Private Driftwood

[Trextan Voidstalker]

"Blast, Trex," she said, still half-smiling. "You really haven't had much training in meditation or mental aspects since we last trained together?"

"Er...no," he admitted. His thoughtful expression was changed into a half-smile that matched her own.

"Alright," she said, a little more grounded. "How about you walk me through what you know, and we'll take it from there?"

"So we were taught how Sith would use a type of memory walking. This was during the war," Trextan explained.

"They could make you relive your worst memories or they could change them and twist them."

"A jedi can mediate and settle into memories of their own. Try and move through them. I think some were taught it so they could take control of a Sith used it for torture."

 

[Choli Vyn]

Interacting with: Trextan Voidstalker
Armor- x x x x x | Gear x x x x x x x | Weapons x x x x x

Choli's brow knit as she listened, the thought settling heavy behind her eyes. Memory walking. The idea that someone could walk through their memories… or worse, twist someone else's?

That was a whole different kind of power.

She leaned back slightly, gaze drifting toward the stars outside the cockpit, her mind turning it over. Reliving the worst parts....she wasn't sure she wanted that. But being able to sift through the haze? Maybe find the edges of what she'd lost?

Her head tilted, voice steady when she finally spoke.

"You've used it before, then?" she asked, tone simple. Not suspicious. Just… curious. Wanting to know what she was stepping into.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan realised that Choli was still struggling to deal with a possible period of torture that had been wiped from her mind and he was describing a technique for torturing a person and changing memories.

He had been focussed on admitting how he felt and now he wasn't thinking logically. He would have told her, but he might have found a way to talk around the subject and soften the explanation.

Then Trextan realised that probably would have frustrated her more. She liked people to get to the point. She was usually more patient when he was struggling to do something mechanical with his hands.

"Not very well. You get into a slow breathing, meditative stance. You touch the Force and try and focus on particular memories."

 

[Choli Vyn]

Interacting with: Trextan Voidstalker
Armor- x x x x x | Gear x x x x x x x | Weapons x x x x x

Maybe she didn’t make herself clear. What Choli wanted to know is if Trextan had used that very same technique the Sith used as Memory walk on another.

When they were together, he only spoke a little of his experiences, but not all.

Honestly that sort of power wasn’t something Choli wanted to bridge much less experience.

“Mental things don’t seem to work well for me. “ she admitted, exhaling slowly as she raked olive fingers over her hair.

“So I’ve always struggled with it.” What she didn’t realize it was because she was an Epicanthix.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

T R E X T A N​

"No they don't. I..."

Trextan looked up at her. She was probably sensitive enough to feel the flow of the Force shift.

"... I can't feel your thoughts or feelings at all."

That went further back than her original capture, so it wasn't some kind of natural defence she had raised against it.

"I'm always here just to talk about it too," Trextan said, in a rare moment of clarity whilst trying to find a magical fix.

"What happened on Kaeshana. Even if that's the best help I can be."

She hadn't always opened up about it. It was closed off to her and it had always seemed best to just move on. The First Order of old had no hold over her any more. The Ren who had tortured her this time were dead. That wasn't a very Jedi thought, but it made Trextan feel a little better.

 

[Choli Vyn]

Interacting with: Trextan Voidstalker
Armor- x x x x x | Gear x x x x x x x | Weapons x x x x x

Choli blinked, her gaze settling on him in that quiet, searching, and oftentimes probing way of hers. She had felt the shift. It had been subtle, like a current in the stars flickering the wrong way, but she hadn't known what to make of it until he said the words.

He couldn't feel her. At all.

That landed strange. Like finding out part of the ship's wiring had been cut without her noticing. She didn't know whether to be relieved or rattled.

"I see," she said quietly, more to herself than him.

Her arms crossed loosely, not guarded, just… thoughtful.

"I have never really talked about Kaeshana... or Mustufar..." she admitted, eyes flicking to the stars. "Not fully. Most people just assumed it was better to leave it buried. And I let them."

A pause, then her voice softened just a notch.

"But… thanks. For saying that."

Even then she gave a slight amused, if wry dry laugh.

"Guess things are pretty much up in the air on how to fix that then. Or maybe I should just leave things be. Why stir old ghosts."

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan waited quietly as she processed his explanation. On one hand he was glad that the sith hadn't extracted information from her mind. On the other hand she had been physically tortured and drugged instead.

"I guess I thought it was better to bury it too," Trextan reflected.

"I saved your life once. I also put you in danger a few times. I feel awful to know you were put through this..."

He couldn't help but glance down at her fingers. They must have broken them with something heavy over and over.

"...and there was nothing I can do. It's not about me - I do know that. We met right after the First Order captured you. I cheered you up a little bit."

He glanced aside and smiled fondly for the memory. Some of that cocksure sith acolyte had been there back then.

" But we never really talked about it. It was so strange that they just dropped you off?"

 

[Choli Vyn]

Interacting with: Trextan Voidstalker
Armor- x x x x x | Gear x x x x x x x | Weapons x x x x x

And that was the uncomfortable part. The not knowing.

Choli's lips drew thin, and she took a deep breath, already moving her arms to cross them over her chest in an unconscious defensive measure.

"It does not make sense, does it?" she repeated aloud, voicing what had bothered her for years regarding the situation.

"Why would they do that?" she mused aloud again, as she always did. Then, voiced aloud what she had worried about, as well as what the dark reason could be.

"Unless they planned it so for a reason," she swallowed hard. "I have heard stories of sleeper agents without them knowing.... which makes me wonder if that could have been a reason."

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

TREXTAN

Choli Vyn

Trextan saw her shift in posture. He sat more upright. His lips led his expression into a look of sympathy. It felt like it had happened so long ago.

"There could have been an off-the-books prisoner exchange that they kept classified. Or they tried something..."

He didn't want to talk details, but if he couldn't say the words then how could he expect Choli to? She was so strong, but the spectre of what could have been, the very worst possibilities, could drag her down. They would have dragged anyone down.

"...psychological but it didn't work. Then they did something to wipe your memories because what they asked you could have given away their plans."

Trextan sighed. His seat creaked as he pushed off it and dropped to one knee.

"I don't want you to jump but I'm gonna to hug you now," he said.

 

[Choli Vyn]

Interacting with: Trextan Voidstalker
Armor- x x x x x | Gear x x x x x x x | Weapons x x x x x

The more Trextan talked regarding the endless possibilities of what could have been done to her, the more Choli's eyes darkened, the bronze fading to slate then almost black. Her arms stayed crossed, tighter now. For someone used to being in control, that small shift said alot.

When he dropped to one knee in front of her, she froze. Blinked. Having someone close like this always threw her a little. It reminded her of where she came from and how far she'd let her guard drop with him.

He'd been the first to really help her do that.

She swallowed, glanced away, then back, the cockpit's dim lights thankfully hiding the red creeping across her face.

"Okay," she said softly.

And she didn't pull away.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

TREXTAN

Choli Vyn

He didn't wait once she had given permission. It wasn't something he would normally have asked for. They were standing on new ground and she had jumped at his first touch.

Trextan leaned forwards. One hand went behind her back, the other looper around her far shoulder. He let her keep her arms across over her chest. Trextan settled his head against her shoulder, letting her look away from him too.

He didn't say anything else. There was something familiar in the gesture. The scent of her hair brought back certain memories. There were lines they had never cross, but they had spent a lot of time in close proximity in the converted cargo bay of the Verree.

She was slightly different too. The set of tension and stress in her shoulders made him realise that she had a slightly more athletic build than before.

Trextan let out a quiet sigh and leaned into Choli.

 

[Choli Vyn]

Interacting with: Trextan Voidstalker
Armor- x x x x x | Gear x x x x x x x | Weapons x x x x x

The moment Trextan's arms wrapped around her, something inside Choli loosened. Not all at once but like a cable pulled just right, the tension easing from her like an overworked frame. She took in a deep breath, and with it came the scent of him. There was the familiar there, his scent and the warmth from his body. Memories flooded her in remembrance, and she couldn't help how her fingers slowly unclenched from where they'd tucked under her arms to ever so carefully, slip round him as well.

But with the familiar were the portions that were new. He felt different now, stronger and broader, but the quiet warmth was still the same.

Ever so slowly, Choli let her forehead fall forward until it met his shoulder, and she let it rest there. At least the height differences weren't so different still.

Her eyes fell shut and she let out one slow exhale. Then, for the first time in a long while, she didn't feel like she had to brace for anything. Not out here in the middle of the black.

Not with him.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan had been prepared for the worst. After the events of the last few days and the space between their encounters, he wouldn't have begrudged her if she had tensed up.

Instead he could feel her slowly unwind. It was in her body language, beneath his fingers, before she opened her arms.

Trextan made a small, satisfied noise as she lowered her head into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her a little more completely, his fingertips touching over her spine.

They had been very young when they had first met. Their childhoods had each been very strange and very different from one another. He hadn't helped her address the events that led to their meeting in hospital. As he looked back, he couldn't blame himself. They had each been going through far more than they should have at that age.

He could not blame their younger selves for just being young.

Trextan closed his eyes and decided that as he had initiated this, he would let Choli decide when she wanted to release him.

 

[Choli Vyn]

Interacting with: Trextan Voidstalker
Armor- x x x x x | Gear x x x x x x x | Weapons x x x x x

Choli took in another slow, quiet breath and honestly just settled into the moment.

They'd both been through too much too early. And they'd both handled it the only way they knew how by running, by shutting down, by surviving. But here, wrapped up in the dark hum of a ship they once shared, she didn't feel the need to armor up anymore.

Choli didn't say anything. She didn't have to. There was no rush to pull away. Just stayed like that, forehead to his shoulder, eyes shut, letting herself be.

One breath, then another, until time blurred out.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

TREXTAN

Choli Vyn

He settled into the embrace. In the end he was the one to eventually start to lean back. Trextan kept his hands loosely around her waist. He wore a comfortable expression on his face.

He glance down at her lips. His expression turned to one of embarrassment and he took a small step back. Scent and touch tugged on threads to old memories. An embrace like that had usually ended with a kiss.

"That was nice," he said, knowing that she would have seen his embarrassment.

Trextan took his seat. He looked out into the stars. His body language was far more relaxed than right before he had brought up so many difficult topics.

"We should start plotting our route to the red dwarf. A little more navigation," he mused.

---

"There, hold the frame."

"My Lord."

Orryx Ren stood in the war room of a star cruiser. In the middle of the room was a storage device recovered from their vessel.

"That is a Voidstalker."

They had learned precious little from the captured Wardens. The human girl was mentioned in old records as a pilot. Orryx didn't need records to recognise the young Jedi.

"His father was a Jedi Master that fought in the war for the Alliance. Not someone I would expect woth the Wardens."

"Your orders?"

"They tracked our ship to the Roil. They know too much. Go through our allies. If they come back from the Outer Rim and are spotted I want to know."