glacias / flamma

     Rownei rolls his eyes, face left unmasked and easily seen from his position just to the side of Dameron’s right, dark clothes bathed in white light. The interrogation rooms had always been harsh in their lighting, somehow even more minimal in their aesthetic than the rest of the ship. Already, he’s itching for something new to focus on to escape the momentary stall in his life. It’s Dameron on the table here, not him. And yet, as Rownei’s sure to hyperbolize to Kylo later - this is turning out to be Row’s own personal hell, a mix of all the elements perfect for bringing down his already sour mood in the name of something so mundane.

         It’s not a query importuning her to provide verification. It’s not some astute postulation made on a foundation of fallible certitude. She need neither repudiate nor verify. It’s an incontrovertible observation made in a fashion akin to someone nonchalantly describing the vibrant hue of the sky looming overhead. Still, despite the conspicuous absence of a NEED to verbally acknowledge his first utterance, the chary educator does so anyway. Neither duplicity nor vitriol roll off of her tongue, but there’s a scarcely constrained tartness accompanying coherent speech. ❝ I’ve never been one to sit around and wait for SOMEONE ELSE to take action. Especially not someone undeserving. Not that it’s any of your business. ❞ The resolve that she unerringly shows in ensuring that her juvenescent charges are ne'er exposed to the lingering traces of SNOKE’S maleficence is indomitable. 

      Ah, there it is. A modicum of the flagrant derision she’d expect from someone affiliated with THE FIRST ORDER. Though defensiveness suffuses her feminine voice, her tone is otherwise neutral. ❝ Just because something is FLAWED, doesn’t mean that it’s incapable of being FIXED. I’m passing along what should be passed along and leaving behind what should be left behind. ❞ Despite lacking the breadth of knowledge from which the sagacious yet unforgettably fearful  legend LUKE SKYWALKER gleaned strength, she’ll do everything possible to make certain that her inquisitive students aren’t ravenously consumed by the DARK. There’s a BALANCE lying ‘tween polar opposites - 'tween perennial tenebrosity and consummate luminosity - that she’ll gladly guide them to. Anyone bearing the foolishness to try to preclude her venture from proving fruitful will be dealt with accordingly. Unblushing truculence compels her to inform him of this. ❝ TRY stopping me, and we’ll just see what unfortunate place your attempt introduces you to. ❞

     A momentary silence as he listens to her speak, a small lilt to his lips that suggests the growing amusement with her sentiments. The sheer defiance she does not hesitate to exude ; its not something most so boldly or easily emit in his presence. It’s almost refreshing - a cool breeze against the constant warmth of the sun.     ❝ You’re more confident than I thought you would be. ❞     A part of him truly does want to push her, to witness the figure that scarred the Master of the Knights. Could be interesting. The knight shrugs as he considers his options, ever nonchalant,     ❝ Two schools of thought. Always good to know what I might be dealing with in the future. ❞     And with that, the smirk is finally full-fledged. Row looks to her for a spark of reaction, the next spirited warning, already expecting the backlash for such a near threat to her future Jedi.

     Yet still, there’s no sign of his own readiness to move - no tension of body, no tilt in preparation to dodge, only the watchful gaze he keeps on her and their surroundings. After years of battle, he has the reaction time for such lack of preparation should she choose to make good on her threat. Though fighting her is still not his intention, not yet at the least. But there’s only so much he can do to dull the constant sharpness to his words, the edge of darkened humor that so often lines his speech an ingrained habit. Better that than the pure curiosity that keeps him in this conversation and threatens to break through without due awareness. A constant vigilance in his watch of himself and the force. Dark and light, right and wrong, misplaced burdens. How long can this go on?     ❝ Enlighten me, then. What are you keeping, and what are you leaving behind? Convince me I shouldn’t stop you. ❞

     THE SYSTEM IS DONE FOR ; if you listen here closely, there's an echo in the galaxy, a resounding leveling of the force that can finally, at last, start to emulate peace. A long awaited neutrality, a balance. And oddly enough, its almost familiar. Something similar had once begun to form, a wisp of possibility existed with the beginnings of Skywalker’s temple. And with one mistake too many, it came crashing down like rain from the sky, collecting for all to see. Its almost tangible - the flicker of fire across water a shadow in his mind’s eye.

     In that small amount of liquid -- blood // water, settling into the soil and poisoning the ground beneath it. Rownei is sure, should he choose to return, that there would still be a haunting fog of what had transpired there. A heavy atmosphere where there had almost been balance. It failed. Kylo would not. 

     And this girl, this scavenger turned Jedi -- Rey. Already training students, and Rownei can’t help but wonder if she, like her Master, would once again write the firm lines between good and bad, light and dark. Would she perpetuate it? Fight to be rid completely of the dark in clear negligence of the need for it? There is the necessity for both in every person. As the force, so the wielder. --- But, she seems to understand it better than Skywalker. The atmosphere lingering around her different, her effect on the force bordering closer to that middle ground the Knights so often linger in than his strict idling in the purest of light. And despite this, she keeps foraging her own path while keeping it interlaced with the Resistance. 

          “ Already teaching. ”     Posed as an idle remark, though he’s long been considering what she could possibly be passing down to her students,     “ Are you really going to perpetuate an obviously flawed system? ”

                                                                                            ps  》》 @renkniighted 》》

there was something amiss that had been plaguing him for the past few days.  a strange vibration. an anxious energy buzzing through the fabric of his mind. Kylo had always been hyper-aware of thoughts, feelings. it was a blessing and a  BURDENSOME curse. unraveling his mental stability. If not for the trust he held in a select group of his knights, he may not have been able to bear mental repercussions. the crushing weight of his gift. his lips twitch, tightening, sneering. 

    ❝ do you feel that? ❞

his voice is hushed. a frown crosses his features. his dark eyes shift to look into Rownei’s. the frown slips away && leaves an impassive stare. a knight should not wear their emotions like an open book. one misstep is a FATAL mistake.

    ❝ there is a traitor aboard this ship. i trust you will aid me in                                                            eliminating them ❞

     A lingering hum, the unsettling tilt of energy in the force. It wasn’t until his attention was called to it that Rownei finally realized how it had been buzzing in the recesses of his mind. Largely buried and unintentionally ignored, but now, already an incessant annoyance eating at the edges of his focus. The slightest shift in expression is the only giveaway of his recognition of the feeling, eyes meeting Kylo’s before flicking back to their surroundings, trying to sharpen the feeling into a direction. 

      HE LISTENS CLOSELY TO EACH WORD SPOKEN. eyes carefully fall to the ground briefly with a hint of a smile. but fades as quickly is it appears. seems many were sent on similar missions before their return home. a distant but noticeable pattern. obsidian eyes stay glued upon the other, observing them as they spoke. 

          ❝ I SEE. ❞   he responds simply, a quiet sigh following after.  ❝ i admit, i hadn’t expected the separation to last this long. ❞  a frown graces his features. the fact they were divided at all made him uneasy. but connections were beginning to rekindle and they were all together again, for now.  ❝ i’m making sure that doesn’t happen again in the future. ❞

     It’s never been easy to lighten the atmosphere around the Knights, whether a byproduct of their side of the force or just them in general, Rownei has never much cared. Never really tried to change it - his sense of humor has always been what carries him through each day and its affect on others was never a concern. But now, with all the change, with the clear difference in Kylo between the last time Row saw him and now, he almost wishes he were better at it.