Nostalgia

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There was a great deal of emotion regarding [member="Veiere Arenais"]. The former king of Commenor had been a man Cedric had looked up to in his youth. With his progenitor dead at the hands of those Cedric might have called allies, Veiere had been a living example for the boy to mold himself from. He had indeed taken many of the aging Jedi Master's lessons and acts to heart, though he could not lie and say he was fond of Veiere. The wolf had, so far as Cedric was concerned, abandoned the Essonian people and the cause of his late father for a woman. The child had become a boy-king in Veiere's absence, and his life had since been naught but a tale of fire and blood.

Part of Cedric wished to blame Veiere for his troubles. It was easier to blame the faults of oneself on another, but the truth of things was not something Cedric could deny. Ession would have fallen no matter what Veiere might have done, and Cedric was not his child. Veiere had no duty to raise him, and the time in which he had been around at least provided the boy with some semblance of a father.

Even still, the Veiere's decision to leave had still cut the child deeply. He learned at an early age that the only person that was going to look out for him was himself. He supposed that final lesson from Master Arenais had been an invaluable one.

Such moody thoughts bogged Cedric's mind as he strode through the doors of the Silver Rest. He had little fondness for the Silver Jedi, though he similarly held no dislike for them either. In his earlier youth, Cedric had regarded the Silvers as weak - now he understood they simply chose their own path. The masked knight wasted little time in socializing with the Silver Jedi - he was here to speak with Master Arenais, and Master Arenais alone.

The Jedi Master halted outside the man's door. He hesitated for a moment, reaching out into the empyrean for some form of comfort, then knocked twice.

[member="Veiere Arenais"]

 

[WolfMortum]

Nowadays, it had become all to easy to forget just how long of a path Veiere had walked in his lifetime, how many people had come and gone throughout his years of experience. [member="Cedric Grayson"] was one of these people, an involuntary victim to his father's legacy that could have changed if only the politicians and leaders of Ession had listened to Veiere and turned away from their need for vengeance against the Galactic Alliance. Like [member="Mythos"], Veiere had been forced to step away and watch from afar as the Dominion walked itself headfirst into a war that Veiere couldn't stand by. Cedric was still a boy when Veiere had made the difficult choice to return to his home-world; his father Cyril Grayson had been both a brother forged in arms, and yet also a rival in their difference of ideologies.

Would it have been right to pull the young Cedric away from all that was his by right of blood, perhaps yes, though he wasn't raised as a Jedi within the Order. Ession had allowed Veiere's position only because of Cyril's holocron that the Jedi Master had come across later, after the man's demise. Darth Mephirium, Cyrils identity as a Sith Lord confront and fighting the thin line between the light and the dark. Had Ession not had a hand to play in the young Cedric's fate, perhaps he would be on Commenor or come to see the Silver Jedi for who they were...

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Moving to answer the call at the entrance of his residential quarters, Veiere hadn't expected to find Cedric of all people standing there awaiting him within the Silver Rest on Kashyyyk of all places. If he remembered right, Cedric was better suited to something more akin to the Army of Light than he was the Silver Order; still one ought never to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Cedric Grayson..." Veiere spoke the obvious as he looked upon the boy, who had well grown into himself and become a man of his own means by this day and age. "This is unexpected..." he added, stepping aside and gesturing with his left hand for Cedric to enter into the living quarters. Veiere's living quarters consisted of a number of rooms, though the largest and central room was the livingroom of which allowed the Jedi Master and any guests to relax and converse without the curious ears of younglings following their every step.

"What can I do for you?".

 

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An honest question.

Cedric hesitated for a moment, somewhat in shock of the reality of his decision to come here. Every time he set eyes upon the venerated Jedi Master, memories of a life long since lost came rushing to the forefront of his mind. Such sentiments were unwelcome, but they were cut deep into the core of his psyche. Veiere might have sensed this sudden shift in Cedric's aura within the empyrean, but it vanished as quickly as it had materialized.

There is no emotion. There is peace.

"It's been a very long time since we've spoken in candor, Veiere," he finally replied after a few seconds of pregnant, uncomfortable silence. Cedric reached up and drew back his cowl. The popping of artificial pressure seals followed, and the slab of melted phrik Cedric called a helm was lifted from his face.

The boy Veiere had known was long since gone, replaced with the spitting image of his late father, though he stood a head or so shorter than the late Cyril Grayson. Eyes of flint regarded Veiere curiously.

"I've come to hear your perspective on things, and I suppose to ask advice. There are very few Jedi left in the galaxy that I have any semblance of respect for - you rank among that number."

A pause.

"My world is glass, and most of my people are dead. As a leader and a Jedi, I truly don't know what to do anymore Master Arenais."

[member="Veiere Arenais"]

 

[WolfMortum]

This wasn't a conversation to be had in the doorway where the rest of the Temple could hear them air their past history. Stepping to the side, Veiere gestured [member="Cedric Grayson"] on in before closing the door behind the younger man and leading him into the living area of his humble quarters. "Chip" whistling in greeting to their Guest, soon rushing off to search for it's serving tray and some refreshments. The little droid had become very helpful, despite Veiere's lack of knowing who had delivered the Astromech to his quarters and why.

"I think it's about time we talked about Ession, and about your Father" Veiere spoke as he moved towards the rather comfortable single seaters that were separated by a coffee table placed between them, "Sit with an old man, will you?" He looked back to Cedric, offering the lad a wary smile.

Veiere knew what Cedric was feeling, as he himself had found a world of hurt and loss over the years, especially those most recent in his life. No matter one's age, the consequences of past actions always had a habit of following up on you. Cedric resembled his father in every sense, though Veiere had once hoped to discourage this, not out of disregard for Cyril but because of those few ideals that stood between them in deference so long ago. The past still haunted the younger man; as did Veiere's, though that was a different story.

"The day you learned that I was as fallible as any one else, was the day that I left you on Ession when you were still a boy" Veiere spoke honestly, though he took care in his tone for it was a sensitive subject; "I've no doubt my departure was told in great travesty too, for all the politicians scrambling to influence the new regent to replace me..." the political environment had been stern and corruption was in the heart of most men whom took up that game of thrones. "I should have taken you with me, yet Ession was your home and yours by right. I couldn't remove you of that, nor act against the promise I gave Cyril".

"I doubt, however, that you understood why I left...Perhaps you still do, even now?".

 

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Cedric followed in after Veiere in silence. It was not that he had nothing to say to the old man, but rather that he did not know where to start. His past with the Jedi Master was a complicated one, and facing it in person proved to be somewhat nerve wracking. He contented himself to listen as he sat down alongside the old Master, his expression that of stone, his body language rigid. His gaze never left Veiere's.

When Veiere asked his question, Cedric hesitated for a moment. His brow furrowed and his tone took on something resembling caution as he gave Veiere a measured reply. "I have inklings," Cedric nodded. "I was never keen on the listening solely to my betters, and I surmise a number of reasons as to why you left. The greatest among them, I've always thought, was your desire to be with your woman, something I understand."

He paused, then spoke again before Veiere might get the chance to reply, "What I don't understand," he shook his head, his tone taking on something closer to actual emotion. For a moment, the hurt child beneath Cedric's veneer of strength was allowed to speak, "What I don't understand - no, what I do not comprehend is how you could turn your back on us. We needed you. I needed you." There was a deep seated pain in Cedric's eyes, but he did it well to keep it hidden from his voice. "We could have stopped the Sith Empire from becoming what it is today. All this destruction could have been prevented, if someone had just listened to me." The frustration in Cedric's voice was obvious - pained even. It was likely clear that his issue was not particularly with Veiere, but with what the old man's choice to leave represented to Cedric.

It was a choice so many others had made. When Cedric had thought his brethren would have rallied alongside him, they had simply watched as worlds burned from the sidelines. Veiere had no hand in this directly, but he was the first to go, the beginning of the many tragedies that had shaken Cedric's life.

He stared silently at Veiere, almost accusingly.

[member="Veiere Arenais"]

 

[WolfMortum]

"You sound just like your Father".

Veiere sighed audibly, leaning back into his chair as he studied [member="Cedric Grayson"] a moment, as though Cyril's shadow was cast upon him and the cycle had come full circle; "Your Father threw his life away trying to fight the Sith Empire...-Trying to fight whoever he thought opposed democracy, really" Veiere's tone of voice was filled with skepticism and disappointment. "Ession was a product of his anger, his drive to combat the Galaxy. He never let go of that old Sith Mentality of his, despite trying to call himself a Jedi...-I loved the man like a brother, but his views were...-So unlike my own".

"The truth is that I left Ession because I believed that it was set in it's ways, everyone so determined to fight that I saw it's collapse before it had come to pass" Veiere had returned home to the woman he loved, that much was true, yet [member="Kay Arenais"] had never complained about Veiere's decision to move to Ession when he believed it was the right calling to follow. Sure they had their difficulty trying to see each other, and most of their time was spent on holo-call together, but in the end it was Ession itself that drove him out. Not Kay.

"You were the only regret that I had in leaving Ession. I tried to advise them against their rebellion, instigating hostility and bringing death to thousands who hadn't asked for the blood of battle to be thrust upon them. Not the Sith but their worlds, their people under them. The casualties of War...the truest casualty being peace" perhaps they might have kept the Empire from growing, or perhaps he and Cedric would have been killed along with everyone else and nothing would have changed today except for his families non-existence.

"I had hoped to shape you into a man unlike Cyril Grayson...-Someone with more restraint, someone more humbled; but they would never have allowed it".

 

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The Jedi Master regarded his elder with silence. He was simply absorbing information at this point: keen entirely on letting Veiere rule the conversation. Master Arenais had an interesting perspective on things, and hearing him explain his side of things certainly helped to complete the shattered picture that was Cedric's own history. The knight of Ession was not entirely sure if he believed or sympathized with all of it, but he would give Veiere the benefit of the doubt for now.

"I am not my father," Cedric said pointedly, "Far, far from it, though I do understand your distaste for Ession. My people are ones of action; we've never been keen to stand aside and watch as things unfold." He stated that matter of factly, though with a hint of sadness to his tone.

"I suppose that is the defining difference between us Master Arenais - perhaps what sets me aside from all Jedi. You see the war we fought as a war of death for the people, no matter nation or creed. That loss of life is indeed terrible. It is acceptable, however, in the face of total domination and the slaughter of one's own people via the will of tyrants." He paused, brow furrowing, "We live in an age of chaos Veiere. Peace can't be attained until we've wiped the enemies of freedom from the galaxy, or intimidated them into ceasing their campaigns. I wish we could just leave them alone, truly I do, but they always come for us in the end Master Arenais. You of all people should know that." He remarked, obviously referring to Commenor.

It seemed Cedric realized he'd gone on something of a tangent. His features softened, a quiet sigh falling from his lips, "I apologize. I did not come here to discuss politics or ways of making war. I do appreciate you explaining your side of things to me. It adds a bit of clarity to the entire situation that was not there before."

[member="Veiere Arenais"]

 

[WolfMortum]

"The Jedi Code teaches us of restraint Cedric..." Veiere said softly upon a drawn out sigh, it wasn't difficult to read the older man's disappointment; "Fighting for peace is a contradiction in and of itself...-The Jedi have never stood for such outward and brutal force, that way of thinking comes from a darker place that ought not be tested".

Veiere had had this very conversation with Cedric's father, though the young man seated opposite him could not comprehend the full circle that had come around in the old man's perspective, "I am sorry that I failed you. I would have taught you this, had things been different. A Jedi fights in defense of people, never for the attack" he added, though his words stopped there and he nodded in acknowledgement of Cedric's apology. Veiere did not wish there to be underlying resentments from the younger one's perspective, yet such things were inevitable given that Veiere had been forced to leave him at such a young age.

"...What have you come here for?" he soon asked. The details surrounding [member="Cedric Grayson"]'s father were a weight that Veiere now questioned whether the young man could hold. Whether it was wrong or not to speak of Cyril's past, to his Son in such a way. It wasn't Veiere's call or right to muddy the boy's beliefs of his father before him.