First Time Meetings and Reunitings (Sasha)

[Lady Vader]

LV stepped forth from the speeder that had just come from the Visitor's Center (http://www.swforums.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37958), allowing Sasha to follow her to the Palace doors. The entered into the great entry hall, with the large doors closing behidn them. As soon as the resounding echo from the closing doors died down, LV turned towards a shadowy corner and spoke.

"Step forward Rakahb."

[Rakahb]

There was no sound as the Noghri stepped forward and allowed his presence to be known.

[Sasha Kovalev]

He had been following her in silence. Many thoughts drifted through his head, but foremost of those was to find Shenraun. He was interested, most certainly, in meeting his escort, but as he did not plan to spend much time acknowledging its presence, he was not overtly enthusiastic. In fact, it was begrudgingly that he had agreed at all to this condition – there had not been any other choice given to him.

He stood there waiting, somewhat patiently for a knight of the Sith. His left hand rested upon his saber for no other reason than that was where it was comfortable. He did not plan on drawing blades against a fellow member of the order – now, or ever.

He may have been gone for some time, but he had not forgotten the importance of the familial ties – the importance of being a family within the Sith Order.

As the being stepped forward, violet eyes flickered to view his new comrade.

A….noghri?

Sasha’s jaw set somewhat. He was not one to be discriminatory over non humans….but…well, this was unexpected. He had perhaps expected something somewhat less…obvious. This was not at all what Lady Vader had described – a presence he would barely notice. The distinctive scent of something non human was something Sasha could not help but notice. And the presence of this being was…well, it was there. NO doubt about it.

Sasha turned to Lady Vader, raising an eyebrow in question. He said nothing – nothing to put down this servant of the Order. He did not consider himself better than the being, but he did consider his privacy and his patience to be tested.

“I would not, of course, question your choice….” Sasha began, a dry humor evident in his voice as he spoke. He did not hide this, or make any effort to do so.

“Is my new friend to escort me only within the halls of the order, or…elsewhere, as well?”

[Rakahb]

The slightest of muscle tension caressed the noghri's jaw as he laid his eyes on his soon-to-be charge, taking in Sasha's scent.

[Lady Vader]

LV looked from Rakahb to Sasha. "I wouldn't exactly call him your friend. At least not yet. You both will have to earn each others trust."

"As for the escorting rules," She looked back at Rakahb, who nodded once, then back to Sasha, "He will accompany you wherever you may go. Remember... you are in a probationary state here at the Order, but that also means we must regain your trust, and THAT means we must know where you go and what you do."

She looked back at the lean and muscular noghri, nodding her head in his direction. "Rakahb here has been instructed to watch you, but not to interfere. He will not be in your way, nor will he let himself be noticed or seen. He is an accomplished spy and assassin." She looked back at Sasha. "Even I wouldn't want to meet him on opposing sides in a dark alley."

[Sasha Kovalev]

Probationary state. The words really irked him, enough for his jaw to set at hearing them again. Every mention seemed to him to be another indication of his former master’s lack of trust in him. And that was not something that was easy to accept, no matter that he knew it was nothing personal, and only a precaution to protect the order – to protect her family.

A family he was a part of, although the words probationary made him feel like the unwanted step-child.

“Then you shall know where I go, and when, and why, and with whom.” These words were said as his violet gaze remained upon his escort, not doubting him to be accomplished or capable. Still, that didn’t make Sasha like the idea of being watched as if…as if he were a naughty child. He wondered for how long his former master would insist upon this arrangement.

He released a soft sigh and turned back to look at Lady Vader. It was useless, he knew, to ask how long this would continue – for he knew it would continue for as long as Lady Vader felt it needed to. Until she could be sure of his intentions and trustworthiness.

He knew he should perhaps have taken this as a compliment of sorts – that she viewed him not as a child, but as a man. That she now knew him to be advanced enough in his training that she could not read his every thought and feeling as she had once been able to do. That she considered him worthy enough to give him the opportunity to return and prove himself once again. But it was difficult, for she had been his first master, and he would have given to her anything that she had asked of him.

Likely, if she had asked him to stay when he had gone to her to ask for leave, he would have remained. But she had not. And he had made the decision he had felt that he had to make.

To have her lack so much trust in him now was disappointing, no matter how much he had prepared for this moment.

And the anger at this, at the disappointment, at the fact that he was always, always being tested for his trustworthiness, welled within him. And once it began to gather, it spread, his anger with every other bad card he had been dealt fueling the fire. It emanated from him, an anger far more potent than the quick temper that had once been his source of access to the force. It also threatened to consume him. His left hand tightened over his saber, where it had been peaceably resting until this moment.

There was no intention to use it upon Lady Vader, or his new escort, or any other member of the order. But there was the burning desire to use it upon someone – if only to feel a release from the tension the anger created.

[Rakahb]

Rakahb's eyes moved slowly down to where his charge's hand lay, tightened over his saber. He made no move however. He merely observed.

[Lady Vader]

LV didn't need to see where te young man's hand went. She could feel the anger in him.

She looked back over to Rakahb, nodding her head. "Thank you, Rakahb. You may begin your new assignment."

[Rakahb]

The noghri quickly shifted his eyes to look upon LV, bowing low.

"At once, Mistress."

With that he quietly backed again into the shadows.

[Lady Vader]

LV turned back to Sasha. "Now, then, I believe you had asked about Shenraun?"

She gestured for Sasha to walk wit her, and both went down one of the hallways towards the ornate doors that would lead to the garden set in the center of the Palace.

Having reached the garden, she stopped at the door and looked to Sasha. "I will wait for your here. Shenraun is waiting for you at the lake."

[Sasha Kovalev]

Shenraun. Yes. In his anger he had nearly forgotten. He took a deep breath and quietly released it. And then with a nod to Lady Vader, he entered the gardens. He knew his way down to the lake – he could have done it without seeing the path before him, he knew it so well. He’d been there many, many times in the past, often going there to collect his thoughts, to train apprentices he had taken on, or to seek the advice of a very sage dragon.

There was something about the walk that brought him back to being...well, a younger man. There was nothing on this path but memory after memory, and he could not help but allow a smile to his face.

As difficult as this probationary period was going to be on his ego, there was no doubt that this was home. This was where he was meant to be, despite the detour he might have taken along the way.

He stopped for only a moment to look up at the castle walls – to where his old room had once overlooked the gardens. No doubt it was the home of some other apprentice, some other knight. But that was ok.

As he approached the lake, he could not help but begin to feel the excitement of seeing Shenraun again – for the dragon had been his own master of sorts for Sasha with all of the advice he had given over Sasha’s tenure with the Sith Order.

[Shenraun]

The dragon's massive, scaled body lay on the shore of the lake as he sunned himself. The tip of his tail lapped lazily at the waters of the lake in a slow rythm with the faint pounding of the waterfall some distance off the shore.

His chiseled head turned to look down upon Sasha as the man approached. A scaley ridge over one eye rose as the head lowered to a more comfortable height for Sasha to look upon without straining his neck.

"And the boy has finally become a man."

A smile crept along the reptiles lips.

[Sasha Kovalev]

He chuckled, this boy who had become a man and quickened his pace to reach the shore just a bit more. He looked up, still, to the dragon, despite the lowered head. His eyes were alive with the feeling of being home – of something so familiar. Of something that felt so…right.

“I think you might be the only one who thinks that.” He stated with a lazy smile. There was truth to his words – for truly, Sasha didn’t feel that anyone yet accepted him as a man rather than a boy. Certainly not his uncle.

Sasha leaned back against one of the rocks for a moment, his arms crossing casually over his chest. His light brown hair was tousled the slightest bit, giving him a boyish look, but his face had matured a bit over the years.

“It feels good to be back.” He stated as he released a deep breath. One of relaxation and contentment. There was no need to exchange small talk with Shenraun. At least, none that Sasha felt. It was as if he had never left

“Im on probation….” He stated, his words somewhat trailing off. It had always bene like this with Shenraun. Sasha was able to talk to the dragon about any problem, and somehow, the dragon was always able to make him see the other side of it.

[Shenraun]

The dragon's eyes shifted ever so slightly to the young man's right, as if sensing something was there. Whatever and whoever it was, it kept silent and unseen, not interfereing.

Shenraun shifted his eyes back to gaze upon Sasha, to answer is last comment, never moving a scaled lip, but speaking telepathically.

"A probation is not always a bad thing. In fact, in more ways than one, it is to better yourself." The massive head tilted to one side. "Besides, if your and Mistress Vader's places had been reversed, would you not have done the same?"

[Sasha Kovalev]

He had been looking at Shenraun and caught the gaze of the dragon shifting, ever so slight as it was. A silent indication to Sasha, perhaps, that his escort was there and that anything he said would now be repeated to Lady Vader.

He had nothing to hide. Anything he said to Shenraun, he would be willing to repeat in front of Lady Vader. Not that he didn’t trust Shenraun. Not that he thought Shenraun would go running to her. But he did know that first and foremost, Shenraun’s obligations were to Lady Vader and the Sith Order, not to him. But still he appreciated that the dragon respected him enough, respected his annoyance with the situation enough that he was willing to keep it between just the two of them.

He gave a subtle smile, one that maybe hinted his appreciation. And then he considered the dragon’s suggestion and his question.

He realized – to some degree he realized that ultimately, it was going to push him to be better. His anger, perhaps, is what she had intended to trigger. Intended to bring him back to thinking like a Sith, rather than thinking as a dark jedi.

And he nodded in acceptance of this suggestion. It was a subtle nod, one that might have looked to anyone else as if maybe he had made some silent vow to himself, not that he was communicating with Shenraun.

Would he have done the same?

He wasn’t sure. He hadn’t had enough time to completely process this just yet. Maybe with an evening to reflect….

Or maybe it was that he still did not have a place he truly considered to be his home. He did not have a place to call his own to protect. Balmorra…belonged to his uncle. The hideous planet where the Hand had called its home was not a place he would ever have considered calling home. It had never been home to him. The Sith Order…once that had been home. And once upon a time he would have protected it with his life. That, he could understand.

It wasn’t his master’s need to protect her home. It was…it was the lack of trust. And he wasn’t sure, if he had been in her shoes, if he would have taken her word or sent her about with an escort.

“I don’t know.” He replied, sending these thoughts to Shenraun.

“I think maybe I would have. And I think that’s what has me so rattled. That someone who once trusted me….doesn’t. That I’ve made decisions that would make her doubt me.”

He glanced up at the sky, allowing the sun to warm his face for a moment.

“Do you think she’ll believe in me the way that she used to?” He asked, out loud this time, though his voice was kept low.

[Shenraun]

The crimson dragon nodded his head once. "I believe, that with time and your efforts, she will indeed come to trust you again as she once did."

He lifted a clawed forepaw, trying to help Sasha understand. "The steps she has taken is not so much that she does not trust you. It is to protect what she has worked so hard to build. It is not against you personally, and you should not take it as such." He lowered the forepaw as he continued. "She has a responsibility to this Order, as much as you have. Yes, this period of time will be a trial for you. But don't see it as a deterence to your beterment, but rather use it. Use it to prove to her that you are indeed a member of this Order, that you renounce all that has been spoken to you while you were away... that you are a Sith."

He allowed the smile to linger as he winked one golden eye. "You'll see that your trial will not be long."

[Sasha Kovalev]

Sasha could be impatient, and Shenraun knew it. A little time could feel like a very long time to the young man. But still, he knew that Shenraun was wise and took his advice. It was reassuring to hear that the trial would not be long. Though, when you considered how long dragons lived, Sasha wasn’t entirely sure what Shenraun’s definition of a long time was.

“She’s waiting for me back in the hallway.” He said, speaking out loud again finally.

“She knew I wanted to see you.” He added, standing from his position on the rock and brushing the dust from his robes.

Everyone knew that you did not keep Lady Vader waiting for long. Ever. Sasha in particular, having been under her tutelage for years.

“You had once extended to me the freedom to enter the gardens in the evening….” He began, giving a glance over in the direction where the presence of his escort had last been felt.

“Am I on probation with that as well?” He asked. There was nothing in his tone to suggest he was being a smart alec. Just the opposite in fact – he was actually asking if Shenraun would be ok with him returning to the gardens in the evening. He did not want to just assume that all would be as it had been – even if Shenraun had given him a warm welcome so far.

[Lady Vader]

*BUMP*