Relapse

[Placeholder 0128]

The lightsaber felt heavy in his hands. His calloused fingers pawed nervously at the leather wrappings that had been bound to the ornate hilt. The weapon was one far older than anything he had ever carried on his person, and its value was immeasurable. To carry such a fabled tool was as much a burden as it was a gift, and Cedric was still growing used to the immense responsibility his ancestor had entrusted him with. He could not help but stare at the weapon, his gaze constantly returning to the symbol of the Jedi Order that had been emblazoned upon it.

It was a weapon of a bygone age; a relic of a dying breed. It was said that the Blade of Ruusan was only ever wielded during times of great crisis - that Vicarion had chosen to entrust him with the blade now spoke volumes about the state of the galaxy.

What was his place in this? Was he truly the right person to carry this weapon? His character was flawed; his father's darkness ever lingered in the corners of his heart. It had never taken hold of him as it had his progenitor, nor did he ever think it would, but it was there.

Watching. Waiting.

But not growing, not anymore. The trials had seen to that. His character had been proven to the Jedi of old, and he had been named a knight of a nearly extinct order. The youth had never felt a greater sense of purpose, and never a greater sense of dread.

It was a fear no one saw, but one that had to be assuaged. Thus he had taken his leave of the Graywall and the many daunting problems that accompanied it. Their operations had not yet begun, so there was no harm in leaving to attend to personal matters.

But they aren't personal. The Je'daii could be valuable allies.

"They're apolitical, are they not?" Vicarion's voice echoed in the back of Cedric's mind. The knight had grown accustomed to his ancestor's occasional mental visits - his spirits connection with the blade permitted him such contact. "I admire your spirit, but I don't think this will go any better than it did with the Mandalorians."

The knight's brow furrowed. "Perhaps, perhaps not. I know one of them. She and I helped refugees survive in the wastes when I was still a padawan. She'll hear what I have to say."

"But will she agree with you?" The spirit made a noise of derision. "I doubt it. You have great faith in people my son, but this is a lesson you've already learned."

"I know," were Cedric speaking with his lips rather than his mind, he might have sounded angry. "But I have to try. We need all the help we can get. Legendary lightsaber or not, I can't fight the entire Sith Empire by myself."

"No, you can't. But these ones won't fight alongside you either. You have your soldiers. Have faith in them; they have faith in you." Vicarion's tone had taken on the inflection of a father correcting his child's mistake.

Cedric scoffed. "I do have faith in them, but -"

"This isn't really about the alliance, is it?"

"I need to see what these people are before I commit to another war. I won't have much time for learning once the chaos starts. Besides, I need a break."

The specter made a noise like laughter. Cedric began to form the thoughts that would become words, but he felt the presence of his ancestor leaving before they could coalesce. Frustrated, the knight rose from his seat in the shuttle bay and knocked on the cockpit's door.

"How far out are we?"

"We just landed," the pilot sounded annoyed, "Dropping the loading ramp now."

The ramp creaked open, and the smell of natural oxygen flooded inward. Cedric drew in a deep breath, exhaled, and stepped down onto the planet's surface.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

"Careful... Careful... A little to the left..."

With hands softly gesturing, and senses on high alert, Asha gently guided the telekinetic lessons of the firrerreo before her. The young boy had been struggling more than most, finding great difficulty in keeping up with the main group of Younglings he belonged to, and as such she had offered to take him aside for more specialized one on one sessions. Already he was coming on leaps and bounds, it was easier to tailor your teachings to one individual as opposed to a larger group, but there was a lot of work ahead of them both regardless.

Still, the day was nice. Beautiful even. Though that was what came with living on the edge of a rainforest... The smells were usually divine, the air warm though more often than not a little humid - and worse if it was right after a storm - and there was a general serenity which washed over the area. It hadn't always been that way, when the Je'daii arrived the world had been recovering from a vicious attack. Still it had developed since then, and its people finally seemed prosperous.

Out there in the courtyard, surrounded by nature, it was easy to lose yourself. To forget that you were even within a City at all. Perhaps that was another factor in his development, the previous sessions had been held within the Academy itself. And while the holorooms did help to make it feel like you were elsewhere, some were perceptive enough to remember that they were within a simulation.

"Nice work! Remember, it's all in your mind. The size, or shape, or material, of the object does not have any sway... For the most part." Obviously there'd be no pulling starships or planets, but she felt that went without saying, "Such things are only obstacles because you make them so, you give them that power to deceive you. From tiny pebble, to boulder... Soon enough you will be lifting either with ease and precision."

Easier said than done, of course, but in time he would grasp the notion.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Placeholder 0128]

The Je'daii had regarded him kindly, though that kindness was something foreign to Cedric. It was so odd to see an order of force sensitives thriving with seemingly little care for the activities beyond their world, but then he understood the desire for peace. They sought balance, and his many days of reading had taught him just what that balance meant. It was a belief system he could understand, one he could even sympathize with, but also one he saw to be inherently flawed.

The Dark Side is unnatural, and it is corrupting. It is a cancer created by the mortal mind, and it poisons the force. To believe is otherwise is to deceive oneself.

It was a lesson he had learned the hard way back on Ession. Indeed, Cedric had attempted to even instill some of the Je'daii's own teachings within the Dominion after meeting with [member="Asha Hex"] the first time. Her kindness had curbed his zealotry to the point that his mind had opened to her ways. The result had been the acceptance of the Sith into the Dominion's ranks, so long as they managed to control themselves and seek balance.

Those Sith had been the Dominion's fall. Cedric's learned tolerance resulted in the deaths of several million souls, and the utter desolation of his father's legacy. He'd been bitter for a long time, and only time itself had assuaged that bitterness. It was only now, after months of intense thought on the subject, that Cedric had come to the Je'daii world.

The men and women guided him to Hex without much issue. He did not make conversation; he was too wrapped up in how uncomfortable the world was to do that. The humidity was extremely unwelcome, as was the jungle heat. His usual furs were left on the ship, along with the cloak that marked him as a Jedi Knight.

When Cedric arrived at Asha's location, he was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and sweatpants. Even still, sweat beaded his forehead and covered the rest of his body in a manner that could only be described as uncomfortable.

"And throwing them too, if you work at it." A hint of good humor seeped into his voice as he strode up to Asha and her student. She likely would have felt the presence of the lightsaber at his belt; its sense of serenity within the empyrean might have one mistaking it for a Jedi Master's mind, rather than the aura of a weapon. "Forgive me for intruding Asha. I'm a bit low on patience these days."

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

Less than two seconds passed since she spoke when a voice rang through the courtyard that belonged to neither she or her student.

Slowly turning her head toward its source, she was surprised to find none other than Cedric stood there; the two of them had met shortly after her return to the greater Galaxy, when Asha was still in a poor state of mind and a thin slither of metal around her neck. That was gone, now, all that remained to remind her of the torturous years she spent onboard a floating Graveyard were the various scars which laced her body. None of them were going anywhere, at least not any time soon.

"I see you made it off Neelgaimon in one piece," she remarked, owing to the fact that the pair had parted ways once they'd reached civilization once more. Asha to her ship, and he to... Well, she didn't know where. The orphaned children had come with her, and now lived prosperous lives on Aurum and Ceto depending on their sensitivity, though what happened to the rest of them - the men and women who still lived within what had effectively become a warzone, she could not say.

"I believe that's a good place to finish for today, Isias, go and wash up ready for lunch. We'll continue this tomorrow morning."

The boy glanced over Cedric curiously before heading off to his dorm. She waited until he was gone before turning fully toward Cedric and offering him a small smile.

"Patience is a virtue, my friend; what brings you to Aurum?"

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Placeholder 0128]

"Curiosity," the knight mused, his gaze following after the child as he left. The training facilities here were far from the cold citadels of Ession's temple. From what he had seen, the instructors adopted as much of a parental role with their students as they had positions as mentors. Part of it set Cedric on edge, though he reminded himself that his people had been far more radical than most.

It fit Asha anyway. She'd seemed to slip into that role with a natural ease that Cedric most certainly could not adopt. The boy's eyes met Cedric's just before leaving the knight's sight; Cedric smiled.

"I feel like the younger ones would drive me crazy pretty quickly," he mused, his gaze shifting to meet Asha's. "Here for a vacation. Figured I could get away from it all without spending a credit if I came this far."

Cedric flashed her a smirk, "But really? I'm here out of curiosity. I'd like to see what your people get up to most of the time." That much was honest truth. "As for Neelgaimon...well, I did make it off. Can't say much for how I had to leave the place." His brow furrowed.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

Curiosity was a powerful motivator, a notion she seemed to be contemplating a lot as of late.

With the boy gone from the courtyard, Asha moved to sit upon a bench which lay beneath a low-hanging tree and gestured for Cedric to follow suit. If he wanted to, of course. It was a lovely day to be sure, warm yet not quite as humid as it typically was. A slight breeze blew through the area, forcing a sigh of contentment from her lips. She could tell that he was struggling in comparison, much in the way she had when she first came to Aurum. It took time to adjust, she was not so certain he would have time to depending on his purpose here which was a shame. It was much easier to appreciate the world for what it was when you were not battling the weather.

"Here," she offered, removing a canteen filled with water from her side and handing it out to him, "The young ones are great, they have so much vitality and an eagerness to learn. It all seems like magic to them."

Space magic.

Asha could remember feeling the same way when first introduced to the concepts shown by the Aing-Tii monks. Their belief that the Force was effectively a rainbow that did not conform to the simpler notions of light and dark... It had spoken to her, resonated within her, and though she walked the path of a Je'daii rather staunchly she herself envisioned the Force similarly these days. Magical indeed.

"You may find our routines far slower paced than most; we are scholars at our core, we provide a place of learning and training... More at home here than out in the greater Galaxy where wars are waged and politics mar morality. Though you are free to stay a while, my friend."

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Placeholder 0128]

"That sounds like exactly what I might need right now," Cedric mused honestly. He could not recall the last time he'd allowed himself to relax and cast away all his constant stresses. The weight of his position and the scope of his responsibility had made life something to cope with, rather than something to enjoy. Every bit of growth he'd undergone in the past few years was the result of pain; of wounds that had healed ever stronger. To have a break from that constant struggle, however brief, was welcome.

"I've never worked with kids. Don't really know how to deal with them," he added quietly, following after Asha as she walked on. He took the canteen with a grateful nod, and promptly downed half the container's contents before returning it to the red head. "I don't know how long I'll be here. More than a day at least," he continued, "My people are on the war path once again. Sometimes I need a break from the chaos,"

He fell silent, allowing himself to enjoy Aurum's quiet peace for a moment. The unbearable heat had dulled to a minor annoyance now, though the humidity still made him feel as if they were residing within the armpit of the planet. After a few moments of this, Cedric turned his gaze to meet Asha's.

"There was a time when I wouldn't have looked at this place with anything but disgust. The Je'daii's neutrality and their peaceful ways used to frustrate me to no end," he snickered, "Interesting how the galaxy works."

[member="Asha Hex"]