Private Edge of the Abyss

[Ana Rix]

Ana didn't argue with Aya.

She fell in step instead, her pace quickening just enough to match the urgency without breaking into something careless. Her attention stayed forward, tracking the markers, the path, the structure they had already confirmed, rather than the chaos behind them.

"Topside first," she echoed quietly, more to lock it in than to question it.

The Twi'lek's voice cut through the tension, bright and chaotic in a way that didn't fit the environment, and Ana's gaze flicked to her briefly, processing the words without reacting to the tone.

Jungle. Mudslide. Impact forces. Unknown entities. None of it aligned cleanly.

"That's not random," she said after a moment, her voice low, thoughtful. "Too many variables converging at once."

Her eyes shifted briefly to the woman being carried, checking for movement, for stability, for anything that suggested they were about to lose her mid-run.

"If something's driving this," she added, quieter now, "it's not localized to the fortress." A small pause as they moved.

"Which means getting outside doesn't necessarily mean getting clear." She didn't slow. Didn't hesitate. "But it gives us more room to move."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

"I told you bad things in the ruins and Kono knows to stay away." Aya said it while she was moving with the others. Following the markers until the upper stairs were there and the sounds of fighting remained. "This is not going to be fun." She looked at the woman she was supporting and gave her a look. "YOu had better be worth it." Seastone looked at her with a look though. "We got this, we're like the good guys and awesome. We can take one of their boats and escape." The shark woman looked while she was supporting but stood there. "Where is Mistral?" SHe asked and Aya looked back. "He is distracting whatever is chasing us. Until we know differently treat it like a crash, we secure ourselves first and then get him."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana didn't slow as they reached the stairs.

Her eyes moved once over the space, not searching for enemies, just confirming structure, exits, what still held and what didn't. The sound of fighting below registered, but she didn't linger on it. That wasn't something she could influence from here.

"Aya's right," she said quietly, her voice steady despite the noise behind them. "We don't solve two problems at once."

Her gaze shifted briefly toward the direction they had come from, not looking for him, just acknowledging the variable he represented.

"If he's creating disruption, then he's buying us time," she added, more measured now. "That only matters if we use it."

A small pause.

"We get out. We stabilize. Then we decide how to re-engage."

Her attention moved to Seastone for a moment, then to the path ahead again.

"Boat works," she said, not enthusiastic, just practical. "Movement is better than being pinned here."

Then, quieter—

"And if he's still moving, he'll find a way back to something that makes sense."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Aya gave a nod as they were moving now and she could see the rain and lightning. Meanwhile Mistral had moved up the stone with the wookiee as they pressed against the fortresses wall with a small area to stand. His mind was more looking out where he would be able to go along the side. The wookiee standing with him as they were almost back to back while holding on but he looked up. The shout coming over the rain and thunder just barely so the large wet furred guy could hear him. "There isn't a lot of options, we got to climb around or up." He pointed with a hand and the wookiee gave a nod of understanding to it but they were moving as something started climbing up and Mistrals hand came up holding the wookiee back. "Wait for it." He said it and as soon as they got up higher with both hands on the top he moved and kicked at the shoulder quickly sending them back and down into the waaters below. He was movign with the wookiee so that they could get around slowly.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana stayed close to the wall.

Not because it was safer, but because it was something solid she could understand. The rain made everything uncertain: the stone slick beneath her boots, the drop beyond the edge too far to ignore and too loud to think past. None of it behaved in ways she could predict cleanly.

Her eyes flicked once toward Mistral as he moved, then away again just as quickly, focusing instead on where her next step needed to land.

"I don't like this," she said quietly, more to the air than to either of them, her voice tight but controlled.

She shifted her footing carefully, testing the stone before committing her weight, one hand bracing against the surface to keep herself steady as the rain ran in thin streams between her fingers.

"Just tell me where to go," she added after a moment, not asking for control, just direction.

Her gaze dropped briefly, catching the movement below, the fall, the water swallowing shapes without hesitation, and she looked away immediately, forcing her attention back to the path ahead.

"I'll follow."

Mistral