Private A Scholar at the Edge of Ruin

[Meri Vale]

Meri stayed close to Varin as they crossed the sands, the rope between them a physical tether that felt increasingly redundant. She didn't object to it, though; as the night deepened, the wastes beyond the temple seemed to dissolve into an endless, shifting void. Even as the ruins began to vanish behind the jagged silhouette of the city walls, her eyes drifted back one last time. It wasn't doubt that pulled at her, it was the certainty that she wasn't finished with that place yet.

Varin's claim that the temple chose its visitors settled uneasily in her mind. Her world was built on the logic of architecture: buildings were structures, structures followed purpose, and purpose followed design. A temple was a vessel, not an entity. Yet, the memory of the shifting shadows and the way the air had felt inside those walls made it hard to dismiss his warning as mere superstition.

The heavy scrutiny of the Hutt woman at the gate snapped her back to the present.

Meri's posture tightened instinctively. While she remained silent, her mind raced to keep up with the Huttese exchange. Her understanding of the language was a mosaic of trade-hub slang and port-side insults, incomplete, but enough to catch the sharp edges of the woman's tone.

Suspicion. Assessment. Dismissal.

When the woman's gaze lingered on her, heavy with an implication that needed no translation, Meri lowered her eyes. It wasn't an act of submission, but a calculated retreat into the background. Experience had taught her that attention was the precursor to questions, and questions were the precursor to danger.

The gate screeched open, a jarring protest of metal on metal, and she stepped through beside Varin. The Hutt woman spat one final comment that followed them into the city, the shape of the insult landing with a familiar weight.

Meri waited until they were several steps into the rising noise of the streets before she spoke, her voice level as she processed the encounter.

"She did not seem to believe I was temporary," she observed quietly, her fingers tightening around the strap of her satchel. "Or perhaps she simply recognized that I don't belong here at all."

There was no hurt in her voice, only the dry analysis of someone long accustomed to being an outsider. But as they moved deeper into the city, the discomfort of the gate was quickly eclipsed by a more persistent curiosity. She looked up at Varin, her focus sharpening again.

"You said the temple conceals itself," she said thoughtfully, the architectural puzzle already taking priority over the Hutt's malice. "Do you mean that metaphorically, as in, it's simply forgotten, or does it literally vanish?"

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber​

After they had left the Hutt woman behind a good distance did Meri finally speak.

“She is always giving me a hard time, one of these days she will catch me on a really bad day.”

He looked over at her before he stopped. Slowly he untied the rope thinking on her statement as he did so.

“Truth be told, she doesn’t believe anyone belongs here. That Huttese superiority complex runs through their race.”

He waited with her until she had undone the rope as well then proceeded to wrap it up in a neat circle, then placed it into his bag.

“That is a very good question.”

He paused for a moment, thinking on his words carefully.

“I think it's a slice of both. In my experience with this temple I have been faced with the natural and supernatural. For example, did you know the force ghost of a Jedi Master still haunts it?”

He waited for a moment for her to process the question before he continued.

“When I first delved into it, the cold was an instant sign of unseen forces that seemed to sway the building. My…assistant at the time helped me open up a room I was not ready to open up yet, it was how I lost my eye. A Sithspawn had made a home in those depths and I never knew, until it was too late.”

He looked back down the street.

“If I had taken the time to prepare for it, maybe I would still have two eyes.”

He slowly walked down the street with her, the area had grown quiet as night time had fallen over the land giving way to quiet dimly lit streets and the sounds of chilling winds.

Meri Vale​

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri stayed quiet for several steps after he spoke, her boots crunching softly against the worn street while the cold night air drifted through the narrow passages between buildings. The rope was gone now, but she still felt the phantom awareness of it lingering between them, an odd reminder of how quickly the temple had transformed caution into necessity.

At the mention of a Jedi Master haunting the temple, her attention shifted sharply toward him, curiosity overtaking the lingering irritation from the Hutt woman almost immediately.

"A Force ghost?" she repeated, her voice quieter now, more thoughtful than skeptical. "Actually present, or present in the way old places sometimes hold impressions?" To Meri, there was a difference.

Memories could cling to places. Emotions could stain architecture. She understood that much already. But conscious persistence after death was still something her mind continually tried to categorize into systems and mechanisms it did not yet fully understand.

Then he mentioned the Sithspawn.

Her gaze immediately dropped to the eye he had lost before lifting again, studying him with renewed attention as he continued explaining what happened. She noticed the subtle shift in his tone when he spoke about being unprepared, the way regret threaded through the memory despite his calm delivery.

Meri frowned faintly.

"You keep saying that as though preparation guarantees control," she said after a moment, her voice measured and analytical rather than comforting. "But if you didn't know the creature was there, then what exactly were you supposed to prepare for?"

She glanced ahead toward the dim street before continuing.

"You survived something living in the depths of an ancient temple. Statistically, losing only an eye seems less like failure and more like an outcome most people would consider miraculous." There was no drama in the statement. To her, it was simply the logical conclusion.

Her brow furrowed slightly as she thought back to the temple itself, to the cold that had crept through its halls and the pressure buried beneath the stone.

"Though I do not like the implication that there are sections of that place capable of hiding things powerful enough to do that to someone experienced."

A brief pause followed before her curiosity inevitably resurfaced. "What did it look like?" Her eyes shifted back toward him. "The Sithspawn."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber​

He offered her a slow nod at her question of the force ghost. He gave her a look at her next question before giving it some thought.

“A bit of both actually. It still holds guard over the halls like it is doing its duties, but it is indeed a force ghost knowing that it is dead.”

After he mentioned the Sithspawn he noticed her gaze flick to his eye for a brief moment before coming back to him. Speaking of preparation and prediction, it drew a huff from him.

“If I had spent a little more time observing and studying the building then I would have discovered the creature sooner, maybe even dispatched it cleaner. Preparation is key when it comes to delving into danger, but what is also key is adaptation. That is what I had lacked when we battled.”

He continued down the street as she spoke, staying quiet so she had a moment to give her piece.

“To most people I am sure living through the outcome is enough, not to me. The scar will serve as a reminder, that I know.”

When she asked what it looked like he stopped in his tracks, looking up towards the academy that drew nearer to them. He recalled the fight with the beast, the way it looked and the way it his in shadows.

“It was dark, like the shadows themselves made manifest. Powerful yet quick and rather intelligent. Think of it as a large slender lizard.”

He stopped to think of further details.

“That is about all I can remember. It was a bit hard to see with all the blood in my eyes.”

His steps continued down the street with her.

“I need you to understand something about that temple Meri. It may look like an ancient building but deep down, it is alive, and it chooses who goes where.”

He looked her in the eyes as he spoke, the seriousness reaching the tone of his voice that commanded the act of someone extending important knowledge that they had gathered the hard way.

“I would hate to see you lose an eye or worse…”

He trailed off with his words as they drew closer to the academy.

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri listened with the focused intensity she usually reserved for complex architectural schematics, her mind working to reconcile Varin's description of the Force ghost with her own structured understanding of the world. The concept unsettled her more on an intellectual level than an emotional one; a consciousness persisting after death while tethered to a specific purpose created immediate contradictions in her view of identity and memory. Yet, the calm certainty in Varin's voice left her very little room to dismiss his words as mere exaggeration.

She absorbed the information in silence as they navigated the dimly lit streets, the academy looming closer with every step. When the conversation shifted to the necessity of preparation and adaptation, however, something in her expression flickered with recognition. Preparation was her sanctuary, measurable, structured, and dependable, whereas adaptation in the face of unpredictable variables remained a much more difficult discipline to master.

Her gaze drifted briefly toward the scar near his eye before she looked back at the path ahead.

"Most people survive their mistakes by convincing themselves that failure was unavoidable," she observed quietly, her voice devoid of judgment. "You, however, seem more interested in dissecting the event to understand exactly where the failure occurred."

As Varin described the Sithspawn, Meri began mentally constructing the creature from the fragments he provided, piecing together a predator that was slender, fast, and disturbingly intelligent. The detail about blood obscuring his vision caused a faint tightening around her eyes, a physical manifestation of the concern she tried to mask with her characteristic pragmatism.

"…that sounds deeply inefficient," she murmured, the understated dryness of the remark doing little to hide the genuine worry threading through it.

When Varin eventually stopped to speak of the temple itself, the atmosphere shifted from analytical observation to a direct, somber warning. The idea of a building being "alive" should have struck her as purely metaphorical, but after her own experiences within those shifting halls, she found the claim impossible to ignore. She held his gaze for several seconds, the cool night air moving softly between them as she weighed his words with unusual care.

"I do not think buildings are supposed to choose people," she admitted at last, her voice dropping to a low, contemplative tone. "Architecturally speaking, that represents an extremely concerning design philosophy."

Though her dry humor surfaced automatically, it was quickly eclipsed by a more unsettling realization. She lowered her gaze to the paving stones beneath their feet before meeting his eyes once more.

"But…I also do not think you are wrong."

The admission was clearly difficult for her, not because she doubted Varin's honesty, but because it confirmed her own growing suspicions. The way the corridors seemed to rearrange themselves and the sense that certain chambers were concealing their secrets intentionally, none of it aligned with the natural decay of ordinary ruins. Despite the danger and the overwhelming pressure of the place, she felt a frustrating, magnetic pull to return.

Folding her hands lightly behind her back, she resumed their walk toward the academy, her expression regaining its thoughtful composure.

"I appreciate the warning, Varin, and I truly do not intend to lose an eye," she said softly, before adding with a final, ironic glimmer of seriousness, "although I suspect that telling me the temple does not want me there may have produced the exact opposite effect from the one you intended."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber

“Those who believe that they made no mistakes when the outcome is not within their favor, are often too arrogant to learn.”

A small sigh left him before he continued.

“I learned that it is best to understand what went wrong so the same mistake is not repeated. The first one is free, the second one is foolish.”

As they approached the courtyard of the academy he noticed some of the security looking their way as they approached. Varin gave them a slow nod to which their response was of the same, seeming to leave him be.

“Some temples retain imprints of those who built them, they take in their ideologies like they themselves are people. The Force has ways of making the impossible possible.”

When she folded her hands behind her back declaring she did not wish to lose an eye a small laugh escaped him.

“You were the one that told me it would be declared as an outcome of sheer luck.”

Her next statement however drew a more serious look from him. A small smile touching his lips before he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Incorrect, Meri. What I see within your eyes is someone hungering for challenge. I only tell you these things about the temple to store that fire within you, that hunger for exploration. I want you to look challenge in the eye and laugh.”

His hand slightly tightened over her shoulder before he released her, continuing down the courtyard towards the door into the dormitories.

“I know that with your gifts, you can and you will discover more about the temple, and I will be there with you every step of the way.”

Meri Vale​

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri listened quietly as Varin spoke about failure and arrogance, her attention fixed on him with thoughtful intensity while they crossed deeper into the academy courtyard. The evening air had cooled considerably, carrying the faint sound of distant conversation from other sections of the grounds, though the atmosphere immediately around them remained far calmer than the crowded streets they had left behind.

His distinction between a first mistake and a repeated one settled heavily in her thoughts.

"So mistakes are acceptable," she murmured, more as though testing the structural integrity of the idea than disagreeing with it outright. "Provided they become instruction rather than habit."

The concept seemed strangely important to her, for someone who had spent her life trying to avoid failure through preparation and precision, the notion that mistakes could possess inherent value challenged something deeply ingrained in her self-perception.

As they passed the security personnel near the entrance, Meri's posture tightened slightly beneath the attention directed toward them. Even though the guards seemed perfectly comfortable with Varin's presence, she still instinctively lowered her gaze, slipping into the background beside him with the quiet reflex of someone accustomed to minimizing notice.

When Varin explained how temples retained the imprint of their builders, her attention gradually returned outward. The explanation did not fully satisfy her intellectually, but she no longer seemed immediately resistant to ideas lacking precise logic, instead appearing to be broadening the framework through which she interpreted the world.

"Then perhaps architecture is not entirely separate from memory," she said quietly. "If places can retain intention through the Force, then buildings are not merely structures, but extensions of the people who shaped them."

The thought fascinated her despite the lingering discomfort, but when Varin laughed and reminded her of her earlier comment about luck, a faint trace of embarrassment crossed her expression before settling back beneath her composure. Then, his hand rested gently against her shoulder, and Meri visibly stilled at the contact. It was not fear that rooted her, but the sudden, earnest sincerity in his voice that caught her completely off guard.

She listened in silence as he spoke of challenge and the fire he believed he saw within her, feeling genuinely uncertain how to respond to a compliment spoken with such certainty. Her gray eyes lowered toward the courtyard stones.

"I do not think I have ever laughed at danger," she admitted softly, her voice carrying only honesty. "Usually, I try to outthink it before it reaches me."

Yet even as she spoke, she knew that explanation no longer fit the person she had become over the last few weeks. The magnetic pull she felt toward the temple had very little to do with safety, and the danger itself had become inseparable from her fascination, a realization that unsettled her as much as it excited her.

As they approached the dormitories, Meri folded her hands behind her back, her expression quieter but no longer guarded.

"You speak as though you already know what I am capable of," she observed, her gaze lifting toward him with curiosity rather than accusation. "I am not certain I know yet, though apparently I am becoming increasingly willing to follow sentient temples into objectively terrible situations, which is probably not an encouraging sign."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber

Varin walked with her into the dormitories, the elevator awaiting them to take them up to his old dorm. All the while he listened to her speak, mainly about herself and his brow furrowed.

“You do not give yourself enough credit at all Meri.”

He let out a slow sigh, audible within the small space.

“When the time comes and you are faced with a choice of continuing on or stopping you seem to be the one who makes a path forward.”

He looked over to her, his head slowly nodding in her direction as the floors passed by them.

“You would only limit yourself with that kind of thinking, thus you would only get diminishing returns.”

For some reason it bothered him that she had put such thoughts of herself into her head. With the evidence of what she had survived and even pulled herself through. The evidence of delving into the unknown and continuing forth.

It was simply surprising she thought this way.

He was quiet for a long moment until the elevator beeped, opening its doors to his floor.

Meri Vale​

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri stood quietly beside Varin as the elevator carried them upward through the dormitory levels, the enclosed space filled only by the soft mechanical hum of the lift and the distant vibration running through the structure itself. She listened carefully while he spoke, though the faint furrow forming between her brows made it immediately obvious that some part of his conclusion genuinely puzzled her.

When he finished, she remained silent for several seconds longer, visibly turning the thought over in her mind rather than dismissing it outright.

"I am confused about what you mean by limiting myself," she admitted at last, her voice thoughtful rather than defensive. "I do not approach study with blinders on."

Her gaze drifted briefly toward the shifting floor numbers above the elevator doors before returning to him.

"I am open to learning, even when the information contradicts my expectations. That alone already seems to be considerably more than many people are willing to do." There was no arrogance in the statement, only a simple observation.

Meri folded her hands lightly behind her back again as she continued thinking aloud, a habit that had become increasingly familiar whenever she tried organizing complicated thoughts into precise language.

"And I do make my own path forward," she said quietly. "Sometimes independently, yes, but rarely entirely alone."

The elevator continued its steady ascent while the softer lighting reflected faintly against the metallic walls around them.

"You have helped me. Vex helped me. Maur and even Elian did, in their own ways." Each name carried genuine acknowledgment behind it. Not out of dependency, but simple recognition. "I do not think accepting help diminishes independence," she added, the thought clearly carrying a deep significance for her.

Her gray eyes lifted toward Varin again, calm and steady now.

"I am not afraid of being alone, but I also understand that asking for help when necessary is not a weakness either." That realization sounded like something she had learned deliberately rather than naturally.

The elevator slowed slightly as it neared the correct floor, though Meri barely seemed to notice.

"If anything," she added after another moment of reflection, "I think refusing help simply to preserve the appearance of self-sufficiency would be the more limiting mindset, especially when exploring things none of us fully understand alone."

The elevator finally chimed softly as the doors slid open onto Varin's floor, warm light spilling inward from the corridor beyond. Yet Meri lingered half a step behind as she looked toward him again, her expression thoughtful rather than uncertain.

"So perhaps I am missing the specific limitation you believe I have placed on myself," she admitted calmly. "Because from my perspective, I have spent most of my life trying very hard not to stop learning simply because something frightened or confused me."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber

Varin did not interrupt her as she spoke, letting her speak her mind. She was intelligent and he could tell that, not only with architecture but with her words as well.

When she finished speaking he offered her a small smirk.

“Then perhaps I was incorrect. I think in short terms what I meant was you need a bit more confidence in yourself.”

He stepped off the elevator heading down the hall where doors on each side held domiciles behind them. Some rooms were quiet, others were less so, whether it was music or holodramas that were played from the other side.

Varin stopped in front of his door, pausing for a moment as his hand lifted to the pad.

It had been quite a while since he had been inside his dorm, he was curious if his new roommate was still there, or if they had taken over the place or if they were even there.

Finally, his hand placed itself on the touchpad and the door hissed open. He stepped inside first looking around.

Clean, empty.

The roommate, whom he could not even remember their name, was no longer here.

He turned back around to face Meri.

“The room is all yours for the night.”

He looked back at the room for a moment.

“There is nothing wrong with asking for help, Meri.”

He pulled out his dayapad, sending her his contact information.

“If you need anything from me, do not hesitate to let me know.”

Meri Vale​

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri listened quietly as Varin spoke, her expression thoughtful rather than defensive. As they stepped off the elevator onto the dormitory level, the muted sounds of academy life. There was faint music and the distant dialogue of a holodrama that drifted through the corridor, offering a comforting contrast to the heavy conversations they had shared all evening.

When he noted that she just needed a bit more confidence, she didn't argue. She wasn't entirely sure he was right, but she was beginning to think he wasn't wrong, either.

By the time they reached his door, the lingering tension between them had completely melted away. Varin opened the door to a clean, quiet, and empty room, then turned to offer it to her for the night. Genuine surprise flickered across her face, quickly softening into real gratitude.

"Thank you," she said softly, leaving behind her usual analysis and deflection. "I appreciate the kindness more than I know how to say."

As he reminded her that it was okay to ask for help, her datapad chimed with his contact info. She looked down at the notification, then back up at him, the hallway lights catching the warmth in her gray eyes.

"I do understand what you mean," she admitted, letting out a quiet, thoughtful breath. "I think I just spent a long time believing that if I couldn't handle something entirely on my own, it meant I wasn't capable enough. But honestly? It's a relief to let go of that perspective."

She stepped into the doorway but paused, looking back at him with a gentle sincerity.

"For what it's worth, you've been a wonderful ally today. Unprecedentedly helpful, even."

The phrasing was still classic, understated Meri, but the warmth behind it was unmistakable. A genuine smile touched the corner of her mouth, and her dry humor returned with a lighter, playful edge.

"Just promise me you'll avoid losing your remaining eye inside an ancient temple before our next expedition. It would make reading the architectural maps a nightmare."

For the first time since arriving on Korriban, Meri didn't feel like an outsider looking in. There was uncertainty in her about this new relationship, but beneath it was a steady, reassuring foundation of trust.

She gave him a warm, grateful nod of goodnight, stepping fully into the room as the door slid softly shut, bringing a long and eventful day to a peaceful close.