Private From Gardens to Glaciers

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre let the warmth of the meal settle before answering, unhurried, her posture easy in a way that spoke to comfort rather than formality. The quiet rhythm of the table, the soft rise of steam, the simple presence of others, all seemed to hold her there for a moment before she spoke.

"It is good," she said first, glancing toward Ti'sonta with a small, genuine note of approval. "The broth carries more than you think. It found its way in."

There was a faint hint of a smile before the question drew her attention back.

"And I would not call it 'laser sword practice,'" she added lightly, a touch of quiet amusement in her voice. "Though I suppose the description is functional."

She set her utensil down briefly, folding her hands loosely near her bowl as she considered the question more fully.

"It has been…clarifying," she said. "There is less room for distraction when every movement has a consequence. It forces you to be present, whether you intend to be or not."

Her gaze shifted toward SH1-FU then, more deliberate now.

"And your companion is precise," she continued. "There is no hesitation in correction. No uncertainty. It makes it difficult to rely on habit."

A faint pause, then just a touch softer: "That is useful."

Her attention returned to Ti'sonta, the earlier ease settling back in. "I have enjoyed it," she added simply.

Then, with the faintest lift at the corner of her mouth: "Though I suspect I am still the least efficient one at the table."

Ti'sonta

 

[Ti'sonta]

"Eh, you'd be surprised how far instinct can take you." Ti'sonta commented, pausing to take in a spoonful of broth before continuing. "Thinking's all well and good, but sometimes you need to rely on your instincts to get you out the other side of a sticky situation. But yeah, taking the time to get the right moves ingrained in your muscle memory is needed. Shifu is great at doing that. He's been teaching me fisticuffs in between meditation and all that."

"It's called Shon-Ju, Ti'sonta." SH1-FU corrected, the barest hint of flint in his voice as he recognised his friend's purposeful misnaming of the martial art. "But still, thank you both for the compliment. I must agree that you're both right in a way. Whilst it is the goal to develop each move into instinct, one must first practice each move slowly so that it is performed correctly every time."

Ti'sonta paused for the briefest moment at the jedi's last comment. Her face remained a mask of casual relaxation and a hint of mirth whilst inside her inner thoughts she had to clamp down on the panic that tried to rise inside her. {No, easy, you've not been found out yet...} Ti'sonta compartmentalised that thought and set it aside for later, making sure to not let her mask slip. "To be fair, Shifu does probably have more experience than any jedi alive, considering how old he is." the Twi'lek commented with a wry smile, earning a small huff from the droid.
"I prefer the term venerable, youngling." SH1-FU retorted. "But yes, training multiple generations of jedi does give one a certain edge in some matters."

 

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre listened as they spoke, her attention moving easily between them, the rhythm of their exchange carrying a kind of familiarity that felt…lived in. There was comfort in it, in the way correction and humor seemed to exist side by side without friction.

At the mention of instinct, her gaze shifted slightly, thoughtful rather than dismissive.

"Instinct has its place," she said, her tone calm, measured. "But it is rarely as untrained as it feels. What we call instinct is often just repetition that has settled deeply enough to feel immediate."

Her eyes flicked briefly toward SH1-FU, acknowledging the droid with quiet agreement.

"Precision before speed. Intention before reaction."

A small pause followed, then a faint softening at the edge of her expression.

"Otherwise instinct becomes guesswork."

When SH1-FU addressed Ti'sonta as a youngling, Iandre's brow lifted just slightly, a subtle reaction she did not give voice to. It passed as quickly as it came, her composure remaining intact.

Her attention returned to the droid as he spoke of experience, and she inclined her head a fraction in acknowledgment.

"Experience refines what training begins," she said. "It is one thing to repeat a form correctly. It is another to understand when to abandon it."

Her gaze shifted between them again, more relaxed now, the conversation settling into something easy.

"It sounds as though you have both found a balance between the two," she added, before taking another small sip from her bowl.

Ti'sonta

 

[Ti'sonta]

"We certainly have found a way to manage." SH1-FU responded, his shoulders seeming to relax as they settled into their usual evening routines. "I must say, Life amongst the stars has given me more experience in the field than I ever would have thought possible. Teaching in holo simulations and empty halls is an altogether different beast than the cramped corridors and dingy bars that we mainly see."
Ti'sonta nodded in agreement as she quietly sucked up a strand of noodle from her bowl. "The galaxy has that way of teaching you things the hard way. You'd be surprised how many dewy-eyed storm troopers or CorSec cops get chucked into places and situations they really aren't ready for." She sighed and shook that particular train of thought away. "But anyways, the point is that in lives like yours and ours, we've been fortunate to have had the chance to learn our lessons and keep ourselves in one piece." Ti'sonta took the time to swallow a spoonful of broth before continuing.
"Speaking of learning lessons and the like, Mind if I ask you a personal question? I was wondering how you find life as a jedi. Shifu's told me how life in the temple was back in the day, but it'd be nice to hear from someone who lives it day-to-day."

 

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre listened as they spoke, the easy rhythm between them carrying a familiarity she did not interrupt. There was something grounding in it, in the way experience was shared without pretense, earned rather than claimed.

When Ti'sonta asked her question, Iandre did not answer immediately. Her gaze lowered briefly to her bowl, as if the reflection there offered her a moment to choose her words more carefully than usual.

"I would not consider myself a Jedi anymore," she said at last, her tone calm and carrying a quiet finality. "Not since my Order was destroyed nine hundred years ago."

There was no drama in the statement, only the weight of time spoken plainly. Her eyes lifted again, settling between the two of them with a steady, peaceful gaze.

"What I am now is different. I serve more as a soldier than a monk, belonging to the Lilaste Order."

The words came with acceptance rather than conflict, though there was still something in them that suggested she was still defining what that meant for her.

"And I have found things I was never meant to: love among them. I am still learning what it means to allow that, to accept that it is not wrong to simply feel."

Her fingers shifted slightly against the edge of the table, grounding herself.

"That is why I am traveling. This walkabout is not just movement; it is reflection. I need to be certain that the path I am on is truly mine, or if there is another I have yet to see."

Ti'sonta

 

[Ti'sonta]

Ti'sonta was silent as she listened, a pang of sympathy bleeding though the parsing of usable information and threat analysis that was running through her mind.
"It's not easy being adrift among the stars, no berth to call your own" she sympathised with Iandre. "I'm glad you were able to find somewhere to call your own."

The trio quietly continued their conversation between dinner, talking idly about small topics and what was to be expected on their journey. Soon it was time to check in for the night, and the three all went their separate ways. SH1-FU to the cockpit to ensure the ship stayed on course, TI'sonta to her own cabin to meditate and get some semblance of rest, and Iandre to the cabin made for her at the start of the flight.

~~~​

"All aboard, prepare to exit hyperspace."
SH1-FU flicked off the switch for the PA as the ship began it's deceleration, and the white streaks flying past the cockpit quickly shrunk to becoming the little white pinpricks of distant stars among the inky black of space. The journey was thankfully uneventful, all things considered. The checkpoint Ti'sonta had led them to was the same one they had used to escape all those years ago. Thankfully the sound of the particular sith acolyte's bank account becoming a few thousand credits heavier encouraged him to be rather forgetful, and they were able to continue their trip relatively unmolested. During hyperspace he had spent his rather enjoyable time with Iandre, the two sparring, meditating, and discussing philosophy together. Ti'sonta would sometimes watch or join in with the meditation, but mostly she spent her time in the cockpit - a sign he learned that she was growing more and more on edge about the situation despite what her well-practiced mask of casual professionalism would suggest.
The droid looked over at his friend, the twi'lek's eyes fixed upon the icy ball of rock that was beginning to loom ahead.
"Ti'sonta?"
"Hmm?" she asked, snapping out of her fixation and looking over to her friend. "What's up, Shifu?"
"The journey is nearly over, Ti'sonta." he assured, his tone calm and soothing. "All that is left is to see miss Iandre to the planet surface."
Ti'sonta nodded slowly, her mind in conflict. "I'm gonna miss her, to be honest." TI'sonta admitted. "Sure, she's a goody two-shoes even if she doesn't consider herself one, but she was nice." she smiled before adding wryly. "It was good seeing you have fun as well, Shifu. I can't remember how long it's been since I've seen you this well...at ease around clients."
"Hrm yes, well..." SH1-FU blustered before regaining his composure. "Miss Iandre and I are from the same time. There was a certain Nostalgia that brought me back to the temple on Coruscant."
Ti'sonta let out a small titter. "I'm just glad you found another friend. If you want, you two can always exchange commlink codes to keep in touch..."
The droid actually considered this. "Hrmm...in any case, let's invite miss iandre up into the cockpit. we still need to know where she wants us to land."
"Gotcha." Ti'sonta nodded, pausing for a moment to get her proverbial mask on before flicking on the PA system. "Miss Iandre? Could you please come up to the cockpit? We're on approach to Hoth."

 

[Iandre Athlea]

The call came just as Iandre had begun to settle into stillness.

She had not been asleep, not truly; rather, the quiet of hyperspace had lent itself to reflection more than rest, her thoughts moving in slower, more deliberate patterns than they had when she first stepped aboard. What had begun as a simple journey outward had, in many ways, turned inward, allowing her to process the transition from the life she knew to the uncertainty of Hoth.

When the voice came over the comm, her eyes opened without haste.

"Of course."

She rose from the small space she had been given, smoothing her hands briefly over her sleeves out of habit more than necessity before stepping into the corridor. The hum of the ship had changed, subtle but noticeable, the shift from hyperspace to realspace carrying a different kind of weight that signaled the end of their transit. Her steps were quiet as she made her way toward the cockpit, her posture composed, though there was a faint undercurrent of something else now, not tension, but a quiet, steady anticipation.

The door slid open to admit her, and her gaze moved first to the viewport where the icy sphere of Hoth hung against the black, cold, unforgiving, and vast in a way that made most civilized worlds feel small and contained. She took in the sight for a moment, letting the stark reality of the landscape settle before her attention shifted back to the two of them.

"It seems our journey has been kinder than expected," she said, her tone calm, though not without a trace of quiet appreciation for the safety they had provided.

Her eyes lingered briefly between the droid and the Twi'lek, acknowledging the rare comfort she had found in their company, before she stepped slightly closer to the console to indicate their destination.

"There is a plateau not far from the southern glacial ridge," she explained, pointing toward the rugged, white expanse ahead. "It offers enough stability for a landing and provides some natural cover from the worst of the planetary winds. If you would be willing to set down there, it will suffice for my needs."

She did not immediately step back, her gaze drifting once more to the frozen world beyond the viewport before she turned her head to look at them again, her expression softening with genuine warmth.

"Thank you…both of you, for the journey and the conversation," she added quietly, pausing for a beat as she considered the isolation of the path ahead. "When my path eventually leads me away from this place, and I find myself in need of reliable transport once more...would I be able to contact you again?"

Ti'sonta