A Cabin in the Woods

[Kainan Wolfe]

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Soundtrack: Witcher 3 - After the Storm​

Attn: [member="Srina Talon"]​

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• A quiet little cabin in the woods
  Nelvaan, The Eternal Empire, Confederacy of Independent Systems

Home. Or at least, the closest analogue to such a thing that he possessed. Out here, there was no Empire to rule, no fleet to command and no army to organize. Just the wood crackling as it slowly burned in the fireplace, the myriad little animals with their chirping and their songs, with only the forest for their company and the lazy murmur of the nearby stream.

There were a few such secret places in the equatorial regions of Nelvaan, the Eternal Empire's frigid homeworld. Tucked away in hidden mountain valleys which only the local nomads knew how to find. That is what Kainan loved about this place. It was quiet, tranquil. Here, time seemed to stop and the burdens of his station temporarily became nothing more than a distant thought that he need not concern himself with until it was time to return to his duties.

He came here, from time to time, though not as often as he would have liked. And unfortunately, he could never afford the luxury to spend more than a day or two at a time, in seclusion, away from the Fortress of Solitude and its politics. It was a secret place, perhaps his most prized possession, one of the few things he had that were truly his and not the Empire's.

In truth, it was nothing special to behold. Just a small, ordinary cabin in the woods. There was no technology here, no luxury, nothing of value, beyond what this place meant to him. A quiet place, where he could find refuge from all the things that weighed heavily on his soul.

It took him a few years, ferrying materials over when he had the time and building everything up with his own hands. He had never brought anyone here, before.

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A single dropship cut a path through the planet's clouds, racing across the sky towards its destination. There were only two occupants inside, no guards, no servants, just a lonely Sith Lord and the one person in the universe he cared for above all others, perhaps the only one to truly understand him and see the wounded man he was, rather than the ruthless warlord he needed to be, since... Well, since many years ago.

She was his closest friend, the only one whom he would entrust with the location of his secret cabin in the woods. He had not told her what the place was, yet, only that he wanted to show her something. He would rather let her experience the place as he did, when he accidentally discovered it. He brought nothing but a few supplies and no weapons besides his sword, which never left his side.

The clouds parted, revealing a valley, protected from the fierce winds by the tall mountains which surrounded it. Hardy pines and bushes grew here, taking root here, where the blizzards could not harm them. There was a small clearing, that the dropship glided towards, and a path bisecting it, one end leading to a stream, while the other climbed up towards the cabin. The view was breathtaking.

Slowly, gently, as if taking care not to disturb the sanctity of the earth below, the dropship sat down in the clearing, the humming of the engines dieing down as the small ship came to a halt. With a hiss, one of the doors slid open, revealing the clean mountain air which carried the scent of melting snow and pines.

"This is what I wanted you to see," he said to her, his voice even quieter than usual, little more than a whisper as he dropped down from the metallic confines of the spacecraft, holding out a taloned hand for her to hold on to as she exited the craft.