Empyrean

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He'd pinched a nerve in one way or the other, and so he chose not to press the point about her parents. Under normal circumstances he might have asked more, but the increased empathy this place provided him was...unpleasant. He did not wish to experience Brynn's pain, callous as that might have seemed. At least not right now.

"We could always use you as bait," Cedric mused, "Step outside the mouth of the cave. Look as if you're trying to get your bearings. Take this," he offered her a small metal box from his belt. "It's a mobility shield. If they shoot at you, it'll take the shot, along with about a dozen more. That should give us time to find them, and then we can pounce," he paused, "If they don't shoot, it'll be even easier. I doubt they're prepared to deal with a Jedi Knight. Not without knowing I was here first."

It took a moment or so of struggling to make his way out of the pit. Hopefully Brynn wasn't looking at him. "Alternatively we could just burn the forest down, but then that would ruin my view." He added, a hint of amusement lacing his words. "What do you think?"

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

Eyebrows rising in amusement at his struggle, Brynn managed to let her lips twitch up at his words.

“I don’t know. You could always burn them down in such a way that the scorch marks make a pretty picture. I’ve always been partial to Porgs, myself,” she replied, before her eyes widened in shock. She’d made a joke. She never made jokes. Not ever. Staring straight ahead in surprise, she eventually coughed awkwardly, nodding at him.

“Bait, I can do. I’ll just… walk in straight line until I get out, then? You’re going to have to guide me to the appropriate exit,” she told him, eyes scanning the place once again, almost shining with the reflection of the crystals.

Doe eyes, one of her instructors had told her. Informed her she could probably lure a man to his death just by looking at him with them, batting her eyelashes a few times, and inviting him back for private time. She’d just snorted and said she’d prefer to stick to blending in with her surroundings and avoiding notice altogether.

"And Cedric?" she said, voicing his name for the first time. "Thank you. Really. I'm unused to people helping me."

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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"We don't speak of Porgs on this property. It's heresy," Cedric deadpanned. A few moments of what was likely to be uncomfortable silence followed, until Cedric broke into an amused little grin. "I'll take your suggestion under consideration nonetheless."

He most certainly did not take her suggestion under consideration.

"That sounds about right. Just be ready to draw your pistol. I'm confident I can deal with them on my own, but every little bit of help contributes to my being alive tomorrow." The journey back seemed to take longer than the descent, though that was likely due to the natural incline of things. The crystals began to make a dull humming noise as they passed, each colored stone flickering purposefully anytime Brynn might have drawn close. "The Graywall doesn't know you. It's curious. This place is alive with the Force, almost like a sentient being."

The entrance lay just ahead. Cedric came to a halt just before one could be seen leaving.

"It's not a problem," he replied mechanically, "I just want these di'kuts off my lawn." The words were spoken through a thin smile, though Cedric couldn't deny that his heart had skipped a beat when she'd spoken to him. It had been many years since he'd felt such strange anxiety before combat.

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

Swallowing, Brynn nodded, managing half a smile before she got outside, acting as though she’d stumbled out. She could feel tension throbbing under her skin, fear accompanying it. She didn’t like being hunted- she never was. She was the one who followed people, shooting them in public without drawing notice, people panicking and looking for a killer who was right next to them, acting like she was trying to save the victim.

She heard- and felt, though she hated that- the footsteps before she saw anyone, and her blaster was out and a shot through the head of one of the twins before she’d even blinked. Falling to the ground, the blonde girl hit it with a heavy thump, eyes wide and emotionless. The other twin, enraged, took a little bit more.

Dodging a kick, she threw a punch and dodged to the side, cursing when her blaster was knocked from her hands. She threw a hand forwards almost without thinking, and the woman went flying towards a tree, hitting it with a sickening thump. She stared for a moment, between the unconscious twin and her own hands. It was stronger than she’d thought.

She was about to pick her blaster up again, when she heard clapping. Turning, she froze like she was trapped in ice when she saw him.

“Well, well. I must say, you put up a good show. A much better fight than your mother ever did, anyway.”

She swallowed. Wanted to fight, but she couldn’t move, frozen still. One grey eyebrow rose.

“No fight left, Brynn-girl? Are you just going to lie down and die, like your papa did?”

Rage. She felt it bubbling under the surface, but fear was more prominent. She was fire, and ice- angry, and frozen. She swallowed hard, trying to find words- but her tongue was numb in her mouth. She was shaking. She’d not done that in years.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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The battle was brief and violent. Were it not for his enhanced senses, Cedric might have lost track of what was going on. One of the twins came forward, and just as quickly as she had sprung, she fell. With the snap-crack of Brynn's sidearm came the telltale hiss of a lightsaber coming to life. The pike extended bit by bit in Cedric's hands, its emerald blade lighting up the dark night.

Brynn thrust a hand forward. A wall of telekinetic energy burst forth in reply. Cedric felt the other girl's life extinguish the moment she hit the tree, her spine snapping, her neck breaking. She fell to the base of the tree like a ragdoll.

The force was with this girl, and it was volatile. The energies of the cave had clearly affected her, or perhaps it was simply the situation. Regardless, Cedric knew he had to step in. He moved to do just that when the third came forth.

"You've five seconds to drop your weapon before I remove your hand." Came Cedric's threat. He wasn't sure how hollow this was - even non-force sensitives could be terribly dangerous when they knew what they were doing. The knight reflexively stepped forward, placing himself and his weapon between Brynn and her hunter.

There was something wrong with her. He knew the man's words cut deep, but Brynn was gripped with true terror. Terror, and hatred, the children of the Bogan. Cedric reached out within the empyrean, though his calming presence would likely do little for her in a time like this.

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

There was something reaching for her. Something calming, and beautiful, but it barely cut into Brynn’s thoughts. She saw her mother, telling her father to run.

Run and hide, and take Brynn with you!

He hadn’t. He’d tried to protect them, tried to diffuse the situation. He’d died first. The man had taken his time with her mother, though. Tortured her slowly, while Brynn was forced to watch. Her mother had died screaming, when the pain had become too much for her, and then she was being pulled away.

Your mother escaped, girly. You’ll need to take her place.

She was still shaking, terrified, not able to do anything. He was laughing at her, the man, but he didn’t put his weapon down. He was standing still, blaster raised.

“I’m not here to chat, boy. You’re not part of this, just let me take the girl. Just wanna see if she screams like her mama did,” he replied, tilting his head to the side. Brynn made a noise not unlike a choked off sob, but no tears left her. She wasn’t even sure she remembered how to cry.

“I don’t want to fight a Jedi. Just let me have her.”

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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The tendrils reached out before Cedric was aware of what was happening. He'd felt the storm of emotion radiating off of Brynn like a sun, and then he'd felt it reach him. The fear and grief were paramount, but they were emotions Cedric knew very well. He faced them as he would his own, and banished them, but something else lingered. Whereas normally he would have felt nothing save for the calming presence of the Ashla, here he felt a call to action; a need to do something.

A predator's instinct.

His fingers wrapped tightly around something unseen. So too did the tendrils of invisible energy wrap around the man's throat. At first the touch was gentle, just enough to annoy, but that gentleness was quickly cast aside for the sake of violence.

The man in question raised a hand up toward his closed throat, evidently more confused than anything else. Cedric met his gaze, saw the flash of fear in his eyes, and relented. The man collapsed to the courtyard floor with a huff, though he quickly stumbled back up to his feet.

"Surrender." Cedric was not asking this time. Choking thee man was far from anything he would have normally considered something he would do - Brynn's feelings had affected him.

"Are you alright?" The knight asked of Brynn, though his attentions never shifted from the gasping man.

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

Watching him choke was satisfying, and Brynn only felt some of her senses return to her when Cedric spoke to her again. She looked at him, and her eyes were still that of a frightened animal. She moved closer, standing just over his shoulder, half hiding. She gave something of a nod, though, fingertips tapping his wrist in a manner she tried to make reassuring.

The man scrambled to his feet again, but he didn’t look like he was going to surrender, as Cedric had asked. He was going for his gun again, and Brynn held out her hand, drawing her own blaster to her without thought and shooting for his arm. He dropped his one with a sound of agony, and he glared at her. But she wasn’t going to let him kill her. She forced herself to stay still, even as the terror and hatred ate her up. And then…

“You’ll go back to them and tell them that I’m dead,” she said, and his face went blank and slack for a few seconds before he regained himself. She glanced at Cedric, questioning. Something had happened, there.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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The Force worked in mysterious ways. Cedric watched as the man went for his weapon; watched as Brynn made sure he would never hold it ever again. Had he been a more sadistic man, Cedric might have enjoyed it. Fortunately he lacked that part of his progenitor's blood.

"I think he'll actually do it." The knight murmured as he turned toward her. He understood it now - the force had indeed brought Brynn to his side. Furthermore, the spark he'd felt upon seeing her was not some infantile emotion, but was rather the great purpose with which she carried herself. Such raw strength, though enhanced by the presence of the Graywall, could not go unchecked. There was too much possibility for destruction there; too much he would be responsible for should it be freed.

"You have the Force Brynn. That's why you were brought here," the man rose to his feet, turned, and strode off without saying a word. "A Jedi can control the weak minded briefly if they so choose. We can influence their thoughts. An untrained force sensitive should not be able to, but it seems the Graywall's power has effected you."

His brow furrowed.

"He won't come back."

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

Swallowing, Brynn followed him. She felt uncomfortable, once again, having used that power. But… it was a weapon, like any other. Her blaster, in the wrong hands, could kill people. A child, in the wrong hands, could learn to kill people as well- anything could become a weapon, when the wrong person was holding the strings. Perhaps it was better she learn how to control it, how to keep it under wraps, instead of using it without any kind of control. The area around her buzzed with it. Harnessing it had felt easy, almost natural.

Perhaps she could use it to her advantage, she mused. Perhaps she could use it to ensure she couldn’t get hurt again. Jogging to catch up with Cedric, she listened closely to what he said. She’d heard rumours, of course. Had undergone vigorous training they claimed would help her mask her thoughts, but she was unconvinced as to it actually working. But the way he’d stiffened when she spoke… interesting. She had to stop for a moment when they got further in, however, leaning heavily against a wall.

She’d frozen. She never froze. She was strong, ridiculously slow, and stressful situations were something she took in her stride. Pinching the bridge of her nose she let out a long breath, hands still shaking, the brief steadiness that had allowed her to shoot him gone.

“I’m… sorry. I put us in danger out there. My hesitation was a mistake. I just… have a lot of memories, with him.”

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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Memories that likely didn't need to be shared.

Cedric placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as he lead her inside. "You're alright. The force is a power very few can access, and even fewer have learned to master. And -" he paused, realizing she was referring to her hesitation rather than the outburst of telekinetic power. "- it's alright. I understand what old wounds can do to you when they're opened once again." His hand fell from her shoulder as they strode into the castle halls. This section of the wall was rather well lit, with quiet jazz music playing from speakers hidden away in the rafters.

"Your hunters are gone. You're free," he wasted no time in making a bee line for the kitchen, though he remained well in earshot of her. "What are you going to do now? I just called for a team to clean up the bodies." He came back with two steaming cups of caf.

One was offered to her.

"Open a farm?"

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

Brynn let him guide her inside. Honestly, it was the most physical contact that didn’t involve fighting that she’d experienced in years, and she leaned into it just slightly. Once they were inside, she glanced around herself again, unused to such sights. The music was also nice, and she moved around slightly in time to the music, letting him talk, smiling and taking the cup of caff from him when it was offered.

What was she going to do next? Interesting question. Not something she’d considered. When she’d been on the run, life after had been an abstract idea. Even when she wasn’t being followed, it still seemed too much to hope for. An image flashed, unbidden, of another child being pulled away, while she lay dead on the floor. She swallowed, fingers gripping the hot cup.

“I’ve already been a farm girl. I’d rather not spend the rest of my life digging up crops. My mother may have been able to switch to the mundane, but I can’t. I can’t know that there’s all this… injustice out there, and not try to stop it. I know how guilds like that operate, what they do, how they replenish their numbers. I think it’s about time I started fighting back. I don’t think a quiet life with a husband and children is ever going to be on the cards for me.”

She took a sip of the liquid, letting it burn a trail down her throat. “Perhaps I should learn how to control the Force. Not use it, just… suppress it better than I already have been.”

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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Your mother was a troubled soul Cedric. She couldn't stay with us anymore because she saw everything wrong with the world, and she felt powerless. It's why I loved her. It's why she did what she did. The empire did things to her mind that we could never truly fix, and eventually the pain was just too much. Do you understand?

His father's words echoed in the back of his mind, much like finding your cat's dried vomit in the dress shoes you've not worn in months. It made him furrowed his brow, stole his smile, and he understood entirely why.

Cyrene Grayson had been a stormtrooper. Specifically she was a storm commando, one that had defected to the Galactic Republic and chosen to marry the Jedi Knight that had shown her the wrongness of her path. She survived the war, but the war never truly left her. Eventually, she did the only thing she knew she could to make that pain leave her.

And then Cedric no longer had a mother.

In that moment, with the passion with which Brynn spoke, the similarities were striking.

"Nothing like a cup of caf after a good duel to the death," Cedric joked in an attempt to lighten up his own mood. "If you want to fight, the Republic is where you should go. There are people there that need help, and we do everything we can to give it to them."

He set his caf on the counter as he paced the room, though his attentions never left her. "I could teach you to suppress it, if that is what you want, though the force flows through you as it does any Jedi. You're a lot older than the usual student, but there are very few of us left. They're desperate times. I could show you what I know, if you wanted, but if that doesn't interest you then I won't press it again."

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

Noticing the way his smile faded, Brynn tilted her head to the side, about to ask why. She knew pain. She’d felt it, so frequently that it felt like a permanent shard of glass in her heart. She also knew that talking about it didn’t always help. Sometimes, it just reopened old wounds, and she didn’t want to do that. His advice about joining the Republic was… a consideration. She’d heard about them, a democratic faction, wanting to restore the Republic as it was. Laws. Equality. Some kind of order.

It sounded like something she could fight for.

She managed to twitch her lips into a half a smile, and then tried to think, tried to decide if it was a good idea to learn how to control everything. Become a Jedi. Wasn’t that a thought? She’d heard stories, about the brave order of the Jedi, with the Force at their hands and a saber at their waists. It was noble.

Perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea. Control, instead of suppression. A way to keep it under wraps without, necessarily, needing to stifle it entirely.

She shrugged, one shouldered, sipping at her drink again.

“I can think of worse ways to spend my time. Any weapon, finely honed and in the right hands, can do good,” she bit her lip. “I hated it. I wanted to do things on my own merit. But if I trained, it would just be a tool, like my blaster.”

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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He wasn't sure whether Brynn had what it took be a Jedi Knight. She possessed the raw connection to the force that was required of one, but she had grown up an assassin. If not for the Sith, such a profession would prove to be the antithesis of a Jedi.


But then the Jedi Shadows had been created to fulfill the purpose of assassins, had they not? The only thing that differed was that those assassins had served the order, whereas other were seen as denizens of chaos; amoral creatures willing to do anything for a few credits.

Cedric did not see that in Brynn.

"I'll start with the basics, and we'll see how you take to it. The Jedi path isn't just something you learn; it's a life style all its own. We are forever in tune with the force, and there is never a time when we are not. It's been the same for you, but you haven't yet awakened yourself to it yet. Not truly."

The knight collapsed down onto a nearby sofa, the excitement of the evening having left him stuck on an adrenaline comedown. "But you would be helping people. A soldier can hold the line. An assassin can kill the general. A Jedi Knight with the right support can win the whole war. You have the capacity to become one of us, and there are so very few people with that opportunity."

He paused, "But...I shouldn't drill you about this. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like Brynn. Just get your bearings."

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

Giving Cedric a half-smile, Brynn went to settle next to him, pulling her knees up to her chest. She felt… exhausted, really, but also… giddy. For the first time since she was ten years old, she was free. There was no master to bow down to. Nobody to make her go out and kill strangers, so that they could get paid and her conscience could be weighed down by it. She was free. Truly free. It tasted sweet, though there was some bitterness there too. How many had died before she walked away, she wondered.

Her parents had been the first casualties she’d seen in her life. She half-hated her father, for staying behind and trying to play the hero, when he could have taken her away. Perhaps they would have lost her mother, but they would have been safe. She’d have had a normal childhood, a normal life. Or as normal as it could get, with her… Force powers. She used to dream of it, when she was young, in bed at night. Learning about the world, going to the market, growing older and meeting a boy and having children, and eventually living out her years on an island, somewhere, pretending there was no war out there, nothing bad in the world, no crack of a whip on her back every time she did something wrong. Her fingers traced down to the bottom of her top, where she could just feel the mangled skin there.

Not her face, one of the leaders had said. We want her to stay pretty. You never know when that might have a use. But she does need punished.

She swallowed, and glanced over to Cedric again, sahking her head to clear it.

“Getting my bearings sounds… good. This place is a little overwhelming.”

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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"It certainly surprised me when I found it." Cedric intoned, his lips pressing into a thin smile. It had been many months since Cedric had ever given a lesson. The demands of war often kept him from that which he enjoyed the most, but in Brynn he saw opportunity.

And he rejected it.

Hers was a life all her own. He need not guide her toward something she did not wholly understand; what better would that make him than her masters? "I'll show you the basics of what I know - what you need to control it at a base level. After that, if you're interested, we'll pay the Jedi enclave a visit. I don't want you to feel forced into a role you'd rather not fulfill." Cedric said honestly. In truth, the prospect of undergoing any sort of training right now seemed utterly exhausting. Cedric knew it was his physical exhaustion that promoted such thoughts, but he entertained them all the same.

"You can have the run of it, just stay away from the lower levels. I have things stored there that won't interact well with an untrained force sensitive." That much was truth. He did not seek to restrict her access for the sake of privacy, but rather for the sake of her own survival.

"This compound was built by my ancestors after the battle of Ruusan. It's the only home I have left, though so far as I know I'm the only Grayson still running around these days." He paused, "I plan on returning to the Republic in a few days. We can get you commissioned there."

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

Nodding her understanding, Brynn shoved her hands in her pockets. Part of her was reeling at the way her day had turned on its’ head- from being chased down by her former masters, to meeting a Jedi who was going to help her harness what power she had inside of her. It was odd. She smiled at him, the first real, full smile she’d given in a long time, and nodded, wrinkling her nose up as she did so.

“Well, I’m sure you can rebuild your family at some point,” she said, rocking onto her toes and then back to her heels, shoulders slackening a little simply because she was free, she didn’t have to be scared any more, it was wonderful! She eventually settled down, though she still felt a lot lighter than she had in a while, that smile still on her face, making her look younger than she already was.

She tilted her head to the side at the mention of being commissioned. “Well, I hope you have a ‘fresher. I’d rather turn up squeaky clean and presentable, at least,” she told him, brushing her fingers through her hair. It wasn’t greasy, but there were a few more tangles than she’d normally let there be.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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Cedric was already thinking over a dozen different training methods that might apply to Brynn. Each student had their own little quirks, and thus their teachers had to tailor the experience to best suit them. The knight felt he had a grasp on who Brynn truly was, but not enough to devise anything truly meaningful. That much was frustrating, but not enough to discourage him.

"Perhaps one day, though something tells me that I won't get the chance. In the past, Jedi did not marry for fear of falling to the shadow. Now we do not marry because we're too busy fighting wars. I don't think I would be around enough, nor live long enough to be a responsible father," his brow furrowed. "Still, if we were to ever truly have peace....maybe one day." The words were wistful, though Cedric did not wish for them to be. In the past, his engagement to [member="Lysandra"] had kept him from ever thinking beyond his duties. The girl was to provide him heirs and companionship; his romantic life had been planned for him before his very birth.

It was only by chance that the two had been separated during the Dominion's fall, though Cedric suspected that Lys had ran off of her own free will. She'd always been a rather quirky individual; thoughts of her brought Cedric a wave of nostalgia he had not been expecting. He quickly righted himself, returning to the present. His gaze met Brynn's.

"The fresher is upstairs. You're welcome to the guest room attached to it," he cast her a warm smile, then rose to his feet. "I'm sure Republic Intelligence is going to love you."

[member="Brynn Lendix"]

 

[Brynn Lendix]

Raising an eyebrow, Brynn shrugged. “You’d be surprised. You’d think a former assassin and a former politician who turned into farmers would be terrible parents, but they weren’t, when they were alive. They were good. Kind, for what they were,” she frowned, smile having dropped steadily. “Not something I’ll be doing. It would be… cruel, if anyone ever found me. No child should see their mother’s dead eyes watching them as they’re pulled away by the very people she tried to run from.”

For a moment, she stood, caught up in her thoughts, before she turned to Cedric, nodding her head in thanks. “I’ll go up in a bit. I’m not too bad at the moment, still as shiny as ever, just… when the time comes, I’ll want to be at my best,” she sighed, folded her hands in front of her, and squared her shoulders slightly, trying to get rid of the overly relaxed stance she’d taken, though it was impossible to go back to being properly tense and nervous.

“Perhaps they will like me. I hope they will. I’m sick of working with a whole load of people I might have to kill, one day,” she told him, sighing softly. She hadn’t been good at that, staying separate from her emotions with everyone she met. Her heart still ached at the memory of a young man, stolen kisses in hidden corners, before she watched him killed in front of her for failing to get a target.

She’d kept her heart to herself after that.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]