Private Breath and Branch

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Personal Armour
Equipment: Lightsaber, Bracelet, Earrings, Seer Stone, Wayfinder's Flare, Atrisian Dancer, Engagement Ring, Uneti Flute
Companion: Isari
Tag: Corazona von Ascania

The humble gardens of Snowpeak Sanctuary were quiet in the afternoon light, a hush laid over stone paths and leaf-laden branches. The high walls of the enclave shielded the space from the winds that swept down the mountains, leaving only a cool breeze that stirred the petals of early blossoms.

Eve sat at the heart of it all, perched on a smooth bench of pale marble, her back straight, her silver hair falling loose around her shoulders. In her hands rested the flute she had carved herself from a fallen branch of the Coruscant Temple's ancient uneti tree, the dark wood worn smooth from years of care. For too long it had been silent, left tucked away as battles and duties pressed ever closer around her. But here, in the garden she had helped plant, in the enclave she had helped build, she found her breath steady enough to bring it to life again.

The first notes rose soft and clear, carrying on the air like a thread of silver. They wound between the trees, across the stone, through the beds of herbs and flowers. The sound was not just music, but a presence of Light itself. The Force flowed with it, warm and luminous, filling each space it touched. Where the melody fell, the tension in the land eased, and even the smallest rustle of branches seemed to quiet in answer.

Yet beneath the light of the song was something heavier. A thin, aching line ran through the music. A memory of loss, of battles that had carved their mark too deep to be left behind. The flute carried both joy and grief, lifting with the mountain air only to dip again into something rawer and more fragile. Each note seemed to mourn and to heal in the same breath.

Eve closed her eye as she played, letting the song guide her rather than her own thought. Isari was curled at the base of a nearby tree, her silver fur bright against the frost-dusted roots, ears twitching faintly as though she too listened. Eve could feel the Light moving outward in ripples, flowing from her into the soil, into the roots, into the halls of the Sanctuary itself. For a moment it felt as though all of Eshan breathed in rhythm with her.

It had been so long since she had allowed herself this kind of peace. Now, with the flute pressed to her lips and the mountain sun touching her shoulders, she was overjoyed to find it again.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Eve's song slipped through the gardens, weaving a layered melody of Light.

The mountain air was crisp, but the chill didn't touch her skin. Not in the same way that it had sunk into her bones on Arkania.

Cora moved through the garden, this time on her own two feet. She could stand and move about without aid, but fatigue often set in quickly. Here, among the Light, she found a measure of invigoration.

The path she took to Eve was not linear. The newly-appointed knight had left traces of herself among the flora, and Cora found solace in following the familiarity of her presence from one leaf to the next.

When she came upon Everest, her snow white hair was cast in a halo of light that gave the young woman a subtle glow.

Without words, without sound, Cora let her feet carry her slowly towards Eve. She slipped beside her on the marble bench, closed her eyes, and leaned in to the melody.

Everest Vale

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Personal Armour
Equipment: Lightsaber, Bracelet, Earrings, Seer Stone, Wayfinder's Flare, Atrisian Dancer, Engagement Ring
Companion: Isari
Tag: Corazona von Ascania

Eve felt her before she heard her, a flicker of warmth at the edge of her awareness, bright against the stillness of the garden. It brushed across her senses in a way she could never mistake, and her heart gave a small, startled flutter. She didn't open her eye. She kept playing, letting her breath move through the flute, holding onto the song as if it were the only way to carry the feeling of her presence.

Cora sat beside her. The sound of the garden bent around them — the flute weaving, the wind stirring faint frost from the branches — but Eve's focus narrowed to the warmth against her shoulder. The music thickened, carrying both light and ache, until her chest could hardly hold the strain of it.

The last note thinned, stretched too far, then fell away. Silence took its place. Eve's fingers lingered on the keys before she let the flute sink into her lap. Her shoulders rose with a sharp breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

She turned without thinking. One arm slid around Cora's back, the other across her front, drawing her in close. It was neither hurried nor desperate, but just the need to feel her here, to be sure that she was okay. Eve pressed her cheek against Cora's hair, her eye closing as the weight of the song finally eased. Her voice came quiet, almost lost to the breeze.

"Hi."

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora's eyes remained closed even as the last note faded into the crisp winter air, even as a pair of gentle arms wrapped themselves around her, even as the soft, quiet lilt of Eve's greeting brushed against her.

A faint smile lifted the edges of her lips. Cora raised her hands; one sipped over Eve's shoulder, while the other was a warm, tender weight against silvery hair.

"Hi."

A slow, rolling breeze stirred the foliage around them. It wasn't a disturbance – if anything, it felt as if the Force shifting in approval.

"I didn't know that you could play the flute," she murmured.

A pale hand stroked Eve's hair as she spoke, her quiet tone curling in a whisper of amusement. "You play beautifully."

Cora allowed her eyes to flutter open, pulling back only slightly so that she could cup Eve's chin with her palm and forefinger.

"Ashla, look at you, Eve. You've grown so much. Not just as a woman, but as a Jedi."

The unspoken poured into her observation; the battles she'd fought, the strength she'd built, and of course, the enclave she's established. Cora's muted expression bloomed into something more genuine in its joy.

"I couldn't be more proud of you."

Everest Vale