Private Taking You Home

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Ryloth
Outfit: Casual
Equipment: Nightsister Energy Bow, Lightsaber
Companion: Grisial
Tag: Jax Thio

Jax had contacted her with a message from nowhere. It had been a long time since she had last heard from him or her mother and the message seemed weird and ominous. Dreidi wasn't sure if she could really ask anyone for help on it since she wasn't sure anyone would understand the situation she had with her family.

It was a complicated mess of emotions and there was a lot to unpack with how things turned out. However, what was the worst in the message from Jax was the ask for her to contact her mother and let her know Jax was okay. Jax messed up there on two accounts, she had no way of contacting her mother so couldn't do that and secondly, it meant that the guy supposedly in love with her mother didn't have to balls to tell her himself the situation. Whatever she felt towards her own mother, the woman deserved better than a husband who ghosted her and abandoned her. For all Dreidi knew, that was what had happened.

The location he had sent the message was from was Ryloth, which made some sense to her. There was a lot a person could do in attempts to redeem themselves on Ryloth. Leaving a note for her friends that she was heading out and might be gone for a few days, she didn't want to leave anyone worried about her, Dreidi doubted she would be gone long but she needed to sort this out alone. Jumping on the ship, she punched in the coordinate into the ship and leaned back watching the ship entering hyperspace. "What the hell are you up to Jax?" Dreidi grumbled to herself, she never understand what her supposed stepfather was up to.

"Well Grisial, you'll get a chance to meet another family member, though Jax is murkier since he says he wants to try. Vanish, apologise, then claim to want to be close again." Dreidi was keeping it honest with her Vulptex, she never thought Jax held bad intentions or meant to vanish, but it happened repeatedly and she couldn't ignore that pattern in behaviour.

Arriving in the space above Ryloth, Dreidi took the reins of the ship and started her descent towards where Jax's location was meant to be. She was curious what Jax was going to be up to, and how difficult he was going to make it for her to drag him back to the Order.

 

[Jax Thio]

Location: Ryloth
Equipment: Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Promise Ring to Jairdain, Explorer Outfit, BB-12
Tag: Dreidi Xeraic

<Jax?> BB-12 drank beeped while he consumed a bottle of Whiskey. <Have you ever considered sitting down with your stepdaughter and->

"BB if you say anything nasty about Dreidi, I'm going to rip your circuits from you body." Jax leaned against his chair looking around the spaceport for his stepdaughter. He and BB-12 have been waiting in the spaceport for hours now. Dreidi should've gotten Jax's letter by now, but he was starting to think that she wasn't going to come. Given that Jax spent the time as essentially a hobo, he couldn't blame her.

<Pffft I'm just saying Jax, Dreidi has been nothing but a pain in my ass!> BB whirred while he continued to guzzle down Whiskey down his entry port.

Jax raised an eyebrow but otherwise looked around for his stepdaughter Dreidi, he knew that she disliked him after leaving her mother Jairdain so he could try to server the connection between he and his father: Darth Carnifex . After wondering around the edges of the Galaxy, Jax found a way to regain his connection to the Force, but It did cost him a piece of himself. But at least he could no longer hear Carnifex's voice tempting him to give in to the Dark.

"I sense her," Jax whirled his head and saw Dreidi approaching him. His heart sank wondering what she would say to him.

<Hey Dreidi!> BB-12 whirred. <Who the frack do you think you are?! Trying to make Jax's life miserable!>

"Shut up!" Jax kicked BB-12 out of the chair as he landed near some trash cans. "Ignore him," Jax smiled. "My Droid can be..... animated at times."

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Ryloth
Outfit: Casual
Equipment: Nightsister Energy Bow, Lightsaber
Companion: Grisial
Tag: Jax Thio

Dreidi walked up to Jax and spotted a droid by his side. The droid seemed to be drinking what she could sniff out to be alcohol. It seemed that it was ridiculous notion for a droid to be drinking booze, however, she didn't respond to the droid's aggressive attitude towards herself. Letting out a sigh, it was not worth her time to attempt to justify her actions or behaviour. Dreidi was not here to defend her own actions, Grisial on the other hand was growling at the droid, he was not pleased with her being attacked. Grisial's heckles were raised as he studied the droid.

"It is not worth your upset Grisial," she pointed out to the Vulptex, "Jax, this is Grisial."

Grisial greeted himself to Jax, using the Force to communicate to the older man. His attitude and tone was guarded and cautious, he was clearly wasn't letting his guard down yet and was likely due to some of the emotions that Dreidi was feeling.

"So, I am guessing that you contacted me wanting something?" Dreidi slipped her hands into her trousers pockets, "or are you wanting to actually return to continue the commitment you swore to uphold to my mother?" She didn't say anything else since she was waiting to see what he was exactly hoping to achieve from this meeting.

 

[Jax Thio]

Location: Ryloth
Equipment: Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Promise Ring to Jairdain, Explorer Outfit, BB-12
Tag: Dreidi Xeraic

Jax could already sense the strong bond she and her Vulptex possessed he remembered struggling to establish a connection with animals which was Ironic considering his philosophy in connecting to the Living Force. "I remember these creatures when I was doing missions in Crait," Jax replied smiling as he allowed the Force to connect with the beast. "They're more attuned to the Living Force than I realized, I'm glad you were able to bond with one. Chit If you want we could switch companions."

<Frack off Jax!> BB-12 whirred rolling towards Jax. <I'm telling ya Jax she's entering her rebellious phase, she's become that age when she feels that she doesn't need to listen to.>

"Because I was a chit stepdad to her," Jax thought sighing. "Don't make me shut you off BB," Jax said. "And you need to decipher that map ASAP."

<Fine I will! I much rather be bored out of my mind than trying to convince you not to talk to a stepdaughter who hates you!> And with that BB rolled away from Jax and Dreidi.

"His name is BB-12," Jax said. "I've had him since I was a kid, he's a good droid but he thinks he's above everyone with his cantankerous nature. Your mother had a lot of arguments with BB let me tell ya."

The Jedi laughed but he knew he was dancing around the real issue. He wanted to bond with Dreidi, ever since he nearly died regaining his connection to the Force, Jax realized how alone he was. How much he pushed out his friends and family, the only person who saw him fall was Dreidi and he wondered if he pushed her out for good. Probably not judging by how she came.

"You look good," Jax said smiling. "You have a lot of tattoos as well, I mean I have a couple one covers my entire chest." He chuckled. "But seriously it's good to see you, I've spent so much time travelling around that I realize how many people I've alienated from my life."

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Ryloth
Outfit: Casual
Equipment: Nightsister Energy Bow, Lightsaber
Companion: Grisial
Tag: Jax Thio

Dreidi shook her head, "the bond between Grisial and myself is unique. His connection to the Force and sentient comes from our Force Bond." She didn't want to spread misinformation about Vulptex or for others to assume they were smart creatures, from what she knew, they were very standard animals bar their crystal appearance.

The droid attempted interject and state that she was in a rebellious stage of her life. It was annoying to her but she ignored the droid, it was clearly wishing to antagonise her and she was not going to be drawn into a fight with a being she met for the first time today. So it had no clue of her life or the way she was with others, especially since all it heard was Jax's viewpoint.

"Map?" She asked in a curious tone.

She never felt the need to correct the droid on whether she hated Jax or not, hate was a strong emotion, one tied with the Dark Side. She had let go of her hatred of things, indifferent might be more accurate. She was here out of duty and his request, not necessarily seeking a family bond.

Hearing Jax mention her mother arguing a lot with the droid, it made sense but she didn't laugh with Jax. It was just another thing that highlighted her mother was happy to be around everyone else but her. "You didn't answer my question Jax, ready to return to the commitment you swore to my mother, or am I here to drag you back?" She didn't think many would tell her off for dragging Jax back to her mother, his wife, especially after he talked a big game during their first meeting.

He did comment on her tattoos and mentioned his own but Dreidi did not respond, she was here to either take him back to wherever her mother was, or drag him back there like some bounty hunter. Unless of course, they had separated but she figured Jax would have mentioned that by now.

 

[Jax Thio]

Location: Ryloth
Equipment: Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Promise Ring to Jairdain, Explorer Outfit, BB-12
Tag: Dreidi Xeraic

"Drag me back?" Jax raised an eyebrow, he expected Dreidi to chastise him but she was willing to drag him back to the Alliance? "Hold on Dreidi," Jax said. "I'm not ready to go back home, even I do miss my friends and your mother."

Though he was doubtful anyone that anyone cared that he was gone.

"But I can't go back, I told you why." Jax continued getting up from his chair. "It's because of Carnifex and his influence over me, If I go back then Carnifex can look at what the Alliance is planning. I'm a Jedi Master Dreidi and therefore I have access to all of the Jedi's holocrons. If he possesses me, than the Sith will have the upper hand. Just like how it happened back in the battle of Couruscant."

He was rambling on like a homeless man on Spice but Jax needed to get Dreidi to understand that he would be a liability to the NJO. They managed to win and destroy the Brotherhood of the Maw but the Sith never give up and will find ways to undermine the Jedi. The further away Jax is from the new conflict, the better. "I've made progress Dreidi," Jax continued taking a breath. "A couple a weeks ago I used a Holocron that contained a Grey Jedi's power to regain connection to the Force. Carnifex's influence had waned but..... I'm afraid that something bad happened to me."

Jax dared not tell Dreidi to help him, she already found him pathetic for not being in Jairdain life. This was something he needed to do on his own. "The map is being completed as we speak," Jax said. "It'll lead to a purification chamber that the Jedi of old used to clear themselves of the Dark Side. But I'll head on there on my own, right now I just want to catch up with you Dreidi try to establish that bond that I failed to create with you."

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Ryloth
Outfit: Casual
Equipment: Nightsister Energy Bow, Lightsaber
Companion: Grisial
Tag: Jax Thio

"Do you? Because you don't seem exactly in any rush to come back." Dreidi retorted as she refused to believe that Jax was doing this out of selfless reasons and basically was exiling himself because he hated himself so much he assumed everyone else did as well. "I think you are running from your problems, especially if you don't think the Jedi Order could help solve your issues."

Her arms crossed her chest, "you are no different to Kahlil, and he found a way to live as a Jedi." Dreidi pointed out, the Shield of the Jedi was well known as the son of Carnifex but redeemed himself and was seen as pillar of good now, "this isn't something you have to do alone, nor is it something you have to step away from the Jedi to do. There would be precautions of course, but you can't guarantee that this course of action is better, it is just isolating, something clearly Carnifex would want."

"Easier to break a person on his own than a group united." Dreidi pointed out, "and Jax, I can tell that you believe I hate you or that I think little of you. However, that isn't true. I did think you were no better than my mother and I hated you both at one point, but I've moved on from that. I don't know either of you, you are both basically strangers." Dreidi sighed as she heard that he was wanting to try worming his way back into her life once again.

She shook her head, "you don't get to just flee, abandon me and attempt to act like you deserve a chance to be in my life once more." Dreidi stated in a firm tone, "I decide to let you in more than just two Jedi, two work colleagues, talking. So, I'll help you get back to the Jedi since that was why I came here, but anything more than that, I'll have to think on it and you'll have to respect that you can't just jump in and out of my life."

It was the same issue she would have with her mother, they both couldn't decide when it was convenient for them to be in her life. Not any more, Dreidi needed to be around people who actually wanted to be with her and were willing to stick around. Otherwise she was just always going to be an emotional wreck.

 

[Jax Thio]

Location: Ryloth
Equipment: Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Promise Ring to Jairdain , Explorer Outfit, BB-12
Tag: Dreidi Xeraic

Dreidi was right, Jax needed to earn her trust again, he wasn't in her life as often as he wanted to be. Yes, circumstances forced Jax to separate but to abandon Dreidi after she was fatally injured by Carnifex was a horrible move. She needed Jax and he abandoned her as if he didn't care. "I thought it was for her safety," Jax thought. "But I was wrong, dead wrong. She needed a father and I failed to be one."

However, the next thing Dreidi said gave Jax pause. "Wait Kahili?" Jax frowned. "He's one of Carnifex's children as well?!"

He knew Kahlil, last he checked he was married to Valery and they hunted down a Bounty Hunter together, but Jax had no idea that Kahlil was related to Carnifex all this time. "I have a brother?" Jax said in a hoarse tone. "I never knew that...... If I did perhaps I could've told him how he escaped Carnifex's grasp."

Jax was always reckless but he usually was able to bounce back from his mistakes. But this revelation felt like a Wookie punched him in the gut maybe if he wasn't so seclusive, he could've solved this earlier. "It's too late now," Jax said. "I fear in my desperation to reconnect with the Force and to get rid of Carnifex from destroying mind, I've done something to myself in the process. You're right about me Dreidi, I needed to be much better father than I was. That's why I wrote to you but If I don't remedy my mistake now, I'm afraid Carnifex could find me again."

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Ryloth
Outfit: Casual
Equipment: Nightsister Energy Bow, Lightsaber
Companion: Grisial
Tag: Jax Thio

Dreidi facepalmed when Jax was surprised that Kahlil was related to Carnifex. "How are you the Jedi Master between the two of us?" She sincerely was concerned about how Jax was so out of the loop on the history of one of the most famous Jedi of their time. "He was Kahlil Zambrano before he married Master Valery. How... How do you not know anything of your peers?" She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, she was in disbelief that a Jedi Master could be so out of the loop about his own peer's heritage. "It's not exactly a massive secret either."

"Perhaps this is a lesson in not running away and assuming that you are the only one facing chit like this." Dreidi's tone was specifically condescending since it was arrogant of Jax to run off and solve the issue alone, not thinking there were Jedi who understood or could help him with the problem. It was the only time that she was feeling correct in putting Jax down, she facing a problem alone was a terrible idea.

Her eyes darkened as he commented that she was right about him needing to be a much better father, "you weren't, and still aren't, my father. I never wanted you to be my father, I told you that from day one." Grisial growled darkly, he could sense the anger in Dreidi, the idea that someone was going to be her father that wasn't Yuroic was impossible and completely out of order. "I told you to take care of my mother, that I would kill you if you broke her heart and that we didn't need to be anything. You kept insisting on being in my life then disappeared."

"Carnifex is after many things, we don't beat him running off on our own and abandoning those we care about. We win by banding together and fighting as one." Dreidi pointed out, "he isn't going to be chasing you any more or less than he is chasing Master Kahlil, Master Valery and their family. So, come home, talk with them. Talk with other Jedi who have had to deal with Sith related backgrounds, figure this out with the Order. Otherwise you are going to keep running around here and other worlds, alone and drive yourself crazy."

She stared him down, "so, are you going to willingly come home now?"

 

[Jax Thio]

Location: Name (optional)
Equipment: Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Jax's Second Lightsaber, Promise Ring to Jairdain, Explorer Outfit, BB-12
Tag: Dreidi Xeraic

As much as Jax wanted to figure out the ramifications of what he did to regain his connection to the Force, he couldn't help but feel that Dreidi was right. Her words seared through Jax like molten lava taken from Mustafar but she was right, Jax wasn't worthy to be considered a stepfather for Dreidi. He remembered telling Jairdain when she gave him her promise ring that one of Jax's greatest fears was that he would be a deadbeat stepfather to her children. He tried to connect with them even at one time training Jair's youngest daughter, but it all ended horribly when Jax self-exiled himself from the Galactic Alliance. Jax wanted to protect his fellow Jedi from his father but all it did was hurt the people close to him especially Jair who constantly told Jax that she couldn't afford to lose another love. Jax thought he was doing the right thing, but it turned out, it was the worst decision he ever made in his life. Caltin Vanagor , Valery Noble everyone who tried to reach out to him to help, Jax turned them away thinking that he had to deal with his father on his own. But it was that selfishness which lead him isolated and astray from his friends and loved ones.

Jax stood there stunned at what Dreidi told him, but he still needed to speak up and try again to rebuild the bridge that he bombarded with turbolasers. "You never asked but sometimes fate gives us things that we don't want." Jax responded trying to choose his words carefully. "I've made the worst mistake in my life and left you and your mother thinking that by staying in the Outer Rim I was protecting you two. I was wrong and that mistake had cost me not just my relationship with you, Jair, and my fellow Jedi at the Alliance but a piece of my soul as well."

The Jedi Master flexed his prosthetic arm frowning. "It wasn't worth with it," Jax said. "I've become what I've hated and in trying to stave off the Dark Side, I forgot who I was." Jax looked at Dreidi. "I'm not your father," Jax said. "I'm never going to replace him but perhaps someday I can be something of an influence in your life. If you can forgive me."

Jax took a deep breath. "Let's get back to Coruscant," he said. "I've got a lot explaining to do to the NJO, If they even care that I'm alive."

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Ryloth
Outfit: Casual
Equipment: Nightsister Energy Bow, Lightsaber
Companion: Grisial
Tag: Jax Thio

"Jax, you are my stepfather. My mother married you and that is what you are. How things work in my family, how I see them or feel towards them, that doesn't mean I value the role highly. There is a lot that needs to be discussed and sorted between my mother and myself, and that impacts our relationship as well since she is your partner and you will always be on her side." Dreidi was speaking plainly and not looking to suggest that Jax would be completely cut off or that he held no chance of being influential in her life, just there were a myriad of reasons that needed to be solved.

When he agreed to return to the NJO and Coruscant smirked, "good, don't have to knock you out with Magick and drag your unconscious body there. That would have been too much of a hassle." Dreidi stated in a serious tone that suggested she had seriously considered doing that to Jax to ensure he was taken back by force if necessary.

"Probably best to meet with Master Valery and Master Kahlil, since they are the two highest ranked in the Order currently. They will want to debrief you and discuss how to move forward. I will message them now so they can greet us upon our return." Dreidi pulled out her comms and sent the message to Valery Noble and Kahlil Noble that she had located Jax and convinced him to return to the Order and that he would be willing to meet with them both if they needed to discuss his disappearance with them.

Looking at Jax, "Guessing you want to fly your ship there then?" Dreidi didn't care, the ship she had used wasn't a personal one so she would come back and retrieve it at a later point. She light up a cigarette with her fingers using Magick to create a flame and took a deep inhale. "Lead the way to your ship."