Ask Just A Little Bit Pt. 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra scoffed as she looked at Theia, “Your mom found me in the Unknown Regions and practically dragged my friends and I back by the ears to ISC space..” He admittedly dryly, “I’m not planning on telling her anything,” For good measure, he lifted his pinky and let her cross it, a little gesture they had been sharing since they were children.

Before they parted ways, Ezra told her to wait as he picked up a smooth pebble off the ground. He handed it to her, “Put this in your pocket,” He said, “If you can’t tell what’s real, grab this pebble and it’ll anchor you back,” Ezra explained. He would brush her off if she asked too many questions about his logic. In truth, he had been in the plane of the Force and the Mortis lands more times than he cared to admit. He had found his own ways to stay grounded through it all and mindfulness was the ticket. Funnily enough, they were all mental practices and techniques Pops always followed.

If Theia followed the voice, she would soon hear the sounds of water. Up ahead on the other side, she would see a figure shrouded in white. However if she drew closer, the figure would be gone. She would feel compelled to walk closer towards the water. If she looked down, she would see the moonlight reflecting off the surface of the water to illuminate it. She would begin to see something more as she drew closer.

@GABA​

 

[Theia Durand]

With a pinky promise, and now a rock in her pocket to bring her back to reality...which was hard to not think about as she had dozens of questions about it and how it would work. The siren's song hummed in her ear though, and the padawan followed the pull into the tree line and soon back into the sticky mud of the swamps that surrounded this village. She tried to be quiet in her steps, but her boots squished into the mud and it seemed to be the only sound she could hear outside the siren's song. The girl continued to let it pull her, she couldn't quite see in the mist, but she heard the gentle tumbling of water, signaling she was near the river.

The air was cold, but heavy, saturated with unfamiliar that did not leave anyone comfortable, especially with the growing white fog. Her light eyes narrowed as she tried to make out what was ahead, the mist moving and forming into something clouded and white. Theia followed the path, gaining ground to the mysterious figure, her heart beating just a bit faster and then only to find it was gone. She held her breath for a moment, looking from left to right, behind and to the sides again, her hand waving about in the mist to see if anything or anyone remained, but nothing; it was enough to send a chill up her spine as she felt on edge, wishing Ezzie was beside her right then. Theia reached into her pocket to hold the small stone and took a cautious step; the pull was even stronger as she saw the water, it took ever much more effort to resist the song, to remain in control of where she was going, sweat beading on her forehead in her resistance.

Despite the sound of soft and gentle tumbles of flowing water, what she saw before her was not what she expected. The water remained still, like a solid sheet of glass, and beneath the surface she saw faces... pale, stone-like, young and old. She felt herself drawing closer, her body relaxing, the stone falling from her grasp which shocked the girl in a jolt as she quickly grasped it again. Theia's eyes widened as she realized she was practically touching the water with her nose. However, her own eyes in the water's reflection suddenly turned red and two long-clawed hands reached out to grab the girl and pull her into the water.

The siren was real and Theia would fight with every ounce to return to the surface.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

The benefit of Ezra keeping his eye on Theia the entire time was exactly to prevent something like this. He could see her starting to lean towards the water and he already began to gently coil the Force around her. He knew she had no real control anymore, but he couldn’t be obvious enough to disrupt that hold. A part of him felt guilty for using her as literal bait, but the larger part of him had a lot of faith in his own abilities.

Before the clawed arms could snatch at her, he already tossed her back into the safety of the land behind her. He was a blur of motions, rushing past Theia and using the Force to snatch out the body attached to the arms that reached from the waters. There was an unearthly shriek as a feminine figure was launched into the air and landed in a thud on the grass. She looked unnatural and screeched in a way that made Ezra’s eyes water, but he held his ground.

The woman crawled around awkwardly on the ground, clearly not accustomed to land. However, Ezra didn’t let her return to the water, his lightsaber ignited and pointed at her. He didn’t kill her, but he did suddenly delve into her mind. It wasn’t to attack, but it was to soothe and temper. Ezra needed to understand what she was and why she was doing this.

“Who are you?” He asked aloud, wondering if she even comprehended him. She appeared humanoid, but she clearly wasn’t human. Her skin was gray and almost scaly.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

There was an anticipation of what was to come next when she saw the red eyes, however, instead of being dragged under the cold waters, she was pulled backwards. The girl gasped in surprise as the blur of Ezra ran past her to fish the swamp sorceress from the waters. Theia jumped to her feet, her hand reaching into her pocket to feel the stone Ezra had given her as she watched him demand for the creature to identify itself. Theia's other hand grasped the vibroblade, just in case things got...even more exciting. The creature floundered about, its shriek even made Theia internally recoil, a chill ran down her spine, as it gave it's response to Ezra's question.

Though Theia had a feeling, and she turned to watch as the fog form into a figure like from earlier, "Ez-zie..." she whispered, getting his attention as the figure seemed to solidify into someone familiar.

Walking towards the group was the dancer from the pub, she carried a grin that unlike the one she displayed in the pub, this one was more deviant, her teeth sharper and her fingers looked as that of the creature that was pulled. "We are the rusalka and you two will be a glorious white witch fest!" she hissed, her skin turning as grey as the other creature, who now rose to her feet. Theia's eyes widened as she heard the name Rusalka, recalling it from one of her performances, but before she could say something to Ezra, bodies started to rise from the water of various levels of decay. Some were bloated, others had flesh completely fallen from their bones, but they followed the command of the Rusalki sirens and would attack the two jedi.

Theia felt a mix of panic and excitement, but with the two combined, it made focusing even more difficult as she extended her palm and tried to use the Force to push back their newest adversaries but it wasn't at all impressive. The undead stumbled backwards but continued onward, unfazed by the girl's attack, so instead Theia activated the vibroblade, "I've heard of Rusalka, its from a ballet..." she told Ezra, though she hoped he had a better plan because something from a fairytale seemed just unreal to Theia.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra had never seen anything like this before. There had been rumors about reanimated corpses on Dathomir, but to see something like this in person was unsettling. Theia’s attack did nothing, though he was impressed she even managed that. Ezra took a few steps back and used the environment to his advantage. Roots and vines began to grow and weave through the surrounding trees, snaking around any of the corpses that drew closer. The vines would restrict their movement and trap them where they stood, providing a makeshift barrier.

Ezra didn’t stop there, channeling the Force through the soft, swampy ground to collapse it beneath their feet. A collective shriek was heard from the creatures as the ground completely gave way beneath them, trapping them in thick mud and stopping them in their tracks.

“Does it say anything about killing them?” He asked Theia breathlessly in between his attacks. He had seen enough bizarre and nonsense things as a Jedi to consider fairytales or songs that may hold clues.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia stumbled backwards, watching as the ground gave way as Ezra altered the landscape, calling for an abundance of vines and plants to aid them in stopping the undead horde. At this point the padawan was feeling uneasy, even knowing what a Rusalka was, Ezzie of course asked the question, how do they die. Her brow furrowed in confusion and was at a loss for words for a moment as a hand swiped out, but she brought up her vibroblade to sever it before the creature was pulled into the mud.

"Well...No..." It was hard to stop the shakiness in her voice, "Everyone dies at the end and the Rusalka have themselves a new king." it of course sounded worse out loud as she stepped closer to Ezra, keeping her back to his, "Can't you like call Uncle Em? Don't tell Mama, he can't tell her either. He can come get us..." she suggested, as she started to run out of ideas on what to do.

The sirens screamed loudly around the jedi, rousing their victims to fight harder for them as they tried to untangle themselves from the elaborate holds from the vines and plants. As the undead became trapped though, their bodies kept from the water, Ezra would noticed they were drying out. A pale hand reached to grasp for anything on the Jedi Knight and he would see the skin flaked and crumble, fingers curled in as the water dried until one fell and broke like charcoal and ash.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

“No, as Jedi, we are the rescue,” Ezra called back out to her. There was no calling Uncle Emryc or Mommy Tia anymore and Theia would have to learn that soon enough. He didn’t miss how the skin of the zombies dried out away from the water and he saw an opportunity to allow Theia to use her abilities.

“Focus your mind,” He told her, “Remember what we did in that room? Anchor your mind! Focus on pulling the beings you see away from the water,” Ezra called out, “You can do it, Theia!” He knew from personal experience that belief in self and all that cheesy crap actually applied. It wasn’t just lip service.

He was counting on Theia and she would know it. She couldn’t simply run away from this - it was part of what it meant to be a Jedi. Ezra would see how she fared by yanking the siren’s soldiers away from the water before he leapt clear over them to start slicing away at the sirens themselves.

“I’ll be your damn king,” He grumbled as he started engaging them in combat.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

She was starting to feel her nerves get the best of her, like a bad case of stage fright she was finding it hard to focus, and the creatures before them were no fans of herself. She heard Ezra call out again, reminding her how to focus, to do what she needed to do not only to save her skin and Ezzie, but to stop these creatures from haunting the village even further. She gulped a mouthful of air before finding that anchor within herself, it had always been there, a gentle hum of her own orchestra until she took a larger breath, stepping quickly out of the way of a reaching hand. Theia listened closer, feeling the notes as she did during a performance, it reverberated around her, seemingly chaotic, until she took in another breath, untouching her own thoughts and just letting her mind move freely.

Her palm extended, a feeling of knowing what and how to do it before it even registered as the invisible threads of the Force pulled one of the more decayed creatures. It pulled it free from the muddy pool, flinging him onto his back, further away from the water's edge. Theia was given little respite to even process what she just did, and she knew she had to keep going, as long as Ezzie would fight, she would too. Those that freed themselves from the vines started their way toward Ezra and away from Theia to protect their siren keepers. The red headed padawan turned direction, pulling one down while sinking into the mud herself, but it didn't slow or change their direction. Gritting her teeth, she pull her foot free of the boot, and a second while letting out a push on the few who tried to interfere with Ezra.

The undead would fly far from where the Knight took on the Sirens and Theia would see as they tried to stand so far from the water, their bodies crumpled to dust. Now she knew why to keep them from the water.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra may have been caught up in the chaos, but he made time to pause and give her a nod off approval. When he was being trained, it was something Zathria always did - gave him positive reinforcement when he had no clue how he was using the Force. It was always subtle, but it made a world of difference in boosting his confidence in applying the Force.

The part Sephi effortlessly slashed through one of the sirens. However, a second one shrieked unnaturally loud, and his eyes watered. He had to drop to a crouch, his head feeling as if it were being torn apart. Ezra focused and tempered the Force, and for a moment Theia was left to her own devices. She would realize soon enough that she could keep her distance and keep drying out the zombies.

The siren had him momentarily incapacitated, and it allowed her enough time to slash with her clawed hand. Ezra grunted as she slashed through his shoulder and across one of his pecs, tearing through the clothing and leaving deep gashes in his torso. However, she had stopped screaming at that point, and he horizontally sliced his saber to lop her head clean off.

Ezra collapsed to sit down on the grass, the sirens’ minions collectively dropping in the ground all around them. He exhaled as he gazed down at the wounds on his chest, noting the inky black goop that trailed from the siren’s claws.

“Are you all right, Thee?”

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

She had caught the nod from Ezra as she started sending the creatures further from the water with more purpose. She wasn't sure how she was doing it, but she could feel so much and it felt natural, like it truly had always been there and it came like instinct. Not dwelling on her own impression of her ability to do this, Theia swung her vibroblade, making herself more menacing so the creatures had to give pause before attacking again. However, as some seemed to regroup and lunge toward the padawan, they all stopped, falling to the ground, some even disintegrating into dust.

Her heart beat loudly in her chest, fatigue creeping closer as though she had finished a ballet performance for the greater Naboo audience. She turned to look for Ezzie, catching the top of his head through the grasses and plants and she quickly made her way over as he called out, "I am..." she said approaching and seeing Ezra's wounds.

"You're not-" she knelt down in front of him, her eyes following the gouging from his shoulder to his chest. Theia reached out, gently moving pieces of his torn shirt, "It looks deep, what is this black stuff?" she asked, trying not to touch anywhere near the scratches. It didn't look like the color of the mud that caked onto her or him, quickly concern and worry washed over the padawan and Ezra would be able to see it in her eyes as her focus turned to getting him some bacta. "Can you walk, I can help you back, I got some bacta in my pack." she told him, standing and extending her hand.

@Sreeya