Private No Rain, No Flowers [Hríwaeg]

[Srina Talon]

Location: Eshan [Outside Eshan City] - Hríwaeg (Talon Estate)
Tag: Eira Talon

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It wasn’t long by way of hovercraft to get the lands that the Talon family called home. Eshan City was close enough that travel by foot was no burden, but, the well-traveled skylanes were the quickest route. Paths above, paths below, there was a fair bit of traffic, but nothing that would cause any significant delay. The open-topped unit made the trip more scenic than it needed to be. From above? Eshan looked picturesque. Temperate, green, with touches of blue and white topped spires.

Efficient and productive. Art, mixed with functionality. Everything had a purpose.

Her Master drove, giving him that brief freedom he secretly enjoyed, while Srina stole in the passenger seat. Eira was tucked up in the second row with her belongings, hopefully, buckled in. Metus liked to go fast, feel the breeze, and see the sky as a challenge. Silver eyes took in the minute pieces of relaxation he held, all the while, observing Eira in the side-mirror. As much as she wanted to hold to the letter of the law in regards to her upbringing, in truth, she hated to see her this way.

She hated that the past few years of Eira’s life were mostly a mystery.

They landed easily enough. Safe as houses. The quiet estate was still undergoing some construction but it was a far sight better than the last time she’d seen it. They left the vehicle to the side before making their way toward the main house. It became a flurry of movement, all at once, while white-haired individuals filled the courtyard. Firstly, mostly female soldiers, clad in blue and white, poured in. No doubt they’d been running through drills nearby. Srina raised a brow. Clan Talon, by blood, or rite had grown.

Secondly—Aeris Talon. Matriarch. Teacher. Leader. Mother.

Angry, Mother.

The tall woman did not raise her voice, though, her eyes pierced like daggers. Srina had forgotten how their mother had a tendency to see right through them. Even as younglings, lying, was a forgotten art. There was simply no point. The warriors lowered their pikes and vibroblades once realizing whom it was that had arrived. The more Force Sensitive of them left lingering eyes on her Master, however.

His eyes, his presence, gave them a reason to pause.

“Naneth.”

Her voice carried crystalline in the air. It was sharp—With an authority they were familiar with. Mother and daughter were almost identical. From behind the statuesque Echani came a rather tall man, refined, and slightly less intimidating than his wife. “Eira, Srina…”, Raihane spoke to his daughters while descending the stone steps. He interrupted whatever stare down seemed to be transpiring while wrapping both girls in an embrace.

He held tight for a moment. Eira, he had seen that morning.

Slate-gray eyes did not miss the luggage that she held.

Srina…He recognized too much of his wife in her. Too much weight pressed on her shoulders. Too much had always been expected of her. He felt a subtle sense of guilt. Was it not the duty of the Father to protect his young? Instead, that duty had befallen to the sable-skinned man at their side. A Sith Lord of all things. “Darth Metus.”, Raihane greeted, not unfriendly, while he pulled back to shake the Former-Mandalorians hand. “Why don’t we all go inside?”

Ever the host that Aeris was not, the warriors dispersed, and the family turned to head inside. Raihane struck up an easy dialogue with the Sith whilst they moved through the pristine hallways. Apparently, there was a new series of ice wines that he wished to use Metus as a test subject for.

He definitely wouldn’t be driving them back to Eshan City.

That left Srina, Eira, and Aeris. Sensing the bantha in the room the Matriarch signaled silently that Srina follow her to the study. The young woman drew a sight breath but turned toward her sister. Their mother had already turned to walk away, expression tense, and Srina could only imagine how this would go. Eira did not need to be subjected to that. “Wash up for dinner. I’ll come for you when it’s ready.”

It had been an emotional day. Time to breathe and collect herself might be a solid course, versus, introducing fire and ice. Vulnerability, in any form, was something Aeris would sense immediately. It was one of the reasons Srina had changed. Her heart, over time, hardened. She would not be moved.

Sweeping past her sibling she dropped her blue cloak on the chair before passing through the arched doorway that led to the study. The silvery portal closed behind them. There would be no yelling, no screaming, as some households were prone to. What took place behind out of sight, out of mind, was far worse. A battle of will. What words were spoken?

Cold. So cold, that it burned, and just barely managed not to burn the house down.

 

[Eira Talon]

Eira sat stiff in the backseat, her expression tight and revealing. Her pain was palpable now that her plans were dashed. They had been her light at the end of the tunnel, her thing to look forward to-- a direction in a year of chaos where nothing was the same again. Eira knew it was not wise to let this slip out between the cracks, that her tears marked vulnerability that would only urged mother to speak for her further.

Still, the tears fell in silent, steady streams. What did it matter anyway. Srina said no.

The journey, while quick, was long enough for this spell of despair to pass. The tears were dried by the time the speeder touched down. The thrill of the speed had been lost on her, trepidation now taking its place. Eira did not make it a habit to dread seeing her mother, but the severity of what she had tried to do did not surpass her. Her posture straightened. Her expression hardened. She took a deep breath as they unloaded.

Their mother waited for them on the estate lawn bearing a glare that pierced Eira to her core. Her matriarch, their mother, saw through her return for what it was. Eira could only look down, the spark that had shone in that garden court yard snuffed back out of her. All at once she felt reduce to nothing more than her mother's youngest--barley a woman, mostly a girl. Voiceless.

Their mother's fiery simmered off her like dry ice hitting warm air.

Their father's firm hug interrupted it all. Srina had been right about one thing in the Gardens-- leaving would have hurt their father. Greatly. She hugged him back. Tightly.


As they walked in she looked at no one. She had been, and remained, a roller coaster of emotions-- her expression so quickly moving from outward readability to stone cold ice. It was as if she kept trying to be one thing and constantly found herself slipping into another. As a child Eira had always been quiet. Emotions never grew into her vocabulary, instead exploding out of her in a burst of fists or sudden hugs.

It was clear she did not know how to handle herself now. Grief was not easily expressed, and today? Well, she tried. Her family dispersed throughout the house, leaving Eira standing to stare at their mother's back as she walked from them both with tension-riddled steps.

Eira did not want to follow.

A wild, wide-eyed look shot up to Srina at her simple words. The unspoken offer was understood, and over this matter, she'd allow her sister to step up and take the brunt of what would occur. A flickering of emotion shone behind her eyes. Be it surprise. Appreciation. ...Hope?

She watched Srina's back as she left her as well. Just as stiff. Just as braced. Just as stubborn to her words when she gave them. And she had said no.

Hadn't she?

Yes.

The hope fled her. Eira turned away from them both, her expression tightening as she walked back to her room. The bag would not be unpacked. It might not be tonight. Or tomorrow. Or even this month, but off this planet and to a force adept teacher, Eira would find a way.



Her room was simple in the grand scheme of their home. The only art on her walls were decade's old paintings made by their mother's own hands. Large windows let in a stream of fresh air and bright light. The room was spotless. Her bedding tucked tight-- void of wrinkles. Very few personal items speckled her surfaces, and all of them objects that Srina would recognize as objects from their youth. The room was sparse of signs of Eira's recent years, spare the single indent her rear end made into the edge of her bed. She sat there stiffly, her bag at her feet. She stared heavily out the open window, her fingers rubbing over the silky expanse of a blue ribbon.

Valina's.

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: Eshan [Outside Eshan City] - Hríwaeg (Talon Estate)
Tag: Eira Talon

It felt strange, almost disorienting, to be in Hríwaeg again.

Srina had never strayed far from home in her formative years despite her desire to work and remain useful. She served her purpose. Performed the duty of a daughter. The pale young woman had only ever traveled to Eshan City for schooling and her responsibilities to the military. Beyond that, she stayed close. Family was everything. Everything. Enough that when the decision for her to leave passed down through her parents, she obeyed, without question. Things were different now. To protect them? She could not stay. It wasn’t the trivial pursuits of an Echani who tired of his station. It was an entire galaxy she had to contend with. None would forget the alabaster creature who reigned at the side of Darth Metus . They would seek out the chinks in her armor in an effort to destroy him. To destroy her.

This—Her blood. Her kin. They were her weakness.

Taking in the sight of warriors wearing the colors of her clan, training, and responding to an intruder on a dime brought back memories that caused her chest to tighten unpleasantly. She had no other way to explain it. A simple shift, a quiet murmur in her heart, that left a distinctly agonizing ache. She could remember learning to hold a sword on these grounds. Sparring with her mother. Arguing with Tellu. Learning calligraphy from Valina. Watching Eira, Var, Zeilia, and Cyprine grow up, getting taller, with every season. Discovering how to speak to the outside world from Raihane Talon. As much as Echani favored communication without words, his position as a diplomat made it integral to his work. The rest of the galaxy…They just didn’t understand.

It was the warm encirclement of arms from her father that drew her from a momentary reverie. Hopefully, no one had noticed. As if sensing her mild discomfort, the tall, broad-shouldered man escorted the group into the gilded white halls. Raihane had always been more perceptive when it came to his children. Aeris could be too hard on them. As hard as she was on herself. She meant well but a combination of loss and grief had made her even more volatile than usual.

Srina was grateful when their father stole away with Metus and slate-grey eyes saw them disappear toward the wine cellars. As much as she shared with her sable-skinned Master, there were things she kept for herself, for example, the ire of her mother. She didn’t want him to suffer it. If there was anyone Aeris blamed more for the death of her sister? It was the Confederacy. Him. Rational or not the Vicelord and the Droid Nation had a reputation for stealing her offspring left and right.

Aeris could hold a grudge like none other.

A lesser woman would have flinched once the door closed and the eyes of a demon pressed down accusingly. Srina knew what her mother saw. Her expression remained silent, tight, whilst the woman wordlessly dressed her down. Anywhere else—She stood tall. She was an Exarch. A Sith. Powerful. Mighty. Here? Before the Echani that had birthed and raised her? She was nothing.

Accusations. Defiance. Cold fire.

“First Tellu. Now Eira? How could you let this happen?”

Aeris knew exactly what her youngest planned. The luggage she’d carried was a telltale give away. Srina hadn’t even been on world when the idea for escape had percolated, but somehow, the matriarch still found a way to blame her second eldest. No, the eldest. In her frozen fury she’d momentarily forgotten.

Valina was gone.

“I let nothing happen, Naneth. As you can see—Eira is still here. Tellu followed me of her own accord because she did not understand the circumstances of my departure. It seems that even you have forgotten.”

The truth. Aeris, had sent her away. Aeris had made the choice to send her to the furthest reaches of the galaxy to protect her family. All of them. For the greater good. Aeris bristled silently at the quiet insolence that Srina displayed. The Sith Lord she called her Master had spoiled her, indulged her, and in turn her tongue had become sharp and unremorseful.

An involved battle of will and wit rolled through a conversation, that by the end, left them both raw and emptied. Aeris no longer saw her daughter through the lenses of her grief. She saw a warning, caution, an avatar of death. A herald of her greatest loss. No mother should ever have to bury their children. Yet, she had been forced to bury two. Now—Srina wished to take Eira?

It was unthinkable.

“…Am I not still blood of your blood? Am I not made of you?”

The question was poignant. Raihane had cautioned patience, gentleness, but Aeris was not made for such things. Neither was Srina. In the end the two women stood at odds. Srina would not apologize for doing what was required to survive. She would not apologize for bringing the Confederacy to release Eshan from the yoke of the Mandalorian Empire at the behest of their Queen. The brutality of the beskar-clad warriors was known. Their audacity. Back-handed efforts. Lies, and false attempts at aid. The orbital bombardment had shaken everything they knew. All for the sake of what? Occupation? Rumors of slavery and collars with bombs attached to the necks of their supposed whipping cattle?

As if a true Echani would stoop so low.

“You will always be mine.”

The admission from Aeris brought the animosity to a close. At least, temporarily. More words flowed. Until they dried. There were certain points neither would ever agree on. Others were a debate of inevitabilities. “She is a bird in a cage. Eventually…She will find a way. Do you truly want her traveling untrained and unprotected? Alone?”

No.

The only thing worse than sending yet another youngling to the Confederacy was the notion of losing them to the gaping maw of the unknown. By the time Srina left the study they had come to a tenuous agreement. It was not ideal. But, it was all they had. Aeris would confirm her decision with Raihane and the Clan Elders. Srina…Srina would find Eira. No doubt the wait was eating her alive.

The white-haired Talon ascended the sweeping staircase that left to the upper levels. She felt each step like a crash to the system. The sound was harsh. As if her bones were made of glass. Aeris, in all of her sorrow, seemed to forget that she wasn’t the only one coming to terms with loss. Even just the absence of her sisters wounded Srina. Through and through. Aeris didn’t know about the rest. She didn’t know about the broken engagement. About, yet another, grandchild she would never get to hold again.

Srina accepted that. Her emotions were nothing compared to those around her. Eira, for example, would take precedence.

A soft hand to the entry panel signaled the comm and the silver-eyed creature spoke gently into the comm.

“It’s me…May I enter?”

 

[Eira Talon]

Eira had remained unmoving. Her training through the force had not progressed far, but there had been one skill she was able to practice anywhere. Meditation. She had sat as if in a trance, her fingers rubbing small circles on the ribbon as she stared unseeing out the window. Her shoulders moved in steady breaths, her thoughts swirled between focus and distraction.

It had been the only way to bare it. It. The inevitable no. How much time did they need to say that simple word. Were they punishing he- breath in. Breath out. No thoughts. St-

Her head snapped to the door as the comm's static first signaled, her sister's voice following.

“It’s me…May I enter?”

Eira swallowed hard, her voice fleeing her. She reached out a hand, her brows furrowing as she managed to swipe the door open with the force. Was it necessary? No. Srina would quickly come to realize that the girl had taken to practicing the skill wherever possible.

She had tried the dinner table once. Naneth had set that straight.

Srina received a reproachful look, the girl dropping her hand back into her lap and rubbing at the ribbon in a suddenly incessant pace. "You do not have to spare my feelings. You can say what we already know and leave." Her throat began to tightened, her gaze falling suit to her lap.

"I am not hungry for dinner."

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: Eshan [Outside Eshan City] - Hríwaeg (Talon Estate)
Tag: Eira Talon

The elder female didn’t speak when she crossed the threshold into the sparsely decorated bedroom. Srina had a way of moving that made others, even of her own species, appear graceless and ungainly. It was evident in her every step, every gesture, and moreover, every word. Mercurial eyes took in the muted form of her youngest sister carefully. Her words were filled with ambiguous statements that only became clear to Srina at the falling of her eyes.

She took a seat on the bed beside Eira, wordlessly, contemplating the situation that had presented herself. The ribbon betwixt her fingers felt familiar. Not by sight, in essence. Someone, she knew well had carried it on their person frequently. The youngling before her cherished that person, deeply. It was not the way that Eira felt about her.

Silver eyes turned away. Instead, they fell on the window.

“…You must think very little of me…”

It was an assumption made of compiled information. She was not her sister’s first choice. More than anything, she was her only choice. Srina had not been present to teach Eira. To play. She had always been buried in her studies, in training, while remaining bent on the idea of bringing their family honor and recognition. It didn’t leave her with much free time, even before, everything went wrong. “You believe that I abandoned you, our family, because I wished to. That I am the reason two of our sisters will never come home. That I am the reason Eshan was wounded, that our people suffer, and die...”

Srina did not need Eira to correct it. It was regurgitated as Eira, and for that matter, their mother had so clearly stated it. Grief had a strange way of warping the chain of events. When Srina had left Eshan? She hadn’t been much older than Eira was now. A child. A youngling, with no voice.

She had obeyed.

“—And yet, I will always see to your best interests. I will always protect you to the best of my ability. It baffles me that…For as hard as I have tried to make my way back home…You fight just as hard to leave it behind.”

These were the most words that the youngest Talon would have heard from Srina in quite some time. Slowly, she reached for Eira, and brushed her hair back. She looked just like Tellu, when they were young. Just like her. She was so anxious. So out of patience. Out of time, out of hope. She gave in so easily. That would change. Talon females were fierce, when they learned to spread their wings, and in time Eira would do the same. “I don’t spare feelings, Eira. I don’t pull my punches and I will never be the sister you desire. The life that has come to me is one of danger and pain. I have lost—”

Srina paused. That was a discussion she was not ready to have.

“I have lost. In ways, in things, that I cannot describe. Life has already been difficult for you on Eshan…The galaxy will not be kinder. Ada and Nana will not be there to protect you. It is a very hard, very cold place. I do not want that same suffering for you.”

A fathomless gaze turned back to Eira. It was piercing. Endless. Silence reigned supreme for a quite some time before her head tilted and her eyes closed. She could feel the weight of their parent’s decisions bearing down on her psyche. One, prayed to the moon for their safety. The other damned her with every fiber of her being. Here—The avatar of death had come to take another Talon child to the gallows. Her stomach twisted. In the end, there was no choice.

Eira was safer out in the wild at her side. At least, more so than she would be alone.

“You will eat, sister. No arguments.”, Srina spoke finally, breaking the ice, as if her tone wielded some sort of metaphysical sledgehammer. Her hand fell away from Eira, who no doubt, was perturbed that Srina had invaded her space. Now—Doubly annoyed, that Srina now ordered her about.

The Exarch in her would have none of it.

“You will need your strength and there is much to be done before we travel to Geonosis. We depart in three days.”

 

[Eira Talon]

Eira sat silent, her knuckling turning white on the ribbon she now clenched. Srina rained down a series of words on her, each more thick and hard to respond to than the last. She could feel her sister's pain through her posture.

Knew that Srina felt rejection, a sense of displacement, sitting there on that bed besides her. Even as Srina reached out to touch her, she could not bring herself to bridge any gap between them. Because Srina was displaced-- by her own doing, she was not apart of Eira's life.

And she was rejected, because while there was blood between them there was no warmth. Only orders.

She deserved her pain. Eira had to put blame somewhere.

Eira failed to receive Srina's tender touch. She could only pull back, reading Srina's heavy gaze like a book. Yes. She looked like the others. The dead others. Naneth looked at her like that sometimes too. There was a sort of distance-- a great divide between the two sisters, despite their thighs brushing against the soft cotton of her comforter.

In the silence, Eira studied Srina for the first time. Her sister's gaze left her chilled, the piercing depths revealing nothing. No branch for her to grasp onto. Nothing to understand. It unnerved her so deeply, so looked away.

Srina leveled her order. She would eat. Eira closed her eyes tightly, the blow expected. Not even her eating habits were hers to command. It was what she expected. So when the final twist of words fell from her sisters lips ...

Eira didn't not at first respond.

Her eyes slowly pulled open, her expression tense at it turned to preview her sister again. Was Srina lying? ...Twisting things? Testing her? Her expression broke down piece by piece, her stiff shoulders lowering as one answer became clear.

Srina's meant it.

And in a twist of events, Srina got a response she had not received for many many years. Not since she was home and Eira was young. Before words were present and emotions easy.

Eira flung herself into Srina's arms, her body jittering with her glee. No words. Only a hug, her hands groping Srina's arm as if to initiate a playful grapple, only to dissolve into buzzing energy and wrap back around her again.

It was as if her life had opened up before her, and suddenly, there was hope. She clung to it. She clung to Srina.

"I will prove myself to you," she vowed.

She could breath.

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: Eshan [Outside Eshan City] - Hríwaeg (Talon Estate)
Tag: Eira Talon

It seemed as if the very sound of her voice irritated her youngest sibling. Srina could see her grip on the pale ribbon in her hands get tighter. The skin across her knuckles stretched thinner, and thinner, until the Dread Queen could see nothing but bone. She could see that her sister absorbed the words she spoke through a filter of distaste. It mottled, warped, and changed the very meaning of it. Her pain was nothing. Heart, nothing. Shattered—With the pieces dashed by a midsummer breeze.

Such things, such mortal weakness, never existed for her at all. Srina accepted that lie, even, as her gentle touch was rejected.

It left her to rely on words. Speech, that failed, while their true language was left by the wayside. Even that small comfort, that small piece of tradition, of home, she was denied. Silver eyes closed briefly in order to bury what could never be expressed. Her countenance was made of marble, of stone, and nothing in her resembled any form of compassion. Cold. That was the trait she has inherited from the Talon matriarchs. Ice. Forever frozen. Unrelatable, untouchable.

Silver met silver—But Eira would be the one to break first. Srina would be the victor of any staring contest, mostly, because it seemed as if her gaze swept straight through the object. She was perceptive in a way she hadn’t a right to be. Especially, for someone that had spent her formative years either bent over a holo-tactics table or exhausted on a training field. The wintry woman missed many social cues; however, she knew her siblings. Even, when they did not know themselves.

The plain order that left her lips was received about as well as she had expected. It was the last thing little Eira, a flightless dove, trapped in a gilded cage, wanted to hear. Srina watched her expression change as if they were seasons. Distrust, suspicion, disbelief, and every shade of distaste that could possibly be managed from one so young. At least, until the truth dawned like the rising sun.

Eira would learn very quickly that the incredibly blunt Srina never lied. Omission, as needed for matters of state, but to lie? Especially as a form of cruelty to her own family? She wouldn’t think of it. Everything she did was to protect them. Now, and always. Srina remained quiet when the young woman suddenly threw herself into a barely contained embrace. To catch her, quite simply, was instinct. She could feel the joy that was brought on by the notion of liberation. It was warm, playful.

Srina did what she could to contain the ball of energy lest she fall on the carpeted floor. Parts of her were pleased. Eira was ecstatic. Srina was both glad for her and extremely concerned. Her life with the Confederacy was full of dangers. There were moments of light. But, overall? It was not a life that she would choose for anyone she loved. It was likely, she would lose them.

The soft words that Eira uttered caused Srina to frown. Did she think that Srina was hesitant because she was too young? Not strong enough? No, far from it. The galaxy was, for lack of a better term, a meat grinder. Cruel. Sharp. It wasn’t like Eshan where everything, even a grave, was made to be beautiful. Careful hands reached for the young woman that clung to her, like a lifeline, and drew her back just slightly. Face in hands—Her head tilted. Mercurial orbs seemed to examine every faucet.

“You are my sister. Blood of my blood. You do not have anything to prove, vinimo.”

Firm words, though, a tender touch. It fell away and her hands settled back in her lap so that she didn’t somehow offend Eira with unwanted contact. Srina watched the young woman for a moment, basking in the momentary affection, before it inevitable faded. “It will not be easy. Naneth has a few requirements.”

“I must see to your training and studies. You must transmit a holo-vid once a week to ensure your well-being and I must provide a detailed report of your progress monthly. You will need to mind me, always, Eira. It quite often could be a matter of life and death. But, if it truly is your wish—”, Srina paused, briefly, to ensure that her words were heard between the unadulterated excitement.

“Yes. When I leave—So will you.”