Hoth: Blood and Ice

Kriff me, she thought tiredly. It would be long until the night hours were done, but she was starting to feel the tiredness of being alert and on guard through the night. It was something she had done in her younger years, as a Padawan and later a Knight in the Outer Rim along with her master and fellow student Kerren a couple of times, but it had been years since she had last done a full night like this.

Kat idly massaged her fingers, making sure she wasn't losing any feeling there from the cold, as she also checked the status of the heating system of her armor. Seeing that everything was working as it should, she continued her watch.

Thy arrived and said, "Paladin, want some kaff?"

She held a metal cup in hand and offered it to the Jedi, "It's warm... it's probably not great, but it might help?"

Kat stifled a yawn behind a raised hand, and nodded.

"Master Thy... much appriciated," she accepted the kaf, smiling. "Thank you. It's been a long night."

The warmth was much more needed than the flavor, and she felt it seep into her bones and tissue as she gulped down the first mouthful, letting out an easy sigh after swallowing. "I'm glad you got here safely. How are you, after our first day on this snowball?"

"Conflicted," she said honestly. "The Force has a terrible sense of humor, and I do enjoy a good pun so that's saying something."

"Hmm," she nodded thoughtfully, not sure what the humour was she was referring to.

"Is it something you wish to talk about? I know you reminded me once that as Jedi, we don't have to carry our burdens alone... and it was of great help to me then. If I can help you with your burden, I am more than willing to."

“The Sith that led the attack on the Jedi Temple… killed many of our friends… our family, is here. I saw him,” she said honestly.

“And I felt… a small piece of joy that he was okay and then also sadness at his actions and anger.”

She sipped her kaff and added, “It’s complicated, he and I have known each a long time, I always knew this was the path he would walk… but also my son, one day is going to ask the hardest question of who his father is, and I am not sure how I can answer it.”

Ah. Troubles of love and motherhood. She could sympathize with Thy over that, knowing that most in the Order could not understand the challenges that came with being a parent.

Kat placed a reassuring hand on Thy's shoulder, offering her support physically. "From one mother to another, you have my sympathies," her voice was soft, but warm and supportive. "But... I don't know, I think that not all Sith are bad. Or rather, not fully. A Sith saved my life on Coruscant, for reasons I don't yet know. So I believe there is good in them."

"Perhaps he, your loved one," she wasn't sure if it was the right term to use, but it was already a difficult subject to navigate, "might have felt conflicted about what he did. Perhaps he was pushed to do it. We know from all those who have escaped the Sith and the Empire how their society's teachings push them down these dark paths... we might not know unless you to speak again?"

She did believe that communication was the first step towards any improvements.

"I have to speak with him, just not eager to do it," she admitted.

"Yeah, I can see that," she said, smiling a little. "Don't push yourself if you're not ready yet though. Give it some time to prepare yourself."

"I will take my time," she admitted. "Assuming we have time, sorry. Nothing has felt right in awhile, the Council is concerned about the anomaly in the Force."

"Time is a luxury," Kat agreed.

"I came here to Hoth not only to assist in the humanitarian mission, but also because Grand Master Resmi appeared to me, saying I must go here." She confessed her true reasons for coming. "Her spirit spoke to me earlier too... I was going to speak with you about this tomorrow, and hopefully more too, but Hoth will be our truest test against a new threat to the galaxy. In her words we must be the dawn. Because a great danger is coming."

"There are days I wish I was still a carbonite wall mount on Korriban... I really thought we could put behind the end of the world with the Death of the Emperor," she admitted.

"Be the Dawn..." she repeated. "That sounds like her."

"Evil just doesn't want to stay dead," she said with a light chuckle, trying to lighten the mood a little. "But yes, that's her alright. And she is with us here. Still watching over us."

"This approaching danger, it must be the anomaly the Council has been concerned about."

“I think so, I have never been the most sensitive to these things, just patient. Others have seen things clearly, vague prophecies mostly, doom and gloom. Maybe if Master Siyo were here we could make sense of it, he could always see clearly through what others could not. We just know that it has been a growing echo since the death of the Sith Emperor,” she admitted.

"I do miss Master Syo," she confessed with some sorrow in her voice. Not only because he was her master and mentor, but because she deeply had valued the wisdom he offered to the Jedi as a whole. "I know he is still alive... I just don't know where he could be, or if he needs our help."

Kat sighed and shook her head. "But, we would fail him, and Grand Master Resmi as well, if we did not put their teachings to use and carry on what they taught us. We will stand against this growing threat."

"I believe they would be proud of how far we have come... mostly," she said.