleasure. It will help you clear your head, I think”. Surprised by the proposal, Nrin lifted her big blue eyes up toward her mother, finally looking straight at her. “Come on, let's go,” Reina told her. “Your mother is waiting for us and it's my turn to cook tonight. I will make your favorite meal: cabbage soup.” Though half-concealed with a sarcastic sigh, Nrin's laugh warmed both of their hearts.

End of part 2