Private Catching Strays

[Braze]

Tags: Daro-Gah Renada

​

The polluted, overcrowded industrial world of Chandaar was not somewhere Braze would have typically visited of his own accord. Yet he had followed another thread in a long chain of tangled truths, pursuing the elusive figure he had glimpsed only through fractured impressions caught by Psychometry.

He squeezed through the narrow passages of Ambaril's salvage quarter, ducking beneath tangled wiring while the edge of his darkened cloak scraped against stacked crates and hanging machine parts. For hours, he had been scouring repair shops, salvage stalls, and cramped workshops half-buried beneath the district's industrial refuse.

A damaged system log recovered from New Cov had preserved the identification signature of an obsolete droid-diagnostic interface, one used to bypass the console's protections. That particular model remained common among Chandaar's mining and industrial repair crews. More importantly, its access key had been rebuilt using scavenged components traced somewhere within Ambaril's salvage quarter.

Braze pressed his way into another small shop, carrying a compact droid tucked beneath one arm. He approached the counter and carefully set the machine down upon it.

"Hey, do you happen to have a compatible micro-servo regulator?" he asked. One gloved finger tapped lightly against the droid's casing. "Its left stabilizer keeps locking whenever it tries to turn."

It was not entirely a lie. The fault was minor, but genuine enough to give him an excuse to linger, study the equipment, and listen for anything useful or even query the shop keepers a bit.

Braze was far from home, though there was every chance that news of his supposed betrayal had already leaked outward and spread among those who remained connected to the Order. He had, after all, been one of the Temple's better-known young "problem prodigies," earning notoriety for both his talent and his refusal to behave quietly.

That reputation had only grown when Councilor Jasper Kai'el took him as his Padawan… long before the fall of the New Jedi Order, and before the Sentinels' concealed deeds began crawling into the Light. Somehow, exposing those deeds had done Braze no favors among the Jedi of Coruscant. The chase and trial that followed left him partially expelled from the New Jedi Order and set him upon the path he now walked: a lone, renegade Jedi Knight without Council to answer to.

He had no idea just whom he was about to find tucked away in this forgotten corner of Chandaar…

 

[Daro-Gah Renada]

Daro-Gah’s heart felt like it would jump out of his chest. The pain, the guilt, and the uncertainty of the fate of his order crashed into him like a tidal wave. The sight of another Jedi, a Jedi he knew, or had known, was all it took. He clutched his knees to his chest to cope and sat low, hiding behind a stack of parts at the back of the little droid repair shop.

“A compatible micro-servo regulator, he says.” Repeated the heavyset alien woman behind the counter. She didn’t look at the droid casing. Not at first. “Clearly doesn’t know where he is. Yeah. We’ve got a few somewhere in the back, Stranger.” She answered with the twist of one of her lekku, still not looking at the customer. “D.G.! The box of micro-servo regulators! Bring ‘em up to the front!” The Twi’lek woman ordered toward the back of the shop.

While Daro-Gah had heard her voice, he couldn’t hear Klisha’s words. He was too busy trying to put himself back together. He had become too hyper aware of the rough texture of his trousers and top. The grease, oil and metal of salvaged parts was all he could smell. His vision went blurry with tears, and he tasted the salt and nervousness that ran down his cheeks and touched his lips. He tried to root himself in what he was feeling. “Calm down, Daro-Gah.” He heard his late Master’s voice as if he was sitting right next to him. “I can’t.” He whispered as he heard Klisha, the shop owner, apologize for the wait to the Jedi, Braze. “It’s just, Braze.” He heard his master say. “He is a student of Jasper Kai'el . There is nothing to fear.”

“Nothing? Now that you’re gone. There is everything! Braze betrayed the Jedi. He could be with them.” Daro-Gah refused to utter the word Sith. “He could be here for me, just like they came for you.”

“He is here for you, but not in the way that you think. Listen to your feelings not your fear. You’ve spent enough time hiding in this shop. You’ve spent enough time grieving me. It’s time to rejoin the rest of the galaxy. They need the Jedi Knights.”

“I’m not a Knight and the galaxy doesn't need me.” Daro-Gah said leaving the voice of his master, or at least what he thought was a figment of his imagination, behind. “But I’m not going to stand still and let any Jedi Traitor, Dark Jedi, or Sith find me.” Daro-Gah stood up. Grabbing the in case of emergency blaster Klisha kept, along with the box of servos. “I’ve gone this far without attracting attention, I’ll get rid of him and no one will ever find me again.”

“I wish that were true, Padawan. I wish that were true.” His Late Master’s voice drifted off into the ether unheard.

“Daro-Gah? Where are you, kid? Oh! Hey We’ve got a customer upfro-” Klisha questioned as she rounded the pile of parts and laid eyes on the tense teenager.

“Sorry. I zoned out. I’ll take care of him now.” Daro-Gah said as seriously if it were a life or death promise. His hand obscured beneath the box gripped the emergency blaster tight. He rounded the corner and looked at Braze again, this time it was more than a recognizing glance. He could see how similar yet how different Braze was from the older padawan Daro-Gah had once known. He gripped the blaster even tighter still to keep his hands from shaking. He hoped Braze would not recognize him. It would make putting a couple of scorching holes in him easier. “Here are those micro-servo regulators, Sir.”

Daro-Gah put the box down on the counter and drew the blaster pistol from its obscured position behind it. Over the counter he was almost point blank to Braze. “Now tell me what you’re really here for, traitor?” Daro-Gah asked with an intensity.

“D.G., What are you doing?” Daro-Gah glanced back for only a moment as Klisha’s confusion, disappointment, and pity clashed in one sentence.

Tags: Braze
​

 

[Braze]

Tags: Daro-Gah Renada

​

Braze felt a sudden swell of emotional upheaval from somewhere nearby, sharp enough to wrench his attention away from the shopkeeper.

Ordinarily, he had to work to keep the emotions and surface thoughts of others from pressing against his awareness. Much of his childhood on Coruscant had been spent searching for ways to muffle the constant noise during the busiest hours of the day. This was different. It struck him all at once: a torrential storm contained within a single soul, churning with fear, grief, and something perilously close to desperation.

He could not immediately tell where it had come from. The sensation left an uneasy sorrow resting upon the young Echani, his gaze losing focus as he attempted to trace it through the confines of the little shop.

"Oh…Ha ha, that's quite all right. I was merely admiring your shop." He offered the proprietor a faultless smile, slipping easily into the 'charming' routine. "It is very quaint. Cozy, clean… I shall have plenty of good things to tell the others. This is a wonderful little place you have here."

Braze released a slow, steady breath as he shifted his weight, attempting to settle his thoughts and press the troubling emotions from the forefront of his mind.

Then he caught a brief glimpse of blond hair watching the boy pass by in the distance. The young man had already begun making his way toward the counter when a strange sense of familiarity washed over Braze, although he couldn't immediately place where he had seen him before.

"Thank you kindly," he chirped as the box of parts was brought over.

Then the blaster rose from out of sight in to clear view aimed directly at him. Braze found himself staring into the barrel, and recognition settled into place upon the pale exhausted features. The young man that stood across from him now had been among the Jedi on Coruscant.

Braze had rarely gotten along with his contemporaries in those days. In his younger years, he had often been accused, not entirely without cause, of bullying them. He had grown beyond that habit somewhere around fourteen or fifteen when he'd been taken under Jasper Kai'el 's wing, but even then, his attention had usually remained fixed upon the older students and whichever ones might accept his next challenge to a saber duel. The younger initiates had seldom earned more than a passing glance.

Later, once he had become a Knight and begun auditing lessons, those younger faces had grown far more familiar. He had taken to studying each student carefully, searching for the particular balance of aptitude, intellect, and temperament that might make them an ideal Padawan.

After spending considerable time with Casaana , meeting Leos and Dirk , and working alongside a handful of other young Jedi, however, his thinking had begun to change. He no longer believed that teaching should begin with finding the most perfect match. A student was not a puzzle piece meant to fit neatly into the Master wanted; sometimes, the most important growth came from learning how to bridge the spaces between them.

Now, he knew exactly who stood before him.

The boy was a few years his younger, though that hardly mattered. Braze recognized him only after the pistol rose between them; not at all from his face alone, altered by exhaustion and the grime of this forgotten little shop, but from the fear beneath it…the desperate tension of someone who had survived by treating every familiar image as another blade descending....

Compassion settled over him as he understood that this frightened young man had been the source of the emotional tempest he'd felt moments before and a melancholy sensation quickly followed with the realization that Braze was the cause of this.

The accusation of traitor struck his pride more deeply than he cared to admit as the look of shock had also briefly passed across his features before yielding to an almost peculiar calm.

Slowly, Braze raised his hands. They slipped from the slitted openings on the sides of his cloak and came to rest on either side of his head, empty handed and palms facing outward.

He made no move toward the weapon hidden beneath the fabric, nor the one the boy held.

"It's alright. " Braze said to the shop keeper woman in his most reassuring tone. " You've a right to be mad at me." He offered the boy softly. " I'm not here to hurt anyone, and I don't think you you want to either... You must be terrified... Where's your master, padawan Daro-Gah? " he offered softly though he made no attempt to tell him what to do with the blaster.

 

[Daro-Gah Renada]

Daro’s eyes flitted back and forth between Klisha and Braze. His past and present were colliding. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he just watched and listened for the moment. He watched Klisha’s face turn. The droid repair shop owner was stunned by the scene unfolding before her. “Master? Padawan? D.G. You a Jedi?” Klisha chimed in. Daro didn’t answer. Then he listened to Braze. There was sympathy, reassurances, and a question. He hated the question.

“He’s already gone,” Daro said with a tear welling in his eye. He kept the blaster trained on Braze becaue he didn't trust him. He remembered Braze to be shrewd, and if the news he'd heard about Braze was true he was even worse, and just the kind of person who would take advantage of their shared past. “Killed by the Sith, like so many others. So you’re too late, Traitor.” Daro presumed. “But I’m still here. I was just a padawan but still might fetch a decent price, dead or alive. Is that what you’re after?” Daro practically yelled at Braze.

Daro saw as Klisha’s eyes went wide. She wanted to slide in between who she thought was a paying customer and D.G. but she knew better than to get in front of a teenager with a blaster. She looked at Braze before she spoke. “That what you here for, Stranger? You wanna’ kill my boy?” If Daro hadn’t been so high on adrenaline and anxiety, he would’ve blushed as Klisha called him my boy. It’d been a while since he had a mom. “I’m not gonna’ let you do that, Stranger.”

Tags: Braze
​

 

[Braze]

Tags: Daro-Gah Renada

​

"I'm sorry..." Braze offered softly, remaining still.

"No." He shook his head very slowly. "I didn't know you were here."

His hands remained where they could be plainly seen as he eased a careful step back from the counter, then another, leaving the little droid where it sat rather than reaching for it.

"I'm not here to take anyone away against their will," he assured quietly. His gaze settled upon the weapon between them, though he made no move toward either of his own. "You can keep it pointed at me if it makes you feel safer."

Then Braze did something he almost never did, even around those well acquainted with the softer, more vulnerable pieces of him, people like Jasper Kai'el , Loomi , or even Ko Vuto .

The young Echani Knight let his mental shields fall away.... The staunch, fortified walls he maintained almost constantly, even at rest, opened by degrees. An emotional ripple moved through the Force from the young empath as he allowed himself to be read, fully and openly. There was a tentativeness to it, an instinctive discomfort in leaving himself so exposed, but the gate remained open.

Braze did not press anything upon the Padawan before him. He did not reach for Daro's thoughts or attempt to smother his fear beneath reassurance.

He simply allowed himself to be open and known. There was no suspicious intent to capture him lurking beneath his words, nor concealed hunger for another prisoner, another name, or even another body to drag away.

There was, however, abject grief beneath the austere expression worn by that pale, porcelain face. His heart sank at the revelation that Daro's Master had already joined the near-countless names claimed by the violence consuming the Jedi.

"I'm sorry about your Master..."

His gaze shifted briefly toward the woman who had given Daro shelter regarding her with sympathy and some sentiment of un spoken thanks.

"You're lucky to have found such kindness in the galaxy you know... "

Only then did Braze offer the truth of just why he had come to this specific spot.

"I'm here investigating a lead connected to an incident on New Cov, at Valery Noble 's temple. One that likely led to the deaths of several Jedi Shadows." His voice remained soft and low as he spoke gently to the young man before him returning that somber jade green gaze to meet his eyes directly locking eye contact. "I recovered a damaged system log that pointed me toward a specific obsolete droid-diagnostic interface and an access key. Components associated with them were traced here, to Ambaril's salvage quarter."

He paused considering what to add in...

"I've been following the trail through old technology and salvage dealers, trying to find out who tampered with those files, and why."

Braze remained where he had very slowly and very cautiously backed away, hands still visible, his defenses still lowered despite every instinct that made such openness uncomfortable.

"That's why I'm here."

His expression softened as he regarded Daro again.

"... How long have you been hiding here?"

 

[Daro-Gah Renada]

"I'm sorry..." Braze offered softly, remaining still.

"No." He shook his head very slowly. "I didn't know you were here."

His hands remained where they could be plainly seen as he eased a careful step back from the counter, then another, leaving the little droid where it sat rather than reaching for it.

"I'm not here to take anyone away against their will," he assured quietly. His gaze settled upon the weapon between them, though he made no move toward either of his own. "You can keep it pointed at me if it makes you feel safer."

“See, D.G., He just said it. This fella ain’t here to hurt you. It’s just a coincidence. Now be cool and put the blaster down.” The Twi’lek woman reassured Daro as she inched closer to him. Her hand moved slower toward the blaster. Daro shot her a look. It must’ve been sharp because it stopped her from inching any closer, but only for a moment. “C’mon, Kid. This ain’t you.” She pleaded and bridged the gap. She put a hand over his and the blaster.

Daro’s shoulders softened under the weight of Klisha’s proximity and gulped most of the anxiety away. He was reacting not to the situation but to his trauma. His late master had trained him better than that. He could see Braze wasn’t armed, at least not in the traditional sense, and that the older Jedi had dropped his guard purposefully. He’d made himself vulnerable and opened himself up to Daro. It was a telling action, and the younger man was almost ready to let the blaster go. Almost.

"I'm here investigating a lead connected to an incident on New Cov, at Valery Noble's temple. One that likely led to the deaths of several Jedi Shadows." His voice remained soft and low as he spoke gently to the young man before him returning that somber jade green gaze to meet his eyes directly locking eye contact. "I recovered a damaged system log that pointed me toward a specific obsolete droid-diagnostic interface and an access key. Components associated with them were traced here, to Ambaril's salvage quarter."

"I've been following the trail through old technology and salvage dealers, trying to find out who tampered with those files, and why."

"That's why I'm here."

"... How long have you been hiding here?"

“I don’t care about your mission, and I’m not answering your questions, Braze. Just… just leave.”

Daro-Gah released the blaster into Klisha’s hand, turned and walked toward the back and out the rear exit door. He didn’t know where he was going, just that he wouldn’t be staying at the droid repair another second.

“Sorry about that,” Klisha apologized to Braze. “I knew the kid was haunted, just didn’t know he was Jedi haunted.” She added hiding the blaster down beneath the counter. “Not that I wouldn’t have hired him, if I had known.” She corrected. “The boy aside, here are your servo regulators, and I might be able to help with your mission but you gotta’ help me with the kid. If you’re a Jedi, and keep in mind it sounds like you might be that or a traitor, the kid is gonna’ need you. I like him. I like him a lot but this dinky little shop is no place for a Jedi.” Klisha paced the small walkway behind the counter as if she were turning to deep thought. “I’ve got connections past the pathetic parts peddlers you’ll find here. I’ll tap those connections and see what I can dig up for you, and in exchange you go talk to the kid. Give ‘em whatever Jedi wisdom you need to to get him back in a pair of Jedi bath robes or whatever you call your little matching getups. Deal?” Klisha asked rhetorically. Before Braze could answer she was already drawing up a map of the places Daro-Gah might be found.

Amongst the locations was an entrance to a subterranean cavern and ruin of the old kingdoms where Daro fought the urge to go explore. There was also the tippy top of the oldest building in the neighborhood where Daro kept a coop for the local avian species. Finally there was also the inactive drainage channel where Klisha had once found Daro-Gah looking the most glum she’d ever seen him.

Tags: Braze
​

 

[Braze]

Tags: Daro-Gah Renada | Jasper Kai'el

​

Braze's gaze lingered upon the rear door for several quiet moments after Daro disappeared through it… He wanted to follow, and a frown settled across his features.

Every instinct in him urged him after the frightened Padawan disappearing alone into the streets, but Daro's final words held him where he stood.

Just leave?

Could he really do that after everything he'd just learned?

Braze slowly lowered his hands once the lad had vanished from sight, a heavy sigh escaping him.

"I can't accept that deal, ma'am…" Braze offered softly, shaking his head.

His jade-green gaze shifted back toward Klisha, studying her with open consideration.

"If you can help me with my investigation, I'd be grateful. If you can't, I'll find another way. But Daro isn't payment, nor should the lad be treated like a commodity to be bartered over…"

He paused.

"But I can try to talk to him."

He glanced toward the map she had begun drawing.

"And I'm not forcing him back into Jedi robes… Maybe he never wears them again. That's entirely his own choice to make."

His attention drifted toward the rear exit once more as he tried to think about what Jasper Kai'el might do.

He supposed he could call his Master and ask for advice. This wasn't a situation Braze had ever needed to navigate before, let alone with a young lad who viewed him as a possible enemy harboring the worst intentions.

He knew what it was like to lose the closest things one had to friends, family, and home in times like these. He knew what it was like to feel lost and afraid…

"He told me to leave him alone…"

Braze's gaze remained fixed upon the doorway for another moment.

"I think he deserves to have someone actually listen when he says no."

He was quiet before looking back to her.

"And don't sell yourself short… This 'dinky little shop' gave him somewhere he felt safe enough to stop running. That may be worth more than anything the Jedi could offer him right now."

Braze contemplated what exactly he ought to do next.

He could understand why she might not want the sort of trouble that came with keeping a young Jedi in her employment. He understood the danger that might follow if someone less kind than Braze discovered exactly what Daro was.

In truth, remaining here might place her in danger as well.

"I'll try to talk to him… I don't know if he'll listen to me, but I'll do what I can to make sure he's safe."

His expression softened.

"Thank you for looking after him."

Braze drew one fist against his opposite open palm and dipped his head in a respectful bow before gathering up the map.

He stepped outside into the street, putting a little distance between himself and the shop.

Perhaps it was time to make a quiet call to Jasper and ask his Master what in the Light he was supposed to do now.

Braze reached beneath the folds of his cloak and retrieved a small saucer-shaped droid. He gave the dormant little machine a gentle shake.

"Gidgit… wake up."

He waited until the droid stirred before releasing him. Gidgit rose into a quiet hover beside Braze's shoulder while he unfolded Klisha's map and held it before the droid's optical receptor.

"Access the Jedi records on Padawan Daro-Gah Renada. Pull up his identification image and whatever basic information we've still got on file."

Braze glanced down the street in the direction the young Padawan had gone.

"I need you to help me find him, Gidgit. See if you can locate him, okay?"

Gidgit
═ ✦ ═══ ✦ ═

Gidgit rocked sleepily to one side as his systems came online, then snapped upright with a bright electronic chirp. His photoreceptor swept across the map held before him.

"Task accepted, Captain Braze!"

[SYS]: Accessing archived Jedi personnel records...
► SUBJECT: Daro-Gah Renada
► CLASSIFICATION: Padawan
► Identification profile located.
► Cross-referencing visual profile against local search parameters...

The little droid rotated toward Braze.

"Clarification requested! Is this a retrieval operation, surveillance operation, rescue operation, or one of those situations where you say 'just keep an eye on him' and subsequently become emotionally invested?"

Braze stared at the droid for a long moment.

Of course Gidgit would ask it like that.

"Observe only," he clarified. "Don't approach him, don't bother him, and definitely don't scare him. Just find him and let me know where he is."

Gidgit
═ ✦ ═══ ✦ ═

"Understood!"

[SYS]: OBSERVATION PARAMETERS UPDATED.
► Approach: PROHIBITED
► Interaction: PROHIBITED
► Frightening distressed Padawan: EXTREMELY PROHIBITED
► Objective: Locate subject. Confirm safety. Report position.

Gidgit gave a cheerful little spin.

"[NOTICE]: I am excellent at discreet observation!"

A fractional pause followed.

"...Statistically."

There was a difference between making certain Daro was safe and chasing him down simply because Braze thought he knew better.

Daro had asked to be left alone, and Braze was trying very hard to respect that.

With Gidgit sent off to search, Braze drew out the compact communicator he carried. Closed, it resembled little more than an ornate pocket mirror. He thumbed it open, bringing the small communications display to life.

"Gizmo?"

He waited for the familiar droid to answer.

"Patch me through to Jasper, please. Route it through the Mud Duck's communications array for the long-distance connection."

Braze's gaze shifted briefly toward the surrounding street.

"And make it private."

G.I.Z.M.O.
═ ✦ ═══ ✦ ═

A sequence of electronic whistles answered through the communicator as Gizmo accepted the request and began routing the signal through the Mud Duck's long-range communications array.

« Bwoop-bweep! Drrr-weeooo… »

Several softer tones followed while the droid searched for Jasper's registered communications signature.

« Brrt-brrt… weeeee-ooop. Bip! »

Braze shifted the communicator into one hand while the connection routed, his other hand rising to rub absently at the back of his neck.

How was he supposed to explain this?

He'd gone looking for answers concerning an entirely different mystery and somehow stumbled upon a frightened Padawan who believed Braze might sell him to the Sith, had held him at blaster-point, and then fled into the streets after his employer attempted to barter Braze's help in returning him to the Jedi.

Braze stared into the little mirror-like display....Perhaps simpler was better.

"Master…? Are you busy?"

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Outer Rim
Tags: Braze , Daro-Gah Renada

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

"Mother f-"

Jasper recoiled as a mechanical fist met his jaw and sent him stumbling back into a wall. The cyborg he was facing trudged forward and cracked his neck, the metal of his body glistening in the light of the fire behind them. A burning building, once the base of operations for a small outpost of slavers. Now, with his comrades up in flames, this particular criminal had nothing left to lose. As Jasper got himself stood back up...

"Master…? Are you busy?"

The cyborg paused and cocked his head.

"Oi, who the feth is calling you?"

"Busy, no not at all," Jasper responded, entirely ignoring his opponent. "Hey, just one sec, alright bud?"

Jasper wasted very little time surging forward, this time not giving the other cyborg the time of day to strike. As the slaver threw a punch, the Jedi Master grabbed his arm and yanked the man towards him. He'd grab hold of a notch in his metal plating on his torso and pulled with all his might, ripping off the mechanical arm of his assailant. Then, without giving the man any time to process what had occurred, Jasper proceeded to bring that same mechanical arm down on his head. In a matter of moments the cyborg was slumped in the dirt unconscious.

"Alright," the man exhaled, wiping the blood from his lips as he sat himself down to more properly speak into his communicator. "Tell me what's up."

 

[Braze]

Jasper Kai'el Daro-Gah Renada

Braze listened carefully to what little he could hear from Jasper’s side of things.

Despite the desire to question what he was doing, Braze held back, since his own issue felt a little more pressing and Jasper sounded like he had whatever he was working on handled. “Master… I kind of have a situation here, and I don’t know how to handle it… How… how do you know when to give someone space and when you should stay?” Braze asked, sounding uncertain. It was rare that the stubborn little try-hard reached out and actually asked for help, but this involved someone else, and he didn’t want to make a mistake regarding another’s life. “I found one of the lost Padawans from Coruscant… His Master’s dead, and he thinks I’ve come to sell him to the Sith.” Braze rubbed at the back of his neck, his gaze returning to the little map the shopkeeper had given him. He was careful to keep his voice hushed and low, despite having sequestered himself in a small alleyway to preserve some semblance of privacy for this call amid the crowded city. “He pulled a blaster on me, demanding to know why I was here… He…” Braze trailed off with a frown, feeling an unsettling sensation in the pit of his stomach. It would seem he was still answering for past events even now. “He called me a traitor… Which, considering everything that’s happened since Coruscant… I can understand… But he told me to leave him alone…”

He glanced down the street before lowering his voice. “He’s been staying with a woman who runs a repair shop here on Chandaar. Her name’s Klisha. She seems to care about him, but she didn’t know he was a Jedi until he put a blaster in my face and I recognized just who he was… Now she’s saying her shop is no place for one… and… I… I don’t know if she’s worried about him or… what keeping him there might mean, but it almost sounded like she didn’t want him staying anymore.”

Braze shifted the communicator in his hand. “She offered to use her contacts to help with my investigation if I’d go after him and convince him to return to the Jedi… I told her I couldn’t accept that deal; I didn’t think he should be treated as something to barter over… I said I’d try to talk to him anyway and thanked her for looking after him… I told her that shop gave him somewhere he felt safe enough to stop running…” He trailed off, a small pang of anxiety seeming to well up in his chest over the uncertainty of what to do next. He didn’t want to just leave him here alone after everything that had happened, but he didn’t want him to feel chased down or trapped, or worse.

A heavy sigh escaped the Echani. “I’ve sent Gidgit to see if he can find where he’s run off to and keep an eye on him… But… just to observe and let me know he’s safe…” He trailed off lightly before adding hesitantly, “But I’m kind of just… thinking about what might’ve happened if you’d left me alone every time I made it difficult for you to care about me. But I’m… probably the last person he wants following him right now… How do I give him a choice without making him feel like everyone’s given up on him? I’m not really sure what the right choice is here… I mean, I know… I’m more so supposed to be the ‘adult’ in this situation, but I don’t know if… or what I should do… Can… can you give me some advice or…?”

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Outer Rim
Tags: Braze , Daro-Gah Renada

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

How do I give him a choice without making him feel like everyone’s given up on him? I’m not really sure what the right choice is here… I mean, I know… I’m more so supposed to be the ‘adult’ in this situation, but I don’t know if… or what I should do… Can… can you give me some advice or…?

"Well... I don't think you'll like my advice," Jasper admitted.

When someone is afraid of something, especially when they're young, they need something to ground them in reality. See a person for what they are beyond what they fear. If all of this was about Coruscant, there was really only one solution that Jasper saw.

"Tell him the truth," the Jedi Master advised. "You're hiding that day, aren't you? Keeping what happened to you to yourself. If you don't open up about what you experience, he will have no reason to trust you. People can't understand what you are if you aren't willing to share. If you really want to help, that's exactly what you have to do. From there... play it by ear. If he wants to have a choice, give him space. If he doesn't want to be left behind, you know other Jedi. See who may be nearby and is willing to help."

There was a pause, then he spoke again.

"You okay?"