Acier Moonbound
Rogue Wolf
Location: Jakku - Jakku Enclave
Ace didn't answer
Isobel Serraris
outburst, instead he stood there and let her speak. Some of what she said rang painfully true. Some of it, he couldn't agree with. Once, he'd have challenged every accusation, defended every choice, tried to convince her she was wrong. Not anymore.
He watched her disappear back up the dune. Through the Force, he felt the turmoil inside her finally beginning to settle. She was exhausted. Finished. Relief eased something inside his own chest. Whether she found her way back to the Jedi or chose some other path entirely didn't matter to him anymore. What mattered was that she was walking away from this.
His attention returned to Arris. She'd given him the same answer she'd offered on Corellia.
Ace's brow furrowed. "So instead of convincing them all to leave and going with them..." His hand swept vaguely toward the Covenant forces encircling the Enclave. "...you're just gonna keep letting yourself, and them, be miserable inside that cesspool? That's not protection, Arris. It's just stagnation."
The comparison to Aether lingered between them unanswered. Months ago, Ace would've agreed without a second thought. He would've killed for his brother without hesitation. Now... he wasn't sure it was so cut and dry for him.
As Arris gestured toward the Enclave, Ace's gaze drifted across the battlefield. Artillery thundered beyond the dunes. Crimson and blue bolts carved glowing scars through the smoke while distant explosions rolled across the desert.
Then the revolver settled between his eyes, but Ace didn't flinch. When Arris offered it to him, another battlefield, or the aftermath of one, rose in his mind. Coruscant. She'd offered him her revolver then too, with a similar choice. Back then, taking it had awakened something ugly inside him. The temptation to end everything with a single pull of the trigger had been stronger than he'd ever admitted.
This time... there was nothing. He accepted the revolver and turned it over once in his gloved hand, studying the worn metal in silence.
"Yeah..." A faint edge crept into his voice. "Of course that's how you'd see it." He looked back up at her. "I'm here to right my wrongs. Simple as that."
His thumb idly traced the grip before he stepped forward and placed the revolver back into Arris' waiting hand.
"But also..." His eyes never left hers. "I'm here for the people I care about too."
He trusted she was intelligent enough to understand the words he wasn't saying aloud.
A tired breath escaped through his nose. "Much as I hate to admit it... guess I'm kind of fond of you now."
There was a faint edge of dry humor in his tone.
Arris Windrun
Isobel Serraris
outburst, instead he stood there and let her speak. Some of what she said rang painfully true. Some of it, he couldn't agree with. Once, he'd have challenged every accusation, defended every choice, tried to convince her she was wrong. Not anymore.He watched her disappear back up the dune. Through the Force, he felt the turmoil inside her finally beginning to settle. She was exhausted. Finished. Relief eased something inside his own chest. Whether she found her way back to the Jedi or chose some other path entirely didn't matter to him anymore. What mattered was that she was walking away from this.
His attention returned to Arris. She'd given him the same answer she'd offered on Corellia.
Ace's brow furrowed. "So instead of convincing them all to leave and going with them..." His hand swept vaguely toward the Covenant forces encircling the Enclave. "...you're just gonna keep letting yourself, and them, be miserable inside that cesspool? That's not protection, Arris. It's just stagnation."
The comparison to Aether lingered between them unanswered. Months ago, Ace would've agreed without a second thought. He would've killed for his brother without hesitation. Now... he wasn't sure it was so cut and dry for him.
As Arris gestured toward the Enclave, Ace's gaze drifted across the battlefield. Artillery thundered beyond the dunes. Crimson and blue bolts carved glowing scars through the smoke while distant explosions rolled across the desert.
Then the revolver settled between his eyes, but Ace didn't flinch. When Arris offered it to him, another battlefield, or the aftermath of one, rose in his mind. Coruscant. She'd offered him her revolver then too, with a similar choice. Back then, taking it had awakened something ugly inside him. The temptation to end everything with a single pull of the trigger had been stronger than he'd ever admitted.
This time... there was nothing. He accepted the revolver and turned it over once in his gloved hand, studying the worn metal in silence.
"Yeah..." A faint edge crept into his voice. "Of course that's how you'd see it." He looked back up at her. "I'm here to right my wrongs. Simple as that."
His thumb idly traced the grip before he stepped forward and placed the revolver back into Arris' waiting hand.
"But also..." His eyes never left hers. "I'm here for the people I care about too."
He trusted she was intelligent enough to understand the words he wasn't saying aloud.
A tired breath escaped through his nose. "Much as I hate to admit it... guess I'm kind of fond of you now."
There was a faint edge of dry humor in his tone.
Arris Windrun
