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[Param Vour]

The mountains of Eshan were a spectacle to behold, especially in early winter. The snow capped peaks were as bright as most echani were naked in sunlight. Param knew that first hand, though now she was far more tanned from daily doses of a salon. No matter how many times she dyed her hair brown, the last half of her long hair would always turn back to the original silver. Having to hide her identity meant she had a whole new style of hair too, with a braid wrapped into a crown.

It was one thing to experience the mountains for yourself, but Param now sat at a window of a tea shop near the Eshan starport. She sipped her tea, nice and warm in her tan poncho and brown trousers and boots- a black thermal long sleeve making sure every part of her body was covered in the winter months. Snow fell gently outside, but in the distance on those snow capped mountains, the snow would be much harsher.

Vee was in rest mode on the small round table in front of her, curled up like a kath hound. The red and silver BD-unit was the only thing of her old life that she had left, and she was actually thankful for it. Param was free now. Free from the tyranny, free from the fear; free from having to do horrible things for the darkside of the Force. She could let the demon sleep, expel it even, and finally just do what she wanted to do to.

The hard part was figuring out exactly what she wanted to do. A garden was a must, but a small one would suffice. A tea shop would be great, but gave her something to lose. Despite it all, despite her bruised and scarred body, Param found herself smiling at the snow capped mountains in the distance. Though she was just in town for some errands, she still had a light blaster pistol holstered on her right thigh, and a karambit vibro-blade at the small of her back.

Param was free, but that didn’t mean that Sith wouldn’t eventually find her. It didn’t mean she was safe from all the dangers of the galaxy. She was just one of many among her people now, and it was the one thing she had always wanted.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

Spoiler: theme

The journey to Eshan was an especially difficult one for the pureblood. Not only was it quite distant and therefore expensive considering her meagre means, but the freezing chill looming down from the mountain made it a murderous ordeal. Not to mention the painful reason for her visit, after all.

Wandering the numerous market stalls, she couldn't help but struggle to bottle up her emotions. A titanic struggle battled within her mind, loosened by the devastating loss of the force, and thus her control waned. Tears flowed down her face as the passing bunches reminded her of the garden they had first met in. The garden she had attempted to build and the garden they had built together, even after everything that had happened.

Their relationship had been strange, bound by passion and the frenzy of a martial art she barely knew. A friendship forged in fire like the blade they crafted together a lifetime ago. Parting with the last of her credits, she took into her hand the very same red flower she had once received. Within her hand, a remembrance, a memory, a goodbye as she walked along the town.

Glancing up toward the mountain, she shuddered in her thick and worn brown cloak. Mountains had never been kind to the pureblood, and there were few things in the galaxy she avoided more normally. But today was different, today she would make the pilgrimage to plant a flower one last time.

For Miss Vour.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param was lost in the mountains with her gaze. In her mind’s eye she was everywhere but in the café she sat in. An entire galaxy had opened up to her the moment she fled the oppressive reign of the Sith, and deciding what to do in it all was something she wasn’t prepared for at all. Thoughts of staying and going swirled around her day dreaming head. For once she didn’t have to look over her shoulder.

The warm smile that had spread across her lips only faltered when someone red passed below her gaze. Her silver eyes fixed on the woman, her heart leaping into her throat. She knew that face, though she never knew it to stream tears as it was. If the woman hadn’t stopped at the stall across the street, and turned with a hibiscus flower, Param wouldn’t have recognized her. Torn between whether Cyu had come to finish what Karys started, and Cyu coming for some other reason, Param dropped a tip on the table and got up.

Vee woke up with a start, looking around frantically for a second before hopping up onto Param’s left shoulder. Param’s vector toward Cyu was from behind, and despite herself Param couldn’t help but be ready to attack. Her heart sank, fear of being found and anger at the Sith Order disappearing. She couldn’t attack Cyu. Not like that. Not after everything. All the same her presence on Eshan was less than ideal.

“Cyu?” Param asked quietly. The streets were relatively empty because of the cold. If Param wasn’t worried that her face would be covered, she’d have the hood of her poncho up to protect her reddening ears against the gently falling snow. Vee gave a concerned whir, dancing on his perch on Param’s shoulder to keep his circuits and joints warm. The serene visage of mountains and snow did nothing to hide the bite from the cold on even the sturdiest of creatures.

Now that Param was this close, it was clear. Cyu wasn’t the same as they had been when they had last met. Like she was wilting in a greenhouse with cracks in the walls. Param’s heart sank even further, beginning to ache. What had they done to her?

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

The sudden sound behind her startled the pureblood, caught unaware of the intrusion and blinded by her dull senses still. A familiar sounding voice pierced the clouds of pain wavering around her diluted mind, causing her to turn slowly with a mixed expression.

But it wasn't her. The image of vee made her wonder for a second, until the spiteful words of her demise filled her mind once more destroying it.

Before, she might have felt her aura and known without a measure of a doubt but now? That's all she could feel. The emotional toll of hope thrashed was too much to bare as her face dropped. "I don't know anyone by that name, sorry."

Turning to leave, the pureblood nodded respectfully with a glint in her eye, as if in mourning. She didn't want to hold the stranger up any longer than she had to.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param hadn’t cried since the first couple of days she had come to Eshan. Once the realization that she was finally free had hit her, there was nothing truly keeping her down anymore. Granted, it came with the stipulation that everyone on Eshan called her Rose instead of Param. If the Sith did come looking for her, asking for her name, no one would know who the hell they were talking about. It was clear however, that Cyu wasn’t here to kill Param at all, and that Param’s dry-cheeks streak would come to an end.

Cyu, the one friend in the Sith she could count on, couldn’t even recognize her. Beyond that, she was barely recognizable herself. Where once there were senses and feelings they could let mingle in the air between them, now there was only Param’s. Fighting the tears that threatened to ruin her dry spell, Param surged forward, wrapping her arms around Cyu from behind. She’d taught the pureblood enough about how to read feelings and intentions through contact rather than the Force for Cyu to know exactly what was being said. It’s me. Why don’t you recognize me?

“What…” Param started, fighting back the tears against Cyu’s back. Finally she let the pureblood go. It was almost a mistake as the cold bit back into as she left the heat from the pureblood. “What did they do to you?” She didn’t dare ask if it was all Param’s fault. It was the one regret she couldn’t shake; involving herself with other people and costing them everything for her own actions.


@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

Barely had she walked a few feet before the grappling arms flushed around her torso tightly. Her heart paused for a second as the memories flooded in like an uncontrollable torrent, a warm embrace held the pureblood in place as she struggled to make sense of her fluid emotional state.

Turning as they released, she finally met her soft eyes, immediately knowing the truth of the matter despite the rest of her appearance being new. "H..how?" She barely got the words out in a fight against the still mending vocal cords, mixed against her tearful tirade. "I thought you were dead. That's why I came all this way."

Lifting the small red flower, cut and grafted to a pale white flower. "It only took death for us to be together." A small smile broke on her face for the first time since the incident. The small cast on her hand and the small scattered scars across her body were the most prominent remains of the damage she took once the swelling had gone down.

"Cyutadakyr is dead, Nevizkas is who remains." She spoke in a soft, painful tone.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

“I lost,” Param said, her eyes meeting Cyu’s. “And ran.” She shrugged. There was no shame in what she did. Not for her. Karys had gotten his goal of taking everything from Param, or so he thought. A garden can be replanted, a pagoda rebuilt. Param still had enough funds in the bank to recreate her tea shop if she so desired. All Karys did was fulfill his own desire for some revenge he perceived would do something, and Param got everything she wanted out of the deal. She was free, and now with Cyu’s own admission, they thought she was dead.

“You can call yourself whatever you want with me,” she said, lifting her chin in a defiant stance against Cyu’s defeatism. “As long as it’s not a name they gave you.” Her eyes kept the pureblood’s for a moment before lowering to the flower in her hands. The sinking ache in her heart seemed to lift a little. Cyu was here to send Param off, to honor her memory, not to kill her. Even if her presence endangered the entire planet, especially now knowing Param was alive, the fact that Cyu still had a place in her battered and broken heart for her meant the galaxy.

“C’mon, I’ll take you to where I’m staying for now. I have some extra cold weather stuff. Then we’ll find a place to plant that flower,” Param said, a warm smile gracing her lips. She stepped forward, and despite being shorter than the pureblood by an inch or two, offered her arm to the woman. It was normally the other way around; now that Param was okay with herself and free, the least she could do is be the rock for Cyu that Cyu was to her. Param began leading her toward the outskirts of the city. “What happened?”

Now that it wasn't necessary to be visible, Param lifted the hood of her poncho. The immediate relief from the cold on her ears sent shivers down the rest of her body, like the rest of her wanted to feel the same warmth.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

In some ways she was jealous that Param got such an outcome, to flee from battle made one a coward in some eyes but not hers. To escape meant that you still maintained a shred of control, a decision you made rather than face calamity by remaining. Nevi never got to make that choice.

Now Param got to enjoy the comforts of death and anonymity, while she would remain in indignity, publicly branded a failure and forced to endure the suffering it brought.

Slowly walking along with her friend, later embracing her, the pureblood was still partially in shock and could only mumble at first. The words were hard to form, much less enunciate her feelings and state of mind. Try as she might, her body revealed like a thesaurus while her tongue struggled.

"I was challenged, and lost. I lost everything." A hand slid from the side to her abdomen. "I'm scared, I don't know what to do any more."

The worst part about losing the force was losing that unique connection that any mother held with their unborn. A connection from the first heartbeat that their kind could sense, destroyed in an instant. Fortunately, the medical care she received had confirmed the baby was alright, but relying on others to know this was unimaginable just a short while ago.

"I thought he was our friend." Her face dropped once more.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param wrapped her arms around her friend, feeling every struggle and fight. It was just the Force, it was the way she clung, the way she cried. It was the first time that there was a presence Param could sense; she didn’t recognize it until Cyu touched her own abdomen. Param’s silver eyes widened, horror marring every ounce of her face. No. Not with him. Despite her best efforts to wish it weren’t true, Cyu all but confirmed it. A faint urge to rip the thing out with her karambit filtered through her veins, but Param kept it at bay. Even if it was his, she wouldn’t do that to Cyu. She’d never do that to Cyu.

The echani placed her hands on Cyu’s stomach, letting her know that she knew. Her expression running from horror, to anger, and then to a concerned calm. They had broken her, new life be damned. Sith were anything if not predictable. Param shook her head slowly, eyes turning upward to Cyu’s. Every time Param tried to open her mouth to say something, nothing came out. Finally she took a deep breath, sighing out the conflicting feelings.

“You do what you have to,” Param said. “And you stay the hell away from him.” She dropped her hands, grabbing Cyu’s hand and continuing the walk toward the village in the outskirts. It was at the very least closer to the mountains, and the streets were growing more quiet with every passing step. Param wanted to scream and rant, the same screams and rants she gave to her mirror time and time again when she was actually a Sith. None of it mattered now. They both knew the consequences of being a Sith now.

It was an odd thing, the reversal of roles. Param had always been the scared one without a clue of where to go or what to do. Now it was Cyu, and Param was the one trying to find a way to comfort and fix all the pain she had been put through when there was no way to do it. “You want to keep it, don’t you?” It was the only thing Param could think of to ask.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

Closed in the warm embrace, the pureblood woman wanted to simply say that it wasn't that simple, that the myriad of complex variables concocted together made choice irrelevant, but instead she chose silence. It wasn't like she could refuse an order and unlike some, she would in fact respect rank as she had always done.

Leaning on her friends' strength, the crimson gal winced at the question. Unsure of the reaction that was due. "I do." Softly said, in only a way that a broken person could. It was the last vestiges of her life before the fall, the one reprieve from the rancorous theft of her power. The one decision left up to her to make.

She didn't want to be alone.

Nevi was in no state to argue with her friend about the finer points of life or what she should or shouldn't do. Instead, the sudden appearance of a ghost held her captive. "What about you, what happened?"

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param's shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh at the word "I do." She wanted to understand why. What could bearing the child of a monster possibly do other than create more monsters? Having a family had been a thought Param had dreamed about ever since she was a little girl wanting to be free, but with someone like that? Questions with clear answers ran through Param's mind, but they weren't her questions to ask, nor were they hers to answer. Cyu was.

"I trust your decision," she said finally. Param would spare Cyu the details of what she would do if the child was growing inside of her. It wouldn't have made it more than a week after its existence became known. Try as she might to hate the fact purebloods could actually procreate, there was something oddly pleasant about new life. If Cyu wasn’t in front of her, a shattered egg-shell of what she once was, and the father being the very one to try to break Param herself, Param would have been happy for Cyu.

Param turned toward the mountains, continuing their journey toward the village she was staying at. “He burned the garden and the home to the ground. Poisoned the ground so that nothing could ever grow there again. His apprentice flooded and destroyed the tea shop,” she explained. She shoved her free hand into her pocket for warmth while her other hand kept a tight hold of Cyu’s hand.

“I fought Karys at the garden. My apprentice jumped in to help and got badly hurt. I got hit with lightning but manage to escape and run. Had Vee pick me up in the forest, picked up my apprentice, and left Troiken to die under Sith rule. Like every planet they decide is theirs.” Vee beeped happily with a little dance on Param’s shoulder at mention of him. Param gave him a warm smile. “Yeah, you did great getting to the ship and leaving, just like I told you. Thanks for sticking in the area like you did.”

Her face fell, and she looked forward again. They were nearing the village. Param didn’t want to keep Cyu in it for very long. As much as she loved her friend being here, and knowing that she was alive, every moment Cyu stayed on Eshan was a danger put on Eshan. Unless, of course, she never went back to the Sith. That wasn’t Param’s place to put that decision on her, though. “Anyway, I came here to get back up on my feet and wait for Gemini to heal. Too many people know I came back here once already for me to stay here much longer.”

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

The tale of destruction caused on Troiken caused a ripple of sadness to tear through the pureblood. It wasn't the act itself, but rather her knowing just how important the features and life sown had been for her friend. That importance disregarded in the fire, by brutes who would not appreciate it either way.

"I.." She started to say, tears welling up again as she searched for words. "I'm sorry." It was all she could assemble in any reasonable amount of time.

Something of a mercy that Param had escaped then, to never have to look back at what once was her adopted home. Of all the places in the galaxy, as vast as it was, this little nook in the corner bothered nobody. Unfortunately, distance never really stopped some people from chasing you all around the ways.

Glancing momentarily at the little droid perched on her shoulder, not even the sorry state that she was in could stop a small smile from being produced. "I missed you too, Vee." Her eyes switching back to Param. "I missed you both."

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param shook her head at her friend’s apology. They had nothing to be sorry about. It wasn’t her fault for the falling out, or the coldness afterwards. The fact of the matter was that Param had been on borrowed time with everything anyway, she knew that now. It would have only been a matter of time before the Sith found out that she was skimming quite a bit off the top from the spice mines, mines she’d practically given to the Hutts. As much as she loved her little home, garden, and the tea shop, Param found herself much happier not having to deal with expense reports and figuring out which shipment was going where.

“You have nothing to be sorry about. I always knew the Sith would take everything from me one day,” she said flatly. “It just happened sooner than I intended.” It was a small lie. The Sith hadn’t taken everything from her. She still had Vee, and Kai, and got her wish to be free in the end. Param knew what the Sith were capable of with the Force, and the fact that she had not been broken in the slightest, but freed, would be kept to herself.

Vee danced on his perch on Param’s shoulder as Cyu said she missed him. Param gave her a warm, smiling glance. “I missed you too. Now come on, let’s get you something a bit warmer. I know just the place to put that flower, but it’s at the top of a mountain.”

Param led her into the village, and to the house she was staying in. Enda was gone, thankfully; probably out working or running errands. It would give the two time alone to get some warmer clothes, and let them skip out on making up a lie for who Cyu was to a person that was very vehemently against the Sith.

Making her way to the guest room she was staying in, Param opened the closet and pulled out some thicker, oversized coats and beanies, laying them on the bed. Vee hopped off her shoulder and began scurrying around the room checking things. It was something he did every time they entered “home” now. Who knew a droid could suffer from trauma. “Go ahead and pick a pair. Throw your cloak over it and you’ll forget what cold even feels like,” she said, turning back to her friend with a smile. Something very noticeable was a severe lack of dresses in the closet. Param had kept a few, but they were on her ship, locked in a crate and shoved into a corner. The closet here was also severely not black.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

The trip back into the village was short and sweet, cold too, but only her wary body would give that away. A cute little house to boot, even if it was only a temporary lodging, was better than where she had intended to lay down to rest. As her friend laid out a number of items on the bed, she looked around the room and still found it to be homely, even if it was missing the kinds of things that Param would normally set up by now.

Picking up a snowy-white pair, pulling the beanie over her head before snuggling into the slightly oversized coat. Within seconds, she felt the cold disappear like out of a vacuum, bringing a small smile to her face. "These are amazing, but no black?" She said warmly, glancing over toward the other woman.

"Any chance there's a chair-lift up the mountain?" Her sudden thought being verbalised as she toyed with the coat fabric. She'd not exactly had the fondest memories of scaling mountains and, in reality, was slightly terrified. Not only had she fallen multiple times, but one of her dear friends had actually gone missing one trip and had yet to be found.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param turned to Cyu, her silver eyes shifting from the pureblood, to the coats and beanies, and then to the closet. “Black doesn’t blend in very well,” she said, pulling her poncho off and dawning a white hoodie over the black thermal shirt she was wearing. She grabbed the poncho and threw it back on, feeding the hood of the sweatshirt through the head hole so that she could have two hoods. A white beanie topped it all off, giving the tips of her reddened ears a little sting as they warmed.

“Now I’d rather just be unnoticed in nature and in crowds,” Param added, turning to her friend with a smile. She gave Cyu a sympathetic smile. “There’s not, but we can rent a speeder.” Param approached Cyu. She popped the fur-lined collar up so that it covered around her friend’s neck where the beanie couldn’t. Param turned her head toward Vee. “Can you get the speeder, Vee?” The little droid chirped excitedly and went about sending the messages and transmissions needed to get a rental delivered to the little house.

In the meantime, Param moved over to a dresser and pulled out a black scarf. She handed it to Cyu. “Here, this should keep your face a bit warmer on the way. It’s a shame you didn’t come during the summer. It’s really nice out during the summer.”

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

That made sense in a world of white, in all its many different shades. Yet as Nevi saw just a colour, Param shades of life. She was thankful for everything her friend did, and more so now than ever where even though she lived, they could still mourn what was lost together. That and avoiding frostbite was a number one priority, which was probably going to happen had they not met again.

At the very least, they wouldn't have to walk very far.

Wrapping the scarf around her neck, the pureblood woman glanced at herself in the mirror for the first time since Thule. The striking image appeared foreign to even her, a puzzle within a puzzle without a clue on where to start first. If only her long awaited visit to Param's home had been under better circumstances, but alas, this would have to do.

"Perhaps you should plan your demise more carefully, for the better weather." She let slip, before a cursory look appeared upon her face as she realised she'd let her guard down, a general reaction given her new state rather than concern that Param might do anything.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param couldn’t help but giggle at the quip that slipped out of Cyu. So she was still her old self under all that defeated and broken mess! Param touched Cyu’s arms, giving her a once over to make sure she was adequately covered in cold weather gear. “Ah yes, the age old text that tells my assailants that it’s too cold to do any demising and that they should come back in the spring,” Param joked with a smile.

“I think you’re ready. The drive will be pretty quick,” she said, letting her friend go and turning to Vee. “Ready?” Vee chirped and whirred, scurrying over and hopping up onto her shoulder again. Param turned back to her friend with a warm smile. “Let’s go say goodbye to me, shall we?”

She led her out front where the rental speeder had been parked and hopped in the driver’s seat. Param waited for Cyu to get in before speeding off up the path toward the mountain. When she said it would be a quick drive, she meant it. Less than ten minutes later they were at a large boulder that created an over-look of the village and beyond. It wasn’t the very top of the mountain, but it was one of the most beautiful places on the mountain in any season one would go there.

“This is it,” Param said, hopping out of the speeder and walking up onto the boulder, like a bridge that ended short over a cliff. From the vantage one could see the forests in the distance, more mountains, the capital city where shuttles and private ships came and went. There were specks of villages dotting the snowy landscape. The only sound was the crunching of snow when they stepped. It was peaceful… serene… free.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

If she was being entirely honest, the text could work in some circles.

With the last of the Miss Vour magic being applied and a quick nod, the pair quickly skirted their way outside and into the rental speeder. The trip up was remarkable, not only for its beauty but aside from the machine itself the air simply lent a calm quiet that few other places offered. No more than two steps behind Param, Cyu made her way carefully toward the ledge, with an obvious unease about the height.

"It's majestic." She uttered under her breath. The pureblood woman couldn't stop taking in all the sights, eyes scoring across the city below, and all the landscapes in between. "It's like a chalky desert, almost." Although Param might disagree, perhaps she wouldn't - she could see the beauty in the land between their planets was not entirely dissimilar.

"Did you grow up around here? I bet you could see your house if so." She added with a small smile.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param turned to Cyu as her friend took in the sights. It was like experiencing it for the first time herself again, vicariously through Cyu’s eyes. A warm smile curled across her lips, turning out to the chalky desert that her friend had so eloquently called it. She was right. In the spring and summer the fields were filled with grasses of all types, the forests for full of leaves, and the mountains wore shades of grey rock and green shrubbery all the way to their snow capped peaks. Param had hoped to bring Cyu to Eshan during those months.

The smile faded a little at Cyu’s question about where Param grew up. She turned toward the forest, unable to even see the village now because it no longer existed. Param pointed to a point where a frozen river bent and created a tear drop shape right in front of the forest.

“My village was right there,” she said, a frown coming over her lips. “It was destroyed, and I was taken and enslaved by a Sith when I was five. I didn’t get a chance to come back until I was training under Thel to be the exact thing that tore my life apart in the first place.” Param paused for a moment, staring at the empty space where her village once stood.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

Cyutadakyr couldn't help but appreciate how the light beamed off the snowy caps and radiated down the long slopes. The unique spot they found themselves in was glistening in beauty, and if not for the terrible cold just a few inches of thick fabric away, she might even consider it perfect.

Eyes flickering to Param's as her question caused a stir, suddenly causing her own smile to frown a tad as the answer wasn't exactly what she expected. "Uh." She started to speak, but words failed her. "Have you considered rebuilding it?" Her question, while a weak attempt to deflect from the awkward situation and without anything else to go on, was actually genuine.

"I know it won't bring people back, but, would it not honour them?" Cyu's eyes drifted back to Params.

@TheDudeMike