Location: Odessen - Odessen Outpost
The Odessen forest stretched around him, damp earth and shifting leaves muffling the world beyond. Acier knelt in the clearing, not with his lightsaber in hand but with eyes closed, palms steady against the soil. No drills today. No remotes. Just the Force, threading through him, tugging against his scars and his silence.
His locs had grown long, tied back but messy, strands slipping loose to frame his face. Weeks of missions and rebellion left little room for upkeep, but the untamed look suited him. He wasn’t the boy who had fled Bonadan anymore. He had faced Tessk. Stood before his brother. Survived bounty hunters and Sith alike. In the space of months, he had walked through fire, and come out sharper for it.
And yet, the weight lingered. The unanswered questions of Orryn. The prophecy whispered by the Sisters. The burden of bloodlines he never asked for. It pressed on him like a second shadow. Still, sitting here beneath the trees, he felt a steadiness he hadn’t known before. For the first time, Ace wasn’t just surviving. He was choosing to stand.
A breeze stirred the branches above, and he lifted his head slightly as if listening. The air carried scents of moss, smoke, and distant rain, and for a moment he looked every bit the lone wolf - scarred, wary, but attuned to the rhythm of the wild around him. Not adrift. Not lost. Simply waiting for the next step, instinct sharp as ever.
His thoughts drifted to the bonds forged along the way, the fire-forged trust of the Hidden Path, the quiet strength of Pisti’s lessons, Aether’s steady kinship, Valery's guiding hand, Verse’s sly loyalty, Sibylla’s laughter, Tic’s unshakable loyalty, Everest's quiet trust, Aris's steel, Jane's warmth, Michael's odd endearment. Alone, he had been a ghost. With them, he was something more. Not just a survivor, but a part of something greater.
The blood and bonds that had carried him this far would hold, and in that strength, he found a measure of hope. Whatever storm waited on the horizon, he wasn’t facing it alone.
