Ask [Rattatak] Broken and Defeated

[Kyosuke Yamato]

Rattatak, 149 ABY
Far from the Cauldron

Spoiler: Theme

It had been a few rotations since the new senator, Celeste, and her hired bounty hunter, Null, had been captured by one of the Rattataki warlords they'd aimed to assassinate. The slowly bonding pair discovered too late that the mission was a trap, and though they fought valiantly to dispatch the first wave of assailants that ambushed them, they were no match for the gang of speeders and warriors that surrounded them soon after.

The bounty hunter that doubled as a bodyguard was unmasked and brought low in front of the woman he'd hoped he could one day help save and redeem, though his identity remained a secret for the time being. His desperate attempt to sacrifice himself for her failed, further revealing in the process that he was also Force sensitive. After being punished, collared, and cuffed they were both taken back to the warlord's lair, where they've been subjugated, starved, and kept weakened ever since...

~~~~~​

Deep within the lair, tucked away behind one of the warlord's fighting pits, a pair of thugs pulled one of their captives through a long dim lit corridor of cells. The lithe frame of the athletic looking individual was scantily clad in one of the usual tantalizing garments that the slaves were typically kept in. The shock collar around his neck was attached to a chain, which was being tugged on by one of the boy's captors.

His head was hung low, his face covered by a jet-black Sith torture mask. He seemed like he no longer had the strength or motivation to walk as his bare feet dragged across the metal floor. Each of his arms were held across the shoulders of the two bulky men that were enroute to deliver the captive to their boss...

~~~~~
​

Further within was the Rattataki warlord's private pleasure suite, where he and a gang of his best warriors had been celebrating their conquest over the champion senator of the Cauldron. Celeste was kept with the warlord like a trophy, barely dressed in a rather revealing outfit that was more lavish and glamorous than those worn by the other slaves.

The giant mass of a man that had claimed her for himself kept the chain of her shock collar in one hand, while he sat in his self-proclaimed throne with her draped across his lap, much like the other slaves that were tending to the rest of the men in the large mood-lit chamber.

The boisterous laughter and ruckus suddenly came to an irrupt halt as the main doors to the chamber opened. Two large men stepped in, dragging their enervated captive in between them. The warlord sneered with an intrigued grumble, while his head and focus shifted to the weakened boy in the dark mask.

The men stopped a few paces away from their boss, then parted from each other slightly to set the delivery down on his knees. His arms dangled at his sides. His faded blues gazed listlessly at the metal floor.

"He's ready to talk." One of the men that had brought the captive in knelt down and pulled the boy's wrists back against his hips, while the other man held the chain attached to their prisoner's collar to keep his barely swaying body from collapsing to the ground. Once the cuffs were secured the man then stood, grasped the top of the slave's debilitating mask, and pulled it off.

Kyosuke weakly panted with the faintest of gasps, hardly able to put any effort into catching a breath in his exhausted state. His raven hair was dishevelled, no longer covering his glazed eyes and dark pink cheeks. Tiny beads of sweat trickled down the edge of his drained expression.

He didn't seem to notice Celeste.
He didn't really seem to notice anything...


@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

It was too much to claim that Celeste had accepted her faith. From the outside, it might have seen as though she was submitting, but underneath the surface there was a deep, hidden fire burning. They had tried to break her, but she was far from being defeated. They were purposely starving them to weaken them, but they would never manage to break her.

It had definitely been a few days, but it was hard to keep track of time below the surface. The days felt endlessly long and they kept the bountyhunter hidden from her sight. Without much food and a bare minimum of water her strength was slowly fading, but her spirit was yet unbroken and she was convinced to find a way out. She assumed that Kat might have even been looking for her right now and maybe it was just a question of hours until she would finally find her. However, it was also possible that no one was looking for them, if Kat was assuming that Celeste had flown back to Kalist IV for now. Time would probably tell, but until then, Celeste would have to rely on herself.

She was obediently playing along as good as she could. She had accepted her admittedly luscious outfit reluctantly as he was forcing her to wear it, but she was completely disgusted by everything down here anyway. The warlord and everything he did was abominable and she was only waiting for the right moment to strike back and get her revenge, but this moment was yet to come. Until then, she had to endure his repugnant tries. This was not at all what she had expected to happen when they had started this mission, but this had literally led to the worst possible outcome.

While she laid there draped across his lap her eyes remained fixed on the door as if anything interesting was about to happen anytime soon, which normally wasn't the case though. She found herself caught in a weird monotonous routine that had been established for her without her consent. She had learned that there had been indeed a mole and that this warlord had just been waiting for his chance to catch Celeste and claim her as his prize, which still made her incredibly furious. As long as she was in his possession, he was showing others that he had sucessfully retaliated and he had symbolically destroyed everything that Kat and Celeste had established, but on the other hand, it seemed like neither the Cauldron nor Barterus had been informed about what had happened, because then Kat had already saved her friend. Celeste assumed that the warlord had only bragged to ghe tribes closest to him and his lair for now.

She was admittedly weakened, but whenever his hand had found his way back on her revealed skin, she had immediately collected her last strength, grabbed him by the massive wrist, teeth gritted and her glare deadly, but she had soon learned that whenever she tried to resist, she was either shocked or punished physically, which was why she had to stop. She had now taken a position in which she wouldn't even react at all anymore. It was the most intelligent move since he was starting to get bored from teasing her then. It worked for now, but she knew that she would have to come up with something else since he wouldn't be pleased with that in the long run. However, she couldn't continue the inner plotting and a slave was being dragged inside the room and his silhouette seemed oddly familiar. She immediately raised her head out of reflex but let it sink soon after before anyone would notice.

It had to be him. Null. If that was his real name after all. She could even sense that it was him in this familiar presence, but something had changed vehemently. He was much weaker to she remembered and there was almost something apathetic, catatonic about him which made a shiver ran down her spine. She could only imagine what they had done to him and it made her sick. She could feel an immense inner heat boiling up as her inner rage grew, but she tried not even to flinch. She held her breath until the masked was pulled off and the force sensitive bountyhunter revealed and then she couldn't even hold back a gasp. Seeing him like that was horrible and she was too weak to keep up her indifferent appearance.

"Well well. Would you look at that? Does he seem familiar, little princess?", the warlord laughed amusedly while she could hear the dirty, sadistic smirk already as he spoke. "That's your old friend!", he went on chuckling to himself while Celeste tried hard not to show that she was being eaten from the inside. Her glare remained fixed on him while she only breathed lightly, trying not to give him any satisfaction, but the warlord soon turned to more drastic measures. "Come, let's have some fun with the boy! Fetch us something to drink for starters!", he barked at him, gesturing for him to leave right next to Celeste's face. She thought about biting him, but she knew that it would only make it worse for both of them so she just bit her tongue instead. The boy didn't even seem to recognize her anyway, which made it even more horrible to watch. They had broken him already. That was for sure. But Celeste knew that if she would do as much as to even flinch, they would hurt him worse and so for his sake, she held back. However, as the warlord pulled her backwards on the chain, so that she could feel his hot breath on her ears, she was about to explode. "My boys have been so nice to him", he whispered sweetly, while she was forced to helplessly stare at him.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

"Yes... Mas...ter..." The defeated boy weakly spoke with a hushed tone and broken cadence. Kyo needed to obey. That's all he knew. Whatever they wanted from him he had to play the role of an good obedient slave to keep from being punished and shocked again.

The stuncuffs detached thanks the thug who'd linked them in the first place, though it was only so the captive could serve them. Kyo tried to move his legs, tried to get to his feet, but the muscles trembled, nearly failing until the other bulky men that had brought him in pulled at the boy's chain leash.

"...ngh..." Kyo lightly whimpered as the collar yanked at his neck, giving him just enough force and leverage to barely bring him up towards the thug. "...nn..." His soft voice struggled while he tried his best to steel his nerves and steady his muscles. It was difficult. His bruised knees shook and nearly buckled, causing him to slump against the much larger man that tugged on his leash.

He let out a faint pant for air as he felt the blood and energy circulate through his limbs. He didn't even seem to realize that his face, hands, and upper body had all leaned against the rough edges of the man's chiselled abs and pecs, which only caused the men to laugh more at him. Kyo tried to ignore the laughter. Tried to overcome the shame as the man made the kind of clicking noises you'd hear someone make to summon their pet.

"Now now, be a good little slave and get us some drinks!" The men gave a strong swift swat against Kyo's backside, who couldn't keep himself from faintly crying out with a faded yelp and hushed whine. The gang's raucous laughter sank deep. It was the kind of position he'd never wanted to be in. He was never comfortable being the center of attention, and now it was happening while he was at his most vulnerable. He could hardly take it. The shy boy knew he couldn't do anything to resist though, as he'd learned this would only make things worse for him.

"Y--yes... Master..." The chain leash rattled, then dropped as the thug Kyo had leaned against released it so the boy could fulfill the warlord's command. "...hnn..." The slave boy hesitantly took a step toward one of the tables, where a tray with drinks had been prepared for this very moment. His leg shook, but the determination to please his masters and avoid more punishment seemed to give him just enough strength to steady each step.

Within a few moments Kyo had barely managed to stagger his way to the edge of the large metal table. His hips crashed against the edge, his palms braced the surface. A series of weak breaths came from the panting boy, who tried to gather as much stamina as he could to finish the task. His dim blues hung motionless, gazing at the tray of drinks as though he knew he didn't even have it in him to complete the simple task.

Kyo's fractured heart cracked as the men laughed at him again. A few of them hurled some profound remarks at him, but they were like muffled blaster fire that echoed in his foggy mind. All he knew, was that he wouldn't be able to stall any longer to gather any more strength, and that he couldn't rely on the Force to enhance his muscles as he desperately wanted to do right now.

And then a loud familiar crack broke through the air, and a sharp pain flashed across Kyo's bare back. "AH!" He cried out as the whip snapped across his smooth skin and left a bright pink mark. His muscles all tensed, his hips bucked back and up as he clung to the edge of the table and leaned against it for support. He'd never been treated this way before. Never even had his body exposed so enticingly for others to enjoy. It was all so strange and foreign to him, but he knew there was nothing he could do to fight it at this point.

"Move it! Slave!" Another loud crack followed the thug's command to their new slave as he flicked the tip of his whip against the surface next to the boy. Kyo squeaked with a soft gasp, his lithe body instinctively twitched with a slight hop as though his reflexes wanted to make him run, but he knew he had to stay.

"Y...yes... M-master..." A pair of tears broke away and began to slip down the cute boy's flushed cheeks. He quickly got back to work, trying to keep his shaky hands steady as he carefully pulled the silver tray onto his left palm, and did his best to balance the several cups full of alcohol while he turned away from the table. He let out a faint gulp as the men whistled and cheered at him, causing his cheeks to glow darkly while he did his best to focus his blurry vision on the warlord.

Something seemed familiar about the blonde lady in the giant man's lap, but he ignored it for now. He needed to complete his task or he'd be punished and mocked in front of all these people. "..hmph..." A faint whimpers of protest escaped his lips while he began to make his way over to his boss.

The gang continued to tease him with each step, causing the bashful boy to grow increasingly flustered and embarrassed with every step. For a moment he began to believe he was doing better, that he might actually be able to deliver all of the drinks, until he was within just a couple last steps of the warlord -- and recognized the girl draped across the man's lap.

"C-eles--?!" Kyo had begun to speak her name when suddenly his foot suddenly came into contact with something, and his balance faltered. The exhausted slave collapsed to the ground in an instant, and the tray toppled with him. The metal cups survived the fall just fine, but the alcohol was now a mess across the floor, right in front of the warlord and Celeste. The poor boy hadn't even been able to deliver a single drink.

"...no..." He whimpered in defeat. His muscles trembled as the fear crept in. He knew punishment was soon to follow, and it turned out Celeste had been present the entire time, watching him as he was dominated and humiliated in front of her once again. He couldn't believe it. And now his failure would possibly get her harmed once again. He wasn't sure. He could barely focus his clouded mind with all the laughter that filled the room.

"Please... It was an accident, Master... I'm sorry..." Kyo looked up at the warlord while an innocent begging expression across his teary eyes. He knew he couldn't endure much more, but the thought of Celeste being punished for his mistake was even worse. If there was still a chance he could protect her then he had to try. "Please... Don't hurt her... I'll... I'll take all of it instead..."


@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Her breath was growing both faster and heavier. It costed her a whole fortune of self-control and reserve to keep herself from flipping out. She knew he did it on purpose. He was trying to torture her further by making her watch the boy getting humiliated right in front of her. It broke her heart to see him suffer like this as she was still the one who had brought him into this.

She didn't care that he was a light-sided force user. Since they had been ambushed, she hadn't had the chance to talk to him about that yet. She still had in mind that he had tried to sacrifice himself for her and this even if they hadn't known each other for long back then. Now they were both prisoners down here, enslaved because of a series of unfortunate events and right now, there was no way out.

While she was struggling not to show any sign of sympathy which would only please the warlord, she was forced to watch this cruel show. The catatonic bountyhunter was in worse shape that she could have ever imagined. She still tried to avoid imagining what those bastards had done to him, but the way they treated him right now told a whole story about that.

Their laughter made her sick. The way they treated him made her furious and their sole presence was something she could no longer stand. While the boy struggled vehemently in front of her, she tried to avert her gaze, but as soon as the warlord noticed, he grabbed her hair again and forced her to watch him. "What? Do you want to be the next to punish him?", he laughed amusedly after the newly made slave had received a lash while Celeste was running out of patience. It caused her inner pain to see all of those slaves suffer, but his suffering was the worst because she blamed herself for it.

The wrath inside her made her feel hot. She couldn't stand watching it even longer and she felt like she was running out of possibilities. The man was completely broken, caught in an almost apathetic state of resignation. If they wanted to break out of here, she needed him and all of his strength. They both needed each other but she had no idea whether she would be able to save him.

Her painful, desperate thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she faintly heard her own name. She herself had drifted off so that she hadn't been realizing that the bountyhunter had already approached them with a tray of drinks. In his moment of realization he seemed to be back to his own self for a glimpse of a second, but at the same time he had gotten so distracted that he stumbled.

Another gasp left her uncontrollably while she stared down on him in horror. Now she was the one being completely paralyzed in shock because she knew what was about to happen. There was a second when no one in this room dared to move or speak. This creepy silence was unbelievably tense and Celeste was just waiting for something extremely bad too happen.

Her muscles tensed up completely and she awaited pain, but it didn't come. Instead, the room bursted with laughter, which, however, hurt her even worse. She remained motionless, her body freezingly cold through the shivers of disgust that went down her spine and at the same time she felt like she was burning from the inside, as the rage kept flooding in. And then that bastard right behind her raised his dreadful voice again. "Hurt her? No. I like her pretty face" that pig chuckled, before he pulled her up on her collar until she was sitting on his lap again. He then pressed her forward, so that she was standing right in front of him, her knees shaky and weak because of the lack of nutrition and her stirred up emotions. "I've got a better idea. She'll be the one executing your punishment" he then declared with a smug grin while the others roared in agreement. Celeste's eyes widened in horror while she still couldn't avert her gaze from the boy who was still on his knees in front of them.

 

[The Storyteller]

It appeared as though everything around the pair began to dim and darken, while they were cast in the spotlight. The guilt and exhaustion could easily be seen on the nearly catatonic raven-haired boy as he remained slouched on his knees, gazing up at the blonde woman with a look of trepid submission across his teary eyes.

A few moments later, the defeated slave's cries could be heard echoing throughout the lair's nearby halls as the captive senator was forced to break him further. The once innocent boy wouldn't be able to last for long, before he'd finally collapse, and fade to black...

~~~~~​

@AdventCore @LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Without being able to see any daylight it was impossible keep track of time. All Celeste knew was that this was pure madness and that she was already heavily traumatized, even though she was not as badly affected as the bountyhunter.

They had forced her to do it. She didn't have a choice. They had been threatened to rip out his guts right in front of her eyes if she hadn't executed the punishment herself, but knowing that she hadn't had a choice didn't make it any better now . She had been running out of strength and that flame inside her was slowly dying which was a terrible feeling, but she had tried her best to keep up her appearance and had tried to be convincing even if had broken her heart.

She had never experienced anything close to that and she was sure that nothing would ever compare to this hell. There was, however, one last spark of hope, and that was that the warlord was stqrting to buy her performance. She had held back, acted as though she was too weak to fight anymore and that was how she had started to gain his trust. The stupid bastard was even foolish enough to send his guards away during the night and that was exactly when she had struck.

He hadn't seen it coming and she hadn't thought that she could even manage to get it done. She had collected her last bits of strength and had brought the small, yet sharp knite right through his veines. He had made a huge mistake with his last meal. He had been so obsessed with the idea of having a -as he called it- romantic dinner to 'soothe her nerves' and of course she had played along perfectly. She had proven to him that she had given up, maybe even implied that she was starting to take a liking in him and apparently she had been very convincing...

That was exactly why he had been stupid enough to leave his unfinished plate in the room. There had not just been leftovers of meat on his plate, but he had also left his steak knife and that had been her chance to finally fight back. She had waited until he had been sound asleep and drifted into dreams. She had watched him for hours until she was completely sure that he was in deep sleep and only then she had tried to climb down from him. She had been moving in slow motion, trying not to wake him and even if it had taken her quite some time, she hand finally reached the knife, while he still had her chain wrapped around his wrist.

As she now walked down the corridors both of her hands were bloody and so were her clothes. Her heart was racing but she was still trying to move soundlessly. She had managed to recover her lightsaber since the obsessive warlord had stored it on a pedestal, but she wanted to avoid alarming the rest and so she was only using it carefully. She would have been too weak to fight and even if she had managed to cut off that collar, she was still far away from her actual freedom, but she was doing a decent job with stealthily stabbing her opponents from behind.

She wouldn't leave without him. That was for sure. She had no idea where they were keeping him, but she would try to kill anyone on her way to fetch him. She stealthed through the corridors and when she encountered any guards, she was immediately killing them through a clean decapitation, so that no sounds could ever leave their filthy mouths again. It took her another while until she had finally reached her target: The cell inhabited by the raven haired boy who was all tied up in the back of the dark cell. She had already slain the two thugs that had been stationed outside his durasteel cell and there had still been no painful cries echoing through the empty halls so she was filled by a new hope.

"Null..." she gasped breathlessly, doubting that this was even his real name, but it had been the only name he had given her. She grabbed the durasteel bars while her face had been pressed against the cool metal. She wasn't even sure whether her mind was playing tricks on her, but after another second she was certain that it was him. It was the bountyhunter whom she had met a while ago, but much more frail and utterly defeated.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

'Null...?'

The distant and murky word floated through the unresponsive boy's foggy mind.

Null...
It was how he felt.
Null and void.

But the voice.
It was murky and distant.
Something was familiar about it though, but difficult to pin.

His glazed orbs barely moved from his hanging gaze.
He didn't know how long the Sith torture mask had been on this time, or for how long he'd been resting on his knees and shins. He didn't know how long his frail frame had been held upright by the chains that held his arms in place above him, or for how long the slave garment that loosely clung to his famished hips had been in tatters. He didn't know how much longer he'd last. He didn't know much anymore.

What he did know, was that he was nothing more than a slave now...
He no longer had freedom.
He no longer had hope.

His head remained hung low.
His dim faded orbs blankly stared at the cold metal floor of his small dark cell.

Null was no more...
Kyo was no more...


@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

"Null!", she tried again, her voice determined, yet hushed and hasty, but there was still no response coming back anyway. Her eyes lingered on the frail frame of the boy that had been her recruited bountyhunter before, but even if she couldn't see his face, she knew that whatever laid beneath the mask was merely a faint little essence that was left of the raven-haired man who was now only clad in pieces of torn cloth.

Her eyes were slowly filling up with hot tears of guilt and shame as the memories washed over her. All that had happened within the last days had been a nightmare. How long had they been here? Perhaps even for weeks? She had no idea. The only thing she knew was that they had to leave right away.

She ignited her crimson bladed lightsaber with her unsteady, trembling right hand before she brought the saber's tip at the lock. She tried to push her blade through the durasteel mechanism with all the strength that was left inside her while the lock slowly began to melt. Her heart was still racing and she breathed rather heavily as she finally pushed the cell door open.

"We've got to leave, now!" she urged him louder, her voice finally a little more vibrant, hoping to somehow yank him out of this catatonic state, but the bountyhunter wouldn't even flinch, not even when she fell on her knees right in front of him. Her panicking eyes were searching for his, but his apathetic stare wouldn't even focus.

As she quickly let her gaze wander over his heavily bruised and scarred body she suddenly found herself gracing over a strongly visible scar on his left side. She had no control over the shaking hand that softly touched the injured skin as the realization hit her hard. I did this. This particular mark was her doing. She immediately shook her head, trying to distract herself and not drift back into those terrible memories. She had to stay strong if they wanted to make it. She couldn't risk breaking as well.

"I'm getting you out of here. One way or another. I promise" she repeated solemly as she carefully removed his mask, but right as it came of and the raven bangs fell down to cover his blue eyes, the cell was filled with a loud, uproarious ringing sound.

"No..." she gasped desperately as she realized that the alarm had been triggered, meaning that someone must have stumbled upon her quiet massacre. This deafening sound immediately let an icy shiver ran down her spine while her voice was swallowed by it anyway. Without hesitation she started cutting him lose with the still ignited lightsaber before she wanted to yank him upwards. She assumed that they would only have a few minutes until the trail of dead bodies would lead the guards right to them and so they had to hurry. They only had this one chance and even if she was close to fainting herself she wouldn't yield.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

"...yes...mas...ter..." The slave's weak voice faintly whisped through his parched lips. His body was limp once cut free, nearly collapsing to the metal floor had it not been for the foggy and familiar blonde that intercepted his fall.

He tried to move his arms, but there was no response.
He tried to move his legs, but they were just as dead.

Barely even a whimper escaped the boy as he lay across the woman's shoulder. The dark cell blurred away as he suddenly found himself at its entrance, the entirety of his weight kept aloft only by whomever it was that supported him. Not even the alarm seemed to phase him.


@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Master? The word immediately sent another shiver down her spine. They had indoctrinated him, broken him down until he was nothing more than a frail, lost soul just like most of the slaves. She swore to herself that she would kill every last one of them, but now was not the time to strike. Now was the time to run. And they didn't have much time.

She blinked the tears of despair and wrath away and helped him up by carefully, but hastily bringing him across her shoulder somehow. She grabbed his right arm, that laid dead across her shoulders, with her left while her other arm was supporting his back from behind. This way she half dragged him, since she couldn't carry his whole weight.

He could barely bring one foot in front of the other and she was close to collapsing herself but she just kept moving. She had deactivated her lightsaber and only strapped the hilt to her hip, so that it was only secured by a thin strap of fabric, but it was enough for now.

Whenever the warlord had led her around, she had tried to memorize every single corridor, so that she would be prepared for their escape and even if her mind was all weakened and foggy, she could recall this inner map. She was headed for the hangar bay, taking the direct route through the side corridors, hoping that she wouldn't encounter anyone on her way out. "Stay...with me. Okay? We'll...make it", she reassured him as confidently as possible, but she was running out of breath and strength. However, she still didn't consider leaving him behind. This was nothing she would ever do.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

There wasn't much for the boy to do in their current situation. His mind was clouded, firing off random images of him and the woman that was dragging him to someplace.

He saw her sitting in the passenger of some speeder, but everything around her was just a murky blur. Then another image, the two of them wandering across some rocky desert terrain. The sound of blaster fire echoed in the choppy memory, and then faded with the bang and hiss of something like a grenade.

None of it made any sense.
Nothing about what was happening made sense.
But it didn't matter.

All that mattered was that he was a good slave.
He had to be patient and obedient if he was to keep himself from being hurt again.

"Yes... Mast..er..."


@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

She was running out of breath and they were really slow which frightened her immensely. She didn't want to imagine what might happen if they would catch them, but she couldn't hear their voices nor feel their presence close by yet. "Stay...with me. Stay...", she whispered repeatedly, hoping to somehow break his apathetic state with her voice but it did not seem as though she was able to reach him.

The made their way through another corridor until she tumbled forward, regaining her balance in the very last moment. She was breathing heavily and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead even though it was rather cool inside those blank corridors and she wasn't barely wearing anything. After their last turn they had finally reached the hanger and she let him down for a moment to slice the access pad cleanly open. "Almost...there...hand on", she gasped breathlessly as she yanked him back to his feet again. However, that was when she also heard the guards in the distance. "Kark" she hissed desperately as she started walking with him again or rather dragging him along.

They had soon reached the area where the vehicles were parked and his speeder was neither well hidden nor guarded and once she had dragged him to the speeders opened door, she could even see that even the keys were literally still inside. It didn't suprise her...this was nothing she had expected them to consider. A new spark of hope was ignited as she tried her best to pull him inside.

She was still overly nervous and her heart was pounding in her chest but she couldn't believe that they had even made it this far. "We're almost in safety. Hang on" she reminded him again, her voice slightly stronger, but then she glanced up into the rear mirror and as her gaze fell upon the first wave of thugs, the blood seemed to freeze in her veines. It was however not because she had spied the guards who were about to stop them, but because her gaze landed on his torn gear that laid scrambled on the backseats. It was as though she was paralyzed for a second as she made this horrible discovery, but then finally her survival instincts kicked back in. She buckled him in hastily before she turned the key around, letting the engines roaring up loudly. They had to make it. This was their last chance.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

Fear shot across the broken and defeated slave's expression as he faintly whimpered and shuttered at the sound of the engine. It was as though he'd been jostled and unsettled by some haunting memory. His eyes went wide and shook with swelling tears. He clutched the edge of his seat as the sporty speeder he once rode in on rumbled to life and powerfully purred under them.

"I-I'll be a good slave... I promise..." The boy pleaded while he withdrew his legs together and turned his gaze away from the woman to avoid eye contact. His shaky shoulders curled in as he shyly tried to cover his exposed upper chest with his withered biceps, still tightly grasping the bottom of the passenger seat like his livelihood depended on it.

The buckle caused him to flinch once it clicked. His body tensed as he shivered and tightly shut his faded blues. Then his restless head hung down further, his untrimmed raven bangs shrouding his trembling expression as he begged softly, barely audible over the speeder's engine and the lair's alarms...

"Please, Master... d-don't take me for another ride..."


@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste stared at him in horror for another second before she managed to break through her own paralyzation, vigorously pushing down the gas pedal as though their lives depended on it, which they actually did anyway. Her trembling hands clutched the controls while she carelessly sped through the hangar.

They hadn't locked the ramp leading to the outsidesand their pursuers cursed loudly as she let the speeder shoot out into the night air. She couldn't hear them, but through a quick glance she noticed that they were shouting and gesturing wildly as the first began to open their blaster fire.

The heavily traumatized boy whimpered faintly besides her, behaving as she had been the one torturing him for the last few week. Even though she hadn't been the one, it made her feel terrible. She was slowly starting to be consumed by the rage that was boiling up inside her and yet she felt strongly guilty about what happened the bountyhunter.

Without looking back into the rear view she pushed the speeder forward, casually running over one of the thugs that sprang in their way. "Just hang on. I'll get you to safety" she whispered softly, her voice however shaking as she was completely disoriented right now. However, she tried to ignore all of it and keep her cool, forcing the speeder to maximum speed as she raced through the streets until they've finally reached the open again. She knew that they would try to hunt them down, but she kept racing on without ever looking back again. The moon being the only help in regard to orientation as she tried to block out her emotions.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

"Yes, master..." The boy's uneasy trepidation seemed to linger a little while longer, even though he tried to swallow his nerves and trust in the increasingly familiar blonde.

His grip on the seat tightened as they blasted through the hangar. His weary arms were shaky while they took to the moonlit skies. Whatever they'd done to the poor boy, they'd made sure he wouldn't be the one to break Celeste out of their lair. Thankfully the warlord had gotten careless with his prize, or they might not have ever escaped.

It wouldn't be much longer until everything the slave had been holding in would reveal itself. The fatigue could clearly be seen in his dim glazed orbs, while his hands eventually left their place on the seat and roamed up the sides of his arms until he was squeezing himself tightly for comfort. He tried to avert his gaze to keep the woman from seeing the tears of salvation that swelled in his eyes as he gradually realized what was happening.

He was being rescued, taken away from the nightmare, though he didn't know where to or why. All he could do was wait and see. Hopefully wherever he was being taken to would help him recover his broken mind and defeated spirit...


@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

She exhausted champion tried to force herself to concentrate on maneuvering the speeder but she was constantly hit with painful memories and the realization whatever was left of the former bountyhunter next to her was in desperate need of professional help. She wouldn't just bring him back and leave him alone, hoping that the Force would guide him back...she couldn't just abandon him to his fate, not after she had been the one dragging him into this catastrophe...

She swallowed hard, blinking away her tears of despair while she contemplated how she could help with. She threw him a quick, worried glance until, she focused on the landscape again, still trying her best to orientate herself in the dark. She had gathered information on the position of this now dead warlord's lair, but it was hard to recall them now. However, she estimated that it wouldn't take them longer than three hours to reach the safety of their own territory and this meant that he'd only have to hold on a little more. She knew he was not only catatonic but even entirely weakened and exhausted and so she tried to keep her voice as soft and soothing as possible. "Null...it's going to be okay. You're not alone and you're safe. You don't seem to remember me but I'm there for you. Just hold on", she tried again, hoping to reach him in his absent state sooner or later and that was why she kept addressing him every now and then, constantly reassuring him that he was safe now. If it hadn't been for him, she might have passed out from the exhaustion and the trauma herself, but she kept fighting for him. They'd make it. And it would be alright eventually.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

He wasn't sure he could trust what he heard based on sudden images and shattered memories of the recent tragedy. There was a long pause before he'd finally respond, all the while slowly letting his uneasy trembles relax before he faintly raised his weak voice over the airspeeder's powerful thrusters, "...okay..."

Exhaustion gradually took hold. His upper body dipped to the side, his shoulder sluggishly catching the craft's wide transparisteel canopy in the process. For a moment his bare back touched the seat, which was abruptly followed by a soft hiss of pain, a sudden jolt forward, and an instinctive tensing of the muscles.

Fresh scars mixed with old ones across his back like a labyrinth.
The blonde's performance and contribution blended in between.
His dark baggy blues and tireless expression gradually eased.
The heavy pull of fatigue wrapped around his frail core.

"...thank you..." '...Celeste?...'
The name flashed through his dizzy mind, and vanished.
Then his restless muscles all gradually fell limp.
And for the first time in many rotations,
he finally allowed himself to rest in peace...


/ End Thread /
@LadyRen