Little One

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She was so...big.

If anyone had told Cyril that his little girl was going to grow up so quickly, he might have taken more pictures. Eight years, going on nine in a few days, and she looked just like her mothers. She had the Grayson eyes; the bright mix of blue and green that had melted hearts in the past. It was undeniable that [member="Caida Grayson"] was his daughter - the girl just looked too much like him.

Force willing it wouldn't make her any enemies when she was older. It likely would: Cyril hadn't left the best legacy for his two children during his final days in the greater galaxy. The leader of a religious movement, the spark of a rebellion on Balmorra, and a former Jedi general and adviser to the head of the senate. It was a long and impressive resume, but it also gained him the disfavor of many of the galaxy's political powers.

The Sith came to mind.

The old Jedi Master shuddered at the thought. That war would never touch his family. Not out here on Crystalsong. Still, the Sith's reach was seemingly unending, and the possibility of them coming to this world would always be there.

But his kids would be ready. Cedric a strong boy. Smarter than anyone his age that Cyril had ever come across. Caida was kind, intelligent, and possessed an advantage that her brother lacked. She lived deep within the force. It connected father and daughter on a level deeper than family - though Cyril loved his wife and son with his entire being.

The force was something he and Caida would share forevermore. He would always be with his little girl, if not physically, than in spirit.

Now it was time to nurture that bond. He awaited in the fields outside their home. It was a large break in the forest, rimmed with crystals of all shapes and sizes that cast a warm blue glow over their surroundings. Crops for this season's harvest were just beginning to grow. The Uxi they raised for were cooped up in the adjacent field, wandering about aimlessly within the protection of the electric fence Cyril and Cyrene had erected.

Here he awaited his daughter, having promised to teach her some of his ways after dinner. He was clad in a simple tan tunic, and wore a dusty old brown robe he'd once sported within the Jedi temple on Ossus. A single lightsaber hung from his belt - his own. He never left home without it, both for comfort and protection. Crystalsong was largely safe, but at times, it could be a violent place for its human colonists.

He'd taught Caida little lessons here and there. They'd played games with the force when she was a toddler. Tossing balls telekinetically, moving small objects to make the toddler laugh. This was going to be different. He would give daughter a formal lesson, albeit one less stooped in Jedi dogma.

A thin smile was worn on his bearded face as he awaited the girl, his mind going off to distant places as the cool afternoon wind whispered through the clearing.

 

[Caida Grayson]

Callused, dirty bare feet pounded across the ground.

She'd gotten distracted. One of the crystal beetles had landed near her before flitting off, and it had just seemed like it wanted so to be followed, so she had. Until she remembered that her father had promised to show her some more of what he killed his ways and she thought of as magic. It wasn't either of course, it was the Force. No stranger in the Grayson household, but it was just so much more fun to think of it as magic wasn't it? She wasn't dumb or anything, it was just fun to pretend sometimes, that's all.

"Papa!"

With a laugh she threw herself at her father, small arms reaching out to wrap as far around him as she could reach. Her dress as usual had dirt and grass stains on the knees, and it looked like she'd been out with the bests again since something had drooled on one shoulder. This was nothing new, nor was it particularly discouraged. Her mother was always saying how you ought to look after your things but that there was nothing wrong with a little dirt honestly earned, and a lot wrong if you never earned any.

[member="Cyril Grayson"]

 

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So much for meditations.

A look of confusion and then a chuckle came from the him as Caida came crashing by. Cyril was a large man, well built and sturdy. He didn't so much as twitch when his daughter embraced him, and he her. He hugged the little girl tightly, his expression breaking into a huge, happy smile. He couldn't ever be upset with his children - not for long, even if they did break his focus.

"You've been out adventuring again sweetheart?" He asked amused, patting her back with a gloved hand. With little effort, he pushed himself up to his feet, and his daughter with him. She'd certainly grown in the past year, but to him, she was still tiny. He held her out like on might hold a dirty rag, and snickered.

"Bimi didn't have the calf yet, did she?" He teased, referring to one of the heavily pregnant Uxi beasts that his wife expected to give birth any day now. He stared pointedly at the glob of spittle clinging to her shoulder.

With a content sigh, he would set the youngling down, and fall to his knees so that they might look each other in the eye. He offered his daughter a warm, fatherly smile.

"You mom and your brother are cooking. I figured we could play with the magic for a little bit, if you like."

[member="Caida Grayson"]

 

[Caida Grayson]

"Yes! I followed one of the flitters, it was playing tag, but I guess it got bored, or maybe it had to go home to it's parents."

Did the crystal beetles have parents? Obviously they had to come from somewhere, and any very nearly nine year old on a farm knew the basic facts of life, it was just that she'd never seen baby flitters. Maybe they hid them away so they'd be safe. Some animals did things like that she supposed. It was a good thing to try and find an answer to later!

"Not yet, Mama says tomorrow morning. Well what she actually said was 'some damned time a'fore even the sun is up', but that's a bad word and anyway it won't be 'til later. Bimi's having two babies you know."

She added that last conspiratorially.

"Yes!"

Came the delighted squeal at his offer, hands clapping together. Playing with magic with her father, even if it was really just the Force, was one of her very favourite things to do. Even if Cedric got to make cookies and lick the spoon and everything, this was better.

[member="Cyril Grayson"]

 

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"You know the flitters are finicky. They get upset if you move too quickly. You've gotta be slow, quiet, and then quick you want to catch them." Cyril explained, an amused little grin on his face. He lifted the girl with ease, and set her on his knee.

"As for your mother, it's best not to quote her directly. She's got that colorful, adult language." He gave the child a squeeze, and huffed a quiet laugh. "Don't tell her about the second baby either. We'll make it a surprise - you have to pretend to not know when they're both born."

Then it was on to business. Acids was far too young to understand the subtle intricacies of the force. Thankfully, she'd retained her youthful innocence, something the Jedi Order tended to purge their younglings of. That wasn't to say the Jedi were a bad thing - such discipline was necessary for those who would dedicate their whole lives to the force. Caida would know her roots, learn how to control and hide her abilities, and if she decided, serve in the same capacity her father had as an adult. He was not going to push her toward that path; she was his little girl. He could never raise her with the discipline and detachment such a path would require, and she would need to make the decision herself.

"What you have is a very special gift, sweetheart. Everyone has it one manner or the other, but very few of us can use it. We're called force sensitives, and if we choose, we have the power to protect the galaxy."

He explained.

"But that's only if you want to. Right now -" He cracked a playful grin. Mid-sentence, he reached forward and poked his fingers at the girl's ribs. Ticklish children really were the best. - I'm gonna show you how to make the animals happy."

[member="Caida Grayson"]

 

[Caida Grayson]

"I don't wanna catch them, that's mean!"

She protested. Following was one thing, and if they landed on you, well that was call for delight, but going around catching things? That wasn't very nice! Imagine if there were giants and they ran around trying to catch her in their giant hands, she wouldn't like that at all. Still, she'd remember his advice for if she was following a flitter. Slow and quiet. Mama said she was half the time a cloud and half the time a landslide. She didn't understand exactly what her mother meant by that, but it was fun pretending to be either, so that was all right.

When he spoke about surprises, her eyes grew big and round and she brought a fist up to hide the grin on her face, giggling.

"She's gonna be really surprised! I won't tell!"

She listened to him as he continued, but as much as she loved her Papa, impatience got the better of her. It wasn't like she was a baby anymore. She knew about the Force and stuff, and you could be a good guy or a bad guy but Mama said you were better off just being a guy, but as long as you were mindful of other people and did your chores it was okay.

"I know that! I'm almost nine you know. Anyway, anyone can protect the glack- the galulxy. Mama does it with her gun, she's teaching Cedric too, he told me."

When he went on the the bit about animals though, the young girl squealed in delight, clearly more landslide than cloud today. She often said the animals 'told' her things, when this was largely just a result of her paying attention, and a little bit of empathy and insight.

"I like making the animals happy!"

[member="Cyril Grayson"]

 

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"Oh, I know they like making you happy too sweetheart."

The Jedi cooed, pushing up to his feet. For a moment, his thoughts drifted to his son. The boy was an oddity in the force. He could feel his emotions, as he could with any living being with a connection to the force, but he could not feel the boy. In most beings, he saw the force as a great ocean, and those being lying beneath the waves. In his daughter, much like himself, he saw an island striking out above the currents. His wife was below, having no connection to the force.

But Cedric was neither. He was not below or above the ocean - he wasn't there at all. Normally Cyril associated this with force dead beings, the Vong for example, yet Cedric was still within the force. Night and day, Cyril would try to understand, never truly coming to a conclusion. Because of this, he'd decided the boy was non-force sensitive, and never broached the subject. Not even with Cyrene.

"A gun can certainly solve your problems. So can words, and candies." He explained to his daughter, taking her by the hand. The other fished into his pocket, pulling free a small bar of chocolate that had only slightly melted. He offered it to the girl.

"Don't tell you mama - now show me where Bimi is."

He offered a warm smile. Bimi was just one in over two dozen Uxi beast, six others also carrying calves. To the naked eye, she would be very difficult to make out, and even more so to find in the middle of the herd. Caida was different.

[member="Caida Grayson"]

 

[Caida Grayson]

"'I'm not a problem!"

She protested with another little girl giggle, though she took the chocolate bar all the same. Unwrapping it, she took a bite, carefully transferring the wrapper to a pocket. Mama didn't mind if she stained her clothes, but she got fearsome mad if you littered. After it had been explained that the animals could eat garbage and get very sick or even die, Caida had been particularly conscientious about such things.

"Okay!"

With a grin, she pulled him along, or at the very least made an effort to. Obviously no amount of strain on her part was going to move Cyril any faster than he wanted to go.

Uxibeasts, for all that they looked mild-mannered, slow and docile, were notoriously aggressive and tempermental. When they were close to or had just calved even more so. Cyrene managed them largely with respect and skill. Working them as she'd learned, and taught her husband and children in turn. Caida though.. By all rights the girl should have gotten herself gored or trampled long before. Her mother hardly even got her to help with trying to herd them anymore. She didn't pay enough attention was the easy part of the problem to explain. The other half of the issue was that for the most part they just didn't react to her. There was no instinctive moving away. In fact half the time, they'd wander closer to the girl.

Now a very large part of this was not force related at all. She liked them and was absolutely fearless. She'd been around them since she was a baby, wrapped in a sling carried y her mother while she worked. There was none of the slight aggression or fear that most beings had in their stance, and the animals picked up on this. Plus most of them had been the recipient of treats or scratches from her at one point or another.

Which was why they went straight into the paddock currently holding this herd before she dropped her fathers hand.

"Okay, wait!"

Sometimes they'd come when she called, but a lot of the time they wouldn't, and she didn't want to look silly, she was almost nine after all. She trotted off into the herd, the Uxibeasts paying her hardly any mind behind a twitched ear, or a massive shaggy head slowly turning to watch her. Unerringly, Caida found Bimi. They were all as different to her as people, the looked different, they sounded different, and they felt different. This wasn't something she thought about or analyzed, it was just fact.

"Papa wants to see you Bimi, so you gotta come on."

She told the heavily pregnant Uxibeast seriously. This earned her a whuffled sniff of her chest followed by a snort. The girl laughed, pushing the great wet nose away.

"Ewww, you got boogers all on me Bimi! C'mon!"

The little girl carefully started walking backwards, coaxing the Uxibeast with words and stroking her cheeks whenever she stopped. Eventually she'd led her all the way back to Cyril.

[member="Cyril Grayson"]

 

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"Bimi has always been a little messy, y'know."

Cyril fell down to his knee. His daughter's ability to calm the otherwise wary beast was perplexing, and quite impressive. Even he, one who specialized in healing and giving rise to positive emotions, would have trouble with such a thing. Yet little Caida could do it without any aid from the force. There was no denying the girl was special - and she would always be so even if the Uxi had tried to send her away. His little girl just had a little talent few others did.

"Hello Bimi." He offered, amused. Outwardly, he was quite happy with the situation. Inwardly, he feared the beast might make a sudden move and trample Caida; the girl was such a small little thing. Yet Bimi remained utterly calm. So placid in fact, that Cyril reached out with his cybernetic hand, and stroked the creature's cheek.

"I've taught you the basics of healing things. Fixing cuts and the like. This is kinda like that. You have to extend your senses - delve deeper into the magic. It's a raging river, and most everyone is caught up in it. You and I can stand against it, let it wash over us, and then we can see everything in the river clearly."

With gentle care, Cyril strolled around the Uxi, making a visible effort to stay within her sight. Then he placed a hand to the beast's belly, and motioned for Caida to do the same.

"Touch her belly, tell me what you feel."

[member="Caida Grayson"]

 

[Caida Grayson]

Magic, or the Force, if you wanted to be grown-up about it, was a lot like Flitters as far as Caida was concerned. If you ran after it, it just kept on getting away and slipping through your fingers. If you just stayed still and quiet and let it know with your thoughts that you were there, well suddenly you were a regular flitter-tree, and could look at them as much as you'd like. Or if you wanted to go with Papa's version, if you went into a river and kicked and thrashed about you wouldn't be able to see anything because of all the fuss you were making, but if you just stood still and looked with your eyes just below the surface, everything was clear.

That said, for all that she was very nearly nine, she was still a child, and occasionally took things a little too literally.

Caida ducked under Bimi's head, one small hand staying on the beast, trailing across her fur, marking her movement as she went to the Uxibeasts side. Small hand moved until it was next to her fathers. Her little face screwed up thoughtfully as she considered what she felt.

"Well, you can feel them move or kick sometimes, so you know they're healthy. And Bimi is hotter than normal, but Mama say's that's normal when they're pregnant. And I can feel her fur and stuff of course."

[member="Cyril Grayson"]

 

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The errant Jedi Master snickered.

"Yes, and you can smell that awful stench coming from her nostrils too." He teased, resting his free hand atop his daughter's head. "Beyond that, Bug, the babies are growing. Big enough to have thoughts now."

He offered his daughter a coaxing smile. He had odd little names for his children - Bug being one of Caida's. He'd come up for it when she was still an infant: a fat, gurgling little thing that resembled the wood beetles on Gratos. At the time, the resemblance had been all too keen. Now the girl was growing like a weed, but the name had stuck. Just another thing Cyril used to show his little girl how much she adored her.

Oh, how his old Masters would have looked at him now.

"Can you tell me if they're boys or girls?" He asked quietly,lofting a brow of the heavily pregnant Uxi huffed a plum of steam from her flaring nostrils.

[member="Caida Grayson"]

 

[Caida Grayson]

"It's not awful."

She protested on Bimis behalf giggling.

"It's just Uxibeast!"

For all that she might have been the moonchild of the Graysons, Caida had still been raised on a farm. Animal scents rarely even registered as unpleasant, they were just part of life. Natural. Maybe not as nice as a flower, but nothing to get worked up over. The girl was more apt to wrinkle her nose at perfumes or colognes, chemical, synthesized scents.

Oh, realization hit. He wanted to know what she felt, not what she felt. Magic. Right. Small brow drew together again in concentration, though in truth if she'd been relaxed this would have come far more easily to her. She liked to be able to do what Papa asked. He was never disappointed when she couldn't but.. She liked to be able to anyway.

"Boys! I mean, bulls."

She corrected herself after a moment, beaming. She couldn't have said precisely why this was so, simply that it felt correct. She knew what Uxibeasts felt like. She knew every single animal in the herd, and though she did not properly know the two within the womb yet, because they'd not come out and introduced themselves to the world, she knew, or at least was fairly certain that they were male.

It was funny, funny odd not funny haha, sensing them because they were still a little indistinct. Fuzzy. Overshadowed by the mother that yet housed and supported them. When she tried to focus too hard they slipped away, but when she could manage those fleeting moments of stillness and clarity she was sure.

[member="Cyril Grayson"]

 

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"Wrong."

Cyril stared down at the little girl.

"Just kidding Bug, absolutely right." His expression broke into a big wide smile. He fell to his knees, and scooped up the child. Sure, on some planets Caida would be too old to carry around. On some planets he would have had to give her up to an orphanage because she was female too, though. He pressed his daughter close to his chest, and strolled over toward the other Uxi beasts.

Clearly, the show with Bimi had calmed whatever anxieties they might have had. Approaching a pregnant mother was not an easy feat, and if they'd even given off a slight sign they had meant harm, someone might have been gored. Years of careful breeding and constant care had eased the old beasts around the Grayson family. It was an entirely different story when they brought around guests.

"I want you to work on that Bug. The forests around you are your home - you need to learn to know if they're sick or not. If something isn't right. If one of the animals is hurt so you can come get me or your mother." He lectured as child-friendly as he could manage.

They came to a clearing in the herd where three large stones had been placed. It decor, nothing more, but today they would serve another purpose entirely. The errant Jedi Master would gently set his child down, and hold out a hand toward one of the stones. After a moment's coaxing, it lifted a foot - then a full meter off the ground!

"When you're attuned to things, you can influence them." He said in a calm voice. "You can feel these boulders in the magic. If you let the magic take you, you can lift them into the air, just like in your stories."

[member="Caida Grayson"]

 

[Caida Grayson]

For a moment Caida looked up at her father nonplussed, little mouth opening and then closing. No she wasn't. Then Papa grinned and she knew he'd just been playing, the girl giggled again when she caught on to the joke as her father scooped her up, throwing her arms around his neck for a moment before twisting so she could see as they moved.

She listened as her father spoke, small face momentarily solemn as she nodded. Sometimes Mama got a bit annoyed with the hurt things she brought home, especially if they were predators or pests, but she never made the little girl put them back. THe Grayson household had nursed a myriad of unconventional life forms. Mostly this had just been happenstance, but if the magic, if the force could help. She remembered getting sick when people and animals around her were hurt, or sad, or angry, until Papa had taught her to ignore them. She supposed it was a bit like a very loud noise. If you didn't cover your ears at all it might hurt you, but if you blocked them too well you wouldn't know what was going on.

Besides, this sounded like a Responsibility. Sometimes Responsibilities were just more chores, but sometimes they were because Mama or Papa thought you were grown up enough and trusted you. It was probably because she was almost nine.

"Okay."

She agreed, easily enough with a childs acceptance.

As he spoke again her attention turned to the boulders, and she grinned as her Papa lifted one. Displays like this were neither common nor uncommon. Her Papa wasn't flashy, and didn't usually use his abilities without a reason, but he was also practical, and if it was necessary or useful, would. It still never failed to thrill Caida, particularly when she could feel that he was doing something. That connection between the sensed and the seen was probably what she liked best.

She had mixed feelings when he suggested she could do the same however. If she stretched herself, if she really tried, she could perceive the rocks, but she couldn't relate to them. She couldn't connect. Couldn't find where the essence of Caida intersected with the essence of rock. The Uxibeasts had been easy, natural. This was harder. Maybe impossible.

[member="Cyril Grayson"]

 

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Cyril was no seer. His skill with precognition was rudimentary at best; during the dark times, he often dreamed of his former master and overlord, Darth Vulcanus. Since then, such episodes had long gone. Still as he lifted the rock upward, he felt something take him.

It was a field. An empty sea of rolling hills and bright green. Across from him stood five figures. One he recognized well. His wife, beautiful as she was the fateful day they had met, wearing a Republic uniform of all things. A sergeant major's epaulet could be seen on her right shoulder. She stood rigid, staring, lips pressed into a thin line. Two others were vaguely familiar. A young woman with black hair, blue eyes, and a thin frame who stood a head below him. A lightsaber hung from her hip, and she was shining with the force. A paragon of the Light.

The man alongside her was slightly taller than Cyril himself. Cold blue eyes stared out at the emptiness. He locked eyes with Cyril, and parted his lips. Not a sound came out, yet before the errant Jedi Master's very eyes, he began to change. Blue eyes became orange, then red. Fair skin paled to a ghostly complexion. The air around him chilled. Something was happening to this man - whomever he was, something had changed him. Broken him.

Then they were gone, and two figures remained. A woman with ashen hair and a bright smile. Alongside her stood a figure Cyril knew all too well. A man garbed in the drapings of a Jedi Lord. Massive shoulder pauldrons and a chestplate protruded out from under his robes. His face was obscured by an ancient mask ripped from the tombs of a long dead Jedi Battlemaster.

The girl, likely no older than sixteen, turned toward the figure, and tugged on his arm.

"Master, you're needed at the front. Your wife has put out the call - the kids are being sent back to the FOB. Shall I join you?"

The figure turned his head. As he did, the world changed at once. They were in the upper levels of Coruscant, where the old senate building had once stood. The corpses of Vong, Sith Warriors, and Stromtroopers littered the streets. Fires burned in the distance. The smell of sulfur was heavy in the air.

"No. Go to my daughter, she'll need your guidance. Cedric is lost, he needs his sister's guiding hand. Find her, find my boy. Get them to safety."

"But Cyri-"

"We've no time. Hurry, before it's too late. I'll return to you all when I have Cyrene and the thirty-second out of the Dark Lord's hand. I'm proud of you."

The woman cast her gaze to the ground. The armored man settled a plated hand on her shoulder, and despite herself, she broke into a thin smile.

Then it ended. Cyril stumbled back, falling onto his backside. His eyes were wide. His lips pursed in confusion. The rock fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"I...saw something." He mumbled, setting a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You can do this Caida. Trust in the force, trust in yourself." He managed, struggling to recover. There was a new-found confidence to his voice. He knew what she was destined to be now. A savior to the Republic; a paragon of the force. His child.

[member="Caida Grayson"]

 

[Caida Grayson]

Something went funny with the magic. It felt a certain way when Papa was doing certain things. There had been nothing unexpected when he lifted the rock, impressive as it had been, and then suddenly there was. It wasn't wrong exactly. It wasn't like there was something there that shouldn't be, just something.. different. If you wanted to go back to his stream analogy, it was like it had suddenly switched direction. The water hadn't gone bad, there were no predators in it, it just.. Wasn't going where it had been anymore.

The girl frowned slightly, catching hints of her fathers.. distress was too strong a word. It had a similar flavour though, and it was not one she was used to feeling from either of her parents. When her beloved Papa fell, the rock falling with him, she was there. After his talk about staying open and attentive, sensing, her mental walls usually firmly in place due to her fathers lessons to preserve her sanity and wellness, were not as firm as they could be.

The young girl positively radiated concern and love. Unconsciously she broadcast, pushed soothing and calming at him, though this was undermined by the worry that half-trained as she was she could not weed out. Still, her father, one of the two bastions of stability and security in her life rallied quickly and returned to instructing her.

Unfortunately the chances of her getting over whatever it was that kept her from being able to exert influence on inanimate objects had gone from slim to none with this new distraction and mystery. What did he mean he'd seen something? She didn't see anything. Or at least nothing that she shouldn't see.. Still, if her Papa wanted her to..

"Yes Papa."

She agreed, little brows still drawn together. She settled down onto her knees and tried to be calm and still, to reach out with the magic to the rocks. She could find them but she just couldn't get them to do anything.

In truth this was largely because of Caidas style, though she did not know this. The girl did not exert her will on anything. She had the capability to, she was more than strong enough, but she didn't. She asked. You could ask the average rock to do things until you were blue in the face, it still wasn't going to.

[member="Cyril Grayson"]

 

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Caida was trying. That was enough for Cyril. He couldn't help but smile as he looked up at his child, giving it her damnedest to move the rock. Despite her, it seemed stubborn to budge. Such was not to be unexpected - telekinesis was not an easy skill to master.

"Good try Bug." Cyril praised, pushing up to his feet. He cast the rock another wary glance, and shrugged. Whatever he'd seen, it wouldn't come true for quite some time. The validity of it was entirely up to question as well. Lingering on it would only hinder him.

"Let's get some of your mother's cooking." He reached down to scoop up his child. She was old enough to walk wherever she wished, but she was still his little girl. He would cherish what little time he had left of her being just that.

[member="Caida Grayson"]