Private Blood of the Covenant

[Henna Ashina]

Stav Tesh, Tython
Inosuke Ashina | Ishida Ashina | Bernard
don't let your heart grow cold;
I will call you by name, I will share your road​

​

Leaning back from the fire, Henna promptly set aside the staff she tended with, sinking into the blanket which protected her back from the log behind it. The smell of roasted manka made the smoke pleasant- and set her mouth to watering. The restoration of the temple had not been easy work- but it had been necessary. Pride flashed across her face as her gaze rose to the sanctuary's peak before falling once more to her company. Complaints had been rare, despite the hostile weather Ashla had seen fit to test them with this week, and they had finished the project ahead of time. The younglings and padawans who had recently relocated to Tython would once again have access to the same solace she found when she had walked her own journey- and the clan she sat upon had helped make it possible.

A shiver ran down her spine as the icy wind raked it. If the days were harsh upon the mountain, the nights were bitter. The few trees which managed to stand sentinel in the snowscape were tucked away behind a coating of ice, offering little protection from the elements. Despite the weather, there was still a sereneness of the environment which tried to drive them away. The only sounds were the crackles of the flame and the whisper of the breeze. The Jedi pulled the fur-lined robed in before reaching for the spit to turn the haunch of greasy meat.

"We did a beautiful thing today."

Her voice was soft as she broke the silence. A honey gaze met the three of them in turn. Bernard, first- her fellow, a symbol and a reminder that the generations to come would not forget, no matter how things seemed to change. Tython was their beginning and their end; their birthplace and their ossuary. He was a link of the same chain, and so long as it continued, their home would not fall to ruin. The master's expression took on nostalgia as she looked to Ishida. How they grow. From struggling adolescence to a beautiful woman and powerhouse in her own right, she too, like her counterpart, was a symbol. Balance. New and old. Destruction and rebirth. A stray thought wondered if the Jed'aii who they had descended from smiled upon the girl as she did.

"We transformed desolation to warmth. We ensured the lessons of our past wouldn't be lost."

And finally, a sideways glance to Inosuke. She knew the weight of those words wasn't lost on him. They were a reminder of late-night within temples, creating lesson plans to honor their history in a way even children could appreciate. A reminder of the shame felt when the padawans had laid eyes on the ruined structure, and the gratification of taking the first group in decades to the confessional atop the mountain's peak. He understood, and that reminder sent a blaze of adoration through her face.

"Thank you. For accepting the invitation and helping without question." A hand reached for the canteen resting next to her in the snow. Its silvery surface reflected the dancing lights of the bonfire as she raised it towards the night's sky. "To being together."​

 

[Ishida Ashina]

This high up, the altitude of the mountain was thin — but the dizziness that might have occurred earlier was long gone. Focusing on what needed to be done, and working alongside those who wanted to make this their home, had accelerated the acclimation.

Now, with the sun settled into darkness, Stav Tesh’s cliffside was all the more pleasant. Still, quiet, far away from else. Only the distant sound of local fauna grunting now and then rivalled the sound of flames popping and snapping. Otherwise, it was unnaturally silent — touched by the snow in a blanket of cold hush.

Ishida’s face was cupped in her hands, elbows on her knees, staring into the flames. Her mind was still tight with the conversation from Master Sardun, and she hadn’t had time to unwind yet. When Henna had invited them to help rebuild the past, Ishida had leapt at the opportunity for distraction — despite Sardun’s grumblings about modern Jedi. But now, in the stillness of night, amidst a group that didn’t put conversation at the top of their skillset, she was getting lost in the worry of her thoughts. Her expression, however, remained unchanged and listless.

Henna’s words broke her silent rumination and she lifted her eyes to the dark-haired woman.

"To being together."

She realized it was to be a toast. A gesture meant to honour and celebrate good decisions made. She might not have said anything at all were it not for Henna’s face looking through them all so golden, so pleasant and so bright in the flickering light that Ishida’s compassion dislodged itself and motivated her a little more than usual.

It was sweet, the way Henna trusted her company. It was enough to pull Ishida from her silent glaring at the flames to look sidelong to Bernard, her mouth twitched, and by the time she looked back to Henna and Inosuke across the pit her lips were in a thin, curved line.

She puffed out a breath and watched it turn into a tiny cloud before the flames consumed it up.

“To being together.” She met Henna’s gesture with a less enthusiastic version of her own, feeling silly and sort of happy. It was such a simple statement, but how hard it had been to achieve.

Inosuke Ashina , exiled, presumed dead, now sitting across from her with another opportunity to be her family, or Henna’s family again. Bernard , after a year apart, now at her side with a promise not to let themselves stray like that again. Henna, a guidance counsellor when she’d felt conflict and confusion, now almost like an older sister with her closeness to Inosuke.

"Thank you for the invitation." Her expression settled, and she shifted to draw her arm back into herself to keep warm. It had never been so brutally icy in Hebo — but it wasn’t as bad as on Ilum either. Ishida still half-wondered where the famed climate of Arkania fell on the spectrum between this summit and Ilum’s ice caves.

“It’s nice to see more and more of Tython.” Ishida admitted. Master Sardun’s Hall of the Sun was intense and constant, it felt different here. More balanced. “And how you're helping it grow.

It might not be what it once was, exactly, but it doesn't have to be." She settled her cheek back into her gloved palm. "This is better because it's yours." The Watchmen's legacy — as selfless as the act was, Ishida still couldn't help her upbringing that coveted some form of legacy and the importance of influence left. Creating something bigger than self was intrinsic to that everlasting success of recognition.

“But if this is a temple of martial arts, does that mean you’ll be more on Tython too, Inosuke?

Since.. well.” She looked to Henna and shrugged in lieu of speaking her implications fully.

 

[Bernard]

Tython's mountain air crept through their camp, carrying the chills of winter. The fire in their midst flickered and danced as the wind met its warmth. Bernard took a log from the stockpile, cleared the snow, and tossed it into the fire.

"You've barely seen the tip of the iceberg." He nudged Ishida. "Up in the north, there's a desert that swallows all sound. It's utterly silent. And down in the south, the island chains hosting the Waterfalls of Akar Kesh are stunning. I have to take you someday." He looked to her and tossed another log into the fire.

The flames grew as they consumed the deadwood. It turned to coal, glowing a bright orange where the heat split age lines and bark on its surface. Tiny wisps of flame separated from the greater fire and danced up into the cold air until they were snuffed out by the wind.

Bernard shifted and glanced away from the flames, to Ishida. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and she sat half curled up. He undid the buttons on his jacket, slipped his arms free, and tossed it over her shoulders.

His arm lingered over her shoulder for a moment as he sat, considering, then it returned to his side. On the other side of the fire sat Henna, and close to her Ishida's brother, Inosuke.

"You'd be invited to come along, of course," he said to the two Jedi.

Inosuke Ashina Henna Ashina Ishida Ashina