Ask Requiem of Memories

Null · Sep 16, 2022

~~ Back to Life ~~

A crack splintered in the sky.

Celeste and the version of Null that stood with his arms around her paused. The real Null stepped forward seemingly from nowhere. He stared at the pair with a look of guilt and disappointment threatening to break his otherwise calm facade.

"I'm sorry I lied..." Another crack split the sky. "I'm sorry for being a burden... For running away without saying goodbye..." The cracks far above webbed outward across the horizon. "For everything..." A long pause. More dark seams fractured from above down to the ground. "Maybe you would've been better off... if you'd just never met me..."

Then the world shattered, and feel to pieces. The sky fell around them like shards of glass. What remained behind the falling sky was nothing. Just a pitch-black abyss. The image of Celeste embraced by the Null of the past flickered like a glitching holovid. The Null who had been observing the memories kept his eye on the pair until they finally vanished.

~~ Hopeless Captive ~~

A thick chain burst out of the ground behind Null and wrapped around his wrist. He gasped and went to resist, but his arm could barely budge. Another chain shot out from the ground on the other side of him, wrapping around his other arm. "What! How-?" He choked from the next chain that came from the darkness in front of him and wrapped around his neck.

He went to take a step, to twist his body and jerk his shoulders forward, but he suddenly heard another five chains break out of the ground to bind around his torso, hips, and shoulders. They tightened and pulled him down to his knees. Null grunted and struggled, causing the chains to tighten even more. Then suddenly they yanked him down and dragged him into the ground.

Darkness completely enveloped Null. He screamed and kicked, only to hear himself muffled when more chains coiled around his mouth and ankles, overpowering and overwhelming the rest of him in the process. His ability to resist was suddenly gone. His energy drained as he hung with his arms out behind him and his head down. Raven bangs covered his dim blues while he remained still and quiet, accepting his defeat.

A deep gutteral laughter echoed out from a massive pale face that faded in above and in front of the broken slave, who was scantily clad in a tantalizing dancer garb and shock collar. A big matching hand appeared under the floating face and reached forward, wrapping itself around Null's neck while squeezing tight. The slave trembled and choked out a whimper. The face distorted into a sinister grin while one face after the other began to appear all around him.

"Please... I'll be good.. I'll obey..." He barely managed to speak. "Don't... hurt her..." A crack of the whip rang out behind him like an explosion. Null winced and gasped, nearly crying out for a second before he hushed himself and corrected his previous statement by adding, "M-master..."

The dozen giant faces all began laughing at him. Null hung his head in shame. The hand that had been around his neck released, formed into a fist, pulled back, and rocketed forward to drive its knuckles into his core. There wasn't even enough breath left in his lungs to cry out.

The fist pulled back, gradually growing larger than the slave's entire body until it nearly became the same size as the faces that all maliciously stared down at Null. He weakly gasped for breath while coughing up spittle. Then the fist slammed down, covering his entire body as it pounded him into the ground of darkness. It pulled back a moment later, the laughter of the distorted faces intensifying as they looked upon their slave's flattened body.

Then the darkness below the unmoving boy began to move, bits and pieces of it deforming and pulsing under him. He remained unresponsive, as though he were unable to comprehend what was happening to him while he lay broken and defeated. Unable to even speak or move a muscle. The fist slammed down on top of him again. Then again. And again. Each time he barely had the strength to cry out until the beating finally stopped. The first face then slowly began to hover down toward him.

The sickly squirming ground beneath him suddenly broke apart into a swarm of smaller hands. Null's eyes went wide and he gasped, beginning to panic as they reached out from the darkness and grabbed at him. Dozens of hands clawed at his flesh and began to cover him.

Null went to scream, but one of the hands reached up from under his head and clutched the bottom half of his face to shut him up. He twisted and jerked, eyes widening as the face came closer and closer, opening its massive maw wider and wider until it finally came down on top of him and engulfed his entire body.

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

Null shot up in bed with a loud gasp. Sweat trickled down his forehead. His chest heaving as he panted hard with heavy yet shallow breaths and tried to recover from the panic set on by his traumatized nightmare. He curled his knees up to his face, and buried his head against them as he trembled and tried to keep Celeste from hearing his hushed sobs.

It was almost always like this ever since he'd finally come back to life. Barely getting any sleep. Waking up in the dead of night, and suffering from the unending nightmares of past traumas he still couldn't remember.

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Sep 17, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

Celeste had moved Null to the room right next to her, because she was still well aware of his nightly relapses. Whenever she herself was in the exact state between drifting off to sleep and still begin awake, she had regularly wandered off into the other room with her own mind and had silently entered his thoughts.

Without leaving any traces, she usually watched and oberserved because she was monitoring his development closely. She had assumed that if she found more triggers, it would be easier for her to redirect his thoughts before he started spiraling into the terror deeply hidden in the darkest corners of his mind, but this task was admittedly difficult.

She witnessed the reoccurring images of the terrors and was constantly confronted with the trauma and until now, she hadn't even managed an actual breakthrough, but in this very night, she witnessed an interesting nightmare again. He had been taken back to the warlords' lair and found himself in his most defeated position.

However, she knew she needed to interfere. Wake herself up and walk over to wake him, but she found herself as if paralyzed. She did not manage to get up or to even pull out of his mind. She was caught in this nightmare as well, watching from the outside while the darkness started to creep into his mind.

No no no. This wasn't right. She had already warned him about that, but why couldn't she stop it now?! Her own breath grew heavier and her heart began to speed, but she couldn't break free until the dream was shattered and she rose in her own bed. "What the..." she breathlessly began before she started running over to the next room, accidentally bursting right into it. "Are you okay?" she worriedly asked, even though she knew he wasn't.

@AdventCore

Null · Sep 17, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

Null peaked up from his knees, silencing himself as soon as he heard Celeste's footsteps approaching from outside the door. He felt awful when she saw him like this. He'd been trying for so long to be strong for her, to support her through the process of supporting him and taking on the burden of being a senator at the same time.

The raven-haired young man wiped his face and stared at the end of the big bed. His arms curled around his legs and pulled tight so his knees were against the bottom half of his face.

"I'm fine..."
He wasn't.

"It was nothing..."
Clearly something.

The dark side crept up at the corners of the room. Though he didn't fully know what he was doing, the timid remnant squeezed himself tighter while drawing upon the light side little by little to keep the darkness at bay as best he could. The struggle to remain strong in front of his savior was clear and obvious despite the tempting desire to break down and give in to despair.

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Sep 17, 2022

~~Dread of Knight ~~

The moment she had entered the room, her gaze had felt upon the frightened, raven haired man. She could immediately see that he was feeling terrible, because those nightmares were apparently still haunting him. She let out a as she approached him, immediately noticing that he was lying.

"You're not" she replied, softly shaking her head. "There definitely aas something" she corrected as she sat down on the edge of his bed. Without even having to help him that she had witnessed everything, even her aides would have seen that he was not feeling well right now.

"I'm sorry you had another nightmare...do you think talking would help?" she slightly tilted her head to the side as she attentively studied him, however, a yawn immediately escaped her as she was utterly tired herself. With his nightmares, she usually woke up to to go check on him and after long, exhausting days with work, it was sometimes draining. She still kept her features soft in sympathy while she waited for him to give her a honest reply.

@AdventCore

Null · Sep 18, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

"Why do I keep seeing these things?" A palm slowly went to his forehead, the elbow wedged against the knee to hold it up. Then his other leg unfolded and the other hand went down to the bed.

He let out a deep sigh, closed his eyes, and thought of the nightmare. Various versions of it played back through his mind that he'd been suffering from for weeks. "Why do I keep finding myself captured and chained...?" Null's dim blues barely opened, not that he was looking at anything.

"Why do I keep having visions of myself being broken and defeated...?" One of his hands then slowly crossed his chest, shoulder, and around to one of the many scars he still had on his back from the Rattataki warlord and his thugs. Then one of his fingers brushed across one of the very scars she'd been forced to give him herself. "How did I get all these scars...?"

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Sep 22, 2022

~~Dread of Knight ~~

She watched him critically, her brows furrowed in deep worry. Whenever his nightmares were back, he was close to spiraling and so she knew that next time, she needed to be faster. He started raising all those questions, obviously worried and yet also afraid.

She held eye contact and gave him a weak smile, hoping to cheer him up somehow. "I am sorry..." she softly began, letting out a sigh. "For everything. Every single scar, every single memory...everything. We can't turn back time and stop it from happening...but I'll hell you get through this".

Celeste felt guilty and responsible for all that, yet she didn't even know why. She had hired him, but no one could have known what was about to happen next. It was horrible, that had been out of question, but why was she so overly concerned? She wanted to help him, nurse him further back to health, but the inner force that drove her was mysterious. Was that her path of redemption? The way to denounce all the darkness that had once been inside her?

...

She was overly tired yet she stayed by his side. "Do you think...a night time walk would help? To take your mind off things?".

@AdventCore

Null · Sep 25, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

There was a steady silence from Null as he sat and listened. His tired gaze didn't move to Celeste, just remained at the foot of the bed instead. After a few moments of resting his face against his knees he finally lifted his head and turned it to look her in the eyes.

"Thank you..." His tone was soft and solemn. "I really appreciate all you've done for me..." He forced a faint smile, then let it drop and aimlessly looked away. Once again he'd be left not knowing what happened to him, and wondered if she knew more than what she'd been willing to tell him.

"Yeah. Walk sounds nice." There was little enthusiasm in his voice, but that was pretty normal for him. He removed the comfy blanket and scooted next to the edge of the bed by Celeste. Null kept his head down, raven bangs covering his dark blues as usual. He paused for a second, hesitating to speak to her. He wanted to ask her more about his mysterious trauma, but didn't want to push her more right now either.

A moment later he then pushed himself onto his feet, and restlessly walked over to the dresser in his soft black briefs that she'd provided for him -- along with everything else he now had.

"Do you mind if we take the long way tonight?" He pulled out a black shirt and easily donned it with much less effort than it used to take him. Then he'd pull out a tight matching pair of pants to begin stepping into, finding a little bit of difficulty as he nearly tripped putting them on and almost slammed his face into the corner of the fine dresser.

"-oof-" He grunted as he caught the corner with his hand, then steadied himself and went to try again after shyly clearing his throat. "I uhm... have a lot to take off my mind..."

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Sep 29, 2022

~~Dread of Knight~~

Null was as lethargic as ever, but she wasn't surpised by that, but what did surpise her was that he immediately agreed to the walk. She often had to drag him onto those - as she called it - mental health walks that were always supposed to take his mind off things by offering different, sensory input, but he was usually quite reluctant.

She almost didn't even register his expression of gratitude as she mindlessly staring against the wall across the bed, her brain just utterly tired and drained. Still, the corners of her lips curled into a smile as she got up and faced him again, right after he had gotten up as well. "I'm happy I can help you...I know the journey is long and rocky but I'm glad you're...recovering".

Was he recovering though? She was dearly hoping she would manage to keep him away from the darkness that was likely to erupt and slowly weave into his mind, but so far, everything was good and he seemed rather stable. "The long way sounds good" she softly replied, but that was when he suddenly staggered.

She was thrown out of her own thoughts and her eyes immediately widened in shock as she lunged forward, but he had already managed to steady himself as she has reacted slower than usually due to her own exhaustion. She let out a gasped and curtly shook her head, now wide awake. "Of course you have..." she silently muttered, more to herself as she nodded towards the door.

They both had...

@AdventCore

Null · Oct 4, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

"Yeah..." After letting out a heavy sigh, Null finally managed to finish pulling his pants up. The lashed scars on his back faced Celeste while he pulled a black long-sleeve shirt over his head, gradually unrolling it down his torso until it rested on his thin hips. Then he'd continue by pulling a pair of black socks out of another drawer, returning to sit by the senator as he began to put them on. "You too I'd imagine."

He didn't look at her, continuing instead to don his socks. Then he finally turned to her once he was done, gave her a little pat on the back of the shoulder, and stood to make his way over to the door. There he snapped on his belt, with a vibrodagger and blaster pistol holstered to the sides, then grabbed and put on his long black coat. A moment later he slipped into his black boots, and reached for his straight-edge katana vibrosword.

Null hesitated. It was just a simple night walk they were on, he wasn't sure if he should even bring it or not. Then again it was the long way, and it wouldn't be the first time someone targeted her. It was a good thing Celeste and her subordinates had been assisting him with learning to fight and use the Force again. Sometimes it even prompted old training lessons with people he couldn't remember.

Another sigh escaped the young man who was lost in his hazy thoughts. Then he snatched the weapon off its stand and strapped the scabbard to his back. It was a new look he was getting used to. He still didn't enjoy hurting people by any means, but he wanted to do his part to help protect her, especially when they were out alone together in the dead of night.

Once he was geared up he then nodded to Celeste, ready to head out alongside her. "Hopefully it's just another quiet night."

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Oct 6, 2022

~~Dread of Knight ~~

Celeste instinctively averted her gaze as Null's undressed back revealed the scars as she simply couldn't take in this view again. The pain inside her still ran way too deep as she remembered for to well how they had made her whip him and thereby causing some of them...it was still a horrible memory, a memory she hadn't even fully processed herself, but Null was a daily reminder of all the atrocities she had witnessed too.

She let out a deep sigh, not because she wanted to, but because it involuntarily escaped her. She was tired, tired and exhausted and so many levels and even though night walks were usually relaxing, she just wanted to rest. It didn't take long and he let out a sigh too and so the two of them started to head outside, their steps rather slow but funnily enough, despite their exhaustion the two of them were armed.

Usually, nothing happened during the night and yet she never left the house without her lightsaber, so she quickly summoned it before she left her room behind too. "Just like in good old times, hmm?" she sarcastically asked, however not knowing whether he could even take such dark humor. She had learnt that it sometimes helped her and so this grim thought had just escaped her too. She was obviously referring to their weapons and how they had marched through the desert back then, not at all assuming that things would...well end that wait. It was a dreadful memory, yet they were alive and sooner or later, he would recover too...

They quietly set off into the dark, chilly night...

@AdventCore

Null · Oct 15, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

The only good times he could remember were with Celeste, even if most of them were just their struggle to get him eating and moving again. The walks had been refreshing once she finally managed to get him out the door. He still couldn't believe how empty he'd been at first. He wished he knew what had happened to put him into such a blank state, and wondered why he still couldn't remember some of the most important things, like his name, family, and friends -- if he ever had any.

"I'm lucky to have met you..." He began once they were far enough away from the estate to avoid being heard by the rest of the occupants. "I'd probably be dead if you wouldn't have saved me from that place, but I still don't know much about the details..." The nightmares had plagued him since the day he came into this world, though that wasn't even a single year yet.

"I keep seeing things I don't want to see anymore..." It was difficult to admit the trauma he was dealing with. Celeste was one of the only people in the whole galaxy he could talk to about it. He'd gotten somewhat close to a couple of her other subordinates, but they didn't share the same kind of bond he had with her.

"I keep wondering... how much of it's just a dream, and how much of it's real...?" A slight frown twisted across his lips as he looked over at the woman he believed to be his savior.

"Is there anything else you're not telling me?" Null looked deep into Celeste's eyes. He squeezed his heavy heart, hoping she would tell him the truth, but part of him had to wonder if maybe it was best she lied to him.

"Is it... maybe better if I never find out the rest?"

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Oct 22, 2022

~~Dread of Knight~~

They slowly started walking while the fresh night air enclosed the pair. The moon stood rather high on the nightsky, with a thousand stars twinkling in the far distance. There was not a single cloud, which was quite usual for Rattatak, however the usual coldness was also clearly noticeable. Celeste automatically wrapped her arms around herself and briefly rubbed her upper arms before she was hoping the movement would keep them warm enough.

They walked in silence for a few moments until his soft voice broke the quietness of the night. He started with only a few words, yet they impacted her heavily. He had expressed his gratefulness before, yet a shiver ran down her spine when he emphasized the gratitude again. What he said was unfortunately true, yet the question for details made her stomach churn. "I...know. There are many details I haven't shared...because I think they wouldn't change much. You know I've consulted with experts...they advised me not to elaborate too much, yet I'm sorry that there are still so many questions in your head" she quietly began, obviously torn about her choice of words.

She let out a deep sigh, her gaze directed at the vast night sky for a moment before she glanced over back to him. "We've been in a very bad place, you know that. It's been traumatizing...and even I don't know what else they did to you, because they often pulled us out individually, but I'm sorry for everything that has happened". She was being honest, yet she had hurt his agonized, frightened cries...the whimpering, the things he mumbled or rather screamed at night. She had rummaged through his mind and she had stumbled upon disturbing scenes, yet she really wanted to believe the professionals. Maybe he had enough details already. She swallowed, hard, her eyes resting on his. There was still so much pain in her own gaze, yet she saw his fright. "We can always try...continuing to unravel details. I doubt that will ever help you though..". Searching his mind had been exhausting and painful and she also knew that the deeper she dived inside, the higher the risk that she would destroy even more of himself. Maybe this would also help..maybe if she would shatter enough it would help him...but then again: She could end up with nothing more than an empty shell.

@AdventCore

Null · Oct 25, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

"Yeah..." Null hung his head, letting his raven bangs cover his effeminate eyes from Celeste. "The experts are probably right..." He let out a heavy sigh, paused for a few moments, then lifted his gaze. His pale eyes shimmered through the faint cracks in his bangs with the starlight of countless suns and galaxies that glimmered in the calm night sky.

"I guess it's not really the details I'm after." His heart felt heavy, each breath seemed to take more and more effort as he felt the uneasy anxiety tightly squeezing his chest. "Maybe I know as much as I should about what they did to me... Somehow they made me submit to them, and I get that maybe it's better I don't know more, but... You shouldn't have to push yourself more and risk yourself for me." Null returned his eyes to the path as he continued walking with Celeste.

"I feel like it'd do me some good to really understand just what happened to me first hand by..." He hesitated and stopped walking, not sure how to put this or how Celeste would feel about what he was about to ask. "...by facing my fears." His chin turned towards her, the breeze gently billowed their hair and the edges of their clothes. "I want to recreate those situations and experience them with a clear mind." He took another deep breath, and gave Celeste a soft yet confident look as he gazed into her eyes once again.

"I need to make myself stronger, so that if I ever get captured and anything like that happens again then I won't succumb so easy. I need to become more experienced, so that I'll be able to resist and endure it next time." Null searched the eyes of his savior, hoping she would understand what it was he was asking of her and how much it would mean to him. "As long as we do it on our terms, and make sure everything is safe..." There was another pause of hesitation and another deep anxious breath.

"You're the only person in the whole universe I could ask to help me with this..."

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Oct 26, 2022

~~Dread of Knight ~~

There was a peaceful silence all around that was only broken by their soft steps and their voices. The moon throned majestically above them, still cloaking the dark scenery in grayish shades and even creating two shadows behind them, but as she briefly caught a glimpse of his, she was shocked by his thin silhouette once again. It was good that he was finally eating, but it still wasn't easy for either of them.

She could hear that her answer obviously didn't fully satisfy him, yet he seemed to accept it for now. She was sure it wouldn't make things better if he would learn more cruel details, but it also felt wrong to keep them for herself...What he said next made the pit of her stomach churn even more, especially because she could hear the pain behind his tormented words.

She swallowed hard, her gaze directed to the ground in front of them while that difficult conversation was continuing, but then he completely shocked her by asking a truly horrible thing of her. "What?! I could never..." she began, her eyes widening in horror while she glanced at him rather speechless.

Was he being serious?! Would that even help?! Why would someone want to be treated that cruelly again?! Her heartbeat was accelerating and that sudden, new found confidence in his gaze made it even worse. Was he loosing his mind now? He kept on explaining what led him to this assumption, but all she could do was shake her head.

"Confrontational therapy is obviously a thing, but I would never do such a thing. I mean...Experience yeah...Resilience is helpful, but I will not help you get used to such humiliation and torture...". She was aghast about that request...Or was he having a point?!

Her thoughts were spinning and her heart racing and she remembered how traumatized she had been about those shock collars herself. She had been captured yet another time and the pure sight of them made her froze up. She had hated to feel that helpless in that exact moment, yet she had learned to overcome that fear and in the end it had made her stronger. Trauma was always a great learning opportunity and he had a point when he mentioned the safe environment. But no...that was not the way.

With all emotions stirred back up it was hard for her to think straight, especially because her own disturbing memories were forcing themselves back to the surface. Then, in the end this last sentence was so unbelievably powerful that she was closemto tearing up. Again, she swallowed and tried her best to keep her cool.

"As much as I want to help, I cannot torture you". Maybe there was something else. Maybe she was even afraid her inner darkness would unleash itself and threaten to consume her if she would enter such precarious terrain. "I-" she still fumbled for words..."We could start by brining situation back into your consciousness...then we could try to grasp the source of that fears and maybe then we find a way for you to cope with them..." Maybe even if that meant confrontation indeed, she didn't even though, but she made this suggestion after all, even if it left a bitter taste on her tongue.

@AdventCore

Null · Oct 27, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

Null's dim blues watched Celeste's expression closely. He'd become rather familiar with the restrained emotions drawn across her face in subtle tones. He'd unintentionally gotten her so close to cracking from pushing her too hard at times, and he didn't want this to be another rough conversation either. He tried to hold back the pain he felt too, knowing that both of them were doing their best to remain strong for each other.

"I'm sorry, Celeste..." His lips pushed up to one side and curled in a half smile and frown. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a soft squeeze to comfort her. "I... I just think it might help in case anything like that ever happens to us again..." His heart beat hard, nearly choking him as he empathetically stared deep into her eyes and felt their swelling emotions through the Force.

"Maybe we're not ready for something like that-" Just as he went to finish speaking, a distant blaster shot suddenly rang out across the sky. He dropped his hand from her shoulder and snapped his attention to the direction of the commotion. Then all of a sudden there was another echoing shot, followed a few moments later by silence.

Adrenaline was beginning to rush. Null glanced back at Celeste, his gaze suddenly shifted from soft and sympathetic to something a bit more serious. He hesitated only long enough to search her eyes and expression, ready to switch into action and investigate the noise if she was too.

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Oct 28, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

Celeste was really unsettled by his words and she was dearly hoping he wouldn't continue their conversation in this direction, so her muscles were already unpleasantly tensing up as he opened his mouth again. For the briefest moment, she held her breath, actually freezing up while she was hoping he wouldn't actually be serious about asking that from her.

His hand offered some comfort, but when he mentioned that this might happen again, she immediately shook her head. "I'll never let anything like that happen again" she determinantly replied, her rather vibrant light blue eyes resting on his dim, blue ones.

When he continued, she was a bit confused, as there was definitely no point of being ready, however she couldn't follow that thought any further, there was something else going on. The shot rang through the night air and now the blood froze in her veins while her gaze flicked into the direction of the shot at once.

"No...fucking...way" she muttered under her breath. Hadn't she dealt with them all?! The area had been secured and there hadn't been any issues in weeks, but what the hell was happening now?! There were a thousand thoughts rushing through her mind, but she tried to calm herself. "Maybe an animal attack" she mused rather coldly, also not wanting to freak him out, but that was when a second shot was fired.

"Kriff...I've got a bad feeling about that". Normally, she knew calling for reinforcements would have been a smart move, but there was apparently just one person firing shots and there were two of them, armed. She immediately grabbed the hilt of her lightsaber and jutted her chin into the direction of the echoing sounds. "We should check that out though...". Maybe there was even someone in need of help. One way or another, her curiosity was getting the best of her anyway. Without hesitation, she broke into a run. She was not planning on storming in, but if they were to investigate the source, they had to get close, quickly.

@AdventCore

Null · Oct 30, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

Null swiftly bolted into action alongside Celeste. The shot had come from quite some distance away, and it would take the pair several minutes of sprinting before they finally came to a low barren hill overlooking a short and wide valley. The young man kept low as they crested up to the top of their high ground. He panted a bit while catching his breath, thankful that Celeste and her servants had been helping him condition to build back up his strength and endurance.

"Should be close..." Null softly spoke under his breath and poked his head over the hill to peer into the valley below. About half way in there seemed to be a little camp setup in a den that the two had a decent view into for now. From what they'd be able to see there was roughly four people moving around the camp. A small fire at the entrance sent a small plume of smoke up into the air, nearly obscuring a pair of cages in another corner of the den, which was currently too shrouded in darkness to see what was in them.

A few flashes rushed through Null's mind. Another valley, a dozen or so men surrounding him and Celeste, but he couldn't recognize the memory. He pushed it away trying to focus, but the cages triggered another couple snapshots of having been locked in one himself. As he came back to his senses the raven-haired young man remained calm and kept his dim blues on the small camp.

"About four of them at least. We could probably sneak up on them and take a couple out without being noticed." He then paused, and swept an empathetic gaze over to the blonde senator. "I can see some cages back in that den, but it's kinda hard to see from here... You don't think...." He paused and pushed his lips to the side while looking deep into her eyes. He knew she had already done so much to stop the slavery on Rattatak. "Could they have people in those cages?"

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Oct 30, 2022

~~Dread of Knight ~~

Celeste wasted absolutely no time and ran and ran and ran until the two of them had finally reached the hill. She slowed down, intently listening, but so far, everything seemed rather calm. She felt how her muscles had involuntarily tensed up and how her heart was not just pounding from their run. She had no idea what was happening and she didn't like that at all.

She immediately switched to telepathical conversation in order to avoid alerting someone. 'Yes, we sneak up there and see whether we can deal with them stealthily this time'. With this time, she was referring to their little incident back then...They had hoped to be stealthy too, but had found themselves surrounded within seconds because there had been a smile spilling details in her very home. This time, there was absolutely no way that the one that had lost the shot knew they were coming and the darkness of the night helped conceal their every move.

They started climbing up carefully, not making a single sound, and soon the first shapes that were only illuminated by the slight campfire came into sight. She held her breath as she counted and almost let out a relieved sight when she only spotted four. She nodded curtly, before she turned her focus back to the campers. 'Let's try to get closer. One has a rifle and from the sound of it, he could have been the one...'.

His suggestion let a shiver ran down her spine, but she tried not to let any emotions reflect in her expressions. 'They could...potentially be slave traders who have someone...survived. We definitely need to check that out'. With that, she started moving again, as quiet and agile as a cat that was lurking around in the night, slowly getting closer to its prey. Her lightsaber's hilt was still in her hand and she was tightening her grip, however just staying alerted for now.

Once they managed to get even closer, her gaze suddenly fell upon something quite large and furry, of a rather brownish shape and with huge paws. It lifelessly lay on the ground, a puddle of blood having formed around its back and she suddenly started picking up sounds she hadn't heard in a while. Was that...canine whimpering?

@AdventCore

Null · Nov 2, 2022

~~ Dread of Knight ~~

'Understood.' Null replied with a Telepathic message of his own while stealthily keeping low and moving alongside Celeste. It wasn't long before they came across the next clues of what happened. The body of a slain beast and the faint whimpers of what sounded like younger versions of the creature that lay dead before them. Null knelt down next to the corpse and examined it a little closer.

'Guess we know what they were shooting at.' The raven-haired young man sent another message to Celeste and pointed to a pair of scorched blaster bolt scars on the animal, one in the chest and one in the head. He had more to say, but at this point he was still only learning to handle using Telepathy for sending short messages. He figured she already knew that these were likely just not some random guys with a blaster anyway, and instead shortened his message as he turned his inquisitive glance to her. 'More tribesmen? Or maybe offworlders?'

He wasn't sure exactly who they were dealing with, if they'd been defending themselves, or if they were just out here hunting to capture what sounded like some kind of pups, but either way he was pretty sure Celeste was going to want to interrogate one of their asses and find out more. Something he'd obediently follow along with, if that was what she intended to do.

Not too much farther away was the cliff edge, with enough of a drop into the valley that the two Force sensitives would be able to reinforce their landing in it without taking any damage. Null did not jump down just yet though, he'd wait for the senator's move before he'd descend on her mark, making sure to quietly land behind the cover of a large boulder wedged against the side of the cliff, several dozen meters away from the camp and the nearest thug who'd begun to wander a little too far away from the rest of his comrades.

Until she was ready to proceed he'd patiently wait up on top of the valley, crouched low and just out of view of the group. Each moment that went by he'd watch their movements and attempt to ascertain if they had any patterns that indicated whether or not these were just simple hunters or men with military training. Once Celeste gave the command he'd then drop to the valley below and behind his intended cover of the boulder, where he'd then wait for an optimal opportunity to take out the wandering guard out of sight from the others.

1st: Dive to the Mind (active)
2nd: Stopping the Void (inactive)
3rd: First Words (inactive)
4th: Back to Life (inactive)
5th: Hopeless Captive (inactive)
6th: Dread of Knight (active)

@LadyRen

Celeste Stythani · Nov 2, 2022

~~Dread of Knight ~~

After her eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness, she could finally gain some insights on what the kriff was happening up here and she wasn't sure whether she liked any part of it. She had absolutely no idea who those men were and she had never seen such a creature before...

With her eyes still narrowed, she analyzed the scene without causing any sounds. 'I have no idea...but that looks like illegal poaching' she remarked, however actually wondering where this beast had come from. It was about then when the two of them heard the high-pitched welping, too, and it didn't take long for her assumption to change.

'Mave not poaching, but illegal trade even'. Her facial expressions changed from analytical to sceptical and then again to angry. Whatever was going on here was definitely shady business, however she really wondered about the stupidity of the men that had randomly chosen to pursue their plans not far away from her estate.

Did they even know she was residing there? Or perhaps they were indeed off-worlders or members of the nomadic tribes who had rather randomly walked into that area. It was obvious that they were not following her rules though and since the whelping grew louder, too, Celeste already knew they had to intervene.

'Okay, so let's try to take two out as stealthily as possible. No need to kill them, but we'll knock them out' she explained, waiting for him to knock and confirm what she had just said before she already got into position. While he would deal with the one guard, she would take out the next one and so she gave him the signal to drop down before she herself took the jump.

She landed as silently as a cat and immediately rushed into cover behind a rock formation, carefully staying out of sight and out of the bonfire's faint glow. She was waiting for Null to get into position and reached out with the Force to sense the position of her opponents. One was actually in a rather appropriate position and so she just waited for his guard to turn around the corner to vanish from the line of sight of the others, so that she herself could start her maneuver. What she could already spy inside the den were smaller, metal cages and there was definitely a lot of movement inside, that was accompanied by whimpers, growls and barks.

@AdventCore