Familiar Faces

[Cale Gunderson]

Cale's smile came back to life, as kind and endearing as it had been all those years ago. She was a Jedi yes, but more than that she was a force for good. He had no doubts that even if the Silver Order turned a blind eye to something, she wouldn't. Strong, determined, that was the Tallia he knew. He didn't know what had happened to make her need her memories erased, but short of becoming the Dark Lord of the Sith herself and having been his puppet master during that hell, there was nothing that could taint how he saw her. Her nature had been what had drawn him to her, first as a friend, later as more.

But he'd been a Sentinel, away too often and too long to ever take action based on it, and maybe nervous too. Jedi Knight or not, he had still been a teenager, and rejection scared you regardless of lightsaber ownership. Maybe now he could've said something, but if felt wrong. She didn't remember everything, it felt wrong to potentially take advantage of that, and foolish to be so forward so quickly. Maybe in time, maybe.

"Take your time here, the Silvers can be a...plucky bunch," Cale sighed, stopping short of using one of a litany of more unkind terms for the group that currently housed them. They had good intentions, but their treatment of him made him so angry. Like they'd betrayed him. But that needn't taint what he was trying to say to the Jedi Princess. "But they'll take good care of you, teach you everything you've forgotten and more. You'll be more prepared for this fight than anyone once you're done."

If he hadn't needed his remaining arm to keep himself upright he'd have put it on her shoulder as reassurance, but alas, having your fighter explode around you as you crashed into a burning jungle then fighting a platoon of Sith troops had consequences. "Besides, there's always a place for you with me, no matter what I'm up to." Cale smiled.

"We are a team after all."

[member="Tallia Farn"]​

 

[Tallia Farn]

She would have to settle for staying on Kashyyyk for now. Tallia would be content, she knew. She hadn't had any gripes before now about the path she was on. She also knew that from now on, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from looking up at the stars at night with a longing in her eyes, before shaking her head and smiling sadly.

"I know." She put on a faint smile. "I'll get along just fine here for now." That was that. Their paths would be different. Cale would have to leave the Silver Jedi Temple soon, but she would stay. She could reconcile with that, even if she couldn't hide the disappointment.

"What about you though? You said you want to break out?" She moved a little closer to whisper the last part. Tallia didn't know if he had been serious or not. if he was, she doubted the Jedi would like that very much. Things ran pretty orderly at the temple, and Cale had been ordered to stay in the medical center.

"I can help you. No one expects anything from me, I'm sure I could figure out a way to get anything you need without arousing suspision. Your brother though, does he know you're going to leave?" Cale had said he was a master, he would have a lot more resources than Tallia, but she didn't know if Cale could get his help on this or not.

[member="Cale Gunderson"]

 

[Cale Gunderson]

Cale grinned, deviance in his eyes. He could've said nothing at all and she'd have known, there was something she could do indeed.

"Think you could distract a patrol for me when the time comes? Figure out where the closest hangar is?" The makings of a plan swirled in the man's head, forming contingencies and alternate routes, mapping out the route based on the way he'd been brought in. There was plenty he didn't know, but going into things without all the information had been his life for years, as a Sentinel it had been his job to collect that information for others. He'd never had the luxury of knowing all the details, no point in starting now he supposed.

"I haven't exactly told Marek, but he knows. He knew if from the second they told him they wouldn't clear me for duty." He sighed, Marek had actually asked him a number of times, but Cale had blown it off. Maybe he wanted to talk Cale out of it, maybe he wanted to help, either way didn't matter, Cale wasn't going to drag him into this. His twin had already sinned enough on his account.

His leg was the only thing keeping him here for now, and it would be healed soon. It was only a matter of time.

[member="Tallia Farn"]

 

[Tallia Farn]

"I-" She hesitated for only a brief moment. Tallia had always been a rule follower, for better or worse. She hoped she wouldn't be in much trouble from this. "I'm sure I can figure something out, maybe pretend I lost my way. Amnesiacs are allowed to be absent-minded right?" She returned Cale's devious smile with one of her own. They might just pull it off, with a little preparation. She didn't like having to deceive the Jedi she was trying to join, but this felt like a good cause. She had a feeling that on an individual basis, a lot of the Silver Jedi she met would agree with her decision. Tallia really believed that Valae, Josh, and Celeste would do the same in her position if they weren't caught up in the bureaucracy of it all.

Its the right thing to do though, rules be damned.

She couldn't believe she'd just thought that! Sure, Tallia grumbled at the rules sometimes, getting up early, spending hours a day exhausted from exercise, but she had always thought they were for her own good.

She was scaring herself a little bit then, with how willing she was to break the rules for Cale. Tallia couldn't think about that though. She needed to listen to her gut for once.

"When should we start then? I've got pretty much free range of the grounds, I'm sure I can work out some kind of crude map for you."

[member="Cale Gunderson"]

 

[Cale Gunderson]

He laughed softly at her remark, playing on the expectations of others, being underestimated, these were all things he was going to have to deal with in force out there on the frontier. No one was going to see the man with one arm as competent pilot, much less any kind of threat, and much like the guards who she would deceive, they'd regret it. Well, out there they might not live to, but neither of the former Jedi of the Republic had any intention of hurting a soul on Kashyyyk so far as he knew.

"Start whenever you're ready T, I've got a little bit longer 'til I'm moving properly." Cale assured her, mentally pushing aside the thought the healers work on his leg may have been being delayed intentionally as if they had an inclination of what he was planning. It wouldn't stop him, he couldn't let it, he refused to simply stay here and waste away under their watchful eye. He may have been broken, but he wasn't a lost cause.

She saw that at least.

"Tallia," He paused, breaking from his use of the nickname as his expression became more serious. "Thank you, for this, for everything."

Though he fought it back, the urge to let a tear roll down his cheek nearly overwhelmed him. All the therapy and lectures from his brother about self forgiveness in the world couldn't hold a candle to what had occurred today. Someone who he hurt forgave him, and that was everything.



[member="Tallia Farn"]

 

[Tallia Farn]

"Its nothing." She smiled reassuringly. "I was broken too, so lost that I decided to wipe my own mind. I think I would have done anything to have a moment like this with the people I've wronged. Maybe if I'd had that closure, I wouldn't have taken such a drastic measure."

Tallia wasn't being completely selfless with Cale, she knew. This was cathartic for her as well. That memory of the Jedi Temple burning would always be in her mind, but it was now tempered by this new, better memory. Her forgiveness would allow them to both move on, a step forward at least. There was still plenty that weighed on Tallia's mind. Nothing specific weighed her down, but the possibility of her past coming back to haunt her was a constant fear of hers. If things had gone differently, that fear could have manifested today. It was bound to happen sometime, she wasn't naive enough to think that every encounter with her past would be a pleasant one.

"And well, getting a second chance, that's something important to me. If I get one, you should too. I think I've done some pretty bad things in the past as well..." Her head turned a bit downwards, her eyes staring at her boots. Tallia's mind was a complicated thing. First she was up, then she was down. She was prideful one minute, then self-deprecating the next. Emotion for her was as natural as breathing. Celeste had told her that having a lot of emotion was good, it meant you had a strong connection to the Force, to life itself, but it was also something that one needed to learn to control if one wished to hear the will of the Force clearly.

[member="Cale Gunderson"]

 

[Cale Gunderson]

A Week Later, The Dead of Night


He was as ready as he'd ever be. Looking back into the small room he'd been staying in one final time, Cale closed the door behind him on the empty room. With his bag over his shoulder, the once-Knight made his way through the winding halls and ornate gardens in silence, ducking past a patrol on his way to the meeting point. They'd set it up yesterday, ironed out most of the details in the plan, and now it was time to put things into action. No more waiting, no more distrustful glances from every passing Jedi, no more lies about his future.

His future was now. Creeping closer to the bushes near one of the paths, he wondered if she'd really come. Cale knew she wouldn't sell him out, he had to trust that, but maybe she'd had second thoughts and wouldn't show. Her life was here, among the Jedi, she might now wanted to have risked jeopardizing that for a man she barely remembered. Or she would really show, that was always possible, hell she might have already been there.

Cale smiled to himself as he reached their meeting point, knowing she'd probably give him trouble for being late if she had arrived first, just like old times. Oh, how he wished for the old times.

[member="Tallia Farn"]

 

[Tallia Farn]

Tallia actually had been waiting for a while. However, it wasn't due to Cale being late. She'd just arrived way ahead of time, everything needed to go over perfect. So she sat in the shadows, behind the bush, mulling over the details in her head one more time. The guard rotation wasn't super tight, it was more to keep people from getting into the temple rather than restrict people's movement while inside the grounds. There were two spots they'd have to watch out for. One had been on the way to their meeting spot, and she hadn't had any issues with that, hopefully Cale wouldn't either.

She was starting to get anxious though, even though she was early and Cale shouldn't have been expected to be there yet. But then she heard movement, and she tensed up in her little hiding place, in the dirt behind a garden shrub.

She dared to let out a soft whistle, a poor imitation of a Kashyyyk bird that she'd been practicing because she was bored. She spotted a dark figure a moment latter, it was Cale.

"I thought you might have been caught." Tallia whispered as she poked her head out of the bushes. "How's your leg?" She was worried that maybe Cale was rushing his escape before he was fully recovered. He would have her help regardless though. She'd gladly stick up for him if no one else would.

[member="Cale Gunderson"]

 

[Cale Gunderson]

(Sorry about the delay, I've been crazy busy)


"Me? Caught? Never." He joked quietly, grateful she had no recollection of the countless times he'd been discovered sneaking an extra bit of food back to his quarters in their youth. Cale hadn't been the stealthy type, but he supposed he'd grown into it. No one had suspected a thing he imagined, there were no extra patrols, no passive-aggressive anecdote from one of the healers about how this was the best place for him to be, nothing. They'd be in for a surprise once they discovered he was long gone.

"The leg is holding together for now, thank you for asking." Cale smiled softly. A part of him didn't want to leave, maybe he could stay here and convince them, here with her. A wave of self-loathing shot that notion out of the sky, he could never stay here. They would never trust him, no one ever would except the girl he now was crouched in some bushes with. She saw good in him when no one else did.

That was why he had to get away, he couldn't disappoint her if he wasn't here.

"How's it looking? All good to go?" He inquired, his voice nervous. Everything had to go perfectly, or else they might truly lock him away.

[member="Tallia Farn"]​

 

[Tallia Farn]

"Things on my end have been good." Tallia whispered, rustling her way out of her hiding place. She ran her fingers through her hair, brushing out a leaf that fell lazily to the pavement. She let out a heavy breath. The night air was close, and she'd been getting hot sitting behind the bush. Her tunic stuck to her clammy skin uncomfortably, and the heat on her neck made her wish she'd thought to put her hair up. By Kashyyyk standards though, it could have been worse. She had no idea how Wookiees fared with their thick fur coats. Perhaps the elevation of their treetop villages had more purpose than just to keep them safe from jungle predators below. It was an interesting thought, but hardly relevant to the here and now.

"They've been very receptive to my new interest in piloting." She held out a small data chip towards him. "Should unlock any of the ship tethers no problem." Swiping one of the cards had not been easy, but her recent practice with telekinesis had gotten the job done while no one was looking.

"Is there anything you still need? Food, thermal blanket, anything? Space is cold and travelling through it is slow." She'd only been on one extra-planetary excursion so far, to Durkteel. Tallia had been told it wasn't very far in the galactic scheme of things, but it had still taken longer to travel to than she expected.

[member="Cale Gunderson"]

(Sorry it took so long, I've been busy as well)

 

[Cale Gunderson]

(Hah, no worries, I just got back from vacation, hopefully should be consistent now!)

Cale took the chip gratefully, his mind's paranoid ramblings silenced for the time being. She had his back in this after all. He could trust her, which couldn't be said for anyone else on the planet. Even his own brother was blinded by what he thought was best for Cale, that was his concern. Tallia respected him enough to let him choose for himself, and all she seemed to be concerned with was if he'd be comfortable. Feth he did not want to leave her. "Thank you, so much. I-I could use a blanket, if you have one to spare."

Internally he kicked himself, stumbling over his words like a schoolboy. She'd always had that effect on him he supposed, one way or another she made him nervous. Though not in a bad way. None of it would matter now though, princesses never really had eyes for cripples from his experience.

Pushing back those thoughts from his mind, Cale took in a deep breath. It was now or never. He would take a ship and venture out into the stars, make his own way, choose his own destiny for once in his life. Marek would find the note he'd left and Tallia? She'd become one of the best the Silver Jedi to ever exist, he counted on it. He knew they'd meet again after he left, but he wondered how things would be between them then. Different surely, but in what way he didn't know.

"Let's do this."

[member="Tallia Farn"]

 

[Tallia Farn]

"Right." She nodded. It was one thing to talk about a plan, and another entirely to execute it. "There's a closet full of supplies for shuttle craft a couple hallways down from the hangar. They showed it to me when they toured me around the place. We'll stop there on our way."

Tallia moved then, as quietly as she could. She was no master of stealth, she couldn't use the Force to dampen her footsteps or anything, but she thought that she was pretty light on her feet. Getting through the garden wouldn't be the most difficult routes they had to navigate, there was a slim chance they'd run into someone. They stayed off the main path, in the garden there was more foliage to block the line of sight and less spotlights to light up the shadowy Kashyyyk night. The grass was soft under her boots, further masking their presence.

But soon they couldn't continue their garden route any longer. They would have to risk going onto the main path and entering inside the temple proper. She halted at this point, up against the side of a duracrete wall next to some bushes that they would have to slide through to get on the main path, to make sure that Cale wasn't trailing too far behind her.

She nodded in the direction of the bushes, then ducked down and began to crawl through the leafy brush.

It was noisy, couldn't really help it. Above the shuffling of leaves though, the hissing of a doors rotors was clear and made Tallia's heart skip a beat. She froze halfway through the bush, holding her breath. Luckily no part of her body yet stuck out on the other side, but she still tensed.

It was one of the librarians she knew, she could see her face through a small crack in the bushes foliage. Maira? Maeva? She couldn't remember the older woman's name off the top of her head. Archiving must have run late that night. Tallia hadn't gone to help out that day, she had been so busy in the hangar putting the finishing touches on her plan. She carried a stack of datapads in her hand, probably collected from some negligent padawans who'd forgotten to turn in their data when it was due.

It felt like it took her an eternity to pass by, but soon she'd walked out of sight. Tallia dared to move then, turning around to look at Cale through the bush.

"The supply closet is down this hallway." She whispered. "We should be able to make it now before the patrol in this wing walks that way."

[member="Cale Gunderson"]

 

[Cale Gunderson]

He nodded and followed after her, this was it, it was really happening here and now. Following close behind Tallia, his training in the way of the Sentinel came flowing back to him. Even without the use of the force, he could keep his footsteps as quiet as a whisper, the all surrounding energy was a useful tool, but Cale would've been foolish to have relied on it alone for so long.

Cale was a survivor, over-reliance meant death the moment whatever it was one relied on was yanked away. Granted, some people adapted, but for the most part, they all died. In spite of all he'd done, Cale didn't want to die. As they came to a sudden halt, his eyes never left the librarian who so easily could've stumbled onto them, blew their entire operation in a single second. For the briefest instant, he questioned what he was willing to do in order to have his freedom.

How far would he go? Would he lay his hand on the woman in order to claw his way out of the gilded cage they'd trapped him in? In an unusual act of mercy though, life ensured that he wouldn't have to find out. The woman left, and two were alone again.

"Lead the way T." He responded, voice barely concealing the how on edge his nerves were. Cale had to be free, there was no other choice.

[member="Tallia Farn"]​