Wake Up

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael nodded, giving her a smile.

She ate like a ravenous monster who hadn't had meat in several weeks. Her bite reminded him slightly of a Rancor, taking as big a chomp as she possibly could so that she could eat as fast as she possibly could. How did she enjoy her meals when she ate that way? He grinned slightly, thinking silly thoughts before returning to her question.

“My father may have been a monster, but he sparked wars.” Soliael said simply, not sure if Kira was aware of the second Mandalorian Wars. “Whats more, he won them.”

That was important, soldiers liked winning, and Moridin had won his wars. “Winning inspires loyalty, strength, moral goes up and belief with it. They trusted him as the first Emperor to get things done for the better of them and their families.”

Though Moridin had been cruel to conquered worlds, he had always ensured that his own people loved him. That was why there were still statues of him on some former Sith Worlds, and why Dromund Kaas, when it still stood, had held his visage in many effigies.

“They followed him because they trusted him.” It was that simple really.

 

[Kira Talith]

While she may have taken a big chunk out of her sandwich, Kira did make the proper amount of chewing. Her drink of choice had been limited to what was available, but lo and behold the fizzy juma juice in a can was procured. Yay for containers.

She'd take a sip of the fizzy juice to wash it down, the bubbles tickling her nose a bit as she did so. It was odd, perhaps even strange at hearing one describe the former Sith Emperor so. Considering that which the Lorrdian knew of him, it hadn't been much. Her time in the Order had been relatively sequestered to specific temples like Ossus until connections to the rest of the galaxy came about.

But she heard stories. Many, many stories. A lot of them not that nice.

The talk of war would somber her. It was due to a new war that she was returning back to the Jedi Order post haste. Again, because of the Sith. Who knew what sort of state she would find her home now. Of worlds. Of her friends. Of those who she had grown up and trained with.

Kira would drop her gaze to her sandwich and quietly take another bite.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael noticed the sobering of her mood, and felt a slight hint of regret in being so candid with her. He knew she didn't like those things, but she was also and adult. She knew very well what war did, and she knew very well what it did to people, and unfortunately for some kinds of people. He frowned slightly, but then suddenly reached across the table.

Playfully, he poked her side.

Smiling, he tried to get her thoughts from the wars and deaths of the galaxy.

“What do you want to do after you halt your ravenous hunger?” There wasn't much admittedly. There were some things that they could do here upon the ship, but many options would be closed to them. Hide and Seek for instance would likely be frowned upon.

The ship wasn't that big after all.

 

[Kira Talith]

Kira would give a slight twitch at the ticklish poke, her mouth curving into a half smile as she would finish chewing her food. Another sip of her drink would allow her to speak.

"Mmm, what options are there?" she'd ask, rising her brows in question. A hand would reach out to pick up a piece of meat that had fallen from her sandwich and would pop it into her mouth.

"Did you want to train some more?" came her second question.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Training didn't seem like a half bad idea, but he didn't want to spend the last few hours he had with her wrestling on the ground...at least not with lightsabers around. He frowned slightly, looking at her. No, training wouldn't do. They hadn't done much of that anyway, and he'd rather spend the time getting closer to her in other ways.

Neither of them were Echani after all.

“How about a little edification?” Soliael proposed with a smile. “I'll teach you a little about my home.”

Onderon was certainly a world of splendor, and his knowledge of beasts and other creatures would be something she would greatly enjoy. Or so he thought. His smile told of an eagerness to share with her, to tell her tales and stories of old.

 

[Kira Talith]

Her face would brighten like the sun at the suggestion.

"I'd like that." it was a way to get to know more of him beyond the out of context stream of the meld. Things didn't make sense to her still at times, others were fuzzy. However, she knew that hearing stories about his home from Soliael himself would be better than anything her mind can try to clarify and make sense out of.

She would take another bite, almost done with her sandwich now. If he so wanted, he could start right now. Or just wait a bit until she was done. Either way, he had her complete attention.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael chose to wait.

If he was going to tell her about home, it would be in the right setting, and the cafeteria was most definitely not the right setting.

Onderon meant something to him, and so did Dxun. It was where he learned many of the skills that eventually helped him to survive. It was where he learned to fight, tame beasts, and even the beginnings of the use of the force.

Those two planetoids were near to his heart.

Sharing them with Kira meant something, and she very likely knew that already, and not just because of the bond from the ring.

 

[Kira Talith]

Sandwich done, Kira would go about cleaning up after herself. However, it didn't stop her from asking him one last time if he would like to get something to eat. She'd be happy to munch on a cookie, but she would be fine.

Setting everything away and with nary a crumb left on the table, the tiny Lorrdian blonde would shine a smile over at Soliael's direction. Rocking on her heels, she'd stand in front of him, hand extended out to him.

Funny, such a curious sight for any who might come upon them. The False God staring down upon the petite Jedi Master with open affection.

"So where to?" Kira would ask, licking her lips once to wet them as her free hand would brush her bangs away from her face again.

He'd take her hand, and soon they would make headway to the bow of the ship. It wouldn't be long before he would lead her towards an observation deck.

​

Needless to say . . . The view alone took her breath away.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael stood for a moment then pulled Kira over to a nearby acceleration couch.

No observation deck was complete without them.

He looked at her for a few moments, sitting her down and ensuring that she was settled comfortably on the fabric. Hyperspace shot on by for a few moments, blue streaks said to drive people into insanity giving him a feeling of calm, but unease. He looked away from them, and instead towards Kira who had lain herself down on the couch with her head in his lap.

His fingers worked gently at her scalp. “I wasn't born on Onderon...”

He began that way, his voice soothing and soft.

 

[Kira Talith]

Time would pass as he would first tell her about his home. She would lay using his lap as a pillow, feeling the cafune of his fingers through her hair. He seemed to also share the need to touch, whether it be her face, her body, or even her hair. It could be as idle as a soft doodling of his fingers over her arm, to the deliberate slide of his forefinger down her nose.

Kira didn't mind. There was something lulling about having him caress her so. More so as the deep tenor of his voice would take her to the far off places of his distant memory. One story in particular would spark her shudder of bemused disbelief.

"Skreeve surfing?!" Her head would turn up, her eyes searching for his face above her. A blonde brow would arch. "You invented Skreeve surfing?!"

How does one even do that?!

"Okay, you gotta be pulling my chain there, kiddo."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“Skreev when trained are actually very relaxed animals.” That wasn't entirely true but it was obvious Soliael had felt at home with these animals. “Riding them ordinarily got rather boring. This way things were a bit more fun.”

He paused for a second. “For some.”

Soliael winced slightly as if remembering a few times that Beast Riders had attempted to emulate them but found their reaction times to simply be too slow. That had ended in many broken bones and the eventually banning of Skreev surfing for anyone but Soliael. There was a saying that you hadn't truly lived until you got a rule made for you.

Soliael had many.

“It was the migration on Onderon that was truly the big event...” He went on again, beginning the tale of Onderons biggest yearly occurrences.

 

[Kira Talith]

Her lids had fallen shut, but not due to a desire to sleep. More so because the stroke of his fingers along with the low tone of his voice that made for a very relaxed Kira. Every now and then one would catch the twitch of her lips in amusement at a rather humorous escapade. Or the sudden opening of her eyes in alarm or surprise at a particularly nerve-racking event.

Either way, she was enjoying herself, that much was clear. His latest story dealt with his month long journey on Dxun. This one had a familiarity about it, having to deal with ensuring his survival while out in the humid and rainy wilds.

"Find anything like Big Red down there?" she'd ask, curious as she'd never been on Dxun herself.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

He smiled down at her. Every once in a while he would lean down and kiss her lips, her nose, or her forehead. Interrupting himself in order to garner a small smile or a bit of shock from her face. He liked doing that, seeing her surprised. It was as enjoyable to him as simply telling her the tales of his youth. Or relative youth anyway.

“Dxun is called the world of Monsters for a reason.” He told her in answer. “Drexl, Boma, even Nexu.”

There were so many creatures on that little moon.

All of them wanted to kill and eat you.

There were few places in the galaxy that were more dangerous than Dxun, and few places that Soliael would rather go for a vacation. It was calming. There was no civilization, no cities, no villages. Dxun contained nothing, absolute emptiness. For a man so connected to technology and the galaxy around him, Dxun was heaven.

“Drexl were always my favorite.” He said stroking her again again.

 

[Kira Talith]

"How come?" Kira would ask, shifting on the couch to turn towards him, her hands tucking under her head as she would stare up at him. A smile would light her expression, simply enjoying being here. The hours were ticking by, perhaps a bit too quickly for her liking. But she would cherish them all the same.

The blur of stars within the mottled tunnel of hyperspace would stream across the observatory deck. So far so good. They would hit Protectorate Space soon enough.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“They're more than simple beasts.” Soliael said cryptically.

“Drexl are intelligent.” He explained himself, his fingers stopping for a time. “Though they're massive, near eighty meters tall on average. They are also quite smart. Their minds are difficult, if not impossible to bend with the force, and they often solve problems as more than base creatures.”

Drexl were of course something apart from the rest of the creatures of Dxun. They were the apex predators. The top of the food chain on Dxun and Onderon. They could be tamed of course, taught and educated even further, but the process was difficult, so difficult that Soliael had only managed it once, and that had been training from birth.

Taming a wild Drexl was near impossible. “Can't surf em though.”

Soliael said with a grin.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Why am I not surprised that you would even try to find that out," she would say wryly, body shaking a bit amidst her chuckles. They were wane after a few moments, snuggling closer.

The next few hours were spent on more stories. This time a bit more intimate as he would tell her more about his mother. With every bit he would relay, a bit more of the puzzle would start to take shape. To make sense. What would that be like? To have a mother? Certainly Soliael's own seemed like a fun one.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

He told her few things about Quietus. Not her name or even her general skill set, nor her status as beastia. What he spoke of most was her relationship with him, how they acted with one another and the strange love that they never really mentioned, but both knew was in place. The high expectations she had of him, and the things that she had taught him.

It all seemed natural to tell Kira these things, and the information seemed to flow from him almost too freely.

“I imagine she will eventually want to meet you.” Soliael said calmly. “Perhaps I’ll stop by Onderon after...”

He caught himself, not wanting to continue speaking.

It was a childish notion, thinking that the words would hurt her, or him for that matter, but there was something about them that Soliael didn't want to speak. Internally he counted the hours, fifty five left. Fifty five short hours left together.

 

[Kira Talith]

A shadow would cross her eyes at the thought that she herself would face the other side of that coin. No child would be born of her womb. That choice had been taken from her. It would not linger long on her face. No instead she would banish those thoughts to the shadows of her mind. Had to think of the hear and now.

A fingers would lightly trace in an idle circle over his right arm. A smile would warm up to him, noticing his sudden break in words.

"You should visit her. Life is too short to not take advantage of the time you have left."

Her expression grew softer.

"I'm sure she would like that. "

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael leaned down and kissed her.

“For you, I'll make time stand still.” He winked at her, well aware of the cheesyness of that line and deciding to say it anyway with only a hint of amusement in his voice.

There was something to the notion of visiting Quietus. Onderon and Ossus were relatively far apart, but unlike the trip from Exocron to Ossus there were actual hyperlanes to link the two worlds together, hyperlanes that he could use. He was sure that his mother would enjoy the visit, as long as he called ahead and gave her fair warning.

Quickly he calculated whether the migration would happen soon, finding that it had already passed.

Then he looked back down at Kira. “So, what else do you want to know?”

He was sure she had to have questions about some of the things she saw during the meld. His time in the Pit? Travels in the outer rim? His skull was a cornucopia of knowledge and adventures. She had to be curious about some of the things she had seen.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Love the thought, but I doubt you can make time stand still," Kira would tease as she would kiss him back, granting him a silly expression of mocking amusement.

"There have to be things you can't do, buckaroo." she'd add, arms moving from under her head to stretch over her head. Her body would arch against the couch; chest up, arms out and feet pointed. A yawn would escape her.

"There's one... what can't you do?" enter the token look of impish devilry. "Besides lightsaber combat."