-Age 1 Sanghelios Wandor Keep-
Cas 'Wanee Had just taken his first steps when his mother came in. Understandably exhilarated by this she ran to him and picked him up. Giving Cas one of her signature motherly hugs. Even at this young age Cas could understand some simple words. Notably love and mother.
-Age 5 Sanghelios Wandor Keep-
"Cas! Wait for me, I haven't picked up my plasma pistol yet. Remember, we cannot go outside the keep without protection". His mother Dulo 'Wan said. In response Cas just stood still and nodded, waiting for his mother to be ready. His mandibles clacking together. He could not contain his excitement any longer. This would be the first time outside of his home keep. They were going on a trip to the woods which his mother had told him a great deal of stories about. Mostly regarding the dangerous animals there, but also the amazing fruit that grew on the trees. He had seen his mother go into the woods and come back with baskets full of fruit. They were very valuable she had told him, every time she came home, she earned a great amount of money. Which she then often spent on Cas, to make him happy. Something Cas was very grateful for. "I'm ready Cas. Let's go!" his mother shouted from behind him.
-Age 11 Sanghelios Wandor Keep-
Cas was slowly circling around his Mentor, Ripa 'Tradum. He was not originally from this keep, but once his own keep on one of the colonies had been destroyed, the Kaidon had offered him housing here in Wandor. It was a noble thing to do. And some day Cas wished he could become Kaidon and do the same.
Caught in his own daydreaming, Cas failed to notice Ripa attacking him from the left with the training stick. It smacked into his shoulder. At impact Cas fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder. "Focus, Cas! I have seen how focused and calm you are when you trained with the pistol, now show me the same focus here!" His mentor said. In response Cas said, "Yes mentor, I will try my best". Ripa seemed pleased by this and moved back to a combat ready stance.
Cas stood up and did the same, his arm leaving the shoulder. It was a minor wound. It would most likely go away in a few days, leaving nothing behind other than the knowledge learned from the mistake. This time Cas was focused, and he saw Ripa's attack come, and he tried to parry it. It failed completely. He blocked the main attack, but Ripa took the opportunity to punch him in the same shoulder as before. Cas sighed, 'Maybe not a few days, more like a week' he thought. Getting ready for more.
-Age 13 Sanghelios Wandor Keep-
Cas looked upon his mentor in awe. He held out his activated energy sword for Cas to see. "This, the finest and most noble weapon a sangheili can have". He reached down into a box and grabbed a similar sword and handed it to Cas. The one he got was way less decorated and grandiose. Although it still held that air of power.
Cas turned it on seeing the twin blades shoot out from the handle, glowing a bright blue. "I have put restraints on these two swords so that we need not worry about fatality, although be wary. It is still a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. Both to yourself and your enemies". Ripa explained and quickly walked into the little clearing in the middle of a large field that they had made their training arena.
Cas followed suit and was ready to commence. He noticed however that the blade was vastly different from any of the previous combat sticks. It was lighter and easier to move, but its position made it so that only a fraction of the knowledge from handling the sticks would transfer over. Just as he was finishing up that train of thought Ripa attacked. He swooped the blade to Cas' legs which made Cas jump over the blade and slash downwards. Directly towards Ripa's face. What seemed like a perfect attack turned out to be a failure. Ripa in one clean motion took his sword up, deflected the attack and before Cas had landed, Ripa had his sword pointed at Cas' neck.
Ripa opened his mandibles to speak, "Cas, I applaud you for trying something new. That jump of yours was a good attempt. However, you failed to think about how to defend yourself in that position. Which gave me an opening. You must always have a way to defend, even in the heat of battle". Ripa replied with a simple "I understand, Mentor". Not letting the humiliation of defeat get to the surface. It was even worse than if they had been alone, his mother had come to watch.
For a second, he thought she would scold him for making such a bold and uncalculated move. Instead, she just came up gave him a good hug and handed over something to eat. Before inviting Ripa over to eat with them. It was delicious. Korpos fruit in some sort of Salad mix. The Korpos had always been his favourite fruit. It grew naturally in the woods around their keep. Already from an early age was he accompanying her into the forest to get the fruit. This time she had gone alone since Cas was training.
-Age 16 Sanghelios Wandor Keep-
Cas woke up to screaming and despair. At first, he had no idea what was happening then he heard it. Someone in the distance shouted, "KAIDON! Come out and fight! I am challenging you for the ownership of this Keep!" Cas was in absolute shock, a foreign Kaidon had come here to the peaceful Wandor Keep demanding it to be his. Cas knew that their own Kaidon was in no shape to fight. The only reason none in the Keep had challenged him before was due to him being loved by everyone and ruling like a true monarch of old. Doing what was best for the people.
As Cas moved out of his and his mother's home, he could spot the old Kaidon walk out in full armour. This time in contrast to ceremonial duties he wore his Zealot armour and not the signature Kaidon one. Cas presumed that was due to the Zealot being better armed and ready for combat. He was a noble Kaidon, even at his old frail age he had stepped up and risking his life to protect the keep. He was a man any sangheili should strive to become.
Instead of speaking the Kaidon only activate his energy sword. The twin blades screeched out and glowed blue. The opposing claimant stepped up in his own Kaidon armour. Activating his twin swords. Cas watched in horror. Two blades vs 1. That's no battle, it's a massacre. One of the dual blades launched towards the Kaidon who narrowly blocked it. However, he was not prepared for the second blade which graced his shoulder. Instead of screaming in pain like any other sangheili, he just gritted his mandibles and continued. This time the Kaidon was on the offensive, swinging at the dual wielder with all his force trying to get an opening. A stream of blue blades shot between them, each one trying to make an opening. At one point it almost looked like the Kaidon was going to win, then out of the blue the claimant managed to disarm the Kaidon. He held his dual blades to the Kaidon's neck before shouting "This keep is now mine! Soldiers kill the population; they will not be loyal to me and must thus be exterminated". Cas listened a shiver running up his spine before he noticed someone tugging on his arm, it was his mentor and his mother. They were trying to escape.
Cas joined them and they ran towards the exit of the keep, before they could stop the claimant, now Kaidon stood in front of them. Energy swords at the ready. He overheard some guards speaking to him and calling him Zipo 'Haramee. Instead of letting the trio escape he attacked them, jumping forward with all his might and barely missing Cas' mother. She retrieved her on energy sword that she had gotten from her mother, and that she had gotten from her mother, and it continued. A family blade passed through all the female children. A rare occasion, but right now one Cas was endlessly grateful for.
Cas and his mentor ran past the two duelling and opened the gate. Shouting for his mother Dulo to come. She tried to turn around and run, just when it looked like they had made it. Two energy swords went straight through her stomach. She was lifted up and subsequently hurled down to the ground. She tried to stand up but failed. Accepting death, she let out her last words. "Ripa, protect my son with your life, let him grow up and". It seemed she was going to say more but Zipo promptly cut her off by severing her head from her torso.
Cas screamed out in anger and sadness. Trying to run at Zipo, but Ripa was quicker and locked the keep door before jumping over the edge, landing right next to Cas. A single tear running down his face. Cas had slumped down to the floor crying in despair. Ripa had other pans. He was going to survive and uphold the last wish of Cas' mother.
Ripa kicked Cas in the rib, getting him to stand up. He the spoke his voice nearly breaking, "I understand your loss and I grieve with you. This is no place to stay outside a wall. It will only be minute before they get it open and fix the sabotage I did. We need to go". Cas seemed to listen and started walking. Not even trying to hide his sadness he asked "But where are we going to go? This was the only place I called home".
Ripa led Cas to the closest spaceport which was in the Vadam Keep. Not bothering to even talk to anyone from the Keep; they waled straight to the spaceport and bought a trip to one of the Sangheili colonies. His sadness now replaced with anger was about to ask why they were going to that specific colony. Hesduros was the home world Ripa. It made sense. It was far enough away from Sanghelios that Zipo could not find them there. And Ripa had family on the planet. All of this made it an excellent choice. Due to the small population, nearly every Keep would offer them housing, since that meant extra workers or defenders for the Keep.
They arrived on Hesduros a few days later, Ripa managed to get them a house and a job in a Keep near some forerunner ruins and a spaceport called Toran Keep. As they walked through the massive arches Cas could see multiple guards up in their towers watching them. Clearly ready for trouble. Luckily for them, nothing bad happened. Ripa paid the Kaidon, and they got their housing.
-Age 18 Hesduros Toran Keep-
Cas was sparring with one of his friends, Suto 'Tonar. They had become friends almost instantly after Cas had arrived. From day one they had talked day out and day in. It took some time, but Cas had gotten used to the strange dialect the people of Hesduros time. He supposed it would be the same for Suto too. To them a person from Sanghelios would sound equally strange. Now they were circling each other with energy swords. Each waiting for the other to do something. Suto knew the drill, that it would end in him loosing, as it had done the other thousand times they had sparred over the years. Even so, he kept on and seemed to really enjoy sparring with Cas. Noticeable improvement could be seen in them both. Especially in Cas physically. He had become the tallest sangheili in the entire keep. At 290 cm he was taller than most sangheili. Even taller than most Brutes too, or as they are 'officially' called, the Jiralhanae.
Suto tried to get the upper hand by kicking up some dust into Cas' eyes, it only worked partially as the dust failed to get into both eyes. Cas trying to wipe it off was nearly caught off guard by Suto's sudden swing at his position. Taking it in style he sidestepped the attack and threw a backhand punch straight in Suto's stomach. Suto crouched down in pain, before continuing a second later. Th second attempt ended in even more failure than the first. With Suto getting a knee in his face and another punch in his stomach. Cas retracted his energy blade and helped Sato back up.
The sangheili body was especially adept at healing from injuries. Even compared to the dishonourable humans they had recently gotten into a conflict with. These humans used doctors to operate everything from a small scratch to a broken leg. Nothing a sangheili would do. Some families disallowed medical treatment thinking it would strengthen the person. Cas' clan allowed medical treatment when there were more people left than only him. He internally chuckled at the idea that he was now his clans elder and technically the Kaidon of his 'Keep' due to the inheritance of clan members. He knew that some other Kaidon's viewed Zipo's takeover as legitimate. Cas did not, he was getting vengeance one way or another and he was going to get his Keep back. For now, he had patience. A virtue that Ripa had taught him.
He was yanked out of his thought by Suto, "Can't believe this is the last time I will see this keep, and all my friends in a long while". Cas nodded and continued, "I for one, am very excited to join the Covenant and fight this new threat. These flat-faced creatures. Humans" They started walking out towards an empty space where a covenant dropship was landing, a Lich he thought. One of the larger dropships. This one was meant to carry recruits to a ship in orbit which would then take them to a military training camp.
Where this camp was, he did not know, and he did not really care. As long as he got his training, equipment, and a position in the military, he would be happy. The sides of the Lich opened, and an Elite Major started shouting out names. After a few minutes and about half had entered he got to one name in particular, "Suto 'Tonar". So, they were going to be split up 'Crap' he thought. Cas had hoped they would be lucky enough to land in the same ship. "Hey! Cas, it's been an honour being with you all these years, stay alive will ya?" And with that Cas was alone, all his friends including Suto had left. As the Lich flew away another one came down. Once again just like the last one a red clad Major started reading out names. And as the last Lich people started pouring in. Cas was the only one left and apparently last on the list when the major spoke, "Cas 'Wanee".
