Down the Rabbit Hole

[Lira Dajenn]

Rahvin sat on the side of his bed, his hands wrung tightly around the wooden bottom of the bed and his arms flexed tightly to keep himself upright. A soft warm sun shone on his back, perfectly revealing grooves of red that had been carved into his back by the length of a whip. He had not slept in three days now, his back being unable to bare the pain of actually being straightened. The wounds needed yet more time to heal.

The young man did not seem at all bothered by this lack of sleep, the only hint of it were two deep dark circles that had formed around the bottom of his eyes.

It did not seem like he was angry. In fact it seemed as though he had reached some sort of peace. Rahvin had not moved from his current position in some time, and only when he heard a knock on his door did he bother speaking. His voice was raspy, as though his throat had not felt the touch of water in all the days he had not slept.

“Come in.” He called to his sister.

She would be the only one who would bother to come see him. The Sirens had been ordered not to come near him, part of Cerise' punishment, isolation. His sister would be the only one to defy the woman, partly because she would not be punished for doing so.

The young blond knew that this was partly the reason he had been beaten a second time, because his sister refused to play to Cerise' tune. He was not angry at this however, he was glad for it. Had Ilyena bent to Cerise' will, the creature would have won, and Rahvin would gladly be beaten a thousand times in order to stop that from happening.

Gritting his teeth against the pain Rahvin waited for Ilyena to come in.

 

[Louise]

Ilyena on the other hand did not sit in a painful peace, rather a maelstrom of rage and guilt. Her jaunt to Cerise's chambers had resulted in nothing more than Rahvin receiving further punishment. It was ridiculous. Their caretaker was either incredibly deluded or extremely vindictive. No harm would come to Ilyena, no harm would ever come to Ilyena, well, only the emotional distress that came with being responsible for her brother's agony and isolation.

It was enough. They had to leave.

Sliding into the room the brunette initially winced at the sight of her brother on the bed. The fury of the whip had been unforgiving and the amount of medical treatment he had been given was minimal. It wasn't like Cerise to ever offer her brother any shred of mercy, but she had gone too far out of this mysterious vendetta.

“I'm sorry, Rahv,” she conceded, approaching the man and inspecting the still healing wounds upon his back, “I didn't mean...” A fluster, it had been her fault after all. “...I..didn't think she would...”

A soft sigh as she leaned in over, inspecting his gashes a little more closely now.

“Can I ease your pain at least?” she offered, taking into account his sense of pride and wondering just how she was going to go about mentioning that peculiar book she had experienced.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Rahvin looked up at his sister.

“No.” It was very important to note that his voice was not angry or even biting, it was a simple neutral. He was not being passive aggressive, but instead he was simply masking the pain that would normally shutter throughout his voice. There was no anger towards Ilyena in him, none at all. “She would see the healing, and just punish again.”

Always a step ahead, always out thinking.

That was what Rahvin was made for, thinking ahead. Of course at times he could be blinded by his own ambition, but such was the curse of all men. No one was omniscient, no one was all knowing. That was of course why he had been caught, why the Sirens had yet again foiled his plans. There were dozens of them, and only one of him. Well...perhaps there were two of him, given that Ilyena was always on his side.

The problem with that however was that Ilyena was almost always watched, Cerise liked to keep a careful eye on her. Rahvin suspected that even know, Cerise knew where Ilyena was.

“Better to leave it alone.” Orange eyes flickered past her, and out into the hall.

He caught a glimpse of a figure standing just outside, a Siren with black hair. He smiled slightly, and then regarded Ilyena inquisitively.

 

[Louise]

Well yes, she expected as much.

Rahvin was right of course, Cerise would punish him until she believed that he was truly sorry, which given her twin's serious and stubborn nature was going to be approximately never. Cerise's own personal bias had stepped up a notch over these past few days, and Ilyena truly believed that it would only escalate and never cease.

Cerise was no creature of sense and reason, she was completely emotional and that made her outstandingly stupid.

“You don't really have a choice, I'm afraid,” she responded, ever-so-gently touching down upon one of the gashes, he recoiled of course, drawing a sharp inhale of breath from the sudden pain, but she was helping. A gift from great Nemene, this healing touch. Although her own flesh automatically knitted back together for vanity's sake it took effort and thought to share her gift to others.

One-by-one the deep gashes began to seal, there would be scars left behind but nothing that bacta couldn't clear up later. She could feel the energy leaving through her fingertips and into him, it was the first time Ilyena had ever attempted to heal another but already she could feel it draining her. The young woman briefly wondered how it felt to be on the other end of the feeling? Did it hurt? Or was there any sensation? Never mind, more important questions needed to be asked.

“I need you able to run,” she said with hushed urgent tones, out of earshot of any lurking Sirens.

“We're leaving. Tonight."

 

[Lira Dajenn]

The sensation of skin knitting back together was perhaps the most unique thing that Rahvin had ever felt. The epidermis on his back began to prickle and spike slightly as flesh formed together, wounds turning into slight scarring bumps all across his back. Eyes widened and he let out a deep shuttering sigh as the flow of energy crossed through him.

As the last of the gashes was healed, Rahvin let out a sigh of relief.

The pain was gone, for the first time in three days Rahvin felt relaxed and whole. The gashes within his back had been healed, and the hurt was finally gone. A slight smile tugged at his lips, though it quickly disappeared as his sister spoke of leaving. Confusion ran through him, and he turned to regard her.

“Leaving?” Curiosity was in his voice, had Ilyena made her own plan of escape? So quickly? He was impressed. He had always been the one to think of the plans, the one to plot and formulate a way of escape. Perhaps she had created a more full proof way to leave their little prison. “How do you propose we do that?”

There was no hint of jealousy in his voice, he was glad his sister thought of a plan.

At least this time Cerise would blame her. That thought made him smile, though of course he knew it wasn't true. Even if Ilyena drew a map of escape, labeled it under her name, specifically stated it was her fault, and quite literally screeched it at Cerise, the creature would still blame him.

 

[Louise]

“Leaving,” Ilyena reaffirmed with a curt nod.

The curiosity in his voice was enough to spur the young woman on into thinking that this was a good idea. If it caught him by surprise then perhaps this time they could get past the wretched woman and the sirens.

Her heels clicked upon the cold marble floors as she made her way to stand directly in front of him, crouching down low and looking up into her brother's burning orange eyes. “Exactly the same way as before,” she said with a sturdy degree of confidence in her tones.

“They won't be expecting it, not so soon, and definitely not in the same manner as before.”

Ilyena laced her fingers together, still crouched and offered a glance towards the hall, and the back of the black haired Siren. “The droid will be dismantled by now, but not to fear,” she continued, face growing almost coy, “I've got a pilot in mind.”

Pause for the dramatics.

“Nina,” the twin said, still in those hushed tones, “you'll need to convince her to fly for us but I can't imagine that will be too much strain, I've heard that she quite fancies you.” How fortunate that her brother had caught the fancy of an enslaved pilot rather than a scullery maid, although he wasn't bad to look at, she supposed quite a few of the female servants had a fancy for him.

“We go now, and if I'm not there in ten minutes, you go.”

[member="Rahvin Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Rahvin let out a chuckle.

Nina was an idiotic little creature, at least to Rahvin. One of the port slaves that knew how to fly the ships. She was pretty enough, but she blathered on about the most nonsensical things that didn't interest him in the least. He frowned slightly, his wounds still aching him, though no longer hurting. How could this possibly get worse? Would Cerise try to punish him even more? Fat chance of that. The whipping was already quite painful, and it was doubtful she could truly manage more.

“Fine.” He said with a frown. “I'll play along with your little plot this time.”

He rose from the bed, struggling to his feet and managing to stumble towards the door. He looked over towards Ilyena for a moment, and then smiled. She needed encouragement just as much as him. He could seduce the half witted slave girl quite easily, whatever Ilyena was doing would be far more difficult.

Slowly Rahvin moved forward into the halls, there was work to be done.

 

[Louise]

“As if I'd give you a choice,” the raven-haired woman remarked, finally standing and briskly making her way out with a small sashay in her step.

Although she strode with confidence, there was an apprehension deep within her, one that she could repress from the public eye but still threatened to bubble over and halt her bold steps. No, no. It had to be done, it had to be done now, it had to be done right and there was no room for error.

The consequences would be dire, and not for her. Likely why she didn't tell her brother what she was going to do.

Cerise's chambers. Show time.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

It had been a few days since Ilyena had strangled Cerise, since Rahvin had paid for her flash of anger. Hopefully enough time to cool down, to let her in. “Cerise,” Ilyena began, attempting to sound as sorrowful as possible, “I've...I've come to apologise,” lies, “I shouldn't have hurt you, I should never hurt you,” lies, “I let Rahvin...fill...my head with...” lies, “please, forgive me, Cerise.”

 

[Lira Dajenn]

While Ilyena went off to deal with one fool slave, Rahvin set out to go speak to another.

Nina was an interesting girl. She had some expertise in the way of making starcraft work and she had shown Rahvin the basics of mechanics. That was how she had come to fancy him, through conversation and the like. Of course he wasn't exactly bad looking either, so that rather helped the situation. Now however, he would have to turn it up to speak.

As he walked, his wounds became more and more bearable. The pain disappeared entirely, and his stride became longer and longer, more confident and calm. Yes, the pain was gone.

There was no doubt in his mind as to success. Either Ilyena had planned this out, or she hadn't. Either it would work, or it wouldn't. He would face whatever was to come, either escape, or punishment. He would be defiant in the face of pain, and perhaps even death. Cerise would not gain the best of him, she wouldn't be allowed to.

Quickly Rahvin entered the southern hangar.

This was different than the one he had wanted to steal from, this was more of a commerce hangar, traders and slavers off loaded their goods here. Nina worked for one of those slavers, and she was almost always here.

 

[Louise]

For a moment there was silence.

Ilyena rested her head against the sturdy wooden doors, making her seem somewhat mournful and full of sorrow when the young woman was in fact merely trying to hear if Cerise was scurrying around in the chambers like the cursed little rat she was.

“Please, Cerise, I wish to make things right,” voice almost pleading now, what a great actress Ilyena Talith had the potential to be. They've eaten stars, they've run empires, they've crashed numerous ships but now, coming to the silver screen, greatest actress of all time Ilyena Valera Talith! Why would she be the greatest? She's a Talith, it's what they do.

The door opened slowly, the stupid wench standing there flashing great stupid puppy dog eyes at Ilyena, as if she had been hurt. How they had no managed to escape so far could only be credited to the Sirens.

“Cerise,” she started, moving forward to the woman, who took a step back in answer. After all, it had been the first time that the twin had physically harmed their caretaker. This reaction caused the young Talith to sigh softly and trail off towards the desk, placing her hands down upon the polished wood.

“You were right.”

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Rahvin found himself standing in front of the ship that he knew Nina worked on, his face was broken by a slight smile that touched his eyes, and his general demeanor was much happier than it would usually be. He was acting of course, trying to make it seem that he was more...open to things that he actually was.

It was not that the idea of seducing and even sleeping with Nina disturbed him, quite the opposite in fact, she was quite attractive. It was more that he had his mind set on a goal, women and such distracted him from that goal. Thus he had always rejected Nina's, and others, advances. His mind couldn't be clouded, at least not before they escaped his hellhole. He only had to wait a minute before a small'ish perky blonde woman walked out the back of the ship, her face instantly lightning up with joy as she spotted Rahvin.

“Rahv.”

Inwardly, he cringed. Rahvin didn't like nicknames.

“Nina.” Rahvin said the word warmly, his voice soothing. It was an odd tone from him, and the instant he said her name the girl seemed to melt slightly, as if she had been waiting ages to speak with him.

Well this would be easier than he thought.

 

[Louise]

She could almost hear the gears in Cerise's head turning.

A small part of the ridiculous woman was wary, and rightly so. Ilyena and Rahvin were as thick as thieves, they had to be given that they were essentially imprisoned inside this palace together. However common sense and suspicion gave way to emotions and desires.

When Cerise looked upon Ilyena she saw Nemene, that's who she yearned for, always, forever and the slave mistress would so desperately scrabble to keep that illusion.

Upon the desk Ilyena's hands moved towards an ornate box, it had been well used, opened many a time in the name of lust and rage, she could feel it, it threatened to overwhelm her senses.

“You were right,” the young Talith repeated, almost mournfully, “Rahvin has been manipulating me. I won't....have anything more to do with him."

Cerise had practically dreamed of this moment.

“Oh Ilyena...”

 

[Lira Dajenn]

“What are you doing here? Weren't you...”

She trailed off, unsure of how to classify him getting whipped out in the middle of the square with hundreds of people watching. It was an odd occurrence, and of course the girl didn't really understand why it happened. She knew that he was a pseudo captive here, knew that he wasn't exactly free to leave, but she didn't know he would get punished for trying to do so.

In fact he doubted she would understand why he wanted to leave. To her, he probably had the perfect life. Money, power, and a nice cushy living. Yet it wasn't what he wanted.

“Injured?” He said the word as if it were a joke. “Yes, but you know my sisters talents, healing and all that.”

Nina nodded at that. Again most of the slaves were well aware of the twins strength in the force. Though Ilyena was hardly kind to the servants and slaves, she had once or twice used her powers in healing during several emergencies.

“Oh.”

The girl said as if understanding. She wasn't too stupid admittedly, she realized what the healing of his punishment would mean, even if she didn't understand why he was punished in the first place. He smiled at her, and took a step closer. “Would you like to help me with something?”

 

[Louise]

Slender digits undid the silver clasp that kept the contents of the box a mystery to the galaxy, of course, Ilyena knew what was inside. The wooden lid lifted, revealing a wicked collections of blades within, many of these blades held beautifully carved hilts in the form of various beasts, but there was one that caught her eye more than the others.

An obsidian blade.

“I feel wretched, Cerise,” the raven-haired woman conceded, her back still to the stupid wench, “I....I attacked you, I put my hands around your throat...”

What an actress! The young woman sounded genuinely pained! Take a bow, sorry DiCaprio, this year isn't your year either.

This was almost everything she wanted to hear, just those three little words would have been the perfect cherry atop the delusional cupcake that was Cerise. “I forgive you, Ilyena,” the obtuse woman practically purred, voice rich with a thick satisfaction, “Your brother, he's different...he's not like you.”

Ilyena with her back still turned scowled, how wrong she was.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nina's eyes lit up. A smile shot across her face almost instantly and she nodded what seemed to be a hundred thousand times. Rahvin returned her smile, but for a moment he kept quiet. She however closed the distance between her, like she knew he was about to tell her a secret. Intuition he supposed. He leaned in against her, slipping a hand onto her hip.

“I need your help getting out of here, Ilyena and I. We need to leave..” Rahvin stared at Nina, whispering the words into her ear he could almost feel the girl shaking. “I can't stay here anymore Nina.”

Was she excited? Scared? Angry?

Rahvin wasn't really the best at reading people. Sure he could tell straightforward things, but he wasn't exactly king of emotion. When he backed off her though, and looked into her eyes, Rahvin could tell that the girl was excited, as if she had been planning for this, dreaming about this. He looked at her with an odd sort of suspicion.

She gave him a fierce nod.

“I can get you out of here, but...you have to take me with you.”

Rahvin stopped for a few seconds, of course they would take her, how else would they get out? Neither he nor Ilyena could fly a ship. “How else would we go?”

Nina seemed to take it entirely the wrong way. Her face beamed and she slapped both of her arms around Rahvin in a desperately affectionate hug. Apparently she had misunderstood the phrase as him saying he would never leave her behind, rather than 'we need you to fly the ship'.

Either way though.

 

[Louise]

“He's an animal,” Cerise continued, unaware that each and every time she spoke Ilyena's heart filled with just an ounce more hatred, “A liar.” This time at least the woman managed to hold her tongue regarding the mystery woman that seemingly plagued her so. “He almost ruined everything.”

Ilyena's digits crept into the box, fingers lightly grazing the flat of the obsidian blade.

Immediately she was overwhelmed.

Feelings of immense glee, of agony and of hatred jolted through the young woman, and images forced themselves into the back of her mind. Images of flesh and blood, the sound of tortured screams surrounded her. The throat, she went for the throat, shallow cuts that weren't meant to kill but to incapacitate while an escape could be made. This, this all occurred within the space of a few seconds as Cerise continued her tirade.

“He's nothing more than a dog,” the slave mistress spat, almost trembling with venom, “I wish...I wish...he was...”

In that moment Ilyena spun around to face Cerise, the large obsidian blade held in her right hand, however the wench didn't quite catch that detail, too taken aback by the expression that her beloved charge wore. Loathing and malice was gripped firm in that emerald stare.

“Dead?”

The blade lashed out, slipping through the tender flesh of Cerise's throat with little difficulty. Shallow. Just like she had seen before, just like her mother had done before. A hollow gasp escaped the woman's throat, she could barely comprehend what had just happened as the tides of crimson began to spill forth from the wound.

Wordlessly and still with blade in hand Ilyena Talith turned and left Cerise's chambers, strides long and confident, although her hands were left trembling.

Their captor would ultimately be fine, the Sirens would get to her in plenty of time with that little panic button in tow but could they stop the twins?

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Well he supposed his task was done. Nina was willing to take them on her ship, or rather her masters ship. She would be a runaway slave after this. He paused for a second. Did they want something like that on their tails?

No, it didn't matter. Cerise would come after them eventually, and she would send far more than any Slave Master would after a single run away slave.

After all, Cerise had inherited all the funds and fortune that Nemene had had. Billions, if not trillions of credits that she could pour into finding the two of them. One run away slave wouldn't make a difference. Lost in though, Rahvin finally noticed Nina standing there, waiting for him to continue, waiting for him to say something else. She was completely lost in him. He supposed the two of them could use that in the future.

“Get the ship ready, we'll need to go soon.” He urged her on, and the perky little blonde jumped back into the ship to get the systems ready.

The blonde man simply shook his head, he couldn't believe how easy that had been. The girl practically jumped at his commands and was completely lost. His lips turned into a frown as he began to look towards the hangar entrance for his sister, he supposed he would have to sleep with Nina.

 

[Louise]

As soon as the corner was turned those confident strides very quickly turned into a hard sprint.

Clack clack clack clack clack clack.

However Ilyena had a point to make, she wanted this to be the last time Cerise ever laid eyes upon her and walking away from the wretched woman was a far greater statement than running, however she knew that the Sirens would be upon them in a matter of minutes. Time was not to be wasted.

It takes a lot of effort to move like this in heels.

The corridors felt endless, she knew it couldn't be so, it wasn't logical but the stakes had suddenly been raised a thousandfold. If they didn't escape there and then, the consequences would have been dire. Rahvin's life would have suddenly been at a very serious risk and even what little freedom she had would have been extinguished. It was true that Cerise's devotion was blind, but even a slashed throat can cute the most deluded of loyalties.

The hanger finally came to her, Rahvin standing by the vessel indicated that he had been successful in his seductions. “Go, damn it, go!” Footsteps already echoed from the corridor behind her, practised booted feet, much swifter, much stronger. With her heart caught in her throat and knife gripped hard in her hand Ilyena bolted up the boarding ramp. “GO!”

 

[Lira Dajenn]

As soon as he saw Ilyena running Ravhin turned back to Nina.

“Hurry.” He called out to the perky blonde girl in the cockpit. He could tell whatever distraction Ilyena had decided to impose on Cerise had not been a pleasant one. He could see the Sirens behind her, chasing with armed weapons, hopefully set to stun. The Blonde frowned slightly, and then stepped onto the ramp of the shuttle

As Ilyena ran towards him, the engines of the ship began to rumble. It was an old ship, but one upgraded for smuggling and getting past blockades, something that slavers often needed to do.

Finally his sister reached them, and Rahvin practically picked her up and threw her into the back of the vessel. As soon as the clunk of Ilyena's body falling onto the bulkhead was heard Nina pushed the control yolk forward. The Ship lifted off the ground, ramp still open. Dozens of Sirens poured from the small door that lead to the Hangar, each raised their weapon, but none of them fired.

Rahvin stared at them, all of them. They looked at him inquisitively, staring at his hard judging expression.

One by one they lowered their weapons, feeling pity or kindness, something that made them want to let the two children go. Rahvin simply stared, his expression never changing as he pressed the button to close the ramp.

 

[Louise]

Well, she didn't quite expect to be thrown.

Of course, being that Rahvin had so thoughtfully chucked her aboard the vessel, the woman missed the rather poignant moment held between her brother and the pursuing Sirens. She did think it was a curiosity that there were no sounds of blaster fire (yet again, hopefully set to stun) upon their position. Had it been Ilyena standing, staring at the guardians than it was likely that they would have fired. Rahvin always held a stronger bond with the women, likely due to his time spent training with them.

Ilyena had to study, had to learn, had imposing boots to fill. Rahvin on the other hand was neglected, and spent most of his downtime in a realm of combat practise.

Almost in a state of belief the twin found herself slumped against the bulkhead as the ship's engines rumbled hard beaneath them. Her hand that held the blade trembled, small droplets of crimson slowly dripping upon the filthy metal floor.

“We did it, Rahvin, we did it...”