A Promise Kept

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

"No." His finger twitched. "I don't think so."

Vrak knew that the RSF Officer couldn't get him what he wanted, the man simply wasn't important enough. He wasn't a General, he wasn't a Commander, he wasn't even one of the Jedi. He was just a man, no purpose other than living his daily life. He probably had a family, a wife, a child, maybe two, but none of that really mattered to Vrak. To him the man was just a means to an end, one that looked relatively healthy at that. His fingers twitched one more time, and then his palm unfurled.

Before the man could pull the trigger of his blaster Vrak lashed out.

Those same red tendrils that he had seemingly relied on so much for the last few days lashed out from his fingertips. They lanced and arched through the air like lightning, biting at the mans skin and crawling beneath his flesh. In an instant they would begin to drain the life from him, pulling out his very soul and ripping the strength he had.

Yet the Pureblood was not it's beneficiary.

Instead Vrak poured the energy from the living guard into Mariya, pouring what was once the mans strength into the young woman in order to heal her wounds...to a point. He was going to need to her to get out of here, and in order to be of proper use she would have to walk.

There was no way around that.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Like a wave of adrenaline pouring into her body from a foreign entity her eyes snapped open and she screamed once more, lifting up her head in an almost superhuman manner. Brown eyes shifted from side to side as small tremors surged through her body. Everything hurt, but she felt so incredibly awake now. It was as if she had awoken from some kind of alternate reality. Everything was confusing. One minute she remembered screaming in hideous agony, then everything went dark. Now she felt as though she had just slept for several hours, and most of the pain in her leg had gone with it.

She looked at the Sith, who now stood before a lifeless body of a man that wasn't there before she had passed out. His attention was focused on something. Her mind wandered, thinking about what had just transpired, but in her state, she didn't remember the past few moments.

What had happened?

Her hands wrapped around Vrak's wrist as he held onto her, trying to buy herself some measure of relief from the grip around her throat. "Put me down!" She shouted through raspy vocal chords.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak smiled, feeling oddly proud of what he had just done. The technique wasn't something that he was entirely familiar with, in fact before yesterday he had never once actually utilized it. It was said that the ability to drain the life out of someone was innate within some Sith, that it could not be learned but had to be 'forced' upon you at a time of desperation. That fact that he had mastered it well enough to heal the girl even slightly? It was a point of pride in a twisted way.

"Of course." The Pureblood said as he unceremoniously unfurled his fingers from Mariyra's neck and allowed her to go crashing to the ground.

At the same time he flicked his off-hand, pulling the blaster that she had earlier dropped into his hand. The weapon felt cold now, and briefly he glanced down at it to assess it's conditions. Vrak hated blasters, they were an uncivilized form of war, something else to be looked down on. He frowned briefly, deciding that it was best to keep the weapon for now.

His...liberal use of the force had worn on him, and already he could feel himself growing tired.

The Pureblood would have to be careful on this trek. There was no doubt in his mind that Mariya would attempt to trick him in some manner on the way, but he needed a guide. The RSF Officer would have been too dangerous to keep around and at least with the girl he had a bargaining chip if they ever ran across any of Naboos Royal forces. He frowned, looking down at the girl in consideration before he once again began to speak. "You're going to lead me to a ship."

It was not a request.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The brunette landed without a shred of grace. She wouldn’t have fallen, but the injury to her leg wasn’t exactly healed. The wounds had closed due to the corrupted dark side energy, but it hadn’t made it any easier to exert pressure from a fall, even if said fall was only a foot or so. So when Vrak released Mariya she landed for a moment on her feet, then promptly braced herself as she fell with a thump.

Her eyes closed and she ground her teeth, but didn’t say anything. When she opened them again she looked at her leg, noticing that the blood had stopped, and a number of pieces of shrapnel had been expelled from the area, though some had been covered over with new skin, but how?

”And how, exactly, do you think I’m going to do that? Do you think we just hide ships around the planet?” She looked up at Vrak from the ground, brushing the dirt from her hands before trying to cautiously stand up. Her eyes glanced at the blaster in his hand. How she wanted to simply push the barrel against the Sith’s chest and squeeze the trigger. “Maybe you should try the star port in Theed.”

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak considered for a moment, lips thinning. There wasn't an option, not for him and certainly not right now. The city was the most well defended point on the planet, more than that he had no doubt Jamie would eventually wake up and rain bloody fire all over this world until he and the girl were actually found. No. They would have to avoid the city, at least for a little while.

”There is another civilization on Naboo.” What were they named? Break had recalled some report on the fools before but all that he could remember was they were swamp dwellers, separate from the government of Naboo and not under the domain of the government. ”The simpletons…”

He trailed off for a second. ”Gungans.”

That was their name. He doubted that they would have starships, from what Vrak understood they were still rather primitive. Still, as a species they would be easy enough to manipulate. The force was powerful when it came to effecting creatures like that, particularly given Vraks own talents in aspects of Battle meditation. He could exploit them into getting what he needed, and it would be the last place the Naboo would look.

”You'll take me to them.” He glanced towards the swamp in the distance.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

“I will?” Tan skinned hands ran over her pants, clearing off the dirt from the fall. “And what makes you think I know how to find them? Their cities are deep underwater. Do you have a submersible vehicle somewhere that I don’t know about? You can’t just snorkel your way down. You’d run out of oxygen, or you’d be crushed to death by the pressure.”

It quickly became apparent to Mariya that the SIth hadn’t thought any further ahead than just crashing the ship and killing everyone on board other than her. Though it was entirely likely that the only reason she was alive was collateral in case he was caught.

”The Gungans don’t generally wander around on the surface you know. So how do you propose we get to them even if I did know where their cities were? Not that I do.”

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

”Through the force many things are possible.” Did he really have to explain this to her?

He knew that she was ignorant of the force but he would have thought Jamie would at least tell the girl of some stories. The fact made all of this rather...annoying. If he had to hold the girls hand throughout all of this it would become more and more obnoxious, eventually he would kill her just out of sheer frustration rather than revenge.

”Reaching the city won't be a problem.” Of course he didn't mention that his injuries would likely make swimming difficult, but right now he didn't have a better plan. Any Naboo settlement nearby would already be looking for them, and that mean the Gungans were the only real place for them to go.

If he wanted to stay out of carbonate anyway. ”I don't believe you're fool enough to not know your own world.”

It was a backhanded compliment.

”You either take me and live.” The threat came again. ”Or I kill you right here and now.”

There were no other options.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

“Do you honestly think I believe you won’t kill me once you have a way off of this planet? You think I’m stupid but I’m not incapable of seeing your predicament. If you didn’t need me alive I would be dead like all of the others. If you want my cooperation, threatening me isn’t going to get it.”

Vrak needed a means to hide, and a means to get a ship. If he was forced to hide without her help both knew that he would be found, and he would end up with the fate he so deserved.

“So how exactly do you plan on reaching an underwater city? Once again, I’m not a Jedi. Can you breathe for both of us? Can you help me swim? My leg isn’t exactly ready for an Olympic dive. Do you know that there are creatures larger than that small Titavian in the oceans on this planet? I would rather you kill me here than be eaten by something.”

His plan stunk.

Mariya certainly didn’t want to die, and she definitely didn’t want to experience being electrocuted again, but being eaten by something bigger than a starship was also out of the question.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak rolled his eyes at the girl, turning away for just a brief second.

The trouble was that there weren't a lot of options, and staying near the crash wasn't one either. The transport would have been tracked, and the moment it went down flight control must have noticed it. Ships and search parties would already be sent along the vessels flight path and once that happened they would find the crash easily enough. Waiting here would only spell doom for him, something that Mariya herself might have actually known.

"There must be outposts, forgotten ones or still in use." Either from the Naboo or the Gungans themselves. Not all of the cities could have been located deep underwater, a few had to be closer to the surface.

Even the gungans didn't spend all of their time beneath the waves, hence their amphibious nature.

"You won't get eaten." He assured her. "As long as I need you alive I will keep you alive."

The Sith gestured with the blaster. "As long as you do what I need you to do."

That didn't solve all of his problems, and she was right that she had no real reason to trust him, but her choices were even more limited than Vrak's were. She could sit here and refuse him, but that would end with The Pureblood gladly executing her and just walking away. Sure he would likely get captured or killed by something on Naboo, but at least he would know he caused Jamie some pain in the process.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

She exhaled deeply, rolling her shoulders. It wasn’t as if she had many options available to her either. Stalling him was her only move, and for the moment she had pushed him as far as she believed she could without retribution, or him actually killing her. She pointed towards the tree line in the distance. They would have to cross back over the downed ship to reach the forest.

”That way.” She said, “It’s a long walk. If we’re lucky we’ll get there before nightfall.”

There weren’t many outposts. The ones there were happened to be few and far between, and also were extremely well hidden from view. The Naboo had no need of them, but the Gungans did their best to keep them out of the public eye. “I suppose if you’re lucky there will be a bongo transport there. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

The only reason one would be there would be if there were Gungans at the outpost.

That was something Mariya had no way of knowing.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak stared at the girl for a few moments, deciding whether or not she was attempting to mock him with the name of the transport. After a few seconds he decided to simply let it go, knowing that it likely wasn't worth whatever trouble asking about it would create. "Good."

An outpost was a start at least.

He had no idea how Gungan society worked or functioned. The brief few passages he had read on the species were mostly just explanations of how they tended to avoid the Naboo themselves. They were considered primitive, and thus their technology likely wasn't far above what one would find in the outbacks of the galaxy. Still, it was better than nothing, and it was out of the view of any of Naboo's security forces. That made it better than standing here.

"Come along then." Vrak said simply, turning away from the girl and tucking her blaster into his tattered cloak.

He was sure that she would attack him at her first opportunity, but unlike Jamie she didn't have the force.

Vrak was oddly thankful for that.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Who is babysitting who here? She wondered as she started to walk partway beside and partway behind the SIth. Her hands raised towards her head, pulling back her hair into a tight ponytail, securing it with a small elastic from her wrist in order to keep stray locks out of her face as they walked.

She cast a saddened look to the dead man as they passed him, and again as she took a look at the wreckage of the transport.

Thankfully most of the creatures that called Naboo their home, at least on the surface, were of no threat to them. That would make this excursion much less deadly than certain other planets may have been. It also meant that unfortunately there were fewer possibilities for distracting Vrak enough to either escape or grab the blaster from where he had placed it.

For now she walked quietly, careful not to put an undue amount of pressure on her injury.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

While Mariya attempted to mitigate the damage to the wound on her leg, Vrak slowly began to suffer from his own ailments.

Though the force had kept him moving through the pain, even the Darkside was not eternal. He had no real gift in healing, aside from the life he could drain to others, and driving recuperation through the force required meditation. The broken ribs that lined his side began to ache as the force ebbed out of him, the cuts and bruises that he had endured began to sting, and slowly as they walked across the open field Vrak became a myriad of different pains.

His face remained the same stoic marble that it had been before, and he put effort into keeping his walk exactly the same. He didn't want the girl to get even a whiff of weakness from him, knowing that she would take advantage as soon as she possibly could. He frowned as they passed the ship, glancing at the wreckage and the small smoldering flames that covered it.

The Pureblood frowned for a brief moment, then continued on.

No conversation would come from his part. All that he wanted was to get to this outpost and find some sort of transport. Getting off Naboo would be nearly impossible, and his mind ran with a thousand different plans of just how he would manage it. If what Mariya said was true then finding a ship among the Gungan's would be impossible, meaning that he would eventually have to return to Theed or some other small settlement. There was no way around that.

He would just have to find the best way to do it.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The girl paused as they reached the tree line. The dense swamp concealed itself largely from the light of the Sun. Through the canopies of the trees that loomed overhead rays of light illuminated small areas, casting a haze on the surroundings. The terrain would become more difficult to navigate through once they left the open field. It didn’t help that this would be the longest stretch of the trip. The outpost was deep within the swamp.

Trees, marshland, overgrowth and large stones littered the area. No clear path was available, meaning Mariya could do her best to take winding paths and extend the length of time it took the two to actually reach the outpost even further without Vrak taking notice. One thing that would immediately be noticeable as they stepped into the swamp would be the rise in humidity. Because of the dense foliage the heat had almost no means of escape, and the moisture in the air lingered far longer than it did in the fields.

Pushing inwards, she set aside various low-hanging branches, carefully stepping over fallen logs and other brush. The girl took extra care in being cautious, as she didn’t want to find herself injured again, unable to walk, and left for dead, and also because she knew this was an opportunity to slow them down a bit more.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

The girl set the pace, and it was a slow one. Annoyance floated through him, knowing exactly what she was up to but having no real method to prevent it. Threatening her wouldn't do much good, injuring her would only slow them down further, and anything else he could think of wasn't any more helpful. So he put up with it, gritting his teeth and wandering closely behind Mariya. Every now and again he moved the same branches, albeit with far less care, breaking them instead of simply bending them.

He was a destructive force in an environment that was mostly only met with peace. The Swamp around them seemed to bubble and retreat where he stepped, birds ceased their chirping and what little beasts there were within the trees quickly skittered away.

The Pureblood was a plague, nothing less.

For Vrak this was nothing new. Ever since his ascension to power he had noticed the rolling effect of the darkside. It swept from him almost naturally, causing most beings a sense of unease and disturbance. Here it was even worse. Naboo had always lived in relative peace, and the Darkside was a rare occurrence.

His hand came up as he swatted at his neck, an insect having landed upon him. The heat of the jungle was not something he was used to. Athiss and Korriban were broken deserts, worlds that had no humidity to speak of. Here it felt like there was no end to his skin.

What a disgusting place.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The two reached a stream that parted the way by about fifteen feet. In either direction east and west it stretched further than one could see, winding around trees and disappearing into the darkness that consumed the swamp. “Wel’ll have to cross here.” She said. “It’s safest here where its most narrow.” The water sped past, though it wasn’t quite a raging rapid. Still, caution would need to be excersised if one was to avoid slipping on the smooth rock bed beneath their feet.

Mariya sat herself carefully and slowly on the ground facing the stream, and began to untie her boots.

”I’d recommend removing your footwear. If you slip you’ll end up halfway down the stream before you get to the other side. And I won’t wait for you.”

What was the point in lying? She wouldn’t try and rescue him, and she certainly wasn’t going to wait for her captor to come retrieve her.

At least she was honest about it.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak stared incredulously at the girl.

He had to take his shoes off? Actually touch this filth world with his bare feet? Lips thinned and his gaze slowly fell towards the stream. Begrudgingly the Sith leaned down and pulled on the laces of his boots. It loosened for a moment and then came free, the heavy leather popping off his feet.

The Pureblood did the same with his other foot. ”This is undignified.”

He spoke quietly, but his displeasure was more than clear.

Vrak usually had servants doing this type of thing for him, especially after he was injured. His lips thinned slightly and he stood, holding both of his boots and looking at the stream ahead of them.

This was stupid.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Mariya looked at the Sith with an odd sort of look.

“Undignified? It’s just water. And it’s probably cleaner than any planet you’ve ever stepped your filthy feet on. Get over yourself.”

The brunette held her boots towards her chest as she stepped slowly into the water, ensuring that she was able to maintain her balance as the water pushed against her. For a moment she slid, but then corrected herself. The deeper she waded into the stream the stronger the current became, slowly pulling her downstream as she made her way towards the center where the current would be strongest. At its deepest, the stream would reach her neck, forcing the girl to hold her boots up and over her head to keep them from getting drenched.

Looking back she gauged how far away Vrak was from her, and whether or not he was at all uncomfortable with crossing the fast moving stream. If he looked to be having trouble, she would consider taking the opportunity to make a break for it, either by crossing much more swiftly, or allowing herself to be taken by the current.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Uncomfortable he was not.

Though Vrak found the while situation to be entirely undignified and silly, he wasn't scared of a little water. Despite enduring all of this humiliation he was still a Sith, he'd trained for decades in agility and combat. Though this wasn't exactly the same, it was similar enough that he wouldn't end up falling into the river and killing himself.

Holding his shoes Vrak dredged in after Mariyah.

The water was cold, colder than he had expected but not worse than he could handle. The rush of it felt good against some of his wounds in fact, cleansing them of dirt and smaller particles that had gotten into them during the crash. His feet dug into the silt of the river, pressing against the floor as he moved and quickly caught up with the girl.

”Perhaps from now on.” The Sith began as he continued to cross. ”You should think before speaking.”

His eyes gazed at her. ”It would make you sound more intelligent.”

 

[Mariya Pyne]

“What if I told you that I didn’t care about your opinion?” She retorted, not bothering to look back at the SIth as she neared the opposite side of the stream. What reason did she have to care about how much intelligence he felt she had? The less smart she seemed the better off it was for her. It would make it easier to get away when the opportunity arose.

Reaching the opposite shore she slowly stepped out from the water, after which she sat slowly in the sand to put her boots back on. It wouldn’t do well to wander through the rest of the swamp without protection, even if it was mildly uncomfortable to walk in without drying off first.

”This way, oh great Sith.”

There was nothing but sarcasm laced in her words as she pointed in the direction she began to walk.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]