SithLore

((OOC: Takes place after the events in Lonely Meditation))

IC:

Mandalorian Sector
Jakelia System
Jakelia

So often had he experienced loss that he had thought tears were impossible things for him. And to be fair, he was half right. Without any tear ducts in his left eye, having been destroyed by his own brother's weapon, along with the eye, there was that. But his right eye, once he had found a moment of privacy after their return, had leaked profusely. How often had he failed in the past five years? Krynn Karn, Jacobi Wylcott, Siya, the students he had sent to the Shadow Temple. He had even lost his former apprentice, his partner, his ad. That success, having Adara returned to him by the plans he had set in motion, it broke a part of him even further. It was a bit of sanity to the madness he was slowly falling into.

His body hurt all over, the battle he had experienced against Lord Blood still marred his body, and the insane rush out of Sith space had banged him up pretty good as well. His injuries were severe, which was good, it had left him alone for a bit... which he let his emotions out. He could feel Celeste's presence, but she wisely chose to remain silent to his break down. Come morning, he was doing something the medic did not agree with. He was walking about. He was uncharacteristically unarmored, wearing a loose fitting robe, with a dark cloak over it. His steps held a pronounced limp to it. His face was dry, now that he was in the public eye once more, as his vod moved to let him walk past. Though they reached out to gently place their fingers upon him, touching his arms and back.

Then there was the entourage from Gargon. The boy chief, Darius Cor of Clan Kelborn had remained. Though his people had needed him, he was holding off on leaving now that she had been returned. Darius rested upon a one of the posts leading up to Adara's home, left completely untouched since she had left them. They had all needed rest, and time to recover. Darius stirred as Colt approached, slamming a fist against his chest in a salute of respect, he immediately regretted that. He winced, doubling over, which caused Colt to smile just a bit.

"Let's hold off on the formalities until we're both not bleeding from a thousand wounds, hm?" he asked hoarsely.

"I didn't want to wake her," Darius said after a few moments. Colt nodded, then sighed.

"I did promise her a celebration once we got home," he offered.

"Sleep and rest is a wonderful celebration," Darius mused. Colt bowed his head, ceding to that, before he moved to walk up the steps to the wide porch there, wrapping his knuckles against the dark wood of the door.

"Good food is another thing to celebrate," he said, holding up the gift he had acquired to bring for his daughter. An uj cake. Darius merely smiled weakly, and nodded to his own vod who moved into position. Among them were Adara's kith Colt noted. They most likely wanted to give Adara a piece of their mind, though a look from Colt suggested they do so at a later date.

Adara woke with the knock, and it took some time to orient herself. She was not on a lonely ship, but in the safety of her own home on Jakelia. The knock was not a figment of imagination, but the sound of someone at the door-- her tired mind stretched outward, but recognized Colt. Her buir. And others, as well, all around. It was nice, feeling them out there, but almost too much.

Sun filtered through a nearby window, left open in an attempt to remind herself that she was planetside again. It was impossibly late by the clan's standards, and yet, she'd not woken. That was something else she'd need to get used to again: the schedule of the world dictated by the rotation of planets and not the whims of a weightless and timeless existence. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh Jakelia air. The humidity was slightly unwelcome, but served to further anchor her.

"I'll be there in a moment," she called, forestalling another knock as she dragged her aching muscles out of the bed. All things considered, she wasn't in bad shape, but her full armor felt so very heavy, and she decided that today, she would take advantage of her outsider origins. She pulled on some light silk pants and a breathable cotton shirt, then put only her forearm guards over top as a concession to Mandalorian customs. Adara ran her hands through her hair, longer now than it had been when she'd last been on Jakelia. She grabbed hold of her spear as well, and let herself lean on it a little more than she should have as she walked to the door.

She opened it and smiled lightly at Colt, her kith, and anyone else who might be looking their way, then noticed the cake and smiled, delightedly, at Colt. "Good morning, buir! I haven't had uj'alayi in ages!" she greeted, then paused slightly, glancing at the young man in the red cape. Had they come together? Only, she couldn't see Colt waiting long before knocking. "How long have you been out here?" she asked.

Colt offered her the cake and smile warmly.

"I figured it was long overdue," he mused, "I just arrived, the Doc isn't happy that I left the medbay, but I'm in a place I can rest easy now," he offered, glancing toward Darius who shuffled a foot briefly.

"I... we... me mostly... we stood watch overnight to make sure you weren't disturbed, the rest of your clan wants to see you, and frankly, I... ah... I would have preferred to be the first to... ah... see you," he said. Colt glanced over toward him for a moment, a smirk slowly playing onto the edge of his lips.

"Don't be nervous now," he said, causing Darius's cheeks to color just a bit, but he straightened.

"If you need anything, you know you can call on Clan Kelborn... or your Kith," he said with a small bow, Colt nodded.

"How are you feeling?" Colt asked Adara after a while, placing a hand on her shoulder. She could feel a slight tremble in that hand, it was sheer force of will that he was standing now. While he had defeated Blood in their first encounter, he had suffered far greater wounds than he inflicted upon the Sith Lord... but in so doing, he hoped he had proved a point. "And don't mind Darius, he's been overthinking what to say to you once we got you back," he whispered with a wink. "Don't think he's there yet,"

Adara sent a grateful yet nervous smile to Darius, but looked uncomfortable at the mention of all the rest of the clan, waiting to welcome her back. All those people after so long alone... what would she say to any of them when they asked her why she'd left? When the asked her the inevitable questions about why they weren't as important to her as Krynn and Jacobi? They were important, of course they were, but she'd abandoned them. True, she'd done it at first because she'd needed to save Colt from Darth Tormentous, but would they understand that?

They were family, Colt had always said that. Surely, they'd understand.

"I'm doing better than you, it seems," she said softly, noting the shaking in her buir's hand. It seemed as though he didn't know how to rest... she supposed she'd taken that from him when she'd forced him to find a purpose to himself. She couldn't find it in her to regret that. Maybe that was what she needed now, to get over this... this... melancholy. She looked out at everyone, blinking against the bright sun.

"Why don't we go to the great hall," she offered. "We can sit--" perhaps there was just the tiniest bit of emphasis on that word-- "and talk about..." She paused. "About why you think ignoring the doctors is the best thing to do." She'd expected him to be well by the time she returned, after being taken captive by Tormentous. "You could have called me over, you know. I'm here, now."

Colt bowed his head, with a small smirk.

"I am currently enacting my meditation of motion," he offered, "Though taking a seat would be nice, I didn't ignore Grel's advice, I'm taking it easy, it's why I'm not in much of my armor, with the exception of my wrist computer gauntlet," he pointed out. "You know how mother hen-like he gets," he added. There was a bit of a pause as she suggested he had called her.

"I was hoping you'd get a chance to rest more as well, but I needed to make sure you were doing okay," he said. He glanced at her pointedly. Jacobi was not lost to him yet. "But in the future we deal with things together, cause... partners and stuff," he said offering her a wry smile. "It is good to have you back, that actually means I get to rest at long last," he added, moving to start walking toward the Great Hall. Darius moved to follow, glancing to the men flanking him, they peeled off and the entourage soon became much, much smaller.

We do, understand, came that soft, feminine voice, Celeste had bonded with Adara in that dark cave where she refused to succumb to the darkness of Krynn Karn. She had returned to Colt when she came to distract Tormentous so Darius and Colt could escape. As does Sorrel, you are a child of the Empire, but contain the heart of the Jedi of old, your heart will always lie with those closest to your heart... it is why Colt went to arrange our extraction with the Grand Admiral,. her voice said. No one else could hear her, only Colt and Adara, which became evident as Colt shifted his hand from her shoulder, to his arm around her as he walked. And giving yourself for your family is a very Mandalorian thing to do, she added.

As they reached the main path up to the Great Hall, people were milling about, working on various projects and planning for training scenarios. They paused as they approached, however, some reaching out to place a hand on Adara in passing, their way of saying welcome home.

"Don't worry, they'll only do that today... tomorrow its business as usual for many of them," he told her, "Don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to a vacation," he mused.

Adara giggled a little. "This doesn't seem like a meditation of motion," she said. "But I guess it is true that you're not wearing armor." She smiled, a bit more of her spark in her eyes as she walked with Colt, and anyone else who was following with them.

"Anyways, I'm all right," she said, her face growing more serious as she thought about everything she'd seen and experienced there. "Sure, it was longer than when I was with your brother, but I was also stronger. So." She looked down for a moment, pensive, but smiled again as Celeste spoke in her mind. "Thanks," she said softly in reply. Perhaps it wasn't necessary for the word to be spoken-- Celeste, after all, had within her the ability to listen to the thoughts of Colt and Adara herself-- but Adara wasn't as used to speaking to ghosts in her head as her buir was.

Adara waved at the people who reached out to her. She still felt rather uncomfortable, not only with the touches but with all the attention. All that time spent alone, and home to this... "I'm not sure I want a vacation, exactly," she said. "I mean, I've spent months doing nothing. I want... I need to find a purpose again."

The girl shook her head, a little frustrated with herself. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to do, or who she wanted to help. But there was something inside of her, something primal, that said she couldn't just take her time being idle on Jakelia. "I need to go out there and... and rescue someone. Help someone." She looked at Colt as they sat down in the Great Hall. She put her cake down and cut into it, taking a small bite and closing her eyes and the almost forgotten sweet taste. "If I've got the heart of a Jedi of old, then you surely understand that I need to find a way to help people. There were so many in Sith space who were slaves, who lost their compassion, who became hateful as their hearts hardened at the cruelty... I couldn't help any of them, but now? I can again."

She looked down at the table, then looked over at Darius. "You understand, right? That I have to keep going-- have to make things better...?"

Colt took a while to sit. Grasping the arms of his chair as he slowly, gingerly, lowered himself into it with a soft sigh. Though he was smirking as Adara spoke on. His eyes fixated on her for a long moment, then he nodded. Darius shrugged lightly after all of it.

"I don't know any Mandalorian that likes to sit idle, with or without a cause, I'm in," he offered. "Anywhere you want to go, I'd follow," Colt's eyes flicked toward him momentarily, then he bowed his head slightly. Focusing inward, the light side of the Force bloomed within him momentarily as his metabolism began to speed up, working on accelerating his recovery.

"Then gather your Kith, and I shall accompany you, if you'd like, we'll find something... my primary goal is still bringing the Alliance and the Empire together, and to restore Jacobi Wylcott to himself," he offered, "There will come a time when Clan Sorrel will require your own leadership, if you'd pick up that mantle as well, but don't worry, I don't intend to leave this seat anytime soon. But it still is, and always shall be, your home," he pointed out.

Darius nodded, thinking to himself.

"There's still a few slavers hiding out in our sector, we could start there," Darius chimed in at last.

"Where there is slavers, then there are people in need of help," Colt added with a small nod.

Adara nodded at Damian. "I think that would make me feel a lot better. More... useful... But." She turned and looked at Colt. "I think you should take a vacation, buir. You're barely standing, and you clearly need some rest. And I know... I know part of it is because you've been spending so much time looking for me. I... I'm sorry for adding to your burdens so much."

She looked at both of them for a moment. "When I gave myself to Darth Tormentous, I expected that both of you would be better off, you know." She turned to Darius, a stern look in her eye. "If I ever have to do that again, you'd better make sure he doesn't just go hurting himself and undoing what I sacrificed for. You're a clan leader, one of the only people he might actually listen to if I'm not around." She turned back to Colt. She needed him to know that she wouldn't let him kill himself for her, not if she'd made a sacrifice for him first. "And you-- if something like this happens again, I am... I am ordering you as your second and your ad to get yourself well each and every time you try to come after me." Maybe that sort of an order wouldn't work, but even if a second couldn't order a chief around, his family had to have some sort of chance at it.

She huffed, then gave a small, reluctant smile. "Although, I think it'd best if I don't end up in that sort of situation again," she mused. "If we go up against Jacobi again, we'd better have all the Mandalorians doing it together." She looked down at the table for a moment, tracing the wood grain patterns with a finger. She'd done something similar on the ship, just tracing the metal seams and joins until they were meaningless. Here, there were whorls and starts and stops, all at random. She glanced at Colt, then turned her eyes back down. "Speaking of him... Do we still have it?" The Mask... She wasn't sure how many people knew about it, but they'd been keeping it a secret before Tormentous had defeated them, so it was a good assumption that it was still a secret now.

"I don't think even that would get through to him. But...I do have..." She paused and put her staff on the table, then began unscrewing the base, cool songsteel twisting around to reveal the hardened base. She pulled out a few pages from the hidden compartment. "These were in his room... he was researching..." She paused for a moment, then looked at Colt. "It's some sort of Sith magic, I think. It'll probably take some researching... not right now, though."

Darius held his hands up defensively.

"He doesn't listen to anyone, he listened to Jen and Hava," he reminded her solemnly. "His stubborn streak is the envy of every one of us," Darius said with a smirk. "Though you don't get to sacrifice yourself without us letting you know we reject that decision, hell, I gave myself up for my people, you gave yourself up for us... where does that end?" he asked her. Colt smirked a bit, then bowed his head.

"There is no hell that we won't go for one of our own," Colt chimed in, then placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "I'm not ready to just take it easy, besides, Lord Blood and his son were apparently on our doorstep, Sith here on Jakelia again," he sighed softly, then bowed his head again, fingers steepled before him, drumming against one another in contemplation. "And I have a report that should be arriving soon, about the location of Silas Karn," he paused at that sobering thought. "I may seek him out soon enough and challenge him to a duel," he added, "It is because of him that these events we've had to endure has taken root, a betrayal that resulted in events that led to his sister's death," Colt's eyes flashed momentarily. "I'll rest and heal before that, but an older brother that betrays their younger sibling and sparks issues still felt across the galaxy, needs to be dealt with," Colt explained.

"We takin' the Silver Star then?" Darius asked after a bit, Colt's intensity when dealing with people he felt needed to die, not just anyone fit that bill, the list was only that of the very worst offenses to him, unnerved Darius, and he wanted to be away. "Your team awaits you," he added to Adara.

Adara shrugged, not sure about the answer to the question of how everyone sacrificing for one another would end. "I guess it ends when we make them take the losses instead of us," she said after a moment of thought. "We need to make sure we win, next time we face our enemies."

She looked down sadly again though, when Colt mentioned Krynn and her brother. "I'll always miss her," she said. "I wish I could have saved her. He did so much damage to her... I'm not sure how that can ever be made right, especially now that she's...." Adara closed her eyes for a moment and breathed out, then in, drawing the light into her with her very breath as Colt spoke of dealing with Silas Karn. "I didn't follow Krynn into the Darkness, and I won't join her brother there either. I won't hold back if I see him, but I don't think there's a point to seeking him out. Not for that."

Adara turned slightly as Darius spoke, her mouth moving up into a smile and her eyes lighting up with interest and thinly veiled excitement. "I haven't been on the Star for such a long time!" She stood and took his hand. "Come on, Darius, let's go-- oh, I'd better put the rest of my armor on if we're going to do this-- I'll be right back!" With that, Adara dropped his hand, then turned and rushed off to her home, eager to get her things together.

Standing nearby, Talu frowned. "You know, she could have said hello," he said as she rushed out. Ri, nodded, an annoyed look on her face.

Tibi smiled and shrugged, her braids moving in a strangely hypnotic fashion. "She was isolated for a few months at least. It's not completely unexpected that she's forgotten her manners." She stared after the girl for a moment, then glanced over at Darius. "Good thing she's got all of us to teach them to her again, right?"