Through my Passion is Borne my Strength

[GABA]

As Thaed had entered the cockpit, Ebberla went digging around the ship. The first thing she found was the first aid box, complete with Bacta. She grinned widely taking out the auto-injector, tossing the cap aside and jabbed it into her thigh, feeling its effects almost immediately. She sat in silence for a moment, clearing her mind as best as she could. She breathed in deeply only to wince at the sudden pain in her side, taking her thoughts back to the alley on Nar Shaddaa.

The faces of the men now burned deeply in her memory, was there another way?

She dug her fist into her forehead, the Sith had killed them. She had killed them. If she would have just left it alone, it all would have never happened. If she would have just let it go, she wouldn’t have gone chasing the Slaver into the alley way, she looked up suddenly realizing she had completely forgotten about the intended victim, the Twi’lek, who probably was waking up now to see the massacre that laid around her.

Anger sparked within Ebberla, she gritted her teeth. She tightly gripped the empty auto- injector and threw it across the room with a yell of frustration. Ebberla heard the hyperdrive hum and the familiar jerk of the ship entering hyperspace. She tried to stand back up, but her body protested and it won, she stayed seated on the floor as the fight on Nar Shaddaa played back in her head, her blaster turning to aim back at the Slaver and…

Ebberla slammed her fist onto the durasteel floor, she felt tears beginning to fill her eyes and it only made her more frustrated. She was stronger than this, wiser and more in control. She desperately reached out looking for the Force, looking for its calm, its warmth, its guidance. Nothing.

She was a Jedi and a Jedi doesn’t just kill, why didn’t she aim for his arm, or shoulder? Any non-lethal shot was better than the one to his forehead. She tried to look for blame on the shroud of the dark side, but she only smirked to her silly thought, the Force had nothing to do with it, she wasn’t in its weave. It was her own actions, her own thoughts, she searched back to what she was thinking, not recalling she was thinking much. Her only thoughts were to shoot and survive, to quickly deescalate the situation.

She had acted before thinking, realizing she had never really let go of the situation, even if her reasoning at the time seemed justifiable at the least. She had let her emotions best her instead of taking the time to think of a better solution. But was there a better solution? Did she have the time to think, then to act? Did she really help the Twi’lek to avoid a terrible fate or did she just make it worse for the poor being by acting in selfishness? Did killing the Slaver tonight undo events that happen twenty years ago?

Ebberla knew that answer easily. She ran her fingers in her hair, “Oh Ebberla, you stupid, stupid girl.” She whispered quietly, scolding herself, her eyes staring hard at the floor, she caught a whiff of her clothing, disrupting her thoughts.

Her body still protested her need to keep moving, it had been ages since she had felt this tired, this drained, and she quite unhappy tried to remember when. She stood up finally and begun rummaging through containers and storage closets finally stumbling upon a clothes closet. Everything smelled stale and of cheap cologne, but it was better than what she was in now. She filtered through some of the articles of clothing before claiming some cargo pants and a long-sleeved undershirt for herself.

She tied her hair back and tightened her belt. The clothes were a bit large, but she would deal with it for now, transferring the items she had in the pockets of her bloodied fatigues, leaving out the flask of whiskey. She looked at her cheek in the mirror, a bruise was beginning to form, her thoughts begun circling in her head.

The men could have had it coming, they were the ones that approached her with their weapons drawn, they attacked first; they had meant complete ill intent. But she couldn’t accept it was justifiable for her to do what she had done, for the Sith to do as he had done. There was always another way, but she had picked this way, and in a way, she did not regret what she had done, yet she knew very well she should had remorse for all that she had just done. She untwisted the cap on the flask and took a drink before pocketing, only hesitating and she left it out.

Ebberla made her way back to the cockpit, picking up a few more Bacta auto-injectors knowing she would need them later. She sat down in the seat next to Thaed and watched the stars streak across the view port, she took another swig of the whiskey, feeling its effects as it begun glazing her senses. Now she knew why people drank away their problems.

“It was the Force,” she started, giving a small smile and examining the flask, “I could drink a Zeltron until they were out cold, never felt its effects. Now, however…” she took another drink, “Whyren’s Reserve. I think there’s a circle of hell for this stuff.” Ebberla spoke not caring if Thaed was listening or not. She went quiet for a few more moments, her thoughts turning in her mind, a bit more slowly than before, but still coherent enough to think.

“I forgot about the Twi’lek girl.” She started, “I started a fight, I didn’t end it very well, I just did everything I was taught not to do.” then she gave a wry grin, “Seems ironic, the Order’s Sage Master acting on everything she taught against doing and I can’t go and blame it on the shroud of the dark side of the Force, all I have is myself.” she traced the outside of the flight panel’s buttons with her finger.

“I feel regret, but yet at the same time, I feel my actions were valid.” Ebberla shook her head with annoyance, “I was Sage Master for a reason, I was supposed to understand these things.”

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed said nothing as she spoke. He had put the ship on autopilot, leaning back on his chair and quietly smoking his cigarra. The smoke curled and rose into the air, coiling around into thin wisps of spiced cloud. He calmly watched the shapes, his thoughts elsewhere. Or they would be, if the damn woman knew to shut her trap once in a while. The Zabrak's face did not betray his annoyance at being stuck with a chatty Cathy, though inwardly his patience was wearing thin. He couldn't tell if she was getting chattier because of drink or not, but he suddenly regretted handing her the flask.

"Why must every action have a justification that is decided by someone other than yourself? Why are you not the true master of your actions, the one that plays the role of judge, jury and executioner? You having your regrets are your chains tugging at you, the ones you ought to shed by now."

He still did not look at her. From her perspective, he looked extremely calm and relaxed. In truth, he was. Although Sith outwardly had a negative exterior, most of the Sith he knew were often unchained from concerns and worries, as they often did whatever they pleased. It was a blissfully liberating lifestyle.

"When you let go of your Jedi restraints, you will find freedom within yourself. It goes beyond Jedi and Sith. You are subjugated simply as you are, without the weight of the Force upon you. I serve an Emperor, and even I have more freedom as I command my own actions. I serve my own justice. Why should there be regret in that?"

 

[GABA]

A scowl crossed Ebberla’s face as she read Thaed’s facial expression; he had begun smoking another cigarra. She watched the smoke warp itself in the air around the Zabrak as he spoke. She herself took another drink from the flask, enjoying the rush of numbness that seemed to pulse through her body as the substance took its effects. She watched the navigation computer for a moment before speaking.

“Because I…” she stopped, she felt as though she’d be speaking to a brick wall if she started down the list of her philosophical beliefs.

Her thoughts spun in her head and she was sure the alcohol was a contributor. She twisted the cap back on tightly and slid the flask into a pocket on her pants. Ebberla remained silent for a long time, his words working and resting in her head as she picked them apart, looking for and how to argue his points.

She could tell him she was a Jedi and she followed the Will of the Force, but didn’t as of recently, her actions had been completely due to her own free will, her own instinct to how she should resolve confrontation. It took her back before she entered the Jedi Order, before she truly knew of the Force and its actions. If she were in such a situation she would have not hesitated, her crew mates would have relied on her to take the shot; their lives depended on it, to end the confrontation as quickly as one could.

“Because one shouldn’t regret what they do, once it is done, it is done. I shouldn’t deny what I feel and I understand why I feel it.” she finally spoke, “My regret is my suffering. In order to break free, I know I must let it go, I know this. The Jedi teach it also, I used to teach it to padawans.” Ebberla’s voice was calm and quiet as she contemplated.

 

[Sreeya]

"Do you truly let go? Or do you simply cling tighter to the doctrines mandated by the Jedi?"

Thaed closed his eyes, the smoke escaping from his nostrils. It was intoxicating, the thick essence something he craved every moment of the day. It was his bane, his poison, and one he had failed to escape for so long. At that moment, he was withdrawn from the present situation, his mind wandering back to someone he hadn't thought of in many years. He thought of Syrik, his friend that had been a brother to him. He thought of Syrik's ambitions as a Jedi. Would he have been as this Ebberla had been? Would he have been a councilor by now? Thaed allowed himself a small chuckle. The damn bastard would have been the Grandmaster himself.

"Without the Force, you can look at both sides of the spectrum. Both have their chains. But tell me..which one allows more freedom?"

 

[GABA]

Ebberla lost herself in frustrating thought. The hum of the hyperdrive engines sent lines of purple across her sight, she focused on it's obtrusive color as it danced around before her eyes. They would be interrupted with a different burst of color when Thaed spoke to her. She turned her head to him, observing him carefully as he puffed his cigarra, she could tell he was thinking about something else as he spoke to her.

The Corellian turned her gaze back to the streaking stars, her thoughts slowly turning in her head, her lips begun forming a reply with ‘neither’ if she had to absolutely chose, but she stopped herself. It was beginning to dawn on her she was trying to adhere onto something she was not a part of, but how does one just so easily drop everything they have come to value? Ebberla knew that answer easily and found it ironic as a provoking thought told her to let go of that too.

Her thoughts argued with one another inside her head as she remained quiet on the outside, but she was more than sure the Sith across from her could hear it all as though she talked it all out.

“I don’t believe I can choose.” she said finally, her words hesitant; Ebberla didn’t think it was at all possible to do so with all that she knew and with what she didn’t know; it bothered her greatly.

Ebberla's hazel eyes suddenly flashed with a sense of eureka. A tiny thought that had been sitting so quietly exploded in her mind, one that seemed so obvious that she cursed herself for not seeing it sooner.

Ebberla feared what was to come, she feared the unknown.

No more Force to whisper in her ears, to promise things would turn out fine, no promises to show her the correct path to take. She knew knew she was alone, but it was never clear how alone she was; with it gone, she could no longer call herself a Jedi, or in any case a Sith. Though she had knew all this since Andraste's undoing, she understood why she could not admit to it. She understood though the Sith across from her spoke truths to why as she could not fully agree with him.

"I can't choose between one or another." she stated, "Only I can give myself the freedom I want."

 

[Sreeya]

"Precisely."

Thaed was impressed by the answer, and it showed in the manner he spoke. She was at last awakening from her false notions and beliefs stemmed deep within the Jedi. Thaed remained silent for a moment, thinking about his own role in the galaxy.

"The Sith are catalysts. That is why I embrace them. What purpose do the Jedi have other than to protect? What if there was never a need to protect? What if chaos did not exist? It would toss the galaxy into imbalance. The Sith bring that balance."

He blew rings of smoke, watching as three small ones shot through a large one.

"You can see that now when you are not anchored by one side or the other. Both paths are admirable, but one embraces the raw inner flaws that are inherent with humanity..while the other condemns and subjugates them."

 

[GABA]

“Light still casts shadows and those who reside in darkness will ignite light to see.” she whispered to herself; Ebberla was well aware there couldn’t be one without the other, a balance that Masters long before her spoke and discussed, debated and philosophized, there cannot be light without the dark and vice versa. Her head began hurting as she tried to dig through memories of meditation and her discussions with other Jedi over the subject and ultimately gave up on finding an example to speak about.

But what she also recalled about the flaws of humanity, “Not condemn it, not supposed to at least,” she started finishing the thought outloud, “A Jedi is supposed to see the light and dark of all things.” But Ebberla knew the word ‘supposed’ had its purpose in that statement, not all Jedi did.

“So how does one embrace such flaws without losing control, or even just complete loss of one’s own self?” she asked him, turning in her seat to fully face him; she winced as her side reminded her of her injuries from earlier. It was a question she always contemplated, something she couldn’t quite figure out for herself.

 

[Sreeya]

"It is difficult."

Power was a temptress, always beckoning those that would pick up on even the subtlest gestures. Thaed had often lost himself, immersed and drunk off the Dark Side. He had felt it coursing through his veins, like a drug. He knew he had begun to lose control, and it took a vast amount of effort to regain it. He did not turn to look at her, watching the smoke rings with great interest.

"Part of power is obtaining that control. The Force can be mastered without letting it master you. There are ways to both obey the Force and to own it. The strength comes from within you, and the inherent humanity you possess. If you can master your own habits, your own inclinations, your own impulses, then the Force can be an extension of that..ultimately subservient to you."

Thaed finally finished smoking the cigarra, tossing it into a nearby ash tray.

"The Jedi do not tread this path. It is a difficult one, and many Sith fail at it. However, it takes the knowledge of what both sides has to offer in order to be able to truly master the Force and wield it as a weapon."

A grin graced his features.

"If I were to release you at this instant..would you flee back to the Jedi?"

 

[GABA]

“No.” she said softly, ignoring his grin, “I don’t believe they would be able to help me. Not right now at least.” The Corellian explained, “As you said, I now stand without the Force upon me, and as absolute as it may sound, I will not survive with what I know.”

Ebberla didn’t know if she would be able to ever feel the Force again and without it, she felt lost; everything she had ever known and what she was, was beginning to feel as though it would tear her apart. Her guidance gone, she needed to learn to stand on her own, and as silly as the thought may have been only weeks earlier, now seemed logical, someone trained as a Sith could help her.

She desired to stay strong, to return someday; however, as she had grown to believe since before she became a Jedi, there was purpose to everything and though she did not have the Force and its whispers to direct her, she felt there was a purpose, only yet to be fulfilled.

 

[Sreeya]

"Are you so crippled without the Force? Trillions of beings survive just fine without it. I'm sure you'll manage."

Thaed couldn't help but chuckle at how helpless she appeared. He shook his head, remaining silent and keeping his thoughts to himself. The last thing he wanted to do was start bickering onboard the ship. He also wasn't in the mood to have her yap at him incessantly. This woman loved to hear herself talk. It must have been some preachy habit she picked up from being a councilor. Sith Lords weren't much for talking, and their lectures usually consisted of throwing students across the room. Thaed didn't doubt that Ebberla had spent countless hours boring padawans to tears about Jedi philosophies and other useless crap they couldn't give two shits about.

There was a sudden jerk in the ship, the entire vehicle lurching forward. The Force screamed at him within his mind, alerting him that something was wrong. He quickly switched off auto-pilot, regaining manual control. He began to maneuver the ship, but the problems continued to persist. He couldn't identify what it was, but dread filled him rapidly. The computerized voice of the ship resounded.

"Prime propulsion drives offline."

"WHAT?"

"Hull integrity compromised."

"You're kidding.."

"Gravometric systems failing."

The ship was falling apart. Thaed cursed out loud, slamming his fist down. The damn thing was a wreck and he regretted stealing it. He repeatedly attempted to manipulate it, but to no avail. The ship began a rapid descent and he couldn't figure out which planet. The ship picked up speed as it caught the gravity well of the planet below. Thaed couldn't control how the ship moved, but he knew he had to control the falling. He kept his eyes forward, using the Force in an attempt to make the air outside the ship more tangible to slow the descent slightly.

 

[GABA]

Ebberla gave Thaed a cold glare when he begun to chuckle, she didn’t think it was that funny and would have loved to known what he was thinking. She went to open her mouth in a rebuttal, but the ship came suddenly out of hyperdrive, throwing her forward off her seat. Alarms rung loudly in the cockpit and Ebberla quickly climbed back into her seat. The computer begun sputtering commands as the ship’s systems begun failing, she read them on the terminal and gave Thaed a worried look.

The viewport displayed a planet before them, growing larger and larger before being pulled into its atmosphere; there was definitely no escape from its grasp. The Zabrak had cursed and Ebb quickly strapped herself into her seat. She resisted the urge to tell him off about stealing ships, but decided she would save it for a later time… hopefully.

She flicked some switches, diverting what remaining power they had and redirecting it to the shields to keep them from burning up as they passed through the atmosphere. She trusted the Sith knew what he was doing as he continued to pilot.

 

[Sreeya]

"No, I actually don't know what I'm doing. This ship is ancient."

Thaed responded to Ebberla's thoughts, which annoyingly projected to him as they were highly concerned. He ignored her for now, the ship picking up speed as it continued to rapidly descend. The nose of the ship slowly pointed downwards. He knew they would be fried if they simply stayed in the ship. Thaed rose from his seat, struggling to keep balance as he made his way towards the back of the ship. He almost decided not to tell Ebberla about the escape pod. This could be in an incident where she could die and it would be construed as an accident. Surely the Empress would believe that? With a groan, he called out to Ebberla over the shrieks of alarms.

"There is one escape pod on this ship! You can get comfortable or stay here and die."

He said nothing more, fighting his way towards the side compartment that contained the pod. He pressed the emergency button to make the door open with a loud hiss. The pod was quite small, the ship having a personal transport for the most part. He didn't look to see what Ebberla was doing, and he quickly plopped down on the seat. He pressed the buttons to the side, punching in the types of terrain they would land on.

 

[GABA]

Ebberla rolled her eyes annoyed he heard her thoughts.

“It’s not that ancient, YT series is fairly common!” she yelled over the alarms as though Thaed should have known that factual information. She begun flipping a few more switches in attempt to restart the main engines but was unsuccessful. Ebb muttered a curse under her breath. Another alarm sounded, a new series of colors interrupted her vision, the lights on the control blinked several times before going out and the ship begun to tip in a nose dive. Thaed had gotten up and begun moving towards the back of the ship, she was about to yell something to him, but he beat her too it. Ebberla released the clip on her seat-buckle, she wasn’t going to be left behind.

Containers threatened to obscure her path, the angle of the ship made things more difficult than needed, especially when one only had one hand. She heard the hiss of the door opening and Thaed disappeared inside the escape pod and she quickly followed, hitting the ejection button as soon as she was all in.

The pod released itself from the ship, throwing Ebb back atop of Thaed from the force of the ejection. She did her best not to say a word. The ship could be seen from the small viewport, her eyes catching the glorious flaming hunk of metal, the shields must have failed and she was thankful she wasn’t still on it. The computer terminal Thaed was messing with let out a string of beeps before shutting off.

“What did you do?” she asked him turning to face him nose to nose, she examined the terminal, “The comm system is out…” she flicked a few more switches and double pressed some buttons, “Nav computer is out too...” Ebb continued pressing buttons without success, “This is all your fault, stealing ships, you know this probably wouldn’t have happened if you kept to the ship went to Nar Shaddaa on in the first place.” She scolded him in her Jedi Councilor tone.

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed was almost thankful that Ebberla was so curious about the ship's depleting status. By the time he was in the pod, he fully believed she wanted to stick around and take matters into her own hands. He hoped against hope that he could simply get out of this situation and never have to look back. She and the useless ship could blow sky high and he wouldn't be the cause of it. Joy began to swell up inside his chest as he reached for the eject button. However, that was when she muscled her way in, causing him to glare.

He said nothing as she abruptly plopped down into his lap. Normally, Thaed was all for women sitting on his lap, but this particular one infuriated him to no ends. He simply stared ahead, over her shoulder, hoping that the damn journey would end soon. That was until she turned to face him, her face almost colliding with his. His eyes widened in surprise at the fact that the wretched woman had the gall to scream at him in such a desperate situation. Thaed remained silent for a few minutes. He simply scowled, letting the Force do its trick. It would suddenly and abruptly constrict around her throat, and then release. It wasn't enough to cause her any harm, but more than enough to make her suddenly cough and sputter in the middle of her bossy lecture.

The journey to the planet below took far too long, and having a preachy woman for company made it all the more miserable. The old clothes she had found onboard the ship smelled terrible, and Thaed had to ignore it. At long last, the pod landed with an abrupt jerk. A massive squelch erupted as he realized they landed in some swamp goo. Within seconds, the pod began to sink. Thaed's eyes widened and he shoved Ebberla off him, quickly working the panel to open the door. He gritted his teeth.

"You didn't specify landing terrain? You'll be the death of us both, you useless woman."

He slammed down the button to open the door, but it was stuck halfway, sinking into the goo. Thaed quickly gathered the Force to himself and held out his palm. A kinetic blasted erupted from his hand, slamming into the door and making it fly off. Thaed effortlessly jumped out and landed on the other side of the swamp. From there he angrily glared back at Ebberla. He decided she probably needed a way out and he kindly kicked over a half sunken log back towards the pod. The rest was up to her. He was in a bad enough mood already, and not up to rescuing spoiled princesses.

 

[GABA]

Ebb's lecture was cut short, a cold pinch around her throat, left her lungs looking for the oxygen suddenly loss. She was suddenly hating this situation and wondered if she should have just stayed aboard the flaming ship, least it would be a quick trip out of this mess. No more not feeling anything, no more of that stupid Sith, or his stupid Empress, no more Jedi, no more war. She exhaled her frustration, and then pushed the thoughts out of her mind, seeing them suddenly foolish and she didn't want to give the Sith any ideas, though she didn't doubt he had ideas of his own to what he really wanted to do with her.

The pod landed and with an unusual sound as the engines whined down, they didn't land on solid ground. The Sith shoved her off, though more than happy to move, she wasn't happy he blamed her for where they landed.

"Specify what on a broken computer?!" she snapped as he blasted the door off. Her eyes narrowed in frustration as she watched him fly out of the pod. She herself carefully looked around, the pod tilted to an angle, now sinking on its side. Ebberla looked around, trying to make a path to solid land. She saw some logs poking out and was about to make her way to them when Thaed kicked one in the mud for her. She sighed and shakily stood on the unstable escape pod and made her leap.

Ebberla was short, she let out a curse and gripped tightly around the log, pushing away the pain in her ribs and the throb of her arm. The Corellian pulled her legs from the mud that threaten to keep her. She straddled the log, catching her breath before she carefully stood balanced on the log. She looked to the shore and took another leap. The mud wasn't as deep and she was able to tread up to solid land where Thaed stood.

The woman could see the anger in his face, and though she didn't have the Force to read it off him, she could feel tension around the Zabrak and it also made her angry. Many thoughts on what she wanted to tell him fluttered through her head, but she resisted the urge to say anything provoking at the moment.

"Any guess as to what planet we're on?" she asked him her tone forcefully calm.

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed's bad mood lightened considerably once he noticed her struggling to get across the swamp. For some reason, seeing her in any shape of misery brought him pure joy. By the time she was across, he was faring in a better mood. Until she spoke. He scowled at her.

"Let me conduct my built in Sith navi computer. Hm.. No, it appears to be malfunctioning. I don't know where the hell we are. In case you hadn't noticed, we were literally sucked out of hyperspace and crash landed."

He did not offer any further words, making his way into the forest. This was the type of planet he had sent his acolytes to. They often had to survive alone, but he had always observed from afar to see how they progressed. This time, however, there was no support. He attempted to make his comm work, but there was absolutely no signal in this area. He knew he would have to try finding a more populated area on the planet to be able to get any form of contact. Thaed sighed and stashed the comm away, looking around. The trees were thick and there were gleaming eyes of creatures all around them. He didn't feel out of place, but he did notice that it was disgustingly hot and muggy. He swatted away mosquitoes and other bugs that constantly assaulted him.

"We may have to travel by foot till we find shelter. That or we build one for the night."

 

[GABA]

"No, I didn't noticed at all." she grumbled swatting a bug on her neck who found her to be a good meal. Ebb craved for the Force, she wished she was able to feel all that was around her; she quickly thought back to her garden on Empress Teta, the life she could feel there, if she would have ventured a guess would feel much like where she was now. Except more. The woman turned in a circle, scanning their surroundings before her eyes followed the giant trees upward into the grey clouds. The air was still, only the buzzing of whatever creature it came from could be heard from all around them. There was sudden rumble of thunder, birds took off from their branches and heavy drops of rain began to fall.

Ebberla closed her eyes as drops splashed against her face and she smirked, "Perfect..." she whispered and shook her head, she opened her mouth to say something else, but paused. There was a flash of lightning and thunder cracked loudly. The sky tore open with a down pour, Ebb and Thaed were soaked within seconds. "Sithspawn." she spat irritably and stomped passed Thaed, "C'mon, we need to make shelter until this passes over."

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed attempted to put up a barrier around himself to keep the rain out. However, after a moment he realized it was simply too hot and muggy, and the rain was a welcome change. Without thinking twice, he shrugged off his upper robes, bunching them up. His grayish torso was illuminated by the moonlight, black tattoos streaking all across his torso. There were numerous scars on his sculpted body, and he had the sleek tone of a warrior. He was not overly bulky or stocky, as he had honed himself to be agile and flexible in combat. Thaed did not think twice about removing the barrier, letting the refreshing rain douse him. He ignored Ebb, walking forward till he saw a copse of trees.

"Here."

He knew the various branches could be collected to form a mediocre shelter. They would be able to put together twine to build a makeshift canopy to shelter them from the rain. The way he got to work, you would think he had been an eagle scout as a kid. At some point, he tilted his head to scowl at Ebberla.

"Are you going to make yourself useful at some point?"

 

[GABA]

Thaed has passed her up as they moved further into the forest to find shelter, the rain let up some, but it was still coming down, soft rumbles of thunder could be heard far away now. Ebberla took note of the Zabrak, he had removed his upper robes. Her head tilted some as she was suddenly reminded she was still quite feminine as she admired how well his body was kept. As not to mention, she had never seen a Zabrak who was silver in color.

He spoke, directing her attention and snapping her back to reality as he stopped some downed trees and branches. She begun heading in Thaed’s direction, but paused, there was a sharp pain in her side again, the bacta she had used early must have ran its course and was now wearing off. She cursed for not having it, but a thought suddenly struck her and she felt the cargo pocket on pants: the pens were inside and she let out a sigh of relief.

The Zabrak had already begun to work and had turned to sneer another comment to her. Ebberla had enough, “Make myself useful!? Now I’ll tell you Zabrak, I-“ Ebb only begun when she took a step forward and caught her foot on a root, face-planting into the muddy ground. There was an obvious splat and Ebb just laid there, she couldn’t believe what had just happened.

The Corellian pushed herself up with her one hand, covered from head to toe in mud, the rain did little to help peel it off her. “Right, ok…” she told herself trying not to lose it.

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed's eyes narrowed as she began to lecture him again. He prepared to Force Choke her again, and this time he intended to do it till she passed out from lack of air. Having her unconscious and not yapping away would make the night proceed much quicker and actually allow some sleep. However, nature had far cleverer ideas for revenge. He watched as she fell face first into a giant puddle of mud. Thaed simply stared, feeling a strange desire to burst out laughing. However, he remembered that he was a Sith Lord and maintained composure.

He said nothing to her, letting her bask in the mud, turning back to building the shelter as if nothing happened. As Ebberla walked over, Thaed reached over without looking at her. His hand casually wiped the side of her neck and face, taking the mud with it. He smeared the mud against the leaves and plants he had used to make a roof. The mud would help hold it together. Thaed nodded in approval.

"I suppose you can be helpful after all."

He grinned to himself, crouching down to sit down under the makeshift roof. Thaed glanced up at it gloomily. If the rain got any worse, the entire thing would collapse. It wouldn't be painful, but their roof would be gone. There was a slight leak, but it was the best he could do in an emergency. Thaed scowled at Ebberla.

"You go there."

He pointed to the section that had the leak. With that, he pressed his robes against the branch of the tree, relaxing. He wasn't one to sleep that often, but the lack of food had definitely worn him down more than usual. He had begun to rely on the Force to slow down his functions to put himself at a more relaxed state. Sleep often accompanied such a maneuver, so he planned to doze off soon.