Rogue Wolf
Location: Odessen
Ace stood near the edge of a rocky overlook, hands tucked beneath the folds of a dark cloak as the wind tugged gently at its edges. His hood was drawn over his head, shadowing most of his features while white locks occasionally slipped free to stir against his face. Below, Odessen stretched out for miles. It hadn't changed much.
Tic had spent the better part of the last ten minutes hopping between rocks near the edge, occasionally stopping to peer down into the valley before chirping something Ace had chosen to interpret as appreciation for the view.
"Careful."
Tic looked back at him.
"Long way down."
Tic made a whistling noise that sounded dismissive.
Ace raised an eyebrow beneath his hood. "Alright."
He turned his attention back toward the horizon. He'd been on Odessen only a few months ago, recovering old caches for the Vanguard. Supplies, equipment, weapons. Anything useful enough to justify hauling back to D'Qar. He'd found this overlook somewhere along the way and remembered it when Valery sent the coordinates for their meeting.
Valery... That still felt strange. He'd read her message more than once. Not because there'd been anything particularly difficult to understand about it. It was just...
...she was back. That was the part his mind seemed to have trouble accepting. There were people Ace associated so strongly with different periods of his life that hearing their names again had a way of dragging everything attached to them back to the surface.
Valery was different. She'd been there for more than one. She'd known the seventeen-year-old who'd spent the last of his credits chasing answers about his past across the galaxy. The kid who'd thought figuring out where he'd come from might somehow explain everything else.
She'd known him after that too. The Hidden Path. A time that somehow felt longer ago than it actually was. His left hand emerged from beneath the cloak, gaze settling briefly on the glove that hid beskar fingers, curling slowly into his palm.
Saying a lot had happened since was probably an understatement. He wasn't sure how much Valery knew. The Covenant would've been difficult to miss and everything after it hadn't exactly been quiet either. His surrender. Prison. The escape. Becoming a fugitive.
Ace exhaled softly and slipped his hand beneath the cloak again. The wind shifted and Ace lifted his head as it swept across the overlook. For a moment, he just stood there and listened. The first time he'd met Valery, he'd been trying to answer a question.
Who was he? Back then, Ace had been convinced the answer was buried somewhere behind him. In parents he couldn't remember. A planet he didn't know. A name he hadn't even known belonged to him. Valery had been one of the first people to suggest he might be looking in the wrong direction.
The faintest smile touched the corner of his mouth. Turned out figuring that one out had been a little more complicated than expected. He didn't know what this meeting would be, or how much Valery had changed while she'd been gone. But beneath all the questions, there was one thing he knew for certain.
He was glad she was back.
