Behind Enemy Lines

[Noire]

TOYDARIA. MID RIM.
HUTT SPACE.

Caden Ansgar shuffled along without a word said to either of the winged-creatures hovering above the ground on both sides of him. He wasn't angry, he wasn't bitter, and he stayed his tongue. They knew who he was and speaking out against them wouldn't do anything to better his situation. His captors had run a scan on him minutes after his arrest and it hadn't been very difficult to identify a fugitive Jedi on the run from the Imperium. Not to mention the fact that Corellia was listed as his home-world, and a potential planet of refuge from the onslaught of the Sith. That was the one part of the entire ordeal that Caden had had a point of contention with. He didn't want his mother ever getting hurt because of his own rash and stupid actions. He wouldn't know how to even begin to handle such a burden of guilt if that were to ever happen. So he had taken the route of compliance instead of fighting back, which, in hindsight, hadn't changed much. His obviously broken nose was still caked in dried blood, his left eye was swollen, his fingers callused and his body bruised and tired; the many purple welts on his skin ever telling of the beating he had received just the day before. Or maybe several days had already passed since it had happened. Caden couldn't tell. It hadn't felt like much time had gone by, but the recently Knighted Jedi was far from a calm and collected state of mind. He couldn't focus on much of anything but the pain for more than a few seconds it seemed. His captors had seen to that.

But he didn't blame them.

Truthfully, he'd put himself in this position. He had traveled back to Corellia, knowing full well how deep in Imperial Space the planet lie and the immediate danger that came along with that, and yet he had attempted to speak with the kid - Arc - he'd met there before several months prior anyway. But they'd both gotten into some trouble, and while Arc had managed to run away, Caden had been beaten down to his knees and imprisoned. Now, he could only imagine what lie in wait for him as he staggered his way closer and closer toward the daunting prison. Maybe he'd be executed before a group of gray-haired Imperials, maybe he'd be sold into slavery, maybe he'd be forced to spend the last of his days working for the greedy Toydarians. Speaking of which, Caden thought. He glanced at both of the "guards" escorting him inside of the massive Prison with disdain in his eyes and shook his head. Their grimy stout bodies and protruding tusks thoroughly disgusted him, but the fact that the both of them considered themselves to truly wield power. That thought alone was enough to make Caden chuckle a great bit. They would never know the half of it; what it was like to hold true power in the palm of your hands.

"Don't even think of trying those Jedi tricks on me. Those do not work on me, only money. And sometimes not even that!" Caden heard one of the Toydarians say as they approached what he could only assume was meant it be his prison cell, though the guard did not address Caden directly. Both of the winged creatures laughed hysterically at the joke, Caden did not grin. Instead, once the bars of crackling energy were shut off, he merely walked inside. There were no windows, no tables, no beds, not even a chair - not one thing of comfort - not one way out. But there was a person, though Caden could not even begin to make out who he was as the shadow cast by the dim lighting in the room masked his identity fairly well. But he felt familiar. Regardless, the Jedi Knight did not bother with introductions. He did not plan on staying here long, and making "friends" was certainly not on the agenda. He had a mission still to complete. It was simple: find Aria. Being imprisoned was simply a brief bump in the road, but he would be back on track soon enough. Or so he hoped. He had no weapon on his person and seemingly nothing of use in the cell either. Just the Force. That was the only thing he could rely on. And he would.

 

[TwoSidedHeart]

His eyes snapped open and darted around furiously as they always seemed to these days, fear filled purple hues wide as they surveyed the small, depressing cell for the upteenth time. His heartbeat became steadier as he recalled his location and the fear turned to the nothingness that drove all emotion from him each time he regained conciseness. He wasnt sure how long he'd been here, or if he'd ever been anywhere but here. The past was a blur and the present was an endless haze. He couldn't focus on anything. The beatings had even become difficult to actually live through, the pain no longer an anchor to reality but just another momentary bump in the road. Nothing mattered anymore. There was no color in his world.

Slowly he pushed himself up into sitting position, balling himself up with his knees to his chest and his arms holding them there. In another time, another place, his face would be clenched in pain at the lashes on his back. Not deep enough to scar, but numerous enough to create a weeks worth of agony and sleepless night cycles when he rolled onto his back in his sleep. But he was used to the pain now, it was his only friend. A constant companion, but not the kind that comforted you when the tears fell, the kind that dug the knife in deeper but always managed to win you back. His hair had grown to cover his eyes and there were cuts across his bare torso. His skin was paler than it had been before and was riddled with bruises, one in particular being a painful black mark that covered the entire upper right quarter of his face. A 'gift' from one of the guards who had taken offense to his labored breathing after the last beating. He wasnt sure why they insisted on torturing him.

What was his name again?

He shifted his hands suddenly to clutch his head on either side as he sifted through his mind, trying to get a grasp on such a simple thing. His own name. Teeth clenched together in frustration as he lost himself inside the search. He didnt notice when the energy bars dropped and someone else walked in, nor did he notice the guards eyes falling on him, the whispers that passed between them as the energy bars went up. What he did notice was a sudden sensation that filled his body. A connection to something that couldnt truly be touched, yet through it he could feel the two guards. They were laughing. Laughing at him. For a mere moment the numbness went away and rage took over as he raised both hands towards them, willing their deaths.

The toydarian guards were suddenly robbed of breath and left in a defenseless state as he stood slowly, anger clear on his face. But his moment was short lived as one managed to thumb a button and the boys shock collar was kicked into full gear, the device around his neck sending powerful jolts of electricity through his system. The numbness returned and with it the connection was broken. The two guards took a moment to regain their breaths before shocking him several more times, finally flying off down the hallway. He lay in a heap on the floor, jolting every now and again with his eyes wide open and his lungs robbed of air. It wasnt the first time he'd been left in such a state in the past few months and it seemed that it wouldnt be the last.

 

[Noire]

Caden was more than a little surprised. He'd caught very few moments of shut-eye since he'd been captured and it was something that he was sure he could go without for a little while longer. Yet, he'd fallen asleep rather fast and hadn't even noticed he had until he was awakened by a deep feeling of distress within the Force; he felt pure anguish and despair. His eyes blinked open and he watched as the other prisoner was jolted continually by electricity from the shock-collar around his neck. Caden glanced at the Toydarian guards, feeling utter disgust in his gut, but ultimately doing nothing against them. It wasn't as if he could. He returned his gaze back to the prisoner. He felt a slight pang of sympathy for him or her, but still did not make a move. He remained in his own little corner of the cell merely listening and watching to all that was occurring around him. He had nothing to offer that would do either of them any good. If anything, if he tried to exact vengeance it would probably result with the deaths of them both and that was something Caden definitely did not want.

I wish I'd learned to heal, Caden thought to himself. But it was futile wishing, he'd never learned how to heal others through the Force. He had never learned how to heal himself either now that he thought about it. Though he was still convinced not even bothering to attempt to make friends within the prison was still the best route to take, simply hearing the other prisoner's ragged breaths and gasps for air was starting to get to him. I can say something, Caden figured, though he still knew words could only do so much. "You alright?" Caden asked, somewhat knowing the answer to his own question before he'd even formulated the words.

 

[TwoSidedHeart]

Breathe in. Twitch. Breathe out. Gasp.

The initial shocks had ended but over a months worth of similar treatment had left the boy far more susceptible to these kinds of attacks, his nerves made tender to their kind. It didn't help at all that his face slammed into the floor when he fell, bringing pain back to that sector of his body. He continued his pathetic attempt to return to a more controlled state for a few minutes, forgetting that there was someone else in there with him. That is, until the other person spoke to him, feigning concern however minimal. This had happened before. The 'masters' had left another person in there, a human male like himself. They had become something of friends, however in the end he had been forced to kill the other one. It had been a show for potential buyers, a way to show that he was no ordinary human. But unsurprisingly it had rather set people against buying him, fearing his unnatural abilities.

Slowly, despite the lingering effects, the broken boy pushed himself up off the floor and slowly dragged himself across to the opposite corner of the room from the other person, not wanting the same thing to happen again, at least not get attached to this one. But somewhere deep in his mind gears were turning. That voice had seemed so familiar and like his own name, he couldnt place the voice. His hands encased his skull for a moment and he clenched his eyes tightly shut, not for the first time trying to force the information to the surface. A minute more of silence turned up nothing so with a sigh, he slumped against the wall, eyes falling on the shaded figure across the room, lips parting to reveal a weak, emotionless voice almost spitting words at the other, eerily familiar male.

"I killed the last guy who asked me that..."

Each word took clear effort to form, and guilt was heavy within his tone. However, he did not continue, rather letting silence fall across the room once more. His body was finally starting to listen to him, the shocks leaving his system in favor for a familiar numbness that he was so accustomed to. He felt something drip down the side of his face, raising a hand to wipe it off. Blood. Likely from the impact his face had made against the floor.

"Oh..."

 

[Noire]

Caden couldn't say that he was genuinely afraid of the other prisoner and his pretentious threat. In fact, he would've scoffed aloud at the statement if not for the fact that the voice sounded strangely familiar enough to cause himself to stop from doing so. The voice...he knew it. But exactly who it belonged to escaped his tongue and he couldn't place it. Maybe I'm just hearing wrong, thought Caden. But still, the nagging voice in his head told him that he wasn't crazy. He knew whoever was on the other side of the room without a doubt. He just couldn't place it. He watched as the other prisoner, still somewhat shrouded by the shadows, raise a hand to his face. But then he suddenly remembered. No, Caden thought to himself. That's impossible. And that sudden realization was more than shocking.

It was...unbelievable.

Caden nearly choked saying the name. He did know the voice. It was no longer a question in his mind. The boy, the Jedi rather, it belonged to was someone he had clashed with, both physically and mentally, far too many times to count. Someone he'd came perilously close to hating with a passion. Someone whom he'd trained alongside with for months on end. "Kai?" Caden said incredulously. If he wasn't so sure of himself he would've never believed it. There was no denying it. Kai. That was him on the other side of the room. Caden was positive. And now, he felt guilty for not helping him at all. But what had happened to him? How had Kai ended up imprisoned on Toydaria? The last time Caden had seen him he was on Galtea. But now...now it seemed something especially terrible had occurred to Kai in Nakoma's absence. To the both of them.

"What are you doing here?" Caden asked.

 

[TwoSidedHeart]

When the other male spat out a name, the boys eyes snapped towards him. Kai? He was completely still for a moment, breath hitched in his throat before his brain suddenly flew into overdrive and he clutched his head with clenched eyes as everything came rushing back to him at once. His mothers death. Ze'kyre. Rhoda. Nakoma. Going to Galtea. Knuckles paled as his grip on his skull tightened and he groand. It was a complete overload and despite the fact everything was coming back to him, it wasn't falling into place, it was just kind of there. It made him feel nauseous. When the other male next spoke, Kais eyes snapped open as he whispered the other males name.

"Caden..."

Suddenly there wasn't numbness but anger and a lot of it. All the negative memories of his 'rival' were suddenly front and center in his mind as his gaze fell on his fellow Jedi, his damaged psyche fueling his anger while dulling his common sense. He was on his feet in a second and despite a dizzy feeling assaulting him, he did not collapse back into a heap on the floor. He was tense, fists clenched and his gaze was glued to the figure of Caden. Silence fell for a moment and it seemed for a moment that Kai had regained control of himself. That was proven wrong when he growled and leaped across the cell at Caden with very clear, murderous intentions written all over him.

 

[Noire]

There was a brief moment of clarity between the two; Caden recognized Kai and Kai recognized Caden. But that moment of clarity between the fellow Jedi was fleeting at best. Kai took it upon himself to prove that much almost immediately. He growled and lunged forward barely a few seconds later with tightly clenched fists. Caden knew the look on his face; it wasn't one that was specific to Kai, but an expression that anyone with common sense could recognize all too easily. Kai was out for blood and Caden was directly in his path. Purely off of instinct he scrambled out of the way and swiftly clambered to his feet as he moved. Caden slowly backed away from Kai and groaned as a few aching bruises made themselves known again.

He was tired of this. He felt as if he had relived this same moment three times already and neither experience had been pleasant. He didn't need this right now. It was bad enough being trapped somewhere in some shady cell, but the fact that what was essentially his mortal enemy didn't make any the situation any better. But considering that they were both Jedi at that was downright shameful. He sighed heavily and slowly lifted his arms into the air as a sign of surrender. "I don't feel like fighting you. We got bigger things to worry about Kai...like getting out of here." Caden said. It wasn't as if he had a plan in mind, but he was more than sure of himself that his stay in the prison would be a very, very short-lived one. That much he knew. He trusted in the Force.

 

[TwoSidedHeart]

"You're different...

Kai was suddenly calm again, as he picked himself up off the ground. The pain he had experienced when he had slammed into the wall at full speed had snapped him out of his murderous intent and somewhat cleared up his mind to the point where he felt in control of himself for once, although he raised a hand to his face as a headache set in. The truth is, he hadn't gone at Caden because they had some kind of rivalry. He had gone at the male because Kai himself was so screwed up at this point in his life. He wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep control of himself. But he nodded. They did need to get out of there but...

"Don't you think Ive tried?"

The light was dim, but Kai crossed the distance between them, lifting up his right arm and pointing out a jagged cut on his left bicep. It wasn't too deep but long and didn't look like it was healing well.

"When I tried to overpower a guard escorting me to an auction."

He turned until his back was towards Caden, a series of extremely painful looking cuts made from whips blared out at the other male as Kai continued speaking.

"When I took offense to being stripped down in front of a potential buyer for a 'thorough examination of the product."

His voice cracked at the end and he visibly shook but he continued anyway, turning to face Caden and raising his right arm, revealing a burn from a lightsaber on his forearm.

"When I first got here and they took my lightsabers. Cutting the limb off the product would have been bad for business."

Kai let his arm dropped and just stared at Caden for a moment. Across his body were numerous other cuts and bruises that he hadn'd mentioned, but he finally pointed at his face, where the huge dark bruise that covered the upper right quarter of it stood out like anything. Using his free hand to push his hair out of the way to give Caden a better look, he spoke again, this time his voice shaking as he did.

"Two days ago, a buyer wanted to 'test' me before purchasing me. They drugged me up to make me less resistant to what he... Somehow I broke through the cloud of drugs and started fighting back but he had already been... I..."

Kai suddenly went limp and let his gaze drop to the ground, unable to continue and doing his best to force the memories from his mind. He blinked back tears, but his body was visibly trembling and he had no doubt that Caden would be able to feel exactly how he felt through the Force even though Kai himself had somehow lost a true connection with it, the 'Great Wind' only responding to anger. A few moments passed and the male spoke once more, his voice trembling as he did.

"There is no way out of this."

 

[Noire]

Caden sighed. There was much to be said here, but the right words to say managed to evade him even as he chewed over the prospect of speaking. He felt sorry for Kai regardless of the aggressive and volatile history they shared. At the end of the day, the boy was still a fellow Jedi and an ally. They had both trained under the same Jedi Knight and that commonality was worth more than any bad blood. Kai had been through much more than Caden could ever empathize with and he wasn't sure if anything he could muster up would help the situation. So he merely cast a downward gaze at the ground, placing his hands on his hips, before turning towards the ray shield that blocked them both from guaranteed freedom. The steady hum of the crackling field of energy had drawn his attention once again, yet he knew getting passed it would be next to impossible. But if there was one thing Caden refused to admit, it was that all hope was lost. There was a way out of here and he was convinced they would find it sooner or later.

He couldn't allow himself to think otherwise.

For several seconds he did not move. He focused - not on anything in particular - but simply in his resolve to discover what his other senses had not. His eyes darted from corner to corner as his mind raced to come up with a feasible plan of escape. He nearly threw his hands up in frustration before the very air in his throat became caught and his eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on the security card attached to one of the Toydarian guard's belt. That was it. That was their escape. If I could just manage to lift it off if the belt, thought Caden. Then he paused. He slowly turned around to face Kai wearing an expression of both concern and deep thought on his worn face while still attempting to glance at the guard every so often. The other Jedi had appeared to regain control himself, but he stilled seemed to be "lost" in some manner; there was no telling what state of mind the Padawan was in. But he couldn't leave him; he would never be able to forgive himself if he did. But Kai would be a dangerous liability if he couldn't keep up. He could mean the death of them both.

But that didn't matter.

"I think I've found one." Caden whispered. "But we're going to have to move fast."

 

[TwoSidedHeart]

Kai wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but Caden deciding he had a way out was not on the list, especially after Kai had just effectively poured his heart out to his fellow Jedi. Still, even the way Caden spoke, with such certainty caused Kai to raise his head and look at the other male, raising an eyebrow. The male WAS aware that they were behind a ray shield? This was a prison and it was NOT easy to escape, he knew of course and not for lack of trying to get out. Taking a deep breath, Kai let it out slowly before responding, the tremble from his voice gone but it was still clear he didn't believe that this was going to happen.

"Fine, we'll try. Its not like these bastards could do much more to me in the first place."

He let out a harsh chuckle before turning his gaze towards the hallway as a guard fluttered past to join one who was already outside their cell. The recent arrival turned his gaze directly on Kai, the boy narrowing his eyes in response.

"Problem human?"

Apparently it was a rhetorical question because before Kai could even part his lips, the second guard had pulled out his remote for the shock collar and had thumbed the button. Kai was sent to his knees as once again a ridiculously strong surge of electric energy was sent through his body, the boy biting back the cry of pain. As he clutched at the collar as another wave was sent through him, he managed to glance at Caden. If the male was really going to do something, now would be the time to do it.

 

[Noire]

Caden watched with a mixed expression of anger, empathy, and fear as Kai crumpled to the ground once more. His first instinct was to immediately help the younger Jedi, but such an overt show of concern raised the risk of his already dangerous plan. He had to remain focused; failure meant spending the rest of both of their lives at the mercy of the Toydarians. That was unthinkable. So with a heavy heart, Caden simply did nothing. He watched as Kai shook with pain, grasping at the collar around his neck, as the electric energy ran its horrid course throughout his body. Then he turned his head toward the guards, his face absent of all emotion, and simply stared at them both. His breathing slowly picked up as he slowly came to the realization that their chance was now. Some part of him wanted to hold back; he knew that the slightest mistake could mean his life.

But Caden's determination to escape spurred him to action. He looked about the long corridor from his obstructed view as best he could before narrowing his eyes and zeroing in on the security card he'd spotted a few minutes earlier. Using the Force, he quickly snapped the card free of the guard's belt in a deceptively slight move. It was held there for the briefest of moments, suspended in air as if by its own will, before he pressed it into the slot directly outside of the cell. The ray shield dissipated immediately. There was a short pause from both sides as the intensity of the moment raised to new heights. The Toydarians feigned anger with a shout but the looks of incredulousness upon their faces betrayed them. They attacked swiftly but Caden was much, much faster. He narrowly missed a stab from one of the guard's mini-electrostaff, feeling the faintest of shocks from its energy, and rolled behind them both.

The Force swelled around his hands as he jumped to his feet and slammed them both against the wall in a demonstration of power. Each of them were immediately knocked into unconsciousness, but Caden still yanked the electrostaff from one of the guard's, ignited it, and electrocuted the both of them. He allowed himself a moment to breath, yet quickly grabbing each of the guard's by the collar of their uniforms as he did so, and then rushed back into the cell, dragging the Toydarians along with him into the shadows. With that done, he picked up the remote and deactivated the shock collar. He knelt beside Kai as it clicked and unclasped itself from around the Padawan's neck. "We have to move quickly. Can you walk?" Caden asked, speaking a mile-a-minute, and breathing raggedly.