I Can See The Pain In Your Eyes

[Lief]

The Arenais Estate​

Commenor​

​

Guilt ran through her in waves, the likes of which she had never before experienced.

Though she knew the reasoning behind what was happening, knowing that she was splitting up a family did not sit right with her. The young Hex wished that she knew of a better way, one which would ensure that the siblings would remain at one another's side, that meant their mother would not be filled with remorse or regret. One wrong move, from her or the child, would spell disaster, and it would be all her fault.

Never had she felt such responsibility before now. But it was something she would have to adjust to. A student she may have been herself, yet the Journey she found herself upon lent itself to training others as much as it did being taught. Valuable skills were to be learned throughout the process, and both could grow as individuals throughout.

As they ventured out of the large building which served as the Family's home, and into the wonderfully landscaped yard at the front, Asha allowed her gaze to drift to the boy at her side. He was younger and smaller than she, but only just in both departments. She knew that in a couple of years he would tower over her, as so many of her associates did. Would it bother him, that his tutor was so young? She hoped not.

Swallowing back her insecurities she offered him just the slightest of smiles, one filled with warmth and understanding... And an apology.

"I know how difficult this must be for you," she offered, her voice light and almost whimsical, "But I promise that you can speak with your family whenever you wish, I'll make sure that a holo-comm is set up in your room so that you can see your sister no matter the time of day, and arrangements will be made so that you can see one another from time to time..."

Not perfect, by anyone's standards - but it was something.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn Arenais followed alongside [member="Asha Hex"] not truly knowing what lay in store for his immediate future and all too aware of those that he was being asked to leave behind. His father Veiere Arenais had set him forward on this journey, entrusting his life to the care of the young woman beside him and her group of force practitioners; his Mother and Sister both not wanting him to go. His Father had always been a quiet role model in Caedyn's life, admiring him for his knowledge over the Force and the man's strength and vocal dedication to helping others. In the private of their company where Lori and their Mom had ventured into the City to purchase some supplies and good for him to take away on this new life venture of his, Veiere had spoken to him about the kind of person that Asha was. He had spoken very fondly of her, using words like compassionate and understanding to describe her character and encourage the younger lad to get to know her.

"I've never really been away from Home before..." Caedyn replied softly, turning to glance across to his new teacher and guide that his father had called his Master. Apparently a title that showed respect to those who took it upon themselves to generously offer teaching to people like Cae who had no other means of growing strong like she and his Dad was. He had naturally heard about the Jedi given his fathers former belonging to the Order and the way outsiders referred to them as Master Jedi, so it wasn't all that unusual with the exception of the fact that he never actually dreamed of ever having one, himself.

"Is it normal for people like us to still see their families..." He soon asked curiously, "Dad said that he was taken away from his when he was younger than I am. He never knew who his parents were and said that he forgot their names and what they looked like by the time he was my age...", against the stories that he had heard, the young boy still managed a small smile in appreciation for Asha's allowing him to remain in contact with his Parents and Sister. Naturally he knew nothing about the Je'daii and Veiere had avoided telling him much at all about the Jedi Order so that he wouldn't ever feel pulled in any one direction, yet Asha's Order had not been expected in his father's hope for neutrality for his two children and the Je'daii Order seemed to reflect nothing but the balance that would allow Caedyn to go without bias for peoples on either sides of alignment.

 

[Lief]

"Such is the way of the Jedi" she informed him, with a very loose shrug of her shoulders, a thoughtful look now clouding her expression for a moment or so, "Though in more recent years I do believe their policies have relaxed where familial ties are concerned. Every Order does things differently, my own does not dictate how it is we choose to live. They guide us toward a more stable, moderate lifestyle, and encourage us to seek a balance in the Force, but outside of that? You are your own person, Caedyn, and it is not on any one of us to dictate what you do, or who you choose to see. Keeping you from your loved ones and from your emotions does - in our opinion - more harm than good. You're not some mindless soldier raised to fight other people's wars."

That was how the Jedi of old had done things. Taken children to forge them into the ultimate weapons, to fight against the supposed darkness. A darkness they themselves had helped to create. That was much too heavy a topic to get into, though, likely not something she would bring up unless he ever sought to discuss it.

Reaching out she gently rested one hand on his shoulder, not once ceasing in their leisurely walk toward the starship which awaited them on the edge of the estate, and gave it a gentle and comforting pat. Asha did not know at all what he was going through, she had never been tied down to one place, she had never known one home, but she did know that change could be difficult. Losing her Father for several years had been one of the hardest experiences of her life, and that was at a time when she had been made prisoner within a floating graveyard.

"You must have a lot of questions... We have quite some time ahead of us to fill as we journey to Aurum, if there is anything you wish to know then please ask away."

Finally her ship came into view. She looked over to it with a light smile before gesturing its way.

"This is The Prophet" she explained, "A room has been set up onboard for you, feel free to use it as you see fit. Consider it your own space."

After all, Asha only ever really made use of one of the sleeping quarters herself. The rest was going to waste.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"You're not some mindless soldier raised to fight other people's wars".

Was that what his Father had been turned into? Perhaps it was the reason why he left the Jedi, Caedyn truly didn't know as so much had been kept a secret from him and despite The Force Praxeum of Commenor being more or less at the base of the Eldritch Mountains of which the estate sat high up upon, both he and Lori had searched for answers to the stories that others seemed to know about their parents more so than their very own Children did. It was frustrating, in all honesty, that something so intriguing as the Jedi Order or the Force would be withheld from them.

"I guess I kinda do..." Caedyn admitted on that not, his questions over the Force and the Je'daii Order that he was being encouraged to join was all a mystery to him; the world of Aurum one that he'd never even heard of before. "Dad told me that you guys are peaceful and like to learn about the Force, that you don't judge others or try to hurt them like a lot of the rest of the Galaxy does; he hasn't told me much more than that though and I don't really know much of anything about the Force..." his eyes were drawn away from her towards 'The Prophet' as Asha had mentioned that he would have his own room aboard the light freighter; this in itself was a big deal to him given that he had never had anything of the sort shared with him by someone else, especially something so expensive like a starship.

Tugging on the front of his attire, he found the clothes a little uncomfortable in their supposed formality and apparent meaning of purpose. Naturally his Father had made them, and his presence within the Force itself was strengthened through the tunic for which veiere had spent a great deal of concentration to meditate over it and empower the attire within the Force. Naturally, Caedyn remained completely ignorant to the fact though Asha, whom was well trained in her sensory abilities, would no doubt have picked up on the unusual strength by now.

"He did give this to me, though..." Caedyn turned a little to detach the Lightsaber from his side and hold the hilt out for Asha to study; "It was kind of random and made Lori really jealous because we had to try and find one for her on our own. Dad showed me a little bit about how to use it but it's not as strong as other peoples. He said it's just for practice, mostly" though the blade could fend against most other standard lightsabers as well as deflect incoming blaster fire, with this weapon, Caedyn was unable to end another's life nor drastically injure them.

From there the pair of them would enter onto her vessel and his journey would truly begin. The trip there was exciting as equally so as it was frightening and he still had questions and the want to talk with this older girl some more about what he was going to find on this world called Aurum. He couldn't help but wonder if he would be able to make friends there...

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

"Your Father speaks the truth," she informed him, as they ventured up the boarding ramp. Asha paused once she reached the top, giving him time to glance back over the estate he called home... Who knew how long it would be before he returned once more.

"We believe in living a balanced and moderate lifestyle, and that flows over into the Force. We do not seek to fight those who choose to practice the light or the dark, we are not peacekeepers, or governors, we seek only to expand our knowledge of the Force, and do good by the people of the Galaxy where possible without interfering in the games played by the great Galactic powers."

Her gaze shifted to his person as he began to explain what he had been given by his Father, and when she did so she noticed the way that the Force flowed over him, that it seemed concentrated around the robes he wore. Curious, no doubt something Vei had created to ensure that his son was protected in some fashion.

"A training lightsaber?" She smiled, inspecting the object without removing it from his grasp. It wasn't in her to overstep her boundaries, and she could do a good enough job of studying it from where she was stood. They were standing close to one another after all. "Magnificent weapons, even if they do not command the same physical power as a regular lightsaber they can still be used to diffuse situations. Sometimes just the mere sight of such a weapon can calm a hostile individual, the Force and those who practice it remain an enigma to most of the Galaxy, those who are not sensitive to its ways."

Turning she began to head into the ship itself.

"At the same time, some may view it as a threat, and may try to take it from you... Or worse. Knowing when to make such a thing visible goes hand in hand with knowing how to utilize it. Have you learned any Forms from your Father? There is one in particular I would like you to study before we truly delve into lightsaber training... Form Zero."

He may not have heard of it, and that would be due to the fact that it wasn't exactly a form so to speak. It was a philosophy, a mentality, of knowing when to resort to your blade, how to utilize other paths before such became a necessity. A Jedi practice, to be sure, but nobody said any one Order owned such abstract concepts.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

To a young man the age that Caedyn was, the prospect of the lightsaber arts was naturally an exciting concept and one that came easily in his wish to experience and test out his lightsaber; by no means was he afraid to get himself dirtied, participate in a bit of rough and tough practice and play-fighting for the share fun of it, yet at the mention of serious fighting, his expression seemed to settle upon [member="Asha Hex"] as he listened rather intently. Playing around and having a laugh was expected of youngsters like him from most typical societies and cultures. Fighting for real however, Caedyn knew to be a crime against people and against the laws put in place by most, if not all Governmental powers across the worlds that dotted the known Galaxy.

"I'd rather learn and make friends in your group of people, to be honest..." Caedyn admitted in his youthful ignorance of the reality in their adult lives; "I love competitions and stuff and I think I'm getting pretty good but Dad sort of only told me about what the lightsaber does and why it's dangerous. He wanted me to learn to be responsible with it before teaching me anything, he said.." naturally Veiere hadn't followed through, that or Caedyn hadn't yet met the conditions of his fathers promise. In hindsight now with his following the older girl on-board the ship and soon to be heading off into a new and whole other life, it seemed likely that his teaching, his father had planned to come from her or someone other than himself.

"I haven't really needed to use it to keep myself safe before" he continued, thinking upon his prior experience, lacking as it was. "It was good for lighting up the caves and stuff under our house..." He commented, letting slip the fact that there were catacombs dug into the eldritch mountain range beneath the estate, though too not recognizing the possible significance in the fact. His father having been one to plan ahead and keep certain information to himself until there came a time that it was absolutely necessary to bring to light.

Looking back over his shoulder and soon turning somewhat to take a better final glance over what had been his home the entirety of his life up until this point, his eyes searched for his family, they whom stood upon the veranda of the second level now, intent on sending him off with a wave and the knowledge that they would be there should he ever wish or need to return home. The sight of his parents and Loreena encouraged a smile to come to life, extending his left hand and waving goodbye to them all, his right returning his lightsaber to his belt shortly there after and returning to face Asha, moving to step deeper into her ship that they might begin their venture.

"Form Zero?" He repeated in open and intrigued thought, not having practiced the form before yet finding a sense of wonder and excitement in the possibility of learning more about lightsaber fighting and sword play; "I don't really know anything about all the stuff other people can do but I've seen a lot of holo-vids and clips on the HV of others doing some pretty wild moves...-I'd love to get really good at using mine!", the subject it seemed worked well to distract him from the concentration and emphasis of what and whom he was suddenly leaving behind on his home-world.

 

[Lief]

"I'm glad that you do not crave bloodshed as so many seem to," she informed him with sincerity, once they were both safely within the bowels of her vessel and the boarding ramp had risen. "Some would claim that violence can be the only route, but I believe that such individuals are lacking in imagination. There are always other methods to exhaust before you need to reach for a weapon..."

She let that sink in for a moment, not yet bothering to divulge the fact that she herself was a pacifist. Typically she fixed a situation through words, and it had worked for her up until this point. Were that to change then maybe her stance on violence would too, who knew.

"But sometimes you will find yourself against a foe who does not play by the rules. Training, competitions, friendly spars... They are all well and good, they will teach you the basics, but compared to true warfare? You may not want it, but in a Galaxy as chaotic as ours you may find it at your doorstep regardless. Not if we have anything to say about it, of course. As I say our Order tries to keep to itself."

At some point she had paused within the hallway, with a door just before her. There was another across the way but for now she did not pay it any mind.

"This is your room, for our journey to the Je'daii as well as any other time you see fit to use it. I expect you'll see the inside of the Prophet a fair bit in the upcoming months. Tell me, have you heard of Svivren? I don't expect you would have, but it will become our home once a few things have been squared out on Aurum."

She offered him a smile, knowing the history of that place she could not help but find irony in it all. Like Father like son, it would seem.

"I'm sure you've heard enough of my voice for now. Bring your things into your room, set it up however you wish, and when you're ready to you can head up this hall to the cockpit. We'll work out something to eat in an hour or so. Sound good to you?"

She had of course made a few loose gestures so that he knew where it was she was indicating toward, and she made sure that she didn't rush off the moment she was done talking. After all he might still have had questions.

Her mind drifted for a moment, filled with thoughts of tea of all things. She would have to brew a pot, welcome him in true Hex fashion.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

His life had been rather sheltered, he and [member="Loreena Arenais"] having their family, a loving and caring environment away from the prying eyes of the politically run galaxy. Warfare wasn't a thing he had ever experienced, only really relating it to the holo-vids he had stayed up late with his Dad watching and eating food that his Mom would have growled at them both for at such an hour. So it was that when [member="Asha Hex"] spoke of these serious things, Cae wasn't of the mind to take it all in with the importance that his new mentor was trying to relay; that youthful innocence of his not yet having been removed from him by the reality of the galaxy outside of Commenor.

For the most part, she seemed to be complimenting him on being a friendlier sort, that much he followed. It encouraged an awkward smile against the discussion that otherwise went a little over his head, looking up at Asha trying to figure her out for his own sake, not really sure if he was doing the right thing here unlike his Dad whom had encouraged him so. There was of course, no turning back. He didn't want to disappoint his father, nor give his sister anymore ammunition to tease him with...-And then there was the Force, that he truly wished to explore and learn more about. The older girl in front of him seemed so much smarter than he was, he couldn't tell her age but she was definitely a little older than he was, still in his early teens himself.

When his attention was turned to his own room however, he stepped into the entrance way looking about the private quarters still surprised that he might ever have a place of is own aboard a Starship like 'The Prophet'. Asha suggested he get settled in and to be truthfully honest, that sounded really good, getting a moment to himself to try and wrap his head around everything. It had all moved so fast and Caedyn felt like he hardly had a chance to take it all in but in her pause and the silence that followed, he had one final question before he would retreat into the quarters and begin to make them more comfortable and more his.

"Dad said I should call you, my Master...." He sort of blurted out, not really knowing how to approach the aspect in any way gently. "That's what someone is who teaches another person the Force right?...-That's what you are for me now?".

 

[Lief]

His question caught her momentarily off guard.

She hesitated for a second or so, before turning back to fully face him with a curious expression on her face.

"I daresay that is the truth of the matter, you are my Padawan - my student - though among just you and I Asha will do just fine. Formality has a time and a place, that much is certain, but this ship is your home now as much as it is mine, and when we get to Svivren so too shall it be. I won't expect you to be so uptight in a place meant for solace and sanctuary, do you understand?"

Her gentle smile returned moments later, before she gestured back to his door, "Run along now while I get the ship prepped. Perhaps after dinner I can show you to the comms room so that you can speak with your sister."

This time when she turned to leave she genuinely walked away, heading up the ship toward the cockpit.

They had set off from Commenor some time ago, and now that the ship was drifting along the hyperspace lane back toward Aurum she had some time to kill. Keeping an eye on the ships systems through various screens built into the ships walls, Asha ventured down into the common space and began to pull supplies out of the pantry. She was glad to see that the Prophet still had a few perishables on board, that meant that they could have a proper meal to mark their first day as Master and Student... Though most of the rest of the journey would yield little more than the ordinary staples found inside a ship.

It did not take too long before the table was set, food was laid out, and a steaming pot of tea sat in the space between their plates. Then and only then did she press a button to the ships comms, speaking into it so that he could hear.

"Dinner's ready, take a left from your room and follow the hall around to the right."

While waiting she remained standing. She had her traditions after all.

[member='Caedyn Arenais']

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

The time within his quarters passed him by slowly which in all honesty was fine for Caedyn. [member="Asha Hex"] had moved on to continue down towards the cockpit of her ship and thus he had the moment to finally breath a sigh of relief and think about all that was happening now.

He had left his family behind on Commenor. His Mother who Caedyn could plainly see that she didn't feel comfortable about his leave to go off and join some new Force group, she hadn't shared his father's confidence in Caedyn's new Master and he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that; to some degree it felt as though he was betraying his mother's love by listening to what his Father advised, yet it had also been a desire of Caedyn's to learn more about the Force and to meet other people who used it...

Loreena on the other hand just didn't want him to go because all they did was play together and get up to no good. She was his Sister but so to was she his best friend and not a lot of Siblings could say that about one another. There was a great wealth of anxiety and unpredictability in his future, the longer that he had to sit and think about it all. So easy was it to let his thoughts drift and become more and more manic that he found himself slightly panicked and needing to pull away from within his own head to focus on something else around him.

So far his quarters were pretty bare.

He sat upon the side of his bed staring across at the wall opposite him; he hadn't brought much with him, his suitcase of things comprised of mostly clothes while he carried his lightsaber upon his belt. He hadn't brought any of his toys or gadgets with him feeling as though they'd only make him look young and silly. This was supposed to be a new life, a new beginning and path where he would grow up a lot and become stronger in the Force. Veiere hadn't taught him much at all but he had told his Son what to expect and that was to be days filled with new experiences and new lessons that would make Commenor look really small compared to the rest of the Galaxy...-Frankly it was a little strange to think the one planet where his whole life had been spent lived upon could be considered insignificant compared to everything else.

​

​

When she had finally called upon him Caedyn was a little calmer, a little less shaken by the sudden abandonment of his home and had been forced to come to terms with things a little more. Wandering his way down towards the ships version of a mess hall, he found his Master having prepared them a meal and offered her a small smile in greeting as he came to the table, not taking his seat before she would. He recognized what she was doing, waiting for him to share their seating together out of good manners the likes of which his parents had taught him in respect of other cultures back home.

Wanting to gather her attention, he questioned for a moment whether to call her by her title that was now his Master, or whether by name. Previously she encouraged him to treat this ship as his home, shared with her of course; thus he chose the latter. "Erm...Asha?" He spoke a little warily, yet soon found his confidence in his curiosity over their destination; "What exactly is on Svivren, where we're going?".

 

[Lief]

Meat, carbs, veggies, and some fresh bread.

It was quite the feast for two, especially when added to the steaming teapot at the center of it all.

When Caedyn approached she gave him a welcoming, encouraging smile and gestured for him to sit while she did the same, and once both were seated she began to pour them each a cup of tea. His cup was, of course, filled before her own, and once done she lifted her own before taking a small sip. One of just a few traditions Asha had... One she clung to more readily than most.

Then she heard him speak. A quiet, uncertain tone that seemed almost fearful of speaking its mind. Her head tilted slightly to one side as he finally asked his question, a smile fixed upon her lips as he called her by her name rather than her title.

"Svivren? There is a Temple there, one your Father had renovated for our Order. I am to act as its Steward once it's fully manned, and it's there that Je'daii can congregate to learn of the Force specifically. Once upon a time, when your Father was younger, it belonged to the Jedi... But that has long since passed."

[member='Caedyn Arenais']

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Dad used to live there?.."

Caedyn truly had no knowledge over Svivren nor any of the Jedi Order's history outside of what public schooling had taught to him and his Sister about the history of the Galaxy and notable accounts of the Galactic Empire and the Jedi Order's place within the events that surrounded it's rise and fall.

The food however carried his focus off topic as his eyes dropped down to glance over the table that they now shared, he hadn't realized how hungry he was until this point and though the trip and the emotional weight of leaving all that he knew had taken so much out of him, he had been distracted by the questions of what lay ahead to notice up until the smell of cooked food filled his nostrils and made his mouth salivate behind pursed lips.

Glancing back to his new Master, he eyed [member="Asha Hex"] momentarily to ensure that he was safe to begin digging in, albeit with well mannered etiquette though too a hunger that caused his stomach to growl audibly. To this end he wasn't disappointed, her cooking was marvelous and in his desire to savor it all he nearly forgot himself and the place he sat within, his eyes once more glancing back to Asha Hex whom might likely be watching him devour a leg of some poor animal.

Only once he'd devoured the last of the meat would he respond so not to appear rude or disinterested.

"...What happened to them?".

 

[Lief]

"He did, yes, long ago."

Was this her story to tell? She had seen it all first hand, walking through memories alongside Vei, but that did not mean that she had any right to it. Still it would not do to make theirs an Apprenticeship built on lies and distrust. Who was to say he wouldn't figure it out for himself when they reached Svivren? Who knew what sort of powers he would achieve through the Force.

When he began to eat she smiled and finally took some food herself, a large heaping of vegetables now filled her plate as well as a small slice of meat. While she could never forsake meat as so many in the Galaxy did, she did always prefer the vegetables in her dinner over anything else. They were so much more refreshing to eat.

The next question which left young [member='Caedyn Arenais'] had her look away from him in thought. This was the difficult part, figuring out how much information to provide him with.

"What happened to the Jedi? The Galaxy has been in perpetual turmoil for generations now, every once in a while an attack is mounted from one side against the other, and Svivren was simply unlucky in that it was caught in the middle of one of these assaults. Since that time the existence of the Temple has fallen from the minds of most everyone, nobody is really going to be looking for it... Which makes it the perfect place to set up shop and honor the fallen."

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

The idea that Caedyn was going to be living and learning in a place where his Father had once grown up doing the same, came with no small sense of irony. Who could have known that so far back when his father was younger, his future son would one day find himself in the exact same place under a different group of Force Users, and even more surprising would be that this was against Veiere's initial hopes for their children's ability to stay away from the Force and all the controversy and difficulties that came with that life, in the beginning of their years.

"If no one really knows about it anymore, I guess it's going to be pretty quiet there then, huh?" he spoke up again in question though his voice was a little quieter and his curiosity seemed to have been sated enough with what little his new Master had told him. Caedyn wasn't one to pry into things that he wasn't meant to know, he had learned from an early age through his Mother and Father that there were some things that were best left unsaid. The Twins hadn't been brought up within a Jedi environment though if one chose to look hard enough, they'd discover that the ideals and virtues that he and Lori carried, did indeed have a lot of common ground with the life that Veiere (their father) had once dedicated himself to.

"I read a bit about the Jedi...-They seem to focus a lot on what they're not allowed to do" Caedyn added in voiced thought, his fork picking at the pieces of food on his plate, seemingly choosing delicately which to eat while his gaze seemed a little distant, clearly thinking about the future ahead of him; "I don't really know what I want to do, yet...-Later I mean. I know I want to learn about the Force and become stronger and stuff...-But I think meeting people's good too...-I guess I'm just hoping I'll do well here. Make friends and fit in and stuff...", the anxiety around fitting in was indeed quite real for the fifteen year old boy. Something rather typical given his age.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

"Quiet? Perhaps a little, I suppose, but we certainly won't be alone. There are plenty of men and women who follow the same path I do, and once the Enclave is fully up and running they will migrate from Aurum to Svivren alongside us. I will confess we are a little lacking in the teenager department right now, but that should change soon enough."

She paused for a moment, tapping her fork on the edge of her plate in thought, before looking across to him curiously.

"I think we should find you a companion, bestial for now perhaps. Have you ever had a pet, Caedyn?" Asha had Azrael. The adorable little ball of fluff was somewhere on the Prophet though she had not seen him since they left Vei's home. No doubt he was taking a much needed snooze on her bunk.

"There is no rush on figuring out what it is you want to do, Caedyn. Nobody is expecting you to have your life figured out by fifteen. You have only just been introduced to this new life of yours, don't worry we'll explore a lot of what it has to offer. Such is the way of the Je'daii, we do not hold many limitations where knowledge and progress are concerned. Keep your mind open for now, learn all that you can, it will come to you in time."

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"A Pet?" Caedyn looked up quickly across the table to [member="Asha Hex"] suddenly curious, "No...-I had a Sister?" He couldn't help but grin at the remark, being a little cheeky at [member="Loreena Arenais"] expense though she'd not hear it. Truthfully, the idea of a pet sounded kinda nice, especially if he wasn't going to be able to make any friends in the Je'daii just yet. "What kinda pet would I get?" he asked under no small hint of intrigue.

Everything felt as though it was moving so fast, Caedyn could hardly catch a breath before something new was introduced to him. The remark about not needing to have his life figured out just yet wasn't far off the mark from how he was feeling and upon hearing it, he pulled onto his lowerlip with his teeth a little anxiously, tilting his head to look off to the side in apprehensive thought.

"Mom and Dad always seemed to know what they wanted to do..." He spoke up after a brief silence, glancing back to his new Master and wondering if she'd catch on to how he was feeling; she did seem very well trained after all, from the impression he had been given so far. "I just wanted to have fun with Lori. School was okay I guess but we were always treated different because of our parents and being royalty and stuff...-I don't want to be treated differently here with the Je'daii...-I really hope I'm gonna be liked and gonna be good at the stuff you guys can do".

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having a pet of some sort...-I could take care of it and stuff...-Play with it when I'm not out there training and stuff" he smiled a little warily, the prospect of this pet meant that it might fill a gap where his lack of friends and his general loneliness might otherwise hold him back in life.

Whether or not his thoughts put into words made complete sense was another story. Caedyn was never good at speaking his emotions with any real clarity, all too impulsive and feeling for the moment rather than straight minded and concise within his personal expression...

 

[Lief]

Asha chuckled when he referenced his sister, and shook her head. She had never had a sibling, didn't know what it was to rely on anyone other than [member='Jericho'] and even then the Je'daii Master had raised her to be strong and independent, but if she had... She liked to think their relationship would be wholesome and pure, much in the way Caedyn's and his sisters seemed to be. Alas that was not so.

"Have a think on it, we have a while before we reach Aurum and there's never any rush when it comes to such decisions. But you can definitely get one, it will do you good."

She ate the rest of her food while he spoke, giving him the floor, valuing his words, allowing him to realize that this was a partnership and he had just as much right to voice himself as she did, if not moreso. It was his future they were investing in, after all.

"I can assure you that neither of your parents had their lives truly thought out by your age, Caedyn. And don't worry, you'll be treated normally here, like a boy of your age should be. Come now, why don't you clean up and then you can go speak to [member="Loreena Arenais"] for a while before bed?"

When she said this Asha herself rose up, and began to clear away the empty dishes from the table.

"If you'd like, Azrael can sleep in your bunk tonight. Keep you company."

It was then that she realized that Cae would have no idea who Azrael was, so she grinned, "He's the ships cat, by the way."

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Azrael..." Caedyn repeated to himself, blinking slightly having not yet seen the Cat, though suddenly interested in seeking it out. He smiled to [member="Asha Hex"] of whom at times it was difficult to tell she was only up on him by three years; his Master seemed so much more experienced and sure of herself than he himself was. A brilliant role-model to learn from and hope to befriend, he supposed inwardly to himself.

It was comforting to know that it was normal for him to have no real idea as to where he was being led in life, fifteen years of age and caught somewhere between wanting to keep being a kid and having fun, yet too entering into a whole new life of responsibilities and adventures that would mature him beyond anything he'd experienced up until now. There was a yearning for independence while too one for company. Things that weren't so easy to simply talk about either.

"Thank you for Dinner..." He glanced across the table to Asha, offering her another wary smile, truly thankful that he had been partnered up with someone so warm and welcoming. Standing from the table, he soon reached for the dishes that remained and would move to help her clean up the place. It was only right and polite after all, given how out of her way she was going for him at his fathers wishes.

[member="Loreena Arenais"] had been left behind on Commenor, yet she would eventually be led into a life of Mandalorian Culture for which would too help to strengthen and bring her confidence, the twins walking different paths now which was a little hard to accept and adapt to without her constant companionship, yet not even the Force could keep them apart forever. He didn't feel the need to call her before hitting the bunk, she'd probably make a joke at his expense for being so silly anyway having just left home...

"Good night, Master" He concluded the evening only after having helped her clear the dishes away, bowing his head to her as his father had showed him and then turning to find his quarters, trying to remember which direction to go and the overall layout of the ship that would become part of his life now much into the future.

~ End of Thread ~​