Private What Happened To You?

[Vizion Trozky]

THE HUNTER-KNIGHT
NEW JEDI ORDER
JEDI TEMPLE - TEMPLE PRECINCT - GALACTIC CITY - CORUSCANT
Briana Sal-Soren

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?​

Flashing his sparring partner a wide grin as his breathing started to slow, Vizion wiped away the sweat glistening on his forehead with the back of a hand, and extinguished his yellow blade.

“Thanks for the spar,” Viz heaved between breaths, “You’ve got good moves.”

The other Jedi shrugged, finished chugging a mouthful or three of water, and wiped his mouth, “Use both next time,” he said, referring to the other hilt still hanging from Vizion’s hip, “This was too easy.”

Vizion let off a one-note laugh, “I’ll keep that in mind,” he half-agreed, having every intention of using the Temple’s training space more often, rather than just the gym in his building, “See ya.”

“Yeah.”

​

After a quick shower, Vizion watched the others that had since started training in the same area, a brief pause on his way out, towel around his neck. Trading the more natural areas of Ossus for the nigh-endless duracrete and durasteel jungle of Coruscant had been a slow transition, but a needed one for several reasons, not the least of which being that it put him in more direct contact with the war effort, where he could do more.

And with that war now being on two fronts once again, there was more to do than ever.

He began walking from one end of the courtyard to the other, intent on returning to the Great Hall and from there, heading to the Room of a Thousand Fountains to continue his morning. Meditation had been an important mainstay of his life for the past year, and moreso in the last half-year. Though the reasons had changed over time, a habit remained in the wake of them where previously, he might have only meditated when necessary, or for the purpose of practising one of the more challenging of his abilities - tracking over great distances, or ‘farsight tracking’ being the succinct definition.

Of course, plans rarely survive contact with the enemy. Or in this case, just another Jedi, and him not paying attention to where he was going, instead reviewing messages on his wristcomm, and clipping that other Jedi with his broad frame as he walked.

“Aaah!” he exclaimed, whipping around, “Sorry, sorry, still not used to it being…” but as the other Jedi turned, his words extinguished; he peered at her, his brows raising and pulling together, “...Briana?”

He swallowed. Since when was she…?

“Sorry, guess I was…” [ …a little distracted! ] His words trailed off in his thoughts, a mental pivot, and he granted her a faint smile, “Are you…” [ …Okay? ]. He blew out a sigh, a little laugh of disbelief, raking a hand into his hair, “Well, this is a surprise.”

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

​

Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: Lightsaber
Location: Training Dojo, Jedi Temple
Tag: Vizion Trozky


Moments following an intense sparring session with Silas, Briana received a message from Master Noble who wanted to meet and go over the details of a new mission within the hour, something about a smuggling operation that was taking place in the lower levels of Coruscant and intel on a brand new variant of the drug they called glitterstim.

Exiting the dojo with her face angled down, Briana remained singularly focused on her datapad, skimming through her other messages and only glimpsing up occasionally to dodge and weave around the others as they exited, not realizing until she was crashing into another's chest that someone was on a direct collision course with her.

The datapad clattered to the ground in the process.

"Aaah!" she heard him exclaim, "Sorry, sorry, still not used to it being…"

Her lips pulled into a tight line, a frown threatening as she knelt down to pick up her device, dusting it off and checking the screen for cracks as she staved off her own rising irritability, mentally preparing to mutter an apology for her own carelessness and not watching where she was going, before a familiar scent descended on her senses.

It was a warm and spicy aroma that hailed from Brentaal, causing Briana to take pause, feeling the atmosphere shifting around her.

"...Briana?"

Her spine went rigged, finally registering the sound of his voice. Oceanic eyes turned to face him at last.

They hadn't seen each other since the battle on Cato Neimoidia, vividly recalling the rather terse exchange of words between them that had followed afterward. Neither had made an effort to reach out to the other since then. At first, the widening distance had been such a palpable thing, an endless dark chasm waiting to swallow her whole, until she simply let go of whatever was left and accepted what now was.

"Sorry, guess I was…" his words trailed off, "Are you…" He blew out a sigh, a little laugh of disbelief, raking a hand into his hair, "Well, this is a surprise."

Despite everything, there was a lingering sense of familiarity still there between them, and yet there was so much that had changed. Briana just nodded slowly, trying to muster up a coherent response. "Yeah, that's for sure." she managed, her voice steady, though inside she was anything but. What could she say? What should she say? "How have things been? Since…" the last time we saw each other, she bit back on the tail end of that sentence, unwilling to revisit all those memories. Instead, she asked, "Are you...stationed here, now?" Idle talk, a conversational diversion as old as time itself to ward off the looming awkwardness that was sure to follow.

​

 

[Vizion Trozky]

THE HUNTER-KNIGHT
NEW JEDI ORDER
JEDI TEMPLE - TEMPLE PRECINCT - GALACTIC CITY - CORUSCANT
Briana Sal-Soren

​

"Yeah, that's for sure. How have things been? Since…"

[ …since then. ] She didn’t need to say it. He knew where that trailing sentence meant to go, and what little mirth existed in his face evaporated as memories faded by the separating months nipped at his consciousness because of it, leaving his expression nigh-impassive. Then she pivoted, instead asking another question:

"Are you...stationed here, now?"

Vizion released a held breath by way of a gentle sigh, then gave her a short nod, eager to not revisit such things, himself - they could have a normal conversation, right? Right. “Been here a while,” he confirmed, “Not sure I’m entirely used to the lack of trees yet, though.” Yes, easy, noncommittal small talk. “When did you arrive?”

As far as he knew, she had largely been on Hapes since, well, the day she’d left him with only a note, and asked him to not come looking and that had been a year ago. And it had taken a lot of work not to. A tether that had been present for most of their lives, and he let it wither, first out of respect, then on purpose and out of necessity. For the sake of his sanity, after 'then'. Not that it didn’t ache more than a little with her right in front of him; that would take as long as it would take to pass. He gave a firm smile.

“Your family doing okay?”