Private Into the World That Whispers

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

Jairdain did not flinch when the grove darkened around them.

She felt the shift long before the beast's wings displaced the air, felt the tightening of intent, the way the Force bent toward violence when choice gave way to certainty. Her stance widened subtly, not aggressive, simply immovable, the same way she had anchored Viari moments before. One hand remained steady at his back, a quiet reminder that he was not standing alone in this storm.

At the creature's screech, pain rippled through the currents of the Force like a wound reopened. Jairdain's breath slowed instead of quickening. Compassion did not leave her in the presence of danger; it sharpened.

"Yes," she said softly, answering Viari without looking at him, already understanding the shape of his thought as it formed. Her awareness brushed the beast, not probing, not commanding, acknowledging its agony, its confusion, the way it had been bound into service rather than chosen it. "I feel it too."

She shifted her weight a fraction, placing herself just enough between Viari and what loomed before them, not shielding him from the truth, but from being taken by it.

"This is not a lesson meant to be repeated through blood," Jairdain continued, her voice calm and steady despite the violence coiling in the air. "And you are right—there is still an opening here. Pain does not erase the possibility of healing. It only hides it."

Her hand tightened briefly against Viari's shoulder, grounding him.

"Do what you are thinking," she murmured, just for him. "I will hold the moment steady."

The Force gathered around her then, not as a weapon, but as a quiet field of resistance, denying the storm its crescendo. Whatever came next, she would ensure it was chosen, not forced.

Viari Banu

 

[Viari Banu]

ORICON​

"Thank you." Viari trilled, without another word turned and pushed himself into the air, talons gripped the hull firmly, allowing him vault forwards and use the downed ship to his advantage. A cyan bolt clanged against metal, leaving the faint scent of ozone in the air. That shot defined his strategy, and Viari kept his feet on the ground taking the most direct path towards the craters escape.​

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Rharrk flicked his wrist, a link in the Force, forming between him and the creature. It hissed, initially defiant, but quick to surrender. It leapt, the U-Wing hull groaning under the weight before sighing with relief as it gave pursuit. Viari hooted happily, a plan coming to fruition. He didn't know Rharrk, but he knew Rishii and he knew Zaltli. His plan hinged on Rharrk being focused on the only threat he could see, Jairdain and so far it was working and if Rharrk was intending to fight her, at least this way he wouldn't be in the way.​

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"And where are you going to run too?" Rharrk sighed, his voice oozing with confidence. He wasted no more words, gripping the darkshear, he aimed center mass and loosed the Force weapon towards its intended target. Simultaneously, he consolidated the Force into the fibres of his muscles bolting forward with the intention of sweeping low.​

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The warm acrid breath touched Viari's neck; he didn't need to look to realise how close the Windshear had come to crushing him beneath its weight. Thankfully, it's orders were to capture, not kill, and that should work in his favour. He skidded to a halt, scrambling back to put space between them, giving himself the time and space necessary to forge a connection.​

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The Rishii was no more than ten paces away, he could hear the air vibrating in it's lungs, building into a devastating crescendo that he had seen shatter trees, tear trenches into compacted earth, and shatter ear-drums if it so pleased. It leapt at him, talons outstretched. Viari countered, touching the Force to cloak his body in a vortex of whistling wind, the creature seemed to hesitate allowing him to push it harmlessly behind him.​

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Carrying it's momentum forward, the Windshear slid to a halt and whipped it's tail at him. Viari leapt up, catching the air beneath his wings to cushion his landing. It's reptilian eyes narrowed on him, and Viari bowed his head. Not enough to lose sight of the predator, but enough to show respect.​

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The juvenile looked bewildered, it's posture relaxing just ever so slightly as Viari dismissed the wind into a single focused channel, leaving a small trench to his right. He trilled a soft growl, not of his own voice but the only other of its kind he knew.​

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"Viari understands great-Windshears pain now." He said mournfully, it always seemed peculiar to his father, that the apex predator of the Auric Basin was so aggressive towards Rishii. He closed his eyes, extending a hand and brushed against it's presence in the Force, at first it resisted, a instinctive reaction of a tortured creature pushing back against it's masters, but Viari didn't push. He stopped, retreated back, and let it come to him.​

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And when it did, he felt the curiousity of its heart. Viari responded with imagery, of Rishi, of the Auric Basin, and the creature that inspired this ability. He felt recognition, but also fear and isolation.​

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My name is Viari. I cannot begin to understand your pain, but I know what it is like to lose family. I want to help you, but first we need to escape. Please, let us-​

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The whip of electricity tore through his body, every muscle burned with numbing pain. The feedback channeled into the Windshear, causing it's shrill cry to reverberated through the valley. Viari whimpered and hit the floor, his chest tightened and his muscles were overwhelmed with convulsions leaving him defenceless when the Windshear descended upon him.​

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But it didn't. It curled around, shielding him from further assault, tracked the shot to the snipers nest, and fired a blast of compressed air that ate a hole the valley's side.​

Div created by Makeb​

Jairdain Ismet-Thio

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

Jairdain felt the moment Viari fell.

Not as sight or sound, but as a sudden rupture in the current she had been holding steady, pain flaring bright and sharp, fear tightening like a clenched fist around a fragile flame. There was no hesitation. No deliberation.

She stepped fully into the flow.

The Force gathered around her not in a surge, but in a deep, resonant stillness, as if the world itself had taken a breath and decided to hold it. Her awareness expanded outward, tracking vectors and intent in a single, seamless motion—the sniper's nest, the spent energy of the strike, the recoil of fear that followed it.

Enough.

She did not strike back. She did not chase.

She ended it.

The space where the attack had originated collapsed into silence, not through destruction, but through removal, presence erased from the moment, intent cut cleanly from consequence. Whatever had fired that shot would not fire again. Of that, she was certain.

Then she was with Viari.

The barrier formed around him and the Windshear like a gentle dome of pressure, translucent in the Force rather than visible, firm enough to turn aside any further assault yet soft where it mattered. The creature's bulk pressed against the field, instinctively protective, and Jairdain allowed it, shaping the barrier to accommodate wings, coils, fear, and pain alike.

"You're safe," she said, not aloud, but into the space they shared, her presence steady and unmistakable. "Both of you."

She knelt beside Viari without disturbing the shield, one hand hovering just above him, not touching yet, letting his body settle out of the convulsions. The pain ebbed under her attention, not erased, but soothed, guided back into something survivable.

Her awareness brushed the Windshear again, calm and respectful. No command. No claim.

I will not harm you. You chose to protect. That choice matters.

The barrier held. The valley stilled. No more bolts came. No more pressure pressed in.

Only breath. Only survival.

Jairdain remained there, anchored and unyielding, until she was certain the danger had passed, not just for Viari, but for the creature that had chosen, in its pain, to become a shield instead of a weapon.

Viari Banu

 

[Viari Banu]

ORICON​

The beast turned to Jairdain tail raised and back arched, chompers snapped defensively as she neared the stunned Viari whose body appeared to have anchored the predator to the valley's floor. The pain still tormented it, thin tendrils of energy attempting and so far failing to enforce compliance. So far, it resisted the toll demanded of it's captors and trembling eyes glared at Jairdain, watching the subtle movements of tendons and muscles beneath her skin, poised to defend itself and it's charge if necessary.​

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Her presence brushed against it's mind, implanting words and imagery. She wasn't here to hurt it, she was thankful it chose to protect the young bird. However, they remained uncertain on the validity of their promise, it wouldn't be the first time an oath had been betrayed but in these two it had an opportunity, a chance to return to the cliffside and jungles of it's home. It didn't relax, it remained hyper vigilent but it didn't resist her presence either.​

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Viari's twitching had steadied and slowly but surely, the Rishii came too. Wearily he opened his eyes, shifting nervously beneath the shadow of the predator that stilled stood over him. "Hello friend-Jaird-ain." He croaked, his syrinx straining to put thought into song, raising a lone wing he brushed the feathers against the foreclaw closest to him, an attempt by Viari to help the Windshear relax. "Friend." He repeated, looking at her.​

Jairdain Ismet-Thio

Div created by Makeb​

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

Jairdain did not rush the space between them.

She slowed instead, every step measured, her posture open in a way that carried no challenge and no claim of dominance. The Windshear's tension was impossible to miss, the way its body held itself coiled around pain and vigilance alike, but she did not answer that readiness with her own. She let her hands remain visible, empty, her breathing steady enough that it became part of the valley's rhythm rather than a disruption of it.

"It is all right," she said quietly, not to command but to be heard if it chose to listen. Her voice carried no edge, no pressure, only the certainty of someone who had learned long ago that trust was not taken, only offered. "You did what you believed was right. You protected him."

She let that truth settle before reaching further, her presence touching the Windshear's awareness the way one might rest a hand against stone warmed by sun, firm but patient. Images followed her words, not forced into place, but laid gently where they could be found if the creature wished: open skies, familiar winds, the memory of cliff faces and living jungles rather than chains and pain. She made no promise she could not keep. Only possibility.

"I will not take him from you," Jairdain continued softly. "And I will not take you from your home. What has been done to you was not your choosing. You owe no obedience here."

Only then did she turn her attention fully to Viari, lowering herself just enough to be closer to his level without breaking the fragile balance they had found. Her awareness brushed over him, careful and precise, checking what the body could not yet speak aloud, and she felt the steadiness returning beneath the exhaustion.

"You did well," she told him, her voice warming without losing its calm. "You listened. You chose compassion when fear would have been easier."

When Viari brushed his feathers against the Windshear's foreclaw, Jairdain allowed herself the faintest smile, more felt than seen, and inclined her head in acknowledgment of the bond forming between them.

"You are safe," she said to him gently. "Both of you are. Nothing else will touch you while I am here."

She remained where she was then, neither advancing nor withdrawing, anchoring the moment with presence alone, trusting that sometimes the strongest protection was simply refusing to become another threat.

Viari Banu

 

[Viari Banu]

ORICON​

With time came trust, and with trust came peace. After a few minutes, the Rishii was back on his feet cautiously searching for any danger that still remained. There was none that he could see, none that was immediately apparent the Windshear uncoiled but it's body language remained cautious, wings enclosed and tightened like a shield to it's body. Jairdain presence, her warmth, was like a sun it hadn't felt in centuries and the creature basked in it's warmth with a low-rumbling purr. The lush green canopies, although unfamiliar invoked a feeling of nostalgia and sorrow for what it had lost.​

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The muscles relaxed, and membrane of it's wings lost their crimson hue as blood vessels diluted and retreated and for the first time, in a long time it was calm. It twitched, a instinctive reaction to nip at her hand that was blocked by clarity. Viari looked at her, his ear-tufts rising in silent appreciation despite the uncertainty that bubbled beneath. Cautiously, he crawled out from the barrier of scale and claws to embrace Jairdain's company. He wanted to apologise but had no words to speak them, only a hug of affectionate feathers and the Windshear eying them both with regret.​

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"Not safe, not yet." He chirped, in a low-cautious voice. He didn't feel safe in the valley, not in the shadow of that structure at least. Part of him wanted to stay and fight. Fight. That thought cut deeper than it should, he liked making friends, not enemies and despite everything he tried the chasm between friendship and Rharrk felt too great. He wished he could understand their perspective, but he couldn't. Perhaps he lacked the wisdom or context necessary, but he knew this battle would endanger his friends and he wasn't willing to ask that of them.​

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"Fly from danger?" He asked, head turning into the direction of the starport.​

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Jairdain Ismet-Thio​

Div created by Makeb​

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

Jairdain did not rush to answer him.

She let the calm hold for a moment longer, allowing both Viari and the Windshear to remain in that fragile space where fear had loosened its grip but had not yet vanished. Her hand stayed where it was, open and steady, offering presence rather than command, warmth rather than direction.

"You are right," she said quietly at last, her voice low and even, carrying certainty without urgency. "It is not safe here. Not yet."

Her attention drifted outward, not with sight, but with memory. With the way the land felt beneath the Force, the old echoes that still lingered where lives had once been lived with intention instead of survival. When she spoke again, there was something gentler woven through her words.

"We can leave," Jairdain continued. "We can put distance between us and what is hunting, and find shelter among strangers who do not yet know your names."

She shifted slightly then, turning her body not away from them, but toward another path entirely.

"Or," she added, "we can go looking for a place that once knew mine."

Her presence warmed with recollection, tinged with quiet longing rather than pain.

"There was a home here, many years ago," Jairdain said. "It was not grand. It was not fortified. But it was mine. It was a place where I learned how to breathe again after loss, where the Force was gentle instead of demanding. I do not know what remains of it now, or if it still stands at all."

A pause, deliberate.

"But I know how to find where it was."

Her hand lifted slightly, an unspoken offer rather than a directive.

"If you wish to fly from danger, we will," Jairdain said softly. "If you wish to walk a little longer and see if that place still remembers how to shelter those who need it, we can try."

She inclined her head, acknowledging Viari's fear without diminishing it.

"You do not need to decide alone," she finished. "Whichever path you choose, I will walk it with you."

Viari Banu