Shadows of Bankor

After her journey to the frozen wastes, she knew the next day would be busy. So she had to return to the lodge. To see Daunt. Her conversation with Riule and Delia still fresh in her mind.

She quietly padded in, looking about the large space.

"Daunt?"

The billow of smoke from the hut beckoned. Daunt was outside, washing himself in the nearby trickle of a waterfall. He might not have been hearing her.

MN5 - Things Unspoken - Crit Heal on Daunt (Intellect 4, Medicine 2, +1eB Medkit, Easy): 2eP+2eA+1eB+1eD 2 successes, 4 advantage
(Just to have this logged before dayflip. Daunt will recover from the crit, 4 advantages to recover my own strain)

She looked about the large hut, pursing her lips as she couldn't see him inside. But with the fire going, she knew he was nearby. Stepping outside, she breathed in, heading towards the stream.

Bare feet against the ground, she eventually saw his form. A small curling smile.

"You're awake. I'm glad."

"Juri. I was getting worried." He stepped out of the stream and only then could she notice fresh blaster burns on him, one of them nastier than the rest. "Where have you been?" He somehow projected greater calm and confidence than usual. Something must have changed.

"I am sorry I worried you. I was called to help some qho are... very sick. I've done all I can tonight. Tomorrow will be busy." She responded, seeing his wounds. Pursing her lips, she moved to himn wading into the stream, as she pulles her physician's kit.

Fingers and tools worked, tending to the burns, looking to him. "You came up in conversation with a friend of mine today." She whispered.

He let her, exhaling. "An illness?" Is there an epidemic?" He then took a pause, wondering. "...What was the conversation about?"

"No. Not yet. Not if I have anything to do with it." She whispered, tending to the wounds. Her coat fanned behind her in the water, as she looked up to him.

"That there's some confusion. About..." she exhaled, bandaging one of the burns. "... what this is. I never gave it a thought, it was just... natural." Juri continued, before looking up at him.

"What are we, Daunt? Or rather, what do you want this to be?"

He stopped mid-move and looked at her, his gaze as perplexed as inward, in search for a true answer.

"I haven't given it much thought either, because I've never thought I'd have to explain it." It felt stupid once he thought about it, but it was the truth. "We're kin in foreign land, some of the last of, and we're good for each other, also with those dreams and the need to belong and to resolve difficult thoughts. I also know I'd give up much to keep you safe." He already had in a way, but he wouldn't tell it to her. "So in my mind, we're bound. By blood, necessity, commitment, intimacy, and probably the Force as well - which of these more, I cannot tell outright."

His eyes lit up when he studied her face. "But you're not asking about now, but about the future, so you feel that what is is not enough."

"I would sacrifice it all for those I care about. For Family." She replied, hearing Riule's words in her mind. She looked up to the Zabrak, watching his eyes, somehow feeling like the world around them just disappeared.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking I don't think this is enough, Daunt." She spoke sweetly, stepping into him. "I... had a feeling we were both of the same mind as to why we didn't talk about it." Arms wrapped around his waist, forehead to his chest.

"But I wanted to tell you. To be honest with you. I care for you. This isn't diversion, or simple support. And that this isn't only because we are children of Dathomir." She stopped talking, just breathing. Listening to his heartbeat, the stream around them.

"I think I care for you too." He admitted, holding her against him. "But feelings like these are new to me. I don't know what they entail. I have felt attraction to other women and acted on it many times, even here on Bankor, when what we were having was left unspoken. Is it disrespectful of your caring?" There was confusion in his voice, and a struggle he hadn't expected.

She didn't reply immediately. Her eyes withdrew from his face, focusing elsewhere. "No. I suppose not." Juri turned back to him, her face stoic, serious and even.

"It's the most natural thing in the galaxy to be attracted to others. And I can't really blame anyone who is attracted to you." A hand came up, caressing his cheek.

"Just... don't flaunt it? At least, before introducing me to any metamours. If another brings you peace, I'd like to get to know them, too."

"This is something we won't resolve today, but something I'll have to sort out so as not to let our shared caring sour." He leaned over to press his lips on his hair, near her ear, so he could be audible in whisper. "I don't know if at a moment like this you want to speak about the others. Is it? In mentioning it I just wanted to be honest with you so that you may never feel betrayed. There are so many other things I want to tell you and show you right now."

She shook her head. "No. I want this moment for us. I will share, but not this part." She kept herself buried in his chest, the sound of nature and the hum of the small generator in the background the soundtrack of their life.

"Tell me what you can. Just... not of the others, tonight."

He held her tight, letting the asynchronous beating of both his hearts add the rhythm to that soundtrack. "I had a Force vision, Juri, amid the dunes. I fought in a lightsabre duel with someone who I now think could be Darth Vader."

"Was there more to it?" She looked up to his face, her eyes locked on his. "What did you find in the dunes? What did this Vader do in this battle?" Juri prodded him for introspection, excited that he was exploring this vision. To not let go of what this vision could have meant.

"There was more." He admitted, then closed his eyes to recall. What followed was a slow, painful recollection he relayed as faithfully as he could...

Savagery versus controlled skill, every strike that Daunt could muster was easily deflected… the sparks illuminating the shadowy slick floors of the chamber, at times he could see the steel of a starship other times it was a hellish landscape of flames and spewing lava!

He pushed Daunt back with the Force and then was on him with a powerful leap the strength of the figure was incredible as each blow rattled through Daunt as he pushed through the lizard instinct of fear to try and defend himself.

Then the figure was gone and there was silence, no breathing.

A split second and he felt the heat and the room was illuminated blue and he was surrounded by the corpses of children and another assailant came at him a young handsome man who fought with grace and skill his dark cloak billowing as he kept Daunt on the defensive even when he disarmed the figure it was only a momentary advantage as he was nimble and skilled hand to hand fighter, using punches and kicks to keep him off balance until he summoned his weapon to back his hand and slammed it down on a console!

Now they were in some command center trading strike but Daunt was only barely keeping the pace as the phantom flitted into the darkness once more and he was alone.

It seemed like hours but it was those precious moments between the beating of his pounding heart before the figure was on him once more dark and menacing the light from their clashes illuminating the dark armor before he felt himself being choked at a distance and then flung across the chamber.

He slid across the water and he felt the pain along his body… and there was silence.

Juri listened intently, as if trying to decipher any hidden meaning behind the vision. Her lips pursed tight, then focusing again on the Zabrak's face.

"As terrifying as Vader sounds, it wasn't only his physical prowess. There was a mastery of the Force there. Perhaps there is something. You cannot deny your connection, that part of yourself. Relying on your body, as impressive..." she grinned at that, hands trailing down his arms, "...as it is. Otherwise you will find yourself at a great disadvantage."

"I get this now." He admitted, landing a small kiss on her forehead. "But it was not all. Then there were two avatars, Light and Dark, and they were bickering in their proselytising, pulling me to their side each. It was very annoying. Is it what being connected to the Force is about, choosing extremes?" He relayed the following part too, in detail.

"No. They aren't extremes. One is simply corruption and infliction of will upon the natural state. The other is balance, harmony with the Galaxy and oneself. To allow yourself to be guided is simply following the path of nature. The other... is to lose oneself, even in a search for power." She pressed up on her tiptoes, smiling at the kiss.

"But it is a choice. If waffles, they don't do anything of consequence."