Private Life Begins...

[Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker]

After the captain was released, the other woman had cleared the databases of any mention of Scilla and had then disappeared. She didn't know why and didn't think it was that important. Aren had helped, and that was all she knew. Clearing out her cell, the men Vulpesen had brought along carried her stuff to their ship. Throughout most of the process, she sat silently as the life she had known was demolished. Darum was her companion and comfort. Anything else wasn't important, but he insisted that everything get brought along for her.

Cleaning up didn't take very long, and she was taken aboard his transport. Once again, she sat on the cold deck and cuddled her dog. The men were leaving her alone except for one, who was keeping an eye on her. Even he wasn't speaking to her but watching her. Why? She hadn't done anything. Never mind, yes, she had. She had totally scorched her keeper and ended his life. She had murdered a man, and she didn't know if he even had a family. Had she taken from them a father, brother, or husband?

This was something she would have to live with for a very long time, but she wasn't going to let it eat away at her soul. That was something that belonged to her, and nobody could take that. The blemish would fade away eventually, but right now it was still firmly burning away.

"Where are we going?"

A question to know and learn. Whatever the answer, it probably wouldn't mean anything to her, but she asked anyway.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

"A place where people are used to new beginnings. Veradune," Vulpesen said as he stepped into the main rotunda of his ship. He waved away the soldier that was standing by, and wordlessly, the Zorren stepped away, rejoining his companions at a dejarik table. "I know you'd really have much, but we're used to that kind of story. We have the resources to get you started. From there, you can stay or go. But I think it may be wise for you to hang around, at least for a bit. You might learn something."

His back pressed against a wall as he took some of the weight off of his feet, his eyes occasionally darting to the cockpit. The Novalight had gone some ways away from Veradune when its troubles had began. And shortly after those troubles, Vulpesen and his crew had been among those who had sought for a swift evacuation and a cancellation of their vacation plans. As an inconvenience, it could certainly be worse. But it did mean that the ride back to Veradune had been going on for quite some time.

Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker

 

[Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker]

As she expected, it didn't mean anything to her. Watching as her guard was dismissed and walked away, she turned her blue eyes to Vulpesen. Listening to him silently, she had already made one decision, and that was to travel with him. It wasn't as if he had given her too much of a choice and had removed her from her cage, from the only life she had known. With that removal, though, he offered her something new. A change from being in a prison almost of her own making.

"I will stay with you for a while."

Making it sound so simple, both of them could only imagine how hard it would be for her to adjust.

"If you are as old as you say you are, then it seems we both have a lot of time to spend learning. Where do you plan to begin, Mister Vulpesen?"

Running her clawed fingers gently through Darum's fur, both of them looked at him with some expectation.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

"First, you'll need housing. My estate certainly has enough rooms for you to rest there for a time, at least until I can get the old political machine up and running to find you some other type of housing." That was one issue he hadn't thought of until just now. Veradune had once been the victim of a crippling population crisis. Fixing it had been the work of a veritable miracle through the force, and decades of labor. But those decades had come and gone. Zorrens, once, freshly resurrected now had homes and jobs, often times even careers. Critical infrastructure had long since been repaired and now, most reparatory construction had to do with things such as historical land marks. Veradune had needed systems in place to care for the billions of denizens who had immigrated from death itself. Those systems had worked. And now they were no longer needed. There was the occasional Zorren, lost to centuries of hiding that might return, but for the most part, the emergency that Vulpesen so often alluded to, had ended. And with it, the programs that he promised Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker .

Of course, that didn't mean that he intended to drop her off at the nearest star cluster with nothing but five credits and an apology. He was the Valde, and one of the benefits of his position was the ability to reach into his government's proverbial attic to retrieve what he needed, so long as he was willing to do the legwork. "While we get your living situation sorted, I and my sect can teach you to control your abilities in the force. Show you its intricacies so that you needn't work purely off of instinct. I can't promise that any of this will be easy for either of us, but I think it'll be worth the struggle."

 

[Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker]

For a long moment, Scilla said nothing. The words estate and housing felt distant — fragile, almost unreal — like artifacts from a life she had never been allowed to imagine. Her wings folded closer to her back, the membrane catching faint light as she inclined her head in quiet acknowledgment.

"You have already given more than I could have asked for," she said softly, her voice carrying that gentle resonance that always seemed to linger in the air around her. "A place to stand beneath the open sky… it is more than I thought I would ever find again."

Her gaze lifted toward him then, turquoise eyes luminous and steady. "I will accept your offer, Valde. If there is work to be done, I will do it. And if there is learning… I will learn. The Force has guided me through solitude and silence, but I know enough to see how little I truly understand."

Her claws brushed against her forearm — a small, grounding motion. "Instinct has been my companion for many years. It kept me alive, but not whole. Perhaps it is time to be… more than that."

She hesitated, the faintest curve of a smile softening her expression. "I cannot promise that I will be an easy student. But I can promise that I will try."

Her wings flexed once more, the bioluminescent tracery beneath her skin pulsing softly like heartlight. "And… thank you. For seeing me as more than a remnant."

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

"Helping you costs me nothing that I care about losing. And I appreciate your eagerness to work. I'm happy to say however, that Veradune's time of reparations is long gone. And its very likely that you'll be far too busy for any sort of labor in that regard." A mischievous smirk touched the Valde's lips and he lifted a hand in front of himself. Lightning and the sound of a whistling breeze moved between his fingers as he offered a slight display. "My people harness the powers of nature, whether that controlling the elements, listening to the trees, or embodying the beasts and aspects of the world around us. I intend to teach you these skills, but first, there's a commitment that I will need from you."

His smirk faded with the elemental display and his hand dropped as he squared his shoulders on the woman. "As I train you, you will be inducted into the Vitae Sect. You are free to leave at any time and take the knowledge of my tutelage with you. But while you learn from me, you will need to follow certain rules. The first of which, is that our actions must lead to the furtherance of life. Second, you will endeavor to pursue freedom, not just for yourself, but for others. Finally, know should you turn these teachings against us, we will hunt you down as a predator pursues its prey. We will be relentless until you are devoured. Leave whenever you wish, but never betray the sect."

Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker

 

[Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker]

The energy between his fingers hummed in her chest, vibrating through her like the remembered pulse of caged hearts long ago. Lightning, wind, the crackle of unseen currents — she felt it all as a language, one she had always known, even in silence.

"They are alive," she murmured, wings flexing reflexively. "Everything that moves, breathes, whispers… the animals I lived beside spoke in this same tongue. Not words, not voices, but truth in rhythm and will." Her tail flicked lightly, unconsciously echoing the sway of distant trees she could almost feel. "I have listened, and I have answered."

Her eyes met his, sharp and unafraid. "Life… freedom… these are not lessons to me. They are memory. I have known captivity and silence. And I have learned to honor what is free, to protect what breathes."

A low, calm exhalation passed her lips, as if letting the wind out of herself and into the world. "I will follow your teachings, Valde. Not because I must, but because I choose to. I will learn. I will endure. And I will not betray the trust of those who live, nor of the Vitae."

Her wings shifted once more, subtle and fluid, like leaves stirred by an unseen breeze. "I will walk this path… as it was always meant for me."

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

His tail flicked behind him, a motion of pleased finality as his lips displayed a fanged smile. "Then lets begin. No time like the present. Unfortunately, the vacuum of space isn't the best place to immerse yourself in the hum of life's music, but it does allow for greater focus on the individual. And if I remember right, that focus may be beneficial to you." As he took a seat in front of her, his mind turned to raw displays of power he had seen back on the cruise yacht. Scilla had power, but that did not make for the entirety of one's proficiency. To truly master the force, a certain level of finesse was required.

"Tell me, how does the force feel to you? You've shown an ability to reach out an grasp it. But what form does it take in your eyes?" From his youth, the Valde had learned that the force had no single manifestation. Some saw it as colors, a web, echoes, and rivers. For him, it as as if the galaxy was in a vast ocean with swirling currents. And yet, he knew that for those that saw individual spirits or strands of a web, it was all the same.

Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker

 

[Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker]

Scilla lowered herself to the floor before him, her black wings folding in a sweeping mantle around her, the leathery edges catching the ship's cold light with a subtle sheen. Against the stark metallic interior, her pale skin seemed almost luminous, and her long black hair fell forward in a dark curtain as she settled. Even here, far from soil and breath and open sky, she felt the faint echo of life that clung to all things — not vibrant, but present, like a heartbeat remembered rather than heard.

His question drew her eyes open, turquoise pupils narrowing with quiet thought.

"The Force…" she began, voice low, almost reverent, "is not one shape to me. It is many. All at once."

Her eyelids lowered halfway as she let the feeling rise through instinct rather than memory.

"It feels like wings gliding through warm air. Like pressure — subtle at first, then sudden — when a flock turns as one without a sound."
A brief pause.
"Like the breath of a creature beside me, even when its body lies perfectly still."

Her claws flexed lightly against her knees, an unconscious echo of old habits formed in the company of beasts.

"For the others in the cages, I could feel when fear tightened their hearts… and when calm flowed back into them. That was the Force as well. It moved between us. Not as colors or rivers or strands."

Her pale fingers traced a slow path through the air between them, as though following something unseen.
"But as presence. Emotion. Intention."

She inhaled softly, her black wings giving a faint, instinctive flutter — like a hush of night air.

"When I reach for the Force, I do not see pictures. I feel beings. Their breath. Their weight. Their will. Even here… in emptiness… I can feel you."

Her eyes opened fully then — bright, clear, steady.

"It is like placing your hand over a chest and hearing a heartbeat without sound."

Her tail coiled loosely around her ankle, grounding her in the moment.

"That is what the Force is to me, Valde. A living nearness. A presence pushing gently against my own. Not a river. A companion."

A faint, almost shy smile touched her lips — small, but real.

"But I want to understand more. To know the shapes others describe. To learn the currents beneath the presence."

Her head inclined, dark hair spilling softly over one pale shoulder.

"Teach me."

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

He smiled as he listened to her explanation of the force. It was different with everyone, a truth that he found no small amount of joy in. A unifying power that permeated the galaxy, and yet, it was felt in so many ways that it was beyond full comprehension by any one mind. Every view was like a thread in a grand tapestry, a miniscule pigment in the overall design. "Start with what you know. Travelling the stars as we are, it makes it difficult to sense much more than the lives around you. But, that will will allow us to focus on those lives. Reach out and focus yourself on them. They've learned to guard their minds, but general emotions can bubble up to the surface. See what you can gather. Find those minute differences that separate them from each other. Test it like rolling an unfamiliar substance through your fingers. Perhaps that silent heartbeat will find a tone you've never heard over the din."

As he offered his advice, Vulpesen reached out with the force, blanketing its presence over that of his men. His purpose was twofold. The first was to be a guiding presence, something that Scilla could reach out to, a beacon to guide the way. The second, was as a precaution. Ideally, her act of sensing his men would have no repercussions and they would be unaware of their status as his test subjects. Still, there was the slight worry in that reaching out to feel, she might being to crush. In such a case, his job would be to act as a failsafe. They were after all, his friends as well as his bodyguards.

Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker

 

[Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker]

Scilla listened to his instructions with stillness so complete it seemed as though even her breath had gone quiet. Only the faintest shift of her black wings—a slow unfurl, a settling—betrayed the attention thrumming beneath her pale skin.

Start with what you know.
Yes. That she understood.

She lowered her gaze, not in submission, but in concentration. The Force was not a thing she grasped with her mind—it was something she leaned into, the way one leans toward warmth in a cold room.

Slowly, tentatively, she reached outward.

At first, all she felt was him—his presence a steady current, warm and thunder-deep, like the hush before a storm breaks. A beacon, just as he intended. A safe starting place.

Then she stepped past it.

Her awareness brushed the silhouettes of the men stationed around them. Not their thoughts—those were guarded, he'd said—but the faint impressions that leaked through the cracks of their discipline. The way beasts had, even when trying to hide fear or aggression.

One felt… alert. Tight. Like a coiled muscle.
Another drifted with boredom, a soft, hazy static around the edges.
A third… worry? No—anticipation.
Their "weights," their "heartbeats," felt different from one another, each presence shaped by a distinct rhythm.

She probed gently, the way she would approach a frightened animal—slow, steady, without pressure.

"I can feel them," she murmured, voice soft but certain. Her dark hair fell forward as she leaned deeper into the sensation, claws lightly flexing against her knees in concentration. "They are like… silhouettes in a fog. Their emotions press outward. Small ripples."

Her wings tightened slightly, the leathery edges whispering together.
"One is restless."
A breath.
"One is calm."
Her eyes fluttered open, turquoise bright and crystalline in the dim light.
"And one is… thinking of something he does not wish to think about."

She hesitated then, drawing her senses back with careful discipline—mindful not to press too hard, mindful of the strength he feared she might unleash by accident.

Her presence receded like a tide pulling back from sand.

When she met his eyes again, there was no pride—only quiet wonder.

"This… this is the first time I have felt so many at once." A beat. "It is easier than I feared. And harder than I thought."

A faint exhale, almost a laugh, escaped her.
"Everything is loud," she admitted softly. "But the tones are becoming clearer."

Her wings folded neatly behind her once more.

"Is this what you meant by finesse?"

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen's eyes roamed between his men as he surveyed both the seen and the unseen. Outwardly, it was business as usual. But beyond the light and shadow that was granted by sight, he he could feel the difference. The flow of the force changed as Priscilla moved through it, touching the minds of the Trident soldiers. He smiled at the care with which she retreated, like petting a small animal before withdrawing ones hand.

"That is exactly what I meant by finesse. It is a caress rather than a blow. It is hearing a voice over the crowd." The pride she had lost to wonder showed on his own face as he sat before her, his hands resting in his lap. "I know Wilders who can hear entire histories from a single blade of grass because they've learned to listen to the whispers in even the smallest of lives. Perhaps, once we reach the groves of Veradune, you'll meet some of those teachers."

Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker

 

[Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker]

Scilla's shoulders eased at his words, tension she had not realized she was holding slipping away like breath released after a long dive. Her black wings settled fully now, folded close and still, the faint sheen of their leathery surface catching the light as she inclined her head—acceptance, not submission.

"A caress," she echoed quietly, tasting the word. There was understanding in her eyes now, something newly named finding its place. "Yes. That is what it feels like. To touch without taking. To listen without being heard."

Her gaze drifted for a moment, not to his men, but inward—back to memories of cages lined in transparisteel, of creatures who flinched at sudden movement and trusted only patience.

"I learned early that force invites resistance," she continued, voice soft but certain. "The animals who survived longest were the ones who were listened to, not commanded. Fear closes doors. Gentleness opens them." A faint pause. "I think… the Force remembers that."

When he spoke of Wilders and groves, something subtle shifted in her expression—wonder, careful and restrained, but unmistakable. Her pale fingers curled lightly against her palm, as if imagining soil beneath them instead of polished deck plating.

"To hear history in a blade of grass," she murmured. "That sounds… kind."

Her eyes lifted back to him, steady and intent.

"If there are those who listen so deeply, I would like to learn from them. Not to take what the land offers—but to understand what it has already been saying."

A beat of silence followed, reverent rather than empty.

"And thank you," she added quietly. "For stopping me before instinct became weight. For showing me that restraint is not weakness—it is respect."

Her wings gave the faintest rustle, like night air moving through leaves.

"I will remember this lesson."

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen rose back up to his feet, his tail lashing behind him in a short pleased wag. "Its the first step on a long road. I've found that in following the will of the force, one can find power in surrender. Its a lesson the sith find impossible to learn. They attempt to wrangle and wrestle that cosmic power into their absolute control and they suffer for it."

Offering a hand to help her off the ground, Vulpesen spoke once more. "Take a moment and get some rest. Its still a bit of a ride towards Veradune and we have plenty of time to hone your skills." Looking up, several of his men were ambling towards the tables where a deck of cards was waiting. "You're in for a much wider world than the hull of some ship and a cage."

Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker

 

[Priscilla Tel'Lightstalker]

Scilla accepted his offered hand without hesitation, her grip careful despite her strength, pale fingers warm against his as she rose. Her black wings shifted to rebalance, folding smoothly against her back once she was standing. For a heartbeat, she remained still, absorbing his words — power in surrender — letting them settle into her the way quiet truth always did.

"Yes," she said softly. "Surrender… not as loss, but as trust." Her turquoise eyes lifted to meet his, understanding clear and unforced. "I have felt what happens when one tries to force the current to obey. It pushes back. Hard." A faint pause. "Listening has never punished me."

At his suggestion of rest, something like relief touched her expression — subtle, but real. The work of sensing had been gentle, but it had reached deep places all the same. She inclined her head in agreement.

"Sleep would be wise," she admitted. "The quiet kind. The kind that lets the echoes settle."

Her gaze flicked briefly toward the men gathering at the tables, their laughter and easy movements a living contrast to the silence she once knew. The sight stirred something warm and unfamiliar in her chest.

"A wider world," she echoed, almost to herself. Then, softly, "I think I am ready to see it."

She stepped back, giving him space, wings tucked in close as she prepared to withdraw to rest. Before she turned away, she looked at him once more.

"Thank you, Valde. For the patience… and for not rushing what needs time."

With that, she inclined her head — not a bow, but a gesture of quiet respect — and moved off to find a place to rest, her steps unhurried, her presence already settling into a gentler rhythm as sleep called her home.

Vulpesen