Where The Wild Things Are [Darien]

[Lief]

It wasn't often that Mysa left Midvinter these days, at least not since her lightsaber had been constructed and the Vinterbound rose again. She was a home bird, thoroughly enjoyed being among her family and those she deemed her people, so the idea of venturing out alone again wasn't something she looked forward to.

Things trickled down the grapevine all the same, however. Most of it was meant for her parent's ears only, nothing for her to bother herself with, but a few days ago something stuck out amidst the rest. A name she knew. Cordel.

It turned out that something had happened to the Patriarch, Lucien, and while nothing was said of his son - an old friend of hers - Mysa could not help but worry for the worst.

So she had done the only sane thing...

Taking one of the starships, and a pilot droid since she still didn't have her pilot license, Mysa had ventured off across space toward the one place she knew he had ties with.

Skye.

There was no guarantee that Darien would be there, or that it wouldn't be fraught with danger, but she had to find out. She owed him that much.

 

[Darien Cordel]

They'd come to the estate at night, assassins. six of them that Darien saw, but they were well armed they had overwhelmed the estate guards. Then they'd broken in and just started killing, darien had watched from the top of the balcony as they butchered the serving staff, he'd been transfixed. It was morbid and horrifying but he could stop watching, he longed to help them but he couldn't move. He just stood there clutching his bear and watching. The world swam by and he just watched. then all of a sudden , as if he was being pulled out of the bath it all came speeding back and he was being pulled along by his bodyguard.

They had gone into his father's study, father was there of course. He was not they way the public would remember, this Lucien was broken and dead inside. He was stood by his desk, moonlight shining in his grey streaked hair. Wine in one hand saber in the other. The guards that lingered had sealed and barred the doors. Then his father had mumbled his apology, closed his eyes and then the guards had died. Darien had just glanced around , why was this happening ? Father had rambled out him too quick for Darien to follow , shoved a bag into his hands and said some more things to the bodyguard employed to protect him. Then the doors had blown open, the rest had passed in a blur he'd been dragged backwards and down a secret passage. He'd heard a thud as he was pulled along the passage, he'd been bundled onto his dads yacht and Darien was certain he'd seen the roof of the estate in tatters as they flew away.

His father was dead, he'd read it on the holo. Darien hadn't been able to go on the holo since. Darien hadn't been able to do much since. He'd emptied out the bag , bank details, pictures of his father and Darien's mother [Ofcourse it wasn't really his mother it was Meret Blackmoon an old lover of his fathers but Darien didn't know that] then there had been his father's sword. That had been the hardest one.

Outside the door Darien heard the butler talking in hushed tones with the bodyguard outside the door. More staff had left it seemed, that and someone was landing near by from Midvinter. Darien got up from his seat by the window and shuffled over to the door "Is it Mysa, Tell them to let her land" He said then turned around and went back inside.

He hoped it was mysa

 

[Lief]

It didn't take long for Mysa to be cleared for landing. That surprised her, she expected the security of the estate to be high given the circumstances, so why would her unmarked ship be allowed to pass?

Frowning in thought, she guided the vessel down into the docking bay she had been directed to and sat for a few moments behind the controls. Her eyes were set upon the blinking lights of her commlink, but she didn't pick up.

She didn't want to be talked out of this.

Making sure that she holstered her lightsaber hilt, Mysa finally found her feet. The sacred cloak was placed upon her shoulders, and her Valkyri sword was slung over her back. Éar, as ever, was within her pocket.

Her eyes fell upon the Frir kitten as she passed him by to exit the ship. He'd be fine without her for a little while, snoozing as he was. She didn't intend for this to take too long, at any rate.

So it was that Mysa was met by a myriad of what seemed to be a haphazardly put together Guard. Showing some form of identification, and swearing blindly that she was here with good intentions, Mysa was eventually led toward the estate.

Once inside she was made to wait in a room, the door being locked from the outside.

She didn't blame them, though. Lucien was gone, and they - like she - wouldn't want to see the same happen to Darien.

[member="Darien Cordel"]

 

[Darien Cordel]

Darien had got dressed they were still mumbling outside. Probably talk about him, they did a lot of that these days, they did know he could hear them right? Darien spent a lot of time just listening. Father had begun talking him through the force and well some things had sunk in so when he really focused he could hear their words and their thoughts. It was scary sometimes but he was learning to manage it.

He gazed at himself in the mirror good he looked a mess, his eyes were baggy and he was looking draw out. Golly he looked like his father at the moment ... he'd have to fix that. Then he'd got dressed, it was the first time he'd got dressed in a week. Papa used to make him dress for dinner but well father was gone. Darien couldn't face dressing for dinner , despite the faux pas putting on a dinner suit just reminded him of his father and the memory of his father made him feel so dreadfully alone.

He had shook his head as he passed the bedroom mirror again dressed all in black he even looked like his father. He prefered wearing bright colours, who didn't love a nice pink but well colours didn't feel appropriate right now. There were more guards outside, there were always guards but there were more than normal. He just sighed these people were worse than his father, always crowding him. He followed them out and down the hall in silence. His handles fiddling with his sleeve button. I occurred to him that this might not be Mysa, he may have just brought an assassin into his house and put to waste his father's sacrifice.

He was relieved when he stepped into the room and saw Mysa standing there, she was older than she had been when he saw her last but he'd know her face anywhere. "Mysa , dearest It's good to see you" he half smiled still fiddling with his sleeves "I hope they didn't do anything too mean ... sorry they locked you in " he mumbled in embarrassment

 

[Lief]

Her weapons had been taken from her.

Everything else she could live with, but that left her feeling defenseless. What if Darien wasn't even here? Had she just given up one of her greater lifelines for no reason? Both the saber and the sword had sentimental value, alongside being useful, and she just hoped that she would get them back.

More importantly, she hoped she wouldn't need them. For her sake and Darien's.

When he entered the room, Mysa let out a breath of air she had been holding and hastily moved forward. "Darien!" The exclamation came as quite a surprise to even she, but she didn't care at the same time. It might have been years since the pair had been in one another's presence, but she knew him in both face and spirit.

"Are you well? You're not hurt are you?"

She wrapped her arms around him, before pulling back and staring him dead in the face. He didn't look so good, demoralized, uncared for. It hurt her to look at him, but she made herself. He'd be safe and strong again, she'd make sure of it.

[member="Darien Cordel"]

 

[Darien Cordel]

His smile grew as Mysa drew closer, she sounded so excited to see him. He was excited to see her but my how she had changed, she wasn't the same shy little girl he's spent his childhood with. She was hard and strong now , he wondered if she still had Éar. He hoped the childish objects which had become his only comfort had not become lost to her. Mysa seemed to have grown in ways Darien had up until recently never had to.

He supposed he had to grow up now, He was the Patriarch now ... for what that was worth the political and economic influence of the Cordel Family had crumbled to nothing. Lucien's death had just been the last nail in the coffin.Darien would change that though, the name Cordel would be respected again before he gave in. Prehaps Mysa would help.

Ofcourse when she hugged him it was just like when they were children. He put his head onto her shoulder and squeezed. He'd needed a hug since the night they'd killed his dad. Or maybe dad had killed himself I suppose it depends upon what happened before the roof collapsed. then she'd pulled away and he'd tried to smile again.

"I'm fine" Darien was far from fine "None of the Assassins got near me ...." but well they hadn't needed to, there were times would rather he'd died that day ... he didn't know how to function in this new, dark, adult world. "I want to kill them all Mysa ... and it scares me ...." He had looked down then. The dark thoughts were not somthing he liked Darien wanted to help people but well, those men and women hadn't just killed his father they had desecrated him. Their influence had killed Lucien long ago, the man who died in the estate that night was a broken mockery of the man Darien's father had been.

He looked up still fiddling with his sleeve. He wasn't badly looked after, but everyday more of the staff left after all most weren't getting paid anymore and they were working for a marked family now. The servants contended with the question of whether Darien was worth dying for and the answer most came to was that he was not. Darien didn't blame them.

"Shall we go and have some tea" that was what nobles did with guests right ? served them Tea.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

Mysa did, of course, still have her beloved Éar. He was tucked into her pocket, the guards hadn't seemed too bothered to take it from her as they had her weapons. She supposed that was something to be grateful for.

She lifted a hand to his chin and tipped up his face, staring at him intently. He had suffered much, she knew, far more than any their age ought to have. It was a cruel world, as they were both learning, she too had suffered a loss recently... One which made her blood boil with an insatiable desire to eradicate every single Vinterbound that ever existed and would ever come to be.

But now was not the time to voice as much. He didn't need that.

"I know you're not fine" she whispered, not wanting to humiliate him if there happened to be prying ears around the place, "but you will be. I promise you, Darien."

He spoke of vengeance, of wanting to get the men who had done it. Mysa could only sigh. She was a Jedi, but she wasn't strict to their tenets and realized that people were only human. Emotions were natural. How could she think him wrong when she herself felt the same pain toward Thrand's murderers?

"Don't think about that for now, okay? It will set you down a path you may never recover from. They will get their comeuppance, I promise."

Reaching down to take his hand, she shook her head to his invitation to tea.

"I don't think now's the time for tea, but we can reschedule okay? For now... Come with me? You're not safe here, Darien. And I refuse to let anything happen to you. Please... Trust me on this."

[member="Darien Cordel"]

 

[Darien Cordel]

It would give some comfort to Darien to know things had not all changed and gone to dust. Éar was a last reminder of a long finished age of carefree abandon. But it was comforting to know that it wasn't forgotten.

Darien allowed his head to be lifted but tipped it too the side, it wouldn't do to make the bags under his eyes look any bigger. He tried to meet Mysa's intense gaze but quickly wilted Darien never was very good at eye contact. Her gaze was harsher and more calculating now than it had been in their youth. It told of some tragedy and the faint whispers in the force seemed to confirm this , there was an anger in Mysa that she wasn't telling him about.

He would ask about it soon, when they were less caught up in rediscovery.

"I should have known I couldn't lie to a ghost" He chuckled recalling their first meeting when he had tumbled down a hill and thought he was dead. "Thanks Mysa I'm gonna try "

Darien wanted to heal people and he had heard dark thoughts inhibited the ability to do that.

He just hugged Mysa again when she told him not to think about it anymore "I will try, It's just hard to forget"

He had frowned when she refused That had been Papa's solution to everything 'Negotiation' - Tea 'Friends - Tea 'enemies' - Tea 'I'm having your family killed as we speak' - Tea

He thought on her request Leaving would make things easier and safer for everyone.

"I trust you, Where are we going ? ... I need to pack and sort the staff out can my body gaurd come ?"

 

[Lief]

She wanted to smile, to reassure him, but she couldn't. She realized how difficult things must be for him right now, and didn't want to undermine that by pretending everything was all sunshine and rainbows. Instead she took his hand and gave it a small squeeze.

"Who can you trust here?" Again her words were whispers, she really didn't want to give anything away to prying ears, "If you can't trust even one member of your remaining staff, then you can't tell anyone. Not even your bodyguard."

It was a harsh reality, but even if he spoke to the most innocent and caring member of staff the fact he was leaving could be leaked. For all Mysa knew there were eyes on Darien, people hoping to take advantage of his situation or worse. No, they had to make this a more shadowed affair. The less to know the better.

"Only bring what you need, okay? Things can be replaced, but people can't. I refuse to let anything happen to you, Darien."

[member="Darien Cordel"]

 

[Darien Cordel]

He had forced another smile as she squeezed his hand. He appreciated her silence, too many people had told him 'It would be ok' Darien was being to think that maybe it had slipped their mind that his dad was dead. He really wanted to scream at them , tell them that he was all alone and that it would never be ok ... but he just didn't have the energy. Besides even if he could muster the strength he didn't want to open the can of worms that was emotion, if he started now he'd never stop.

Her question made Darien think ... who could he trust ? "I think I can trust them all ... my bodyguard especially but I'll only tell him and my butler " He could trust them not to speak to anyone.

"I'll pack now" He nodded firmly ... he was scared but he wouldn't show it. fear wasn't somthing to be shown , even to friends, that's what Papa said. "Come with me" he smiled offering his hand. Then he left the room to head back upstairs. His bodyguard fell in silently behind but darien waved the other gaurds away.

"I'm going away, I need you to come with me, tell the butler but no one else can know the staff need to be dismissed" He whispered to his bodyguard. Who stoic as ever bowed and left to see the staff away and pack his own limited belongings. Then Darien went into his own room. Quickly shifting his belongings into two suitcases and his satchel. His fathers sword in his belt , His whole life in three bags it was odd. His body gaurd returned and Darien could hear the thud of packing above him in the servant quarters. His bodyguard joined them

"It is done"

Darien nodded, he hoped the servants would be ok

"Should we go"

 

[Lief]

Mysa knew exactly how he felt. She knew the stew of emotions which would be bubbling inside of him, the urge to scream or lash out, to blame herself or to blame everybody else. Words could do little to console that, grief and mourning was natural. Nobody should try to make another feel bad for how they felt at the loss of another, especially one so dear as their Father.

Releasing his hand so that he could do what he needed, Mysa hung back. Her eyes fell to one of the guards who stood out of earshot. Nothing about the man suggested that he had heard anything they had said, which was good.

"Okay, if you're sure."

She would keep him safe, bodyguard or no. That was a promise.

He was afraid, she knew that much, but so was she. Afraid for him, for this situation, she wasn't so sure what lay in store for either of them but she did know that she would not abandon him. As a hand was offered she took it and together they left the parlor in favour of venturing up the stairs and toward Darien's room.

Mysa stood to one side while he packed, and when the noises came from above them and the bodyguard returned Mysa knew all was ready.

"Do you have a name, Sir?" she asked the Bodyguard, before adding, "And is there any way I can have my belongings back?"

Her eyes drifted back to Darien, and she extended a hand to his while taking one of his cases with the other. "We should go. Do you trust me, Darien? Where we're going will be vastly different from the life you've known."

She didn't say where. Prying eyes, and all that. But on Voss, with the Jedi, he would not be a Lordling any longer. The political game was up, for now at least, it was best he faded out of existence.

There should be no reason remaining for anyone to follow.

[member="Darien Cordel"]

 

[Darien Cordel]

"I am" he smiled "It will all be fine ... " he trailed off he was speaking mainly to convince himself. This was a new world he was being pushed into. there aren't any ivory towers out there. He'd lived his whole life in what was essentially a series of private worlds behind fences and guards. That was all gone now.

It was exciting, Happy , terrifying and sad all at once.

He paused his packing for a moment "Thank you for coming to find me" He had begun to think he was all alone before Mysa reminded him. He was grateful to her, he just hoped she knew.

Packing was an easy enough task, he only had a very limited wardrobe on skye but it was varied enough and organised well so he could just transfer everything to cases, careful to ensure that all the items left of his father were packed safely.

He finished just as the bodyguard arrived. He nodded at Darien "It is done my Lord" Then to Mysa. He was a large man, strong and intimidating scars and a miss set nose telling of his battles "Cardan, Ma'am " he replied curtly. Talking was not somthing he did often, others talked he listened and acted. At her request the bodyguard looked to Darien, who nodded, then the gaurd nodded himself and left the room to retrieve Mysa's items

Darien took the offered hand "Yes we should and of course I trust you " He smiled "Besides if you turn out to be an evil ghost I know some people " he teased again, Darien was a bit naff at jokes so he very often just used the same ones over and over. "As for everything being different, my life already is ... everything is new now"

Darien might mourn the loss of luxury after all to him nightly warm baths, black tie dinners and an army of servants were all normal parts of life. He would soon get over it though , he was after all not truly of Noble blood and he kept getting the notion that some of the memories in his head were slightly ersatz he'd dreamed more than once of two adults he didn't recall but who his brain suggested were his parents. That he'd one lived a life of mediocrity.

The gaurd returned Mysa's items to her and picked up Darien's other bags .



[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

She had a name. That would make things easier in the coming weeks of travel across the Galaxy. Darien may not like what she had in store for his bodyguard, but it needed to be done. Either way, right now he could accompany them.

When Cardan returned she gave him a polite smile and placed her weapons back into their relevant positions on her body. Then her furs were returned around her shoulders, as space was notoriously cold, before her hand shot out to take Darien's spare hand.

"We should go now" she said, before heading out to the hall alongside the pair of them. Down the stairs, slow in her descent to allow her dear friend time to adjust to the changes, to look over his family home before it was put behind them for Force knew how long.

She felt bad, but at the same time she knew it had to be done. He had thanked her for coming to get him, but there was no need for such. Darien was her only friend outside of her family, her only true friend at any rate, she would move the planets to keep him safe if she could.

Her ship wasn't far. "Do you have everything?" she asked him as they neared it. A small vessel, but there was enough room for the three of them, Felix, and the droid which piloted the ship itself.

She had yet to let go of his hand, and she was in no hurry to do so either. He needed a reminder that he was not alone, and words would do little to soothe his pain.

[member="Darien Cordel"]

 

[Darien Cordel]

Darien trusted Mysa but he trusted his bodyguard too. That said he trusted Mysa more , he wasn't paying Mysa. So unless she killed the gaurd Darien would probably forgive her ... Darien didn't like death.

As Mysa was replacing all her clothes the gaurd set to helping Darien into his coat. Then finally ready his hand was back in Mysa's with a small squeeze. He was scared but with Mysa here it was ok.

"Yes , of course " He replied. Then they made slow progress out of the house. This house was one that Darien had seldom been in it was mostly foreign to him but he did have a few memories of it. playing in the nursery with luke. His Opare, Luke was a banker now, father looked after his own. He took one last look and gulped his last breathe of air as master of the house and then they left.

The doors closed and then they were off further and further away.

"Yes... yes" he affirmed slightly distracted, still getting used to everything. He had taken everything he could, he wished he had more time so he could have saved his fathers portraits but Mysa was right ... they couldn't wait around. Before too long they were aboard Mysa's ship.

His new life began now he supposed.

He was glad his hand hadn't been dropped. it was comforting to have it held, he felt less adrift. "Mysa dearest, where are we going ?"

 

[Lief]

She wanted to tell them that they were going home.

But she didn't want to offend him, after all they were leaving his estate. Leaving his family home behind... In favour of what? An Academy... And an Academy where Mysa wouldn't even be all of the time. After all, she had duties to tend to both for the Jedi and for Midvinter, the latter of which was her official home these days. Not that Darien couldn't join her, but that his training may take up a lot of time.

"We're going somewhere far away from here, from the Union, from it all. Where you will be safe among allies. Where you will learn to defend yourself, incase..."

Well, there was no need to make the threat real by stating it aloud. Instead she gave his hand another gentle squeeze as the ship lifted from the ground and set a course through space. Their initial destination would not be Voss, Mysa had to get rid of a little baggage first.

"Come, I'll show you to your room..."

Bringing the bag of his that she still had she walked a little way through the hall which joined the cockpit and the communal area, before turning to a couple of doors.

"This is the refresher, and this is your room. Mine's just across from yours, and there's the whole Crew Suite for Cardan on the other side of the lounge."

She bit her lip, knowing it wasn't much but the best she could offer. Inside was a comfortable enough bed, a dresser which was of course bolted to the floor, and enough space that it wouldn't feel too claustrophobic. "If you need anything just let me know, okay?"

[member="Darien Cordel"]

 

[Darien Cordel]

Home was something Darien had never had in a conventional sense. If you'd asked him where home was he'd say it was by his fathers side.

Father was dead now.

So Darien didn't really have a home. Not yet anyway, maybe with mysa he'd find a home. A fixed home, without the constant moving he'd had with father. Darien wondered exactly where they were going. He didn't ask though, far too shy for that he was. He'd find out before long and anywhere safe would be preferable to being locked away surrounded by reminders of his father.

"Okay Mysa" He replied quietly. In a way he was glad to be leaving the union. It had not been good for father and him. Sure it had offered chances to redeem themselves but it lacked the comradery of the time spent with the lords of the fringe. A move also offered safety and training ... but it was also leaving father behind , letting all the patriarch had worked for go to ruin.

The threats he would need to defend himself from went unspoken. He knew their names though. He couldn't dwell on the fearsome shadowy threats though. Mysa didn't let that happen. squeezing his hand and pulling him in to the ship.

Following Mysa down the corridor she pointed out his room, her room and Cardan's room across the way. That was easy to remember after spending every life he remembered in a sprawling palace.

Then she left him to settle in his room. It was more simple than he was used to but then he'd expected that. It was comfortable though and that was what really mattered. "Thank you Mysa dear" he said smiling "It's perfect ... I'll tell you if I find myself short of something"

When she was gone he set to unpacking, carefully laying his father's sword atop the dresser and leafing through the snapshots he'd rescued. Holograms sparking to life before him. He just watched still. He felt raw still

 

[Lief]

The walk back through the ship she had hijacked from her Father's fleet felt infinite. Her shoulders were heavy for her friend, under the strain of all that lay before them, and the dangers she was bringing to the doorstep of her family and her Order. But what else could she do? Where else could she take him that would promise silence of his name, and protection against potential assailants?

Mysa knew of no better place than under the watch of the Silvers, where Uncle Thurion and Auntie Coci - people she saw as parents just as much as her true blooded mother and father - governed.

It was not to her room that she immediately retreated but instead the cockpit. She curled up in one of the chairs and stared out into the vastness of space before them. The droid turned its head curiously toward her but she did not acknowledge it with words, instead she nestled down into the cloak and hid her face from view.

Her mind raced with memories of the first time she had found herself in such a vulnerable position, when Thurion had brought her from Midvinter to his home on Tabaqui. She had hidden inside this very cloak then, where she had felt safe in the very furs Thrand had gifted her. It was Tabaqui where she had learned what family was, and it was there that she had first met Darien. The only true friend she knew.

She wished she was there again, trading lunches, swimming in the lake, playing with Stuffty and Ear. But those days were long since gone.

Now all she could do was to get him to safety. And find a way to lose Cardan... He was a liability. And the Jedi didn't allow students to have bodyguards, nor keep their Lordly titles. No this had to be a fresh start.

[member="Darien Cordel"]