Ask Yavin IV It Goes Without Saying...

[Elidan]

When Ruzaan agreed to go, Elidan smiled. Even in front of a dangerous situation like this one, he knew that his friend would want to investigate. In these few days that they knew each other, the auburn-haired boy came to believe that the impulsive reactions of the Togruta were because of his courage being too great. He wasn’t going to feel fear, even in front of the unknown.

They walked toward the garage of the Temple where the two requisitioned a landspeeder. Elidan tried to convince Ruzaan to be the one to pilot it, but the Togruta refused it strongly to the point of making the auburn-haired boy give up and accept doing it. He only hoped that the speeder would not crash, Elidan wasn't the best pilot after all.

Once they entered the vehicle, Elidan took a deep breath and prepared to drive. Their trip would not be one of the fastest. The Padawan piloted the speeder as if he was some type of droid, his movements were too rigid due to his nervousness. He was so afraid of making it crash, that it was also moving very slow.

After a trip that could have been faster, the two Padawans would arrive close to where the GPS showed. Rather than continuing with the speeder until they reached the place, Elidan decided to stop some meters before it. “I think that we should continue by foot now. This way we can approach without no one seeing us.” he said to the Togruta through their telepathic bond, having chosen this way to communicate to avoid being heard. “We need to be careful too. There could be a trap.”

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan hadn't considered that Elidan wouldn't enjoy piloting the speeder, but it didn't take long for him to sense Elidan's discomfort behind the controls. The Togruta did his best to try and observe his friend in order to try and learn the controls so that he could pilot on the way back; fortunately, operating the speeder didn't seem to be too difficult. [I can drive on the way back] he offered, feeling bad that he'd more or less forced Elidan into an uncomfortable decision.

Slowly but surely, Elidan steered them into the jungle, eventually parking the speeder about a hundred yards away from the GPS coordinates. Ruzaan still couldn't see anything, but that didn't mean there wasn't something there; according to the map, the elevation dipped up ahead. [Good idea] Ruzaan responded as Elidan mentioned investigating on foot. [You be careful, too].

Ruzaan stealthily made his way towards the coordinates, the care with which he placed his feet keeping him from tripping over any roots. Eventually, he and Elidan came to a ridge overlooking a depression. In the center of the depression was a building of some sort, with a single garage door that was closed. No lights appeared to be on inside, and no other creatures or humanoids were in view.

Ruzaan ducked back down behind the ridge and looked over at Elidan. [Only one point of entry that I can see. How do you want to do this?]

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan felt relieved when Ruzaan said that he was going to drive when they returned to the Temple. The auburn-haired boy really hated piloting, more due to the fear of making it crash, rather than because he didn’t know how to do it. The landspeeder wasn’t that bad because it stayed on the ground, so he agreed to pilot, even if he did it slower than a slug. However, if they needed to use a ship, the Padawan would have refused vehemently.

After he left the vehicle, Elidan started to slowly move toward the coordinates that the GPS had pointed. He was careful with his steps, avoiding any possible twig that could alert the criminals that someone was arriving. Trandoshans were natural predators and hunters, usually with good senses because of it. With the mercenary that they were trying to capture being one of them, who knows if he wasn’t paying attention to the sounds using his hunter abilities.

When the two Padawans finally arrived at the place pointed by the coordinates, they found a ridge overlooking a depression. In the middle of it was some type of building. Elidan stared wide eyed at it. It was worse than he expected. While the presence of the machine on Yavin IV could mean that people found a way to land on the planet to put it there without being detected, the existence of this place meant that the criminals were there for a long time and no Jedi detected it.

Hiding with Ruzaan behind the ridge, Elidan thought about what they should do next. “First I’m going to see if there is something alive inside it.” then, the auburn-haired boy sat on the floor and adopted a meditation position. Closing his eyes, he opened himself to the Force, feeling all the life around him.

He focused on the building, trying to identify anything inside it. What Elidan felt disturbed him to the point of breaking his concentration. “There is something barely alive inside this place. I felt pain and suffering.” a part of him wanted to run toward it to save who was there, but they needed a plan. “Beyond that, I felt nothing. I think that if we are careful, we can move to the door and open it with our lightsabers. We only need to look at the ground because of possible traps.”

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan followed Elidan's lead, opening himself up to the Force. He barely felt what Elidan described- a testament to the other Padawan's skill using the Force- but once he was clued into, it he clearly recognized the agony spiking from within the building.

[I agree] he said in response to Elidan's plan, his hand dropping to the comforting weight of his double-bladed lightsaber. [I'll check for traps along the way, and then I'll cover you when you cut through the door].

Ruzaan approached carefully, his senses on the lookout for traps or enemies as he led the way down the slope towards the garage. About halfway down the slope, he spotted a faint orange light peeking through the grass, along with the hum of live electricity- probably a pressure sensor or something. [Found one] he said to Elidan behind him through their bond. [Watch your-!]

For the umpteenth time since their mission began, Ruzaan tripped on a tree root, pitching forward and down the hill. He tumbled and slid his way down the slope until coming to a stop about 10 feet away from the garage door. He froze for a moment, then looked back up at where Elidan was standing, hardly believing his luck. [I think I managed to avoid tripping the sensor!] he exclaimed through their bond, standing up and brushing himself off.

From his vantage point, however, Elidan would be better able to see that in the wake of Ruzaan's fall were a series of orange lights which were now blinking red, and with a sinking sensation in his chest Ruzaan registered the garage door behind him opening up along with the clank of multiple sets of mechanical feet on concrete.


@LouJoVi

((OOC: Rolled a 5/100 to check for traps: Major fail, fail with more serious consequence))

 

[Elidan]

Elidan nodded, agreeing with Ruzaan’s idea. “Ok, but be careful while doing it. We still don’t know if they are aware of our presence.” he didn’t abandon the possibility that these criminals were waiting for them to come close enough to the building and then ambush the two Padawans. “While you look after the traps, I’ll watch the building. If anything comes from it, I’ll warn you.”

While they moved down the slope, Elidan watched the building. So far there wasn’t any movement. The garage door remained closed, with no sign that it was going to open soon. This made the boy feel more relieved. Perhaps the criminals really didn’t know that they were there. However, he remained watching the building. It was better to be safe than sorry.

When Ruzaan said that he had found a trap, the auburn-haired boy stopped walking and turned his attention back to his friend. Elidan moved his head toward the direction that the Togruta had pointed. “I see it now. Good work.” he said to the Togruta, after having identified the faint orange light on the grass. It was good, now they could carefully avoid it. Everything was going well so far.

However, everything started to go wrong. Elidan watched with horror while Ruzaan tripped and went rolling down the slope. “Are you fine?” he said, after the Togruta finally had stopped. He felt relieved when the other Padawan answered him through their bond. At least his friend didn’t get hurt this time.

“I think that you didn’t avoid the sensor.” the light had changed its color from orange to red. From where he was, Elidan could see several red points appearing across the grass. It wasn’t good. Then, the garage door opened, revealing ten droids. They were similar to the ones that the two Padawans found early. All of them were armed with blasters.

“There are too many of them. Do you think that we should retreat?” Elidan said, while pulling his lightsaber and activating it. It would be a matter of time until the droids started to open fire on them.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan's concern rose along with the garage door, and the Togruta turned around to face the droids that were slowly being revealed. In a second or two they would be able to fire on him, and there was no way he could fight ten of them at this range. Instead, Ruzaan reached out with the Force, grabbing onto a small handle and pulling downward. By the time he realized that the handle had broken off and the door was still going up, it was too late.

No less than half a dozen stun bolts slammed into his body, and Ruzaan dropped like a sack of potatoes. Elidan would also come under fire, with four droids providing covering fire while the others dragged Ruzaan's unconscious form inside the garage. Once inside, the garage door would begin to close, leaving Elidan to deal with the four remaining droids.


@LouJoVi

OOC: Rolled a 2/100 to pull the garage door down with the Force (Major fail, fail with more serious consequence)

 

[Elidan]

Even before the garage door had finished rising, Elidan had already adopted a defensive position with his lightsaber activated. The two needed to decide what they were going to do. The droids were in a large number and would soon start to shoot against them. The auburn haired boy was already thinking about the possibility of retreating back to the landspeeder. He and Ruzaan could deflect the shots while they ran. This could work.

Before he could tell his idea to Ruzaan, Elidan felt his friend using the Force in an attempt to make the garage door close again. For a moment, he thought that his friend was going to be successful and the droid would stop coming. This would allow them to retreat more easily and plan a new course of action to enter the building.

However, Ruzaan’s attempt failed. The door didn’t close and the droids continued coming. For the third time since he met the Togruta, Elidan stared in horror at his friend. The other Padawan was hit by several stun bolts, falling limp on the ground. Some of the droids would then pick him and carry Ruz back to the building. While it happened, the auburn-haired boy watched the scene paralyzed.

The vision of his friend being carried inside the building while the door closed behind him, snapped Elidan from his shock. His face contorted with anger, he wasn’t going to let these things hurt Ruzaan. The boy used the Force to advance against the droids, with his anger fueling. By this point, the Padawan had completely forgotten the lessons about how what he was doing could approach a Jedi of the Dark Side.

Moving fast with the Force, Eidan used his lightsaber to deflect and block the shots of droids. He could only see red, not even thinking why they were firing only stun bolts at him. When he arrived close to the four, the Padawan used his saber to cut down their legs and arms. One after the other they would fall in pieces on the floor.

When the last droid was down, Elidan stopped to look at what he had done. What once were droids, now remained as piles of cut pieces. The Padawan deactivated his lightsaber and brought a hand to his face, wiping the sweat from there. Taking some deep breaths to calm down, he thought about what he had done.

He let his anger take over, it wasn’t the Jedi way. The boy would need to talk with his Master about it. But it would need to wait, now he needed to save Ruzaan. Looking at the closed garage door, Elidan decided that using it would be too dangerous. The droids could be waiting for him behind it. He would need to find another way to get inside.

Seeing the roof of the building, Elidan had an idea. Using the Force to enhance his movements, the Padawan jumped toward it. Once he landed there, he used his Datapad to send a message to the Temple. At least the adults would know what was happening. Then, he activated his lightsaber and started to cut a circle at the roof. “Ruz, be alright. I’m coming to save you.”

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

((OOC: TW for mild torture))

Ruzaan wasn't dead, but as he awoke in the aftermath of half a dozen stun shots he reflected that it was not an experience that he wanted to repeat. To his surprise he was not restrained, but the legs of the six droids surrounding him may as well have been prison bars. Woozily, he struggled to sit upright and to get a bearing on his surroundings, eventually rolling over onto his right side and propping himself up as best he could with his elbow. This almost felt worse than the time he'd detonated a flashbang in his face... almost.

Slowly, painfully, Ruzaan began making out details. The floor of the place was cold concrete, and the audible hum of machinery echoed throughout the building. He could also hear labored breathing coming from his left, while the heavy steps of a humanoid approached from the right. Ruzaan was still dimly aware of the Force bond between him and Elidan still being active, but before he could reach out to his friend the sea of droid legs parted and a Trandoshan stepped into the cold metal ring.

"Massive" didn't even begin to describe Sskok Sves, and Ruzaan was dimly aware that he'd skimmed right over the biographical information section of the report. The guy was built in a way that would make a Wookiee Chieftain cry for mommy, but he also moved with surprising poise for someone his size. Ruzaan swallowed nervously, knowing that he was likely outmatched even on a good day; right now, he was at Sskok's mercy. Even worse, it looked like "mercy" wasn't the first thing on the Trandoshan's mind; in a massive hand, the mercenary held Ruzaan's lightsaber. "Yer gonna talk" he hissed, "And if I hears an answer I doesn't like, you loses a limb. Understand?"

Ruzaan could only nod, his mouth suddenly dry. He liked having all of his limbs. Sskok gave him no time to ponder his fate, however, and immediately began the interrogation. "How many of youse is out there?" the Trandoshan asked.

Ruzaan swallowed again, hardly daring to look Sskok in the eyes. "Uh... there are two of us..." he said, feeling disgust in himself as he caved and ratted out his friend. A crashing sense of shame would flow through the bond to Elidan. Before he could even begin to process that a scaly hand had tightened around his right ankle and the lightsaber brought up against his shin, not cutting the leg but leaving a painful burn along his inner calf. The Togruta writhed in pain but couldn't break the iron grip of the Trandoshan.

"Youse sure about that?" hissed Sskok, over Ruzaan's screams, completely focused on his morbid task to the point that he didn't notice the lightsaber cutting open the roof above him.


@LouJoVi

OOC: Rolled a 41/100 for stalling- Barely a success. You succeed in your end goal but take some sort of negative in doing so

 

[Elidan]

After what seemed to be an eternity, Elidan finally finished cutting a hole on the roof of the building. The circular piece of durasteel fell on the floor with a loud sound, making the Padawan freeze. It could have alerted the droids and they would come after him. Let them come, he would destroy all of them and save Ruzaan.

He stayed for a time watching through the hole on the roof if the droids would arrive, but he saw none. Considering it as an opportunity to continue his rescue attempt, Elidan jumped down through the hole, using the Force to cushion his landing. The first thing that the Padawan noticed was that the place where he was seemed to be a garage, with a landspeeder and another of these transports that they saw crashed.

He also was a stairway going down into the underground. It showed that there were more parts of this building than what they saw from outside. If Ruzaan wasn’t there, then he was dragged down there by the droids. Taking a deep breath, Elidan started to walk down the stairs. He deactivated his lightsaber, don’t wanting its light to attract attention.

While he walked down the stairs, Elidan felt fear coming through their bond. His friend was in danger! He needed to find him fast. “Ruz, I’m coming.” he said, while at the same time trying to comfort the other. He wasn’t going the other die like what happened with his other friends on Ajan Kloss,

When he reached the end of the stairs, Elidan found himself in front of a door. Touching it, the Padawan closed his eyes and used the Force to feel if there was someone behind it. There were three presences there: the very weak one from early, Ruzaan and one that he didn’t know from who it was, but could feel its aggressiveness. Knowing that the droids must be there, the Padawan tried to think of a plan that he could use to enter there.

Before any idea could come to him, Elidan felt so much pain that made him lose his breath. It wasn’t him that was hurt, but Ruzaan. They already shared so many emotions with each other through the bond, from happiness to fear. However, the pain was completely new. It was as if he was also suffering from it.

The knowledge that his friend was being hurt made Elidan feel anger once again. He wanted to make whoever was hurting Ruz stop. Closing his eyes, the Padawan used the Force a second time to locate the presence inside the room. Then, he focused on the aggressive one and forced his mind against theirs.

Differently from when he established the mental bond with Ruzaan, Elidan wasn’t asking for permission. He was forcing his telepathy inside the person’s head. The Padawan would aggressively slam and tear through their mind. The other person wasn’t a Force user, this way they didn’t have any defense against a telepathic assault.

Meanwhile at the room, Ruzaan would be able to see his torturer drop his lightsaber before bringing his hands to hold his head. What started as a small headache would now seem as if someone was slamming a hammer against his head. With a scream, the Trandoshan would fall to his knees.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

The blinding pain along his inner ankle eased somewhat as Sskok withdrew the lightsaber, and Ruzaan was vaguely aware that he wasn't the only one crying out in pain. The lightsaber clattered to the floor, extinguished, and in front of him the Trandoshan screamed and clutched at his head.

Ruzaan grit his teeth through the pain, his right hand gripping just below the right knee, squeezing hard; as if he could somehow stop the nerves from signaling just how much pain he was in. His left hand reached out, levitating the fallen lightsaber to his open hand. Sskok was still writhing in pain as well, rasping and sobbing in a language that Ruzaan didn't understand. The six droids around them suddenly tensed, pointing their armaments off towards Ruzaan's left as a familiar presence washed over Ruzaan's senses.

Elidan.

Capitalizing both on the half-Sephi's distraction and the courage that the other padawan's presence gave him, Ruzaan rolled further to his right and onto his right knee, grunting as his injured calf protested but allowing him to swing his left leg into a kneeling position. Pushing up off his good leg, the Togruta activated his double-bladed lightsaber and surged upwards, spinning the saberstaff in a vicious circle above his own head.

The lightsaber cleanly sliced through the metal, decapitating the remaining droids in one fell swoop. Ruzaan's momentum upwards was enough that he was almost standing on his feet, and Ruzaan made the mistake of trying to catch himself using his injured leg, which promptly buckled underneath him. The Togruta collapsed back to the floor, his lightsaber once again falling down to the ground as he grabbed with both hands at his right knee and calf. Around him, droid bodies clattered to the floor and Sskok began returning to his senses, a look of pure malice on his scaly face.


@LouJoVi

OOC: Rolled a 28/100 for the helicopter maneuver: you succeed in your goal but take some sort of negative in doing so

 

[Elidan]

Elidan’s concentration was broken when he heard the sound of something metallic hitting the ground. He frowned, wondering what could have happened now. Was it more droids entering the room? They could try to hurt Ruzaan even more. or worse. They could try to kill the Togruta. He wasn’t going to allow it!

Reactivating his lightsaber, Elidan prepared to save his friend. Rather than trying to open the door, the Padawan used his blade to cut a hole in the door. Such actions probably would have attracted the attention of those inside it, but he didn’t care. He was going to save Ruzaan and nothing would stop him.

Once the hole was open, the Padawan crossed it as a blur. He had used the Force to increase his speed, expecting that the droids there would shoot at him as soon as he entered. However, he stopped when he saw the situation in the room. There were six headless droids on the floor, while Ruzaan was being cornered by a Trandoshan, who could only be the mercenary.

The Padawan’s face contorted with anger, while he focused on the mercenary. Before he could react to him, the Trandoshan would once again feel pain in his head. Elidan would bring him to his knees. He could have stayed awake the last time, but now the half-Annfyn was going to bring him down. There was no one to stop the boy.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

The pain in his leg subsided just enough- going from unbearable to cuss like a sailor- for Ruzaan to register Sskok approaching. The Togruta scrabbled backwards to try and escape the Trandoshan, but he could only go so far as he was hemmed in by the remains of the droids.

Then, salvation.

Elidan's presence rushed over him like a wave; the half-Annfyn was close. Once again, Sskok ceased his attempted assault and clutched at his had, and as Ruzaan's panic subsided slightly it was replaced with an increasingly visceral sense of horror; Elidan's face was contorted in anger, matching the emotions Ruzaan was feeling from him though their bond, and the Force swelled violently around the half-Annfyn. Throughout it all, the Trandoshan writhed on the floor. Was that blood pouring out of Sskok's ears?

"Elidan, stop!" Ruzaan managed to find his voice, pleading with his friend. The Togruta tried getting up, but he'd pushed his leg too far with his stunt earlier so he merely flopped around on the ground. He couldn't bear to see his friend like this, didn't want to believe that Elidan was capable of this cruelty. "This isn't you!"

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

The vision of the Trandoshan contorting with pain on the floor caused mixed feelings on Elidan. While he mostly wanted to punish him for hurting Ruzaan and using the machine to put the kilkiniks and Jedi in risk, another part of the Padawan knew that what he was doing was wrong. However, this part seemed to only be a whisper, nearly being suffocated by the boy’s anger.

When he heard Ruzaan’s voice, Elidan’s anger diminished. Only now he noticed that the Trandoshan was starting to bleed. It was wrong, a Jedi would never use the Force this way. He probably looked like a Sith! This realization made the half-Annfyn stop using telepathy against the mercenary, who fainted on the floor.

Elidan dropped his lightsaber and fell on the floor, while hugging his knees. Tears soon started rolling down his cheeks. Did he kill the Trandoshan? Was it the Dark Side? He felt so afraid and ashamed of what he was trying to do. He didn’t want Ruzaan to look at him right now. It had been his first experience being influenced by such dark feelings.

He felt so dirty because of it. What was his Master going to say when he found out about it? Would he be expelled from the Order? Elidan didn’t know what he should do now. He had completely forgotten about the mission and that the Togruta was hurt. He only wanted to disappear.

The Padawan was so distracted having a breakdown that he didn’t notice that in the left corner of the room there was some type of cell with a glass door. If someone looked at it, they would see the curled form of a small child. The way that they were breathing slowly, they were responsible for the weak presence that Elidan felt early.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

(OOC: Rolled a 50/100 for Sskok's status post-Elidan attack (after disadvantage))

For a moment, there was nothing but the sounds of breathing in the room; Ruzaan's labored breaths, Sskok's pained rasps, and Elidan's panicked sobs. Everyone was momentarily down for the count, and the outcome hinged on who would find their footing first.

Ruzaan wanted nothing more than to try to comfort Elidan, but he himself was going nowhere fast, and to the Togruta's shock the Trandoshan violently shook their head and growled. Although Elidan's mental attacks had been effective, with the half-Annfyn out of commission Sskok had been able to recover to some degree. With a sinking feeling, Ruzaan realized that they hadn't done enough damage to Sskok; they'd just made him angry.

The Trandoshan smeared the blood from their nose across their face, as if relishing in the feel of it on their skin. His head snapped over to regard Elidan, and then back over to Ruzaan, having apparently decided that Elidan was no longer a threat. With the sinister smile of a hunter that enjoys playing with its food, Sskok began slowly closing the distance between himself and Ruzaan.

"It's been a while since I tasted my own blood" the Trandoshan hissed as he slowly crawled forward. "Your friend will pay dearly for that. I'll make him drink yours!" Ruzaan couldn't think of anything to say. He couldn't run. He couldn't hide. The pain in his right calf combined with the deluge of emotion pouring through his Force bond with Elidan was making it impossible to use the Force. Ruzaan could feel all the fear, sorrow, misery, and self-loathing that the half-Annfyn was currently experiencing.

Right as Ruzaan was ready to give up, his right hand found his lightsaber on the ground where he had dropped it just moment before. His shaking fingers closed around the hilt; an action that did not go unnoticed by Sskok. With a feral snarl, the Trandoshan launched himself the last few feet at Ruzaan, landing on top of the Togruta with both hands wrapped firmly around his throat. In that same moment, Ruzaan brought the lightsaber hilt up so that it was pinned lengthwise between their torsos, one end pointing directly at each of their chests. A flicker of unease showed itself in Sskok's otherwise triumphant gaze. "It's a double-bladed weapon" he rasped. "You wouldn-"

Ruzaan pressed the ignition button.


@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan hugged his knees, while more tears rolled down his cheeks. How could he do it? Using the Force with anger to hurt someone wasn’t the Jedi way. His actions were too close to the Dark side. Only the Sith would do something like that. Does it mean that he was becoming a Sith? What his Master and his friends would say when they knew about what he nearly did?

The Padawan didn’t know what he was going to do when everyone discovered that he felt this anger. He wondered if Master Voran would expel him from the Order. He could be too dangerous for the other Padawans, being so close to the Dark side. These thoughts only made him cry even more.

The half-Annfyn was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn’t notice that his telepathic assault against the Trandoshan wasn’t enough to make him faint. Sskok was slowly rising from the ground. Elidan didn’t react even when the mercenary threatened Ruzaan. His emotions had overloaded their telepathic bond, stopping him from feeling what the other boy felt.

If he wasn’t having a breakdown, Elidan would have helped Ruzaan when Sskok jumped over the Togruta. However, he didn't react to it. He didn’t stop crying even when Asadra and other Knights crossed the door. They had received his message and came to help.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan gasped for air as the body of the Trandoshan went limp, the vicelike hands around his throat loosening enough to allow him to breathe again. The Togruta also extinguished the double-bladed lightsaber, grateful that he knew which buttons activated one blade and not both. With a push and more than a little help from gravity, Sskok's body rolled over and to Ruzaan's right, and the Togruta took several shaky breaths to try and calm himself. He tried to ignore the fact that he'd just killed another humanoid, but he couldn't escape the shock, sadness, and sense of shame that came with it; even if it had been a life-or-death situation. Ruzaan struggled with the sheer onslaught of emotions that he was feeling, and tried every trick in the book to try and calm down.

It was only after several minutes that Ruzaan realized why he was seemingly unable to calm down at all; Elidan was having a full-on breakdown about ten feet away and their bond was still open, bombarding him with Elidan's feelings. Ruzaan, his nerves frayed, shuttered the bond, but set about dragging himself over to where Elidan was sobbing; closed off through the Force, but physically present. When the Knights arrived, they would find the two Padawans lying on the floor next to each other; Ruzaan holding Elidan's hand if the half-Annfyn let him.


@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan was still crying when Sskok fell dead over Ruzaan. If he wasn’t in the middle of a mental breakdown, the half-Annfyn would have argued that they should have brought the Trandoshan alive back to the Temple. However, now he wasn’t in the position to do anything more than sob.

Then he felt someone grasping his hand. Turning to see who was doing it, Elidan saw Ruzaan. The auburn-haired boy didn’t understand why the Togruta was doing it. He had hurt someone with the Force like how a Sith would do. His friend should be mad at him because of it, not trying to comfort him.

However, knowing that his friend was there with him calmed the Padawan a little bit. It was good to know that he wasn’t alone, that there was someone here trying to comfort him. This thought made Elidan’s mind become more clear. Perhaps he was overreacting and the Council would not punish him so terribly. Maybe there was still the possibility that he would not be expelled from the Order.

With the knowledge that his friend was there, Elidan curled next to Ruzaan while still holding his hand. He was crying less now, but he was still feeling ashamed and afraid of having used the Force with anger. When the Knights arrived in the room, they found the two Padawans in this position on the floor.

As soon as she received Elidan’s message, Asadra had gathered some other Knights and went after him. She still thought that the Grandmaster was crazy for leaving two children to make an investigation alone. Now Ruzaan was captured and the half-Annfyn was trying to save him alone.

When she saw the two Padawans on the floor, Asadra ran toward them. “Ruzaan! Elidan! Are you two fine?” she saw that the Togruta’s ankle seemed to be burned and that the half-Annfyn was crying. “We are going back to the Temple.” while she and some of the Knights picked the two boys, others started to look around the room. They found the dead Trandoshan and the sentient inside the cell.

“I think that we will need to prepare the Medbay for this one too.” said a Female Mirialan Knight. She opened the door of the cell and pulled a blanket that was covering the figure, revealing a small white-haired and pale skinned boy.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Even without Sskok's body atop him, Ruzaan still felt a heavy weight in his chest. Elidan's breathing slowly regulated as sobs gave way to sniffles, and before Ruzaan knew it the adults had arrived to clean up their mess. Asadra wasted no time in fuzzing over them, and for the second time in two days Ruzaan was helped into a transport destined for the medbay. He almost managed to "forget" his lightsaber behind, feeling suddenly averse to its weight in his hand, but a Knight handed it to him. "Well done" the Knight said, nodding back to where Sskok's body lay. "The galaxy is better off without that guy in it." Somehow, the man's words made Ruzaan feel even worse. He didn't notice the presence of the other boy in the room, nor the uptick in activity that followed their discovery.

On the trip back, Ruzaan stayed by Elidan's side. For the first time since they'd met, Ruzaan understood the half-Annfyn's desire to not speak. In Ruzaan's case, he didn't trust himself to talk around the lump in his throat, so he tried reaching out to Elidan mentally in order to restore their Force bond.

If Elidan accepted, the first words he'd hear would be an apology.


"Elidan, I'm so, so sorry."

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan barely paid attention to what was happening around him. He didn’t register that the Knights were carrying him and Ruzaan out of the building, toward a vehicle that would bring them back to the Temple. The half-Annfyn was too distracted trying to ignore the feeling of guilt that was consuming him by focusing on the Togruta’s presence. Even while they were carried, the auburn-haired boy didn’t let go of his friend's hand.

After the Knights left the two in the vehicle, Elidan felt the other boy reaching to him telepathically. When Ruzaan closed it, the half-Annfyn thought that it was because the Togruta was mad with him because of what he did. This thought made him become even more ashamed. Even with the other having offered to hold his hand, the auburn-haired boy still feared what he was going to say.

Strengthening his hold at Ruzaan’s hand, Elidan opened their bond. He was surprised when the other said that he was sorry. The half-Sephi should be the one that felt sorry. He tried to kill someone by using the Force in anger. It was so wrong and went totally against what the Jedi Order preached.

“You don’t need to apologize. I was the one that did something terrible.” he said through their bond. Elidan still didn’t know that Ruzaan had killed the Trandoshan. “I tried to kill someone with anger! It went against everything that the Jedi stand for!” tears started to run down his cheeks, while his shame grew.

“I’m sorry for doing it. What I did was so wrong.” now was his time to apologize to his friend. “I’ll talk about it with my Master later and even with Grandmaster Voran if it is necessary. I’ll understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore.” Elidan doubted that Ruzaan would still want to talk with him after what he did. The half-Annfyn would be so distracted with this conversation that he would not notice the Knights bringing the white haired boy to the vehicle.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan was relieved when Elidan accepted his mental request, allowing them to communicate again. He wanted to apologize for being useless, for putting Elidan in danger again, and for needing to be rescued, but the half-Annfyn beat him to the punch. Ruzaan listened as Elidan detailed how he'd allowed his emotions to influence his actions, nearly to the point of killing Sskok in anger. By the time the other Padawan was saying that Ruzaan might not want to be his friend anymore, the Togruta was already shaking his head.

[Elidan] he said, as gently as he could. Seeing Elidan so distraught meant that his own worries and fears were strangely set aside in the moment. [It's ok. Yes, you may have made a big mistake, but I hear you being sorry for what you did. That's why I'm not worried about it happening again.] Ruzaan didn't want to admit it, but he realized that he probably would've done the same thing were he in Elidan's place. [Besides, I'm grateful that you came after me. That was very brave of you, and I think it says a lot more about your character than that one action does.]

Right around the time Ruzaan was beginning to question why their vehicle hadn't started moving, the reason became apparent. A white-haired boy, younger than Ruzaan and Elidan, was carefully borne out to their transport and laid nearby. Ruzaan locked eyes with Elidan. [Before we went in, you mentioned feeling another presence inside... was that him?]

@LouJoVi