Silence of the Lambs

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

There was a slight grin on her lips at the swear and Vera withheld the urge to point it out as she had when she was a child. They were both shaking in fear then. Vera’s body still hadn’t quite stabilized itself from what she had seen in that house and the vomit that now adorned that upstairs hallways had been what little she had eaten before the mission began. Her stomach wanted her to eat yet at the same time it wanted anything but.

The truth why she had chosen the barn was as plain as day she felt. The dead animals were easier to deal with. It was just lucky that it was also the same spot where whoever had been behind this had been the most sloppy in their execution. The idea of poking through nerf and livestock was also something that would be easier for her to stomach. She had skinned prey more than once at home. Small game, of course, but there was a distinct difference between walking around a room with skinned humans and skinned animals.

One of them didn’t inspire thoughts about whether or not that could have been yourself.

The sound of flies buzzed through the wooden structure’s core with a cold echo from its rough stone foundation. The smell of the rotting animal carcasses overwhelmed the senses once more, but proved manageable when put in contrast to the dead couple in the building just opposite of this one. While the sight of the dead animals brought back the disdain that Vera had felt before it felt lessened by the greater picture and the role they had played in it.

The girl knelt down by the same nerf that she had inspected before and ran her fingers through its blood-soaked fur. It wasn’t that they had died that bothered her as much as the fact that it was just so much wasted meat. For some reason that was the only thing that seemed to echo around her mind. This could have fed a family for a month or maybe two of rationed properly, and looking at the state of the rotting animal’s overall physique it was all the more obvious this might have been the intention.

“These were meant for consumption, not cultivation of milk or anything like that.” Vera spoke for Alden to hear as he inspected the floor above her. “We used to do this to the nerfs my family had back on Kiara. Make sure the old nerfs grew fat before their slaughter while we kept the others a bit more… Healthy.”

Healthy was one way to put it, and so was ‘fat.’ It was more a question of whether or not to risk several nerf for the sake of having a single good one to feast on for a good while. More often than not they didn’t have the nerfs, often sustaining themselves on those that had otherwise strayed too far from their old pastures to find their way back. Vera’s family were hunters after all, their focus had always been set on gathering what they needed in the wilds.

“Maybe they killed these nerfs first in an attempt to starve the family out?” Vera said and turned around to look at Alden. “I mean, maybe? Maybe not?”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

"Hmm, maybe..." Alden murmured as he climbed up the ladder towards the half-open attic and studied the area. There wasn't much here, he had already explored it once before, but maybe he had missed something? This wasn't a game... a test... these were real people who had been slaughtered like animals. No, not even like animals, like they weren't even alive.

Just... inanimate objects ready to be spread around for one purpose or the next.

"...but why kill the family after that? Not just kill but... that."

It didn't make any sense to him- the killing of nerf? Sure, that could be a standard intimidation effort, but everything that happened after? It was senseless and only seemed to be done to spread terror.

Horrific.

"Can you check for tracks again? I might have missed some details. If we can at least figure out which direction they went...."

 

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

“I…” Vera started with a sigh. “I don’t know.”

Why would anyone kill a family in that way? It felt like there hadn’t been any thought behind it as much as just pure bloodlust. Hell, could it even be described as bloodlust at this point? There weren’t even any bodies left, just torn corpses strewn about the rooms as if to display the handiwork to the entire world. The thought crossed her mind that maybe that was the purpose too, but it felt too unreal to even consider.

Alden wanted her to find tracks and Vera nodded at his request. Her eyes immediately began to scan the surface of the floor with trained focus only to find herself struggling to see much at all. It was dark in here all things considered, and that went beyond just the overall atmosphere of the entire homestead.

Vera reached for a small light on her belt and raised it up before she ignited it. She held it in front of her like a small torch and began to look around the floor for a trail but most of it seemed to be from both her and Alden. She found one trail that lead towards the ladder, but it looked too fresh to be the perpetrator.

Then again, this was indoors…

Vera grasped at the nearby doors to the barn and gave them a gentle push to no effect. Her hands tensed up before she released it and gave the gates a more firm push using the force. A loud squeaking noise echoed through the small barn but the doors remained mostly unmoving. Still, pride coursed through her veins at the fact that she had even managed to do it in the first place.

“Sorry.” Vera apologized for the sound and began to approach the door leading outside again. “I will take a look outside, maybe there is something we haven’t seen there.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

"You are fine," Alden dropped down to the ground, dusting his hands off and sighing while looking at the floor. He had noticed the same thing that Verana had just a moment ago.

Most of the tracks were theirs and that told them another mistake they had made.

"I should have been more careful here- might have accidentally trampled a key piece of evidence." It had just been so... gruesome and insane. It wasn't like Alden had any experience with all of this. Just the basics from the Academy, some HoloVid knowledge, things like that. That didn't make him into a forensics expert or anything similar to that, no?

"Learn something every time, I guess." Sheepish as he followed her out into the open again. Squinting against the sun, raising his hand to his brow to shelter his eyes from the sun just a bit. "Anything you can see here?"

Much like the inside... Alden was afraid he had karked up there too, but maybe a fresh pair of eyes would discover something.

 

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

This was supposed to be her thing. Vera had been a tracker since birth almost and yet she was having the hardest time of her life trying to find much in the way of tracks at all. The loose dust on the ground twirled above the well-worn dirt around the barn with a careless pirouette that made it all the more harder to crouch down for a closer look at what might have been left. Even more, it had most likely covered up the footprints of the perpetrator long ago.

It was enough to make Vera frown as she approached the back of the barn. Just like the front there wasn’t much to go on here. The crop fields beyond the immovable gate waved in the air and shifted the attention towards the sky. The winds seemed to be picking up, dark clouds rolled on the very horizon. A timer had been set.

“We need to hurry.” Vera muttered as she approached the field. “That doesn to bode well for our investigation.”

Eyes peered down from the sky and back at the field with a frustrated sigh. Rain would wash away any clues left outside before they could say anything about it. Her feet wanted to kick at the ground, it lifted off the ground before she caught herself and stopped it. There were many things she could say about this investigation at this point and none of it would involve the ‘appropriate usage of words expected by her’ as the Masters had called it.

Eyes closed and she began to shift back and forth trying to think of what to do. As her eyes opened she caught something. A glimmer, something barely there but something that quite clearly had nothing to do on a field like this. Vera’s brow perked and she knelt down by the very outskirt of the field to pick it up.

A hand gently brushed at the surface of the item to expose it from the dust that had covered it before she realized what it was. Eyes opened wide and she grabbed it, quickly rising to her feet and turning back towards Alden to hold it up high.

“Alden!” She exclaimed. “Plasma cartridge!”

She turned back towards the field, and sure enough there it was. A slight mess up from the perps. One had stepped over the crops, flattened a very small piece before stepping out again.

“Tracks too!” She shouted even louder. “Sort of.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

Coincidentally this was not Alden's thing.

Yeah, he had grown up on a farm and spend a lot of time in nature, but that had been focused on other things. What kind of berries you could eat, what mushrooms to avoid and after that most of his time was spend tinkering on this or that. Alden liked nature, but his heart was in engineering. The turning of cogs and the greasing of oil. Somehow, he wasn't sure why, that made his soul sing. The concept of figuring out some sort of difficult problem and everything suddenly snapping into place.

He studied the storm in the distance.

"Agreed. We should just be careful that in our hurry we don't miss something crucial." His own attention went towards strange markings on the wall of the barn. Scratches and it took him a moment to realize it had the same sort of indents as a vibro-weapon.

Dagger?

No, the gash was too large and consistent for that- "Wha- that is excellent." Alden called out, before shrugging. There didn't seem to be any blood here... so it might have just been something unaffiliated. Vibro tools were used even on outback worlds like these, so it wouldn't be all too strange. Instead the Jedi walked on over towards Verana. The cartridge was accepted as she walked on over to find the tracks. They were vague, undefined, but it was a start.

"You did good here, Verana." He squinted at the cartridge. It was cold now- the heat long since dissipated. "Hmm. You ever had any training in Force tracking?"

 

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

She held the cartridge between her thumb and index fingers as he grabbed it. Alden was onto something too then and things were starting to look good for what felt like the first time. It was a simple miss but one they had caught just in time it would seem. The girl’s lips curled up into a wide smile at the compliment that was thrown her way before she slowly shook her head.

“No, but I know how to track without it.” She said and looked back at the vague tracks in the dirt outlining the crop field. “For example, it seems to me like they have been trying their best to avoid leaving these tracks. Look at how the footsteps seem to deliberately avoid the dirt whenever possible.”

Vera knelt down to look at the grass again.

“It’s trampled…” She muttered and touched against the vague outline of a boot print. “Not sure if this was on the way here or on the way out though…”

She got herself lost in her mind again, her eyes peering down at the ground as she began to move along the dirt path. She walked with care to not trample any of the existing prints, but that wasn’t saying much. Her hand trailed along the grass’ edge as if to memorize where she had last seen a print and pointed in its direction with an uncanny precision even when she didn’t look.

“Do you know how to force track?” She stopped and turned to look at Alden, hand still pointing at the latest track in order to not lose it. “I-... We need to find out if this is heading to or from the home before we go too far.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

That was the thing about sinking your teeth into a problem and slowly untangling it.

It made you feel better.

Made you less focused on the failures (even if they weren't strictly speaking yours, the feeling of responsibility was still there). It was why Alden had not argued with her when she said she wanted to stick around. It would be better for her in the long run to bring the murderers to justice that was for sure. Now Alden was certain that it hadn't been an animal. Animals didn't carry around plasma cartridges. "Hmm. Yeah, I think I see what you mean there." He squinted a bit at the tracks, noticing the effort of staying off the dirt.

It hadn't worked amazingly. Not with the grass trampled, but then again... one storm (that was already coming up) and that would have been washed away.

"I. No, not really." He scratched his neck and shrugged. "Not from scratch anyway, but you got us a set of tracks, so I can try."

Alden had never been all that awesome in force tracking. It seemed.. flighty to him and abstract, but with something to lock onto? It would be easier. "They have murdered with this cartridge and it should still hold something of a connection to them."

At least for a time.

"Going to sit down though, helps with the focus." Alden took a few steps back, clear from the tracks and settled into some neutral grass. The cartridge resting on his lap as he closed his eyes. "Feel free to sit with me, think you could use a break." There was no offer to train here in the tracking... mostly because Alden wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do here. The theory was there, of course. That wasn't so quickly forgotten but how to put it in practice?

Difficult.

He tried to open himself to the world.

 

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

It was a bit of an understatement to say that Vera wanted a break. If anything she wanted to leave, but she was in it now and she was making good progress. To sit down was a good choice and she took her seat next to Alden as he got to work. It would seem that for the moment they were at a bit of an inconvenience in terms of what was going to happen next. Alden wanted to try something new, and Vera got to have a break. She would admit that it was a bit frustrating to not just follow the trail and hope for the best, but she also knew that what the man was doing was most likely also the right thing.

They both decided to disappear for a bit then it seemed. Alden opened himself to the world around him and so did Verana. She tried her best to meditate like they had shown her how to. She knew how to do it of course, it just wasn’t something she did a whole lot. It was hard to relax when you had grown up with a lifestyle that didn’t really let you rest until you slept for the night.

So, Verana did her best to close off the world yet open herself to it at the same time. Yet, just like always it would seem she found herself distracted. Her eyes opened only to set on something small scurrying just below the crops in the field. Her eyes squinted for a second before she realized what it was and silently extended her hand towards the little mouse that had found its way toward her. It crept into the palm of her hands and she slowly brought it in close to give it a stroke along its fur.

The little rodent’s nose darted around the place with a sense of calm that one wouldn’t have expected in the situation as whiskers flickered with trepid curiosity at the beast that held the small mouse in its hands.

Animals were easy to understand for Vera, she always had a way with them. She raised the mouse before her to give it a better lookover to check for any damages or such but it seemed perfectly healthy to her and she slowly lowered it into her lap where she proceeded to stroke it once more as Alden focused on getting them started on the tracking.

“I will name you Rasmus.” Vera whispered to her new friend. “You seem like a Rasmus to me.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

It was difficult, very difficult even with the cartridge in his hands.

Alden knew then that if he hadn't had it? It would have been impossible for him. That... honestly frustrated him- because this was clearly something that would help them along on their mission and that meant it was needed. He resolved himself to train in Force Tracking more once all this was over. Make it easier, less like he was trying to stretch out a rigid elastic rubber band.

His presence pushed against it, willing himself to see the cartridge and all its properties.

Willing to see the touch of darkness that was still inside of it.

Piece by piece Al started to sort out the thin connection that still clung to it and to its former owner. It was whispy, vague, but... together with the tracks? It would definitely help them sort things out. A blink and a flash of memory burned itself into his retina. Alden couldn't see the murderer's face, but saw the dark cloak, the shadows that gathered up around them.

Walking away.

"...they were walking away." Alden murmured softly as he opened his eyes again and noticed a third presence sitting with them. Eyes and expression softened from grim to amused. "Got a new friend?"

 

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

The mouse ran around in her lap before it jumped out. Vera eased herself down onto the ground. With her stomach to the dirt she felt her entire back rise and sink with each breath she took, and with the armless nature of her tunic she found the dirt digging into the somewhat thickened skin of her elbows. With one hand propped up against her cheek she lifted her feet off the ground and began to follow the mouse with her eyes as the calm she needed began to set over her.

“Huh?” She said at Alden’s sudden murmur. “Oh, yeah, this is Rasmus. He found his way here when you were meditating.”

Her hand scooped the mouse up off the ground to place it on her shoulder as she rose up. Vera did her best to brush the dirt off of her knees and stomach but it was already too late. Not that she cared, of course, but the masters at the temple were bound to have another fit about it.

Probably a ‘No training in the rain, Vera! You will catch a cold!’ or maybe even a ‘That is the third set of robes in two days. You need to take more care, child.’ Honestly, why did they make the clothes in such a bright color scheme if they cared so much then? With her hand raising to point at the last area where Vera could remember the tracks having been she looked at Alden and then the tracks.

“So if they were going away…” She said and continued to walk the trail she found. Rasmus snuggled up by the crane of her neck with a strange sort of calmness to him, curiosity seemed to seep between them that was for sure. Vera was just a bit more focused on it. “... Then they were not holed up too far away.”

Her eyes wandered back over towards where they had found the slight indentation in the field where the plasma cell had been.

“One of them wanted to take a shortcut through the field.” She said and squinted. “Do you know if there are any natural caves in the area?”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

Alden thought about that for a moment.

It made sense.

If they had walked away from here it meant there had to be some place for them to haul up. Maybe not permanently, maybe not settled, but somewhere where they could lay low for a bit and gather up their fumes after.... what they had done, no? That concerned Alden even more, if he was being honest. He had hoped it would be farther away so they would have some time to figure things out.

Didn't seem a likely preposition now.

"No, first time I have been here and the locals weren't very helpful either." Alden frowned as he followed that line through the grass, especially the shortcut. "I'd usually say... figure out back-up first, but... the longer we wait the more chance we are giving them to fade into the noise, no?"

They knew their direction now.

That didn't meant they'd know it by the time they had gathered up some back-up. Besides, who would two Jedi trust here?

"What do you think? I think we should go after them, before the trail grows cold." That is what it was called, right?

 

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

“Well, I wasn’t under the impression we were going to let them get away.” Vera chuckled as they continued following the trail. “They have committed a crime and they need to see due judgment for it.”

Rasmus sniffed at her earlobe and Vera would let out a slight snicker from the tickling sensation before she got herself back into the game again. The trampled tracks in the grass weren’t expertly hidden, but there was a clear sign that there had been attempts at it. The girl gave Alden another glance which gave away her intention with this trail.

“I say we find them, try to reason with them.” She said with wavering belief in the words she uttered. “That is if they will listen, but we must try.”

“Everyone deserves a chance at redemption, right?”

Her eyes set on the homestead and then Alden once more. It felt like the lines between what justice was in this scenario was all the more blurred. Just like they had from the start, the lines were blurred to such a degree it was hard to even see them.

“Right?” She repeated herself for good measure. “They can be redeemed.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

Alden felt hesitant at her question.

What was the wisdom here?

Redemption for what they had found back at the homestead? Was that something they could deliver? Was that something that they had the authority to do? It made his stomach churn as they followed the trail, while he mulled the implications. Alden had never been comfortable with violence. Even when he was young, it had always been [member="Harper Kade"] who stuck up for him.

One a spitfire, the other... too relaxed and friendly to see a reason to- even when he would have been more than justified.

"Yeah, I think so." Weak, wasn't it? How was it that Alden was contemplating killing now? It made him sick to even consider it and yet every other alternative seemed less than what those people back at the homestead deserved. "I think." Jaw set, eyes on the horizon while he thought hard.

"I think that a lot of Jedi come to the point where they think that killing is justified. They don't deserve redemption after what they did," Alden mimicked their thoughts, the same thoughts he was having, before continuing. "But I- think that its not about them or their redemption. Its about us- staying true to who we are even when some try to break us into seeing the world as they see it."

That was it, wasn't it?

A rejection of seeing the world through a lens of grim darkness and destruction.

Where every situation could only be resolved through violence, murder and execution. No, Alden would push against that- refuse that world-view, because that is where the Darkside led.

Better be seen naive than stain your hands with blood.

"So, I don't know if we can redeem them. But we can stop their crimes from happening again and protecting the people who would suffer at their hands."

 

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

A knot tied in her stomach at the thought. As much as Vera knew that she would have to take a life at some point she would cling to the hope that today wasn’t it. The masters had made a point on it and there were even lessons available on how to cope with it. She had attended some of them, it was mandatory the older you got and Vera was just about the right age to be applicable for them. It came with these missions that she got sent on. Complications would undoubtedly rise up and it was a precautionary matter to steel Jedi for if it happened.

“We can.” Vera spoke with a heavy sigh. A small droplet of water hit her on her cheek and she let her eyes wander upwards towards the darkening sky. “We should move.”

She kept her eyes on the grass and the track ahead. The rain wouldn’t pick up just yet and according to her educated guess she’d estimate about ten minutes before the brunt of it all hit the farm. Her palm opened to catch the rain and her attention set on Alden with a determined nod. They couldn’t afford to waste many more words, the time was ticking until they had lost this track.

Her boots carried her haste along the dirt road.

“Keep an eye out for animal dens and listen for any and all animal sounds you can hear.” She said with her eyes trained with utmost focus on the trail. “We will talk to these people, get them to come peacefully before the day is over.”

“I refuse to kill anyone today.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

The rain was potentially problematic.

It would have been worse, if he hadn't taken the time to align through the Force and getting a trail through it, but it still made Alden worry. "Good thing I meditate beforehand." He said softly as they followed the trail and he did his best to keep the trail through the Force alive as well. They speeded up after that, taking more risks, yes, but right now they needed to. The Force helped them where the beginning of the downpour was already rubbing out the tracks.

That made Al a bit satisfied.

Meant it hadn't been for nothing.

A nod and they wandered into a thin stretch of forestation. There they slowed down, crouching a bit to stay out of sight, because the Force was heavy here with those same emotions as back at the barn. Back at the homestead and all its nightmares.

"Hold on." He murmured softly as his hand caught her shoulder. "Close your eyes, don't listen with your ears, let the Force in. What do you sense?"

The anger, the rage and murder, yes... but there was something else behind it... fear and pain.

 

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

A low rumble spread across the cloudy skies by the time they reached the forest. The rainfall had slowly begun its descent into a full on downpour and by the time they had found the cover of the trees it was hard to ignore the constant noise of water against leaves. The smells of the dampening forests filled Vera with a sense of calm, and as she closed her eyes at Alden’s command she did her best to focus on what he asked her to do.

A deep breath and she kept her eyes shut. Her shoulder rose up and down to let more of the fresh air in as the world began to light up from within like an aurora beyond the cover of her eyelids. It was hard to interpret but quite clearly there. It thrashed about like a snake gripped by its tail-end that struggled for an escape. She felt fear, her own fear, the creature’s fear but most of all the pride and malice of those around it. She felt a connection to the creature that had been used in the crime and the people that controlled it.

“I feel…” Vera whispered as her breaths grew more staggered. “Remorse.”

“Like I didn’t want to do this but they made me.” The girl wanted to open her eyes but her curiosity made her push forward. “I feel… Pride. In my accomplishment and the reward my master will grant me for this.”

Her brows furrowed and she struggled to keep herself at peace.

“Monsters!” She hissed at the pain that grew increasingly evident through the force. “They-”

Her eyes opened and she let in a deep panicked breath. “They are abusing that creature!”

“We must stop them. We must- they- I-”

Her eyes closed and she tried to focus herself again.

“Alden, I-” She clung to him for a second before letting go. “This will be fine, we’ll be fine.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

Alden nodded, giving her a squeeze of the shoulder.

He had felt the same thing when he had reached out towards the malice in the air.

Whatever the beast was... it wasn't intelligent or not intelligent enough to realize just exactly what it was doing. "This makes it.... easier." Didn't it? Part of him had been afraid that they were going to confront a gaggle of humans deeply twisted enough to bathe themselves in the entrails of their targets. Somehow that was worse to Alden than a beast abused and used for some nefarious purpose.

Animals attacks were vicious, but it was also nature.

"Yeah, we will be fine. I think there is more than one entrance." It felt like there was- a flow of energy going to and fro with ease. It didn't feel cramped. Not like the barn had been back at the homestead.

Where terror had reigned and the poor animals had felt trapped beyond any means of escape.

"We should split up- come at them from both sides at once, no? That might push them off-balance and make them more willing to see reason." Or it could make them more violent in the moment. Both options were equally plausible and it was why Alden asked her for her opinion. This would have an impact as much on her as it would on him, he wasn't going to make the decision himself.

 

[Verana]

[member="Alden Belmont"]

It did make it easier. Animals were easier to handle than humans were, but the problem still remained that from what Vera could sense it wasn’t just the creature that they would be facing up ahead. She knew how to handle beasts and with luck this situation would not have been any exception. The size of the beast was not something she could read through the force, but given the nature of the attack she could only assume it was a big one.

She agreed with the plan to come from a side each with a nod of her head. Vera would have signed up to pick the side with the animal and let Alden be the one to approach its masters. She imagined he was better with people than she was, or if anything older and demanded more respect than she would. That would get him somewhere, right? Her father usually got what he wanted simply because he was a tall and muscular old man. Of course that man was soft as a kitten, but lacked the appearance of one.

A big proud bear. Much like the animal that had been wrapped in chains around a tree next to the camp’s outer perimeter. Out in the cold and the wind, the blood from its victims washing itself further into its worn and torn pelt.

Vera felt for this beast. She felt the suffering it was enduring, and the next step was something that struck her as quite obvious the more she pondered it.

“I’m going to release you, big guy…” She whispered mainly to herself, but the creature caught it and slowly began to rise from its slumber. “Go back to sleep… Please don’t hurt me…”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Verana"]

It felt like hours passed, but in reality it had probably been at most ten to fifteen minutes.

In the end?

Alden softly patted the neck of the bear, the madness had left its eyes, but it was still thin (sickly so) and shaking on its legs. It would take weeks and maybe even months before it would return to normal again. The combined soothing effort of Verana and Alden had ensured that the hold of pain and torture over its mind was swept away. It was the best they could do here.

It nuzzled Verana's hand and then started trundling off.

"At least it didn't want revenge." Alden murmured as his attention went back towards the duo of men tied-up under a nearby tree. Gagged too so neither of them had to hear the cursing and the screaming.

"Let's get these ones back to the main settlement. We will find justice there."

Or something approximate to it- it wasn't up to them.

The Jedi's assistance had been requested, but they wouldn't be judge, jury and executioner.