Ask [Telos V] Into The Shadows

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc had to hunch quite a bit to make his way into the camp area. His large frame often caused him issues, and it didn’t help that ancient people were significantly shorter. Mercifully, the actual interior allowed him some room and it was surprisingly spacious. The half Sephi stared at the collection of MREs before anything else. Emryc was raised as a soldier on a space station. Not only was he incredibly familiar with MREs, but he actually preferred them. He also had quite possibly some of the blandest tastes in food, much to the exasperation of those that knew him well.

“Veggie patties, Gamorrean noodles, mixed meatloaf,” He rattled off, “This is an impressive collection,” Emryc stated with approval, listing some of the absolute bottom tier MRE flavors that soldiers would rather use as kindling than eat.

The half Sephi walked towards an old fire hearth built into the stone wall. He wasn’t surprised to find one - the location was exceptionally cold and the people back then had to keep themselves warm. Emryc stood before it, closing his eyes for a moment, concentrating and channeling the Force. The energies rippled around him and pulsated, and it was clear he was drawing upon deep wells of his strength. It was the first hint that the Sith Lord rivaled the powers of a Councilor, the Force rapidly heeding his call as sparks of flame began to form in the hearth. To draw fire within such a cold environment took great strength and it taxed Emryc. In the end, however, there was a roaring fire as he exhaled and stumbled back slightly before taking a seat.

The warmth offered a much needed reprieve from the soggy clothing and cold atmosphere. Emryc moved to grab the medical supplies when he felt Jaikus tug at his wrist. The half Sephi eyed him curiously, but he didn’t draw his hand away. Emryc was distracted when Jaikus began to laugh again, silvers flicking up towards the yellows with hints of emerald. He said nothing in response to the Gundark comparison, though the blank stare may suggest he was doing thorough analysis on the comparison of Sephi and Gundark ears. The promise of more laughter, however, drew him out of his thoughts.

“I suppose I’ll just have to keep tossing you around,” The half Sephi replied very deadpan, leaving it to Jaikus to take that however he pleased.

Emryc looked back at his wound, grimacing slightly behind his face wrappings as the bandages were pulled away from the grotesque injury. It was in desperate need of stitching. He floated the extra supplies over, focusing his attention away from his own cut. He instead reached over to unravel the bandages around the Marauder’s thigh, revealing that the cut there also needed attention. Emryc worked in silence for a moment, applying disinfects to clean the wound.

“You could have made the rest of the way on your own,” The half Sephi stated very quietly after a long moment of silence, just barely audible. Beyond the entrance puzzles, he doubted there was any teamwork needed to get to the end. His own fall at the platforms had caused a massive setback. It was something that would bother him for a long time. He only looked briefly at the hints of emeralds before focusing back on what he was doing.

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

“I’m.. Glad you’re satisfied. Pick your favorite – I have no preference.”

The Marauder tried very hard to swallow his mixture of confusion and pure disgust. The Axxilan was used to fine meals, expensive wine and quality dining experiences that came with his family’s wealth. The idea that anyone could stomach, let alone enjoy what he had packed was absolutely anathema to Jaikus. As a matter of fact, closer inspection of the MRE table would reveal that Jaikus had opened one, eaten half, clearly been disgusted and neatly folded it back up. For someone who apparently loved the things, it probably puzzled Emryc to no end why anyone would so callously disregard Gamorrean noodles, but it was up to the half-Sephi if he wanted to press that particular issue.

While Emryc floated over the remaining medical supplies, Jaikus pulled up two chairs for them to sit and began preparing the pair of needles they would need to stitch Emryc’s arm. He doused a cotton-ball in alcohol, pinching the needle between the puff of fabric and drug it through several times to sterilize. The last thing they needed was for the Sith Lord to develop an infection.

The Marauder winced in pain as soon as Emryc began to address the wounds on his leg, instinctively jerking his leg slightly before willing himself to remain still so the Sith Lord could apply disinfectant. On his upper thigh, blood had soaked through the crude wrapping and remained sickeningly wet where a stalactite had dug into him. It would need to be painstakingly stitched and bandaged, and it didn’t bode well if the pair would ever need to jump their way across another ravine. Below it, closer to the knee, a burned channel ran down diagonally against the Marauder’s flesh, cutting at least an inch deep by the looks of it. It had been the location where Emryc’s own saber had clipped him at the last second, nearly destroying the ever-precious Andraste statue in the process. Luckily for them both, the wound was cauterized by itself and needed little attention from the half-Sephi.

Exhaling sharply, Jaikus began his work on the Sith Lord’s wound – painfully weaving the stitching to pull the wound closed. “You may be surprised to know, throwing me like a ragdoll isn’t the only way to make me laugh. I’m sure you tell fantastic jokes, for instance.” He flashed a grin at the man. Emryc definitely did not seem like the type of individual who told good jokes, but it was a challenge issued all the same. At the very least, it would give the half-Sephi something to do while the Marauder meticulously worked.

Of course, was making him laugh while doing stitches a good idea?

Instead of being regaled with the half-Sephi’s high quality humor, he was given pause by a statement that he had hoped wouldn’t come up. “I..” Jaikus hesitated, the hand which held the stitching needle halting mid-suture. “..Don’t know that to be true. The temple is nothing but puzzles – there is no telling if the next door would require us both or not. I gained nothing by leaving you and risked reaching a dead end.” There was some logic behind what the Marauder was saying – it had even been the justification he made in the moment - but they could both tell it was complete bullshit as soon as the words passed the man’s lips.

The reality was, it was a question that had picked at the back of Jaikus’ mind for hours. Why did he turn around, putting his own life and success at risk for a man he barely knew? Not just when he fell, but in their most recent fight with the Sith Lord’s own master. It was an uncomfortable question. It was, quite frankly, something he didn’t want to have to answer, but ignoring the it any longer didn’t seem like an option at this point

“You might have haphazardly cost me the cloak, but you kept me alive before,” The Marauder finally admitted after a long pause, the first part of his sentence an injection of humor into an otherwise terribly serious conversation. “Why? The doors were open, I was of no further use to your path forward. You could have let me be cut in half and have everything within the temple to yourself. You didn’t.”

While he spoke, the Marauder had resumed his work stitching the half-Sephi’s arm, waiting until he reached the final suture before he continued. “Leaving you would have been..” He sighed, looking up from the gruesome injury to the man’s face. “I wasn’t going to do that.” It was the most honest answer Jaikus could give, but it likely wasn’t an answer that left either of the men particularly satisfied.

The Marauder reached out with his free hand, floating over a pair of scissors from nearby. Leveling the blades with the wound, Jaikus snipped the excess ends of the stitching before taking a moment to admire his work. It wasn’t going to win him any awards as a surgeon, but it was good enough to prevent the wound from opening again and would be able to heal.

“There.. Good as new. Almost, anyway.”

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc’s expression, from what could be seen, did not change as his wound was cleaned and the stitching began. Normally this was something he did himself, but it was significantly better with Jaikus doing it on account of him not having his dominant hand to work with. The half Sephi focused instead on the Marauder’s leg wound, discovering that there were multiple. He looked closer, catching how deep the cuts went and also the new injuries from the lightsaber. Emryc attempted to clean and get to the wounds, but the fabrics repeatedly hindered him.

The half Sephi paused only when Jaikus suggested that he told good jokes. That was the second time the Sith Lord had an almost glassy eyed look. Did Emryc ever tell jokes? Most of the time when others laughed around him it had always been him being unintentionally funny. He had an incredibly dry sense of humor to where it was mostly difficult to tell what was a joke vs. him being cruel. He couldn’t think of a single scenario that would elicit the puffer pig laugh from Jaikus based on actual joking. Emryc was irritated by his own train of thought - why was he concerned by that stupid braying anyway?

Emryc didn’t look at Jaikus at first even when he began to explain himself about the temple, biting back a grin as the man fumbled and fibbed his way through it. He cleaned away at most of the wound from what he could see, gathering up the supplies. He would need his left hand free to do the stitching.

Jaikus then flipped the narrative back on him, the half Sephi’s grin swiftly disappearing. Emryc stared at the wound on the man’s leg, suddenly glaring more holes into it.

“That was part of the entrance” He stated flatly, “Teamwork was needed for the entrance,” Emryc supplied his own heap of bullshit in return without an ounce of shame. He looked up at Jaikus at last when he outright said he wouldn’t have left him behind. The silvers looked hard into the yellows then, focusing mainly on the emeralds there. The look in Emryc’s eyes spoke volumes - a mixture between being curious and giving a warning. That kind of thinking got people killed. The half Sephi wondered how long Jaikus would last in the Sith Order.

Once the stitching was done, Emryc drew his hand and flexed the fingers. He looked down at the stitching job and found himself thoroughly impressed. Usually the spoiled princess types completely and utterly failed at basic medic tasks like this. Emryc sterilized another needle and drew in a breath. This breath was to find himself mental serenity amidst the barrage of color commentary that would undoubtedly come from Jaikus following his next statement.

“You will need to remove your pants.”

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

When Emryc gave him a look that was half-way between confusion and a warning, the Marauder narrowed his eyes slightly. The warmth and lightheartedness of emeralds did not carry nearly half the sharpness of citrine, but they glinted with that characteristic defiance all the same. Where Emryc tried to warn him, Jaikus met the silvers with a steadfastness what was nothing short of bullheaded – as if to rebuff the cautioning against his sentimentality right out of the gate.

“Teamwork -was- needed, at the entrance. I was referring to past the door.” The Marauder’s head tilted, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You didn’t answer the question either.” Nor did the Marauder expect him to. It was a statement of fact, rather than a request for elaboration. Jaikus was a skilled enough diplomat to know when someone was skating around something, and he prided himself upon being able to sniff out the precise issue of discomfort. Those final five words were spoken in such a way meant to dig deep into Emryc’s psyche, pinpointing and wordlessly pulling to the surface a question that the half-Spehi had tried to dance around.

Why did you save me from the axe, when you had nothing to gain?

Jaikus’ decisions when fighting the hooded Sith and going back for Emryc had been visceral, instinctual things – something that surprised him as much as it did Emryc. Whether he would admit it or not, Jaikus could guess that it had been a similar experience for the half-Sephi. They had both acted altruistically, the only difference being that Jaikus had no qualms about being blunt and honest about it.

Thankfully for them both, it was not a topic that they lingered on for much longer, Emryc having reached a difficulty in properly tending to the Marauder’s wound. When the half-Sephi had practically grit his teeth and spoke, Jaikus stared blankly in response for several seconds, dark brows arched at the half-Sephi with a mixture of surprise and amusement playing across his expression. He tried – desperately – to keep a straight face through it all, but found that task eventually to be impossible. Jaikus couldn’t help but break into a fit of giggling stupidly to himself, the fact that they were sat right next to each other meaning Emryc was given an up-close-and-personal view of the snorting that laced into every other laugh from the Marauder.

“So much for the suspense, hm?” He managed to speak between the fits of childish laughter, smirking devilishly as he finally managed to pull himself together after an extended period of time.

There had been something ironically hilarious about the entire situation to Jaikus. Despite all his flirtations and promiscuous quips, the current need for Jaikus to strip came entirely from a place of surgical need - and the fact that it seemed to annoy the daylights out of Emryc only made it all the more enjoyable.

Not one to waste time, Jaikus rose to his feet, a cheeky smirk playing across his expression. “But only since you asked so nicely.” The Marauder kicked off his boots before unbuckling his belt and starting to peel the still-damp garments off his lower half, the entire process seeming to move at snail pace due to the complication of removing damp clothes. Once kicked off at his ankles, Jaikus frowned as he took to holding the pair of armorweave pants up infront of him. It was only now that the Marauder was able to get a look at all the different holes, scratches, burn marks and fraying of fabric that marked his once-pristine armor.

It was a sight that was enough to annoy the Marauder a bit more than it should have, causing him to grumble under his breath to no one in particular. Despite their sorry state, Jaikus still took the entirely unnecessary step of folding the garments neatly, turning away from Emryc and walking a few steps across the room to lay them on the table next to the pile of MRE’s.

Stripped down to his less-than-modest undergarments, Jaikus plopped himself back into the chair next to Emryc, the wounds up and down his leg now fully visible to the Sith Lord to be cleaned and stitched. To his credit, Jaikus kept completely still through the painful process, allowing the half-Sephi to focus on what he was doing, resisting the urge make a variety of different inappropriate jokes that filtered in and out of his mind.

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc purposely remained silent even when challenged on his answer about saving Jaikus. The detached look in his eyes suggested that he was done with that topic of conversation. It was not one he would even entertain in his mind because it conflicted with his principles. It was not a line of thinking he was allowed to consider. He focused entirely on the task before him, preparing his injured hand and ensuring it was stable enough.

The half Sephi expected a flirty response, batting of eyes, that smoldering look in the yellows. What he couldn’t have predicted, in a million years, was another fit of giggles. The Sith Lord was left sitting there with his eyes slightly wide, genuinely surprised. The puffer pig snort happened again, and so too that tug at the corner of Emryc’s lips towards a smile. He refrained from doing so even though it was obstructed from view. He adjusted his expression back to the calm neutral from the bewilderment, sitting there with a needle and bandages in his hands.

Jaikus would quickly begin to see the different facets of the Sith Lord’s personality. Where Raze would shamelessly watch him strip and have no qualms with drinking in every detail, Emryc looked away as Jaikus removed his pants, allowing the man to preserve as much dignity as could be afforded. The half Sephi kept his gaze trained either towards the fire or down to prepare the needle for stitching.

If Emryc had any reaction to seeing Jaikus with his pants off, it certainly didn’t manifest itself externally because he only looked at the injury. The Sith Lord was as serious as ever, leaning over to inspect the wounds. With the garments out of the way, he could clearly access the full extent of the damage. He began with cleaning and paused after a moment.

“There are fragments of the stalagmite still inside,” Emryc explained, “I will need to remove them,” His gaze flicked up briefly, “It will hurt.”

With that, instead of using tools, he focused with the Force to carefully tug the shards out of the wound. The result would be blinding pain as the wound began to bleed profusely. Emryc quickly worked to staunch it before switching over to begin stitching. Jaikus would notice that the half Sephi operated quickly, clearly having done this a million times before.

After the painstaking process was finished, he bandaged the wound, wrapping around the leg and firmly securing it. The entire job looked as if medical personnel had done it. Emryc drew back in his seat, his gloves stained with the Marauder’s blood. He slipped the gloves off, letting them land in a wet pile on the floor before he turned his attention to himself.

Emryc said nothing as he grabbed some of the bacta salves and lifted up a portion of his upper body clothing to dab at the saber injury along his hip, providing just a brief glimpse along the crafted muscles of his torso. The half Sephi spent a lifetime toning and conditioning his body for combat not just with a saber, but also to practice Teras Kasi.

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

For once in his life, Jaikus had opted to refrain from making any lewd jokes or promiscuous remarks towards the half-Sephi while removing his pants. To do so would have been a smooth continuation of his usual behavior that Emryc had no doubt come to expect, but the Marauder had decided that the newfound opportunity demanded a less boring approach. Not to mention, his inadvertent burst of giggling would have made any such verbal response awkwardly delayed.

When he went to fold his pants and lay them out on the table, the Marauder had kept himself bend over for far longer than was necessary, meticulously smoothing out the wrinkles on his pantleg and disregarding the sole mushroom that had stubbornly clung to his beltloop. Why the hell do I have these?

He stayed like that for a solid half-minute before glancing back over his shoulder, a lascivious grin plastered across his face and even going to far as to wink back at the man. It took him a moment to realize he may as well have winked at a brick wall.

There was a profoundly annoyed look across the Marauder’s face when he saw that Emryc was not, in fact, gawking at his rear but instead the half-Sephi was staring blankly off into space. Either he was entirely clueless, or he was averting his eyes on purpose. The Marauder wasn’t quite sure which of the two annoyed him more.

A barely audible groan rolled up Jaikus’ throat in response. With his borderline strip-tease flatly ignored by the half-Sephi, Jaikus returned to the man’s side and let him preform the necessary work of closing the wound on his leg. Upon being told that there were still fragments of the stone formation that had broken off in his leg, the Marauder frowned a bit but nodded his consent. The process was necessary before they could realistically continue back into the temple, leaving him with no other choice than to bite the bullet and endure what was usually performed with an abundance of pain-killers and anesthesia.

As Emryc began tugging the shards out with the Force, Jaikus’ face contorted with pain. The Marauder was normally capable of maintaining a cool demeanor when he wanted to, but the pain of removing piece after piece of stone proved to be far greater than anticipated – causing him to let out a high-pitched yelp that was likely not helpful for Emryc’s sensitive hearing. For the rest of the process the Marauder kept his eyes closed tightly while his head tilted up towards the ceiling, occasionally letting out an agonized groan while his hands gripped the sides of his seat, knuckles had long since turned white.

Once the final shard pulled free and was discarded on a tray beside them, the half-Sephi wasted no time to begin the process of stitching and bandaging the wound. The entire process was nothing short of impressive, the Marauder quickly realizing that the Sith Lord likely had an abundance of experience with such impromptu procedures.

“At least you’re good with your hands.” The Jaikus quipped, a pained expression still painted across his face as he spoke - proving that even the most uncomfortable situations were not capable of dampening the Marauder’s sense of humor.

With his wounds attended to, Jaikus slowly forced himself back to his feet – leg buckling slightly before he was able to find good footing. Once steady, he took a step away from Emryc and returned his attention to the table of MRE’s where he’d left his torn pants. For the time being, the Marauder opted to leave them where they lie – having quite literally zero desire to squeeze into the overly tight fabric when his leg was still throbbing with pain.

Instead, he picked up two of the packaged meals that he’d brought with him. Figuring that the half-Sephi wasn’t going to be picky either way, the Marauder grabbed one of the ‘Mixed Meatloaf’ packages for Emryc while snagging the only pack of ‘Fresh Rodian Veggie Stew’ for himself. As much as the half-Sephi adored the things, even he could recognize that Jaikus had inadvertently grabbed for himself the flavor with the worst reputation amongst soldiers. Many troopers often preferring to go hungry rather than trying to stomach the sickly green slop that was anything but fresh and was heavily contested whether or not it actually contained veggies. Completely unaware of his error, Jaikus started to read the back of the package for the instructions on how to properly prepare the meals.

Whereas Emryc had shown a hint of respect towards the Marauder by averting his eyes when the pants came off, Jaikus had no such restraint. In between pouring a small amount of water into each package, he flicked his gaze towards the half-Sephi with only half-baked attempt at subtly, drinking in the sight of the Sith Lord’s muscled torso out of his peripheral before abruptly forcing his eyes away. He had to remind himself he was still annoyed that the half-Sephi had ignored his earlier display, refusing to get caught staring when the Sith Lord couldn’t do him the courtesy of returning the favor.

A minute or two would pass before Jaikus returned to his chair, plopping down and offering Emryc the warmed M.R.E once he had finished tending to his own wounds. His expression wrinkled slightly as he looked inside Emryc's bag. "You cannot convince me that is meat."

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc, as was often his nature, was delightfully oblivious to the Marauder’s strip tease and subsequent disappointment at not having the half Sephi’s eyes on him. He heard a vague groan but assumed it was from the pain.

When the Sith Lord pulled the fragments free, he visibly winced at the high pitched yelp. Jaikus would be able to see the points of the fluted ears swivel slightly and completely flatten against the half Sephi’s head. This range of motion was entirely involuntary and very rarely happened. Emryc visibly winced, his focus on the Force slightly breaking as the fragment clattered to the ground. The half Sephi shot Jaikus a glare but mentioned nothing else about it, continuing to work on the injuries.

Emryc glanced down at his handiwork when Jaikus made his quip. The half Sephi stared up at the yellow eyes, “Because you have stitched up my arm” He said matter of factly, “You have my gratitude,” If Jaikus intended to make a flirtatious joke, it happily floated right above the half Sephi’s head. Emryc was already focused back on his own injury to catch whatever look of bemusement would be on Jaikus’ face.

The half Sephi rose from his seat when Jaikus went over to make the meals, entirely oblivious to whether or not the man was staring at him. At a certain point, Emryc unbuckled his pants to slide them down partially to apply the salve to the side of his thigh. It was clear that the half Sephi was entirely unconcerned by Jaikus looking, nor was he attempting to appear particularly appealing.

Emryc finished up as Jaikus arrived with the MREs, pulling his pants back up. He sat back down on the chair, visibly perking up at the sight of the food. He took the pouch and began to circle the spoon around. Emryc looked down at the bag when Jaikus peered over. He blinked a few times down at the soggy meatloaf.

“It’s 13% protein, 36% fat and 51% carbohydrates,” Emryc rattled off flatly, “That’s all I need to know.”

With that, he rose to spin his chair to face the other way. He pulled down his face coverings and began to eat the delicious meal in silence. His gaze faced out past the entrance and he could see snow beginning to fall outside. There was a brush of the wind and the flurries became denser. It already began to look like the start of a blizzard.

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus had expected his decent stitching of the half-Sephi’s arm to be met with silence. Maybe a caveman-like grunt of approval and nod of the head, if he was lucky. What he wasn’t expecting was for the Sith Lord to actually vocalize his gratitude.

It was enough to cause Jaikus to stop in his tracks in that moment, mouth agape and eyes widened slightly – nearly the same sense of bewilderment playing across his expression as had for Emryc when he first heard Jaikus’ ridiculous laughing. In the moment, the Marauder didn’t actually know how to respond to such simple yet impactful words, choosing to simply nod before going off to make their meals. It annoyed him to no end, but Jaikus couldn't help but sneak a few glances behind him as he filled the MRE's with water, not failing to notice the fact that Emryc had taken his pants off. His gaze lingered far longer than it should have, a bonified miracle the Sith Lord didn't catch his shameless gawking.

Now that he was comfortably back in his seat with M.R.E’s in hand, the Marauder was entirely engrossed in staring down at Emryc’s packet. “I’m almost positive I saw a hair.” Jaikus furrowed his brow, eyeing the meatloaf-in-a-bag with genuine concern. When Emryc began rattling off nutritional facts like a broken protocol droid in response, the Axxilan simply stared at him with a blank, deadpan expression. Had the poor man never eaten actual food before? Did he not know any better? It was a fact that puzzled the Marauder immensely, his admittedly spoiled palette simply not being able to comprehend the idea of anyone actually enjoying the slop Jaikus had prepped.

Maybe I’m being overdramatic, The Marauder thought silently to himself, considering that he simply wasn’t used to the taste that Emryc was so clearly accustomed to.

Citrines eventually settling upon the MRE he’d randomly picked out. ‘Rodian Veggie Stew’ had been on the label, but Jaikus wasn’t sure what he was looking at fit the definition of ‘veggies’ or ‘stew’. The chucks of what Jaikus desperately hoped was organic material were almost colorless and unnaturally symmetrical, as if they had been molded and shaped by the manufacturer. The broth it was suspended in had an almost jelly-like texture to it, congealed and clumpy as Jaikus swirled his spoon counterclockwise. Through sheer willpower alone, the Marauder willed himself to down a spoonful of it – paying attention to ensure he picked up a few chucks of ‘veggies’ as well.

It physically took everything the Marauder had not to gag as the spoon hit his tongue, immediately forcing himself swallowed what he’d just shoveled. Thankfully, what were suppose to be crunch carrots had a texture more akin to soft cheese, meaning they didn’t actually require chewing to go down smoothly. A shiver ran down his spine.

To his credit, the Marauder managed to keep a relatively straight face – all save for the way his brow and the corners of his mouth twitched and tugged downwards, as if deeply saddened and disappointed. The spoonful lingered far longer than it should have, causing Jaikus to subtly reaching for a canteen of water to wash the taste out of his mouth. Emryc could have sworn he started to see the Marauder’s eyes water.

Was it possible any of the other flavors were more palatable?

Jaikus squinted towards the pile of meal packets, a small pillar having been stacked for each different flavor he’d brought. One in particular caught his attention. ‘Tip-yip and Rice’ couldn’t be that bad, could it? He considered floating it over to himself and giving it a try, but some part of him deduced that they were all equally terrible. He sighed.

Maybe that mushroom is edible..?

It was tempting, but as before Jaikus decided against the idea – coming to terms that he had to choose between eating what he had or going hungry. Disappointed and mildly annoyed, his eyes finally turned from the meal and back to Emryc. He only now realized the Sith Lord had turned away to eat his meal, waiting until his back was to the Marauder before removing the face-covering he wore. It hadn’t actually occurred to the Jaikus that he’d been purposefully keeping his features obscured, having assumed the cold had been the primary motivation. He gazed curiously at the back of he half-Sephi’s skull before shrugging slightly, turning so that they were back-to-back.

A long silence passed between them they ate, minutes passing before the Marauder buried his spoon for a moment and stopped, citrines searching for something to look at. “..Your welcome, by the way. Thank you as well.” He spoke under his breath, barely audible for the regular person but Jaikus knew the half-Sephi would hear it well enough. He didn’t say another word after that, picking back up his spoon to continue eating.

To his credit, Jaikus managed to get three fourths of the way done with the veggie stew – or what claimed to be veggie stew - before he finally decided he’d rather lick the exhaust pipe of a landspeeder than continue. To be quite honest, it was hard to tell whether it had been intense hunger or an unwillingness to appear so weak-stomached in the presence of others that enabled Jaikus to eat as much of it as he did.

Folding the packet neatly as to not spill what remained of the putrid contents, Jaikus rose from his seat and - assuming Emryc had finished his gleeful munching - walked over to take his as well. Notably, the Marauder approached him with his back turned and eyes staring out at the wall to the left of Emryc, reaching behind his back with an open hand to take the meal packet. Despite the curiosity that tugged at his mind, Jaikus had no desire to push the issue of the face-covering to the point of confrontation, choosing instead to respect the boundaries that the Sith Lord maintained.

Admittedly curious boundaries considering he’d just taken his pants off moments ago, but that was neither here nor there.

From there Jaikus took a few steps across the room until he reached the MRE table, neatly placing the empty or near-empty packages next to the one that Jaikus had been unable to stomach earlier, neatly keeping them separate from the unopened pile. Finished with their meal and with the remnants dealt with, Jaikus turned his attention back to the pants he’d folded nearby.

The damned things were still damp and bore holes in multiple places, but they were all the Marauder had with him. With a groan of displeasure, Jaikus began putting his legs through the leg-holes, wincing as the tight fabric drug against fresh stitches. “So what now? Try the other door?” He spoke over his shoulder, keeping his back to the Sith Lord while he dressed.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc took mere minutes to finish his packet, relishing every bite. He had his face covering back up by the time Jaikus walked over. He had heard the man shift around several times and the audible hints at disgust from the food. The half Sephi rose from his seat and turned towards the MRE table. That was the first time his gaze inadvertently fell to take in sight of Jaikus’ state of attire, lingering on his very shapely rear before he quickly looked away. Naturally, this was entirely missed by Jaikus.

Emryc looked down at the selection of partially eaten packets. Without a word, he casually grabbed each one, turned away and emptied it into his mouth. He repeated the process till all the half eaten packets were consumed in quick succession. For a man of his size, it was clear he ate quite a bit. In comparison, Jaikus had eaten next to nothing.

He was facing the other way as he wiped his mouth off and put his face coverings back on. Emryc turned away and strode right out of the room while Jaikus was in the middle of putting his pants on, not bothering to answer his question. His body language very strongly suggested that he had no desire of being followed. The Sith Lord walked out into the budding storm, his large frame quickly fading from sight.

Minutes ticked by. The Sith Lord had left with his weapon, but the rest of his supplies were still in the camp. Minutes soon turned into almost an hour. And then it slowly turned into an hour and half. And then almost two hours.

A familiar presence tugged in the Force as Emryc’s form reappeared through the storm. He was completely covered in snow, kicking the clumps off his feet and dusting his head and body off. In his hand he clutched a dead arctic hare with a broken neck. Emryc said nothing as he walked over to a surface, took out a hunting knife from his supply kit and began to quickly skin it. Emryc's skin was almost tinted blue from being out in the frigid cold but he was clearly unfazed. He said nothing to Jaikus as he worked, making the right cuts to easily peel the fur off and leave the meat behind.

Wordlessly, he walked over to the MRE table, scanning over a few of them till he found one that included a spice packet. He opened one, took the packet out and sprinkled some of it over the rabbit to season it before piercing the meat with a blade. Emryc walked right past Jaikus to roast it over the fire. The half Sephi crouched next to the flames, warming himself up while he cooked. He prodded at the meat every now and then, inspecting it from all sides.

After a while, he rose up and walked over to the MRE table. He reached for the camping utensils, plopping the roasted hare, which smelled heavenly, onto a paper plate. Emryc used the Force to slide a chair over to make it into a makeshift dining table. It was then that the half Sephi finally looked up at Jaikus.

He said nothing more as he simply walked back towards the entrance. He leaned against the edge of it, drawing out a cigarra to quietly smoke as he watched the snow.

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

In the middle of putting his clothes back on, Jaikus hadn’t even noticed the Sith Lord’s gaze lingering on his shapely rear. If he had, the room would have no doubt been filled with the sounds of Jaikus’ characteristic quips and flirtatious remarks, never missing an opportunity to make an inappropriate joke at the most inappropriate time. The universe was clearly smiling down upon Emryc in that moment, as Jaikus remained entirely oblivious to the gawking - entirely too focused on fighting against the wet fabric and carefully avoiding any addition pressure against the fresh stitches and bandaging on his leg.

With his pants only half-way up, Jaikus’ perked up at the sound of the half-Sephi rapidly exiting the room, turning to catch a glimpse of him as he vanished into the blizzard. The Marauder had momentarily considered following the half-Sephi out the door but hesitated in place. He had done that before when Emryc had tried to shoo him off at the temple entrance, but something about the way the Sith Lord moved was enough to cause Jaikus to abandon pursuit for the time being.

Instead, Jaikus finished dressing and went about straightening up the room that had been converted into their makeshift base of operations. He gathered the empty MRE packets from the table and the pile of medical supplies, disposing of them in the closest thing to a trashcan he could find. Once the room was cleaned to the Marauder’s pristine standards, Jaikus turned on a heel and plopped himself down onto the sleeping mat in the center of the room, plucking an archaic-looking tome from the pile nearby. He hadn’t the slightest clue where Emryc had wandered off to, guessing that perhaps he’d ventured off to meditate without Jaikus’ distracting presence looming over his shoulder. If that was the case, the least Jaikus would do was scour his own materials for anything he might’ve missed about the temple – something they could use the second time venturing in.

Minutes turned into hours as Jaikus poured over his material, pangs of frustration growing within him as he failed to find anything that would be useful. More than just his frustration, a growing sense of concern clawed at the back of the Marauder’s mind, prying his eyes away from his books to look out into what had become a raging blizzard. Why did the thought concern him? The question puzzled and irritated the Marauder more than he ever cared to admit, finding himself unable to focus upon the scrolls and books he brought.

After an additional ten minutes had passed, Jaikus rose to his feet and began preparing to venture out to search the area, only for the half-Sephi abruptly arrived back in the room, stomping into the room and looking like a sentry droid left out in the cold. The sight of the artic hare in his hands caused Jaikus to pause in his tracks, wordless as his head tilted to the side to watch the Sith Lord skinn, slice and prepare the meat with all the finesse of an expert chef.

To say the Marauder was surprised by Emryc’s actions would have been the understatement of the century. He had shamelessly picky about the food, and rather than simply allow the Marauder to go hungry Emryc had gone above and beyond to provide something that fit his spoiled palette. When the meal of divine-smelling roast rabbit was placed down in front of him, Jaikus stared at it with a bewildered and dumbfounded look plastered across his face. For a man known for his smooth-talking demeanor and quick responses, it was likely nothing short of amusing for Emryc to see the Axxilan at a loss for words, incapable of responding.

After a long pause, his eyes rose to meet Emryc’s, the glint of emerald having returned to almost outshine the citrine tint of the Dark side. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words seem to catch in his throat for several seconds, resulting in only the faintest stammering. He exhaled steadily, realizing that the crimson tint – the one that frequented the Marauder’s expression when he was flustered or take off-guard – burned bright on his cheeks by now. “I.. Thank you.” He finally managed to spit it out, expressing his genuine gratitude for the gesture just as Emryc turned to leave the room.

Left alone, Jaikus began to hungrily pick apart the meal that had been prepared for him. His mind lingered on the undeniably sweet gesture far longer than it should have, filling the silence after Emryc left the room with the dialog in his own mind. The temple below suddenly vanished in his psyche, the Marauder instead focused upon the ways in which the gesture had both flattered and puzzled him. A part of him hated how much the thought of it caused him to smile or bring heat to his cheeks.

When Jaikus had finished his food, he gathered his belongings from the room and began to make his way back to the entrance of the temple where Emryc lingered, moving to stand beside the half-Sephi and face out toward the cold. “I don’t see it often.” He spoke, staring out as the snow fell and blanketed the landscape all around them. “Especially not on Axxila.” There was no flirtatious remark or cheeky quip to be seen from the Marauder, instead breaking the silence with a topic that he hoped would elicit a response from Emryc, given his earlier fascination.

He gave the Sith Lord time to response if he so chose before continuing. “We best get going.”

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc was more than pleased to find the camp site completely organized. Among the Sith, he generally didn’t come across others that valued being neat and clean. The half Sephi’s neatfreak nature was known quite well among his social circle and it served to annoy them to no end. When he saw the immaculate way the room was organized, it was far more effective than any striptease or overtly flirtatious gesture ever would have been in catching the man's attention. However, none of this manifested externally, though the sight of Jaikus' face blushing did soften the normally harsh look in Emryc's eyes.

The half Sephi was quietly blowing out clouds of smoke as he watched the snow. He was deep in his own thoughts as he watched the storm before him, feeling that icy chill against the exposed parts of his face. He could imagine Morgan trekking through the deep snow and the tremendous amount of complaining that would likely follow. Knowing him, he would work to install some sort of path and vehicle infrastructure to easily transport himself up here without the need of a hike. The thought brought a grin as he exhaled smoke, finishing up the cigarra.

He could hear Jaikus arrive after a while and he put his face wrappings back up. Emryc didn’t turn to regard the other man, silver gaze fixed on the blizzard. When the man spoke, the half Sephi was slightly surprised. He always expected some quip or remark that would generally be met with silence or with the occasional response back. The Sith Lord stood in silence as he gazed ahead, for a moment indicating as if he wouldn’t bother answering this time either.

“If you have a home,” The baritone rumbled quietly, “Why would you ever leave it?” The half Sephi couldn’t understand such a notion. He had known only life in a space station - cold, sterile, robotic. He never knew the concept of a family or what it ever felt like to belong to something whether good or bad. He never knew what it was like to have any kin or anyone of his blood or to have a family name. For all intents and purposes he only knew of his existence as singular. His story began and ended with just him and his name - which was also fashioned by the operatives on the space station. As a result, he could never comprehend why those that had all that habitually squandered it or ran from it.

Emryc wasn’t sure if the question was an extension of his pondering or if he truly wanted to hear the Marauder’s answer. The silver eyes were as cold and vacant as the endless stretches of white snow before them. In some ways perhaps he was not so different - beautiful in his own way to admire from afar and yet frigid to get too close and touch.

He turned away after a moment, silently leading back towards the earlier path of the temple. Neither man could move as swiftly as they had before, and they would have to be cautious about how they advanced with injuries. Emryc ducked under the low entrance, looking out to see if there was a second ax swinging at them. They retraced their steps back to the split paths and Emryc took a moment to glare with disdain at the mushroom platform path.

The half Sephi chose the other doorway, stepping into what was a completely empty room. There were indents in the walls where small figures and statues may have been perched, but the room was otherwise flat and empty. There was a door on the other side. Emryc paused at the entrance, looking around for any nonsense puzzles or obstacles. There really was nothing beyond just walking across the room to open the door on the other side.

“This...is suspicious,” He remarked quietly to himself, almost more uncomfortable at the ease of this than all the trials they had faced thus far.

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Perhaps to Emryc’s surprise, the Marauder visibly seemed perk up when he heard the Sith Lord speak, the corners of his mouth tugging upward and eyebrows raising slightly. The half-Sephi’s cold, stoic silence hardly seemed to give the Marauder pause in the past – quite the opposite, it usually served to fuel his flippant demeanor, as if a constant challenge to elicit a response. Still, unorthodox comments about the snow or lack thereof – the first words spoken after the surprising gesture by Emryc back at the camp – had the Marauder’s first actual attempt at conversation. Jaikus was thus perhaps a touch more pleased than he should’ve been to see his effort reciprocated. Despite his subtle glee, The Marauder more than a surprised by the question that had been posed, his pleased expression

It wasn’t the response Jaikus was expecting, but it was a fair question, clearly enough to give the Marauder pause before he answered, pondering it as his mind was drawn back to a life on Axxila nearly forgotten. He was, of course, completely ignorant to the fact, but Jaikus had known everything Emryc didn’t – a family, a sense of belonging, even a pre-ordained place in society. Where Emryc’s upbringing had been cold and robotic, his had been life spent amongst glittering skyscrapers and planetary elites, surrounded by endless material luxuries with not a want in the world.

Where Emryc lacked a sense of belonging to anything, Jaikus had been surrounded by a family to provide it. Even as an acolyte, they had been perhaps been one of the things that kept him truly grounded, brazenly clinging to his own humanity where others allowed it to slip through their fingertips. The thought of it sent a pang of agony through the Marauder’s chest, as if ripping the scab off a wound he forgot he had. That most recent loss had been something that Jaikus had buried deep in his psyche, defiantly refusing to address at it any point since.

The question repeated once more in his mind, drawing him back to reality. He finally turned away from the snow-blanketed landscape, meeting the half-Sephi’s vacant gaze unflinchingly. “Because for all the comforts and luxuries of home, it is things like this that profound me the most.” He gestured out towards the blizzard. "Because to live a life, stagnant and complacent, is a waste." It was an honest answer, one that took the Marauder more reflection than he was willing to admit to come up with. It may very well have been an infuriating prospect to someone like Emryc – to see someone who had what he didn’t and yet was never satisfied. Or perhaps as a man who had known only life secluded on a space station, that need for something greater was a sentiment that would resonate.

With nothing else to add, Jaikus followed Emryc as the Sith Lord made his way back towards the entrance. As they reentered the temple, the pair of Sith were subjected to the same crippling effects they had been the first time. A wave of nausea accompanied by the horrific sensation of the Force being nullified in their bodies, once more stripping them down to only their most basic physical abilities.

“It never is quite that simple, is it?” He had been close enough to Emryc to hear the quiet remark, quipping a response to it as they passed through the other doorway and into the empty chamber. A brief look to the Marauder would reveal, as before, that emeralds had resurfaced to replace the yellow.

Crossing the threshold, Jaikus stepped more cautiously than he had before – immediately looking around for the boobytrap or some bloodthirsty abomination waiting to slice his head off. Much to their surprise, there was no such obstacle waiting for them. It truly was just an empty room, its only real feature being the indents and pedestals that lined the walls, looking as if what had once been in their place had been moved ages ago. Moving to the door at the end of the room would reveal that that too was nothing but ordinary, opening with only the slightest push inward – the stone seeming to slide open as if pulled by some touch-activated mechanism.

The next room they found themselves in, however, was significantly less plain. A long hallway stretched out before them, the walls lined with doorframes that led into separate chambers. Ancient candelabra lined the space between each doorframe, burning as if they had been lit only hours prior to their arrival. Curiously, even as the flames illuminated the hallway, it never seemed to pass the threshold of the doorframes – keeping each room perpetually blanketed in complete darkness. From the entrance, they could both see that the hallway came to a dead-end, with only a small, hooded statue placed between the candelabra, positioned atop a pedestal that appeared strikingly similar to the multitudes that had come before.

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc was growing increasingly wary of how simple this path was. Nothing about the temple thus far had been easy, and he constantly expected something to spring up at them any given moment. Not having the Force at his call only added to his general sense of unease, leaving him bereft of any heightened means of detecting danger. Yellow began to streak his eyes in direct contrast to Jaikus whose had returned to their vibrant emeralds. Emryc had been conditioned and twisted to the dark side for as long as he could remember, and it had become the core that existed within him when all the other layers were peeled away.

The half Sephi stepped into the corridor, noting all the candelabra and lit pathway to suggest this area had recently been in use. His master had likely snuck in after they opened the entrance, but did the man come down this path first? Was it possible for someone to have come in through yet another unknown entrance?

As Emryc kept walking, he felt a painful throb course through his mind. Every now and then he rubbed his temples, hearing what sounded like faint whispers. A few times he turned to Jaikus to ask ‘what’, only to have the man confirm he had said nothing. The sensation grew worse, the whispers weaving into his mind. Some of it sounded like ancient Sith, but the rest he couldn’t decipher.

Without the Force, he didn’t have the normal mind fortress he had learned from the Kravos holocron. A sense of dread grew as Emryc felt more things weave into his mind, the nexus coming to life and tearing into his vulnerable thoughts without defenses. The half Sephi paused, placing a hand against a wall as he clutched his head. He closed his eyes, feeling a thousand memories and ideas come crashing at once. He was right back in the space station, once again forced to make choices that would scar him. He saw the terrified faces of the children in his cohort that failed their tests and were unceremoniously spaced while he was forced to watch their demise.

The Sith Lord was impacted far worse by this temple from his lifetime of obedience to the dark side. He was corrupted and fully immersed in it, and it made him all the more vulnerable to the influences. Where outside these walls he had made it obey, in here the dark side governed and commanded its domain.

When Emryc’s eyes snapped open they were yellow and he whirled around to look at Jaikus. He didn’t see Jaikus, he only saw streaks of black expanding and threading across the man’s face. The image flashed between the Marauder and the officers on the space station that repeatedly conditioned him to become an unfeeling monster. Raze was quickly coming to surface and Emryc was losing his foothold.

“Jai…k…” He barely managed in a low, guttural voice, his tone almost pleading, “...Run…” He got out before his hand drew out his saberhilt to ignite it. Without warning, the golden eyed Sith Lord charged right at the Marauder who now resembled the dark figures from his past that he wanted so desperately to murder.

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Theme​

A part of Jaikus had internally wished Emryc would have continued their conversation, but didn’t seem the least bit phased when he didn’t. Instead his attention turned to the path ahead of them, emeralds eyes immediately scanning the corridor they now found themselves in.

The entire temple thus far had been strange, but the room they found themselves in now was nothing short of bizarre. Closer inspection would reveal a thick layer of dust still covered the floor and walls as if left undisturbed by anything living for centuries. It made the fact that the candelabra burned to brightly even more strange than it had been on first glance.

As they began down the hall, out of their peripheral, Jaikus and Emryc both would be able to catch the sight of.. Something, or someone, watching them silently. The figure appeared to be hooded and humanoid in shape, but any attempt to turn to face it would result in it vanishing from view – as if it had only been a figment of their imagination and was never there. More than once Jaikus had whipped his head around, staring blankly off into space before continuing on. Was he losing his mind? Surely the temple was playing tricks on him.

Soon, the methodical sound of boots against stone began to die out in Jaikus’ ears – replaced by a faint, sinister whispering coming from everywhere and nowhere at all. Even with Emryc’s heightened sense of hearing, the whispers were impossible to pinpoint the source. At times, it sounded as if they coming from directly behind them, only to pause momentarily and reappear as if coming from one of the chambers to their left or right.

Just as they had for Emryc, the whispers maliciously weaved their way into Jaikus’ mind – dark tendrils that dug deep and pulled memories to the surface that had been long buried. Soon, the room darkened and vanished and Jaikus’ sight was filled with the images of city streets filled with chaos. Men and women of various races clashed against one another in bloody brawls across the urban landscape, entire blocks set ablaze while security forces desperately attempted to regain control.

As sudden as it had been forced upon him, the memory warped and shifted in his mind, the Marauder forced to look upon the faces of those who had perished in the conflict. Face he knew only too well. A family of five lay out before him – one that the Marauder had utterly failed to protect from the carnage. Where the whispers had once been unintelligible, the words began to stitch together in his mind and make sense – a myriad of different voices coming together as one, repeating choir.

Weakling.

You could have saved them.

Weakling.

It was only the low, baritone grumble from Emryc that snapped Jaikus back to reality – the whispers suddenly ending abruptly and the room flooding back into view. He blinked thrice, only now noticing the Half-Sephi hunched against the wall. “..What?” He shook his head, confusion playing across Jaikus’ expression. At first he even went so far as to take a step forward, reaching a hand out – completely ignorant to the struggle that the half-Sephi was going through internally. The warning to run, the pleading voice, only served to puzzle him him more. Slender fingers hovered mere inches from the Sith Lord..

Only when the half-Sephi reached for his saberhilt did the Marauder understand.

Jaikus’ hand immediately shrank away and fell to his side, emerald eyes widened in panic. Instinctively the Marauder reached for the lightsaber on his hip, igniting the plasma blade with a familiar hiss. He gripped his saber between the palms of both hands, keeping the blade held vertically and positioned to the left of his body.

To Jaikus’ credit, the Marauder had immediately glanced back over his shoulder and considered running as Emryc had pleaded him to do, knowing full-well that he was hopelessly outmatched in a fight against the Sith Lord. Once more, Jaikus’ eyes were filled with horror at the sight. Something – or someone – had sealed the door behind them, the mechanism that made it so easy to push inward now making it impossible to open from the inside. How did he not hear it close behind them..? The doors were solid and ground heavy against the floor as they moved. He should have heard it. It was slowly becoming clear that this path was not nearly as benign as it first appeared.

With no other option than to meet the Sith Lord’s charge, the Marauder brought his saber up to clash against a swing from Emryc, crimson hissing violently against crimson. Without the Force to enhance his strength, Jaikus’ block quickly began flatter under the raw strength of the half-Sephi, his saber bending back towards his torso. It caused him to break contact and leap backwards, rotating in a Shun-style spin and swinging his saber towards Emryc’s stomach. The manuever was not meant to make contact, but would serve to put some distance between himself and the half-Sephi.

“Damnit, I am not your enemy!” There was almost a pleading in the Marauder’s voice, eyes immediately scanning the room for an escape route.

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc couldn’t see Jaikus. He couldn’t see the Marauder that had tried to reach out to him. He couldn’t see the man that wanted to do anything but fight him. He couldn’t see the flashes of terror in the emeralds. All he could see was the cold, frosty outlines of the officers on the station. He was surrounded by the metal walls and corridors, the sterile fluorescent lighting, the hushed voices of workers around him.

“Subject 3MR1K. Psychological analysis failed. Scheduled for termination.”

The voice echoed repeatedly in his mind. He saw the flashes of memories and the cold, dead eyes that always looked at him as if he were an insect even since he had been a boy. He saw flashes of the young girl he had spared on a mission. The girl that the station had captured later and brought to him for slaughter. Failure and disobedience was not an option. He saw flashes of being forced to run missions that tested his loyalty time and time again. Till the emotions began to bleed away from his eyes. Till the silvers became cold, frigid and hollow. He saw the light in his own eyes melt away, and he saw the streaks of yellow replace them. He saw Raze. He saw the beast. He saw his sanctuary, the monster that shielded him from all the things that made him weak. The perversion that was born out of necessity and survival.

This was the same Raze that was present now, unleashed fully without Emryc present to reel him back. He gazed at Jaikus, who he saw as a station officer.

“Am I not your perfect design?” The baritone growled, venom dripping from his tone, “Am I not as you intended all along?” Raze spoke as he met the incoming saber. He came in with a clockwise swipe to slam against the blade, using his superior strength to force it down and towards Jaikus’ own right. His free hand shot up to clutch Jaikus by the throat as he moved to bodily throw him back against the pillar.

“Are you so afraid of what you have created?” Raze growled as he charged again, hellbent on killing the officer. Jaikus’ words fell on deaf ears.

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

As plasma came to crash against plasma, Jaikus’ mind was well and truly brought back to the current reality. He could no longer smell the scent of familiar cities burning. He could no longer hear the riots and clashes of millions on a planet bitterly divided. He could no longer see the cold, lifeless faces of those he held dear laid out before him.

Instead, emerald eyes fixated upon the figure before him. The half-Sephi appeared exactly as he did only moments ago, but something deeper had changed. Before him now was not the man that had instinctively pulled him from being bisected by the axe. Before him now was not the man that had silently weathered his tantrum and sillily buried him in the snow or hunted a meal for him rather than see him go hungry. Jaikus realized that this was a new creature entirely.

And it terrified him.

Years of diplomacy and skillful manipulation had imparted upon Jaikus a keen ability to mask emotions. Playing a persona and displaying himself a particular way had become second nature, to the point where he almost could forget it was an act. Now? All that bravado and overt confidence died, emerald eyes instead widened and filled with terror.

“I don’t want to fight you.” There was desperation in his voice now – pleading, begging the half-Sephi to return to reality. As soon as the words passed his lips, the Marauder knew they would fall in deaf ears.

Despite his pleas the Marauder could do little to resist as his lightsaber was rotated clockwise and pinned to the right, having not a fraction of the physical strength the Sith Lord possessed. He could do little but grit his teeth and stare in horror as the half-Sephi gripped him by the neck, lifting him feet off the ground.

Truthfully, it hadn’t been the first time Raze had Jaikus by the throat. In concept, the fingers wrapped tightly around his neck might’ve actually been an promiscuous and enjoyable experience for the Marauder – but the murderous look in the half-Sephi’s eyes had succeeded in driving any salacious notions from his mind. Where there once would've been willful submission, there was now struggle. Where there had been palpable hesitation before, the Marauder’s actions were now a desperate and frenzied thing – his own primal will to survive superseding the sentimental desire not to harm the Sith Lord.

Dangling in the air, Jaikus flailed and kicked his feet towards the Sith Lord – driving the durasteel toe of his boot into the Sith Lord’s ribcage in a desperate attempt to break free. One hand dropped from his lightsaber and drew back, taking advantage of the fact that both of the half-Sephi’s hands were occupied, unable to block effectively as Jaikus slammed his fist twice against the man’s face.

Before he could possibly hope to strike again, Jaikus was thrown like a ragdoll across the room – soaring down the corridor before making hard collision with one of the pillars that lined the walls. The impact sent a sharp jolt of pain through the Marauder, suddenly feeling all the air forced from his lungs and white spots clouding his vision. The force of the throw was enough to knock the lightsaber from his grasp, the hilt switching off and rolling into the pitch-black rooms to his left.

Knowing full-well that his life quite literally depended upon it, Jaikus forced himself to his feet – staggering a bit as the sharp pain arched across his spine. Disarmed and outskilled, the Marauder had only two options, and one of them ended in a dead end. Jaikus turned himself to the side and brought his fists in close to his body – easily recognizable as the traditional opening stance of an Echani fighter. With no other option available to him, Jaikus would desperately continue the fight relying upon hand-to-hand combat.

Oh, fuck me.

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Raze only saw through bloodlust, saw only rage, saw only chaos and fury. He was every bit of what he was crafted to be in that moment. He was every bit of what the Cadre project had intended. He was every bit of what those on the space station wanted to create. He was bereft of that side of him that made him human. He was missing that part of him that slowly learned to smile, slowly learned to love, to laugh, to make silly shapes in the snow or pull Jaikus from harm’s way. That man was nowhere to be seen and his absence would become chillingly apparent.

He felt the kicks against his ribs, and he felt that surge of pain, but it did nothing to loosen his hold on the other man. Bruises began to appear where he was kicked, and he would feel that agony later. He only saw fury and that wild adrenaline rush kept him charging ahead. The punches to his face did give him pause, but it only caused him to hurl Jaikus even more harshly.

The taste of copper exploded in his mouth and Jaikus would be able to see the white face coverings slowly tinged with red. The Sith Lord heard none of Jaikus’ pleading, didn’t see the fear. He only saw his greatest enemies and felt the strongest compulsion to utterly destroy them.

“Fight me,” Raze growled, conscious enough to see the lack of a weapon. He spoke through that taste of copper, more crimson seeping through the cloth.

He barreled towards the Marauder, opening with a jab cross. However, these were feints, neither move extending enough for Jaikus to effectively do much with. His leg worked to sweep him at the same time, targeting where he knew the man was weak. He could see it in his stance and the way he didn’t put as much weight on the leg. Raze had been trained to seek out weaknesses like a hound smelling blood.

Raze knew his massive frame could overwhelm the smaller man and he followed through the sweep with bodily slamming the other man to the ground. Eyes were entirely yellow and would almost match how Jaikus’ normally looked if not for the animalistic look to them.

He had no words to speak as he pinned the man down with his legs, preparing to wail on him with punches till he was beaten to a pulp. He was exactly the same man he was on Denon. The man that had effectively destroyed Talak Rand, a councilor strength Jedi, whose face was virtually unrecognizable when he died. He wouldn’t stop till the same was true of the insufferable man from the space station that now lay beneath him.

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus had nowhere to go as the half-Sephi barreled toward him like a bull-rancor, his back pressed against the wall where he’d been thrown. Instead of trying to flee, he simply bent at the knees slightly - assuming a typical defensive posture as the distance between them was closed.

When Raze arrived within striking distance, it became painfully apparent just how much of a disadvantage he suffered from. The Marauder did not lack for skill in hand-to-hand combat, but he simply had no chance against an incredibly powerful opponent like Raze, especially when the injury to his leg prevented him from moving not half-so-fluidly as he normally did. His attempts to weave between blows were sluggish and sloppy, and his own attempts at counter-strikes were predictable and easily dodged by the Sith Lord. When the sweep made contact with Jaikus’ bad leg, a yelp of pain escaped from him. It had been the same weakness that had been exploited by the hooded Sith in their previous fight, and clearly the Marauder hadn’t learned his lesson the first time.

Easily swept and slammed to the ground, the back of Jaikus’ skull made hard contact with the stone ground - a painful-sounding thud resounding off the walls of the corridor. Once more flat on his back and with his head splitting with pain, Jaikus did little other than stare up at the silvers-turned gold – giving the Sith Lord ample opportunity to pummel him with punches for several seconds before mounting any kind of defense.

Had the Marauder ever looked as vulnerable as he did? So afraid? He had often joked about having the half-Sephi on top of him, but this was very clearly not what he had in mind. Where there had almost always been the confident, mischievous glint behind Jaikus’ eyes, Raze was now face to face with deliciously obvious fear, whether he could see it or not. It was the look of a man who knew his life had likely reached its final chapter, but it was also so much more than that.

In the time that had passed since they arrived on the planet, Jaikus had brazenly allowed his walls to fall in the presence of the Sith Lord, that unwavering bravado melting away to reveal the man that had always been underneath. More than fear, the look behind Jaikus’ eyes was that of a man who had begun to trust and had been spurned for it.

Before he was beaten to an unrecognizable pulp – but likely not before he’d been struck more than once by the half-Sephi – Jaikus resolved he would, at the very least, not go down without a struggle. Forcing the pain to the back of his mind, the Marauder mounted one final attempt at fighting back before his brains painted the pavement.

With his arms having been ignored, the Marauder capitalized upon the opportunity and reached up towards the half-Sephi’s face, gripping the crimson-stained face covering and yanking it down so that it bunched around the Sith Lord’s neck. With it firmly within his grasp, Jaikus twisted the fabric clockwise until it tightened around Raze’s throat, cutting off the half-Sephi’s airflow. Using his grip on the face covering, Jaikus pulled Raze towards him – or himself up off the floor – until they were pressed together, chest to chest while his free arm wrapped around the Sith Lord’s back - making it so that Raze would have to physically peel the man off of him.

“I don’t. Want. To. Fight. You.”

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Raze felt his punches land with heavy thuds against their target, a cruel and sick satisfaction filling him. He was striking the faces of those that wronged him, the faces of those that twisted him into what he was right now. The cracks and crunches were music to his ears. He was perfectly happy to keep going until there was no face left. Until there was nothing but a puddle of blood. He wanted to see nothing but waves of crimson till those haunting memories no longer existed and were erased forever.

The half Sephi’s onslaught paused only when Jaikus found an opening to yank the face covering down. And that was when his entire reality and everything he worked to protect collapsed abruptly all around him. That sense of dread and the instinctive panic gave him complete pause, even more than the sudden gasping for breath. Emryc Thorne, the face on media across the galaxy, the President of the ISC, was exposed and revealed.

He choked against the cloth yanking against his throat, his hands planting on the ground to catch himself. He peered down and what he saw made him sick to his stomach. Before anything else, he saw the look he had in his own eyes so many years ago. They were the eyes of someone that had been given a glimpse of something, only to have it horribly torn away. He saw fear, betrayal, pain all at once. He saw emerald eyes instead of yellow, and the crushing weight of what he had been doing began to press on him.

The yellows rapidly began to leave Emryc’s eyes, his full face revealed with bloody lips. The silvers were wide, his lips parted in shock and horror. He took in sight of Jaikus’ eyes and the blood and bruises on his face. There was nothing but silence. He couldn’t hear the whispers. He was only left with the echoes of laughter in the back of his psyche.

The laughter of the officers that created him. They had won in the end yet again.

Emryc stared down at Jaikus. Raze wanted to finish the job. Jaikus knew his identity now. He could expose him to the galaxy. And yet the half Sephi didn’t attack, looking at what he had done so far. He had lost control - it had been his biggest fear. It was why he sought out the Kravos holocron. It was why he had avoided Dathomir ruins. It was his absolute worst nightmare - to lose complete control and be directly back where he was on the space station. He had done just that again.

He didn’t fight against Jaikus’ grip, his chest still pressed against the other man’s. His left hand, the arm that now had its stitches opened from overusing it, shakily came to rest against the side of the Marauder’s face. Trembling fingers very gingerly brushed skin, a thumb wiping away blood that began to pool down from his lips. Blood that he had put there.

“You are not my enemy,” He repeated the man’s words quietly as he gazed down at Jaikus, pain manifesting in the normally frigid silvers. Pain from a moment he could never take back. He gazed at all the injuries he had inflicted, how he had so easily become controlled and warped by the very thing he prided himself in wielding. The dark side had turned on him so easily after a lifetime of his devotion to it. How it used him just as easily as he sought to use it. He couldn’t bring himself to finish what he began. Jaikus would simply do as he wished with the knowledge he unearthed. Because Jaikus wasn’t his enemy. It had never been him.

“I am.”

@Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

As Emryc began to indiscriminately pummel him into the ground, unable to see Jaikus for who he was, there was little the Marauder could do to block the onslaughter. Each punch made hard contact against his face with a sickening myriad of crunches, cracks, and wet thuds, each blow almost immediately followed by a new sensation of something warm and wet flowing across his skin.

When Jaikus found his opening to counterattack, though, he grasped for it with all the desperation of a man fighting for his life. He latched onto Raze with all the strength left in his body, fingers digging into the man’s back and clinging for whatever leverage he could find. The grip on the man’s face covering, meanwhile, tightened until his knuckles went white. “I don’t want to fight you.” Pressed against the half-Sephi’s ear, the words sounded even more pleading and pathetic than they had been before. Jaikus could not remember the last time he had been reduced to begging for anything. In almost all cases, the Marauder’s unwavering nature stifled any such notions long before they could actualize into anything more. And yet here he was.

He expected the half-Sephi to peel their bodies apart and free himself from the chokehold. He expected the resumption of blow after blow, until nothing about the Marauder was recognizable. For all of his ambitions and goals, Jaikus expected those horrible golden eyes to be the last thing he ever saw.

When the punches did not come, Jaikus finally paused long enough to regard the man above him. Only in that moment did he see the silvers glinting above gold. Only then did he see the pain which spread across Emryc’s – not Raze’s – face.

As the beast subsided and Emryc resurfaced, pained and horrified, so too did Jaikus change. He immediately released his grip on the half-Sephi’s face covering, allowing the fabric to rotate and release tension. The grip on the half-Sephi’s back lightened, now only using it to keep himself pulled a few inches off the ground and pressed against Emryc’s chest. The fear in the Marauder’s eyes lingered longer still, each breath filled with a shakiness and a trembling which surprised even him. A distinct wetness had started to form in the Marauder’s eyes, and it took a concerted effort not to allow it to progress further than that.

When Emryc brought a hand to gingerly brush against his cheek, the Marauder winced slightly at the touch. Each frenzied punch from Emryc had landed with devastating efficiency, the Marauder bloodied and battered by result. Wide, ugly gashes split across his brow and bottom lip while blood flowed in two distinct streams from his nostrils - the blow to the Marauder’s nose almost certainly having been the source of one of those sickening crunches that Emryc had heard.

Every fiber of Jaikus’ being screamed to pull away – to recoil and recluse from the half-Sephi’s touch. He wanted to stifle the vulnerability he’d exposed bury it deep beneath those reinforced walls and practiced persona. In that moment, the Marauder had felt each and every puffer-pig laugh and honest smile seized and thrown back at him, his vulnerability warped into a weapon to bash him bloody. He wanted to hate the half-Sephi for it.

And yet he didn’t.

Silence passed between them, and this time, Jaikus did not rush to fill the void. There was no flirtatious quip or witty remark that could remedy what had just happened or the pain they both felt. An eternity passed, illuminated only by the unnatural burn of candelabra overhead. The only sound between them now was that of shaky, trembling breaths.

It was only now that Jaikus took a moment to admire the man before him. For all of his curiosity and silent guesses about the man behind the mask, the truth of it all shocked him deeply. Rather than the face of a complete stranger, it was a face the Marauder recognized immediately. How could he not, when a great deal of the currency he carried had the man’s face plastered across it? At any other time, Jaikus would have taken far longer than he did to marvel at the revelation. But now, after everything that they had just been subjected to, the true identity of the man hovering above him seemed to by the least important thing on Jaikus’ mind.

“You are still, not my enemy.” When the silence finally broke, the Marauder spoke softly - his voice barely registerable above a whisper.

Perhaps the words were spoken as a reminder for Jaikus, having felt his vulnerabilities weaponized against him. Perhaps they were spoken as some comfort and reassurance to Emryc, to soothe the pain of what he had just done. Or maybe it was just what they both needed to hear.. Whatever fear there had once been – whatever would linger and haunt Jaikus in the wake of all this – the Marauder now met the half-Sephi’s gaze with unwavering emerald eyes.

Just as Emryc had, Jaikus brought a shaky hand to brush against the half-Sephi’s face – using the cuff of his sleeve to dab the man’s bloodied lip. He realized that both of his desperate, panicked punches had met their mark. The sight of it bothered the Marauder more than he ever would admit.

@Sreeya