Ask Dathomir Crossroads

[Arla]

Per my new OP template, thread is death enabled​

Arla could see the ship in the distance atop a mountain with an excellent view of the surrounding landscape as she swooped in on the chirodactyl she had used to ride to the top. It was an isolated meeting point where they could be alone and not worry about being interrupted, overheard, or anything else. And ultimately, it was about the view as well. It was breathtaking.

The large, bat-like creature landed a short distance down from the ship and she dismounted. Despite the heavy subject weighing on her mind, she was glad to see the armor clad figure who had arrived there. Armor that would be terrifying to virtually anyone who saw it was a warming comfort to her because she knew the man inside it for her entire life.

She moved over toward him and threw her arms around him in a tight hug. Uncle Dub! she said with an uncharacteristically large smile. Dub, short for W, short for Wraith was the name she had called him her entire life because insufferably she still didn't know his real name.

That was for another time, though, and despite it all, he had been the closest thing she'd had to a father figure for most of her life.

She released the hug and stepped back. I'm glad you were able to come. I... need your advice, she said. Things had become complicated, and although she knew he was a retired Sith, he was - as was her mother - retired. What he had pursued since then, she didn't know, but his perspective was going to be quite different from most people's. That was why she had - quite unusually - asked him to come. That fact alone told him the gravity of her concerns, and she was sure he was smart enough to put the two and two together.

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Dathomir was often a strange and unwelcoming place - but it had only ever been a place associated with positive memories for Jaikus. It was here that Emryc had first proposed, and it was here that both Renfry and Arla lived, members of his extended family and two people he genuinely cared about. From the moment he brought her into the world, Jaikus had formed a special bond with Arla - and had opted to be a part of her life, one way or another.

She was the daughter of his husband, the daughter of a good friend, and Jaikus loved as if she were his own.

There was no mystery as Arla drew near - watching as the large bat landed atop the ridge. Behind the terrifying visage of his mask, Jaikus smiled brightly, genuine warmth bleeding onto his expression as Arla’s began to approach.

“My little love,” Jaikus wrapped his arms around her tightly, squeezing and nearly lifting the woman off the ground. It has been a stretch of time since their last meeting, but the Axxilan never failed to appear when she called for him - even if it took a little longer sometimes. “I brought you this,” He gestured down to a little box - popping the lid long enough for her to spot the hand-wrapped dolma that were nestled inside. It was clear the snacks were handmade.

To anyone else, the warmth and affection couple with the horrifying visage of Wraith would've thrown them through a loop. But for Arla, it was all she would’ve ever known. “I will always find a way to be where you need me.”

“And you will always have it,” He said when his advise was requested, reaching up to give her shoulder a squeeze. “Come sit. The view is too nice not to,” He gestured to a rock big enough for the both of them.

“How can I help?”

 

[Arla]

Arla's face lit up as he showed her the gift and she popped it open quickly to look inside.

Thank you! she said. It was ironic. To most of the rest of the galaxy she was a terrifying Sith and Nightsister who rarely smiled and was always serious, but somehow Jaikus had a way of bringing out that little, star-struck girl.

She moved over to take a seat, feet dangling over the edge of the huge cliff as she started to dig into one of the dolma. She pushed the box over to offer him one, but she already knew he wouldn't take it. Taking his helmet off was still apparently forbidden for him, and as frustrating as she sometimes found it, she'd learned to accept it a long time ago.

Her face fell into a more serious look once again as she started thinking about her dilemma, though the more she'd thought about it, the more she thought she may already have found her answer.

I am sure even though you left the Sith, that you're aware of what's been going on with the Empire, she said. She had absolutely no doubt that he knew, and it would make it so she didn't have to reexplain everything.

And I don't know what to do, she said, letting out a deep sigh and bracing for the word vomit she was about to unleash on him.

I can stay with the Sith and try to either rebuild or fight back against the Empire, but do I even care about that fight? The whole Council is dead, and the Sith have been on a downslide since Mother left. A part of me wants to fight just as payback for what they took from me, but... is that a waste? she said.

Or I could just renounce the Sith and pursue knowledge on my own. Go back to our traditional Nightsister ways of selling my services and use it to keep tracking down whatever power and knowledge I can. Or I could do that and still remain - at least in some ways - attached to the Sith, she said. It was the truncated options available to her, but in addition to her actual options, she also wanted the answer to a critical question from him. A perspective he had that few others did.

Why did you leave the Sith? And do you still consider yourself a Sith on some level even though you separated from the Order? she asked.

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus didn’t miss how Arla lit up when the gift was revealed - and it immediately brought a hidden smile to his lips. There had been a time when the Axxilan wasn’t capable of cooking a single thing - but that was years ago. He had originally learned to cook for Emryc, then his children, and gradually began to enjoy the process as something of a hobby. He still made frequent requests of Tiamat for her superior baking, but the Axxilan delicacy was something of a labor of love.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Jaikus tilted his head towards Arla, “That box was perhaps.. A touch fuller, when I originally packed it.” The amusement was clear in his voice, even through the mask that he wore. Even still, he took a place right beside the Nightsister - silent when she spoke. He was there to listen, to be there for her, and it meant allowing Arla to rant and word vomit to her hearts content.

When it was finally over, Jaikus reached a gloved hand forth - giving her shoulder a tender squeeze. “Breathe.” The Axxilan knew how the world seemed to drastically shift beneath her feet, and left the Nightsister reeling to figure out what to do. But Jaikus knew the importance of letting all of that stress go - lest it tear her apart.

He took a moment to process what Arla said - considering every possibility and angle. There was a part of Jaikus that wanted to steer his niece away from the Empire and Sith entirely, knowing that the ISC wouldn’t relent. It would keep Arla safe, and beyond the reach of danger.. But Jaikus knew that was selfish. And he knew that the Nightsister wouldn’t stick to anything he simply told her to do.

“To be Sith,” He began quietly, his visor tilting out towards the breathtaking views. “Does not obligate your true loyalties to anyone but yourself. Not to an Emperor. Not to a Dark Lord. Not to a Warmaster. It is a refusal to be shackled to anyone but yourself - and to pursue your own goals.” The Dark Side wasn't the exclusive domain of the Sith, nor any iteration of them that existed throughout the millennia.

“What do you gain by pledging yourself to the remnants of the Order - or will you only chain yourself to another monster like Anaris?” Jaikus asked with a tilt of his head. “Fighting them for payback is precisely what this new Dark Lord wants you to do. They want to rally the remnants of the Sith, and use that betrayal to further their own agenda.”

“Felucia and Columnex were a loss. But you have the opportunity to rebuild and pursue your own ambitions - free from any obligation to anyone. Free to pursue your own power and knowledge.” Jaikus turned to glance at her. Few people had the option to leave the Sith Order without repercussions, but this was a rare opportunity. “What is it that you want, Arla? What passion is it that drives you? Who are the people that you truly care about, and would fight to protect?” It was a question she needed to figure out for herself - and it likely would require no lack of self reflection.

“Do not endanger yourself purely out of vengeance. And if you choose to associate with the Order - to rebuild.. Never lose sight of your own goals and what matters most. Never forget that the Order is a means to achieve it.”

Then came a critical question for Jaikus - and the reason he left the Order all those years ago. He couldn’t divulge the details, at least not entirely, but it was undoubtedly perspective that she needed to hear. He paused for a moment, finding the best words for the answer that roiled within his mind.

“I left the Sith Order because loyalty to it, and the things that mattered most to me - the people and future that I valued - were no longer in alignment.” He said slowly. “I had a choice between affirming my loyalty to the Sith or my own happiness and satisfaction. And I chose the latter.” Years ago, Jaikus had chosen his relationship with Emryc over the Sith. He had set aside a lifetime of loyalty and devotion to pursue the things that mattered to him - to protect the relationship with the man he loved. “Your mother was angry with me for it. For quite a while, actually.”

“Am I still a Sith?” He paused, considering the thought for a moment. “Perhaps. I have learned from their teachings, and those principles have guided me throughout my life. Influenced who I am today.”

“But my loyalties are my own. They belong to myself and those who matter to me. To you, your mother and few others.” He shook his head. “Not to the concept of the Order, Empire or whatever other iteration comes into being.”

 

[Arla]

She listened to his advice, silently looking out over the horizon and not saying a word. She even stopped eating her new snacks for a moment as she thought and listened. In her heart of hearts, she knew it was what she needed to hear. She needed to hear from someone - other than Mother - that to pursue vengeance for vengeance's sake was foolishness.

It was a means, wasn't it? And that was why he had left. He no longer needed it to achieve the ends that he wanted. In fact, from the sound of it, remaining in the Sith may well have prevented the very ends he wanted.

But to be Sith was more than just a title, it was a philosophy of life. It was why he had left. Why Tiamat had left. Why Mother had left. Perhaps even why her father had left. They understood what so many in the Sith Order seemed to fail to grasp.

Your chains were broken, she said after a moment, finally looking up at him. Despite the little flecks of gold, the similarity of looking down into Emryc's icy, silver gaze would be undeniable, and in those eyes was an understanding.

Thanks, Uncle Dub, she said, and he would get the impression that despite all the power he would feel had grown in her and her title as "Master" there was still a part of her just looking for permission to truly throw off the chains of the galaxy around her.

It was so very much like her father. There was no verbose explanations or further debate, just a quiet understanding of what he had said and what it would mean for her going forward.

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus was silent for a moment or two - allowing his words to sink in. All the while, his gaze never left Arla, a single hand resting on her shoulder as a sign of comfort. The Axxilan knew that she wouldn’t have all the answers right away - but she was on the right path to coming up with her own conclusions. Determining what it was she truly wanted, and whether the Sith Order had any place in achieving those goals.

“Yes,” He said with a small nod. “They were.”

The Axxilan couldn’t help but stare back into those silver eyes - immediately recognizing the understanding that burned behind them. They are the same eyes shared by his husband and children. It was the same frosty expression - and the nonverbal moments that he had learned to decipher long ago. He knew that she understood, and couldn’t help but muse how much she looked like Emryc in that moment. More than she’d ever know.

Without another word, Jaikus pulled Arla into a hug once more - giving her a tight squeeze. “Of course. Anytime, Arla.” He said fondly, and he meant every word of it. She knew that he would be there whenever called.

Jaikus broke the embrace, allowing his gaze to flick out over the mountain ridges. The sun just barely began to crest over the top of them, and the Axxilan had no desire to look much of anywhere else. He briefly registered the beat of wings, a reminder of the creature she had arrived on. He couldn’t help the faintest smirk.

“I’m still not flying on that thing,” He said after a moment, knowing how the Nightsister had tried to convince him a dozen times in the past - and likely would again before he departed.