Private Black Sheep

[Inanna Harth]

The house of the Hoole family in Maranatha was brand new, as most of the structures within the Shi’ido city were. Carved from a warm brown hardwood that had been painted over with blues and greens, it might seem a primitive luxury in a galaxy full of duracrete and durasteel structures. But Inanna, who was used to seeing these types of houses on her homeworld, just saw it as a pretty and well-built home.

Standing on the porch, she turned to Cato. “My mother speaks Basic, but not very well,” she said, holding out her hand. At the center of her palm was a small earpiece. “This is a translator configured to Shi’idese, so you’ll at least know what she’s saying. I’ll probably have to translate whatever you say to her.”

She took a deep breath of air still faintly perfumed with the scent of freshly carved wood and sighed contentedly. “Are you ready?”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato stared at the facade of the Hoole house in indiscinerble thought. It certainly wasn’t like most homes he saw on the industrial wastes of Bonadan, or the urban hell of Nar Shaddaa. Though the concept wasn’t necessarily alien to him given that he had spent much of his youth on Kashyyyk. Wooden structures were plentiful among the wookiee populace. Not that it was the exact same thing, but close enough.

He felt oddly intimidated by the idea of meeting Inanna’s mother. Odd, considering that he had already met several other members of her family, but considering the new circumstances they found themselves in, things felt a bit different. But he had survived his own mother, so surely this couldn’t be worse than that. Probably.

He blinked, looking down at the proffered earpiece and taking it. With a final look to her, then down to the little girl in the stroller he was holding, Cato nodded, “Ready when you are.”

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“She knows we’re coming, so no need to worry about startling her.” Inanna gave Cato’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before she opened the door and stepped inside. No knocking, no waiting to be let in—she just walked right through the unlocked entrance. She had warned them to lock the door for safety, but alas, Mom wouldn’t heed her advice. She was stubborn that way.

The interior was simultaneously familiar and strange. There was furniture, but it was clearly designed with a not-quite-human body in mind, and the material it was made out of seemed suspiciously… fleshy.

Instantly recognizable among all the alien decor was a holoprojector, which was currently playing an action movie. Seated around it were the two figures of Pygar and Ashmedai, Inanna’s brother and niece respectively. As soon as Inanna and Cato entered, Ash leaped to her feet and ran over excitedly. “I heard there was a baby—oh, she’s so cute!” she exclaimed upon seeing Serena, practically bouncing up and down.

Turning off the projector, Pygar came over shortly afterwards. “Nice to see you again, man,” he said, reaching out to shake Cato’s hand. “Mom’s out back.”

After indulging in a bit of oohing and ahhing over baby Serena, Inanna led the way through the back door. Behind the house was a garden surrounded by a wall overgrown with blue ivy. The plants were all imported—that is, carried there in the hands of refugees fleeing Lao-mon. Sitting on a bench in the shade of a zenobia tree was Lilith Hoole.

Lilith was old—so old, in fact, that while she could use her shapeshifting abilities to retain a youthful appearance, she no longer found it practical to hide her age. So she didn’t bother, allowing herself to ripen into a shrunken and frail-looking creature with long white hair and colorless gray skin. Wrapped up in a black cloak to keep out the chill of autumn, she sat with her eyes closed, as if meditating.

As Inanna stepped into the garden, Lilith’s eyes opened. A hand, the long fingers decorated with golden rings, crept out of her cloak to hold the fabric in place at her throat as she stood up and faced the visitors.

Inanna took a few cautious steps forward, waiting for Lilith to reach out her arms, ready to receive her. Then Mother and daughter embraced warmly. The hug went on for quite a while.

“It’s good to see you,” Lilith said. “And here I thought you had run off again.”

“I thought you didn’t want me around,” Inanna tried to joke. “Oh, Mom—this is Cato and Serena.”

“Which one is your betrothed?” Lilith asked.

Inanna gave a slightly forced laugh. “Cato is the bigger one. Serena is—”

“His daughter. You told me.” Lilith’s gaze flicked over Cato and Serena. “They don’t speak our language.”

“I gave Cato a translator.” Inanna’s tone had turned a touch pleading, not quite sure what to make of her mother's reaction. “He can understand everything you say.”

“Hello, then,” Lilith said, addressing Cato with a smile, then Serena. “And hello to you, too. I am Lilith Hoole, of Clan Aerie. Welcome to my home, and leave some of the happiness you bring.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato nodded, finding a bit of a smirk, "Good. Giving her a heart attack would probably be the worst first impression," Did Shi'ido have hearts? He shrugged, and entered behind Inanna. He studied the strange furnishings with a highly raised brow, but made no comment on the matter. Perhaps it was best to just take most things in stride, today. They did quickly find two familiar figures, which made him immediately feel more at ease.

"Hey, Ash. This is Serena," Cato nodded down to his daughter, who stared at both of the new faces with wide eyes, drooling a bit as she cooed. He looked to Pygar's offered hand, and smiled before offering his own in return, "Not gonna shoot me this time, are ya?" They spent a bit of time indulging in Serena's cuteness, before heading to the garden out back. There sat a venerable woman, wrapped in a dark cloak.

Cato followed Inanna, but stopped a few feet behind to let her catch up with her mother. He listened between the two of them thanks to his translator, raising a brow slightly as Lilith made mention of the language barrier, but said nothing until she addressed him specifically, "It's lovely to finally meet you, Mrs. Hoole," He looked to Inanna briefly for assurance, while Serena made her own introductions with a long string of happy noises.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Not gonna shoot me this time, are ya?"

“Not unless you want me to,” Pygar replied innocently.

He and Ash had hung back while Inanna and Cato went to meet with Lilith, perhaps wisely electing not to interfere—though they were spying on the proceedings from the window.

Inanna quickly rattled off a translation of Cato’s greeting. Lilith bowed her head slightly, looking pleased. “And you as well,” she replied. “When my daughter told me you were from Nar Shaddaa, I was afraid you would turn out to be a Hutt. Thankfully that is not the case.”

“I thought you knew I had better taste than that, Mom,” Inanna said with a smirk. Any chance for a bit of levity to take the edge off was welcome.

“I believe she also mentioned that you planned on moving to Maranatha soon,” Lilith continued. “It’s not uncommon for non-Shi’ido to live among us. My son Pygar is such an example. You will certainly find no resistance from me.”

No resistance didn’t necessarily mean that she approved of their union. Inanna pressed her lips together, biting down on a few choice words. Things were going reasonably well so far, and she didn’t want to ruin it.

“Do you plan on having children?” Lilith asked. Inanna immediately found Cato’s gaze and gave a slight, almost imperceptible shake of her head.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato shook his head and chuckled, giving Pygar a knowing point before he departed. Their meeting with Lilith naturally took precedence over a prolonged chat.

“When my daughter told me you were from Nar Shaddaa, I was afraid you would turn out to be a Hutt. Thankfully that is not the case.”

He chuckled again, frankly relieved to know that Lilith had a sense of humor. At least, he could only assume the humor was intentional on her part. Mention of them moving was inevitable, and despite Inanna's unspoken response, and the ways with which some of Lilith's word choice could be interpreted, Cato chose to remain optimistic. Better to take her at face value rather than make unknowing presumptions in their first meeting.

"Er, yeah. That's the hope anyway. There's still some things we need to sort out before we can actually make the move official, but- Nar Shaddaa ain't a place to raise a kid, y'know?" Better here where Inanna had connections and a sense of stability already in place. The following question though, he was much less prepared to answer. Cato shot Inanna a look, doing his best to interpret the subtle head shake.

"U-um. Well, we haven't really talked much about it, yet. Getting engaged and raising Serena has been enough on our plates already. We'd rather make sure we can do right by her and ourselves before we even consider any future plans like that." He glanced at Inanna again with an awkward smile, hoping that non-committal was serviceable enough.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Indeed.” Lilith’s eyebrows rose. “I wondered why you didn’t simply move back to Erakhis, especially after we moved here. That big beautiful house has been sitting empty ever since we left it.”

“The house is…” Haunted? Full of ghosts? Metaphorical ghosts, of course. Hal and the children were resting in peace; it was Inanna’s mind that remained occupied by their memory. “... not suitable anymore. I’ll probably just sell it.”

Cato fumbled his way through a noncommittal answer to her next question. Inanna felt Lilith’s curious gaze upon her, clearly expecting her to add something, but Inanna remained tight-lipped on the subject.

“Well, I hope that you have better luck this time,” Lilith finally said, her tone surprisingly gentle. “And at any rate, Serena looks like she’s more than enough for the time being.” She held out her arms. “May I?”

Should Cato glance in Inanna’s direction, looking for guidance, he’d find only a vague shrug from her. She seemed distracted, her mind on other things.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Better luck? Cato wasn't entirely sure how to react to that, his lips twisting to show as much. Lilith then switched right away to asking if she could see Serena. The prospect hardly bothered him, even though he still glanced Inanna before handing over his daughter, "Oh- Sure."

Serena waved her arms and squealed as she was picked up and handed over. Cato stepped back to watch them, and the girl made a bubbly raspberry noise that seemed to signify contentment. He smiled, ever the doting father figure he had become since taking up the responsibility. A moment passed before he remembered he was here to interact with Lilith, not Serena.

"How has Maranatha treated you all since coming?" Another look to Inanna, awaiting translation.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Taking Serena in her arms, Lilith finally seemed to loosen up a bit. She smiled down at the baby, holding out a finger for her to grasp in her tiny pink fist. “She has her father’s eyes.”

Such things held little significance to the Shi’ido, whose features were always changing. If anything, a child who shared the eyes of a parent was said to be trying to imitate them.

"We are happy here," Lilith replied. "Happier than we have been in a long time. It's not home, but it's close enough." She lifted Serena up in the air while the child crowed happily, holding her arms out as if she were flying. Inanna remained distracted, her mind somewhere in the past.

That is, until a figure stepped out of the house. They looked like a clean-cut young man with dark hair and eyes, wearing a fashionable black coat to block out the autumn chill. Behind him lurked Ash and Pygar, both looking rather bewildered by the arrival of this unexpected guest.

Lilith froze, then quickly handed Serena back to Cato. “Who are you?” she asked the mysterious man.

“This is the Hoole residence, isn’t it?” he asked in Shi’idese. “And you are Lilith?”

“He just walked right through the door,” Pygar cut in, obviously suspicious of the stranger. “Said he wanted to see you, and wouldn’t take no for an answer—“

“Yes,” Lilith interrupted. “I am she.”

The young man dropped to his knees in front of her, clutching her hand. “It’s me, Mom,” he said. “It’s Sam.”

A ripple of stone-cold shock spread through those present. Even Pygar seemed to understand the weight of this revelation, and fell silent. Inanna stared at her long-lost brother with wide eyes. But while her mother broke down in tears, embracing her son, Inanna backed away, retreating to Cato’s side.

“Something isn’t right here,” she whispered to him. “He says he’s Samyaza, my older brother. But he’s supposed to have died over two hundred years ago!”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato smiled, and nodded, "Her grandmother's, too." To him it was an unbreakable familial connection. He couldn't quite expect a Shi'ido to understand it, but they had their own way of forging bonds, he supposed. Lilith seemed to ease up a bit, in any case. That was enough for him.

"Have to take those blessings where we can find them, right?" The Shi'ido had suffered a great many losses in the last several years. A bit of happiness could go a long way. At least now, they were stable, and safe. The rest could come later.

A bit of movement from behind made Cato spin around. Unsurprisingly, he was immediately on edge when a stranger showed up unannounced and unexpected by the homeowners. Especially when his own child was here. He straightened up, subconsciously getting between the stranger and Lilith. But the initial confusion gave way to joy, at least on the elder Hoole's part. Cato awkwardly stepped aside, taking back Serena and holding her close while Lilith embraced her apparent son, as Inanna quickly clarified.

"Your… brother?" He looked at her suspiciously. They had talked briefly of siblings before. "And… you had proof of that? That he's dead?" Cato was suddenly appreciative of the fact that most people couldn't just switch how they looked on a whim. It made it a lot harder to lie about being someone else in a situation like this.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Not exactly,” Inanna replied. “We thought he was dead, but they never found a body. He had gone off with my other brother Orcas on a trip to this desert planet…”

“... but we became separated from each other,” Sam explained a little later on, after the family had moved back into the house to talk. “I was found by some of the locals. They took me in and nursed me back to health, but… their intentions weren’t exactly pure. They sold me into slavery.”

Lilith closed her eyes as if pained. The others in the room shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

“I wound up working in a spice mine,” Sam continued. “To keep me from escaping, they got me addicted to spice. Eventually, I was moved to a different position. They wanted me to serve as a decoy, then as a bodyguard to a crime lord…”

On and on Sam’s story went, leading the listeners through his rough life entangled with various criminal elements. It was a convoluted tale, and certainly hard to believe, but not completely out of the question. There was one very important question that remained unanswered, however.

“Why didn’t you come earlier?” Inanna finally asked, looking him square in the face.

“I heard the news that Lao-mon had fallen, and assumed the worst. It was only when you all moved here to Maranatha that I thought there was a chance…”

“I’m not talking about coming to Maranatha, I’m talking about coming home. Why did it take you two hundred years to see your family again?”

Sam hesitated before replying. “Looking back, there were many times when I could’ve cut my ties, packed up, and gone home. But I didn’t. And I’m ashamed of myself for it. I always made excuses, telling myself it was too late for me, that I must’ve been forgotten…”

“You were never forgotten,” Lilith said. “What caused your shame to abate?”

“Loneliness,” he replied. “Despair. I wanted to be among my own kind. I wanted to have a family again.”

Inanna surveyed the faces of the others, gauging their reactions. She was no more convinced that this was really Sam than Pygar or Ash were. But then none of them had ever even met Sam—his alleged death had occurred before Inanna was even born. She might not think this was Samyaza, but then she had no comparison to work with. Only Lilith had known Sam, and she seemed to have already accepted him.

Inanna didn’t know what to do. She glanced at Cato with half a mind to suggest they depart, but couldn’t in good conscience leave her family alone with this man claiming to be her brother. Not until she knew more about what was going on.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

So there was a chance he could've been alive this whole time. Cato hummed quietly in thought as they moved into the house, where he-who-may-or-may-not-be-Sam continued his recounting of events. Separated and stranded on a desert world, aided by locals only to be turned into slave labor in a spice mine, and later becoming entangled with the criminals who had taken over his life.

Not impossible, but there was one key lingering point that Inanna eventually brought up. For him to have been gone for two hundred years, it struck Cato as odd. He'd heard of long-lived species taking things a bit slower but even that felt nothing short of extreme, regardless of whatever other troubles might have impeded his progress. It hadn't even occurred to him that Sam was gone for longer than Inanna had even been alive until about then. Which would make it all the more difficult to figure out how genuine this man was, considering she had no frame of reference. Lilith certainly seemed convinced, but was her love borne out of authenticity, or just desperate hope?

Cato was left with a sense of awkwardness. This was no longer about their visit, it was about Sam. Who would he be to try and step in the middle of it? At the same time, if this Sam was an impostor, leaving him here alone would only be a danger to the Hooles. It wouldn't be the first time somebody was after them. He decided to start subtly, in the hopes that his investigative acumen or Force abilities would make any deception a bit clearer, "...Who was it you were working for?" Cato finally spoke, looking around at the gathered family as if to confirm that it was okay for him to do so.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“A crime lord named Tosh Rylance, based out of Nar Shaddaa,” Sam replied. “He was killed recently by a bounty hunter. It was a revenge killing.”

“Do you have proof that you are who you say you are?” Pygar asked bluntly.

“I have no doubts,” Lilith said. “He is Sam. I can feel it.”

“There has to be some way to make sure. You could test his DNA, or check his mind with telepathy, couldn’t you?”

“Our telepathic abilities don’t work that way,” Inanna muttered. "But a DNA test would work."

Pygar turned to Cato. “You’re a Jedi. Can’t you sense whether he’s telling the truth?”

Sam shot a sharp glance toward Cato, but he only seemed surprised, not worried. “Well, if you want to test me, you can,” he said with a shrug. “Whatever it takes to soothe any lingering doubts.”

"A DNA test would be a lot harder to fake," Inanna said, not wanting to drag this out any further. But now everyone else in the room was staring at Cato like he could provide them with all the answers. Never mind that Pygar had destroyed any hopes of the test working when he let the cat out of the bag that Cato was a Jedi in the first place...

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Hm," Cato muttered, "Inanna and I live on Nar Shaddaa," Of course, that didn't dictate he knew every little thing going on across the entire planet, but in the event that Sam was lying, it was a chance to potentially make him slip up.

Lilith doubled down on her certainty, while Pygar voiced some concerns of her own, and ousted Cato as a jedi in the process. The knight blinked, and straightened up some, "Well… It's not always a surefire proof. Somebody skilled enough in deception, or with enough mental fortitude, can keep the truth a secret even from a Jedi."

Especially now that Sam knew to expect it, finding the truth would likely be even more difficult, "Don't suppose we've got a way to test DNA on hand?" Cato turned to Lilith now, "Can you ask something that only Sam would know?" She was already on his side, so it was possible she wouldn't even entertain the idea. But Lilith was also the only one with a frame of reference for who Sam really was.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Pygar stood up from his chair. “Not here, but I can go get one. You waited two centuries to get here, might as well wait fifteen minutes longer.”

With that, he left. Ash looked around awkwardly, now sitting by herself in that corner of the room. She looked about as confused and uncomfortable as Inanna felt. Had she even known that her uncle Samyaza existed before now? Inanna wondered.

At Cato’s prompting, Lilith turned to Sam. “What was the last thing I said to you before you left?” she asked.

“I don’t quite remember what you said,” Sam confessed. “But I remember Dad told us to be careful, and to trust in the Force. But trusting in the Force didn’t help me save Orcas, or prevent me from being enslaved…”

Inanna sighed. “He said the same thing to me before I left home,” she muttered.

“He said that to everyone who could feel the Force,” Lilith added.

Inanna glanced toward her sharply, then turned to face Sam. “You… you’re Force sensitive?”

“So was Orcas,” Sam replied. “Dad trained us both. The trip we went on was supposed to strengthen our connection to the Force. We visited a nexus inside a cave...”

But Inanna was no longer listening. She was still reeling from the news that she wasn’t the only Force sensitive child in her family after all.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Pygar left to go retrieve some sort of DNA test, evidently eager for proof. Cato leaned forward and studied Sam intently, searching for some indication of his truthfulness either in words or in the Force. He admitted he didn't know or remember Lilith's last words, and quickly confirmed that he himself was Force-sensitive, which Cato also made an effort to register for himself.

Inanna seemed completely distracted, and the knight grimaced before leaning over to her, "What're you thinking?" Serena was resting on his shoulder between them, gazing off at nothing in particular while a bit of drool trailed from her lip down onto Cato's arm. The mention of a cave made his attention flick back for a moment, "What nexus? Where?" He never specified what planet he went to, or hadn't made note of what kind of nexus it might be.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"What're you thinking?"

Leaning forward to whisper in Cato’s ear, she kissed his cheek so they wouldn’t look too suspicious. “Did I ever tell you I was raised to believe I was the only one of my siblings born with the Force? And because of that, I was pressured to become a Jedi, like my father before me?...”

Clearly there was more to it. Orcas and Samyaza had both had the Force, yet her father had gone to his grave believing they were dead. When she thought of how much he had insisted she go to Coruscant for training, rather than teaching her himself… had he blamed himself for their deaths? Or was something else going on there?

Wiping the drool from Serena’s mouth, she added, “Baby’s probably going to start teething soon.” Which wasn’t going to be fun. She remembered putting pacifiers in the freezer to soothe Galahad when his teeth were coming in. Otherwise, he’d cry and cry. Might be interesting to see how that translated over into the bond between father and daughter.

“A Force nexus on a planet called Zaathru,” Sam explained. “It’s located in a star cluster just outside our galaxy. Our people were aware of it, but very little of it had been explored. We were part of an expedition which was sent to investigate the nexus in particular. The cave was located beneath some ancient ruins. We thought it might've been built as a shrine to the nexus' power. As for the nexus itself, it was… strange. Difficult to describe. But it… killed Orcas. Consumed him.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato shook his head. It was the first he'd heard it. A rather strange turn of events for her father to make such claims, only for her long lost brother to show up and claim otherwise, "But… why? Why would he lie about that?" It didn't make much sense in the moment, but then again this entire circumstance was rather complicated in and of itself.

He smiled a bit at the mention of Serena, rubbing her back affectionately. Sometimes he had to remind himself to sit back and enjoy their time, out of fear that he might blink, and suddenly she would be grown up.

“A Force nexus on a planet called Zaathru,”

Cato shrugged and shook his head, having never heard of it. Sam's explanation did little to ease his concerns. A mysterious shrine on the edge of the galaxy built over top of a Force nexus? Maybe he'd just been away from Jedi practices for too long, but that sounded awfully disconcerting. Especially, given how it had treated Orcas, "It… killed him? And how did you make it out?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“I don’t know,” Inanna replied. Whenever they had a moment’s peace and a chance to talk in private, she’d have to ask her mother. Hopefully Lilith would have answers—and be willing to share them.

She gently stroked Serena’s face with the back of her hand. The baby girl’s eyelids began to droop. Soon she’d drift off to sleep, one cheek squished against Cato’s shoulder, undisturbed by all the strangeness and turmoil around her.

Inanna’s gaze fixed upon Sam as he spoke of Orcas’ death. “You said you were separated,” she said. “How do you know what happened to him?”

“I saw the nexus take him—tendrils of darkness seized him and dragged him deeper into the depths of the cave,” Sam said, his brow furrowing. “I was terrified. I thought it was going to take me next. So I fled. And I felt him die.”

“No wonder you were so ashamed of yourself that you didn’t want to come home,” Inanna said. On the surface, her words could be taken as a jab, but her tone wasn’t cruel. In fact, it was almost sympathetic.

Just then, the door opened and Pygar returned. “Here it is,” he said, holding up a DNA test kit. “All we need is some spit…”

Within minutes, they had the results. The man calling himself Samyaza was indeed Lilith’s son. It was as if a collective sigh of relief was exhaled by everyone present. Even Lilith seemed more assured now.

“I think we had better go,” Inanna said suddenly, getting up from her seat.

“But you just got here,” Ash pointed out.

“Yeah, well, a whole lot has happened in the past hour, and the baby’s falling asleep. Cato?” She glanced toward him with a look that suggested he had better not protest their departure.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato listened to the rest of it play out with a furrowed brow and pursed lips, otherwise lost in the many thoughts swimming through his head. Pygar returned soon enough, and with a quick test they could confirm that this was indeed the real Sam. It brought a sense of comfort, but Cato was still a bit on guard. Regardless of his true identity, it still felt off.

Given Inanna's abrupt call for a departure, he was suspecting that she felt the same. He blinked, and stood up, reading the sternest written across her face, "R-right. It's been quite a day for you all already. Another time," So much for getting to know Lilith. But given everything that's happened with her once-presumed-dead son's return, there wasn't really any way to compete with that. As they began to take their leave, he leaned in close to her, careful not to disturb Serena, "What's the deal?"

Inanna Harth​