Private Roald Dahl Presents: The Witches

[Caden Evesa]

Domhanda.

Caden couldn't say it was a planet he was familiar with, a planet he had ever heard of. He had spent hours in the libraries, archives and any other data center and had looked through various reports within the Silver Rest on Kashyyyk for any information he could find on the unknown planet, anything that he needed to know.

He had met it's Queen once before. It had been years previous, the same place he had met Okkeus. Takodana. That was a planet that held such dear memories for Caden, the place he had met his best friend turned future master turned enemy turned ally turned friend and the place where his adventure in the galaxy had truly begun.

The Queen of Domhanda was one Auburn Sioda , witch extraordinaire.

It was uncertain how they had ended up in contact again, but either way Caden had requested to study alongside her and learn more about the witch culture. Plus he had heard that she knew how to use the force to manipulate fire and honestly that was a skill that highly intrigued him. He wanted to be able to play with fire.

A trip to Domhanda seemed like a good break from his Jedi Knight trials, especially with the friend he was taking with him. He had only known Irridia Solensis for a little while and they'd constantly found themselves coming across each other, found themselves bonding. He figured a trip to learn how to manipulate fire and to learn more about witch culture would benefit both of them and allow them to bond just a little more.

As far as Domhanda went, it was located within New Imperial Order space and Caden wasn't entirely one hundred percent sure what the Silver Jedi Order (or Concordia's) relations were with the New Imperial Order. As a consequence he decided to skirt his LL-1210 Light Freighter around the long way to avoid New Imperial Order space as much as possible.

He went via Anobis, Vortex and Fornax before coming up Domhanda itself.

The young man spent a little time floating in the orbit of Domhanda, making sure his ship was safe and that he had everything on him that he needed. He ensured his lightsaber was at his waist (just to be safe) and that his Chase Chronometer and Chase Spymaster were on his wrists. He packed his Jedi Robes into a rucksack and adjusted his Chase Racewear Jacket that he wore over the top of his Chase Edgewear T-shirt.

The Mandalorian trained man contemplated packing a suit just to be safe but decided against it. If he needed it he could return to his ship for it. He assumed the ship wouldn't be parked too far from the home of Queen and her staff. If it was, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Once everything was together, he grabbed his LPD-11 Heavy Blaster Pistol and secured it to his hip opposite his lightsaber. Once that was done, he insured Irri was ready and sent the ship down into the atmosphere of the planet. He was interested to see what the planet was made of, and he kept his eyes open as he opened a communication channel.

"Ugh, my name is Caden Evesa, here on invitation of the Queen. Lookin' for permission to dock my ship and make my introductions, anyone copy?"

Irridia Solensis | Darlyn Excron | Auburn Sioda

 

[Irridia Solensis]

Her fingertips were still a pale silvery blue, she noticed as she checked over her small backpack. She’d spread out the contents to check them over one last time before they landed, needing to do something productive to distract herself. The flight from Kashyyyk to the Domhanda system had been...interesting.

There’d been a terrible pun contest that had lasted an entire day and a half. Puns.

Force only knew why either of them knew that many, and how they’d managed to not murder one another after the first few, never mind the last ones. Irri had lost hands down - she’d been too busy trying to remember how to breathe. She’d conceded victory to Caden after a solid ten minutes that had seen her collapse completely out of her seat and curl up on the floor hysterical with laughter.

She’d won the random Corellian trivia with a tidbit about the location of an ancient sunken ship just off the Gold Coast. Considering Irri had swum to it once on a whim and he’d only heard of it in passing, it was an easy victory for her.

The pull-ups were something Irri was never, ever going to mention again. Challenging a Corellian was one matter, and challenging a Corellian Jedi was another.

But challenging a Corellian Jedi with Mandalorian training?

You would have thought she’d have learned the first time. At least she hadn’t originally known about his training. There was no excuse this time. Except maybe just the one where he proved easy on the eyes in the midst of it. Irri wasn’t above admiring the visual he presented, and she certainly hadn’t dropped early just to watch.

Blinking, she realized she’d folded and refolded the same shirt several times over in the midst of her wandering thoughts. Getting back to the task at hand, she carefully repacked her pack. It was mostly clothing, including her newly made Jedi robes, though she had some more formal garments set aside in a separate bag that would remain aboard the ship. A few extra ammo cartridges and power packs for her blasters were tucked into the outer pockets, before she absently tied a pale blue scarf to the top handle.

Caden’s voice floated down the hallway and she secured her pack for the remainder of the flight. Irri took one last moment to check the clasps holding her blasters in place, with her favorite DC-15s on her right thigh, and a Verpine shatter gun on her left thigh. She didn’t have a lightsaber yet, so the tiny clasp on her belt remained empty for this trip.

Her boots clicked along the floor as she made her way back to the cockpit, fingers smoothing out the wrap over her shoulder. Clad in shades of deep ocean blue fitted snugly to her form, she absently tucked her hair behind her ear as she dropped into the seat beside Caden. The ship soon dipped into the atmosphere and he opened a channel to hail the landing authority.

A smile quirked her lips as he spoke, and Irri had to tamp down on her mirth at his words and his tone. Though she knew she’d fail, she endeavored to look as innocent as possible.

---------------------------
Caden Evesa | Auburn Sioda | Darlyn Excron​

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn didn't have a reason to be visiting Domhanda again, not a legitimate or good one that was. There was no planned visit, no major incident, nothing that drew him here. Auburn Sioda certainly wasn't expecting him, since he didn't even think to call ahead of time. SO what then brought the President of Commenor so far from home? So far out of friendly territory, in a single fighter, without any sort of escort?

He wanted to show his girlfriend his new robes.

So without consulting anyone he'd just sort of, took his personal fighter and just jump over first thing he could. Didn't bother with any kind of prep work, besides taking his lightsabers and whisky flask along with, seeing as he could just sort of 'feel it out'. Hyperspace had become rather natural for him to navigate without issue, or computer. If he recalled, he might've told Auburn about doing stuff like this, but left out how he just kinda winged it more than actually calculate jumps. Probably for the best since, well, she was nervous for him as it was.

Leaving hyperspace above the planet, he noticed one ship was making a descent now. Curious, maybe some wayward Anam were making their way home, like his mother had. Whatever it was, Darlyn set his ship's IFF signature to practically blare out towards the planet, knowing the staff watching were more than a little tired of him doing ridiculous stunts and showing up unannounced. They'd asked to be warned before, and making sure they picked up his fighter's signature was the very least he could do.

And since he was already going to get them even more tired of him, best to have some fun. He angled his fighter and blasted the engines, practically shooting forward like a turbolaser as he approached the planet. Caden Evesa and Irridia Solensis might notice his ship on approach, they might not. A darksider onboard a fighter going at maximum speed could be easy to miss he supposed, if they were focused on the landing itself. What wasn't easy to miss would be when he rolled the fighter slightly, so he could just barely avoid contact with them, still going full speed ahead. Assuming they didn't panic, they should be just fine. He certainly would be!

Once past he quickly leveled out, and made a line for the Palace. Setting the ship to autopilot towards his usual landing, he waited until just the right spot, at which he opened the canopy and with the aid of the Force, jumped out. In the air, he managed to do a backflip for some extra style points, and fell quickly down towards the Palace itself. Before he fell too far, he managed to use the Force again, this time to slow his descent and allow him to catch the lip of a floor-to-ceiling window with his foot, and lean against its frame. A quiet knock on the window was given to draw its occupant's attention, though he could tell where she was now, so surely she could feel the same.

 

[Auburn Sioda]

It had been a long time since Auburn had the opportunity to teach anyone anything, much less share her culture with others besides the Mando'ade. She had found Caden Evesa interesting when they had first met to learn how to harness the Light in it's purest force, but had forgotten how they had gotten back in touch. Perhaps she had bumped into him on Commenor?

No time to reminisce now, however, as she closed her journal. The young puddle one was arriving soon, and bringing a friend of his. What was her name? Irridia Solensis wasn't it? Humming in thought, Auburn stood from her couch, and set the journal on the coffee table before smoothing out her gown. Aine tilted her head this way and that, watching her owner wander over to her perch by the door.

"Aine, a thaise."

Flying the short distance from her perch, Aine landed on the arm Auburn held up, and nuzzled her owner's face with her beak.

"Sweet girl. Are you ready to greet the puddle ones?"

Auburn gave Aine gentle chin scritches, and was going to walk out the door until she felt a familiar presence in the Force... And heard a knock on the window. Turning around curiously, Auburn gasped in surprise when she saw Darlyn Excron standing outside her window, on the small lip.

"A mhuirnín!"

Voice filled with worry, Auburn hurried over to the window, and opened one of the two panels to let Darlyn inside. Whispering to Aine in her mother tongue, Auburn sent her pet off to the shipyards, to greet the two Jedi in her stead before grabbing Darlyn by his upper arm and dragging him in through the window.

"Arron Faolan Jones! What were you thinking?! By the gods, what if you had fallen?!"

---

"This is the Domhanda Capitol Shipyards, permission to land granted. Please land at these coordinates, Her Majesty wi- Oh for the love of the gods... Please watch out for Sir Excron's ship, young man. I do not want to be the one to tell the Queen her partner died in a crash."

A sigh came over the coms from the woman operating the communications before the line ended, and the coordinates were sent to Caden's ship. Once the Padawans approached, they would be greeted with the sight of a rather bare and modest landing zone, with a few Anam workers here and there. One worker stood out, however, standing near the landing pad with his arm outstretched and Aine perched on him.

Once the two padawans stepped off the ship, the man would nod his head towards them in greeting.

"Déithe duit. Her Majesty was going to greet you personally but... It seems all she sent was Aine here. I would assume she meant for Aine to guide you to the Palace, as she sent no guards either."

Aine chirped and watched the two Padawans with her golden, pupiless eyes. Being almost a meter tall not counting the length of her tail feathers, Aine was almost as large as her Vanquoan cousins, and it was clear her weight was straining the worker's arm. A few more chirps came from her, before she launched herself off the worker's arm towards the palace, a small shower of embers falling where she once sat.

"Oh dear, best follow her you two Éan Dóiteáin can fly fairly quickly. Though, if you lose track of her, just follow the embers."

 

[Caden Evesa]

He'd tried not to remember the majority of the flight out.

Pun contests were one thing, cringe enough at the best of times. A pun contest with two stubborn Corellian folk who hated losing and were beyond competitive was only going to end one way. Caden was actually pretty glad he had won that one.

Losing the trivia quiz didn't surprise him. He'd been away from Corellia since the age of six, he'd traveled the galaxy since then. Little bits of trivia like that didn't tend to stick in his brain, they tended to get lost pretty quickly all things considered.

The pull-ups though. First time, fair enough. The first time they'd gone head to head in something fitness focused, she hadn't known about his training. This time around she knew he was a trained solider and she still wanted to go head to head with him.

In that situation, the win was quite satisfactory.

Caden grinned softly, mind wandering as he got lost in his own thoughts. He'd admired the girl next to him a few times, especially the outfit she'd decided to go for. She was stunning and he needed to contain himself for a while, he had a ship to land.

The force was a mysterious thing, Caden had always known that. It did peak his interest slightly when he felt a darkside presence approaching his ship. Watching a fighter streak past him was also pretty interesting, yet Caden kept steady enough so that he didn't make contact with the fighter.

"Ugh, ground control, you got that fighter? Pretty sure you got a reckless pilot up here, gonna get someone killed if he's not careful"

Admiring Irridia Solensis was gone for the moment, his head had gone straight to serious mode. The response from the shipyards communicator made it clear that the Queen knew the pilot of the reckless fighter pretty well, her partner in fact.

That didn't really help calm the man at all. The Queen could date whoever she wanted, if she wanted to date a darksider he held that against neither him not her. He was allowed to practice what he wanted and she was allowed to sleep with who she wanted.

Nearly damaging his ship was something he didn't tolerate though.

Carefully, he brought the ship to a stop and touched down in his designated landing area. The Queen was lucky he was a decent pilot, a steady pilot, or her partner would be a corpse in a rapidly burning fighter. He didn't want to explain to the Queen why her partner was dead.

Caden cast his eyes back to Irri and smiled. It was as if looking at her caused all of his anger to just vanish, float away. He lent back in the chair briefly before pushing himself up. He double checked that he had everything he needed and looked towards the exit of the ship.

"Ready to go meet a Queen?"

He smiled and departed down the ramp of the ship onto the landing platform below. He spotted the odd one out fairly quickly and moved to engage. Before he could even say anything though the man confirmed they would be following the bird to the palace.

"This planet gets weirder and weirder"

Irridia Solensis | Auburn Sioda | Darlyn Excron

 

[Irridia Solensis]

Her gaze widened as she felt the ship before she saw it speed past them on their approach. That lingering darkness was something she was intimately familiar with and it was all she could do to remain still and stay safely in her seat. Distracting Caden while he was trying to land the ship and contain his own reaction, which he did admirably, would have been foolish.

Breath catching in her throat, Irri felt that long familiar sense of dread creep into her chest and wind itself slowly around her heart. That is was the Queen's partner was...interesting news. Unwelcome, certainly, but who was she to judge? It wouldn't do to be rude upon meeting the gentleman with questionable piloting skills and even more questionable sense, so Irri would do what she could to not disgrace herself or the Order. She was certain he must have had some redeemable qualities, somewhere, else someone of Her Grace's standing would hardly give him a second thought.

If nothing else, it would prove a fascinating dynamic to observe.

Caden had the ship set down in short order, and his smile as he glanced over to her eased the constriction that had settled into her chest almost completely. There was a whole host of something attendant in that moment that she wasn't ready to acknowledge, so she did her best to bury the feelings deep and remain calm. Part of her rebelled though, and her cheeks warmed as he spoke, and she nodded, following him down the ramp, her bag over her shoulder.

"Ready as I'll ever be, honestly." she added quietly, features warm and her expression bright, though she was still concerned about having not found much information about court protocols and etiquette for Domhanda. With a little bit of Corellian luck, it would go relatively smoothly, and what few tidbits she did know would be enough.

"Well yes, it does seem to be exceeding expect- we get to follow her?! Thank you!" Irri's eyes widened with an almost childlike enthusiasm as the beautiful creature flew off, leaving a trail of embers behind her. Hastily settling her pack over both shoulders, she absently grabbed Caden's hand and wound her fingers in with his to tug him along as she raced after the stunning bird.

Unlike the day they'd met, she ran almost effortlessly down the path, apologizing profusely to the workers she rushed past in all of her excitement to make sure she didn't lose the trail. Though the embers remained and didn't seem to fade at all, she laughed and very nearly skipped even though she was at a full run.

There hadn't been many moments where she dropped all pretenses and simply existed, bubbling over with warmth and delight. It was a state of being she rarely achieved anymore, given the last several years of her life, so Domhanda was already precious to her. Truly, she'd lost track of how long it took, though it wouldn't have been more than several minutes, before they arrived at the impressive edifice of the palace. just behind the fluttering Éan Dóiteáin.

---------------------------
Caden Evesa | Auburn Sioda | Darlyn Excron​

 

[Darlyn Excron]

While his fighter was busy getting itself a nice landing pad for the forseeable future, Darlyn was laughing quite happily as Auburn Sioda pulled him through the window's new opening and into her room. Despite how worried she was, he had little doubt she knew he would be just fine even if he had fallen. Ignoring the fact he was, in his own estimates, possibly the one who was overall stronger in the Force, he simply felt more in control of his abilities around her. He at least was certain he would've been perfectly fine, so why wouldn't she?

Using the Force to give himself the much needed height in his little hop up, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek before gravity took hold again. "Well, for one I didn't did I? For two, I had every confidence you would be here for me. For three, I've absolutely fallen from worse heights before, and number four, I technically already had fallen since I jumped out of the fighter." He couldn't help but laugh a little bit as he separated himself from her. "But enough of what's already done! I'm here, for hugs and kisses and all those nice things, and don't these just look great on me?"

Darlyn really wanted her opinion on the robes, unaware he was effectively intruding on Caden Evesa and Irridia Solensis's time with the Queen. Not that it would've really stopped him from getting her opinion, just delayed it somewhat while he looked for the perfect time. Because of course he would be, Auburn's validation was important to him, especially as of late. Hers and Aine's both, speaking of whom...

"Where'd you send Aine to? I wanted to give her head scritches and treats."

 

[Auburn Sioda]

Auburn pressed her lips together in a worried frown as Darlyn Excron explained his reasoning. Sure, he was absolute capable of surviving... But it still worried her to no end! How would she explain to his mother on the off chance he didn't survive?! His laughter did nothing to soothe her worries, and she sighed when he stepped back to show her his robes.

"Oh a mhuirnín... They look amazing on you, very handsome."

Though her worries had barely passed, Auburn gave her partner a soft, loving smile, and gently took a hold of his hands. She had been so concerned about Darlyn, she had even momentarily forgotten Caden Evesa and Irridia Solensis were on their way... At least until Darlyn asked where she sent Aine off to.

"Oh goodness! I almost forgot! One of the puddle ones I met had wanted to come to Domhanda to learn more about the Anam, and was bringing one of his friends! Oh dear, I hope there's still enough time to prepare the garden..."

Pulling one hand free of Darlyn's, Auburn began to chew on the nail of her thumb anxiously. By now, Aine would have met the two puddle ones, and was leading them to the palace. Auburn made sure to tell the chefs to prepare snacks before hand, but Niamh... Niamh was still on Commenor. Oh why couldn't Darlyn have brought his mother with him?

"Come with me, and help me set up the garden?"

Tugging Darlyn gently, Auburn hoped he would let her lead him to the garden.

---

As the padawans came up upon the front gate of the palace grounds, Aine landed upon the outstretched arm of a female guard, who greeted the two teens with a nod.

"Déithe duit, you are to two young Jedi the Her Majesty spoke of, yes? If I recall, she was planning on meeting you in the garden. Follow me, I'll lead you there."

As the front gate opened, Aine flew off the guard's arm, further ahead into the palace grounds, and out of sight. A sigh came from the guard as she watched her Queen's beloved bird fly towards the garden.

"Seems like Aine is already ahead of me... Shall we be on our way then?"