While the City Sleeps (Open)

[Green Ranger]

Autumn opened her mouth to speak, but stopped suddenly. The boy was staring at her...or at least had been. The moment she looked at him, he averted his gaze suddenly, his eyes falling to the floor. She knew what the boy was capable of, and it frightened her...but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. How he had survived so long on his own...she didn't want to think about it.

She turned back to the Jedi, trying to regain her composure, though her thoughts remained directed towards the boy.

'I'm...well, i'm not sure I'm the best person to talk to about this...but from what I've seen, he's...quite powerful in the ways of your 'Force'. What's worse, however is...he doesn't seem to be in the healthiest state of mind. Jiang here - that's the big man-cat - seems to think you may be able to help him...or at the very least, contain him.'

* * *

The woman...she was scared of him. He'd seen that look sometimes. When he woke up, the bloodied corpses...the look of the people around him. The same look was worn by the medical staff at the...his mind blocked out the memory, and he struggled for a moment to regain his bearings. He hadn't heard most of what the woman had said, until the end. One word rang out clearly. Contain. They wanted to put him back. Lock him away. Part of him knew that it was only natural for them to feel that way, but the fear made him lose sight of all rationality.

'Don't lock me away!' he suddenly cried, his voice suddenly loud, the desperation obvious. 'I don't want to be locked away! I'll be good, I promise! Don't send me back! I don't want to! I swear....I'll be good, I-!'

His eyes flashed brilliantly for a moment, and then he stopped. Everyone was looking at him...their eyes, like claws. He tried to take a step back, but he bumped into the man-cat behind him. His eyes darted around the room wildly, before falling to the floor again. Memories of locks, people with datapads analyzing him...needles, hooks and claws on his flesh...and then in his head...his eyes fell blank for a moment, and for a moment, his mind went completely silent.

* * *

The Force was...difficult to intepret at the best of times. Even moreso when gazed upon through the eyes of a troubled mind. Today, the Force was like a piece of shattered glass, fracture lines running in every direction between sparkles of light, carrying on into infinity...it was beautiful...in the same way that space wreckage was beautiful, or a dead tree...or a supernova.

Every point of light was connected in some way by a fracture. Some of the points of light were faint, others bright. Some had more fracture lines than others...but all had faded. The past half hour had seen a new point enter the image...the most complex point visible. Fractures connected so many points, some lines fading beyond sight to affect even the unknown. The point itself was strange, however. It was like it was meant to burn like a star...but it was eclipsed by something else. Only the faintest rays of light came from within.

Her eyes opened. Whatever that point was, her and it were connected. And it had just arrived at the Jedi Temple.

 

[Count Sam]

The otheres were talking, but oh well Ryo has been concentrating much more with the boy.He was gifted, and powerful, yet he was in no condition to be trained.Ryo has wondered who had done that to him.He knew well that the boy has been tortured mentally, and probably physicaly as well.

"no...one is going to hurt you.Do not let anything that happened to you in the past affect you now.Do not let your fear control you" Ryo said in a deep, and low tone. But oh well the problem was not only the fear inside the boy.Ryo knew well that the boy was going to need alot of help if he ever hoped to become a jedi.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jiang gently placed his hands on the boy's shoulders when he bumped into him, partly to keep him from knocking himself over, and partly to try to provide some semblance of a safety net net for the lad.

Jamall, meanwhile, took a couple steps closer to the boy, ears perked as his dark eyes locked upon the young man. "No no, it's fine. We won't hurt you, I promise. Your big furry friend there is right. We're going to help you." He spoke in the most comforting tone that he could as he calm to a halt two yards in front of the boy. "Look, we don't lock people away. I don't think you're a bad person. If you're a bad person, you would never have been brought here. Right?" He asked; his question directed entirely at Jiang, who quickly piped up; "He's right, kiddo. I don't think you ever meant to lose control. These Jedi can teach you to control your powers."

The cathar padawan then added in; "And by contain, we don't mean lock you up. We have ways that we can keep you from ever losing control of the force, without hurting you or locking you away. We could give you a pet Yslamari, it's this little lizard thing that's kind of a cute pet. It disrupts the force around it, makes it impossible for the force to manifest. But that's the last resort. We'll do everything we can to teach you to control your gifts before we resort to doing that. At the least give us a chance to try to help us. Stay with us for a few days and see if we can help you. If we can't, then you can call for your big striped friend to come back for you. What to you say, kid? Will you give us a chance to help you?"

 

[Green Ranger]

Moments later, the fire relit in the boy's eyes, and it was as if he hadn't even realized he had suddenly gone blank. He squirmed out of the man-cat's hold with surprising agility, wheeling around to face him. His eyes blazed, a green fire filling his sockets. His voice was shrill, panicky.

'No....no, you just want to put me back! You're like all the others! You say you aren't going to...and then it hurts even more because I trusted you! You're not locking me away! You're not! We won't let you!'

The flames in his eyes insensified, and it was as if the ground itself was warping. Strands of greenish smoke rose from his shadow, six strands that coiled around him to form a sphere of sorts. The 'smoke' thickened at the ends, then burst into violent green flame. Each flame took the form of a great clawed hand, which suddenly rushed towards Jiang. Five took great swipes at the man-cat, the flaming claws like durasteel attempting to slice him in two, while the last was a flat palm, a great wall of kinetic energy with the potential to throw him well across the hangar...or straight into the side of his own ship.

 

[Count Sam]

Ryo was not sure what the thing that the boy did was.w..what kind of power was that? and how did he use it?co...could that be a force power?Ryo's mind was racing fast.

Ryo stood still in his postion horrified from the thing that the boy just did, but oh well Ryo had to act fast, as he send a force push toward Jiang's direction so he would be able to avoid the weird attack that the boy just used on him.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Look, just settle down, I don't want to hurt you!" Jiang said, as he took a step back, those synthetic blue orbs locked upon the fire-filled eyes of the lost boy. He'd never seen such a sight before, and to be truthful, it was more than a little unnerving. But then it became frightening; six wicked-looking clawed hands, formed out of deadly green flames.

The feline began to backpedal and reach for his pistol, but it was already too late. The first of the hands rushed for him, slashing at his torso with its cruel burning claws. It cut him across his chest, running from his left shoulder down to his right flank. Before so much as a hiss could escape his maw, the rest set in, ripping through his vest and covering his torso in deep lacerations framed by flame-singed fur. The sheer violence of the assault and the pain stemming from his fresh wounds stunned the tiger-like alien, and so, he was unable to dodge the finale of the attack.

A wall of force slammed into his battered frame, a cry of pain slipping past his lips as it tormented his bleeding wounds and threw him backwards. He sailed through the air with his arms and legs trailing back in his direction of travel as though he were a giant stuffed doll, before his flight came to an abrupt halt when he collided with his ship.

His body splayed out in spread-eagle fashion for a moment, and he stuck to the ship's side for the briefest of moments before sliding down the hull and falling to the ground. He landed upon his knees, grunting once from the force of the second impact, and his bright blue orbs focused dimly on the boy for a moment. They lost focus almost instantly though, and another groan slid from his muzzle as his body went limp and fell over sideways, landing upon his flank and passing into near-unconsciousness when his head clanked upon the durasteel hanger floor.

Jamall watched in horror as the boy struck out at the Kasa Horansi who had been trying to help him. The cathar didn't hesitate, he pulled his lightsaber and activated it, the purple blade springing to life with a lethal hum. It was not to attack the boy, though, but rather, to defend himself should he find himself on the receiving end of the lad's fury.

"Contain yourself! If you keep this up, you won't give us a choice but to lock you away!" The cathar warned, adopting a defensive stance with his saber at the ready. While his training had not advanced enough for him to actually fight another force user, this boy wasn't trained. He was fairly confident he could do something to take down the boy. Maybe drop a box on his head or something.

 

[Green Ranger]

As suddenly as it happened, the flaming claws, the smoke...it all vanished. Even the flames from the boy's eyes were gone. His face no longer masked by the fire, his expression had transformed from fury to terror. His hands went up to cover his mouth, stifling the scream building in his throat. Muffled behind his hands, little more than stuttered gibberish could be heard.

He fell to his knees, his hands wrapping protectively around the back of his skull...he seemed to be almost cradling it, but then he was gone. Suddenly he was surrounded by a sphere of complete, inpenetrable darkness. The sound of quiet sobbing and rambling apologies could be heard within.

* * *

Autumn stood in stunned silence. Vicious memories of her previous experience with the boy flashed through her mind. The flaming humanoid figure...and now this? The boy was proving more and more dangerous as time went on...her mind snapped back to the present. The man-c-Jiang, his name was Jiang was obviously severely injured, and the boy had reverted to his usual scared child state of mind for now at least. Jiang obviously needed help. She ran over to him, assessing the damage. It was bad. Really bad. She turned her head to yell at the Jedi to do something, but stopped suddenly. Others were approaching.

* * *

The hangar guards were about to move away from the doorway to intervene, but a sudden shout behind them forced their attention back toward the hall that led back into the Temple. Sarina Lightell was storming towards them, a woman on a mission. Before their hands could even reach their lightsabers, she swept her hands violently through the air and they stopped dead in their tracks, their faces falling emotionless, a distant look covering their faces. By the time they came to and realized what was happening, the former Ospion leader had already stormed halfway across the hangar.

'What in the name of the Force is he doing loose?!' she shouted to the group. Her eyes burned with an inner fire as she stalked towards them.

 

[Count Sam]

"I dunno...I really dunno"Ryo said in an amazed tone, but his mind was not with the one talking to him.He was still thinking about this weird force that the boy used.A force that could prove to be dangerous to the greatest jedi.

Ryo took a deep breath, Finally after he was able to catch his breath again.Ryo snapped back to reality, as he silently headed to Jiang's body, and started to use force heal on his injured body, but oh well the injures were so vital that Ryo himself could not heal it all.

"I...cant help him we need a master"Ryo said as he grabbed Jiang's huge arm, and putted it around his neck, as he grabbed him from the floor.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Unfortunately for Ryo, Jiang was just too much dead weight to be carried in the manner Ryo attempted. Though in the human Jedi's defense, the Kasa Horansi did weigh over two-hundred and fifty pounds. The barely-conscious feline just slumped back to the floor, sprawling out upon his back as he once again collided with the unyielding durasteel flooring.

And yet, it was something of a blessing in disguise. In the few moments he was left alone on the ground, his wounds began to miraculously heal, the flesh mending itself and the long gashes stitching themselves back together. His singed fur regenerated as the black skin beneath healed, and inside a minute, all the wounds had completely healed.

But, he did not regain consciousness. It was possible he had sustained a concussion when he struck the ship and had blacked out as a result. And as incredible as his healing implants were, they did not instantly heal concussions. That took time. Perhaps that was a stroke of luck for Jiang; he would not have to worry about the latest arrival in the hangar.

Jamall, however, was relieved to see the latest arrival. Even if the guards acted very, very worryingly - in that they just went blank - when she made a gesture with her hands. 'Must be a very powerful force user.' A part of the cathar's mind noticed, as he flicked off his saber, and relaxed into a normal standing position as he turned to face this latest arrival. "You know who this is?" He asked with a gesture towards the boy, dark eyes settling upon the woman as she approached.

 

[Darth Nyne]

Well it was obvious that he wasn't getting any answers, Lucius had slipped past the occupied members of the group just before the attack started again, he heard the scuffle from within a hallway just past the hangar. The door guards hadn't much bothered h im after he presented his ID and explained his personal reasoning for being there.

It had taken him a lot to fight the urge to rush back, Jiang had done him a kindness, and he intended to repay it. But for now it was sentimental things guiding him. Now the search was on to find a Jedi that had known his father during the Crisis, and to figure out where his things were.

 

[Gambler]

[OOC: Sorry for the horrible post... not my best....]

"What the hell happened to my brother?!"

-----------

An hour ago, Ravyn had been pacing the docks, trying to purge the last traces of potent liquor from his system, when he saw a glimpse of orange fur. He had followed this furred figure, watching as he got into a ship. And then he realized who that figure was: Jiang. His brother. The docks were cold and chilly from the wind, but that didn't deter the small (relatively speaking) Kasa Horansi as he chased after a vision of his brother. He had jumped onto a speeder and followed at a mad pace, hoping dearly that they would stop or at least slow down. But he was finally able to catch up to them as they neared... the Jedi Temple. Still, Ravyn didn't have enough time to ponder that and had tried to get into the temple, but the guards denied him. At least until a commotion from the hangar alerted him that something had gone wrong.

Brushing past the guards, Ravyn entered the hangar and saw the ending of the cataclysmic event. The smoke. The fire. Jiang's crumpling body. Everything as it died down. He didn't notice the ship in the hangar or even the people. He only noticed that his brother was injured, badly, and so was a small child... "What the hell happened to my brother?!" He tried in vain to shout. But instead of coming out in the strong roar he wished it to be heard as, it came as a choked cry. Was Jiang... dead? Had he come this close to finding his brother only to find a corpse? No... it wasn't possible. It couldn't happen that way. Jiang wasn't only a Winters, but he was the alpha. He was supposed to be all but invincible. Yet there he was, vulnerable and splayed like a cadaver on frozen ground slowly heating by his fading body heat.

"What... happened here..." He struggled to breath. It was hard; his chest constricted, preventing him from drawing enough oxygen to sustain him. His synthetic emerald eyes shimmered in the light, mirroring his confusion. How?

 

[Green Ranger]

The door guards finally caught up with Sarina, and she whirled around to face them. She sighed with annoyance.

'Calm down, i'm not going anywhere! I don't have clearance codes, I don't fly freighters, and I've got no reason to be going anywhere!'

The Jedi seemed somewhat appeased, though they remained close by her, just in case. She rolled her eyes, then turned her attention back to the group.

'I've met the boy before,' Sarina said, regaining her composure slightly, 'a few years ago, I was...contacted about the boy...I was called in to assess his mental state and determine eligability for Jedi training. Even then, he was out of control...like you witnessed today. I don't know how he got free, and frankly I don't want to know...but the boy is highly dangerous and far too mentally unstable to control.'

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall ignored the cry of the latest arrival - some random Kasa Horansi who looked similar to the other striped mammalian alien - and focused on what the woman was telling him. While it was worrysome, she was obviously no Jedi, and the fact that the temple's guards were hot on her tail did not help her trustworthiness in Jamall's eyes.

He ignored her for a moment, and took a step around her, motioning towards the Jedi Guardians standing not so far off. "Uh, we need a Force Cage down here, ASAP. We need to contain this kid for the moment. Can you guys fetch one, or use the comms to bring one down?" He asked, then turned back to Sarina. "Look miss, I don't know who you are, but you're obviously smarter than I am and you know more about this kid than we do. So I'm open to any suggestions you have about how to deal with this kid, but for now, I'm gonna ask this: Will locking him away in a force cage work as a temporary containment method?" He queried.

Meanwhile, Jiang just laid there, his injuries healed, but gashes in his vest showing off the soft white fur of his torso, though his muscular build was still partly hidden. Or at least, as hidden as could be underneath a skintight vest. He was blissfully unaware of the Kasa Horansi who had appeared. For that matter, he was unaware of... Well, everything, really.

 

[Viggy]

Back on Jiang's ship, Dmivo was busy tinkering with a few odds and ends from his satchel, totally unaware of the danger the others were in. The Squib hadn't wanted to enter the Jedi Temple, because he didn't like 'glowy-bright-sword-types'.

((Sorry guys! >_< I kinda lost track of the thread and I've been busy with some other stuff.))

 

[Count Sam]

Ryo has been standing all the time their, probably not being able to move.He was like a statue with his eyes focused at the boy, once again.Well the only known person..who had the chance to deal with that boy was the grandmaster, or at least that was Ryo's opinion.


"I think that we should wait for the grandmaster, and see what he have to say about it"Ryo said, as he stepped between his fellow jedi guardians.

 

[Darth Nyne]

It was multiple queries later, and even more times explaining who he was. He began to wonder had every Jedi that knew his father died in or about the Alsakan Crisis. He had been walking back towards the hangar while he was thinking.

As he slid through the doors, he saw a shamble, the boy was in a bubble of some sort, the two jedi and the guards seemed almost squared off with some woman. Kitty-man was lying on the floor, and apparently standing up only shorter than before. He'd all but given up on the whole situation.

He had heard something about the grandmaster though, and that perked his ears, at least he should have some recollection of his father. Steps moved him next to Ryo.

"Please call your grandmaster, he should be able to solve multiple problems today." Lucius stated succinctly.

 

[Count Sam]

Ryo was talking to his fellow knights, when suddenly another guy got into the conversation.He was probably not a jedi, but well Ryo did not know him, or why he was even here.It was kind of weird for all these people to get into the jedi temple just like this, or at least that was Ryo's opinion.

"And you are?" Ryo spoke in an offical, and emotionless tone to the guy who just asked him about the grandmaster.

 

[Gambler]

At the word "grandmaster", Ravyn's ears perked up. What the hell was going on here? There were quite a few people in this hangar. He hadn't noticed the woman or any of them at first besides his brother, but now... wow, there was a lot he had missed. He blinked his green eyes for a minutes, trying to sort through everything. Jiang would be all right thanks to the bacta implant in his chest. Probably. But what had hurt him? The boy? The cathar? He didn't listen to what the woman had said -- his loss -- but he supposed it was important. "So," he began, his eyes unsure. "What happened to the boy? What is he? Why does he need to be kept in a... Force Cage like an animal?" It was clear by his tone that the term disgusted him. It was also clear that he was blissfully ignorant to everything going on. At least he wasn't the center of attention. One bright spot and an otherwise boring day.

 

[Green Ranger]

Autumn's eyes wandered over Jiang's newly healed body, and she frowned with curiousity. Still, now was not the time to question miracles...she shook her head free of the thoughts, and turned to the...other man-cat. They were all beginning to look alike, and fatigue had hit her like a brick wall in the past few moment. Her eyes unnfocused for a moment before returning to look at the alien humanoid.

'He's a Tae,' she said softly, 'a near-human species, like myself. But...he's all wrong. I've never met a Tae so unstable, and so powerful at such a young age, especially one off our homeworld. Basically he's not the way he should be - nor where he should be - given his race and age.'

* * *

They all talked of locking him up. Trappped him. Caging him. He didn't like being in cages. They had tried it all over the years...force cages, blast doors, he...once he was even buried alive. He shuddered at the thought. Nothing had worked. Each time, the panic would swell up inside him, and the next memory he had, he would be free. Every time he embraced the inevitability of being contained forever, he somehow managed to be free. Part of him found that important, and his mind went back to - what? There was a blank there, where there should have been something. He was confused. By the time he had regathered his thoughts, he realized he was speaking.

'Cages...don't work..,' he said, his voice slurring slightly, 'because I break them, even when I don't want to...'

And then it was gone. His mind snapped back into control, and he went silent again. He drew the shadows around him once more, and hid in his little bubble of darkness.

* * *

One of the guards opened his mouth to speak, as did Sarina, but all fell silent when the boy spoke. Sarina couldn't help but shudder at the boy's voice. It brought back...unpleasant memories.

'He speaks the truth,' she said matter-of-factly, 'Even Force Cages don't hold him for long. The one thing we haven't tried is a Ysalamiri...it's kind of difficult for a rogue Jedi to get their hands on one.'

She turned to face the guards. 'I know the both of you, back when I was welcomed as a Jedi...and you know me. I'm a woman of my word. I swear to you both I will not go anywhere, but I need you both to find at least one Council member, and quickly. We could all be in very real danger.'

The guards seemed conflicted by the idea, but eventually agreed. Sarina had always been honest above all else, up until the Schism...but there was something about her that told the two Jedi the old Sarina Lightell was slowly returning.

 

[Count Sam]

Things were starting to get more annoying now, as more people showed up.The jedi temple seemed to be like a casino, or a bar.All the gathering was pointless, since the jedi sure were going to be able to take better care of the boy more than anyon else, but it seemed to Ryo that no one was really respecting the jedi enough.

But something strange attracted Ryo's attention, that was Sarina, a jedi traitor, maybe she had regreted all what she did befor, and she came back to the order again, but still Ryo could not trust her.Ryo thought heavily, as he concentrated his looks at her, ignoring all the other people who were talking.

"please,I would like you both to stay here, since I am sure that a councel member will show up soon"Ryo said in a offical, and emotionless tone to the guards.