Private Young and Proud

[Xian Xiao]

Xian was far from feral, but she didn't think she was high society, not after spending so many years on Coruscant and then on her own on Castell. Then she had met Diarch Rellik, and he had brought her to Bastion. Here she had been given her own space and a place to call her own. She had also started rubbing shoulders with some of the Diarchy's workers and found she liked them a lot. What she still hadn't figured out was where she belonged in this mix of things.

So she decided to go for a bit of a walkabout. Where she walked about, she wasn't sure. No matter where it was, it wasn't on Bastion and maybe not even Diarchy territory. As Rellik had said, though, she was free to come and go as she wanted. Xian had every intention of returning, but she also had some thinking to do.

Public transport took her and she sat alone. Staring at the other passengers, she silently wondered where their lives were going. Had they found their place? What would it take for her to find hers? Resting her chin on her hands, she felt a person find a spot next to her, and she turned to face whoever it was.

Kyric

 

[Kyric]

Hushed conversations were shared quietly throughout the civilian transport ship as it passed through unknown skies. Kyric peered down at the planet below to see the vast ocean and lush green earth. Other ships flew alongside them in a wide sky lane. An explosion of color covered each of the ships alongside broad advertisements for different resorts once visited by famous dignitaries, celebrities, and even Jedi. Few planets far north of the Core boasted such things, which led the kiffar to suspect he was on Ord Cantrell.

“What the feth am I doin’ here?” Kyric mumbled. He shifted his attention from the sky lanes to the other passengers.

Many of them carried suitcases and other paraphernalia that at least confirmed Kyric’s theory of a vacation planet. He sighed inwardly, dropping his head to thunk weakly against the vertical bar he gripped to keep his footing.

You’d think these bastards could afford a little more seating.

Whether by luck or by the good graces of the Force, Kyric noticed one of the passengers nearby get up and move for the exit in preparation to depart. The kiffar did a quick scan of his surroundings to ensure a senior citizen or something didn’t need the seat. Confident he was in the clear, Kyric slid into the seat on Xian’s left.

“Pardon me, ma’am,” Kyric dipped his head in greeting. “I was figurin’ you wouldn’t mind if I snagged this here seat.” He wore an easy smile.

If not for the brutal scar running through where Kyric’s right eye should’ve been, the young man may have appeared quite cheerful. Instead, the gnarly wound, when combined with his unkempt hair, bruised arms, and tattered clothes gave off the impression of someone who’d definitely seen better days.

Probably back when he had two eyes.

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Tags: Xian Xiao

 

[Xian Xiao]

"I don't mind at all. A bit of company and conversation woul..."

Turning to look at him, his scar stopped whatever she was going to say. Any troubles she thought she was having paled in comparison to what this young man had been through.

"What happened? I'm Xian."

Recovering as quickly as she could, her eyes kept staring at the scar.

"I'm sorry."

She hadn't even noticed his arms or clothes.

 

[Kyric]

Unwilling to show even the slightest discomfort at Xian's staring, Kyric maintained his smile. It wasn't the first time his visage garnered such a reaction. In fact, most who glanced his way couldn't mask the emotion elicited at seeing a young man in his state. Such wounds were commonplace among career criminals and military veterans. Not a kid barely past his twentieth life day.

"S'all good, miss Xian," Kyric assured her with a wave. "You can call me Kyric." He ran a hand up through his hair, pushing back dark brown tresses to reveal the scar in full.

It ran from an inch below his hairline to the lower half of his cheek.

"I got this ol' thing two years back on Coruscant, when a Sith Lord launched an attack on the planet with the intention to destroy it. Thankfully, the good guys won and the bad guys were sent packin' but uh..." He paused at that. His gloved hand rose to his face where he gently traced the wound with his finger.

A flash of crimson as fresh as the day Kyric lost his eye played out in his head.

"One of their objectives in the battle involved kidnappin' me and draggin' me back to their master. I got away, but I lost my eye in the process. And I haven't seen someone who was real close with my old man since then, either."

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Tags: Xian Xiao

 

[Xian Xiao]

Giving him a nod when he accepted her apology, and he introduced himself, she looked at the scar further as he showed it to her. She was happy he didn't seem offended or bothered by her reaction. It didn't matter what his age was to her; she probably would have reacted the same way to an older person.

"Nice to meet you, Kyric."

She shyly smiled. More embarrassed by how she'd acted. Drawing in a quick breath through her nose as he answered, he did it with a lighthearted sense, but she felt it was heavy.

"I grew up on Coruscant. I guess I'm glad it wasn't destroyed. Nothing good came from there for me."

Listening calmly, she looked past the scar and at the young man under it. He looked to be about her age, maybe a little older, but Xian was okay with that.

"Your old man?"

Her parents had died when she was a toddler, and she hadn't had any older figure to look up to.

Kyric

 

[Kyric]

"I grew up on Coruscant. I guess I'm glad it wasn't destroyed. Nothing good came from there for me."

Listening calmly, she looked past the scar and at the young man under it. He looked to be about her age, maybe a little older, but Xian was okay with that.

"Your old man?"

Kyric nodded. "Yes ma'am. He was a Jedi, like me." He pointed at himself with his thumb and beamed; his broad smile reminiscent of a child in a candy store. "He gave his life to defeat Darth Solipsis on Tython even further back." Again Kyric maintained his smile, but the weight behind his words grew heavier.

The kiffar clearly held his father in the highest regard and no part of him appeared angry as he discussed the circumstances of the late Ryv Karis' death. Yet, Kyric abandoned the eye contact he so confidently held before. His remaining eye drifted past Xian to a distant point only he could see, where he replayed the fated clash between the two Masters of the Force in perfect clarity.

A blood-hued blade carved through Ryv's chest and melted both heart and lung. The silver songsteel of Cotan's force-imbued sword sliced the Sith Lord's head clean from his shoulders—neither man so much as flinched in the face of death.

Kyric visibly winced and he shook his head quickly. "Sorry I- er," he scratched faintly at the scar again. "I get lost in thought sometimes."

That was an understatement.

"Coruscant is Coruscant," Kyric shrugged. "I prefer Denon, if I'm bein' honest. It's where I spent most of my life." He reached down to his belt and withdrew a large roll of medical wrapping, which he used to cover up his scar-covered arms and bare feet. "Where you livin' now if you're not much for Galactic City?"

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Tags: Xian Xiao

 

[Xian Xiao]

When he said both he and his father were Jedi, Xian curled her lip slightly but was quiet. While she had asked for clarification about his father, she hadn't expected to hear that word. She had given several years of her life to them, had her hopes raised about being trained, only to be let down. So she had left them and turned her back on them as they had done that to her.

As he started staring past her shoulder, she thought about turning to see what he was looking at. Then it dawned on her that he wasn't looking at anything she would be able to see. Maybe some Force vision had his attention, and Xian did not interrupt whatever was happening.

Eventually, he returned from his thoughts and apologized. He might not have seen her sneer, and it was gone from her expression.

"They're bad, aren't they? Your thoughts."

Kyric

 

[Kyric]

"S'ppose you could say that, yeah," Kyric admitted with a weak shrug. "I've got a perfect memory. I can recall anything I've seen as if it were standin' right in front of me. Most folks hear that and they immediately jump to the benefits."

Kyric shook his head faintly, his lips curling back into a sneer that didn't quite fit the kiffar's face. More images raced indiscriminately through his mind. He took a slow, deliberate breath, and closed his eye.

"I spend most days in a meditative haze, if I'm bein' honest. Whenever I ain't workin', anyway." Kyric finished tying off the last of the bandaging and slipped the remainder of the roll back into a pouch at his belt. Now more mummy-like than Jedi, he began to absentmindedly pick at the cloth.

"Not that I'm the secretive type, but is there a reason yer askin'? Yer not an assassin sent by Solipsis, are ye?"

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Tags: Xian Xiao

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian didn't think it would be a good thing to remember everything that happened. At times, it would be nice to remember some things. Like her parents, she didn't remember them but wanted to. How the Jedi treated her, she would rather forget. Listening to Kyric, she shook her head with a bit of sorrow.

"I don't think that's a good thing, Kyric. I certainly do not want to remember everything. What are the benefits? I like the thought of you remembering me.

"What work do you do?"

He was young like she was, and her only job had been as a waitress at a diner. It hadn't paid much, but it kept her fed, clothed, and a roof over her head. What more could she have wanted then? Now, she knew that wasn't her path, and Diarch Rellik had offered her a new one.

Shaking her head with quite firm motions, she didn't even know who that person was.

"No. I'm curious. I don't know who Solipsis is. Who were they?"

Kyric

 

[Kyric]

"Hrm," Kyric leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms. His face creased in concentration. "Well, I don't forget folks' Life Days. And I've never lost anythin' like my key-card or commlink. I'll never forget the face of my family, neither. Which is probably my favorite thing about it."

He peered back at Xian and gave her a thumbs up. "I won't forget you. But it probably be easier to keep in touch if you want my communication code."

Kyric dug out his a handheld holoprojector and offered it to Xian to scan said codes. The device was a sleeker design than the traditional round and clunky donuts used in ages past.

"As for work? My pa met a lot of good people while he was alive. Anything from FUs to NFUs, Imps, Pubs, and even a few dark siders he could get along with. They'll occasionally contact him lookin' for help. Since he ain't around no more, I try to fill the gap to the best of my ability."

It was evident from the faint droop in Kyric's smile that he struggled to view himself as half the man his father was. Any comparison the kiffar made brought about a flash of melancholy he readily buried.

Xian's inability to recognize Solipsis earned her a smile from the young Jedi.

"He's the prick who killed my pa. Well, they killed each other, really. Heroic Jedi sacrifice and the like." Kyric waved a hand in an effort to push that can of worms out of mind. "He's been huntin' me for the better part of three years after comin' back to life. I'm thinkin' the old Darth wants to make me his apprentice."

Strangely, Kyric overshared with little concern for the content.

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Tags: Xian Xiao

 

[Xian Xiao]

The teen was pleased when Kyric answered her questions readily. It made her feel heard, and she appreciated that. Smiling to herself more when he handed her his holoprojector to get her contact information, she gave him hers at the same time. This way, they would be able to chat again after the trip.

"So you're following in your father's steps? You're a Jedi like he was. I suppose that means you'll die like him. At the end of a sword of some Darth."

Wrinkling her nose at his heroic Jedi comment, she lowered her eyebrows a moment later when he mentioned that Darth had come back to life. The workings of the Force were still quite a mystery to Xian, and she didn't understand nearly as much as she should have.

"Why?"

The conversation didn't seem to bother Xian much, but she did have some sympathy for him because his father had died.

Kyric

 

[Kyric]

Kyric took her offered holoprojector and programmed his communication code within.

"It's the opposite, really. At least, I'm hopin' that to be the case," Kyric answered truthfully. "My father's last words to me were to be nothin' like him. I'm thinkin' he wanted me to walk my own path—be my own man."

He scratched weakly at his scarred eye-socket. The gesture had quickly become a bad habit after he lost the damn thing and no amount of effort could break it.

"I will say; I do think its a Jedi's duty to lay down their life in the preservation of life. Maybe its idealistic, or silly, or even dumb to you, but this power ain't for nothin'." Kyric lowered his hand from his face and lazily flicked his wrist. Xian's holodevice floated directly to her lap and plopped down softly on her thighs. "Lots of folks are chasin' some grand power for power's sake. And that ain't right at all."

The kiffar slipped his holoprojector back under his poncho and continued. "If you ain't fightin' for nothin' all that strength don't mean a lick. What happens when someone with nothin' to lose has the power to take everythin' they want?"

He paused to provide Xian ample time to genuinely consider his question. Everything from his soft tone to the gentle look in his good eye bled with sincerity.

"From my experience? Nothin' good."

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Tags: Xian Xiao

 

[Xian Xiao]

"I don't think you're doing a very good job of being the opposite if your body is any indication."

With a slight wave, she motioned from his face to his arms. She could only imagine what his torso looked like. Listening to what he had to say, Xian nodded as she comprehended what he meant. Catching the holoprojector before it fell off her lap, she put it back into her pocket with a thankful smile.

"It's not dumb, but I don't think I could die for another person."

Not yet anyway. Maybe it never would happen. Time would tell, and Xian just considered what he said.

"I technically don't have anything to lose, but you don't have to worry about me going maniac and wanting to murder people. That is not my nature. You're right, though. Normally, nothing good. People can change."

In both directions.

Kyric

 

[Kyric]

Kyric chuckled softly at Xian's initial response. It was difficult to argue with her assessment at a surface level; he did look the part of a Jedi Knight with one foot planted firmly in the grave. But there was much more to the story than a star-crossed youth chasing the Legacy of his legendary father.

"I wish I could say everythin' that happened to me was my fault," he admitted with a stony expression. "There are bad folks out there huntin' me down. And from my experience, they'd of come after me one way or another. I suppose I'm sayin' I'd rather be prepared than not."

He shifted a bit in his seat like it had suddenly become uncomfortable. His gaze jumped back and forth between Xian and the back of the seat in front of him.

"I'm fer thinkin' its better folks don't feel the need to die willy-nilly. I mean, someone's gotta stick around to rebuild when all is said and done, right? The galaxy needs teachers and doctors more than it'll ever need the likes of me." Kyric leaned back again and lifted his hands to his head. He interlocked his fingers and stared up at the ceiling of the shuttle, continuously fidgeting as he worked through his thoughts.

"You don't strike me as the crazy killin' type, no. But I'm curious, what are you doin' to fix that lil' problem of yer's? Havin' nothin', I mean. That sounds perty lonely to me."

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Tags: Xian Xiao

 

[Xian Xiao]

Giving Kyric a sympathetic smile, she nodded. Being prepared was better than not; he had a point. Something she would remember if she ever made an enemy. He seemed to have inherited his troubles. Xian was thankful that it hadn't happened to her and wondered if there was anything she could do to help him. Keeping that to herself, she didn't feel it was right to try to take on his burden...yet.

Leaning back, she considered his words and then his question. Crossing her legs, she also shifted position, and it appeared that both of them might be a little uncomfortable. She didn't say anything about it, though, and didn't notice his discomfort.

"A person in the Diarchy reached out to me and has taken me under his wing. So I suppose I'm not entirely with nothing. He welcomed me to Bastion, gave me a roof over my head, and food to eat. I'm not leaving him, I just wanted to stretch my legs a little. So here I am."

She didn't have any friends within the Diarchy, though, so it was rather lonely. Not saying that out loud, she didn't want to appear weak to Kyric.

Kyric