Family Ku

[Bradshaw Ku]

It was no force healing but a doctor was sure better than nothing. He wasn’t too surprised that she wouldn’t make him walk around with a broken hand. It wasn’t like she was a Sith or something.

He thought.

Now it was his turn to almost lose his drink. As soon as she responded with, “Perhaps I am,” his hand flew to his mouth to bolster the levees, the foot resting on her desk fell to the floor. His head snapped around, away from admiring the room, to stare wide-eyed in disbelief at what he had just heard and what he was hearing.

Make Commenor and myself rise to the top? Did she have greater ambitions than queen of a planet?

What really caught his attention, though, was her mention of suffering trauma.

With a gulp, he swallowed the brandy that had been impatiently sitting in his mouth, having neither escaped, nor been allowed to go down the hatch. Still wide-eyed, he managed to swallow more than just the brandy, a string of profanity unfit for uttering in the presence of royalty, or ones mother, went with it.

But now, he found himself speechless. She’d said a lot had changed… but he couldn’t have imagined this. What else was behind those vague answers. And… was that why she reminded him of his father? What enemies had she been talking about? Originally, he just thought them to be the usual political, military etc. opponents. And in a galaxy at war, any and every planet was under threat. None were truly safe.

But now… So many questions.

“What the… I mean… Who’s your… How…?” He tried to gather himself from the shock. This string of unfinished questions wasn’t going to get him anywhere.

An ironic wave of protectiveness washed over the man whose sole purpose for being in this office had been to cause the woman across from him pain.

“What trauma? Did somebody hurt you? We have to start getting into specifics if I’m going to be your apprentice.”

Though his father had been a Sith lord, his experience with the dark side was very limited and the idea that somebody had caused her to suffer, well, like any normal person, he wasn’t prepared for that.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Shaw wasn't always a Sith Lord. He was dark yes, but it wasn't until the end that he had gotten the Sith Lord mantle. And it was all because of Masq. The deaths and separation of her married family was all because of him. And now Kay found herself under the boot of one that was similar, yet not as manipulative, not as evil. So far her acts of defiance and free will were going unchecked. [member="Tirdarius"] was the only one to confront her on it.

She sipped her tea as [member="Bradshaw Ku"] was clearly concerned. A far cry from just moments earlier when he was having a temper tantrum.

Having him call himself her Apprentice was strange as well. That was what he was to Shaw. Respect and discipline was taught to him first. Shaw always had Brad take a knee and bow his head every day, with every lesson. Would he remember? Would he fo the same for her? Should she expect it or demand it? Kay wasn't sure. She did the same for her own Master whenever he appeared, but she also dropped all of her emotions and shelved them when he was around, for he usually would have her commit various acts of murder during their training.

Kay sipped her tea as she thought of what she should tell Brad, how much she should reveal. She was still getting treated for it by a few people, each helping her in their own unique ways. "My Master captured me, held me for many months where I was tortured in almost every way for most of that time until I finally submitted and gave in. He trained me to kill, forced me to do so and left me here. What his plans for me were, I don't know. But I am forging my own way, regardless of what the other Sith or the other powers in the Galaxy want me to do. I'm stubborn, but smart. They'll all learn that in time..."

 

[Bradshaw Ku]

Attentive, he listened to her explanation. First, she was captured – his knuckles turned white around the bottle of brady. Then, she was tortured until she submitted – muscles tensed. He began to draw on the force once again in anger. It called to him, and he, without realization, called to it, beckoned it to him, into him, through him. It pushed him further into anger, pulled him toward violence. It was an all too familiar feeling as it began to act on his body, taking control.

Irrational. Violent. External.

Somebody had captured and tortured her? For months? Tortured! Once broken, forced her to kill, then left her? What was wrong with people! He thought. Torturing someone until they broke wasn’t power. It wasn’t training! It was sick. Weak.

A fine line stretched out from where his thumb contacted the bottle and shot out in an instant to wrap around the container as it began to give under his grip.

He didn’t care that she was a Sith, maybe even preferred it. Great power could come from using one’s emotions to bend the force to your will, use it to your purpose. At least, that’s what his father had told him. It took training to channel the force in that way, he’d taught, but never had he mentioned capture or torture.

“I’m stubborn, but smart. They’ll all learn in time...”

He wanted them to learn now. Waiting and patience were completely foreign to him. Besides, the force told him to act, urged him to act. There was no patience.

Confused, angry, sickened, he said the only thing that came to mind as if meaning to do something about it, as if he already had the power to do something about it. The fact that he was completely untrained never occurring to him.

“Who is your Master?”

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay coulldn't just see the anger comong from [member="Bradshaw Ku"] , she could feel it as well. He was almost electrifying the air with his rage. She set her tea down.

" [member="Darth Prazutis"] . Now don't you dare go after him. He would crush you in minutes if he wanted to. Or toy with you as he did me. Just let it go....for now. Going after him would only bring war to Commenor, and we are not yet ready for that."

Would he listen to her? Probably not. But it was in his best interest to do so.

"Another that you must stay away from is a crazy Zeltron named [member="Thraxis"] . If he found out that you were here, then he would use you against me." The Jackal could do any number of things. And right now Brad wasn't ready for either of them.

 

[Bradshaw Ku]

Darth Prazutis and Thraxis, he noted their names. Doing his best to commit them to memory. She warned him against trying to confront either of them – though for slightly different reasons. Right now, it was hard to heed her warnings. He had an idea what this Darth Prazutis took it upon himself to do to her, he could only imagine what a crazy Zeltron had done.

Another fracture arced around the bottle like lightning.

He wasn’t suicidal. With a clearer head, without the force pulling him toward action, he’d easily understand that as he stood now, completely untrained, and certainly no warrior, any attempt at vengeance against his master’s tormentors would be more than futile. Getting to that clearer head, however, was the hard part.

… His master… he had a master now, he realized…

Kay wasn’t his first. A long time ago, he had another. Her husband, and his adopted father.

He heard him now, admonishing him as he often did when he wouldn’t take his lessons seriously, or worse, when he became frustrated and lost his temper.

“What do we say?” He questioned him, in unison, Bradshaw would repeat one of his father’s favorite teachings along with him, “We use our emotions, our emotions do not use us.” “Yes,” he said many times, putting his hand on his shoulder, “You must understand, the force is strong with you, but you will never be strong until you live the meaning of these words. Until you do, you will simply be a slave to your emotions, to your anger. I have watched many beings strong in the force lose their way and be destroyed by their anger. They thought it was their anger that made them powerful, when it was their anger that had been controlling them all along. You always want quick rewards, and the easy way through obstacles. Only dedication and training will eventually make you as powerful as you want to be.”

It had been a long time since he’d thought about those lessons, and it showed. He needed the power his father had spoken of if he wanted the vengeance he now sought against Masq, Darth Prazutis, and Thraxis.

Meditation and mindful breathing never did work to calm him. Only one thing had a chance. Humor.

Taking in a deep breath, he said, “Thraxis, another torturer I’m guessing.” Then, his grip on the bottle softened. Much less serious, attempting to deflect his anger and lighten it, he said, “I can understand your hesitation. Despite their transgressions, you are naturally afraid of what I would do to them. I guess I’ll let them live a little while longer.” He smirked.

Remembering his father’s words, he lost his mirth. Standing, he placed the brandy on her desk and knelt, bowing his head as he was taught to do so long ago. It felt unnatural to him after all this time. Never having a great respect for authority. Never conceding in these last fifteen years that he was inferior to another.

With dedication and training, vengeance and destiny were his rewards.

There was a time for joking, but during training wasn’t one of them, he reminded himself. Not if he wanted the power he needed.

“It is my duty to learn what you know, Master. I am ready.”

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Ha! If only she was afraid of what [member="Bradshaw Ku"] would do to [member="Thraxis"] and Praz, instead of the other way around. That would make her stress a lot less. But no. She was worried for many things; worried that they'll kill him, keep him hostage, or at worse, turn him against her. She already fought that battle and won, despite the mess in her office. There's no assurance that it could happen again.

And then Brad did the unthinkable. He knelt before her as he always did with Shaw. She blinked, unable to respond for a moment. It was a sign of respect and discipline that he was giving her, and a willingness to do as she said. Kay set down her tea and then placed her hand on his shoulder. "Rise, Bradshaw. And know that you won't be learning just from me, but from others as well that I trust. Once I let them know who you are, they would be wanting to help."