The Sins Of Thy Father

[Lief]

Onboard The Prophet​

​

That they were traveling was not even remotely an oddity.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"] and she had work to do over on Svivren in preparation for the unveiling of the Enclave. A large group session was to be held there in a few weeks time, and there remained many things to finalize before that time. Her student had probably seen the inside of the Prophet more times than he cared to count, his room was looking a lot more personal these days and Azrael was happy to move between both of their bunks on a whim, some nights sleeping curled up at her side and others by his feet. After having lived upon this quiet vessel for so long, the added bit of life seemed to draw more of the kitten out of him, he had more energy and was far more playful. Of course it helped that Caedyn was willing to facilitate his playful wants and needs even when Asha was too busy.

There had been a very subtle tension in the air between them these past couple of weeks, ever since news had broke out about a certain Arenais' misdeeds, and yet Asha had been much too busy - and Caedyn had been settling in so well - that she had not had the nerve to broker the conversation with him yet. He knew, of course, it was obvious, but he had been preoccupied for the most part and she did not wish to bring that all crashing down. His confidence was finally beginning to blossom.

But now, with only time to kill, there was no excuse.

She raised a hand to knock twice upon the door of his quarters, while Azrael circled her feet and purred happily. No doubt sensing her palpable fears and concerns for the conversation ahead of them. He was good at knowing when she needed him most, but that was likely why [member="Sargon Vynea"] had gifted him to her in the first place.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn Arenais loved being aboard 'The Prophet'.

The Starship belonged to his Master and wasn't technically his but that was only all the more reason to love being on-board. Though they hadn't had a great deal to talk on a personal basis outside of their flights, he had been enlightened to the fact that his Master was only three years his senior; this was something that had come as a shock to him both because she was so prepared and seemingly educated in the ways of the Force and of the Je'daii Order but so too because he had been looking everywhere in others for friends and yet finding none even remotely close to his age until someone else had pointed out to him that the answer to the problem was actually right under his nose, so to speak.

[member="Asha Hex"] was a pretty amazing girl really, Caedyn admired her a lot for what she had and could do given she was as young as she was. He had expected her to be in her twenties already, apparently being a very poor judge of age in others but perhaps as a result of his inward focus due to his anxieties, it just hadn't occurred to him. Could Masters and Apprentice's be friends? His father had always expressed that as a Jedi it was formal relationship. Some felt like family but it was generally discouraged. But this Order was the Je'daii Order...-And they did things differently, right ?

*Thud
Thud
Thud*

The sudden knock on his bedroom door startled him; he'd been laying on his back atop his bunk staring at the roof pondering such things when none other than his Master had come a knocking, looking for him for some reason...-It couldn't be dinner, it was a little too early. "Come in, Master!" He called, turning his head up to look towards the entrance where she would find him lying upside down to her point of entry. She would of course be offered a pleased smile; her company was always a positive influence, especially where his mind tended to wander to far and over-thinking was terrible for one's mental health.

 

[Lief]

She wasn't waiting for more than a second before his voice called out.

Stepping into the room, Azrael was quick to scale up into his bunk and nestle at his feet. For a moment Asha could not make heads or tails of what she was seeing, the way in which he was lay throwing her through a loop, but then she realized she was looking at his feet and with a smile glanced at the opposite side of the bed to where he was lay. Upside down, but who cared if that was what he wanted to do in his own room.

"It's looking a lot more cozy in here, Caedyn, is there anything you would like us to pick up for it next time we stop off for supplies?"

Of course this wasn't her reason for being here and they likely both knew it. She halted in the center of the room, glancing over to him, and let out a very soft sigh. This wasn't something she wanted to do, but his health and wellbeing was in her hands now and the responsibility of being his Master trumped her own wants in times like these.

"We need to talk, Cae, about something serious. You might want to sit up, but that's up to you."

She wasn't going to tell him how to relax in his own room.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

It wasn't often that [member="Asha Hex"] spoke to him in a way that suggested such a serious nature to their coming discussion, Caedyn Arenais feeling the need to comply and shift to put his back against the wall behind his bed, taking Azrael into both hands and placing him on his lap, his hands working to massage the cat's neck, scratching around the ears gently and otherwise giving him the typical care and love that Caedyn so often found in animals and their companionship.

"Uhm...-Okay?" Caedyn glanced back to his Master once he had positioned himself comfortably, though she still stood in the middle of his room which made him feel a little bad for her. "You can sit down too you know..." He smiled a little warily though genuinely wanting her to feel comfortable in his room; after all this was her ship. "Have I done something wrong?..." He soon asked, fairly certain he hadn't yet it was important to Caedyn that Asha liked him. She was his Master after all and her opinion of him mattered a great deal now as they were practically living and walking alongside one another almost twenty-four seven.

There was of course, not so far from his mind the fact that some time had passed since he had first heard the rumors and later it had become public knowledge through the Media that his father was now being labeled a traitor to the Commenor Systems Alliance. Veiere Arenais, a man to Caedyn's eyes that had been a role model of strength and compassion turned into the media's title and description "The Devil of Deneba".

"Or is this...About something else..." he added apprehensively.

 

[Lief]

His first instinct seemed to be to look for something wrong with himself.

That, in and of itself, made her frown though not in disappointment. It simply made her sad. He hadn't done a single thing wrong, she knew that and she hoped that deep down he did too. Of course all people their age had their insecurities, even she did though she had learned tricks to hiding them throughout the years thanks to her Lorddian heritage and upbringing by [member="Jericho"] ... Still, with all that in mind, it still pained her to see her student fretting over his own abilities and potential wrongdoings.

"No, sweetheart, you haven't done anything wrong at all."

She remained standing, solely for the sake of being a little more at eye level with him on his raised bunk, and settled her hands behind her back so he could not see her fidgeting. If this was difficult for her, then she could not even imagine what might already be going through his mind concerning his Father. If he knew.

He knows...

"There have been... Disturbing reports across the holonet concerning your Father. I wanted to know how much you have already heard, and how you are feeling about these... Accusations."

She could not say for sure if there was truth behind what had been said, and truth be told she had half a mind to go hunt the man down herself. For now though the mental and emotional health of his son was far more important to her. He was, after all, at such an impressionable age.

Somehow she managed to keep her tone free of accusation, and instead ensured he felt as though she could be approached on this subject.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"There have been... Disturbing reports across the holonet concerning your Father".

[member="Asha Hex"] confirmed his suspicion then and there, Caedyn's brows immediately meeting dead center in frown, his gaze dropping away from his Master as he considered how best to respond to a truth that seemed so impossible to believe, yet by now had even been confirmed by those situated on Commenor itself. He had yet to talk to his Mother about any of it, Lori had her suspicions though they'd managed to dance around the issue so much as to avoid talking about it for the time being; out of concern for his Sister, Caedyn had up until kept everything buried inside.

"I heard about it when I visited Mom and Lori, last..." It had been a number of weeks since that visit, graced with the company of Adelle Ciryal and the "Shadow of Commenor" for which was always on call in the case the boy needed transportation without the want to bother his Master. She did of course have her own life and he was always wary of getting in her way.

"It hadn't hit the Holonet then though, it was only a group of people gossiping. I guess I hoped they were wrong about him...", the media coverage over the incident had filled in the rest of the blanks. For whatever reason they had claimed that Veiere Arenais had become a turncoat to the systems alliance and attacked one of the Jedi establishments on one of their worlds earning himself a new title and apparently now some kind of prison sentence.

"They said he killed a lot of Jedi...?" The statement ended in question as his gaze lifted back up to look to Asha Hex, his expression speaking well for his heart worn atop his sleeve, confusion, sadness yet too anger and resentment for whatever it was that was really happening back home with his family.

 

[Lief]

"I can't say for sure if the details are true," she told him in sincerity, taking a small step toward him though also giving him his space. How would she feel if someone had said the same of [member="Jericho"] she did not know, she could not comprehend her Father being anything other than a saintly figure... He who had raised her to be a strong young woman, independent and free. Who fought for what he believed in no matter how difficult it got.

Her heart broke for Caedyn in that moment, but she had to appear strong for his sake.

"What matters to me right now is not the rumours, but your well being Caedyn. Is there anything you need from me? Do you need time to go and see your mother and sister again? To speak with them about it? I can take you back to Commenor for a few weeks if it will help. Either way I am right here if you need me, if you want to press on and work through it at my side we can do that too. Just... Try not to keep it all inside, suppressing how you are feeling will only do you more harm than good, sweetheart."

As though sensing the emotions in the room Azrael was quick to purr and rub up against the boy, showering him with affection and attention.

Yes... Sargon had definitely given him to her for a reason.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn shrugged a little, feeling more than anxious on the subject though not entirely wanting to be alone now that [member="Asha Hex"] had brought it up. Like an Ice-breaker of sorts, now that it was out on the metaphorical table, it wasn't something that he felt he shouldn't pursue. Between the two of them, they were both fairly young but Asha seemed so much more confident than he was in most things and the stuff she had experienced, the knowledge and skills she had learned encourage a sense of relief in that he could confide in her knowing that she knew better than he did on most subjects, like this one.

"It just seems so hard to believe..." Caedyn more or less blurted out the first thought that came to his mind, soon glancing down a little, his gaze sweeping the room as he tried to gather and express himself emotionally on the matter without showing too much of what he was feeling. "Dad's always been the good guy. He's always fought to protect people. He used to be a Jedi, it doesn't make sense that he'd want to hurt them. Jedi don't kill people..." in his age and lack of experience, there came a moment of ignorance for the true nature of the galaxy. Good people rarely stayed good and it was forever the hardest of paths to walk while maintaining virtue and righteousness.

"It was in See-Ess-Aye space too...-That's our home, our families world's" his eyes darted back up to his Masters looking for some sort of reassurance though he wouldn't likely find much on that fact alone given that they'd both been absent from the scene when it had come to play out and Veiere had later been arrested and taken into custody by his Mother and her people.

"My Dad hurt really good people...-Our people...Why would he do that?".

 

[Lief]

Typical teen; he was trying so hard to keep it all bottled up inside - and she couldn't blame him truly she couldn't - yet what happened was the pressure built up so much that it burst out almost incoherently in a sudden ramble of words that took her a few moments to properly decipher. Heavy words for an equally heavy topic, something Asha didn't feel even remotely qualified to be talking about. With a soft sigh she found a seat and shook her head, doing her best not to appear at a loss.

"Sometimes people react to stress or difficulty in ways that don't align with their true character. Your Father seemed to be having some misgivings regarding the Jedi when he and I first met, nothing which would ever lead to so violent an outburst but sometimes that seed of doubt is all that is required for something or someone to worm their way into our heads. Walking against that tide can be a difficult path, Caedyn, I've faced it before and it nearly broke me. Perhaps it is a fight he had been fighting for too long, or maybe it engulfed him all at once. The truth is I do not have the answers, only your Father does. I'm sure he will have his reasons when the time comes for him to speak out about it, though that does not excuse his actions. Nobody is exempt from the repercussions of their actions."

Shaking her head, Asha looked up toward him. It was a terrible thing to discover that those you idolized were not in fact infallible.

"There have been plenty of Jedi, all the way back to their inception, who have done foolish, even bloody things, in the name of what they thought was right. Some are overly zealous in their pursuit of eradicating the dark side, some unknowingly commit war crimes, and some end up the monsters they sought to remove from the Galaxy. I don't believe your Father is a bad man, not deep down. But he has lost his way. Were I able I would talk sense into him, but I doubt I'd even be granted two minutes in a room with him right now."

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]