Private Winter Adventure

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Ambience

In this galaxy, the promise of adventure was around just about every corner. From the Core to the Rim, so much was unexplored by the nook and cranny. The stars were their own witness to the shadows that existed between them, and all one had to do was shine a light in the darkness to find the uncharted. Like reading a book to discover the uncanny, there was a certain mystery in this galaxy, but you had to open it to know it.

Perhaps, then, the planet Desinta in the Outer Rim would offer the perfect opportunity for such adventure. A world of ice and snow as any other, rumor had it that somewhere above or under its surface was buried treasure, relics of ancient days, structures from an obelisk to a maze, yet none had braved the perilous mountains enough to find out. Today, that would change.

For now, however, a brutal blizzard waged war with the environment outside, so the time to hike was tomorrow to be specific. Tonight, one adventurer in a number stayed inside a mountain lodge. It was fitted and equipped with just about every amenity and expectation, from hiking gear to purchase and hot food to fill the stomach. Decorations included tusks of wild animals to line the walls and tools and instruments of natives as a different kind of music played.

In one room, firelight permeated the interior. The atmosphere was warm and cozy as slow jazz came from the radio. It was an open air porch, actually, but protected with a force shield in place of a window as the storm bellowed beyond. A brazier offered warmth in the center of the floor. Sitting in a chair with a cup of hot chocolate in her lap, Vayla Mirana sat back and relaxed, watching the snow outside, snug in her white robe, hood lowered.

In as much of a mood for silence as to talk, at the moment she just thought about what tomorrow might hold when it was time to face the cold and be counted among those to brave the mountains. That zealous spirit was plastered on her countenance as she relished the future. It was littered with prizes, sure, but her true reward was the journey, even if the destination came with no trophy. It was all about the search, whatever the danger. That was the adventure.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

The soft chime of the lodge's inner door opening barely registered over the hum of the storm beyond the force shield — but the footsteps that followed were deliberate, measured, and unmistakably confident. Valery stepped onto the open-air porch with a quiet exhale, her breath misting in the controlled warmth of the space. She was wrapped in a thick, dark cloak lined with fur at the collar, snow still dusting the shoulders, her lightsabers conspicuously absent for once. This wasn't a battlefield, after all.

Her eyes, catching the golden glow of the brazier and the curl of smoke from Vayla's cup, shifted outward toward the storm. She stood there a moment, just watching the swirl of ice and wind clash against the invisible barrier like waves against a shore. Then she stepped closer, slow and unhurried, and offered a small, knowing smile as she settled into the empty seat across from her companion.

"You know," Valery said, her voice calm and low, "For this world has got a hell of a view." She leaned back, tugging off her gloves finger by finger before holding her hands out to the brazier. Her eyes flicked toward Vayla, catching that spark of anticipation in the woman's expression.

"I could stare at it for hours."

Vayla Mirana ​

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Vayla’s gaze broke from the window into the outside white by the dark cloak that came inside. However, the garment with its furred collar didn’t catch her attention so much as its wearer. The Pantoran observed the Keshian’s movements just so as she approached, stood and stared, watching the snow.

It was a simple, unassuming gesture from either person. Only, at that moment, as one woman studied the storm, the other studied her. They had never truly met before this expedition as far as Vayla could remember but there she was, Valery Noble in the flesh. After a fashion, she was her own storm.

Of course, neither would know what to make of each other until time passed. That was part of this adventure. It offered a chance to get acquainted, to form more friendships and, if the Force was anything to go by in this wartorn galaxy then the Jedi were going to need all the friends that they could get even within their own orders. Vayla was no exception, Shadow or no. Maybe especially so.

Though, instead of getting lost in her own thoughts, she sipped her cocoa and watched as Valery sat, listening attentively when she spoke. Her tone was like the crackling fire; soothing and unassuming. Their eyes met, orange into blue; electric hues given the cybernetics.

“Agreed,” Vayla replied simply, eyes peeled back at that view on the other side of the force shield. “Something about sitting here, warm and safe by a fireplace, when out there a storm rages.” Ice and fire. There was a song in there somewhere. “Peaceful.”

Vayla sighed, long and leisurely, and measured her gaze in Valery’s face. “I imagine you’ve had your fair share of winter adventures for all your endeavors.” She wasn’t a Grandmaster by chance or Battlemaster for that matter. “Maybe skiing? Plenty of sightseeing.” There might be both where they were going. “What do you hope to find out there?” She spoke just as calm and low.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery exhaled softly, her hands curling a little closer to the warmth of the brazier as Vayla spoke. The glow caught the edge of her face — softening the lines, casting just enough light into her eyes to make the amber seem almost gold. When the question came, her lips quirked upward in a wry little smile, and she let out a quiet chuckle.

"Skiing?" she echoed with amusement, tilting her head slightly. "You're giving me a lot more credit for grace on snow than I deserve."

She shifted in her seat, pulling the cloak a bit tighter around her shoulders. "Truth is, I don't even like the cold. I've spent more hours than I care to count trudging through waist-deep snow on one battlefield or another. Hoth, Ilum, even a few backwater ice moons no one remembers the names of. Every time, it's the same — frozen boots, numb fingers, and the sound of comms crackling just before everything goes wrong."

A breath passed, not heavy with bitterness, just memory. The way she said it suggested it was something she'd learned to endure — not something she'd ever learned to love.

"But this?" She nodded toward the view. "This kind of cold I can live with."

Then her gaze drifted toward Vayla again, thoughtful now, the smile tempered but still present. "I'm not here to sightsee," she said, tone dipping softer. "Or ski. I'm here because there's something out there. Something ancient, buried. I don't know what yet, but the Force keeps pointing me toward it."

Valery paused, then added more quietly, "And I've learned to listen when it does." Her eyes returned to the storm, as a small smile tugged on her lips.

Vayla Mirana ​

 

[Die Shize]

oops

 

[Vayla Mirana]

The Keshian had the Pantoran’s attention. “This kind of cold…” Vayla echoed with a sigh. “You, we, haven’t felt it yet.” She knew Valery could relate. Vayla was just stating the obvious.

“I’ve felt the fingers, the feet,” she sipped her drink leisurely. “Sometimes numb, other times blistered in the heat, and the comms crackling are just because there is no one to assist under the sun.”

Cold. Hot. In the end, it did not matter to her and, if it didn’t matter to Vayla then it didn’t matter to Valery. Women, no, Jedi like them, did not depend on the environments, on the elements. They survived and were guided by something bigger than both of them combined.

“Listen to the Force,” Knight Mirana echoed. “And to the storm.” They faced the same way. “There is more than frozen boots and numb fingers out there.” Something ancient? Something buried? “More than treasure.”

Try telling this to a Master Jedi. Yet, in the end, if Valery didn’t need the reminder, then what was a Jedi to begin with? So Vayla turned her gaze toward her and would not be put off if her listener did not return the favor. Her own experience proved true. “You will find more of you.”

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery turned at the sound of Vayla's words — not just the tone, but the weight of them. A language spoken by those who had seen the same scars written across different planets. Jedi didn't always need to explain themselves to each other. Sometimes, a shared silence said more than a dozen briefings ever could.

She studied the woman for a moment. Not just the cold sheen of her skin or the way she sat by the brazier like she'd done it a thousand times, but the steadiness in her voice. It was the kind of presence that came from experience — hard-won and rarely spoken aloud.

Valery smiled. Not wide. Not smug. But warm — the kind of smile that reached the edges of her eyes and softened her features, even against the backdrop of ice and war, "You talk like someone who's been out there too," she said quietly, moving to settle beside her. The seat gave a soft creak beneath her, the firelight catching on the curve of her saber hilt and the fine edge of her cloak.

She didn't look out at the storm again — not this time. She looked at Vayla.

"Valery," she offered with a slight incline of her head. "Valery Noble."

Vayla Mirana ​

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Their eyes met and not for the first time. Those orange irises, bright as the fire, as if to hide the power inside. Those blue hues carried no less energy, however, just of a different kind, with their electric prosthetics. Keshian. Pantoran. It was as if they were born for this, two souls for the cold, forged for this moment, not as Jedi, but as women in conversation. No more or less.

“Vayla,” she replied, offering a nod to the incline. “Vayla Mirana.” It was not a name that was supposed to carry any weight. As a Shadow, she strove to not be known. She was like the steam from this cup of hot cocoa: drifting and curling through the world one moment, only to vanish like mist the next. That was fine.

“A few times,” she reflected. She didn’t look at Valery or the storm but at the floor. The polished wood was covered with a furred carpet not unlike her counterpart’s and just as dark.

“I’d say I have a bit of experience in these frigid environments.” Vay’s tone dripped with someone who was being modest. “Mountains. Caves. You name it. Exploration is my passion.” My mission. Her face gave nothing away but a Grandmaster might not be surprised.

When the Knight sighed, there was no steam in her breath, no mist in her eyes. They were frozen over. That moment, she sought the fire in the eyes of the only other person in this room who she could relate to.

“Do you have any regrets in life, Valery?” A redundant question, perhaps, but it was asked spontaneously. Though, maybe it was simply because memory lane penetrated Vayla’s brain like flames from the fireplace burning the wings of fireflies who flew too close.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery's gaze lingered on Vayla a moment longer — the kind of look that didn't try to peel back layers but recognized they were there. She let the warmth of her drink seep into her fingers, then lowered it slowly, letting the flicker of the flames dance across the metal of her gauntlet and the sharp line of her jaw.

Then came the question.

Valery blinked once, more in thought than surprise. And then, slowly, she smiled.

"No," she said simply, her voice low and sure. "No regrets." She turned slightly toward Vayla, one leg crossed over the other, her expression neither boastful nor smug, "I've made mistakes. I've seen things I'd never want to see again. Lost people. Fought battles that took more than they gave."

"But I've got a family. A home. People I'd die for — and live for." Her eyes lifted to meet Vayla's again, steady and warm in the dim. "The life I have now, the path I walk… it's worth every scar that got me here. I don't need more than that."

A pause, and then her smirk returned, soft around the edges.

"Besides, if I'd done anything differently…" A mock-dramatic shrug. "I might not be sitting here with a hot drink next to a mysterious explorer in the middle of a frozen wasteland."

She raised her mug a little, the steam catching the light.

"And that? That would've been a real shame."

Vayla Mirana ​

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Here, in these frigid conditions save for the cushions, in this freezing environment were it not for this lodge, amid the warmth of the fire that provided more light than the white sky beyond, there was yet nothing firmer than a firm answer. It came in no quaint shape though. It was simply “No”.

As Valery spoke, she had Vayla’s attention. Maybe it meant nothing to mention the effect of eyes into eyes. Then again, it meant everything. Life was in those eyes no matter their shape or color, orange or blue, natural or bicameral. Eyes born with or prosthetic were either honest or made of lies.

Valery crossed her legs, assuming a posture of relaxation amid her expression. Vayla sat with her knees together, not that their positions mattered, whether Knight or Grandmaster. These two women were not imposters.

Mistakes. Lost battles. Fought people. Families. Homes. Maybe this was the moment for the Pantoran to inform the Keshian that they were known, she walked her own, from the mountain to the marsh, surrounded in her own scars, but no.

“Regrets,” she said with conviction. She might have sighed only a moment ago but, instead, Valery changed her mind in the light. “They are the memories we wish we could change but matter little and less when faced with the present.”

If she said anymore then she would be at risk of pretending to be a sage, never mind her future. Instead, Vayla leaned forward toward Valery, held her hot drink high, and looked between her eyes. “May our journey lead us, not to regrets, but to memories well spent.” As Jedi? Sure. Or just as two women. Whatever worked.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery smiled — a slow, real thing that softened the line of her jaw and turned just a touch more genuine as she raised her mug in return.

"To memories well spent," she echoed, letting the words settle in the quiet between them before she took a sip. The warmth lingered longer now, not just from the drink or the fire, but from the sense that something was unfolding here. Not in some galaxy-shaking way. Just… something good. Steady. Human.

She watched Vayla for a moment more, eyes glinting over the rim of her cup, then set it down with a soft clink and leaned forward, one arm bracing casually against her knee.

"You know…" she started, the corners of her mouth tugging into a familiar smirk, "If you're not in a rush to disappear back into the storm, there's a ridgeline I was thinking of scouting soon. Snow's deep, wind's brutal, and I hear the view at the top could knock the breath out of you."

A beat.

"Figured it might be the kind of memory worth making." She glanced toward the shuttered window, where white light still filtered through cracks in the frame. "You interested? I could use the company. And someone who doesn't mind a little ice in their boots."

Vayla Mirana ​