Private The Hollow Gaze of Dawn

[Everest Vale]

Tag: Valery Noble

Darkness did not come gently.

It crashed into her, all teeth and thunder, a torrent of memory twisted by pain and the storm-wracked edges of her mind. She wasn't sure if it was a dream, or if she was being dragged backward through time by the Force itself. But it was loud. Cacophonous. The mines burned. The earth screamed. Something wet and hot ran down her face and she couldn't tell if it was blood or tears or both.

Sithspawn tore through the corridors in half-formed blurs, jaws unhinged, shrieking like dying stars. White light seared the darkness with every swing of her blade, and yet it was never enough. Never fast enough. Azzie was just out of reach. Always just out of reach.

A figure — tall, cloaked in shadow — watched her from across the battlefield. No face. No voice. But it stood there, still, unshaken, while everything around her collapsed.

Then came the claws.
The flash.
The dramatic shift of reality itself that she could never be ready for.

Her scream ripped through the dreamscape like lightning. The vision shattered, and she gasped awake with a violent jolt. Her whole body arched from the bed as the scream escaped her throat.

"AZZIE!"

The name tore itself out before she even realised where she was. The sterile white light of the Temple hospital nearly blinded her remaining eye. Machines beeped softly in counterpoint to the racing of her pulse. Her chest heaved, arms trembling above sweat-soaked sheets. The world around her was too still. Too bright. Too real.

And the pain... was real too.

A sharp, screaming silence rang in the left side of her face. Her eye — her eye — felt like someone had scooped the sun out of her skull and left a hollow fire in its place. She reached up with one hand, fingers brushing the thick, white bandages that wrapped her head, tentative, almost afraid to touch. There was nothing beneath them. No curve of a closed eyelid. No tender swell of skin. Just emptiness, sunken and raw.

Her breath hitched. For a moment, all she could feel was the vast lack, like a door had been torn from her soul and left swinging in the wind. Slowly, the panic ebbed, receding beneath the tide of something heavier. Grief. Grief, and the dull, aching weight that settled in her chest like stone.

She wasn't in the mines.

She wasn't fighting anymore.

She was alive.

But at what cost?

She turned her head slowly toward the nearby wall, swallowing thickly, her breath still uneven. Her eye fluttered closed again, a tear sliding down her right cheek, as the left... remained completely dry.

"...Azzie," she whispered again, but this time the name was soft. Fragile. Like a prayer.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

The corridors of the Temple hospital were quiet, but Valery's pace was anything but. Her boots echoed sharply off the polished floors. She didn't run — not quite — but the urgency in her stride was impossible to miss. She'd felt it, before the message even came through. A surge in the Force, like the earth itself had buckled beneath her for just a second, and then the cry.

Everest.

The scream had torn through the silence, raw and desperate, and Valery didn't need to ask who she was calling for. She didn't need a report to know that pain. The Force was loud with it.

When she reached the doorway, she didn't hesitate. The panel hissed open, and Valery stepped inside, heart thudding in her chest, eyes immediately locking onto the trembling figure on the bed. The stark white light of the room felt wrong, too bright against the shadows still clinging to Eve's face, and for a moment, Valery just stood there, taking in the sight she wished she could erase.

Her Padawan — her bright, fierce, brilliant Padawan — was curled beneath thin sheets, drenched in sweat, her breath ragged with the remnants of a nightmare that hadn't quite let go. Bandages wrapped her head like a crown of absence, and Valery's gaze softened as she stepped closer, not with pity, but with something far more tender.

"Eve," she said gently, her voice low but steady, a hand already reaching out. She didn't wait for permission. She never would in moments like these. She sat on the edge of the bed, one hand finding Eve's shoulder, grounding her with a firm, warm presence that spoke louder than words could.

"You're safe," she murmured, thumb brushing gently along the fabric where it met Eve's skin. Her other hand moved, slow and careful, brushing damp strands of silver hair back from her face. She didn't flinch at the bandages, didn't draw back from what was missing. She only leaned in closer, her brow resting lightly against Eve's.

"I'm here, alright? I'm right here." Her voice dropped further, steadying. "You're not alone."

For a moment, the room seemed smaller. Not confined, not sterile. Just… quieter. Valery sat there, holding her through the silence, breathing with her, letting her own strength settle between them like a shield. There would be time for questions, for healing, for grief. But right now, there was only this.

She wasn't leaving. Not now. Not ever.

Everest Vale ​

 

[Everest Vale]

Tag: Valery Noble

For a long moment, Eve didn't move. The weight of the nightmare still clung to her skin, thick and hot like fever. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, each one laced with the echo of a scream that still rang faintly in her ears. She had surfaced, but barely. The world felt distant, and the light too bright. But then... Valery.

Her presence slipped into the fog like a balm. Warm. Solid. Real. Eve flinched slightly at the first touch, her body too used to the pain when she was last awake, but when Valery's hand stayed — firm, familiar — she let it anchor her. Her lone silver eye opened, unguarded and glistening from the tears that continued to fall. She looked at her Master, chest tight with emotion.

"Master..." she whispered, hoarse and trembling, barely more than air. Her lips moved again almost immediately, cracked and dry, but urgent.

"Where's Azzie?" A pause. Her voice broke. "I-Is Azzie okay?"

Even as the words left her, fragments began to piece themselves together — half-dream, half-memory. The smell of scorched stone. The weight of Azzie's broken body cradled between them. The light of a shuttle's emergency ramp glowing through smoke and shadow. Aadihr shouting something over the roar of engines. Her own body trembling, the pain too loud to speak through, her vision swimming red.

Eve remembered clutching the bandages they'd wrapped around her face, remembered reaching out blindly for someone — maybe Valery, maybe Tigris — before the dark took her. Blood loss, exhaustion, too much.

And then... nothing.

The sterile light of the hospital. The slow, agonising drag back to waking. A room that felt too still, too clean. The weight of absence on the left side of her face.

It had all caught up with her. But none of it mattered.

Only Azzie did.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery felt the flinch beneath her hand, the way Eve's body tensed like it expected more pain — but it passed, replaced by that trembling, fragile pull toward something familiar. Something safe. She stayed close, letting her presence fill the cracks that the nightmare had torn open, her breath slow and steady as she kept Eve grounded. When her Padawan's eye opened, Valery met it with unwavering warmth.

And then the question came, splintered and desperate. Valery's chest tightened, but her expression didn't falter. She shook her head gently, her fingers brushing once more through the damp strands of silver hair, thumb grazing softly against Eve's temple.

"She's okay," Valery murmured, her voice like a promise. "She made it. A little banged up, but she's alive." Her hand shifted to cup Eve's cheek, careful not to press too hard, her eyes holding Eve's gaze.

A pause, softer.

"You're safe. Both of you are." She stayed like that for a moment longer, letting the words settle, letting Eve breathe. "When you're ready," she repeated, her voice quiet, "We'll be able to go see her." She paused again, giving her Padawan a chance to collect her thoughts, before she added, "First, I think a dear friend wants to see you first."

She smirked and with a gentle wave of her hand, the door into the room opened.

Someone was waiting for her.

Everest Vale ​

 

[Everest Vale]

Tag: Valery Noble

Eve closed her eye, and for a moment, all the strength she had fought so hard to hold onto wavered. Relief crashed over her like a breaking wave, stealing her breath. Azzie was alive. Safe. She hadn't failed her. The tension in her body eased by degrees, the death-grip she hadn't realised she was holding on her own emotions loosening. She inhaled a thin, shaky breath, clinging to Valery’s hand against her cheek like it was the only thing keeping her anchored to the moment.

"I have to see her..." she whispered hoarsely, the words so soft they barely carried.
"When I'm strong enough... I have to see her."

There was no room for hesitation. No room for fear. Only the simple, stubborn flame of love that burned in her chest, undimmed by pain or loss.

Then... A flicker of warmth through the Force — delicate, familiar, beloved. A spark of silver threading through the dull ache that weighed her down. Her eye widened a fraction, her battered heart hitching against her ribs as soft paws pattered against the floor.

With a whimper that cracked the silence, Isari leapt onto the edge of the bed. Eve barely breathed. She didn't care about the pain in her body, the protest of stitches or bruises. She reached out — fumbling, desperate — and buried her hand in Isari's thick, silky fur. The fox nosed against her arm, whined again, and pressed herself against Eve’s side as if trying to crawl into the hollow places of her being, trying to fill them.

A soft, broken sound escaped Eve’s throat, half-sob, half-laughter. She held Isari close, resting her forehead against the fox’s small frame, feeling the steady thrum of her tiny heartbeat. Tears welled again, but these were different, they weren’t from grief or terror. They were from home finding her, even here.

For a long moment, she just stayed like that, breathing her in, grounding herself in the solid, living proof that not everything had been lost. Finally, she lifted her head, wiping at her eye with trembling fingers. She turned her gaze — silver and shining with gratitude — toward Valery.

"Thank you," she whispered, voice thick but sure. "For... for taking care of her."

There was a strength in those words, however quiet. A strength born not of victory or wholeness, but of endurance — of surviving, and finding love still waiting on the other side.

For a while, Eve just held Isari close, feeling the fox’s quiet heartbeat against her ribs. It anchored her, pulled her out of the numbness. But with that grounding came the weight she had been holding at bay, a slow, crushing awareness of everything that had happened.

Her fingers tightened gently in the fox’s fur as she drew a slow breath through her nose.
It was all real. The pain. The new scars. Everything that happened down there. But somehow, she was still here. Eve opened her eye, the shine of gratitude still lingering, but beneath it, a new gravity had settled.

"I-it's all just... starting to hit me..." she murmured, her voice small but unbroken, as she could feel her heart best raising. She looked up at Valery, meeting her gaze fully.

"B-but... I'm still here... We're all... still here..."

She exhaled shakily, as her eye reflected a depth never seen in her before.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery didn't rush to speak. She just stood there beside the bed, watching as Eve crumbled — not in weakness, but in the quiet unraveling of pain that had finally found safe ground. Her heart ached with the sight of it, but there was also something else there too. Something stronger.

Pride.

She watched as Eve held Isari like a lifeline, forehead pressed to soft fur, and let the weight of everything settle. It was a different kind of strength Valery saw now — not the fierce, determined girl who charged forward with fire in her heart, but someone who had walked through something truly devastating and still had love to offer. When Eve finally lifted her gaze, silver eyes glistening with tears and gratitude, Valery smiled. Soft and unshakable. Her fingers brushed gently through Eve's hair again, tucking a strand behind her ear like a mother would a daughter — not rushed, not rehearsed.

"You're right," she said quietly, sinking down to sit at the edge of the bed. "You're still here. You made it. And you're not alone, Eve." Valery reached down, lightly scratching behind Isari's ear with a chuckle. "Looks like someone else wasn't about to let you face any of this by yourself either."She leaned in, her forehead resting gently against Eve's for a moment, their closeness calm and grounding.

"I'm proud of you," she whispered. "For surviving. For still being you. And when you're ready... we'll talk about everything that comes next. But for now, just be here. Let yourself rest, and know that you're surrounded by people — and tiny friends — who love you."

Valery pulled back, but her hand lingered, warm and steady against Eve's shoulder.

Everest Vale ​

 

[Everest Vale]

Tag: Valery Noble

The moment Valery’s forehead touched hers, something in Eve broke open, not violently, not with panic or despair, but with the tender kind of collapse that only came in the presence of someone who had seen every part of her and stayed.

As her lip quivered, a whimper escaped her throat, barely audible, but raw. Her eye fluttered shut as the tears came again, slower now, but no less real. Not frantic, not gasping. Just quiet, steady grief, long held and now allowed to fall. Her fingers curled slightly into Valery’s sleeve, holding on with a delicate need.

Just for a moment, she let herself be small. Held. Loved.

When Valery pulled back, Eve didn’t protest. She wiped at her face with the edge of her sleeve, sniffling softly, her cheeks damp but her breath steadier. Isari pressed her little head against Eve’s side again, warm and grounding, and the silver-haired Padawan looked between them both, and for the briefest of moments she felt something close to peace.

"I-I’ll be okay," she said softly, as if promising herself as much as anyone else. Then, a quiet exhale. Her fingers brushed gently through Isari’s fur.

"What’s… What’s happened to me..." Her voice trembled, barely more than breath. "If it means Azzie’s safe... then it’s worth it."

The moment the words left her lips, they caught in her chest, too heavy, too true. She hadn’t known she needed to say it until she did, and the realisation broke something open in her. Tears welled again, sliding down her cheeks, but they weren’t the same as before. They carried no anguish. Only love, raw and aching and endless.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery didn't say anything at first.

She just watched the way Eve's fingers curled into her sleeve, the way her tears fell not from panic now, but from something deeper. Her own breath caught for a moment as she took it in. This wasn't weakness. This was Eve choosing to let the walls down. Choosing to feel it all, instead of hiding from it. And that, more than anything else, was strength.

When Eve finally spoke, voice trembling with quiet purpose, Valery leaned back in — not pressing, not overwhelming. Just there. Her hand found Eve's again and held it, gently this time, fingers warm and sure.

"You don't have to carry the 'what ifs', sweetheart," she said, voice soft as silk but sure as stone. "You made a choice to protect someone you love. And that kind of choice... it says everything about who you are." She smiled and gave the girl's hand a small squeeze.

"And you're still you. Still my Padawan. Still Eve." Her eyes flicked to Isari, who had nestled herself fully into Eve's side, tail flicking like a little heartbeat. "Still someone very, very loved."

With a playful grin, Valery reached out and gave Isari a gentle boop on the nose. "Even by this absolute menace." She looked back at Eve, tucking a strand of silver hair behind her ear again. "It's going to take time. That's okay. You've already done the hardest part. And I'll be here every step of the way."

Then, in a teasing whisper, she added, "And yes, before you ask — even when you're sniffling and stealing all the blankets."

Her smile softened again, eyes shining. "Rest, for now. I've got you."

Everest Vale ​