Private Wrath of Shiraya: To Build or Break

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Wearing: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber | Location: Irith | Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren ​

A lone X-Wing descended towards Irith’s surface.

Rather than travel to the main landing zone, Briana Sal-Soren opted for a more roundabout approach. Which wasn't uncommon. The majority of missions that Briana usually found herself on meant that she needed to be discreet and keep a low profile, far away from the areas that’d be more heavily controlled or under surveillance, especially on a Hutt world where Galactic Alliance law held no sway.

Beyond her work as a Jedi over the last half decade and the connection she shared to her former master, who’d secured her place as the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, Briana was a known public figure. One whose family had been in the media, rather recently in fact. For reasons that, when she thought about it, still made her chest feel like it was constricting. As if the revelation had somehow taken tangible form, coiling around her throat so tightly that she might suffocate.

And it was those same reasons, along with the charge from Romi Jade , that moved her to take action. This journey, unsanctioned though it was, was borne out of her duty to the Force and to family, a duty that far outweighed any obligations she felt to the Order. It was a search for her estranged brother Brandyn, to save him before he lost himself to a prophecy that spent an indeterminable amount of time within her nightmares.

Four individuals, born to be either the architects of a safe galaxy or its destroyers.

Brandyn and herself, bound together by a dyad in the Force, were two of those four, and the future she saw with him… Briana shuddered at the thought of those images, shrugging to try and shake off the chill. The last time she’d had such a disturbing vision, she’d ignored it, and Naboo paid the price in fire and brimstone.

She wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

As the fighter touched down, making a dull 'thud', Briana released the control stick. Instinctively, her fingers immediately began dancing through the post-landing switches, and as the canopy lifted, she pulled herself up and descended down the rope ladder.

The moment her boots made contact with the foreign world, her mind was flooded with memories of her last encounter with Brandyn. Much of that simmering anger she’d felt before was still there, lurking beneath the surface, but so was the love, and it was the latter that guided her now.

She only hoped that when they met again, it would be love, not anger, that dictated her actions. Not only for the sake of her brother, but for the sake of the galaxy.

​

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

Silence was step four. Step five was the reveal, which was next. Step six was self-defence and the death of Paraclet Mar.

The scientist was now completely paranoid. Days had been spent seeding the man’s thoughts that someone was after him. A misplaced trinket here. An open drawer there. It made him feel like someone had been looking for something in his apartment. Missed calls from an unknown contact a few times, and a figure at the end of the apartment hallway that followed him down the stairs, only to disappear into the busy pedestrin traffic outside.

Paraclet had begun carrying a small holdout blaster. Enough to take down a moderately sized human. Enough to tickle a Wookiee. The blaster was for defence. But it was in the hands of a untrained and skittish man.

Mar had walked down an alleyway to meet with his dealer. Upon finding the dealer to be missing from his normal haunt, Paraclet had grown nervous. Brandyn had thrown in a few bumps and starts to heighten the man’s nerves.

Step five.

Brandyn stepped out from the shadows and made as though he was walking down the alley. Mar turned to face him with a look of worry across his face.

”Who are you?” The scientist demanded.

“Why should I tell you?” Brandyn said, as he made his way slightly to Mar’s right as if he was going to walk past him - even if rather closely.

“You’re the one that followed me the other day!” Mar called out, while pulling out his blaster.

“Whoa! Put that thing away, freak,” Brandyn said, backing away towards the wall on the right side of the alleyway.

“Who are you?”

”Look…I don’t want any trouble,” Brandyn said, before casting a quick glance to no one standing behind Mar.

Mar turned quickly to see who was behind him. He saw no one and let out a cry of alarm as he turned back to Brandyn. He found the young man trying to step away from him towards the end of the alleyway. “Don’t move!”

Mar was sweating, eyes wide in panic. If Brandyn hadn’t been aware of the horrors Mar had been responsible for Brandyn would have felt bad for him. “T3MERIC-4ALPHA,” Brandyn muttered.

”How do you know about that?” Mar said, face pale, eyes glancing about the alleyway.

”Just let me go please,” Brandyn said, making a move to leave the alley, “I don’t want trouble.”

Mar raised his gun, finger twitching on the trigger.

Brandyn raised his hand and twitched it to the left.

Mar fired, his hand moving with an unseen force pushing it. Step six.

The shot missed Brandyn’s shoulder by a foot. He rushed the scientist, and pushed the blaster upward while pushing an elbow into the man’s gut. Mar crumpled forward, winded. In the wrestling match that proceeded Brandyn carefully navigated the blaster towards Mar’s gut and prepared to squeeze the man’s trigger finger.

| Briana Sal-Soren |​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Wearing: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber | Location: Irith | Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren​

Brandyn didn't seem to notice her approach, possibly didn’t even feel her, his attention far too focused on the quivering man whose life he held in the palm of his hand.

Whomever this stranger was that'd been deemed worthy of death by her brother, their fear was a very palpable thing, a miasma that filled the alley with its acrid stench.

As she slowly approached her brother, Briana felt a tight twinge in her chest that landed somewhere between horror and grudging admiration. He was audacious, she'd give him that, though her heart ached for the boy who'd once chased Tima’s through the glassy glens of Naboo with her. Was that boy still in there, or was she too late?

“Enough Brandyn,” Her blue eyes narrowed on the blaster still pressed taut against the scientist's stomach before traveling up to search her brother's face, brows drawing together in disapproval. The shadows in the alleyway cast half of him in darkness, while the other half was bathed in the dim light bleeding from a flickering neon sign above, making his expression near impossible to read.

“This isn’t the way we do things,” she continued cautiously, taking a step forward, her hand extended, not in aggression but in an offer of peace. “Whatever he's done, he doesn't deserve to die. Just... hand me the blaster and we'll turn him in to the proper authorities, okay? Don't do something you can't come back from."

​

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

A pit formed in Brandyn’s stomach the moment he heard Briana’s voice. He winced, and the tore the blaster from the scientists grasp and tossed it aside. The blaster came to rest at Briana’s feet. The younger Sal-Soren still did not look at his sister, but snarled at the Mar.

“T3MERIC-4ALPHA,” Brandyn muttered.

”Brandyn? As in….Sal-Soren?” Mar said, sweat pouring from his face. He looked at Briana and back to Brandyn. "Please don’t kill me, I beg you!”

She used his name, right in front Mar. Self-defence as a poor excuse for murder was now off the table completely.

"T3MERIC-4ALPHA," Brandyn said, fists gripping the man’s coat and lifting him to his feet, “tell her what it is…tell her.”

“I…I don’t know what you are talking about…”

“Liar! Tell her what T3MERIC-4ALPHA is!” Brandyn said, with a shove of the man against the wall, “you were lead on project T3MERIC-4ALPHA…tell her what it was…and tell her what you knew about its intended use. Tell her!”

The man was almost crying for fear’s sake. “They said it was to teach Sal-Soren a lesson…”

Brandyn shoved him against the wall, a crack could be heard as his head hit the wall.

”…synthetic Thistlebark…T3MERIC-4ALPHA…was synthetic Thistlebark…I was the lead…it was my project…please don’t kill me…please I beg you…”

“When did you know that the target was Teyla Sal-Soren?” Brandyn hissed.

“From the inception of the project…I knew…I knew from the inception of the project…”

| Briana Sal-Soren |​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Wearing: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber | Location: Irith | Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren​

Briana stood frozen, her gaze fixed on the crumpled form of Paraclet Mar. The revelation of his involvement in their mother's death struck her like a physical blow, sending waves of shock and anger coursing through her as a bitter taste rose in her mouth, a mix of revulsion and a dark, seething rage.

"Please… please, I didn't want to do it. They made me, I swear!"

The fear in his eyes was clear. The pathetic, sniveling terror of a man who had finally come face to face with the consequences of his actions. The rage in her chest burned hotter, and for a moment, she allowed herself to entertain the thought of ending his miserable existence.

Without a word, she bent down and picked up the discarded blaster. Her fingers caressed the cold metal, a grim reminder of the justice she could dispense. It would be so easy. They weren't in Galactic Alliance space, the Hutts wouldn't care. Mar's eyes widened in fear as if reading her thoughts, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he watched her, realizing the power she held over his life in that moment. His sobs grew louder, more desperate.

"I didn't have a choice! They would've killed me too!"

"We all have a choice," Briana whispered, her voice barely audible over the pounding in her ears. She leveled the barrel of the blaster directly at him, finger curling around the trigger.

Click.

A hollow sound.

"This is for my mother." The energy pack she'd deftly removed earlier, clattered to the ground. Mar flinched, a sob caught in his throat, eyes wide with confusion. Briana's expression remained impassive, her eyes never leaving Mar's face. "This is for my father," she continued, the second click of the trigger punctuating her words. Mar's body shook, tears streaming down his puffy-red face.

"And this is for my siblings." Three more clicks followed, each one a deliberate act of condemnation. Her hand trembled slightly as she lowered the blaster. The man before her was a monster, but she would not be judge, jury, and executioner.

Her eyes turned towards Brandyn, her expression softening slightly. "This isn't who we are," she said quietly, her voice heavy with unspoken sorrow. "We're better than this. We have to be. Justice, not vengeance, is what our mother would have wanted."

​

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

Brandyn would watch as Briana went through the motions of the imagined execution. Her strength of will, and commitment to the code would nip at the edges of Brandyn’s fraying morality. He would think her correct. She was. I was right. She was right.

Slowly, the vengeance would slide away as he looked into the eyes of a frightened man. A man that had lived in fear for years, and was clearly trying to rebuild in secret. Brandyn’s grip on his shirt would loosen, letting the man fall whimpering to the ground. The Jedi would exhale slowly as if releasing a spirit that had captured him. And that is when he would break.

”It is my fault,” he would say through strained tones.

“I did…what I thought was right…”

Tears would be seen pooling under his eyes as his head dipped and he fell away from Marr. His head would fall to his propped up knees, and the sobbing would begin. Ugly. Unrefined. Undignified. Sobbing.

”It may as well have been me…that killed them…”

His back would be against the wall, hands pulling at his hair. He would not be able to look at his sister.

“…I don’t blame you for hating me…Bri…I hate…I hate myself…”

“…I am no hero…”

He would push her away if any attempt was made at comfort.

He would just cry.

Would.

Would.

He would do that. All of that. If he could, but he couldn’t.

Instead of releasing the man, Brandyn extended his arm to the side, only to his lightsaber to fly to it. “Liar,” he spat at the man, “you are a true believer in their cause…I have seen…UnblessedTheRest1753…”

Paraclet’s eyes widened with the mention of the holosocial name he hid behind. And then his eyes dimmed as Brandyn’s blade ignited, extending the green blade through his head from temple to temple.

| Briana Sal-Soren |​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Wearing: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber | Location: Irith | Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren ​

She didn't know who was more surprised in that moment. Mar, or herself.

The scientist eyes were wide with fear and disbelief as they darted towards Briana, mouth agape. A silent plea for mercy echoed in that gaze, a desperate hope that she, a Jedi, would intervene.

But it was already too late.

She could feel Brandyn's intention as keenly as if it were her own—a storm of anger and vengeance brewing within him, and knew, in that fraction of a second, what he was about to do. Yet, her body refused to move, as if the gravity of the situation had rooted her to the spot.

In that moment, time seemed to slow. Mar's hands rose as if to try and shield himself from her brother's wrath, but Brandyn's green blade took him before Mar could get very far in defending himself.

All Briana could do was watch on in what seemed like slow motion, as life quickly drained from the man's body and slumped to the ground in a cold heap. She stood still in the finality of that silence, too stunned for words, her heart pounding so wildly she was almost certain someone nearby might hear it and come running down the alleyway to find them at the scene of Brandyn's crime. She needed to move, to say something. But what could she say in the face of such a definitive action? A pang of something deep within her stirred—a mix of sorrow, regret, and a disturbing understanding of what she would have to do next. What she was expected to do.

This was not just a singular death she'd witnessed, but perhaps the death of something within Brandyn too. The path of a Jedi demanded restraint, mercy, and understanding, yet in the blink of an eye, those ideals were swept away by a tide of vengeance and pain.

This was the path she'd feared for her brother and why she'd come in the first place. Except... now that fear was no longer abstract—it was real, tangible, and lying motionless on the floor in front of her. She'd failed.

Finally finding the strength to move, Briana reached for the lightsaber hilt that'd remained unlit all this time. In one swift motion the blue blade was called forth and raised, leveled at her brother — fighting back the tears that burned in her eyes and struggling to force out the words lodged deep in her throat.

"You have lost your way, brother... but maybe the council can help you find your way back." She breathed out slowly, trying to steady herself. "Jedi Knight, Brandyn Sal-Soren, you are under arrest."

​

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

How many lines had he crossed in the last months. Most of them. All of them? He was still true to his beloved. He had avenged his parents to the best he could. Up until this moment, he had not killed anyone that would not have died by another’s hand, or wasn’t really alive in the first place. But this.

Brandyn dropped his lightsaber to the ground and stood to his feet slowly. His eyes did not leave the eyes of the dead man before him. It was so final, death. It was just over like that. And a Jedi had the ability to administer this end so easily, and so quickly. In Brandyn’s mind, they could do so justly too. It was possibly a bad thing that he didn’t feel bad right now.

But he didn’t feel bad at all.

“I did.”

His eyes moved to the beleagured eyes of his sister. She looked mournful, in the extreme. Did she not see the justice in this? Did she not see how deserving this man…this creature…had been? He deserved worse. Much worse.

”I did what was necessary.”

He walked slowly towards her, arms stretched forth with wrists coming together.

“And you will do what you deem necessary.”

His eyes did not waver, commitment to his path uncluttered in his mind.

”If I had failed you that day. Failed you to the point of your death. I would be doing the same,” he said. To Brandyn’s surprise, his voice cracked. “I would do it for you. For Blaire. For Bastila. For Cybelle.“

He took a deep breath.

”I am not sorry for my actions.”

| Briana Sal-Soren |​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Wearing: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber | Location: | Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren ​

Her brother stood before her, arms outstretched and resigned to his fate, yet unrepentant. The conviction in his voice, the certainty with which he spoke, it was a stark contrast to the chaos that roiled within her. Her heart ached for what could have been, for the family they once were, and for the rift that had grown so wide and so deep.

In truth, Briana wanted nothing more than to reach out, to pull him into an embrace, to return to a past where things were simpler, where they were just children with dreams. Not Jedi, nor orphans, and not the pawns in some damned prophecy.

But that past was as dead as the man lying at their feet.

"I wish I could believe that you did this for us," Briana spoke quietly, her voice barely above a whisper, knuckles turning white on the hilt of her blade. "but this path you've chosen, it's not for us. It's not for our family, Brandyn. It's for you. Your anger, your pain... it's consuming you. And the worst part, is that you either don't see it, or you welcome it with eyes wide open."

She deactivated her lightsaber, the blue glow dissipating as the silence reclaimed the alley once more. Her jaw tightened, inhaling deeply as she reached to her waist and reluctantly unhooked the stun cuffs from her belt, the metallic clink a jarring note in the quiet. "I'm not doing this because I want to Brandyn." She felt her own resolve waver as she went to click the first cuff around his wrist. "I'm doing this because I have to. Because... this is for your own good."

​

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

His arms didn’t move, but he allowed for himself to be cuffed. Slowly, he walked by his sister‘s side. There was no resisting this. He willing gave himself over to the consequences of his actions.

She spoke of doing this for his own good. He was glad to know that she still knew what was best for him. There was a certain sarcastic comfort in that.

”Just be sure to let my fiancé visit it me in whatever whole the Order decides to put me in.”

He continued walking, head high in defiance.

”And tell Bast that I would love to see her some time…I miss her. Have you heard from Blaire at all? I can still not find any news on her whereabouts?”

He continued as if having a regular family news catch up.

“You don’t have to believe me in order for me to speak the truth, Briana…you know this.”

| Briana Sal-Soren |​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Wearing: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber | Location: Irith | Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren ​

Briana couldn't shake the feeling that she was escorting away a part of her own soul, locked in stun cuffs as she moved him out from the alley. "I'll make sure Cybelle knows where you are," she replied, her voice steadier than she felt, the mention of him having a fiancée yet another jarring revelation. When had Brandyn and Cybelle become engaged? Briana was assuming it was Cybelle; she couldn't imagine it being anyone else.

Idly, Briana questioned whether Brandyn knew the full extent of what had transpired on Exegol, if Cybelle had disclosed her death and consequent resurrection that took place there, and whether that knowledge influenced his actions now. Or, was Cybelle planning to enter into marriage concealing this truth, building the foundation of their lives on a lie, just as her parents had? The thought made Briana's throat tighten, torn between the desire to know more and the fear of asking. How would Brandyn react if he discovered the truth of what happened that day? Given the extreme response to their mother's death, it wasn't looking very good. No... she couldn't ask about Exegol... she couldn't risk him trying to escape to chase some new vendetta. A tense muscle twitched in her jaw at the thought of it all.

”And tell Bast that I would love to see her some time…I miss her. Have you heard from Blaire at all? I can still not find any news on her whereabouts?”

"Do you think it's fair to drag Bast into this after everything that's happened? Asking her to visit you in confinement? How do you think she's going to take that, hearing that her big brother is being held for murder?" Briana shook her head, breathing out sharply through her nose after a moment of frustrated contemplation. "...I'll pass on the message," she conceded eventually. Bastila was grown now, capable of making her own decisions, despite Briana's instinct to protect her youngest sister and keep her removed from the troubles surrounding their family. "Just don't hold out too much hope. Bastila's training at the Jakku Enclave is demanding."

She glanced sideways at Brandyn, taking in his stoic posture, his defiance... and quietly scoffed. It was so... Sal-Soren of him, to act so nonchalant in the face of consequence. Like this was some minor inconvenience he had to put up with. Briana saw it for what it really was, denial and false courage.

"As for Blaire, it's anyone's guess. She has a way of disappearing when she wants to." To Briana, it was just a repeat of what'd happened after the Cataclysm. Blaire had gone 'missing' then, too. Drugs, parties, anything to fill up the void. History, it seemed, was doomed to repeat itself. "And she'll come back when she feels like it. On her own terms, in her own time." And any attempt to hasten that return was destined for failure, a truth Briana had grudgingly come to accept from her experiences the last time.

“You don’t have to believe me in order for me to speak the truth, Briana…you know this.”

"You speak of truth as if it absolves the deed. It doesn't. What you see as necessary, I see as a step towards a future where you're lost to us completely. I..." She paused, the weight of her next words hanging heavily in the balance. Was now the appropriate time to tell him about the prophecy, and what she saw of the future? His future? "...I fear for you, Brandyn. Not just for what you've done today, but for what your truth might lead you to do tomorrow."

​

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

”I don’t want absolution…Briana…”

He let the non-familiar nomeclature hang in the air. There was a distance it created by not calling her by her nickname. A distance that had begun the day of their parent’s death and only seemed to be growing. He did not want it. But he knew she would not follow him either. It was a natural, if sad, consequence.

”…I want to protect…the ones I love…and if I fail in this task…I want them to know…that those that did them harm…did not get away with it…”

For the first time, he sounded unsure of himself. As if trying to stitched together the reasons for his behaviour, for the rage that had blinded him. For the rage he knew would always be there.

”…Cybelle died…”

His words tasted like venom.

”…at Exegol…she was brought back by some Sith magic that we are still trying to understand…”

His pace slowed.

”…mom…dad…the Estate…you…Blaire…Cy…I almost lost everything…”

| Briana Sal-Soren |​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber, Echo Stone | Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren , FYI, Cybelle Elyance ​

”I don’t want absolution…Briana…I want to protect…the ones I love…and if I fail in this task…I want them to know…that those that did them harm…did not get away with it…”

Briana could understand Brandyn's mindset, to a certain degree. There was an almost comforting aspect to it—believing in the idea that by confronting those who had wronged you and those you held dear, you were achieving justice.

Briana had felt it, more than she cared to admit, during the last war. Fighting against the horrors inflicted by the Maw and for the freedom of the countless worlds in their grasp, made her feel she was making a difference, like her actions were carving a path toward something better amid all the darkness. Made everything else that'd happened—every loss, every sacrifice—feel... bearable. Gave her direction and purpose.

But she’d been fighting for hope, for the promise of a better tomorrow. Not out of fear, or dread, or potential what-ifs.

They were different... weren't they?

"Bran…if all you do is fight for what’s been lost, then you risk losing what’s still right in front of you. None of what you’re doing is going to change what happened or bring back something that’s already gone.”

”…Cybelle died…”

Briana paused at that, lips snapping shut and her footsteps slowing to match his pace.

”…at Exegol…she was brought back by some Sith magic that we are still trying to understand…mom…dad…the Estate…you…Blaire…Cy…I almost lost everything…”

Briana’s heart clenched at his words and the raw edge in his voice, at the obvious toll all of this was taking on him.

"Cybelle told me... about Exegol," Briana's voice was soft, tinged with a hint of both relief, and more subtly, regret. "She confided in me shortly after it happened.” And asked me not to tell you. Briana decidedly left off. She’d rather him choose to blame her, than turn whatever incoming anger there might be on the one person who still brought him some semblance of peace, who might be able to bring him out of whatever… this was. It was the least she could do for him, for both of them, after everything. Even if it threatened to open up an even wider gulf between them. “I'm glad... she's shared it with you, finally. I would have told you, but it didn’t seem like it was my secret to tell. I’m… sorry."

Briana felt her stomach flip, before searching his eyes for understanding, or some sign of forgiveness. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t have any for her, not after everything she’d charged him with over the bodies of their parents.

She’d tried to block that day out, everything about it. Her parents laying there, the shock on Brandyn’s face when she falsely claimed she’d never forgive him. The immediate regret that rose in her, and the swell of pride that prevented her from apologizing.

“I wish I’d been there for you these last few months,” She continued, noticing the nose of her X-Wing finally coming into view as the city was left behind them. “I let my anger and pain drive a wedge between us, I wish I could take it all back. What I said... at the funeral.” She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what came next. "We’ve all lost so much and… I don’t want us to lose anymore. It’s why I came… There's something else I need to tell you, something important. We can talk about it on our way to Coruscant."

​

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

Brandyn was quiet for a very long time. His emotional state swirled between anger, and thoughtfulness. It wasn’t necessary for one to be a Jedi to know that he was going through a great deal of turmoil either. His emotions were writ large across his face. Briana’s admission. Briana’s apology. Both brought turmoil.

His mind played out various scenarios based on the reactions he considered.

---

He would brake free of the handcuffs. He had learned long ago how to pick this style of lock. As the ship would take off, he would pull his lightsaber to hand, that Briana had foolishly left on the passenger seat, to his hand. She had always under estimated him. But this would be the last time.

The battle would not end well for either of them. Whoever prevailed, the other would have to survive the death spin of the shuttle as the busted flight controls sent them hurtling in the peaks of a nearby mountain range.

Outcome. Both dead.

---

He would yell at her. Scream and unleash all his pain. He would tell her every hurtful thing he should never have thought about her. She had hated him for keeping secrets and then done the same. Why should be go easy on her? She was a hypocrite.

He would rant about how she took his dream of being a Jedi.

He would rant about how their parents would still be alive if she hadn’t followed him. Stayed where she belonged.

He would spit venom about her collusion with Cybelle, and how he no longer trusted either of them.

He would rage like a mad man, making no sense, and speaking all sense…all at the same time. The emotion would be the only real thing. And it would shatter his reality.

Outcome. Complete isolation from family and, ultimately, Cybelle.

---

He would refuse to talk. Refuse to acknowledge what she said. Ignore her, sit and fume in his anger and hatred. It would poison his soul. Lead him further down the path that he had started down. He would accept any punishment and then disappear into the galaxy the moment he was permitted, or the moment he could escape.

It would be the catalyst of his complete and utter abandonment of the light. His path would be forever in the shadow.

Outcome. His embrace of Sith doctrine. Briana's death at his hand.

---

His breathing slowed. More paths unfolded before him. Gradually, the paths that he most yearned for shone through. Family. Unity. Love. It was a tenuous grasp that he had on this vision, but he clung to it with subconscious fingertips. Even as Briana led him into the shuttle, he knew that he had to answer her. He knew that he had to take one step towards the dream of a better, brighter tomorrow. But she needed to reach back. To not flinch when he spoke. To not hesitate. Or he would feel it false, like he had manipulated her, or she was lying to placate him.

He looked down, quietly sitting with cuffed hands on his lap.

”I guess…we can all…do better…at being a family…”

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber, Echo Stone | Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren
​

Brandyn's initial silence to her admission was a vacuum that Briana felt she might get sucked into.

Their bond, the dyad — it'd always been a double-edged sword, for underneath the silence was an overwhelming sensation that crushed down against her skull, each feeling the other's pain as acutely as their own.

Briana could almost taste the bitterness of her brother's anger perfuming the air, feel the crushing weight of his sorrow as it pressed down on his shoulders — their connection went well beyond the confines of a mere Force Bond and it was even stronger whenever they were actually together.

When Brandyn's voice finally came after hand-wringing trepidation, it fell like a dying star. A whisper against the backdrop of their shared grief, a fragile bridge over that extended over the abyss that'd grown between them.

”I guess…we can all…do better…at being a family…”

Briana's eyes softened and she twisted enough in her seat to reach out, unlocking his cuffed wrists and letting them fall where they may—a symbolic gesture that needed no words. She was here, ready to mend, to heal, to fight not against him, but for him, for them.

"We can, and we will," she said, her voice steady, belying the turmoil that raged within her. "We've... both been alone in our anger and our sorrow for too long and... I want to stand with you, not against you. Like we were always meant to." Instead of the way they'd spent most of their lives: constantly at odds. "From this point on, whatever happens... we move forward—together. We build something new."

Something that wouldn't be defined by their childhood or their parents. Something new that freed them from their individual mistakes and could allow them to move forward.

Maybe this way... together... they might stand a chance against the visions she'd had.

​