Clearwater

[Eugen Aker]

Lakefront near Silver Rest, Morning

After one lively night of partying at the banquet, Jyoti was already back to her normal routine, perched in a lotus position upon her favorite boulder beside the lake. The sun had only just broken the horizon, meaning she should have space all to herself for a while longer.

Her eyes were closed, and her outward expression was serene as if in peaceful meditation, but her mind was rife with conflict.

It never really sat well with her enjoying anything while she knew that so many suffered around her. It was more than just knowing, she could feel it, the creeping dread of darkness gradually swallowing up the galaxy.

Jyoti sighed, restless from her failure to quiet her mind. She hopped off the boulder, fingering the hilt of her sword. Some katas may do the trick to create a distraction if meditation wasn't working.

 

[Srina Talon]

Soft footsteps carried Srina through the grounds of the Silver Rest. She was an early riser, mostly out of habit, despite the fact that she generally slept like a rock. White-gold hair glimmered in the morning light as gray eyes took in the flora and fauna of the Jedi Temple and she marveled how everything felt so very still. The ball the night before had been rowdy, full of intoxicated Padawans and Apprentices, thanks to a few mischievous Confederacy members. The silence was jarring, yet welcomed.

She found herself wandering past the Temple Guards who stared at her plainly. Srina was a guest of the Grandmaster, however, she was also the apprentice of a Sith Lord. Suspicion, despite their alliance, was more than expected. The little Echani merely gifted the armored men and women wish a ghostly smile as she slipped through the main gate. There was a lake not far away, with crystalline waters, and more green than the eye could fathom.

She spent so much time in places like Coruscant and Geonosis that it was a welcome sight. Srina could never truly flourish in walls of stone and metal. Part of her longed for peaceful places like this, for air, and light, and a distinct sense of freedom.

The Echani woman did not expect to see anyone else near the lakeside, let alone, another of her kind. They were rare enough in these parts that even the Grandmasters Padawan, Stephanie Swail, seemed intrigued by her. No matter the sameness of her face. “Good morning.”, Srina greeted lightly, sweet voice a bell on the breeze. She wore elegant and silken pale robes, one of the many sets the Vicelords attendants had packed for her, before leaving for Kashyyyk.

As a visitor to the Silver Jedi, all of her weapons remained on her Masters ship, save for the silver ring around her finger. None except her master knew the significance of it.

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Just as she began to unsheath her sword for practice, she felt someone approaching. Her blade slid back into the scabbard with a small clink as she turned to face the stranger.

Right off the bat, she recognized the woman as being Echani. She saw it in her familiar looks (to this day, no one quite knew why all Echani looked so much alike) and in her graceful movements. Even in her dress; Jyoti herself also wore white robes, but they were cut in the style of Jedi garments, made of much coarser material ideal for fieldwork.

"And good morning to you," she said with a small nod. "I take it that you're one of the Confederacy representatives?"

Echani were a dime a dozen on her home planet of Kiribi, which had always had strong ties with Eshan, some of their leading politicians being full bloods or hybrids. Outside the Inner Rim, though, one only saw an Echani once a blue moon. Not unless one worked in the defense industry where Echani mercenaries were a common sight.

[member="Srina Talon"]

 

[Srina Talon]

“That I am.”, Srina responded coolly to the Echani before her, not cruel, but not overly friendly. She was perfect as only polished marble could be. Every step she made, every breath she took, every action, every word was under the most unmerciful scrutiny. If the Rangers thought she was somehow up to no good, it would reflect poorly on her Master, and on the alliance as a whole. “How does this morning treat you?”

The pale-skinned woman continued walking to the water’s edge, a ghostly visage, with silken fabric trailing behind her. There was a pointed elegance to her movements that bespoke not only an edge of grace but the unspoken promise of violence. It lived and breathed beneath her skin, the same way blood flowed, the same way her heartbeat. The Echani near her would likely recognize it. Despite the fact that they were lovely creatures, pure, and bright as the first fingers of dawn…It was all an illusion.

Human eyes didn’t often see through it. Fellow Echani, due to their general combat awareness, couldn’t help themselves. “The Silver Rest is a gift. Our capital is on Geonosis…”

“You have such vast amounts of life. We have sand, sand, and more sand.”, she expressed as she slid out of her flat walking shoes, bunching the extra material of her robes in her hands, before she stepped in the edge of the water that lapped at the shore. Silvered eyes fell closed.

She would enjoy every bit of this paradise while she could.

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]