Private Lightning Splits the Sky

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Skadi Lightbane​

The storm had no mercy on Dromund Kaas. It swallowed every street in rain and shadow, washing the capital in sheets of water that ran along stone and durasteel alike. Lightning forked above the towers, striking so bright it turned the night into momentary day. Thunder shook through the foundations of the city, rattling glass panes and setting the ground in subtle tremor.

Aerik walked without destination. His instructors had given him a rare reprieve from drills, yet still his muscles ached for movement. He took to the streets instead of staying locked in his quarters. The city itself was another lesson. To walk among its people was to taste the iron weight of the Sith Empire in daily rhythm.

He moved past markets where smoke and steam rose from food stalls that fought against the storm. Vendors barked prices while clutching cloaks close to their bodies. Their voices carried only a short distance before the storm swallowed them again. Children darted between the legs of strangers, laughing as they splashed through puddles before a watchful parent pulled them back.

Patrols passed often. Sith troopers in crimson armor marched in pairs, each pair watched by a black-cloaked figure who carried the aura of the Order. Aerik kept his hood raised, his cloak pressed against his frame by the rain. The wolf-shaped clasp at his chest glinted when lightning cracked overhead, drawing an occasional stare. None challenged him. They knew the look of a young Sith.

He slowed when he reached one of the bridges that crossed a swollen river of traffic. The storm-worn towers rose around him, their windows glowing with pale light. Beyond them, massive and unyielding, stood Prazutis' palace. Its silhouette cut through the storm with sharp defiance. Aerik let his gaze linger there. It was a monument to the strength of another, but also a reminder of what waited for those who proved themselves.

Pulling his cloak tighter, he continued down into another district where the streets narrowed and the lights dimmed. The smell of wet stone mixed with the sharp tang of fuel and the faint copper of blood. Somewhere in the alleys a fight had broken out. Voices shouted and steel clashed, but Aerik did not turn. Such things happened every night. To intervene without purpose would only waste his strength.

He turned instead toward the starport. It was not his destination when he set out, but his wandering steps drew him closer. The storm thickened there, rain hammering against the wide expanse of landing pads and docking towers. Shuttles lifted and descended in constant rhythm, their engines cutting through the roar of thunder.

Then he saw it.

A ship pierced the clouds above, fighting the weight of the storm as it descended. Its engines blazed bright against the dark, driving through wind and rain with stubborn resolve. Aerik's eyes narrowed. The shape was wrong for Sith, wrong for Imperial. The hull bore strong lines and carved patterns that stirred something deep in memory. It was the work of the Valkyri.

He stopped at the edge of a platform to watch it descend. His cloak snapped in the wind, water streaming down its fur-trimmed collar. For a long breath he stood still, the world narrowing until there was only the sight of the vessel cutting through the storm.

When its landing struts struck the platform, steam rose in thick clouds. The gathered crowd murmured in surprise. Some stepped back, uncertain. Valkyri ships were rare this far south in the galaxy, and rarer still here, where the shadow of the Order was strongest.

Aerik moved forward, his boots striking wet stone as he crossed the open space. He had not come here seeking anything, yet now the storm seemed to have guided his wandering steps. The people around him parted as he passed. Some whispered. Others only watched, unwilling to stand in the way of a young Sith whose stride carried the weight of purpose.

The ship hissed as its ramp lowered. Pale light spilled onto the platform, cutting through the storm for a fleeting moment. Aerik's breath steadied. He reached with his senses, searching the air for intent. What came to him was more than the scent of metal or oil. It was older, heavier, something that spoke to blood and memory.

The storm paused for the briefest instant, thunder holding back as if waiting to hear what would follow.

Aerik stood at the foot of the landing pad, his cloak heavy with rain, his gaze fixed on the glow within the Valkyri vessel. His day of wandering had led him here, to this moment. Whatever emerged from that ship would not be chance. It would be challenge, or test, or perhaps fate itself.

 

[Skadi Lightbane]

DROMUND KAAS

Aerik Lechner
​

Skadi of House Lightbane, made it a personal goal of hers to defy the will of her Father, and venture into the wider galaxy to better understand those outside of her clan, her kinsmen. Her recent trip to Korriban to celebrate a Sith victory over their enemies, had opened her eyes to something that made her burn with curiosity. She’d met someone, others, that lived as she and her clan did…who were Sith too, but they were not a part of her family, her clansmen.

Now she wanted to see how other Sith lived their lives, what they believed. To see if what her Father had told her about the other “false Sith”, was true. She decided to start on one of the other Holy Worlds, having already seen and heard a taste of what Korriban had to offer.

The ship, her ship, sliced through the storm ravaged atmosphere of the planet called Dromund Kaas. She’d never been there before, and thus she came to quench the thirst of her curiosity. She had sensed things watching her as she made her approach, pricklings through the Force that traced over skin and raised the hairs on the back of her neck. All around her Valkyri-made vessel, traced bolts and flickers of lightning. Such violent weather seemed perfectly at home on a so-called Sith Holy World.

Skadi set the ship down on one of the empty spaces in the starport, before powering down the engines. She left her seat in the cockpit and meandered her way into a sort of private chamber, complete with a washroom and refresher. She found one of her fur lined cloaks, one she made herself from a hunt she’d gone on some time before on her homeworld, and fastened it to her shoulders. Then she stepped through the cargo bay and towards the lowered ramp, her steps measured and confident, fearless even. There was a brief lull in the storm, enough for her to settle golden eyes upon a figure at the base of the ramp - a figure she recognized instantly.

Rain streamed down his own fur lined cloak, though Aerik seemed unbothered by it. Skadi caught his eyes with her own, and a faint smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. She continued further down the ramp, approaching the young Sith man without an ounce of fear, her chin lifting in an air of self-confidence. For a brief moment, her gaze flickered to the gathered crowds, wondering why they had stopped to watch, before returning back to him.

“Aerik of…Second Legion.” She said as she brought her right fist up to thump her chest in a more traditional greeting. “It seems… fate wills we meet again, aye?”

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Skadi Lightbane​

Aerik stood at the foot of the ramp, unmoving as the storm rolled back over the city. The thunder shook the platform and rain fell harder once more, yet none of it broke his focus. His eyes locked with hers, orange and amber in color, resembling fire itself. On close inspection they might even have seemed to flicker like flame or ember. The name she spoke carried weight, and hearing it from her lips stirred something deep within him.

When she struck her chest in the Valkyri way, Aerik inclined his head in return. His hand did not rise to match hers, but his acknowledgment was clear in the way his stance shifted. The wolf clasp on his cloak caught a flash of lightning as he stepped forward, closing the space between them by a pace.

"Skadi of Lightbane," he said, his voice low but certain. "Dromund Kaas is far from your mountains. Few of your kin would dare stand where you do now."

The starport moved constantly around them. Shuttles rumbled overhead as they rose into the storm, and others descended through sheets of rain to land on distant platforms. Cargo crews shouted to one another as they loaded containers onto speeders. The shrill bark of a foreman cut through the storm, while droids trundled along with lights glowing against the wet ground. People moved with steady rhythm, most too intent on their own work to pay attention to a single vessel or the two figures at its ramp.

Aerik spared the bustle only a passing glance before returning his gaze to her. The storm and the starport together created a relentless noise, yet in the meeting of their eyes the noise seemed to dull, leaving only her presence to press against his thoughts.

"You speak of fate. I have never put much faith in such things, yet our paths cross again on this world. Perhaps there is something in that." His words lingered a moment before he continued. "If you wish to see how Sith live beyond your clan, Dromund Kaas will show you. The city itself is a lesson, and so are those who rule from it."

The wind caught his cloak, plastering the wet fabric against him as a transport lifted into the sky. He ignored the sting of rain against his skin. The storm was a constant companion, and its weight suited the moment. Her ship might have been another shadow in the endless traffic, but to him it had struck like a spark in the dark.

Lightning carved across the clouds, silver light catching the golden hue of her eyes as she came closer. Aerik held her gaze without wavering. She had chosen to leave her world, chosen to set foot on a place few Valkyri ever dared to see. That alone demanded respect, though what she hoped to find remained hidden. His mouth curved, faint with recognition rather than pride.

"But every lesson here demands something in return. What is it you hope to find, Skadi, that Korriban did not already give you?"

The words were steady, his tone even. Not a challenge, but an invitation for her to name her reason. Around them, the storm and the starport pressed on, uncaring. Yet in that space between them, the moment felt carved from something greater, as though the world itself had paused to listen.

 

[Skadi Lightbane]

DROMUND KAAS

Aerik Lechner
​

Aerik dipped his chin towards her in his own greeting, before stepping closer - closing the space between them just a little more. Lightning forked the sky above, bathing him and the landscape with its bright flash. Thunder cracked and rolled, the sound of it drawing her golden eyes skyward for a brief moment. Such storms were extremely rare on her homeworld; they were seen as a sign from the Allfather, as the skies belonged to him. She brought her gaze back to the rain drenched young warrior standing before her, and she truly looked at him as her name fell from his lips. She was not shy about the slow crawl of her eyes that took him in, head to foot, though her eyes lingered briefly on the silvered wolf’s clasp as it was illuminated by a flash of lightning. It was a measured look, weighty, as if she was judging him based on some sort of internal, unspoken code of hers. She had to admit, she liked how her name sounded when he spoke it.

To his comments about how few of her kin would dare to stand where she was now, Skadi felt a somewhat arrogant smile tug at her lips as she lifted her chin ever so slightly. “My kin who do not dare are no kin at all…just cowards.” She stated, her voice firm with her conviction on that matter.

Around the two of them, and her ship, the starport went about with its business; ships came and went, and rain drenched port workers and droids went back and forth on their tasks. Skadi didn’t pay a single ounce of attention to them, as if they were not worth her time in the moment. Truly, the only individual that mattered here was Aerik, as he was the one currently speaking to her.

The Valkyri woman listened as the young warrior before her confessed that he didn’t really believe in such things as fate, though he did admit that perhaps there was something to it since they had crossed paths yet again. He told her that if she wished to see how other Sith lived, those beyond the borders of her homeworld, then Dromund Kaas would show her.

She wasn’t so sure about that, but she would give him and this world and its leaders, its so-called Sith, a chance to show her who they really were.

A gust of wind caught his cloak, whipped it about him and exposed him to the biting rain - though he didn’t flinch or even react. He was disciplined, that much she could tell. It brought a small smile to her face.

Lightning carved a path across the skies once more, and Skadi watched a bolt fork and branch across the skyscape. She wondered if, perhaps, this was the Allfather’s way of telling her that he was the one behind her and Aerik’s fated meeting here.

When the young Sith warrior spoke again, she returned her eyes to his own - twin burning embers that almost seemed to swirl within as if a fire blazed beyond his eyes. His question of her gave her pause, made her think. She remained silent for some time, content to speak on her terms - when she was ready.

“Korriban ignited a…fire. I wish to learn, to understand…who the Sith are. Who they claim to be. My Father say Sith are not like us, they are not…true. I want to know why.” Her eyes turned from his to gaze upon the rain drenched city beyond him and around them. She felt the dark side here as surely as she felt it at home - did these so-called ‘Sith’ follow the Code, too?

Skadi returned her focus back to Aerik, a hungry and curious gleam in her eyes. “Show me.” She stated, not even bothering to ask. As her Father had taught her, Sith didn’t ask for anything. They made their demand, and they took what they wanted - those that defied or turned away, were crushed.

“What makes you and those here who rule, Sith?” she asked Aerik in turn, a bold question, but one she was curious to hear the answer to.

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Skadi Lightbane​

Aerik did not shift beneath her measured look. The storm lit her eyes in gold as she studied him, but he held her gaze with quiet certainty. Her words about her kin carried the weight of steel, sharp and absolute, and he found himself marking the conviction behind them. There was no hesitation in her tone, no care for how it might sound to one beyond her clan. It was a truth she carried, and Aerik respected truth spoken without fear.

When she fell silent after his question, Aerik did not press. He let the storm fill the space between them. Lightning cracked above and thunder rolled through the starport, the sound rising over the hum of engines and the shouts of workers. He was patient, watching the way her expression shifted as she gathered her answer. Patience was a weapon, one he had been forced to learn in a world that demanded it.

Her words, when they came, drew his focus tighter. A fire, she had said, and a need to understand what the Sith were. Not stories from her father’s mouth, not whispers passed through clan halls, but knowledge sought firsthand. Aerik recognized that hunger. It was one he knew well, one that had burned in him since the first time he had walked the halls of the Obsidian Spire and understood how small he was in the shadow of greater power.

“You will find no single answer,” he said at last, voice steady against the storm. “Every Sith carries a truth, and each truth is claimed through struggle. Your father may call them false. Others may call him blind. The Dark Side does not care for such words. It only reveals itself to those who are willing to reach into it without fear.”

He drew a breath, his eyes burning like embers as he stepped closer still.

“What makes me Sith is not my name, or the Legion I stand with. It is the fire that will not be put out, the will to bend every moment into something that sharpens me. That is what rules here. Not the title, not the bloodline, but the will that survives the storm when everything else is broken.”

His hand lifted slightly, palm opening to the rain between them.

“Dromund Kaas is a world that breaks the weak. The storm will grind you down until nothing is left unless you decide to endure it. Those who live here, who thrive here, prove themselves by enduring. By shaping the storm rather than being swept away by it.”

He let the hand fall back to his side, cloak shifting with the motion.

“If you would see what makes us Sith, then you will need to walk these streets and learn what strength looks like here. Not in the halls of your father’s house, not in the stories told to you, but in the lives carved out of a world that has no mercy.”

His gaze held hers with fire and weight.

“You came here demanding to be shown. Then walk with me, Skadi of Lightbane, and see for yourself what Dromund Kaas will reveal.”

 

[Skadi Lightbane]

DROMUND KAAS

Aerik Lechner
​

Skadi stood still beneath the pouring rain and storm as Aerik responded in his own way to her questions, her curious probings, her hunger to understand and know the truth about who and what the Sith were or claimed to be. She found his response to be stimulating and she mulled it over in the quiet and sharp recesses of her mind. But it was his comments about the dark side that truly made her think. She could see the truth behind his words, even in the limited exposure she’d had to others outside her clan.

Clearly, the dark side was available to anyone who had the courage and the stomach to reach for it. She had always been taught that the dark side favored those in her clan, those of her kin - her people. Those beyond it could access it, but not like they could. In the blink of an eye, that blinder was ripped away as the truth settled into her morrow.

Almost as if sensing her thoughts, the young Sith man echoed them in his next words as he took a step closer towards her, his eyes burning like hot coals that seared into her. He told her that title and name meant nothing in a place like this, where the dark side saturated every inch of ground beneath their feet, and the air that they breathed. All that mattered was the fire, the will, that drove one’s self to survive against all odds.

Her golden gaze flickered to his hand that lifted between them, listening as he spoke about Dromund Kaas being a world that broke the weak. Those that lived on the planet, in this dark place, had to prove themselves or be lost underneath the wrath of the storm. It was something she understood rather well; her homeworld was like Dromund Kaas; only the strong could survive there. Those that embraced their true selves and rejected timidity.

Her attention returned to his handsome and strong face, his burning eyes, when he revealed that if she wanted to see what made them Sith here, he would need to walk the streets and learn what strength looked like in a Sith world like this. He held her gaze as he challenged her to walk with him, and see for herself what Dromund Kaas had to reveal. A glimmer of satisfaction shone in her eyes hearing her name fall from his lips once more. For some reason, it just felt good hearing him say her name.

“Very well, Aerik. I will walk with you…and see what shapes those here. See what strength can be found. I will listen, and I will learn.” She finally responded, her accent thick and her words somewhat halting, but it wasn't as broken as it had been during their first interaction.

She was here to learn, afterall. Her Father might be displeased with her if he knew how willing she was to see things not through his words and his stories, but through the eyes of others who were non-kin. Already, she was beginning to see that the dark side didn’t just bless her Clan and its souls with its power, but all who tread its path and reached for it. What more truths would Skadi uncover here? What more could Aerik, Son of the Dread Wolf, teach her? She was keen to find out, and waited for him to lead the way deeper into Dromund Kaas, to show her his world.

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Skadi Lightbane​

Aerik's gaze lingered on her for a moment longer, the storm cascading around them in relentless rhythm. Rain ran down his face, caught in the fur of his cloak, and dripped from the edge of his hood. She had not turned away from him, not once. Many would have faltered beneath the weight of this world's storm, but Skadi stood unmoved, her conviction clear in the steady line of her stance. He inclined his head slightly, the faintest mark of respect.

"Then listen," he said, his voice quiet but firm against the wind. "And learn, as you said. Dromund Kaas has a way of stripping away the illusions that comfort lesser minds. It does not lie, nor does it flatter. You will see its truth soon enough."

He turned from the landing pad and started down one of the main walkways that led into the heart of the city. The storm pressed around them as they walked, the air heavy with ozone and the metallic tang of rain hitting durasteel. Speeders roared overhead, their lights cutting brief arcs through the downpour before vanishing into the mist. Sith banners hung from the towers above, soaked but unyielding.

"This world teaches what the dark side demands," Aerik continued, his tone thoughtful now, his gaze forward. "The Force here does not whisper. It roars. It moves through every storm, every life that survives long enough to be changed by it. You felt it when you landed. It does not belong to anyone. Not your father's house. Not mine. It belongs only to those who have the strength to take it and keep it."

He slowed his stride, glancing at her as they passed a group of merchants sheltering beneath an awning. None looked their way for long. Sith were common here, yet few carried themselves with the weight that Aerik did.

"You will find that the Sith here are not one mind, not one code. We are bound by power, not agreement. The dark side does not shape us to be the same. It shapes us to survive each other."

Lightning flashed again, reflecting in the wet streets like veins of fire. Aerik's eyes mirrored that same light when he looked back at her.

"You said you wish to see what shapes us. Then you must walk among those who call this storm home. You must see the devotion, the hunger, the cruelty, and the purpose that thrive here. You cannot understand the Sith through words alone. You must feel what drives them, what drives me."

He stopped at the edge of a bridge that overlooked the city. Below, the lights of the capital burned through the mist like molten embers, the storm swirling above them in endless motion.

"Strength is not only power. It is endurance. It is will. It is the choice to keep walking when everything tries to break you. That is what Dromund Kaas demands, and what it gives in return."

He fell silent then, watching the storm stretch across the skyline. The sound of rain striking metal filled the space between them. For a time neither spoke. The storm would not cease, but neither of them seemed to mind.

 

[Skadi Lightbane]

DROMUND KAAS

Aerik Lechner ​

Despite the storm that continued to assail Dromund Kaas, Skadi did exactly what Aerik told her to do: she listened. Not just with her ears but with all her senses, including her awareness in the Force. As the rain soaked young Sith man stepped away from the ramp, Skadi followed suit, fearlessly stepping into the torrent of rain. She stepped up beside him with ease, walking stride in stride with Aerik as he guided her towards the very heart of the city that loomed all around them.

As they walked along the rain drenched walkway, Skadi allowed her golden eyes to roam over the buildings and the people, the speeders that zipped overhead. The presence of power pressed in from everywhere, a greater sense of it than even what she was accustomed to. There was no denying the strength of the dark side here, but not everyone her eyes touched was so endowed with the Force. That power had to be coming from somewhere else.

The young Valkyri woman did not look at Aerik as he began to speak once more, though she listened intently to every word he said. He certainly agreed with him; the Force here did roar. It was everywhere, and there was no escape from it in a place like this. Aerik mentioned how she had certainly felt it upon her arrival. That power didn’t belong to just anyone…but only to those that had the strength and power to take a hold of it and make it their own.

His steps slowed as he glanced at her; they passed a series of merchant stalls and vendors, and though a few dared to look up and watch the duo pass by, few kept up their stare for very long.

"You will find that the Sith here are not one mind, not one code. We are bound by power, not agreement. The dark side does not shape us to be the same. It shapes us to survive each other."

Skadi nodded in thought as they locked gazes for a moment. “It is…different from what I am used to.” She admitted shamelessly, her gaze snapping up to watch a twisting bolt of lightning zip through the sky above her head, before returning that same golden stare back to Aerik. “In my Clan, we are bound by the Sith Code. It is the measure by how we live our lives, how we fight, how we die. I know it so well I could recite it backwards while asleep.”

As they continued onward, the young man told her that if she wished to see what truly shaped the Sith, then she would need to walk amongst those that called this ‘storm’ home. To see what sort of devotion, hunger, cruelty, and purpose drove these people…drove the Sith. Drove Aerik himself.

They stopped at the edge of a bridge that overlooked the city beyond. Lights burned in the darkness, little embers that stood in defiance against the wrath of the storm. The sight of it made Skadi inhale slightly, as a revelation revealed itself to her. The Sith here were like those little individual lights, embers caught up in the great storm. Only those strong enough to survive it would remain…while all others drowned.

Which was she? One who would remain, or one who would drown?

"Strength is not only power. It is endurance. It is will. It is the choice to keep walking when everything tries to break you. That is what Dromund Kaas demands, and what it gives in return."

Skadi was silent for several long moments; the rain soaked through her hair and dripped down her face, dripping in a stream off her chin. Her cloak and its fur was keeping the majority of her dry, but some bits of her clothing were soaked through already. She didn’t mind it; part of her training had been to withstand and endure harsh weather conditions, to not be bothered by such things.

For quite some time the two of them stood there on the edge of that bridge, content to just be in the company of the other. Skadi found herself sneaking sideways glances at Aerik, watching how the rain pelted his skin or clothes and dripped off of him in rivulets. He was a rugged and handsome youth, that she could not deny. And he carried with him the weight and power of someone who knew who they were…or at least pretended to know who they were.

“What brought you here, Aerik? Or have you always been here?” she asked after a long pause, turning somewhat to face the young man and holding his gaze. “And I am curious to know…what is a lesson you have learned here that has remained with you? What has Dromund Kaas taught you so far?”

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Skadi Lightbane​

Aerik did not look away when she stepped beside him. Her presence settled into the rhythm of his stride with natural ease, as though she had always walked these streets. The rain struck both of them in steady sheets, cold enough to numb lesser skin, yet neither slowed. The storm pressed down from every direction, and Aerik felt the Force swirl through it like a living thing. Skadi felt it too. He could sense the shift in her awareness, the way her thoughts moved as she took in the city and the currents of power that ran through it.

They moved along the walkway with the flow of foot traffic. Sith, troopers, officials, workers, droids. So many lives, yet none carried themselves quite like the woman walking at his side. Her eyes swept across the city with intent. She was not wandering. She was studying.

When she admitted that what she sensed here differed from what she knew, Aerik gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment. Not agreement and not dismissal. Simply understanding. Her clan lived by the Code, rooted in an old way that shaped every breath of their lives. Here, the Code existed, but only as one thread in a far larger weave.

At the bridge, he rested his hands against the cold stone edge and let the storm wash over them. The lights of the capital burned far below, a field of embers scattered across a world that never slept. Her question came with a directness he expected from her, and he allowed himself a long breath before answering.

"I was not born here," he said keeping eyes fixed on the city beneath them. "My earliest memories belong to another world and another life. That life did not last long. I was brought to the Sith, shaped and tested by them. The Jutrand Academy became my home long before I understood what that meant."

He turned his head slightly, enough to meet her gaze. Rain traced across his face, caught in his hair, gathered on the fur at his shoulders.

"Dromund Kaas is not a place someone chooses easily. Those who come here either rise until the world recognizes them, or the storm buries them."

Her second question held more weight, and it drew his eyes back to the horizon. Lightning stabbed the sky in a jagged flash, and the glow reflected in his amber and orange gaze.

"The lesson that has stayed with me is simple. The world does not care what you want. It only answers what you are willing to claim."

A moment passed. Another rumble of thunder rolled over them.

"I am learning to stop waiting for permission here. That strength is not given. It is shaped. And every day you must decide whether you will endure or be swept away."

He looked at her fully now. His expression remained steady.

"Whatever truth you seek, Skadi, this world will show it to you. But it will not soften it. And it will not spare you from the cost."

The storm poured around them. Still, Aerik stood as though the world had sharpened him into stone.

"Now tell me, what do you really want?"

 

[Skadi Lightbane]

DROMUND KAAS

Aerik Lechner​

Skadi did not press Aerik for a response to her questions for she knew well enough that, being a man, he would respond when he was good and ready to. She was content to let the storm wash over her, content to watch the city and its denizens go about their activities. Eventually, the young man decided it was time to respond, and she turned her gaze from the city and towards him to listen, even as he continued to stare ahead. The story he shared was so different from her own and it fascinated her; she suddenly wished she had a mug of mead and that they were seated before a large roaring fire. The best place for one to tell stories and sagas.

Their idea of ‘home’ differed: some academy had apparently taught him what home meant, when for her it was the camaraderie of her kin, be they blood or not.

Aerik finally turned his face towards her, his eyes locking with her own as he told her how either one rose above the storm on Dromund Kaas, or was buried by it. Her golden eyes seemed to brighten just a touch; what she was hearing sounded like a challenge…and she loved challenges.

She loved to test herself against anything and everything that others deemed impossible, too difficult, or dangerous. How else was she to prove herself? Prove her worth, her might? Prove that she had what it took to be a shieldmaiden?

To her question about what lesson Dromund Kaas had taught him thus far, Aerik answered plainly: the world didn’t care what he or anyone wanted - only what they were willing to claim. She nodded in silent understanding and agreement; truthfully, the world she called home was much the same, even if it wasn’t some Sith bastion of strength and power. In her homeworld, one had to fight for every little thing. It helped forge and shape her people - those that couldn’t withstand either died or were forced to leave, shamed and disgraced.

"I am learning to stop waiting for permission here. That strength is not given. It is shaped. And every day you must decide whether you will endure or be swept away." Aerik said, turning to face her more fully now. She did the same, her head held high and her shoulders squared.

"Whatever truth you seek, Skadi, this world will show it to you. But it will not soften it. And it will not spare you from the cost."

To that, Skadi smiled and her eyes flashed with an inner fire that hinted at her bold and fearless nature. So far, she hadn’t heard anything that would push her away. If anything, all that he had told her thus far was only drawing her in.

But now it was time for the young Sith warrior to ask his own questions of her. "Now tell me, what do you really want?"

Skadi pursed her lips in thought before she turned her gaze out to the city beyond. After staring out for a long moment, she lifted her face towards the stormy sky, letting the rain pummel her face in stinging drops. It was refreshing and brought a smile to her face as she pondered his question.

What did she really want? She wanted many things…or were they things that her Father and Mother wanted for her?

Now that was the real question.

“My Father and my Mother raised me to be a shieldmaiden - to live, to love, and to fight with every ounce of blood and breath in my body. And yet through fortune and perhaps a curse, I was born the eldest of my siblings, the heir of our Clan. When my brothers and my Father go off to war…I am left behind to guard the Clan with my Mother.” She answered honestly, finally returning her attention back to Aerik.

“They taught me to fight…and yet they do not trust me to prove my worth as a warrior, as a so called Sith. I want to know if I have what it takes to rise above the storm. I want to embrace my darkness and wield it like my blade.” She held his gaze for a few moments longer, before she looked away and returned her attention to the city lights beyond.

She was silent for a long moment, before she finally confessed her truth: “It is why I left them, left my Clan - even with the risk that I may be exiled for doing so.”

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Skadi Lightbane​

Skadi's words drifted into the rain, carried off by the storm that swept across the bridge. Aerik let them settle before answering. The city below glowed through the downpour, its lights flickering like embers caught in the wind. The storm wrapped around both of them, yet neither moved from the edge of the railing.

"You stepped away from the life expected of you. That choice carries weight."

His attention shifted briefly toward the distant towers, where lightning arced between spires. The sight stirred a memory that reached deeper than the storm around them.

"I know what it is to be parted from those who shaped you, but not in the way you lived it. Just enough to understand the ache beneath it."

Rain traced down his jaw, pooling on the stone before falling to the walkways below.

"My earliest years were spent with siblings. We were raised as one. A pack. My father believed that unity was our strength. We learned together. Fought together. Hunted together."

A faint shift passed across his expression, subtle as a shadow crossing a flame.

"That ended when the academy divided us. One path for one child, another path for the next. Family became fragments. Training replaced the bond we had known. And when Lord Prazutis called for me, the distance became even greater."

His eyes remained on the storm for a moment, reflecting the silver flash of lightning overhead.

"So when you speak of leaving your clan, the cost behind your words is not lost on me. Stepping away from those who shaped you leaves a mark. Even when the choice is your own."

Aerik finally turned toward her, meeting her golden eyes with a steady gaze.

"You want to know if you can rise above the storm. If your strength comes from those who raised you, or from something within yourself."

His tone held no judgment, only clarity.

"This world will show you. Dromund Kaas strips away whatever is borrowed and reveals what is yours alone. Strength. Fear. Purpose. All of it."

A gust of wind swept across the bridge, sending water streaming from the edge of his cloak. Neither flinched.

"You left to find your truth. That speaks to resolve. You chose a path that demands more than what was given to you at birth."

He looked out across the city once more, its lights burning through the veil of rain.

"For what it is worth, Skadi of Lightbane, I respect the choice you made."

No further explanation followed. The storm continued its endless rhythm around them, but the weight in the air had changed. Aerik stood beside her without speaking further, not as someone claiming to know her fate, but as someone who recognized the cost of carving a path away from those once held closest.

 

[Skadi Lightbane]

DROMUND KAAS

Aerik Lechner ​

Aerik responded to her statements with frank honesty, and she nodded mutely as she mulled his words in her mind for a moment. She supposed the decision she had made to leave her family behind did carry weight to it, though if she was being honest - she hadn’t considered such a choice had weight. Suddenly, what she had said, her own current situation, weighed on her shoulders heavier than any harvested kill she’d made in her short life.

But she wasn’t alone in her own situation. Aerik explained that he too knew what it was like to be apart from those who had shaped him. He understood the ache that followed behind such a decision; she hadn’t felt that ache, but she knew it would come eventually. She would reach a point where she missed her Mother and her Father - though she doubted she would miss her brothers. They were akin to rivals rather than siblings. Rivals for her Mother and Father’s blessings, approval, and heir to her place in the Clan.

A place she very well could have lost because she left against her Father’s command.

Aerik continued and Skadi listened closely. He shared how he also had siblings, how they had all been raised as one…but then he said something that piqued her curiosity to new heights. He referred to himself, his family, as a pack. They learned together, fought together, hunted together.

Skadi’s golden eyes seemed to brighten somewhat in the rainy darkness. He was basically echoing what she and her family - her Clan - were like. But they came from two very different families, different lifestyles. Absent-mindedly, Skadi reached inside her blouse and tugged free a medallion that sported the sigil of her Clan’s house.

A wolf’s head, carved into bone.

She was eyeing how the light, what little there was around them, glinted off the polished bone as Aerik continued. The Academy had divided them. Training had replaced their familial bond. He mentioned a ‘Lord Prazutis’ but she didn’t know who that was.

"So when you speak of leaving your clan, the cost behind your words is not lost on me. Stepping away from those who shaped you leaves a mark. Even when the choice is your own." the young man said as he turned from staring out through to storm to catch her gaze once more.

"You want to know if you can rise above the storm. If your strength comes from those who raised you, or from something within yourself. This world will show you. Dromund Kaas strips away whatever is borrowed and reveals what is yours alone. Strength. Fear. Purpose. All of it."

A harsh and cold gust of wind whipped at the two of them, though it was something she was well adjusted to. The winds were bitter and cold and frosty on her home world - though instead of rain it was snow or ice storms. Aerik told her that what she had done carried weight to it, spoke of a resolve to find her own truth. She couldn’t refute anything he said because he was right.

Something stirred within her however, when he said that he respected the choice she had made. “At least someone does.” She replied, her voice barely audible over the constant din of the rain that continued to pour down over the two of them. She had everything, and yet she had left it behind knowing full well that she could lose it all.

“If Dromund Kaas can show me these things…reveal the truth of who I am…then I want to stay. Perhaps my Father will welcome me back with pride, when he sees who and what I have become.” Skadi sighed heavily, the faint fog of her breath being swallowed up by the rain. “Or perhaps I care too much about his opinion of me. The only opinion that matters is my own…ja?” She said with a smirk.

“Well…how does one like myself begin in a place like this? What would you recommend I do, Aerik?”

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Skadi Lightbane​

The medallion caught the faint glow of the passing speeders above them, the carved wolf’s head taking on a pale sheen in the rain. Aerik’s attention lingered on it longer than before. Something about the shape, the bone, the way she held it with a kind of instinctive pride, stirred a familiar pull beneath his calm exterior.

“A wolf,” he said quietly. “Your clan chose well. There is strength in that creature.” A small breath left him, almost thoughtful. “Fitting.”

He did not elaborate. There was no need to. The irony rested between them with its own steady weight. She belonged to a house that marked itself with a wolf, and he carried the blood of one beneath his skin. Two different worlds, two different heritages, yet the symbol was the same.

The storm pressed against them again, rain running in steady trails down the stone at their feet. Skadi’s confession about her father, her place, the expectations she had left behind, all settled into the air like another layer of the storm.

Her quiet confession that she cared too much for her father’s opinion drew a slight tilt of his head.

“Nothing wrong with wanting approval from those who raised you. but it cannot be the thing that decides your path. There is a point where you choose for yourself. You are already standing on that point.”

Lightning swept across the sky, lighting her face for a heartbeat. Aerik watched the way she held the moment, the way resolve settled into her posture. Skadi Lightbane was not drifting. She had purpose, even if she had not named it fully yet.

She looked out toward the city again, and he allowed a quiet pause before speaking further.

“You asked how someone begins in a place like this. Dromund Kaas will not open itself to you simply because you seek answers. It respects strength, clarity, and will.”

He stepped away from the railing, facing her fully now.

“There is someone you must meet if you wish to understand the Sith who rule here. Someone who shaped the strength you see in me.”

The air seemed to tighten around them.

“ Darth Prazutis . He will not offer comfort or ease, but he sees what others overlook. If you want to walk this path, he is the one who will test whether you are ready to stand on it.”

Rain swept across the bridge again, water striking his hood and cloak but failing to force any shift in his stance.

“You left to find something your clan could not give you. Meeting him will show you what this world demands of those who choose their own path.”

His eyes met hers, steady against the storm. “The decision is yours. But if you want to rise above the storm, this is where you begin.”

 

[Skadi Lightbane]

DROMUND KAAS

Aerik Lechner
Darth Prazutis ​

Skadi felt a touch of pride fill her chest when Aerik commented on her wolf’s head medallion. Though her homeworld didn’t have wolves or anything similar, they were still a sacred creature to her Clan. She’d heard stories that wolves existed in the world her Clan hailed from, and she had always hoped to see one in person one day.

“Wolves are sacred to my Clan.” She replied. “They embody what we strive to be as a people.” A faint smile formed on her face for a moment as she unveiled her hidden hope. “I have...never seen one with my own eyes, though I hope to one day.”

Skadi lifted her eyes to the various speeders that zipped ahead, watching them come and go as the rain continued to pour with its relentless fury. She was soaked to the bone in places, and she could feel rivulets of water dripping down the back of her neck and down her blouse. Soon, she would need to change into a fresh and dry pair of clothes - but for now she simply enjoyed the sensation of the rain pelting her skin, soaking her hair, and dripping off her chin.

She returned her gaze to Aerik’s when he said that there was nothing wrong with wanting to seek approval from those who had raised her, but she was now at a point where she needed to choose her path for herself. It was strange, in a pleasant way, to know that someone else understood her situation. Enough to offer insight and guidance even.

Lightning flickered and thunder rolled over the city once more; somewhere beyond, her sensitive ears picked up the sounds of angry shouts, and the scream of a woman in distress. Skadi’s golden gaze flickered in that direction, though she saw nothing through the darkness and the curtains of rain. She didn’t move, didn’t even react, as the storm swallowed whatever situation was taking place. This was a Sith world, and if what Aerik said was true then to aid or help others here was to do them a disservice. The weak would fall, and the strong would persist.

The Valkryi woman returned her gaze to the young man when he stepped away from the railing to face her directly. She noted that they were both standing relatively close to one another - arm’s distance away, and it didn’t bother her one bit. Something about the young Sith warrior drew her in, though she didn’t quite understand why yet.

“There is someone you must meet if you wish to understand the Sith who rule here. Someone who shaped the strength you see in me.” Aerik said, pausing for only a moment before continuing. “Darth Prazutis. He will not offer comfort or ease, but he sees what others overlook. If you want to walk this path, he is the one who will test whether you are ready to stand on it. You left to find something your clan could not give you. Meeting him will show you what this world demands of those who choose their own path.” His gaze on her was steady, and she met that gaze with confidence and certainty - as was her way.

“If this ‘Darth Prazutis’ is the one I need to meet to move forward on my journey...then that is what I will do.” She replied. "How do I secure a meeting with this..." she frowned, trying to figure out how this culture might refer to a leader of their people, as she knew it most certainly differed from her own. "...Jarl? Lord?"

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Skadi Lightbane​

Aerik listened as she tried to settle on a title for Prazutis. Her uncertainty drew the faintest shift in his expression, something close to amusement but quieter than a smile.

“Lord will serve for now you don't need to concern yourself with anything beyond that.”

Rain swept across the bridge again, running down the stone in thin streams. Skadi stood firm beneath it, soaked from the storm yet carrying herself with the same steady resolve she had shown from the moment she stepped off her ship.

“You asked how to meet him. You meet him because I bring you. That is all that is required.”

There was no ceremony in his tone. No warning, no reassurance. Just truth.

She had only arrived moments ago, and she had nowhere to go on a world that did not welcome travelers with warmth. Aerik considered that only long enough to know there was one answer.

“You will come with me to the palace,” he said. “I live there. You will have a place to stay until you stand before him.”

Lightning crawled across the sky, illuminating the silhouette of that distant fortress rising above the spires of the capital. It loomed dark through the rain, a presence felt more than seen.

Aerik stepped away from the railing.

“This way,” he said, already turning toward the main walkway that led into the city. “The storm will follow us, but it will not slow us.”

He did not check to see whether she followed. Her path had already been chosen the moment she agreed to meet Prazutis.

The wind rose, pulling at their cloaks as they moved from the landing platform. The starport faded behind them, swallowed by the sound of rain and distant thunder.