Private Pace & Perspective (Sia)

[Caedyn Arenais]

Location: Elysian, The Outer Rim Territories.
Inventory: Spacer Attire | Lightsaber | CS.38
Tags: Sia

​

Caedyn Arenais stood on the outskirts of Siricuse, looking back towards the Capital City of Elysian while Lexas remained aboard The Repertoire, the Heavy Corvette that cast a shadow upon the young Jedi Knight whom had just returned from meeting what he had hoped would be a potential prospect for the Jedi Enclave of Svivren. While the youth in question had been Force Sensitive, he had not wished to leave his family and Caedyn refused to conscript members of the Order against their will like the days of the ancient Republic, before the rise of the Galactic Empire.

Through utilizing the Jedi Comport, Caedyn had heard about the potential recruit through a fellow Jedi Knight of a different organization that fell under the banner of what today's Jedi Order looked like. Numerous Organizations, each with their own differences as well as their own strengths, all connected across the network that his father had founded, providing they chose to use it. In this case, communication had been effective, it was just a shame that the child in question wasn't interested. Then again, asking a young one to leave everything they know and love behind...-It was a massive undertaking and a scary one at that, no matter your age.

While it seemed as though today's venture was to be considered a failure, the visit to Elysian did however provide Caedyn with a chance to get away from the Enclave and the documentation that seemed to pile up no matter the hours he spent trying to cover it all. Elysian was a beautiful world and nature to Caedyn was far more appealing than sitting behind a desk doing administrative work. As much as he cared for the Enclave and took pride in his role as Steward over the facility, his heart was in the exploration, the adventure and meeting the various societies out there; As well as doing what little he could to help them when they required it.

"Lex, I'm going to hold off for a bit" Caedyn spoke into his commlink to the droid seated in the co-pilots chair; "I'm going to take in the sights of the country around these parts. It's been a long week and I could use a break" he explained. It had now been two weeks since learning of his Father's death, and so much had happened within that space of time, that taking the opportunity to appreciate the moment wasn't something he felt like giving up at the time. "I won't be far away" he concluded, as he set off down the path, heading away from the City and enjoying the view of the open fields and natural life around him.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Son of a batch of cookies!

 

[Sia]

Sia was still shipless, a fact which she was beginning to accept. Sometimes it took losing all you had to appreciate all the little things that still stuck around. Her life was one such thing. That and the ability to travel at will. Transport was still a pain to fund, and food required a steady source of income.

Both were problems for her to deal with tomorrow.

Today, life had looked after her. Wild corn grew in the field she had been dropped off on. Recent events kept her away from the city, a fact which she was growing to appreciate as the wild corn settled into her stomach. Smoke from her fire spiraled lazily into the air. Sia had made no attempt to hide her presence from the path out of the city. She let herself lay back in a tuff of grass, a sense of lightness filling her chest. Today was a good day. Who woulda thunk it.

The solitude was a balm. Until something tugged at her, driving her upwards. Lines appeared on the woman’s forehead as she spotted a figure walking at an easy pace down the path. Her hand flashed out, pulling her unholisered gun closer just a smidgeon closer. All she was left to do was watch him approach, wary but trying to check herself.

Not every stranger was an enemy. Lanik Dawnstar had helped her discover that again.

Caedyn Arenais

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn's eyes lifted from the ground before him as he suddenly felt the sense that he was being watched, the presence of another quickly flooding in and alerting him to the fact that he was no longer alone. For a moment, he couldn't tell where this person was however, as he sought for someone at near-to eye-level as himself. What he soon realized however was that Sia seemed to be laying in the grass, and wasn't exactly the sight that he'd expected to walk upon. She also seemed to be watching him, and she was also armed at that.

"I hope you don't plan on pulling that on me..." Caedyn spoke out, loud enough for his words to carry across the small distance between the two; "You've nothing to fear from me", he lifted his hands up away from his sides in a show that he wasn't reaching for any weapon or making a move against her at all. He too was armed however, with his Lightsaber attached to the front of his belt and his sidearm holstered to his right hip.

Caedyn maintained his distance, uncertain of the woman's intentions. It was difficult to judge upon first impressions, and he couldn't tell if he should be intimidated by her sidearm, or questioning her choice to lay in the grass within such an open space. It wasn't exactly something you did if you were expecting trouble, so if he had to guess, this was a chance meeting. Not an intentional one.

 

[Sia]

Sia's gaze cut across his figure sharply, feeling him out for the weapons he openly displayed and left untouched. Her gaze was heavy for a moment. High strung. Her first instinct was to always walk away from anyone holding a saber. They were up to no good, the lot of them. At least... they use to be. Lanik complicated that rhetoric for her.

That and she had a saber herself, right in her bag.

Her knee-jerk bias feel short of its usual response. She slowly pulled her hand off the gun. "You guys are everywhere," she sighed, her attention dragging up from his belt line. She sat up, tucking her knee up to her chest and dangling her arm over it. The other hand remained propped on the ground-- not touching the gun. But close enough.

She raised a skeptical brow at the stranger, looking from where he had come from and following the path over her shoulder to where he'd be heading. Nothing noticeable laid in sight, only trees and grassland.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked, blunt but not unfriendly. It was just... He was on foot. With nothing but a saber on him.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Straight to the point, Sia didn't seem to be taking any chances, although Caedyn had nothing but time it almost felt as though she were in a hurry to get rid of him. "I've just come from Siricuse" he answered her openly and honestly, gesturing with a thumb over his shoulder back in the direction of Elysian's Capital City, maintaining his arms hands elevated position away from his weapons in order to keep the woman from firing on him prematurely. "My ship's on the outskirts, you may have seen it already" he explained, though wasn't certain one way or another, simply trying to keep the conversation alive. Anyone who was so skeptical and wary of strangers usually had a story or two to tell about it.

"By us guy's, do you mean Jedi?" Caedyn asked curiously, "If so, I am a Jedi Knight, though the Outer Rim see's far less of us than the Core Worlds or the Mid-Rim" he added, giving something of a casual shrug, feeling as though it didn't exactly make much difference to her one way or another. The Outer Planets Alliance consisted of many forms of Force Users, all of which were aligned in some form with one another, however the Jedi were among the fewer in number and it had been a bit of a weight on his mind lately.

"My name's Caedyn by the way" he introduced himself, "Honestly, my mind was elsewhere. I had no idea I was walking up on anyone, so like I said, nothing to fear from me" he offered a slim smile; "You won't mind if I let my arms down? They're starting to hurt...".

 

[Sia]

“Yeah, yeah. I know your type,” she huffed, giving up. It didn’t matter how far she flew, what she did, she always ended up at the feet of a jedi. Every fething time. She shot the sky a fleeting annoyed look, believing in the existence of fate for the slightest moment. Either that or someone up there was having a laugh.

She stood, grabbing at wood and dropping it into her dying fire. More corn sat roasting on the embers. She knelt down, turning them before looking back up at the man she had left hanging. Literally. “Yeah. You can put them down.” She blew on the flames, stoking them.

“It’s a long way to anything out here, why are you on foot?” Blunt question number two. He might think he was unwelcome, in truth half of her didn’t want him around. But a smaller part of herself kept her engaging him back, equally curious To what another Jedi might bring. Gotta stay ahead of the curve, she reasoned.

She kicked over a fresh water bottle, allowing the cylinder to roll rapidly down to his shoes.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn glanced down as the bottle rolled towards him, lifting a foot in order to stop it lightly beneath the front of his boot before moving to pick it up and raising it in a show of appreciation, regardless of Sia's questionable mood towards him. "I came here on a tip that there might be a prospective student for my Enclave, but it didn't pan out" he explained honestly; "Beyond that, I just thought a walk would be nice. Clear my head, you know?" the question was rhetorical.

Caedyn's hand free hand fell to his side pocket, his eyes leaving her to glance further back at the silhouette of her Starship on the hill. "I'm sorry if I've disturbed you..." He added, glancing back to Sia with a gentle gaze, his apology genuine. Whether or not she believed it, was another story, of course. "You wouldn't be the first to not like my...Type" he pursed his lips, eyebrows lifting in a brief show of disappointment; Though he didn't blame her and she wouldn't be the last to be deterred by the Jedi across the Galaxy. People had every right to feel how they did, or think as they did. It wasn't his place to have any say or judgement over the lives of others.

"If you'd prefer I left you to it, I'll carry on...?" He offered reluctantly.

 

[Sia]

"Your type?" She echoed, her gaze carrying heavily over him. He truly seemed harmless enough, and that was the kicker. It was easier to run off those with an attitude or an ego, but this guy? His gentle response kept shedding a blaring light to her gut reaction to scream at him. Disconcerting was the word for it. She kept looking at herself lately and walked away feeling uncomfortable.

She frowned, a set of lines deepening in her forehead. "No, you're my type." There was a poorly reached for innuendo in there. "Its the sith that follow you that isn't." She had just pulled herself out of a situation where she had nearly been sold to one. All her training and she had been rendered so helpless... like it had amounted to nothing.

"You guys are just .... a whole other level to us commies, you gotta see that." It was a poor explanation, but it was more than most got from her. He really did seem like a nice guy.

She eyed him for a moment, then sighed, gesturing to the fire.

"There's more corn. Better to not let it go to waste-- there's something like that in your hippie hand book, yeah?" She sat back down, picking up her own canteen and chugging.

Caedyn Arenais

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Its the sith that follow you that isn't".
​

Caedyn could've argued that it was usually the Sith that sought out the conflict with the Jedi, though from Sia's perspective he wasn't certain it'd entirely change anything or make a difference in this particular conversation; "I suppose that's fair" he replied, "Though do believe me when I say that I've got no love for them either". It was still an uphill battle trying to learn to bury the emotional fallout that came with coping with his father's recent murder at the hands of the Sith Emperor's right hand, the Lord of Lies. He was doing his best to put one foot in front of the other, take every situation for what is was and keep his mind focused on the present; yet the mention of the Sith naturally brought Veiere Arenais to mind.

Caedyn nodded lightly in acknowledgement to her offer, moving to take a seat near the camp fire she had built for herself, the warmth of the flames a welcome comfort. "Pretty sure 'Waste not, want not' is a common proverb among those who wish to survive" Caedyn's words sounded almost teasing, if not for the suspicion that she'd tell him to get lost at the slightest inconvenience; "Thank you, very much" he added quickly in appreciation and reached for one of the corn cobs.

"I do see it by the way..." Caedyn commented further as to Sia's previous remark on the Jedi when compared to the independent Force User's out there; "Though we don't try to make people think we're superior or better than anyone else in any way. The fact is that we're not" he spoke plainly; "We're just proactive when it comes to trying to make a difference. Doing some good in this mess of a Galaxy..." His gaze left the woman for a moment as he looked out across the plains surrounding them.

"We don't always get it right, but we try" he shrugged lightly, glancing back to Sia with a slim smile.

 

[Sia]

Sia gave a slight snort at his entirely too polite thank you. Words like that came from upbringing. So either well off or well loved— too soft at any rate, what did he know of the world?

She caught herself as these thoughts bubbled up, her inner voice stopping short.

Why did she want to hate him so bad? The answer came to her easily, bubbling up from a well of unacknowledged pain. She swallowed that thought back, not following it any which where, what did it matter. Why was this on her mind so much lately?

He spoke and she simply listened, her expression slowly growing tighter and more restrained. He spoke of doing good. Of jedi trying to do good. It was so hard not to be bitter with worlds like that slapped around her face. For a moment she couldn’t help the sharp response that came out of her.

“Not hard enough. You haven’t... done... well enough.” Her voice was soft, more shoved off pain seeping up into her tone. Sia sat like an open book, a chip on her shoulders towards his kind she just couldn’t shake off. But he couldn’t know that, so she checked her words and looked up at him, adding further to soften her words.

“They’re still out there, aren’t they. They’re still winning.”

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

“Not hard enough. You haven’t... done... well enough.
They’re still out there, aren’t they. They’re still winning".
​

Caedyn watched and listened to Sia's words carefully. His initial response was to explain that there were always going to be bad people out there in the Galaxy, but then she wasn't a Jedi and so it wasn't appropriate a response to someone who didn't seem to be interested in the opinions or ideologies that came from the Order.

Something had happened to her in the past, Caedyn was coming to the assumption through how quickly she had been to react and respond to him in such a way. Her emotions were fragile and the subject seemed to be something of a sore spot for her. Had she been let down by the Jedi in the past, or victimized by the Sith Empire? There were any number of possibilities, though if Caedyn had to guessed, she'd lost someone close to her.

"My father died fighting them on Bimmisaari" Caedyn replied, though his words were soft and he wished to explain to her that it hadn't been for lack of trying, that the Sith were still dominant in the northern territories. The battle between the Silver Jedi and the Sith Empire had been all over the Holonet, for the Emperor himself had been present, as well as his legion, the strongest of his acolytes and Followers of the Dark Side.

"I know it might not always feel like it, but we're doing everything we can to drive them back" he continued. It was difficult to explain to someone standing on the outside of the Jedi Order, the current condition of the Jedi spread across the Galaxy at the moment. The Sith were unified under the Empire, while the Jedi were scattered and formed various different organizations and ideologies. It was difficult to rally such a wide spread congregation of Jedi, all whom had differing hierarchy and views of pacifism and the sort. A certain side of the Jedi that almost seemed political, and only deterred them from being able to respond to the might of the collective Sith, as they ought to.

"We'll never stop trying" he wanted to assure her.

 

[Sia]

His words brought a flash of guilt to her, the woman reeling in their commonality.

It changed nothing, right? The dead were still dead. The worlds still turned, and the sith were still out there. She studied him, a weight building in her chest. It unsettled her to hear him speak, she knew without question that he meant what he said. She had seen his type before, and she watched them die all the same. He came naive and hopeful, it was clear that he had only good intentions. The sith would feed off that. They would take his heart and they would crush it. Gleefully.

He had it coming. He had it coming bad.

She leaned forward, her chest growing tighter as images flashed through her— faces she wouldn’t give names to, bearing that same genuine spark in their eyes as he did. She saw so much of them in him.

She spoke to him as she wished she had spoken to them. “You don’t have to, you know. It’s ok to know when you’re beat. Martyrdom helps no one.”

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn had seen the horrors that the Sith Empire were capable of, the invasion and year long occupancy of his home-world Commenor had proven and shown him more than enough, not to mention the stories that you'd hear from mere passerbys. He wasn't without due experience, and had fought the Sith face to face in the past; however yes, he still had those good intentions and the want to be a positive influence on those around him. No one would take that away from him if he could help it.

"It's not about Martyrdom" Caedyn replied, shaking his head in disagreement, "The fact is that if we give up, then what help we could have given would definetly be lost to the Galaxy. As it stands, we see plenty worlds and communities protected against Sith attacks. The Jedi are watching over countless millions today, but we can't watch over every person, every day. The Jedi move from one mission to the next, going where they're needed most and doing everything they can. We don't just fight the Sith but common criminality and corrupt governments or those like slavers. To give up would mean letting all of these people win and do more harm than good". Caedyn had a feeling however that no matter how he tried to explain things, he'd be fighting an uphill battle against Sia's pessimism and past experience's, if she had some.

 

[Sia]

Sia wasn’t one for politics or the theoretical, she was a woman of action. She had never thought long on the whys or the how’s of her participation in the GA. She simply did what she was told with the expectation that it help others.

And then she watched it all come down.

She had always known that the Jedi had not been delt a final blow that day— That despite all the losses they were still having gains. Having This laid out before her so plainly was a bit eye opening, a bias she did not know she had suddenly finding itself on shaky ground.

She really just thought the world was as bad off as she left it. Of course, she knew that wasn’t actually so.

She bit her lip, her gaze drifting to the fire, where she didn’t have to look at him and face any smugness. She hadn’t wanted to fight him, in some ways she had just wanted to protect him.

She saw no reason to push the conversation forward, which was a pretty way of saying he had won that one with her.

She picked up a stick and poked at the fire, rearranging the embers to burn hotter.


“I’m sorry about your father,” came the branch of peace.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

“I’m sorry about your father".
​

He had expected some form of counter-response to the discussion, but instead Sia seemed to withdraw; Perhaps not physically, but there was a change in her presence, her aura seeming to reflect a sense of resignation or retreat. Much to his surprise, she instead offered her sympathies towards the loss of his Father. It hadn't been something he had raised in order to guilt her, or to use as leverage in the discussion, but merely point out that the Jedi lost people too. And more often than not, threw themselves in front of life or death situations on a daily basis.

Caedyn inhaled, poising himself as he wished to work himself down from the conversation they'd been sharing. To the young man, it wasn't an argument but rather a discussion that he found most others held against the Jedi from their point of view, more often than not, on the outside rather than coming from those with experience in the Order. He couldn't help but wonder if he had somehow overstepped his mark, out-worn his welcome so to speak.

"Thanks..." He finally replied, not quite sure how exactly he ought to respond, "I guess...It's been a pretty chit time lately". Caedyn's gaze left Sia and instead he watched as she seemed to poke and prod at the embers of the fire between them. "I wasn't trying to argue with you, by the way..." He added, trying to give some form of explanation, not wishing to have insulted her any; "I guess it's just easy to want to express your views when the majority of the Galaxy fears Force Users, regardless of our intentions and how hard we try, you know?".

"I'm sorry if I've bothered you with it all".

 

[Sia]

Sia's gaze flickered back to him, the hard edge lost to her as she watched him watch the embers.

"You apologize too much," she stated, giving the embers a firm poke for the fun of it. A branch crumbled, dissolving into more coal for cooking. She debating for a spell about putting more corn on, but then held off. She was in no rush. She rather liked this place, actually.

"You're fine. I went after you, anyway," she acknowledged, her voice mumbled as the words stuck inside her mouth. One might guess Sia didn't own her mistakes very often. Had been a while since anyone held her accountable to. "Sometimes..." She swallowed hard, her head wobbling against the words.

"You need to be put in your place. ... Been in the wilds for so long, bit out of touch with things." It struck her as significant that this man was barring the weight that she once had-- fighting back sith, loosing loved ones. It didn't matter left from right, he got her respect over it. And apologies, as it was. Wasn't right of her to undermined his work when she didn't even understand the scope of it.

She didn't let the moment linger on though. This wasn't some heart to heart.

"What's it like out there?" She asked, pushing the conversation forward. For the first time in a long time, Sia was curious to know.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"It's difficult, but there are others out there trying to keep the Darkness at bay" Caedyn answered honestly, "The Republic and the Order of the Silver Jedi both seem to be strong in this pursuit, however I'm based out of the Outer Rim, a planet called Svivren" he explained, not arguing with the change of the discussions pace.

"The Outer Planets Alliance doesn't run things like the Core World Governments" Caedyn continued, speaking a little dryly on the notion; "They come and go in between sectors of the Rim, but they don't stay focused on any one place for too long and so when their influence comes and goes from worlds in the Outer Rim, things only remain calm for so long before crime returns to a high point and things get messy again for those local".

"Honestly, it really does feel like an endless battle a lot of the time" he glanced back across the firepit to meet Sia's gaze, though strangely enough he didn't seem hugely discouraged by the sentiment; "But if someone's not out there trying, then there would be no hope of getting better. It's why I reestablished the Jedi Enclave on Svivren. To try and make a bigger difference to the Outer Rim".

 

[Sia]

Sia gave a soft snort, running her stick through her fingers. It was strange how fast the anxieties came back to her. Just talking about it opened a can of worms she had never properly dealt with. She had just built callouses and scar tissue so thickly over the wounds left behind; she thought she had been doing right for herself by doing it. But the small callouses had added up, and now she barely recognized herself.

It was all so disconcerting. She had no clue what to do with it.

"Maybe so," she allotted, considering his words. "I guess it has to be someone." Better a stranger than him though, a small part of her complained. "...Are they really that much of a problem out here?"

Half the reason Sia chose this desolate local was to get as far away from force users as possible. Life had a way of mocking her. With her luck a war would be brewing a planet over.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"The Sith Empire have hit the Outer Rim Territories a number of times in the past, though less so compared to the First Order and the Cultist Cell loyal to both of those groups. Much of the Outer Planets Alliance currently influenced worlds used to be territory governed by the First Order, and so those still loyal to them are doing their best to make things difficult for us....-They're a shadow of what they used to be however" he explained.

"Force User's aren't the only issue though" Caedyn said with a sigh, "The Outer Rim is far more disconnected from Society compared to the Mid-Rim and the Core. Much of the sector is spread out, basically lawless and worlds are isolated, left to their own devices. Alliance Control doesn't have the manpower to reside over every world consistently and so they move to wherever they're needed most. But like I said, that gives Criminals the opportunity to run rampant. Pirates tackle trade routes, acts of terrorism against local politics, murder and all that comes with typical every day life in the Galaxy...-We see the worst of it" Caedyn wasn't exactly painting a bright attractive picture here, but it was the truth, the reality of life in the Outer Rim. It was the fictional wild west of the Galaxy.

"The Enclave is far smaller than most other Jedi Establishments as well. Alliance Control has other Force Groups to back it up, but the Jedi differ in their ideologies and we try to favor no one above any other...-I came here today hoping to recruit a student, part of the job as Steward of the Enclave. But like I said before, it didn't exactly go the way I'd hoped".

Sia