The Road Home

[Kaili Talith]

The ship would start going down the trajectory that the young one laid out. Outside the battle made it all seem like a gamble but it was a way out of the system and a way out of the system was a way back home. Having persuaded her sister to let Micah be present Kaili did what she felt to be the right thing and went to go get him back into the cockpit.

Once more the quiet patting of socks upon metal rang through the corridors of their ship. The ship’s hum felt like a comfort as the sound of explosions were promptly muted by the thick hull of their mobile home. Passing her own cabin she let herself have a moment to herself as she stared out the windows and into the calm of space.

It took a moment to shake it off. She enjoyed it, the vastness of it was unlike anything else.

“Hey, Micah.” She knocked on the door. “The ship’s going into hyperspace, we need you up there.”

Not entirely true, the course was already set up by the little girl knocking. At this point it was sink or swim, and so far it all felt like the plan was going pretty swimmingly. Not that she wished to jinx it, of course.

“Please?”

[member="Micah Talith"]
[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Came the steady rhythmic sound of a ball being tossed against the wall. Well, as rhythmic as it could be. There was certainly a level of aggression to it. Frustration. Anger.

Micah sat in a chair inside his suite, locked and looking as much as a pent up angsty preteen could be. The thin line of his lips was a slash across his lower face, his brows deeply furrowed, and while his lanky body was draped across his chair, he was obviously very tense.

Kai's voice came drifting half muffled through the door, and her plaintive request was only met with another glower at that direction.

Thump.

Thump.


Whatever.

He didn't bother answering. Instead he would toss the ball harder and faster against the wall.


[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

The ship floated steadily through space.

Aela's eyes were locked onto the fleets above. The Sicarius drifted closer and closer to the largest one. Her bright sun colored eyes began to gaze after the vessels, pupils jumping from gray spec to gray spec, trying to count how many there were.

“Thirty two...” Her eyes widened as she kept counting, lips thinning as more and more were added to the count. Aela's heart beat faster and faster, and involuntarily she took a step back, not even realizing just how useless that gesture was.

Her head turned, teeth sinking into her lip.

Where was Kaili? Where was Micah? Why was she alone in this cockpit?

Aela's nerves began to fray.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Micah open the door!” Thump, thump, thump “DRAITH!”

She forced the door open herself. The tiniest of orange orbs set their gaze upon the moping little pile of newly-awoken hormones. She hated when he got like this, all self-centered and “Boohoo, the galaxy hates Micah.” or “I am mad for no apparent reason.” or “Girls are pretty, but still disgusting.”

She was still stuck in the middle of Aela and Micah and at times there were moments when she could swear she was the wisest one out of all three of them, which didn’t really make a lot of sense because she was still pretty damn careless. Perhaps that spoke of the young girls ego, or perhaps it was just the bitter truth.

“We need you in the cockpit! ... I need you in the cockpit.” She gave the boy a stern looking before dropping the facade and dropped into a plea. “Please, Micah. I’ve set a course to get us out of here, but I need all three of us out there if anything happens.”

And then she broke out the puppy eyes. The shiny orange, slightly unusual puppy eyes. “Please?”

[member="Aela Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah rolled his eyes, the ball bouncing from the wall in one last aggravated swing. It would whiz past Kaili, flying over to Micah at great speed. The sting of the ball slapping against the palm of his leather fingerless gloved hands was a healthy reminder. And an anchor.

Even the big Kathhound pup eyes did not work.

"Get back to the cockpit, Nohei," he'd say through tight lips. He really wasn't having it. Frustration would line his lanky body and he once again began to toss the ball back and forth against the bulkhead.

Thump.

Thump.

"I'm sure Ms.Know-it-all can do just fine with you there." there was certain bite to his voice, each word a barb.

"So how about you just do us all a favor and head back up there."

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Yeah, he was not in the mood at all.

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Micah Talith"]

Her heart began to race faster and faster.

The fleet was getting closer, and she could see massive swarms of fighters dipping, ducking, and weaving about the huge star destroyers. Her heart tightened in her chest, she started to feel paranoid. Her eyes closed and she forced herself to breath, her head swimming in a cocktail of worry and fear.

Aela turned around, looking nervously for Nohei and Draith.

Where were they?

Unconsciously she clutched the side of the chair, nails digging into soft plush, fingers turning white as the tension began to sink into her body. If any one of those ships saw them, if any one of those TIE fighters dipped just a little too close....

They would be done for.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Oh he was going to mope and be a pain again. Her patience wearing thin. Her nerves already a mess she resorted to the one thing she had been told to stop doing by everyone. She got loud. Her mouth pursing for a moment she looked at the boy. He knew what was going to happen, he was well-aware of where the current mood had nearly made her do long ago.

“Micah Draith Shamalain TALITH!” The ball was tossed again. An invisible wave of energy went out to grab it and with the flick of a wrist the ball found it’s way around the room with no particular indication that it was about to bounce back to it’s moping owner. “Get off your ass and help me in the cockpit, you mope!”

Nah, she wasn’t having it either. She was terrified, she wanted to get back home and she needed her brother’s help to do that. He wouldn’t even have to speak to their sister, all he needed to do was help out in case of trouble and then it would all be good.

With the force she would pull her brother away from his room before proceeding to unleash push after push until he placed himself in the cockpit whether he wanted to or not.

If anything it was a good exercise in controlling her emotions.

“Shut up! Go!” She was really, really not having his bull anymore. “You don’t have to like it, just go!”

[member="Aela Talith"], [member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

Oh he put up a heck of a fight. Kai might get some more omph when she gets stubborn and Ugnaught-headed, but they shared the same genes -- and boy did he ever dug his heels

Anger would lance across his face, jerking himself free from her telekinetic hold with a surge of his own. She wasn't the only one taught tricks! A fierce and rather unforgiving scowl would mar his youthful features, his jaw tightening as he'd snap, "The heck I have to go!" he'd shout at her, something he rarely ever did.

Well this is what happens when the guilt and the self hate ends up getting redirected at the person it really shouldn't. Maybe Kai had been able to learn that lesson early, reign in her passions and her emotions. She was always a spirited girl. Whereas he, well he rarely ever broke the line of anger, choosing to be far more lighthearted and maybe even a bit annoyingly and obnoxiously laissez-faire about it all.

Yet with his eyes flashing a brighter orange, the Force tinted hue would illuminate them like twin coals of flame. He was mad. Frustrated. And damn it all to the pits, Aela treating him like a child on the cusp of his manhood was something he right now could not forgive.

"No!" he shouted at her, another rare thing exploding from the twin, emotion bleeding out in the rustle of every twitch, flex, and perk of his fingers, body, and eyes.

"You got Esmae to help you!" he would boom at her, his voice echoing down the corridor. "If she wants to lord over and act like the adult, then go right ahead!

You were quick to join her anyways! So what does it matter if I'm there or not?!" he'd continue to lash out, taking a step forward.



[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

Her head turn as she heard the shouting of words.

Draith.

She frowned, has she upset him that much? Her head swiveled towards the controls, then up at the massive fleet in the sky. Her lips twitched in anger, and her eyebrows raised sightly. This had been his fault! He had endangered them! Put them into the middle of five fleets In the center of a warzone! Was she supposed to not yell?

Was she supposed to stand there and tell him it was okay? What was she supposed to do!? There was no right answer, and in frustration Aela kicked one of the consoles support struts. Felix whirled around and stared at her, his robotic photoreceptors breaking into her very soul.

“Sorry Felix.” Aela said sheepishly as the droid turned back around.

Her frustration was clear.

 

[Kaili Talith]

For a second she flinched. Now he was shouting at her?! Her fists clenched her teeth gritted. Oh she wanted to punch him where the sun didn’t shine. She wanted to strangle him and maim him but mother would frown upon that and if anything it would go against the years of practice that she had spent controlling her anger and fear.

Because Kaili may not have been willing to admit it before but she was terrified and the boy would so much rather be petty than help. The nerves were about to reach her peak, she withheld the urge to outright jump her brother in fear mixed anger.

Her hand shivered and shook. She wanted to, she really did but mother spoke of long-term. Aggression was short-term and created more problems than it solved. With a deep breath Kaili let it all go. Her hand burst open as if she dropped something and without further ado she looked to her brother again.

“Fine.” She spoke. “Stay here and mope. I will be in the cockpit and make sure we don’t die because you would much rather get yourself full of self-pity. Thanks for being there for me, Draith. Really.”

Not really. Her feet turned on her heels and she set off and out of the Lair of Idiots. Tears bursting down her cheek she set way for the cockpit again. She didn’t want to speak to anyone should she actually see someone. No, she would just barge on through for the cockpit.

With a sob she took the co-pilot’s seat. Feet barely touching ground she stared out into the battle outside. A look shot out for Felix, the seedling of an idea planted on her mind. Should she do it? Her eyes set on the controls and then the robot.

No, it felt too unsafe. Unless...

[member="Aela Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Aela Talith"]

She left him there standing alone. His lips were a thin line, and he kept curling and uncurling his fists. Anger went rolling in him in waves, so much so he was trembling with it. His eyes were twin bright coronas of flame, embers blazing in the wake of Nohei's words.

Thanks for being there for me, Draith. Really.

His fist went smack against the wall. Pain lashing across his knuckles and up his arm.

...for being there for me, Draith. Really.

"Damn it!" he huffed. He was angry. But he was angry at himself. Tears bit at his eyes in frustration. Damnit. He was angry and he was scared and he knew it wasn't Kai's fault at all -- he was just so damn..

A few more seconds would pass. His right fist would unclench, the bruised and now bloody knuckles scrapped. He would blink once. Twice.

Then the next second saw him spin a one eighty and start walking towards the cockpit.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"]

She didn't notice her sister eying the controls.

Instead Aela stood behind her chair and gently petted her youngest sisters hair. It was a gently, soothing touch, though she wasn't watching Kaili. Her eyes were completely and entirely fixed upon the fleets that sat overhead. Her chest tightened as she watched them, her eyes following slightly as a group of TIE fighters sailed over them.

A frown touched her lips, and Aela wondered what she had done to deserve this.

Was it some cruel trick of the force? Some odd little twist and shove? She knew it hadn't really been Micah's fault. He had been playing, exploring, following his natural instinct. It might have put them in danger, might have caused them to fight, but in the back of her head Aela knew that she couldn't blame him.

Not when she had made similar mistakes.

 

[Kaili Talith]

... Unless...

“Speed the ship up. Keep slightly to the right of our current trajectory and don’t be afraid to push the ship’s limits. If we want to get out of this we’ll need to take a risk, crawling like this will get us nowhere.”

She looked to Aela. Kaili had no idea if it would work but seemingly just waiting around for the ships to find them by mistake was a whole lot worse than if they found them the old-fashioned way. Or maybe she was just angry enough to be willing to risk it. Possibility said it was both.

“Draw power from the reserves and apply it to the engines. We need more speed for this.”

“I know what I am doing.” Kaili looked to Aela and then back out the viewport. “Probably.”

[member="Aela Talith"] / [member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Aela Talith"]

"Of course you know what you are doing." Micah's voice would float over behind them. "You are the best out of the four of us who can handle tech."

Micah's lanky form would soon shadow over the threshold of the entrance of the cockpit. As soon as he did and he caught sight of the severity of the closeness of the fleet, his stomach would cramp again.

There was that guilt again. That sense of helplessness. His fist tighten again, beads of blood welling over the raw knuckles from where he had punched the bulkhead.

What could he even do?

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

She looked to her little brother, anger flashing across her face for half a second, then quickly disappearing as she saw the guilt in his eyes.

Aela knew that look, she knew the truth in it. She felt bad. Her eyes shot to the floor, catching a glimpse of his blood soaked knuckles. The idiot. A sigh passed her lips, and she turned around. Squatting on the ground Aela pulled open a small cabinet, retrieving a metal box with a large red cross on it. Her fingers caressed its top for a second, then she turned Micah.

A single step and he squatted down to eye level with him.

“We won't tell mom and dad, okay?” It was rare that she called them mom or dad, in act, she hardly ever did. Yet it was what her siblings used, and right now some familiarity was best for them all.

She extended the olive branch

 

[Kaili Talith]

The ship sped up under Kaili’s orders. For a second she couldn’t believe she was angry enough to want to take the wheel herself and try to pilot around the ships. Her nerves calmed themselves as the ship sped up it’s approach. There was comfort in knowing she hadn’t messed everything up for the family, who knew what would have happened if she had taken the controls. No, she was eleven, that was no age to fly by herself.

Unless you were Mara, but Mara was special like that.

A quick turn around had her looking at [member="Aela Talith"] as she took care of [member="Micah Talith"].

“I will need one of you to just keep an eye on the sensors as we pass them by.” Eyes darted between the two siblings. “The other will have to keep an eye on our energy consumption. We’re running at an incredibly high capacity right now and I’d rather be sure nothing dead-... Bad happens.”

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Aela Talith"]

Eyes a mirror of Micah's would latch for a moment at that revelation. Surprise would flare over his expression as well as a healthy amount of wariness. There was as much of a familiarity to having Aela squatted down in front of him as it was strange. Whenever any of the younger Talith's had been injured or hurt, Aela was the first one there to check if they were okay and tend to their wounds.

She mirrored their mother in that; maybe that is why she was able to step into that role so easily. He lost count to the amount of scrapes and broken bones he'd acquired during his climbing and jumping attempts the past decade, and where Aela and his mother would both fuss over him while he'd insist he was okay through snot and silent tears.

Always one to try and give a brave face.

His lips would purse, and his eyes fell to his hand, fingers flexing, knuckles bloody. She'd extended an olive branch. He got that.

A big exhale came from him then, and he gave a curt nod.

"Thanks." He said, making no move as if to deny Aela the tending she so desired to give him.

A glance drew up to look at Nohei. "I'll keep watch."

A few seconds ticked on by, and the guilt rose up again.

"Sorry."

 

[Aela Talith]

“It's okay.” Aela said as she quickly pulled a cleaning solution from the medical kit. “We all make mistakes.”

Even the stuffy grumpus made a mistake every now and again.

It wasn't wrong to say that Aela was the golden child, not the most loved of course, but the one that most often followed the rules. To Soliael and Kira all of their children were equal, but Aela most definitely got the least stuck in awkward situation. Perhaps that was because of her personality, or perhaps that was simply who her parents had raised her to be.

Either way, it was significant that she admitted to making mistakes.

Quickly she began to clean the wounds, scraping odd bits of metal dust out and gently removing any other debris that remained behind. It was quick work, though Micah would feel quite a bit of stinging as Aela did it.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Curse looming like a bad gut feeling Kaili looked to the others. If one of them piloting was a bad thing, what would three of them helping one another make? Would the luck of each person amplify their chances at success or simply create an even bigger chance for a much greater disaster? Only time would tell.

“It is forgiven, Micah.” Kaili turned around in her seat. “I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

She turned around and looked out the viewport again. The ever encroaching star destroyers was both a marvel and terror to see. Had she not been part of something that would have been blasted to hell and back she would have wanted to stop the ship and take in the sights but that felt like not just a bad move but a very kind of dumb one. The two often, if not always, went hand in hand.

“We’re approaching the Star Destroyer...” Kaili announced as a way of calming her nerves. “They haven’t seen us...”

Because if they had they’d be dead or dying by now.

“Remember to keep an eye on those sensors, Micah. If they spot us...” Wait, no that wasn’t how you built courage! “... They won’t.”

[member="Aela Talith"] / [member="Micah Talith"]​

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Aela Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

Hearing Aela say that was startling. So much Micah almost missed what Kai said.

"Huh?" His head perked, and he was reminded again of where they were at and the seriousness of the situation. Awareness shot through him and that adrenaline he'd been feeding on spiked.

Right, can't forget the massive fleets out there.

He gave a nod "I got it," he said, turning his attention from Aela over to the sensors. He unconsciously nibbled on his lower lip, more so when they were going alongside the nearest star destroyer.

"Just keep doing what you are doing Nohei... you got it." He said again, encouraging his youngest sister while Aela tended to his wounds.

He could mull over the rarity of Aela admitting making mistakes later when they weren't threatened of being blown into smithereens.