Private Silence in the Void

[Caelan Valoren]

The walk wasn't too bad. Though he was tired, exhausted from the exertion and the brief lack of oxygen, he wasn't worse for wear. No doubt a little bit of rest on the flight back and he would be good as new. But when she asked about how he felt, he knew she wasn't talking about his physical well-being.

"Different," he answered her. "I always felt there was something wrong before, something that was just... I don't really know how to describe it, even."

How do you describe that the loss of your parents traumatized you so greatly that your mind kind of broke and kept you from doing things that you otherwise wanted to do? You couldn't just say that. It didn't even make sense to think it. How was it possible for your brain to just cut you off from some of your own capabilities? Was the subconscious really that much more powerful than the conscious mind? If it was, that wasn't a good thing, and he was really going to have to spend some time training his mind to be stronger.

"When the bulkhead came down I felt the weight of fear, of being alone, of having no connection to anything. I couldn't feel you, I couldn't feel anyone else. It was just dark. But I have a connection to my mother through my lightsaber crystal, as I joined mine and hers together. I remember something she said to me, that I was stronger than I knew. I realized I didn't need someone else's help anymore, that I just needed to strengthen myself, that I needed to get past what was holding me down.

"When I did that, it was like a weight lifted off of me. I could feel everything again, including you and the artifact back there. I could also feel the absence of the Force presented by those, I guess I'd call them shades. I could feel everything. And when I got to you, I felt I could do even more, that I could take abilities others had taught me and combine them with what I was naturally good at and that's where those light shields came from. It felt really good using those, to be honest. Blocking those dark blasts, holding the artifact at bay, that was a level of strength I hadn't known until now.

"I feel, for the first time, truly ready to do what a Jedi is meant to do."

If that made sense he didn't know, but it was how he felt. It was time for a new chapter in his life.

---

ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Valery Noble ​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Jedi Jumpsuit | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery listened in silence, her steps steady beside Caelan as he spoke. She didn't interrupt, didn't press — just let him get the words out, let him process everything that had shifted inside him. And it had shifted. She could feel it in his presence, in the way he carried himself now. There was still the same strength, the same determination, but now it was centered. Grounded in a way it hadn't been before.

"I feel, for the first time, truly ready to do what a Jedi is meant to do."

Valery's lips curled into a small, knowing smile. That weight he'd carried — the one he'd fought against, the one that had held him back — it was gone. The Force had always been with him, but now he felt it, truly and deeply, in a way that would guide him forward without hesitation.

She let the silence stretch for a moment after he finished, letting the words settle between them before she finally spoke.

"It seems like you are," she murmured, her voice steady, certain. "You've crossed that threshold, Caelan. You're no longer just a Padawan learner. The trials you faced today weren't ones given to you by the Council, but by the Force itself. And you met them head-on."

Her gaze flicked toward him, sharp but warm. "That's not something you can fake. It's not something you can force. It's something that happens when you're ready for it." A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. "And I'd say you're ready."

She let her words settle, watching for his reaction, but there was no doubt in her mind. This wasn't just a lesson learned — it was a turning point. His next steps would be his own to make. And as much as she had guided him here, this was his moment.

The path of a Jedi Knight stood before him.

Caelan Valoren ​

 

[Caelan Valoren]

What she said gave him pause.

Had she really just said he was no longer a padawan? Had he really heard that or was it some lingering trick of the ear from everything that had happened? No, she had said it. It was evident in the continuation of what she said. What they had gone through was a trial given by the Force itself, one that had nearly broken him, but in the end had broken the barrier within him that his own mind had created.

"It's an interesting thing how a day can start out so simple and turn out so fundamentally different from how you expect," he said as he moved to catch back up with her.

Not something you could fake. No, definitely not.

"The only thing that was fake was my level of ability being limited. The limitation was simply a construct of my own subconscious, placed there by a deep fear and pain at what I went through. But the time for such things affecting me in that way is done now. I have duties to uphold: to the force, to my people, to the order, to the alliance, to my wife. Never again."

They neared where their transport was docked and found Fate waiting for them. He beeped in greeting and then ran onto the transport. It seemed he was also eager to get away from the station. Probably they all were. The whole place was a dark one, and soon enough it would likely be a shattered wreckage in space. Fortunately, they wouldn't be there when that happened. Sadly, those who worked there, and those previously sent to investigate, were lost.

They'd have to make sure that never happened again.

---

ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Valery Noble ​