- and a few hours later, Deskyl and DZ come down to get breakfast. Once they've gotten a plate of bagels put together, Deskyl seeks out the caretaker.

    "Excuse me, ma'am, do you know where Master Raafi and Master Temple are?"

The caretaker, whose name is Mae Covas, answers. "They went visit Master Temple's family on Earth."

"Huh," Deskyl opines, looking skeptical.

    "We'll be spending the day out; do you have a way to get in touch with us?"

"Not really, unless you want to swing by some places to pick up a message I left there. Do you want me to pack a lunch for the two of you?"

    "Yes, thank you ma'am. Where should we go for messages?"

Mae has a list of locations. Apparently she is friends with the owners of a small chain of convenience stores, and they will pass on messengers from her. It shouldn't come up, unless it's an emergency. The relevant information is shared while the lunch is prepared.

DZ stays to listen while Deskyl brings breakfast up to Daska.

"...just say my name and that should be enough. And you, dear, how are you holding up?"

"I'm fine, ma'am."

"And Deskyl?"

"She's doing well. She's a little concerned about Raafi, though, he's not completely recovered."

Frown. "She mentioned why?"

"No ma'am, just that she didn't expect him to leave today."

"Huh, well, I guess Master Temple needed to go to his family and Raafi is quite mobile."

"Yes ma'am. Well, we'll check in, you can let us know if we're needed."

"I will dear." Mae says giving DZ a smile before returning to packing vegetables into a more compact configuration.

And shortly they can go out, with Daska leading the way - she may not have a family, but she has friends and acquaintances and mentors, people who'll wonder if she disappears on them, and an apprenticeship she needs to decide if she's going back to or putting on hold for a while.

Those various people can still be found where she usually finds them. One of her mentors is at the shop in the touristic district. Chewing the root she is usually chews on.

People react confused at the DZ, but generally don't approach, and apparently think she is some kind of power manifestation.

DZ stays close to Deskyl, ignoring the stares; Deskyl stares back, once or twice, when people seem a little too interested for her taste, but doesn't make an issue out of it beyond that.

"Hi," Daska says when they get to the shop.

"Hi! Been a while!" She says in good spirits through the root. "Do you want to help sort the beady bracelets? I think I still have some pastries the baker got me the other if you want some."

"Sure," she grins, but turns to DZ first. "Tell-?"

    "Yes ma'am. Daska has decided to move in with us, ma'am, she might not be around very often in the future."

She wordlessly points at the covering where the snacks are kept "the ones without the spice are on the red box."

"Huh," the woman frowns at DZ, clearly curious but apparently she is not the type to pry. "That sad to hear, Daska helped me out a lot with the odds and ends here around the shop. But as long she is well."

"We'll make sure of it, ma'am."

"Come visit whenever," she says to no one in particular, while returning to the task of fixing a task. Chewing on her root.

Desyl and DZ browse while Daska sorts bracelets, and then they can move on.

The next stop is behind a coffee shop with an owner that doesn't like homeless people, but with a son that is nice and sneakily gives out food that his father would throw away. The son spots Daska and comes out. "Hey, a bit early-" He stops when he spots Deskyl and DZ. "Hi...?"

"Hi. We're okay. I'm - with them, wanted - don't worry. And thank you."

    "Daska has decided to move in with us, sir, she might not be around very much in the future."

"Will sometimes."

He flounders for some cultural script to figure out what to say next. "Uh, okay. Uh," he takes a long pause undecided to speak with the metal face who did speak, and the flesh face that didn't. "Uh, I take you are her sorcerer sister?"

DZ translates this for Deskyl, who shrugs, but nods.

    "Something a bit like that, sir."

"Ah, okay. Can I ask about the metal thing?" He waves at DZ's being.

"I'm a droid, sir, a machine that can do most of the same kinds of things that people can."

She's signing along in translation of this, too, and Deskyl scowls a bit at it.

"Sounds like science fiction." He asks a bit incredulously, but flinches at Deskyl's scowl. "But good, good. Uh," he turns to Daska. "It's a bit early and I don't have anything I can hand out. I probably should get back before dad notices and comes to yell at us."

"Is fine. See you."

She's a bit chatty, after this one - she wants to come back, sometimes, the food is good and she likes the company. Well, some of the company, and it'll be funny to see the owner's face when she comes back as a paying customer.

She can spot t two fellow street urchins hanging out in a side-street. One of them spots the group and decides to run away upon seeing DZ. The other is still mumbling "...toothless coward," when they come close enough. "Hey, Daska, who is that?"

"Friends! I'm -" she looks to DZ for help, and the droid repeats her explanation.

"Ah, good. Do they have money, Daska? Can I have your stuff or bus ticket money?"

Bus ticket money is a code for can I try to get money off this person?

"Bring that jacket you like, next time, sure. Don't think we can - bus tickets, yet."

Nods. "Your robot friend is cool. What robot stuff you can do?"

"I'm a servant droid, ma'am, I wasn't made to do anything very complex."

"Not even, like, shoot stuff or make your arm go really far?"

"No ma'am."

    "You - words -"

"Yes ma'am. I can translate between languages that I know."

It seems like maybe that wasn't what Daska meant, though.

"How many languages do you know?"

"Four, ma'am, but only one from this world."

"Ah, okay. And no more robot stuff?"

"No ma'am."

    "Poetry," Daska finally comes up with. "Lots."

"Oh. Yes ma'am, I can recite poetry."

    "Without a book."

"Oh, cool. Like, a record?"

"I can repeat a reading I've heard or read a book aloud myself, ma'am, either one."

Eager nods. She looks where the other urchin went. "I don't think whispers is going to come back, but I want to hear a poem."

"Yes ma'am. What kind of poetry do you like?"

"The pretty kind."

"Yes ma'am." She thinks for a few seconds, and then:

"Who can say,
is it a snowy heron
or a white flower
standing

at the glossy edge
of the lily-
and frog-filled pond?
Hours ago the orange sun

opened the cups of the lilies
and the spotted frogs
began kicking their long muscles,

breast-stroking
like little green dwarves
under the roof of the rich,
durasteel water.

Now the soft
eggs of the newt
in their wrappings of jelly
begin to shiver.

They're tired of sleep.
They have a new idea.
They want to swim away
into the world."

[source]

"That's pretty!" Bounce. "But I should find the coward." Daska is offered a hug.

Hug!

    "Deskyl would like to know if you think they're going to be okay, ma'am."

        "Um. ...like anybody? Not..." she gestures vaguely. "Not easy fixed."

    "Yes ma'am."

Deskyl looks thoughtful, and they continue on their way.

The street urchin departs to find the other street urchin. They make other stops that go similarly. Not everyone believes that DZ is a machine, but no one really makes a point of testing the claim.

Finally, they go to Daska's mentor, not far from the place where Deskyl and crew first manifested.

Daska's mentor works in a pottery shop; the girl points out the storefront before leading Deskyl and DZ around to the back, past heaps of clay and drying pots to the workshop itself.

Daska's mentor - Kraya - has her hair tied in a messy ponytail. She is putting the finishing touchings in a colorful clay mug, a wide brush in her hand, a finer brush in her mouth. Kraya looks up when they come and waves hello to Daska. And approaches them smiling with the brush absently forgotten in her teeth.

"Kraya! Sorry didn't - haven't been... was busy. Deska," she leans indicatively on her taller counterpart, "and Deezee," she nods at the droid. "New, new world. Deska wants-" she cuts herself off and gestures for DZ to finish the explanation.

    "Deskyl is going to arrange for Daska to go to school, ma'am, and she didn't want to worry you."

Kraya gives Daska an inquisitive look, inspecting if she is okay with this arrangement.

She seems pretty happy!

Kraya grins. Starts to speak and realizes the brush. With one hand she absently puts the brush away. With the other she motions between Daska and Deskyl's faces, poiting out the similarities.

"Same, yeah."

    "It seems that some people repeat between universes, ma'am, and the magic that brought us here was looking for people who are repetitions of Miss Daska."

Kraya blinks at this. Looking more closely at Deskyl, apparently making sure she is okay. "Authorities knows?" She says the first words they hear from her, a croak of a sore throat.

"We're being hosted by The High Library, ma'am, I expect they've told everyone who should know."

Nod. Kraya waves at a table with sitting chairs, and smiles invitingly.

They take the offered seats, and Deskyl signs a few words.

    "Master Deskyl says that she appreciates you helping Miss Daska, ma'am, and she wants to know if you have any questions for her."

Kraya thinks about this while picking up a water pitcher and four mugs. She takes a sip before saying. "How do you know you are the same?" Her voice sounds better now her throat is less dry.

    "Master Deskyl has a kind of magic called Force sensitivity, ma'am, that lets her see minds, among other things, and it's very obvious to her that way. And the mage who brought us here said that it was an understandable flaw for his spell to have, to target identical souls in different worlds."

Kraya nods. "Like the merchants' story."

    "-ma'am?"

"That story..." she struggles with words, and apparently Daska doesn't know it from her face, "there is one story. A Folk tale. A merchant meets a merchant from Earth. They are the same too. But the one from Earth is older." When she gets going, she has long pauses between sentences and a lot of gestures. "But their faces are similar, and they have the same story... similar names."

Deskyl nods along, listening patiently.

Kraya takes a moment to think about the story some more. She offers waters to them with her gestures.

"And the older one warns the other about something? A death. I don't remember if it helps, but the younger one thanks the older one. I heard this when I was," she waves at Daska, "that old. But it had a moral about hindsight." She shakes her head. "It sounds like you two."

    "It does, yes ma'am, thank you for telling us. Master Deskyl will look out for Miss Daska."

Kraya smiles. "You are moving?" She asks the three of them.

    "Master Deskyl doesn't know yet if she'll be moving out of the area, but she expects to be able to bring Miss Daska back to visit even if she does."

Smile. "That is good. Daska is good." She speaks those like very elaborate and self-evident statements.

    "She is, yes ma'am."

"You?" She asks at DZ, inviting her to talk about herself.

DZ looks to Deskyl for a response to this, but the Sith gestures for her to speak for herself. "I'm a droid, ma'am, and Master Deskyl's personal servant."

"Deska's friend. And..." it takes her a moment to find the word; "kid. Daughter. Like."

"Charge? Ward?" Kraya offers.

Daska nods, and waves her hand in a way that's meant to indicate that it's a little more complicated than that.

    "Droids need work, ma'am," DZ says, presumably translating Deskyl's signing. "But Master Deskyl says that she wants me to do more for myself, now."

Kraya nods. She figures that robot to human relationships would be more complex and possibly fail to have proper vocabulary.

"Then it's is good she is helping," Kraya says beaming at Deskyl.