Stuck In The Middle (Loreena Arenais)

[Caedyn Arenais]

Starship: The Repertoire.​

Inventory: Spacer Attire, CS.38 Tactical Side-Arm, Lightsaber.​

Atten: [member="Loreena Arenais"].​

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It had been a very long time since Caedyn had last seen his sister, [member="Loreena Arenais"]. Recently, she had messaged him, bugging her brother for a chance to catch up again; naturally Caedyn wasn't going to refuse her, especially given how slack he had been in staying in contact, and so here he was traversing the Galaxy into the western regions where their Mother had made her new life, Lori apparently having been there lately.

Things weren't the same since they had all left their home on Commenor; It was weird having their Mom and Dad living so far apart from each other, basically living different, separate lives. Caedyn more or less lived on Kashyyyk, but he wasn't beholden to the Order like his father was. They were good people, very welcoming of him but he still considered himself a Je'daii. Whether or not that made a difference to anyone or not, only the Force could know.

"This is Caedyn Arenais calling the Jaster's Sparrow, Lori are you out there?" Caedyn sent out the message over a broad-range of frequencies hoping that his Sister would pick up on his signal and be nearby for them to rendezvous.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Arla picked up on the message sent by [member="Caedyn Arenais"] not just once, but quite a few times over. It was strange that it was over so many different frequencies. There was the possibility that it could be a trap. Afterall it wasn't hard for a voice to be mimicked.

She patched herself through to the comms in Lori's quarters. ~Captain, you've got a message coming through. It's hard to verify, so be cautious in your response. I'm going to patch it through.~

Lori raised a brow as she shut off her holonet game. Her recent exploits had caught the attention of some, not to mention the First Order had held her captive for a time. So the risk was high.

She listened to the message once it was patched through. Cae?! She hadn't seen him in FOREVER! Even though at times they were maybe even on the same planet, they never saw eachother. Oh how she missed having Snotface around...

Hopefully it was really him. There was only one way to find out. Lori hit a button on her comms to open a channel. ~Jaster's Sparrow calling Caedyn Arenais. It's CAPTAIN Lori now. Do you remember your old nickname? Over.~

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

'Oh for the love of...'

Caedyn looked back at the mic in-front of him as though his sister would be able to see the skeptical look that came over him at the mention of his apparent nickname. 'Any chance to throw that at me...' he thought with a faint smirk, shaking his head to himself. It was a strange question to ask him, though she obviously needed some sort of reassurance that his call had been legit. "Geeze, it hasn't been that long that you've forgotten about me has it...".

"You liked to call me snot-face..." He replied across the frequency [member="Loreena Arenais"] had called him back on, "Though I dunno about this Captain title of yours. To me, you're still the girl that hid in my suitcase trying to follow me off of Commenor" he grinned, the amusement probably being relayed through his tone as he replied back to the Jaster's Sparrow.

By the mere look that Lexas offered Caedyn, despite remaining silent so that he could talk to his Sister undisturbed, the droid seemed a little perplexed by the ordeal. Honestly, Caedyn often found the droids mannerisms to be amusing, though this time he tried to keep his composure.

"Sending you my co-ordinates now, Lori. Find us somewhere to touch down will ya?".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori breathed a sigh of relief as [member="Caedyn Arenais"] answered correctly. Not only that, but he relayed a part of their lives that very few knew about. Such a day was heartbreaking, the first of many that the twins would remain separated. And already he was taking his jabs at her. Why that little...

~Yeah well that little girl can kick your butt! So you better look out, Snotface! Sending you co-ordinates shortly.~

She switched her comms to the cockpit so that Arla could hear her. ~Find us somewhere to meet up. Cae's sent us his location. We gotta meet somewhere in the middle.~

~Understood. I'll find something and patch them through.~ Arla searched through the navicomputer, looking not only for somewhere in the middle, but also for somewhere safe. It wasn't long before the co-ordinates to Dahgee were set. Lori had been there before and the area was relatively safe for the lot of them. With luck they'll be there in a few hours.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Location: Dahgee.​

Starship: The Repertoire.​

Inventory: Spacer Attire, CS.38 Tactical Side-Arm, Lightsaber.​

Atten: [member="Loreena Arenais"].​

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Lori had sent him their co-ordinates for landing, or atleast someone in her crew had, from his position Caedyn couldn't be certain but finding the place was easy enough. The Repertoire touched down upon solid ground and he instructed Lexas to hang back on the ship. Ashla however had taken it upon herself to go bounding off after him, excited to be playing out in the open air once again, all the scents and sights a little doggo could hope for in life! She was Caedyn's soft spot; her, [member="Loreena Arenais"] and [member="Asaraa Vaashe"].

Surely his Sister wouldn't be far away. Caedyn wondered how much she might have changed since their last time hanging out together. It was hard to know whether or not he had changed, himself. His influence and ability in the Force had certainly grown, though his world views and ideals all remained the same as they had been back within the Je'daii Order. Perhaps only a little smarter and more independent since he had been forced to fend for himself for so long.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for everyone else.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Arla piloted Jaster's Sparrow down to the surface of Dahgee, hitting the exact co-ordinates perfectly. Lori would have done so herself, but the girl was far too excited to see her twin brother again.

So much had happened since she saw [member="Caedyn Arenais"] last, both to herself and to their family. It was a lot more complicated than anything had ever been when they were growing up. She missed those carefree days.

Lori punched the button on the wall to lower the cargobay door and immediately she stepped out, her eyes darting around for Cae. And there he was! Just to her left! A huge grin appeared on her face and she ran over to him, ensnaring him in a huge hug. He was taller now and was looking more and more like their Dad. "Cae! Gosh I've missed you! What have you been up to? Where've you been? Are you married yet? Did you pilot that little ship all by yourself? Have you managed to pull off the Dead Drop Maneuver like I showed you?" A plethora of questions just poured out of her. She couldn't help herself.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn grinned widely as his Sister came rushing down the landing ramp and spotted him, [member="Loreena Arenais"] already mid flight and he having to steady himself a little as she wrapped her arms around him and threatened his balance, causing him to laugh softly; "Yeah it really has been forever huh?" He replied before she managed to get out her twenty questions beginning with, or at the very least the first one he heard, asking if he were married yet! Thank the Force [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] weren't around to hear that one...

"Woah woah..." both hands lifted as Caedyn and Lori parted, her Brother grinning ever still; "Hold up a second, who in the Force said I was getting married!?" He asked, sounding a little shocked though unable to keep from finding the idea hilarious. He and Asa were doing great of course, they'd been together a couple years now...? Crap, how long had it been?

"The Repertoire's not made to be manned by a single pilot, she's a freighter but I've got a good droid to keep up where I can't. You know I'm not good at sharing" He laughed softly, going the distance to even shrug a little in mock-remorse. "I can't say I've tried actually" He added on the subject of the Dead Drop, Lori had first shown him the move outside of the Temple of Stav Kesh. His mentors at the time had a few stern words to say about showing off and exciting the other students, but it remained one of the more amusing memories he held of their days following Commenor.

"What about you though?" He turned the attention back on her, "Where've you been all this time!?".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"Not married yet? Oh. Did you break up? Move onto the next? That's like...what? Three now? Brad hasn't been giving you his bad habits, has he?" Their older brother [member="Bradshaw Ku"] was quite the playboy. Lori liked to tease [member="Caedyn Arenais"] about his many girlfriends. But it was always just a tease. In truth he was the lucky one. She was just a flavour of the month by some rich artist and so she kept away from making any sort of connection with anybody ever since. Why risk it? More than likely they'd be used against her anyways.

And to hear that he hadn't done the Dead Drop Maneuver wasn't surprising. It did scare him a bunch afterall.

To his question on her whereabouts, Lori just shrugged her shoulders a bit after shoving her hands into her jacket pockets. "Here, there, a bunch of different places. Sometimes I'm on Kashyyyk for lessons with Dad. Other times I'm on Zakuul with Mom helping to fight against the First Order. Most of the time I'm on my ship though, either in neutral or Mandalorian space. I've got mostly a different crew now, though a few have decided to stay for a long time. Others left after we got a huge payout for a job where we had to sneak onto a Star Destroyer and steal a holocron. That was fun. I think that I have a knack for treasure hunting; taking back what was stolen from others. So...you know, I've been all over." She was still trying to solidify her place in the Galaxy. Maybe it'll take her a few more years to figure it out. It was hard to say.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Huh!? Nah, me and Asaraa are still going strong. It's been over a couple years now, give or take" Caedyn grinned back at her almost as though it was a victory over her cheeky bite at him. Honestly, she had the wrong idea about his relationships with girls, truth was that he was shy more than anything when it came to Girl's and he and Asa started slowly. The only one before Asaraa had been [member=Beth Cadera], but force only knew what she was up to these days and the relationship between the couple hadn't really taken off beyond a couple awkward dates and family social gatherings between House Arenais and the Mandalorians, back when they used to get along.

"You've been with Mom?" He asked a little apprehensively, "How's she doing?" he added curiously. Caedyn hadn't ventured into the western territories since...-Well, ever? "Dad said he went over those ways a while back but he didn't say too much about it" her brother toyed with his words as though there was more to say, yet knew not the words to express his feelings surrounding the subject of their family. It was all a big mess as far as he was concerned, the distance between them all could be felt miles off.

"Sounds like you've been busy..." He added, choosing not to comment on his last run-in with the Mandalorians that hit Umbara. He'd been on the ground during the attack. "I didn't realize the First Order were still around. Didn't Mom and Dad know some of them back when they were on Commenor?" He asked rhetorically, not really caring much for the details there. There always seemed to be a reason for people going to battle against one another.

"Hope you're making more friends than you are enemies, Sis...".

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori bypassed that grin of his as [member="Caedyn Arenais"] seemed to gloat about the extent of his relationship. He already surpassed her in many ways on that front. More than likely he always will.

"Are you a Dad yet?" What other way could she throw him off his game than by asking THAT?

"Mom's okay...I think she's lonely at times, but that's to be expected given how far away she is from everyone. [member="Ghorua the Shark"] is there though. Remember him?" Hopefully he did. As for their Dad visiting, he didn't say anything to Lori about it either. It made her wonder if they had a huge argument and were seperated again.

"The First Order were beaten, but not gone. They want to reclaim what they lost and they are punishing people for their want of freedom. Some are friends for Mom and Dad, I think, but I don't know how real that is..." It was hard to say who were friends or foes now. It was a huge mess.

At Cae's last statement, she shrugged her shoulders a bit. "I don't think that I have any real enemies. Not like Mom and Dad, anyways. As for friends, I have my crew." When they stuck around, that is.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn just rolled his eyes at the concept of being a father, there was just no way he was ready for that kind of life raising a kid. Neither he nor his Sister had the best role-models as far as parenting was concerned, their lives, despite how much their Mom and Dad had tried to keep them away from it all, had been engulfed in politics and chaos from an early age. [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] had never once mentioned or brought up the subject either, in their couple years of being together, it just didn't seem like a possibility for them at the present stage of their lives shared together.

"Yeah, I remember the big Shark guy" Caedyn smirked at the mention of [member="Ghorua the Shark"], "Wasn't he a Mercenary or something. Bounty Hunter maybe? All I remember is how big and awesome that guy looked. Not someone you'd wanna meet in a dark alley" he laughed softly. Ghorua remained one of their Mothers most loyal and trusted friends, not to mention one of the people who'd known [member="Kay Arenais"] the longest. He'd come and gone throughout the twins lives, but something always brought him back to his long time friend, their Mother, and thankfully so. Despite not knowing how he felt about his parents actions and decision-making these days, he'd always been glad that their Mom had good support like Ghorua around.

"I got into a bit of a scrap recently on Umbara myself, though nothing to worry about" Caedyn added, following his Sister's elaboration around the First Order's activities lately. "The Silver Jedi have been having trouble with Mandalorian raiding parties..." he wasn't planning on mentioning it, though for all he knew, Lorenna might have had some info on the one's responsible. "It's been keeping Dad pretty busy I think. He's become really important there lately too. He's gotten himself involved in politics kinda like Mom, but representing the Order as well as his station in the Silver Navy".

What else had been going on lately? It was a little difficult to try and recall everything that'd been happening since Commenor. "Oh!" Caedyn smiled suddenly, "Dad actually visited Uncle Dar last week!" Caedyn chuckled sheepishly, "Commenor's doing a lot better. Things seem to have gone back to normal and Dar's keeping busy, apparently! We should go back there sometime. We do still have a home there, after-all".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

At the mention of Mandalorian raiding parties, Lori shifted her weight on her feet, turning her attention to [member="Caedyn Arenais"] ' little pupper. She saw Mandalorians in a different light, given that she was sent to live with them for a while. The whole Galaxy was messed up, so it wasn't fair for people to point fingers and claim to be the better for it. In her opinion everyone was as bad or as good as everyone else. It just came down to the individual.

"I'm not surprised that Dad would be important. He's a good teacher and we know how he is in battle. Gosh, I even have to ask permission on Kashyyk just to see him. Isn't that crazy?? I haven't snuck over to his room yet, but one of these days I will; just do that I can prove to myself that I can do it." Sneaking was challenging, yet fun! She used those skills to fight the Sith and others. No doubt she'd use that in the future as well.

"I'll make a pit stop to Commenor some day, when I need to grab more of my things for tinkering. Jaster's Sparrow is my home away from home. One of these days I'll just pick a spot and stay, but not right now. I just haven't made up my mind yet. And there's no rush."

She crouched down, holding out her hand for the pupper. "Don't be shy...I won't hurt you."

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Well when I get myself a place sorted, you're always gonna be welcome to rock up whenever you want, eh" Caedyn smiled, a genuine (not smart-assed) smile to his Sister. The idea of his own place, in his own pocket of the Galaxy with [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] and [member="Loreena Arenais"] showing up for weeks at a time sounded ideal, being away from all the strife in the Galaxy.

Caedyn was a Je'daii through and through, he hadn't planned on choosing a side in the battles that dictated the direction of Galactic Society. They'd simply found him in the wrong place, at the wrong time and he'd taken part to do what he could to protect whomever he could. Like their Father, he always did his best to judge others based off of their actions that he saw in front of his own eyes, not the rumors or opinions of others that couldn't be justified through personal experience. Uncles [member="Darlyn Excron"] & [member="Kaine Australis"] were family to him as well, he'd never met their cousin Yasha, at-least not from memory but she'd been there for their Mother too. It was all a frustrating mess that he, frankly didn't want to be involved in any further.

"Yeah I guess you're not used to living in a Temple huh" Caedyn forced his mind to a different subject, Lori having mentioned the policy surrounding the Masters quarters where students weren't allowed without permission. "It was pretty similar with the Je'daii. You get used to it" He huffed a short laugh, finding a little amusement in how out of place his Sister probably felt on Kashyyyk.

"Have you learned much about the Force yet?".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Rock up? [member="Caedyn Arenais"] sure was picking up on some goofy slang. He could have gotten that from any number of places. But she understood what he meant. Thankfully. "That'd be fun. Just be warned ..I still can lay out my pranks. You might wanna sleep with one eye open."

Lori smirked at his comment on Temole life, standing up as it seemed the pupper was too shy. "Ha! More like they'll have to get used to me. It's not like they could ban me from seeing Dad ever again. But I'll TRY to behave myself..." For a little bit at least. But the less that she was there, the less times that she could embarrass him.

To his question, she tilted her head to the side a bit in thought. "A little. Dad likes to give out his lectures, so there's that. I am learning control though, and a bit of lightsaber dueling too. Do you wanna see mine? It's in my quarters." In her mad dash to see her brother, Lori didn't even think to grab it.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn glanced down to Ashla, giving her a light tap from behind with his boot to encourage her to accept [member="Loreena Arenais"] affection. The little pupper whining in argument, yet cautiously moving to sniff about at his Sisters feet. "I grew up with you on Commenor, I already sleep with one eye open" Caedyn grinned widely. It wasn't as though the two of them were strangers to one another, it'd just been a while since their last catch up. "It'd be great to see you more though. I know it's taken us forever, and Asaraa always liked hanging out together".

"I doubt Dad's gonna be so busy that he forgets about his kids" Caedyn added on the subject of their Father. Sure he could get swept up by his duties within the Order, but he and Lori had always managed well enough; "Even if things are as messed up as they have been for Mom and Dad lately".

"Sure, I'd love to check it out" Caedyn soon replied to the mention of her Lightsaber, "I've got mine on my hip, you can check it out while I see how yours goes...-It's not going to blow my hand off when I start it up, is it?".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori didn't crouch down as Ashla approached. Instead she just sort of bent down and held her hand out for the pupper to sniff. Of course she didn't make any other move for a bit, not even to pet her.

She snickered as [member="Caedyn Arenais"] mentioned that he always slept with one eye open. "Good! Gotta keep you on your toes!"

At the mention of Mom and Dad however, she straightened up, her face easily showing her sadness over the whole thing. "Yeah...it sure is messed up for them, huh? But they'll pull through! They ALWAYS do!" Lori tended to be the more optimistic one, even when the odds were against it. For this however, it was hard to tell.

Lori's grin returned, along with a big laugh that ended with a snort as he mentioned her lightsaber blowing up his hand. She gestured for him to follow her inside. "I'm a better tinkerer than that! Though I'm not sure if anyone else has a blade like mine." She guided him through the cargohold, past the crews quarters and then up the stairs to her own quarters. She opened the door and let him in. Her quarters were a bit of a mess, with bits of clothes, maps and a couple of dishes strewn about. But it still smelled nice. Lori walked over to a safe that was in one of the walls. She punched in the code that unlocked it and once it opened, she pulled out her lightsaber and handed it to him. "Pretty, isn't it? I built it out of parts from the Resolute and other things. The crystal is Dahgee, so it has a lightening bolt tip. Pretty neat huh? There was a sect of Jedi from here long ago that used them." The colour of the blade when ignited was a light blue with a silver core.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

[member="Loreena Arenais"]' ship was pretty awesome, even he had to admit, though she pulled him by the hand pretty insistently so it was a little difficult to catch sight of it all. He'd only been in it the one time from what he could recall, and even then his memory was a little lacking as it was into the first days of his training in Stav Kesh, at the Tho Yor of Tython. "You still move at a hundred miles a minute huh" he teased her, chuckling to himself a little awkwardly.

Taking the hilt from his Sister, Caedyn didn't seek to ignite the blade; For a start they were inside the Jaster's Sparrow, and secondly it was her Lightsaber, a weapon of special significance to any Force User, Jedi, Je'daii or Sith. "This is well made, Lori!" Caedyn studied the design of the hilt, speaking with genuine pride for his Sisters work; "It's looking great" He added, handing it back to her and moving to detach his own Lightsaber from his belt, offering to her.

"I made mine after I started staying with Asaraa on Kashyyyk" he explained, speaking as though Asa was the focus of his stay rather than the Jedi. It was still something of an odd feeling being with the Silver Jedi, not for any reason other than the fact it suggested that Caedyn was with someone other than his former Order. "It's not made from anything as cool as the old Resolute though, that's pretty wicked, I gotta admit".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"I can't help it when I'm excited to have you here." She stuck her tongue out at him.

As [member="Caedyn Arenais"] studied the hilt of her lightsaber, Lori tilted her head to the side a bit. What is it with people not wanting to ignite it? So silly. Yes, she knew that it was a serious weapon, but still...it wasn't as though Cae was gonna try anything stupid with it.

Taking hold of his lightsaber, she whistled while she inspected it. "You mean that you never made a lightsaber before this one? I figured that you'd of had one shortly after you moved away. I figured you are years ahead of me in this stuff. Or did having a girlfriend slow you down all the time?" That was one thing that her Dad figured her having a boyfriend would do for her. But it was very, very short lived and she wasn't about to be the object of some playboy's affection again. She'd rather be alone. It was better to stay clear of any people of that sort. Fortunately she had various options for escape, if it ever came down to it. There was no reason for her to be uncomfortable at all when she didn't need to be.

"What colour's the blade? Can I see it?" It'd be funny if Cae had a Dahgee crystal as well, but she doubted it. As far as she knew, she was the only one. That could be a good thing. It made her lightsaber all the more precious.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Sure you can!" Caedyn grinned, gesturing to the Lightsaber she held in her hands. "My crystal is a Kunda Stone, so the blade is quite a bit wider than the average lightsaber and it's best used with two hands. The length is the same but I guess it's more like a broad vibro-sword" he smiled, having always liked the result of his first cyan bladed lightsaber.

"Back in the Je'daii Order, the first weapon I ever made was my Bo Staff, actually" he explained, not overly surprised by [member="Loreena Arenais"]' question. Most Force Users were automatically assumed to wield lightsabers, and while he did now, it hadn't been his preferred choice of weapon.

"Master [member="Ignis Imura"] taught me how to infuse the Force within the Staff, so that it can combat and fend off Dark-Sided spirits. What I liked about it most of all though was the fact it was a blunt force weapon, which made it a lot harder to actually kill someone unlike a lightsaber. To this day I've managed to avoid killing anyone, and I'm quite proud of it".

Despite the Jedi Order's intentions when combating against the tyrants of the Galaxy and protecting the innocent, so often than not, people would always get hurt one way or another and in many cases that meant that someone would lose their life. Sure, there were bad people out there and yeah maybe they did bring it on themselves but sometimes it just sounded far too easy for people to justify having to kill somebody...

"That one's made of Phrik though, so it's resistant against other sabers" Caedyn pointed back at his Lightsaber she was holding, "It's also able to be used underwater without shorting out, I had to use a Bifurcating cyclical-ignition pulse to get around that...".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"Oh wicked, so we both have unique blades! Not that I've ever used it outside of training. I haven't needed to." Sure she's ran into trouble, but her ways of getting out of it didn't really include having to use a lightsaber.

"You haven't killed anyone yet? I'm sure that I have, while fighting in space during Commenor's liberation. I took out some of the Sith fighters, though I'm not sure if they were manned or not. Other than that, I haven't engaged in any mortal combat. Most enemies don't want to kill me. They just want to use me against Mom and Dad. Like a hostage, you know? But they don't really get the chance to do so." Usually she'd escape by then, or talk her way out of the situation.

Lori raised a brow as he said the lightsaber could work while under water. That was so weird. "Underwater? What kinds of enemies do you face that you'd need that? No doubt swinging it while underwater would be difficult as we all move slower while underwater." There was a LOT more drag in water than in air.