tushanshu_logs | A Golden Fall

Characters: Kylo Ren and OPEN
Date: Through September
Location: All over Tu Vishan
Situation: Catch-all
Warnings/Rating: None yet

A - Tea house or healer's guild

Once released from the healer's guild as a patient, Kylo Ren could be witnessed returning to his regular schedule of mornings spent studying with Raine at the healer's guild, and letting Fletch torment him with medic training (such as mastering his personal nemesis, the LifePak), while his afternoons and evenings were spent waiting at the tea house.

He seemed to be growing increasingly exasperated with his waiter job, it might be time for a change of pace soon. There was only so much best behaviour he could show before snapping.

B - Fire Sector

As a resident of the Fire Sector, he would still be regularly out and about in the sector, and if you paid close enough attention you might notice that he spent a lot of time listening in, or peoplewatching. If he couldn't find the Cultists through the Force, it might be time for more scoundrel-like tactics...

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Under different circumstances he might be thinking of gathering intelligence, but he's far too relaxed, and doesn't think of Heather as a possible enemy.

So he just nods, looking thoughtful. "Adrenaline is very powerful. It's impressive what we are capable of when it's a matter of life or death. But it would be safer if you fought with others, provided they can be trusted. Have you ever done that?"

She sips her drink, thinking about how to explain the Game. How does she tell him...?

"No." She finally settles on. "My world, it doesn't permit people to fight on the same side. We fight individually. Sword to sword, one against the other, in secret. No one knows who the winner is until one doesn't show back up."

She knows she's hedging, but she can't help it. She needs to tell someone, and Kylo is as close as she's gotten to a mortal friend in a long time....

"With our healing, there's only one way we can die." She finally says. "Oh, thank you." Their food arrives.

He listens attentively, though the frown's deepening on his face as Heather speaks of her people fighting alone. It's harsh even by the standards of his world.

But he can see she's fighting with herself, something he can empathize with well. So he waits patiently, and says his own thanks when their food is served, and even takes a moment longer to stir in it.

"Only one way to die, hm," he says quietly, picking up the conversation again. "One so final no manner of healing could restore you." He holds her gaze. They're both swordfighters, it doesn't need to be spoken out loud. And slowly, it sinks in how much she has just given away. His sword piercing her heart would not have stopped her. But now she's shared her secret with him.

He looks down at his own hand, holding a fork instead of a lightsaber now. Back home, nobody would trust him with such knowledge. "Then I'll watch out for your head, as long as you watch out for mine."

She looks at him, blue eyes intense. She knows what she's given away. She knows that she shouldn't have done it.

"I've been looking out for my head for a very long time, darling." Heather almost whispers. It feels nice to unburden herself to someone. Though, he doesn't know the whole of it.

It's time to tell him.

"And by a long time, I mean over a thousand years." She says, honestly.

And that... that's a lot more than he could have expected. He's met a few people who look like ordinary people, yet are ancient, but he hadn't expected it from her. For a while he remains silent, dumbfounded into silence indeed.

"A thousand... you're older than Yoda." That's what he gets stuck on, really, and finds hard to move on from. He sizes her up again, subconsciously expecting there must be something to give it away, but of course there isn't. "Everything makes a little bit more sense now... Your skill with the sword, the things you shared with me... You must have fought and won many battles for your head."

And that is, in his world, a good thing.

She sips her drink. "When I left, I was about a decade shy of being 1700." She explains. She shrugs. "I'm not the oldest, though I've been around more than I'd like to admit."

Heather smirks. "I've been a whore for most of that," she teases.

"As for battles? I've taken more than a few heads in my time." She sips her drink again. She's not admitting how many.

"More than a few heads, you say," he says, flashing her a teasing smirk of his own as he leans forward, elbows propped up on the table. He's as relaxed as could be now, and that's unusual in itself, but... It feels right.

"I believe we can safely say that your use of more than a few is very humble. I can't even imagine defeating your enemies for 1700 years." He doesn't even try to cover up his approval. "Kill to survive and become stronger with every victory, how wonderfully Dark Side."

Heather shakes her head. "I've gone a century or more without taking a head, before. There's no need to fight, and I don't, unless forced to." Unfortunately, that happens more often than she'd like. "And it's not like we're wandering around taking heads without consequence."

She wants that to be very clear. "And, I wasn't defeating my enemies for my entire life." She corrects him. "For the first eighteen years, I was a priestess for my clan." Heather sighs and sits back. "Priestess, and then... my father's people, called the Romans, attacked us during a sacred rite." He voice drops. "One of them stabbed me. I eventually bled out and died."

A Golden Fall

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