Private Potentially Fortuitous Misunderstandings

[Damian Starchaser]

There was a pleasant breeze on the sands of Zeltros. The man had only arrived back at his headquarters not too long ago and was already taking to the private beach. Damian wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing here. This was often the case when called upon to do the task he most dreaded, teaching.

Damian considered himself a horrible Jedi and a worse teacher. Still there was apparently a need for him to impart knowledge. Personally he thought he was punished for something. Still Jerek was a good lad who he had dealt with previously. Truth was the youth reminded him a bit of himself. If he were a more responsible adult and more attuned to the ways of the Jedi he’d take the youth as his apprentice. Fortunately for Jerek he wasn’t so inclined to look up jedi procedure.

When the appointed hour arrived he let the frames of his sunglasses drift down to get a better look at the figure which showed up. Not Jerek, no it wasn’t Jerek Zenduu at all. “You know I made some assumptions when I was told there was a request for a private training session.”

The beach was quiet and secluded. It was private in more than just name with distance keeping away onlookers. “This entire atmosphere is not acceptable for me and you.” And he said to bring swimwear too… no this looked horrible, and he already had a horrible reputation if that jubilee was anything to go by. “Entirely inappropriate.” Yup Jerek Zenduu's girlfriend... well girlfriend made it sound juvinile and immature. Paramour? That was better but perhaps a bit too negative a connotation. Either way she was there... in front of him... on a private beach.

Resisting the urge to groan he stood up and walked to the bar and stood mutely. He was halfway to a glass and bottle with his hand before he thought better of it. That surely wouldn't make the situation better. "You weren't exactly who I was expecting. I'll have to have a chat with my secretary." More likely it was Roland Moorecock his CEO and handler. The man had a horrible and devious sense of humor. "Regardless it is a pleasure to see you once again. You'll understand if I don't invite you to have a drink."

Allya Vi'Dreya Jerek Zenduu

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

Allya stood on the beach for quite some time. Her dark eyes stared at the water, and the crash of the waves surrounded her. The girl took in deep breaths of the salt sprayed air, and then slowly let them back out. Her heart pounded as she tried to keep calm. It wasn’t every day she asked for help, the teen had resources that most in the galaxy could only dream of. The Warrior Prince of the CIS, she rarely needed or wanted for anything. Except…..She was surrounded by Sith and the SJO were their allies, which meant she had appearances to keep up. It nearly caused the teen madness.

However, in her travels she had met Damian. Cousin of her hero Coren Starchaser, but someone….well, someone more like her. At least, she thought of Damian like that. A Jedi but a little darker, more rough around the edges, less moralistic and driven by ancient customs. She needed that.

The girl turned to face Damian, with a mischievous little grin on her caramel face. Rather than just a swimsuit, she had on tight black yoga pants, and a no sleeve tight top that clung to her figure. Her eyes settled on the man’s face and she shrugged. “I know. I thought you might run away if you thought you were meeting me. But it was Mr. Roland’s idea when I approached him. Though, I was impressed you wanted me to be in my swimsuit? Naughty Naughty, Damian. Now, I DO have it on under all this...”

She waved her index finger in front of her face, while she tsked. “Or...were you HOPING to see Jerek in his, hmm? If so, can’t blame you.” Her voice practically purred with mischief. Allya turned back toward the ocean, lost in thought. “I need help. And honestly, I couldn’t think of someone else who may even understand the problem I need help with.”

As the sunlight bounced off her face, the girl’s heavily scarred arms and shoulders were visible, a testament on all she had seen and done. "And a pity. I think a drink right now would be lovely. Don't you?"

Damian Starchaser | Jerek Zenduu

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian smiled with his back towards the girl. He knew about her checkered past, and her shall we say leanings and didn’t particularly care. In his estimation she was no better or no worse than than the myriad of corporate liaisons, CEO’s, diplomats and politicians he was used to dealing with. And that was before Jerek Zenduu softened the girl. No not softened, that implied something negative in the context of a warrior and was an unfair assessment of the situation. Tempered. A much better word.

He listened to the girl give her sass to once more find himself smiling. Yes he did like her. A hand reached for a bottle of chemically non offensive beverage and then to another… filled with liquor. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but a solution is rarely one of them,” Damian said, pouring a portion of the two bottles into a shaker and furiously began to move it back and forth until the ice inside caused the metal capsule to frost. Pouring two glasses and adding ice he moved towards the girl handing her one. “A local beverage, it’s a bit sweet for me but I’ve taken to it when its hot like today.”

After handing over the beverage he sat down on a nearby seat. “My plan, for the record, was to make Jerek relax a little bit, have a conversation and then teach him something. Mix in some forced moral lesson and end with some sweet beverages that had umbrella’s in them and maybe throw a party. I’m sure I could find one of my nieces and they would have some friends over and it would have been fun.” Looking at Allya he then added, “I think we can both agree that Jerek needs to loosen up from time to time. Regardless, the first part of the plan is perhaps still valid. There is a booth for changing not far off the beaten bath, feel free to change if you want but please be comfortable, sip your drink and then you can tell me what this problem is.”

Laying on the reclining chair and stretching back to let the sun wash over him he put a pair of sunglasses over his eyes and sipped the beverage before teasingly adding, “Oh and of course I should probably cancel the dancing girls yes?”

Allya Vi'Dreya

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

Her large brown eyes closed a moment as she took in Damian’s words. She nodded emphatically as he spoke about Jerek. “Oh, he most certainly needs to learn how to relax. But, he is adorable when he gets all awkward. It’s fun to tease him. He...Honestly, he is a miracle. But he needs to learn so much yet about the galaxy and how it works. I honestly hoped he would learn more from you. You have what he needs, he just doesn’t see it yet.” Allya opened her eyes and twirled around to face the man and take the drink. “Vor’e.”

As she sipped the drink, her fingers pushed hair out of her face. “Oh I have it under this, if it comes down to it. I am on a beach. As for your nieces, Jerek, and the dancers…” She shrugged a bit before she laughed. It was a melodious sound, happy, almost care free. “He would be blushing so much. He can’t handle it. Jerek is amazing, but his mind is still that of a boy. The thoughts he has had when he sees me interacting with another girl can be amusing. I don’t mind though. He is allowed to do as he wishes one way or another.”

The girl’s lips purse before she took another drink. “Damian. You are a good man. I wish...honestly I had a man like you teaching me when I was a bit younger.” She shook her head. “My dad locked me up in a dark side nexus for a few years, under the tutelage of a very cruel man. It’s the Sith way I suppose. He is still my hero, and yet I hate him all at the same time. I guess it’s why I ended up looking up to the myth of Coren Starchaser. Got so many books, holocomics, and the like.” She laughed loudly at this. “Haha. I still have the action figures and holocomics in my room, honestly!”

Her right hand went out to the sun and she splayed out her fingers and looked through them, the left still held the drink. “It’s weird….but do you know any resist light abilities? I’m having a dar'yaim of a time being intimate with him. My body rejects the light, and the light rejects me. I can feel it trying to tear me apart each time we touch.” She shook her head a bit and sighed. “Auntie Srina says its just normal and I’ll grow stronger in time so it won’t matter in the long run. Dad says it just means I need to avoid light side stuff. The only one who had any helpful advice has been Darth Tacitus, but he is now a traitor of the Confederacy and started up his own little Empire to take over everything…..Also, do you know any better ways to focus emotions, or maybe just to calm them? It’s getting harder to suppress the more intense of the dark side surges. The corruption of the dark side is…intense. It takes constant vigilance to not fall back into it.”

Damian Starchaser

 

[Damian Starchaser]

He sat and listened while sipping his drink. He didn’t comment as she spoke about Jerek needing his advice. The truth was he considered himself a poor teacher in so many ways, his fly by the seat of the pants and unorthodox style causing many to doubt him. It caused him to doubt himself, but what he lacked in his estimation of being a Jedi he more than made up for in raw confidence of all his other abilities.

The girl continued, talking about her father and Coren Starchaser… wait he has his own action figures and comics? Damian's eye quirked grateful that he had glasses in that moment. He placed his drink aside and with two fingers pushed it to the end of the table before reaching for the nearby bottle and palming it in his hand. He took a big swig before placing it aside and grabbing the lighter fruitier beverage. “This is going to be one of those days,” he said aloud pulling his sunglasses off and turning to meet the girls gaze. “One thing at a time alright? Where do you want me to start?”

Allya Vi'Dreya

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

As she continued to look through her hands. “Honestly, I know my focus should be first. But the Light resistance. I need it to keep my normal life going. If I lose that, everything else falls apart. He keeps me going when the darkness wants to devour me.” A hand rubs her face a bit and she drinks more. “Sorry, getting all melodramatic. I just want to be able to have him next to me for an entire day without feeling like my atoms are trying to seperate.”

The girl walked over to Damian, a slight sway to her body as she went, her mind on Jerek. “So, know anything?” Oh she was sure he did. This man was the master of a million tricks, and thousands of intelligent ideas. If more Jedi were like him, the Sith never would have stood a chance. Allya herself had been designed to hunt down Jedi. Her abilities, knowledge, skills, and tech, all designed to kill these amazing people. Fate was funny. She had fallen head over heels for a traditional Jedi boy, to the point she couldn’t imagine staying sane if he disappeared from her life.

And when push came to shove….she came to visit the Jedi. They had answers, so many answers, things she could never think of herself. However….Her nose wrinkled a bit and she stepped close to Damian, and she gave him the brightest smile before she reached out and tried to poke his nose. “Haha. Dumb right? Gaaaah. You are smart, you already get it, I know you do. I can’t exactly ask my dad, and not expect him to want to slaughter Jerek and the entirety of the Jedi order. He is weird that way.”

Damian Starchaser

 

[Damian Starchaser]

There was a lot of information to digest here; more than he’d have liked and less than he probably needed. The truth was he wasn’t an expert philosopher on the force, he wasn’t a great mind who could fix all problems. Still he liked the girl and wanted to help and perhaps his ego wouldn’t let him simply say ‘sorry can’t help’ and send her on the way.

“So you think that growing up in this darkside nexus is what made this happen?” he frowned looking at her face and seeing the answer. He raised a hand to forestall the verbal answer. “Do you have an addictive personality? Can I give you narcotics and not have to worry about making you a junky?” he shook his head not letting her answer. This was a stupid idea but it was the only way for him to be able to test a hypothesis. “Let me explain fully what I want to do. Deathsticks can deaden a person's connection to the force. I want you to do death sticks and let me purify your body from the toxin with the force. I can do a little research, find dosages and figure out how much it affects you. From there I’d use the force and see if the deadening of your ability, your connection, affects the results. You know more about this situation so you have to inform me here.”

Damian took a deep breath, “If you agree I wouldn’t want to do it right away, besides I don’t have illegal drugs on me, but we could in the interim try a few other things. I’d like to tell you about my past and try a few breathing exercises and techniques.”

He took a sip of his drink inviting back a response. This was stupid, exploitative, and wrong. Another irresponsible deed of Damian Starchaser, but it might shed some light on the situation.

Allya Vi'Dreya

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

Allya sipped the drink a bit and slid down to nestle her butt into the sand. The girl pushed the cup’s base into the sand with a little wiggle. “Damian. Honestly I have no clue. Was it that? Was it the experiments done to me? The endless torture damaging my mind enough that I can’t distinguish the difference between the light and pain? Four years inside a Dark Side Nexus? Or the endless training and drawing upon the dark side to fight over the years? Is it real? In my head? I can’t even BEGIN to tell you. But I know I’m beginning to fall apart, and I’m looking for anything that can help me. And...well, I respect you. I trust you.” The girl slid her hands back into the sand behind her. She then proceeded to lean back on them and tilted her head to look back at Damian. “You are a good man. A strong man. And perhaps more importantly, you don’t look at me like I’m something to be used or destroyed. I’ve never had that in an adult before. Josh was pretty close…But he always was disappointed I didn’t try harder to be light.”

Her fingers tug deeper into the sand as she listened to him. “It’s been awhile since I did Deathsticks. Not since Roon. Believe it or not I used to do a lot of Spice when I was younger. If you think it’s an option, sure. But I want Jerek to be there. I want to remain grounded if I can help it.”

Finally she just plopped onto the ground, sand and all. She didn’t mind if it got into her hair. “Mmm, talking huh? Sure. I would like that. I would enjoy getting to know you and learning a few more breathing techniques. So, whatcha got?”

Damian Starchaser

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Damian stared over at the girl and gave her a reassuring smile. It was the type of smile that had worked over the years to melt hearts and put people at ease. “You’ve called me a good man twice now,” he replied thinking it over. “You should judge more slowly..”

Letting out a sigh he said. “I heard a story one time. There was a woman, an actress, a real tabloid starlet used to appear naked on screen and hold lavish parties.” he laughed it played off like the woman was a joke. It was all in his tone.

“Now she was holding a party and there was a war on. She ended up getting these ideas in her head and on a napkin wrote a schematic. She and musician friend of hers talked about it and later sent it in. New Encryption device. Right there. Judge slowly. You call me a good man,” Damian shook his head.

Pressing a few buttons on his chrono and bringing up the com he made arrangements in text while he talked to the girl. “I’m a thief and a liar. I’ve done bad things for personal gain, for the good of the galaxy. I’m not a good man.”

And there it was, laid bare. More truth than he’d said outlaw to anyone except for maybe Joza. “I’m not something to aspire to, I'm something to surpass.”

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

Allya turned around, and then pushed up off the sand. She listened to Damian as he spoke, this soft smile on her lips. He reminded her so much of Jae, while it had been some time since she had seen him, she had been fond of the boy. When finally Damian stopped talking, Allya’s rough and calloused hand rested on the man’s cheek, and her head tilted to the side a bit. “Mmm, but you see. This is where you are both right and wrong. I do not live in a world with a black and white definition of good and evil. I say you are a good man and I stand by it.”

Fingers gently caressed his cheek, as her dark eyes stared into his eyes with a mischievous glint. Her hand pulled away and she stretched upwards. “You look after the ones you care about. Always watching, ready to protect. You teach, and try your best to help a situation, even when you aren’t sure you can do it. You LISTEN, and do not judge a person just because they have a differing opinion than you.”

The girl’s arms moved back down to her sides and she spun around in the sand. “You taught Jerek how to protect himself from things honestly dangerous to him. You took the time to listen to me, and come up with ways you could help. You play chaperone, even when you clearly don’t desire to do it. Are these things not GOOD? I mean, think about it. I have attacked a hospital, killed innocent civilians in bombing shelters, and spread fear across entire systems. I did so, because it was the quickest, least bloody way to end the wars I fought in, for all people. It still stains me. But am I evil? My father is a Sith, he leads with fear and power. But his ever action is self sacrificing and a desperate attempt to keep his people safe. We can’t save everyone. You know this better than anyone.”

She took a deep breath and finished the drink in her hands with a large gulp. “But….Long ago, A LONG LONG time ago, there was a man in the Jedi, well maybe before the Jedi as we know them, who wanted to study the dark side. He was denied the ability to study as he thought best benefited them. So he left. He went far away, and people went with him. They stayed on their world, trying to learn in peace. The jedi began to hunt them, and used the republic to do so as well. In time...nearly all of these scholars died. And it’s from this event, that the second schism happened as well. And from that, the Sith were born. Without the moral guidance of the Jedi, they let hate flow through them and to this day we are fighting them. But the galaxy thinks of the Jedi as these GREAT heroes. But you? You ARE everything a Jedi should have been. Able to adapt. Able to love and care. Able to do questionable things. We are PEOPLE not machines. I still say: You are a good man. At least good in the way I see it.”


Damian Starchaser

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian had never had anyone extol his virtues in the way Allya had at that moment. Was he a good man? He didn’t think so. But if Allya wanted to think it was that way who was he to argue. Well the subject of conversation, that's who he was. Normally he liked people talking him but this entire conversation made him a bit uncomfortable. It was time to change the subject.

“I don’t know if Jerek really benefited from anything I taught him.” He of course hoped he had but he didn’t know. “You really do care for him.” It wasn’t a question.

With that he centered his mind. He was subtle, as subtle as he could be and did a little sweep around the area. “Right so I want you to breath. In and out as you empty your mind.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “I want to hear how you met Jerek.” Once empty Damian began to let everything in. The frantic life of fish, the party-goers adjacent to their own private beach excited by the exotic alien companions. He let all of it in. The intent was to get a mental reading on the girl as she described a piece of history that would hopefully be pleasant. Damian had his doubts however, she had been through so much.. “And uh… breath while you talk. In and out. I want you to empty yourself of everything but the memory of your first meeting.”

Allya Vi'Dreya

 

[Allya Vi'Dreya]

She just smiled as Damian changed the subject. Her dark brown eyes rested on the man and she nodded. “Uhuh, keep telling yourself that.” However, she listened to him. The girl turned to face the ocean, and she looked out at it for a while. A mix of emotions filled her being before she closed her eyes. “I...Met him, on Chandrila. Hah, I went to a tech expo as my father’s representative. I was supposed to see if there were any companies, or ideas we would want for a series of invasions he had been planning at the time. I found a lot of things, wired them to dad. But I got hungry!”


The images of skipping her bodyguards, hoping on the hover bus, of going downtown away from everything. She had been wrapped in a black velvet cloak, as the temperatures there were significantly lower than on Geonosis. “I went to a malt shop...ordered some food, and well this group came in. Later realized they were all Jedi but...he was cute. Ordered me a sundae and started talking to me.” As she talked, the girl laughed. The emotion felt inside was overwhelming. It was devotion, a passion that overwhelmed and the feeling of companionship. As she breathes, she begins to empty her mind of all other thoughts, just relishing in that bright moment of her life. She rarely had the chance to act like a normal girl, but this was one of her most cherished memories now because of it.

However, as Damian got a mental reading, he could see that the next time her and Jerek had met was as enemies. She struggled to stay in that moment because of it. Her mind kept trying to skip ahead to a crowded little club, to her first kiss, his warm embrace, the feeling of safety, of truly belonging. She wanted to go there….back into Jerek’s arms. Into the paradise she now found herself in.

Damian Starchaser