As he expected, really. They were loyal to him and nothing the Dragon's could have done would ever change that. The only problem was that the Dragon's had taken Kamon away from his people, and, for two years, away from his daughter. He remembered when he found her on Kashyyyk. She had barely remembered him and she had been slightly out of her mind. Thankfully they'd worked past that and he'd gotten things back to normal.

"They may miss me, but they don't want me back. If I announced my presence to them now then the Dragon's would be on their way here immediately. I know they still have spies about."

Grabbing a two glasses from the top of the table, he set them in front of him before reaching for a pitcher that was also sitting on the table. From it he poured a chilled, red wine into each of the glasses. Sliding a glass across the table to Amarie, he offered her a smile before lifting his glass to his lips and taking a sip of the sweet wine within it. The temple also had a nice wine cellar.

For a moment, he sat there and let his eyes look over his daughter, watching her and feeling out to her through the Force. She was strong with the Force, just as her brother had been, but she was untrained. It was possible that she knew how to draw on it, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure. Perhaps it was time to fix that situation and it was probably about time that they did.

"Amarie... Do you know how to draw on the Force?"

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.

They may miss me, but they don't want me back. If I announced my presence to them now then the Dragon's would be on their way here immediately. I know they still have spies about.

"They wish things were different....just like I do." Amarie imediately replied, then mentally bit her tongue. It sounded way too harsh, reflecting on a small part of all the frustrations she had in keeping her own father's presence a tightly kept secret. Of course, she wished things were different, wished that she didn't have to force herself to answering the questions that the people always asked with reguards to Kamon.

She sighed, bending down in her seat to open her backpack, and locating a couple of fresh fruits, rolling one onto the table and setting the other one next to her as he asked her if she could draw on the Force. With gentle nudges, she kept the fruit rolling as if teasing her father in a little game, to see if he'd actually reach out and snap it from her like she used to tease her twin brother.

"Only in bits and pieces, tiny moments before losing patience and my grip on it altogether. It isn't perfect, but it's all I've been willing to deal with since....it scares me. It's capable of so much good, and yet...just as much evil."

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."

Eventually, even her father was unable to resist snagging the fruit she rolled about with the Force, seeing that smile that Amarie wished she could see more often, those old warm fingers gently squeezing the fruit as if inuitively checking to be sure it was fresh and good enough for eating.

Her gaze was intent on watching her father as he spoke to her, responding to her tiny demostration and the words that she felt best described her rather elusive grasp of what was to her a rather wet, and lively fish. A smile of her own grew upon her face till his words drifted, along with his train of thought. The loss of so many in their family always seemed to be the open wound for her father, and her as well, but for her, it brought frustration, for she was unable to change things so that it wouldn't be just the two of them at the table that they were right there and then.

All she could do was simply nod as he offered suggestions as to what she could do to improve her control on it. It would take time, but what else did Amarie have in between these few moments that they managed to steal from the rest of the universe.

Then there was another pause, almost unoticed by Amarie if she didn't happen to be paying very close attention to her father in the first place. This time, it was different, which made her reach out with her own senses to figure out what it was.

Which made her response to her father's little test to find their soon to be unexpected guest a little too quick.

"Kenshin...he'll be here soon....should we have cleaned up more spare rooms, dad?"

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...

There was something disconcerting about wide open spaces that grows on you the longer you wander in it. Perhaps it is the lack of landmarks, creating the notion that you're not getting anywhere. It was surprising what a bunch of big connected holes could shift the comfort level. Because there were canyons, the view was never quite discouraging. If he needed bearing, he would just walk the edge of the plateau he was on and look down at the vibrant bands of color on the stone. The skyline didn't repeat and the patterns of each formation were different from each other.

The sky on the other hand was always a calming sight. The sense of something big overlooking us for some reason puts us at awe despite its implication at our insignificance. Perhaps it is that very sense of insignificance we find comforting. Perhaps it is because the sky is always there, above somewhere, while the ground underneath our feet can change in nature when we are least expecting it.

He was almost there, he could feel it as he neared a particular formation in the canyon wall and as he hiked ever closer intot is shadow, the haze of noonday sun upon sand colored rock cleared from his vision and he could make out a giant set of doors befitting of a temple. He paused for a moment, scanning the structure and taking it all in at once. It was plain, but in its unrefined character there lay a stronger majesty. Nature had built this, not man, and even the most godlike man could only bend nature, not conquer it.

He then turned his attention to the entrance only to suddenly find the gaze of the girl perched upon the threshold upon him. It took a moment for him to recognize her but when he did, a grin grew to tug at the ends of his face and he broke into a jog to cover the rest of the distance between them.

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.

With gentle fingers he reached in and lifted the bracelet from its resting place, holding it in the palm of his hand. Though he should have immediately felt Kate, he didn't feel anything, not even a twinge. That fact coupled with the lightsaber meant that she didn't have either one in her possession right then. That or they had been forcibly taken from her.

Stepping backwards, he sat down on the edge of the bed, biting his lowerlip between his teeth. His thumb gently ran over the edge of the object as he sat and stared at it. The first inclination that he was going to cry were the tears that welled up in his eyes, threatening to flood out from him.

With a jerky hand, he lifted the bracelet from his other palm and then slid it onto his wrist. Almost as soon as it settled down he felt... nothing. There was nothing there and that's what set him off. The fact that he couldn't even draw the slightest touch from Kate. Though she had divorced him he still loved her.

The tears began to flow from his eyes and runned down his cheek, dropping down to his lap. Closing his eyes, he began to silently weep, his entire body shaking from the force of his crying. His hands grasped onto the edge of the bed and clenched down hard.

Maybe this was what he needed to happen to help him finally get over the loss of the woman that he loved. The loss of the woman that had gave him the incredible daughter that was outside right then. Whatever it was, he needed to shed the tears that had welled up in him for years now.

So he cried silently, shaking upon the edge of the bed with fingers nearly tearing into the mattress. What went on outside, it's cheeriness evidently present upon the two people, was completely unknown to him, though his daughter might feel his plight. He couldn't help that then, he was too busy crying.

"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.