Ask A naked man has few secrets

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

The voice was lonely. It didn’t matter how loud it boomed, how high it soared, how much passion wrapped around it like a ribbon. It was a lonely voice. A lonely, lonely voice. “So very lonely.” There were two voices now, though only one of them was screaming.

“I know it hurts,” said the quiet voice, cool and composed upon a stool. “I know because you are not the first person I have done this to.”

“NOOOOOOOO! WHYYYYYYYYY?” Said the loud voice, pulsating like a pulsar. All that passion. Such passion!

“That is the question your predecessors also asked. The old man before you hung from the same meathook from the same ceiling in the same basement. The fat woman before him. How they screamed. You would have loved it.”

There wasn’t much left for the loud voice to respond with so it elected to wail against the walls. No one will hear you. No, not true. Hm? She will hear him. Yes, but she will not save him.

“A naked man has few secrets,” the quiet man revealed. “What few there are come crawling out the flesh where strips of skin used to be.”

The loud man was in no position to disagree; that meathook on his back, the raw muscle on his chest, the blood dripping from toes dangling above a cold dark floor—all because he refused to tell the truth.

“Tell me where Dr. Sawin is,” the comfortable voice commanded. “And all of this will end. I would never lie to you."

“—NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—”

“So be it,” Kayden sighed. Then he rose from his stool, straightened his coat, slipped his blade between bone and skin, and peeled.


@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Would he hurry it up already? Cheriss paced outside the room, listening to the agonized screams of the bounty hunter inside. This was the second time that man had caused problems for them— first by kidnapping their scientist Dr. Sawin, who had been a pain to acquire in the first place, and second by not telling them where he’d delivered him. Now, Kayden Skyler was taking an ungodly amount of time to get that information— and she’d grown tired to listening to the screams.

Unable to take it any longer, she opened the door and walked in briskly, coming to a stop in front of the other Sith just as he stuck his blade into the bounty hunter’s skin. Quickly realizing what he was doing, Cheriss yanked Kayden’s arm away, tossing the knife onto the floor as the man half-screamed, half-sobbed, his chest heaving.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She rounded on him in a fury, kicking the blade across the room before it clattered against the wall. “This isn’t going to get us any results. What use is he if he’s going to bleed to death? He’s our only asset!” And she wasn’t going to let the fool waste it.

She turned to the bounty hunter, biting the inside of her lip as she looked him over. How much longer was he going to last?

“You’re telling us where Dr. Sawin is. Now,” she demanded. The man didn’t respond, and instead kept on sobbing as he hung miserably from the ceiling. Sighing in exasperation, she glared at Kayden. “By the Force, look what you’ve done. He can’t even talk. You should have just let me—”

“Endor. He’s on Endor.” Cheriss turned her head sharply. He was barely breathing, but the words coming out of his mouth were unmistakable. “With- with the Daggers. P-please let me go. I’ll do anything.”

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

There it is. Blood, ripe and red, just as a razor’s tip kissed skin and freed the red wine from its bloated bag. There she is. Kayden felt her arrival before his arm felt her grip, jerked aside like a marionette, the flensing knife flying from his hand.

It clanged in the distance, a souvenir for the basement, and the man who once held it now held the gaze of his companion, or whatever she was. She has fire in her eyes. Yes, and daggers too. So? I have flayed the flames of the universe before either of us was born. Yes…and the stars too.

“He has a tongue. He just refuses to wiggle it.” Kayden shrugged at Cheriss’ accusation. There were more meatbags where this bounty hunter came from, but in the end no soul could stand for too long the itching and the stinging of the phantom skin.

“Endor?” Kayden tilted his head. “Daggers?” That was poetic. “Syndicate sluts. I have heard of these cretins. They swim the shallow side of the pool because they don’t have the muscle to dive deep.”

Head tilts the other way. “Speaking of muscle, yours is suspiciously lacking of skin. You’ll do anything, hm?” A fool was a fool but the Force was no fool. It did not lie. It never lied. I never lie. Neither do I. “Weep for me, slut.”

Steel flashed, the naked man shrieked, then he began to weep, liquid salt on cheek, a hole weeping blood where a nipple had once been. Only an idiot carried one knife in a trench coat so dark.

“He tells the truth,” Kayden confessed. “Now he is yours to do anything with.”

With that, one Sith walked away from the other to plot a course toward his ship to in turn plot a course toward Endor.


@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Just when Cheriss thought they were done here, Kayden took yet another knife from his pocket and cut the man again, eliciting another mangled scream. She looked incredulously at the other Sith. She couldn’t wrap her head around why he did it— hadn’t the bounty hunter already revealed the location of Dr. Sawin? But when Kayden walked out of the room, she immediately unhooked the man and caught him as he fell. He was in such a pitiful state she decided killing him was the only way to end his misery, but she settled on letting him decide how it was done from the limited options she had.

It was her version of mercy.

“It’ll be quick, I promise,” she said reassuringly as she laid him down on the floor. He was whimpering, and she figured he wasn’t even listening. So instead, she waited for him to look at her and the two options in her hands— one, the hilt of a lightsaber, and two, a pill she kept with herself lest she get captured and ended up like him. His head rolled to the side of the pill, his gaze meeting hers, and after she gave him a nod she placed it in his palm and watched him bring it up to his mouth.

“Thank you,” she said, or maybe it came from him. But before he would have a chance to respond, the former bounty hunter was gone. She closed his lifeless eyes, put the lightsaber back where it was, and walked to where their ships were in the hangar.

“Hey, you’re leaving without me?” she called to Kayden once she saw him and his ship already started. “Even the likes of you couldn’t take on a syndicate by yourself.” She paused, before adding, “But that’s only a suggestion!” Rolling her eyes, she headed to her own to plot a course to Endor, regardless of if Kayden had left already.

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Kayden had long learned that lies were like layers wrapped around truth. Peel back enough and you get to the core. Truth became as naked as a newborn babe, and screamed to be heard like one, while the lie was cut like an umbilical cord.

“Nothing personal,” he called across the comms. “Thought maybe you’d be busy giving our bounty a bath... Kidding. I can’t hear him anymore.”

Rage. Hate. Pain. Such raw emotion was never so naked as at the edge of a blade. Kayden would cherish that bounty hunter’s howls even after Cheriss gave him silence. Though, I did let him go. I am a man of my word.

“I have a contact on Endor who should be able to help find these Daggers so we can feed them their fingers and put our scientist back to work. I’m sending you the coordinates now. We’ll strategize above the stratosphere. May the Force be with you.”

Cheriss could take all that with or without a grain of salt but unless she had her own connections then Kayden’s way was the only way.

That settled, he gave life to his ship and his ship gave him wings. Silence was exactly what the man needed following the events of a noisy basement.


No sooner had the Sith left one world to be landing on another. Time and space meant nothing when you ate them alive. There were creatures on Endor that did the same to each other. An animal is an animal is an animal.

Silence glided into view beneath the sun, a flock of birds just as graceful on the horizon, and found purchase in a forest clearing. Landing struts engaged as a boarding ramp lowered and a man descended who was very much not garbed in black robes.

The climate was temperate but a forest was a forest so Kayden sported clothes suited to it along with a black backpack. His boots kissed mud and leaves as he received Cheriss’ own arrival.

“Hear that?” He closed his eyes and listened. “Hmm, a dozen, maybe two?” He opened his eyes and scanned the sea of trees that surrounded the pair of Sith. His hands settled on his hips, a pistol at one, a hilt at the other. “Whoever they are, they’ll be here any minute, and hopefully one of them is an Ewok named Ponboo.”


@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

“Copy that. I’ll meet you there.” The hood of her ship closed once she’d gotten her supplies and climbed in, and soon enough she’d left the hangar for the comfort of empty space. She found herself enjoying it a little more than usual— the bounty hunter would never experience it again. Although, if he was telling the truth, his death would not have been in vain.

The wild, uncivilized forest world of Endor soon came into view as the interceptor dropped out of hyperspace. The coordinates at which Kayden had chosen to land concealed it well, however, as the lush greenery and birdsongs from the treetops made it seem more like an idyllic vacation spot for those fond of hiking rather than the place where they were to meet the mysterious contact that would reveal the location of their mad scientist.

Her boots landed with a soft thump on the ground as she exited her ship and walked to Kayden’s side. Like him, she was dressed appropriately for the climate, a light gray-brown jacket with similarly dark-colored leggings to blend in with the shadows of the trees.

“I hear it,” she confirmed. She could feel the presence of plenty of other living beings here, their signatures resonating through the Force. Not to mention the chittering too— she was fairly certain those weren’t coming from the birds. But when Kayden actually spoke of one of those many voices being his contact, she couldn’t believe her ears.

“An Ewok? You must be joking, Skyler. Those things are savages, animals!” And you two aren’t? She resigned herself to the thought, shaking her head and putting a hand on her hip instead. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

“I am not a man to be undone, miss,” Kayden reassured. “Especially by a pack of teddy bears.” Then he heard the footsteps, light but plentiful, crunching leaf and twig. Here they come.

“Cha! Cha! Noo cha eh!” Kayden heard the tongue before he saw it. Ewokese was discernible even to someone who might not understand such a spirited language.
Then came the Ewoks, fifteen in a row, enclosing toward the ships and their pilots like a mouth opening up to bare fangs.

“Tyatee!” Barked another bear. They were as armed as their kind should be, pointing spears and arrows, with woodland uniforms dyed a dark grey. It was their fur that stood out most.

Grey, white, black and brown were among your everyday coats, not much discrimination there; however, the coats of these Ewoks were entirely red, every single one, and all those red coats made all those black eyes stand out even more.

It would take next to nothing for two Sith to feed the dirt with fifteen souls but Kayden gestured toward his counterpart to keep her blood lust in check. “We’re all friends here.”

“Jeerota,” echoed a creature whose height betrayed its power. He stepped forward, outfit adorned more than his companions, with a chieftain’s headdress that certain other Ewoks would refuse to wear.

“Kash Tiglik?” Kayden asked, crossing his arms. He then gestured toward the skull of an Ewok nestled atop the other’s head, letting Cheriss know who her partner was inquiring about.

“Goot,” the master Ewok nodded before tilting his head toward the female Human. “Kush?”

Presuming Cheriss might not be as fluent in Ewokese, Kayden piggybacked. “This is Ponboo. He wants to know your name.” Tilted his head too. “If you do not give your name to the Red Heart Tribe then they will eat you alive.”


@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Cheriss eyed the misshapen teddy bears skeptically as they approached the two Sith. Would the locals really be able to provide decent information? Still, she decided to trust Kayden on this.

“Tell that to them,” she muttered as an Ewok or two approached, leading with their spears. She sidestepped their sharp sticks, crossing her arms and glaring down at them to let them know she wasn’t going to let them poke her around. They seemed to get the message and backed off. As Kayden spoke to them, she noticed their leader looking at her, and she glanced at her companion for a translation. It turned out that they wanted to know who she was, or she would be their next meal.

“Charming,” she commented to the other Sith before looking the Ewok square in the eye. “Cheriss. Glad to make your acquaintance, Chief Ponboo.” He looked back at her for a moment before turning to the rest of his group as if he were about to make an announcement. He said something to them before turning to talk to Kayden again, leaving Cheriss clueless about what was going on.

After he finished, he pointed his spear in her direction.

“What?” Was it an order to attack? But no one else was moving.

“Eedada te!” He continued to point, looking insistent. That was when she realized that he was pointing in the direction behind her. She turned her head to see, and sure enough he walked past her, the tip of his spear still facing the same direction.

“He… wants us to go over there, is that it?”

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Kayden smiled, satisfied that greetings and salutations were moving along smoothly, introductions soon to wrap up. One captain and one chieftain in turn talked to one another in the lively tongue of the mighty Ewok.

“Acha!” The Human chuckled, closing the conversation as one fist kissed the other. Kayden looked up to spot Cheriss hesitate. “No,” he smiled. “Just you.”

What would she do, this Sith? Would she decline? She didn’t have much choice. There weren’t just fifteen Ewoks ogling her with spears and arrows: There were fifteen Ewoks and one Sith, and he didn’t need to ignite his lightsaber for her to know where it was pointing.

“Eetada te!” Chief Ponboo emphasized. However far the woman ventured, Ponboo had waited long enough.

“Chief Ponboo says that the fire in your eyes surely tastes like rozozo peppers.” Kayden shrugged. "Whatever rozozo peppers taste like."

“Cheriss! Cheriss! Cheriss!” Ponboo exclaimed. He opened his mouth and snapped it shut, teeth colliding with as much force as a space slug.
The Ewoks on his left and right did the same until the whole troupe launched a chomping chant. It died out with a swallow.

“Jeerota,” Ponboo nodded, raised a fist to Cheriss and offered to connect his with hers. “Tyatee.” Just like that the Red Heart Tribe began to lead their two friends away.

“They have eaten your name,” Kayden explained. “You will no longer be their breakfast." And they will no longer be mine. Hm? I'm on a diet. Right. No meat for a week. Doctor's orders. "Their hideout is this way. Ponboo tells me it offers a fantastic view of the Daggers' hideout just below. Let's go." He didn't wait.


@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Thoroughly confused, she looked from Kayden to Pontoo to Kayden again to confirm what he was saying, and with neither one willing to elaborate, she sighed and made the decision to go with it. This better be worth it.

She took a few deliberate steps in the direction that Pontoo pointed in, stopping a few feet away from where everyone else was and turning around when she thought of a question. But to her surprise, no one was there except for Kayden, and she lifted a hand in confusion.

“...How far am I supposed to go?” Silence. “Anyone?” She got her answer when she saw the group of Ewoks suddenly group up around her. Her hand instantly went to her lightsaber and she stepped back into a defensive position as they began to chant, and Kayden said something about tasting like rozozo peppers. Were they planning to eat her? Well, she would slaughter every one of them if—

Then they swallowed and stopped. What the kriff… Pontoo stepped forward and offered her a fist-bump, and she stared incredulously at him for a few seconds before cautiously accepting it. It was only when she turned around to look at Kayden for some explanation as to what was going on that she realized he had intended for all this to happen.

What was confusion turned to embarrassment turned to anger at both herself and Kayden as she understood that she’d been taken for a fool. I won’t forget this, Skyler. For now, she settled with venting her frustration through words rather than with her lightsaber.

“Are you serious, Kayden? That was a magnificent waste of time,” she grumbled, walking up to his side. “Every minute we spent on that was an extra minute the Daggers had to get information out of the doctor. Who knows what he told them by now? We should have been tracking him down, not playing games with the locals.” It really hadn’t taken much time, but she subconsciously found herself using the excuse to shift the blame from herself onto her companion. Without waiting for a response, she shook her head and walked up to the front of the group, spotting the Ewok hideout up ahead. Hopefully the ruckus from earlier hadn’t alerted the Daggers.

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

As the party marched, Kayden reflected on how cute Cheriss looked when she considered the possibility of being digested alive. He in turn considered how minutes were like insects.

The good doctor could have been killed already, or defected to the enemy, but in the end his research is what mattered most. They would get him back one way or the other. Alive, if possible. Dead…just as good...always more Sawins surfing the stars...

The hideout wasn’t close but wasn’t far. A cave looking out from a mountainside served as the Red Hearts’ home away from home.
There wasn’t much of note besides a bloody kettle and a Twi’lek’s head beside it. “Did he tell you anything useful?” Kayden queried.

“Den,” Ponboo shook his head and explained that the Twi’lek did not get a chance because he refused to offer his name. “So they ate him alive and this is what’s left. That does explain why he looks so unwell.”

Kayden wondered what Cheriss thought of their allies. Such as they are. “These Red Hearts eat their enemies or just the 'names' of their friends. I may be easily amused but that much was all them. They surrounded me too, chanted my name also. Kayden! Kayden! Kayden!” He could see that moment as he gazed in her eyes and wondered what rozozo peppers tasted like.

“They’re quirky but they grow on you. Just take a joke and drink tea.” He offered a cup from an entirely separate kettle just as three scouts emerged at the mouth of the cave.

Two of them carried the third Ewok between them. Sipping his tea, Kayden noticed how that one wasn't moving. His head is missing too.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Eyes fixed on the twi’lek head on the ground, Cheriss wondered if this would have been her fate had she not told them her name. Impossible. She brushed it aside. There was no way she would be beaten by a bunch of furry child-sized creatures with sharp sticks, and the twi’lek must have been utterly incompetent if he had.

Kayden then offered her a cup of tea, and she shook her head. After the name-eating spectacle, she was having a harder time trusting both the Ewoks and her associate. When it came to drinking something she had no idea where it came from, she thought it best not to take any more chances.

Two Ewoks soon arrived with the headless body of a third, and one eyebrow went up.

“Did he not give you his name either?” She couldn’t be sure of anything at this point.

One scout shook his head in what was a clear no. “Ekla ehda yit!” He made himself look as large and imposing as he could, puffing out his chest and baring his teeth. He pretended to attack his companion, who in turn fell onto his back and made quite a dramatic show of dying. When they were finished, the two scouts went back to normal, sadness in their gazes as their eyes lingered on the body of their fallen companion.

“Something attacked them,” she reasoned. “And killed their friend.” She turned to Kayden. “And if they’re coming to us about it… I’m willing to bet that the Daggers were involved.”

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

“Did he not give you his name either?”

Kayden almost spat his tea out. He swallowed just in time to chuckle. What a champion.

Amid a sublime performance that kept Kayden chuckling, the headless Ewok was revealed to have passed away for reasons other than failing to introduce himself, but vengeance was likely still at play here.

“I’m willing to agree. Might just be payback for losing their tailhead.” He stole a look at the Twi’lek’s severed head. “Pun unintended.”

“Graks! Graks!” cried one of the actor-scouts. “Graks!” Echoed another. Now four Red Heart warriors were frantically turning this way and that, looking up and jabbing spearheads toward the trees. “GRAKS!”

"Graks," Kayden echoed, setting down his cup. "Monster." Stepping toward the cave's entrance he narrowed his gaze, saw nothing. But I can feel you…

The moment he blinked something struck Skyler in the face. It was like a wet whip minus the sting. He opened his eyes to see another headless Ewok, might have wiped the blood off but then a second Ewok screamed and charged into the trees.

He didn’t get far before his body erupted in a blast that showered the foliage in bear pulp. That blast had come from a tree. Kayden looked up but saw nothing. He looked down.

There you are. He might have missed it had his senses not been guiding his eyes. “I see you…” He whispered to the distorted figure standing on the earth.

With yellow eyes more haunting than red it made sense why the Ewoks called this being a monster. It was an invisible killer to them. But not to me. You're just another naked man.

Spoiler

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

At the commotion outside, Cheriss stood up to look and found blood at the entrance of the cave. The gory scene outside of Ewoks being torn to shreds explained why.

“Well then, they certainly seem to hold him under high esteem.” She glanced at the head of the twi’lek.

“Graks! GRAKS!” the Ewoks were all screaming, and one suddenly barreled past the two Sith at the entrance and into the cave. Cheriss narrowed her eyes and followed Kayden’s gaze, the Force reaching out to the area before she even realized it. It was there, unmistakable, a monster with piercing yellow eyes, and it hungered for more.

“This one’s bold,” she commented to Kayden, crossing her arms. “Reminds me of our Herglic friend.” A faint smile appeared as she thought back to it, even if it wasn’t the most pleasant of memories. This time around though, she wasn’t going to be the bait. They had plenty of teddy bears to fill that role.

As if reading her mind, a cluster of Ewoks ran towards them from the direction of Yellow-eyes, and the distorted shadow seemed to shift towards them.

“Come out and face us,” she called. “Unless you’re scared.”

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

“It’s not fear I sense,” Kayden corrected. “He masks it like his cloak but…when he moves…” He watched the shape as it picked up the pace toward a family of terrified teddy bears. “...When he pounces…” A Red Heart just then had a blade exit its heart through its back.

“I feel…such passion.” A barrage of blaster bolts burrowed into more backs. “And such Force.” At that, Kayden kicked off. The cloaked figure caught on, his Force signature as naked as his flesh would soon be.

A flash of red blotted out the green jungle as Kayden ignited his lightsaber. It struck the only kind of blade that could bite back against a Sith’s. The two danced, circled, sent sparks flying. Kriff he’s good!

Kayden parried, stepped past his enemy’s guard and swung low just as a foot connected with his chest. The kick sent him flying into a tree but he landed with a laugh. “All that’s left now is the armor...my little Yautkan.”

A farewell kiss from Kayden’s saber had sent sparks flying from the hunter’s chest, causing its cloaking device to malfunction, at least for the moment. Yet, this was no mere Yautkan. A Force-sensitive is uncommon…but not impossible. This was very, very good.


@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Kayden commented about the passion and the Force of whatever this monster was, but all Cheriss cared about was how to defeat it. She saw him leap at the creature and suddenly felt a massive Force signature radiating from it. Huh. Sparks flew as the pair parried for a few moments before Kayden was kicked back into a tree. Her eyes narrowed— this was no ordinary opponent.

She chose now to enter the fight, sparing a few Ewoks as they ran past. When she approached the creature— she could vaguely make out that it was a Yautkan— she ducked as it swung its blade over her head. Using the momentum of his arm, Cheriss stretched out a hand and aimed to push his back in the direction his arm was going, causing him to lose his balance for a moment.

But a moment was all she needed. I’ve been waiting to try this.

She clenched her hand into a fist, letting all her pent up rage and anger from everything that had happened today manifest into crackling lightning around it. She didn’t wait for the Yautkan to recover before sending it at full force at his chest. To her disappointment, while it did make him take a few staggered steps back, the pain didn't seem to bother him too much, instead only enraging him further. It was going to take more than that to strike him down. However, it did fry the cloaking device on his chest, leaving him fully visible with the naked eye now.

She drew her saber this time, aiming to skewer him in the abdomen when she suddenly realized he was behind her now. What the… She turned around just in time to block the blow that came down on her back, meeting his gaze for just a moment before he flung her into the bushes. Dammit.

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

As the dance continued without him, Kayden moved from the tree, moved between the trees, a scarlet blade leading the way.

He caught Cheriss crack the air with lightning, enough to render the cloaking device useless, the Yautkan no longer so shifty to the naked eye.

Cheriss explored the bushes as her assailant squared up just in time to receive his own.
Kayden came down upon him with the brute force that only Djem So could know. His opponent was both fast and furious but he was not alone.

The Yautkan responded in kind, pushing Kayden back with lethal speed and the strength of a boulder. I can match it!

His feet grounded, the swordsman exploded forward, tearing his saber down and his opponent’s weapon out of his grip.

The Yautkan recovered in an instant, punching toward his foe, but would lose that very arm. The lightsaber bit down on the vambrace—but bounced off. Kriffing beskar!

A claw hissed forward from the vambrace, tearing a gash across Kayden’s cheek as he narrowly avoided eating a pair of knives. KARK.
One wince became a blast of wind as the Force launched the Yautkan toward Cheriss.

“NOW!” Kayden roared for his companion to do whatever seemed best for her to do.


@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Shaking her head and springing back up to her feet, Cheriss reignited her saber and rushed back into the thick of things, watching as Kayden expertly disarmed the Yautkan. With a quick extension of her left hand and a light tug with the Force, the hunter’s weapon flew into her grasp.

As she ran towards the dueling pair and Kayden swung down onto their opponent’s arm, she was certain that this would be the end of the fight. To her surprise, his blade bounced off, not even leaving a scratch. Not many materials could withstand a lightsaber, and given how the Yautkan was fighting in addition to that, they certainly wouldn’t be able to finish this by using brute force.

As always, there was a different way.

When Kayden pushed the hunter in her direction and shouted that now was the time to strike, Cheriss stood ready with the Yautkan’s sword. As he came close, she planted her feet into the ground, pointing the blade out in front of her so that he would practically fall onto his own weapon. If a lightsaber wouldn’t work against beskar, beskar itself certainly would. When his chest was inevitably penetrated by the blade, she expected him to crumple down like so many before.

However, in a final, spiteful move, he would strike out one last time. The tips of his claws, already around her shoulders from the momentum of the fall, dug deep through her clothing and into her back before the last of his strength finally faded. As she drew back the bloodied sword, she grimaced as the weight of the Yautkan’s body caused his claws to rip through more of her flesh before finally letting go.

“Karking son of a bantha,” she muttered, dropping the sword and wiping the sweat from her forehead.

@Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Kayden’s fingers flexed over the hilt of his lightsaber, the blade whirring away into silence, becoming more invisible than a Yautkan’s cloak could hope to.
Whose life is just as silent. Yes, a lonely voice. Yes...a lonely, lonely voice...
He sheathed his sword and mused on what happens to life back on the Silence.

One Sith strolled over to the other, looked between the corpse on the floor and the corpse in the Force. We are all dead. We go into battle to live again. “That looks…itchy.” Kayden remarked over the naked flesh on the woman’s bare back.

It was poetic, really, whether poetic passion or passionate poetry or some such silly statement. She gets the kill and I get the view. Kayden's was a flesh wound, a scrape on the cheek, the blood of Kayden oozing with the blood of Ewoks. On the other hand…

“We need to fix you up, Champion.” He smiled at the strips of skin, a sliver of flesh dangling by a thread, begging to be sliced off. “And I need to fix him.” A boot kissed the Yautkan on the face.

“I’ll give the hunter’s head to the Red Hearts, a gesture of thanks, and his skin can go on your wall if you want. What’s left of him will go to the Daggers in anticipation of this evening's event. Something we can all look forward to.”

Kayden looked up, taking in the sky, wondering if he could fly to the stars without a starship. Maybe we can, Sith and Jedi and all of us... How will we know unless we spread our wings and try?

“The sun will set soon enough.” He licked his lips, thought of his opponent. Those knives for a claw had come so close. So close. So good. “Lick your wounds and eat hearty, Champ, for tonight we dine on Daggers.”


@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

“Itchy is one way to put it. You’re lucky you only got away with a scratch. Didn’t even lose your jacket.” Cheriss glared at the Yautkan on the ground as the throbbing pain began to set in. She would only have to deal with it. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

“I will fix myself up.” Cheriss gave Kayden a look. After seeing his earlier methods, she didn’t want to be involved in any of that. So when he said that he would fix the Yautkan too and offered the skin, she frowned. “You keep it.” As for the head, she wouldn’t mind what the Red Hearts did with it. Eat it, for all she cared.

On the way back to the cave, if there was one thing she was grateful for, it was that the Yautkan had chosen a good spot for a few scratches, if that was even a thing. Considering their task up ahead, she was glad that he’d spared her any wound that would inhibit her movement or her speed. Both Sith would need it. And, she thought as she glanced at Kayden walking beside her, it meant that she wouldn’t have to rely on him. While she trusted him in a fight, for the most part, she didn’t want to be the one who needed saving.

In the cave, Cheriss would find a quiet spot and refuse any help that the Ewoks were offering out of pure pride, instead opting to clean the cuts herself with what limited medical supplies she’d brought. It didn’t amount to much in terms of healing, but at least it lowered the risk of infection. Who knew what was on that bastard’s claws?

“How’s the Yautkan coming along?” she would ask Kayden if he was within earshot. “More cooperative now?”

@Die Shize