Private Concrete and Durasteel Horizons

[Xian Xiao]

Xian had expected Coruscant to feel different.

Six years was a long time. Governments had changed. Republic banners had given way to Sith insignias, clone patrols had been replaced by new uniforms, and another generation had grown up believing the city had always looked this way. On paper, it was a different world.

Yet as they descended into one of the countless common levels, she found herself recognizing it almost immediately.

Not the storefronts. Those had changed. Not the signs or the faces moving through the streets. Those were different, too. It was the rhythm that hadn't changed. The constant murmur of conversation spilling from open cafés. The distant rumble of speeders weaving through traffic overhead. The smell of street food mixed with ozone and rain that never quite reached the lower levels. Coruscant still sounded like Coruscant.

She stepped out onto the duracrete walkway and instinctively turned down a side street. Muscle memory carried her as much as memory itself. She knew which alleys stayed busy after dark, which markets sold decent food without emptying your wallet, and which shortcuts avoided the worst crowds. The buildings had aged, businesses had come and gone, but the bones of the neighborhood remained exactly where she'd left them.

It should have felt strange returning to a place now ruled by the Sith. Instead, it felt familiar. Perhaps that was the strangest part of all.

She had spent more of her life here than anywhere else. Before the Jedi. Before Bastion. Before she had met Jerrik, Xuko, Veyran, or even Rellik. These streets had been home long before they had become occupied territory. Whatever flag flew over the Senate District was so far removed from the concerns of people living down here that daily life simply adapted, as it always had. Shopkeepers still opened their doors every morning. Children still chased one another through narrow passages. Street musicians still played for loose credits from hurried commuters.

Coruscant endured.

A faint smile crossed Xian's face as she glanced down another familiar avenue. There had been nights she had wandered these streets with nowhere particular to go, days spent weaving through markets, evenings returning to the orphanage carrying whatever small treasures she'd managed to find. They weren't especially happy memories, nor especially sad ones. They were simply hers.

Oddly enough, this was one of the few places in the galaxy where she didn't feel like she had to look over her shoulder.

Not because it was safe. Because it was home.

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

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

Carin had decided to venture around the main levels of Coruscant. Taking note of various restaurants or bars, maybe spots where people may be trying to hide away from the Sith Covenant which now occupied the city planet.

As he walked the streets people tended to part for him. Was it because of his size or the very feeling that came off of him? Neither were entirely clear, but the people always had an instinct to let him by.

Perhaps they had witnessed or heard of his exploits during the battle that took place where the Imperials fell to their knees, broken.

As he ventured into the street he noticed someone who seemed to stick out from the others, though he could not pin as to why.

He approached from behind.

“Lost yet found?”

He could sense the familiarity that trailed off of her and the wonder of a place where she used to reside for a time.

He knew that look.

“A lot has changed.”

Xian Xiao​

 

[Xian Xiao]

The voice caught her attention before the presence did.

Xian turned at the unfamiliar greeting, instinctively taking a single step to the side rather than backward as she looked up... and up... until her gaze finally settled on the man's face. She wasn't particularly short by most standards, but standing barely over five feet beside someone who seemed capable of looking over most crowds without trying made the difference impossible to ignore.

For a brief moment, she simply studied him.

He carried himself differently than the people around them. The civilians instinctively gave him space, flowing around him like water around stone. It wasn't overt fear, not entirely, but respect mixed with caution. She understood it immediately. Some people announced themselves through uniforms or titles. Others simply possessed a presence that made everyone else quietly adjust around them.

Her black eyes met his. "They have." The words came without hesitation, though there was no sadness behind them, only observation. "I've only been gone six years. I lived here for ten." She glanced down the familiar street, taking in storefronts that had changed ownership, new signs replacing old ones, and Sith banners hanging where Republic insignia had once been. "It feels longer."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Strange, really. I expected to come back and feel like a stranger." She looked around at the steady flow of people moving through the common level. "Instead, I remembered where I was going before I even thought about it."

Her attention returned to the towering man before her. Up close, she could feel the Force surrounding him. It wasn't hidden. Powerful, yes, but turbulent, carrying the unmistakable weight of someone who had survived more than most people should. There was pain there. Anger too. Not directed at her, merely existing beneath the surface like banked coals waiting for air.

She had met enough Force users to recognize it.

"You don't seem surprised by that," she observed quietly. "The way you said it..." Her head tilted slightly, studying him with open curiosity rather than suspicion. "...it sounds like you've had the same experience."

There was no challenge in her voice, no accusation despite the Sith-controlled world around them. If anything, there was an odd sense of ease about her. Coruscant had been the place that raised her long before it had belonged to one government or another, and that familiarity had settled her enough to treat this encounter as exactly what it appeared to be.

A conversation, she decided, as she added, "I don't think we've met," punctuating the statement with a small, polite inclination of her head before introducing herself. "I'm Xian."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

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

“A lot can change in the matter of a couple of years. Businesses close, streets rearrange, buildings fall, replacements are built. Eventually it seeps into the culture. What takes the longest is that last part. Total identity shift of the people.”

He looked around them as she spoke, studying the flow of people around him before he looked back at her giving him a faint smile.

“Muscle memory can be a blessing and a curse really. What would happen if you did find something unfamiliar to your eyes yet familiar to your body?”

Her assumption would be somewhat correct. He had been away from his home for years, and had not returned. He dreaded returning deep down inside, but he knew eventually it would have to happen. But there have been plenty of other places he had visited that had changed before him. The familiarity of direction not matching the scenery as clearly.

It always stirred something deep inside.

After she introduced herself Varin tilted his head to her slightly in acknowledgement before he spoke.

“Varin, Varin Mortifer.”

After he spoke he studied her for a moment.

“So what brings you back home? Nostalgia perhaps?”

His gaze fell back to her.

“Mind if I join you on this walk? Perhaps you can tell me the history you had witnessed here?”

Xian Xiao​

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian walked beside him at an unhurried pace, her eyes wandering over storefronts that somehow felt both familiar and entirely different. Every few steps she caught herself turning corners without thinking, her feet remembering routes her mind hadn't consciously recalled in years. It was strange how easily the city returned to her. She could almost convince herself she had never left. Almost.

"A... friend came with me."

The words escaped before she had fully considered them. Her eyes drifted away toward the passing crowds, suddenly finding the movement of strangers far more interesting than meeting Varin's gaze. For reasons she couldn't quite explain, saying it aloud felt oddly embarrassing, as though she'd admitted something she hadn't intended to. After a brief moment, she cleared her throat and gestured farther down the avenue.

"I was thinking we could visit the markets." A faint smile appeared. "I used to steal from them to survive."

The realization hit her almost immediately.

"...That sounded considerably worse out loud."

She winced almost imperceptibly but continued anyway, deciding there was little point pretending otherwise.

"I wasn't very good at it, either. Most of the vendors knew exactly what I was doing." Her smile softened into something nostalgic. "A few would chase me. A few pretended not to notice. One old woman used to leave bruised fruit near the back of her stall where I happened to 'find' it." She shrugged lightly. "She was kinder than she wanted anyone to know."

They continued walking as the familiar streets gradually gave way to older sections of the district. Xian's expression grew quieter, her memories reaching back further than she usually let them.

"I remember seeing the Galactic Alliance fall." She glanced toward one of the towering skylanes overhead. "Not the recent one. The one before that." There had been panic then, confusion spreading through the city as people tried to understand what was happening. "When you're a child, you don't really understand governments collapsing. You just know adults start whispering more, shops close earlier, and people stop smiling as much."

She folded her hands behind her back as they walked.

"My parents died when I was young. After that, I grew up in an orphanage not far from here." She nodded toward the lower districts stretching away beneath the towering skyline. "The older kids looked after the younger ones because nobody else really could. Sometimes that meant finding food. Sometimes it meant making sure nobody wandered into the wrong neighborhood." A small laugh escaped her. "Sometimes it meant pretending everything was alright even when you knew it wasn't."

For a moment she held one hand out in front of her. A tiny orange flame blossomed above her fingertips, dancing lazily without producing enough heat to threaten anything around it. She watched it quietly before giving it the smallest smile.

"I discovered I could do this before I knew what the Force even was."

The little flame flickered between her fingers.

"I used to heat food for the younger children during the colder months." Her voice remained calm, though there was a sadness beneath it now. "They loved it. They thought it was magic."

The smile faded slightly.

"The older kids... didn't."

With a quiet thought, the flame vanished, leaving only the memory of its warmth.

"They started looking at me differently after that. Some thought I was dangerous. Others thought I was... strange." She lowered her hand. "The younger ones never cared. They were just happy their meals were warm."

Her black eyes wandered across the bustling marketplace ahead before returning to Varin.

"Then, when I was thirteen, a Jedi found me." She smiled faintly. "A few weeks later, I was leaving Coruscant for the first time in my life."

She looked back toward the streets that had once been her entire world.

"I didn't think I'd ever come back."

Varin Mortifer Jerrik Molten (because she is thinking about him)

 

[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 in silence as she spoke of her past and the familiarities of the streets and the consequences of her using her abilities.

Varin's gaze flicked over to her.

“Weakness fears power. You displayed that you have that power, something they could never understand. And it frightened them.”

As they continued down the street his senses remained reached outward, keeping track of anyone around them. Coruscant had ways of sneaking up behind you. Varin was always vigilant.

“The past will always call you back home. It is only a matter of time when you answer its call.”

He knew about that call. He felt it every day to come back home. But he couldn't. Not yet at least.

“You trained with Jedi? How far did that training get you?”

Xian Xiao​

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian's expression changed subtly at the question, the faint nostalgia that had accompanied their walk through the old neighborhood giving way to something considerably more complicated. Her black eyes remained on the street ahead as they walked, following paths she had once known well enough to navigate in darkness. Of all the memories Coruscant had stirred since her return, those connected to the Jedi were perhaps the least comfortable to examine.

"Nowhere," she answered simply.

There was no hesitation in the word, nor any particular bitterness in the way she said it. It sounded more like a conclusion she had reached some time ago. Xian slipped her hands into her pockets as she continued beside Varin, considering whether she wanted to leave the answer there before deciding there was little reason to hide the truth from someone who had already heard so much of her history.

"All it taught me was how unreliable people actually are," she continued quietly. "They found me when I was thirteen and told me I could become something more. That I would have people around me who would teach me, guide me, and help me understand what I could do." Her lips pressed together briefly as an old frustration surfaced. "Then people disappeared. Masters came and went. Orders changed. Everyone always had somewhere more important to be, some war that needed fighting, or some crisis that couldn't wait."

She glanced toward Varin before looking ahead again. "I learned things. How to control the Force better. How to use a lightsaber without cutting my own arm off. Enough philosophy to know I disagree with half of it." A faint, humorless smile touched her lips. "But most of what I know came from figuring things out myself. Eventually I realized I'd been doing that since I was a child anyway. The Jedi had just given it a different name."

For several steps she remained quiet, watching the familiar market district slowly emerge ahead of them before adding, "So I left." Her shoulders rose in a small shrug. "I stopped waiting for someone else to decide I was worth teaching." There was more confidence in her voice now than resentment, as though the decision had ultimately freed her from something. "Maybe that means I failed as a Jedi. Maybe they failed me. I don't really care which anymore."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

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

Varin knew what her answer would be before she uttered it. The Jedi had always had unreliable principles. Where Varin was raised in training to care for his soldiers and those beneath him, the Jedi only took in people to turn into mindless soldiers.

He had seen it time and time and again.

“It's a pattern I always see. As soon as the Jedi realize that their pupils has a sense of free will, or some resemblance of thinking outside of the box, they notice they cannot turn you into a mindless automaton.”

His gaze flicked over to her.

“You are obviously not a mindless soldier who just simply follows orders. That is why they did not further your training.”

He walked alongside her through the alleyway as he continued.

“They saw promise and talent within you. And that is all they wanted. Nothing more.”

After she finished speaking he paused for a moment, looking back on her words.

“What have you taught yourself, when it comes to the Force. Show me.”

He stopped not far behind her, watching expectantly for her to begin some demonstration. From her example before he could tell she had a bit of control over flame, but it was not much of a demonstration. He needed to see what the Jedi saw in her.

Xian Xiao​

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian slowed to a stop, turning to face him with an uncertain expression. She wasn't convinced his assessment of the Jedi was entirely fair. There were Masters who had genuinely cared, even if they hadn't known what to do with her. Others had simply been busy trying to keep the Order together while the galaxy seemed determined to tear itself apart. She could be frustrated with them without believing they had all seen her as nothing more than another recruit.

"I don't think it was that simple," she said quietly. "Some of them did care." She looked away for a moment before giving a small shrug. "I just... don't think they really knew what to do with me."

His request made her hesitate. Demonstrating the Force felt oddly personal, especially when there wasn't a reason beyond satisfying someone's curiosity. Still, after everything they'd discussed, refusing seemed unnecessary. She stepped into the open space between the buildings and took a slow breath.

Nothing happened at first.

Then the air began to move.

It started as little more than a breeze, stirring loose dust across the stones before gathering into a steady current that circled around her. Strands of red hair lifted gently from her shoulders as the wind obeyed subtle motions of her hand. She extended her palm, and the current swept down the alley, lifting discarded paper and leaves into a graceful spiral before carrying them back toward her without scattering them.

With another small gesture, she stepped forward, and her feet left the ground as naturally as someone taking another stride. She drifted several meters into the air, suspended there without strain, before the wind eased and lowered her gently back to the street.

Only then did she crouch and pick up a pebble. It hovered above her fingertips before beginning a slow orbit around her hand. A second stone joined it, then a third. They circled once before she released them, letting each settle precisely where it had come from.

"That's... most of it." She looked faintly embarrassed, as though she hadn't demonstrated anything particularly remarkable. "I'm better with air than anything else." A small flame blossomed in her free hand, no larger than a candle. It danced between her fingers before fading away as quickly as it had appeared. "Fire comes after that. Earth..." She rocked a loose stone gently across the ground with the Force before letting it stop. "I'm learning." A sheepish smile crossed her face. "Water and I are still negotiating."

She rested a hand on the hilt of her lightsaber.

"I can fight, too. I'm not the best swordswoman you'll ever meet, but I'm competent." Her shoulders lifted in a small shrug. "Most of the time I'd rather avoid standing still long enough for someone to hit me."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

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

Varin watched as she channeled herself into the winds, stirring up the loose debris upon the ground in gusts and whirls of wind. The basics of elemental manipulation, but even basics were the building blocks of something greater. And that was something he did not have to wait long to see.

He remained focused on her when he noticed the initial lift of her body. Gusts of wind sweeping through the alleyway, funneled in from the walls, it did not seem to bother the Sith. What she was demonstrating was not simply just vibrato or flexing, she was demonstrating range. That showed a form of control, and a knowledge of one's limits as well as an acknowledgement to those limits. Far more self reflection than most.

When she finished her demonstration she then explained her limits with the other three elements. Even producing a flame and moving a rock to demonstrate what she meant. Then her hand rested on the hilt of her saber, explaining her experience in more martial combat.

Varin did not speak for a moment as he processed all she had told him. Her history, her experiences with the Jedi and her training or lack thereof. The demonstrations she gave him showed the promise she could have in the future.

“Combat comes more with experience. You can certainly train against forms and other equipment, but in the end your opponents can still be unpredictable. Some experiences you can only get on the battlefield that no amount of training could have prepared you for.”

His arms crossed over his chest as he looked at her.

“How are you at adapting to your surroundings?”

The question hung in the air before he continued.

“You show promise with your control and your willingness to learn even from personal experiences, that is a good sign of someone willing to take the steps needed for strength. But adapting to change when faced with it, that is also extremely important.”

Xian Xiao​

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian was quiet for several moments, turning his question over in her mind before answering. Her fingers rested loosely against the pommel of her lightsaber as she looked past him, though she wasn't really seeing the alley anymore. Instead, she found herself remembering all the times her life had changed without anyone bothering to ask if she was ready.

"I've had to adapt," she said at last. "More than I ever wanted to."

A faint crease formed between her brows. "When I was thirteen, a Jedi found me and took me away from everything I'd ever known. Then the people who were supposed to teach me disappeared one by one. Masters changed. The Order changed. Wars happened." She let out a slow breath. "Then..." Her voice caught for just a moment before continuing more quietly. "People I trusted died." Rellik's face crossed her thoughts as naturally as breathing, followed by the familiar ache she still hadn't entirely learned to live with. "Every time I thought I'd found something steady, it changed again."

She looked back at Varin, the frustration still there beneath the calm surface. It wasn't anger directed at him, but at years of never quite being allowed to put down roots before the ground shifted beneath her feet once more.

"So... I can adapt." She gave a small shrug. "Usually because I don't have much choice."

Her head tilted slightly, curiosity replacing some of the lingering irritation.

"But I don't think that's what you mean." Her black eyes studied him carefully. "When you ask about adapting... what kind of change are you talking about?"

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

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

“No, not entirely. Adapting to life experiences is important.”

He took a deep breath before he continued, reflecting on the information she had just given him. The life experiences she had gained and the moments that she was robbed of.

“Life experiences build the foundation of your very being. They build you. All of you. The adaptation I speak of is war.”

He looked her in the eyes.

“When you are taken through battle simulations and told to fight droids, they all have a certain programming. A base line they follow. When you fight beings capable of independent thought and improvisation, they force you to change or die.”

A cold dark feeling crept within the alley before he continued.

“For example. If the city were attacked right now. Munitions were raining from the sky, people are panicking left and right moving to the closest exit or safe spot to huddle in. What would you do?”

Varin stood before her, towering above nearly blotting out the light above her.

“Do you sheppard the people in blind hope that they follow you, or do you fight back the enemy?”

Xian Xiao​

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian held Varin's gaze as he explained, but the alley around them gradually seemed farther away. She knew exactly what he meant now. She had seen war before she had ever been trained to participate in one. She remembered Coruscant during the fall of the Galactic Alliance, watching from a distance as the impossible became real. The Sith had come, the Alliance had fallen, and everything that had seemed permanent suddenly wasn't. She had been young enough that much of it hadn't made sense, but she remembered the fear. She remembered looking toward the distant fighting and feeling as though she were watching something happening on another world even while it unfolded around her.

Mostly, she remembered running.

She had run because everyone else was running. Crowds had surged toward whatever places they thought might be safe, and Xian had gone with them because she hadn't known what else to do. There had been no thought of fighting back then, no consideration of who was attacking or what she might do to stop them. She had worried about herself, about the younger children, about finding somewhere they could disappear until the fighting stopped. She had been frightened, and there was nothing shameful in admitting that. She had only been a child.

Xian looked past Varin for a moment, imagining the scenario he'd described imposed over streets she remembered so well. Explosions above. Buildings burning. People screaming and running while soldiers poured into the city. She wasn't thirteen anymore. She had a lightsaber now. She knew how to use the Force. Perhaps more importantly, she understood what it was like to be one of the frightened people desperately hoping somebody stronger would stand between them and whatever was coming.

"I would try and fight."

There was a slight hesitation in the answer because she wasn't going to pretend she knew exactly what she would do once the first explosion struck. Her black eyes returned to Varin's. "When the Alliance fell, I ran with everyone else. I was scared and didn't know what else I could do." Her fingers brushed lightly against the lightsaber at her side. "Now I can do something. So I'd try to stop whoever was attacking." She paused, considering his choice between protecting the civilians and confronting the enemy before adding, "But I don't think I could just leave people behind to do it. If someone needed help getting somewhere safe, I'd help them first." A faint crease appeared between her brows. "Maybe that isn't the answer you're looking for, but I don't think I could choose between protecting people and fighting when the reason I'd be fighting is to protect them."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

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

“Whether I think it is the right answer or not is irrelevant.”

Varin spoke quietly after listening to her reasoning and watching how she studied the area around them.

“To me the only true wrong answer is to do nothing. Inaction is always the wrong answer. But that is not to be confused with patience and study.”

It was one of Varin’s strengths whenever he fought, he was patient and ever watchful, taking in what information he could before his unrelenting assault unto his opponent. It was not inaction to study.

“Most people get that confused. The main difference is eventual action. Your choice to defend those is still something admirable, it is not cowardice and for the most part is not the wrong answer.”

His gaze glanced down at her saber, he was not concerned of her possibly drawing it on him. She did not seem the type to do such a thing, but all the same he remained on a more relaxed guard as always.

“What you need to understand is when given two choices, you can always make a third option.”

Truth be told, there was a lightening within him when she chose some form of action. Some people would have rathered to just run. Though she admitted that is what she did, she was young. And Varin was once a child who had to run as well, until action was needed.

She seemed to have the same thought, and that was a start.

Xian Xiao​

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian considered that for a few moments. The distinction between doing nothing and waiting until she understood enough to act made sense to her, perhaps more than some of the other lessons she'd received over the years. She had usually watched first. Especially as she became older. Sometimes that had been because she was uncertain, but more often it was because rushing into something without understanding it seemed like an excellent way to make everything worse.

"The third option makes more sense," she admitted. "I don't think I'm very good at being told there are only two choices anyway."

There was a faint trace of humor in the admission, but her expression became thoughtful again. She could understand what Varin was getting at now. Protecting people didn't necessarily mean abandoning the fight, just as fighting didn't require ignoring everyone caught in the middle. The situation he had described had forced those choices apart, when, in reality, she could find a way to accomplish both.

"If people were in danger, I could get them somewhere safer and still fight. Or find a way to make the enemy deal with me instead of them." Xian glanced briefly toward her lightsaber before looking back up at Varin. "I suppose that's what I usually do anyway. Look around until I find something everyone else missed."

She shifted her weight slightly, thinking back to the question that had started all of this. "So patience isn't doing nothing if you're using the time for something. Watching, learning, figuring out what your options actually are." That sounded far more natural to her than simply charging toward whichever problem looked the largest. "Then when you act, you're doing it because you've decided what will help, not just because you felt like you had to do something."

A small smile touched her features. "I think I like that lesson better than being asked whether I'd fight or run." She paused before adding, "Although I suppose getting me to realize those weren't my only choices was the point."

Varin Mortifer