Blackwater

[Syn]

The world of Midvinter was not the prettiest but being blind as he moved around in the snow feeling it but thanks to the circlet on his neck the cold didn't bother him. One of the few signs of decoration while the utility boots crunched the snow underneath. The lightly armored pants going up to the utility belt and holding the saber blades as the jedi master moved clenching his fists with the channeling gloves. The fell star with the sigil on his exposed that that was covered with some scars as well as the fine fur, he had been working on things things and fighting monsters over on Corbos or wherever he was needed.

Preferring them to being one of the few jedi shadows who wasn't a silver shadow. Made a person lonely while he was doing what he was good at but there was news. Even he heard it from some of the researchers and jedi who traveled around. They talked while collecting whatever creatures he had disposed of for research purposes before heading off and someone he knew when she was a very young girl was alive and... in Silver Sanctum space. Last he knew she was sith but that meant little he had learned some changed allegiances with the wind or tides, other did it even faster then that.

Which as he was walking and could hear the sounds there was a small look on his face preparing for a fight against whatever was there. He didn't really need to try and find his signature in the force when one of the snow things came at him with his fist grabbing it by the arm when it lunged tearing before the jedi master twisted and threw it out to the side. His hand coming towards it with a back hand as he pushed the force into it to smack him away and around a tree with the sound of wood splintering. "Strange, I was expecting more of them." He gave a small smirk.

[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

 

[Lief]

"Filthy creature" she spat, as she walked through the snow toward the fallen Vinterbound. The crazed creature was just starting to rise back up from where it had landed, and while her immediate instinct was to lop its head off with her saber the realization of who it was that had sent it flying in the first place made her pause for a moment.

Since the Batlle of Thainbroek Kära had been working alongside some of Midvinter's Shieldbrothers and Sisters to pick off the Vinterbound who had lingered close to the City Gates. There were others, she realized, who had even ventured further afield, but she had need to be close to home.

Funny, home wasn't a word she had used for a very long time.

"Are you going to get that, or shall I?" she said, holding back the Vinterbound from approaching any further with the wave of her hand. Far be it for her to deny another the kill, even if she had been hunting it since dawn.

Kära looked different. Different from the girl she had been in her youth, but even from the woman who had been sighted even just a couple of years prior. There was something a little more carefree about her, even if at the moment it was a little masked by the grief and rage she felt for her family who had been wronged by the beast which stood between Syn and herself.

The darkness was all but gone, leaving Kära as... Well, the girl she could have been had she never left the Jedi Order back when she had been given a chance at redemption. Body wrapped in white furs, concealing a bump which was getting larger each and every day, Kära turned her gaze over her former Guardian and inclined her head.

"It's been quite some time, Master."

The putrid creature remained between them, unable to move.

[member="Syn"]

 

[Syn]

[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

He heard a voice there when the creature was getting back up and stopped for a moment, not letting the creature get an advantage but still remaining there while she focused on it. Hand coming out and grabbing the creature while he let the force gather in his hand and the rib cage. Expanding outwards through the sternum before it went pop to get dismembered without the need of his saber for it. The creature seemed almost surprised for a moment before bursting apart and the jedi master put his hand in the snow to wipe at the gore. "It has been, when the collectors were talking about some new ruler it was something I had to see as it were."

He said it with a small joke in that, he still had no idea how she really looked but she was a sight in the force of blankness. That state some talk about being but usually are one side or the other. He raised his head and the sash was still there before scenting the air and walking over a little. "You've grown up and from the sounds of it made well for yourself." He gave a tight lipped smirk while standing there with the fell star on his chest glint the same as the sigil and amulet he had gotten. The levels of protection from them since Dagobah were impressive and helped in hunting monsters same as the minimal equipment. "I hope you are well."

 

[Lief]

Pop went the Vinterbound.

Kära found the sound oddly gratifying, though the sight of it caused her stomach to lurch. Since falling pregnant she had developed quite the weak stomach where death and the like was concerned, and the Battle of Thainbroek had only made it worse. She knew it was just a byproduct that she would grow out of, that it was simply hormones, but it was still rather frustrating.

Even now, Kära could not abide being weak.

As Syn responded about what he had heard she could not help but feel her heart drop. The loss of Thrand was a constant reminder that hung in the air here on Midvinter. Her beloved Thyrian had taken his place as High King, but it was a bitter position that had been accepted out of tradition and necessity rather than greed or want.

She knew her Phoenix, she knew it wasn't what he wanted... It was simply his duty.

"I have done nothing to reach this point. It was never my intention." she responded, her expression softening with a faint trace of grief. She may have been Queen now but the reasons behind it made her loathe the position, for now at least. There was no victory, not like the way she had taken over Bastion or Aurum. It was the Father of her beloved that had died to make it so. The Grandpa of her child.

"I am as well as can be given the circumstances." Better for having walked away from the Galaxy, from the Sith and their ilk. But the likelihood was that Syn did not know about her stint as the Lady Kyros. She had covered her tracks well, and now she was simply Kära as she had been in her youth.

"How have the years favoured you, Master?"

[member="Syn"]

 

[Syn]

[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

He was looking at her and there was something there but he couldn't see her face, feel and hear it what could be there in her voice. He was ready for anything and thought about the years. There had both been a lot and nothing really, children one of whom served and worked hard the other who chose to find a new family. It wasn't the greatest thing but he had what he needed. "They have been well to me, most of my time is spent hunting down sithspawn and fighting on Corbos in the leviathan pits." And training his son but that was not something to tell right away... save a little mystery for this before as he walked forward. "Though this world is interesting enough and these creatures. They reek of death and frozen flesh but are not like sith undead or every the infected. I have no idea what they are called but fighting them seems almost a sport on this world."

 

[Lief]

Kära felt almost offended at Syn's final statement.

A sport?

She may not have been a Valkyri but Midvinter had been her home since reuniting with her daughter and dear friend Thurion almost seven years prior. She had gotten to know its customs, its people, and its hardships, principle among the latter being the looming threat of the Vinterbound. Her hand fell to her stomach as her fierce urge to protect both the babe and the world he would be born into rose within her.

"Sport?" she had to resist scoffing, and instead shook her head despite knowing Syn could not see that action. "They are not hunted for sport. They are hunted for survival. They are a blight on this world, and have caused more death and hardship than any other factor I've witnessed in my time here."

Sport suggested that there was fun in it, that it was unnecessary, that they enjoyed it. Never had someone been so far from the truth.

[member="Syn"]

 

[Syn]

[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

Listening to her while he stood there there was a look but he wasn't going to chuckle at her reaction. More he could respect it but he was old enough to know ones leisure was ones problem. He was certain she had experience but he knew how to fight, relished it, loved it even because it was in his blood and these things were not his brothers like some of the other creatures. THey were just smaller and squishy... He spoke starring at her. "I am certain they are a danger but this is what I do Kära, I was bred to fight against things that were dangerous. It is in my blood and something that I strive to as one of the jedi shadows." Without a council in charge of them and well he never said silver shadows they were cute playing at being spies and having secret codenames... It was interesting enough he saw little harm in them. They certainly never made things worse or better so he could do what he always did. Go after the larger beasts others chose to ignore and train the ones who came to him.

 

[Lief]

Perhaps there had been some mistranslation. Was he trying to say that he hunted them like sport? Because if so, all the better for everyone involved. Except the Vinterbound of course... But they could suffer a thousand deaths and she would not care.

"If you wish to take it upon yourself to create a sport out of hunting Vinterbound, then be my guest, Master Syn" she said, with a very slight smile... Her usually icy exterior beginning to break just a touch. Midvinter had done wonders for her as an individual, but the love of her new found family had made the previously stoic and immobile woman into a human. A true human, with feelings and emotions and expressions...

How long had it been since she'd called him Master? This Jedi who had given her first real chance at redemption? She had not meant to blow that opportunity out of the water, truly she had left the Jedi with the intention of finding someplace to be... Normal. Other people had different plans, however. Always being dragged back in.

Well no more. Now she would fight for the things that truly mattered. Family, home, and kin'. And the Valkyri were her kin' now.

[member="Syn"]

 

[Syn]

[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

He had to grin to that less one of complete enjoyment but more because she seemed very different then that little girl he had known... and she finally did look older then him. Helped being made you got to look young for a very long time and maintain your non preggers figure. "Perhaps, though this is not my world. I much prefer fighting on a world such as Corbos or Korriban where there are more monsters and less people. Lets one avoid the pesky ones who like ideas of understanding and talking to things that want to gnaw your face off." Those ones didn't last that long on Korriban while he was walking letting the different scents mingle around in the cold air. "Though it does keep me from my children at least the one that prefers to see me around. The other ran off to try and find a new family." He let it go and stayed there. "So tell me about your life? You are no longer a little girl which is a benefit. You've learned better then just attack blind people in the woods."

 

[Lief]

"I meant it in jest" she said, though there was a slight undertone of serious all the same, "Our people would benefit greatly if more people took to hunting down the monsters and burning them before they can rise again."

For once she meant that in earnest too. It wasn't some stupid Sith speech it was a true statement... The Vinterbound were worse than any normal army, they had no need for rest, they were indiscriminate... And the people of Midvinter were not fully equipped to fight them.

"I did not know you had children, Master... It seems we learn something new every day, hm? And my life..." She laughed, but it didn't reach her eyes. "My life is inconsequential. I refuse to acknowledge the years prior to my coming to Midvinter anymore. That is not who I am."

[member="Syn"]

 

[Syn]

[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

He looked at her for a moment but didn't say what he wanted to more just a nod while he was wearing the sash. "Well from experience I can say if you don't talk about your past, people have a way of wanting to obsess on it and try to dig it up. Some are disrespectful that way." He had experience with it but he also had a lot more years on the girl while going forward and there was some other things. "As to the vinterbound there might be, some do not always like it but the tech division of the jedi does experiment with quicker ways to defeat monsters like sithspawn. I am not certain what animates these but if it is force related they have developed equipment that can disrupt and stop it being used."

 

[Lief]

Her head tilted curiously to the left as Syn spoke of technology that could suppress the undead which haunted these icy lands. If that were so, then would the people not benefit from its usage?

"Perhaps you ought to speak with Master Heavenshield, or the High King... This world would benefit from the eradication of the scourge."

They, similarly to past examples such as the Rakghoul, were not living things in her mind. They were pests, mutants, undead fiends. And they had no place among the living. The Jedi could preach about protecting life all they wished, but the Vinterbound should not fall under such categories. Ever.

"I am not a person that is known of anymore, Master. None save the inhabitants of this world speak my name, and even then that is only due to the fact that I am to marry their King. Nobody cares about where I came from, I proved my worth to them countless times. The rest is insignificant, I assure you."

[member="Syn"]

 

[Syn]

[member="Kära Hearthfire"]

He was looking at her and gave a nod of his head, if they could get it and well it didn't have to be intrusive. it didn't mean the world had to become a new coruscant or something but a little technology in moderation could benefit in many places. he knew farms that used better systems for irrigations but would still use their hands for other parts. That is just fine and he was walking as she spoke about herself. "That is helpful then, something you should keep to as your past means little now. It is just full of experiences and skills that you have learned and can help others with." He preferred it that wa as well and was walking before finally stopping in the snow and there were none of the creatures around here. he couldn't really see them as people as they seemed more ravenous and dangerous. He doubted he could kill all of them but it would be something to try and he had time to help out here like in many of the other places.

 

[Lief]

Her gaze trailed along with each step he took, still regarding the old Master curiously. Old. He ought to have been in his silver years, yet he looked just a few years older than Mysa. It was strange, even after all this time, to meet individuals who did not age. A great many years had passed, and yet still he remained the same.

"It seems my hunt is over, I sense no more of the ilk in these parts. Walk with me, Master."

Turning on her heel, she gave a slight tip of her head in the direction that would lead back toward the City of Thainbroek, and took the first few tentative steps into fresh snow. The crunch underfoot still amused her internally, a peaceful sound made even more tranquil by the fact that it was not stained with the Vinterbound's blood like that which lay behind her.

[member='Syn']

 

[Syn]

[member="Kära Hearthfire"]

He nodded in agreement that they had managed to finish it up for now. There wasn't anything left here to hunt so when she said to walk with her he moved quietly and carefully in the snow letting the light crunch of snow come until he moved in to stand next to her. "Very well." He had well no real image of her, a child who showed skill but also hadn't been given a choice in many ways about what she was going to do. At the least he hoped he had given her an idea at the time that not all jedi were bad and the light wasn't weaknesses as he had needed to learn as a sith once long ago. It helped having someone to talk with before the jedi master let the force wash over himself and his body was calm, focused and ready for anything that would be around them or if anything came out.

 

[Lief]

As they walked together in the snow, with only the delicate crunching underfoot to break the silence, Kära could not help but think back to the time she had all but omitted from her mind. In fact, the months she spent with the Jedi were the only part of that darkness she willingly thought of these days, and it was all thanks to the man at her side. The sole light in an otherwise terrifyingly dark past.

"Why did you choose to help me, Master? All those years ago... Where others had wished to see me hanged for my affiliations..." Tracyn came to mind. The man who had bullied his way between she and Thurion one day in the Thousand Fountains, and tried to take the law into his own hands. It had been terrifying for both the youngsters, though little Heavenshield had stood his ground all the same.

No, she was grateful for the chance she had been given. For the experiences they had given her, the knowledge that the Light wasn't something to contend with. Had she not been picked up by the Sith in the months following her leave from the Jedi, perhaps she would have returned to them. How differently things would have been.

You would never have met Ashborn were that the case. He would still be a puppet to the Witch Circe. And he would never have reunited with his brother - your best friend.

Perhaps things worked out the way they did for a reason then. Even if they were not agreeable circumstances, some good did come from it all. It led them to this point.

Her hand fell to her stomach, and she knew immediately that she would not change the course of time could she go back. Certainly there were things she regretted, things she might do differently. But finding Thyrian? That was not one of them.

[member="Syn"]

 

[Syn]

[member="Kära Hearthfire"]

Looking at her while they walked alongside her. She was speaking about when she was a child and well he didn't have to think about it. while he might find mot sith a danger and something to put down he was also one to acknowledge the need to try and save or at least help some. If he could break the absolutes many had then that was more then enough. "Because everyone should have both sides in their mind. I don't recommend jedi use or serve the darkside, join the sith but I do recommend to my students that they understand the mind set, that they understand the history to better see the truth in the lies and make up their own minds. On both sides, sadly I have seen less and less jedi who see the darkside and actually turn away or don't just use it. At my age sadly they are just not surprising anymore." He knew several who had just jumped at the chance once they were given trust and then they would betray them quite easily. Thankfully most of them had gotten used to it so they had eventually just continued to come up with contingency plans over and over.

 

[Lief]

He was a rare breed, it seemed, especially for his time. There had been senators there the day that she arrived in the Temple who were less judging of her than the Jedi... And that was saying something! Senators had more reason to be wary of a Sith defector... Prisoner. Kära hadn't exactly willingly surrendered at that time. After all, they didn't understand the intricacies of Force Users.

"I'm grateful that you did not simply cast me out the airlock" she offered, with a ginger smile.

She led him in silence for a short while, back toward the City she called home. It was cold, even with the layers of fur she was bundled within, and given that she had been out all day she was in dire need of sustenance. Thankfully there was always at least a stew bubbling away in the Great Hall.

"Would you join me for something to eat, Master? I'd hate to part ways so soon. Tell me, what have you been doing since the Republic fell?"

Maybe a sore spot for conversation, but Kära wasn't one to beat around the bush.

[member="Syn"]

 

[Syn]

[member="Kära Hearthfire"]

He was listening to her and the idea of getting food was a rather nice one... granted the new rations and foodstores that the jedi had access to were a lot more filling and they could have them with a little water feed entire squads of people it was still nice to have a real home cooked meal. "Yes I would love to." THen the other part of the question took a few moments. In truth he had been doing what he always did regardless. The Republic was a great beast but it was also something that was marred with infighting and treachery at places where eventually it just couldn't recover faster then it would bleed. It didn't help he had listened in on some of the jedi meetings and most of them seemed to only want power and to do battle at all cost over thinking things through. "Since it fell I have been around the galaxy. I was always a better fighter then I was a normal jedi and couldn't just sit in a temple. So I fight sthspawn and whatever else might be out and around."

 

[Lief]

Rations were all well and good in a pinch, Kära had practically lived off them during her time with the Sith, when she ran her whole existence from The Judgement. But here, on a world of technological innocence, she had soon forgotten all together what it was to have instant satisfaction in food form.

The kitchens were almost always ablaze with life, scents wormed their way into every crevice of the Great Hall and even through the streets. Broths and stews, huge slabs of meat which had been hunted by hand, everything was hearty and brought instant warmth to the stomach of all who ate it.

They came upon the City far sooner than she expected, so it was just a short walk up hill to its center in order to reach the Great Hall.

"It seems you've dedicated yourself to a cause few other even consider." The Galaxy was littered with various plagues, beings that had been roused from their state of death or corrupted over time to fight at the hands of cowards. "Very admirable."

She glanced up the steps which led home, and clutched her stomach. She wondered how long it would be before she could not walk up them at all. Slowly but surely though she reached the top, and found the door already open. Of course somebody knew she was coming, somebody always knew when she was coming and going.

"I have a guest, could you set the table in my private quarters for two?"

It made no sense having the main hall heated for just the two of them. And Thyrian was off across Midvinter with the other men of his line. A welcome reprieve following the battle, one they had all earned. Time for just themselves, and the Gods at their back.

[member="Syn"]