Beyond - Legends Shadows of Tesserone (AU, OC)

This sounds like a job for Dowager Countess Vehn!

 

Union Westcott Eventing Course
Bakura



"Good morning and welcome to the Outer Rim Equestrian League's eventing challenge at Union Westcott on Bakura! It's a beautiful autumn day here, the maples are in their full glory, the fans have assembled, famous riders from all around the galaxy are getting ready, and one of the greatest events in equine eventing is about to get underway!" Daly Lyster said in a narration as the cameras swooped over the difficult course.

"Unlike the eventing of the past, which would take place over three days, the Outer Rim Equestrian League, otherwise known as OREL, decided years ago to increase the stakes and the level of competition by making eventing a one day contest. All the riders race against one another at the same time putting themselves and their horses at great peril. Let me tell you it can get quite crowded and dangerous on any course but in all my years of broadcasting no course is as infamous as the one here at Union Westcott."

"We've seen many champions over the years," Daly said as images of past winners were shown, "and many tragedies." Images of injured horses and riders were shown as well. "But each year the spirit and pageantry of the sport is celebrated and displayed at each locale around the galaxy. Nowhere is it more beautifully displayed than on Bakura, land of the edelweiss, land of peace and tranquility and home to some of the finest breeds in the galaxy!"

"This year marks the 120th event at Union Westcott and no storyline has been as compelling or as dramatic as the rivalry between Grace Vehn and Sean Riggins of Roon and Druckenwell respectively. We've seen them win. We've seen them lose. We've seen them battle it out from Druckenwell to Roon to Eriadu.

"As the season winds to a close no one could have predicted that newcomer Grace Vehn and her adventerous mare Nasira would be in first place heading into today's event," Daly said as images of Grace winning recent events were shown.

"Grace has proven herself capable of handling such tough courses as Northam Park, the Federation Classic at Nunurra, and The Meadows on Eriadu. The course right behind me will prove to be the most challenging she has ever seen. Not only is the course highly technical but one former champion stated that there is a reason Union Westcott is the last of four professional tournaments in the Outer Rim Equestrian League's yearly bout. It is the course that separates those who dream about winning and those who truly can win. Will the newcomer stay on her saddle and ride to victory or will this be a humbling reminder that Grace Vehn's dramatic rise to prominence with in the league is tempting the gods? We shall see.

"Sean Riggins comes to us from Druckenwell-"

Grace killed the broadcasting feed to her datapad. She refused to listen to the media blather on about her rival. All the ways he had won at other courses across the galaxy. She was done with him. Today she was going to bury him alive.

She stepped outside to catch a breath of air.

Grace inhaled the cold morning air. The grass was slick with dew and a slight hint of frost. She hopped from one foot to the other to warm up. The season finale of the eventing circuit was here. Here on Bakura. This was the moment where she would be immortalized for all time. This was the moment where she would forever be known as Grace Vehn the equestrian champion.

She closed her eyes. Rode the course. She saw every hill, every slope, every jump, ever pool of water, every challenge. In her mind she was one with Nasira. They were flying over the course. Nothing could stop them. Nothing. Pass one rider. Then the next. Victory was hers. She was the champion. A professional killer no more.

When she opened her eyes she felt a familiar tickle of whiskers against her fingers. Nasira was nuzzling her hand looking for food no doubt. Grace smiled and shook her head. The coming race would test them both. The coming race would push them to their very limits.

"You ready for this, Nasira?" Grace asked.

Nasira knickered in response. She was always ready to work. She loved to work. The first minute Grace had taken her out she had put forth her best effort. Now Grace would be asking Nasira to go that extra kilometer, to put forth her very best, because it was going to take a perfect run to beat Sean Riggins and Gunner, his mount.

Grace gently stroked Nasira's neck and smelled her sweet scent. Her veteran eyes studied the course one final time. The same way she used to study targets before she took their lives. It was the little things that always gave her the advantage. How the wind blew, how sound carried, the routine of the person she was about to kill. It was all so glorious and deadly.

A distant horn blew. The call to assemble at the starting line. Grace slipped onto the saddle, tightened the chin strap on her helmet, and nudged Nasira forward at a gentle walk. She wasn't in a hurry. Not today.

Today she had all the time in the world.
Tag: Trieste;jcgoble3;Tim Battershell;Jedi_Perigrine

 

The calm before the storm. She will have a fight on her hands. Perhaps literally.

 

I love this post! And not just because Bakura gets to strut its stuff here, but because for the first time I see why Grace has been drawn to horse racing.

 

Union Westcott
Bakura

Grace settled onto Nasira's back and let out a long exhale. The cold morning air sent up a whisp of fog all around her as her warm breath touched the icy world beyond. The riders had assembled at the gate. Ready to go. Ready to race. Ready to emerge victorious in the bloody event that was to come.

She adjusted the chin strap on her helmet. Nice and snug. Her half chaps were firmly secured around her riding pants as she dug her feet into the irons. Her fingers delicately wrapped around the reins. One small motion. One quiet flick of the hand and she'd be off. She closed her eyes and said a quiet prayer. She wasn't a religious person but before any event she did everything she could to keep the gods ever in her favor.

Sean Riggins pulled up beside her atop his horse Gunner. He looked over at Grace and smirked. "You're going to lose today, Vehn."

Grace let the slightest smile crease her lips and replied, "The only way I'm losing is if I'm dead."

"I can make that happen," Sean replied. "I can send you to an early grave."

"You first," Grace said.

"We shall see, won't we?" Sean said as he gathered in Gunner's reins.

"We shall," Grace nodded, "just remember it was I who ended your life."

"You will try," Sean said with a sneer.

---

"There they are," Daly Lyster said from the broadcasting booth, "Sean Riggins and Grace Vehn. Two fierce rivals. Two beings who have nothing but hatred between them exchanging a few words between one another before the start of this historic event. We're about to sound the starting blaster. Before we begin just a quick overview on the rules: follow the course and the first horse and rider pair to cross the finish line wins."

"I see the signal," Daly said, "and they're off! Union Westcott has officially begun!"

---

Grace thundered across the carefully manicured greens. Her eyes caught sight of the first gate. She felt Nasira surge under her in anticipation of the coming jump.

"Not yet, my dear, not yet," Grace whispered as she drew closer.

A dark horse and rider shot right in front of her cutting off her lane to the jump. Sean Riggins. The pair surged over the jump and disappeared down the slope beyond. Grace nearly lost her balance as Nasira's front legs lifted off the ground to carry them over. She steadied herself in mid-air as Nasira cleared the jump, powered her way through the water, and shot out the other side in hot pursuit.

"Get him! Get him!" Grace yelled as she urged Nasira deeper into the course.

The mare did her bidding. She always did. Her strong hooves dug into the ground sending divets of earth flying in every direction. Grace's body rocked in time with Nasira's aggressive movement. The two were one. The two were inseperable. Over this jump and across this pool of water. Nothing could slow them down.

Grace squinted as she caught sight of Sean. She was closing on him fast. Up ahead was the jump known as the Triple Bend. A winding, tall, monster of a creation that made Union Westcott infamous. This was the jump that so many riders miscalculated. Too fast and you overshot. Too slow and you risked death.

"Now is our time, now is our time!" Grace urged aloud as she let go of the reins trusting Nasira to navigate the Triple Bend on her own.

Nasira snorted, ears forward, and took Grace into the first turn and beyond the first jump. Grace's eyes went wide as she saw the drop to the second but she pushed the fear aside and trusted Nasira to make the smart decision. Very few horses could pull off this kind of maneuver and all she had to do was keep her balance. There could be no control of the reins. Not now.

The second jump was cleared with ease and the third, coming up fast on a near 90 degree turn, lay in view. Grace couldn't believe how tall the third jump was. It was larger and more challenging than anything she'd ever seen. She quietly put away her doubt, couldn't let Nasira think for a second that they couldn't make the jump, and closed her eyes as she tapped into that powerful energy stream known as the Force.

Visions of past deeds came to her. Past regrets. Past mistakes. Past successes. Past moments of reunification with her family. She saw it all. She saw nothing but a life of experiences so varied and so worthwhile that in this moment everything seemed right. It didn't matter whether she won or lost today. All that mattered was that she was alive. She had triumphed over evil. She had put away the life of a killer and exchanged it for a life of good intent.

When she opened her eyes she was well beyond the third jump, the reins firmly in her hand, the finish line within sight and the nascent roar of the crowd rising up to greet her. Then as she looked back at the third jump she saw something that made her hesitate. She saw something that made her pause and reconsider the opportunity to win at Union Westcott.

---

"She's stopped," Daly Lyster said, "Grace Vehn has stopped after the Triple Bend. Victory is within her grasp and she's looking back at something. Our film crews are rushing to the scene. Looks like its a rider and a down horse. We're not sure now who it is. We're not sure what is happening. All we know is that presumptive champion Grace Vehn has halted beyond the most treacherous jump in the course."

---

Grace, breathing hard from the physical exertion of the ride, looked back toward the finish line. She was so close. She could almost feel the weight of the trophy in her hands. She could almost hear Daly Lyster in the broadcasting booth declaring her a winner: a champion.

Nasira sensed her hesitation and pawed at the ground. The mare wanted the victory as well. She too enjoyed her attention. She too enjoyed the fame and publicity that came with a win. Grace gently stroked her neck and looked one last time at the finish line. Everything she wanted was right there in front of her. Everything and still the image of the rider crying out for help underneath the fallen horse was too much.

Victory could wait.

Grace kissed to Nasira and urged her back toward the Triple Bend and the fallen rider. Drawing closer she dismounted and took off her helmet. What she saw made her face fall. Made her want to question this madness that had consumed her.

Gunner had broken two legs going over the last jump of the Triple Bend. Sean Riggins lay crushed underneath, sweat dripping across his face, fear and pain rippling underneath his usually strong eyes. It was bad. It was the nightmare scenario that no rider should have to experience.

Gunner moaned through the extreme pain. Grace knelt beside Sean. "I need you to tell me where you are hurt."

"Frak you," Sean spat out. "Victory is yours, take it! Leave me!"

"Winning at the expense of someone's life is not a victory I want to celebrate," Grace said. "You need my help. Are you hurt?"

"I'll survive," Sean replied, "but Gunner..."

Grace knew a bad situation when she saw one. She looked back at Sean and the two exchanged a look of understanding. This was the scenario a rider only imagined in their worse dreams. It wasn't good. She shook her head.

"Make it quick," Sean said as he closed his eyes in pain.

Grace walked back to Nasira, reached into her saddle pack, and procured a blaster pistol. She headed back over to Gunner. The horse was looking up at her pleadingly, sorrowfully, as the intense hurt and pain rippled across its broken body. It's breathing was shallow and ragged. It's eyes searching for a life it had suddenly lost.

"I'm so sorry," Grace whispered as she pulled the trigger and ended Gunner's life.

Grace hastily tied a loose rein around Gunner's bridle and gently asked Nasira to back up. Slowly, carefully, Gunner slipped away from Sean freeing the injured rider. Grace unhooked the rein from Gunner's bridle and gave a low whistle. Nasira lowered herself to the ground.

"Come on, Sean," Grace said as she extended her hand, "We're going to cross the finish line together. You and I are going to cross that finish line as winners."

Sean opened his mouth to reply and had nothing to say. He was defeated. He was too emotionally distraught at losing his horse. All he could do was muster a weak grasp of Grace's outstretched hand as she gently eased him onto the saddle. Nasira rose to her feet and trotted the length to the finish line.

Grace waved to the crowd that cheerd and hollered in excitement. She had lost the race. That much was certain but she had won so much more than that: she had won back her dignity. She had won back her honor.

---

"In all my years," Daly Lyster said, "in all my years of broadcasting the eventing of Union Westcott I have never seen such a heroic act of compassion. I am speechless. I don't know what to say. Grace Vehn did what few in her position should ever have to do and she did so carrying her bitter rival on her saddle across the finish line. I believe I have just witnessed the greatest event in equine sporting history in my entire life. Bakura salutes Grace Vehn!"

---

"You take good care of him," Grace said as she tapped the ambulance that took Sean Riggins to the nearest hospital in Cape Suzette.

She watched the ambulance roar away and then she collapsed to the grass. Nasira nuzzled her with her nose. A reassuring gesture. A gesture of faith. A gesture of going into the very depths of hell for that connection that only horse and rider can experience.

"Well Nasira," Grace said, "we lost the race but we won all the same. We won all the same."

Tag: Trieste;jcgoble3;Tim Battershell;Jedi_Perigrine

 

Incredible. The ultimate act of sportsmanship: forfeiting your chance at a major victory to help your injured rival who was openly willing to kill you to win. I honestly didn't think Grace had it in her to do that, but I think it proves that her assassin instincts are well and truly gone, or at least buried so deep they will hopefully never come back. And that is a good thing.

 

Wow! That was quite the race!

 

Nime, Roon
Lady Constance Hospital

Grace strode through the doors of Lady Constance Hospital and gave a quiet nod in the direction of a fine portrait of her grandmother, and hospital founder, Verity Vehn. It was a beautiful portrait of a younger Verity wearing scrubs and a lab coat. There was something utilitarian about the piece. Something plain. Something rugged. Something so Vehn.

She wondered how her own life would've been different had she had a normal upbringing. Would she have gone on to medical school like her grandmother, Verity, and her aunt May? Would she have pursued a career in politics like Declan Trieste? Or might she have gone on to pursue something more creative like poetry such as her grandfather, Oisin?

"I'm not asking you to kill," Austin gently said, "I'm asking you to still yourself and listen."

The haunting words of her uncle reverberated inside her mind. That day he had asked her to follow him back to Ossus. To become a Jedi. To follow her true calling. He had tempted her with the idea that her great grandfather's lightsaber had called to her. That was impossible. That was improbable. It was a tool like any other she had used in life. The fact that she had helped defeat Master Adain using it was besides the point.

Enough, Grace reminded herself as she approached the main reception desk.

"May I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"Room 27A please," Grace said.

"Is he expecting you?" the receptionist questioned.

"No, I don't think he is," Grace replied.

"Your name?"

"Grace Vehn," she said, "we raced together on Bakura. Union Westcott."

"I don't see you on the approved list," the receptionist quietly stated.

"He has an approved list? I didn't think Sean had anyone," Grace said.

"Are you family?" the receptionist asked.

"No," Grace replied feeling more deflated.

"If you're not family I can't let you back there," the receptionist said.

Grace felt an idea slip into her mind. An idea from a time when she had served as one of Adain's professional killers. The idea was a technique. A technique that Adain had taught all the assassins. All members of his secret order. That technique would gain her entry. That technique would bring her face to face with her rival, Sean Riggins.

She leaned against the counter and looked into the receptionist's eyes. She slowly opened herself up to the energy all around her. The Force. "You want to let me back there. I'm nobody to be concerned about."

The receptionist paused for a moment. Grace could see her pupils dialate ever so slightly. She wondered if her technique had worked. It had been awhile since she'd last needed to use a tactic like this. A tactic that worked quite well on the weak minded.

"I want to let you back there. You're nobody to be concerned about," the receptionist said and buzzed Grace through the security door.

"Thank you," Grace replied.

"You're welcome," the receptionist said in a slightly dazed tone.

Grace made her way through the security door and down a long hall. She rattled off room numbers in her head as she slipped past nurses, doctors looking over charts, and patients rehabbing their injuries. Nobody paid her any attention. Years of infiltration were paying off.

She hated hospitals. The way they smelled. The way they looked. The way their staff treated people. Even a hospital run by her own family. It felt strange to her to be here. All of this felt so incompatible. So forced.

She was here.

Grace crossed the threshold of the hospital room signaling a chime.

"I don't need anything. Leave me alone," Sean called from the bed. His attention was on the holo.

"I think you do need something," Grace said as she shut off the screen with the remote.

Sean turned his attention from the blank screen and looked at Grace. He startled in bed. Then his face turned to anger. His demeanor turned to rage. His body started to shake.

"You," Sean growled, "I don't need anything from you! You ruined me!"

"So I was the one who took that jump at a bad angle, forced my horse to break its legs, and lost the most important race of my career?" Grace said.

"You killed him. You killed my horse," Sean said.

"You would have done the same if our situations were reversed," Grace replied, "don't lie to me, Sean. We're past the sithspit. I saved your life because it was the right thing to do."

"You should have left me there. It was my destiny," Sean said.

"What and win the race?" Grace asked, "Is that what you would've done?"

Sean remained quiet. He didn't respond. His eyes averted Grace's piercing gaze. The long flight back home to Roon had set his recovery back. His legs were healing from a bad break and there was concern that he would be paralyzed from the waist down.

"To the death, Vehn," Sean said, "we were to fight unto death."

Grace shook her head. "I've seen enough death to last me an entire lifetime."

Sean's face curled in a smile, "I knew you had that killer instinct the moment I met you. I knew you had known the joys of taking a life. Felt the blood of a victim slip across your fingertips. You know what it means to kill."

"Yes," Grace replied, "I do know what it means to kill and I have to live with every life I ever took. Every single life. Every single face. Every single pull of the trigger. It's not easy. It's never been easy."

"You were one of them, weren't you?" Sean asked pointing an index finger to the tattoo embedded in Grace's right forearm. "You were one of the Twelve. A professional killer. An assassin. You served Adain."

A cold chill slipped down Grace's spine.

"Only a small handful of people know what this tattoo represents," Grace replied. "It is a mark from a life I no longer live. It is a mark from a life I pray I can forget one day. It is a life that nobody has a right to know about. Especially not you. This will be the last time I ask you this question: How do you know the mark?"

"I served as well, Grace. Much like you I struck from the shadows. I took lives that were not mine to take. I followed orders that went against every fiber of my being," Sean said. "Every kill I made a piece of me would be destroyed."

"You fought with the Phantoms," Grace said as her eyes went wide, "you hunted us for years."

The Phantoms were a Federation spec-ops group that operated deep in the independent systems to go after nascent threats before they became problems. Their orders were top secret. Their operations were known only to a select few in the Federation military. Their range across the galaxy was limitless and their capabilities were terrifying.

"The Twelve were the hardest to track. Adain hid his secrets well. You were his prized possession. We nearly apprehended you after you tried to kill your own mother," Sean said. "By then we knew the game had changed. Had become far more deadly and far more personal."

"Personal?" Grace asked.

Sean grunted and pulled out a wallet sized holo. He passed the image over to Grace. "You recognize him?"

Grace felt sick to her stomach. The holo was of her first kill. She remembered how nervous she'd been. The mistakes she'd made. The one time she'd failed to get a clean kill. The suffering of the victim had always stuck with her. Never gone. The job had taken hours.

"I do," Grace said after a long pause.

"My friend," Sean said. "Why was he targeted?"

"I don't know," Grace replied, "Adain never told us why certain people were targets."

"He was 15 years old," Sean said as he shook with anger, "15 years old, Grace. What could he ever do that would cause Adain to want him dead? Why?"

"It was war, Sean. It was a terrible war in the shadows. You know that as well as I," Grace said, "but it was a kill I will always regret until my last breath. A kill I never should have made. I'm sorry."

Sean looked away as Grace set the holo gently on the hospital bed. "I wanted to kill you so many times. I pictured it in my head over and over again. Every way. Every possible way to end your life I imagined and I wanted you to suffer just as much as he did. No, I wanted you to suffer more than he did. I hated you, Grace Vehn. I hated you for a very long time."

"Then end my life," Grace said as she knelt beside the bed. "Don't hold back. I've lived a life that I regret. I've lived a life that I couldn't have ever imagined. A life so dark, so bleak, it would make the gods above weep for us."

Sean returned his attention to Grace. There was anger as well as something else. Something softer. She studied his expression. Studied his eyes. He was considering her offer. He was weighing all the opportunities. She'd seen that look a thousand times from so many people. It was the look of all the ways to end a life and it only took one.

"You saved my life," Sean said.

"Yes I did," Grace replied.

Neither of them said a word. Some feelings, some thoughts, could not be spoken. For a long while they simply stared at one another sizing one another up like two prize fighters in the ring. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, guards were lowered as an understanding came between them. An understanding born of mutual experience, mutual loss, mutual competition, mutual hatred, and mutual respect.

"Okay," Sean said.

"Okay," Grace replied.

Tag: Trieste;jcgoble3;Jedi_Perigrine;Tim Battershell

 

So Sean was hunting Grace. I did not expect that.

It's very nice to see them come to an understanding here. They don't have to be friends, but they've both learned a lot about each other here, and hopefully they can put this feud in their past.

 

Neither did I! That was a nice twist.

 

OOC: So this story will be winding down as far as it relates to Grace Vehn. I have a few pieces to move into play before the end game but ultimately this story was about Grace reuniting with her mother, her family, and finding her place in the galaxy. I'd like a vote from the fan base out there, inspired by Trieste in his own fic, to determine the proper course to take.

1) Continue writing in Shadows and go further in depth about other members of the Vehn family in this time period that takes place beyond the Fields of Tesserone by several decades.

2) Return to Fields of Tesserone and expand there.

3) Wrap up the Vehn saga for now and return at a later date...

Please let me know what sounds good to you.

@jcgoble3;Trieste;Tim Battershell;Jedi_Perigrine

 

I'd like to see a return to the present day in Fields of Tesserone, but maybe that's just me.

 

So option 3 is a non-starter for me.

If I recall correctly, Eleanor had expanded the family just before the time jump, bringing in new blood through Roman style adoption. Those folks, tragically, did not survive long in Shadows of Tesserone. I, for one, would be interested in what they did after joining the Vehn clan. How did they expand the legend of the family?

 

Great feedback guys That was the option I was leaning toward as well!

 

Tesserone, Roon

"And here you stand in the before me choosing your life's path," Eleanor said as she looked at her grown daughter with pride.

"It was not an easy decision," Grace replied, "but I felt it is a necessary one for me to atone for what I have done."

"Do you go to this holy place to heal yourself, Grace, or do you go to run from your past?" Eleanor asked.

Grace looked her mother squarely in the eyes and replied, "I go to heal myself. I must heal myself. I have no other choice before me. It is time I use my talents for the greater good. It is time I step forward toward my destiny."

"You know what we believe," Eleanor said.

"The hand of-" Grace replied.

"Fate," the two women said together.

"It brought us back together," Eleanor said.

"And it will never tear us apart again," Grace replied.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Eleanor asked.

"It is," Grace said, "I know in my heart this is the right path to follow."

Eleanor watched as Grace turned to leave. The words she wanted to say nearly catching in her throat. "Grace!"

Grace stopped on the ramp of her shuttle. The shuttle that would take her away from Roon. Away from Tesserone. She turned to look back at her mother.

"I love you," Eleanor said.

"And I love you," Grace replied as she gave a small salute in her mother's direction, powered up the shuttle, and left Tesserone behind her.

---

Jedi Temple
Ossus

"Have you made your decision?" Austin asked as he opened his eyes after a long meditation.

"I have," Grace replied.

Austin rose to his feet and looked into his niece's eyes. She had strong eyes. The eyes of a warrior. The eyes of a future Jedi Knight. Still her future remained cloudy, uncertain, guarded from his prying eyes. She had developed a keen sense of self in the time since they'd reconnected. He had seen her fight in combat. He had seen her possess a knowledge of the Force that challenged even his own. He had been waiting for her. He had been waiting a long time for this day.

Grace held out her hand, palm up. It was a simple gesture. It carried with it an answer that would seal her life forever. Austin felt his lips curl into a smile as he reached into his robe and procured the lightsaber that had belonged to Joaquin Vehn.

"Are you sure?" Austin asked.

"More sure about this than anything in my entire life," Grace replied as she felt the cool hilt of her great grandfather's blade slip into her outstretched hand.

"Have you decided upon which path you will embark?" Austin asked.

"That of a Jedi Healer," Grace replied, "I have taken enough lives to last me several lifetimes. Now I wish to heal lives. To repair the damage others have caused even if I cannot repair the damage I myself have inflicted on so many in the past."

"You seek atonement?"

"I seek forgiveness and a chance to make right what went so wrong," Grace said.

"Once you start down this path there is no going back," Austin said.

"I understand," Grace replied, "I am prepared to devote myself to the Order."

"Then you have taken your first step toward a life that is greater than you can possibly imagine. A life of selfless service to others in need. A life that shall, I suspect, mend your soul of the pain you carry with you every day," Austin pointed out.

"I shall miss parts of the life I am leaving behind," Grace said.

"I did as well," Austin admitted as the pair walked through the courtyard. "In time you shall have a new life. Welcome home, Grace."

Grace smiled and placed a hand on her uncle's shoulder. "I would not be here without your help, Uncle Austin. Always know that you hold a special place in my heart. I feel that today I have at long last escaped the shadows of my past."

"Your journey is just beginning," Austin said, "and you have changed your life around, not I."

"I shall miss one thing," Grace said.

"What might that be?" Austin asked.

"Tesserone," Grace said.

"What about Tesserone specifically?" Austin pressed for he remembered a similar conversation with Master Adain before he fell to the dark side.

"I shall miss the smell of Grandmother Verity's cooking. I shall miss the calls of the animals and the comfort of my mother. I shall miss a great many things but most of all I shall miss the shadows of Tesserone..."

THE END

OOC: I didn't have a whole lot else to add to this story. Now we shall take a time jump back to the Fields of Tesserone which takes place several decades prior to this story. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your wonderful comments. Thank you for being as awesome as all of you are Tag: jcgoble3;Trieste;Jedi_Perigrine;Tim Battershell

 

So Grace ends up a Jedi after all. The role of Healer is such an appropriate one for her; as Austin suggested, it is indeed a way to atone for her past sins.

I look forward to the jump back in time.

 

That is all.