Private Questionable Affairs

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra ducked.

The thud echoed behind her, wet and muted. She straighten back out, her eyes wide with that unspoken fear as Bryn got a few quick nods of agreement. This proposed arrangement wasn't exactly what she was looking for, but with a knife sailing over her head and a creature falling dead at her feet ...

Kyra was hard pressed to push it.

"Well I guess we can make that work but really..." Her shoulders dropped in relief as Bryn moved passed her, this time back her up inside of running from her. "I'd prefer not to leave you to anything at all." She crinkled her nose down at the creature on the ground, its many legs still twitching as Kyra felt the life force grow weaker.

"You do know it's dark down here even during the day, right? I mean it's called Shadow Lands for a reason, why would you come down here?" Her tone was more distraught than accusatory, the padawan still believing she could have down more for the woman if they had remained in the building.

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

If the Jedi would not have ducked at her command, that knife would have likely found an entirely different mark. When Bryn had said that, it wasn't out of any care for the girl personally, but to preserve both of their lives. Most emotion had been taken from her, but some remained. Sith or not, Bryn knew the two of them had to work together if either of them were going to get out of this mess.

Cursing under her breath at her bad luck, she stuck her knife back into its sheath after wiping it off on the side of the beast. Looking down at the girl, she motioned to her hand that was clutched to her breast.

"I can attempt to repair that. If not repair, then make sure it doesn't get hurt more."

She was a cyborg and used the word repair, it had little to nothing to do with actual healing. What she did know were a few field aid techniques to perform on the battlefield. Again, this did not indicate she cared one way or another about Kyra. This was just doing a job and working with who she was with. In this case, it was a Jedi. Fate had put them together and they would make it out together or not at all.

"Does that darkness scare you?"

Eyes met hers in the dark and there was a hint of a smile in the voice of the masked Sithling.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra swallowed hard, wavering in place for a moment before answering with a rare bout of honesty. "...Yes. Why doesn't it get to you? How did you survive that fall- I-" She let out a shaky breath, her countless questions coming to a still as she moved into Byn's space and slowly offered her her injured wrist. No bone sat out of place, a small blessing in an otherwise messy situation.

She held her arm out, her brows furrowed as she strained with all her training to get a proper read on Bryn.

"...You feel so weird. I don't understand. Who are you?"

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

"No, this darkness doesn't bother me."

Raising a hand to point at her cybernetic eye, she lowered it and removed her gloves. If the light that Kyra provided was bright enough, she would get her first glimpse of the woman under the black garb. Tanned, but white hands reached out with a strong grip. Not one that would cause any unnatural pain to the girl, but stronger than somebody with normal bones. Something that might feel more like a robot or droid of some kind. The flesh was natural though and did not feel odd or funny.

Again, there would be a whirring sound as the cyborg focused her eye on the wounded wrist. Not knowing what Kyra was picking up about her past at the physical connection, Bryn was all business.

"No bones are broken, but it should be wrapped to keep it secure and held still as much as possible."

Letting go of the Jedi, she Sithling looked around for something to wrap the wrist with. Moving without any sense of hostility, she pulled one of her knives out and cut at some leaves and a vine that was nearby. Turning her head to look at her unwanted companion, she held them out to her.

"Are these safe to use? I wouldn't want to accidentally kill my potential ticket off this world."

Standing up after speaking, she was a good hand taller than the teen and had no choice but to look down at her. So far, she had not answered many of the questions posed to her and she didn't want to give the Padawan any additional information about her.

"The answers might be scarier than the area here that scares you."

Provided the items Bryn had selected were safe to use, she would go about wrapping Kyr's wrist. She stabilized it as best she could and released the girl.

"I survived by having strong bones."

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra pulled back from the moment, all blood drained from her features. Her eyes remained locked wide open, unseeing even after Bryn slipped away and left her to her own space.

JJ had warned her about intruding without permission. That there were things in other's minds that she simply wouldn't want to see. But Kyra was never good at listening. One may say.... curiosity killed the cat in this scenario. Kyra looked shaken to her core, the visions of those medical lights still burning bright inside her mind.

"...Those aren't bones," she whispered tightly, a single tear falling as she looked to Bryn. She unconsciously clutched her bound wrist to her, the pain from the pressure of the bind thudding in sync with her rapid heart beat.

"And they aren't your home. Celeste."

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

After taking her step back, Bryn looked down at the girl with a slightly odd look.

"You look like you've seen a ghost..."

Her eyelids narrowed at Kyra when she heard her speak. Without enhancing her movements with the Force, the assassin attempted to grab the Padawan and with her other hand, firmly slap her across the face with the back of her hand. Connection or not, Kyra would certainly be able to pick up on some anger from the cyborg.

With a tone to match the slight emotion she was feeling, she kept her eyes on the Jedi.

"Get out of my head."

The girl now knew more about Bryn than she ever intended to tell her. Provided her actions had connected, she would now release Kyra, but with probably more force than what was needed and start to walk away.

"We fell from over there and it won't be long before your men have started to follow our trail. I'd rather not be around when that happens."

She was not cold and almost emotionless. A proper assassin that was just here to do a job and that was currently to make a getaway. Cloudy thoughts rumbled around in her mind though and she looked back down at Kyra.

"Who is Celeste?"

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra was lifted up like a rag doll, her mind not where it should be. It was only the slap that brought her right on out. She fell to the ground, her hands and knees catching her. Kyra panted there, swirling in pain and disorientation.

Oi, she really shouldn't have pressed that issue.

She was so gonna hear it from JJ later on.

'Who is Celeste?' Came the belated question. Kyra looked up then, tears free falling down her face as she stared at the puzzle piece of a girl.

"You are," she whispered. And before she could be face with any more retribution for her poor, poor mental manners, she was scrambling up onto her feet and back a few feet.

"How can you want to go back to that? Why can't you just stay?"

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

If Kyra was expecting any form of sympathy or for Bryn to feel any sort of remorse for striking her, the girl wouldn't get any. Most of those positive and caring emotions just weren't present within the cyborg.

"No, I am not. I am who I am and you know more about me than almost anybody else. Celeste is dead and gone. That girl was replaced by somebody made by the Sith. They are my home, the ones that accepted me and took me in. Your people would never do that for me."

She said this over her shoulder to the Padawan as she climbed back to her feet. Not waiting for the teen to catch up with her, the light that surrounded them started to fade as she strode off into the darkness in front of her. Both of her eyes had adjusted to the night.

"If we're going to get out of here, you better follow me or I will leave you behind."

In a very distant manner, Bryn was the epitome of a proper Jedi. Keeping most of her emotions close and under control. The thing that separated her from them was what she felt. Almost all of the good or positive feelings were gone and she was more machine than human at times.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra stared after her in pure shock. She had never encountered a sith before. She had never met someone that had gone through so much pain. But now she had an in depth look at it all, the reality of the woman standing before her startled her.

Bryn's very existence clashed with her perception of the world, such evils incomprehensible to Kyra. And she could not reconcile herself to their reality. She could only fix Bryn to match hers.

She scrambled up, not to follow the woman to safety or to avoid future monsters. Kyra ran forward after Bryn with only one thought on her mind. "If that was so true that when am I even doing here? You broke into our archives. You frightened them! Just like how when I touched your thoughts you hit me! --By the way, ow!" She protested, rubbing at the red gathering around her eye socket.

The light Kyra created followed after them, breaking the darkness and casting light on the small creatures that scurried out from underneath their steps.

"They didn't accept you, they broke you. So. Why aren't you hitting them?"

It probably wasn't wise to barrel deeper into the forest with no sense of direction, but Kyra wasn't paying attention to something as unimportant as that.

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

Not caring one way or the other if the Padawan would keep up with the, the cyborg kept walking. The girl did eventually catch up and Bryn listened with only half of her attention. Her other focus was on the woods around them. Small animals scattered at their approach. When Kyra finished speaking, she stopped and turned around to face her.

"According to Vanessa, she rescued me from a life of being a nobody with no future. She turned me into what I am, enhanced my body and gave me that future."

In the light provided by the teen, she would notice a slow blink from Bryn's organic eye. It probably looked more like a wink and maybe it was. One never could really tell with her.

"Who says I haven't, child?"

How something was used was a clue to the person. If Kyra listened to her tone, it was almost conversational. There was no insult in her voice when she called her a child. Even if offense was taken, Bryn didn't care.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

"And what about what happened afterward's?" Kyra quipped back, her voice grim and tight. She hadn't seen much of the woman's past, she had neither the time nor the skill to do any real sleuthing. But there had been one thing the girl had wanted to understand about the sith she walked with, and she had had that question answered and then some.

"All I'm saying is, what makes you think anything you remember is even real? They made you forgot your identity, how do you know your assurance they'd accept you isn't an illusion too. "

She pressed at her face, grimacing. "Can you even feel pain?"

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

There would be a slight change in the focus Bryn had on Kyra, but it only lasted a moment. For now, they were safe in their position. Nothing new was moving up in the woods to attack them...yet. Knowing that could change at almost any time, she would have to pay attention while they were standing still. That attention returned to the girl and again there was a blink.

"Do you have parents, siblings or a family? I don't mean your brothers and sisters up there, but biological family. I have none. Vanessa was my mother if you will. What does a parent do when a child acts out? They punish them. Do I need to tell you more?"

After the Padawan finished speaking, thoughts could almost be seen going through Bryn's mind.

"I know because I lived through them."

She almost started to walk away again when the teen asked her final question. With a sense of total calm and almost deadliness, she nodded.

"Hit me and find out. I will not attack you or defend myself."

Not trying to be threatening, her tone might just scare the girl. Taking what could be seen as a more natural stance, the sithling waited for the hit to arrive.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra had a lotta responses to that, most of them subdued by the pure shock of the situation she found herself in. The usually chatty girl stopped short, frowning at Bryn as she simply asked her to hit her so they could find out.

The obvious retort would be-- Shouldn't Bryn already know if she can feel pain?

Kyra didn't come to this conclusion, blindsided by the puzzle that was Bryn's situation. "Okay," she whispered, taking a step closer to the girl. "If you're sure..." She had remained firmly out of the woman's mind, no probing efforts made to brush against Bryn. But that did not mean contact was not unconsciously made.


Even empathic signatures were a small connection between one being and another. And that connection was strongest when skin touched skin.

Kyra reached out, giving Bryn a halfhearted slap. Like a pillow thudding into your face, her hand stinging at impact.

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

The half-hearted slap didn't come out of anywhere exactly and Bryn had expected something more from the girl. As the teen started to pull her hand away, she did indeed feel a slight sting, but it wasn't anything disabling. If Kyra would have been able to see past her mask, she would have noticed a flat look from Bryn. As it was, only one eye could express that and hopefully it was enough.

"Wimp. Is that all you have? A bee sting hurts worse than that."

At her wording, it would be clear something had been felt though. It should have answered the previous question Kyra asked her.

"Soon there will be animals and enemies hunting for us. We should get moving again."

There was something the Sith was not aware of...the Shadowlands covered the entire floor of the planet. She was expecting to find a way out of the jungle just by walking through it.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra shook out her hand, her own cheek tingling as if it had been slapped too.

Her eyes were wide and alert on their surroundings, tense for another encounter. It was her dominant wrist that was now bound and held to her wrist, her saber offering her little protection in her other untrained hand. If she- if she had it. She rapidly patted herself down, then groaned. The archives floor! She left it there.

Dammit, Kyra!

She fell into a distressed silence, letting the thick presence of the trees overwhelm them. Kyra was aware that they would need to start moving up, but after events of today she wasn't sure she was ready to risk the sith no longer needing her and disappearing from her control. There was still the matter of what she had stolen from SJO. There was still the matter of how that information could be used.

"So..." she breathed, keeping pace with the woman. "What are you... going to do with .... what you stole from us?" She started off, her intention clear.

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

The men hunting her wouldn't be enemies of Kyra though, but the girl didn't mention that. At the moment, all Bryn could really think about was just getting out of the jungle and off this planet. Turning her head slightly to look down at the now clearly flustered Padawan, under her mask, her eyebrows came down in almost worry.

"Give it to my master of course."

Shrugging her shoulders, what little information she had been able to gather was almost worthless. Some probably outdated battle plans and a few names. Not even knowing if the people on that list were alive or dead, what she did have would be used by the Empire in the great war between Sith and Jedi. A war that had been going on for many years and would probably never end.

"What she could do with it, I have no idea."

Reaching out a hand, she made a stopping motion to Kyra and tipped her head in front of them.

"Ahead of us is a gathering crowd. I can't tell of what though."

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra stopped short, tensing. She hadn't sensed them before, her focus too turned in to what they were doing and her own inner concerns. But now that they had her attention, their presence was unmistakable.

She turned on Bryn, speaking quickly.

"Listen, I've done nothing to harm you so far. Nothing. Nada! Not even when I could-- I even stopped them from shooting you before. So why would I be lying? Huh? Let me help you. We're not like your masters, no one strikes me down when I speak my mind! Doesn't that sound so much better? Come on!" She reached for Bryn's hand, her pheromones creeping through the air for the first time.

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

The sithling wasn't the kind of person to easily pick up on the emotions of others or even really touch her own unless they were something of a more negative nature. Her hand was still held out when Kyra spoke up about not having hurt her and her desire to help her.

Turning only her head, Bryn had an understanding of what was in front of them. What abuse she had as a teen was something she had already been through and nothing could change that. She had been wiped and then reprogrammed, in a way and didn't even know it entirely.

When the girl reached out her hand, the woman felt comfortable for some reason. Logic dictated that shouldn't be the case and when the hand connected to Bryn, she would grab a hold of the Padawan. Provided she had a firm hold of the Jedi, she would lean over and whisper something into her ear.

"You're correct. You have not done anything to harm me. Your men did shoot at me only after I made my escape. They are the ones in front of us, yes? You will be the one getting me out of here."

Using Kyra almost like a shield, she would force her to walk in front of her all the while maintaining a strong grip on her. It shouldn't be painful or even hurt at all. That didn't say anything about comfort though.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra squeaked, her shoulders pinching tight under the hold. Disappointment flooded through her, tinged with subtle fear. "I was gonna get you out of this anyway! -- Ow!" She struggled into a small show of protests, stumbling awkwardly as she was forced forward.

Ahead of them, she felt the presence of the men. The chattering voices cut off, a ring of tension and alarm echoing through the force as a light shinned out on them.

"Halt. Whose there?" A voice demanded.

Kyra's struggles melted into stillness, the girl not wanting to risk any rash reaction from the men. "Don't shoot, don't shoot!" She pleaded, abruptly feeling incredibly vulnerable. If they did shoot, she had no means to defend herself. She was a literal meat shield.

"She's just scared! You don't need to hurt her!"

 

[Bryn Celli Ddu]

The only Bryn could do or say was a quick breath exhale from her nose at what Kyra said. Keeping her grip on the girl, she almost stumbled when the teen stopped in front of her. The Padawan yelled out a request for the men not to shoot and that Bryn was scared.

Under her mask, her eyebrows drew together, but she honestly couldn't dispute what had been said.

"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt her. Release the girl!"

The light blinded Bryn and her free arm came up to try and block the light so she could see clearly with her organic eye. Off to their side and just slightly behind them, a Jedi Master stood in the darkness. At the command being given, she went into action with the Force.

A quick snap of her fingers and the sithling was on the ground apparently sleeping. This also meant that Kyra was free and no longer held by the assassin.

Kyra Perl