Home at Last

[Phoenix]

Corvo had left Korriban feeling little better than when he'd arrived. Well, perhaps slightly better as he at least had some answers about Shae, but those answers were dark and terrifying. He could barely believe that he and Shae had nearly killed one another, but the time they'd had together afterwards, sad as it was, was sweet.

All these thoughts churned through his head as he set the ship down in Theed. He was a passable pilot outside combat, and necessity had all but forced him to fly the Fury back to Theed himself. He'd not wanted Ciri to remain on Dantooine for fear of Sith retaliation following the assault on Korriban, so Chaz had stayed home with Ciri - and was he ever glad for that decision.

He rubbed his temples as he looked at home, letting out a quiet sigh as he made his way inside. He could sense the house filled with the presence of his family, minus one. He could tell immediately where they were: "the tinkering lab" as it had been named. Ciri had an incredible knack for picking up the tinkerings that "Uncle Chaz" did in his spare time and the two always had a great time together.

Corvo crept quietly down the stairs to the basement workshop, poking his head quietly around the doorframe to see them both hunched over a table and messing with what looked to be some sort of circuit board for a droid. He smiled silently as he watched them a moment, glad his daughter was safe but still having that tug at his mind that she would never be safe while he was around.

I go away and no one even greets me when I come home?! Corvo complained jokingly, a boisterous tone in his voice that only came out when Ciri was around.

 

[Sreeya]

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ciri grumpily scowled as she poked at the circuit board. She had on some safety goggles that were entirely too big for her, but both she and Chaz were completely enthralled by what they were working on and entirely oblivious to their surroundings, “This worked just fine yesterday. Plus adding more inhibitors will make it a dud. I want a droid, not a teddy be-“

As Corvo spoke, Ciri jumped, poking against some wiring that made the droid’s arm abruptly slap Chaz in the face. She fell back on her butt, staring in embarrassment before tilting her head back to see who it was. He would see her sitting there with the ridiculous goggles on, hair sticking up at odd angles because she couldn’t put them on properly. To Chaz, she looked perfectly fine and he didn’t bother to fix it.

“Daddy!” Ciri’s eyes lit up at the sight of him, and she leapt to her feet, all signs of her very recent nerdiness gone. She was once again a little girl. She darted across the room to slam into him with almost enough force to make him take a few steps back. Only so tall, she hugged him around his torso as best she could, “I missed you!” She looked back at him, taking the goggles off to reveal comical markings around her eyes from where they had been, “You were gone so long!”

Ciri tilted her head to look past him, her smile fading slightly, “Where’s mommy? I thought you went to bring her back,” She looked back at him, “I’m not…sensing her still.”

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo's face lit up at the sight of his daughter, hair disheveled under her goggles, and the excitement she exuded at the work she and her uncle were doing. Seeing that excitement pale in comparison to her excitement to see him only caused him all the more joy. She charged toward him wrapping her arms around him and causing him to stumble back a step. He wrapped his arms around her, stooping down to give her a strong bear-hug.

He "growled" at her before pulling back, smile on his face. I know, I missed you, angel! he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He looked to Ciri, catching the concern on her face, his heart heavy at her next question. He knew it was coming and it was part of the reason he'd been fearful of returning home. His face turned more serious. I was hoping to, angel, but mommy still isn't feeling well, so she can't come home yet, he explained, a long face and pained voice. I hope she'll come home soon, he said.

He couldn't bear to focus on this, lest his own will break. He wouldn't allow his daughter to see him break down now. Were you good for uncle Chaz? he asked looking past her to Chaz. The other man just nodded quietly, though Corvo knew he wouldn't have said it if she wasn't good. She could do no wrong in his eyes. He'd brought her a surprise as well, but didn't want to reveal too soon. He had to find out if she'd been good so far.

 

[Sreeya]

Ciri pulled back from Corvo with a heavy sigh, “Why can’t she be with us even if she’s sick? I get sick all the time but I don’t run away. There's nothing Uncle Edin can't cure!” There was a twinge of anger in her words, “Does…does she not want to be near me?” She looked up at Corvo, tears threatening to well up in her eyes. In the end, her stubbornness got the best of her. She sniffled, wiped her sleeve on her face and put the thought aside.

She grinned widely at his question, looking back at uncle Chaz who wouldn’t rat her out, “I… could have been better, “Ciri looked down at her feet, her face growing red, “I.. may have…set uncle Chaz’s hands on fire..” She kicked sheepishly at the ground, Chaz shaking his head at her honesty. He quickly put his bandaged hands behind his back and grinned at Corvo.

“But he’s okay now!” She looked back up at Corvo, “How was your journey? Did you see anything cool? Was there lots of fighting? Can you stay here now without leaving again?” She grabbed his hand and tugged him back towards where she had been working. Ciri picked up a saber hilt and handed it to him, “Look! They finally let me make one! I think it’s so pretty,” She beamed proudly at the hilt, “Getting the crystal wasn’t easy. We had to go into these caves and stupid Kimi Ryes pushed me me so I slipped and fell down into a- I mean, nothing happened! I have a saber now! See?!”

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo could see the tears welling up in her eyes and heard the sniffling. It hurt him the way she hurt and he couldn't lie that he was angry with Shae for putting them through this. This is a different kind of sickness, sweetie, it's not really... physical or something that we can cure right now, and she doesn't want you to get it, he tried to explain.

His eyes widened when she said she'd set Chaz's hands on fire. You did what?! he tried not to get angry, but was concerned for Chaz who seemed completely unconcerned. He sighed, looking down at her. You've gotta be careful down here, he said, knowing they'd talked many times about the rules of the tinker shop. She wasn't really allowed down here without either Corvo or Chaz because of all the dangerous things down here.

He couldn't help but smile finally as she made sure to point out that Chaz was okay. The trip was... good. It was busy and productive, he said, trying not to expand on the people he'd killed inside or the fact that Shae and he had nearly killed each other, Venator's appearance or the... things that had happened in the old Academy. Those weren't for someone her age.

Wow! Let me see! he exclaimed excitedly as she said she got her saber. It's amazing, angel! And I'm glad you're safe, he said, knowing she would always be in danger, but assuming that there was some sort of master making sure she wasn't being hurt. Always keep it close, he said quietly, handing it back to her. Let's see what color it is, he said smiling and taking a step back. Do you want to test it out? he asked.

 

[Sreeya]

Ciri heaved a sigh of relief when Corvo didn’t press her on what happened in the cave. She smiled as he excitedly looked at the saber. It wasn’t often that he was truly impressed with something, but this had caught his attention. She took the saber from his hand, eyes going wide as he asked if she wanted to test it out, “Of course I do! I’ve been practicing Form X!” She waved the saber around in her hand after igniting, already the gesture more practiced than when he last fought her.

She set the saber to stun, which was hilarious because she doubted she could truly land a blow on her father, “I’m ready!” With that, she walked over to an open floor area they usually used to test out the droids. It allowed them enough room to move around and fight. Ciri got into form and looked back at Corvo, her heart beating rapidly. She knew her father was one of the most skilled duelists in the galaxy. Everyone knew him for his battle prowess. That fact put a lot of pressure on her as everyone expected her to be just as skilled as her parents.

Ciri was determined to prove those people right. As a result, she had been training nonstop since Corvo had been gone. Though Chaz constantly told her to relax or rest, she spent hours in the training dojos, and he even remarked under his breath how much of a mini Corvo she was. She stared at Corvo with determination, waiting for him to make the first move.

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo smiled broadly as she seemed so excited about the saber. He watched her brilliant blue blade flash to life. He shouldn't have been surprised that she was practicing Form X, but he still was. She was watching her parents more than it appeared, it seemed. That was both encouraging and terrifying.

He watched every one of her movements as she took positions. He could see that her movements were more fluid than they used to be as she took her stance. He was practically beaming with pride as she took her stance. He pulled his own saber out, setting it to lower power setting and watching her movements.

All right, he said with a nod. She waited for him and he paused a moment before moving forward. It wasn't at the speed he would have gone against a true opponent, since that wasn't what she needed. He swung his saber in from her left to right horizontally at her shoulder, pushing his own body to his own left at the last moment when his blade was supposed to contact hers.

 

[Sreeya]

Ciri watched as the saber came in towards her, but she knew her father well enough to where she knew he wouldn’t stay stationary. As a result, she remained where she stood. When he fought her prior, she had remained mostly in one place, and it had been detrimental. This time, she wanted to make him think she planned to do the same thing. As the saber came in, she held hers (in her right hand) to meet it diagonally. As she predicted, she saw him shift towards his left in anticipation. However, Ciri was a step ahead of him.

Without warning, she switched off her saber. The connection of their sabers and Corvo moving towards his own left while keeping their sabers locked would push the momentum where his saber would sail across without any obstruction. At the same time, Ciri dropped into a low crouch, a signature move from her mother. That was when she ignited her saber once more, swinging it towards Corvo's legs. Where her mother was quick enough to roll away to the side after completing the attack, Ciri wasn't that refined yet, hoping the attack would land.

She quickly attempted to call the Force to herself, managing to shoot off a somewhat weak Force push upwards at Corvo should he try to swing down and readjust to her new position. She mostly relied on her quick movements to throw him off.

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo was surprised when his blade met nothing but air, but his movements were practiced enough that the recovery was all but effortless. His arm stopped immediately and he recognized that crouch. Oh yes, he'd seen that crouch time and again from his wife. It was a favorite of hers, though he'd never made much use of it himself. His daughter was a natural and was picking these things up even more quickly than he anticipated.

His wrist twisted to inverted, using the momentum from his swing to turn in an arc so that his blade was now facing the ground, catching her sweeping attack as she reactivated. The follow-up strike from the Force, though, he wasn't prepared for and it struck him, staggering him back a pair of steps as his saber angled in front of his body.

He'd underestimated his daughter and he didn't think he'd ever been more proud in his life.

Fantastic! he exclaimed before he could catch himself. The pride in his daughter and the progress she made practically exuded off of him. You've been practicing, haven't you? It shows, he said, a broad smile on his face. You move just like your mother, he said, glints of pride practically visible in his eyes. She truly was a chip off the old block, a cross of both her parents and better than either of them.

 

[Sreeya]

Ciri couldn't believe how quickly he moved, and she knew this was him holding back. How did he get to the point where he was a mere blur of motions? She felt his saber come down to angle against her attack, but she was surprised to see her Force move work. He was staggered back, genuine surprise on his face. That look alone brought a huge smile to her face and she was more thrilled than ever. He blurted out 'fantastic' and she beamed with pride. She quickly rolled to the side, still eager to keep the fight going. Impressing her father was a difficult feat, and she could usually tell when he acted excited vs. when he was truly lighting up. This incident was certainly the latter.

"Every day!" She quickly rose to her feet, dashing at him once again. She lashed out by swinging her saber in an arc from his right hip to left shoulder. However, as she came in close, she pivoted abruptly towards his left, easily turning on her foot like she had seen both parents do. Ciri expected him to catch her blade, and she abruptly reached out with her left free hand to shove it against his torso's flank, aiming to send him back once more.

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo was genuinely thrilled to see how his daughter had come along and he realized just how skilled she had become in the time he had been absent. It was both disheartening that he hadn't been here and encouraging that she was able to learn so much on her own. A natural, no doubt about it.

Great work! he said excitedly, watching as she readied herself for another dash. He wasn't going to underestimate her again this time, since she'd clearly picked up some new skills. He pulled the Force in around him, not ready to be caught off guard by one of her blasts again.

His saber pulled in toward his right side, catching her blade as expected as his left lashed out, releasing a bit of the Force built up in his hand to push her back before she could strike him, though nowhere near as powerful or painful as he would have used against a real combatant. His right foot swung back, pivoting to put him facing her as his saber moved out with a flick of his wrist now to zap against the inside of her left ankle before falling back. Great pivot! Your footwork and movements are so much better than they used to be! Fantastic work, angel!

 

[Sreeya]

Ciri gasped as he abruptly turned to face her again, and she didn't see the saber suddenly twist to clash against her ankle. She quickly began to withdraw from the attack. Though it was only set to stun, that didn't mean it didn't hurt. As she had been in the middle of a pivot and already engaging in an attack, the hit took her completely off guard. She began to backpedal and abruptly fell back on her behind right as he began to compliment her training.

For a moment, she was still on the ground in silence, glaring at nothing, "Ugh! I'll never be as good as you!" She tossed her saber to the side, letting the hilt roll away as she rose up to storm off. There was no denying that she had a bit of a temper when things didn't go her way, and she certainly didn't have Corvo's calm and collected outlook on things if mishaps happened. She walked out of the training room and made her way up the stairs to the main living quarters. Going into the living room, she found the sofa and plopped down angrily, crossing her arms.

"All that training and still I lose a foot in a single move," She huffed as she angrily glared at the switched off Holoscreen in front of her. The manor was oddly quiet without her mother around, and it was mostly populated by droids at this point. A protocol droid that still had some missing parts zoomed around the area, repeating the same sentence over and over again. She had been tinkering with it, but it was still not quite finished yet.

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo sighed as she ran off, angry and upset. He wanted to encourage her, but he also wasn't going to make it easy on her. Better she mess up now than when it really mattered. He switched his saber back to normal and off before replacing it on his belt. His hand reached out, calling her hilt to his hand as he followed her back upstairs.

Angel, you're already great. I've been doing this for 5 times longer than you've been alive. Give it time. You've already improved hugely from the last time we fought. Next time, you'll be even better, he said, sitting next to her on the couch with a smile. He handed the hilt back to her.

He thought about what she'd said about her foot and thought perhaps it was time to share a story with her, although brought down a bit so as to be appropriate to her age level. Everyone learns slowly. You know all that scars on my back and chest? he asked, knowing there were enough times she had seen him out on the yacht to see the scars that covered him. Most of those are from when I was learning to fight. I got hit more times than I can count, but I learned from it. That's what you have to do: learn. And you have learned so much, so chin up, angel, he said with a smile, poking her gently in the side. Or else the tickle monster is going to get you.

 

[Sreeya]

Ciri didn't look at him as he came over to sit next to her. She made a very dramatic point of looking straight ahead, grumpily staring at the screen. As he spoke, she only hmph'd and looked away. She was going to continue the act as long as it took till he threatened to tickle her. She turned to look at him in a panic, attempting to wiggle away from him, "No! No tickling!" She couldn't keep the smile from her face, Corvo mentioning the tickle monster breaking through her attempt at throwing a tantrum. Ciri grasped his hand to ensure he couldn't surprise tickle, pinning it to the couch, "Okay okay! Truce?" She looked at him suspiciously before releasing his hand.

After a moment she sighed and scooted closer to him, tilting her head against him, "I just feel like you were much better at my age. The kids at the academy can't stop talking about you. I feel like...I'm not good enough to be a Vis.." She moodily watched the protocol droid that was now running into a wall, backing up and then running into it again, now carrying on a conversation by itself in Huttese, "And they tell us we're not ready for any real missions. Didn't you get to do cool stuff way earlier?"

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo was laughing and smiling as she pinned his hands down, barely keeping himself from tickling her again as she called truce. Alright, fine, fine, truce, he smiled. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head as she bemoaned not being good enough and not going on missions.

No, sweetie, I started out terrible, he explained. Everyone started out terrible. It was part of the learning process and she couldn't expect to be comparable to someone who was a master of his craft after several decades. No, he said with a chuckle. I didn't go on my first mission until I was in my teens, he explained. Okay, so he was only thirteen when he'd first killed, but that was technically his teen years. By then, she may very well be in the field herself. Furthermore, the Sith practices weren't things he wanted perpetuated in his daughter.

But the more you practice, the more prepared you'll be when the time comes. Remember the six P's. Proper planning prevents... pathetically poor performance he would let her finish, no doubt with lots of eyerolling at how often he hammered home the slightly-cleaned-up adage to her. Try to have some patience, angel. I have faith in you, even if you don't believe in yourself yet. I can see it in you, he reassured her, knowing she would be far more incredible than either he or Shae one day.

In the meantime, I think there's something on the Fury you're really going to want to see. You want to... um, fix him up... he said motioning to the droid that was walking into the wall ...or at least get him not knocking into things and then go with me. I can guarantee you're going to want to see this, he reassured her.

 

[Sreeya]

Ciri squirmed and struggled as he leaned in to kiss the top of her head. Where she used to love getting kisses, she was slowly getting to the age where she found them embarrassing, "No kisses daddy! Only babies get kisses!" She complained as she lightly shoved him. She was distracted from her protests when he began to explain about how he started terrible. Somehow she doubted that he was ever bad at anything with how famous he was.

When he looked to her to finish the six P's she piped in with, "....pooping pants poorly!" She giggled at her mockery of the mantra as if she were the funniest little comedian in the world. She felt very proud of herself for that one and would no doubt earn an unamused scowl from her father. As he mentioned there was something waiting for her, Ciri perked up, "Okay okay now I wanna see this!" She jumped to her feet, glancing to the droid as Corvo referenced it, "Well..." She switched to her nerdy mode, "See I've been tinkering with programming in the business rules for a variety of use cases but I'm having trouble since I'm trying to home grow a business rules engine and repository from scratch instead of buying a COTS product," She said it all in one breath before looking at the droid, "But Cheerio will be fine after a few more tests. At least his Huttese is working!"

She followed him out of the house, allowing him to lead the way to the Fury, "What is it, daddy?" Corvo wasn't often one to surprise her or generate hype before anything. He was normally too blunt for that and simply presented things directly.

 

[Phoenix]

I kiss your mother all the time, and she's the most terrifying woman in the galaxy, he quipped, no doubt to the "eww" and "gross" of his daughter. She probably thought all boys had cooties and babies came from space-storks.

Corvo's face was completely unamused at her warping of his phrase. It really shouldn't have been a surprise... He almost told her that that wasn't how it went, but that was obvious and unnecessary to say. When she jumped up to get to work at the droid, everything that came out of her mouth next was completely foreign to him. What had Chaz been teaching her? A bunch of stuff he didn't know anything about, but he was always happy to see her passionate about it and... good at it? He could only assume since he had no idea what she was actually talking about it.

Well you're just going to have to go see, aren't you? he said with a smug smile. He led the way out to the ship hitting the controls to open it up and letting out a quiet whistle as soon as the ramp was down. And down the ramp came Riley. Now this was going to be something that Ciri wasn't going to be expecting in a million years.

Riley was one of the bomb dogs from the Army of Light whose handler had been killed at Korriban, and poor old Riley was still bandaged up and limping on his right hindquarter from where the blaster bolt had seared into his muscle. While bonds between trainer and dog typically took months if not longer to build, the Force had an uncanny ability to influence the minds of man and animal alike. Riley had already taken a liking to Corvo and quickly - or as quickly as gimpy leg would let him - sped down the ramp to reply to the whistle, sitting down in front of the two with wide eyes.

 

[Sreeya]

As he mentioned he kissed her mother all the time, Ciri made gagging noises, "Ew I don't wanna know that! Ugh!" Her parents made a point to make kissy faces at one another if she were being extra annoying, and it worked wonders on her. She was satisfied with the blank look on his face after her techno blurb, knowing that there was at least one area where she knew things and he didn't.

Ciri sighed grumpily as he refused to tell her what the surprise was. She was getting more and more agitated while following him, her little arms crossed over her chest. She had taken her saber back from him, the hilt clipped to her hip. She was already beginning to adopt the saber carrying habits of Jedi, making a point to take it with her everywhere and conceal it when she was around regular civilians. Ciri looked at Corvo curiously as he came to a pause before the ship, not going in further. She watched the ramp lower, still observing her father who remained stationary.

What followed after the whistle, she could never have foreseen coming. Her jaw dropped as she watched the beautiful dog make his way down the ramp. Right away she could both see and sense that he had been injured, but that didn't make him look any less eager. Ciri jumped about a foot in the air, "A DOG?!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, rushing right towards him. While he remained calmer, she was absolutely ecstatic, dropping to her knees to hug him fiercely. His tail began to wave enthusiastically and he eased up, giving her big licks that covered her entire face. Ciri giggled and nuzzled him, "Is he for me? Can I keep him? Where did you find him?! What's his name? How old is he? How'd he get hurt?" The questions kept coming, and this was the most excited he would have seen her in quite a while.

 

[Phoenix]

Corvo couldn't help smiling as she got ecstatic about their new dog. While Corvo was wholly unsure about getting a dog, he knew his daughter could use the upper to her spirit. It had been a taxing time to the entire family in recent days.

His name's Riley. He was at the battle, that's where he got hurt, but he's been healing up nicely. He's four years old and very well trained, though he mostly responds to commands in Ryl, he explained, meaning they would have to learn those words for the attack commands and whatnot since he would like to see Riley act as a guard for his daughter in the coming years. He made no mention of the fact that his trainer had been killed.

Ciri, are you listening to me, he said, waiting for her to look him in the eye, tone becoming more serious. You can keep him IF you take good care of him. EXCEPTIONAL care, otherwise he'll have to go back, he said firmly, making sure she understood. His tone softened again as he continued, convinced his point was across. If you can do that, then yes, you can keep him, he said with a nod.

 

[Sreeya]

"Rileeeey! What a pretty name!" She nuzzled his nose, laughing again as he licked her nose in return. She only half listened to Corvo explaining his backstory, though she marveled that he had been in battle, "Whoa! He was on a mission?!" She was even more impressed by Riley now. Ciri hugged him tightly before rising to her feet. She closed her hand in a fist, and he immediately sat down as Corvo got done explaining that he mostly understood Ryl, "Hehe I read all about hand commands when I was looking up puppies! But Cheerio can help translate!"

She was distracted, but abruptly stopped when she heard her father's slightly sharp tone. Ciri looked over to him, nodding sincerely as he mentioned that she had to take care of him, "Understood," She didn't even smile to show him that she was serious. When Corvo eased up again, that was when she smiled once more, leaning in to give Riley a big kiss. With that, she darted back towards the house, bidding for him to follow, "Let me show your your room! You can stay with me! And we'll get you the yummiest food and lots of water and.." She went on and on and on as she gave him a tour of the house, completely enthralled at having a dog around.

Meanwhile, Chaz finally came up from the depths, walking up to pause next to Corvo as he took a bite of one of the candybars Ciri loved stashing away. If Corvo got a closer look, he'd notice that Chaz had little tufts of his hair made into tiny pigtails with bright pink bands and other bits of hair tucked in with little girly clips. Through it all, he had a completely stoic expression on his face, calmly staring ahead, "I see you've finally caved."