#dathomer

bail   is   perhaps   the   only   remaining   ally   of   the   surviving   jedi  ,    but   to   harbor   them   on   alderaan   makes   even   him   uneasy.      were   it   just   he   in   danger  ,    or   even   breha  ,    he   would   not   think   twice  ,    but   when   he   looks   at   his   daughter  ,    at   the   people   who   place   absolute   faith   in   their   monarchs ...      what   would   become   of   them  ,    should   he   and   breha   be   found   out?        and   yet   it   is   the   only   right   thing   to   do.      

“      as   i   told   master   junda  ,    you   and   your   companions   are   welcome   here    as   long   as   you   are   in   need  ,    though   i   must   admit   i   am   curious      --      if   i   may   ask  ,    how   does   a   night   sister   of   dathomir   come   to   travel   with   the   jedi?      ”

“ in all honesty -- i’m not sure you SHOULD. ”    the former inquisitor decided to not mince words for the moment. settling back on the mantis’s couch, trilla gracefully crossed a leg, meeting the nightsister’s eyes. kestis had a little knack for making friends, didn’t he? although this one was quite a surprise. . . how he’d managed to earn himself the trust and companionship of a surviving nightsister is beyond her. perhaps she does have something to learn from him. “ sit? ”   trilla offered, making a gesture to the other side of the couch -- ample space in between the two should she decide. in the short time she’d spent on the mantis, she and merrin had barely said a word to each other. perhaps that ought to change. whether the other makes her choice to sit or not, trilla continued. “ i know you care about him. cal, i mean. ”   she clarified, using cal’s given name rather than the several affectionate nicknames she had for him,    “ i understand that my presence is. . . worrisome, to say the least. it can’t be comforting to have someone around who’s tried to kill your friend multiple times. ” she was simply being honest -- it’s no secret that the second sister has very much intended to kill cal kestis, and cere junda. . . and probably everyone else aboard the mantis given half the chance. but the second sister had been cut down by darth vader. . . leaving whatever she was now behind. “ but i can promise that i no longer mean any of you any harm. you all saved my life. . . and for that you’ll find i will always be grateful. ” trilla sniffed, in something that felt like disgust. this is the closest she’s come to snetimental in years -- and it was making her deeply UNCOMFORTABLE. “ so, trust me or don’t, that’s your choice. i don’t expect you to take my word alone. ”

from dathomer: do not go far from me . if we are out of earshot , you are too far from me .

          there was a sense of isolation that had resonated through him for years.   ever since he was a child,  feeling the ripple in the force as the balance shifted dramatically in such a short span of time.   thousands of lives blinked out.   trust no one.   that was one of the rules cal had lived by for so long,  it was hard to train him out of being in survival mode.   being on the mantis, feeling like he had some semblance of a family had helped more than he could ever describe.   even though merrin and him had come from different origins and wielded the force in different ways,  they had both felt the wrath of the empire firsthand and had their childhood torn away because of it.   they shared a kinship despite her more... eccentric tendencies,  but cal never really minded.   he knew about as well as anyone how difficult trying to read a room was.