The Rebel Faction

OOC: Boo, people. :p

IC:

A lone figure stood upon the edge of a plateau and surveyed the stretch of canyon before him, a hand shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun as he gazed at nothing in particular in the distance. A gust of wind suddenly picked up, the hearty breeze tangling her fingers in the dark unkempt strands of his mane and billowing through the simple ash white tunic he had grown accustomed to wearing instead of the traditional Jedi robes or even the military garb of a Tholatin soldier most recognized him in.

In fact, his clothing made him look like a farmer and it had its perks. Life was easier when people didn't expect heroics from you every moment of the day. To dress like a farmer was a break from the responsiblity associated with the robes of a Jedi or the armor of an RPGC. It was also somewhat appropriate. He wasn't here as a Jedi Knight seeking audience from a Rogue Jedi or as the Captain of the Cortogen Guard on a quest to find his Prince. He was here as a simple man on an attempt to find and reconnect with an old friend.

Provided that the Force would allow him to find his friend. He wasn't so sure it wanted him on a personal quest. And it was personal. He had told Dex to drop him off here in the middle of nowhere and sent him and the others aboard the Dawnshadow away. Tatane and the younglings had wanted to join him on this little adventure but they had the tact to understand that at least this hunt was for him alone. And he would find Kamon with or without the Force's aid. He didn't want to, perhaps it was a matter of pride as he always managed to find his friends, but he knew he could call on the others for help if he needed it.

Sometimes a man just needs a good hunt for himself. He needed the bit of a challenge, just him and an expanse of wilderness. It would test and remind him what he was made of in a less hectic way. Raising a youngling clan and training a Padawan was a complicated test. Being pitched against nature simplified things. It may intensify things, but it was definitely simpler. Survive by any way possible and find Kamon were the goals, not how to best explain efficiency in Force use or the differences in perspective pretaining to the Code.

A sense of guilt hit him as he contemplated the selfishness of this side quest and he instinctively dwelled on the wellbeing of his gang. He pushed that impulse aside with some difficulty. There had to be some selfishness in order to preserve sanity, there needed to be some indulgence to refresh the soul. Besides, they would be heading for the capital city. They would be fine, they had civilization. Dex and Cary would be able to handle everything. Enough second guessing already.

He instinctively gauged the time by the position of the sun. It was a habit of his. He only relied on his chrono as little as possible and tended to only use it when there was no other means to track time. It was noon-ish. He still had plenty of sunlight and time to look for his man. Closing his eyes, he reached out through the Force and studied the energies that weaved together to make the canyon before him. He reached at any spots that pulsed strong and one area in particular caught his interest. It was a spot that radiated an old presence.

Facing that direction, he latched onto a thread of energy that would lead him to the location and after a mere pause to gather his bearings, he was off. He wouldn't be surprised to find Kamon out here but he would be surprised to see a structure that would undoubtedly be a Jedi Temple in such a remote location. He would also be surprised to see Amarie again. The last time he had seen her, she had been in her early teens. She would be even less of a kid this time around and he would later recall the first feeling that had struck him at the sight of her and laugh; the feeling of being old.

The words she said in response to his statement did come across just a little bit harsh, but he supposed that he deserved it. After all, when one took a good look at the past, they would see that it was indeed his fault that everything had changed. It was him that had taken the Republic and turned it into a global power, acquiring other planets into the Republic in an attempt to strengthen it, not to mention building a fleet.

His own large ambitions and naive mental state had led him to do things that he had come to regret. He had come to make more enemies than he had friends and that had come back to bite him on the backside. Those enemies had been far stronger than him, and they now controlled almost all of the Republic's planets. They had captured Tholating and Kamon in the process.

It was his fault that everything was different now and they all had a right to be upset with him. He didn't fault them in that as he was slightly upset with himself. No, they had every right to hate them, so why didn't they hate him? They should, but they didn't. It made no sense.

He merely shook his head and offered a smile when he saw what Amarie could do with the fruit. Reaching out himself, he lifted it off the table and brought it into his hand, running his fingers over it. So she could, at least, draw on the Force in some capacity. That was a good start and a promising one at that. They could build off that and help her training.

"It's a good start to be able to merely draw on the Force, and I'm proud that you figured out how. The trick, as you've expressed, is maintaining your contact with it. The Force is strong with you, Amarie. Both I and... and your mother were strong with it. Your brother was too..."

He trailed off for a moment, lowering his eyes away from Amarie and settling them on the fruit in his hand. Whenever he thought of Andraeas and Kate it made him this way. It took a few moments before he raised his eyes and continued.

"You have to be patient with it and let it come to you. Learn to maintain a steady control by drawing on it and holding on for as long as you can. Try and hold onto it longer each time. Eventually, you'll learn to be able to draw on the Force anytime you wish and maintain the contact."

The speech would have continued if his concentration hadn't been breached by a feeling from the Force. Someone was approaching the valley where the temple was and the presence was a familiar one. A small smile appeared on his face and he settled his blue eyes on Amarie once more.

"We're going to have company soon from an old friend. Reach out with the Force if you can and see if you can feel him."

When Amarie quickly responded to his request he was rather pleased with her actions. It would appear that when she didn't think about using the Force, it came to her stronger. That was good in a way, but could also be bad in some circumstances. He would teach her, though, and things would eventually be better.

"Very good, Amarie. I'm really pleased with your skills, even if it was rather inadvertant. As for the room, I'll go clean one in a moment."

Lifting the fruit to his lips, he took a big bite out of it, savoring the taste of the sweet nectar in it. Kamon's mother had always been able to get him to eat fruit. He loved it. Fruit was not only good for you, but it had a sweet taste and the juices were good. That and fruit was somewhat easy to come by, still was. There were lots of trees and this very valley that had some good fruit on them.

Chewing slowly, he turned his eyes to look across the table at Amarie, offering her a smile. Some of the juice dribbled out of his mouth and he lifted a hand to wipe it away before rising from his seat and walking across to her. Leaning down, he placed a kiss on her forehead before turning towards the hallway to the rest of the temple.

Stay there and greet Kenshin when he arrives. I'll go clean a room for him and then I'll be back. Hopefully...

In this temple you never knew when something odd was going to happen. There were so many memories, so many traps still set. It was a dangerous place if you didn't know your way around like Kamon did. Booby traps always present in the event that they were overrun. For instance if the Dragon's had found the temple, they would have had fun dying.

Shaking his head at the thought, he turned into a smaller room that had once been the quarters that he had once used. Inside was a lot of dust, but he was quick to clear it with the Force, pushing the dust to the center of the room. Scooping it up in his hands, he walked to the hall and across it to another room, depositing the dust there.

Walking back across, he examined the room for a moment before pulling the fruit out of his pocket and taking a bite of it before returning it. Noticing the jewelry box that was still on top of the chest of drawers, he frowned and walked towards it. Tapping it in a secret spot, it popped open to reveal some rather nice pieces.

One of those was a bracelet that was intricately designed, a special gift from a special occassion...

Amarie couldn't help but grin as she heard her father praise her on how quickly she had figured out the identity of their guest, then it faded again. Haste can be dangerous, especially for people like her father and herself. She understood that, and that was what made her smile fade.

She watched as her father took a bite out of the fruit that was toyed with on the table, then rose to do as she had light-heartedly suggested with reguards to preparing a space for Kenshin to sleep in, then picked up her own fruit to head back towards the temple entrance. It was a warm day, with a gentle breeze, so keeping an eye out for an old family friend wouldn't be so bad of a way for her to spend some time. For now, the valley would shelter them, but if more joined them here, the worry that had Amarie's face captured in a frown had remained.

Thankfully, Amarie wasn't given much of a chance to dwell on such thoughts as she finally saw Kenshin's smilling face, waiting for him to join her where she had sat perched on a boulder near the entrance of the temple.

"Hmmmm....this is rather disturbing, Kenshin...I'm gonna be surrounded by scruffy old men!" Amarie joked, unable to resist going into a fit of giggles.

"I am NOT old." He said with a pout and a defensive crossing of his arms in an overly exaggerated manner of mock hurt and denial. They both new old and young were relative terms, however, so while at thirty-two he considered himself at his prime he was indeed old in comparison to her own age. "Can't deny being scruffy though..." He added as if it was an afterthought as he gave the rough on his cheek a contemplative scratch. He couldn't help but grin as she began to giggle.

"So what? Have you gotten to old to give me a hug?" He said with a chuckle as he threw his arms open and enveloped her in his grasp. "Well one thing's for sure, you're too big for piggy back rides." He added, his brow furrowed in an overly thoughtful gaze at the sky above. Turning his gaze from the heavens, his expression softened as he planted a kiss on the girl's head only to realize that she wasn't a girl anymore and he was holding on a moment too long for it to be comfortable for a young woman.

He let his arms slowly fall. He was old indeed.

Shoving the nostalgia that was dawning upon him like a thick fog into the fringes of his mind, he took a step back and offered Amarie a sincere smile, one without the goofy-ness. Now was not the time for his contemplative reveries, it was time to inquire about events and the happenings that had taken place in her and Kamon's lives during his absence. "So, are the duties of being royalty letting up any for you?" Kenshin would never know what it was like to be a prince. Sure, he had heavy responsiblities as a Jedi Knight, but even a Jedi had more privacy.

In the back of his mind, he noticed a twinge in the Force that bore an air of extreme sadness. Kamon was in pain, undoubtedly Amarie felt the sudden outburst as well, but Kenshin did not move. For some reason it was human nature to rush to turn off the faucet but he had learned to fight that instinct. Sometimes a person just needed to cry. It relieves the weight on the soul, if only temporarily then so be it. They could always do some damage control later if he didn't pull himself together in due time.