In the Land of Unrisen Suns

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

Location: Deep Space, on the edges of CIS territory, onboard the Unyielding Faith.
Time: Immediately after the Invasion of Eshan

The ship floated in deep space. There were no nearby planets or stars nearby, nothing to mark where they were. The ship's passive stealth system was in full gear, which meant, if a ship stumbled upon them, off the beaten path, with nothing else around, it would have been an astronomically large coincidence. The Corvette was a sight to see, black color, blending in with the rest of the space around it.

Allya basked in the warmth of the water that hit her light brown skin. Her muscles ached, and her mind raced. She took a beat down when she had tried to protect her forces from the shock wave. If Micah hadn't been able to get his shield up when he had, her body would have been far more broken. Pieces of debris still had gotten her, and the water had slammed pieces of twisted metal and bodies against her.

However, as the water trickled down her body, it all disappeared. Doubts, cares, worries, they all vanished as she relaxed. They would be back, but for now, she managed to get it out of her head. When her shower was done, the girl exited the shower, dried off, draped the towel over her shoulders and went into her room, proper. It was a bit messy, clothes and droid parts were everywhere. She had to dodge the metal bits, to get to her bed. With an oof, she flopped down onto it. Eyes went over to the holophoto of Jerek, and she smiled. He was onboard the ship too. Not far away, she could feel his presence as it comforted her soul. Not alone. It was a new feeling. They had decided to move into her new ship on a whim. She had planned originally to travel the galaxy in it, by herself. But with Jerek and Micah nearby, what was once a futile exercise to not feel so lonely, became a grand adventure.


The girl rolled around on her bed, as she felt the blankets and sheets on her bare form. “Mmmm.” Allya stood up in time, and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't have the best body, she admitted. She was strong, very athletic, and capable. However....she was covered in scars. They were there from the hard training, the endless spars, the combat, the assassination attempts, the star ship crash. And as her eyes moved to her back: The torture. Her toes curled up in agony, as she remembered it. It had hurt so much, and lasted for so long. But, the practice her Sith instructors gave her, had come in handy when she had actually gotten kidnapped and tortured for real. It allowed her to overcome the pain, to stay calm, and escape.

Jerek had never seen all of her. Would he find them ugly? She wasn't sure. But that thought weighed heavily on her mind. She wanted to keep Jerek safe, and happy, and with her. When he was next to her, she had the strength to be herself, to overcome what her father and family wanted, to just be what she wanted to be. When he wasn't there, she often found herself lost again. It was obvious she needed to learn more focus and control, to try and make it so she didn't lose herself, when he wasn't nearby. It wasn't fair to put that much pressure on him.

She twirled a bit in front of the mirror. Okay, maybe she didn't look that bad. She reached out grabbed her undergarments, and put them on. The bra was a bit tight, she would need to get a bigger size. Hopefully it meant she had grown, rather than gotten fatter. Blaaaah. Ah well! She grabbed her uncle Cardinal's hoodie, that she had taken from the Citadel before she left. The girl put it on. It was so large, it was like a dress on her. She had hemmed parts of it, to make it fit better. It was one of her favorite outfits, honestly.

The girl moved to the mirror, and telekinetically brought over a hair brush. Using the force, she brushed out her wet hair, so it was at least tangle free. Woo. After, she checked a datapad. Ah, the battle was still undecided. Many of the saved citizens blamed the Mandalorians, and many blamed the CIS. Either way, time would tell what happened when the dust settled. Had to just drown it out for now.

Soon, she grabbed a pair of headphones and they went on her ears. As she exited her room, she turned on some music, and began to sway to it. Lithe body moved side to side as she bopped along with the tunes. Her world faded away, and music overtook everything. It spoke to her in so many ways. Here, onboard her ship, her home, she was safe. She didn't have to worry about being prim, proper, or the ever vigilant warrior. She could just let her guard down. Hopefully.

[member="Jerek Zenduu"]
[member="Micah"]

 

[Jerek Zenduu]

He smelled the candles before he saw them as his senses slowly returned to the physical world.

Flamelight flickered softly against the darkness of his quarters when Jerek surfaced again from the depths of his meditation and opened his eyes. The cabin was large by his standards, the padawan was used to the cramped quarters of his starfighter or a single bunk in a barracks somewhere. Even his room at the Jedi Academy on Ossus had not been so expansive. The result was that the darkness seemed to stretch on forever before him while he sat crosslegged atop a pillow cushion in the meditation circle next to his bed at the far end of the cabin, his eyes instinctively seeking out the wall he could not see but knew was there, obscured in the total blackness beyond the range of the timid candlelight.

A wave of the boy's hand drew the Force through the air, swirling once around him with enough force to extinguish the candle flames, leaving the room in total darkness until he turned on the lights again. Jerek extricated himself from his position and stood, feeling the stiffness in his legs from being seated in one place for so long. He was no stranger to that sensation though, and the both the spiritual and mental recharge he experienced from meditating more than made up for any temporary discomfort. Even a few days after the events on Eshan, the Jedi youth was still trying to come to terms with what had happened there, and more importantly, how it impacted him. It was a question that would not be answered in full today, just as it hadn't yesterday.

Perhaps tomorrow.

Jerek sighed at the thought, picking up the shirt he had discarded earlier on his bed. His quarters were warm, a preference expressed by his feline charge who sometimes used them for his nap space, and the teen had shucked the clothing article willingly rather than mess with the temperature settings. It gave him an opportunity, as he had now, to admire the physical progress of his adolescent physique. His arms were lean but not skinny, their muscles toned by the aerobic training he favored. His chest was gently shaped, the developed pecs beginning to show and his belly was firming up, losing the last vestiges of the childhood softness it used to display. Nodding in appreciation, the teen pulled the shirt over his head, returning to the modesty he more commonly employed, especially in public. This ship of Allya's was home to a few dozen other living crewmembers who staffed its stations and roamed its halls, otherwise Jerek might have considered remaining bare-chested to show off to his girlfriend.

It was incredible to him how that one word had changed a lot of things. One of which had meant his participation in the campaign on Eshan in the first place, fighting alongside forces from the Confederacy. Jerek still wasn't certain how he felt about that, about supporting a government led by a known Sith. Still, even a stopped chronometer could be right twice a day, and from what he had witnessed himself, the real evil in the fight had come from Mandalorian forces and their allies, who had employed a scorched-earth policy upon the Echani's capital city. The Jedi padawan was glad he had been able to assist in evacuating some of its citizens from the devastation that befell their homes, but he still wrestled with the ultimate outcome of the battle, and his participation in it, in his soul.

Jerek shook his long hair, and then ran his hands through it to straighten the blond locks. Perhaps it was time to cut it short, it had gotten damp and sweaty underneath the helmet of his new armor during the fight on Eshan, and it took plenty of special maintenance. Still, the boy thought as he shook out his hair again, letting his fingers work it back into the position his hands knew by muscle memory alone, he enjoyed the look and that wasn't worth giving up yet. One of his hands rubbed his face, feeling the sparse, soft whiskers that had begun to grow on his chin. Now that was something he would need to cut short.

Right now though, Jerek was hungry. He headed for the exit to the hallway, passing by the open door of his closet, spying the armor suit that hung inside. The boy pulled on it with one hand, just enough to bring it out into the lights of the cabin for examination, letting his fingers run over the small gnarls that had formed in the material of the shoulders. Right where Micah had dug in with his claws. The suit was supposed to provide protection against kinetic attacks, apparently that didn't apply to the slow, unrelenting pressure of Cathar claws. He made a mental note to have the armor checked out, perhaps its claw resistance could be improved. The boy frowned as he added to that note and let go of the suit, its cat-hair resistance needed improving as well.

Out in the hallway proper now, the teen glanced left and right, uncertain of the internal layout of this ship even after several days aboard. He was still shocked by the caliber of starship that Allya possessed —he wondered idly how rich her parents were— and the extent to which his girlfriend had gone to make him feel at home aboard her vessel. His own room and not a shared bunkspace, a berth for his fighter, fizzyglug stocked in all the communal beverage areas, the sheer amount of care and consideration of details was simply astounding to him. Jerek grinned to himself at the thought of having someone care so much for his happiness that he didn't really care which direction took him straight to the galley.

His thoughts of Allya were so filling that he didn't mind a little aimless wandering.

[member="Allya Vi'Dreya"] | [member="Micah"]​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

MEANWHILE, AT THE LEGION OF DOOM...​

Articles of clothing dotted the ship.

A right sock in the hangar bay. A shirt in the hallway. How the left sock got up into the overhead air return was anyone's guess. An orange, tabby-colored blur was zipping through the ship, all the while supplying sound effects to a fully theatrical production that involved the toys in his hands. Action figures involved a lot of physical activity. Or, at least, so it seemed. As a consequence of which, the ship seemed quite warm to the hyperactive kitten. The boy stripped off layers as he went running about, until an underwear-clad kid was what remained of the monumental effort at getting him dressed earlier.

A cat's tail stuck up in the air, peeking above the top of the table beneath which the boy was presently constructing the Battle of McGuffin XIV.

The intergalactic drama was interrupted by sounds of someone stumbling inside of the galley. The tip of the boy's tail flicked, before it, too, vanished under the table. A moment later, the cat-eared head of the young Cathar stuck out as the boy crawled out on all fours.

The Jedi had returned. This was an appropriate 'and now a word from our sponsors' moment. Which meant it was time for a snack.

Not that it ever was not time for a snack. Snack time was all times.

Scrambling to his feet, the kitten seemed to bounce, skip, sprint, and dive as the gap between himself and Jerek suddenly vanished as the Sith Inquisition returned with a terrible vengeance.

"Can I have some fishsticks?"

Behold, the power of the Dark Side of the Force. The power to rule the Jedi with an iron paw, and enslave their once storied knights to work in the salt mines of the autochef!

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

The girl must have just dazed off, as she danced and tried to get a handle on herself. As she wandered down the hallways, she finally looked up. Eyes darted side to side, and she reached out her mind, as she attempted to find Jerek. There was a momentary bit of panic, but once she felt his mind, the girl relaxed completely. Micah was with him. Good. Frankly, this seemed like a strange dream. Sure she wanted time alone with Jerek, and Micah did in fact give it to them. He slept a LOT. She got to see Jerek, to cuddle him, kiss him, be held by him. They played games, watched show, made out. It was nearly paradise. But she was unsure what it all meant. She was certainly NOT ready for a kid, but they had one that ran around on the ship like he owned it. Luckily the crew were very good at keeping the kitten where he was supposed to be.

Slowly the girl made her way to the galley. As she passed crew members, she managed to give each of them brilliant smiles. It was a little more busy than she wanted, she would need to rearrange work schedules in this part of the ship. At least they had kept to her wishes of WHO worked here. The young woman moved into the galley, and upon seeing Jerek, her eyes lit up brightly. Even now, months after knowing him, her heart skipped a beat when she saw him. She took a deep breath and willed her body to behave when near him, as she stepped forward.

“Jerek! Micah! Hello, how are you both?” Brown eyes glanced at the kitten and she sighed. “Welp, there go all your clothes again Micah.” She shrugged and went close to Jerek, in an attempt to give him a hug. Allya longed to be in his arms, and so attempted to make it happen. She wrapped her arms around him, and hugged tight. The girl pressed tight to her Jedi boyfriend. “Did you both get anything to eat? Is there anything you would like for me to make for you?” Oh she hadn't had the chance to cook a lot lately, it would be good to stretch those muscles a bit.

She looked up at Jerek's face. Her hand came up, and caressed his cheek a bit. She explored it with her finger tips, and kissed the boy's cheek. “Alright, just let me know what you both want. I'll make sure you are both fed.” Through the force, she searched Jerek for his emotions. The empath fed on them almost constantly. It helped her figure out what to do next for him, because, lets face it, she had never done anything like this before. It helped her mind grasp what was going on a bit better.

She swayed side to side, which caused her short hoodie dress to flow with her. The girl had the biggest grin on her face. Okay, she had to admit...this was nice. She wasn't alone. She had people who cared about her, and wanted her around. Even if in Micah's case it was just to get food, and pets.

[member="Micah"]
[member="Jerek Zenduu"]

 

[Jerek Zenduu]

Barely having crossed the threshold, the Jedi youth was assaulted by the very orange display before him, one he could only track by using the assistance of the Force. As the furry child landed in front of him, he could finally spy the reason why, Micah was wearing only his underwear, which was the only source of color not brown, orange or yellow clad on the boy's body. Blond locks went flying as Jerek shook his head, rolling his eyes at the scene.

"Where are your clothes, Micah?"

He brushed past the kitten, heading toward the galley itself to start work on his food, and now apparently Micah's as well. Instead, the teen headed into the arms of Allya, who embraced him in a hug. Couldn't a guy just get something to eat without having to run the gauntlet? Too much time on his own had stripped Jerek of his familiarity with living around other people, something he was going to have to get used to again.

Wrapping his arms around the girl, he embraced the hug anyway, resigned to the moment. It paid off in spades when he heard her ask about making food. Jerek could probably deal with all the cat hair Micah shed if he would offer to cook in return, or some other useful task. Come to think of it, his fur might make a really good chamois for waxing down his starfighter hull, Micah would only have to roll around on the ship to get it looking shiny again.

A kiss on his cheek brought him back to the moment, and he let the girl explore his face. She was a very projected individual, whether by hands or words, preferring to be exploring by doing instead of thinking. It was different than Jerek's typical, but he didn't mind it now, as much as the youth relished his solace he craved interaction as well. It was sheer luck that he had found a girlfriend who satisfied that need perfectly, making it easy for him to crave her. The attraction he felt towards her as she danced against him only added to that. He grinned at the collective weight of the circumstances in this moment.

"Well, yeah, I was going to make a sandwich or something. And Micah here wants fishsticks," Jerek glanced back over at the underwear-clad boy, narrowing his eyes and giving him a mirthful laugh. "But I think he needs the rest of his clothes, first." He drew away from Allya to approach the Sith boy again, "Where did you take them off? Can you find them again, or do you need help?"

[member="Micah"] | [member="Allya Vi'Dreya"]​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

​

The Mandalorian girl entered the galley.

This bode well. The female was much more trustworthy than the Jedi when it came to preparing snacks. This made her presence tolerable, as her culinary skills were adequate if not satisfactory.

She also addressed him. Which presented the common predicament of Micah having to look up anytime that he spoke to someone. Their heights were entirely frustrating. So, instead, the Cathar jumped into the Jedi's back, popped up over Jerek's shoulder, with his arms loosely hugging around the teen's neck.

From this vantage point, he could look at both of them at their eye level as they spoke. That was speaking from a position of strength.

...well, it was speaking from a position of piggy-back ride anyway. But he'd go with it nonetheless.

"This ship is too hot," the Cathar complained, as both pointed to his rather casual attire. But it was true. When one went running about like a kitten with his fur on fire, the ship could be quite warm indeed.

The boy's tail flicked through the air behind him, seemingly cutting a 'Z' in the air. "I bet some fishsticks would cool me off," the kitten ventured. No, he didn't believe that either. But it sounded good, right? "Then I could get dressed.," the cat-eared boy offered.

Would they get a better deal than that? He didn't think so, no.

Besides, once he actually had the fishsticks all of this would just be a campaign promise. No one kept campaign promises.

[member="Jerek Zenduu"] | [member="Allya Vi'Dreya"]​

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

She admitted to herself, at least, that she worried. Allya wasn't always sure what [member="Jerek Zenduu"] needed, and he wasn't always the best at communicating it. So she used her force powers often to feel what he was feeling. There was a minor twinge of annoyance, but then, he seemed to enjoy her affections. So that was good! She grinned and gave his lips a peck. “Okay! Food time it is. Fresh fish sticks and some milk for the kitten. And an Allya Specialty sandwich, comin' up!” Oh how she hated it when she left Jerek's arms. Frankly, she was his weapon, he should hold her, it's where she belonged. Reality was, she understood this line of reasoning was wrong. That something was missing. However, it worked for now. She could grasp it, understand it. The girl knew he wasn't her owner. Yet, she had been raised her entire life to be her father's weapon. She simply changed her ownership to Jerek, because.....

Because he doesn't treat me like a weapon at all. But like a girl....and that just makes me want to be his girl.

She hummed, and skipped and swayed into the kitchen. “Good luck making him dress. Hmmm.” The girl gathered the needed ingredients. She had freshly made Alderaanian flat bread, some nerf pastrami, and byss cheese...that would be perfect for the sandwich. The girl toasted the bread, and placed the meat in a pan, and cooked it. She got it nice and hot, then placed slices of cheese over it, melting the cheese onto the meat, before she scooped it onto the toasted bread. She sat it to the side, on a plate. Allya cut it in half, got a large cold zero-gravity fizzyglug, and a slice of a freshly made uj cake.

All the while, she began to prepare the dish for [member="Micah"] The girl took some fresh pointer fish fillets, some eggs and seasoned batter, rolled the fish in eggs, then the batter. When done, she had a large plate of fish sticks for him. She took a large glass filled it with some nerf milk, added a bit of special spice, and smiled. Good.

She put the food on a tray and carried it out to the table. Brown eyes looked so affectionately at Jerek as she placed his food in front of him. “A nerf pastrami and byss cheese, on toasted flat bread. A Zero-gravity fizzyglug, and some dessert! Uj Cake! And for the glorious, and powerful Micah.” She placed the fish sticks and spiced milk in front of the Sith cat. “A plate of the finest fish sticks, and a glass of spiced milk, if it pleases him.” Her voice was proper, well trained. The girl had a blast. She could vent the little Sith kitten if need be, and she knew it. But it was fun to play along! He was an adorable kitty, and he needed pets and snuggles....and baths. Oh boy did the kitten need baths. She hoped the spiced milk would calm him down so he would take a nap, so she could go enjoy some time alone with Jerek. They really needed to Holoflix and Chill.... The girl laughed and smiled. “Enjoy guys!”

 

[Jerek Zenduu]

The ship was too hot?

Feeling the Cathar boy's form against his back as the youngling used the teen as a jungle gym, Jerek thought it might be the other way around. The kitten radiated heat like an oven. Given that, it seemed ill advised for him to be playing so close to one, so the teen turned back to the broader expanse of the dining room. "Fishsticks will make you cool off?" Jerek laughed at Micah's logic, but the suggestion contained the promise of cooperation inside it. "Alright, then let's give Allya some time to cook."

"While we wait, Micah, do you know how to fly a starfighter?" Shifting Micah a little so he was supported by Jerek's hands on his calves, like the padawan had done back on Eshan, the Jedi youth jogged a little to one end of the long dining hall. "Just hold your arms out and I'll show you."

With that, Jerek took off, running down the length of the dining hall, zig-zagging to avoid the chairs and tables set up along its course and leaning into the turns as he went. The teen made noises as they went, play-acting out the flight as if he were the starfighter itself. A few times, he took on a burst of speed by tapping into the Force, and other times he leapt across the spans of tables to give the boy more air beneath his arm-wings.

Keeping an eye on Allya's progress, Jerek began to veer towards the table she had chosen to set food out on. As he got close, the teen called up to the boy, "Ready to really fly?" Then crouched down while slowing down, letting go and using the Force to push the boy up over his head and set him down in front of the chair. Jerek laughed as he watched the maneuver complete, before settling down in his own chair.

"This looks great, Allya," Jerek started. He grabbed the glass of fizzyglug and sipped down the cold liquid, feeling the carbonation all dance over his tongue. It was the perfect refresher after playing with Micah, which had gotten him rather warm during its course. Definitely not the ship, then. He took a bite of the Allya Specialty sandwich, and a pleasant sound escaped his closed lips as he chewed. "It is great! It's delicious."

The girl could cook!

It was enough to take his mind off the aftermath of the battle they had just gone through. Good food, good friends, what better distraction could he ask for?

[member="Micah"] | [member="Allya Vi'Dreya"]​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

"Fishsticks will make you cool off?"

There was always a skeptic.

Putting his hands on Jerek's shoulders, the boy held his head away from the teen's so that he could peer down at the Jedi as he added, with perfect bravado, "It's science."

No one questioned science.

Also, it was very easy to take a set of statistics and make it work for pretty much whatever type of logical fallacy one cared to construct when dealing with babysitters, caretakers, parents, or the general adult population.

"While we wait, Micah, do you know how to fly a starfighter?"

The kitten just blinked. Slouching down closer to Jerek's face, the boy's look of confusion clearly conveyed the notion that I'm ten and what is this? "I don't even have a pilot's license," the boy answered. Quite seriously, before Jerek took off running up and down the ship with the Cathar on his back.

Hugging onto the teen, the boy was laughing and giggling as he was bounced from one side of the ship to the next, before being sent air delivery for his seat at the table.

The boy was still giggling when [member="Allya Vi'Dreya"] brought his food by. Pulling his legs up into the seat, the boy stood up on his knees as he looked down over the spread that had been set on the table. Then, leaned to the side as he rubbed the top of his head against the Mandalorian teen's arm and side, purring. Turning his head up, the boy's ears stood up straight as he chirped, "Thank you!"

Plopping down into a w-sit position, the boy used his hands to pick up the fish stick and begin shoveling them into his mouth. All the while, his tail flicked behind him.

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

As Jerek praised her food, she leaned over, and kissed his cheek. “Good, glad you like it!” As Micah purrs, she reached behind his ears, scritched them, and then petted the young kitten's head. Oh Jerek was so good with kids. It made her giddy honestly, and her eyes were practically hearts at the moment. As she stared at them, the girl realized she had forgotten to get anything for herself. “Oh, hold on one moment.”

Allya went back to the kitchen. A piece of hard cheese and bread were grabbed, along with a bottle of Corellian ale and she returned to the table. The small Mandalorian sipped the ale and adorably nibbled her food. She took small little bites, reminiscent of a small animal. She hummed to herself, and beamed at the two boys with her. “So, how have your days been? What have you both been up to?”

She leaned forward, and tilted her head. Hair fell into her face, and she just left it there this time. Eyes flashed back for a moment to the crash of the star destroyer that had happened so recently. Her body shuddered and she shook her head a bit, and attempted to refocus her emotions. “Jerek, Micah, thank you so much for protecting me. I didn't have time to think. I just knew my duty was to the people who followed me first. I couldn't take the time to figure out how to make it work. I honestly thought I would die, and just prayed to Hod Ha'ran that I would last long enough to protect all of you.” The girl laughed nervously.

“To a Sith, it seems silly. I was always taught power came from within. And true, something could be said, if I had simply been stronger, smarter, more experienced, I could have easily handled it all. But I couldn't. I still did amazing. I created a barrier that stopped a star destroyer from smooshing all of you!! Hahah!” She grinned. “Imagine what I'll be able to do next year! But, I realized. I couldn't have done this without you both. You are both my heroes.” She leaned over, and once more kissed Jerek's cheek, and then the top of Micah's head, before she gave the kitten pets. “You both are awesome. I hope we get to fight together for a long time to come. Oh! Micah, how did you like my library? I brought most of the liturature I have from the Temple, and from the Jedi as the Silver Rest as I could, as well as a few pieces that I collected in my travels.”

[member="Micah"]
[member="Jerek Zenduu"]