Private Stone Letter

[Zaavik Perl]

ZEL SYSTEM // ZELTROS // ZELTROS CITY // HOME

There is no emotion, there is peace.
​

It'd taken a lot of mental preparation to return to Zeltros. There was a time where he could come and go without qualm or conniption. His last excursion, however, had snuffed that luxury beyond any hope of resurgence. Yet, here he was. Peace wouldn't be found without closure, and coming to terms with his malevolent outburst was a necessary hurdle. Atonement was far beyond his reach, and so the alternate path to release the guilt was made manifest.

Zaavik spent hours aimlessly wandering the slummy streets of his home district. The slummy, downtrodden streets evoked many things, but he did his best to remember the positives. To reminisce on what little was worthy of a happy thought. Every time he passed that street, he tried to work up the courage to turn down it. He never did manage. The remnants would no doubt still be there, and the scar of his wrath wasn't something he was eager to witness.

A detour uphill, towards the old park, was what he told himself he needed. A change of familiar scenery, and another sentimental landmark to bolster his courage. He wasn't sure if he was stalling himself or being genuine, but he continued uphill either way. The words and sounds of the past resonated in his memory with every familiar alley and storefront he passed.

The Old Park looked just as decrepit as ever. Knowing people here, that wasn't going to stop anyone from being here. It was never a pristine place. He couldn't ever remember there being more than a handful of in-tact benches, and certainly never more than a single working swing. Now there were none. Zaavik frowned as he surveyed the broken chain that left the swing sweat hanging at a desperate angle.

"You're such a wuss, Zaavik. It's just a scratch!"

A small, humorous exhale escaped him when he remembered that day. His sister had convinced him they were going to have to cut his leg off because after he'd scraped it on a botched bail out of a high swing. That was one of the last times they'd ever played together as children. Before his mother had gone force knows where, and her father had stopped coming for his mistress. He hadn't thought about any of that in years. Their faces had gone from his mind, but the memories remained.

Zaavik looked up and out over the ledge that the park sat upon just in time to see the sun begin to rise. Pinkish hues flooded over the once darkened sky as the orange sphere crept its way out of the horizon. Had he wandered all night? Time had escaped his attentive perception behind reminiscence and procrastination. He slipped on his sunglasses before retreating his hands into jacket pockets, silently observing the slow arrival of a new day.

Maybe tomorrow he'd finally make that turn.

Zhani Amadine​

 

[Zhani Amadine]

Zhani was also taking a walk around the city at night, though it wasn't so... contemplative. After the incident where Avernus up and died, and the whole nasty business with purging the Sith had occurred, the zeltron had decided the best and only course of action was to make herself super scarce. So scarce, in fact, that she'd gone all the way back to Zeltros to crash at her parents' place. A strange place to go, maybe. More like hiding in plain sight than anything else. But, really, she was only a minor player, a loose thread in a pile of unraveled cloth, and so she was pretty sure nobody would care to look for her.

And, truth be told, her parents were always gone on business, and she was always, well, out, so it wasn't like they'd have to do more than acknowledge her presence occasionally anyway.

This particular night, her parents happened to be home, and so in an effort to avoid them and also walk off some of her excesses, she'd elected to take a stroll around her old childhood stomping grounds. Run down and nasty as ever, if not worse. Strangely, as a kid it had never occurred to her that most sane people would make their kids play elsewhere. The broken equipment, trash, and run down environment hadn't even registered to her child's brain. It was just a place to go with friends. If the friends sometimes stepped on something sharp, or got scraped up on some exposed rubble, well, that was just the price of admission.

Stumbling ever so slightly, she meandered aimlessly down the path, glad there weren't too many people looking on. Yeah, she'd overdone it at the cantina this time. But after some night air and a bit of a leg stretch, she'd be juuuust fine. She hummed to herself, some old tune from childhood. Not sure why it came to her just then. Maybe just an echo of nostalgia.

Zaavik Perl

 

[Zaavik Perl]

ZEL SYSTEM // ZELTROS // ZELTROS CITY // HOME

​

Zaavik kicked an empty can as he turned from the apex of the sunrise. Intent on walking back to his bike, he took a step away. And then he heard it. At first, it was just meaningless noise. It only took him a moment to recognize the feminine rhythm of the familiar jingle. Peering over his shoulder, he saw the stumbling woman heading up the path towards him. Another drunk? The hilt of his saber peeked out from behind his jacket, the sunlight causing a glittering glare to momentarily flare in his peripheral vision.

"Morning," he offered politely. No use being uppity about an intoxicated stranger. These were his people after all. Those who resided here even more so than the whole of Zeltronkind. His eyebrows raised slightly. She looked vaguely familiar, then again, a lot of people around here did. Wasn't anything new.

Something about her humming pushed him for further conversation. An inexplicable tug at his will. "Was that the Gazdros jingle?" Every kid knew that little melody back in the day. Gazdros was the toy company on Zeltros, and their ads were plastered all over the holonet and applicable media. Zaavik was always too poor to ever get his hands on any Gazdros originals, but damn if that jingle wasn't infectious.

Zhani Amadine ​

 

[Zhani Amadine]

Looking up, the zeltron paused at the other's voice. Through the haze of intoxication, she became aware of two things. One, the voice seemed... familiar. In a strange way, it fit right into the nostalgia of the location, seamlessly blending in with her reminiscing. She didn't immediately think anything of it. A lot of people were 'familiar' to her, of course.
Two, this was a Force user. If the saber handle half-hidden under his biker jacket didn't give it away, the undeniable presence in the Force as he approached was plain to see. That was interesting. She paused to assess, her intoxication subsiding as she focused. Light side, though the outfit spoke to a bit of a rougher origin than you'd think a Jedi would spring from. Who was this, even? She'd be suspicious, but what she was getting from him empathically was not even close to threatening. A chance encounter, then?

Well, no reason to be rude. "Yeah, those toys were the coolest. 'Gazdros, gadgets and gizmos, Gazdros, get em today!' I think I still have my Super Fighter Space Action figures gathering dust somewhere... wonder if they'd be worth something nowadays." She seemed to consider this for a second before shrugging dismissively. "Probably not worth the effort. Pretty sure most are missing limbs anyway. Uh..." She threw her glance around. Nobody else here this late. Or, rather, early. "So... who're you?" she queried, pointing a long-nailed index finger at him. Her manicure was impeccable, if a bit loud. Neon lime that practically glowed. "You from around here?"

Well, that was one way to ask the question that was eating at her. Familiar, but she couldn't recall being acquainted with any Jedi Zeltron. Especially not ones dressed like bikers. She'd definitely remember the outfit if nothing else.

Zaavik Perl

 

[Zaavik Perl]

ZEL SYSTEM // ZELTROS // ZELTROS CITY // HOME

​

Zaavik squinted as he surveilled the woman. The familiarity he felt was more than the usual for people around here. "Yeah, Zoltan Street," he confirmed. Her aura resonated with his extrasensory facilities. She was strong in the force, that much was clear. Clear turbulence between its very duality roared within her. That wasn't something that you'd normally pick up from a stranger on the street. A chance encounter? Or the Force offering redemption? He wouldn't squander this, in case the latter was true.

He smiled. "Yeah, my sister would always get their stuff, but I could never really manage to afford any. The vicariousness was better than nothing, though." It probably didn't come as any surprise. Zoltan street was the slummiest of the district. You'd be lucky to afford meals for the whole week, let alone any extra personal effects. Gazdros was the closest thing on-world to a luxury toy company. This was no place for their products.

As the sun fully crested the horizon, Zaavik got a better look at her features. The familiarity was something more. This wasn't a face he'd only seen in passing one or several times. Gazdros. Zoltan Street. The Jingle. Zaavik's eyebrows raised, his eyes coming alight with hopeful curiosity. "Zhani?"

Zhani Amadine​