Private Woven In Silence

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Katana
Tag: Tigris

The training circle was quiet.

Sunlight filtered through the trees, dappling the ground beneath Eve's bare feet in soft gold. A gentle breeze stirred the New Cov jungle air, rustling the leaves in a hush like breath drawn and held. Somewhere nearby, a bird chirped once, then fell silent again. The world was waiting.

Eve stood still at the centre, vision obscured by a white blindfold tied firmly over her eyes. Her hands were relaxed at her sides, one wrapped loosely around the hilt of a training katana, its blade dull. The weapon was smooth and balanced, familiar in weight, but that wasn't what grounded her. What grounded her... was Tigris.

She could feel her through the Force, quiet and steady, yet alive with that undercurrent of fire. A storm held in perfect tension. And somewhere within that storm was something softer. Something that belonged only to Eve. She took a breath.

The breeze stirred again, and Eve raised her blade. No opening stance. No guard. Just readiness. She didn't speak. The silence between them stretched, taut, fragile, electric. The kind of silence that held meaning, weight; an invitation. She could feel Tigris on the edge of it, waiting, watching, coiled.

And Eve waited too.

 

[Tigris]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Training Katana, Bracelet
Tag: Everest Vale

Tigris breathed in the humid jungle air, but the light breeze prevented the atmosphere from clinging like a wet blanket, as it often did deeper in the jungle. She had come to love that air, rich with the scent of flora, the call of jungle birds now familiar and comforting. New Cov Temple had become home for Everest and Tigris, Eve leaving Coruscant and Tigris Jakku to reside at the enclave of the Nobles' making. The temple was remote and quiet, the jungle rich and challenging. It was a refreshing respite from the metropolitan busyness of Coruscant.

The padawan couple had become close over the past months, through good and bad, war and peace. A turning point came on their trip to Selvaris, where their intimacy sparked a connection in the Force neither expected, or had fully understood. It continued to mature, even as they tried to comprehend it further.

That day, they were to work on the connection between the Force and saber combat. It would be challenging, for they were to deny thier senses, especially sight, and rely on the Force for their awareness. They stood on opposite sides of the outdoor training circle. Eve had already donned her white blindfold and stood waiting. Tigris indulged a moment to ogle her girlfriend while Eve was blinded. They silver-haired Echani was breathtaking as always. Tigris put aside her momentary admiration of Everest to focus on the training.

Tigris wrapped a black blindfold across her own eyes, ensuring no light penetrated. She stood quietly for a moment, allowing her other senses to adjust. Her fingers sensed the hilt of the katana in her grasp, a subtle shift of her soft boots feeling the dirt of the circle floor beneath her feet. Then, she focused on the Force, tuning herself to it.

As a Seyugi, Tigris had excelled at employing the Force internally, ennervating muscles and nerves to move with lightning agility and powerful strength. She had learned to use it externally only as an affect upon others, or objects, moving them, tricking them. But to 'sense' with the Force was a newer skill for the tattooed padawan, and she was still learning to use it. There was one exception to that. Eve.

Through their blossoming Force bond, Tigris could feel Eve in the Force as readily as if she touched her skin or smelled her hair. Whether she could sense how the girl moved in order to defend and attack her, well, this exercise would tell.

She could sense Eve's stillness, her anticipation. Tigris had to let go of more emotional thoughts, worry about harming Eve, protecting her. The Atrisian was doing just that in helping Everest learn how to fight and defend herself. Tigris set her mind and body to the pending task, muscles coiled, nerves open, aware of the Force in every fiber of her body. She held the well-balanced, dulled weapon in both hands, vertically to one side of her body. Then, she surged forward towards the light that was Eve's presence. Her footfalls were soft whispers against the sand.

He blade lifted over her head as she drew closer to Everest.

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Katana
Tag: Tigris

She felt her before she heard her. A shift in the rhythm of the jungle. A breath drawn, just slightly sharper than the breeze. The subtle tremor of intention blooming like a ripple through the Force.

Eve didn’t need her eyes. The bond thrummed gently with presence, heat, focus and motion. She felt it like the echo of a heartbeat against her own. As her senses stretched outward, she let go of the need to anticipate. She simply trusted.

Tigris moved, fast, silent. A streak of will arcing through the training circle. Eve exhaled, and she moved. Her body turned with the grace of water spilling in a new direction, arms flowing into a perfect redirection. Her katana came up at just the right moment, parrying Tigris’ downward strike with the flat of the blade. A flutter of birds came from the trees as the clash of steel on steel sung through the forest. The force of impact vibrated through Eve's arms, but she did not resist it; she absorbed it, listened to it.

In the same fluid motion, Eve stepped into the arc, not retreating but welcoming the closeness, the heat of Tigris’ energy. Her blade slid along the contact point and twisted out, guiding the motion into a spiral as she turned her hips and brought her weapon back around in a tight, precise counterstrike toward Tigris’ side.

Controlled. Measured. Not meant to wound; only to speak. Through steel and silence, she answered the invitation of her love.

 

[Tigris]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Training Katana, Bracelet, Echo Stone
Tag: Everest Vale

As Tigris executed her strike, she felt Everest's motion like a soft wave rippling against her being. The Force offered a tangible sensitivity to Eve's presence, revealing, not hard movement, but a smooth fluidity. The two women were well-trained in different schools of martial arts, creating a curious dance between them when they sparred.

Eve met Tigris' katana with a near perfect block. While the strike was halted, the kiss of the metal was not with brute force, but with a skilled glance, allowing Eve's blade to slide down Tigris', caressing the steel with a chiming ring. The blades parted, but the feel of Eve's weapon continued in momentum. Eve was going to counter.

Tigris remained in motion, the sparring ring quieting again after the calls of the startled birds faded. Shuffling feet, rustling robes, soft breaths, blades cutting through humid air, there was a intimacy to the hushed sounds as the lovers engaged in a martial dance. Listening, feeling, Tigris sensed Everest's blade sliding towards her. With a graceful contortion of her body, the bend of her spine, a dip of her hips, Tigris sought to evade the weapon.

The Atrisian's blade met the tip of Eve's, guiding it only enough to deflect it as Tigris slid by, the flat of the girl's weapon grazing along Tigris' ribs. The tattooed padawan rolled along that smooth blade, her feet moving with practiced ease as she parted from Everest and settled into a relaxed fighting stance.

"You have become like flowing water, angel." Tigris spoke with an unseen smile, her tone soft and playful.

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Katana
Tag: Tigris

A soft laugh slipped past Eve's lips, light as wind through leaves. She didn't lower her blade.

"And you," she murmured, her voice like silk across steel. "Are the earth, my love. Steady, grounding... and impossible to resist."

There was no teasing in her tone, only a reverence that tingled at the edge of flirtation. Her head tilted slightly, though her eyes, veiled behind the white cloth, remained fixed in the Force, tracing every flicker of her partner's presence. The jungle air clung warm to her skin, thick with tension and the scent of earth. She moved.

In one smooth motion, Eve surged forward, not with force, but grace, her blade sweeping low first, testing, then twisting into a higher arc aimed at Tigris' shoulder. She wasn't trying to win. She was merely trying to understand her love on an even deeper level than they already understood one another. Their language was that of passion and silence.

The dance continued.

Eve's bare feet skimmed the earth like she was born of it, the momentum of her strike flowing not from strength, but from intuition; an invitation and a challenge both, carried on the rhythm between them.

Steel kissed steel. Their blades held for a moment, and she lingered in the hush between heartbeats, savouring the warmth between them, the quiet thrum of connection that danced just beneath the skin. Her words slipped in like breath between them, a soft tease at her love's ear.

"Careful, my love... Even mountains give way to rivers... eventually."

 

[Tigris]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Training Katana, Bracelet, Echo Stone
Tag: Everest Vale

Tigris stood still, muscles coiled, but when Eve quipped her flirty reply, the tattooed jedi smirked and hummed in appreciation. The bond still resonated between them. The bracelet around Tigris' wrist, made by Eve as a gift, seemed to sharpen the bond, put it more in focus. It was that intimate cord that foretold Everest's movements.

Tigris responded, sensing her lover's blade swinging low, her own blade began to dip, but a sudden prodding coaxed Tigris to lift her blade as she spun on the ball of one foot, the other stretching out to lightly touch the ground, keeping her balance perfect. Their blades met again with a ringing kiss. The solid steel katanas were pressed to one another with gentle force. Tigris heard the subtle breath Eve inhaled before she spoke.

A light chuckle bubbled from Tigris' lips. She had felt Eve's warm breath on her as the Echani spoke, sensing how close they truly were. "Oh?" Tigris chimed back with innocence. "Rivers seem to find their way, between peaks and along valleys, just fine." She crooned, the smile on her face almost audible.

Tigris suddenly took a fluid step back, her blade sliding again along Eve's until they parted. Silently crouching and rolling, she attempted rise at an oblique angle to Eve, to her side and slightly back. Tigris' sword swung up, aiming to lightly kiss the tender white skin at Eve's neck.

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Katana
Tag: Tigris

Eve felt the blade slide away from hers, the metal parting like a sigh between them. In the quiet that followed, she heard Tigris’ teasing words, warm and smug, and they danced through her mind like ripples on a stream, a soft flush creeping into her cheeks.

She turned, not with alarm, but with certainty. The bond between them shimmered like a thread of light, and she followed its tug instinctively, sensing Tigris’ rise at her flank. Even before the blade reached for her, Eve was already moving.

She dipped low, her form folding like water slipping around a rock, letting Tigris' strike pass just above her. The near brush of steel stirred the fine hairs at her nape, and yet Eve’s expression didn’t waver, but it softened.

"I wonder," she murmured, twisting smoothly to face her. "If the earth ever aches for the river..."

Another pass — her katana swept low, forcing Tigris to pivot. A breath passed her lips, warm and trembling. "Just like the river…"

Their blades met again, locked for a heartbeat, eyes searching behind blindfolds and instinct. Eve’s breath caught as she pressed forward, their bodies nearly touching now.

"...longs to lose herself in her..."

A final step, blades crossed, their foreheads almost brushing, the heat between them humming through the Force.

"...again and again..."

She leaned in, her whisper grazing the shell of Tigris’ ear, a smile in her voice, hungry and reverent.

"...until there’s nothing left but wanting."

She bit her lip, the faintest smile tugging at its corners as their blades locked once more. Heat coiled in her chest, not just from exertion but from the nearness, the thrill of feeling Tigris move like breath and stone beside her. The air between them was thick with the scent of earth and sweat, tension laced with reverence. Beneath the blindfold, her lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she leaned ever so slightly forward — not for advantage, but simply to savour the space between them. The moment hung, delicate and charged.

 

[Tigris]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Training Katana, Bracelet, Echo Stone
Tag: Everest Vale

Tigris' blade cut through the air as Eve flowed beneath it's arc. She felt the movement through the bond, a velvety rope whose tension and slack revealed Everest's presence. Tigris allowed the weapon to complete its full motion even as the Atrisian pivoted again lightly. Her ponytail swayed behind her, loose strands of hair dancing around her face as she moved.

Eve's voice again spilled into the ring, as calm as if they were sitting in the temple gardens having tea. She posed a question, poetic and laced with innuendo. Tigris crouched and spun the other way, hearing the passing of Eve's blade so close. The Echani's playful tone brought a broad smile to Tigris' lips as she continued her momentum. She had not stopped moving, her lithe form flowing as they danced, their blades flashing in the dappled sunlight.

Eve's words continued, stirring Tigris. To hear such a suggestive narrative from her angelic paramour drew a warm heat to her core. Deceptively innocent, Everest knew how to undo her otherwise stalwart girlfriend.

Their blades met again, a satisfying clash of cold steel, a stark contrast to the heat of the ring, and the warmth Tigris felt as Eve drew close, their weapons locked, their bodies brushing one another. The Atrisian inhaled deeply of Eve's scents, relishing the sound of her breathing. Another hum rumbled in Tigris' throat, a bit more sensual that time.

"The earth craves the flow of the river, to feel it winding its way through the contours of its terrain, flowing into caverns and pooling in its sacred glens." Tigris purred. The tattooed padawan played along, perhaps more deeply than was anticipated. But it was Everest's fault. She knew what affect she had on Tigris.

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Katana
Tag: Tigris

Their blades were still locked, pressure trembling between them. The clang of steel had barely faded when Tigris' voice reached her, low, poetic, and laced with something deep and desiring. Eve felt it like a current through her body, a flush rising to her cheeks, a shiver that trailed along her spine. Her breath caught, chest rising and falling as the weight of those words — of Tigris — settled into her skin. The Force shimmered between them, not in tension, but in want.

"Tigris..." she breathed, barely more than a whisper.

The name left her lips like a prayer, and in the silence that followed, she leaned in. Their mouths met — soft, unhurried — a kiss shared in the charged quiet of the ring. It wasn't just affection. It was intimacy, raw and reverent. A promise wrapped in the hush between heartbeats.

But something stirred behind the blindfold. A flicker of mischief, and Eve... was still a fighter.

The kiss had barely broken when she shifted — not away, but down. In one smooth movement, she swept Tigris' legs from beneath her. The momentum took hold before muscle could resist, and with a thud softened by soil, the Atrisian hit the training circle floor.

A beat passed.

Eve pushed her blindfold up, revealing silver eyes alight with laughter and mischief. A peal of giggles spilled from her, unguarded, giddy with the sheer joy of it. She leaned down, offering her hand with a grin curved wicked at the edge.

"I might have cheated there," she confessed, trying and failing to look apologetic. "Just a little."

But her hand was steady and honest, and within the depths of her eyes — silver pools glinting with tenderness and devotion — was all the love she hadn't spoken aloud.

 

[Tigris]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Training Katana, Bracelet, Echo Stone
Tag: Everest Vale

Eve and Tigris were held in the moment, their blades still locked, measured pressure from each woman keeping the katana's pressed together with balanced force. It was like a moment out of time, where the galaxy watched, felt, all that passed between the blindfolded lovers. On the surface, in the mundane, Everest and Tigris were combatants, engaged in a martial exercise to hone their skills. But even a fool could see there was infinitely more between them, even as they stood in the middle of the ring, weapons held against one another.

Tigris marveled at the intensity of her entanglement with Everest. Emotion itself had been, at one time, indoctrinated out of her life. A good assassin could not afford sentiment. Feelings also made for inconsistencies when using the Force. Especially the Dark Side, who took advantage of passion for its own gain. But kindness shown her, heartfelt encouragement, from the likes of Knight Moghul and Master Vanagor and others in the Order, had started to stir Tigris' heart.

Feeling emotion had been difficult, and Tigris dragged her feet even as her heart insisted she experience them. The world changed when Everest came along. Something about Eve lit fire in Tigris' heart. An overwhelming wave of emotion followed, but without the resistance. Tigris could not but embrace all that Everest was, and how she had melted her cold heart. She taught Tigris how to love, and eventually, Eve helped the former Seyugi to learn that desire could be a beautiful part of love. And there, in the sparring ring, the Echani played upon that fire she had taught Tigris to relish.

But there was more. Something had happened between the two padawan lovers. The Force, perhaps by its own will, bound the two together. It was an unusual dynamic, such a connection between learners. But few could deny that the Force was strong in both Everest and Tigris. The unrestrained adoration between them, maybe, allowed such a deep, visceral Force connection to form.

All of that, in the few breaths that passed in that jungle fighting ring, two souls captured in a moment of metaphysical embrace. Stars exploded in Tigris' soul at the rich, breathy whisper of her name on Eve's lips. It was inevitable that one of them move, only enough for the physical touch they both desired. It was Eve, the younger, who leaned in, by instinct finding Tigris' lips without sight. They kissed with the sweetest passion.

But, one could not wallow in the cosmic pleasure of such an intimate, mulit-faceted bond. Everest, unexpectedly, brought them both back to the earth, and Tigris soundly so. The bond twanged with something, but Tigris perceived it too late. Her feet were swept from beneath her. It was only the second time such a thing had occurred, both taking place when she let down her guard.

Tigris hit the ground, instinctively bringing her arms up and curving her spine to protect herself and soften the blow as much as possible. Still, a breath of air blew out audibly as she hit the dirt. She lay there for a breath, finally reaching up to pull down her blindfold, dark eyes looking up sharply at Eve.

The glint of silver eyes and the ripple of girlish laughter softened Tigris. She laughed lightly as well. "You would make a good Seyugi, I can't believe you did that! And here I called you an angel. You are a little devil!" The tattooed Atrisian quipped. Tigris looked at the offered hand, measured the beautiful, angelic features of the Echani, sensing Eve didn't plan more mischief. But Tigris wouldn't forget... she would get her impish girlfriend back.

Grasping Eve's hand, Tigris leaped to her feet, katana still in hand. She wore a smirk on her dark lips, giving Eve a tap on the rear with the flat of her blade. "Don't forget, the earth remembers where the river runs..." Tigris jibed with a wink.

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Katana
Tag: Tigris

Eve yelped at the sudden swat, more out of surprise than pain, and turned with mock indignation that melted almost instantly into a grin. Her silver eyes sparkled, the earlier heat of the spar now softened with fondness, her cheeks still tinted with the remnants of their kiss and laughter.

"Oh, is that how the earth plays?" she teased, stepping backward lightly, katana twirling once in her grip. She tilted her head, her voice lowering into something more honeyed.

"Good... I wouldn't want it any other way..."

Her bare feet shifted through the soil as she returned to her stance, this time looser, more open — not careless, but trusting. In the Force, the bond between them shimmered like a silver thread strung between heartbeats. The spar had only drawn them closer, and in that closeness, Eve felt not just the hum of love, but the quiet thrill of challenge.

In the hush between banter and blade, Eve felt her heart catch. The way Tigris looked at her — sharp and shining and so full of life — it carved a space inside her chest that she never wanted to fill with anything else. How strange and beautiful, she thought, to find something so fierce and tender all at once. She could have stayed in that moment forever, two hearts tangled in laughter, in challenge, in something that felt dangerously close to forever. The jungle hummed around them, but it was the quiet between their heartbeats that sang loudest.

She gestured with the tip of her blade, one brow rising over her blindfold in invitation.

"Shall we see how the river runs this time, my love?"

And though she was smiling, her whole being stilled — breath calm, presence focused — ready again to move like water through stone.

 

[Tigris]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Training Katana, Bracelet, Echo Stone
Tag: Everest Vale

The Atrisian's playful swat was met by Eve with a saucy grin and a cavalier twirl of her sword. Oh, how far Everest had come since that first class where they met, or even the first date. The Echani could hardly get a sentence out without stuttering, or her face going flush. Eve was no less angelic, sweet or beautiful now that she had gained confidence. She had simply revealed a sort of maturity that made her even more formidable.

"Let me see what you've got, angel." Tigris snarked back in a sultry tone. The couple eyed each other with overt challenge and covert affection. They teased each other with bravado, like rivals. Tigris smirked as she slipped her blindfold over her eyes again, stealing one last licentious glance at her girlfriend. She found her own stance again, more relaxed, or so it would appear. Every nerve, every muscle of her toned body remained poised, the Force alive in her molecules, attuning her senses, humming with the presence of her partner before her.

Tigris could still feel the lingering impact of her fall on her back and rump. She clicked her tongue at Eve's cheeky comment. The suggestion Eve was a river held some real truth. The tattooed padawan opened herself to their bond. Tigris had worked on sensing Eve more clearly through the bond, and during their playful sparring, she could feel the Force flowing through Everest, so that the girl felt much like a flowing river, but one that moved without banks.

Tigris felt Eve's stillness. It was in itself, calming. In the quiet, who she was resonated more strongly. The dark-haired girl followed suit, unmoving. The cord between them waited, taut but not tugging, alive, glowing, as if the Force itself waited in anticipation of the first move. Once she felt confident she had her bearings through her senses and the Force, Tigris suddenly burst into movement. A fast, fluid roll to the right and a bit forward brought her back up to her feet, her blade lifting in a horizontal feigned strike before the blade shifted slightly and Tigris pivoted full circle to bring her blade around for another strike.

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Katana
Tag: Tigris

Eve didn't move at first. She simply breathed. One heartbeat, then another, her feet rooted to the jungle floor, her posture low, loose and ready. In the silence, she felt the Force hum between them, an invisible thread wound tight around her spine. Tigris' presence flared through it like a heatwave, curling through her senses.

Then it came; a flicker through the bond, the warning not in thought, but sensation. A spark against water. Tigris moved, a blur of grace and steel. But Eve was already moving too.

She didn't try to meet the strike head-on. She dipped, curved, flowed. The feint passed just above her shoulder, wind stirring her silver hair. The true strike came sharp from the side, and Eve turned with it, guiding her blade into the path with a clean, sure sweep. The clang of their sabers rang out like a bell in the wild, sharp and bright.

She exhaled through her nose, letting her instincts take hold. Her next step wasn't planned, but rather felt. She spun, fluid as a falling leaf, her back nearly brushing Tigris' front as she turned inside the strike, the blade grazing past her ribs with harmless promise.

Close. So close.

When their blades parted again, but she didn't pause. Eve moved like water catching fire.

She stepped into the space between them, her weight shifting low as her blade swept upward in a sharp, spiralling arc — not reckless, but quick and assertive. A testing strike. Her movements held no malice, but they carried a new confidence, a pressure that asked to be answered. She twisted on the ball of her foot and brought her saber back down in a controlled diagonal, feet light and deliberate, every motion fed by the rhythm of the Force flowing between them.

Tigris would feel it — not just the attack, but the intent.

Not domination.

Not victory.

An invitation. A push.

Meet me here.

Their blades would kiss again in that humid, sun-dappled ring, light and heat and love held between steel. The Force danced wildly in her chest, and even as her body moved with grace and poise, her soul leaned forward, yearning

 

[Tigris]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Training Katana, Bracelet, Echo Stone
Tag: Everest Vale

They danced without seeing. Bereft of sight, they did not stagger awkwardly, hesitate or stumble. The couple relied somewhat on other tangible senses, sound, touch...but the true perception came through the Force. Through the Force they sensed their surroundings, and through their bond, they felt one another.

Tigris' sweeping strike met humid air as she sensed Eve flowing lower. The sound of her lover's bare feet in the dirt, the almost inaudible whisper of her shifting robes, were sweet sounds to her ears. Her own momentum continued as their blades kissed again, a ringing that punctuated the fluid movement of the women. They maneuvered so close, the movement of air created caressing skin, the sense of a blade brushing a swirling robe.

Tigris' lips had parted, soft, easy breaths passing between them. The two parted with the most subtle pang of separation. The Atrisian felt her heart flutter in her chest, not at the exertion, for her pique physical condition rendered the exercise easy. It was Everest, always Everest, that left her heart with a trill of excitement.

A gentle inhale whispered as she slid again into her relaxed but ready stance, subtle crouch, coiled muscles, open senses. Eve moved again, Tigris hearing the Echani's blade cut through the air in a flourish as she brought it up and then down in a fierce slice. Tigris didn't flinch. Her feet didn't move. Her head faced forward, unseeing. But with lightning reflexes, her blade lifted, catching Eve's just above her head.

A smarmy grin touched Tigris' lips. She intentionally allowed Eve's blade to come so close. Tigris discerned not only Eve's moves, but her motive. The firm meeting of those blades, solid, tangible, was a reverberating contrast to the soft motion of their dance, and the smooth caress of the blades as they parted.

But they didn't part yet. Eve and Tigris stood close... heat, breath, the scintillation of their bond, it made Tigris inhale through her parted lips and small nostrils. Eve's scent was full, the cocktail that was uniquely her. The Atrisian then exhaled after holding that breath, relishing it. How the Echani commanded such an effect on Tigris, the tattooed padawan couldn't say. Tigris only knew that, without Eve, she was only a shadow of what she could be. That every nerve danced and every sense quickened when she was near. Everest was the only definition of love that Tigris knew.

"The river..." Tigris whispered, "... is welcomed to flow where it may." She added, leaning in and without error pressed her lips precisely against Eve's.

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Katana
Tag: Tigris

The moment their blades locked and Tigris leaned in, Eve felt herself start to unravel. It was as if the world narrowed to a single point, the warmth of breath between them, the ghost of lips about to touch. The rest faded. The ring, the trees, the soft sounds of the jungle, all dissolved into a hazy blur, washed away by the rising tide of feeling. She was already flustered, but now it deepened into something more consuming: the thrumming presence of their bond, the exquisite closeness of the one person who made her feel safe enough to come undone.

And she was coming undone.

Her thoughts blurred, her breath hitched, and somewhere in the haze, her grip faltered. She barely noticed when her blade slipped from her fingers, the weight of it departing her hand was nothing compared to the weight of Tigris' kiss.

Because how could she ever resist this?

Tigris was everything, grace and fire, quiet control and coiled power. Her presence filled the air like smoke from a sacred flame, and even blindfolded, she moved with elegance that left Eve breathless. Always had. Always would. She didn't need to see Tigris to feel the way her soul stirred at her nearness. Every time their skin brushed, every time their breath mingled, Eve felt like she was falling in love all over again.

The Force between them was alight. Their bond sang through the air like music only they could hear, soft, swelling thoroughly radiant. It pulsed between their hearts, warm and heady, a thread of devotion so strong it felt like it could carry them both through any darkness. The sensation of it, the closeness of her... it was intoxicating. Eve could hardly think around it.

She leaned in, lips pressed fully to Tigris' without hesitation now, letting herself sink into the moment with abandon. Her cheeks burned, her chest ached, but her heart was still. Their connection — physical, spiritual, eternal — was all she could feel.

And she held on.

 

[Tigris]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Training Katana, Bracelet, Echo Stone
Tag: Everest Vale


It was a moment of indulgence. They were Jedi. They were in training, the sparring session an exercise in martial skill. Or at least, it was that initially. But it became an experiment in the power of the Force between them, a honing of their bond, learning what it could reveal between them. But Tigris sensed that their bond was a cord between them, not only as Force-users, but as lovers.

That fact they had not yet learned to separate out, if they could at all, if they would want to at all. All they knew was that their connection afforded them an intimacy many would never know. So new to them, it was hard to resist it.

They kissed. It felt like a closing of the circle of their bond and their love. Tigris heard the soft thud of Everest's katana against the hard dirt. Her own lowered. They savored the kiss, alone, uninterrupted. The Atrisian's being, from her core outward, was scintillating. Tigirs knew, if they did not separate, she would not be able to resist Eve any longer.

It was time.

With a maneuver long lost in time, lost when the Seyugi died, Tigris' body moved with precision , the motion of her limbs strong and fast. In a breath, Eve was on the ground, on her back, with Tigris standing over her, the dull tip of her blade gently touching the Echani's porcelain chin.

Though her smile was mischievous, the shallow pant of her breath and the look in her dark eyes betrayed her internal struggle. She lifted her blindfold. "Remember, my love, the earth never forgets."

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Katana
Tag: Tigris

The world tilted — or maybe it was just her.

One moment she was lost in the electric stillness of their kiss, the next she was flat on her back, the forest canopy overhead a blur of shifting green. Her breath hitched, a laugh caught somewhere in her throat. The tip of the dulled blade pressed delicately to her chin, but it wasn’t the blade that made her pulse skip.

It was her. Always her.

Slowly, deliberately, Eve reached up with one hand and pushed her blindfold off, letting it fall loosely around her neck. Her silver eyes gleamed in the filtered sunlight, wide and alight with a dozen flustered sparks. Her hair had come loose in the fall, soft strands fanned across the earth like moonlight in motion.

She blinked up at Tigris, cheeks flushed and lips parted in a breathless smile. Then, ever so sweetly, she tilted her head just enough to lean into the blade’s edge — not in challenge, but invitation.

"I suppose the river will have to make her apologies," she murmured, voice low and teasing. "After all... she did forget how dangerous the earth can be..."

Her hand, resting lightly near her collarbone, curled slightly in the fabric — a gesture half-fluster, half-offering.

"And now," she breathed, gaze never leaving Tigris’ face. "It seems she finds herself completely at the earth’s mercy. What ever... will she do with her...?"

The question wasn’t just playful. It shimmered in the bond between them, heady and warm — a pulse that thrummed from soul to soul, too deep to be just nerves or flirtation. Eve lay still as she gently bit her lower lip, every inch of her bathed in light and waiting.

 

[Tigris]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Training Katana, Bracelet
Tag: Everest Vale

Tigris stood over Everest, smirking. The Echani tugged down the blindfold, as if she knew what exposing those gorgeous silver orbs would do to the Atrisian, especially the way they peered up at her with such feigned innocence. Eve's porcelain cheek, now smudged with dirt, pressed against Tigris' blade almost seductively. The girl's gray-silver mane spread out around her head like a pale halo, rendering Eve incredibly attractive in the moment.

Oh how far the timid Echani had come as she lay on the ground, smiling, her delicate hand tugging gently at the collar of her garment. The sweet chime of her voice had the edge of playfulness to it, and something more suggestive.

The spar was forgotten. Their bond's resonance shifted from the cues of combat to the rhythms of desire. The flat of Tigris' blade lingered a moment, then slid away, the dull tip prodding gently at the opening of Eve's tunic.

"The river knows the earth's courses, I have a feeling there is no question about what will transpire next..." Tigris crooned, finally discarding the katana in the dirt. She knelt beside the prone Everest, bending to kiss the Echani more passionately. Shifting easily, Tigris straddled Eve with a deep giggle as her kisses trailed down the slender column of her lover's neck...

THE END​