A Promise Kept

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

As Mariya began to slide on her shoes Vrak tore off a piece of his robe with one quick swipe, using the black cloth to dry off his feet before slipping them back into his boots. The swamp would be dangerous enough, but if his feet turned gangrenous inside of his boots things wouldn't go much better for him than if he would go barefoot. Something that Mariya apparently didn't think of.

Perhaps she would lose a foot, that would be amusing.

”Ah so you do know manners. Good.” The Sith Lord obviously recognized the sarcasm in Mariya’s tone, but given that the mother of his daughter was the Queen of snip it didn't really cut him.

Best to just flip it back around.

Still, as he fell into step behind the pipsqueak his eyes watched her carefully. He was still expecting her to run or try to fight him, and for now Vrak couldn't afford that. Getting lost within this swamp was a death sentence, even if the creatures of Naboo were relatively peacefull.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Clearly he hadn’t listened to the part where she didn’t give a kark about his opinion.

An eye roll followed, yet she kept walking. Of course she had manners. She was raised to have them. That didn’t mean she awarded them in any capacity, whether genuinely or under guise to someone like Vrak. There was nothing endearing about her words towards him, nor would that change.

A series of dense patches of swamp stood before them, excesses of overgrowth, vines, fallen trees and deep puddles of muck. Still, it wasn’t the right time to flee. She knew her way around for the most part, but there wasn’t many places that she could go to get free of him. She was certain he could catch her or use that stupid Force of his to track her down unless she had a means to outrun him.

So for now she kept walking.

”If I have to play tour guide for you all night you could at least tell me your name so I can stop referring to you as just the ugly Sith. Though I still like that name, don’t get me wrong. It suits you.”

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

”Vrak Nashar.” There was no point in keeping it from her. If he decided to let her go instead of killing her he was sure that Jamie would tell her eventually anyway.

Besides, he had never been one to hide who he was. Even when standing in the midst of all those Jedi, even when he'd be tortured the now “Emperors” plaything. Vrak had no fear when it came to the worms that surrounded and crawled around in the galaxy, and that was exactly what Mariya was. Just another worm.

”Lord Nashar will do fine.” He continued on. ”Though some my servants avoid saying my name all together.”

A silly superstition that had cropped up among them.

Vrak had never truly understood other cultures, mostly because he'd never cared to, but those which belonged to servants eluded him entirely. Their ways were those almost incomprehensible to someone like him. Something he was rather glad for.

The Pureblood was above that sort of thing.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

“Ugly name.” She quipped. “Suits you.” She scrunched her nose as she pushed aside another branch with wispy needles along the bark. “You’re certainly no lord. Lords wouldn’t need me to guide them through a swamp like an infant separated from their mother. They would just find their way.”

She certainly never asked for directions wherever she found herself in the galaxy. The idea that this Sith needed her help was amusing.

Help. From a child.

Helpless lavaskin.

“This way, Vrak.” She directed him again in a much softer, sweet tone, this time as if she were directing a small child.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]
”Naboos education must be extremely lacking.” The Pureblood said as he stalked after the girl. His eyes began to wander, watching the trees and the vines hanging from them. The swamp itself was oddly empty, something that he had not expected. There was space between the trees and the ground was not as soft as he would have thought.

Perhaps it was a unique quality of Naboo. Even he could admit this world had some sort of serenity to it, though he would never say it out loud.

”Lord's do not go around trudging in swamps.” It was undignified. ”We sit upon our thrones and get others to do it.”

He continued stalking forward. ”Like idiotic little girls.”

Vrak of course left out the tales of his childhood where he himself had often explored the outer reaches of Athiss. It had never been for “fun” of course, but rather learning how to survive in different environments. Everything had always been a way of training, nothing had ever truly been for the joy of it. The way of a Sith to be sure.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"And yet..." She held up a finger as she walked in front of Vrak. "Here you are. Trudging around in swamps." There was a moment of a pause that followed before she finished her thought. "Like an idiotic little girl."

Mariya pushed forward a branch, bending it slightly before letting it go to snap in the Sith Lord's face. It was hardly large enough to hurt him in any meaningful way, but it was a small token gesture of hers to irritate him for referring to her as idiotic. Besides, he didn't even have a throne to sit on anymore, given that his empire he claimed to have been the emperor of was no more, deposed and replaced by the new Sith Empire. So what exactly he was trying to imply was hard to tell.

Besides, he wanted to go into the swamp. This wasn't her idea.

The direction Mariya was taking them was towards the outpost, but it was certainly the longest way there, that she made sure of. And hopefully by the time they arrived any Gungans that may have been there would be gone, leaving Vrak forced to consider another plan to get off of Naboo.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

The branch snapped forward, striking the Sith Lord in his arm and forming a small thin line where it had crashed into him.

Anger floated through him and for a brief second he considered throwing the girl into a nearby tree. Doing so would have been immensely satisfying, but also foolish. He needed her alive and uninjured, hurting her would just slow down their progress even more. So he grit his teeth, lips thinning as he began to stew within his own anger. "How much further?"

They had been walking for some time now, at least it seemed that way to Vrak. A thin sheen of sweat clung to his skin, the humidity beginning to claw at his usual serene appearance. The swamp seemed to be growing thicker, trees coming closer together and the earth forming into a thin veneer of roots and muddied dirt. The Sith Lord took that as a good sign at least, perhaps they were drawing closer to some of the ocean that Mariya had mentioned earlier.

There was still ever the chance that she was leading him in circles, though what that would do for her he had no idea.

If she had some sort of tracker on her they would have been found by now.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The girl stopped abruptly, spinning around to face the Sith with an almost annoyed look on her face.

"Did I not warn you before we came in here on your demands that it was far? I also warned you that there aren't many of these, and that they are few and far between. I also warned you that they're really well hidden. So, you've no-one to blame but yourself for the time it takes to reach this place. And if you want my help to get there, then I suggest you have patience."

The brunette looked up through one of the open spots in the towering canopies and squinted.

"It looks to be late afternoon. I said if we were lucky we'd reach this place by nightfall. I know you're in a hurry to escape and all, but unless you have a speeder bike you can make out of that Force you have then we've got a while to go still. Unless of course you'd like to turn back and turn yourself in?"

She offered Vrak a wide, dumb smile.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

His fingers twitched. "I can still kill you."

The words did not have the tone of a threat, but simple stated fact. The Blaster that he had taken from her was still sitting within his cloak, though truth be told he'd never actually use the weapon to end her life. He shifted slightly, raising himself up and trying to stifle the discomfort that was brought on by the pain in his ribs. He glared down at the girl, towering over her when standing at his full height. A brief thought flashed into his head, strangling her to death up against one of the trees.

It would have been enjoyable.

"It would be helpful to your future if you..." His gaze lifted and his words trailed off as he heard a noise above them, the whining of an engine swooping above them. He scowled, hearing the ship shoot overhead but not slow down at all. A spike of adrenaline hit him for just a brief second. "Learned some respect."

The Pureblood continued as the noise of the engine died out.

So they were looking, but the trees had undoubtedly hid both him and Mariya.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Mariya's head lifted towards the sound as the ship moved overhead. That meant they knew something had gone wrong. At the very least the RSF was looking for her, perhaps her sister too. If she could find a way to signal them she had a hope of being rescued before Vrak got what he needed to escape, and before he killed her once her usefulness expired. There was hardly a promise he could make to Mariya that would convince her that her life was safe with him.

She said nothing in response to his comments, instead simply turned around and began to walk further into the swamp. Arguing with him further wasn't going to be beneficial for her, and talking to him was about as rewarding as speaking to a rock, if nothing else the density was similar.

Eventually she made it to a pair of trees that were shaped like an X, their branches having entangled one another as the two behemoth trees fell in opposing directions, thereby locking them in place. This was something of a landmark, given the sheer size of these two trees. They were hard to miss, even in the dense swamp. Halting her progress for a moment she slowly crawled onto the tree, gesturing Vrak to wait at the base. "I need to see where the rivers bisect. Crossing twice closer together is safer than twice further down the line. These are much harsher than the stream and I don't want to drown." She didn't care how good of a swimmer Vrak was, she knew these two rivers had immensely powerful rapids and certain areas were deadly if crossed. Of course the Sith likely thought she was trying to scout for search parties, which was also partially true. If a ship had passed overhead she'd absolutely have taken the opportunity to try and flag them.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

The Sith Lord frowned for a moment, but briefly nodded.

Of course he didn't believe a single thing that she actually said, but he needed to give her some rope. If she wanted to hang herself, she would, but otherwise he was content to allow her some leeway. She was his guide after all and the ship had just passed over head, he doubted another one would come by any time soon. "Climb fast little monkey."

Vrak stated, still watching her.

He would give her a little bit of leeway, but not that much. He knew that given the opportunity Mariya would gladly make a break for it, if not kill him. If he were her he would take every opportunity to take advantage of the situation, in fact it was what he had done. Escaping the ship had been a gambit, and for some reason he wouldn't put it past the girl to do the exact same thing. She had no weapons, but there was no telling what she would actually do.

Impatiently the Sith Lord watched Mariya, half wondering if she was going to do something stupid.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Mariya climbed slowly, shaking her head at the insult. She climbed slowly for two reasons, the first being it was about a fifty foot climb, and falling would certainly be the death of her, and also because she was happy to waste more of his time with as much stalling as she could allowably wrestle from him. Other than that though? There was nothing she could really do or achieve from this particular goal. The river crossing was in fact important, as it was dangerous, but the time lost climbing up and down the tree was even more important.

He would be able to watch her the entire time, it wasn't as if there was anywhere for her to go, or anywhere to hide from him, but she took her time, carefully finding her footing, carefully lifting her body, carefully adjusting herself the whole way up. When she reached the top she sat for a moment, looking out towards the river. Once she spotted it she began to climb down, also taking note that the sun was setting quicker than she had anticipated. Nightfall would be upon them in just over an hour if she was to make an estimate.

Ever so carefully the girl began to make her descent towards the ground where the Sith was waiting for her. Unfortunately luck wasn't on her side and he didn't decide to simply leave her there and go off on his own. Also unfortunately no other ship passed overhead, meaning no quick escape for her.

Once she reached the base of the tree she brushed her hands off and gestured for Vrak to follow her.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

The Pureblood watched Mariya the entire time, letting his eyes slowly follow her as she climbed the tree. His lips thinned and he remained silent. He was rather glad that he wasn't being forced to do this, mostly because he wasn't entirely sure he could have done it.

Climbing had never been his forte, and in truth she was...well she had a talent for this. Perhaps the title of 'monkey' had been more accurate than he'd actually thought in the first place. Amusement floated through him at the thought, though he didn't mention it when Mariya dropped onto the ground and motioned for him to once again follow. The Sith Lord stayed silent, beginning to wonder if the girl was still leading him in the right direction or if she had taken her time up in the tree to find the wrong way.

His lips thinned as he followed after her.

There was no real way to tell, something that bothered him intensely. "The outpost."

Vrak began quietly.

"It is Gungan?" He guessed that it was so, but there was a chance that the Naboo had built structures out here to watch their more primitive neighbors. He needed to know more, otherwise he might be walking into a trap.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"Not sure." She said as she walked. "It's older than me." Passing under a moss covered log she continued,

"It's one of the only ones I've seen that anyone visits and is still standing. Both Naboo and Gungan seem to use it at times. It's covered in heavy moss and vines, but I've never been inside of it so I I don't know."

Stopping for a moment she turned her head. "Maybe it's a Jedi outpost. Wouldn't that be a treat?" In all likelihood it wasn't, but that would be the kind of joke the galaxy might play on someone so wretched and deserving of their fate. Still, whatever was actually inside, if anything or anyone at all, she hadn't a guess. It might very well be empty. In fact, that was the most likely scenario in this case. It was also the scenario that made her wonder what Vrak would do, if that were to be the case.

"What if there's nobody there? Then what do we do?"

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak frowned for a moment.

Jedi Outpost.

It had to be a joke, surely. She couldn't have been serious. Naboo had never been a world populated by the Jedi, they had no reason to build an outpost here. Still, the very idea of it concerned him a great deal, though of course he didn't let Mariya know that. He couldn't allow the girl to get underneath his skin, especially not before they even got to the outpost. At the very least he needed to project an air of confidence, otherwise she would get ideas. He really didn't want to see what would happen then.

"It's an outpost." The Sith stated simply. "I presume it has communication equipment, a transport, something of use."

He frowned.

"Or are your people so useless that they keep even outpost utterly empty?" Vrak couldn't really imagine that these people were so stupid that they left an outpost without...well purpose. There had to be a reason for an outpost to exist, even if it was only for shelter.

"And if it's empty..." He began. "Then we wait until someone comes."

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Mariya seemed confused for a moment, staring at Vrak with a dumbfounded look on her face, as if she was trying to understand what exactly he assumed he was going to get from this building.

"Um, you know that Naboo is not a military planet right? The Naboo and the Gungans are not at war, nor at odds with one another. We coexist. I don't know what's in this place, but I highly doubt you're going to find a ship of any kind waiting there for you to take. The RSF don't just leave ships lingering around. If anything you'll be lucky to find a Bongo."

She had never been inside the building. If there were communications she didn't know about them. All she knew was that she'd seen others come and go from there.

"Maybe where you come from there are outposts guarded at all times waiting for attacks, full of ships and weapons, but Naboo isn't like that."

If they had to wait for someone to come, she feared how long that may take. But she had told him when they wandered off into the swamp that she didn't know what was there.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

What the kark was a Bongo? He was still pretty sure that she was making fun of him in some way, but with how stupid these people were he couldn't actually tell. Mariya kept on speaking, her voice grating against his ears as she berated him about the 'peace' and serenity of her homeworld. The whole of him wanted to see it all shattered, broken and burned while the corpses were strung from the walls of Theed's grand palace. His fingers tightened for a moment, his face showing the frustration he was feeling for the first time.

He hated this planet. "Naboo is useless."

This world might as well have been another garbage dump like Raxis Prime. His anger swelled, and slowly he took deep breaths to prevent himself from lashing out at the girl. He had to remain calm, he had to think. The Pureblood still had to get off this world, no matter the cost, no matter the price. He had to make it back.

"I'll assess things once we reach the outpost." He fixed her with a glare that would hopefully silence her.

Whether there was communications equipment or not, a transport or not, Vrak had to find something that would help him. At the very least he needed a next step, something that would allow him to get to Theed quietly, or maybe even hide until he could reach out to his contacts.

He was desperate, cornered, a feeling he did not enjoy.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Vrak's frustration put a smile on Mariya's face that was impossible to conceal. His inability to plan was most amusing for the girl.

"Naboo is wonderful." She said, looking to the Sith. "Just because you're incapable feeling joy in anything but misery doesn't make it any less so."

Daylight had begun to fade, a notable shift in the darkening sky made that rather obvious, though Mariya pointed it out all the same. "It will be getting dark shortly. We have maybe thirty minutes left." That left them enough time to cross the rivers, by her calculations, but would be in the dark for the remainder of the trip. That would make things a bit more difficult, though they would be nearly there by that time. She was beginning to feel the effects of the heat and humidity of the swamp. Her neck and face were damp, shirt partially covered in sweat. Her arms glistened against the sun.

"We need to make it past the rivers before nightfall, otherwise we'll have to wait until morning. I'm not crossing in darkness with the rapids as they are."

She certainly wasn't going to drown for her captor.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

"I can feel plenty of joy." Vrak began, his eyes sweeping towards the sky to see where the sun had positioned itself. The trees made doing so fairly difficult, but he was able to tell that she was probably right in her assessment. "Like when I drove a pike through your sister."

In that moment he had felt nothing but pure rage of course, but Mariya didn't need to know that.

The Darkside was all consuming, and when he'd run Jamie through with the remnants of the force pike things had been...a blur even for him. Being a Pureblood meant one had a special connection to the darkside of the force, but that connection was as dangerous to him as it was advantageous. It was one of the reason he was no longer using the force to fuel their little hike, use too much of it and it would consume you. Something many of his kin had learned in the past.

Stepping over a large root Vrak spoke. "Better hurry then."

So far none of the creatures of these swamps had bothered them, but even Naboo had to have some night time predators. Plus it would be more difficult to keep an eye on Mariya in the dark, though unlike she, he wouldn't need sleep.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"Was that before or after she broke your lightsaber? I already know it's before you became the worm beneath the TItavian's foot. How ironic."

Mariya knew Jamie's condition had been getting better, and she was in no danger of permanent damage to her shoulder, so Vrak's efforts to end her life had been in vain, just as the rest of his trip to Naboo would prove to be. Time was against him, as was the planet itself. Mariya was stalling him rather effectively, and he was beginning to look both sour and concerned for the predicament he was in. With the passing ship earlier, she knew it had to cause him some measure of discomfort. It also explained his eagerness for wanting to reach the outpost and identify what was there all the faster.

"I'm going as fast as I can. Are you going to fix my leg? No? Then this is as fast as I can go."

She shook her head in irritation. "Perhaps if you hadn't crashed our ship."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]