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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2194459" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 203: SleepJyren was led to the large, open room that was currently occupied by a very large number of Alraxians, of all shapes, sizes, and colours. It was an interesting sight, and he might have liked it if they weren’t all staring at him when he and his father entered. After being led to a seat, he stood a moment while his father talked. It was in Alraxian, so he didn’t actually understand a word of it, but from the smiles and stares, he knew what was being said. It was the whole ‘you know how this is! Guess what? Its my son!’ speech.    And by the end, Jyren was sitting and staring very intently at the table while there was a very loud applause. Food was already in front of them, and as the noise died down into simple conversation, his father had a seat next to him and motioned for him to eat. The food was good. It never wasn’t, truthfully. While his father talked with a the others around, Jyren did his best to just sit and eat quietly.    On his other side, a female Alraxian, probably about his ‘age’, sat and tried to start idle conversation. She could speak Basic...better than Kato could, at least, but Jyren wasn’t in much of a mood to talk. In fact, as the minutes passed by, he found his appetite was also gone. And he knew exactly why.    He was angry with himself. Angry with Shadow. Angry with...everything, really. He knew he was right. He knew that war was inevitable in this situation. He knew there was so much going on that there wasn’t a thing that could be done to stop it...and yet, even Shadow didn’t believe him. And she didn’t because she knew that it wouldn’t come to war. She knew there was a lot going on, but that it was still containable. She knew what had to be done to stop it.    Through the link, this was obvious. But he was as right as she was, and it was a stupid argument anyway. It didn’t change what would happen. It didn’t change what they needed to be doing. But no...instead of finding Ket and stopping things from going any farther, they argued and sat around. And tomorrow, there was supposed to be some kind of celebration. Celebration of what?! What was there to celebrate? It didn’t make any sense.    He left early, nodding politely to the young woman, and then walking back to the small house alone. Jyren walked back slowly, though, taking in the sights and noting that the streets were empty. Everyone was back there...eating. Such a social species. His. It was all still dawning on him that this really was home, and at least walking down the quiet street alone gave him time to think about that rather than worry about what was going to happen.    Arriving back at the house, Jyren’s first inclination was to simply lay down on the sheets that had been lain out on the floor in the small, bright coloured room for him, but he found himself walking back into his father’s study. Walking back and picking up that holo of his mother again. Slowly, Jyren sat down in his father’s chair, staring at the human woman without even knowing what to think. He didn’t even know her name. A day earlier, he hadn’t even known she existed. And here it was...the mother he’d always quietly begged the Force for.    How could he have even guessed that he would find this on Alraxia? What were the chances? It wasn’t coincidence. If anything, it simply proved that there really was no such thing as coincidence. It was just too perfect. Too...clean. So much so that Jyren nearly second guessed it. But no...it was true. He could feel it. That Alraxian was his father...this planet was his home. This...this woman who look so much like him was his mother. Hidden away in a corner of the galaxy no one knew about.    Sighing, Jyren finally placed the holo back next to the others and retreated from the room. He lay down on the floor of his old room just as he heard the door open. His father was back. Jyren had told him that he was tired...so as not to make his father worry, Jyren used a simple technique to slow his breathing and mimic sleep. A couple of minutes later, the door opened slowly and his father peeked in. For a split second, Jyren wondered if the older Alraxian could tell he wasn’t sleeping, but when his father stepped out and quietly closed the door, he didn’t worry about it anymore.Jyren couldn’t sleep. This place was home...but it wasn’t right. He missed...he missed the room in the Palace. He missed the bed. He missed...he missed Shadow. All the more reason to be angry with himself for bickering about such a stupid thing. It was amazing, his skill for destroying days that should have been so wonderful. That night, Jyren simply lay there in the red room, doing nothing but beating himself up all night.* * * *Shadow had returned to the Palace still annoyed. So much so that she didn’t speak to anyone, even Kyren, for the rest of the day. She ate, yes, but sat silent and left as soon as she could. To calm herself, she went out into one of the courtyards and ran through as many strenuous training forms as she could. Exhausting her body and mind with focus on technique and perfection.    For hours, Shadow stayed out in the courtyard. Well into the night, to the point where one of the moons provided enough light that it felt like dawn. But eventually, when tiredness had finally taken its toll, Shadow retreated to her room. Changing into simple nightclothes, she half spoke to where Ak—Jyren usually was, but caught herself just as she’d opened her mouth.    Sighing and wondering why he had to make thing so difficult all of the time, she switch the lights off and climbed into the cold bed. It felt bigger than usual. Much bigger...and colder. Grumbling to herself, she closed her eyes and forced all thought away so that she could sleep.    But just as she did so, there was a scratching noise from the door. At first, she buried her head under the pillow, but the sound simply continued. Over and over and over again in a soft, but constant repetition.    Finally, with a growl, Shadow took her head out from under the pillow and yelled at the door, “Akan isn’t here, Toby! Go back to the nursery!”    For a moment, the scratching stopped. It stopped for long enough that Shadow figured the little brat had actually left. It was naive to think that. The door opened. Silently, but enough light came in to cause Shadow to groan again. She heard the sounds of soft movement before the door closed.    Then, quietly, a familiar voice called out into the dark room, “...Akan...?”    “I said he’s not here,” Shadow grumbled, rolling over to face the other direction and forcing her eyes to stay closed. Maybe the child would just go away. Again, a naive thought. Or rather, stupid.    She heard nothing for a long moment, and then a sudden weight appeared at her feet. Shadow froze and tried to not exist as the weight moved, one small appendage at a time, up to her back. When she felt the weight shift and begin to settle down, Shadow groaned again and said, “No, Toby...go back to your own bed...”    There was a whimper. It was that whimper that was obviously before a bursting of tears that would last for who knew how long. At hearing that, and knowing what would follow, Shadow finally gave up, “Fine...”    She grumbled it and rolled over, idly wondering if she could just crush him. But instead, she shifted so that he lay against her chest, and brought an arm over him. Her excuse was that the arm was meant to shut him up. It didn’t work, but that didn’t matter. When he started to purr quietly, Shadow opened one eye and said, “...just be quiet and go to sleep or I’m calling your nanny.”    The noise stopped, and just before she closed her eye again, she saw him staring up at her in near terror. But when Shadow closed her eye again to go to sleep, she could feel Tobias’ tension fade. Just as she was finally fading back into sleep, she heard a soft, muffled voice, “...night, momma...”</blockquote>

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