[hider=Post 52, Sundered Echo, Ultimate523, Rtron | Thalia Valcia, Strago Kelrune, Sish]
Strago began to slowly put more, and more focus toward his healing as he walked through the corridors, remaining as quiet, and calm as he possibly could. He heard some movement nearby him. It sounded very mechanical, like it might be some sort of droid, and so he stopped. It didn’t seem to notice him, or come in his direction, which was quite a relief. He took the moment the look over himself as he healed. Between the black from his burns, and all the blood that remained on him, he saw far less of his normal skin color than he was used to when topless. He could feel the cold of the halls much more because of it, but his pants still kept his legs warm, and they also had quite noticeable amounts of blood on them.

After the droid moved far enough away that he no longer heard it, he began to move again, feeling his body tensing as a strong pain shot through his entire body. His teeth clenched tightly, not allowing himself to make any noise, even as he began to shake slightly. He could tell that it wasn’t some kind of use of the Force against him, and likely had something to do with the drugs that had been used on him earlier.

Once again, he began to move, but even slower this time, sweating despite the cold air around him, further adding to the slight shivering. His grip on the lightsaber was even tighter than before, but his healing was at least allowing many of his injuries to become much more tolerable, some of the most minor cuts, and bruises even going away entirely, not that it was all that obvious in the places that remained covered in blood. He wanted to wash himself, knowing that any sort of creature with a strong sense of smell would be able to sniff out the blood easier than they could if he didn’t have it, but he had no way of doing so, and decided to not even think about it any more for the moment, just focusing more, and more on his healing as he allowed his survival instincts to play a much larger role in his decision making than he normally did. He realised that staying in the same spot was not a wise move, but also knew that if he went the wrong way, it could very well mean his end.

Thalia Valcia prowled the halls of prison deck in the area near the blast that had freed the Jedi, Lightsaber in hand but not activated. The area had been cleared of Imperial personnel, and Thalia figured the Jedi couldn’t have gotten far given his injuries. She wasn’t sure she was the best one to be recapturing a Jedi, she was hardly the most skilled of the Sith aboard, but it seemed all the rest were indisposed. She didn’t like the situation one bit. She couldn’t turn it to her advantage in any way, except perhaps to give her some small power over the Lizards apprentice. For all that that was worth. She’d called a few of her best Acolytes to her side, but they were taking their time. No doubt afraid of facing a Jedi. Or maybe lost in the winding halls of the Prison deck. Idiots to a man.

She rounded another of the cursed corners in this maze, and was presented with the sight of a fairly muscular man carrying a Lightsaber and wearing no shirt. For a moment, she actually found him rather attractive, despite the burns marring the majority of his upper torso. Then she remembered he was Jedi, and despised all she stood for. Unfortunately for her, she’d come around the corner in front of him, and while there was a length of pristine corridor between them, she was very clearly in his line of sight. Her finger moved on her Lightsaber, and a brilliant purple blade extended behind her.

Strago heard some slight noise in the distance, it wasn’t always moving directly toward him, but it was definitely getting closer. His heart beat quickened, and he stopped moving entirely, making as little noise as he could to make the listening easier. It was tempting to press up against the wall just for any extra advantage it could give, but he decided against it, taking a brief glance toward the lightsaber, making sure his fingers were where he wanted them to be, but then gripping it with his other hand to wipe the sweat off of his hand before grabbing it again in his right hand, and moving his left to his side to make sure the blaster from the trooper was there as an added safety measure.

He continued to listen, looking in the direction of the sound now, gripping the lightsaber with both hands in front of him, prepared for combat, but not turning it on yet, not wanting to create any added noise from it to catch the attention of whatever was coming closer.

Finally, he saw a woman appear, and there was little doubt in his mind that she was a Sith, able to sense the Force in her to some degree, though nowhere near enough to be able to tell what she could do with it. He stared right into her eyes, reading as much as he could from them, his own showing how calculating he was about his decisions right now. His eyes darted to her hand as she moved it, watching her grab her lightsaber, the purple blade following with it, immediately causing him to unleash the purple blade of the lightsaber that was his for the moment.

His mind searched for something to say, out of habit of convincing opponents to back down, but he knew it would likely be useless. Even if she let him be, eventually he would have to make a move somewhere. Running quickly crossed his mind as an alternate option, and he looked back very briefly, but then turned back to face her. She could possibly outrun him, especially in his current state, and even if she couldn’t, the idea seemed to be useless. The wisest choice seemed to be to try to take her as some kind of hostage. He stared her down with intense focus, reading every small movement of hers he could, while also watching her eyes. He certainly wasn’t going to underestimate her, and made sure to put up a mental barrier because of it, wanting to be prepared for anything.

Thalia wasted no time considering talking the Jedi down. He probably wouldn’t agree to just go quietly back to his cell. Not after he broke out. She reached out her empty hand and channeled a burst of Force Lightning at Jedi. Not enough to kill, but enough to subdue. If she was lucky, she could overwhelm him with the Force and never engage in Lightsaber combat at all. She knew she wasn’t the greatest duelist and it’d be ideal if she didn’t have to demonstrate that fact.

Strago watched her as she reached out with her hand, knowing she would attempt something with the Force. He knew there was nothing in the hallway for her to grab, which lowered the options of what it could be. Very quickly, he watched as the lightning came right toward him, blocking as much as he could with the lightsaber, and trying to guide some of it toward there as well, but still getting hit by enough to cause him to grunt quite loudly, trying to use the Force to push it back so that she couldn’t continue with it.

Thalia was disappointed to see that he knew how to block the Lightning, though he was clearly no master at it. She raised her other hand, keeping the Lightsaber in place with the Force while she projected yet more Lightning. She focused on her rage, her frustration and indignation, fueling her powers yet more. She wanted to step forward towards him but didn’t knowing the Distance was one of her few advantages right now.

Strago grunted again as even more lightning came at him, but began to focus even harder on channeling all of it toward the lightsaber, gripping it even tighter as he did, largely able to ignore any pain it had caused after what he had been through not long ago.

Thalia could see Lightning licking around the Jedi’s Lightsaber and tearing at his flesh, yet he seemed to be almost immune to it. She kept up the flow for a few more moments, then stopped suddenly and used a two handed Force Push to blast the Jedi back, hopefully far enough to impact the bulkhead not far behind him.

Strago continued to hold on as long as he could, then felt the lightning stop, and stupidly gave himself a moment to rest as he was pushed powerfully back into the door. He grunted even louder than before because of it, the loud thud making the power of it quite clear. He managed to hold the lightsaber in the same position, and slowly stood up, not taking his eyes off of the Sith for a moment, but realising that this approach wasn’t working.

He took a step toward her, looking right into her eyes again, hoping to get her focus onto his own before using a Force push straight toward her legs, hoping his minor distraction would allow it to go through, but very much prepared for it to fail as well, making sure to be ready for any more Force powers from her.

Thalia was slightly off balanced when the Jedi didn’t seem to try to recover from her attack, instead started looking at her eyes. She raised her Lightsaber, thinking perhaps that he was surrendering, or maybe spent, but no sooner had she raised the weapon than she felt her legs being swept from under her. It was quite unexpected and she fell flat on her face. She pushed herself back to her feet hastily but ungracefully, trying to keep something resembling a guard up while she did so.

Strago moved toward her as quickly as he could, the Force aiding in his movement as he gave another Force push, knowing that the likelihood of it working twice wasn’t very high, but needing to at least distract her so that he could close in on the gap between them, deciding it was a better choice than attempting to run, and taking the risk because of it.

This time Thalia was ready for the Jedi’s Force attack, and she simply let it wash over her like waves on rock. No mere Jedi was going to overpower her in a duel of wills. But while she maintained the defense, he had closed the distance. She swung her Lightsaber in a hastily aimed strike at the Jedi’s side, mostly to buy time since killing him was out of the picture.

Strago quickly moved his lightsaber to meet hers, using as much power as he could to try to throw her off balance, trying to get right on top of her back while she remained on the floor, hoping to pin her down using his own body weight aided by the Force, putting every bit of effort he could in doing so, feeling as if everything depended on it in this moment. He managed to succeed in his attempt, and dug his knee into her arm that was holding her lightsaber, quickly grabbing it for himself, moving it near the blaster he already had attached to his pants, using the first lightsaber to cut off part of her robes from the bottom, digging his knee into her upper back, continuing to use the Force to help keep her down, and grabbing her hands, one at a time onto her back, using his knees again to hold them into place as he tied them together with the part of her robe he cut off.

Finally, after he felt he could control her easier, he picked her up by the back of her robe, moving the lightsaber to her throat, and holding her in front of him, [i]“One wrong move, and this could end badly for you, even if I don’t want it to.”[/i] He said, hoping that she wouldn’t attempt any kind of escape, but making sure to be prepared for anything she might try, whether it was physically, through the Force, or some mix, which seemed the most likely option. He held her in place for the moment, but then started moving very slowly in a direction that was further from the torture room he had been in with Jayda, hoping that it would be the wiser way to go.

Sish had been heading away from the prison cells when he heard the explosion. Immediately, his lightsaber clicked on again and he turned around. There seemed to be another disturbance with the Jedi...a smile began working it’s way across his face as he began hurrying towards the sound. Two Jedi fights in under an hour? Luck was certainly with him this time. As he drew closer and closer to the site of the explosion, the smells began to grow stronger. Burnt flesh, blood, smoke, and a host of others that came with explosions. Along with another..more familiar smell. Sish stopped briefly, sniffing the air again, trying to push past the overpowering smells to that fainter one...Then his eyes widened. Jayda. What was she doing so close to the explosion? Investigating it like him? Or was she the cause? No matter. More smells were approaching, growing slowly stronger. One was completely unfamiliar. The Jedi then. The other, was only barely recognizable.

The Trandoshan paused as he searched his memory of Sith, trying to match a face to a smell. Eventually, he succeeded. The apprentice who had warned him off of touching the Jedi prisoner. She was here to then? Interesting. But why was her smell so closely intertwined with the Jedi’s? As he drew closer to the smells, his answer was soon clear. The girl had gotten herself taken hostage by the Jedi. For a moment, the feral look on Sish’s face gave way to amusement. Just for a moment. Then it returned as his smile grew wider. [i]“Going for a walk Jedi? I don’t believe you have clearance for that. So why don’t you be a good little prisoner and go back to your cell before things get...out of hand.”[/i] While he waited for the inevitable, and foolish, response of the Jedi, his eyes narrowed upon one of the lightsabers Strago was carrying. Jayda’s. So she had been the cause it seemed. Or at the very least tried to stop the Jedi soon after.

Strago looked in the distance, hearing some noise coming toward him, quickly seeing the large lizard who had taken Xid earlier on in their time on the ship, causing him to move the lightsaber just a little closer to Thalia’s neck. He knew he had to maintain enough focus on her to keep her there, but also couldn’t ignore this other Sith. Sish’s odd playfulness actually put Strago somewhat at ease. It was clear that the lizard had no good intentions for him, but it made it easier to focus on things other than what was actually being said, [i]“If you can point me in the direction, then please do so, and you can get back to your other business.”[/i] He said in response, knowing there was no chance that the lizard was dumb enough to actually do so, but hoping that it would at least put more of his focus on his words over anything else as Strago seriously considered trying to get away, taking very small steps backward as he held Thalia close to him.

Thalia considered escape, perhaps a mental attack or telekinetic one. But even though this Jedi was humiliating her in front of the lizard, she still remained his prisoner. She valued her life too much to throw it away before the time was right.

Sish chuckled. [i]“I like you so far Jedi. Seems that you’ll put up a fight.”[/i] As Strago began to back up, the Trandoshan made a ‘tsk, tsk’. [i]“Come now. You have to know I won’t just let you walk away.”[/i] He began walking forward, eyes lit up with excitement, teeth bared in a bloody grin. [i]“Even if you threaten to kill your hostage, you have to know I won’t care. She was weak enough to let herself be caught by you. You’d be doing us a favor if you killed her. So why don’t you just kill her and we’ll get to the part we’re both waiting for. Well, the part I’m waiting for at least. The combat. You want to attempt freedom. I want to kill you, or at least horribly maim you in the most painful fashion imaginable. Sadly, we both can’t get what we want. We’ll have to make do with subduing you then.”[/i] He was a short distance away now, lightsaber at the ready.

[i]“Hurry up now. Kill the girl and let’s get on to the exciting part.”[/i]

Thalia stared indignantly at the Lizard in front of her. He wasn’t making any attempt at all to help her. She’d have to help herself. She was no master with mental assaults, but it was the technique she judged most useful here. All she needed was a moment - to slip away from the Lightsaber at her throat. Putting all her will behind the command she said [i]“Drop it!”[/i] focusing on Strago, tohugh it was possible the effect would wash over onto the lizard too.

Strago listened as the lizard spoke, watching him move forward, and continuing to slowly back away, though at a slower pace that allowed him to keep getting closer, [i]“If you want her dead to fight me, then I’m sure you can make it happen from there.”[/i] Strago replied. It felt odd not to try to argue for someone’s life, but he felt as if it was his only choice at the moment. The temporary distraction of the lizard, and his own thoughts allowed Thalia to get into his mind just enough that he dropped the lightsaber, but he made sure to pull her away slightly, immediately stepping right onto it as it hit the ground, rolling it back toward himself, and pushing Thalia forward slightly to give himself enough room to use the Force to quickly pull it back to him. He then pulled Thalia back into him with his own strength, returning to keeping up a stronger mental barrier now, whispering a mildly aggressive, [i]“No.”[/i] Into her ear as he moved the lightsaber back to her throat, remaining even more aware to not slip up now.

Sish made an impatient gesture, about to respond to the Jedi when Thalia suddenly spoke. And immediately, his own lightsaber fell to the floor. He lost valuable time force pulling it back into his hand, and by the time he was moving forwards again, Thalia was still stuck in the same position. [i]“Good job! You managed to make zero progress!”[/i] He snapped at Thalia, before returning to the Jedi. [i]“I can’t kill her without running the risk of killing you in the process. Though, then again, I can also do this.”[/i] Sish raised a clawed hand and attempted to Force Choke Strago. Not the fight he was looking for, but at least it would get the damn girl out of the way.

Strago watched Sish while also maintaining a good amount of focus on Thalia, his mind very prepared for any sort of Force use against him, managing to resist the attempt to choke him, and looking the lizard right in the eyes as he did, obviously not pleased by the attempt, but still able to maintain a more logical mindset, [i]“I have no plans to kill her.”[/i] Strago said, [i]“Not yet, at least.”[/i] He added to keep the threat there, though also knowing that with how far he had gone he would at least seriously consider it if it was necessary.

He stared at the lizard for a moment longer, then quickened his pace slightly while he started to back up again, remaining as aware as he could of everything around him while keeping up whatever barriers he could. He had trained himself for both physical, and mental endurance, but with his injuries, and the various effects of the drugs used on him not entirely gone, he knew he could only keep it up for so long, deciding he needed to make some kind of specific decision soon.

Thalia was truly scared now. She feared for her life, the Jedi might very well kill her. Worse, one of the other Sith might kill her to get to him. She wasn’t important enough to be saved if this went truly wrong. She had one more trick up her sleeve though, though it would hurt her almost as much as the Jedi. She channeled the full fury of her Force Lightning, this time heightened by fear, through her tied up hands into Strago’s legs, though with him touching her it coursed through her own body as well. She took it very near lethal levels, fighting to remain conscious through the pain.

Strago could feel the Force growing around Thalia’s hands, and he was able to resist for a moment as the lightning hit, but much more of his focus toward anything she might try was directed toward mental uses of the Force against him which allowed it to go through quite effectively. He couldn’t move at all for a moment, then started yelling loudly as the pain flowed through his entire body, the sight of it all going into her right in front of him being very strange. It seemed to last so much longer than it actually did.

It took a bit more time, but Strago was finally able to move back, and Force pushed her straight toward Sish, ignoring that the lightsaber was in the way still. He stumbled backward, falling down, breathing heavily, and shaking as he did, but getting up as quickly as he could, and running away into another corridor that allowed him to be out of sight for at least a moment. He was too weak to make it any farther than that, and waited, wanting this first move to be his own, hoping it would be enough to make up for his injuries, but knowing that even if it wasn’t, it was all he could do.

Thalia fell heavily forward, her muscles wracked with the pain of electrocution. As she fell, that pain was quite suddenly supplanted with a new and far more horrifying pain as a Lightsaber ran across her shoulder cutting her flesh to the bone and searing even that. She didn’t have time to consider herself lucky for not losing her head instead, as she had blacked out from the pain before she hit the ground.

Sish only raised an eyebrow as Thalia electrocuted herself to get out of the Jedi’s hold. The yells of pain were music to his ears, but the girl was still in the way...ah. Not anymore. The smell of burning flesh freshly filled his nostrils, and he ignored her collapsed body in favor of chasing after the Jedi as he ran to another corridor. The smell of Thalia’s burning flesh almost overpowered the Jedi’s own smell. Almost. He still smelled the man, ever so barely, before he rounded the corner to the corridor. His lightsaber at the ready, he rounded it, grinning at Strago. [i]“See? That wasn’t so hard. Now if you wouldn’t have wasted time trying to run away, we wouldn’t have had to do this futile little chase.”[/i]

Strago could hear the lizard moving closer to him, then finally saw him, letting him speak for a moment, not feeling able to immediately capitalize on the situation, but quickly using a Force push toward his legs just a moment before he seemed to be done speaking, hoping he wouldn’t be aware enough to stop it. Strago made sure to keep up all the barriers he could, and put the focus that had previously been on Thalia into his combat, making a calculated swing toward Sish’s head, possibly not strong enough to kill him even if it hit if he reacted quickly enough, but in a way where he could quickly pull the lightsaber back toward himself to block any of Sish’s follow up, his defensive training making it hard to do otherwise.

Sish only grinned wider as he felt the Force push against his legs, sending him skidding backwards with a screech as his claws dug in. His own lightsaber flashed up to catch Strago’s. [i]“Tut tut. You’ll have to do better than that.”[/i] His own lightsaber flicked down, towards the man’s shoulder, while Sish used the Force to increase the already considerable Trandoshan strength behind the blow. [i]“Do give me a good reason to maim you. The Twi’lek was only barely acceptable with a finger…”[/i]

Strago saw as the lizard’s lightsaber moved toward his shoulder, and he hit it slightly with his own, which didn’t do much, but he was able to move to the side, stopping it from doing anything more than taking off some skin, which was quite ignorable pain at this point. He acted more on instinct than anything now, using another Force push toward the lizards arms to keep the lightsaber away as he took another swing, aiming for one of his arms this time.

Sish let his arms be pushed away, mid second swing. Hope must always be allowed to grow before being crushed, after all. As the Jedi attempted to amputate one of Sish’s arms(a useless attempt all things considered), his own lightsaber came to block it. Once more the sweeping, powerful blow came, this time aimed for the Jedi’s midsection. Hopefully he’d be able to block it, otherwise Sish would have some explaining to do as to why the Jedi prisoner was cut in half…

Strago watched every movement Sish made, especially as he began to swing toward his mid section. He was able to block it, but grunted as he did, the Trandoshan’s strength combined with all the damage he had taken causing it to take a much large toll on him than normal. He jumped back slightly, both from the momentum, and to give himself a moment to think, pulling out the blaster he had taken from the trooper, and firing it toward Sish several times toward his upper body before slashing at his legs, hoping the distraction was enough to cause him some kind of injury.

Sish took a step forward as the Jedi retreated, only to stop and give a brief chuckle as the Jedi drew a blaster. The first barrage was blocked with his lightsaber. Sish just let the final few hit his armor, grinning at Strago as the Jedi slashed at his legs. His lightsaber came down to block it, before flicking up in an attempt to strike the already wounded shoulder of Sish’s opponent, soon to be followed by a hammer like blow coming vertically straight down at Strago’s head. This was fun! An actual fight! Excitement seemed to roll off of the Trandoshan.

Strago grunted slightly again as Sish blocked his strike, then cringed slightly, feeling his body tense up as the lightsaber swung up toward his shoulder again, hitting it much more effectively this time. Only a moment later the Sith made a very powerful vertical swing, and Strago knew he couldn’t block it, jumping toward the side, but also slightly closer to Sish, making a slash toward his midsection this time, and using a Force push toward his head, hoping it would disorient him for at least a moment so that he could recover more effectively.

Sish snarled as he missed, intending to follow up with another attack only to turn it into a hasty block as the Jedi tried to split him in half. Trandoshan’s can regrow many things. Their upper, or lower, body is not one of them. However, the move left him open to a Force push, snapping his head back and sending him stumbling backwards a few steps. He recovered in a moment, before stepping forward again. He swung once more at Strago’s bad shoulder, a horizontal slash this time.

Strago jumped away once again, knowing that trying to block most moves wouldn’t work well with the strength advantage that the Trandoshan had. He gripped the blaster tightly, and fired it several times again until it just stopped firing. He didn’t know if it ran out, or there was some other issue, but it was useless for the moment regardless. He quickly threw it straight toward Sish, not wanting to give him any free time without something flying at him if he could avoid it. He followed it up almost immediately with a slash toward his head, holding Jayda’s lightsaber only with his right hand as he did, and grabbing Thalia’s with his left, turning it on right away to go for his legs once again, desperate to create some kind of opening, knowing his body would give in soon enough if he didn’t.

Sish saw a chance to end this fight in a favorite manner of his. In hindsight, maybe he shouldn’t have let himself get so excited. Regardless, he stepped forward with a roar of pain and bloodlust as the lightsabers hit his eye and his leg. The former was ruined for good, the latter was cut to the bone and almost farther, had not jaws clamped down on where Strago’s shoulder meets his neck, and claws hit the Jedi’s chest. From said claws, lightning shot forth, fueled by Sish’s pain and rage. The Jedi was unconscious for the rest of it, as Sish shook his unconscious body in his jaws before dropping Strago to the ground, blood running down his jaw. He picked up the Jedi as the pounding of boots could be heard, and Imperial troops arrived. [i]“Take the Jedi to his cell.”[/i] With that, he limped to the medbay. It was a good fight, even if he was now blind in one eye.

Along with the soldiers came Medical personnel and droids, accompanied by a pair of young Sith Acolytes. The medical team rushed forwards into the now scarred corridors, most of them going to attend to the broken form of Jayda, who would need to be put in a Kolto tank for quite some time. Some, however, stayed with Thalia, her two favored Acolytes standing as close as the medical staff would let them, asking if their master would be alright. They stopped when they saw her eyes drift open, despite the drugs the medical team had already injected into her. As she saw the pair of Acolytes a dreamy smile formed across her soft features and she spoke, slowly, as if her mind was away in the clouds. [i]“You’re… going to… pay… for your inco… incompe… stupidness…”[/i] 
[/hider]

[hider=Post 53, FallenReaper | Jayda]
[i]“Where have I felt this before?”[/i] Jayda found herself asking when her internal time was lost. No longer able to note the minutes or likely hours that passed since her body collapsed. It was unlikely anyone cared enough to send someone to fetch her and why should they? It was so much easier to let her die after all, one less apprentice in their way and freeing them from any punishment. Her breathing was shallow and seemingly feeling nothing from her limbs or any of her injuries, not even the needle shoved deeply into her neck. Her mind seemed to float on the line of life and death, a strong but futile willingness tried to force her up. To fight for life before Sish found her. Mehinn wouldn’t want her to die like this, helpless and weak as his killer waited, seeing if she would rise or simply died. That caused echoes of his often uttered bullshit beliefs to dart into her mind.

The strong survive and the weak die.

Again, stronger this time it came. The strong survive and the weak die.

As it often did, the words faded back out leaving her to feel a familiar hollowness to replace it. The Jedi was likely gone-that much she was sure of- as she no longer sensing the warmth of her own blood seeping across the blackened and charred floor. The Zabrak’s red blood drenched the remaining several inches of metal, a piece from the table itself, embedded between her back and side. It was just centimeters from damaging her spine. It was a pure miracle it didn’t either paralyzed her for life or split her into two. Jayda thought she got off lucky in a bitter sweet way.

It only took a moment to recall why the numbness seemed so familiar drawing her from remembering the scene. Her mind pulled back to that day, her first mediation and when she learned how different she truly was. Now looking upon it, Jayda couldn’t help feel it was her worse regret and the reason she was no longer ignorant of fear. Why she believed the brightest light casted the darkest shadow.

Ah…now I remember. I remember where I’ve felt this before… Why it’s so familiar. It is just like that day was.

She was thirteen years old then, her knowledge of the force was basic and naïve, black and white in a way. That day changed everything. It was just after she finished mediating. Her mind glossed over most the the few hours in the morning until it came to the event, her form stood in silence at the perfect spot where they often sparred. Their battles and fights away from prying eyes and deep within the canyons on her home world. She was staring over the scene which had occurred. What happened? Jayda’s mind couldn’t answer the question she didn’t know the answer to, her eyes relaxed and unable to turn away. This wasn’t some dream, no, it was a merely reality as harsh and cold as her planet’s dark side. In her silence, she replayed the moment over and over in her head. From the sudden block of the staff to the blade that carved into flesh and bone, sending blood to spill across the dry desert all now stood firmly in her memory. It was now sealed there for her whole life. She couldn’t help but notice how her brother’s lifeblood was drank up greedily by the already red sands deep in the rocky walls, witnesses to her accidental crime. They seemed to be judging her harshly as their tightly closed walls towered over and prevented her from escaping, trapping Malik’s single scream in her ears. The wind seemed to fruitlessly comfort her as it ran its fingers through her hair, playing with her Padawan braid and let it wave in and out of her loose hair. She didn’t move, not because she wanted him to die or fear paralyzed her in place. Her head was stuck still fully trying to understand what she was seeing and discover its reason, even more disturbing why she didn’t seemed upset by it.

Jayda stared though hollow eyes at the crumbled and wounded form of her brother, Malik. Her human brother was slowly bleeding out from a gash that ran from his side and across his navel where it ended. It was deep, much deeper than the times before. Usually it was just a scratch to warn Malik to keep his weak side guarded, her attack weakened from causing any degree of damage. Not this time. This time, she sliced through not just flesh, as intended, but bone and muscle as well. Where was the hesitation she normally had? What made this different then before? Her mind turned inward, focused upon herself for the reason and nothing seemed out of place. At least first for several moments until something clicked. Something was wrong with her. She hadn’t notice it at first, that strange hollowness as it gnaw at her insides, the place where any range of emotions, from self-hate and rage to fear and sorrow, should’ve been caught her attention. Where was the sense of wrongness that should been there? Her brain was calm but her blank expression looked over Malik, unable to react until what she waited for had appeared. The very same thing that would have let both them know she didn’t mean for this to happen. The guilt or pain didn’t sink in. Not at all, and she knew it needed to be there. Just something missing that needed to be there.

Where had it gone?

She remained there, refused to move, her weapon still dripped with her mistake before the faint sounds rose to her attention. They were the sound of rushing feet, hasty and panicked, coming towards the spot. She didn’t run or flee. That would indicate she wanted this to happen and worsen her crime, her purple eyes fixed upon the first to arrive: Mehinn. Out of the three of them, his Zabrak traits were most dominate with a slight darker skin color and orates that crowned his bald head. He was strong in both appearance and combat, yet his usually calm eyes flickered with confusion. His boots kicked up dust by his sudden halt, his body nearly tossed off balance by the momentum still moving him forward. Mehinn stared in pure horror at the scene. His eyes, the same dark purple, stared from Malik’s small and pain racked form to his sister, the one holding the weapon in her hand. A betrayal flickered in his face that faded into cautious expression while he made his own assumptions at what had happened. His hand was held out, palm facing her, when his light saber snapped into his grip. The blunt fingers wrap about the handle tightly, his other hand raised to fold over the handle, clicking it on and finally his legs widened in a readied stance. He approached, carefully. Mehinn was clearly expecting her to attack him as she had Malik, slightly wary at her hollow eyes watching him approach.

[i]“Soun tori sharee?”[/i] *1Mehinn spoke, his voice held a bit of anger towards her. [i]“Dyne sharee majef fro sinoja Lorin sin jenorkyn fro shureen?”[/i]*2

There was no way to reason with him, she knew that the moment he spoke, words jumped to wrong conclusion and not thinking it through. He thought she had turned away from them. That thought, that realization seemed to be the most painful thing to etch within his mind instead of his choice to wield a blade against her. Jayda’s knuckles whitened upon her double bladed weapon she had still within her grip. Why didn’t he notice? Her eyes watched him draw towards Malik, his form low and crabbed across the desert floor, to check their younger brother’s vitals. He released one hand, pressed two fingers to feel the faint thump against the neckline. It was weak but there, his face looked relieved then hardened toward his sister.

[i]“Lori, tuhash. Shar meni ah’ merito! Shuree-”[/i]*3 She began, still willing to try, her foot took a step forward but never got a chance to tend to Malik. No chance to make up for it.

Mehinn’s hands quickly jerked up, the green blade hissed and sought to defend against what he thought was an attack. He would’ve killed her if he needed to protect himself and his brother. The dual bladed staff end dropped into the sands as the weapon was easily severed in half within her hands but her eyes merely stared, dispassionately, into Mehinn’s surprised ones while a figure had suddenly appeared between them. Her father, Hymo, had arrived.

Her mind shifted from memories to the present when something hot was burying itself into her side. A new wave of pain and hurt seemed to flood her mind, drawing some anger to surface. Like a desperate animal seeking familiarity, Jayda focused on the emotion for a bit and let it fill her. Immediately her eyes shot open followed by a weak, feral growl. Her hand, for a moment, snapped to her side and taking a firm hold upon the medic’s wrist. If she wasn't so weak from blood loss and feeling her strength wading, then Jayda would've broke the unexpected wrist of the hand that was now at her side. It took a hard spent moment to think when the hand’s reason to be there dawned upon her. The metal chunk needed removing before she was tossed into a Kolto tank. Slowly, Jayda allowed her fingers to loosen cautiously until it fell back down upon the hard surface. Her vision adjusting to the bright light but made out nothing more than unfocused lights and fuzzy blobs, any focus was impossible right now. The only thing that was clear was she was alive and sought to stay that way...

She noticed something new. Her attention traveled lower on her body, mentally seeking the source before she could determine the sensation, inwardly relieved the numbness had begun to vanish. Now it was replaced by something that screamed she was alive: Pain, intense pain. It seemed to fully remove the piece; they had to cut away the charred fabric around the wound letting the room’s cold air brush up against her body. She absorbed the tortuous procedure, no anesthetic would’ve been able to kill the pain for long enough and the Jedi’s last ‘gift’ finally being experienced. Each finger that dug into her flesh felt like a needle had been inserted, every rock of the object lite her body with indescribable fire as the more they worked, the more the Apprentice forced herself to be still.

She welcomed the pain more than the numbness. The pain was normal, natural to her, since Sish’s four years. The black color closed in on her sight as her heavy lids finally closed, her hearts raced from each new fire that made its home in her skin. However many times she tensed or growl, never once did a scream pass through her lips. She refused to let it.

---
*1(How could you?)
*2(Have you forgotten everything father ever taught us?)
*3(Brother, please. It is an accident…I-) 
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