Echo Across Time

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden nodded slowly to Madalena's statements about the Confederacy and, more importantly, why she was there. As there was no telling how his sister had actually ended up there merely by speaking with Madalena, Brayden was not exactly sure how much the information would help. Further more, he had absolutely no intention of joining the organization just to find out. Naturally, there were other avenues to obtaining information. "Awesome people," Brayden repeated slowly and deliberately as if his tongue was tasting the words for the very first time.

As someone that had spent a large degree of the recent life he could remember in solitude, Brayden didn't exactly understand the draw of 'awesome people'. He understood only useful and useless. "Well it is nice to have a place that feels like...home." The Sith Sorcerer managed to smile despite his lack of familiarity with the entire subject. The moment he'd finished speaking, Brayden busied himself with the task of eating more of the food that Madalena had acquired for them.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena nodded as Brayden repeated her words. There were a bunch of awesome people in the Confederacy indeed. "There's Daisy," she said with a wide grin, "she's a Mandalorian, but of the good kind, and she's one of my best friends and-"

And she stopped eating, leaning back in her chair, suddenly studying her brother. Would he like Daisy? Not in the general people sort of a way but the like-like way?

"Hey, maybe I could try setting you up with her," she offered with a grin, "but if you ruin my friendship with her I will murder you. So if you like her back you better treat her kindly. Actually scratch that, if you don't, she'll murder you herself." Which was but one of the many reasons that Madalena loved Daisy so much. It was great having friends that you didn't actually need to protect, even if all of her friends were on her protection list anyway.

"And there's Dianah," she continued, "Cool young Shi'ido. Met her during a mission and we hit it off right away. But I'm not setting her up with you, she's already spoken for."

And then there was that last bit.

Home.

Madalena sighed and shook her head. "It doesn't," she admitted, "but it might, if you're here."

[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden arched a curious brow at Madalena. He'd not expected her to start shooting through a list of her friends, and given that his mind was occupied with thoughts of how to draw out his actual sister, he couldn't say he much cared for the pseudo-match making session. To this day, Brayden had only even interacted with a handful of females...a handful of people. He hadn't deemed most of them worth spending any real amount of time getting to know.

The mention of a Mandalorian caused the Sith Sorcer to wrinkle his nose slightly. "There is a good kind of Mandalorian?" To further emphasize his point, Brayden waved a dismissive hand. "You can save the threats and effort, Madalena." A slight smile touched his lips just to convey he wasn't attempting to chastise the woman. "I cannot say that I really have time to focus on purely carnal pleasures at the moment." Brayden had always accepted he would pursue a woman when he found someone that could be a worthy partner. Then again, speaking with Madalena's friends could shed some light on what happened to his actual sister. "However, I am willing to meet them on a purely platonic basis."

Eventually, however, Madalena arrived at the topic he had halfway assumed she would hone in on. Naturally, Brayden figured the woman would either assume he would follow her back to the Confederacy or join out of his own desire. In truth neither was going to happen...regardless of the necessity to maintain the facade of being Madalena's brother or not. "Well. I, unfortunately, do not think I yet know enough about this government you serve to make any real permanent plans."

After a brief pause, Brayden added, "I can certainly stick around for a little bit of time, however."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"I know, right?!" Madalena responded as Brayden asked if there was a good kind of Mandalorian. She had a hard time believing that too, but Daisy was hardcore proof of it. Of course, her friendship with her did nothing to diminish her overall racism and hated for Mandalorians in general, but Daisy got the get out of glitter bullets for free card to be repeated indefinitely.

"And no one said anything about things being purely carnal," she added, wrinkling her own nose in a move that almost mirrored Brayden's perfectly, "you don't need me to take care of that." Really. No. Her brother was a looker, something that could be confirmed by anyone who had a functioning set of eyes. She didn't really know what his purely carnal desires were, and frankly, it was none of her business. But it was clear as day to her that if he wanted that, he'd have no trouble finding it, or setting up a situation in which it'd find him.

"You don't need to know much about it, Brayden," Madalena said, dropping her food and looking at him. "It's enough that we're together again. The banner doesn't matter, and we can wield different ones until we find one that suits us both. Just…" she looked at him again, any trace of a smile vanishing from her face. "Let's just not split again? Like that? I know we had our reasons, we wanted to prove ourselves to ourselves but… But we've already proven that we can live without each other, even if it was just a few months. But just because I can doesn't mean I want to."


[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden snorted at Madalena's comment about carnal pleasures. "Flatterer." In spite of himself, a genuine smile did touch the taller of the twins' lips. Absentmindedly, Brayden drummed his fingers on the top of the table. Outwardly, he appeared to be considering Madalena's last series of statements. Silver-green eyes rolled up and to the right, mimicking someone attempting to recall a distant memory.

Eventually, Brayden allowed his gaze to center on the woman once more, a broad grin slowly taking over his face. With a slight shrug of his shoulders, the Sith Lord offered a simple reply. "If we must..." A brief laugh was enough to signal the end of the joke. Folding his arms over his chest, Brayden posed his own question. "Where do you live anyways. And please..." Brayden paused for dramatic effect. "Tell me it's not on that ship."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Of course I live on my ship," Madalena answered with a shrug. Was that a bad thing? Most people lived on their ship these days. It beat the bunker beds that the KO provided, and since she was always moving around, having a planet-limited house seemed like a waste of real estate. Besides, even if she had bought a house at some point, she'd probably end up just renting it out because she was never there, and then she'd be living on her ship anyway. "Why wouldn't I?"

Returning her attention to her food, Madalena realized they were fresh out of bantha wings. She hadn't realized she'd eaten them all. With a shrug, she reached for a pile of bite-sized hamburgers, discarding their bun. And vegetables. "Where else would I live, anyway?" she asked, "I'm rarely in one spot for more than two or three nights. Planetary air gets stiff if I need to spend more time on them than that."

The hamburgers were boring her. She tossed them aside, going for a plate that had various inner organs on it. "Besides, it saves a lot of time on packing and unpacking," she grinned before wolfing down a piece that was probably once a kidney, by the texture of it.

[SIZE=11pt]"I'd still like it if you came to see the ship," she repeated from earlier, "and maybe show me yours as well. I somehow doubt that you have a planet-side permanent residence either."[/SIZE]


[SIZE=11pt][member="Brayden Antares"][/SIZE]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden's eyes remained leveled at the woman. Sure, he spent a fair amount of time on his ship when traveling, but he would never outright live on a ship. That seemed far more...nomadic than Brayden would likely ever consider himself to be. "That sounds like an unfortunate affliction. I use my vessel as a conveyance to get from one location to the next and that's it." Shrugging, the Sith Lord decided that it ultimately did not matter. The woman was, of course, allowed to do as she so pleased.

It was her final series of statements, however, that caused Brayden to arch a curious brow. "What makes you think I do not have a permanent residence somewhere?" In truth, he did, but it was on a planet he did not exactly intent to revisit. Ever. However, wherever he traveled, he did make it a point to spend the time off his ship. The power of the Force flowed strongest between living things. Brayden needed to be among life in order to revitalize his force potential to its full power, to provide the strongest connection capable.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena arched a single brow. What made her think he didn't have a permanent residence somewhere? "For one, you silly goose, you didn't invite me to see it," she answered with a wicked grin, stuffing another wing into her mouth, "second, you're just back from a few months of traveling. Our place on Coruscant doesn't exist anymore. And third… You're still traveling."

With a smile, another wing disappeared into her mouth. She'd be damned if her own twin brother had a permanent residence anywhere and didn't tell her about it.

"I don't know," she finally said with a shrug, "I have a hard time imagining myself being rooted to a single place, so I guess I have a hard time imagining you being rooted as well. Not since leaving Coruscant, anyway. We both have galactic appetites that are bigger than that."

At least, she did. Did Brayden have that too? Maybe she was just making things up, since they hadn't actually discussed it at any point that she could remember. Anyway though, Madalena pushed her plate away from herself and pet her stomach. She was definitely done eating for the moment, though she wouldn't be against doggy bagging everything that was left.

"C'mon," she said with a smile, "let me show you my ship."


[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden imagined his slip quickly but...not quickly enough. Fortunately, this Madalena woman seemed to be so enamored with the prospect of having her not-brother back that she rolled over any sign of his attitude being an act with reckless abandon. Brayden, of course, did not deign to correct the woman and instead allowed the flow of the conversation to shift and twist as Madalena so desired.

"I suppose you do have a point about that. I won't deny that I enjoy the traveling." When Madalena had finally finished eating, Brayden was already started to get up from his seat. Offering the woman a falsely warm smile and a nod of his head, he walked with her back towards her speeder bike. "Sounds good to me."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena tossed credits on the table and got up as well, running to Brayden first to give him a bear hug. Truly, there was no one happier in the galaxy right there and then. She had missed him like crazy, checking her messages almost daily even though she knew it could take months before she heard anything from him. There weren't many things that Madalena dreamed about getting; usually she just set goals and then worked until she got them. But with the separation from Brayden, there was nothing she could save hop from random location to random location in the Unknown Territories with no resources, no money, and no way to find him. Brayden coming back had been a dream in the truest sense of the word.

It was a few breaths later that she released him, and then the two made their way back to her speeder. The way from there to her ship was uneventful, and Madalena was too busy being excited about having her brother with her that she barely even noticed the green scenery of Naboo.

Once she parked by her ship, she just grabbed Brayden's hand, almost pulling him along to come see it. With her free hand, she held on tightly to the bag that contained her art supplies. "Come on, come on, come on, come on," she encouraged him, bouncing with excitement the entire time.

And then they were inside.

Madalena did not sleep at nights. Not properly, anyway. Nightmares woke her up repeatedly, leaving her screaming and sweating in bed. It always took her a bit to unwind before she could attempt sleep again, and much of those hours were spent simply… Painting.

Every piece of wall within the ship was covered in paint. But not just paint; entire murals, filled with luscious forests and jungles, distant mountain tops, Rose Goblins, sunshine, and clear blue skies. The level of detail on the paintings was so great that even looking closely it could take a moment that these were paintings and not pictures. From certain points in the halls, it sometimes seemed like the forests were actually breathing.

A few more steps into the ship and towards the cockpit was a painting of a female ranging somewhere between girl and woman. Her body was made of delicate curves though it was clear her arms and legs were strong, but whereas detail was drawn on every piece of wall that Madalena had gotten her hands on, the woman's face lacked in detail almost entirely, allowing only for a few shadows and big green eyes that omitted the emerald glow. Her hair dark and long, and Madalena had managed to make it look as though it had been captured while blowing in the wind.

And on the opposite wall were the paintings of two wolves, one white and one grey, and while their bodies were painted from their side, both of their faces were turned away from the viewer.

There was only one painting that was not accessible just yet… But Madalena decided to wait with it.

"Well…" she whispered with excitement, "what do you think?"


[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden was fairly well past being surprised by the woman's need to constantly be in physical touch. Truth be told, Brayden would have been mostly fine with it had it been his actual sister. Still, he was fairly certain it would have taken a little getting used to. It had been a long time since they'd been infants, constantly holding on to one another somehow. They'd been ripped apart far too abruptly for it not to be somewhat traumatizing. Then there was the life he spent with Zoma...followed by sequestration on Endelaan but away from any type of legitimate civilization. At this point, the bulk of Brayden's social experience had been with creatures and wayward travelers just before he killed them for their supplies and body parts to attract animals to eat.

However, whatever hesitation existed inside of Brayden disappeared almost completely after he was dragged inside of Madalena's vessel. Silver-green eyes drifted slowly over the scene dictated on the walls. Stepping away from not-Scherezade, Brayden raised a hand as if he were trying to touch the painted walls of the vessel. However, rather than come into full contact with the smooth surface, he allowed his hand to hover over the scene...as if to touch would somehow destroy the beautiful imagery of his home. Silence continued to surround Brayden until he reached a painted figure...a figure that could only ever have belonged to his mother, Nessarose deWinter. Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes, but he fought hard to hold them back. Ever since he had first been forced into the Darkness, he'd been in a type of prison. Then his sister was ripped away. Then...he felt the overwhelming presence and comfort of his mother. Then...he was a man, deposited on a strange world.

Brayden had known loss and struggle his entire life, such memories quickly overpowering what few memories he had of blissful times. This mural though...spoke to the very core of his soul. The Sith Lord had no idea how many minutes had passed, but he did eventually lower his hand to his side. When he turned to face Madalena, his eyes were dry, but it would be fairly evident he had been on the verge of tears. "I think it is beautiful...Madalena." The woman's assumed name was practically choked out. With a deep inhale, he forced himself back into the illusion. "You did a really good job recreating the stories."

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"I've gotten better at it since Coruscant," Madalena said softly as she saw Brayden's gaze when they entered the ship, and quickly silenced herself before she added any other words. She hadn't expected her murals to have such a profound effect on her brother. After all, they were just paintings of stories they had told each other throughout their lives. There were foot prints between plants, creatures in the background, black owls in the tree tops. There was even a winged horse somewhere, if Brayden would stare long enough to find him.

But whatever it was that her brother was seeing, she could sense the emotions sifting through him so tangibly that she elected for once to just remain quiet and carefully step away towards one of the rooms so she could give him a private moment. Baal was in her room, and the moment she opened the door he wagged his tail and was about to jump on her, when he noticed her press her finger to her lips to signal silence. She still crouched though, and waited for him to come to her before she gave him a huge hug, burying her nose in his soft fur.

When Madalena emerged from her room a few minutes later, it was just a little bit before Brayden lowered his hand and looked at her. She wasn't sure what to say as she noticed the corners of her eyes, but then he spoke, and there was little she could do other than smile shyly.

"I'm still not done," she said quietly, her eyes moving to where the girl-woman was. She'd always wanted to paint the Princess' face, but she was never sure what her facial features would actually be, aside for the glow of the yes.

A small nudge behind her nee snapped her immediately back to reality though. She spun around, picking Baal up, and turned back to face Brayden.

"Brayden!" she bounced, "this is Baal! Baal, this is Brayden, he's my twin brother! I've told you about him, so you better be on your best behavior!"

Baal turned his head to Brayden, sniffing him through the air, before nodding. "He's a Loth wolf," Madalena explained as she clearly struggled to both hold him in her arms and pet him at the same time, "Well, a Loth wolf puppy". Baal was still a puppy… By Loth standards. At the moment, de was as big as a fully grown Rottweiler (and would grow up to be at least two meters tall with time), but he was as playful as ever, and he still demanded cuddles and pets and games all the time. "I found him in a weird cult lab that I demolished after taking their leader out and… Ugh, it's a long story, but there were two Loth puppies there, he was one of them. My friend Dia has the other one. He's super friendly, and he understands Basic!"

[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden hadn't even noticed that Madalena had gone missing at all. When his bright eyes fell upon a creature behind the woman, he tilted his head. The only creatures he'd been around even remotely recently were inhabitants of Phindara. Needless to say it had been a little while since he had seen something that even approached a more...domestic size. Glancing from the creature up to Madalena, Brayden maintained a confused expression for a few moments. Was this her familiar? Why was it so docile? And why was she cradling it like a child?

However, he quickly remembered the facade he was trying to maintain. Managing a quick smile, Brayden stepped forward. "Hello Baal." Did he...pet it or something? He recalled similar touches to his own familiar, but they were more a calming gesture than anything of...affection? In the end, Brayden decided not to. "I see... You've had a lot of interesting experienced, Madalena. Exploding baby hutts, cult labs, now...wait..." Brayden glanced up from the creature in Madalena's arms. "Dia?" The cogs of Brayden's memory gradually began to slide into place. "Dia like...Dianah? The shi'ido you mentioned?"

Did everyone not go by their real name? He obviously had no real basis to judge it against. So much about life was...brand new to him. It was a struggle to cover up consistently.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena nodded. Dia like Dianah. Shi'ido. The one she'd said she wouldn't try to set him up with on account of her already having her own paramour. Scratching Baal behind the ears, the brunette looked at her brother, not sure how to interpret his tone and facial expressions. Was there something wrong with Dianah getting shortened to Dia? Did he know another Dia? Madalena was pretty sure he didn't actually know her friend.

"I'm a mission beast," she said with no little pride, "but that specific one was… Unique. Dia and I bonded during it."

Baal licked the tip of Madalena's nose and she laughed before setting him back down on the ground, after which he walked over to Brayden and sat down on his back legs next to him.

"Looks like he likes you," she grinned with pride, eyes going from wolf to brother, "though he might be a reason for me to find one of those planet-sized residences we talked about. He'll be taller than either of us when he's done growing and this ship is hardly big enough for anyone that size."


[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden actually laughed out loud. "Mission beast. Alright." In fact he laughed through the entire statement all the way to the end. Waving a dismissive hand, Brayden forced his laughter to subside. "I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. That's just a funny statement."

When the Loth Wolf was placed onto the ground, Brayden's silver-green gaze followed the creature as it walked to the large Sith's side and sat down, gazing up at Brayden. Arching a curious brow, Brayden could not help but smirk. He did like animals, having spent the majority of his recent time among them. The idea that the Loth Wolf could understand basic as well was...very interesting. Not as interesting as creatures from Phindara, but it was something he supposed.

Raising his gaze back to Madalena, Brayden mostly shrugged, though a smirk still lingered on his lips. "I suppose..." Brayden stopped himself. He was about to say something about wild creatures recognizing one another, but that wouldn't fit with the facade. "Yeah I would say you definitely need to start exploring other housing options. What's your favorite planet inside CIS space?"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Brayden and Baal were smiling to each other. Or at least, Baal was giving him a look that seemed like it was the wolf version of smiling, and that in turn caused Madalena to smile. She'd wanted the two of them to get along. There was no place in her life for anyone who couldn't get along with her twin brother, whether it was a person or a beast or someone in the middle.

Still smiling, she motioned for the best males in her life to follow her. While the ship lacked a main area, Madalena had altered one of the rooms into a form of living room. It was small, like the rest of the rooms on the ship, but it was perfectly designed to give the feeling of comfort, with soft couches and more murals of the stories she and Brayden had told each other throughout their lives. One of the walls of the room even depicted a painting of the Forbidden Temple, where the Prince and Princess had lived.

The far off wall though, was part of Madalena's armory; dozens of knives hung there, and now that they were back, she removed a few that were still strapped to her body, putting them back on the wall. The hilts of her two lightsabers followed, arranged neatly in light with the hilt of a lightwhip that she was still learning how to control. Several heavy swords as well as some firearms hung there as well, joined in the corner by a stack of boots and armors that were all designed to protect her. Sometimes, Madalena wore most of what the room had to offer on her body. But she was with Brayden now; she didn't need any protection.

Madalena sat at the opposite end of the couch, and Baal jumped on to the middle, both of them now motioning for Brayden to join them in the remaining space on it.

"I don't know," she finally said, "I really liked Marmere. It had lakes and mountain tops and the best weather ever. But it didn't really feel like somewhere I could turn into my home. I haven't found any planet that feels like it could be home, not within CIS space and not outside of it. But you were just in the Unknown Regions. Did you find anywhere there that could feel like a home?"

[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden nodded when Madalena indicated for him to follow her. Silently, he padded along behind Madalena, bright eyes taking in every detail of his surroundings. When they arrived into another room with more paintings, Brayden had to force himself not to stop or linger on any one aspect for too long. As good as it was to see depictions of his, their home, it was also sad. It was sad that Scherezade wasn't really here. She couldn't actually partake in the memories with him. Instead, he was presented with not-Scherezade denying the existence of Endelaan at every turn.

However, Brayden was determined not to let that reality chip away at his soul indefinitely. Eventually he did take note of the weapons. He thought it to be a very...interesting assortment. There were just so many. Staying silent for the moment, Brayden eventually took the remaining seat on the couch. Nodding along to her statements about planets in CIS space, Brayden felt a brief surge of panic when Madalena asked if he'd found a place to call home. The response he gave was honest if not a bit of a non-answer. "Haven't really found anywhere that feels as comfortable as home did. There were some pretty amazing places, though. Places either without names or no name known to the greater galaxy."

Brayden shrugged slightly. "I suppose that's how it goes though. Hard to replace home."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

As comfortable as home did. Madalena chewed on her lower lip as she thought for a moment. Had home really felt comfortable? Home was just… Home. There hadn't been any need to overthink it in any way because they'd been born on Coruscant and they'd spent their entire lives in the same apartment on Cosucant, until it got flattened. But now… "I suppose, now that I've seen more of the galaxy beyond Coruscant, Coruscant doesn't really feel like a home either."

And that was part of it. Sixteen years of stability that ended when their parents died, and then two years after that there was not even a single remain of it left. "We'll find a place though," she said with a little smile as her hand reached out to stroke Baal's black fur, "we have each other again now. That's more important than this or other house. Maybe we couldn't find a new home because we were apart."

[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden glanced up at Madalena, mostly nodding in agreement. "Yeah. I guess I didn't really mean the planet so much as the literal residence." Pausing for a moment in thought, Brayden tilted his head. "Perhaps I'm too nostalgic for my own good." It was probably the first truly genuine thing he'd said to not-Scherezade in at least the last while they had been conversing.

The woman's suggestion about them finding a new home did strike a chord somewhere in his body, however. For a moment, he allowed himself the fantasy of hearing Scherezade, the true Scherezade, make that statement. Would she even know or remember any of these interactions when he was finally able to bring her back? "You just might be right about that."

There was an amount of silence from Brayden following that statement. He had undoubtedly lingered long enough, and he really did need some time to himself to consider both what had happened...and what he was going to do about it moving forward. "So where are you going from here?" Hopefully it would be a relatively natural segue into the things they each still needed to do for themselves on Naboo and elsewhere...for the time being.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena grinned as Brayden mentioned that perhaps he was too nostalgic for his own good. He was referring to something else entirely, but she already envisioned entire nights over hot drinks, telling their stories again and creating new ones. She could hardly wait for that to finally happen. These past few months may have been centuries with how it felt to be unite again.

Where she would be going from here? "Geonosis," she answered without needing to pause, "I need to head out on a mission tomorrow and we start from there." It was a shame too. She wished she had more free times and days off to spend with Brayden, but she couldn't forget herself simply because he was back. If he was in trouble, if he needed help, or anything, she would easily find ways to wiggle out, but anything short of that… "But I should be back by the weekend. It's not supposed to be a long one."

Turning her upper body around, she pulled a flat object from one of the shelves and pressed her hand against it. "Here," she said, offering to him, "press your hand on this. It'll give you full and regular access this my ship. In case you ever need it."


[member="Brayden Antares"]