Young wounds on old souls (ask)

[Vorhi Alestrani]

[member="Feena Mason"]

APPROXIMATELY 1 1/2 WEEKS AFTER THE BATTLE OF DRUCKENWELL

Vorhi arrived on the doorsteps of the rather large manor--or was it a palace--as he sighed and knocked on the door. The gate was locked, but easy to hop. He had no doubt that at leas some security systems were stalking him at this point. He sighed, calmly. He looked like a ragged vagabond, without even a decent hat to his name--sneaking into OP territory wasn't easy, and being caught right now would cause him no end of trouble. He had no desire of being chains in front of Ayden Cater--the fething jerk had already started this mess, it was his beast to wrangle, now. Galaar was dead, by Calico's own hand. It was, by all accounts, a disaster. A massive, hellish disaster. Still, it wasn't his business to fight this mess. Not anymore.

Vorhi waited outside the door of the large place, waiting to see his good friend, his former ally. This would be a long discussion. Still, after this, he'd handle his largest job ever. Maybe. But first, he'd talk to his friend. They owed each other a bit of tea and discussion. Or, at least a decent explanation of all that's happened.

 

[Feena]

Feena had done well in leaving the Confederacy, Drunkenwell showed her that much. The Confederacy would have rather destroyed the planet and all those living on it, than let it fall into Protectorate control. Yes, one could argue that OP should not have been in there to begin with, but the mass murder of... what was the official count? millions? Billions? Too many. Only a handful of that managed to escape. The ones who found their way into OP territory, Feena was doing her best to help, but those that went to CIS... She had no idea. She had established Sanctuary while she was with the Confederacy, so she could only hope that after her resignation, they had not dismantled the charity organization and these poor people would have somewhere to go.

As for Feena herself, her manor was a good bit understaffed. She had sent most of her household employees off to aid those who needed it. They were still 'on the clock' and on Feenas payroll, but they could do more out there helping the refugees, than in one manor helping out a single family.

That, unfortunately, included a good bit of her security as well, leaving the Candidate for Queen very vulnerable. Naboo was very much on the edge of Protectorate space. She was taking a big personal risk, especially after all the threats she had been receiving, both from her former allies, and a few, whom she could only assume were related somehow to Ket. She'd taken it all with a smile and a wave of her hand as her security officer voiced his concern.
"Nothing to worry about," she had said, "You know you're doing something right, when you have people trying to kill you."
...Not exactly true, but Feena was looking for some way to brush it off as best she could. Truth was, this election, although she had very little in the way of opposition, was going to be hard on her, especially with her still declining health.

"Mi'Lady?"
Feena, who had been resting her eyes (just for a moment, of course) blinked and brought her attention to the security officer that had addressed her.
"Percivel? Something wrong?"
"An intruder, Lady Feenarah," Percivel explained, bringing up a holographic image that they had captured of the intruder, "We only see one so far, but I recommend you and the rest of your family head into the safe room until we've captured him and scanned the perimeter."

Feena looked closely at the holo, reached in and with a motion with both hands, focused the image on the intruders face. He was familiar... No. She knew him.

"This is no intruder," she smiled, "I know him. His name is Vorhi Alestrani, and he is a dear friend. Please, escort him in. And if you manage to find K, ask him to have tea prepared."

Percivel gave the Lady a strange look, but nodded stiffly, turned and walked away to relay her message. Feena herself, adjusted her curls, which were wrapped tightly and intricately into her headress, flattened out the wrinkles in her traditional Naboo daydress, and waited.

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Percival opened the door, welcoming the man in. The palace was clean, and he did his best to tract dirt anywhere. Desptie the fact that he'd been slipping in a crate of Atrisian Oranges the last day and a half.

Vorhi cleared his throat apologetically. "I apologize for the inconvenience of showing up unannounced, but things have been a bit difficult for traveling as of late," he said softly. "I must look like hell," he said politely. He looked at Percival. "We've met before, I think. One of the Gala's Mason threw. Ahh, those were such nicer times. How are the kids? I hope they're doing alright."
He smirked as he was brought before Feena. "Feena, it's good to see you!" he said, waving with a weak, slightly bitter smile. "I wish it were under better circumstances. Still, it is good to talk with a friend," he said , smiling sadly. "How are you?"

He smiled, but he looked like he might cry a bit. Honestly, he had been orphaned yet again. His mind was still a little rattled from Druckenwell--being that close to that much pain and suffering nearly killed his heart. He had to be cautious, while he was still recovering. Still, he had a plan. A good one. A big one.

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

Feenas security officer said nothing, didn't even look the way of the 'intruder', despite the fact, that yes, they had briefly met at one of Lady Feenarahs galas and yes, his children were doing just fine. When the door was opened to The Ladys private sitting room, the silent officer gave a quick bow and left to find the droid, K, and give the Ladys order of tea.

As for Feena, when the door opened, she was sitting on a cream colored chair next to a large window and a white door, intricately carved to resemble ivy, leading out to the balcony. Through the window, a cool breeze from off the lake, blew around the sheer white curtains. In fact, the whole room was very white. Yet Feena was a splash of color, emerald, purple, indigo. She looked better than she felt, in all honesty.
She had been on the Leviathan in medical bay when it had happened. As the illness weighed on her, her senses had dulled. Not enough. Not nearly enough. It was like a star destroyer had been flown straight through her heart. She'd come home, but not before treating... too many patients to count.

"Vorhi," she stood up, closing the book she had been reading, "You look... about as well as I could expect. Come. Sit. Get comfortable. I am about as well as you right now."

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

"You were close to it, too? You poor thing..." He nodded softly sitting slowly beside her. "I think, Feena, that the specters of the old stories have come. Death, and change, are upon everything now." He nodded softly as Percival looked intensely worried. "Fear not, Percy. I've no intention of harming anyone. Not today, at least. I may shout a bit though. Still recovering. I was...on the surface. Empathically tapped into the city to draw power from their emotions. That was a mistake on my part," he said weakly. "So, I'm a bit moody and fragile. Kind of like you when you were pregnant. Except, you know, with more screaming in the back of my skull."

"Dreaming alongside a planet as it died. What has become of us. We were supposed to lead the future. To peace and prosperity, we strove. How did it go so wrong? At what point did we inherit this madness?" He said, wringing his hands. "I'm sorry, Feena. I'm...still not altogether yet. I may...not speak as myself for a time. A lot happened, and my mind is still recuperating quite a bit. The body is fine, but the mind is twisting and bending to accept what's happened...." he drifted off as if lost for a silent bit, then nodded as the tea came. "Oh.....thank you."

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

"I was in the med bay on the Leviathan... I was right over the planets. I was treating the aftermath..."

The more he kept talking, the more Feena felt her own head slipping. She'd lost it on the Leviathan- so many dead and dying in the medical bay. She couldn't handle it. They were civillians, not soldiers. Soldiers she could handle, hard as that sounded, because soldiers elected to die for a cause. When this many civilians died it was... meaningless. None of them had elected to give up their lives. None.

The only thing that kept her together was the gift the Lord Protector had give her. Her eyes went to her desk on the opposite side of the room to the little holocron sitting there inside the case. It did calm her. She was going to be like Bethany Kismet, she was going to heal like her, or she was going to die trying. She hadn't been strong enough during Druckenwell, but she was going to be the next time.

The comment about her pregnancy made the woman wince. She wanted to say something, but he kept going, giving voice to her own dark thoughts.

"Hey, Vorhi..." she began as K arrived with the tea, set it down on the low white table and left, "Do you think there is still anything good in the Galaxy? I'm just... starting to think that I was incredibly naive."

It had bothered her since the tragedy. No matter what she was told different, Feena felt all too responsible for this incident. After all, with all the years she spent with th Confederacy, she had raised it up, made them powerful. Hadn't she helped to give them the ability to do this? Had the Confederacy always been this way?

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Vorhi debated how to answer that question severely was there still good. Was there still good in this forsaken mess? He focused for a brief moment, the silence fillign the room as he sighed. "Yes, Feena. We may have failed to keep justice and peace within the Confederacy, but there is still good within this galaxy. Good and evil are not destructible, anymore than what we see is anything other than a mix of light and shadow, and that defines the world before us," he said, putting on his calm, teacher's tone.

"In truth, Feena, the very fact you can ask that question is a sign of hope. And when all else is gone, hope can be the greatest good available. Hope is, in fact, the only reason i was able to save any on Druckenwell, small number though it may be," he said with a nod. "And it's hope that brought me here--and hope that causes me to leave the CIS. Hope that, without the old remnants of the past, they can find their own way in the galaxy."

He smiled warmly as he noticed the holocron. "Hope...is a strong thing. Working to live up to our hopes, and our dreams, is likely the best way to make things better, across many worlds. So, then, answer me, she who would be queen, she who would contend for power over a whole world: What is your hope? What is it you truly aim to do? I belive I already know the answer, but I'd like to hear it out loud."

 

[Feena]

He took so long to answer, and when he finally did, Feena wasn't sure how she was supposed to take that answer. He did believe that it was still worth it, the struggle. And the mix of dark and light. And... He left the CIS? Well, honestly, Feena had expected it, after this. Were she still with them during this, she would have left too.

"I aim to clean up this mess," she answered without hesitation, "I aim to heal. And I hope that in some small way, I can do something to make this a better Galaxy to live in."

She looked over at her desk again, from the holocron, to her campaign poster laying out on the surface.

"I will start with Naboo."

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Vorhi laughed a little, then smiled, and clapped. "Sorry about that," he rasped out after a bit, smiling cheesily. "It's been a while since I've had something to be happy about, and it's good to know that despite how the galaxy has shifted around us, that you are still as strong as ever," he said with a nod. "It does good to hear you speak with conviction. I do not know the future--my sight isn't that good, to be honest. But, I know that your earnest conviction will win over others like myself, who hunger for a better galaxy..." He said, again smiling. He was experiencing actual, genuine happiness, and his own happiness, not some pieces of some ghost on Druckenwell. It was nice.

His tone became resolved itself. "I too, think that we still have something to offer this galaxy. The CIS has rejected our gifts, but, well, there's plenty of other spaces to wander. I've grown a bit tired of governance, myself. I aspire to a slightly...wilder fate," he said, removing a small pack from his back as he nodded, sipping a bit of tea. He proceeded to lay out a few ragged texts on parchments and silks across the table. "It's old Palawan, from the Shena Era. Written in the years shortly after the fall of the Galactic Empire. It's a historical tapestry of the Seala Kasi--the Hidden Fist of Bonduki legends. It speaks of an old order, practiced in secret, acting as protectors of justice," he said softly.

"Even in the midst of the Empire's tyranny, there were those who fought from the shadows--using the methods I myself have trained for so long. Perhaps, it is possible to find more of this organization--and maybe, perhaps, even rebuild it," he said with a smile. "No governments. No Generals. No wars to distract us from the cause. Just, a simple ideal: Protect the weak with your own strength. Childish, but then again, it's not as if we adults have become so great at mastering it all. Maybe, that naivete will be our power in times of struggle. Maybe believing it's possible to do the right thing," he said, "will actually force it to be a possible outcome."

He leaned back, looking at her. "You wish to heal the wounds to this galaxy. I wish to stop further injury to its people. Funny, how goals align at times."

 

[Feena]

His laughter was almost infectious. Feena hadn't felt this joy for a long time. She watched with interest and wonder as he started unpacking history itself onto her tea table. As he spoke, she carefully reached out, gently touching the corner of one of the pieces of parchment. They could do this. They really could. Feena had the resources, and Vorhi had the knowledge.

"I pick up the pieces, and you stop them from falling in the first place..."

The finger that had been stroking the parchment stopped suddenly. She didn't need to hear any more.

"Vorhi, I can think of no better cause. You have my support in this."

Feena was all in.

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Vohri nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. Between the two of us, there might enough strength to make this galaxy a touch better," he said with a nod. "I'll aid you as well. You've actually got the sanity to run things well, after all." He smiled playfully. "Since you're now enlisted to my mad, optimistic ideals, I'm going to have to ask a small favor. I need a lift to Roon, to gather what's left of my work, and resign properly. And get my ship back," he mused thoughtfully. "I've been hitch-hiking about for the last few days. Looking at the way the Protectorate does things. it's been tricky to stay under the holo-feeds, but I have."

 

[Feena]

When he mentioned this 'small favor', Feena just about choked.

"Roon? You mean, you want me to return to Confederacy space?"

She looked... terrified of that idea.

"You honestly don't know, do you?" she asked slowly, "What they'll do if they find me?"

It was bad enough when Vorhi had to rescue her the last time. Now it wasn't just one man after her head. It was an entire military.


[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Vorhi shook his head. "I said I need a ride, not you to do the driving." He sighed a little. "I just need a ship and a pilot droid. I'll handle the rest."

"Don't panic. After all that's gone down, I'm probably risking my neck by talking with Salem about all this. But, well, it's necessary. Either that, or they end up hunting for me for years on end, and well....that's a rather difficult situation," he said calmly. "I can't expect it will end easily. But, I can't avoid it, one way or another," he said with a quiet nod. "We must all find our truth, and mine is in Roon. Even," he said with a bit of brokenness to his voice, "if it means sticking my neck out."

 

[Feena]

Feena was silent. There was no way she could send him there alone. Not that she didn't trust him but...

"...I have a ship," she said with a long sigh, "And a pilot. I will ask Keter if he will go with you. He was never involved with the Confederacy. He is officially neutral in the entire situation. It's possible that he could get you in a lot easier by posing as a merchant."

In a way, she was kind of doing them both a favor. Keter was going mad here. He missed adventure. Feena had done him a great disservice agreeing to marry him, and this was a small way to make amends for it.

Even if the idea of letting him go into danger scared her half to death.

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Vorhi considered this statement. Keter. On a road trip. Seemed like a loose cannon, but then again, so was he. He nodded slightly. "I feel as though a bodyguard seems a bit much, especially with Keter's skillset. But I suppose a little caution won't hurt." He sipped some of the tea and smiled. "First, though, if you don't mind lending me a guest room, I'd like to sleep."

He shrugged. "Sorry if it's sounds a tad imposing, it's just, well, I've been on the road a bit now, and I think I really need to steel myself for what comes next. That means having a meal, and a good night's sleep, and hopefully, one less massive headache," he said softly. "I'm really getting a little too old for punching trains and saving cities, I think," he said with a laugh. "Where are my manners? I forgot to ask, how are the little ones doing?"

[member="Feena Mason"]

 

[Feena]

Feena listened, shrugging at his comment about Keters skillset. She had no words to say why she wanted him to go. No need to explain why she wanted some touch of adventure for him. At least, not words she was willing to say out loud.

"Guest room? Ah, yes. Certainly. You are welcome here any time. Consider my home, your home."

Normally, she meant that as just a polite offer, but for Vorhi, she meant it entirely.

"The children are well. Celeste is growing by the day, as expected. And Felicity has been accepted into the Royal House of Learning, The most prestigious school on the planet," she answered, obviously proud, "She will be leaving to continue her education there in a month, just after the election ends."

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

[member="Feena Mason"]

Vorhi smirked at Feena's words. "You may come to regret that, once this blind fool finds the ktichen," he said with a laugh. "But I do genuinely appreciate the hospitality. It's good to know I still have friends, even after this well, let's leave at the word 'disaster' for now," he said with a laugh. "But, I've never been one to let things end."

He nodded and smiled at Feena's mention of her children. "That's good to hear. Should Felicity--or Celeste, as she gets older--ever want help on historical studies, let me know. I'm always happy to teach a student new things. I think one of my books is in the Royal Academy Library still. The Collected Reliquaries of Bonduki: A Primer. Not my best work, but it's very readable, so it's used by school teachers often as approachable content." He chuckled. "But yes, I guess Keter can join me on the way to Roon. After that, I'll be sure to contact you soon enough. Let you know I'm well and such. But, there will be a good bit of travel involved for me, for the time being. I need to finish collecting resources, and gathering candidates."

He nodded. He had tried nation-building. He was bad at it. But, he was very, very good at other things. Leading, fighting, drinking, dancing, and the occasional subtle manipulation. But now, he was going to take on the galaxy. As a fool.

 

[Feena]

Feena finished her first cup of tea, but waited for her guest to finish his before pouring herself another cup. It was only polite.

"I have... one small favor to ask of you," she said, looking a little sad, "If you can manage it, would you try to return in time for the election? I would like to be surrounded by friends and family when it comes time to hear the poll results."

It was a simple request, and honestly, it was just a ploy to get him to come back and visit her. A convenient excuse at least.

[member="Vorhi Alestrani"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Vorhi looked over at Feena, and sighed a little. "You could just admit you're checking up on me, and save us the pretense," he said with a laugh. "I'd roll my eyes if I had them. I'll try to visit as soon as I can. Hopefully I will beat the polls in timing," he said with a nod. "After all, I can't let you and Keter keep all the good champagne on this planet to yourselves," he said with a snicker.

Now he was just teasing her. But hey, what were friends for, if they couldn't trade a jab or two?