Private Familiar Connections Pt 2

[Kyra Perl]

Crack.

Her fist collided with his nose. Cartilage and knuckles alike were displaced, the force imbued strength far too misjudged and misused by the ill-practiced padawan. She didn't care. Through the pain- she didn't care! All these years, not a word. How dare he!

A massive telekinetic shove reverberated from her body, giving him no reprieve. It sent her flying back in turn, her body slamming into her chair. She didn't care- lips contorted, tears falling. "You spend time with my sisters!"

A statement only true because they had left the nest and stepped into the field. Didn't matter. He was hers.

A cry of heartbreak pulled from her lips, something cracking inside of her. The pain she had endured from Kintan-- Velmor-- Kessel. They all made sense. Evil was evil. You don't expect more. But your father? She gestured for the control panel above him, a yank of the force trying to rip it from its brackets and send it down on him. Her eyes were already on the escape pod.

Kyra was a touch brash like that.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Coren had some danger sense, and with her being in this mindset, he wasn’t going to do a damned thing about it. He let it happen. What he didn’t see was the telekinetic push from behind it. That caught him by surprise and went flying back against one of the navigation control panels, a few lights flickered and in the depths of the YT-2000 Porter squealed out and corrected whatever he messed up. It wasn’t his time to worry about that.

It was his time to worry about her. “I didn’t know! Not for certain. I’m sorry!” It was not the time to explain that Yula was well known in the OPA and was always willing to join him for a scrap. If he knew that he had any stake in any of the Perl girls, he would have shoved her in a locked hangar and left her until the fighting was over. He stood there, watching the younger Perl. As he felt her reaching for part of the ship, that was when he intervened.

Tutaminis, a gift they both shared. He pulled the Force around him, and like a lightning rod, was pulling the energy towards himself. “Kyra…” He said, even his voice was cracking.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra gasped as he pulled the energy away from her, fatigue visibly hitting her. Shoulders slumped, she turned to the one thing she had gotten a reaction out of him over and manifested an inferno of fire in her hands.

Oooo, look Josh Dragovalor . She finally did it.

Yeah... he probably didn't intend for her to summon it through anger though, the risk evident as it flared in response to her words. "You. Said. Nothing!" She cried out, tossing the firey ball of nope at the control panel. He should have said something. The accusation rang clear through her, the pain evident. Her outlash might surprise most, but to her master... he would have seen this coming.

Coren was left with no context for the depth of her reaction, her fit unbecoming for a jedi of any rank.

Fine then. No one gets nice things.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Jedi Master did not want to do that, but if she broke the ship? Then he’d have to repair it, oh yeah, on top of the chance of them exploding in hyperspace being left across seven systems. And the fact that she was reaching from an emotional place. He didn’t need his daughter going dark because he finally came to light.

Reaching a hand forward, he was hating to do this, but she was on a slope, the punch was one thing, the Force use in this state? That was something else. A deep breath, a calming breath and he reached forward. Fire, in a starship? Not the best decision. And he was hoping to continue with the tutaminis, reaching for the fire before it hit the control panels. That was not a power he was too familiar with, but as he pulled on the energy, he could feel his own reserves growing and as he pulled the Force to him from his daughter’s tantrum, he gentle pushed it out, trying to wrap her in the Force.

In a part of the Force that would feel more like a snug blanket, a calming sensation to cover her, to remove the anger and heat from her. He did not want to stun her with the Force but if this didn’t work, he may have to. It was healing energy, something he learned from his wife.

“I did not know, Kyra. Please.” His voice showed his true emotions, calm, collected, apologetic. But most of what she would feel is sadness, and love.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

A cry of protest hit Kyra as he stole the fire ball from her too. Really no fair! That had taken months to manage! Once more, she seemed to wilt as he pulled the energy from her to him. Almost as if she was ignoring the force around her all together and drawing from herself? Yeah. Whoops. "Stop it," she protested, her voice hitting more of a whine. Tantrums had always worked for her before, it was a bit counter productive to be disarmed at every turn.

Before she could utter another word of complaint, the force wrapped around her, snuffing her anger out. It worked with a speed and ease that might shock him. Indeed, his suspicious were correct. She was empathic, The calming wave was a tactic often used on her recently to help her find the quiet inside her mind, and here it was no different-- pushing through her senses with utter ease.

Kyra had no mental defense when it came to this.

Her hands dropped, a hitching nose catching in her chest as her sobs.... slowly left her. She stood there a sniffling mess, trying to remember that anger inside her. But it did not obey and she was left to stare limply at the floor. Without her anger, she discovered the loss creeping through her. She could have had a father. All this time.

And there was no getting that potential back. It was honestly the most devastating part of this all.

"....Do you even want me?" She finally asked, unapologetic for all that had occurred before.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

There would be no fireballs in his ship. No, that was a way to eat up atmosphere and to explode the vessel. He didn’t need that. What he needed was her calm. He needed to show her that he wanted to be there, he knew he had time to make up for, but it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t going to be easy. She was pulling the Force from within, and he was seeing that. Something she’d have to learn to not do, Starchasers had terribly small reserves. It was why when he fought alongside Romi, or other Jedi, he fought better than alone. He used their reserves, and helped amplify them from within. The battlemeld they had used on more than one occasion allowed him to fight stronger.

“I’m here now. I’m not going to stop.” He looked at her as he expelled the energy he pulled from her, wrapping her, not restricting but in a calming wave. No part of what he was doing was binding her, it was gentle, but designed to work like a balm, to take the burn away. To smooth the edge she found herself having.

“I don’t want to be the cause you reach out to anger in the Force. It… you know your lessons.” He muttered. That wasn’t the point of this.

When she spoke next, that line broke his heart. He nodded. “As long as you’ll have me.” He stood there, lax, but watching her. Watching his daughter.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra's body swayed back and forth, numb under a haze that descended over her.

She had taken this trip in an attempt to reconnect with her family. Years at an academy with only a holiday visit had had its toll on the youngest, and the clingest, Perl.

When she had been taken in by the Sith cult, she had been systematically broken down. She could still hear their voice in her mind. Acaadi's screams of pain still crept up and echoed through the corners of the rooms around her. She felt stretched thin. Disconnected from those that mattered-- hopeless on her path as a jedi.

And now rejected by a father, who spent 17 years investing in the galaxy instead of his own flesh and blood.

She open and closed her broken hand, Coren's words lost to her as the ship grew blurry. The smell of smoke touched her nose, reminding her of what she had done. The sith would have liked to see that.

She turned her chin away, shame mixing in with the already confusing hash of emotions. With no words, she ran from him. She ran to her room. Those words took on a new meaning, one she wasn't sure she liked anymore.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The thoughts on his mind were different than the ones he was expecting. There is a part of Coren that, not too long ago, in finding out he had a child would do one of two things, run, or push her to their limits, to see how the Force favored them, and where. But here? He just wanted to fix this, to help her. To let her know he knew he was wrong and was going to spend the time, and energy to fix it. He’d have to let Celeste know, of course, but this was going to be
a long road. He didn’t know her baggage, but he wanted to help her.

Still, somehow, Coren messed this up, by keeping quiet? By speaking? Both? Watching her, he wanted to go and hug her, but he didn’t think that would do well, she’d have to come to him. And with that, he let her run past him, to her room. Which, well, it seemed to be the most appropriate
use of it, even if prior to returning to the galaxy, he had used that room to hold Jedi artifacts. He must have cleaned it fully. If not it was just holocrons. Ones he found from an ancient Starchaser.

He stepped after her a few moments later. “Porter, keep us on course. Lock the escape pod.” He said as he stepped towards the main chamber of the Tachyon Rising. Taking a mat out, he placed it on the floor, not far from her door. A necklace that he wore, with a kyber crystal in it was removed, placed on the ground next to his lightsaber, and another crystal, a Starchaser’s Light, a crystal his apprentice had shaped out of a Starburst. He reached to these items, to the
nature of hyperspace and to Kyra. She would have to understand what had happened, if he could store his thoughts and his feelings into the crystal, that would, rightfully be hers… Well, maybe that could start to repair this.

He was not going to knock, he’d let her come out, but she would definitely feel him in the Force.

 

[Kyra Perl]

He'd be left waiting a long time, the stubbornness of the upset star-perl well inherited from both parents. Kyra was young-- emotionally stunted from her years spent living with no empathic training in the hearts of those around her. She knew emotion, but not reason. It was hard to reconcile how she felt with his words.

The had both been so hopeful. Tentative, yet yearning when the news came out. She had felt it, she knew he cared. But she couldn't match it to years of his absence. Or his excuse of war. How could anything matter more than your daughter? How could he not follow the hunch, however small, when he received it?

Why wasn't she more important than his work?

She knew of what he did. She had seen him at Silver Rest-- learned about his deeds in classes meant to prepare her. He was a war hero-- her father was... was something she strives for. But all his accomplishments tarnished and fell to ash on her tongue as she shed her private tears. None of that mattered to her.

I was saving the galaxy, wasn't good enough for her.

Time wore on her, along with his presence. It was hard to hate someone that lingered on the edge of her conscious. Especially when he was so calm. So apologetic. So damn ready to be there.

He'd feel the shift slowly come over her. What the young Perl lacked in pheromones, she made up for in a small aura of emotions around her. It was a weird twist to her zeltron heritage. It was an unconscious adjustment she had made when very young, but unlike with pheromones, she could quickly leave the air angry or otherwise compromised. It was why Caedyn strove so hard to help her ... and why her position at Silver Rest had once grown tedious...

Coren was subjected to the same strange sensation of pain floating through the force... its presence lessening... then dissipated altogether as the padawan recovered from the event. And still, he was out there.

Kyra moved numbly to the door, a pouting mess of tear stains as it swished open and she looked down on him. She said nothing, waiting for the answer that would either respark her anger, or bridge the moment to something more... amicable.

'Why' was he here still.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He kept himself centered, kept the Force flowing. It was healing, it was soft and gentle, a whisper in the wind, a drop in the ocean. One more star in the galaxy. He was making his presence known but not pushing anything to her. The Jedi Master was betting that she’d at least need to use the refresher and no use a corner of the room. He hoped. He was pushing his energy into the crystal, the one in his necklace, the one on the floor, the one for Kyra, and pulling on his connection to his wife.

She was always more mellow than him, and he needed that. He was tempted to reach out to Joza, but he wasn’t sure that was the brightest idea at the moment. Did she know? A part of him did reach out to the Zeltron. She was a friend, a comrade, someone who was an equal part of this. He didn’t push any thought, but the thought of the three of them, Joza, Coren, Kyra. Wouldshe respond? He was unsure.

As the door wooshed open, the space-dressed Jedi looked up. A mat beneath his knees, his weapon and the other items, floating, almost glowing with the lightside. He was centering himself, and his eyes opened as the door wooshed, the items before him slowly touching the platform.

Why.

That was the question.

“Because I’d have been a terrible father. Because this was how I could protect you. I wouldn’t risk it if I wasn’t certain. I’ve lost many to the war.” His voice even until the word lost, which cracked.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra watched him, more influenced by the calm he put out into the force than he could know. It was the final thing to tip the scales, the girl gripping the door jam and sliding down it. She crossed her legs, sitting vaguely across from him, the distance between them left untouched.

She knew war. Or at least. She thought she did.

In truth she had barely tasted the life she had chosen to embark upon, but it was enough for the first bridge of understanding to be breached. She stared at him, this supposed father, and tried to decide if she was okay with all this or not. ... Was it wrong to say 'not'? It just hurt so bad, the concept of him too big to swallow.

She shifted uncomfortably and looked down at her hand, her knuckles already swelling from the break. She had used force strength, but not force body, to punch his nose. A rookie mistake. She close her eyes and let her breath fall from her, the strangest sensation of Caedyn Arenais at her shoulder encouraging her to breath. The muscles loosened, the padawan ignorant to her master's aid.

She looked up at him then, blue gaze reproachful.

"...And now?" She finally asked. What was different. How could she trust him at all.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Calm, his tanned skin and dark hair contrasting from his bright blue eyes as he watched his daughter. He was remaining calm for himself, to try to keep as stoic as he could when discussing the past. Smiling as she seemed to slide down the jam, he watched her take a meditative form, and tried to keep a non-patronizing smile. It wasn’t like he’d ignore her during this.

People knew war, wars were all around, from smaller ones, to wars on galactic proportions. He even made sure Jared and Kaia were tasked with something that kept them away from the fronts. What he wanted for the younger generation was to be safe, protected, kept away from the war. He may not be the Sword of the Jedi, but he was definitely a blade of the Jedi, a shield, and a battering ram. If he could keep the darkness focused on him, he figured, it wouldn’t be on anyone else.

It was wrong to assume that.

He couldn’t do it on his own. Not that, but this? Connecting with her? He felt he could do this on his own. As she looked and questioned, he reached forward, taking the hand that had hit him. Closing his eyes he brought the Force forward, lightly glowing as he was doing what he realized was one of the ultimate uses of the light side, giving part of yourself for another, no matter how small, to heal her hand.

“That depends on you. I’m bringing you to Terminus.” His voice was calm. “You can decide before we arrive if I am worthy of a chance, or you can decide if I’m not. And if you change your
mind? That is well within your rights.”

 

[Kyra Perl]

He reached out. She pulled back. For a moment she stared at him, her gaze intense as she fought with the small decision to accept his aid, or not. Her hand slowly lowered into his own, the girl watching him warily. Warmth flooded the limb, gentling and healing as the injury began to knit itself back up. She tried to not peek. She tried to not be nosy.

She didn't care, right?

She watched his aura grow around them, focusing on him. In her mind's eye, pieces of his past glimmered and flickered by too quickly to decipher. She frowned, realizing people were much harder to read than objects.

...At least he wasn't a sith? What a troupe that would be.

"How long until we arrive?" She finally asked, playing her cards close to her chest. She was wary of getting hurt, or being left disappointed. As much as she was excited to finally have this moment, she realized belatedly how much power this stranger had over her. Just by existing, he affected her. A simple word-- a gesture-- it was all it took to send her on a roller coaster of emotions.

No wonder why Yula hated dads so much. Kyra got it now.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Watching his daughter, if he was going to be able to call her that, he wasn’t sure at the moment, reach away from him, he nodded. It was to be expected. But it still hurt. He wasn’t sure why. This was a 17 year old girl, who he hadn’t known, but he could feel the similarities in the Force, feel so much about her. The connection was fast, and he felt warmth and love towards her. Still, as he held her hair, he pushed those feelings into the healing capabilities and was doing his best to try to mend whatever else he could find. He knew that heartbreak and the mind were fragile things, but if he could fix any other injuries, he would.

Or provide an understanding to… what was that… He knew he felt some dark side before, but it was... He was going to pass it by for now. She wasn’t dark, but that would be something to work on. He’d have to check with Caedyn. He may be a kid, but he was an Arenais, and Starchaser would place his life in his hands. Maybe it wasn’t chance he took Kyra on as a student?

Another deep breath as he let the extra Force energy bleed out into the ship around them, some of the artifacts he didn’t unload on Kashyyyk, holocrons… he could feel a connection with some of the items. “A few hours. If you want to talk, we can do that, if you want to hit me again, you can do that.” He cracked a grin at the young Perl. And spoke in a more serious tone. “I know I can’t atone for being absent your whole life, but I would like to make amends for it.” He was serious, and not trying to talk down to her. She was a child but, she wasn’t… Right?

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Her past would explain what he had felt. Caedyn knew of it, but she remained ignorant to its presence or his discovery as they sat in silence. As he breathed out and let a wash of the energy ripple around him, Kyra relaxed even further. He wouldn't know it, but Caedyn Arenais and her often spent a portion of their time meditating together, just like this.

With their hands ontop of each others, the connection was the strongest. The more experience knight would open up his energies and help guide the chaotic mind of the empathic padawan down into a calmed, meditative state. It was the only way the knight could break through to her abilities. It proved helpful in setting her on the right path.

Control over what she could do would come with time, but for now, the leaning to meditate with aid was their task. Kyra didn't mean to slowly lean up against the sacred walls of Coren's mind, she just did. Caedyn always let her in, both vulnerable as they fell into a sea of tranquility. She tried to do that to Coren for the sparest of moments, and then she blinked, his words breaking the trance. She pulled away, finding it prudent she find a bit of that promised control, like, pronto.


“I know I can’t atone for being absent your whole life, but I would like to make amends for it.”


"And how would you do that?" She grumped, trying to shake him from her mind. Blaaaaah. she smacked her own cheek, her attention already pulling away from him as she gave a seeking look around. What was that she felt, anyway?

She strained in place, her back twisting as she peered into the room, where she felt the pulse of several artifacts. Huh.

"Have those always been there?" She asked, still subdued as she turned back around.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Jedi was definitely interested in what was going on with his daughter. Something he was going to need to ask about, but he felt they’d get to it at some time. What he wanted to do was just get her talking, get her comfortable with him around. She wasn’t going to need to call him Dad but he was… not sure how he’d feel, he supposed either way. She wasn’t super excited when he showed up, but there was this unseen connection. As their auras intermingled, and he brought healing energy to her, he just felt the connection click. There was a lot about her he wanted to know, but he was going to ask about it.

Smiling as he felt the restfulness coming from their touch, the tranquil feeling, he was at least hoping it would calm her. Watching her move and think… She was an interesting one, and he was hoping she was going to give him the time. But as she questioned what he mean, he just offered to try to make it up to her.

“I just…” He shrugged and watched her, chasing after what caught her eye. He smirked. She was reaching out and searching the ship. “Since you got aboard, but not the last time… Collected by Celeste and me.” He smiled, getting to his feet. “Do you want to see them?”

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Oh did she ever.

As many others could attest to, Kyra's was easily assayed. She accepted the situation for the time being, too burned out to do otherwise. Somewhere between the Force-Blanket and the healing, that erratic anger lost a place in her thoughts. She had liked him all before this, and it was hard to... completely hate on him now.

It would be easier if he was just a jerk. Or not so regretful? She could feel his desire to engage further with her, and it stroked a bit of the ego inside her mind. Being an empath made it really hard to hold grudges.

He received her tentative wariness instead, her emotions level while the landscape of their interactions were now utterly changed. With a sniffle, she wiped the last signs of her distress from her face and stood up with him. Her silence was uncharacteristic, but she stepped to the side to allow him into the storage room-- holding artifacts and young Starchasers alike.

"...They sith stuff?" She cautioned closer. She wasn't staying with sith stuff.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He grinned, watching the wanderlust in her eyes, that was something he recognized in himself, and the other Starchaser children. The pilot wanted the girl to be comfortable around him, if she accepted his role, and him into her life, he would step into the role as best he could, but if she didn’t? He’d respect that as well, and find some way to keep an eye on her. As much as that felt counter to everything else he was thinking about her at the moment. She wasn’t a child.

He did feel bad. He knew there wasn’t much he could have done, there was the war, and he wasn’t certain if this one was his. He probably could have done more, but there wasn’t much he could do about that now. Watching her scamper over to the relics, he grinned.

Sith? “No, not Sith. I wouldn’t travel with those. These are more Jedi, or at least in the side of Ashla…” He spoke, running his hand over a holocron before picking it up and turning it in his hand. Gold and cubic, a Jedi holocron, an ancient one. “Have you seen many holocrons?” This one was from a defunct temple. The gatekeeper was a Rakatan, and it contained information of protective use of the Force.

Of course, there were other items, writings, crystals, and other trinkets. Most of the ancient weapons were dropped between Sullust and Kashyyyk for study. A few things he had found were to be used for padawans, maybe something from the High Republic. He grabbed one of the necklaces, a locket of sorts that would keep a kyber crystal in it. It was said to be given to a student by their Master’s friends, should the Master fall in combat. It would contain their kyber crystal. But felt that tradition was not a positive one.

As Kyra was busying herself with artifacts he took the Starchaser’s Light crystal and slid it into the necklace, holding onto it for the time being. Maybe she already had a lightsaber, but carrying a crystal that could be used as one, and speak to her heritage would be good for the Padawan.

 

[Kyra Perl]

"A few," she murmured, fingers skimming the gold border of the holocron. Images came to mind, ancient and muddy through the veil of her inner distractions and exhaustion.

The metal felt smooth under the pads of her fingers, her gaze distant as she fell out of sync with the moment. Emotions, thoughts, memories of her childhood trying to reconcile with the man's words across from her, muffled images from the holocron-- familiar yet foreign. Was a lot.


She gave a soft blink, pulling out of the haze and dropping her hands. "They're boring though," she asserted, turning from the piece of history. She grabbed at an old saber hilt, her gaze lighting up on the carved detail wrapping around the solo part instead.

She bounced it in her palm, then took a stance and practiced swinging with it.

"Whose's this?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

A grin on his face as he nodded. The Jedi Master was watching her. He understood that history wasn’t always the most interesting, at least when you were hearing and or reading about it. But when you were out there, in the galaxy and finding what you were looking for. He had that Jedi Compass in his jacket pocket, that helped him get around and find certain items. It was why Jedi younglings went to find their kyber crystals early, to show that it was more than just history lessons and diplomacy in the life of a Jedi.

“Sometimes, but some have some interesting histories…” He said, but didn’t push his statement, instead watching her, trying to see what was going to call to her. Not that it was a test, but more a curiosity. There were a number of interesting items in the store room. Many he hoped to unload before too long. Maybe this is something he could do assist the Jedi Orders in the galaxy… Bring a room of artifacts before a Jedi youngling, and see what grabs their attention.

Though from looking at Kyra, she wasn’t a youngling, but she still had the curiosity to go through the items. “I haven’t figured that out yet.” He said in reference to the hilt. “We found that in Wild Space, an abandoned temple on a jungle moon. Far as I can tell it belonged a defender of the temple… Maybe the High Republic days.” He watched her. “What can you tell about it?”

Kyra Perl