Emptiness(Taris)

[Eithni Vala Stark]

It was a pretty regular day for the people that lived in the upper levels of Taris, shopowners would open their shop for the day and people slowly started to fill the streets. City police kept order and managed to stop a speeding couple. A few Mandalorian was even present on the streets, but that wasn't very strange and they looked more like some that were on a holiday than actually ready to conquering anything.

However, the further down one went on Taris, the daily life of the citizens would change drastically as the people got poorer. Also, gangs started to get more and more dominating, the further down you went. It was also more common to witness murder happen on the street where gangs ruled.

Around midway from the top level of Taris, to the lowest level, was an unusually high number of Bounty Hunters and scums in the rough bar, who saw to earn some good credits from a specific bounty. It was a local bounty, why not many knew about it, other than those that were on Taris and checked a bounty board.

The bounty, placed there by the local security of the sector, told of a monster, a shadow, something that haunts a warehouse. The bounty also states that whatever is haunting the warehouse is highly dangerous and those that wished to take on the bounty, must sign that the local security force, wasn't responsible for whatever that was to happen to whoever took the bounty.

As a side note, with small letters, "death is possible". Captured and brought back alive would earn the person a large amount of credits, and captured and brought back dead, would earn half the promised amount.

The doors opened to the undercity bar that the bounty was posted and a young man entered, dashing for the barkeeper and ordered a drink. Or he tried to, stuttering and shaking as if he had been through a nightmarish situation. A couple of local residents off to the side of the bar, exchanged money, as it seemed they had betted on whether or not the young man would have survived and returned.

The young man acted very skittishly, always looking around him with his eyes as if trying look for something that might jump him or worse, followed him. A rough-looking bounty hunter, a human, rose from his seat, paid for his drink and exited the bar, while everyone around in the bar, started to bet for whether he would return with the bounty or die and never return.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas had found himself on Taris of all places. He was no stranger to the planet. Before he joined the Mandalorians he spent a lot of time in seedy areas. The lower levels of Taris was one of them. And here he was again, needing to tend to some business. He decided to take the time to unwind, following the same mindset as some other Mandalorians that he saw on the upper levels. But his destination wasn't up on top.

It was far, far lower.

After taking an elevator down he was met with the sight of swoop gangs, drug dealers and some disturbingly loose women. To think he actually rolled with them at times. Thankfully he knew how to keep his pants up these days. He might be suicidally stupid but he wasn't that suicidally stupid. Some of the people he recognized and they remembered him too. He tried to keep in touch with some of his old gangs.

He decided to get a drink, making his way to the first and best bar he could find. As the door opened, the patrons eyed the Beskar-clad Zabrak, though they knew better than to draw on him. He walked over to the counter and ordered a signature Tarisian ale with a straw...probably not the grandest idea, but he didn't want to take his helmet off in here. As he sipped at his drink a guy came rushing in, looking like he saw a ghost. Given the dregs that hung around on these levels, he wouldn't be surprised. Not even a minute later another man, a bounty hunter also, made his way out of the bar. Sumas blinked then waved over the bartender. "What's going on?" he asked the man, nodding to the mortified individual beside him. "Somethin' weird's goin' on. Somethin' 'bout a ghost haunting an ol' abandoned fact'ry. Got a bounty on it if ya wanna check it out." the man explained to Sumas, pointing with his thumb at the bounty bord.

Sumas thanked the man and waltzed over to the board, reading the bounty over. It didn't even have a picture, only a location. He transferred the details to his commlink and walked out after paying for the drink. Some other hunters murmured something about wasting his time and others saying that he'll sort it out in five minutes. They had a lot of faith in him.

He "borrowed" a swoop and made his way towards the location. Outside he checked his gear, took his rifle in his hands and made his way into the abandoned warehouse. The other bounty hunter hadn't come out yet which meant he needed to check his fire. He switched to night vision and breached the warehouse...

@Raven_41

 

[Eithni Vala Stark]

The moment that Sumas entered the factory he would be met by quite the macabre sight. A couple of bodies spread out seemingly randomly in large pools of dried up blood. Half dried blood splattered up the large containers, flanking both of Sumas' sides and it looked like an execution had been taking place. More freshly blood trail across the floor, as when a body had been dragged over the floor. The trail led further inside the factory and around the corner of another large container, where the blood disappeared around.

It was silent, very silent with only the faint sounds of lamps blinking with their light. The deeper in Sumas went, the crazier it got and completely fried bodies as if they had been fried alive with either fire or lightning in very close proximity. The Zabrak Mandalorian even found people headless or missing other limbs. However, if Sumas examined the wounds on those that had lost limbs, would he very quickly notice the founds was removed with something that had powerful cauterizing capabilities.

The creepy silent was suddenly disrupted by the wildly firing off a blaster somewhere deeper within the factory. Sumas could even see the plasma shots hit the floor and containers, shortly lighting up the almost pitch black factory. The firing was followed by a loud hissed in pain and then heavy footsteps that got louder and louder towards Sumas' location.

Almost tripping in a fresh pool of blood, the same bounty hunter that Sumas saw leave the bar, came charging towards his direction. But he wasn't looking at Sumas, instead, he was firing wildly behind him, very wildly as if he was trying to actually hit something that wasn't there. "STAY BACK MONSTER!" He yelled threating, but all the shots just hit everything but the target he was sure to follow him.

The Bounty Hunter had a decent gear on, not as advanced as Mandalorian gear, but good enough to know that he wasn't a newcomer to the trade. So the fact that this almost seasoned Bounty Hunter was actually running, shouting monster and fleeing said a lot about this supposedly "ghost". However, the sudden bright threating green blade of light lit up the area, slicing off the leg of the fleeing bounty hunter, before getting over to where Sumas was.

The man screamed feeling the excruciating pain from having his lower leg cut and right before the man hits the floor, he gets beheaded. The green blade of glowing light, disappeared just as quick as the appeared and darkness shrouded the area again, apart from the flickering light spread out across the factory. The last thing Sumas saw was two small glowing orbs of green light before they disappeared as well and he felt alone again.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas was a bit surprised at the look of the place. No wonder there was a bounty on whatever did this. The lighting messed up his vision modes, forcing him to switch back to normal mode. Keeping his rifle at the ready, he slowly moved in. He made sure to avoid the bodies and blood pools...and he was glad that he had a filter to avoid the smell.

He looked around, seeing more and more bodies the deeper he went. This was not right at all. He checked his rifle to make sure it was ready to rock before deciding to move towards the back. Though the dismembered bodies made him stop. He knelt down beside one and looked it over, noting that there was a distinct lack of blood. He only knew of one weapon that could do this and one such weapon was on his hip. Seems like a Sith went rogue. It would definitely explain the "supernatural" aspect of things if this was Sith. A smirk appeared behind his helmet as he thought of claiming another lightsaber. Koil would definitely be impressed.

He immediately rose and readied his rifle when he saw blaster fire all over the place. A few seconds later the bounty hunter he saw at the bar came running from the back of the warehouse. He backed up and got ready to cover him, but that plan went out the window when he was chopped up...by a very green lightsaber. But Sumas didn't shoot. It wasn't the lightsaber that fazed him, no Jedi or Sith could defend at this range against the rifle he had in his hands. no, what stopped him was the eyes. He only saw those eyes before from one person.

"Eithni?"

The eyes disappeared and silence took over the place once again. Things now made a lot more sense. But how? He didn't expect this from her. Not from what he had to deal with on Kashyyyk. "Eithni, is that you?!" he called out as he shouldered his rifle beside his jetpack, though his hands gravitated to his pistols in case she decided to come after him. "It's me! It's Sumas! If that's you, come out here. Let's talk." he called out to her, hoping it would help get her out of whatever mindset she was in.

He drew a pistol and pressed on, ready for whatever she could throw at him.

@Raven_41

 

[Eithni Vala Stark]

No answer. Only the creaking sound of the lamps, weaving back and forth slowly and the flickering sound the lights made. More and more bodies came into Sumas' t-visor, but what he also would notice, was the metal walls of the containers, large letters spelt, "MONSTER". A blur in the air, jumping from one container to another one, just passing under the flickering light, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" screamed a girl's voice that sounded a lot like Eithni's, however, something enhanced her voice to sound louder and very much more threatening. It was very much as if an angry spirit spoke through her with a deep voice of hatred.

~Silence again.~

And then, upon one of the containers, a loud "clunk" sound came from something invisible for a moment, become the same green glowing eyes lit up, with smoke rising from the outer corners of her eyes. The green eyes looked down at Sumas through the darkness, "are you here to hurt me, like everybody else?!" Asked the "ghost" angrily, no demanded to know. "Everybody comes to hurt me... I JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!" Screamed the "ghost" again and again the voice got enhanced by a deep threatening voice of something otherworldly. The same blood writing on the containers, saying "MONSTER" was visible the deeper into the factory Sumas looked, giving a clear sign that there might be a lot more carnage than what the Mandalorian Zarbrak have witnessed.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Despite being alone in an abandoned warehouse with a crazy witch, Sumas wasn't afraid. Alert, yes, but not afraid. He looked up as a shadow flew overhead, then looked around as the voice broke the silence. That was Eithni, alright. She sounded like she was possessed, but that was her. He pressed on, ignoring the painting along the crates and the dead bodies. How the hell does one calm down a deranged Nightsister?

He spun around and readied his pistol, but he kept it lowered. He watched the green eyes with a blank expression. He waited for her to finish screaming and throwing a fit before deciding to speak. "Eithni, come on. It's me! Why the hell would I hurt you? And what are you doing down here?" he asked her casually, though there was clear concern in his voice for her part. He looked down at the crate underneath her. The same word was written out in blood just like everywhere else. "Eithni, talk to me. What's happened to you? Why did you kill all these people? I'm sure they deserved it, but still." he continued, holstering his pistols and removing his helmet to look at her.

He clipped his helmet to his belt and looked at her with his deep green eyes. "What happened, Eithni?" he asked gently, figuring it might be the best approach.

@Raven_41

 

[Eithni Vala Stark]

Sumas' voice seemed to make the invisible Eithni hesitate for just a moment, showing the Zabrak that there still was some sort of reasoning, but something painful was keeping him at bay. "Lies! It was all a lie!" Sneered the possessed voice almost animalistic. "She left me... because... I'm a monster, you all see me as a monster!" Yelled Eithni with great sorrow in her voice. "You're here for the 'ghost', you're here to kill me, just like the rest!" screamed the invisible girl as her voice cracked due to crying.

"Just leave me alone!" cried out Eithni and Sumas would see the same blur jump under the flickering lamp as Eithni jumped further into the factory. However, the sound of a door opening and closing at the overlooking room of the whole factory. If the Zabrak would go after the sound, he would notice the word "MONSTER" written more and more, some even starting to overlap each other.

The moment he would enter the room that overlooked the whole factory, he would be met by a foul stench of dead flesh and blood. The same flickering light was trying desperately to light up the room, but unable to do the task. Sumas would finally get a sense of how much carnage there actually had taken place as multiple dead bounty hunters laid in a pool of their own blood or simply just killed by a lightsaber.

And right in the far left corner of the room, sat Eithni, visible and sat, curled together like a ball, silently crying, alone and covered in the blood of her enemies. Whether Eithni heard Sumas enter the room or not, was not known as she didn't give any sign of acknowledging his arrival.

The place looked very much like something out of a nightmarish dream or something of a battlefield with even more of the same word, "MONSTER" written all over the place.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas stood in place, carefully watching Eithni as she screamed and cried. Something was very wrong and the mention of a "she" only complicated things further. Was Eithni committing mass murder because of a break-up? He hoped not. How the hell would anybody explain that to the authorities?

"Eithni, I'm-" he started, but she cut him off by screaming at him and disappearing again. He gave an annoyed sigh. The last thing he needed now was another person crying over losing someone. At least this was a break-up and not death. But that didn't make it any easier. He looked around and quickly figured where she went off to. Not wanting to walk all the way he activated his jetpack and launched himself up onto the catwalk. Even from outside he smelled the decay, making him gag. "Oh hell no." he mumbled as he slid his helmet back on to take full advantage of the filter.

He slowly entered the office, shocked at what he saw. It was a bloodbath...and in the corner of it sat Eithni. She was crying her eyes out. He was really glad he had his helmet on. "Eithni?" he muttered. He left the door open as he took a few steps closer, quite put off by what he was seeing. "Eithni...you're a mess." he commented as he looked her over. "I want to help you. But I can't do it here. Not with all these bodies and you being drenched in blood." he explained to her. For a second he stood, then finally he reached out to hold a hand for her to take. "Come on. Let's get you out of here."

@Raven_41

 

[Eithni Vala Stark]

Eithni was a complete mess, as she was curled together like a ball, crying, unable to stop. Hearing Sumas' voice, she flinched a bit, but didn't attack him or even scream, she just sat there in the corner. "P~please just leave, I'm a monster, monsters don't deserve help," said the drenched girl in blood with a cracked voice due to her crying. It was clear that the witch was tired, tired and completely broken from her normal cheerfully nature.

Eithni didn't want to leave, she wanted to stay, hoping some lucky fool would be strong enough to kill her and rid her of these painful emotions she was feeling. It was a tumult with all kinds of emotions that Eithni didn't know she could feel. It was as if she was being sucked through a black hole, torn to pieces and then rebuilt, only to be torn apart again.

Though something uncontrollable in actually reached out for Sumas' hand, letting him help her up and out of the bloodied massacred factory, whether the Zabrak carried Eithni or not, he managed to get her to carry her away from the horrid place. When they finally got into some working light, the Mandalorian would be able to see the Nightsister better and she wasn't just drenched in blood, but completely covered from head to toe. Eithni had been silent the entire trip out of the Undercity and while Sumas was being stopped by some city guards because he was carrying a completely drenched silent girl. However, being a Supercommando and a few words got Sumas through to the upper levels of the city. Eithni was silent all the way to Sumas' ship, clinging to the Zabrak as if she was afraid he would leave her, now that he was holding her.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Despite telling him to leave, Sumas didn't. He stood his ground as he waited to see what she would do. but despite what she said, she reached out and accepted his hand. He gently pulled her to her feet then proceeded to pick her up. He could tell she was a mess, but he didn't do anything about her. He held her close to him as he walked out of the warehouse. Outside he put Eithni on his swoop and drove off towards the landing pads where his ship was parked. Of course the officers wanted to know what was wrong and why he had a girl drenched in blood in his lap...but with some persuasion, honesty and a handful of credits, he got past them and carried the poor girl into his ship.

The first thing he did was carry her to the refresher and started to undress her. "I'm going to give you a shower, okay?" he explained to her before she would attack him. "You're in bad shape, Eithni. Let me help you." he said softly as he removed the bloody and soaked rags and ushered her into the shower. He decided to ditch his armour as well, leaving only a t-shirt and sweatpants on to not drench his gear in water. He started to wash her back, watching as the blood washed down the drain and her white skin started to show again. Even her hair started to get it's silver colour back. She was looking like her old self again!

"Why were you down there, Eithni? Why Taris?" he asked her. He wanted to know what this girl of hers did to her but he knew that wouldn't happen any time soon.

@Raven_41

 

[Eithni Vala Stark]

Sumas would also notice as they got closer to his ship, that Eithni clutched herself close into him as if she was scared that he would disappear if she didn't. The young witch hadn't said a word and she kept quiet even as the Mandalorian entered his ship with her. Even when he started to remove her bloodied and soaked ragged attires, which showed a naked girl under it with no panties of any kind. Eithni just had a blank stare at nothing really as she just let Sumas strip her and wash her naked body.

The girl just stood there as the dried and fresh blood slowly was washed away, almost having a sort of rebirth, if you looked at it in a more religious way. Hearing Sumas ask her about why she was on Taris, made the memories of losing Sakadi come crashing down on her in flashes before her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to keep herself from completely breaking down again, it was impossible.

Eithni just turned and wrapped her arms around Sumas' neck and broke into a disarray of all her emotion just pouring out at the same time. Eithni cried and cried for a good hour with nothing but unclear sentences and words that got suffocated by her crying and noise from the shower. When Eithni finally wasn't crying herself in death, she just held on to him for some sort of closure. Eithni was actually scared that Sumas would leave her, why she held on to him, scared that she will lose him and then be alone again with only Kalanda left as her friend.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas was definitely thankful that she didn't attack him. As he washed her down, he got more relieved that she looked like a person again. He tried to respect her privacy as much as possible, though it did get awkward here and there. But with the mention of Taris, he seemed to trigger something bad for her.

She suddenly jumped him and clinged to him for dear life. He was completely taken off-guard as she cried into his shoulder. She tried explaining to him...or something...but he didn't understand a word she said. In response he shut off the water and wrapped his arms around her to try and comfort her. The whole time he held her warmly and tried to console her by rubbing her back and shushing her. But, of course, that didn't work. So Sumas simply resorted to standing there and hugging her. Eventually the crying lessened and finally ceased. Her red eyes seemed to have put on a shade or two after all that crying.

Despite not crying anymore, Eithni held onto him. He figured it was for comfort or fear. Regardless, he didn't leave her. His arms held her close, ignoring the fact that his shirt and pants were now completely soaked by her body, then finally led her out of the shower. He grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around her to start drying her off. "Let's get you dried off then we can find you some clean clothes. Okay?" he said gently as he carefully fried her off. She wasn't completely clean but that was alright. She was miles better than she was a few hours ago.

With her finally dried off he kept the towel around her frail body and gently led her to the sleeping quarters to find her some pants and a shirt...though everything he had was about three sizes too big for her. But it was better than nothing so it had to make do. He took out a simple t-shirt and shorts then held them for her. "You need help putting them on?" he asked her as he tried to hide the smile on his face. It was a little amusing that he had to wash her and dress her up, but he understood that she needed it. She was in a bad place right now. Some care and affection would go a long way in helping her...

@Raven_41

 

[Eithni Vala Stark]

To say Eithni was a mess, was an understatement and it showed as she cried for a long time into Sumas' shoulder. The girl had no control over her own body, but for one thing, her clinging to the only person right now around her. The girl physically couldn't cry anymore, even if she wanted to, her body just wouldn't give her the ability to cry. The witch just sat there, even as he dried her to the best of his ability. Even as Sumas led Eithni out of the bath and through the ship to the sleeping quarters, he would realize that the girl, who usually always carried a lightheartedness to the conversation, just followed him silently.

Eithni hadn't said a word ever since she stopped crying and just looked completely defeated with her dead stare at the ground. Standing in the bedroom, Eithni just stood where Sumas left her and stared emotionless at the Mandalorian. When presented with the oversized clothes, the girl just dropped the towel to the ground right in front of Sumas as she took the given clothes.

With no excitement at all, she took the gifted clothes on and looked very much like a homeless girl who didn't have credits for clothes or if she just decided to wear sloppy clothing on because she decided to stay home.

And there Eithni stood, unsure what to do or not do, or if she ever wanted to do anything at all. She couldn't cry, her body in a way ran dry for the time being. She felt thirsty from all the crying, but she didn't want to be alone. She wanted Sakadi back, her heart felt broken, and right now having Sakadi back just felt like the only way to make her whole.

Then a waterfall over thoughts completely overwhelmed her. Eithni had actually suggested that she left her Sisters, Dathomir her culture and what made Eithni who she was. If it hadn't been because of her already cried out the state from tears, would the witch have broken down again in tears. Instead, she dashed into the Mandalorian Zabrak with a tight hug. However, it wasn't her usual happy bear hugging, but a desperate attempt for some kind of closure and affection.

Sumas could pretty much do whatever he wanted with Eithni and the girl would just let it happen. No spark. No excitement.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

While Eithni took the time to get dressed, Sumas threw his wet shirt off to the side and got himself a fresh new one. He pulled it over himself and made sure his pants were still dry. Finally done, he turned to look at Eithni again...who suddenly rushed him and threw her arms around him. He was surprised, to say the least, but he knew she needed someone to care for her right now.

His arms wrapped around her sides and he hugged her close, resting his cheek against the top of her head. He simply held her for a while, consoling her and gently stroking her back as they stood in the bunkroom. "It's alright, Eithni. I'm here." he whispered to her. "I'm not going anywhere." he muttered. He figured she thought he would leave her, simply toss her out and fly off. But he was here, he wasn't leaving her behind.

He gently pulled her with him towards a bunk where he sat down and pulled her onto his lap where he held her sad and broken form close to comfort her. "If you don't want to say what happened, I won't force you. But know that I won't simply leave you behind, Eithni. I'm here for you." he said gently and softly, his hand gently stroking her back.

@Raven_41