The Khuno Mountains of Apaec allowed a brilliant view of Naruba City. It wasn’t as big as Estle, nor Celeste not so far away in the ocean but it was bustling city of lights and movements. With deals being made at all hours of the day, many forgot to look up.
Even fewer bothered to climb the heights of the mountains. Yet it is where Melissa sat, on a familiar spot far enough into the peaks that the light pollution no longer concealed the stars and only one other person on the planet was likely to identify her location. It had been a while since she’d met Bril here, but with a meteor shower happening tonight and so much to catch up on….
It had been a last minute call, to meet here. He said he was coming and distantly, far quicker than any typical man, Bril’s pulse in the Force drew closer and closer. It wouldn’t be long, yet for her it could seem years. Visions had taken over their place again in the forefront of her consciousness afterall. Flickering in and out, faces she did and didn’t know in varying states of everything. Colours, emotions, a slew of things that thankfully years of practise allowed her to gently ignore in lieu of the present moment.
She wore a red flowy dress, with a large coat covering most of it but the flash of colour was still notable against the palness of Melissa’s skin.
The path leading up to the flat clearing glowed in the soft blues and lavender lights of the Ikxae flowers – bioluminescent plants native to this region of Apaec – that marched on both sides of the dirt road like a procession. It had been some time since they’d come here, yet, as he ventured up to the clearing high up in the Khuno Mountains, their little secret getaway from all the bustle and craziness of the world below, the echoes of memories past whispered to him. Glimpses of them walking side by side, of their laughter at whatever silly comment the other had made, appeared before him and faded like flickering holos. Joy, and safety, and even a but of sadness and frustration whispered to him like secrets on the wind as he stepped into the clearing.
He was wearing robes designed as an homage to the Jedi of the High Republic - a normality for him; a black under-tunic with an asymmetrical cut and gold trim worn with matching fashionable yet functional baggy black pants. Above the black tunic, he wore a mahogany tunic with gold trim, whose tails hung down to the tops of the knees. Both tunics were held together by a chestnut colored belt bearing the symbol of Clan Erinos in gold worn across his midsection.
His crystal blue eyes lit up when he saw her. “Mela,” he called out to her with his arms outstretched, “I’ve missed you so much.”
Melissa stood up from her perch, crossing over and hugging Bril.
“I’ve missed you too. It’s been too long. It always is, really.” She laughed, lightly though sadly as she pulled back. The Erinos symbol was prominent on his belt, hard to miss frankly. She touched the top of it, finding it was still fresh of memories. The few it had were very clear, Bril’s recent entrance into the clan flashing into her vision interrupted only by her own politeness as she took a step back.
“That’s new. How long have you been…” The word escaped her, but Mela knew her intention would be understood so she simply offered a, quietly proud, smile to him.
She was right. It did always seem like too long when they were away from each other, separated by entire star systems. How could it feel any differently when they used to see each other every day if they wanted? So much had changed so quickly; he tried not to let the light sting of that realization slip from his mind, but he knew that she would sense it. She was as sensitive as he was.
But when she brought attention to the crest worn on his sash, warmth spread through their connection. “Mando'ad,” he said to her when she failed to find the proper word. “A few months, now. Foxen adopted me into Clan Erinos as a foundling, so I’m officially a Mandalorian.” He beamed, placing his hands on his hips.
It wasn’t like she didn’t feel the sting too. The realization of time. So much kept happening.
Melissa grinned at the news anyway. “Thats amazing! I’m surprised it was Foxen, not Minnie. Though I suppose shed be a biased vote.” She laughed lightly, tucking hair back behind her ear.
“How is it? I don’t know much about them, mandalorians that is.”
He nodded with a chuckle. “Yeah, I never would have expected Foxen and I to become as close as we have. Especially because he threw a knife in my leg when we first met.”
He rubbed the back of his neck when she asked how it actually felt. “Hm … it’s an adjustment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m overjoyed to be a part of this new family and to be able to share that with Minnie, but it’s not without its challenged. Mostly because I’m a Force user.
"I don’t know how much you know about the history of the Erinos, but … well, years ago, one of their own – a Force user – slaughtered them. The wounds are still fresh, so It’ll be a while before everyone sees that i’m not a threat just for being who I am.”
That smile carried more than a bit of tender sadness with it.
Melissa frowned, sadness in empathy to him rising.
“You didn’t do it. That’s not fair.” She spoke, perhaps too firmly and took a small breath to calm herself. It was harder, for some reason, these days. “I’m glad you’re part of their family but its… don’t let them.. Don’t be less you, because of them. Is what I’m trying to say.”
She fiddled with her sleeves, her recent visit to Lahn too prominent for this to not drag up those memories.
“You’re right. It isn’t fair,” he said, nodding, “but I don’t blame them. They didn’t choose to feel this way, you know? And it’s not everyone … just some of the older members I can feel, even if they don’t show it, are afraid of me on an instinctual level.
"And I won’t stop being me. It’ll just take time, like it did with Minnie. They’ll come around.”
He exhaled gently as if to wash away some of the tension he felt building in his throat and chest, then reached out to give her hand a squeeze. “Sooo, catch me up. Something about you seems different, Mela. Have you been using new conditioner?” he joked.
Melissa nodded slowly, though notably unconvinced. Yet, Bril knew the situation better than her. She’d have to trust him on it.
She squeezed his hand back, giving a small awkward shrug. She blinked, her eyes glazing over for a second before pulling herself back. It was something that had been happening less before, with training.
“Well, I did get this jorgan fruit one recently, so yes though it’s likely not the biggest… difference.” Mela had began to smile but it dimmed ever so slightly. “To put it simply, I suppose, I was exposed to the Dark Side. Unexpectedly and not safely. At first. I since have been… experiementing. Now I know what its like and how to use it. It’s interesting, in the same way the deep dark of the ocean is.”
“Ah. So, that’s what it is,” he said, eyes flashing with recognition, “Your thread vibrates at a different pitch.” As Melissa knew, Bril often spoke of the Force in terms of threads, comprising entire webs and tapestries. He lifted a hand between them with his palm facing the sky. Without saying a word, he conjured a small emerald flame that danced just above his palm. “Or like a flame. You have to make sure you guide it and respect it, lest it consume you and everyone you care about.”
The flame suddenly grew larger, spreading until its base encompassed all of his palm and, just as it looked as if it would spill over onto the lush grass beneath their feet, he closed his hand to extinguish it. Then, Bril’s crystal blue eyes found and held his found-sister’s gaze. “I can sense that you’ve grown just like I have, so I’m not as worried as I might have been before, but I still want you to keep me updated as you continue to explore, okay, Mela? I wouldn’t want you to go through the same things I have, while learning to work with the Dark Side.”
The significance of that statement wasn’t lost on her; Bril had shared everything with her – how he was haunted by the spirits of two Sith warbeasts he’d let into his mind in order to kill them both, his first encounter with Draca and the Nightsister artifact that drove him to kill the boy, and most recently, his encounter with the spirit of his ancestor on Dathomir who nearly supplanted his soul with her own.
“I almost killed Anders.” Melissa admitted, quietly, her eyes averting away from Bril. “I saw so much, Bril. I saw so many futures and even the past. Funerals, weddings, babies, fights and celebrations. But I saw what Anders does, what he did. When I finally snapped out of it I was killing him and I hadn’t even…”
Bril’s experience was a wisdom to be granted, his knowledge something she could take each step of the way on her own path.
“We were taking artefacts away from the penthouse he took from his old master. So she couldn’t regain them, but I had a vision of him dying there so I went with him. While we were down there one of them started playing music and it was like I couldn’t hear anything else. I can still hear it, almost, if everything is quiet enough. I had to touch it and when I did, I wasn’t really in control. Anders suppressed my connection long enough, but before he did I saw his old master. And much of his past.”
She paused, “I’ve been experimenting because it is stronger but I’m taking it slowly. Like standing in a changing tide. I’m taking steps back when I need to. It just… It feels like I lost my training. My visions come and go as they please again. It’s frustrating, after a year of having more control.”
Bril remained silent for a moment, letting it all sink in. He’d had no idea that so much had happened to her since they last spoke. Suddenly, that distance between them, both in physical locations and their infrequent communication, felt even wider.
“Mela, that’s …” he trailed off in search of the words, “that’s terrible. Frightening.” But he knew it could have been much, much worse. What would he have done if she’d lost herself? If he lost her? He gripped her shoulders tightly for a second, only to pull her into another hug. “There’s so much to say. I’m glad you’re okay. As okay as one can be when experiencing that. Force echoes are powerful, just like your visions of the future are. I wish I would have known you were encountering artifacts touched by the Dark Side. The Echoes they produce … they can harm you in ways you wouldn’t imagine.”
He sounded like he was speaking from experience. “The Dark Side isn’t any stronger than the Light, Mela. It’s faster. But if you rely upon it too much, it’ll take for everything it gives you. Remember that, okay?
"Something similar happened to me after I saved Minnie’s life on Dathomir, after the Nightsister incident I told you about. My ability to heal others with the Force after that was greatly diminished. It’s like I tore a muscle and needed to let it heal. Maybe that’s what’s happened with you.”
“I’ve… been trying to not.” Melissa answered, in response to the notion of reliance. And it was truthful, but sometimes the music would sing in her mind and it was hard to resist such a thing. She sighed into the hug, closing her eyes for a moment before drawing back.
It could have been what he said. It’d make sense. Mela nodded.
“I’m revisiting my training, working on it. I’m still glad I was exposed though. There is much to learn that I had been blind to before. It’s not to different to risking a journey out in the depths of winter. Necessary, because if the day comes that it’s necessary its better to be prepared on how, but not a trek to take lightly.”
Bril nodded. “Right. You can’t protect yourself if you don’t know where the danger lies.” To think she had come as far as she had; no longer was she the naive girl he’d met what seemed like ages ago, now. She was a powerful Force user in her own right, whose gift of sight and experiences had helped her wisdom blossom.
He chuckled. “Look at us, figuring out how life works.” Spinning on his heels, Bril popped onto the ground and crossed his legs into a half-lotus position; then, he patted the ground next to him while looking up at her. “How long until the meteor shower starts?”
“It’s almost like we’re growing up.” Melissa sat down, crossing her legs and leaning her elbows on her knees. She smiled softly at the stars. “It shouldn’t be long. Before the meteors start, that is. I don’t… know the precise moment.”
Melissa chuckled, fiddling with a stray lock of hair. “I think it’d ruin the surprise a little if I did though.”
“Yeah we are,” he concurred excitedly, “And you’re right. Sometimes, it’s good not knowing. Ironic, coming from me, though.”
A pleasant silence filled the space between them as they gazed at the distance motes of light painting the Selenian sky – more stars than they could hope to count even in both their lifetimes, burning brightly like the massive stellar furnaces they were.
After.a few minutes of waiting, he pursed his lips again to speak, but decided against it when he saw the first trails of radiant light streak across the night sky. One zipped by. Then three. Then five. And more until there were dozens of them sailing across the scintillating tapestry – their own personal light show.
Then, Bril had an idea. Placing his right hand on his chest directly above his twin hearts, he began to mutter something beneath his breath so as not to disturb her. If she was perceptive enough, she’d hear the words: “By hearts’ drumbeat and precious breath, I will this moment from flesh to form. Let what we feel echo beyond our skin and live here, in stillness. And when we return, let it speak in silence.”
After he finished speaking, their surroundings felt charged, coaxed into retaining something like a stone retained heat.
Melissa watched the meteors begin to fill the sky. One by one they gathered like a flock of fireflies passing over head. To them they were specks smaller than their nails yet in reality they were giants. Burning to death as gravity finally claimed them into its grasp. Flaring into a painting, remembered for their final moments rather than the millions of lifetimes they had lived journeying the galaxy.
Those rocks may have seen the rise and falls of empires the galaxy no longer remembered. Today, they fell with barely a dust remaining of their history.
Bril’s prayer hummed through the air, maintaining the weight of the moment. It hung heavy in the way a hug from a long unseen friend crushed your arms together.
Melissa leaned into the sensation, “I wonder how many people used this place to look upon the meteors before. How many will after us…” She tilted her head, hair falling like a curtain of snow over her shoulder, before a laugh bubbled free of her, “If I could watch the memories of the mountains I think I’d be lost forever.”
Bril nodded. If there was one thing he learned, was that history wasn’t just stuck in the past or in textbooks. It was everywhere, living on through people and places and objects – one need only reach out and speak to them and ask if they were willing to share their stories with you.
“Who says you can’t?” he said, “The mountain has a voice, Mela. And I can help you hear it.”
Melissa looked sideways, bursting out into giggles. “Maybe I shouldn’t, considering what I said Bril.”
She leaned back after calming herself, with a gentle shake of her head, “Maybe some day. But I don’t know if I’d want to stop once we got talking.”
“That’s a good point,” he chuckled, “It can be … addicting.”
He turned his attention back to the sky above them, watching the dazzling lights streak across the sky. “These are the moments that we have to cherish more, you know? Tomorrow is never promised. Especially in this galaxy.”
“Phew,” he exhaled, playfully rubbing imaginary sweat from his forehead, “what a relief.
"As much as we tend to have our attention rooted in the past and the future, I’m glad we still remember to give as much, if not more, attention to the present. That’s what really matters,”
Their eyes met again and he smiled before turning back to watch the meteor shower. It was nice, doing this again. Life seldom felt this simple, nowadays, and he would make sure to cherish this while it lasted, before his found-sister had to return home again.