Closer to the Fall

[Vinny]

Gamoor
Wake ran.

It had been just a few days since his departure from Tatooine and even so the events were the furthest in the back of his mind. His legs burned and his chest ached from the exertion. Yet he kept running. Behind him, three men with blasters were accompanied by a scouting droid. Damn that thing moved quickly. He cursed silently under his breath, wondering if he had enough strength left in him to find some way out of this. He darted to the right, charging toward the remnants of a downtrodden apartment. He dived, tucking his head down to his chest and covering the back of his head with his hands. The roll brought him through a small hole in the lower part of the wall.

He staggered to his feet only to have a flash of pain jar him to his knees. He cupped his eyes, the headache growing worse. Stars! Another vision. Why now? He got the idea already! He got it! Just... leave. He pleaded the vision, trying to push the image of that upside-down pyramid out of his mind. Red-gold sand swirled in his minds-eye. Colors flooded and he felt his body begin to grow slack. These visions were going to kill him! He threw his head down to the ground, cracking it against rotten carpet. The shock brought him back to his senses and he let out a heaving cough, throwing up on the ground.

That was when he remembered he was being pursued.

He froze, his body going cold, and slowly turned his head to look behind him. Nothing. He swallowed, crawling shakily to his feet and peering out a window. An empty street. Relief flooded his limbs and he felt tears well in his eyes. Why was this happening? Maybe he should have asked that paladin to join him anyway. He cursed himself one more time, punching the wall, it hurt. Sobbing he rested his shoulder against cold duracreet and slid back down to the ground, hoping that sleep would finally claim him.

When he woke the next morning everything hurt. His arms and legs were sore from the constant movement that he had put them through since he landed on Gamoor. He had to laugh a bit at the absurdity of the situation. If his visions were correct, his next destination was Nar Shaddaa. That place was even worse! He also remembered another world, Tund, the name felt so familiar to him. Yet every time the word surfaced his instincts screamed at him to avoid the place. Moraband, he had to get to Moraband. Answers were on Moraband, answers and an end to all the agony. That was what the visions told him.

Those visions were the only thing he could count on now, he had to keep moving.

Getting to his feet he staggered out of the apartment and into the street, looking no different from the rest of the street trash.

 

[Vinny]

A hasty trade with a particularly smelly Toydarian for a new hooded shirt and some pills for a chain necklace he had taken off of one of his pursuers and he was set. He pulled the tight-fitting hood over his head, glad that it at least covered his features for the most part. His chin itched from the scruff of his beard. Had he always been clean shaven before? Shaking his head he made his way along the lower streets of Gamoor, making his way to one of the spaceports in the dregs of the city. Travelling this way would be dangerous but at the very least it would be cheaper. He did not have a lot of money.

He had been within eyeshot of the control towers when a man slid up to his right, pressing something cold and metallic into his back. Wake froze, not moving his head. The man urged him to keep walking and Wake had to grudgingly oblige. He was lead into an alley, the smells of garbage and urban living assailing him. He coughed and the man demanded he keep silent. Was this one of his pursuers? No, they had no qualms about shooting him on sight. This was a mugging, plain and simple. He could feel his assailants breath, uneven, nervous? What was he afraid of? Had he never done this before?

Desperation A voice said at the back of his mind. Use it

How? What could he possibly do with desperation? What did that even mean? The man grabbed him roughly, pushing him up against the wall and fishing through his pockets. Wake gasped, the money! It was the only way he was getting to Nar Shadda and closer to his goal. He couldn't let it be stolen like this! Wake gritted his teeth, trying to push the blaster away from his body. He cursed, bringing up a knee only to be punched in the face. Pain blossomed, his vision swam, anger burned. Wake felt it pool somewhere that he did not fully understand, somewhere deep and primal. He clutched at it, hating the feeling, hating the sick way it made him feel. Hating this mugger for making him feel that way.

"Shit! Just kriffing kill yourself!" Wake growled.

There was a gasp, a sob, a plea for mercy, and then the low crack of a silenced blaster going off through a skull. Wake caught his breath as he watched the corpse of his assailant drop to the ground. Wake stared at the body, his chest heaving. What the hell? What the hell happened? Why? Something horrible twisted in his stomach, something warning him to stay away from thinking too much about it. He clutched his mouth, fighting off the urge to vomit again. He steadied himself and took another look at the body. His pockets were stuffed with creds, drugs, and then there was the blaster.

Wake shuddered and knelt down...