Blood Of My Blood. Dearest Asha.

[Jericho]

From a raging river the water rushed towards a downward fall over a grass covered cliff into the wide range of exotic flower and other types of life. The wildlife around migrating hustling and bustling like sentient in their city giving the surrounding areas with all kinds of sounds. But even the honed ears were made deaf to the sounds of animals by the sounds of the flowing water that rushed strongly still over his head and body as he hovered calmly mid-air as he meditated. The wild but beautiful jungles of Naboo were always a sanctuary for him, there was darkness nor was there overwhelming light. The energies were that only of life and peace, at least that was what he had always felt for himself this place specifically had a eagle eye view of the entire area. A place Jericho wanted to share with his blood one day once they were strong enough to handle such meditation. That was his way of life, his way of teaching, too see a world as he. The warrior opened his eyes slowly and looked outwardly looking at such a view and the though came into his mind. Can she....Does she see what he sees now? Does she miss her father? Was she safe? Was she alive? The mere though of his little [member="Asha Nyerie"], sprouted so much worry and doubt within himself.

It has been two years, three months, four days. thirteen hours, six minutes and counting. The master tracker did everything he could to look for his little girl the one he raise on his own. His blood began to boil, the force around him responded the water that touched his skin turned to steam. How? How was it that someone in the known Galaxy could disappear without a trace?! The Sith knew nothing, the slave traders knew nothing, his ties with the Sanctum had got him no where and the master of force sense that worked with him Sargon could not even feel her presence and nor could he even though having such a bound connection with his daughter. Jericho never gave up, not a single day in believing his daughter was still alive still out there somewhere. She had to be. She was...She is...As strong as she was kind, the old warrior could feel it. The warrior clenched his fist tightly and took a deep breath to calm himself down and hovered down to the floor of the jungle. Was it wrong? There was no signature for years now...Was it wrong for him not to believe she has passed on? Was it wrong for him not to honor his first born?

It was then....A speck of energy a familiar feeling of warmth but at the same time darker, hateful more like him.....

"Asha?"

 

[Lief]

Exhaustion seeped into every fiber of her being.

Her skin was somewhat taut, paler than it ought to have been, and she walked with a very subtle limp. Every so often she would stop in place, frozen from memory or the seering pain which ran along her back.

Bakura felt like a lifetime ago. Thule a millennium. And the sweet little summer child who had left Korriban, and her Father's side, for adventure? She had been dead for years. Asha could barely even remember her anymore.

Rejection, manipulation, pain, and servitude. That was what her life had become. And now that she was free once more to roam the Galaxy she found herself checking each corner, watching every shadow, terrified that at any minute she would be dragged back to the Durasteel Graveyard which had been her cage for so long.

Vaal, at least, had been freeing. Rushing through the long savanna grasses, even if she was being chased by predators, had cleared her mind and given her a much needed rush of adrenaline which pushed aside her exhaustion. Heck, even her leg hadn't ached there.

Was it all in her mind?

The twinge of pain which ran along her thigh said otherwise.

When she had returned to Thule it had been to perform a personal catharsis. To rid herself of the burdens she had amounted. The Father who had rejected her and cast her aside without word, after two years apart. The Monster who had forced her to her knees and asked so much of her, taken so much from her. The Nightmares which plagued her every hour both waking and sleeping. The bodies... So many bodies. Her hands always appeared stained with blood, her boots always sticky though nothing coated them.

It hadn't worked.

Returning to the burnt down inn had only made matters worse. It had set within her an unparalleled longing, for her Father, heck even for her Captor. That last thought made her stomach curl, how could she? How could she ever want to return?

Then again, what did she have left out here in the Galaxy? In the Durasteel Graveyard she'd had a purpose, even if it was to serve him. Each day was planned for her, each decision made for her, she had been on autopilot and her only care was ensuring he was satisfied with her work. Out here there was nothing.

No family. No friends. No purpose.

Even her beloved ship felt hollow.

A mewling at her ankles spoke otherwise. Leaning down she fussed Azrael behind the ear and sighed. If he did come for her, what would become of the fluffball? Her Master had many a cruel streak, there was no way he'd allow her to bring a feline back with her. And if he did, there'd be nothing stopping him from tormenting her with it.

But the smallest bit of selfishness rose within her. She wasn't willing to give him up. He was her kitten, all she had left.

Bundling him up into her arms, she stood from her bunk and took a few steps until she was out into the main walkway of her ship. A few more and she was down the boarding ramp and into green pastures.

Naboo.

Of all the places in all the worlds it was here that she had tracked him to. Each step she took away from her ship had her legs feeling heavier, like duracrete, until she ground to a halt.

He wouldn't want to see her.

He had made that abundantly clear on Bakura.

[member="Jericho"]

 

[Jericho]

As the birds continue to sing, the old warrior began to walk over to the energy being emitted from the being. He had lost her for that time and after the silence fell over his Je'daii order, the warrior reverted back to his battling ways fighting for that sensation. The thought of his daughter being so close to him again was....Warm. Though he very much loved every one of his little birds he knew he had to distance himself from them since they lived so close to the sanctum. He did not want them to be seen nor have expectations put on them for being the man that he was but he wasn't so far to not show them he was there. Still, Asha was an exception, he could remember when the little basket that held the tiny girl that had her fathers eyes. He remembered the first time he held her and never wanted to let go. The warrior for fifteen years was just a man with his little one close to toe. He raised his hand for a moment, after the super soldier injections, the training in the gravity chamber up to 1000 times normal gravity, his power in the force....Made him more monster than a man. Standing about half a foot taller and body bound by more muscle, still covered in his many old scars and lines of red from his cybernetics and injections. Would she still wish to embrace a monster for a father? Or would she reject him? The warrior walked slowly and pondered on those thoughts. The light braced over his being as he walked out from the shadows that the jungle had made for him and looked to the ship then down to the little girl and her cat. As she walked, Jericho notice a very subtle limp in her step no doubt from possible injuries. "Asha." The warrior whispered with worry and with out a second thought the warrior used the force to hover her and her little furball to him. Without another word he held her close and sat her down healing her legs.

[member="Asha Nyerie"]

 

[Lief]

He had been right all along.

Asha was weak, pitiful, nothing more than a coward. Look at how the little rabbit ran back to her ship at the first sign of doubt. Though she had the legs to make the leap she still fell short at the hurdle. Her own hurdle, the one she had set within her own mind.

Doubt.

That woman back on Kalee must have seen it in her. So it was true then, this Galaxy was no longer hers to tread. She was worse than the ground and the creatures which wriggled in the dirt, no right to dream... No right to wander and wonder and be in awe. Just to serve.

Asha's fault. All Asha's fault.

Her head hung with shame as she fought back the sting of tears. So that was it then? That was all she had accomplished in her life, and all that she would? The only name she'd made for herself was slave. He had used it, she had used it - and she hadn't even known Asha.

The young girl shuddered. When had it gotten so cold?

"Come on, Az" she whispered, nuzzling her face into his fur to obscure her grief. She'd be out of credits soon and then what? Stuck to one world, or floating in space until her rations ran out. Not the way she wanted to go, then again her Master probably had worse things in mind.

Who would want to give her a job after all this? Would they see the weakness in her, as the woman had? Would they view her as so basely inferior that she wasn't worth their time or money? Would they also try to Lord over her?

She grit her teeth, clenched her hands. This was wrong. All wrong. She was Asha Hex! She wasn't... Couldn't be...

You’re nothing, girl! Look at you!

The woman's words ran through her mind, paralyzing her in place before she could reach her ship.

You don’t get a right in this galaxy by being weak, and you lost your right to dream and see the wonders when you had that collar snapped around your neck!

Her hand lifted to the thin band of metal around her throat, obscured by the cuff of her hood. She hadn't even tried to remove it, but she knew better. He was watching her, she knew that now, there was no way that he wasn't. If the collar itself didn't kill her, he would. Or worse. Definitely worse. Besides, she doubted anything she had on hand would break it. Not knowing him.

Force she hated him. Force she missed him. She needed that stability, that structure, after so long of knowing nothing but it. It had been cruel of him to loose her without instruction. Cruel of him to loose her at all. For what did she still have here?

So it was that when her body felt the wraps of the Force around it she began to panic. Had he heard her thoughts? Read her minds? Was he pulling her back to him? But then, where was the wrap around her throat? Where was the thin chain which ripped into her and threatened to press all the air from her lungs?

Her legs flailed helplessly, and she held on to Azrael for dear life. Her eyes blurred, as panic set in. I didn't mean it, please... I didn't mean it, don't make me go back there... And by the time she landed in someone's embrace she hadn't the sense of mind to realize who it was. All she felt was his presence, obscuring the truth. The darkness of the durasteel graveyard crept into her and her knees went weak.

"P-Please..." she whimpered as she felt her body lowered to the ground. She didn't sit though, as intended, she knelt the way he always wanted. Head hung, heavy, swaying on the spot but keeping the position she'd been taught. This wasn't fair. This wasn't right. "Don't make me go back... I'll be good... I won't speak, I won't..."

She was delirious, her eyes were wide, her skin white and clammy. Her breathing was sporadic, hurried in some moments and virtually non existent in others. But the arms around her didn't stop, and the aches and pains throughout her body eased up just a little. Of course, by now it was mostly psychological pain that caused them to ache. She had healed the literal wounds long ago.

[member="Jericho"]

 

[Jericho]

As she knelt to him, the warrior felt disgusted, it was a form of submission the Lorrdian peoples were a slaves and though it had been sometime since their enslavement and the abolishment and relations with their old captors were renewed. It never sat well to know of it, something he left by his own father before he left to the old republic, the monster of a man was filled with rage as she stayed in that position mumbling weakly on about how she would be good, how she would obey command given to her. From this he knew already just how she was treated the last couple years. Thought he never hated anything, more of held a strong dislike, he could now say he hated slavers. Every last one of them, he hated them for treating people the way they did and he hated how they must've treated his eldest daughter. His other children were safe within the confines of the sanctum, was he wrong to think Asha was of age to hold herself up as he did in her age? Yes, yes he was. He was wrong and the child he raised on his own felt its blade against her neck another person that he loved with ever fiber of his being, he failed. He want to lecture her how she was a hex, he wanted to scream, he wanted to roar, he wanted to destroy planets, he wanted to hunt down her captors, but first thing was first.

The warrior sat back down pulled her close and held her tight never wanting to let go. The warrior didn't say a word, he didn't need to. Over rage, over discipline, over hate, Jericho loved. Something subconsciously distilled by his late master. He held her close and as warmly as he could without hurting his little girl. His little one was home.

[member="Asha Nyerie"]

Spoiler

Had a better post but technical difficulty came up. hopefully this was adequate.

 

[Lief]

Nothing happened for a moment. Nothing at all. No words, no actions, just the same shrunken state and the wind against her skin. She felt hunched, not at all herself, weakened and shaking as she trembled before the being she did not yet know the identity of. Her words had melded into nothingness by this point, fearful that one more expression would bring down the full wrath of her Master.

Then came the embrace.

As before, if not tighter, she was pulled against the stranger's chest and allowed to simply settle there. No pushing, no prodding, just warmth. She closed her bleary eyes and shivered, before finally nestling in close against him. As she inhaled his scent she came to realize who it was that now held her, and shame rose throughout her body.

Her Father.

Her Father had found her and she'd buckled like a helpless idiot at his feet. What must he think of his child? So weak willed that she could not even stand tall around the one who created her... But she hadn't known, hadn't realized, how could she?

"P-Papa..." she breathed, her hands both clenching into the front of his tunic as if by doing so he would be incapable of ever leaving her. A slight sob left her though she did her best to bite it back. How long had she been without his comfort, without his care? The last time they had seen each other was months ago, and he had pushed her aside without even trying to listen to what she had to say.

Before that it had been two years. Two terribly arduous years of enslavement, belittlement... Crying for her Father, begging that he find her, that he save her, and yet he had never come for her.

But he was here now. Did that make it okay? Did that set things straight?

She felt a sharp pain in both her chest and her mind and her body tensed up considerably. He would be mad. He would be so very mad, her Master... She wasn't supposed to be with her Father, he had told her she would not see him again until he deemed her ready. Until she had learned to behave and obey... It was supposed to be her reward, the only reward she had ever asked him for. No wealth, no power, just home. Just her Father.

And she had taken it too soon. Oh, Force, how would he react?

[member="Jericho"]

 

[Jericho]

His daughter tightened at his embrace weary of the person that kept her within his grasp, he knew it was out of fear. He looked downed to her eyes and could see light vibrations as they shook weakly. As his hand lightly moved feeling the smoothness of her skin, the warrior could feel the bumps of wounds and scars from her side and lower back and already knew. They were the wounds of a slave treated more poorly than most. The thought alone of knowing his daughter was in such pain enraged him, for years he searched tirelessly too see his eldest daughter in the pained that he suspected her to be in. It could not be emphasized how infuriated he was to see her like this and he knew it was his fault. He let her go on her own too young, he should have known better and kept her closer. All the warrior wanted to do was go from sith or slaver planet and tear each and everyone of them limb from limb but right now its not about what he wanted.

Right now, it was about what she needed.

She needed to know her father was here and he would never let this happen to her or the rest of her siblings. She need to know her father was here to stay by her, to care for her, to love her. He lower her shirt where he felt the scars and rested her over his lap like he did when she was but a baby and cradled her. "Yes, little one." The warrior said in the soft tone he used from his children. He held her close and place his forehead onto her. "I am always here. Papa is always here."

[member="Asha Nyerie"]

 

[Lief]

His voice was enough to silence her concerns. She did not care what her Master would do if he found out - when he found out, if he hadn't already - because that voice was home. It was security. It was everything she had wanted to hear for the past two and a half years.

She buried deeper against him, feeling herself cradled the way she was as a babe, as a small child, whenever she was upset, whenever she had been injured. Of course she had grown out of it, then came the days of simply manning up. Little in the way of comfort.

Apparently he'd decided to regress their relationship. And Asha was more than happy with that.

"Home" she whispered, breathlessly, praying that he could hear her. "C-Can we go home?"

[member="Jericho"]

 

[Jericho]

The warrior did not wish to move from this spot, he wanted to hold her as long as he could. It was rare for him to show himself in such a manner but sometimes even shadows as dark as he had light. The warrior had thought about this a long time, all the time he should have been more open to her his first daughter and to his other children, but war and battle was a habit of his. It was his life it was all he knew but for this moment he was not a warrior, he was a father and as a father all he wished to do was to hold her as tightly as he could; as lovingly as he could. His little Asha did not judge him for his monstrous appearance but knew right away who he was, she deserved that much at the very least. He light trailed his fingers lightly through her hair. "Anything you want little one." Jericho said to her in his light tone to give a warm undertone to her meek little voice. The warrior rose up with her and her kitten in hand ensuring that both were comfortable. As he walked he eyed the kitten and stayed close to his daughter, it matched her, like his akk wolves had matched him. "Where did you find it, little one? Did you give it a name?" He asked.

[member="Asha Nyerie"]