Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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General Loose Ends

[member="Zavii"]
Kashyyyk
852 ABY
The moon was dipping below the horison.

The sun would replace it, casting it's lovely rays down on the tree tops of Kashyyyk. A brand new day, a fresh start for so many Jedi in the temple. A fresh start for Padawans, Knights and Masters. Each would be going about their business, training and meditating. They would be learning and studying. They would be playing and practicing and having fun with each other.

They would be enjoying themselves.

Kei was packing. He was trying to fit as much stuff as he could into one rucksack. He didn't plan to leave so soon, but he could feel that he wasn't fit to continue life around The Silver Jedi Order. He wasn't fit to continue studying as a Jedi. He was falling, he could feel himself falling. Anger and hatred towards his father, towards the atrocities that he had carried out.

His hair was gone. Kei had cut his hair, shaved. He was a new man, not Jedi anymore. He couldn't be a Jedi, not with the emotional rollercoaster that he was going through. He was a danger to The Jedi Order, a danger to The Silver Jedi Order. He was falling, he knew it. He didn't know what had caused it, he hadn't felt this before he had met his father.

The Jedi weren't all that innocent. Veiere had taught him that. The Silver Jedi Order had lead so many orbital bombardments, killed so many innocent people. They were no better than The Sith Empire, that much was obvious to anyone looking at The Silver Jedi Order. The Jedi had commited crimes unlike any other, crimes that would have annoyed and angered The Sith Empire.

Kei picked up his lightsaber.

It was the last thing he would be taking. His robes and lightsaber would be the only reminders of his Jedi lifestyle. They were the only reminders of what he once was, what he was before he became a victim of anger and hatred towards his father.

He shook his head.
 
Something was wrong about tonight. Normally, Zavii would have been asleep after a long day of hard training. The day had started with a longer run than usual, because she had found a perfect spot in the forest to work on an Ataru Running technique that she'd seen in an action Holo the night before. After she'd spent an hour and a half getting the landing perfect starting from both her right and left feet, she made her way back home and cleaned up for breakfast.

There, she had run into her friend Asaraa and the two Padawans had decided to go do some lightsaber training together; each running through partner drills for their chosen styles and using the other as uke until they inevitably ended up just sparring for several rounds. Bruised and sweaty again, the young Zabrak decided to go meditate and stretch near the garden for a while until she spotted an older Jedi working on staff techniques and decided to try that out for a while.

By late afternoon, Zavii needed another shower and another meal before going over to the Anteran Ranger base to practice hitting moving targets with her pistol for a while. Almost 200 rounds later she went to her room to clean the weapon and listen to the new album from Zillo Beast. Another meal and hour's meditation was all she thought she'd need to crash tonight but it seemed that this would be her longest episode of insomnia in recent memory; four nights in a row.

It wasn't for lack of trying, either. She'd tried lying in several positions in several states of undress, yet here she was in her birthday suit, on the floor, sonorous ambient instrumental music playing, with a single pillow under her neck, and still no sleep. Sitting upright with a sigh, she looked at the chrono on her datapad. It was almost sunrise.
"Oh well," she said to the room as she stood up to get dressed for an early run....

As she dressed, she continued to try and figure out just what was keeping her up. Suddenly noticing something off about the music, Zavii paused it and held still for a moment. What was that Note? It reminded her of... The Dark Side. She knew what the kind of emotions Sith use sounded like by now, after that attack on the Temple and the more recent business with Asaraa. It wasn't nearly as intense as either of those previous incidents, but it was unmistakable. Zavii quickly pulled on her belt and weapons-making sure that her lightsaber was on stun- and went into the hallway to track it down.

A few minutes later, the young Jedi found herself standing before another Jedi's quarters. She didn't recognize it, but the person's Song inside was definitely familiar, if perverted. After a calming breath she knocked; five rapid-yet-polite raps on the plasteel door. Of course right then she remembered that her long, straight hair was untied and rather messy; but it was too late to bother with it.

She had to try and help a fellow Jedi.
 
[member="Zavii"]
Kashyyyk
852 ABY
Kei heard the door knock. He didn't turn around, he just kept moving items from the bed to the backpack. He closed his eyes, force reaching out to the door. He forcefully unlocked the door by using the force, he didn't have the energy to walk across the room and manually unlock the door. He just simply wanted to pack and leave, he didn't want to stay on Kashyyyk any longer than he needed to, any longer than he had to.

He heard the door open behind him.

He didn't pay attention to who walked in, he didn't turn to look. He knew who it was, he knew the feeling in the force. He knew that it was Zavii who came in to the quarters, the young Zabrak female who Kei had met while slightly drunk. She had become almost a little sister to him, she had become someone he tried to look after and protect. They hadn't seen each other since before the Deneba events and the Deneba incident.

"Can I help you?"

Kei didn't turn to look. He kept packing, socks this time. He was moving socks into a backpack. Everyone needed socks, the most useful item of clothing. New sock day was a great day, a day where you threw out every pair of socks you owned and invested in new pairs of socks. They made boots comfortable, extremely comfortable. Fluffy socks kept your feet warm on a freezing planet such as Hoth. Less useful on Deneba though.
 
A mere second after she knocked, the door unlocked and she hit the button to open it. "Kei?" she blinked, the wistful Human being the last person she expected to see. He had cut his hair and beard short, but she easily recognized his lightsaber, and those gentle green eyes. The brown Zabrak took a tentative step into the room but found herself drawing a blank on what to say or do just then, and more than a little unsettled once she realized what he was doing.

"You're... packing?" she was so confused as to let her head tilt just so as she blinked again. The taller man greeted her with a terse question that came off a little rude, but the normally firey young woman was too dumbstruck by the surreality of the scene to feel slighted. After another palpably tense moment she decided that she had to voice the only question in her mind, if only to advance the plot.

"Kei," she asked with a hand on her little shell necklace and no small amount of concern in her voice, "What's going on?"
 
[member="Zavii"]
Kashyyyk
852 ABY
She was stating the obvious.

Yes, he was packing. He was packing and leaving, packing and vanishing from sight. He didn't know the final destination yet, Keth probably wouldn't be a bad idea. He still owned his apartment down on Kesh. He was debating following [member="Arekk"], the man wouldn't judge him for falling. Perhaps he could go take up residence in his Commenor penthouse, continue his work and his duty with [member="Lady Kay"] and the Commenor Systems Alliance naval fleet.

Kay wouldn't judge him for slipping. She couldn't, she had done it before. Perhaps she would be a good person to speak to, a good person to get advoce from. She was a good person to turn to. His family would be another, Stardust knew the darkside well. She would be a great person to speak to, a good person to get some sort some of advice from. He would vist her someday, get some sort advice from her someday.

"Can't you tell?"
 
Waiting for the Knight's answer was one of the most tense moments in Zavii's life, including the battle that she'd just recently witnessed here on Kashyyyk just a few days prior. When he finally answered with a question of his own, it set the Padawan off. "No, Kei," she said firmly. "I mean, yes, I see what you're doing, but I'm not letting you. I've just been abandoned by a Knight who was supposed to be my teacher. I'm not going to just stand here and watch you vanish too."

The young woman stepped closer to Kei, her silent grace a stark opposite to the authoritative tone of her voice. "I know things have gotten scary, but you can't just take off like some fair-weather friend. That's not how we do things. We're a family, and we look out for each other no matter what. If..." She bit her lip, not sure if she really should be the one having this talk, but then swallowed her doubt and pressed on with a gentler pitch.

"If you need help, we're here for you too, but you can't just leave. Not like this. I won't let you." Zavii's voice and violet eyes pleaded with [member="Kei Raxis"] as she came close enough to touch him. She couldn't handle loosing anyone else right now. Not so soon.
 
[member="Zavii"]
Kashyyyk
852 ABY
She was really going to try and stop him?

Kei shook his head as Zavii stepped forward. The Zabrak didn't want him to leave, she made it perfectly clear that she didn't want him to go. She made it perfectly clear that she was going to try and stop him. She wouldn't let him leave, Kei knew that she wouldn't. She had lost a friend and a mentor, now she was losing a closer friend and a brother figure in her life. Kei looked towards the Zabrak, shaking his head.

He reached out to her, fingers against her hand for a few seconds. He retracted his hand, sliding his rucksack onto his shoulder. He glared at Zavii once again, sadness clouding his eyes. There was sadness in his eyes, he didn't want to leave. He was leaving because he was a threat, a risk. He was leaving because he didn't want his friends, his closest friends to watch him fall down the dark path he was travelling.

Then his voice filled with anger.

"Move, Zavii"
 
Watching and waiting with wide eyes upturned while [member="Kei Raxis"] reached out to touch her hand, Zavii held her breath unconsciously as she listened to her hearts beating louder than a drum. The Human's gentle eyes were filled with pain that turned to anger and she swallowed hard when he told her to let him by.

"NO, Kei I'm not letting you go. Not now. Come with me to the Gardens, or maybe to the healers. We can help you. You don't have to do this."
She could feel the darkness rising in him, hear it as a great bass thrumming in his song that warmed up her blood in a dreadful way. He was going to turn to the Dark Side if she let him leave. That wasn't an option. She didn't want to hurt her friend, but she couldn't let him go down a path that would hurt anyone else either. It went against everything that the Silver Jedi stood for.

"Kei, please." she begged, taking a gentle hold on both his hands. She hoped she could sway him, but if not then direct contact would give her the edge in subduing the taller man.
 
[member="Zavii"]
Kashyyyk
852 ABY
"Kei, please"

She was begging. She was begging him, she was refusing to move. She didn't want to lose him, she was desperate to not lose him. She was desperate to save him, to keep him safe. Kei was leaving to himself safe, to keep her safe. She was blind, she was blind to the galaxy. She was innocent, young and sweet. She didn't see why he was doing what he was doing, she only cared about herself and what she was loose, not what Kei was giving up.

He felt the darkside radiate from him. He couldn't stop it, he allowed it to flow. He felt the fear within Zavii, he felt the fear within himself. Kei allowed it to flow, flow from his body. He felt it grip Zavii, closing her windpipe, a force grip. Kei knew of the power, he'd had it used against him so many times. He'd never once used it though, he didn't even mean to be using against it his friend, it just happened.

He felt Zavii fly across the room as he pushed her. He didn't remember using the force to push her across the room. He knew he had to have done it, he just couldn't remember it. He heard the thunk against the wall. He stepped forward, the thunk of his boot against the floor. He heard the door slide open slowly. He heard everything, he could of heard a pin drop. It was near silent, it was so quiet within the room.

That sadness in his eyes replaced the anger.

"I'm so sorry"
 
This wasn't working, Kei's eyes hardened as Zavii begged him to reconsider and it scared her. Fear wasn't something she was used to, not by a long shot. She would never get used to this feeling, the way it made her choke and tear up. She tried to draw a new breath but it seemed to clamp down, closing her windpipe. Her bright eyes grew wider as she realized that it was in fact [member="Kei Raxis"] choking her, using the emotionally charged atmosphere to clamp down on her throat. She tried to grip his hands harder to throw him or lock up his arms, maybe she could distract him before she passed out.

She realized that it was too late when she hit the wall behind her and collapsed to her hands and knees on the floor, coughing and gasping with tears clouding her vision. She heard him say something but it didn't stick. Whatever it was, he didn't mean it, so it didn't matter. Three seconds later she had filled her lungs enough to stand and wipe her eyes on her sleeve. "Kei, stop!" her voice sounded hollow, her throat still ached. "I said stop!"

The former Knight was walking away quickly with his bag on his shoulder. With a silent curse, Zavii ran after him, tore the bag from his grip and tossed it. Her eyes were still wet, but she could see enough to grab him by the shoulders and turn him around with a snarl. "You're not goin' anywea'!" The Zabraki Padawan pulled her friend closer to send a knee to his gut. "Not t'day!" She tried to pull him to the ground and lock up his arm, then she could call for help. Then she could save him.
 
[member="Zavii"]
Kashyyyk
852 ABY
He felt the knee connect with his gut.

It hurt. Was she really trying to break him? Either that or she was really desperate to stop him from leaving. He had to admit, hospitalising him would very much stop him leaving and her knees could probably hopsitalise him if they connected with the right area. Probably the spleen, a good knee to the spleen would burst it and then he'd bleed out from the inside out. Kei couldn't really let that happen, he enjoyed life.

He was hurting, her knees were sharp but he had to fight back. He attempted to push her away, attempted to stop her.

Then she tried to wrestle him to the ground.

He brought his own elbow back into her midsection the moment that she tried. He could hardly see, pain clouding his vision. He stumbled away from Zavii, attempting to regain some feeling in his midsection. He couldn't ever duel Zavii, she was so much better at the art form that he was. Zavvi could outduel him easily, Zavii would outduel him without even breaking a sweat. He wasn't going to be able to match her.

He could defend though.

He pulled his lightsaber from his belt The yellow blade slid from the hilt of the weapon. It was late, most people would be asleep. No-one would notice them fighting, if they did they Kei could be gone before they found the duo. Kei took up the ready stance for form one. He wasn't going to be able to outduel her but he could play on the defensive just long enough to get away. That's all he wanted to do. All he wanted to do was leave.

"Just let me go. Please"
 
The Padawan fully expected [member="Kei Raxis"] to resist her efforts to arrest him, but he was longer in the bones than her, and she was tired. His elbow jammed into her stomach hard, reminding her of the time she had convinced an Anteran Ranger to shoot her with a slug rifle while she wore a piece of his armor. Forced to stagger back and catch her still short breath once again, she looked up to see Kei draw his lightsaber.

He was more desperate to leave than she thought. Letting the Dark Side take over to choke and then toss her away, could be excused. Getting lost in the moment was the nature of the Dark Side. Even the elbow strike could be waived off as trying to get her attention to talk things over, but now things had changed. A line had been crossed and there was no going back. Zavii had to stop Kei leaving, lest he do something he would truly regret.

"You know I can't, Kei. I have to stop the spread of the Darkness. That's what we do. You're not getting out of this building as long as i'm standing up." As she said this, she drew her own lightsaber, igniting the aqua blade and holding it in a reverse low-guard. She locked eyes with the Human once again, pleading with him to reconsider, but saw only a hard resolve. After a beat, she charged forward and slashed horizontally to knock his blade to the side. Following through to chamber her blade in an opposite guard to her first, she made a quick upward slash, aiming for his weapon's emitter. Hopefully she could destroy it and force him to submit at bladepoint...
 
[member="Zavii"]
Kashyyyk
852 ABY
Was she seriously trying to disarm him?

Kei parried her block, pushing her lightsaber away. She was exhausted compared to him, he was fresh having slept through the day. That was a good choice, sleeping through the day meant that he had plenty of energy to sneak out towards the night. Sleeping throughout the day was the best choice he had made for a while. He smirked towards Zavii, orbitting the lightsaber in his hand. He smiled towards her slowly.

He locked up with her again, the lightsabers locked together in a saber lock. He reached for her slug thrower, the gun that Zavii always kept at her side. The zabrak had given Kei the perfect weapon to escape. He would aim for the thigh if he could, he didn't really want to kill Zavii. At the end of the day, she had done absolutely nothing wrong to him. She had just tried to stop him leaving, she had tried to help him.

He couldn't be helped.

He pulled the slug thrower from her holster, pressing it to Zavii's gut. She was getting the upper hand on him, he was on the defensive but he couldn't save himself from the attack. He had no skill with a lightsaber, not really. It wasn't his speciality, not at all. He wasn't all that good at that Jedi thing, nor the force user thing full stop. He had his talents, they weren't the force or lightsaber combat.

He pulled the trigger on the slug thrower.
 
Zavii was surprised at how easily [member="Kei Raxis"] spun his saber away from her strike, but quickly gained the upper hand with a few quick slashes to knock him away. She had the Human on his heels and locked their blades in preparation to twist around and snatch the weapon when he suddenly shot a hand out. It seemed like he was trying to punch her in the midriff again but missed. Nevermind that, it was time to end this stupid fight. There was no way he was getting out of here.

Then something exploded right between them. There was a thunderous BANG and a momentary flash and Zavii felt a sudden warmth in her belly, like a strong shot of whiskey. She couldn't move, as if time had frozen, and the pain hit her. Looking down, she saw Kei's hand holding her slug pistol and a dark, ugly hole ripped through her sky blue tank top. The hole was leaking badly, and a dark red stain had already spread down to her black pants. Slowly, the Zabrak's violet eyes returned to Kei's sea greens and she let out a small whimpering gasp, collapsing to the floor as her blade retracted.
 
Late nights were not so unusual for the Grandmaster these days.

Glancing towards the window, she saw the inky darkness just outside her sill. Heaving a sigh, she would admit defeat for the day. Standing from behind her desk, she gathered her things and made for the door. Drawing in a breath, she gave the room a last glance before throwing the light switch off. Letting the door close behind her, she turned slowly and started down the quiet hallway.

The sound of her boots echoed slightly, as she navigated the quiet corridors. As she came into the main hall, there were still dim lights on to keep the night-owls company. Valae was slightly surprised to see a few awake at this hour, but remembered that young folks liked to stay up into the wee hours. Shaking her head, she couldn’t help but smile. Her hand reached out to push the door open, and she felt the cool night air sneak inside.

But she froze before she could set foot outside.

Her head turned sharply in the direction of a sound that cut through the stillness and peace of the temple. It was so distinct and alarming, that her shoulders immediately went tense. A gun shot. Such a sound was terribly out of place here. Clutching the front of her robes, she motion for the others present to remain where they were. With that, she took the first steps towards the sound – it was distant, like it had come from the dormitories.

Valae’s boots picked up the pace, she still had some ground to cover.

[member="Kei Raxis"], [member="Zavii"], [member="Asaraa Vaashe"]
 
[member="Zavii"] | [member="Valae Kitra"] | [member="Asaraa Vaashe"]
Well then...

Kei had just shot someone. He'd just shot someone he'd called a friend. He watched as Zavii crumpled to the floor, lightsaber following. She was bleeding hard, her slug thrower being a powerful weapon. Kei watched her body crumple to the floor, blood pouring from her gut. Kei dropped the slug thrower, staring at her body. She would bleed out soon, Kei was well aware of that. Kei had seen people bleed out from slug thrower shots.

The look of anger had been replaced with sadness.

He crouched down next to Zavii. He felt guilty, that was the truth. The darkside had taken over him and he had shot her. He could hardly even remember doing it, he was well aware he had done it but he couldn't remember doing it. He pressed his hand to Zavii's cheek, looking into her eyes for a few moments before he watched the life leave them. He took the pulse of the zabrak quickly. She was alive, just about.

Kei stood up, collecting his backpack.

And then he ran.
 
Zavii gasped and shuddered hard when Kei knelt down to touch her. He looked right into her eyes and she put a bloody hand over his, working her mouth for a moment before she could manage to curse at him in a language that he probably knew, being a Corellian smuggler. What she said amounted to "You'd better hope they burn my body, and watch out for my ghost." After another second she groaned in pain and curled up, finally letting the darkness at the edge of her vision close in. The young Jedi couldn't believe that this was how she was going to die; a Padawan betrayed by a friend, but at least she had tried to stop him. She had done her best...
 
It was about the training, it was always about the training, there was so much to learn, so much to practice that Asaraa often found herself losing track of time as she ran through the lessons she'd learned. Today though, today had been about her lightsaber, the young woman had lost track of time as she flowed with the force, flicking herself through the air as her silvery blade slashed and twirled. The training room was quiet, silent but for the sound of her breathing, for the thrum of her lightsaber. The light of the blade cast dappled shadows on the walls, patterns that shifted and flowed with her every movement.


It was into this silent sanctum that the loud crack broke, shattering the young woman's focus mid-leap. She dropped from the air, her feet hopping along the ground as she snapped her blade of, head turning from side to side like a bloodhound as she through her senses out through the temple. That was a gunshot, she'd hung around with the Rangers enough to spot that but in the temple? Her mind recoiled from what she found, a sense of pain, the slickness of darkness right here in the middle of the temple. Without even thinking about it her feet slapped into the floor, carrying her away from the training room towards the source of the pain echoing out through the force.

[member="Zavii"] | [member="Kei Raxis"] | [member="Valae Kitra"]
 
As Valae sped down the halls, she could sense pain – a consciousness that was on the very edge. There was a second, a darker presence… but it seemed to be moving swiftly away. By the time she found the open door, this signature had grown faint. Turning into the room, she caught sight of [member="Asaraa Vaashe"], likely drawn here by the sound and the ripples through the force.

Immediately, she spotted the blood on the floor and the motionless form of [member="zavii"].

Dropping down to her knees, she shifted the Zabrak’s tunic to see the wound. The young woman had already lost a good deal of blood. Placing her hand on Zavii’s forehead, she could already sense that she had slipped into unconsciousness. Valae’s force presence began to grow, extending to the injured girl – dulling the sense of pain, should she suddenly wake. Of course, there was the question of her assailant... the security at the Rest would need to be put on alert. She would question Zavii, but first they needed to stabilize her.

As she let her free hand hover over the wound, she let the force flow through her – but she soon sensed that there were still foreign bodies within. Likely the shards of the projectile, they would need to be removed before the wound could be closed.

“Asaraa,” She said, her tone quite urgent. “Please alert the healers that we’ll need to prep for surgery. Bring them here to help, hurry!”

Valae would remain with Zavii, she would keep her comfortable. Speaking through the bond found between them now, her words would form soothingly in the young woman’s mind.

“I’m here with you, don’t worry.”

[member="Kei Raxis"]
 

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