Private Leavetaking | Invite

[Cerise Damarien]

TWO YEARS AGO
CONDORIAH
​

Cerise Damarien had never been gifted with the sight of her own accord. She had never had a foretelling or a premonition or even a compelling hunch. Her talents in the Force lay elsewhere. But that wasn't to say that her life had gone untouched by the gifts of sight. Every night for over a decade, she relived in her dreams the foretelling she had witnessed, so realistic and vivid that she would have sworn to hearing the dry, cracked whispers of the old woman hissing it into her ear, to feeling the cold grasp like steel at her wrist, waking abruptly from the pain.

She stood near the bed, a solitary affair in a small room populated mostly by books and clothes. The room opened up onto a small balcony, suited for holding some herbaceous plants and gathering fresh air. The balcony looked out over the city of Safeld. The Tower stood, imperious as ever, but from her angle -- looking northwest -- she could almost imagine the coastline of Doriah in the far distance, rocky and salty, the air with the tang of sea spray. It would have been nice to stop there, to say goodbye to her parents and her siblings, but there simply wasn't time. She had already wasted too much time, her hands idle on the leather satchel she was in the process of stuffing, gazing wistfully out over the city.

There would be time later. Or not. In any event, she had things to do. Too much time had already be misspent by the leaders of her order pushing aside the reports she had given of the vision she had witnessed. It would not do to dally now. She continued to gather her things -- clothes and shoes, a few keepsakes -- then went to the small desk built into the stone of the wall near the door. It was there that anyone approaching her room would find her, sorting through the few books there to determine which to take and which to leave behind.

Aeren Vale​

 

[Aeren Vale]

Cerise Damarien

Aeren Vale was not allowed to speak loudly from a very young age. He had screeched in joy at the sight of a pair of birds raising up in flight over the hill and said hill had spontaneously caught fire. An old tree that had been there longer than his parents and their parents burned down. That was the end of Aeren's relaxed and easy upbringing.

Discipline, order, silence had become his.

His teachers strict, unfeeling, keeping him quiet by force first until he was old enough to be able to modulate his voice by himself. They had discovered that as long as he maintained his emotional composure and chose his words carefully another incident could be avoided.

Over those years Aeren had grown insular, an introspective young man, who preferred to read over running out in the field. Lest said field caught fire again.

In a way Cerise's discovery of him had become a boon. While she was strict, she did not use the reed and allowed him freedom that had been lost to him from an early age. She believed in him for some reason. Aeren did not know why, but he was grateful for it regardless. This is why when the day come she came to him and told him they had to leave their home behind he did not hesitate.

He simply asked how many bags he'd be allowed to take with him.

His footsteps came first and then the certainty of his knock on the door. When she allowed him entry he came in and bowed deeply.

"Master." His voice quiet but confident. "I am ready."

 

[Cerise Damarien]

Cerise had been lost in thought, staring at and through an old, worn picture. It depicted a family of six, four children gathered around the chairs of two adults, each one with a head of gleaming hair, one shade of gold or another. All except one, whose hair was like an ink blot on the paper. The knock didn't register for a moment, though she felt her mentee's presence just the same. After a moment, she tore her eyes from the paper and set it aside. "Come," she called, her voice even and clear.

Aeren had already packed for the journey, which brought back to Cerise what she had been thinking about before stumbling across the picture in an old book. "Aeren," she said and stood up, freeing the room's only chair for the lad. She gestured for him to sit and scooped up the books she had decided to bring. "I was thinking about this and -- I am not certain it is wise for you to accompany me," she began as she went over to the bed to tuck the books safely inside her bag.

"What little we know of the world out there," she said, gesturing vaguely with her chin skyward, "is that it is violent and chaotic. There is no telling what we could be exposed to." Cerise frowned thoughtfully. This had sounded better in her head. "I would not wish to be responsible for your injury, if it came to that, or worse."

What little the woman knew about the outside world was that it was dangerous, not just physically but emotionally as well. Temptations the likes of which the Solarborn would not ordinarily be exposed. Darkness and shadow. A fate worse than death.

"It is your choice," Cerise said after a momentary pause to prod her bag. "But I would not wish for you to come on the journey out of some sense of loyalty to me. Not when my mission is... unsanctioned."

Aeren Vale​

 

[Aeren Vale]

Cerise Damarien

Aeren sat down without hesitation, obedient to a fault with the woman who had saved him many times over.

His hands folded together and rested on his lap with a straight posture as his one remaining eye carefully followed Cerise from one corner of the room to the other while she packed.

"How could I not be loyal to you, Master Damarien?" His voice silent and raspy as a whisper. It was hard to maintain it with the surge of emotion welling up in him at the mere thought of not following her to the stars. It was scary, yes. But the scarier option was to stay here and watch her go without him. It meant he'd be alone again.

"I made my choice." Voice resolute and steady. "Where you go, I follow."

Perhaps he'd come to regret it. The galaxy... sounded like a lot. He had been reading up on it. So much chaos, so much disaster. But was that not part of what they were meant to do?

Do good. Help people.

It sounded like the Galaxy could use some help.

"I don't care if it is unsanctioned. If it was up to our order, I would be locked in a little room with my mouth locked." Voice gaining intensity, it made the glass next to him tremble just a bit until he regained control again.

"I am with you. To the end, Master."

 

[Cerise Damarien]

Cerise could feel Aeren's strong emotions in the Force. Even without the close bond they had built over the years of working together, she would have sensed it there. His dedication to her, his trust in her, threatened to overwhelm the emotional bastion she had built around herself since childhood. She resisted the urge to reach over and ruffle his golden hair to break the emotional tension, and instead merely nodded her dignified head once while avoiding his eye.

"I appreciate your loyalty, Aeren. I will not make a lecture of it, but it does allow me a moment to reinforce a lesson. Remember that loyalty is a two-way road. I have no intention of leading you astray, but -- Celestials forfend -- if I were to ever do so, or to succumb to the temptations offered by the broader universe, that is showing disloyalty to you, and you must not follow me. Doing do would be a betrayal of yourself."

She paused a moment and studied the contents of her bag. "I feel I have trained you well enough for you to know how to make that decision for yourself. What is in the light and what is in the shadow. I fear it may not always be obvious and clear..."

Cerise's voice trailed off there, uncharacteristically distractable there, and after a few moments she cleared her throat. "Come," she said, her voice like a clear bell. Aeren would know her well enough to know that she was substituting necessity and preparedness for certainty. She was as trepidatious at the prospect of leaving the relative physical and moral safety of Condoriah as one would expect, but there was no time to linger. If the vision that the old seer had had in her presence was true, their homeworld was facing catastrophe and she, Cerise, was the only one who took it seriously enough to prevent that faith.

"We must not linger. I believe our ship is prepared." Picking up her bag, she went to the door, keys in hand, preparing to lock up after them.

Aeren Vale​

 

[Aeren Vale]

Cerise Damarien

Her words confused him. Not because he didn't understand. Their lore was full of people who strayed from the light and it served as a continued lesson against blinding yourself willingly.

The confusion stemmed from her centering it on herself.

"Master, I have not seen a person who personifies the teachings of our order as well as you." His voice having returned to a soft cadence again. Part of him was embarrassed by the outburst. It had been mild, but for him it was enough to know he still had a long way to go before he could consider himself in control over his emotions.

"I would be utterly shocked to see you fall from grace, but please do not worry. If it came to that... it would become my duty to help you back to the Light." And if that was not an option, to take her life and ensure she would not sully her own reputation and legacy. The latter part he did not voice however.

There was no need for it.

Aeren expected her to do the same for him.

He nodded and stood up immediately, following her out of the room, as she closed up he picked up his own bag. There was literally in material possessions but enough to fill at least one bag. Training equipment, his gear, a few of his favorite books. It didn't amount to much considering how long he had already lived but such was their way.

"You didn't tell me yet where we will go to first." Aeren said softly as he stepped into the walk with her towards her ship. "It would be helpful for my preparation to know."

That was the most pressure he'd apply as they stepped onto the ramp of her ship and into its bowels. The door closed behind them. It was like a final chapter of their book.

Of course they were meant to return here once Cerise's business had concluded.

Why did it feel so conclusive to him though? Like he'd never see their homeworld again.

 

[Cerise Damarien]

Cerise felt a sense of finality to their movements, as well, though she did not say it. The only point in leaving home was to return to it, to see the prophecy fulfilled and Condoriah saved. She knew little and less about the outside galaxy; what little she had learned had been from a rare ally in the Order who had given her information where Condoriah was in the relation to the rest of the civilized galaxy and that she should likely begin her search for knowledge at a world called Coruscant. The contact had described the world as one big city, though surely that had to be an exaggeration. No one could build a city that spanned an entire planet -- could they?

She kept her misgivings to herself, her face the picture of stoicism as she drew her cloak hood up over her cursed dark locks. A brief glance at her apprentice and she smiled faintly. "Zodasia," she said. "Our system sits near to a -- a sort of road for spaceships called a hyperlane -- and Zodasia is one of the worlds along this same hyperlane. My contact says we will be able to stop for supplies and information there." She reached into her inside pocket and withdrew a hand-jotted list on paper of things they would need: comlinks and datapads, and food. The Order had graciously -- after much wheedling -- provided a sum of money in a denomination called credits that could be used for barter in outside world.

It would have to be enough.

They approached the landing plaza, where their ship sat waiting for them, but as they approached she spotted a figure in the Order's livery standing off to the side, and Cerise frowned gravely as the messenger began to approach them. She turned to her apprentice and instructed him coolly: "Get aboard. Inform the pilot of our destination and tell him to prepare for our departure. I will be along... presently."

If he cared to watch through the window, Aeren would witness but not hear a curt conversation, wherein the courier rather defensively disclaimed any knowledge of who had sent him or why, but that he had instructions to deliver a missive to her hands only. The questioning only increased when Cerise opened the envelope and examined its contents, but by then the courier was walking with increasingly frantic energy away from her. Cerise took a few steps after him, raising her hand, but then apparently thought better of it and turned back to the ship.

Entering the cockpit, she said: "We will leave. Now."

Despite her firm control in the Force, a cold fury surrounded her aura, leaking into the Force like oil into water -- contaminating the serenity that the Force was meant to bring without being able to mix into the Force itself. Cerise took a steadying breath and then glanced at Aeren. The lad should have the opportunity to watch the takeoff and she, too, was interested. For so much of their history, Condoriah could not conceive of the idea of slipping loose of the bonds of the planet of their birth, and yet -- here they were about to do just that.

"Sit," she told him quietly, the anger and dissipating from her aura, to be replaced by something much more dangerous: doubt.

Aeren Vale​

 

[Aeren Vale]

Aeren did watch.

He felt bad doing it, because it felt almost like he was spying on his master. But Aeren was worried. All of this was already out of the norm and the feelings he was getting from her were... concerning. This was taking a toll on the both of them. Once he realized she was moving back towards the shuttle he quickly looked away from the window.

Trying his best impression of someone studying something else.

"I... yes, of course, Master." He quickly followed along, joining her in the cockpit, trying his best not to let her anger influence him. Bad things happened when he let his emotions run wild.

He sat down.

A quick glance her way and then he'd assist with ramping up the ship for disengagement protocol.

"Would you like to discuss what happened just now?" Quiet tone, sotto.

Cerise Damarien