In Vain

[Vuthari]

Vu’thari’s Condo
Worlport
Ord Mantell

Vu’thari leaned against the railing of his balcony with a mug of spirits in his right hand. Dressed in simple trousers and breaches, the twi’lek stared out into the night, eyes shifting between the myriad of lights illuminating the Worlport skyline. Taking another pull from his spirits, he stared out pondering the changes that had been wrought in the last few months. To boot, he had just returned from a scheduled meeting with Commander Ion, but instead Jedi Master Leah Reach was there in his place. She was broken when he met her, all the weight that was thrust upon her was crashing down, but she was bound by duty to correct some of the mistakes she admitted to making. She was a friend and a Jedi Knight who was finding her way, just like the rest of the Jedi Masters…including Vu’thari.

Leah asked him to come back to the Jedi Order within the Galactic Alliance. It was a decision that weighed heavily on him, but in the end, he told Leah he would do it. She knew why Vu’thari left. She knew why he could not remain. However, he knew that others in the Galactic Alliance would not understand. Terms would be batted around like “traitor” and “coward”, but he did not care. Those words would come from those who did not know him and his character. Those who knew him best would know he would not have left unless it was serious. In the end, it did not matter to Vu’thari what others would think of him when he returned…his return was about more than them.

Shifting his weight as he leaned against the railing, the twi’lek took another sip from his broad mug. The door to the condominium opened and Ayasha came in. He sensed her anxiousness, knowing that he was supposed to have a meeting with Hugo tonight. She would want to know how it went, but now the imminent conversation would take an unexpected turn with the arrival of Leah and what she asked of Vu’thari—and what his answer was…

“I'm out here!”

Vu’thari knew she could sense him, but he wanted her to come out there with him. In truth, he didn’t know if Ayasha would come with him or not back to the Galactic Alliance. It would be a tough road for any member of Jedi Covenant—but then again, this was a tough road…

As she slid up next to him, he looked over at her and revealed, “Hugo was a no show. Leah came instead…”

@Wolf

 

[Ayasha Waya]

The night was cool and a gentle breeze lifted the lengthy raven locks of hair off of Ayasha's bare back. She smiled as her golden eyes caught sight of Vu'thari standing at the railing of the balcony several stories above the sidewalk beneath her feet. Life on Ord Mantell was a wild contrast from what the woman had come to call her home on Nar Shaddaa. Though Jedi life was far from relaxed, this felt somewhat...normal.

As the Knight stepped through the doors of the lift as they hissed open, she glanced down at the chrono on her wrist. By now the meeting between Vu'thari and Hugo Ion, the rebel commander, had been over for nearly an hour. Ayasha had taken to venturing out for a walk and a bit of retail therapy, something she had never imagined would be her thing. The bag hanging from her opposite wrist suggested otherwise.

The caramel skinned woman leaned against the durasteel wall as the lift shot upward, carrying her closer to the condo that she shared with the twi'lek Jedi Master. Her heart began to beat harder in her chest as her mind wandered to the conversation that Vu'thari and Hugo had engaged in. Ayasha could not help but wonder what the purpose of the meeting was, but she knew that the answers to her questions would come shortly.

Just then, the lift stopped and a bell chimed as the doors hissed open. The Knight's thoughts were interrupted as she pushed off from the wall and stepped into the corridor just down from the entrance to the place she had called home for several months now. The woman gathered her lengthy hair in one hand and pulled the heap of raven strands over her shoulder as her eyes examined her outfit. Though not one to dress immodestly, she was still clothed in a manner that drew attention to her natural beauty. The Knight wore a white halter top with a low back, black leather pants and a pair of nearly knee high boots with a bit of heel. The occasions to dress up were few and far between so Ayasha took advantage of them when the opportunity presented itself.

The woman approached a shiny durasteel door and pressed several buttons upon a keypad to the right of the entrance. Suddenly the large sheet of metal before her swished open and she slipped inside, triggering the door's mechanism to close behind her. Ayasha had seen Vu'thari on the balcony and could feel his presence across the common room. She turned as he called for her to join him and a grin illuminated her face at the sight of the twi'lek. “Well you sure clean up nice,” the woman said as she tilted her head with a coy smile upon her lips.

Ayasha set her shopping bag on a table near the couch and made her way to Vu'thari's side. Her golden eyes drank in the beauty of the glimmering lights of the city, a sight she had come to appreciate since their move to the planet. She shifted her gaze to the mug in the twi'lek's hand and just as her lips parted to make a playful quip about her own missing drink, the Jedi Master spoke words that took the Knight by complete surprise.

“Leah...? As in the Jedi Master...?” Ayasha was immediately confused and her brows furrowed to express the sentiment. Her eyes moved from the cup in Vu'thari's hand to meet his mismatched pair as she shook her head. “But...why?” As far as she was concerned, the Order and the Galactic Alliance viewed them as exiles and outcasts for the stance that they had taken after Leah's drastic measures within the council chambers on Al'doleem. The Knight stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest, immediately assuming a defensive stance, her body language speaking the myriad of thoughts racing through her mind.


@Mithias

 

[Vuthari]

Vu’thari’s Condo
Worlport
Ord Mantell

She was in a good mood as she came bounding out on the balcony with him. Of course, every time she got to shop, it put a little “pep in her step”. However, she could immediately sense the stirring emotions from the twi’lek. He told her about the meeting. There was confusion in her voice as she confirmed it was the Jedi Master, Leah. The inevitable questions of “why” came as surely as the next breath.

Vu’thari explained, “Aurora is gone. Valentine has disappeared, and now Leah is leaving…for good based on her words and emotions. This leaves Luy on the Jedi ‘Council’. Leah asked me to come back. To be specific, she asked all of us to come back. The Jedi Order is in disarray and without direction. Leah admitted her part in how it all came to this, understanding why we left. Genuine regret and despair for doing what she did was clear to me. I respect Leah immensely as a person and a Jedi. She made a mistake that caused more mistakes.”

Pause. He looked at Ayasha, unsure of how she would take this next bit of news.

“Ayasha, I told them I would do it….return to the Galactic Alliance. It is my path…I know this now.”

Silence. He dumped a lot on her in the last few moments.

“I want you to come back with me. I need you with me…”

@Wolf

 

[Ayasha Waya]

As Vu'thari began to answer her question, the answer was far more complicated than Ayasha could have ever imagined. Of course she knew that Aurora was gone soon after the tribunal and that Valentine went on a suicide mission to rescue the padawan that had been captured by the Sith because of the foolish actions on both her behalf as well as that of her Master. The Knight could only wonder what the student might have told their enemy. “I would have left her,” she thought to herself as the twi'lek continued explaining the nature of the surprise meeting.

The fact that Leah was now leaving did not come as a complete shock to the raven haired woman, but the fact that it sounded as though she would never return was troubling. Ayasha was still attempting to digest this bit of news when the Jedi Master revealed the shock to her system that the woman had asked the entire group of exiles to return to the Order. The Knight laughed and shook her head as she turned her eyes from Vu'thari's face back to the cityscape in the distance.

Of course Leah wanted all of them to return. The Order was in complete disarray and the fact that there were so many willing to join the Covenant and embrace the true life of a Jedi without the nonsense allowed by the council had shaken the fledgling group. There was more to the twi'lek's news however, and Ayasha could sense it. Their strong Force Bond hid very little between them and though the Knight was mindful to respect Vu'thari's privacy, moments like these made limiting herself from certain knowledge rather difficult.

“You said yes,” the woman nodded as she dropped her eyes to the railing beneath her hands. The words had hardly left her lips when there was an overlap from the Jedi Master, confirming her statement. Ayasha drew in a deep breath as a thousand thoughts flooded the space behind her golden eyes. She could not fathom taking such a stance against the Order and the Galactic Alliance, only to run right back to the organizations and everything they stood for.

Silence fell between the pair for a long moment until Vu'thari spoke once more, asking Ayasha to join him. The Knight turned and her golden eyes came to rest upon the twi'lek's face once again. When he said he needed her with him, pain gripped her heart. How he could so quickly abandon his convictions was beyond her. He seemed as indecisive as a wave upon the water. “This is a lot to take in,” the woman said as she turned and retreated inside, leaving Vu'thari on the balcony.

The Knight crossed the common room and entered the kitchen where she reached for a wine glass hanging from a rack upon the wall. From a small cooler upon the countertop she pulled a new bottle of wine and held it between her trembling hands. “Relax. His intentions are pure. Why is this happening? Why now? What about the Covenant? We've sacrificed so much.” The woman's mind was a storm of thoughts as she used a tool to pull the cork from the glass spout and then poured the golden liquid into the glass.

Ayasha set the bottle down but left her mess as she lifted the chalice in her hand. With closed eyes a sigh escaped her parted lips as the edge of the glass met them and she tipped the cool drink into her mouth. After a moment passed, the Knight collected her thoughts in her mind, the glass in one hand and the bottle in the other. She felt better equipped to face the conversation that needed to happen with the Jedi Master.

The raven haired woman wandered back to the balcony and stepped outside to join the twi'lek. She set the bottle of wine on a broad ledge just beneath the railing and tipped the glass to her lips once again, drawing in a deep gulp of the soothing liquid. “Vu...” Ayasha paused, words failing her in the moment. There was so much confusion in her mind. She struggled to understand his reasoning. “But after everything we've gone through...what about the Covenant? What about our convictions?”

The Jedi paused and shook her head as her eyes narrowed, frustration and uncertainty giving the golden orbs a hint of fire. “...what will our students think if they see us defend a belief only to turn our backs on it and embrace everything we stand against?” The woman shook her head in disbelief. “I can't believe we are having this conversation.” Silence fell between the pair as Ayasha searched Vu'thari's face for a reasonable answer. Disappointment was hardly an accurate description of the way she was feeling right then.

“And you...need me?” she laughed quietly as her gaze shifted to the drink in her hand. “You've lived this long without me and have done just fine.” The Knight swallowed hard as she took the rising anger captive and pushed it flat. Had Vu'thari truly needed her, things would be different between them. This moment only reminded her that she was still only an option in the Jedi Master's life...and now it seemed as though each of their students were also. Each of them had given up so much to follow them and for what? “So all of this....” the woman lifted her hand and gestured to the space around them. “...it was all in vain.”


@Mithias