Private Across the Stars

[Isobel Serraris]

Location — Ukatis, Ascania Family Manor, Stables
Tags — Lysander von Ascania
Paraphernalia — Lightsabers, The Raven's Heart, Backpack

In the wake of the duel on Voss, the Force had refused to withdraw its claws from her skin. Night and day, the memory of the clash replayed in her mind--the battle with the Zabrak acolyte Naamino Zuukamano a constant reminder of how unprepared the Padawan was for the greater conflicts within this galaxy. The wars that would follow. The purple of his lightsaber bled into her nightmares, its hum a constant echo at the back of her mind--yet... its sound was not the same. It was distorted, dissimilar, flickering between a crimson and deep violet. In her dreams, her nightmares, it was always a Sith she faced: a vassal of Bogan, masked to hide their corrupted visage, to disguise the void where humanity should have been. She had only fought one such foe before. It had to be that Zabrak. There could be no one else. Yet... doubt clung to her mind, advocating for another possibility she refused to listen to.

One such night she did not awake to the sharp blade of her visions, but instead to the repeated buzzing of her holocom beside her bed. Though time flowed differently throughout the galaxy, it was unfathomable to believe someone would not be aware of the nighttime on Naboo--especially not someone with her holo-frequency. With tired eyes, she grabbed the device and tried to read what it said... Something, something, Ukatis. "Ukatis..?" The last time she had been there was to talk with Corazona von Ascania , a conversation that was both insightful and... strange. The implications targeting Lys, it kept her thinking, kept her distracted--and ever since his messages have not been accepted with the same warmth as before. It was only after that, that she discovered the '-L' at the end of the message, of course... She had asked him to show her around Ukatis sometime, and it would seem that time was finally upon them.

For better or worse.

The days after that were spent on packing her clothes (because of the ambiguity of his message, she packed plenty; a dress, her jedi robes, casual clothes and after some consideration, swimwear as well.) and adding the final refinements to the gift she had prepared for him. A raven-shaped pendant with a Dantari crystal at its heart. Though it may not match the grandeur of the armour she had been gifted, it would hopefully suffice as a gift. . . Once that was done, Isobel packed her things in a backpack and set out toward the planet through a transport ship--she should really invest in a freighter sometime, and some extra piloting classes of course.

Though the journey itself did not take long, it felt more akin to an eternity. As her mind kept flitting back and forth between the foreboding words he had messaged while she was on Voss, and the things Lysander's sister had asked about him. Part of her remained wary of trusting him again... yet he left her no room for doubt. He had been kind and charming, accepting her clumsiness as if it was nought. How could a boy like that ever harm anyone? The ideas kept coming as she made her way from Axilla to the coordinates she had been given over the holocom. In time arriving at the estate of the Von Ascanias, with purple banners visible here and there. Due to her casual clothes, the guards at the gate eyed her with suspicion, instilling a sense of doubt upon her--was she even at the right address? Though with a step forward, the young Padawan explained her purpose here and identity, and especially the latter was what allowed her passage into the estate grounds.

It wasn't long before she reached the estate's stables, loosely patting the horses she passed until she found the stall with a pinto mare, and a blonde-haired 'stranger'. "So, this must be Nari?" Isobel said with a smile, leaning over the stall door to look upon the mare. She reached out with her hand to the animal, trying to scratch her nose.

​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Isobel Serraris​

It was strange, and yet.. inevitable, that Naboo stayed with him far longer than expected. A week that began with a stroll through Theed, to seek out an old master, had shifted in a way he would have never anticipated. Somehow, it led him to a Padawan, a giver of flowers, a companion for tea, one who laughed in a way that felt like it could fracture him into pieces.. and still make him whole. The masquerade at the manor, the last night of that week, had ended in a way that seemed almost too perfect to be real. Naturally, true to himself, he had tried to dismiss it, tried to tell himself it was just coincidence, just luck..

But the memory of her hand brushing his, the amusement in her eyes.. that stayed.

And the message. A reply to one he’d sent. I pulled at him in ways he could not entirely name. One, two, three; sometimes a stream of words replaying in his mind, sometimes a pause that gnawed at him.. an echo of her hesitation. He could hear her voice in the holocomm recording even now, followed by the tremors of worry.

That only led to another shortly after. It had been foolish to send it so late at night. A part of Lysander even chided himself for doing such. That she had answered gave him the chance to return home, the chance to escape, if only briefly, from the teachings of the Desevro's Academy, from the perfection demanded of him.

And now, here she was.

At first, he paused at the edge of the stables, taking in the smell of hay as sunlight's warmth graced him. Ukatis had been home again for almost two days, and it already felt like something more than that.. something older, more tranquil. He wore a navy tunic, fitted but enough to move freely. Dark trousers were tucked into leather boots, completing the attire.

Just as anywhere else, he spent the early mornings hours before sunrise completing his katas after running. True to his routine, meditation would follow. In the afternoons of the first two days, he would wander to where he had once been drawn as a boy.. the stables, a quiet pond, and an old oak tree.

The air here was lighter, freer, and for the first time in weeks, he allowed himself to remember what it was like to simply.. exist.

Against the stall door he rested, absorbing her presence. The sight was delicate, the way she moved with care and unselfconsciousness. Nari, old a remnant of his childhood, had always been a piece of him carried everywhere. From Ukatis to the furthest reaches in the Outer Rim. Witnessing Isobel connect with the mare so gently and patiently.. it struck him with a power he had not expected.

Bootsteps carried him across the wooden floor, careful as to not startle either of them. “She’s grown a little older since I last saw her,” he murmured. The mare lift her head immediately, ears flicking toward him. Then, turning his attention to her, light played across his face. “You’re making her blush, you know.. that’s quite dangerous for one of her age.”

A small laugh escaped him, almost shy. “I suppose I cannot fault you for that."

The truths fell effortlessly. “You have a way with her.” The warmth within spilled freely, no longer hidden. "Maybe she’s just been waiting for someone like you all along.”

The memory of her words, how her family bred Guarlaras was still fresh, but it did nothing to lessen the warmth of what he saw now.

A sigh that left him next was soft. "I'm glad you arrived safely, Bel. The entire manor glows brighter with your presence."