Private I'd Sooner See It Burn

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The opportunity she presented was one he couldn't afford to ignore. He'd arrived in a snub-fighter, and left it to freeze over while he went on his journey. He'd not intended to leave Odessen for quite some time, and he'd only come up on the village some time after arriving. The possibility of reaching out beyond the planet for aid had occurred to Cedric, but it had seemed beyond him.

His lips parted to reply when the chill came. It was sudden and wholly emptying, a sensation Cedric found similar to how he'd felt when receiving the news of an unexpected death of a friend. It came from nowhere, and was suddenly everything. A hand rose to hold his head as his eyes rolled back, that nothingness giving way to a fury he'd not felt since the fall of the homeworld.

Confused at first, Cedric realized this was most certainly a result of the empyrean. He did not, however, understand why the Ashla would ever deliver him such a debilitating sensation. Perhaps the Sith had burnt another world to the ground, and he was feeling the echoes?

No, that wasn't it.

Braving the depths of the empyrean, Cedric muddled his way through the haze of confusion and pain. He followed its trail, and eventually, he found the source. Reaching out into the depths, he understood that this anguish was coming from his force bond with Loske Treicolt . At first, he worried for her, worried that she might have been killed.

Then, as he centered on the source, he finally understood the nature of that anguish. It was not hers, or anyone else's, but his own. A betrayal of the highest order rang through Cedric's skull. He slumped back in his chair, utterly dumbfounded as he experienced the same sensations as those of his partner.

Oh, yes, he understood now. Another betrayal. Another lesson gone unlearned here to teach him once again. Bile churned in his stomach as he abruptly stood up, holding on to the back of his chair for some form of stability.

"You okay?" Bojtek asked with obvious concern. Tirkyey held up a hand, and simply shook her head.

Abruptly, Cedric stumbled away, his head and his heart heavy as he wandered out into the drifts. The cold was barely registered as he slumped to his knees, the fury building in his chest as he continued to experience Loske's heightened emotional state. It was overwhelming, all consuming, and Cedric wanted nothing more than to be rid of it.

Whatever balance he'd managed to retain shattered utterly as reality crashed down upon him. Once again, his choices had proven to be false, and once again, they had returned to haunt him.

"You need to come inside." The voice spoke. Cedric didn't look up from the snow. He was keen on living in his own oblivion, and anything that would stir him from that rapture was comitting an act against god so far as he was concerned. A hand pumped out reflexively, and the wall of telekinetic energy smashed into the villager with a sound akin to that of a thunderclap.

Tirkyey went rolling through the snow, only barely managing to curtail the force of the strike with a barrier of her own. She rose slowly, her old bones aching from the telekinetic blow. It was only when she cried out that Cedric looked up, and felt his heart drop.

"What has come over you? The curse?!" Tirkyey demanded.

Cedric expelled a heavy sigh, and for the first time in his life, drew down the shutters on his connection to the Force. The hate wavered, and the sensation faded. He was left hollow, kneeling in the snow as Tirkyey tried to determine if he was a threat or not. She picked up on the sudden disconnection, and her anger simmered to concern.

"Something like that," Cedric finally spoke, his voice haggard. "I...I'm sorry. Lost control for a second." He slowly rose, and keenly rose his cowl over his face so that the old woman wouldn't see the glistening of his eyes. "It won't happen again."

Elise

 

[Elise]

Elise stood tense in the doorway, her eyes flashing and fingers tingling as she had been mere moments from taking action herself. The force rustled subtly around the man, giving Elise a hint to the cause of his aliment.

"What has come over you? The curse?!" Tirkyey demanded.

Elise would liked to have known that answer herself, but Cedric's answer was less than revealing. She slowly dropped from her tense stance, the emotions prickling from Cedric causing her to fall into concern as well. "Are you alright?" She asked the woman, taking brisk steps to her side to offer unneeded aid. At the woman's confirmation, she looked over to the cowled figure. A wordless tilt of her head requested he head back inside, her attention diverting from him to scan their bleak enviroment warily.

With no further words, she followed them back indoors, herding them in very much like a mother duck escorting wayward chicks. It was only once the door was closed and the howl of the wind cut off that she broke the silence, a new seat taken on a stool closer to the door.

"Is this a common?" She asked Tirkyey, mindful not to regard Cedric too hard and give him a moment to... recover.

Still, remained utterly aware of him, every sense tuned into the creak of his chair... the hitch of his breath... Least he do something like that again.