Private Condolences

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik listened as she spoke, his gaze following the faint pattern of her footprints pressed into the sand ahead. The wind swept over them, lifting thin streams of dust that glimmered beneath the stars. He said nothing at first, letting her voice fill the stillness as he studied the horizon. Every sound reached him clearly—the rasp of her breath, the shifting of the dunes, the whisper of wind caught between ridges, and the way their clothes rustled with every move.

“You speak of him as though he is already gone,” he said finally, his tone even. “That is how it should be. A man like Vedieu never sees the blade that ends him.”

The cold reached deeper now. He could feel it creeping into his hands and along his arms, slowing the strength in his fingers. He flexed them inside his gloves, forcing blood to flow again. The ache was sharp but grounding, something to measure himself against.

When she spoke of the Jawas and the nomads, his eyes followed her line of sight, tracking the long, dark stretch of dunes to the north. The faint marks of Sandcrawler treads were visible beneath the thin veil of windblown sand, the scent of oil and scorched metal lingered faintly in the air.

“You know this world well,” he said. “The desert listens to you. It is not a gift many have.”

He adjusted his pace to keep beside her, his senses open to every change around them.

“If this meeting place is inside the bones of a Krayt dragon, then your father chose well. The dead things of this desert keep their secrets better than the living.”

He fell silent for a few moments, studying the way the starlight painted the horizon in pale silver.

“Hollow, dark, and tanned. Perhaps not a place, but what waits inside it. Your father was careful with words.”

The wind shifted again, carrying the smell of salt and sand from somewhere distant. Aerik pulled his cloak tighter, fighting the cold that tugged at his strength.

“We will find it,” he said. “Whatever truth he buried in this riddle, it will not stay hidden from you.”

He looked ahead, eyes narrowing against the wind. The stars above burned steady as they pressed onward, their light glinting in his eyes like fire trapped in amber.

It did not take long before they reached the place Irina had mentioned. Aerik smiled as he took in the majestic view. This was a site he had never seen before, and he drank in the awe of it. Bleached bones, picked clean by the sand and wind, stood out in a bright white as the moonlight above made the teeth of the great beast unmistakable.

He stood just outside the maw. They were close.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina didn't think of it as a gift, only as the result of years of schooling and training with her father. True gifts were few and far between and those that relied on them tended to fall short where it counted. As they reached the Krayt's skull a smile spread across her face, glancing to Aerik to see the same awe in his expression. It didn't matter how many tinea she came here, it always made her pause.

After a quiet beat, she moved forward scanning the sand illuminated by the starlight, it took her a few seconds to find what she was looking for, a short bone, not one belonging to the krayt, but of a far smaller creature likely to have perished here. As they travelled along the skeleton, she was use it to strike the chimes hanging periodically along it. Listening carefully for any response. If any of the natives were here they would be bedded down for the night, but the last thing she wanted to fo was surprise them.

When the ribs became so wide the could fit four people abreat between them, she cast the bone aside, satisfied they were alone. Grasping Aeriks hand she led them into the ribcage, pausing to allow her eyes to adjust to the lower light.

"You could be right about it not being a place, but a thing. A box or a container..." she looked at him. "Your eyes are better than mine."

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik followed in silence, his eyes tracing the line of the enormous skeleton rising from the sand like the bones of a buried god. The skull towered above them, hollow sockets staring into the stars. He had seen the remains of beasts before, but nothing like this. For a long moment he could not look away. The wind whispered through the gaps in the bone, low and mournful, as if the desert itself still remembered the creature’s death.

When Irina moved ahead, he did the same, his boots crunching softly over the sand. The cold was deeper here, settled between the ribs where the wind could not carry warmth. It tugged at his strength, but his eyes needed no adjustment. They caught every curve of the great bones, every shimmer of light that played across the sand.

He listened as she struck the chimes, the faint sound carrying through the ribs like the echo of distant bells. The melody was strange, scattered by the wind, and it reminded him of something sacred, though he could not name it. Her caution was sound. The desert tribes would not welcome intruders, no matter who her house was.

When she reached the wider section and took his hand, Aerik followed her into the shelter of the ribcage. The air there felt heavier, muffled, as if the world outside had been left behind. He could hear the faint hiss of sand moving along the bones and the soft rhythm of her breath beside him.

At her words, he turned toward her. “If it is a box, then it will not be far from where the bones touch the rock,” he said quietly. “The sand shifts too much for anything to stay buried near the surface.” His gaze swept the interior of the ribs, studying the small hollows and crevices. “Your father would have hidden it where the wind could not reach.”

He crouched, brushing his fingers through the sand until they touched something solid. A faint tremor of recognition passed through him, and he looked up at her. “There is stone here,” he murmured. “It could be part of the creature, or something built after.”

He glanced back toward the shadowed end of the ribcage. “If he meant for you to find this place, the next clue will be waiting where the light no longer reaches.”

 

[Irina Jesart]

"Among bone, and wind blown sand." she muttered to herself scanning their surroundings as she ran the riddle through her head once more. She turned her gaze towards the end of the ribcage where the spine trailed away out of sight. Then back towards the skull, its hollow barely visible in the starlight. She moved wordlessly, heading towards it. It was the most sheltered place from the wind, it had to be there.

As she moved she slid the rucksack from her back, sliding her hand withing to find a light stick, cracking it on her knee as she slid the rucksack back into place. She was careful to keep it low, so it didn't interfere with what little night vision she did have. The entrance to the skull was large enough for them to fit through side by side, barely stooping. The instant they were within, the wind dropped, the cold still clung to them, but it no longer bit at their skin.

Irina moved the light stick, using it to illuminate the ground around them, her other hand moved to grip Aerik's arm. There were a dozen skeletons here, some belonged to creatures she didn't recognise, half buried by time. Yet there was only one human skeleton. Set in the centre of the mouth, stretched out like it was lain to rest, arms crossed over its chest. Who put him here and why was a mystery to her, but Irina was certain this was where she needed to be.

For a moment she didn't move, she could hear her heart in her ears. Whatever he'd buried here wasn't something small, it was something that would change everything. The little girl buried deep beneath the mask of nobility and pride wasn't sure that she wanted to know.

After a moment she took a deep breath, stepping forward and releasing her grip on Aerik's arm, she knelt beside the skeleton, driving the glow stick into the sand before she began to dig, scooping the sand below the skeleton's rib cage.

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

The pup followed her into the hollow, his steps slow and soundless. The cold pressed close, but within the skull it felt heavier, trapped beneath the arching bone. Dust drifted through the glow of the light stick, catching against the faint shimmer of sand that hung in the air. Aerik’s gaze moved across the chamber, adjusting easily to the dark, every line of bone and shadow etched sharp in his sight.
He stayed just behind Irina, letting her guide the light while he read the quiet. Each breath carried the dry taste of sand and age. Beneath that, his senses picked up the faint scratch of shifting grains and the subtle pulse of something buried deep. The silence here was alive like it was almost listening.

When her hand found his arm Aerik’s palm came over hers. He did not speak, Instead he matched the rhythm of her breathing until her focus returned. His orange hued eyes followed the circle of light as it passed across the scattered remains of smaller creatures, broken and half lost beneath the sand. Then, at the center, something human.

The sight held him still. A skeleton was laid with care, arms crossed over its chest, the dust settled evenly along its length. This was no accident of the desert. Someone had chosen this place.

Aerik crouched beside her. His gaze studied the remains with quiet thought. The faint tremor in her breath reached him. It was a sign of something stirring beneath her composure. He did not interrupt. The light flickered softly across his eyes giving them the faint glow of buried fire.

When she began to dig Aerik shifted closer and helped where needed. He brushed away loose sand from her reach. His movements were precise and deliberate, clearing the surface as she worked. The air grew colder the deeper they went. The scent of dry minerals rising with each handful of sand.

He worked in silence letting her lead. His focus drifted between her hands and the edges of the chamber. Aerik’s senses stretched outward for the smallest sign of change. There was no movement or sound beyond their breathing and the quiet rasp of sand sliding through their fingers.

Then something caught the light. It was a faint glimmer beneath the ribs of the skeleton. Aerik stilled, the shift of his posture subtle as his gaze fixed on the spot.

“Did you find something?”

His voice was quiet, carrying both caution and interest. One hand rested lightly in the sand beside her, ready to help uncover whatever secret waited to be revealed.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Dust rose where the had been digging, sticking to every surface it could. Irina was careful to keep her mouth shut, nothing was quite as good at drying the mouth as desert dust. Her hands were dry and cracking when they scraped something hard and she froze. Only able to give a small nod in response to Aerik's question. For a moment she didn't move, trying to quiet the drum of her heart. She looked up at him, seeking something, maybe reassurance? She wasn't sure, but Aerik's gaze was fixed where her hands were.

Gently, she shifted her fingers beneath what she could only assume was a box, with Aerik helping to clear the top she lifted it clear. A small wooden box, its top inlayed with swirling ivory flowers. Irina knew the box well. It had been one she'd bought for her mother years ago. She set it in the sand and ran her fingers over the inlay. "It was my mothers." She told Aerik. "I wanted to bring it with me to the academy but..." she trailed off. He knew why she didn't, why none of them had brought anything.

Her trembling fingers fumbled with the latch for a moment before opening it. Inside were two items, a small holoprojector, which when she activated, showed an image of a much younger Irina, resting on her fathers shoulders, he with on arm on her leg keeping her secure, the other, wrapped around her mother. It was the last time she remembered being truly happy.

The second, was a datachip.

For a long moment Irina said nothing, staring at the image of a girl she used to be, while her thumb idly rubbed the datachip. Slowly, she slid the rucksack off her back once more, passing it to Aerik. "There's a datapad in there somewhere."

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik brushed the dust from his fingers, watching the faint clouds drift through the beam of the light stick before settling again. The air tasted of sand and age. His gaze stayed fixed on her hands as she lifted the box from the earth, the gold in his eyes catching the soft gleam of its inlaid ivory. He did not need to ask what it was. The way her breath caught told him before she spoke.

When she said it had belonged to her mother, the pup's expression shifted, almost imperceptibly. He remembered the way Irina had spoken of her family before, in fragments, always measured, always careful. To see something so personal in her hands now carried a weight even the cold of the desert could not dull.

He knelt beside her as she fumbled with the latch, his voice quiet.

"Take your time."

The lid opened with a faint creak, releasing a breath of stale air from the years it had been buried. The image that appeared when she activated the holoprojector drew his attention, not because of what it showed, but because of how she looked at it. The small figure on her father's shoulders, the laughter frozen in light, the mother's arm resting around them. A family that once had been whole. Aerik had seen that kind of happiness only in memory, never his own.

He remained silent, giving her space to look, his gaze moving between her face and the image as it shimmered. The desert outside felt far away now, muted by the quiet hum of the projection and the soft rasp of her fingers against the datachip.

When she handed him the rucksack, Aerik took it with care, brushing the dust from the strap before searching inside. The datapad was where she said it would be, its casing cold against his fingers. He passed it to her, resting it gently in her hands.

"Whenever you are ready… Whatever message he left, we will face it together."

He stayed kneeling beside her, the faint blue light of the holoprojector reflected in his eyes as he waited.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Gently, Irina set the holoprojector down in the sand, tearing her eyes away from the image to accept the datapad, its cold casing barely noticeable against already numb fingers. She inched a little closer to Aerik, needing him near, wanting the comfort his presence brought to chase away the dread that sat in the pit of her stomach. It took a few attempts for her to slide the datachip in, a combination of less than steady hands and the cold eating at her dexterity.

Slowly, the information began to load. At first it displayed ledgers, not of House Jesart, but of House Vedieu, the same name underlined in different dates, though it wasn’t a company or name she was familiar with. She continued scrolling, passing over research regarding Bailnoor Root, and its links to extreme paranoia and hallucinations when brewed incorrectly.

Then there were pictures. Pictures she recognised as Santel’s personal garden, garden in which he had been growing herbs and roots for tea for as long as she could remember. She flicked back, comparing the image of the root in the reports, to the plants that had been circled. “No.” she whispered. “This has to be a mistake.”

On she scrolled, through a series of images of the root being harvested, of tea being served to both of her parents. On and on they went, the evidence stacking against the man she had known her whole life. A man who had stood guard over her to make sure the Sandman didn’t get her, a man who had taught her the etiquette of serving tea, of how to don a mask and smile in the face of your enemies.

Then the last image, Santel and Lord Vedieu meeting in a place she didn’t recognise.

There was no final message. No voice recording.

Just the truth that gave birth to a rage like she’d never felt before.

“My mother died when I was young, they say she lost her mind and wandered out into the desert one night chasing something no one else could see. After that my Father was prone to bouts of raging paranoia. He was convinced someone had killed her, he withdrew us from the courts, and saw assassins in every shadow. So many times I had to talk him away from that ledge…and all along…all along it was him.”

She lifted her gaze to meet Aerik’s a fire burning in them like nothing she’d ever shown before.

“I’ll kill him.”

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

It was a betrayal of the worst kind as far as Aerik was concerned. While he did not know the man the way Irina had he knew what it meant to be in a pack. The Sith was a pack animal. Even though the academy had pulled him away from his siblings, his mother, his father, all those he considered his pack, Aerik had learned to make new connections. It was the only way his nature would survive. With it came the potential for betrayal.

They were all Sith.

This was something Irina should not have had to experience. The person closest to her family, entrusted with their wellbeing, was the one who had sold them out. Perhaps he had been under the employ of their family rival the entire time. The dynamics of royalty and nobility seemed to be beyond the level of games which the Sith played among themselves. Maybe it was more similar than Aerik wanted to admit. Regardless, the pain and anger which seemed to wash over Irina’s face at one time seemed to change something within her.

They were far too young to be killing, and yet… both of them had and they would again.

He nodded.

“Then he was the one who sent the assassins tonight.”

A low growl escaped Aerik’s throat. The beast wanted free. It was something the pup was still learning to control. He envied his father who had learned the balance of his nature. Aerik had yet, and he hated the way his emotions seemed to make that difficult. A fire flashed in his eyes. It was different from the natural color of his gaze. As he looked at the young woman across from him, a wolfish grin pulled at his lips. All he could seem to think in the moment was they were about to be on the hunt.

Aerik, the beast, wanted something to hunt.

He wanted to kill.

The pull of the change rose through him with purpose. It sat beneath his skin like a truth waiting to surface, and the moment felt right for it. Irina’s discovery, the quiet weight in the air, the scent of old bone and sand all pressed against something instinctive in the pup. This was not a place for the boy the academy tried to shape. It was a place for the creature that understood loyalty and danger without confusion. Aerik breathed once, slow and sure, and let the beast come forward.
His body shifted with a steady rhythm. Muscle thickened. His stance lowered. Fur spread across his limbs and back in a dark coat that gave off faint curls of smoke. His jaw pushed forward, teeth lengthened, and claws settled into the sand. None of it felt wild or chaotic. The change followed an order his body was still learning, but seemed more natural now. It was a return to something simple, something honest, something the academy could not take from him.

When the change settled, the wolf lifted its head. His eyes held the same color they always did, but now they burned with a deeper fire. Smoke drifted from his coat in thin trails. A low breath rose from his chest, steady and controlled. The pup no longer stood beside Irina. The beast stood in his place, silent and focused, ready for whatever waited in the hollow ahead.

He took a step forward toward Irina. They would move faster if he carried them.

 

[Irina Jesart]

The anger burned at Aerik's words, the revelation making Santel's betrayal cut deeper, fuelling a fire that chased away the cold that gnawed at her hands. Her gaze slid back to the holoimage, its faint blue light reflecting off the bones as she stared into the eyes of a girl whose ignorance had protected her, whose happiness shone bright, oblivious to the truth and cruelty of the world around her. She reached to turn it off, setting it back in the box before placing the box back in the hole it had been buried in.

That girl was dead. Clinging to a memory of her helped no one.

She looked up as the growl rippled through Aerik's throat, stirring something in her chest. she might have reflected that grin, were it not for the pain that ran through her. Her eyes widened as he shifted before her, the change far smoother than it had been the first time she'd seen it, but no less awe inspiring. Irina drank the image in, the dark fur, curling with smoke, the golden glowing eyes now above her. She lifted a hand without thought, running her fingers along the fur of his neck.

She rose, leaving the backpack and datapad where it was. A smart level headed Irina might have taken it as evidence to present to courts for her actions, but right here and now, all she wanted was to hear Santel scream, she wanted to watch as the light vanished from Vedieu's eyes. She moved now on instinct, driven by the burning fury and need to satiate it.

As Aerik stepped towards her, she understood his intent, sliding her hand along his flank before climbing onto his back. The smoke the rose from his fur curling about her as she leaned forward. "Lets go."

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

The wolf's ears snapped forward the instant she touched his fur. Her scent shifted with her rage, sharp and focused, guiding him as clearly as any spoken order. The moment her weight settled across his back, the beast moved.

Sand exploded beneath his paws as he surged out of the skull, momentum carrying them into open desert with a force that felt like breaking free from a cage. The cold no longer mattered. The fury rolling off Irina warmed his blood far more than the night ever could. Smoke streamed from his coat in thin ribbons, curling behind them as he ran.

He followed the trail with precision. Santel's scent clung to the air, a mix of sweat and fear buried beneath the sharper trace of whatever borrowed courage he had poured into this betrayal. It was old but not faint, spreading along the direction he had taken when he fled. Beneath it was another trail, heavier and more careless. Vedieu. The man left footprints of arrogance wherever he walked, and the wolf knew the pattern instantly.

The pup lengthened his stride, each bound swallowing ground as though the desert bowed to make way. His paws struck the sand with silent force, and his breath came in steady, controlled bursts. The dunes rose and fell beneath them, the stars shifting overhead as markers of distance rather than beauty.

Irina's grip tightened against his fur, legs locked along his ribs, and the wolf leaned into that command. He angled toward the main path, tracking the heat of movement ahead. One heartbeat, then another. The two men were close. The scent of their fear rose in the frozen air, trembling at the edge of his senses.

The wolf did not slow. His body lowered as the ground ahead dipped, his shoulders rolling with the rhythm of an animal built to hunt. Muscles coiled beneath her hands. Smoke lifted from his coat in slow waves. His fire-bright eyes locked on the shapes moving in the distance.

The hunt had begun.

 

[Irina Jesart]

What a sight it must have been, a wolf as dark as night bounding from the depths of the desert towards them, glowing eyes and smoke trailing behind it like a demon from the depths of hell. Their fear trembled through the force as they broke into a hopeless run desperate to escape their fate.

She leapt from Aerik's back as they drew close the lightsaber taken from the jedi igniting as she did, it's blue glow illuminating the sand that it kicked up reflecting in Santel's eyes as she levelled it at him.

"Lady Irina, its you. I was so worried-"

"Liar."

The accusation reveberated in the force and the facade she had spent her whole life looking at, melted away from Santel's face, a cruel smile lingered as he drew his own sword.

"You always were smart, Irina, but you were blind. Blinded by your affection for a butler who gaurded you from nightmares, who answered tonyour every whim and need. A butler who was devoted to you."

As he spoke, darkness swirled in Irina driven by pain, and hatred her anger grew swirling like and inferno within her. The lightsaber in her hand crackled, the blade shifting slowly from blue to red.

"You will never be able to kill me, you don't have it in you."

"You have no idea, what I am capable of." She snarled in response, her hand reaching forward force closing around his throat lifting him from the ground. His blade fell away as he scrambled hopelessly at his throat.

"You took everything from me!"

The heat that had grown in her chest erupted, flames engulfed the twi'lek. She didn’t know where they came from or how, she only cared that she could hear him scream.

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

The wolf watched the fire die before he allowed the change to take him. He had held the form until it was no longer needed, until the desert quieted again and the scents of fear and burning flesh faded into the cold. Only then did he slip away into the dark, leaving Irina with the embers while he sought privacy among the dunes. By the time he returned, the transformation had settled. Smoke no longer drifted from his fur. His steps were human again. A cloak taken from the conspirators hung around his shoulders, stiff with frost, but warm enough to keep the cold from reaching bone.

He crossed the sand with a slow pace, eyes adjusting to the faint glow of the fire pit. The heat had nearly gone out. Only a faint shimmer clung to the ash. The stars stretched over them in a hard, bright sky. Each breath he took came sharp and cold, but the air felt alive in a way the academy never had. The desert did not hide truth. It revealed it without apology.

Irina stood near the dying embers, the light touching the edges of her hair and the folds of her clothes. The smell of smoke still clung to her. The marks her saber carved in the sand were plain, cutting across the ground without hesitation. Aerik slowed as he approached her, studying her posture. Her shoulders were tense. Her hands trembled, not from cold, but from something deeper that still burned inside her.

He paused a few steps away, giving her the space she needed. The scent of char lingered where Santel had died. The wolf within him recognized the aftermath of a kill and accepted it, yet the boy raised within the academy had never seen fire rise from someone's fury like that. The sight of her standing over the remains of the Twi'lek struck him with a force he had not expected. There was no part of her that had faltered. She had lifted Santel without a moment of doubt. She had burned him without fear or apology. It felt as though he had witnessed a truth she had kept buried, a truth even she had not fully understood until now.

Aerik inhaled slowly, letting the cold steady him as he stepped closer. The cloak brushed the sand with a soft whisper. He came to stand beside her, his eyes on the last glowing ember, then on the dark shape stretched out near the edge of the light. For a long moment he did not speak. He took in the scene again, measured and deliberate.

When he finally looked at her, he found her eyes reflecting the faint glow, caught between grief and something new. He had no words prepared. Nothing the academy taught helped him speak to moments like this. The wolf inside him understood violence. The boy inside him understood betrayal. But neither had expected the force of what Irina carried.

He cleared his throat once, an uneven sound in the quiet night, and spoke in a low voice that felt slightly unsure.

"I have seen many deaths, but I have never seen anyone burn that …”

”…hot."

A breath slipped out of him, part awe and part confession.

"You are… something fierce." His tone warmed as he added, softer, "I did not know you had that in you."


He looked back toward the body, then at her again, eyes steady.

"But I think I should have."

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina didn't feel the cold, only the lingering heat from the smoking remains before her, reamins she couldn't take her eyes off. There should have been questions, a need to know why, for how long, but she found she didn't care. None of it mattered, none of it would bring her the same satisfaction as his death did.

She didn't look up when Aerik moved to stand next to her, the silence stretching between them. Not uncomfortable or awkward just the quiet of two people taking in what had just occured. When he cleared his throat, she looked up at him. She wanted to smile at the awe his voice held, but the nightweighed so heavilon her chest she couldn’t.

She lifted her hands looking down at them, as if trying to see where the fire had come from. It had come from somewhere deeper, like it had been locked away slowly growing in the dark, waiting patiently for her to find it.

"How could you possibly know something I didn't even know myself?" She said softly, her hands closing into fists as she exhaled a soft sigh, meeting his gaze again.

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

A slow breath settled the thoughts rising in Aerik’s mind. Irina staring at her hands, searching for traces of the fire that had answered her rage, pulled forward a memory that still lived close beneath his skin. His own awakening had come only months ago, not long enough for the academy to bury beneath drills or discipline. Gerwald had been there for that moment. As a father, he understood what slept inside his son even though neither of them knew when the shift would take hold.

That night returned with unwelcome clarity. Pressure had built in Aerik’s chest until each breath felt tight. Muscles shook as something powerful pushed for release. Confusion smothered every attempt at reason. The world had narrowed to instinct and sound. Gerwald had stepped close without hesitation and placed a steady hand between his shoulders. His father spoke in a calm voice that cut through the fear flooding his mind. He guided Aerik through each stage, grounding him with his presence. When the change completed and the wolf stood where a boy had been, Gerwald did not retreat. Acceptance stood on his face, telling Aerik that the creature was not something to dread.

Seeing Irina now awakened the same recognition. A part of her had risen without warning and claimed its place in the world. The fire that answered her anger had not been summoned with intent. It had surfaced because something inside her chose the moment. She stared at her hands because she did not yet understand the source of that power.

“Some forces rise on their own,” Aerik said. His voice carried the weight of memory rather than instruction. “They stay quiet until something calls them out. When they answer, they do not wait for you to be ready.”

The night settled around them again. Smoke drifted from the final ember and faded into the cold air. Irina stood unmoving, her expression caught between shock and calm. Something in her had changed. Aerik felt it as clearly as the desert wind.

He did not claim to understand the nature of her fire. That truth belonged to her alone. What he did know pressed into his thoughts with unwelcome certainty. The academy would not treat this as an accident or a necessary act. Two students had left a trail of bodies in the desert. One of those bodies belonged to a servant tied to a noble house. The other belonged to a hired blade with connections of his own. Word would reach the academy long before they returned. Their superiors would demand an explanation none of them wanted to give.

Aerik lifted his gaze to the horizon as the weight of their situation settled between them.

“When the academy learns what happened here, the reaction will not be simple. The academy will want answers, and none of them will be simple. Instructors will probe for weak points in our story. Truth will matter far less to them than the opportunity to set an example.”

His hand curled slightly at his side. He had watched instructors bend the truth in the past when it served their purpose. He knew how easily the facts of this night would be twisted once gossip outran them.

“We cannot walk through the gates and hope they show us mercy,” he continued. “That is not how the academy handles events like this.” He paused, weighing the thought that had been forming since the fire died. “My father can help us. He understands the academy, and as a Drak Councilot, his influence will stop them from shaping this into something we cannot survive.”

Aerik stepped closer, meeting Irina’s eyes with steady intent. “We tell him everything. He will know how to guard us from the worst of what is coming.”

 

[Irina Jesart]

The academy seemed a world away. The whole purpose of her going was to try and lift her family's name out of the dirt and now? Now she had sealed its fate in ashes and smoke. But there was one person who had yet to answer for his crimes and while Aerik rattled off a plan to save their hides from the inevitable punishment that awaited them back there, she could not focus on it. Her gaze slipped away from him, turning towards where she knew the Vedieu's house sat a few clicks away. She could take a speeder, it didn't matter now about sneaking around, she could have his head.

She could have all of their heads.

A pale light was growing on the horizon, signalling the coming dawn and Irina shifted her gaze back to Aerik.

"I'm not done, Aerik." she said softly, but there was fire in her eyes again. "We'll return to the villa, I'll let you in to fathers office, you can contact your father from there. I am going to deal with Vedieu."

It wasn't up for discussion. Her mind was set, it had been set the moment she'd seen the first picture of him on that datapad. Every ounce of pain she had suffered in her life had been as a result of him and his family. And for what? For the sake of staking claim to a desert that they could never understand. For wealth and power over an insignificant world.

Irina would have his head.

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

The pale light edging over the dunes made Aerik’s breath cloud in the air. Dawn crept toward them with a slow certainty, revealing the marks left in the sand, the fading smoke, and the body already claimed by the night. Irina’s voice cut through the last quiet moment they had. The fire that rose in her eyes again felt familiar to him now. It was the same force that had turned the desert red only minutes earlier.

She spoke of Vedieu as if nothing could stand between them. The determination in her words was sharp. Her posture was set. The direction of her gaze made it clear she already saw the man dead at her feet. Aerik did not need the Force to understand the depth of her intent. Her mind had settled on a single path, and she planned to walk it alone.

He stepped in front of her before she could move. The sand crunched beneath his boots as he placed himself between her and the distant house she wanted to reach. His shoulders squared with quiet resolve. The cold wind brushed past them, carrying the faint scent of smoke away across the dunes.

“You are not going alone,” Aerik said. His voice had a calm weight to it, something grounded and steady. “Not after tonight.”

He looked at her, letting his gaze meet hers without flinching. The fire in her expression did not push him back. He understood it too well. It reminded him of the rage he once felt when someone had threatened the people he considered his pack. Betrayal shaped anger into something dangerous. Something that demanded blood. He saw that truth in her now.

“You want his head,” Aerik continued. “I understand that. But going by yourself will not end with you walking out of that house.”

His tone never rose. It carried certainty rather than fear.

“Vedieu will expect someone to come. He will have guards. He will have traps. He will have every advantage that coin can buy.”

Aerik shifted a step closer, lowering his voice. His eyes bore into hers to ensure he had her attention.

“I am not letting you face him alone. You may be able to burn him down, but you cannot fight the entire house by yourself.”

The sunrise climbed a little higher, revealing more of the exhausted sand that stretched around them. Aerik breathed in the cold air, steadying himself before he spoke again.

“You said we will return to the villa. Then we return together. You open the office. I contact my father. He will shield us from what comes next.” His gaze did not waver. “And when we leave that room, we face Vedieu together. If he falls, he falls because both of us stand at his door, not because you walk into his trap alone.”

His hand flexed at his side, the memory of earlier violence still alive beneath his skin.

“You are not the only one who has something to settle tonight.”

He held her gaze, firm and certain.

“I am with you. All the way to Vedieu’s door.”

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina drew in a sharp breath as he cut in front of her, defiant and stubborn, refusing to let her face this alone. "Aerik..." she said softly, emotion catching in her throat. Tears blurred her vision and she closed her eyes turning her face away. She wanted to tell him to stay, not because she didn't need him, but because she couldn't ask any more of him. She knew he was right about the academy, they would seek to make an example out of her.

Out of him.

When she looked back at him, the tears were gone, shoved down and away so she could face what lie ahead of her. Yet when she saw resolve in his face, when she heard his words she could offer no resistance. She stepped forward wrapping her arms around his neck she buried her face in his shoulder.

"There is no one I would rather have at my side." She stepped back after a moment and took a breath and his hand. "Alright, we do it your way. Lets get back."

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

WEARING: xxx | TAG: Irina Jesart​

Her arms wrapped around his neck with a pull that stopped his breath for a moment. Aerik held still, caught between surprise and the warmth of her leaning into him. Instinct pushed his hands to her back. He kept them steady so she would not fall deeper into whatever hit her. Smoke clung to her hair. Her breath shook against his shoulder. The anger that had flashed in her before now settled into something quieter. It reached a part of him he had not felt since he lived at home.

When she stepped away, he watched her face. The tears were gone. Determination took their place. She reached for his hand. Aerik closed his fingers around hers without thinking. Her grip carried resolve. His answered with something calmer, meant to steady her.

“You’re not doing this alone,” he said. His voice stayed soft. “My father will answer, don't worry."

He believed it, but the thought of calling Gerwald brought a weight that pressed behind his ribs. His father always helped, yet help from him could change more than the problem it aimed to solve. Aerik felt that truth settle in his mind. He kept it quiet. Irina did not need to carry what worried him.

She held his hand like she needed something solid. He held hers the same way.

“We should call now, before anything shifts again."

Aerik turned toward the comm resting on the side table. The estate felt too still for what they were about to face. He drew a breath, hoping it kept the uncertainty out of his voice. Irina’s presence beside him made the choice both easier and harder at the same time.

He gave her hand a small squeeze.

“I am with you,” he said. “Whatever comes next, we face it together.”

He let go only long enough to reach for the comm. His hand hovered for a quiet moment. Calling his father meant stepping onto a path he could not turn from once he took the first step.

Gerwald would answer.

The comm flickered once before the signal caught. Aerik stood close, soot on his hands from waking the device. Irina hovered near the doorway.

“Aerik.” His father’s voice carried through the line, low and steady.

“We need you. It is serious.”

Gerwald did not speak, but Aerik felt him waiting.

“It is Irina, she is not safe here. I cannot handle this alone.”

A single beat of quiet followed.

“Send me the coordinates. I will come.”

The call ended.

Aerik set the comm down.

“He is on his way.”

He kept the rest of his worry to himself.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina's eyes roved over her father's study the comfort she had felt from it earlier had gone, like the connection to the happy child she had once been was severed. The fire that had awoken in her had burnt away the joy and left something darker in its wake. She moved from the doorway, barely hearing the conversation between father and son as memories echoed through her mind. Whatever happened next, Irina knew she would not set foot in this room again. She wouldn't set foot in this house again. Everything she was, everything she had trained for died here.

As Aerik approached, she placed a palm against the spines of the nearest books, heat rising in her fingers, it came just as swiftly as before, burning just as hot as the paper caught and curled she withdrew her hand, watching it spread rapidly through the tomes before catching the wooden shelves which began to crack and pop in the sudden heat.

She turned to face him, her dark gaze wreathed in fire, before she turned wordlessly and strode from the room, letting the fire run its course. She let them through the villa to a small garage where two speeders rested. By the time the doors slid open, the heat of the rising sun already chasing away the chill that had been the night, there were panicked shouts behind them as the blaze she had started began to consume everything. Irina cast one glance back as she mounted her speeder, but there was no grief there, no pain or regret, just a girl taking stock of what she had done.

With a sniff, she kicked the speeder to life, leading the way out and back across the sands, glancing only to make sure Aerik was still with her as they kicked up dust and Irina let the anger run through her. Nothing would stop her, no matter what Vedieu threw at them, no matter what traps he might have lain, today, he and every one in his house would pay the price.

Aerik Lechner