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Trys Aran

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Trys switched it back on, though she stared down at it. She listened to his explanation about the blade being alive. She couldn’t imagine that to be the case, but she knew that Force users were deeply connected to their blades. Trys felt it hum in her hand, looking over as Talak ignited his blade and moved it around.

“It’s different when you do it,” She said as she watched him, “You look like you’re doing nothing different than when you were painting. It’s almost artistic and graceful,” Trys looked down at the blade in her hand, scoffing, “When I do it, it looks like I’m chopping wood with an ax,” She stared at the hilt in her hand for a long time, “But I don’t think this will ever feel like an extension of me. It gives me a feeling of unease that I can’t explain,” She almost said it felt as if it didn’t want her to use it, but that felt entirely too silly.

Trys realized he was standing closer to her now, and she looked at him for a moment before switching off the blade. She actually despised how strange the dynamic felt between them - it had been so natural before, and now even for all her cold and closed off self, she was having trouble adapting. This impacted her more than she would ever admit, and she had to keep reminding and convincing herself of the original reasons she had pushed him away.

She started walking and followed him towards the edge of the cliff. Trys started moving after he did, moving a lot slower. She felt her feet slip a bit a few times, and she was certainly a lot less surefooted than him. Trys could see him easily move over to the ledge, and it was a small gap that looked questionable to her. She stared at him and then the gap, “Well, if I don’t make this, it’s been nice knowing you,” Trys called out to him with a grimace.

Without saying another word, she lurched forth in an attempt to jump over to the ledge. Her foot slipped slightly as she leaped off, but she hoped to try and snag the opposite edge to hoist herself up.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak nodded as if he understood what she meant about the blade feeling uneasy. It was the same sense he got when he used the old Jedi blade he'd found. It didn't like him, but it couldn't actually stop him.

Talak had moved over and leapt to the second ledge when he heard Trys yelling about it being nice knowing him. Had it been nice knowing him? He supposed she did like him even if there was this super weird, awkward limbo between them. Or was there? Was he just imagining this all? How could he still have this much trouble reading her all this time later? Kriff why did she have to be so difficult?

He was abruptly yanked from his thoughts as the Force all but screeched like a banshee in his mind that something was about to go very, very, very wrong. Everything seemed to slip into slow motion as her foot slipped on the wet ground, and he lunged forward. The Force whipped out of its own accord as it responded to his emotions, wrapping solidly around her and pulling her toward him until his hand wrapped around hers. His grip was like a vice around her forearm and there was no hesitation as he pulled her up. And he pulled her up hard. The Force gave him all the strength he needed and he promptly pulled back with his whole body until... she ended up completely on top of him.

Are you okay? he asked. This was going to be awkward for both of them, but he couldn't do much until she wasn't on top of him any more. He wasn't going to just shove her aside. After all, it wasn't that dreadful of a position to be in.
 

Trys Aran

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She knew it was a bad idea as soon as she left the ledge and began to plummet. Trys was never the type to scream, so she simply grimaced and prepared for the worst, feeling that sick weightlessness as gravity took over. However, she violently felt herself tugged in a different direction, and that made her feel even worse. It concluded with Talak grabbing onto her arm and hoisting her up in a way that made her feel as if her arm were being torn off. In fact, she was sure it was probably dislocated. Trys grunted in pain as she was pulled up and they were both sent tumbling.

She plopped directly atop him, feeling pure agony course through the arm he had pulled. Her left arm still had that stupid recovering gash, and the rest of her body was still sore from the crash landing. However, she was most aware of the predicament she found herself in – gazing down at him only inches away and both of them awkwardly looking at each other. Her hands were on his chest, and she was sure he could hear her erratic heartbeats. Now that the rush of almost plummeting to her death had passed, it was just the two of them in silence with nothing but the ambient noises of their surroundings.

“You know, under different circumstances, this could be pretty romantic,” Trys said with a grin, hearing the waterfalls in the background and the gentle sounds of chirping birds in the distance. It was only a joke meant to lighten the mood and diffuse the tension, but her mind began to race. Trys couldn’t even help the way her gaze drifted down to his lips for just a flickering moment, the desire to kiss him and act on impulse like she had before was almost overwhelming. However, she knew exactly what that cost before and where it left him.

After what felt like a century, Trys slowly eased herself back up to her feet, ignoring the pain in her arm which began to subside slowly. She extended the hand to help Talak up, “Thanks for not letting me drop like a pile of rocks,” She looked over the ledge and where she almost went, “Would’ve been a pretty anticlimactic end,” Trys looked past Talak and at the entrance to the enclave, “Are your wizard senses tingling about that place yet?”
 

Talak Rand

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Talak listened as she mentioned that this could have been romantic under other circumstances, and felt awkward for a moment. How was he supposed to reply to something like that? Was this another hint or was this just him reading too much into a joke. He could feel her heat pounding against his chest, but of course she'd had an adrenaline rush at nearly dying.

But then he saw her eyes drift down toward his lips even if only for a moment, and suddenly he craved her. The feeling of his lips against hers. He was almost willing her to give in and kiss him, but he also knew that she couldn't. They couldn't. Could they?

His eyes caught hers, those cool blue orbs that he'd stared into so deeply and been lost in as they'd made love. Why couldn't things be simple? Why the kark did she have to have her stupid rule 3. Even she knew it was dumb.

The moment lingered... He could feel the emotions passing between them. They were just... so close, but couldn't crest the hill, it seemed.

When she finally got up and offered him a hand, he took it.

Yeah... I figure it'd be bad if they found a Sector Ranger body out here, he said deadpan. They both knew it was a great deal more than that. He almost hated that he still would have gone to incredible lengths to keep her from getting hurt. Why do you have to be so dense, Talak?

He turned his attention to the door as she asked if he sensed anything. He did, in fact, sense something. The "door" vibrated with the Force, and as he ran a hand along its stone, he could sense that it had been made that way on purpose. He reached out with the Force and into the stone. The door began to glow with the outline of an arch and then folded inward.

He glanced over at her and arched an eyebrow. Bet you're glad I'm here now, he said, actually managing a smirk. It almost felt like old times for a moment, but as he looked through the door something felt off. It was incredibly dark, but in the Force he also sensed a foreboding aura that made him freeze.

I'm not sure this is a good idea, he muttered before glancing over at her. Who's turn is it to go to the hospital? he asked. But out here there weren't any close medbays, and that made him all the more concerned.

He had half a mind to just insist they go back to his ship and he tell her everything, but he knew he shouldn't. He shouldn't be helping her investigate the Sith Eternal at all! He shouldn't be doing a great many things, but she was in his head and his heart, and he couldn't get her out.

He lit his saber and turned to her. It's a light source and a weapon. You're gonna want it, he said, knowing she didn't particularly care for the saber as he made his way inside. The wall were lined with ancient carvings and markings. He recognized the script as ancient Sith that he'd learned from the holocron. It was a necessary part of any alchemical ritual. He realized that in being here, she was likely to learn a great deal more toward her investigation today about what exactly she was hunting. Or at least what the people she was hunting were interested in.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys grinned back when Talak bet she was glad to have him there. For the briefest moment he had a smirk she had seen on his face many times, one she had grown to miss, “I usually am…” She muttered quietly, running her fingers through her hair as they made their way towards the entrance. When he paused and reminded them of their alternate hospital visits, Trys grimaced.

“Why isn’t it a good idea?” She asked, glancing over at him,“What do you feel?” Trys had never actually asked him about his Force ‘feelings’ before, but she appeared genuinely curious. She had seen him utilize this strange power enough times to know it had merit and all his ‘bad feelings’ always had weight to it, “What’re we walking into, Talak?”

Trys began to walk as he did, stepping into the strange little enclave. There was something about it that was almost oppressive, as if it didn’t want her there. Talak appeared to be unaffected, but it gave her pause. He would notice her stop every few steps, looking uneasy. Trys tried to play it off and kept walking, but it always nagged at the back of her mind.

She looked over at the walls as she walked, spotting the ancient carvings. Trys touched them very faintly with her fingers, some of the dust lining her skin, “What do these mean? Do you know? They look like they tell a story.”
 

Talak Rand

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And then she had to say things like that. What was he supposed to make of her saying she was glad he was around!? She had said that she enjoyed working cases with him, but that... didn't seem like what this was. It gnawed at his mind as they continued.

He shook his head as she asked why this wasn't a good idea. She asked follow up questions, but he didn't have the details to what he was worried about. A vague sense of dread? No, being hunted. It was the feeling of being hunted by something.

I don't know... it feels like something in here hunting, he said and extended his feelings further deeper into the tunnels and caverns. And death. A lot of death, he said. He didn't know what kind of rituals had been performed in here, but he had a feeling its cost could be counted in gallons of human blood. That was the trade off to alchemy.

He glanced back and noticed her hesitation and continued to wonder at the decision to come here. He shouldn't have cared, but he didn't care if he shouldn't care, he did, shab it! He could sense the unease on her mind and realized this entire place resonated so strongly in the dark side that it could affect even people who weren't normally receptive.

Are you feeling okay? he asked. Kriff it if it's not my business, he thought to himself, finally getting sick of all this tiptoeing.

He walked over and looked at the markings she was looking at and held his lightsaber up in the air to light it.

It's history. History the galaxy wants to forget, he said. The galaxy had tried to expunge the Sith from their records, and on some level Talak could understand it. There had been some incredibly corrupted Sith. Most of them, in fact, but where everyone else saw pointless evil, he had begun to see... potential.

Old Empires and times long past, he said. He almost cringed to think of what she would say or think when she found out he was... well, he wasn't a Sith per se, but he was certainly associated with them. Moving toward them more every day.

His eyes scanned over the runes and pictures before finding one that he pointed to. Here's the story of an Empress's rise. She went from being an outcast to changing the face of the galaxy. A Jedi to a ruler, he said.

And here... he said pointing to another area ...the story of the Empire's legacy torn down by a former ruler. A ruler to a Jedi, he said. It struck him as odd that the final days of the Sith Empire would have been inscribed here too, but as it had turned out Darth Cain had fled before the fall of the Empire and hidden himself away in here. Whatever was left of his spirit had perished with Darth Sidious, but the darkness still lingered here.

Everything's a cycle, he said quietly as if more to himself than anything. It was what the Force always demonstrated. The rise and fall. The Jedi to the Sith and back.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys grimaced when he asked about how she was faring, “I...something about this place,” She said quietly, “I normally don’t give stock to weird feelings or anything but…” It was almost oppressive, almost as if something were screaming at her that she wasn’t welcome. Trys pressed on anyway, marveling at how none of it impacted Talak even a little. He was perfectly fine and giving a nice tour for her.

After he was done, Trys quirked an eyebrow, “So all the...bad guys come from Jedi? Always?” She suddenly felt uneasy about the slow partnership the Rangers had started to forge with the Jedi. Trys kept that bit quiet for now, following behind Talak. He would notice that she kept her hand against the wall almost as if needing to support herself.

There was an incline that led down to a lower chamber. Trys had to grimace as she smelled it, looking around to see piles of human bones all around. The ground was tainted with old blood, and she gingerly stepped above it to take in all the carvings and paintings.

“What were these Empires called? I see some markings repeating several times,” Trys glanced over at Talak, “It’s the same word. What’s that word?” Perhaps it was the name the non Jedi had given themselves. She knew they were more than just ‘red sabers’.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak was clearly unperturbed by the darkness here. Or at least he was accustomed to wrestling with it enough that he didn't care. He could feel it almost communing with the darker parts of him inside, but he pushed it deeper down and away from the surface.

Not always, but a lot of times, he said. Perhaps even most of the time. The Legions, the Sith, and even the Inquisitors were all former Jedi. He figured there were probably others he wasn't familiar with as well.

She asked him a question, but as he glanced back at her, he could see how unsteady she looked. Almost pale as if she might pass out at any moment and leaned against the wall. He moved over toward her quickly to catch her if she fell.

Trys, you don't look good, he said, almost starting to wonder if she'd been poisoned and he placed a hand against her forehead to see if she had a fever.

You should sit. Do you have something to drink? he asked. As soon as the words came out he reminded himself that her well being was none of his business, but oops, there he went again not giving a kriff what the rules said.

Maybe we shouldn't go on, he said before realizing that would just look like him wanting whatever was down here for himself. Or at least... I don't know... figure out what's wrong, he said. A sudden breeze passed through the cave and it carried with it the faintest sound of a whisper, but the words were unintelligible. In fact, either of them might have thought they'd simply imagined it, and Talak frowned and looked down the passage. How could there be a breeze down here?
 

Trys Aran

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Trys felt that breeze, but it impacted her differently. It flowed through her nose, mouth, ears and filled her head. It filled her mind, her thoughts, and she couldn’t even hear Talak. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she began to sway where she stood. Her hand brushed against the wall and she started to slide down. Trys abruptly began to clutch the front of her body as if she were in excruciating pain.

She suddenly looked up at Talak, but when she spoke it was almost as if it weren’t her voice, “Why’re you letting him do this to me? Why aren’t you stopping it? Why are you watching me die?” Her voice was choked and pained, and she collapsed to the floor, “You let it happen! You did it. I trusted you. I trusted us,” Trys clutched at the armor she wore as if it were constricting her, and she was convulsing for a moment before it suddenly went away.

Trys was on all fours, scrambling to get up. There was rage on her face as she glared at the opposite wall as if someone were standing there, “How could you walk out on him? He’s your son. He’s a part of you. How could you walk out on us like this?” It sounded more like Trys’s voice this time, but it was clear she was entirely not there and in a completely different reality.

The moment was just as brief as the previous one, and in the end she collapsed to the floor again. This time her eyes remained closed and she went limp. The breeze continued to flow from the cave, the sinister aura surrounding Talak and almost beckoning for him to embrace it and keep walking further.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak didn't really panic very often. He got concerned, worried, definitely awkward, and spent most of his life confused, but panic wasn't common.

Right now, he was panicking.

Trys was... convulsing for lack of a better word and was clearly a woman possessed. She was shrieking about things that didn't fully make sense, and she didn't even sound like herself. He recoiled for a moment, caught off guard by the movements and sounds, and felt last as to what he was supposed to do.

A moment later she went limp and Talak started to go over toward her before freezing in place. He felt... something different. It was as if he were watching his own body move but he wasn't in control. He was walking toward... something. It was like the shadow of a man that reached out to him. It promised him everything he spent his whole life fighting for. Stability, peace, and justice if he would just give in.

He took two more steps, reaching out a hand. He was about to touch the shadow when something... stopped him. It was a wave of emotion he wasn't expecting. It was almost like it emanated from Trys herself, and somehow he knew that if he embraced whatever darkness lay in front of him... it would mean an end. Whether to them or to her or even to himself, he didn't know. But an end...

Not now... he whispered and pulled back, slamming the cage shut on the monster that was in his mind. He unrooted himself from his place on the ground and grabbed Trys. He didn't care about what was here. He would come back if need be or he wouldn't, but if it cost him her... no, he wouldn't do that. That wasn't a price he'd pay. No matter how foolish he was being.

He carried her frantically to the opening to the cave and began work immediately. He pulled out his saber and dug a deep, bowl shaped hole into the stone next to her head. An actual bowl was what he was supposed to use for his sorcery, but desperate times...

He used the Force to funnel water from the falls into the hole until it was filled. Now came the "fun" part. He dragged Trys next to the makeshift bowl and grabbed one of the knives she'd taken from the ship, suddenly very grateful she had taken them. He flinched as he rolled up his sleeves, knowing what these rituals required: sacrifice of the user. And Talak needed power. Lots of it.

He winced and gasped as he ran the blade up his forearms, blood all but poured down, mixing with the waters of the pool. He let it run freely before slamming the knife into the center of the pool. Crackles of blue lightning ran through the blade and into the red-stained pool, passing into the ground but leaving a dark, powerful energy behind in the Force.

He knew what he had to do, but it terrified him. The last time he'd taken a plunge into another person's mind it had nearly cost him everything. Trapped in another person's terror and darkness, but he wouldn't leave her trapped in there with whatever demons haunted her.

Forgive me, Trys... he whispered. He let her head float in the pool of energy and leaned forward. His lips touched hers before he pulled back. The words of the ancient Sith came off his lips as he spoke, reaching out and touching her mind with his own.

He could immediately see there was a fog of darkness all around; an all-consuming prison of dark clouds, but he pressed through. The power of blood and lightning amplified his own energy and cut through the inky blackness if only a bit. He didn't know what he would find in here or where he would find her, but he was going to help her get out. No matter the cost.
 

Trys Aran

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He would suddenly be faced with a dark and dreary path. He was on a dark road with black trees and a swirling mist above. The mist was comprised of slivers and threads of realities that comprised of past, present and wishes. They were hopes and dreams but hadn’t manifested yet. He could walk straight, and it was a direct path. However, if he turned, he could see many other paths.

These other paths offered glimpses into her mind that were so tempting. He could easily take the fork in the road and see her origin. There were little glimpses of her as a teenager, the vague face of a woman that was older and looked like her. She reached for a needle, and he would need to walk further in to see exactly what happened.

A bit further down, there were glimpses of the back of a Zabrak with Trys looking at him - when she had been a teen. They were saying something, but he would need to walk deeper in to see the face or hear. The other paths led to glimpses of anguish and pain that felt viscerally painful. There were faces of criminals, thugs and the scent of spice was suddenly almost overwhelming. Talak would have to take those forks in the road to find out more.

There were paths towards every agonizing crime scene she had seen, the vague flashes of the dead bodies, the intel she started to uncover on the Sith, everything she ever knew. But he would only see fragments, never enough to put the whole story together. He would have to walk in that path to uncover more.

And there was a fork in the road that had flashes of his own face. He would see himself in fragments, and it was clear there was more there for him to unearth. If he kept walking down that path, he would know exactly what she felt about him and where the truth lied, but it was impossible to tell without walking the fork.

He could choose any of these paths and she would never know. He could choose any of these forks and die with the knowledge. Or he could ignore them all and keep walking straight. Very far ahead in the distance he would be able to make out her outline wandering aimlessly and lost but in no immediate danger. He had all the time in the world to explore all these other paths if he chose.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak pressed on through the misty fog and it slowly began to clear, but the path didn't become any easier as he found his way through into a cleared space. It felt dark and closed in around him in a way he knew it shouldn't have. If this was anything like the last mind he'd navigated, the Force would either completely neglect his call or it would find itself sluggish and dulled. He didn't even dare try.

His eyes swept over the many paths that broke off to either side. She had always been such a mystery to him. What she thought was shielded beyond an impenetrable wall, and he realized now that he could have found out whatever he wanted to know. Any answer to any question.

He could see her early days and her life of crime. The struggles with addiction and spice. He could know how she coped and overcame. Maybe her own escape could have told him how to escape the darkness.

Or her son and past lover. He could have known what drew them together and why they hadn't stayed. The crime scenes and her life as a Ranger. They all tempted him, but it wasn't these that really drew him.

It was the path where he saw his own outline that his feet nearly strayed. He wanted to know, and the answers were there. All he had to do was reach out and grab them to know what she truly felt and why. Why she pushed him away and if there was something more there. If there could ever be anything more between them. His foot took a step and stopped dead.

He didn't know - couldn't know - that if he lost his way he would never find it again. That wasn't what kept him on the path. Only two things kept him on the path straight: a promise and... love. He hated himself for thinking it even now, but there was no way he could deny it anymore. He'd given up the power offered to him and perhaps even the secrets of that enclave for this. He'd bled himself out on the side of a cliff perhaps to his own doom. He'd risked his own sanity to come in here. All of it was for her. He almost hated himself for loving her after everything, and he wouldn't say the words, but in his heart there was no denying it anymore. He loved her, and that meant he could neither leave her trapped down here nor break his promise that he wouldn't invade her mind or abuse his powers toward her.

His foot pulled back and he continued to press on to the hazy figure ahead.

Trys... he tried to shout toward her, but his voice initially came out strangled like trying to scream in a dream.

Trys! Can you hear me! he shouted, trying to rush toward her but his feet seeming to stick in the ground like mud. Kriff, I hate being in other people's heads... he cursed as he pressed onward. At least if the goal was to keep the person's mind in tact it was dreadfully difficult to navigate.
 

Trys Aran

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The version of her in this alternate plane of existence was lost and confused. It heard his voice, but it looked in the wrong direction, frantically searching for the source of it. Meanwhile, Talak would feel the world around him begin to collapse around him. He would feel the ground rise up and surround him, and he would have to fight the excruciating pain and pressure.

Trys walked further and further away, calling out in response but lost and looking away. The trees broke and collapsed, the memories swirled and churned. However, the closer he walked to her, the more the darkness began to fade. The skies began to turn blue, but she was still just out of reach.

There was something that kept holding him back and if he looked down he would see it was himself. It was a younger version of himself with eyes flashing gold that wanted to drag him in the opposite direction. The face flashed between his face and the Eternal’s mask. He would see an entire galaxy behind him that he was pulling away from.

Trys was blissfully oblivious to all this, still searching and just barely out of reach. Once he finally managed to pulled himself apart to get to her, all he needed to do was grasp her hand. Trys would look back at him with surprise and that was when he would be lurched out of the timeless space he had delved into.

The force was almost enough to knock him back a few feet. Trys bolted up to sit with a loud gasp as if she had been drowning underwater. Her eyes were wide and sweat lined her body. Her chest rapidly rose and fell, and she saw streaks of black coursing down through her body and towards her extremities. They were fading away, but they looked like spider veins that pulsated.

“What the kriff?!” She shouted, feeling a throbbing headache as she clutched her head. Trys looked over to see the small hole and what looked like...blood. She then looked over to see the gash on Talak’s arm. Fury coursed through her and she looked completely betrayed, What the kriff did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO TALAK?”

The fear was palpable in her voice.
 

Talak Rand

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No, no, no, how can she be walking away?! he screamed in his mind. He tried to shout out to her again to turn around, but he couldn't. His voice caught in his throat and no sound came out. He struggled all the more against the mud gripping his boots. He pulled and strained but it was hard and the more he tried the tighter the grip became.

He threw his head down in baffled anger to see what held him and nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. His own eyes and the Eternal. It was his potential. What he could be and what he feared to become. He could also make out Zatara's hand gripping him and pulling him back. There was a pang of guilt with the site. Was he abandoning her? Leaving behind everything and dishonoring her sacrifice. He thought he felt a tear well up in his eyes, but he had to face a singular truth: she was dead and there was no bringing her back. And Trys wasn't. She was his future or even perhaps just his imagined future. He had to let the past die.

I'm sorry... he whispered. His heart practically tore open as he pulled away, telling himself once more that it wasn't real. He lunged forward with the last of his strength and threw his arms around her fully. They ripped through the dark cloud at breakneck speed.

He was all but thrown back into his body and knocked physically away from her. As his spirit suffused his body once again he was a paradox. He felt spent and exhausted but also wired and flying high. There was a power creeping in the back of his mind, but his body railed against the lost blood.

I saved your kriffing life! he shouted back at her. He knew it wasn't the right response, but he was... spent. After all that, the response he was expecting wasn't anger or fear. Perhaps not even gratitude but at least... empathy perhaps. But how could he expect that? She didn't know what had happened or what it had cost. Would she ever even believe any of it?

The roaring of the waterfall somehow swallowed him, and the moment of energy seemed to dissipate. Exhaustion threatened to take him and he slumped back against the wall of the cave as blood continued to flow form his arms. He couldn't fight with her anymore. Not after everything, but she was scared. Surely he should have been sympathetic to that.

Trys this place is evil, he said. It was as complex as it needed to be. There was evil in this place that ran far deeper than even he had anticipated. He wanted to say more, but he didn't know what. He didn't even know if there was any calming her down.
 

Trys Aran

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Her heart was pounding and so was her head. Sweat lined her entire body and the black streaks continued to fade. Trys felt dirty from whatever happened, and she wiped her arms to try and get rid of it. However her gaze remained on Talak, still feeling anger. When he spoke she paused and stopped what she was doing.

He wasn’t lying. She could see it his eyes, clear as day. She could see fear and desperation. He was exhausted and broken, and whatever ordeal he went through almost shattered him. Trys could only stare at him for a long moment, his words almost haunting. She gazed past him at the enclave. It promised so many answers, and it would have brought her so much closer to learning about the group.

Her stubbornness battled other aspects of her mind. However, in the end she sighed and looked back at Talak, “I...believe you,” She said quietly. Trys struggled slightly to get up, feeling oddly weak and faint. She wanted to ask him what happened, but at the same time she didn’t.

The entire situation was such a stark contrast to the ambiance around them. The waterfalls were tranquil, the chirping of birds remained the same. And yet amidst it all was an aberration, a malignancy that festered and pulsated. As much as she wanted to know more, she knew in her gut it would destroy her in the end.

Trys walked closer to him and crouched down next to him. She knew he packed extra supplies, and she reached for them on his belt, rapidly unpacking as she glanced over at his bleeding arm. Trys knew he would start to fade soon, and she quickly worked to apply pressure and staunch the bleeding.

“It’s not working damn it,” She looked at the gash desperately, frustrated. Trys threw the useless patches aside, turning to look down at the saber hilt he had given her. She gazed at him for a moment, “I’m...sorry...it’s the only way,” Trys would only do it if he let her. She pulled his belt off and held it up for him to bite down on as she ignited the saber. Trys would then drag the blade along the deep wounds, cauterizing them to immediately stop the bleeding and prevent any other infections. It would leave a permanent mark, but it would save him from losing any more blood.

She felt weakness in her own body after she finished, the hilt cluttering to the ground. Trys was drained, the black streaks still occasionally rippling through her extremities. In the end, she moved closer and simply collapsed against him. Her face buried into the crook of his neck and she closed her eyes, her breathing slowing.

Once more, the only sounds were those of the waterfalls and the birds.
 
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Talak Rand

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Thank goodness she believed him because he really didn't have it in him to argue with her about it. They'd both been through too much. He could sense her hesitation and fear, a normal reaction to what they'd been through.

She started working at his injuries, and he extended his arms out. He didn't resist as she tried to staunch the bleeding, and he could see the darkness pulsing through her veins periodically. He felt a pang of guilt at what he'd had to do, but he also knew that she would have been much worse off without it.

He was shaken from the thought as she cursed her interventions for not working. A fear began to settle in as he thought he was going to lose both of his arms to stop the bleeding. He bit down on the belt as she began to scrape the blade up his arms. His screams of agony were muffled by the leather as felt horrid pain scorching his arms. It was excruciating and even after she finished the pain lingered with intensity.

And then she leaned up against him. He wished that they hadn't both been covered in blood and water. The moment might have been something for them to share with a passion, but now they could barely both stand.

He leaned his head against hers, buried against his head and simply savored the warmth of her breath on his neck. I just want you... the rest of the galaxy could burn, he thought as his eyes closed.

---​

He didn't know how long they sat there like that, but Talak didn't want to leave. He wished he was still... in one piece. He wished they could have shared some happy moments together in safety and comfort, but it always seemed to be at the edge of their wits that they found these moments.

Eventually, he stirred. The pain still shot through his arms, and the bacta had only helped a bit, but he pulled back to look at her. He was beyond the point of caring about consequences or lines and he looked her straight in the eyes.

Trys... I have to confess that when you were asleep before I... he stopped short, not sure she wanted to know what he had done ...I may have kissed you, he said. Although it was a serious comment, it was said with a hint of that spark. It was barely even a confession, and if he thought she would have minded, he wouldn't have done it.
 

Trys Aran

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It felt as if hours had passed, and the sounds of waterfalls had lulled her to sleep. She moved when he did, and she felt the aches and pains from earlier returning. Trys glanced down at her body, relieved to see that the black streaks had disappeared now. She also took in sight of the wounds on Talak’s arms, remembering how they would permanently scar him. Trys hated having to resort to such drastic measures, but she also felt a pang of guilt on why he had done it. She knew he wouldn’t have done that unless it was a desperate measure to begin with.

Trys met his gaze as he pulled back and looked at her, seeing the weariness in him still. When he spoke, she didn’t react initially. It was almost comical given all the chaos they had just gone through, but she could see the genuine concern on his face. She pondered silently for a moment, staring at him with exhaustion clear on her face. Several thoughts went through her mind, but none of them ever amounted to anything.

In the end, she tilted her head and leaned in, capturing his lips with her own. Trys didn’t give any further thought to her actions, and she focused on that familiar feeling of embracing his warmth. She kissed him as long as he let her, paying no mind to the fact that they were covered in grime, sweat and had exhaustion weighing them down. Her hand came up to cup the side of his face and she let everything else melt away around her. Her touch and the kiss was tender and gentle, and there was no mistaking that it was a simple spur of the moment impulse.

Trys finally pulled back after a moment, meeting his gaze directly instead of looking away, “Well….now now you’ve done it while I’m awake,” She murmured quietly before managing a faint smile. She didn’t dwell too much longer on it, and she had no energy to overthink this. Trys pulled back and slowly rose to her feet, helping him up if he needed it.

She looked over the way they came and sighed, “I don’t think you’re in any position to help me over that gap. We’ll have to find another way back.”
 

Talak Rand

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When she was quite after he said it he started to get more concerned. Perhaps his assumption that she wouldn't really care had been wrong. She wasn't pulling away from him in disgust and rage, but that might just have been....

And then she leaned forward and kissed him.

The sensation made his heart pound once again, far more exciting than even the life and death situation they had just been in. He didn't care about the implications or the fact that they were in their weird limbo state. He just cared about the softness of her lips and the feeling of her hand against his cheek.

He leaned into her and let the kiss linger for a long while before they finally pulled away. He felt almost out of breath and wished that they weren't both injured and covered in grime.

He took her offered hand gently, but it still sent shooting pain up his forearms and he winced.

He looked at the gap and then their other options. He wanted to know what was still in the bowels of this enclave, but he knew he was in no position to go back in now. He was probably an idiot for even thinking about it at all and turned toward the far end of the ledge.

I'm going to be pretty much worthless if we come across... anything dangerous, he grumbled as he looked down at his arms. He could barely even move them let alone fight. He wasn't used to be so vulnerable, and he felt shockingly naked as he started down a path that would take them back into the forests.

In the silence, he couldn't help but think about what he'd seen in her mind. He wanted to ask her so many questions, but he knew he shouldn't. He knew that even being there was an infringement on her privacy, and he knew she wouldn't have done it if she could have... and maybe that was the question. Why not? She had a seemingly endless well of information about the Sith and she never asked. Never pushed. Never snooped.

Trys, why don't you... he almost said "abuse me" but stopped himself for the potential connotations of that question. ...you never pry into things that could help your case. Why? he asked, getting quieter the longer he spoke.
 

Trys Aran

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The alternate path was going to involve them descending down towards where the waterfalls ended in a pool and then climbing up again on the other side. Trys guessed it would take them several hours to get back, and she wasn’t looking forward to any of it. However, she felt some of her energy returning as the impacts of the possession left her.

Unlike Talak, she had no pull to go back towards the enclave. That made the entire visit out here moot, but she had never been more sure that a place was nothing but trouble. There were few problems she didn’t want to meet head on, and this one was beyond her scope of understanding.

Trys carefully began to make her way down a slippery path, using the sides of the cliffs to keep her steady. She knew Talak, even in this state, would have no problem. She envied how surefooted and graceful he could be even with tremendous injury and exhaustion weighing him down.

When he asked his question after a moment, Trys paused. They were near the bottom of the path now, and the sounds of the waterfalls were even louder. She could feel the mist from the water’s impact kissing her skin, and the pool was only a few feet away. Trys turned to look at him, pondering on the question for a moment.

“I don’t want you to feel responsible for anything that might happen to your people as a result of something you divulged,” Trys said flatly as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, “I became a Ranger because I enjoy the thrill of the chase. Where’s the fun in having all the information handed to me on a silver platter?”

Trys kept walking and descended down next to the pool. The breeze and the mist felt cool and refreshing, and she almost wanted to just take a dip in the water right there. Trys paused near the water crouching down to bring the water up to wash her face and arms.

After a moment, Trys rose to her feet and turned to look at Talak again, “I’m even going to pretend you didn’t avoid telling me what that inscription meant,” She said quietly, “But I have those etchings memorized and will track it down somehow.” It was a subtle call out that even if she had asked him for information, he always squirmed around actually answering.
 

Talak Rand

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They reached the pools from the falls and Talak found himself just wanting to sit there next to it or collapse down into the pool. Unfortunately, that wasn't much of an option.

He thought about her answer. The fact that she didn't want him to feel guilty over what happened was... sweet. It was a situation that normal people would never find themselves in but a not!Sith and a Sector Ranger had to deal with some odd situations.

He bent down near the water and plunged his arms into it. The chill covered his burn and he let out a relieved sigh and closed his eyes. It was a relief from the constant pain shooting through his arms.

Maybe I should become a Jedi. Then I could alleviate all our medical bills, he muttered. It was a possibility that he had considered, and he found himself torn. He set in motion the wheels toward and Empire like the one he'd just read about in the enclave, but then the next day he'd wonder if the Light wasn't a better path to his goals.

He was pulled out of those thoughts as she mentioned that she would pretend he hadn't avoided her question. He winced as she mentioned it and there was a part of him that wanted to tell her, but as soon as he said "Sith" there was so much more complexity and confusion that came along with it.

He knew that if he said that word she would look at him differently, and as much as he knew he shouldn't have cared, he knew he did.

When she rose, he didn't. He just sat there and continued to soak his arms in the cold water, not wanting to move.

He didn't have any defense about avoiding her question. He had avoided it, but she was also having a problem! Even if he told her now, he was sure she'd tell him not to because that was just the kind of weird thing she did.

Maybe we can talk about it later. When we've left this place behind, he said. He was exhausted already and he wasn't sure either of them were ready for the tense conversation that would likely be, but he also didn't want to be any more problematic than he already was. When they were both rested - if she hadn't scurried off - he would tell her.

Do you remember anything? From... the incident? he asked after another moment. He didn't know what she might have seen, but the more he'd thought about what had happened, the more he realized that the words she said were likely those of Zatara, and he had seen her again on the inside of... her mind.
 
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