Return of Old Friends

[Jaster Awaud]

Even without the Force, Jaster could feel the fear [member="Lady Kay"] felt for the Mandalorians. Those beast in the Deaths Watch twisted what it meant to be Mandalorian. The Raids, mass murders, and invasions for no cause... to be Mandalorian use to mean to be respected. His grandfather would walk Coruscant in his armor and police officers would enter a calm state. A True Mandalorian meant it was safer for them to be there then not. Mandalorians didn't start fights, they ended them as honorably as possible. His clan was known for the Unifier, a leader who United the Clans, and survived through the odd as True Mandalorians. Now... now they were more criminal then soldiers. Killing and fighting without cause and without honor. They call themselves Mandalorians, but they are Tyrants with T-shaped Visors.

He decided to move on with Kay and the conversation, "You may not know this, but in the historical records of Anaxes though no one can prove it, there was 1,000 year conflict where both Jedi and Mandalorians fought together," Jaster was half sure if this, though the time period is known by many as the Dark Ages of the Old Old Republic. "And 2,000 years before or so, they were considered enemies, the Wars change but the culture stayed the same, to be Mandalorian is more then about War, it's to have honor and pride in your family, to defend it against all threats, and to honor your enemy as you they have the courage to stand up for what they believe in."

He was right, it was considered incredibly disrespectful to kill for fun. Death was only needed to survive, weather it was a job or to get a meal. "Those that you may have encountered were less then a True Mandalorian, but you have your Clan Alor, you joined his family cuz you knew he would protect yours, and me, am I a ruthless killer like those of the Empire?"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay stood there with [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] , listening to him speak while a gentle breeze moved past them. The air was calm and so were they, content in eachother's company and comfortable enough to delve into topics that didn't really offer peace of mind for either of them. Yet the two did their best to ease the burdens of the other in small ways, via words of encouragement and support.

Honour and Pride in her family. She had that in spades for Commenor and all of the people in her care. Sure she may be the High Queen, but in her mind she served them and saw to their needs. They deserved at least that much.

Jaster mentioned her Clan Alor and that caused her to lower her head. She hadn't seen [member="Gray Raxis"] in years, nor had she heard from him since their one small meeting after his trial. But that was before her abduction and before she was made Queen. Was he even still alive? Was he still running the Clan? She had no answers for that, and that was another mark against her.

"You're not a ruthless killer, no. You protected me long ago on Bakura when we were nothing but strangers. Any other might have imprisoned me or worse. So I'm glad that you found me first." She remained silent for a moment, pondering on what the future could bring. "Jaster, may I ask a favour of you? When my daughter grow older, do you think that you could teach her the Mandalorian culture? Perhaps she'd fair better that way than following in my own footsteps. She'd be less of a target."

 

[Jaster Awaud]

Jaster wished he could feel the air, it had been some time since he had smelt the Commenoran Air. It had be a long time since he was able to feel the fresh breeze of the planets atmosphere. He remembered the first time he visited the planet, Kay was just a Senator of the planet for the Old Republic. On the boarder with the One Sith surviving the horrors of that long terrible War. She turned a once busted trade hub for the Core Worlds into the bussling metropolis that it was to this day. His Data HUb couldn't relays the information quick enough to truely display it beauty. He took it all in.

Until Kay mentioned training her daughter. That caught him off guard, finding out she was Mandalorian was one thing, training her daughter to be one, total difference. He had no problem training another Clans Member, it is common practice among elite families to send their kids to be trained by the best. Kay didn't have any formal upbringing so he had no problem with this, he looked to he however, "I'm a little surprised to say the lease, and with your Alor Absenct I accept being a Training Sargent to your young daughter, but you have to clear it with the Father, you both must be ready to have her accept the Mandalorian Culture cuz once training begins, she is Mandalorian."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nodded a little. She had to clear it all with [member="Veiere Arenais"] . She wasn't entirely sure how he'd take it. Or how [member="Loreena Arenais"] and [member="Caedyn Arenais"] would take it. The twins were always together, yet with Veiere training Cae in the ways of the Force, hinting at having their son move offworld for more training. What would happen to Lori? Ahe had a connection to the Force too, but she had to learn to not rely on it all the time. Perhaps with one twin learning one way and the other twin learning another, the two could teach the other what they had learned and then they'd both be better off.

Maybe. If all went well.

Kay folded her arms across her chest as she stared straight ahead, her brows furrowed as she thought hard on her decision. It felt much in the same manner as it did when she let herself be adopted into Clan Raxis. Such a decision wasn't easy. And getting out of it had proven to be nearly impossible. Even with having no contact with [member="Gray Raxis"] and the others, she was still being regarded as one of them. But only by those that knew.

"Jaster, you say that as though it's a bad thing. So, is it? You said that she's already half Mandalorian. What difference would that make? Do you believe that it is to her benefit to learn? Or wpuld it just make things worse for her?"

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

Jaster could not deny his friend, [member="Lady Kay"], she had never asked the man for much but always answered his call whenever he needed help. Alor's of others Clans were common to take allies family members to train should the father be incapable or dead. The culture of the Mandalorians were to always make the next generation ready for the battlefield, that was the older generations job in life. Taking care of a Force User however was a bit difficult many Troopers and Warriors would be unable to do. He, though, had raised two force users that became Grey Jedi Knights instead of Warriors.

He stood with her and looked down to her, "Kay, when I trained my children in the way of the warriors, they walked the line between what you force users called the Dark and Light sides of the Force," He would not get his friends hopes up in the idea that this would be an easy trial for her untrained daughter. "Your daughter will be taught the uncontrollable rage of battle and the chaos of battle as well as igniting a fire within her that many Jedi would consider temptation of the dark side, throughout the training, she will be tempted with unimaginable things, there will be a battle of emotions and discipline, if she gets through the training and survives then she has the potential to become a very powerful fighter even without her force abilities."

He thought of all the problems of training another one of these children again, and spoke to end his informative speech, "If it is your will to keep her along the path of a Jedi, I would suggest keeping her here for training, as all the Force User Children I have trained chose to walk the path of the Grey Jedi or hired out mercenaries."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay kept her eyes straight ahead while [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] spoke in such a way that really was like a warning. He seemed to have his own visions of what he believed her daughter was like and of possible future plans for her. And he seemed to have his own views of herself as well. He thought of her as a Jedi and some wonderfully wholesome person.

If only he was right.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

"Thank you for your caution. But I am no stranger to the darkness or of the grey. And my children won't be either. They could easily become targets and I want them to be able to defend themselves far better than I could. Putting them in the spotlight, bringing them into a life of politics where they might have to hide a part of themselves like I do....it's not the right life for them. It would do more harm than good."

She turned to look at her friend now, her arms dropping back down to her sides. "I'll talk it over with my husband and let you know what we decide. But another question to ask is, how old would she need to be to start?"

 

[Jaster Awaud]

He looked to [member="Lady Kay"], his intention was not to scare the women from making this decision, but as a mother, she would always have a connection to the child. Jaster was a well educated trainer and none of his force using students had ever fallen to the dark side nor the light. Both his children and the Mandalorian Knights he trained that were killed in the Civil War walked the line of the Order of the Grey. This would be the first time he trained a child for the force who parents were living and shared a strong connection. He knew well enough that any pain he would put the child through Kay would feel no matter the distance. She would have to accept this as her training and do her best to keep the distance. The one thing that could destroy the training was the inability to climb out of the emotional cyclone alone and leaning on others.

"I apologies Kay, I do not mean to warn you so much, but I know how difficult it is to let go of ones child and let them find their own path, and maybe you find it easier then I am able to," Jaster looked to her and bowed his head as if he was apologizing. "As for when most training begins I started both Shakk and Tydus at the age of Teens as that is when I adopted them, but anytime between when they start to walk to their early teens is best, I always start the training with basic education in Math, Literature and History but I am sure your own educators can provide those, I will train her in the Flotilla and she will travel with me to put her training into practice."

If she was worrier about her Force Training so she wasnt completely relying on the Combat Training. "My son, Tydus, is returning from a Force Journey or something and he can assist with her force training while leaning the Canons of Honor and what it means to be Mandalorian, if that would be fine with you?"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nodded. [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] was concerned for her as any friend would. It was a big decision to make and not one to be taken lightly. [member="Veiere Arenais"] had made the same heavy decision when it came to their son. She didn't like splitting the twins up. Hopefully in time they'd be forgiven for it. She was going to find a way to keep them in touch for always. Maybe creating rings, such as Veiere did.

But first she'd have to learn how.

"That all sounds great, Jaster. My daughter is nearly thirteen. And she's very smart. As for the Force, her training is minimal. Though I know that she's discovered it and has been experimenting on her own in secret. A mother knows these things....The Galaxy is a dangerous place outside of our borders. She needs to be prepared for it. Just in case it ever comes here."

 

[Jaster Awaud]

He did not need the force to see that [member="Lady Kay"] was sad to make the decision that she was being made to make now. The safety of the children was always something that a parent wanted, and it was something he feared every day. This galaxy had a special destiny for Force Users, something he never really liked as his children where of that breed. This talk of Kays child brought a lot of forgotten feels that Jaster had not thought of in a long time. He did his best to conceal his feelings as this was not about him, but for hes friends child and her future. It was the job of the old to past down the teachings to the young and prevent history from repeating itself.

"This Day and age has become something much worse in the years since I was a child, training then was just a culture, now its a necessity for ones future," He looked forward as they continued to walk down the now getting crowded streets. It must be time for meany people to get off work as they headed home. It was interesting to see a world at peace, only returning from a world that was revenged by war. "I wonder if your children will pay for our generations mistakes?"

He joined the path of War as a means to pick himself up, since then he was a Merchant, a Scientist, a Politician, and a General. He like some other tried to broker a peace between nation, but radicals and idealist only ever preached of war. He was sick of it, he now just wanted to work the land and come home to his children who grew up in a world that knew of nothing but peace. Could a day ever truly come?

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nodded as [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] spoke of the past. Perhaps everyone believed that they had it better when they were little. When one was a child, life tended to be a lot simpler. Truth was that every generation was rough. One just nedded to look in the history texts to see.

"I hope that they don't. But we can never be sure. If they live without repeating our mistake, then there's the potential for a better outcome for them." All that they had was hope. "We also have to be sure that the Galaxy is in a better place than it was when we entered it."

She looked over to Jaster, giving him a small smile. "It's good to have you back, Jaster. I'm sure that Lori will do well with you and your son."

 

[Jaster Awaud]

He could feel [member="Lady Kay"] looking to him, it was a kind feeling like when one lays out in the fun with a cool breeze. Any doubt the man had was washed away with the cool breeze of her smile. The light at the end of a tunnel was what many saw the Queen of Commenor as. Jaster noticed the day he meet her in the forest the first day they meet. He never imagined her as the symbol of a nation, but as a becon of what was good in the galaxy, that he was not surprised about.

In return for her warm smile, he looked over and returned with a chuckle. "If she is anything like her mother, her fate is out of my hands," he increased his step to walk just ahead of Kay, "Though I feel honored and interested in the journey of the daughter of Kay, where one story ends..." he looked back at her with only one of his red glowing eyes meeting here's, "One could say another story begins"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay laughed. Oh she hoped that Lori wasn't like her. Getting into trouble was one thing, yet having it constantly find her was quite another. And that was what [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] was for; to help her to get out of the trouble that she finds herself into. Maybe if Kay had someone like him when she was growing up, then she'd of been better off. But then her life wasn't too bad, really, all things considered. It could be a lot worse.

She smiled to her friend as he seemed rather pleased with the whole idea. In truth, she was as well. "I'm sure that Lori will find your training far more interesting than learning politics. She's quite bright and loves to figure things out. I heard her say that she wanted to build her own jetpack so that she could visit her brother. It wouldn't surprise me if she was capable." All that she had to do was reverse engineer one. Lori was always good in school, unlike her brother.