At the Ends of Change, Paths May Part

[GABA]

It was a silent journey into the depths of Imperial space. Normally the chatty Corellian would have told her Sith sitter everything he was doing wrong as he navigated from system to system. But that wasn’t the case, not this time. She had sat in her seat, even keeping her loose thoughts from drifting. They were on their way back to Bastion, originally for the Empress to see her again, however that wouldn’t be possible.

A new Emperor had risen to the throne; the whereabouts of the previous Sith who sat were unknown. Ebb could have cared less to where they were or if they were even still alive, but she was still a prisoner of the Imperium, and unable to predict what the new Emperor would do left an uneasy feeling within her. Curiosity to how her keeper felt about the situation crossed her thoughts several times, but she was quick to push them aside. She wasn’t in the mood for a discussion anyhow.

The two had arrived at Ord Mantell before they would continue to Bastion. Ebberla couldn’t help a grin as the system came up on their Navi computer, she had not been there since before the Sith overthrew the Empire. Something she missed quite often, the inability to travel to worlds between the Empire and the Alliance without worry about being blasted.

She walked beside Thaed, tugging on her jacket, his lightsaber still in her procession bounced against her thigh as they made their way down the street. Another stolen pistol hung heavily in its holster, her body was in a constant ache, but she was to a point she didn’t care anymore and openly welcomed the pain with acceptance.

“What will you have me do here, on Ord Mantell?” she asked him, shooting a quick glance up to the Zabrak. Her tone was lined with sincere curiosity, though the young woman wasn’t pleased in which the conditions she was under, the adventurer within her craved for more. She had surprised herself how much she was able to accomplish without the aid of the Force. Skills she had thought were considered obsolete since her training as a Jedi was returning, and easier remembered than more current events.

 

[Sreeya]

In truth, Thaed felt sick to his stomach since news of his Emperor’s replacement arrived. Exodeus had been his one true master, the only man Thaed had ever sworn loyalty to. He had no loyalties to the Empress and only served her as she was the wife of his Emperor. With both Exodeus and Andraste out of the picture, the Empire had been open to a new ruler, the ranks quickly filling up while he had been on a fruitless mission. The thought made him dislike the wretched Empress even more.

Inwardly, Thaed was thankful Ebberla couldn’t sense his thoughts or the influx of emotions suddenly whirling within him. It was oddly out of character, and he attempted to suppress it. Despite all that, it was obvious he was troubled. The Zabrak hadn’t said a word since the news came, nor had he bothered to make any of his usual sarcastic quips or jabs at Ebberla. He quietly traveled through Imperial space, deep in his thoughts. The feeling of loss was almost crushing, though he couldn’t explain it. It wasn’t a feeling he was accustomed to. He suddenly felt purposeless, weak and without direction. Almost as if he were a lost child.

The ship landed with a slight jerk, taking him out of his thoughts. He had intended to stop to refuel, and Ord Mantell provided the perfect planet to nab a new and better ship. Thaed continued to dwell within his thoughts until Ebberla spoke. For a moment he blankly stared at her before realizing she had asked a question.

“Uh.. I’ll be honest, I think I need a drink and maybe toss some credits away.”

Thaed had parked the ship close to the casino district, the sight of which immediately cheered him up. He couldn’t stop the grin from coming to his face.

“Say, if I run out of credits, how much do you think selling you would fetch?”

 

[GABA]

The Corellian furrowed her brow and eventually arched an eyebrow, his response was unusual and studied him carefully before taking her attention back to her surroundings. The lights were quite distracting as they tempted to lure in patrons as they happily went from building to building to blow their credits. Ebberla looked back to Thaed, seeing a grin etched on his face.

His grins bothered her greatly, but they also gave her warning to future devious thoughts and actions he would retort to her; and she was right, his grin was quickly followed with a quip about selling her.

"You would have to pay them to take me." she quipped back, following beside the Zabrak. The smell of street food taunted her senses, her stomach growling in protest as they left the ship behind, "Can we get some real food too?" she asked now noticing anyone and everyone who seemed to be eating in her presence. "Real food, as in not deer, not rations, or the imaginary dream dinner I had the other night. Some nerf or hotcakes, potatoes maybe?" she begun chatting away.

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed barely took a step before she began rattling off about food. The Darth did not respond initially, resuming his stride. With each step his grin vanished and a familiar scowl began to replace it. He scowled so often around her that it was beginning to be his usual expression, one that may be permanently etched in.

“Why, yes, how about I take you to the classiest establishment around? Maybe with prime skyline view above the pink smog? Maybe even order an expensive wine? Or perhaps aged whiskey because you favor that?”

He continued walking as he spoke.

“Would that be good enough for you, your highness?”

He finally turned to glare at her.

“Your smell alone will have us thrown out of half the places here. And you should be damned thankful about that deer. If you were in charge we’d have eaten bugs and would still be stuck on that Force forsaken planet.”

Thaed rambled for a long while after that, not even thinking about his actions. He walked through the streets, had found a food stand selling delicious sandwiches and mindlessly bought one, handing it over almost robotically to Ebberla while still ranting about her uselessness. At the end of it, he came out of this odd reverie, glancing down to raise an eyebrow at his actions.

“..Uh…”

The realization irritated him even more, and he moodily walked towards the nearest bar while mumbling about stupid Jedi mind tricks.

 

[GABA]

Ebberla rolled her eyes as he went on about how grateful she should be, it was as she expected as his response, it wasn't the first time that he replied to her in such a manner. Though it had originally bothered her and agitated her how he thought she should be more thankful, it didn't no longer. His provoked response now gave Ebberla a sly grin. People passing by gave them odd looks as Thaed rambled on and Ebberla chimed in competing for her voice to be heard.

"I smell? Hell, you're so sure to talk. You know you didn't have to hunt that deer, you didn't have to tell me about the escape pod, or cover my ass on Nar Shaddaa. Ungrateful? I could have handle that stuff on my own, I don't need a..." Thaed had stopped at a stand and Ebberla instinctively stopped also, not entirely paying attention as she was handed a sandwich, "sandwich."

Ebberla perked up, her eyes brightened with delight and she felt herself drooling. Quickly, Ebberla jammed a corner of the delicious bread and meat concoction into her mouth. She savored every flavor, closing her eyes to enjoy it just a bit more. "Ankfoo." she thanked with her mouthful of sandwich, following behind the Zabrak as he entered a nearby bar. She followed him inside, stuffing the rest of the sandwich into her mouth and disposed of its paper wrapper inside an empty beer mug as she passed tables.

Ebberla decided to pushed her luck, testing his odd behavior, "Can I have a drink too?" she asked him.

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed was once again deep in thought as he ordered a particularly strong drink. Before he even took a sip, the terrible smell assailed his nostrils. He grimaced and downed it, the harsh drink setting his throat on fire. He promptly ordered another one, still thinking about the losses he had experienced thus far. Losing Exodeus was cherry on the cake after losing Silas, Azrael and many others he had found kinship with. He had been told that it was wrong for Sith to harbor any ties, yet these had developed naturally, which made having them ripped away all the more painful. He didn’t have the energy for a sarcastic quip, using the Force to bring over a bottle of whiskey when the bartender was busy. It would be up to her to hide the bottle and drink.

He downed drink after drink, reaching for a cigarra and placing it at the corner of his lips and lighting it. The smoke escaped his nostrils and he closed his eyes. Even then he couldn’t escape the flooding images and thoughts of failure and lack of purpose. It was crushing him, and he found it difficult not to lash out. The darkness that resided within him pulsated, the raw energy throbbing with power. This was how his strength thrived, and it was surfacing at an inconvenient time. Thaed remained silent, opening eyes after a long while. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes focused straight ahead. It wasn’t outwardly obvious that the drinks were beginning to have an effect.

“I don’t think we’ll be going to Bastion.”

 

[GABA]

Ebb sat down at the bar beside Thaed, there wasn't an immediate response from the sith to her question and to an extent, she was slightly disappointed he didn't have a sarcastic remark to reply with. She studied him closely, she could tell something was amiss; though she may have not had the Force to tell her a deeper meaning to his silence, instinct was more than aware something troubled the Zabrak that sat next to her.

The Corellian watched him down a couple drinks before snapping a bottle of whiskey with the Force, setting it down before her. She no longer was interested in a drink, her curiosity getting the best of her as she watched him down several more drinks and lite a cigar.

She debated to say something, to pry into his thoughts, with the amount he had washed down, he would be more susceptible perhaps to questions. But there would no need to as he finally spoke.

"Wha?" she looked at him in confusion. Not that she didn't mind the suggestion, she didn't want to fathom the idea of continuing to the Sith HQ; but for him to make such a comment, took her by surprise.

"Not go to Bastion? Don't you need to report back into your Emperor? Your head honcho Sith?" She asked him, she opened her mouth to ask him more, but caught herself. What was she doing? Not going to Bastion? She should be squirming for joy to the idea. Ebberla frowned, "I mean wouldn't they know if you don't show up? Especially they knowing you are running amok with a Jedi prisoner." she added quickly.

Now Ebb regretted not taking advantage of the whiskey, the bar tender had came by placing the bottle behind the counter. She waited until the tender turned his back again before snatching the bottle, leaning over the counter in two trips and finally pouring herself a shot.

 

[Sreeya]

“Why bother? There’s no head honcho to report to. My Emperor and that bitch Andraste are both gone.”

His dislike for the Empress seeped through even more. The insufferable woman had cost him Silas, and he had no doubt that she played a role in Exodeus being removed from the helm. She was as conniving and manipulative as they came, always playing a victim while casually making her puppets dance. Thaed let the thought drift away.

“I don’t know what to do with you. I’m not about to skip back to some new Emperor and give him a Jedi present.”

Thaed took another drink, his vision beginning to blur slightly.

“No…kriffing point. No direction. No purpose.”

He continued muttering to himself, getting off the stool and slowly stumbling towards the exit. He tossed the glass aside, calling out behind him.

“Do what you want. Get out of here.”

With that, he drunkenly stepped out into a back alley. He sang tunelessly out loud, using the walls for support as he vacantly stared at the pink layer of smog above.

 

[GABA]

Ebberla could smell the alcohol, or whatever potent chemicals the Sith had dumped into his system as he spoke his mind. She hadn't touch the shot she had poured, turning the tiny glass with her forefinger and thumb, her mind pondering with thought, trying her best not to have sympathy for the jerk who took her hand. He rambled on in his pity party, his no direction, no Emperor, unsure of his next move. Though his last words took her aback.

She shot a quizzical look to the Zabrak, just like that? She could go? Ebberla frowned watching the Sith leave his seat and stumble out the back of the bar. She sat baffled, the words taking a moment before they sunk in. Ebberla stopped playing with her shot and grinned, freedom.

The Corellian raised her glass to him in toast and took back the shot, only she didn't swallow it immediately. Thoughts of what was to happen to him or could happen while in the state he was in crossed her mind. She tried to push them aside, focusing on her self preservation, but years of Jedi compassion and understanding were stronger, much stronger than she had originally realized. She would have loved to just leave him to his fate, but...

Ebberla swallowed her whiskey, "Kriffing Jedi..." she muttered, flipping her shot glass upside down onto the bar counter. She jumped down from her seat and quickly moved to the back of the bar exiting into the alley.

She heard obnoxious singing and cringed at its echo; Ebb saw him down a little ways, leaning on the wall for support.

"Hey you drunk bastard!" she cried out trying to catch his attention before she caught up with him, "Are you so crippled without your Emperor?" her tone sharp, "No direction? No purpose? Give me a break. You think you're the only one in this galaxy who has suffered loss?" she asked him rhetorically, "I know you're drunk, and your self loathing has exponentiated, but aren't you a Sith Lord? Where's your passion? Did it die when the Emperor went AWOL? Seems like a fairly lousy excuse."

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed had to stop, confused beyond belief at the voice that called out. Surely he wasn’t the drunk bastard, right? He continued stumbling, seeing doubles and vaguely hearing the consistent thud of the bass from inside a club. He felt his way around the walls, wanting to enter the club and possibly buy some death sticks. Exodeus had extensively ordered him to lay off the drugs, an order he obeyed diligently. But now, kriff it. He forgot all about the voice till it began to yell again. Thaed glanced back and spotted a familiar, one-armed woman chasing after him. His eyes visibly widened. He was seeing doubles and triples, and for a moment truly believed Ebberla had multiplied. The thought struck him with true fear, as the prospect of getting yelled and whined at by five Ebberlas was akin to a death sentence. Thaed hiccupped and tilted his head around till she became one person again.

“The..hell are you doing, woman? I told you you’re free. Go on..shooooooo!”

He lazily attempted to wave her away. Thaed continued stumbling towards the club, her words seemingly having no effect. He finally paused as she finished, turning to face her.

“Sith Lord is a title…that hassssss no meaning without a true Emperor to dictate it as such. Whaaaaat am I the lord of? Tell me. Some random fool that decided to jump for the seat when my master fell? I obey him now?”

He waved no with an index finger. His eyes were glazed over, and he almost fell a few times.

“Passsionnnnn is a flaw, Jeedai. Powerful…but bites baaack, you see. Like it is now..”

He opened his mouth to say something else, but his eyes abruptly rolled to the back of his head and he fell backwards, knocked out cold.

 

[GABA]

Ebberla let out an exasperated sigh as the drunk Sith tried to tell her otherwise. She watched him wave his index finger, swaying with his waving finger before he passed out on the ally's ground before her. Ebberla sighed and rolled her eyes, looking around the ally for any clue on what to do, she couldn't just leave him there, well she could...her eyes caught a dumpster and she smiled.

____________________

It was the nearest motel Ebberla could find. He was like a dead weight, but the sight of dragging about passed out bar patrons must have not been too unusual since questions were not asked. She felt awkward searching for his credits, but they weren't too hard to find on him. The room they were given was not the finest of establishments, but she didn't care. As soon as she reached the room, she was quick to drop him, letting him wean off his alcohol induced sleep on the floor and selfishly taking the bed for herself.

Though she couldn't sleep, it wouldn't come for her. Her thoughts bothered her, why she would be altruistic to someone that was so mean to her, someone who was meant to be an enemy, who fought her in battle, wounded her, but spared her. She questioned whether it was obligation or loyalty, but there was a catch, she was sure of it.

There was a catch to being spared; there was a catch to why the Empress let her live, why the Zabrak took her from permanent imprisonment to teach her lessons in fighting and about the Sith themselves. She was certain there was a catch to all this now. What was the point of it? Was it the lessons she carried as Jedi interfering with rational decision making, twice she had the opportunity to bail, but now she laid here, making sure the Zabrak woke.

Ebberla let out a huff and rubbed her face in the pillow, then looked at the dirty smear she left. "Gross." she mumbled.

 

[Sreeya]

It was a while before Thaed stirred. Unlike normal folks that woke up from a slumber, the Zabrak planted a hand on the floor and abruptly flipped upwards with unnatural grace, attempting to drop into a fighting stance. Unfortunately, he was still groggy and managed to knock over a side table, along with the lamp on it, shattering the only feeble light in the room.

With the entire room submerged in darkness, his yellow eyes glowed like two beacons. He scanned the room, the Force pinpointing Ebberla. Thaed rubbed his throbbing head, running his fingers over the tiny horns there. Why the hell was this woman still here? Instinctively, he felt around for his credits, shocked to find that she hadn’t attempted to rob him blind. Thaed groaned and plopped down on the edge of the bed, ignoring that she was on it.

“Do I need to throw a ball and run in the opposite direction before you catch a hint?”

He fell backwards onto the bed, gazing up at the ceiling. She wasn’t alone in her thoughts. He too pondered what kept her coming back, why she simply hadn’t left him in the alley or had taken his credits. She owed him nothing. On the contrary, he had been the one that had done the damage. Thaed remained silent for a moment. He analyzed his own thoughts. Would he have been content if he had continued stumbling into that club and she had never called out to him? Would he have been perfectly all right if he had been weaved into the intoxicating lures of spice, lost in a thick fog and simply detaching from everything around him? Not for the first time, he was extremely glad she couldn’t read his thoughts.

 

[GABA]

Ebb shot up in bed as she saw the Zabrak come to, rather clumsily as he hit the end table, the lamp falling to its end on the floor. She was glad it was his credits she used to pay for the room, not that she had any to begin with, but it was a nice thought.

The Corellian blinked wildly as her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden darkness. The lights off the street shown through the curtains, the multiple neon colors stripping her and now Thaed as he took a seat at the end of the bed. She climbed to the edge next to Thaed and sat crossed legged, she didn't respond right away to his jab and instead scratched her head, thinking.

"You've hinted, but the Jedi in me refused to let you wallow in your pity." she replied, "And trust me, you looked pretty pitiful." Ebberla leaned forward, resting her chin on her plam, her elbow on her knee, "Feeling better? Or are you still feeling like a lost puppy?" she asked him.

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed scowled at her words.

“Excuse me, I wasn’t ‘wallowing’. I was ‘relishing my transcendence’. And you’re not a Jedi, you’re a one armed meatbag without an ounce of Force in you.”

He moodily grunted in response to her question on whether or not he felt better. The hell did she care? He reached for his packet of cigarra and found it to be suddenly missing. Thaed cast Ebberla a suspicious glance, though he didn’t outwardly accuse her.

“You’re one to talk about looking pitiful.”

Thaed reached over and wiped a hand on her face, withdrawing it to feel it caked in dirt and grime.

“You’re absolutely disgusting right now.”

He looked at her again, noticing her hair springing up in odd angles, a clear smear where he wiped her face, and the combination was too much. Thaed coughed and sputtered to keep down an overwhelming urge to laugh, though he was clearly doing a horrible job of it. Best of all, she couldn't see herself properly.

 

[GABA]

The Corellian glared at Thaed, “Wallowing.” She stated flatly, sitting back up straight, ignoring his comment about her being a forceless meatbag. He had reached into robes as though looking for something and she gave him a shrug unsure what he was doing.

He commented on how pitiful she looked, wiping his hand on her face, Ebberla suddenly felt self conscious on how she looked. She ran her hand through her hair, trying to flatten any odd ends, “I look disgusting?” she questioned leaning forward, cracking a smile as he tempted to suppress a laugh, “You smell disgusting.” Ebb shot back, she was sure the both of them were unnaturally filthy, but it didn’t trouble her too much at the moment.

Ebb didn’t bother sitting back, still leaning forward, nearly nose to nose with the Sith, “So Zabrak, do you have a name?” she asked him, her voice was soft, her hazel eyes were fixed on his as she waited for his answer.

 

[Sreeya]

"We both smell, you wench."

Thaed was taken aback by her boldness, involuntarily shuffling back slightly. Perhaps the darkness had made her confidence shoot up, but whatever it was, it hit Thaed with a sudden pang. He was entirely too full of himself to back down, letting her keep her close distance while narrowing his animalistic eyes.

"I'm known as Darth Sil-.."

He paused for a moment, blinking. She had heard that name already. The Empress had used it. She was asking his true name? The Zabrak was confused for a moment, involuntarily speaking.

"Thaed."

His eyes narrowed again suspiciously.

"Why?"

 

[GABA]

Ebberla didn't reply why with words, only with a gentle kiss.

Her own thoughts, worries, fears seemed to evaporate with her one little action, one in which she was well smart enough to know she probably shouldn't have done it. Though she didn't care too much at this point.

She leaned back to catch his eyes with hers, "Only curious, that's all." she smiled.

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed was about to tell her to stop gawking like an idiot. But then she did something that terrified him more than his Emperor. Now, it was no lie that the Zabrak enjoyed women. In fact, he was a rather sleazy guy when it came to vices. However, for whatever reason, this insufferable Jedi was able to completely catch him off guard. Instantly, he was back on Iridonia, getting punched in the gut by Syrik and landing on his ass. He had the wind knocked out of him, an expulsion of not just air, but pride and ego all at once. This simple action, this kiss was comparable, knocking him right off his self crafted pedestal and onto his behind. Before he could even think to return the kiss (he had to decide whether or not he should), she had pulled back already. For a second, Thaed simply gawked at her, pure surprise etched upon his features. He felt an odd mixture of emotions and conflicting thoughts within him, all swirling and warping into a vortex that ascended through his body, coursed through his veins, rose up through his stomach. His eyes did not shift as the sensation rose, heightening the moment. And then he turned his head..


And puked.


Vomit spewed forth from his mouth and onto the floor, a result from being horribly hungover and terrible timing. Thaed desperately attempted to hold up a hand to signal that it wasn't her, but it was the drink. The gesture was useless, completely drowned out by the shameless gagging and sputtering, shattering what could have been a romantic moment into a million pieces.

 

[GABA]

Ebberla scrambled to the other end of the bed and watched, her jaw agape, her face contorted in such disgust, words escaped her as she the technicolor bodily explosion escape his body. She felt a twinge of annoyance and wasn't going to show him any pity.

"Are you serious?!" she yelled at him, "This is what you get for drinking like a whaladon. Geez, even I can control myself and I don't have the Force to purge that druk. You have no reason to call me pitiful now, this is just...just!" she flung her arms out angrily towards the rank puddle, she shook her head and climbed off the bed, grabbing a boot and hastily pulled it on as she continued, "And the refresher was right there!" she stomped her booted foot then pointed to the closed refresher door. Though, she probably wouldn't have dared though, she had checked it before lying down herself.

She was positive it wasn't cleaned since the last galactic civil war.

"Disgusting. Really." she spat at him, stomping her other foot in a lazy attempting to get her other boot on.

 

[Sreeya]

It felt as if hours had gone by, with Thaed finally emerging from the refresher. He had not only cleaned up the disgusting puke, but had also braved the filthy refresher (mostly because he smelled terrible). When he came out, he didn’t bother throwing on his upper body clothing, the fabric stained with vomit. He walked out to find Ebberla still fuming.

“Hey, I said it was an accident about ten times. Stop glaring at me already.”

Rolling his eyes, he walked towards the bed, exhausted beyond belief. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, though it was rare that he did so. His master Exodeus hadn’t slept a single day since he had become a Sith, a trait Thaed failed to mimic. The Darth remained standing, still cautiously stepping around the crime scene, rubbing one of his horns thoughtfully.

“I haven’t done that since I was a teenager…”