Progeny

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Schwartzweld



There were few things that disturbed the quiet halls of the Losstarot manor house. On the occasions that Dan, Lok, and Teagan visited their home away from the Dauntless, that quiet was often enough disturbed by the sounds of a family going about their daily activities, and Teagan happily pestering the ever-attentive Erasmus Karrnage. s'Il often felt that the solitary Lupine enjoyed the little girl's company, and it was no secret that Teagan herself had taken a shine to the man. Those few times spent on her homeworld, Lok s'Ilancy had felt only true peace and contentment. She had only felt as though she were truly home.

And so it was now.

But now, there was a new sound echoing through the halls and corridors, carrying through to almost all parts of the sprawling estate which had been nestled discretely in the foothills of the northern crags of the snow-capped Aufstieg Mountains. It was a sound that meant life. A sound that heralded a fresh hope for a people so long gone and forgotten.

It was the cry of a newborn baby.

A sheen of sweat on her face, Lok s'Ilancy fell back into the pillows behind her, her body spent and ragged from the ordeal that she had only just been through. Sapped of most all of her strength, the Lupine closed her eyes even as the piercing sound of her son's wailing cries filled her ears. And yet it was a comforting sound that caused her heart to swell and a weak smile to upturn the corners of her lips. It was such a beautiful sound; so pure and innocent and full of so much fulfilled hope.

[Colonel Karrnage]

"A healthy child."

A Lupine child. Erasmus Karrnage smiled with satisfaction in completing his task of assisting Loklorien's delivery. While the medical droid they'd brought along had done most of the work, the bedside manner of the automatons left something to be desired. Swaddling the baby, Karrnage passed the boy to his mother, and only then did he pause to daub at the perspiration on his forehead with a handkerchief. At the sight of the father, his mannerisms became more formal, and a curt nod was given.

"A son."

[General Dan]

"Good."

Dan's eyes were fixated on his son. The way he blinked to view the world. The way his free arm grasped for his mother. He heard the child cry, a trumpet blast into a new world that his small mind couldn't yet comprehend.

The Sith Master breathed in deeply and exhaled. Reaching out to what couldn't be seen or heard, he could feel the threads of the force that bound existence together making way for his son's arrival. Destiny had a gravity all its own, and even his mother couldn't possibly comprehend the child's true portent.

At last, Dan saw the mother. Tired, pained, but jubilant for the life she brought into the world. He consoled her with a kiss to her cheek.

"He's beautiful."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"He is," she breathed in answer, half-lidded eyes locked on the small life wrapped in her arms.

He'd reached a single arm out, instinctively searching, and she met his tiny hand with her own. It was so small, so fragile. It caused her exhausted smile to deepen further. Her son. Her Markos. Her head fell against a pillow and she let out a soft, short laugh that signaled her fatigue and relief. Her happiness and delight. She could feel the Force as it threaded its' way all throughout them, weaving in and out like constant eddies. It pulsed with the addition of a new life to the universe, and the elder Lupine took much satisfaction in that.

Pulling her hand free, she looked up to Dan in a silent approval that he could hold his son. It was his right, and his tenderness during the last month of her pregnancy had drawn her so much closer to him.

"Your son," came the whispered words.

[General Dan]

Dan reached for Markos, holding him with both hands against his chest. The boy half-regarded him through eyes that remained half open in newborn torpor. Bracing with one hand, he reached across Markos' head with the other, resting a thumb across his forehead. The Sith Master closed his eyes, reaching deeply into the child's life force. It was tremendous. Untapped potential not far from the surface. This child would soon discover the world in ways so few children did, even without proper guidance.

"My son."

He looked to Loklorien for a moment, the smile remaining. His apprentice and his wife. She who struggled so hard and so long against the futility of her blood and the ravages of her people to bring forth a future, and to find the means to defend it and make it flourish. She'd sacrificed everything to do so.

Dan took a seat next to his wife, still holding the baby in his lap. From a pocket, he retrieved a small ornate tool, which he pressed against Markos' outstretched arm. A small click sounded, and the baby's cries began anew.

"Shhh....shhh..."

He removed the device, and folded the swaddle in such a way against Markos' arm so as to collect the tiny residual drop of blood that remained from his collection needle.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

It wasn't exactly what she'd expected. In fact, it was nothing like what she'd expected.

A tentative knock on the doorframe was all that heralded her presence, and the little Lupine peeked into the room. She was close to terrified about what she might see, as the yells and cries she'd heard from Dama had been so... so keh'a'eh'ss'ek!

But now, it had all stopped, and Teagan dared to venture half a step inside.

She saw Dama on the bed, and Daddy sitting in a chair beside her with a small wrapped bundle in his arms.

When she spoke, it was barely above a whisper.

"Can I come in now?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Her gaze went from Dan to her daughter, and s'Il smiled anew.

"Of course, Baby," a weak hand gestured.

"... of course."

[General Dan]

"You want to hold him?"

Dan humored his first-born. Though she was ill-favored to herald the final victory of the Sith, she was still of his blood. His daughter. The first of many gifts so desperately given by Loklorien to him. Carefully he made sure her arms were ready and that she was seated alongside. He eased the swaddled bundle into her lap.

"Say hello to Markos."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Markos.

She'd heard Dama and Daddy saying that name enough, and now, as she held the small body (with Daddy's help of course), Teagan found herself unable to keep her fascination from showing so brilliantly.

"He's so small," she whispered, unsure of how loud she should be talking.

[General Dan]

But soon he will be so much more

"You were even smaller than Markos, believe it or not. Thought about calling you Runt."

Giving her a sidelong smirk, Dan watched Tak dote on her little brother.

"He's gonna need a strong big sister. Are you ready?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Daddy's first words were somewhat lost on her, but his last ones were not, and Teagan seemed to inflate just a little bit, holding just a little bit tighter to her newborn brother.

She looked from Dama, to Daddy, and finally down to Markos before answering in a determined voice.

"I'm ready."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

A tired sigh escaped her, but for one last time she wished to hold the boy. A hand moved to slide from the edge of the bed and grasp Dan's own; an unspoken request that she wanted her son for a short time longer before fatigue and tiredness took her over completely.

[General Dan]

"Well, we'll soon be asking his big sister to do big sister things, so you be ready."

Lok got his attention, her wordless grasp at his shoulder all that needed to be said. Carefully, he reached down to retrieve Markos.

"Alright, I think dama wants to have a little more time with him. She's very tired."

Dan carefully extended his son to his wife.

"He looks like you."

A smile. She was exhausted.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"That is a good thing," came the lighthearted response, and s'Il smiled warmly at Dan; at her husband and master, before turning her eye to the small life she now held once more in her arms.

A hand went up to brush over the surprising coverage of shock-blonde hair atop his head. Even moreso than Teagan when she'd been born.

She smiled, and felt as a few tears escaped to slide down her cheek. She turned to look up at her husband again, so much relief and joy in her gaze. It was a feeling that transcended all of what the two were. Even as the boy lifted an arm, blindly looking for something to grab ahold of, s'Il grasped Dan's hand in a grip that only a wife could, and gently she steered her it so that Markos closed his tiny fingers around the Rebel leader's own ring finger.

[General Dan]

The boy started murmuring and cooing, feeble hand flailing to find the will to hang fast onto its target. Dan watched Markos explore his big new world, seeing his eyes slowly start to make sense of things.

"I have to travel to Demonsgate tomorrow. It won't be a long trip."

There were things they could say around the help and their daughter, with the right amount of restraint.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

At this she looked up, the spell about her somewhat broken as her husband's words drew her back into the drab realities of their lives. Why could this moment not extend into eternity?

"Tomorrow?"

So soon...

And though her true desires were to stay; for him to stay; for all of them to spend this tender new time together, she felt duty overtake her senses briefly.

"Am I to accompany you?"

[General Dan]

A small smile, and Dan placed a hand on his weary wife's shoulder.

"No. You need your rest, and Markos needs his mother. Stay with the children. Besides, he is not ready to slip the veil."

He glanced back to Tak. They could still speak openly in cryptic terms at least.

"I have a small task to do, to secure his future."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

There was a breath of hesitation. She wished for him to postpone his short journey to be sure, but as her master and she his apprentice, she knew that that which needed his attentions was foremost, and her trust in him was undying and explicit. As his wife and the mother of his children however, it did not lessen the sting any. But she accepted this, and bowed her head to send her eye once again to her son.

She smiled a tired smile, feeling as her body began settle more fully after the ordeal of childbirth.

"Then we will wait for you here."

A free hand shifted to lay gently atop his like a fold of the lightest silk.

"But that is not until tomorrow," her eyes closed as she leaned back, so close to relinquishing her consciousness to the blissful arms of sleep.

"Let us be family today."

[General Dan]

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

He sat by her side, watching Markos share in his mother's exhaustion as they both fought valiantly against the sleep they were both due. Of course, Tak wasn't bounded by such exhaustions and neither was he. He turned to his daughter, draping an arm around her shoulder.

"What do you say we let Dama and Markos get their rest? We can catch up with them when they wake up?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

A sigh, and the girl finally drew her eyes away from the tiny pink bundle that her mother so carefully held. Daddy's arm around her shoulder was suddenly a very welcome thing, and Teagan leaned into him.

"Ok."

She looked down at her own fidgeting hands, then up to Daddy.

"Can we get lunch, then?"

[General Dan]

He took her hand in his, and they both rose from their seats.

"Sure kiddo. Let's get lunch."

Exiting the bedchambers, he paused momentarily to regard Karrnage, who responded in kind with a simple, polite nod of his head. He'd see to his wife's well-being while her and Markos both slept soundly. One last look at mother and child, and Dan took his leave with Tak. Already his mind was racing ahead to what must be done.

Only he knew Markos's true potential, and he would need to act quickly to secure it.